Can I vent?

VENMUS

VENMUS

Fabricator Extraordinaire
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If this is the wrong section, do not hesitate to move it Travis. It does, however, have to deal with my XS650 in complete regard.

Since before I ever thought about building a motorcycle I have always worried about where to do it. I live in an apartment complex with around 8-900 square feet of living quarters (this is bed/bath/kitchen/dining/living/closets) and no available garage space. So I looked into all the available option such as rentable mini-storage units (45-100 per month) along with some friends garages.

I ended up agreeing (with consent of the property owner, and her daughter that I'm close friends with) to use their garage or at least a small portion of it, to work on fixing up my motorcycle. The terms were that I get to clean it out/up and help them with around the house fix-its. You have never seen a garage disaster like this. I spent 9 hours.....all in one day.......blasting through this structure and cleaning/organizing shit like a cheetah on cocaine. By the time I was done you could finally see the floor, and there was room to walk 'off the beaten path' to any area of the building. (before, it was like you stray from a thin little trail and you might get eaten).

So began the beginning of a great win-win situation. I fixed their non-running motorhome, a lawnmower, snow-mobile, front door, sink, cable-tv wiring, and restoring their living room. All for free, and all on my own time. Pretty fair for using some floorspace and some electricity, huh? Well today I'm about two months into my build of a custom bobber project, and all has gone surprisingly smooth thus far. I got it running about a week ago and it's getting parts replaced left and right, soon to be on the maiden voyage.

I went over today, and got the 'I need to talk to you' line..... I'm thinking, oh boy, what now? And long story short she thinks I've held my space long enough and that it's time for me to get out. Yes, she kicked me out, no further reason, and I didn't break anything or treat them wrong to deserve it. I never worked too late, left the lights off when I wasn't there, and was courteous the entirety of my stay, and still am. (In fact I just cleaned out an old deep freeze with rotten food, it smelled bad but it looks brand new now! Chlorine is your friend)

So here I stand, with nowhere to turn. I have a boatload of parts neatly stacked on a shelf (which I built, BTW) and my build is all contained on an old bit of carpet. No oil spills, no grinding dust on the concrete, nuthin'..... I am half tempted to sell the whole thing as a project bike as it is. Penny for penny, what I have in it is less than $1800. I'd look for $1500 because they're ALL NEW PARTS. I'm pretty frustrated and I really don't want to sell it, but I don't understand humans sometimes. :banghead: I'm up the river without a paddle as they say.

Advice. Direction. Motivation. Help. Inspiration. Anyone...?

</vent>

Thanks for listening,
Logan
 
Congrats on being better than the average human.

Human capacity for 'lending a helping hand' seems to be on average a lot less that yours!

My advice, don't let her cause you to lose the bike, the work, etc.
I've gone through my share of bikes (6th one now, I am only 27.)

It's not worth the hussle and bussle of swapping, trading, selling, repairing, blah blah blah.

You are on target to get it done RIGHT. Get it done.
As far as how, my suggestion is your suggestion. Get a storage rental.
Look around, I know in my area a lot of places offer free first month and such, but you have to sign a contract.
Even if it's not enough room to work on it - get it in there to give you time to find a place you can. Sounds to me like shortly you'll be almost done so you can store it, finish it quickly, and all future repairs can be done in the driveway!

Don't let this stop you from being a nice guy to anyone - remember that you were in the right here, she was in the wrong, and they are more people out there like you.

Good on ya!

-Doug
 
Your post is in the correct place. The Lounge is meant for things that have absolutely nothing to do with motorcycles. If the topic of the thread is even remotely related like tools, fabricating, welding, parts on ebay that cost too much, rallies, etc.. it should go in The Garage. When in doubt, put it in The Garage. So good job there.

As far as your problem about where to work on your bike, I think dpawl31 hit it on the head with getting a storage unit with no contract (if you can find one) until you can find another place to work on it. Did they say you have to get your bike out of there immediately? or did they give you some time? Maybe ask if you can pay for another month or two of use and no longer offer services fixing up things around the house. You might also want to ask why they are kicking you out and see if there was a misunderstanding about something.

I'd finish the bike.. It can be really hard to get your money out of half-finished projects that you have a lot of money into with new parts.
 
Bummer doesn't begin.....

What everyone else says, me too. I raised my son by telling him that as long as he likes the man in the mirror not much else matters.


BUT
The more I see of people , the more I like dogs !!!!
 
Thanks for listening guys. I'm looking into all available options including storage units and other available/empty spaces in town.

Most guys don't think about the space TO build when considering a motorcycle project, it's all about what bike, how much will it cost, do I need more tools, etc. I have most of that, to me it's all about the 80 square feet of Earth to do this all on. :(
 
I rebuilt my first 75 in the dorm room of my barracks when I was in the Air Force. Granted it was just the engine.
 
Hah...yes. If it were just an engine I'd have nothing to worry about. But it's a frame, 2 wheels, 2 fenders, handlebars, wiring harness, battery box, frame sections (Hardtail and stock), all the NEW parts to replace these old ones with, boxes shipped in from MikesXS and random motorcycle parts suppliers, chains, headlights, seat pans, cardboard mockups, sheetmetal, grinder, welder, air compressor, propane torch/mapp gas, brake discs and drums, luggage rack, swingarm, stock seat, airboxes, new pod filters, carburetors, hand tools, ........ oh man my head is swirling!

It really doesn't seem like much because I'm a very particular person, and everything was always neatly stored in the proper places. It only seems like a lot when I type it out like that ^^ or I have to move it all in one go. Which I did. This evening.

I just got back from moving boxes of parts (It feels like I've moved my place of residence!) into my apartment. All I need to do is figure out where to do the build now. It's out of the question to build the bike in the apartment, so it's not even an option. My frame/engine/wheels are the only big-ticket items left at the old borrowed-garage. I will quickly assemble them into a rolling chassis of sorts for the haul I suppose.

Sigh. This is why I don't like to rely on people for much. I like to be self sufficient :shrug:
 
Did you ever find out why your were evicted? Did you offer to pay for the space as the time used was covered with mantenance she doesn't anymore and would accept dinaro instead.
 
Yeah, finding garage space is a pain, therels plenty out there, but around here it's all once in once out... not much use. Two garages for rent on my block, but there's a waiting list a mile long... (if I winn the lotto i'd be tempted to buy one of the buildings, 2 rental units and the first floor is all garage).

I'm lucky enough to have my folk's barn to use, even if it's an hour away.

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Logan,

Man I feel your pain on this one. Nothing worse that having to rely on someone else for anything, especially when you feel they can be counted on. My current project is stored and worked on at my old (now my ex-wife's) house. My build schedule directly reflects her attitude and the mood at the time. Can only come by to work on it when she's in a good mood. Don't even have my own place right now, so I'm stuck working on it there. Good luck in your quest to find a new garage. I'm trying to buy a new house so I can get my junk out of there and have my own garage to work out of.
 
Yes, I actually dropped $40 in her mailbox (WHY?!) because I feel it's the right thing to do, and I am grateful to have used her space for two months for free. This covers anything my maintenance somehow didn't. I don't loathe this woman or family. They're all good friends of mine, I'm closest to her daughter however, we went to highschool together.

I would have tried to pay to use it a month or so longer but it would've been in vain. She really didn't care what I did for her, it was just too much for her to live with I think. Having a motorcycle build that's not the doing of any of her kids/family. I simply reached the extent of her good natured hospitality. To put it bluntly she wanted her garage back.

It's all but emptied of my things now, and I'm really racking my brain on where to take the rolling chassis. I can't do it in my apartment, not an option. (3rd floor, no elevator, high-class landlord would never allow it, etc)

What a stressful time of a joyous project! Where I previously went to ease tension and work in solitude is now a stress inducer! Sheesh. :confused:
 
I feel for you Bro. One my first builds (SOHC 750 Honda Hardtail back in about 1975) was in the basement of a 1 bedroom flat 3 guys were renting in Madison WI. When we left they tore the house down and put up a parking lot. Looking back I have no idea how I got a motorcycle up and down the pitiful stairs to that basement.
 
Logan,(AKA Wolverine?)
Not even a courtesy dab of Vaseline huh? Get yourself a storage unit close to home. Most are accessible 24-7, and as long as your not revin' the shit out of the bike at 0200 hrs., You will be allot happier. Sorry that they took advantage of your better than most's good nature, but we live & we learn.
With your own place, you won't have to worry so much about spilling some oil, or fumes invading someones house.
One or two word's on renting a storage unit. First, get a place in a "better" neighborhood. Next, get the most space that you can afford, remembering that the rent will go up eventually. And finally, get a contract outlining ALL the rulle's.
Again, sorry 'bout the Banana heads.:wtf:
 
Just a recap on the situation, I have just finished moving my project in its entirety into a new location. It's a full size, standalone one car garage for the majority of the build with a morton building (60x35) about 10 feet off to the side. The bigger building has scrap steel (I already used a piece of 3/16" plate for my seat pivot mount!) a few benches with tools and vices, 220 feeds for welders and plasma, garage heater, loft, etc.

Both buildings are my girlfriends parents, who use them ONLY in the winter as boat storage. And it makes sense if you know them, 1 powerboat/1 sailboat/1 jet-ski/1 jet-boat/1 paddleboat/2 canoes. It's essentially empty other than empty trailers all summer long, so it works out perfectly. I share the space with a snow-mobile and a few easily moved trailers but other than that it's free reign.

This setup is 15 miles away, but I don't have a problem driving the distance for a rent-free space of my own. Hours of operation? Whenever I show up and want to work. Noise problems? None. On site tenants? Nada.

I'm fairly happy with it, and can FINALLY make some progress on the build. It's been so long :banghead:

Anyway, I'm back in business baby!
 
Damn that's pretty sweet. Sounds like you moved up a few notches with your shop space. Any reason you didn't think of her parents place before?
 

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