Escape From the Prison Planet

[wayno]

To me it looked like you pulled over off a gravel road and parked by the pass sign to get a photo.
Fact is I don't like gravel roads at all driving any vehicle, they don't take care of them and sometimes one has to drive slow(crawl) because of pot holes, I put up with them when I was hanggliding as there was a happy ending at the end of the road, I would get to fly my hangglider.

[DRIVEN]

Got home last night with only a little drama...




We were only about 50 miles from home and stopped for a stretch break when I noticed Jerod's rear tire. We debated about how to proceed and decided to take the safe way out. He hung out in a shady little park and I blasted home to get a trailer. That got him to my house but didn't get him the 200 miles to his house. Being a Sunday and no available parts, we figured the easiest thing would be to swap for my worn out rear tire/wheel so he could get home.




His wheel and tire will get dropped off in Pendleton on Tuesday. Mine will stay up on blocks for a couple weeks while he gets his squared away and I get mine back.

[DRIVEN]

This was the first long-ish trip for either of us on these Chiefs so we were expecting a little carnage, and we weren't disappointed. The rubber Indian script treads on both Jerod's floorboards and one of mine came loose. None got lost though. Easy fix.



Jerod had a few oil leaks develope. Both of us has leaky fork seals when we left that only got worse. I bottomed out getting back onto the pavement and knocked some JB Weld loose that a previous owner had smeared over the case seam. Now it marks it's spot. Should be a simple fix. Due for an oil change anyway.



I didn't realize it until I was breaking mine down to rob the tire but my RR turn signal and horn both vibrated loose.




Jerod had a seeping rear brake fitting so his pedal got soft and eventually went away at the end of the trip.


My speedometer started reading really fast, like 120-125 while passing trucks, the last 2 days. Odometer stayed consistent. Then my speedo drive started growling and finally died the last day. I was kind of expecting it to fail since I'd band aided it together right before the trip.



I was planning on tires and an oil change after the trip anyway so those were scheduled maintenance items. A nut and wrench will cure the loose items. Speedo and drive are pretty readily available and not very expensive. Fork seals will probably be a PITA and I want to do front wheel bearings while I have it apart.


Overall it was a great trip. We covered 1700 miles through Yellowstone and Glacier, as well as plenty of outstanding 2 lane roads in between. Probably no more than 100 miles total on freeway. We got rained on a lot but didn't seem to affect anything. They both ran great -- even at altitude. Did good on fuel too.
We have our winter lists now. Time to chip away. Both are absolutely filthy.

[DRIVEN]

Indian is still all apart. Taking the wheels and new tires over to get swapped over and balanced in about an hour.

My dad delivered the '36 back to my brother.


Then back hauled a '68 California Special that technically still belongs to my brother's ex father in law, but is being given to my nephew who is 16. No, it won't be his driver.


This thing needs a lot of cosmetic unfuck. My dad's winter checklist is just to get it driveable. It's been mostly sitting since the late 80s and was last registered in '97. Originally it was white with blue interior and looked something like this.

It was purchased new by my nephew's great grandmother and then his grandpa (her son) bought it a couple years later. His nephew really wanted it for a high school car in the 80s and that's when it got red paint, black interior, Centerlines, and a bunch of extra dash and door panel holes for a stereo. Shame, really.
Anyway, brakes check out good. Carb got rebuilt and will run on a bottle. Distributor weights got freed up. Oil got changed. New fuel tank, pump, and lines should be here next week.
It's likely that I won't really have much involvement in this one.

[Taterhead]

What’s the probability of it being fixed up/semi-restored and someone in the ex’s family wanting it back?

[DRIVEN]

I really, really doubt that would happen. The ex in-laws are pretty stand up people. My brother is still friendly with them but their daughter basically cut all ties. The kids were casualties and as they've gotten older, have come to realize that mom truly is a mentally ill (yes, medically diagnosed) party skank.
Actually, no one else wanted to store it any more and that's how FIL got it back. That whole part of the family is pretty well off and would much rather drive a Tesla or new Audi than mess with a smelly old Mustang. I think FIL finally realized that he doesn't have the space or skills to fix it up so it got rehomed to my brother and nephew. Not sure who legally holds the title as of right now.

[DRIVEN]

Got the new tires mounted. Spent about 3 hours this morning putting it together and cleaning it up.





But I discovered one more casualty...



At that point I was hungry and frustrated so I did a 70 mile taco run. Tanks didn't fall off so I guess it's not all bad. I'm always impressed with how well new tires make a bike handle. It's a night and day difference in the corners.
Gonna let the exhaust cool down then drop the oil out of it. Then clean up the bottom where the case halfs meet and see if I can stop the leak with some JB Weld, just like the previous owner did. And then, depending on how motivated I get, I might run the valves.

[DRIVEN]

Also, I finally checked into the Brohauler. Found a bad contact inside the kill switch. Run-stop, run-stop, run-stop about a dozen times and it's all better...for now.

[DRIVEN]

I drained the oil friday night and couldn't seem to locate my stash of epoxies so I made a last minute bomb run to Autozone on the TW.


Got there with time to spare before they closed. I decided to try Permatex fuel tank repair putty. I think something like that is what the previous repair was done with and it held okay until I bottomed out and chipped it off.
These are dry sump oil systems so most of the oil is in the tank under the seat, some in the lines and filter, and maybe 1/4 cup that sits in the bottom of the case. I pulled the plug and let it drip dry overnight cleaned and scuffed the surface. The leak is really just a pinhole right behind the forward lowest cross bolt boss but I covered quite a bit more.


I let it sit all day yesterday and this morning I topped off the oil and decided to give it a quick valve adjust since I still had my dad's motorcycle jack. Makes it easier to roll the engine over using the rear wheel.
Fired it up, let it warm up, and did a quick 20 mile loop. Then parked it to let it cool. Decided I'd jump on the TW and cruise to the grocery store 15 miles away for some cold afternoon beverages and burrito fixins. I had this idea that I would only take back roads there and back, mainly roads I'd never been on. Turned out to be a 90 minute adventure.
When I got back -- the moment of truth...



Bone dry! At least for now.

[Laecaon]

Yay easy fixes.

[Taterhead]

Easy fix quota met for the year. Next 5 will be a pain in the ass. Followed by 5 mildly irritating ones.





At least that’s my experience

[DRIVEN]

Well, I don't like the sound of that one bit.

[wayno]

It won't be that bad, and it will be something unrelated that's a pain and after that everything else will be no big deal.

[DRIVEN]

This just feels like the week nothing got done. Got back from Guatemala Sunday night. Did a load of laundry headed for Reno for a job early Tuesday morning. Got home about 2am on Wednesday and did some concrete grinding and sheetrock mud work in the basement. Thursday I had a local job that took all day. A spider bit me on the face. Friday morning shot guns then did paperwork for the stupid day job. Today I did a bunch of mowing and weed control. Almost the entire week was super lame.

[Taterhead]

Sounds about right.


I have only cut grass here maybe 4 times this year. Unfortunately we are in severe drought status in Shelby county where I am, literally right under the red blot.


(Crude/distasteful comment removed. Not my thread)

[DRIVEN]

Got home last night from a two week tour. 10 days in Jamaica slamming inflators where it was either 90 degrees and super humid or absolutely pouring. We were under 10 x 10 pop-ups so there was just enough cover to keep the tools dry but we were really doing the work out in the elements. Got soaked but at least it wasn't cold.


Had a 4 day layover in Texas for some factory training on my way home. When I got up this morning it definitely felt like fall. All the corn is brown, temps in mid 30s, and fog on the valley floor as the sun came up.



Guess I'll see where the day takes me.

[wayno]

So the last photo was taken at your house?

[DRIVEN]

Yes, about 2 minutes before I posted.

[Laecaon]

Yea ,chill mourning air here. And been foggy the last few days. Definitely feels like fall.

[wayno]

It got cool early this year, it usually starts raining in mid September but stays warm, not this year.
But I am talking about the area I live, on the other side of the Cascades it may be normal.