@*%#!!! paintjob and a F*#@d-up petcock

[dagus]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!

Got all the freshly-painted pieces back on the Goose Hawk, then admired it for all of ten seconds this morning before watching it melt like the Wicked Witch of the West when I spilled gas filling it up. I put a month and a half of love into that paintjob.

Add to that an intense desire to rip my petcock from the bike and light it on fire before I huck it in a dumpster and watch the whole thing go up like a bonfire, then run out and buy something shiny from Yamaha or Kawi's 2006 lineup (wouldn't work - it would stay stock only as long as it took to get it home. I fantasize about modding every moto I see, and I'd promptly fuck a new one up just as bad as this one). Let me explain: I'm leaking Texas gold like a busted faucet where the bigass nut attaches the petcock to the tank. (It's so bad that it melted the asphalt under the kick. I'm lucky the Hawk didn't tip over - the kick was buried half it's length in the asphalt. Needless to say its on the centerstand now...) The gasket wasn't seated right when I screwed it back on. I think I crimped it, and now it just won't sit right.

I think.

I took tomorrow off to ride to southern Vermont and clear the cobwebs, and now I'm garaged again.

Fuck, fuck, fuckety-fuck, fuckety-fuck, fuck...

[Machismo111]

Omg that's terrible. I think my response would be something like "Oops, dropped the gas, gotta clean it up, where's that match?" if I just ruined my paint job.

Good luck man...Ive messed up and redone my paint job about 8 times now...I know the feeling, but I've never spent that kinda time and lost it.

[Soul]

All i have to say is..that sounds like a terrible day man.

[kennie]

I think that you need to get a second hawk - I always see east-coast hawks for sale.

[dagus]

Wish I could afford another one. I bought mine back in April 2004, then a few months later I bought an engagement ring, both of which the lady enjoyed, which means there was a wedding to plan for, and lots of new household stuff to take care of now that we're newlyweds. I'm lucky to have a wife who is so understanding of all the time and money I put into this one bike - now, having two just isn't gonna happen for a while. We've got so much else to take care of.

And as far as selling the Hawk for a other/newer bike... fat chance.

[dagus]

However, the moment a cheap hawk in some state of disrepair (I'm thinking under $2K) pops up and I have the spare cash, that's when I get myself a race bike and finally hit the track!

I get my graduate degree in January, and soon it's on to the doctoral program for my Psy.D. I get tuition remission at my job, which means I only pay income tax on the benefit and that's it, but in my Psy.D. program I'm probably going to be footing the bill myself. Gonna be a long, hard road (so maybe I should upgrade my suspension? Hmmm.....)

[Machismo111]

Congratulations on the happy plans! It'd definitely be cool to get a race bike, but now that I got mine Im kinda torn! "Hey wouldn't it be cool to get a trick USD front end?" And then I think of my poor street hawk sitting out in the garage crying. So of course that means I need to buy her one too. And that's just plain expensive!

Also sounds likea good deal with the tuition remission, even though...uh...I still don't really understand what it is. And as well as upgrading your suspension, make sure you check your tire pressure and oil levels!

[dagus]

Tuition Remission = free tuition to the University when you work there. Spouses and kids get it too.

[Machismo111]

When you work there as in...Working the cash register in the book store, or teaching? Or both? Or neither?

[kennie]

When you work there as in...Working the cash register in the book store, or teaching? Or both? Or neither?

[Machismo111]

Omg! I got pancake-bunnied! I totally did not deserve that! That was a perfect sense making comment. Now I might have deserved the jub-jub one, but not the pancake bunny.

[dagus]

OK, pancake bunnies, I'll explain.

Tuition = the cost of college classes. You get tuition remission (free classes, yay!) if you work at the university. If you're full time staff (janitors, secretaries, teachers, administrators - or admissions counselors like me, for instance) get to take as many classes as they want for free - same goes for their spouse and their kids. It varies depending on your position, but that's the general rule. You get slammed on the income tax unless they call your classes a "job requirement," but it's better than paying full price for classes.

Now, tell me where you found "Jub Jub" and the pancake bunny!

[kennie]

sorry about the pancake bunny! but I had all this artillery and needed to fire 'em off!
Free tuition would've totally helped out when I was going to school. (I wouldn't have minded doing a little janitorial work for free classes.

[dagus]

OK, good news finally...

Wednesday after work, I dropped off my tank, cowl, fender and Wagner Kustofftechnik cover off at my painter's - Del's in Ansonia, CT (I don't have his contact info on me but I'll update the thread later). This is the guy who painted -and helped build - my uncle's first chopper, a BSA. It's awesome having him be the one to spray my Hawk.

He told me to give him a day to work up the cost for me... Friday morning I called him up for a quote, and I liked what I heard so I told him to pull the trigger. It's being acid-etched and primed as we speak.

[stealth95]

that same exact shit happened to me when i repainted my first bike, then it happened again, then i just sprayed it flat black and sold it