An observation: Work space

NewHavenMike

1976 XS360C
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Hey guys. Im sure Im not the only person on here that gets lost in YouTube world..

Lately when Ive come across some of the "bike build" videos, it seems a lot of builders out there are building in their living room or kitchen or some other place of the house not meant to be used as a workshop.

Ive had experience building V8 engines in the living room, and now my current XS360 build is now taking place in my attic. Obviously, I will not be assembling the bike there but I am prepping everything until then.

I am renting a single family house where the 2nd floor was converted to another apartment, so I have the attic to myself.. My budget is slim and its really the only workspace I have besides maybe my Mothers. Space at Mama Dukes is also limited and its too far to drive all the time. I wanted to be able to do work anytime I want.

Anyone else have out-of-the-ordinary work spaces or experiences?
 
Once upon a time, when I had just moved away from home, I rebuilt a car engine in the driveway of the house I was renting a basement apartment in. It took 3 times longer than it should have. Now a days, I have a barn that is slowly becoming a workshop, and I spend much of my time working to pay for it rather than playing in it...
 
Its the worst not having good workspace, but im making things work.. I dropped a nut that goes to a motor mount and it rolled into a floor crack in the attic. Telescoping magnet did not help as the nut was lost in the shredded newspaper insulation...
 
A little late but here's my story. Once upon a time I had the bright idea to build my bike in my basement. It's not a walkout but that's where my tools and my bench are. But getting the bike there meant bringing in in the front door, through the living room, dining room, and kitchen to get it down the basement steps with the help of several friends. Somewhere there are photos of this process. The bike stayed there but it was a less than ideal workspace. I decided I should take it to my buddies home garage. He had space and even better tools. Plus it was an ideal situation for me to invite myself over a few nights a week to hang out, work, ha e some beers with my single guy buddies and be the old wise married guy. Well this too proved to be a mistake because he decided to join the army. And he rented his house out to tenants. So going there and working in the garage became odd for me. Literally years passed. He got married and came home from the army. But now instead of being the wise old married guy hanging with the single guys. I was the weird friend who always seemed to show up at family supper there. So eventually I got the bike out of there a d moved it to the shop at work. I have access to the whole building after hours and the shop is a decent place to work on bikes. It'll be warmer than his garage this winter for sure. Until I build a garage at home I guess this is the best I can do.

The most important thing I have learned through all of this is that it doesn't matter where your workstation is. It matters that you keep working regardless. Otherwise you end up like me with projects that never seem to get anywhere. I've started a new thread about my build since I've picked up momentum again. I'm hoping the combination of interaction on this site and the workspace I'm in now will help get me through this build. My thread is XS GP4 if you want to check it out.
 
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