BlueScreen Saver...

This has got to be one of the funniest screen savers there ever was, BlueScreen. Of all places, this one comes from Microsoft (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897558.aspx).

One of the "Top 10 Harmless Geek Pranks".

-Bob

Footpeg springs for the Oset

I had enough of watching how frustrated my son got with the foot pegs on his Oset. Frequently, as he picked up his feet, the would brush by the foot pegs and the one (or both) of the foot pegs would stick in the folded position. Often this would occur just as he was about to enter a section. This would cause to stop and reset the pegs before continuing. Here's how the foot pegs look on a stock bike (click on the images for larger versions):

Obviously, something had to be done...

A trip to the hardware store was in order to find some suitable springs. After a bit of searching, I found these:

Back at home, it was time to figure out how to put these in place. I started by drilling a hole in the leading edge of each foot peg (see red arrow). The hole was just slightly large then wire diameter of the springs. The hole positioned so that the straight part of the spring would reach to the inner end of the plate portion of the foot peg (see the yellow arrow):

For the other end of the spring, I drilled a hole in the frame just below the foot peg mount. To test this idea I used Ring Terminal electrical connector:

I removed the insulation and threaded the other end of the spring (the end with the loop like a key ring) on to the ring terminal. The ring portion of the ring terminal was "bolted" to the frame using the hole I had drilled just below the foot peg mount. Here are the results:

This done with just a drill and common hand tools. If had a welder, I would have welded a small loop to the frame just below the foot peg mount. This would be much more solid than the current configuration.

So far, this has held up through two events. I've lost count on the number of time the bike has fallen over. Only once did I have to crimp one of the ring terminals back together.

Total cost: about $4.

If you have any suggestions for improvements, please let me know!

-Bob