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Over The Edge

This post has been spurred by my recent awesome chance to watch a screening of 1979’s Over The Edge, directed by Jonathan Kaplan and written by Tim Hunter! It was screened at the Music Box by the Chicago Film Society

I am very grateful I got to see it! But let’s start at the beginning. I’m almost positive I heard about this movie in my tween years when I was obsessed with Nirvana and what not. I know I rented it off Netflix and copied it. I loved it when I saw it, soundtrack was killer, and I quickly showed it to a couple of my friends at the time. I think I was probably 15/16, definitely in High School. The film takes a look at some young kids growing up in a “planned community” with not much to do but drugs and alcohol and whatnot. I’m pretty sure I had seen Kids already or at a similar time and this was like holy shit, I almost feel normal. High School was mostly talking about music and drugs, and how to get them. The majority of it was talking about how we knew nothing at all but were looking for something. Planning the weekends and after school potential escapades that were usually just doing anything we could think of or going to movies and concerts when possible. I feel like an old man now, but many of those problems never left.

It was very cool to see Tim Hunter speak about the film. Apparently the film screened was his own personal 35mm print. Whoever owns the master have refused to make a modern digital transfer. I was also geeking out because this is the man that directed River’s Edge and the Saint of Fort Washington. I got a chance to meet him after the screening, and while I should have brought my copies of the Over The Edge Soundtrack for him to sign, I brought River’s Edge on Blu-ray. I asked him how a Wipers’ song(Let Me Know) ended up on the soundtrack. Loving the Wipers, I knew they were not a very commercial band in that sense(i.e. wouldn’t want a tv show or movie using their song). But he told me Enigma / Metal Blade Records gave him carte blanche to everything on their label. He listened to it all and settled on some great choices including Slayer,Agent Orange, and Burning Spear. I may have wrote this before but my mind wanted to believe it was Dennis Hopper’s insistence that led to the Wipers song. I also told him I liked The Saint of Fort Washington ever since I saw it as a kid. He asked if it still held up and I said yes it does! He then mentioned that film essentially ended his Hollywood career. Interesting how that also reunited him with Matt Dillon. I am very thankful for this opportunity.

Overall it was amazing to see Over The Edge on film, and I can’t believe I got to meet Tim Hunter himself. It was a good day.

P.S. I was watching the show Mrs.Fletcher currently on HBO and the other night the Wipers’ song Is This Real? played over the credits! It was super random and I can’t believe it. But now I know of two instances of Wipers’ music on TV and film.

1982 Yamaha XT 250

So a guy I knew was selling a 1982 Yamaha XT 250 in a sorry state. He got in because it came with another bike, an RM minibike or something. Being such a fan of the film First Blood(as you can see from my other post), I bought it despite the sorry state it came in. The problems he noted were broken clutch perch and incorrect rear wheel. I gave him $150. Well several years later and I FINALLY got the damn thing running. Over this time I slowly and slowly fixed and ordered the parts I could. I even picked up a spare parts bike for about 120$ a few years ago.

I bought a new rear wheel, which made me sorry for my mailman because the shipper literally saran wrapped the hell outta the damn thing and slapped a sticker on it. I bought a new sprocket, chain, clutch perch,clutch lever, countless bolts, and more over time. The carburetor was a nightmare I will condense here.

The bike had compression but with a new battery and plug I had spark but not gas. I pulled the carb off and noticed a piece near the bottom accelerator pump was broken. This carb is overly complex. The 1980 First Generation XT 250 used a simpler carb. The carb I have has this “accelerator pump” type device add on. It was a feature from 1981-1983 on the XT 250. The 1984 250 Carb and bike were very different. So make note of this unique carb it is tricky to find at all, let alone a working one will still bring a few hundred dollars.

Luckily I first found a junk carb for parts on ebay for 40$. I was able to replace the broken part and try it again. No luck the bike never fired and I got tired of kicking the bike over dozens of times to no avail. In the meantime I fixed other stuff, repainted the exhaust, and little things like made sure the brakes work and fixing the clutch cable. A few years later I finally bite the bullet and spent 80$ for a complete carb rehaul kit, this included almost all the gaskets and jets needed to rebuild the carb. So I took apart both carbs and cleaned the shit out of them. I used the best parts and the kid to make one good carb. After all this work still fucking nothing, no “pop” it didn’t even want to start. After spraying some carb cleaner in the cylinder the bike ran for a few seconds, so the problem was still the carb.

I’m no expert mechanic but through trial and error and my old man’s wisdom I have a basic understanding of how a bike works. After this I just kept watching ebay for a spare carb. They would sometimes pop up for about 200$ and sell. Eventually one was up for 250$, they included a video of the bike running before they took it apart, so this should be “plug and play”. I bit the bullet and paid more than the price of the bike for it. Upon further inspection of it, it was missing a choke lever and had an extra hole in one side which puzzled me.

I finally put it on my bike with some fresh gas. I gave it some more kicks and I felt maybe a little more kickback but no signs of life whatsoever. So after a deep sigh I was about to give up and maybe try again a few days later. With some carb cleaner in the cylinder we tried again. Nothing at first at all, which was weird. Then somewhere around the sixth kick it was brought to life, I assumed it would die in a few seconds but this “priming” actually worked and it kept going! Big relief this was, since if this didn’t work I was ready to pay someone to take this shit from me on Craigslist. Now my only hope is the clutch works and it goes through all the gears. Once this bike is settled, I’ll finally have a dirt bike, or rather THE bike from First Blood. Did I mention how much I like that film?

 

Gary

New Day Rising

Started this post a while ago……but anyway.

So I finally quit my retail management job and have a wide open future. My Honda is running well, does need a new rear rim however. Triumph is next which always needs work. Then finally my Yamaha which I have never ridden. I am trying to sleep for a month after working to much. But now I am quite broke which is a problem.

I have found another retail job and now I am at the bottom. I work full time but have a dim view of my horizon and constant lack of funds and constant bad luck. I am also no longer in a wonderful relationship, so all I can do is stay busy and productive. It’s going alright but life is quite the fucker sometimes.

Summer came and went, almost time to winterize my bikes and bust out all jackets. Another wonderful Chicago winter awaits, hopefully I can get my Yamaha running in time for next.

 

Gary