Besides that, I don't know about anyone else on Team Butts, but my anxiety is through the roof. The start date is quickly approaching, and we will be leaving days before that. I do not feel prepared. I have been preparing - I got a new video camera to mount to my bike, along with the extra things I need for that, like a mount, microsd cards, etc. And in true fashion, I have had to remove a bunch of pictures off my phone move them to my computer to then move them to an external hard drive - that takes a lot longer than I care to admit.
If you have read this blog before, you know I struggle to get info from the guys about where they are in putting their bikes together, or what they are working on at the moment on their bikes. I typically get something like "stuff" or "well I'm trying to figure out wiring".
This past Saturday I headed to mom and Mike's. For those of you that don't know, I only live about 25 minutes away. I got there and Larry and Scott were there. Scott had actually driven his 1922 Harley to Mikes. He told me it ran good! Here in Minnesota we had some strong storms the night before and it rained off and on during the day, but he made it without getting hit with any.
If I am remembering correctly, I believe we started right away with putting the chain guard on the 1920 J, it wasn't lining up perfectly with the holes and some of these areas are tiny then you have to get bolts and nuts in... AND THEN TIGHTEN THEM. Then of course we had to make sure the nut wouldn't hit the chain. It wasn't hitting the one it was closest too. Well we were putting the chain on that goes to the back tire and we came to find out that the chain was getting stuck. The clutch bar thinger, it was too close to the chain so we had to figure out a way to fix that. It wasn't the foot clutch but the mechanism that the foot clutch controls which then actually controls the REAL clutch.
Scott, Mike, and I trimmed the bushing on the transmission cover using the Bridgeport mill. Naturally, I got to use the new machine, so I again felt super cool! I am always grateful for the amount of opportunities I have in my life. One being the riding of motorcycles across the country 2) all the cool tools I get to learn just for the hell of it!
They also noticed that the ammeter wasn't reading correctly, but it still seems to be changing. They also calibrated the speedometer.
On Thursday I headed back over. Right when I got there I took it for a ride! I know I have mentioned this before, but if you are new here I will explain. When I learned old ass motorcycles and mostly the suicide clutch, I drove this same bike. But only around the block a few times. Then once my Indian was ready that is what I drove. Now there is a big difference between the Indians and Harleys are this point in time.
Harleys have a right hand throttle, the shifter is on the left side of the tanks and it goes furthest from the driver is 1 then N, then 2nd, lastly 3rd which is closer to the rider. And lastly, the foot clutch is "toe to go". So the clutch is engaged when the toe part of the clutch is down.
On an Indian, the throttle is on the left side. The shifter being on the right side of the tanks and it goes from first gear being closest to the ride, then N, 2nd and 3rd being the furthest away from the driver. The foot clutch toe down is disengaged and engaged then is hell down.
As you can see, they are way different! At least in the driving aspect. I do have to admit, that driving the Harley is easier. Shifting isn't as touchy and the Harley has it marked where the gears are, were the Indian is by feel. And for 3rd gear I really had to bend down. However, the Harley is taller for me and more top heavy. I can barely get the kickstand up -- I have to move up onto the tank to reach.
It was time for the box! First, I had to decide which box I wanted. Because this bike doesn't carry a lot of gas, I went with the box Mike used for it when he rode it in the 2021, he had made an extra tank to put gas in, then had it jimmy rigged way of getting into the tank. They originally had some steel in the box to reinforce it. This made the box extremely heavy, so we did try to "lighten the load" by removing parts of the steel that we didn't need. It allowed me again to use more cool tools. I got to use the plasma cutter and a grinder to grind the sharp areas. We had to come up with how to attach the box to the luggage rack. We got that figured out and we put foam to hopefully protect the paint. We tried to make it easier for the saddle bags to be connected and not rubbed for the 4000 miles by the box.
I then set up my handlebars. I put the speedometer on the other side then what Mike had put it on, put on my route chart and a Saint Christopher thing that Larry had gotten us all before the 2021 Cannonball. Lastly, I put it on my bag that I put on the handlebars, I put ear plugs, wallet, phone, ChapStick, and glasses. We got the box connected to the luggage rack. It is fit to me - as it has a back rest.
On the 2021 Cannonball, Jim (a friend of Mike's) and his wife Dawn made Larry, Mike and I these cool plaques that have our names on it with out number and a motorcycle drawing. Anyway, we were able to take Mike's off and I was able to take mine off so I can put it on the new box I'll be using. It was cracking slightly - so I asked Scott what would be the best way to fix it. Apparently, and I didn't know this but before he got into the cool old motorcycles his hobby was wood crafting.
We are hopeful that Mike will get his Henderson next week, with a week until go time and that we will be able to get it all TransAm'd ready with a box etc.
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