Tropic Lightning

That's the name of the 25th Infantry Division stationed here in Hawaii.
They have cool insignia, if you remember the movie Platoon, then you've seen it:



We had a bit of strange weather the past couple of days, which sort of reminded me of them.
Hail, heavy rains, we even had a couple of water spouts, which are like tornadoes, except they form over water.
Of course we also had this:



Tropic lightning!
I stood in the dialysis place parking lot, in the rain, for like twenty minutes before I got that shot.
That's not what this is all about though.
This could be about the Celeste Devil, which is sort of like tropic lightning, but I wouldn't want to disgrace the 25th Infantry with my slowness.
Well okay, this is really about the Bike With The Funny Name, which may be known as Tropic Slow Like Molassass in the Winter(SLMW), which I started working on today.
I gotta tell you, the reader, that I tried and I tried, but I just could not get the stem loose.
I put the forks in my bench vise and put the handle bars back in and used a whole mess of Liquid Wrench to no avail.
So back on went those riser bars:



For now anyways.
What I wanted to do was install the brake lever and shifters so on they went:



Now, I don't want to repeat myself, but I did a really banana headed thing when I installed the brake cables.
I figured that the cables were a pair, meaning they were the same length. It never occured to me that they might be front and back, matched so that one cable is longer than the other.
Well, they were.
Matched, that is.
Wouldn't you know it?
I installed the longer cable in front!
I was thinking, boy, that's a lot of extra cable I had to cut off.
I'm telling you it's a miracle I manage to put my pants on the correct way.
Luckily, the short front cable just made it to the rear caliper.
Seriously, they should label them or something.
Interestingly, the shifter cables don't cross like how they usually do, these just go straight down the well, down tube:



They don't cross underneath either, but follow the down tube to a funky cable guide:



I guess that's how they made them in the olden days.
Instead of a guide under the bottom bracket, there's a springy type tube thingy for the front derailleur cable:



Actually, I kinda like it.
The springy tube type thingy I mean.
After setting up all the cables and stuff, I hit the shifter and miraculously, it shifts!
The thumb shifters are indexed and needed no adjustment.
I am just that good!
Or something.
Now I need to take apart that bottom bracket and see how bad it is.
Hopefully the axle thingy is same size as the bottom bracket I picked up some time ago, I think it was 111mm.
I also have to work on the brakes for something strange is going on there.
The pads have a ten degree angle on them but they are not quite matching up.
More research needed.
I get my seat post in this week, so I may be able to get the BWTFN on the road!
Then I guess I need to find me some new tires.
I believe the rear spacing is like 120mm, so newer type stuff won't fit.
That means I'm pretty much stuck with the five speed free wheel.
Or I can try a six speed, but I don't really want to spend more cashola.
I'll try and get to the brakes and bottom bracket on Thursday.
Oh, and for you Mr. JRA of One Speed: Go! fame, yes my feet are properly labeled so when I install my socks, I just match the letters:



Banana head proofness!
Unlike those brake cables.