I’m still alive Moto. Seems I may be having adverse reaction to quitting caffeine. I’m slowly gettin thru it , when I feel low I sneak a cup of Joe then all is well. No reason for depression, but quitting caffeine , addictive personality. It more of a chemical imbalance my body hasn’t had in 55 yrs. Caffeine addict , I’m a junkie , I just use the cup not the needle. LOL

Fabbed up the repackable core.  It will fit inside header and be held in place by the tailpipe. One bolt to remove and service core. Header is a tad longer than stock ,  Should save 3 to 5 lbs over stock exhaust and flow way better. And the down pipe is   stunning in my eyes. Total disregard to anyone’s opinions at this point , it’s all about ME ! Pile of stuff ready to bolt on gets bigger and bigger.  Another box of labeled bags of hardware.  Moto  knows there is no cure.  

The 250 project may be behind schedule but is nearing 2 critical legs of the journey. Assembly of chassis and  resealing engine. Chassis should be a relatively quick & easy. Resealing the engine I rebuilt some 40 years ago  without installing a big bore kit or a performance cam. Stock bore & cam will have to do , Book says 25 H/P , 80 mph & 80 mpg ( not bad for a 1971 ). Curious to see if I made any mistakes on assembly , found one thing so far. Every piece will be cleaned & some pieces polished. Super simple tear down & build. I have a spare engine that needs rebuilt , I’ll build that after the bike is completed. Target date is still 1/1/25.

I almost ordered a set of Tomaselli Condor cafe bars for the 250 project. Would be a dramatic change. Also considered using some performance tires too !  I know I could get the 250 by a lot of bikes of larger displacement in the twisties. I can see tiny beads of sweat on Dave’s forehead as he reads this , cause he knows. Wouldn’t be fare a 650 & 650 , I like the odds of a 250 schooling a 650 on how to hold your line. As  getting passed on the inside can be discouraging , while being passed on the outside by a 250 might be something your ego will have to deal with  for a spell !    

I was right about the tiny beads of sweat. Relax Dave it’s still in pieces.  

Thought I was losing my touch. I bought some inner tubes on amazon a 2fer deal , forget the price. Watoday 4.00-4.10 18 was the brand. So I want to add I haven’t pinched a tube in over 30 years. So mounted a rear tire with one of these tubes , perfect no issues for 5 days. Loading truck for a trip and hear rushing air , 1st tube failure. Return from trip , replace failed tube with the other new tube. Bout 10 days go by , I glance at tire/wheel flat again , 2nd tube failure. These are junk tubes , do not buy these. I use a bit of corn starch in tire and on tube , air , release , air back up to let tube straighten itself in tire. No evidence of being pinched , both tube failed near tread area ! Nowhere near  an area where it could have been pinched. Older not as strong as I used to be but still do my own tire work , I enjoy doing tires. Never had such crappy tubes thought I was going crazy !

I guess summer is winding down , got some good test n tune time today. The tracker needed attention , was trying just hose or a filter and then the deep well nut or stock one. The obvious is the straight fuel line over the filter , no filter almost twice the flow. Comes to the well nut , my not so obvious is the deep well nut from Thunder Products. It must have something to do with turbulence in the float bowl , the deep well nut has a constant and stable supply to the main jet. That all equals up to huge grins when you ride her. New addition to the Spring Fever Garage , well kinda. My 1955 Ford F100 is finally getting its new fuel tank put in. Try to get as much done as possible before the bad weather begins. I quite literally got it out of the woods about thirty miles north of Truckee , CA . I think maybe Sierraville , CA. A survivor truck with a V8 & 4 Speed , first year of the ohv making the flathead obsolete. 239 ci with 113.5 certified H/P but it does have gobs of torque. She’s kinda rough but she’s paid for , she spoke to me when I found her and 5 years later she still talks to me. And here lies the problem , the wife says it needs to go and I agree , but our definitions of go are as far apart as they could possibly be. So I guess tires will be last , cause I’m keeping this old girl , she needs me. A few years back I got rid of another vintage truck that I regret , so I’m gonna sneak one day a week as parts come in. Get her back on the road maybe even stencil the doors with
“Spring Fever Garage”. So I just can’t count on another vintage truck falling in my lap again , I can’t let this one go ! When she’s done I’ll sell my ranger and this will be my daily , use it locally for errands and just cruising. Way more reasons to keep her rather than sell her , she is just ol skool cool. Trying to repair rather than replace , keep her stock. A true working survivor. There is a terribly long story on how I acquired the truck , the most dramatic used truck purchase I’ve had. Yes , I will spare you tonight.

I was running some numbers between 250 project and the tracker. Power to weight ratio , it nowhere near accurate without accurate weights and Dyno reports. But none the less the half pint BSA should have a comparable power to weight ratio or better than the tracker. A 650 will always be quicker & faster than a 250 but the field gets somewhat leveled when the P/T/W ratio get tilted in the 250s favor. Not to tough when stock H/P for 650 is 31 and the 250 stock is 25 H/P. Not expecting the half pint to beat a 650 , just keep his mirrors full of BSA ! Idk how much more h/p the port job and custom intake and exhaust will yield , maybe 5 H/P. It won’t be any faster , just more power in the same 0 to 80 mph , where it needs it most.