The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Erik Buell Joins the Exodus to Electric Power with FUELL

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Erik Buell has had his share of ups and downs in the motorcycle business, but say what will, you can't say he isn't persistent, no matter how often his companies have hit hard times, he keeps coming back, but now he's taking a different road. Instead of designing around a Harley Davidson derivative engine or something built by Rotax, he's going all electric with FUELL. Well, to … [Read more...]

Curtiss Pushes the Electric Motorcycle Design Envelope

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While I was away, my inbox never slept and judging by the number of notices coming in for concept, pre-production or in-production electric motorcycles, you would think the end of fossil fuels had already arrived. The discussion of that possibility deserves a post all its own, but I thought I’d highlight a few of the latest rechargeable two wheelers, in no particular order, … [Read more...]

Rebuilding and Recharging The Kneeslider

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It’s been almost a year since I wrote on The Kneeslider and I needed the time off. The many years of sitting at my desk had taken a toll on everything from my physical condition to my mental attitude and I needed a break. Yes, I’ve done some work in my garage and around the house, read a lot of books and in some ways relaxed, but I’ve also regrouped and made a tremendous … [Read more...]

Makerspace Is Just Newspeak for Workshop

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The other day I saw this article about building makerspaces in schools and the photo showed what seemed to me to be a nice workshop, similar to what schools had when I grew up. Of course, now these spaces have things like 3D printers, not a tool we had years back, but the saws and drill presses are pretty standard fare. It made me wonder if there was any real purpose for using … [Read more...]

When the Factory Gets it Wrong and You Have to Fix it

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After clearing out all of this new workspace in the garage, I was looking for a worthy first project so I thought I'd start by changing the spark plugs on my F150. If you're thinking plug changes are easy, you have to know this is a 2004 Ford F150 with a Triton V8 engine. So what, you might ask? Well, back in the early 2000s, they designed the Triton V8 with a somewhat unique … [Read more...]

Reclaiming Garage Space and Contemplating Life

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It happens slowly, after all it's just a walk behind lawn mower, but it takes a really long time to mow the lawn that way and who wants to mow for hours, so a lawn tractor makes sense, right? And what about those snow tires for the wife's car? You have to put them somewhere when the roads are clear. Of course when the snow gets deep you need a snow blower and if you park it … [Read more...]