How long will *that* take?

home | < Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >

Does this sewer pipe make my butt look big?

2009/09/28

A hallmark of the 60′s flat-track racer is the minimalist, streamlined seat. This seat is more or less a padded plank, with a conical tail. Like this:

The seat? Yes. The 250cc Harley? No.

I looked at several fiberglass replicas on the internet and there are some nice ones but I came up with the idea to make my own. The idea came to me while vacantly looking at the cardboard tube that toilet paper comes on.

If I cut that tube at just the right angle, I would end up with the half-cone shape I wanted.

Off I went, searching my imagination. What material would provide me the 10 inch diameter pipe or tube that I needed? Linda and I looked at the used building material store for duct or stove pipe (nothing perfect) and then… Eureka! PVC. Yes PVC pipe. Does it come as large as 10 inches – sure, it’s that size and even larger for sewers and drains, but where would I find it?

The local plumbing supply store had PVC up to 6 inches and when I asked them where I could get larger, they laughed and pointed to the street and said there’s miles of it under the roads – just dig some up! Haha, joke over, they directed me to a company that does excavation and I invited my wife to a romantic Thai food lunch (to go) and a ‘quick trip’ to the sewer pipe store. She went for it!

Here’s the remnant I was able to pick up for $5

And my plan was to dip it (at just the right angle) in a tub of paint and let the level draw my line of where to cut for me.

Well the paint was too thin to make a distinct line, so I wrapped the pipe in paper and then dipped it in my tub – like this:

This is a mock-up of the rusty Triumph's potential

Here’s what I had in mind. Maybe it’s too big. Do you think this sewer pipe makes my butt look big?

= = = = = = = =

Next – the Zen of eBay

home | < Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >