After a few weekends of less than ideal conditions interrupted by a trip to the Florida Keys, the new “Ted Shed” has risen and is nearly complete.

While I kinda sorta dig the whole construction process… It’s fun in a weird way draw it out, gather the materials, measure and cut all the wood and then assemble it all. Piece by piece, little at a time, meticulously measuring (four times) and putting all the aforementioned pieces together with various power tools and implements of destruction/construction. Then slowly, it all starts to take shape and resemble what I’ve drawn out on a program I’ve been using for 33 years. And because I’m German, I insist on doing things down to an 1/8″ tolerance and as a result, things fit nice and tight. They call me “no shims Ted”. Of course this leads to “zero room for error”. I’m cool with that. Live dangerously.

 

The first day on the project, the outdoor part, I worked feverishly into the dark to get the roof up. With the threat of rain looming, I had to work fast and as long as I could to get ahead of the weather. Some parts of construction are super tedious and regardless of how fast you work, it still takes an eternity to complete. Cutting and putting up the exterior sheathing is one of these tedious parts, but this is where your work really starts to take shape.

The weather guessers were quick to point out that Sunday was going to be an absolute washout, so I had no choice. Close it up. Well, sadly, it didn’t work out that way and I had to pull the stadium sized tarp over top for the next week. This time of year, as you can imagine, doing anything outside after your regular employment is nearly impossible. The dark takes hold quite early and temperatures drop into that zone that has you wishing for a warmer location to live. The tarp did its job and everything stayed dry.

Weekend number two saw chillier temperatures but I had a hefty dose of perseverance to keep me warm. This weekend would see the roof finished, doors put on, tools and bike moved in and, that is precisely what I did.

Although it’s not completely completed to completion… it is close enough to get my baby in from the elements. I still have a few… quite a few, little things to do, mostly finish work and interior prep.

Remaining tasks are:

• Interior
  • Electric (6 outlets and 3 switches)
  • Lighting (One 48′ track light, two 48′ LED bars, one 24″ led bar over bench)
  • Insulation
  • Wall board
  • Interior paint
  • Floor Covering
  • Vents/exhaust
  • Heat/AC (maybe)
• Exterior
  • Trim
  • Paint
  • Ramp

I’ll keep you posted on the progress. But you’ll be happy to know that once complete, the bike work begins and I look forward to bringing you the progress on that.

In other news, I’ll be documenting all of this work on the Motorcycle Men Podcast YouTube channel. Something new I’m trying. Hopefully you all will find it to be at least entertaining if not a total shit show.

Wish me luck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, amid this period of lousy weather and a vacation, there were domestic duties, employment, driving, podcasting and other silliness took place while 650 pounds of motorcycle sat idle and broken. Oh I was able to her start up a couple of times long enough to heat her up and check the usual. But, she did NOT move. Snug in the new Ted Shed, she sits awaiting the parts, and my time to make the repair.