The Atomic Shovel is no different, although many would argue that she is not beautiful; rather, she is an over-accessorized, aged tart trying for all the world to look like a young and sexy teen queen. Regardless, she is not easy. Ever.
Case in point: the tailgunner lights mounted on the front fender. One of the bulbs blew not long after I installed the lights, which is just bogus, but I just ran them anyway. The light is next to impossible to get apart and even MORE impossible to press back together. This is how it went:
Step 1: Remove beauty ring/lens from light housing. Results: I am going in the house. In between discovering the stuff on the Pretty Thing, I was trying to get the beauty ring and lens off a new tailgunner light to replace the missing one on the Atomic Shovel.
It was all fun and games till this… I fucking BROKE the lens. Sumbitch. Also stabbed my finger. Double sumbitch. I have one more chance with the other light, but not today.
These lights are a total pain in my ass. I love the look but I HATE dealing with them. I should never have let myself be talked into putting them on this bike.
Step 2: A few days later….. pressing the lens and beauty ring back into the tailgunner housing… And finally… the ongoing saga of the tailgunner lights. When last we visited the tailgunners, I had very successfully broken one of the two replacement lenses I had, trying to pry the beauty ring and lens off the spare light. Sumbitch.
Today, I got the other spare light out and very carefully pried the beauty ring off. It was pretty effed up by the time it came off – out of round, friggin’ bent – basically looks like shit, BUT it was off and I did not break the other glass lens… yet.
I tried to straighten the ring out best I could, which wasn’t great, and attempted multiple times to install said ring and lens on the bike. Fail. Fail. Fail. Thanks for playing, try another day. So I am halfway there. I tried multiple improvisations to press that stupid ring on. Nothing worked. I still have tomorrow to get it on the bike. I shall prevail! Maybe.
Step 2 again. The next day: I got that sumbitch tailgunner light back on. Used a little carpentry trick. Drilled a hole in a 2×4 so it would slip over the glass lens and rest on the beauty ring. Drilled another hole in another 2×4 so it would slip over the pointy decorative part in the back of the housing. Used a bar clamp to draw the two boards together, putting even pressure on the beauty ring. DONE.
That sumbitch better never act up again.
Took it around the block. Rode great for a mile, then POW! HUGE backfire. The bike stumbled a couple times, caught up to itself, kind of. I downshifted and popped the clutch. It recovered and was fine all the way home. So that’s different…. it was starting that backfiring bullshit on the last day coming back from Milwaukee. I don’t know.
But the tailgunner lights look fabulous….
Next up on the Atomic Shovel was tightening the left rear turn signal housing. Sumbitch came loose. Two screws hold it to the cross bar. The lower screw is pretty easy to get to with a small ratchet handle and a Phillips bit. The upper screw is an absolute pain in the ass to get to with ANYTHING. When people ask me why I carry so many tools I just wonder what lucky star they were born under because I have never traveled on these bikes and NOT needed tools.
Case in point, I took a pic of where that screw is, and another picture of all three tools I used trying to get one of them to work.
The winner was the slender, non-ratcheting socket handle in the middle. Who carries that on a bike? I do now.
The Atomic Shovel 