That's a beautiful bike. I also do my own maintenance and repairs to mine and my wife cars. I even went to school to get my mechanics license.

Welp, better show of my collection then. Currently working on a 1984 CT110 that's been sitting for a long time, and the others I already finished. The '84 z50r is heavily customized as far as the suspension and I have a 4 speed manual bottom end I want to build for it eventually, the '74 XL70 is stock except a slightly larger carb and I've been riding it everywhere lately, and the '84 Big Red is being put to work after I fixed all the crappy repair jobs done to it before I got it.

RadRacer203 wrote on 2021-06-05, 01:53:

Welp, better show of my collection then. Currently working on a 1984 CT110 that's been sitting for a long time, and the others I already finished. The '84 z50r is heavily customized as far as the suspension and I have a 4 speed manual bottom end I want to build for it eventually, the '74 XL70 is stock except a slightly larger carb and I've been riding it everywhere lately, and the '84 Big Red is being put to work after I fixed all the crappy repair jobs done to it before I got it.

0408211139_HDR~2.jpg
0521212140_HDR~2.jpg

Kwal.

I also have a 1998 Suzuki XF650 single. Basically a DR650 with bigger valves, twin carps in a more road orientated frame. It is 100lbs lighter than the cb550 with around the same hp output with more torque lower in the rpm range. It is easier on fuel as well. It is a hoot to ride. Being 61 I did a 1 tonne m/c that needs 5 people to lift it up 😉 Went I got it the suspension was totally all mucked up so I adjust as required to match my height (6ft) and weight (85kg). It handles like it is on rails now.

I'd love a CT110, however, DMV in Ontario got real hardass with bike registrations to crack down on theft and vin swapping, so basically need a bike with a near perfect registration history, no accidents, and I think they're suspicious of large gaps, or you will not get it registered, and it seems 90% of the "been in the shed 10+ years" ones have no ownerships. So that leaves the amazing original condition ones with current registration and the hyper restored ones, so $$$. Probably easier to get a container filled of "postie bikes" in Australia, ship it here and sell them off, because they're unsullied never seen in Canada VINs, than get a barn find re-registered... Some ppl say "Nah, it's not that bad" but I gotta throw a thousand or so in the wind before I find out whether they're right or wrong. (I can switch ownership on a title to me, but I can't find out if it can be declared fit, ie fully registered unless I fix it up enough for safety inspection and it passes.)

Really easy to register stuff here in the states, Vermont will take your money and basically ask no questions. With literally no paperwork I registered the XL70 through the mail. Still had to re-register it in Massachusetts afterwards cause I don't have my motorcycle license yet and MA has a limited use class where you just need a regular driver's license. When I registered it in MA, they even sent me a brand new title in my name, which I wasn't expecting!

Planning on not registering the CT110 till I get my motorcycle license, then I can just register it in Vermont and leave it

brostenen wrote on 2021-06-04, 21:17:

Not computer related, but still a retro-activity. I worked some more on my battle vest. I sewed on my new back patch. Happy with […]
Show full quote

Not computer related, but still a retro-activity. I worked some more on my battle vest. I sewed on my new back patch. Happy with the result.
I am a fan of multiple genres of metal, so I went for an old Memento Mori artwork instead of just slamming a band name on it.
The original image is an old German wooden carving from the middle ages, and I believe it is also used in the artwork of the album "Origin of the feces".
I had the back patch custom made, at RazerRay in Poland.

(Fans know the band)

NewBackPatch.jpg

Glad to see you appreciate the original old Sepultura logo. The three albums that use it (from Bestial to Schizophrenia) are my favorite albums of the band.

No retro activity for a while. My Ryzen gaming machine blew a gasket (every gasket), the Asus X570 mobo is being RMA'd and it looks like the XFX 5700 XT is following it. Frankly I think I'll never do updates again as long as I live. The BIOS update bricked the mobo and may have taken out the video card at the same time. No idea if the CPU survived. Or the data, yet.

Whatever you do, don't look at the prices of 5700 XT's on Amazon. No way I could afford one now. I couldn't even afford a 1050.

I had a busy schedule this weekend before this happened.

aha2940 wrote on 2021-06-05, 03:11:

brostenen wrote on 2021-06-04, 21:17:

Not computer related, but still a retro-activity. I worked some more on my battle vest. I sewed on my new back patch. Happy with […]
Show full quote

Not computer related, but still a retro-activity. I worked some more on my battle vest. I sewed on my new back patch. Happy with the result.
I am a fan of multiple genres of metal, so I went for an old Memento Mori artwork instead of just slamming a band name on it.
The original image is an old German wooden carving from the middle ages, and I believe it is also used in the artwork of the album "Origin of the feces".
I had the back patch custom made, at RazerRay in Poland.

(Fans know the band)

NewBackPatch.jpg

Glad to see you appreciate the original old Sepultura logo. The three albums that use it (from Bestial to Schizophrenia) are my favorite albums of the band.

Of course. 😉 Despite my favorite album being Arise. I choose the patch, because everything after Max, is not Sepultura.

Got OldUnreal's UT'99 working on my 2015 MBA11 (Mojave) and Retina MB12 (Big Sur)...UT'99 never got a Carbonized Intel build until OldUnreal got one going...and it's 64 bit native. Not sure if it's Universal Binary 2 so M1/M2 support will be a question.
Installed the HD texture pack just to see what happens...was not disappointed.

Full 60 fps on the MBA11 on its native 1366x768 resolution (with a i5-5250U)...

On the MB12 with the Core M 5Y70, it's pulling about 45 fps on its native 2560x1600 resolution, but pegged at 60 fps when run at its usual “Retina” scaled resolution of 1280x800 (which requires 1/4 of the bandwidth).

The fact that the game worked well on Broadwell GT3 graphics (around the same horsepower/theoretical VRAM bandwidth as a GT730) isn’t entirely a surprise. And now, the “fun” job of convincing OldUnreal.com to do the same for UT2004SE (which can use a 64 bit universal binary 2 port)…

Is a Dell XPS 8700 and a GTX 970 retro yet?

RadRacer203 wrote on 2021-06-05, 01:53:

Welp, better show of my collection then. Currently working on a 1984 CT110 that's been sitting for a long time, and the others I already finished. The '84 z50r is heavily customized as far as the suspension and I have a 4 speed manual bottom end I want to build for it eventually, the '74 XL70 is stock except a slightly larger carb and I've been riding it everywhere lately, and the '84 Big Red is being put to work after I fixed all the crappy repair jobs done to it before I got it.

0408211139_HDR~2.jpg
0521212140_HDR~2.jpg

Nice. I spotted this guy at an event last month. We had the exact bike as kids - it was already an oldie then, and I think we picked it up for $100.

Merovign wrote on 2021-06-06, 06:03:

Is a Dell XPS 8700 and a GTX 970 retro yet?

My current desktop rig has a 970 😁 Not that I play it these days. Too new.

Got the truck back from the shop, they could not figure it out - but I might be close to have myself. Funny part - might be a COMPUTER issue. Apparently EEC-IV ECU can have cap issues - but that's further down the list after I check some stuff out from the OBD-1 codes I pulled. Whoda' thunk my vintage car now has me doing vintage computer stuff.

Continuing to try and fix my recently acquired Vectra XM to little success.
Also, one of my other projects, a 1986 Mazda B2000 SE-5 Plus 5 Long Bed, is now having overheating issues since having a radiator put in it. I'm thinking my heater hoses are leaking.

creepingnet wrote on 2021-06-06, 06:21:

Got the truck back from the shop, they could not figure it out - but I might be close to have myself. Funny part - might be a COMPUTER issue. Apparently EEC-IV ECU can have cap issues - but that's further down the list after I check some stuff out from the OBD-1 codes I pulled. Whoda' thunk my vintage car now has me doing vintage computer stuff.

Almost all ECUs from before about 1994 are having internal issues lately. Ford, Mazda, Chrysler, and Honda are the big names right now. Chrysler has always had a habit of killing their ECU/TCMs with improper EMF protection on solenoids, Mazda and Honda are unfortunately becoming well known for capacitors in the ECU leaking and destroying the entire unit, and Ford sometimes shared ECUs with Mazda.

EEC-IV is one of the less elegant OBD-I systems of the era, but it's certainly better than Nissan (Several thousand dollars for a basic scan tool) and Honda's (Blinking red light under the carpet) offerings of the time.

If you can get a hold of one, I would highly recommend picking up an OTC Monitor 2000/4000/4000E for cheap on eBay with the appropriate cable and cartridge for your truck. Ditch the paperclip / key dance, the real scan tools can do far more work than people give them credit. Those OTCs also have the ability to talk to VT-100 terminals, and with the help of some special software I've been trying to track down, graph and record data on a PC over RS232.

FAMICOMASTER wrote on 2021-06-06, 06:53:

Almost all ECUs from before about 1994 are having internal issues lately. Ford, Mazda, Chrysler, and Honda are the big names rig […]
Show full quote

creepingnet wrote on 2021-06-06, 06:21:

Got the truck back from the shop, they could not figure it out - but I might be close to have myself. Funny part - might be a COMPUTER issue. Apparently EEC-IV ECU can have cap issues - but that's further down the list after I check some stuff out from the OBD-1 codes I pulled. Whoda' thunk my vintage car now has me doing vintage computer stuff.

Almost all ECUs from before about 1994 are having internal issues lately. Ford, Mazda, Chrysler, and Honda are the big names right now. Chrysler has always had a habit of killing their ECU/TCMs with improper EMF protection on solenoids, Mazda and Honda are unfortunately becoming well known for capacitors in the ECU leaking and destroying the entire unit, and Ford sometimes shared ECUs with Mazda.

EEC-IV is one of the less elegant OBD-I systems of the era, but it's certainly better than Nissan (Several thousand dollars for a basic scan tool) and Honda's (Blinking red light under the carpet) offerings of the time.

If you can get a hold of one, I would highly recommend picking up an OTC Monitor 2000/4000/4000E for cheap on eBay with the appropriate cable and cartridge for your truck. Ditch the paperclip / key dance, the real scan tools can do far more work than people give them credit. Those OTCs also have the ability to talk to VT-100 terminals, and with the help of some special software I've been trying to track down, graph and record data on a PC over RS232.

Dude....the OTC sounds like a perfect application for my NEC Versa 486 that oddly enough came from a Ford Engineer around the time that truck was made. That was kind of the big connection with my first retro-laptop in 20 years was it's connection to the mfg. I think I'll do some looking at those tonight. Mine's kind of going through a transition from Daily Driver to "Classic Vehicle" status - eventually there will be a second truck entering the picture.

That said, not a lot of OBD-1 codes - just a few for out-of-spec voltages on the TPS and one of the thermal sensors, and a 998 for "Hard Fault". I'm looking at all that tomorrow + relays.

creepingnet wrote on 2021-06-06, 07:05:

FAMICOMASTER wrote on 2021-06-06, 06:53:

Almost all ECUs from before about 1994 are having internal issues lately. Ford, Mazda, Chrysler, and Honda are the big names rig […]
Show full quote

creepingnet wrote on 2021-06-06, 06:21:

Got the truck back from the shop, they could not figure it out - but I might be close to have myself. Funny part - might be a COMPUTER issue. Apparently EEC-IV ECU can have cap issues - but that's further down the list after I check some stuff out from the OBD-1 codes I pulled. Whoda' thunk my vintage car now has me doing vintage computer stuff.

Almost all ECUs from before about 1994 are having internal issues lately. Ford, Mazda, Chrysler, and Honda are the big names right now. Chrysler has always had a habit of killing their ECU/TCMs with improper EMF protection on solenoids, Mazda and Honda are unfortunately becoming well known for capacitors in the ECU leaking and destroying the entire unit, and Ford sometimes shared ECUs with Mazda.

EEC-IV is one of the less elegant OBD-I systems of the era, but it's certainly better than Nissan (Several thousand dollars for a basic scan tool) and Honda's (Blinking red light under the carpet) offerings of the time.

If you can get a hold of one, I would highly recommend picking up an OTC Monitor 2000/4000/4000E for cheap on eBay with the appropriate cable and cartridge for your truck. Ditch the paperclip / key dance, the real scan tools can do far more work than people give them credit. Those OTCs also have the ability to talk to VT-100 terminals, and with the help of some special software I've been trying to track down, graph and record data on a PC over RS232.

Dude....the OTC sounds like a perfect application for my NEC Versa 486 that oddly enough came from a Ford Engineer around the time that truck was made. That was kind of the big connection with my first retro-laptop in 20 years was it's connection to the mfg. I think I'll do some looking at those tonight. Mine's kind of going through a transition from Daily Driver to "Classic Vehicle" status - eventually there will be a second truck entering the picture.

That said, not a lot of OBD-1 codes - just a few for out-of-spec voltages on the TPS and one of the thermal sensors, and a 998 for "Hard Fault". I'm looking at all that tomorrow + relays.

The OTC 4000/4000E will attempt to give better descriptions than "Hard Fault" when possible. If you pick up a Pathfinder series cartridge it can oftentimes tell you some simple diagnosis / repair instructions for fault codes.

The Ford dealership tool would have been a Rotunda series setup, likely a Star. They're pretty expensive because dealership and they're pretty useless because they only do Fords. The OTCs can do all kinds of crazy stuff for just about anything you can plug it into.

janskjaer wrote on 2021-05-05, 14:32:

I applied a caster wheel set to my NZXT Glidebox case, as well as my custom 3dfx vinyl window stickers that I ordered.
Currently sitting inside is my 3DLabs Permedia2 / ELSA GLoria Synergy in the AGP slot, and my STB BlackMagic / 3dfx V2 1000's in SLI, nicely separated in PCI1 and PCI5 thanks to my customised SLI ribbon cable.

Re-installed my custom Zalman Voodoo2 coolers to keep the STB BlackMagic SLI pair comfortable in the summer weather.

Fixed the truck yesterday - recap of the Engine Management Computer - all three Electrolytics leaked, ate up a trace or two, and went out. Put it all back together, about the only codes I get now are 111 and 10 plus a couple from the ECU relearning it's air/fuel settings - so were back to healthy. So yeah, truly a "vintage computer" activity recapping a very late 1992 Ford EEC-IV. Basically a "free" repair since I had the caps on hand in a nice quantity anyway. Next up is oil change from running in "Zombie Mode" for a few days (gas in oil from running to rich without the ECU).

I guess now as far as computers go it's back to the regular scheduled show, I'm tempted to pull out the Tandy 1000A and start work on the 8087/V20 upgrades and building a custom gamepad for it since the Versa have been roaming the house like wild cattle lately.

Been battling with my recently purchased Sanyo MPC-100 MSX computer, which was refusing to load anything from the cassette port unless the input volume was super super loud & output from my AV Receiver at near max. volume. Thinking something may be up with the computer, ie. bad caps or something, I was probing around inside with my multimeter and noticed what looked like jumper header pins directly behind the cassette port that corresponded to Cassette Input, Output & Ground.

So I decided to try a bodge and see what happened if I simply bypassed the cassette port entirely:

And I'll be damned, it worked! Loading everything perfectly now.

I've got a new cassette cable on the way, so I can try that when it arrives and see if its just a case of a bad hackjob cable that I put together myself, or if the cassette port itself maybe needs a solder reflow. I tried spraying contact cleaner into the cassette port, which made no difference.

But for now the bodge job is sufficing and letting me load games without having to pump maximum volume into the thing.

Today's retro activity - the new cassette cable for my MSX arrived. It works great, so that means thankfully the cassette port is fine and my quick bodge fix is no longer necessary.

All the hours I spent diagnosing this, only for the issue to be simply down to a bad cable!

Oh well, been having some fun playing games on this computer all day.