Airbrushed Beastie

May 26, 2008 - Monday

This past weekend didn't for one hour go according to plan, but it was great anyway. Start Friday evening. I'd forgotten my cell phone at home when I went to work, so I had a missed call when I checked it that evening. It was Frau Mundwiler, my airbrush artist. I had to try a couple times before I got a hold of her, but in the end she informed me that my airbrush parts were finished and ready to be picked up. I pulled some money out of my bank account that evening, and the next day Kev and I drove out to Dübendorf to get the parts. I'd agreed with Frau Mundwiler to be there at 0900, and the parts were displayed on her table when we arrived. They looked great. The base coat blue sparkles in the right light, and the electricity looks like electricity and not lightning because there's a lot of it. She varied the shades of blue in among the white and placed the flashes very well. She invited us to have some coffee with her - I don't know what kind it was, but tasted bitter to me - and we chatted, and Kevin asked her some questions about airbrushing. He got an airbrush set for his birthday and will be airbrushing his bike over since the Opel blue is rubbing off in places. I hope he sticks with blue, but now he's thinking about silver... Anyway, if there's one point of imperfection with the airbrushing, it's the bugspoiler, down by the exhaust. Frau Mundwiler didn't realize that the mask went up front and wasn't a back mudflap. Still, I think i'm gonna leave it. Electricity runs up the wings of the spoiler, and there's an explosion on the mask that seems to come from the engine. I like it. We finally got home and got straight to work putting the new parts on. Florian had been working on his Tweety Bird when we drove up, but he promptly pitched it and pulled the seat off the Beastie and starting working on getting the airbrushed seat cover on it. I did one of the few thigs I could do - put on the new air intake funnels on the sides. Kevin had to help me with the last screws on both of them. The plastic is somewhat flexible, thank goodness, because some parts weren't matched very carefully to the shape of the bike by the manufacturer. When both funnels were mounted, I remember I still had the screens. We glued on the screen behind the Buell pegasus on the front flyscreen and used the last of Florian's epoxy to attch the screen of the airbox cover. I'll put in the screens of the bug spoiler and the two air intakes next week when I have time. I'm drivin around without them for now. Florian The last thing was the seat. The Beastie had taken on its new look before lunchtime. Alex had arrived sometime in there too, by the way, so there were four guys around my bike as it was morphing into something completely unique. Gotta love being a girl with a fancy motorcycle. I took it for its first test run up the Waldistrasse. I drove just the same and looked a hundred times better. I thanked the guys; Florian went to go help Alex on his Husaberg and I made us all some lunch. Following that, Florian, Kev and I went to the shooting range for the annual Feldschiessen. Löchen and I both shot our 18 rounds, but since I'd forgotten my shooting glasses, I couldn't see diddledy and got a very bad score. Oh well. We cleaned several guns and finished up around 1630 hours, with time left to go to Polo. At Polo - the biggest motorcycle gear store chain in Europe, I think - I checked out the leather combos. They had a couple for women by FLM - cheap stuff, for 500 some franks. But then I saw the AlpineStar outfit, double the price, but much smoother, better protection, and less points that'll rub on the airbrush. I tried on a size 38, found it to small, and went with a 40. I also bought some aerated summer gloves, some more epoxy, blue lids for the whell vents - or whatever they're called - and a protective wash for the bike. Florian and Alex joined Kev and me at Polo, and Florian's comment on my new leathers was, "Knee protectors? Take 'em off - your never gonna lay low enough to scrape them up anyway." Brothers. Hmph. All in all, I spent over 3000.- that day. Dad gum. It wasn't a hard decision to forego Nam's Auburn Forest Old Warrior last night - especially since it ended at a price of $1500+. Aideen asked that I come babysit for her at 1945 hours that evening, which scratched the plan to watch Resident Evil 2. After Polo Kev and I drove up the Albis for a photo shoot of the new paint job and the new gear. Then he went into Zurich to Nico and I went and babysat the little boys who were their usual complacent selves. I love that family. Sunday: Mom got up late, so church was late. Linsey, the two little boys and I went to visit the Höllgrotten in Baar. It was Linsey's first trip through caves, and I hadn't been there in about a decade either. It was very impressive, but it only took us a little over half an hour to get through. I drove us home after the cave expedition, got stung by a wasp as I pulled off my tennis shoe and had to treat it with vinegar before slipping into my leathers. Then I flew across the Albis to Birmensdorf. I don't know if it's my imagination, but I feel and drive more confidant(ly) in the AlpineStar gear than in my textile coat and pants. Kev's mother admired my bike, and then we headed off to the Schneise, a meeting point for cars ad motorcyclists just under the jets' approach to Zurich's international airport. I set the Beastie out for display, and we joined a couple of heavy-set guys in leathers at a table under a sun umbrella. There was one guy there, an expat German whose bike was fat black B-King, who had a pretty big mouth and thought himself the crowning expert on all things motorcycle. But hey, I didn't do the talking; I just listened and learned, as usual. Take in all the information and filter out what's useful. He did meander over when we were leaving to walk around my bike and check out the airbrush. Flattery enough, I guess. Kevin and I were supposed to meet the family at the Türlersee around 1630 hours. Well, I had to refuel, and one of his spark plugs suddenly died, so we were rather late. Oh well. It wouldn't have been too much fun walking in my leathers anyway. We met them, and Alex and Selim, in the parking lot and the whole gang headed to our favorite brewery in Baar. Made for a cool convoy - customized Buell, a blue Duke, the Tweety Bird carrying two people, Alex's roaring Unreliable, and Selim's open Hyosung that looks like crap and runs like a cheetah, and finally the family van. We were twelve people, and when we got to the restaurant, we got to eat in the special hall in the back where we were undisturbed. Linsey sat next to me and had to put up with a lot of German. She summarized it nicely saying, "Well, all I gather is that there's a lot of driving and a lot of exploding." We had a great time, and it was nice of Dad to be so generous. Now it's Monday afternoon, I have an hour and a half left to work, and then we're going to go watch Indiana Jones 4. It'll probably be a letdown, like I Am Legend was, but at least Linsey will have gone to a cinema and a Domino's while she was here.