M o t o r - c y c l e C a m a r a d e - H i s t o r y
ANTIQUE GOOD
MoTorcYcle BEER CluB J u d g i n g
Restoration NATIONAL
SHOW S wa p
BAD June JOKES 2019 ROAD RUNS Published Quarterly
M e d i o c r e PIZZA
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AMCA® VIKING CHAPTER NEWSLETTER Club Officers June 2019 PRESIDENT: Dave Glennen 612-616-5025 [email protected] Viking Chapter AMCA® VICE-PRESIDENT: Bob Hopf P.O. Box 18304, Minneapolis, MN 55418 612-867-5654 [email protected] http://www.vikingmc.org DIRECTORS: Ivar Natins 612-770-3818 [email protected] Ralph Smith 952-443-2020 [email protected] Dave Moot 952-856-2695 [email protected] Craig Kotval 651-269-1755 [email protected] TREASURER: Jeff Ricker 612-201-6938 [email protected] SECRETARY: Kathi Rimnac Arriving at Rockers Spring Social! 612-825-2550 [email protected] MEMBERSHIP: Roy Williams 612-202-4905 [email protected] New Members! WEB/EMAIL: Doug Nelson The AMCA Viking Chapter wel- 612-559-9595 [email protected] comes the following new mem- DEPUTY JUDGE: Roger Rimnac bers: 612-825-2550 [email protected] CLUB HISTORIAN: Tom Jones Glenn Purdue 763-533-9163 Juan Chanco NEWSLETTER: Caleb Spooner Mike Lancial
763-443-1602 [email protected] We look forward to riding with you and seeing you at our meet- Contents ings!
Officers - New Members 2 Events Around Town 18
Upcoming Club Events 3 Feature: My $300 Rat Bike 21
AMCA 2019 National Meets & Road Runs 4 Member Stories
The President‟s Minute/Editor‟s Note 5 Be That Person 31 What is it? 32 National Meet Information 6 - 11 Humor 33 10,000 Lakes Concours d‟Elegance Info 12 Want Ads 34 Donny Smith Show 14 Friends of the Club 38 Rockers Spring Social 16
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Upcoming Events Note: Board of Directors (B.O.D) meetings are open to all members. When held at a chapter member‘s home, please notify the host ahead of time if not a board member.
Wednesday June 12 - 8am—8pm Wednesday August 14th - 7pm Thursday June 13 - 8am—8pm Viking BOD Meeting Need help at Fairgrounds Decorating & Setup etc. Davanni‘s Bloomington 8605 Lyndale Ave S Friday - Saturday June 14 & 15 - Bloomington, MN 55420 Friday 8am - 8pm Saturday 8am - 6pm 952-888-6232 AMCA Viking Chapter National Meet MN State Fairgrounds, Progress Bldg Sunday August 18 - 1pm 1265 Snelling Ave N Viking General Meeting and BBQ St Paul, MN 55108 Veterans Park 6335 Portland Ave S Sunday June 16 - 10am or so... Richfield, MN 55423 Blind Lizard Rally Nicollet Island Wednesday August 28th - 8am North End Viking Chapter Ride to Davenport #1 Intersection of Nicollet St & Maple Place (Tentative - not confirmed) Meet at Little Oscars Restaurant Wednesday July 10 - 7pm 23470 Emery Ave Garage Get-Together/Viking BOD Meeting Hampton, MN 55031 Dave Moot‘s home 651-437-6327 2400 Maple Ave S Bloomington, MN 55431 Thursday August 29th - 7am 952-856-2695 Viking Chapter Ride to Davenport #2 Meet at Freedom Gas Station Friday - Sunday July 12 - 14 236 Broad St President‟s Ride & Campout Prescott, WI Time/place TBD Money Creek Campground Saturday September 7 - 8am 18502 County Rd 26 Viking Ride to Wings & Wheels, Osceola WI Houston MN 55943 (Tentative - not confirmed) 507-896-3544 Meet at Kerry Rasmussen‘s 9282 Stonebridge Trail N Wed July 17 - 7pm Stillwater, MN 55082 Viking General Meeting & Ice Cream Social Veterans Home Wednesday September 11 - 7pm 5101 Minnehaha Ave S Viking BOD Meeting Mpls, MN 55417 Davanni‘s Bloomington 612-548-5700 8605 Lyndale Ave S Bloomington, MN 55420 Saturday - Sunday July 27 - 28 7:30am 952-888-6232 Bring Out Yer Dead Rally Meet at Natin‘s, 7314 Chicago Ave S, Mpls, MN Sunday September 15 - 6am Ride to Sir Benedicts, 805 E Superior St, Duluth MN Viking Chapter Fall Swap Meet 218-728-1192 North Parking Lot, State Fairgrounds 1265 Snelling Ave n Saturday August 3 - 8:30am St Paul, MN 55108 Viking Chapter Ride to Sturgis 651-636-5492 (Tentative - not confirmed) Meet at Hollywood Roadhouse 5745 Co. Rd. 43 New Germany, MN 55367 3
Upcoming Events AMCA 2019 National Meets & Road Runs
June 9-12 Allegheny Chapter National Road Run Ligonier/Seven Springs, PA amcaamc.com
June 14-15 Viking Chapter National Meet St. Paul, MN (952) 443-2020 September 4-6 www.vikingmc.org Music City Chapter National Road Run Nashville, TN (615) 972-8758 June 14-15 Fort Sutter Chapter National Meet Dixon, CA September 12-14 (916) 485-1721 Yerba Buena Chapter National Road Run www.amcafortsutter.org Monterey, CA (408) 591-7607 www.yerbabuenaamca.org July 5-7 Empire Chapter National Meet Trumansburg, NY September 27-28 (315) 382-6711 Chesapeake Chapter National Meet www.empirechapter.com Jefferson, PA (410) 360-4211 www.ccamca.org July 19-21 Wauseon National Meet Wauseon, OH (419) 929-0291 www.wauseonnationalmeet.org
August 2-3 Yankee Chapter National Meet Terryville, CT (203) 272-6605 www.yankeechapter.org
August 24-25 AMCA Australia Chapter Meet BULLI Show Grounds New South Wales (near Sydney) 011-61-419-229-605 www.amcaaustralia.org
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The President’s Minute Dave Glennen Riding season is finally here. Although I have needed to reacquaint myself with riding in the cold and rain. Another late start this year, but there is good news, the June National Meet is right around the corner. June 14th and 15th will bring the Viking Chapter and AMCA members from around the country to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds to have their antique motorcycles Judged and to take in the spectacular and eclectic display of antique motorcycles. It is also an opportunity to possibly find that elusive motorcycle part you have been looking for by taking in the swap meet that is held in conjunction with the show.
This years will prove to be exciting since any Viking Chapter member that shows a 35 year or older antique motorcycle in respectable condition will be eligible to win 1 of 2 , $500 prizes. Please note that you must be in good standing with your National and Viking Chapter dues. So get those old motorcycles shined up and over to the June Meet!
We could not undertake running an AMCA National Meet without the enthusiastic help of our fellow Viking Chapter Members. There are still many volunteer opportunities available and this year we have made it easier for you to sign up and volunteer by going through Survey Monkey. Just visit the link below.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0848a9ae2da3fa7-2019.
Or give me a call at 612-616-5025 if you just like to do it the old fashion way. Volunteering will also get you a ticket to the Friday Night Banquet which is a great way to celebrate with your fellow antique motorcycle en- thusiasts.
I encourage all Viking Chapter Members to show your support for our National Meet by volunteering, show- ing an antique motorcycle, having it judged or just participating in any way that you can. I look forward to see- ing you at the Fairgrounds!
Editor’s Meanderings Cal Spooner I envy all you retired guys. I never thought that would be the case, or that it would be even possible for me to retire. I‘ve always been self-employed and not very good at putting money away. But there are so many things that I want to do - that I need to do - before I leave this world, that I have to figure out some form of retirement. And with each passing year that precious time gets more and more precious.
It‘s not just that I have too many projects, as true as that is. It seems that stuff I use everyday and depend on to live my life is constantly breaking and needing attention, and I don‘t even have time for that. And if I don‘t fix it myself, I have to drop it off, and wait… and pay lots of money for what is often shoddy work. So unless it‘s something really beyond me, I have to fix it myself. So much for hobbies. (At least one of the bikes I was going to bring to the meet will not be ready; oh well, there‘s plenty more to choose from! That‘s why we need all this redundancy.)
So I‘m trying to figure out what is retirement for me, and how to make it happen. And in my case, it will come down to quitting one of my three jobs, selling my not-needed house, and getting on Medicare at age 65, about 4 years from now. The job I have to quit involves an 80 mile round-trip 3 or 4 times a week to work a 10 hour day. It takes up 3x more time than the other two jobs combined, and pays less than either over a months time. It‘s also the job that provides fully paid benefits - good ones - and allows me to buy equipment I need for the other two jobs at cost. And that 80 mile commute is most often traveled on a vintage motorcycle…. so you see my quandary. I can‘t even really quit, but I can reduce my association to a part-time on-call relationship (that will retain my discount).
Ah, retirement. To just wake up in the morning with nothing to do… like that‘s going to happen. But maybe I‘ll have more time for a long breakfast and be able to sip my coffee, or better yet, go to Diamonds and hang out with the gainfully unemployed. And then dive in to the tons of work that I‘ve made for myself. And that will be ok - it‘s how I want to spend my time. When I trade my time for money at this stage of life, I want a lot of bang for my buck.
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Upcoming Events
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Club News! Viking Chapter National Meet 2019 Join us June 14th & 15th, 2019 for the Largest Antique Motorcycle meet in Minnesota! Vintage Motorcycle Show Details
Huge outdoor swap meet in the campground under the Minnesota State Fairgrounds water tower. Indoor show at the Progress Center Building next to the camp ground. Friday 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, Saturday 8:00 am to 6:00 pm Admission $8 - Kids 12 and under free with paying adult
Vintage Motorcycle Show Details
Huge outdoor swap meet in the campground under the Minnesota State Fairgrounds water tower. Indoor show at the Progress Center Building next to the camp ground. Friday 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, Saturday 8:00 am to 6:00 pm Admission $8 - Kids 12 and under free with paying adult
TWO SHOWS, ONE WEEKEND, ONE PLACE TO SEE IT ALL!
Together again, the Minnesota Chapter of the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club and the Viking Chapter, Antique Motor- cycle Club of America will host the largest vintage bike show in Minnesota!
MINNESOTA'S LARGEST DISPLAY OF ANTIQUE MOTORCYCLES
Over 200 motorcycles on display spanning the dawn of the motorcycling age all the way to 1993. From well known brands like Triumph and Harley-Davidson to lesser known bikes like Rudge and Bridgestone, you'll see bikes gloriously reborn as if they just rolled off the showroom floor next to barn fresh rats. Are you into custom bikes? This show isn't just about perfectly rebuilt bikes, you'll see old school choppers, cafe racers, bobbers and racers. The show's indoors, so come on down - rain or shine!
LEARN ABOUT MOTORCYCLE RESTORATION
Do you wrench on old bikes but need a little help? Do you want to take the plunge but don't know where to start? We will be holding mechanic's seminars all weekend to help you with your projects no matter what your skill level. From workshops on how to decide if a bike is worth restoring to advanced topics of Linkert Carb resleeving, our show is the place for you to get the knowledge you need. Check back often for a complete list of seminars and workshops.
MEET LOCAL MECHANICS
Did you know that the Twin Cities area is one of the best places to find vintage mechanics, services and parts? Our show is the perfect location to network with local shops and mechanics that work on the old stuff. You'll find out where you can order parts for your project and where you can bring the more difficult pieces to get the job done right.
HUGE OUTDOOR SWAP MEET
The campground surrounding the Progress Center hosts an antique swap meet full of hard to get parts for your vintage restoration project. You'll find whole motorcycles in various stages of rebirth and all those bits you've been looking for to finish that project in your garage!
OLD BIKE RIDES
Join in on a ride with the antique motorcycles. All bikes welcome. Friday evening at 8:00pm, we'll be heading out again on a ride to Lake Monster Brewing, 550 Vandalia St in St Paul.
CONTACT: Sean O'Neil [email protected] 612-508-4855
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Club News! Viking Chapter National Meet 2019 Event Schedule
Wednesday June 12th Set up only 12:00 Noon Building open to AMCA and VJMC Members for display bike delivery 8:00 PM Display building closed Thursday June 13th Set up only 9:00 AM Building open to AMCA and VJMC Members for display bike delivery 12:00 noon Gates open to pre-registered vendors 8:00 PM Display building closed Friday June 14th 8:00 AM Doors Open to the Public AMCA Judging Registration Open Swap meet opens 2:00 PM Tech Talks: Motorcycle Restoration - How to choose the right bike for you to restore? What makes a restoration difficult or easy? When to keep a bike original and when to do a complete restoration? What tools do I need to get started? Question and answer period follows the panel discussion, with your chance to solve your motorcycle restoration riddles! 5:30 PM Cash Bar at Banquet Opens - Ticket Required! 6:00 PM Registration / Information Table Closes 6:30 PM Banquet food service starts - Ticket Required! 8:00 PM Display building closed to the public AMCA Judging Registration Closed Old bike ride through St Paul's scenic parkways. All bikes welcome! Saturday June 15th 8:00 AM Doors Open to the Public AMCA Judging begins Swap meet opens 10:00 AM Tech Talks: Motorcycle Restoration - How to choose the right bike for you to restore? What makes a restoration difficult or easy? When to keep a bike original and when to do a complete restoration? What tools do I need to get started? Question and answer period follows the panel discussion, with your chance to solve your motorcycle restoration riddles! 11:00 AM Judging Seminar with Deputy Judge Roger Rimnac - If you‘re looking to bring a show winner home, or just curious about the finer details of judging old bikes, learn more from experienced AMCA judges. 12:00 Noon Tech Talks: Motorcycle Painting - A key part of any motorcycle restoration project is painting. If you're going to do it yourself, learn how to do it safely and how to make your project turn out the best that it can be! If you have tried painting before this is your chance to talk to the experts about how to take it to the next level. And even if you are planning to have another expert take care of the painting, learn about how to best collaborate with your painter. 2:00 PM Expert Panel discussion: Motorcycle Restoration - Your second opportunity to talk with the Viking Chapter experts about your restoration questions. 4:00 PM VJMC Awards Ceremony 4:45 PM VJMC President's Award and Viking Chapter People's Choice Award 5:00 PM Awarding of AMCA trophies 6:00 PM Display building closed to the public Old Bike Ride to Lake Monster Brewing. 550 Vandalia St, St. Paul. All bikes welcome! Sunday, June 16th Bike Removal and Clean-Up Only 8:00 - 10:00 AM Bike Removal and Clean-Up 10:00 AM Display building closed ALL MOTORCYCLES MUST BE PICKED UP NO LATER THAN 10:00 A.M. SUNDAY MORNING!
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Club News! Viking Chapter National Meet 2019
WE WANT TO GET NEW PEOPLE INTO OLD BIKES!
If you‟ve ever wanted to get into old motorcycles, but didn‟t know where to start, the Viking Antique Motorcycle show is just what you've been looking for to get you going!
If you‘re looking for a complete bike for sale, the club displays always include bikes for sale. If you want to start a new project, there's plenty of candidates in their outdoor swap meet. Looking for hard to find parts? You'll find them and stuff you didn't even know you needed. But more importantly, at the show you can get hooked up with the people you need to make your old bike dreams come true. You‘ll get to meet mechanics from local shops that wrench on the old stuff and find out which shops can help you order parts. There's tons of chances to learn tips and tricks from the experts: Sit in on tech seminars and find out how to prepare a bike for painting. Talk with the pros about how to choose the right bike to restore and learn what work you can do yourself and what you should consider handing off. At panel discussions, you‘ll hear from local bike builders about restoring old bikes as well as using vintage stock for special build customs, cafés, choppers and bobbers. With plenty of experts and club member enthusiasts at the show, you‘ll find what you need to finally get that old bike running again!
TECH SESSIONS ON FRIDAY
2:00 pm Tech Talks: Motorcycle Restoration - How to choose the right bike for you to restore? What makes a restoration difficult or easy? When to keep a bike original and when to do a complete restoration? What tools do I need to get started? Question and an- swer period follows the panel discussion, with your chance to solve your motorcycle restoration riddles!
TECH SESSIONS ON SATURDAY
10:00 am Tech Talks: Motorcycle Restoration - How to choose the right bike for you to restore? What makes a restoration difficult or easy? When to keep a bike original and when to do a complete restoration? What tools do I need to get started? Question and an- swer period follows the panel discussion, with your chance to solve your motorcycle restoration riddles!
12:00 Noon Tech Talks: Motorcycle Painting - A key part of any motorcycle restoration project is painting. If you're going to do it yourself, learn how to do it safely and how to make your project turn out the best that it can be! If you have tried painting before this is your chance to talk to the experts about how to take it to the next level. And even if you are planning to have another expert take care of the painting, learn about how to best collaborate with your painter.
2:00 pm Tech Talks: Motorcycle Restoration - Your second opportunity to talk with the Viking Chapter experts about your restoration questions.
THE “JERRY RICHARDS MEMORIAL” AWARD
This year an award in the memory of Jerry Richards, a long time Viking Chapter and National AMCA member will be presented. To qualify for this award the motorcycle must be one that Jerry would have owned; Harley Davidson 1949 – 1956 Hydro Glide or 1957 – 1964 Duo Glide. The decision as to what motorcycle will receive the award will be decided by the judging team.
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Club News! 2019 National Meet Featured Motorcycle - June 14-15, 2019
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the motorcycle that changed everything, the Viking Chapter has selected the Honda CB750 as the featured motorcycle for the 2019 National Meet.
From the AMA website: It‘s hard to imagine the glee that lovers of high-performance motorcycles must have felt in 1969. Suddenly, almost every major manufacturer was introducing a new big-bore bike that was leaps ahead of anything ever built before. And 1969 was transformed into the Year of the Super-bike. The most refined and sophisticated of them all, though, was Honda‘s CB750. Four cylinders. Four megaphone exhausts. A disc front brake. An overhead camshaft. Amazing fit and finish. The Honda was so revolutionary, in fact, that it overshadowed everything else in the market—the Triumph Trident, the BSA Rocket 3, the Nor- ton Commando Fastback, the Harley XLCH, the Kawasaki Mach III. Honda made this landmark step by applying what it learned from small-bore bikes and grand-prix racing to a machine clearly designed as a big-bore flagship. Engineers realized that several low-mass, smaller pistons could move faster than a few heavy ones, turning increased RPMs into more power. The Honda four-cylinder engine, like those from Indian, Ace, Henderson and others back in the teens and ‘20s, also had one more advantage over a twin—it was smooth. "At the dealership I went to, the sales trick was for them to stand a nickel on its edge on the engine cases with the thing running," says Mark Mederski, the AMA‘s vice president for marketing, who owns this machine, pre- viously on display in the Motorcycle Heritage Museum at AMA headquarters in Westerville, Ohio. "If the carbs were in sync, even at idle, the nickel wouldn‘t fall over." The bike was more than a rolling, 67-horsepower statement of technological pride from Japan‘s largest manu- facturer, though. It was also Honda‘s first marketplace shot at the big-bore Brit bikes and Harleys. For the first time, and often for less money, you could run with "serious" motorcycles while riding a Honda. The new model even won the Daytona in 1970, its first time out. The long shadow cast by the CB750 is visible even today. Transverse-mounted four-cylinder engines still power many of the most popular bikes in the ‘90s. That engine configuration now seems normal, commonplace, expected. In 1969, though, there was only one. It came from Honda. 10
Club News! NOTICE! All 2019 Viking AMCA Members Will Be Eligible To Win One Of Two $500 Cash Prizes Given To Two Lucky Winners At The 2019 AMCA National Meet In St. Paul, MN.
Display a bike and get a chance to win $500. Display 4 bikes and get 4 chances to win $500… Get the Drift?
MUST be a paid 2019 Viking Chapter member AND a paid 2019 AMCA member to be eligible. Only one prize per person. More details to follow.
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Club News Sunday, July 28, 2019 The 7th Annual 10,000 Lakes Concours d'Elegance will take place Sunday, July 28, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. in Excelsior, Minnesota!
PRESALE TICKETS PURCHASE Join us as we pay tribute to the styles, designs and engineering genius of cars, boats and motorcycles built between the late 1800's and 1980. More than 200 ve- hicles will be displayed on the show grounds against the backdrop of beauti- ful Lake Minnetonka.
Save $5 per ticket by purchasing before July 1. Tickets are available at the link below!
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS
NOMINATE TODAY! Do you own an original pre-1980 car, boat or motorcycle? Join the fun and nominate your car, boat or motorcycle today. It is free to apply and participate. Limited space is still available and the selection committee is par- ticularly seeking Brass Era and Full Classic cars, all qualifying boats and all qualifying motorcy- cles. Past participants are welcome to return, but please know that our CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR AUTOMOBILE selection committee will not accept the same CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR WATERCRAFT car, boat or motorcycle CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR MOTORCYCLE in consecutive years. 12
Club News CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS! Join the 2019 10,000 Lakes Concours d'Elegance family and sign up to volunteer today! The 10,000 Lakes Concours d'Ele- gance would not be possible without our volunteers. Oppor- tunities are available throughout the weekend. Fill out an ap- plication today by clicking the link below.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER
CHANHASSEN AUTOPLEX
The Chanhassen Autoplex is holding a Military Appreciation event as part of their Cars and Caves event season! Join them this Saturday, May 25 from 8 a.m. until Noon.Guests are encouraged to drive their collec- tor, classic or exotic car or motorcycle to display. Spectator parking is also available.
The event will feature military vehicles, live music, a program honoring veterans and a military plane flyover. The event is family friendly, open to the public and FREE! Additional information is available at the link below.
CARS AND CAVES INFORMATION
2019 PREVIEW
You will not want to miss this spectacular 1916 Buick D-45 at the 2019 10,000 Lakes Concours d'Elegance. Owned by Larry and Sandra Beatty of Shellsburg, IA, this automobile has been in the same family for 103 years! it has traveled across the country and the odom- eter currently reads a mere 123,000 miles. Learn more about its history from the Beattys at the 2019 10,000 Lakes Concours d'Elegance on Sunday, July 28!
CHARITABLE PARTNER Bridging, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization primarily serving the greater Twin Cities, provides donated furniture and household goods to people transitioning out of homelessness and poverty. Bridging gives hope – and for many – transforms their lives as they set up their new home and plan for the future. With locations in Roseville and Bloomington, Bridging is driven by volunteers and donations of basic home essential items from the community. Since 1987, Bridg- ing has served more than 90,000 Minnesota households, and reduces landfill space by 10 million pounds each year. Stay connected, donate and engage year-round! Vis- it BRIDGING.ORG to learn more and help FURNISH HOMES WITH HOPE.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO BRIDGING
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Events Donny Smith Bike Show
As one of the first real events of the year, the Donny Smith Show is a great excuse to roll out the old iron and get ready for a new season.
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Events Donny Smith Bike Show
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Events Rockers Spring Social
Rockers Spring Social tapped into the biggest deluge of rain since Noah built the Ark, but that didn‘t stop Minnesota riders from getting their Spring on! Mother Nature might have the final word, but the rainy riders will get ‘r done.
Trophies for the brave!
Tools4Teens!
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Events Rockers Spring Social
―What do you mean, the beer is gone?!?‖
That bike looks familiar… Hmmm…..
The Black Widows rock- ing out with their Surf Exotica musical styling's.
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Events More Events - Ride „em don‟t hide „em
It‘s hard to keep your first Thursdays, Last Sundays, 4th Fridays, etc. straight…. So here‘s a little chart to help. It will give you an excuse to ride that vintage bike over to the local watering hole and engage in a little conver- sation & lubrication. And I‘m not talking about lubricating your chain! A chance to meet up with like minded people and get off the couch, out of the garage, and be sociable. And if you ride a Honda, I hear you‘ll meet the nicest people. Right? Several of those listed as "contacts" have volunteered to speak at our Friday night ban- quet to tell us more about their event -- George Lee, Ralph Smith, Dave Glennen, and Ivar Natins. Thank you to the four of you! When Description Location Contact 1st Thurs- Bike Night starting at 4 pm Hollywood Roadhouse Paul Joswick day 5475 County Road 33, New Ger- 952-353-2222 many 2nd Thurs- Vintage Motorcycle Night from 6 to 10 Bauhaus Brew Lab 612-276-6911 day pm 1315 Tyler St NE, Mpls 3rd Thurs- Two Wheel Block Party 6 pm - ? Blue Cat Motors Ryan Scott day 460 N Prior Ave, St. Paul 651-645-1172 4th Friday Open House/Motorcycle Meet-Up at 6 The Moto Collective Aleks Nedish pm 211 St. Anthony Parkway, Mpls Last Satur- Cars and Caves (motorcycles welcome) 8 Chanhassen AutoPlex Gene Berghoff day to noon 8150 Audubon Rd, Chanhassen Last Sunday West Side Bikes and Brews from 4 to 7 Wabasha Brewing Company Ralph Smith pm 429 Wabasha St S, St. Paul
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Events Wabasha Brewing - Last Sundays
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Events Hollywood Roadhouse - 1st Thursdays
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Feature My $300 Rat Bike
All Rights Reserved © 2008 Thomas W. Day
[Ed note: My friend Tom Day was a motorcycle safety instructor & staff writer for MN Motorcycle Monthly. He currently publishes a blog, “Geezer with a Grudge” at http://geezerwithagrudge.blogspot.com/. (His curmedg- eonesque point of view will remind you of some of our membership.) He’s one of my favorite friends despite the fact that he hates old motorcycles and despises collec- tions.]
[The difference between the CB450 and the 650 Hyosung is that I liked the Honda more at the end of the ride while I hated everything about the Hyosung after 140 miles.]
The other "competitors" got a big jump on me. I probably should have passed on being a competitor at all, since the contest deadline conflicted with my 2nd annual "big ride," this year to Nova Scotia. My ride plan put me on the road August 1 and got me back anywhere between August 20th and the 30th. Tight schedules are not my deal. July 4th, Vic- tor announced the competitor list and, surprise, I was one. I spent most of July getting my V-Strom ready for the trip and the rest of the month finishing up my work at school, my day-gig, for the semester. My mind was on the trip, though. I checked out a few bikes before I left, but the best prospects disappeared before I could get to them. Most of the under-$300 ratters couldn't have been restored for anything less than an additional $300 in parts. My great, green hope was a KLR250 Kawasaki with a "new" motor still in the box. I really wanted a small single for my budget entry and this sounded perfect. When I saw the KLR, all hope died. The motor was in a box and had been stored under a picnic table for several years. It was rusted and seized. The rest of the bike had seen better days, although maybe not in my lifetime or in its current incarnation. Wiring dangled from the frame in almost every location. The tank was full of rust. Still, the KLR was still tempting, because I really like the 250 and have wanted one since they came out. If I had all summer to fix it up, maybe. But I'd have about two weeks, max, when I got back from Nova Scotia. I left without a rat bike on line about on my trip east. Being saddled with traditional Midwestern Guilt, I thought about the Low Buck Challenge all the way around the Great Lakes and back. Having volunteered for this event, I didn't want to completely blow my side of the bargain. It would be one thing to find a bike, get it running, and have it die on the way to the contest starting line. It's another to not even have a bike to fail on. From Minnesota to the furthest eastern point on our continent, I thought about a solution to the missing rat bike. Thinking/worrying about problems you left at home is insanely unproductive and I have to admit that it wasn't the first thing on my mind each morning as I set out to explore the east coast. As soon as I got back, on August 20, I started looking again. Any married guy who has taken an extended motorcycle trip knows that there is payback to be settled when you get home. I would have loved to spend all of my time on the rat bike, but the evening of my first night back my wife said, "Let's get started on the attic, so you can get your music crap out of my office." So, now I have two major projects; the rat bike and remodeling my attic. Maybe three projects, counting the be- ginning of school in my headlights and two new classes to plan for. Four, I still have to clean up and reorgan- ize the garage before winter. I left it a mess when I headed east at the beginning of August. Now, it's a catas- trophe. To get to the woodworking tools I need for the attic job, I need to shovel out the garage. Not being one to allow common sense to interfere with my over-commitments, I charged into looking for a project bike as soon as I got back from my trip. The attic, of course, got first priority. I'm may be a fool, but I'm not suicidal. I simply stumbled around the crap in the garage, putting that odyssey off for later.
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Feature My $300 Rat Bike I had a line on an 80's 700 Nighthawk. I hung on to that, hoping that it would work out. The Nighthawk is sort of the style of bike I like to ride. The deal hung on another guy who had been promised the bike, but had- n't touched it in months. I was never clear about the ownership of the bike, but why ask until it becomes avail- able? "[The other guy] is dug in for the long haul with the goal that it will be on the road in April. Sorry. I would have been yours if you'd done the first cast about 2 weeks earlier." I'm out of luck and back on the hunt. The beater KLR is looking better, even if still impossible. Next, a KZ440 that had sat on Craig's List from before I left for Nova Scotia until I came back. I wrote the owner who said it was available, but the title was still in the mail from the state. No problem. I asked to see it. The next day he wrote back, "Sorry, Tom. It's sold." Oh for crap's sake! Is there a Minnesota-wide plot to de- feat my rat bike hunt? I got my wife's Yamaha scooter, last year, for $300. I went out into the garage to start it up for the first time this year. It fired up after a moment on the charger. Maybe I should enter it? Cheating, I know. Still . . . My last hope was a 70's CB450 or an '83 550 Kawasaki Spectre. A friend tipped me to the CB and a Craig's List spam ad picked up the specter of a Spectre. Both bikes need lots of work and I'm in the last week of prep- aration. If these don't come through, I get to toss in my raggedy towel. "The other buyer wants to buy the bike still. If things change You will be the first to know." I didn't know there was another buyer, but there goes the Spectre. Mike Etlicher, one of the other contestants had a momentary change of heart, "Over the next day or so I'll think about whether or not the additional obligation of cash, time and storage space is worth this particular Pursuit Of Glory. So Tom, you still wanna buy a bike?" His XS400 was close enough to the kind of motorcycle I was looking for, so I wrote back to see if he was serious. Labor Day, Sev calls to be sure that I got his latest email joke and to see if I have a bike yet. I don't. He's bummed. He reminds me that Mike seemed interested in selling his rat bike. I've already replied to that offer, but haven't heard anything since. A few days later I learned that Sev applied his persuasive talents to Mike and he decided to stay in the competition. On the positive side, I managed to get all the attic sheetrock hung and finished most of the taping. The evil parts of the attic are all but finished. Is there a state-wide conspiracy forcing me to the CB450? Only my last call will decide. I called Dana, the owner of the CB450, Wednesday night; three days before the event. Being a charter member of Minnesota Nice, Dana invited me over that night to look at the bike at his home in Bloomington; about 25 minutes south. It was truly in rat bike condition. The bike hadn't been ridden since Dana rode it from his parents' home to the shed in which it now resided, in 1987. On the upside, he said it mostly worked when he parked it. The tank had about an inch of stale fuel, but no rust. The engine had compression and turned over fairly normally. The forks obviously leaked and the boots were decomposing. The front brake demonstrated no signs of life. The tires were 20 years old and the rear was bald, while the front was just cracked and hard as bakelite. The odometer had logged 18,000 miles. We settled on $200 for the bike, including Dana borrowing a trailer from a friend and towing the bike back to my house. After we got the bike unloaded and took care of the money changing and paperwork, he headed home and I started taking the bike apart. Figured out the seat latch, got the tank off, and took a walk around the bike looking for the problems I'd have to solve in the next two days. Dana had pulled the starter motor and the shaft had a fitting designed for another purpose. It took some torch work to get the fitting off. Once I removed the seat, I discovered (thankfully) the battery was gone and an electrical bit was missing. Late
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Feature My $300 Rat Bike that evening, Dana called to say he'd forgotten to grab the starter solenoid. Later, I discovered the shift lever was missing. Thursday, I set out to bring the motor to life. The first task was to pull and clean the carburetors and purge the tank of its varnish-like substance. As expected, the carbs were gummed to death. I soaked the pair in toxic carb cleaner chemicals for the morning and rinsed the tank out with kerosene followed by a few pints of fresh gas. My first expense of the project was new hoses for the fuel system, $7. Before reinstalling the tank, I pulled the petcock and discovered that it was clogged with about 2" of black fuzzy weirdness and the strainer was dis- solved. So, I dumped the whole mess into the carb chemical tank for the evening. The front brake master cyl- inder was empty, so I filled it and tried to bleed the line. No luck. The garage will stink for weeks of carb chemicals and stale gas. I made a circle around the bike, identifying missing and loose bolts and replaced a bunch, including both front engine mount bolts. The rear mount was completely missing, so I'd have to hope the engine wouldn't shake itself free from the frame on the ride. I can't do anything about that today. I did a continuity check of the alternator and the charge selenium diode. All good, although the diode has a higher than expected forward drop. That might mean insufficient current flow to keep the battery topped when the lights are running. I'd love to do a top end check, valve clearances and such, but without a replacement gasket on hand, I'm going to chicken out. I installed the starter, more for the necessary sealing than because I expected it to be useful as a starter. When I put juice to the starter, the big gear it drove just spun disconnected from the engine. I hit the internet and found a storehouse of useless information about the history of the undoubtedly important-to-mankind CB450. Eventually, I also found an owner's manual, which listed a collection of routines for starting the bike that all seemed odd. More searching and I found that the starter gear had a clutch, located behind the gear and the alternator. That clutch was the cause of a lot of Honda owner misery and explained my starter's lack of connection to the motor. It's nearly midnight and I'm done for the day. Tomorrow, Friday, I'd have to take the master cylinder apart and see why it appears to be pressure-less. Dana said it was working when he parked the bike. Maybe I'll luck out. So far, my luck has been mediocre. Friday, most things went well for me. I pulled the petcock from the stinking chemicals and found it to be good; and clean. Back on the tank it went. The tank went back on the bike. The new supply hoses were all strung and I checked the tank for flow and the carburetors for the rare instance of float jet and needle similari- ty. Both carbs held fuel and there were no signs of flow in the clear fuel lines once the bowls were full. Amaz- ing, probably the first occurrence of this miracle in the history of Klein carbs. I tried kicking it over, without a battery, and had no luck. I decided either the charging system was toast or the bike needed some assistance from the battery for spark juice. I'm due in Bloomington to pick up the shift lever and the starter solenoid and a receipt for the bike during Dana's short lunch break. I thing, from expo- sure to the garage chemicals, I'm slightly stoned because I have never felt so unfocused on the motorcycle. Traffic is heavy and that adds to the terror. How do people ride drunk? This trip has scared the crap out of me. Two hours later, I'm back to work. Installing the solenoid gets the bike almost ready to try to fire up. Before that, I have to flush the engine, install fresh oil, and clean the centripetal filter. That's done in another hour and it's time to try the motor. I hooked up a car battery to the system and test the starter motor. It spins, but doesn't spin the motor. I tried kick starting the bike, about two dozen kicks worth, and only get an occasional burping for my money. However, I sort of discovered the routine for the starter. If I bump the starter button while slowly turning the engine with the kick-lever, the starter clutch will catch and spin the engine. Usually, it would catch for a se- cond and let go, but once it caught and spun the engine several revolutions and the engine fired up. Now, I know I have spark and fuel. Not enough fuel, apparently, so I applied a little starter fluid to the carbs while doing my starter button and kick-lever balancing act. After a few tries, the bike fires and stays running. I let it run for a several minutes, to let the engine get to operating temperature, before shutting it down and checking for fluid leaks. The bottom of the motor is dry, the carb floats still seal, and seriously noxious fumes are com- ing from the exhaust. I'm not leaking oil, but I suspect I'm burning quite a bit. No time for analysis, I'm off to Fleet Farm for a battery (after hitting up the usual suspects on the local MC web for a used battery for a day or two). An hour burned getting and filling the battery and the charging rou- tine burns a couple of hours while I work on other problems.
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Feature My $300 Rat Bike My two biggest remaining problems are title and license documentation and the lack of a front brake. The title crap is the hardest of the two, so I'm off to the DMV. Two hours later, at 5PM on the dot, I have paper- work and am out $40-some bucks for my bucket of bolts. It's really hard to remember why I wanted to do this after spending time with government employees. They were specially jacked about the fact that this bike had- n't seen a license plate or taxman since 1985. I didn't know there were so many supervisors in Roseville, until my DMV'er started asking for advice. Back at the garage, I attach my new plates and tear off the front brake and master cylinder. All are filled with a brown goop that resembles mud soaked in fish snot. I pulled the brake mechanism apart and cleaned and greased the bits. A can of brake cleaner and the fish snot is gone, replaced by DOT3 brake fluid and sixty- zillion hand pumps later I have front brakes. The battery is charged and installed. The bike fires on the first kick, a half-dozen times in a row. I rode it to the local gas station at 11PM, filled it up and returned it to the garage. After an hour loading the converted Sears-saw-to-faux-GIVI tailbox with tools, gear, maps, and stuff, I went inside and loaded some data into my Garmin 2620 for the next morning's trip to MMM's headquarters. Totally stoned by chemical fumes, I fell into something a little like sleep and more like a neural-hemorrhaged coma. 4:30AM came no more than an hour after I actually experienced sleep. I think I was shutting off the alarm before I realized I was standing. All my gear was prepared and I suited up before eating breakfast. My wife was coming along to hang with Tammy and Victor, at least for the morning, so she was up and a lot more perky than me. Parts of my brain were just getting used to living beside the dead cells I'd destroyed in the pre- vious two days. Maybe the live cells were digesting the chemically destroyed dead ones and later events would be explained by that poorly considered biological activity. I got the GPS installed in my wife's car, gave her a short demo on how to follow it, and headed for the garage. With the car battery still hooked to the charger and jumpered to the bike battery, I gave the CB a kick and got . . . nothing. Not a burp. I tried my kick-lever-starter-button routine and the starter motor spun freely without making the slightest effort to turn the motor. I went back to futilely kicking the bike's lever for a few moments until the bike began to slip off of the centerstand. I moved it off of the centerstand to the sidestand and remembered that this bike had something that I haven't had to mess with on my own bikes for 15 years; an OFF position to the fuel petcock. I turned on the fuel, pumped the throttle, full-choked the carbs, and gave it a kick. The bike roared to life, then began to stall. I turned the choke off and the bike went back to a 4,000 rpm blast. I'd set the idle to about 2k out of concern for the rough sound of the lower idle action, but 4k was a lot more than I wanted to wrestle with on the road. Thinking about getting into my tool box and resetting the idle, I started to get off of the bike. While this crap was going on, my wife was waiting in the car, watching her husband fool with a 37-year- old pile of junk, wondering why she had hauled herself out of bed at 4:30 for this "experience." I couldn't have explained it to her, if I had tried. Mostly, I'd promised Vic and Sev that I'd have a bike for this damned event and I was going to have one if it killed me or made me more stupid. Later, 290 miles later, I'd learn why the morning started off the way it did. At 5AM, in the headlight lit garage, I was only confused. When I put my weight on my left foot, it slid out from under me and the whole mess -- bike, battery cables, and all -- came down on me. Mad as hell, I picked up the bike, rewired the battery connections, kicked it back to life, knocked off the jumper cables, slammed the seat down, and roared out into my neighborhood on my pre-EPA, pre-DOT noise-regulated little red Honda, fumbling with the light switch in the morning dark. I'd told my wife that I wanted to start out heading east on County Road C, avoiding the freeway until I had the feel of the bike. So she took that route, ignoring the British-accented GPS voice chanting "off route, recal- culating" every block or two. The CB's headlight was pathetic. At best, it lit about 30' of road, dimly, in a pattern about as wide as the back of my wife's Taurus. If this event involved night riding, I'd be leaving the bike on the side of the road and hitchhiking back home. I avoid riding at night, with real headlights. With 1971 bike lights, there would be no question of my giving up the competition in exchange for another day of life. After a few miles of slow speed travel, I had the feel of the CB450: slightly heavy steering with a constant right pull, a vicious headshake with any deceleration or steady throttle which slackened a bit with accelera- tion, reasonably predictable brakes, a motor that felt deceptively strong but ran out of steam long before red- line and at about 62mph, a clunky transmission, and a seriously uncomfortable seat. While riding the CB, I
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Feature My $300 Rat Bike was constantly reminded of the Hyosung cruiser I'd test-ridden a few months back. The same unfinished, al- most-right feel of the Korean bike was there in that old Honda. I almost felt at tinge of sympathy for Hyosung engineers, knowing that in 2008 they were starting at almost exactly the same point where Honda was 37 years ago.
When I thought I knew the CB's handling problems, I told my wife "follow the GPS" to MMM's office. Fol- lowing driving instructions has never been one of my wife's skills. We have shared 41 years of her being com- pletely unable to follow simple driving direction, no matter how they are delivered. So, I immediately recog- nized the flaw in my plan. I hadn't been to the MMM office often or recently and it was too dark for me to be able to read the map on my tankbag. I was stuck following her, but she was making random turns, constantly looping back on herself, and turning the opposite from the direction that I knew the GPS was di- recting her. As I helplessly rode behind this ran- dom motion vehicle, all those years of "turn right in two blocks" followed by an instant lane-change to the left and the associated immediate left turn, began to deteriorate my sleep-deprived, chemi- cally-damaged patience. After an hour of thermal-noise motion, we were close to our destination but my wife kept hopping over the freeway and diving into dead-end front- age roads. Finally, freaked-out, late, and driven almost nuts in frustration, I pulled in front of her and asked what the hell she was doing. "You said you didn't want to be on the freeway" was the re- sponse. "I said, 'Follow the GPS,' didn't I?" "Oh, yeah." We, finally, hit the freeway for a few miles, turned off one exit past the one where I knew we should have exited, and turned . . . the wrong way. More random motion and wrong direction turns followed. I could im- agine the GPS constantly repeating "off route, recalculating" and, before the recalculation was done, more random motion would set the routine off again. I managed to direct her into a mall parking lot, got into the car, pointed out the pink line telling her where the GPS wanted her to go, reminded her that she has to listen to the whole instruction before turning randomly, etc. I was still wearing my earplugs. I was frustrated and worn out. And pretty loud. My wife just blows me off,. Somebody didn't and called the police. We didn't get out of the parking lot before getting pulled over. After explaining our situation, separately, the cops gave us really bad directions to our destination. I called Victor and got more directions, which I forgot almost instant- ly. And we took off, sort of following the GPS again. After correcting her from several false turns, we ended up on the right road going in the right direction. I chose that moment to stop following her and, in the dawning light, I attempted to sort out where we were. She chose that moment to focus on the GPS instructions and headed straight to our destination. We'd been going in circles for so long that I was lost, even when I sort of knew where we were. In the meantime, she'd found the house, spotted the other bikers, and come back for me while I was still blindly wrestling with the squiggly lines of the map. Clearly, I wasn't operating at full capacity. I might have been there for another hour, staring at the meaningless squiggly lines on the map.
We got to the start about 20 minutes late and frazzled. Lucky for me, Victor and Tammy are terrific hosts and were very patient with the bunch of us. Others were also late. After sign-in, photos, official voting on a variety of topics like "least likely to be resold" and "best accessorized," and a lot of BS'ing, we hit the road to- ward Appleton. The CB450's steering was really unstable at any speed under 25mph and over 55mph. Sort of like a vicious radar monitor, the headshake kept me in a tight range of speeds and my hands are buzzing and numb. It takes
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Feature My $300 Rat Bike a constant right hand pressure to keep the bike from making a long, slow right turn. Letting go of the bars with either hand will start up a tank-slapper that will end badly. This leg of the challenge was about 150 miles long. At the first gas stop, in Litchfield, my lit- tle Honda had lost about a quart of oil and the engine was too hot to touch. I pulled the oil filler cap with pliers. Just before that stop, the transmission began to stiffen up, making shifting unpredictable and I had trouble hitting 1st gear at several stops. I had a quart of oil in my box and added all of it to the engine to get it back to full.
We headed out again, toward Murdock via US 12. At Murdock, I spotted a filling station and stopped to buy more oil, but Kevin, the following truck, and my wife blew by me and turned on a country road and headed south. I gave up on the oil and set out to catch them. My transmission was really stiff now and took careful positioning between gears to be able to shift up or down. We kept going, full tilt to Appleton. The bike was hotter than the first stop and both carbs were leaking, just like normal Kleins. In fact, before I got to the petcock, the right carb was pouring gas on the glowing hot engine. I bought two quarts of oil and a can of JB Oil Leak Stopper. Like the good American I am, I dumped the entire can of JB into the oil filler and 2/3 quarts of oil. For the first two gas stops, the Honda got 32 and 34mpg. From Appleton, we headed to the first Challenge event and a lunch break. Lunch was fine, with occasional attempts at sabotage from various competitors. That effort was a waste of time, since we would find ways to sabotage ourselves. On the way to the first challenge, only a few yards away, Mike demonstrated his dirt bike skills, crashed on a little hillside loop and gave us a demo of how not to climb a hill with a KZ440. After disentangling himself from the hill, his bike, and such, we all proceeded to the Challenge start. The ORV park had what Victor called "an enduro track." We were all supposed to make one practice and one timed lap around the track for Challenge 1. I watched a kid on a modern dirt bike do the track and got an idea of the track's difficult sections. My Honda would- n't kickstart and I had to put the fuel petcock in reserve and bump start it rolling it down the hill toward the track. After Lee snapped off his custom footpegs on a jump and Mike crashed on the first jump, I took the first full lap around the track. My bike stalled on the first corner and took a dozen or so kicks to bring it back to life. It stalled, again, before a big jump near the end. Again, I kicked the snot out of the bike before it fired up. When I got to the end/start, I decided to go before anything else happened. So, I took the first timed trial.
To keep the motor from stalling again, I stayed on the gas a lot harder than I'd planned. My plan was to avoid getting any air because I figured the frame would break in half, but the stall-avoidance plan overrode the frame conservation plan and I booked a little quicker on the first two jumps than my plan, but the bike stayed together. Plowing my way through the first turn, I was embarrassed that I didn't have the balls to do any damage to the berm. Pulling out of the curve, I lined up the first whoop and hit it squarely. I heard a crunch when the back tire hit ground and expected to
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Feature My $300 Rat Bike come to a crashing halt on the upside of the 2nd whoop. When that didn't happen, I realized that my Sears tailbox had popped open and dumped my gear on the track. The crunch was my gear and the box lid hitting the ground. So, I kept going the way I'd been going. I suspect nobody ever hopped the track's whoops any lamer, but I managed to clear each whoop and land as lightly as a CB450 lands on the upside of the next upslope. Through the whoops, the track took me through a trio of nicely bermed curves, which I took sitting down and at a comfortable speed, steering with the rear wheel. The exit of the curves led to a long uphill and a bigger dropoff. Again, I tried to minimize my air time, but drifted all the way down the hill before both wheels touched ground, more or less together. Not much impact, but enough to bottom the suspension and shake up the bike pretty soundly. All I had left was a bumpy straight back to Sev. When I finished the lap, I parked my bike and walked back to pick up my stuff. On the way to the whoops, I watched some of the local guys on real (modern) dirt bikes. They got a lot of air on the jumps, but practically stopped on the banked curve before the whoops. Two of the four avoided the whoops altogether and one of the two who did take my route didn't do the whoops much quicker than me. I felt better about my performance.
As I was picking up my gear, I found three 10-12" 1/8" pieces of all-thread that had been stuck into the track. They were bent over in the track's direction of travel, so they had once, obviously, been placed like spikes to catch a tire or rider. A little pissed, I pulled them out of the track and tossed them into the grass outside of the riding area. Real dirt bikers walk the track before they ride it and this is a reminder of an- other reason why. I found my gear, piled it all in the box lid and hiked back to the Honda. The other guys took their laps and we gathered at the top of the hill to hear our scores. I won. Lee came in second, Kevin was third, and Mike played it safe and came in last. Pretty cool, huh? From the first trial, we headed back into Appleton toward Granite Falls. Just outside of Granite Falls, shifting became really complicated and doing the bal- ancing act between gears got harder and harder. About the time we passed Highway 23, the bike locked into 3rd and wouldn't shift. We turned onto Pete's Point Road and for the next 40-some miles to Morton I was stuck in 3rd. I guess if you have to be stuck in a gear on a 1971 Honda CB450, 3rd is the one to be in. When I came to the stop sign in Morton, the bike sput- tered and died. Sev and Gus were there, taking pictures of school girls or something, and they helped me push the bike on the sidewalk and out of traffic. I was pretty shot from 220 miles of the Challenge plus my mornings' 40 miles of wandering between my house and MMM headquarters. The constant wobble, handlebar buzz, and engine/transmission worries had about worn down my ancient stamina. It took me a few moments to get into troubleshooting mode. Eventual- ly, I pulled out the DMM and discovered the battery had 7V of charge. Sev and my wife raced to get out their jumper cables and Elvy won. Sev appeared to be insulted and humiliated at the same time. Beaten by a girl, he was officially a cable wuss. We charged the bike from the car for a while. I checked the oil level and added an- other quart. Sev fiddled with the shifter, trying to see if the mechanism could be coaxed back to life. When I thought the battery was either charged or fried, I gave it a try and it started up on the first kick.
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Feature My $300 Rat Bike
Thinking I might be able to ride some more of the route, I pushed off of the centerstand and rolled down the hill to make a U-turn and get back on the road. Turned out, Sev must have found a way to put the bike into neutral, per- manently. We loaded the CB on the follow truck and Gus took a picture of me mounted and on the back of the truck. I pulled off my gear and tossed it into the back of our car. For the rest of the event, my wife and I enjoyed some wonderful Minnesota scenery from the comfort of our cage. The 2nd Challenge leg ended at the Harkin Store. The event was a battery removal and reinstallation. About the time the guys started removing and installing their batteries, I dis- covered there was more sandwich stuff in the truck and cookies. While I was making a snack, it started raining.
For the next 100-some miles, it rained non-stop between really hard to a steady drizzle. The 3rd Challenge was about 80 miles later and everyone was wet and cold for the 1/4 mile drag race on a gravel road. I loaned Lee my Stitch's liner, since his sweatshirt was drenched. I tried to loan Gus my helmet, but he seemed so zoned and frozen that he looked through me like I was speaking French. When the race was done, everyone wrapped themselves up in gear and watched me crawl into the dry, warm car with looks that were less than friendly. Of course, Vic and Tammy were in a cage, too, but they are the bosses and can get away with stuff easier than a wimpy old fart. However, I quickly forgot about their bitter attitudes when my wife reached over to rub my sore neck as she drove. I leaned into her massage and cranked up the heater. I could have taken a nap, but I behaved responsibly and followed the route sheet to keep her on course. In the spirit of the event, I always smiled at the guys when we stopped for fuel or just out of misery. The last bit of the Challenge was miserable as the sun and the temperature went down as the remaining 3 competitors rode through Young America. Now, it was dark, cold, wet, and dangerous. Mike and Lee blasted ahead at their usual blistering pace and my wife and I tailed Kevin on his KLR250 and Sev and Gus on the Su- zuki sidecar rig. They got to MMM's office about 9PM and everyone was wet, chilled, and worn out. I was in pretty good shape, although my hands and arms were still buzzing from the CB's fine ride. MMM fed us pizza and cookies and the winner, Lee, fol- lowed by runner-up Mike and 3rd place Kevin re- ceived paper versions of their trophies. I got a "should have spent more" award for my DNF. When I got back home, I discovered a neat lit- tle pool of oil and a long oily skid mark where my boot had slipped in the leak from the CB's shifter that morning. Sev delivered the dead CB the next morning and, now, I'm looking for someone to take it away and give it a better home. If I'd have had a couple more days to work on the 450, I could have mounted better tires. I might have found a better way to seal up the transmission leak, which might have saved the transmission. I
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Feature My $300 Rat Bike definitely could have revived the charging circuit. In the end, though, I'd have DNF'd. I don't ride at night, es- pecially in the rain and cold with miserable lights. I'd have quit about Young America, if nothing had failed on the CB. Call me gutless. Call me a wimp. Call me a quitter. Call me alive. My eyes suck. My depth perception vanishes when the sun goes down. Add rain on the face shield and I might as well ride blindfolded. The CB probably died at exactly the right moment. As for my experience with a street bike from my own era, I learned a thing or two about "vintage." In 1971, I was as interested in street bikes as I am in seeing the "Sex in the City" movie. I rode a Kawi KZ500 triple about six blocks about that time and it scared the crap out of me. I didn't get on a street bike again until I bought my CX500 in 1981. The CB450 kind of grew on me in the 275-or-so miles I rode and worked on it. The difference between the CB450 and the 650 Hyosung is that I liked the Honda more at the end of the ride while I hated everything about the Hyosung after 140 miles. Honda was on the way to getting it right in 1971. Hy- osung's long-term status is still questionable. Other than the problems previous owners had provided for me to locate and fix, the CB was rideable, had decent pow- er, and could be made comfortable with a few modifica- tions to the seat. If I were inclined toward messing with "vintage" machines (a distasteful term, since "vintage" means a product from my youth), the Honda CB450 would be a worthy project. Once the CB was back in my garage, the "challenge" stuck with me. Immediately, I called the kid at Kath Brothers to see if he really wanted a project bike. He hasn't returned my call, as of mid-October. I put the bike on Craig's List: Getting rid of the Honda was as traumatic as buying it. At first, I came up with a snappy Craig's list ad, thanks to some cool pictures from Gus taken during the Challenge. 1971 Honda CB450 This old girl is in need of serious TLC. I bought it for an event, which you will be able to read about in the Winter issue of Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly Magazine. Suffice to say, she did not survive the trip. The bike, initially nicknamed "The Bitch," had been in storage since 1985. It was in sad shape when I pushed it into my garage, but -- working under a limited budget and with even more limited skills -- I managed to coax the bike back to life. After scrubbing the twin carbs, flushing and replacing all of the fluids, repairing the front brake, and ignoring the terrible condition of the tires, the bike came to life and seemed to be ready to ride a reasona- ble distance. In fact, I managed to squeeze almost 250 miles out of the old, abused bike before the transmission decided to stick in 3rd. I have to admit, JB Stop Leak was tried and failed. After stopping to re- charge the battery (the electric system appears to be short on the energy necessary to charge the bat- tery when the lights are on) and to try to convince the transmission to give me more gears to play with, we managed to stick the bike in neutral and that was all she wrote. The transmission leaked oil at the shifter lever and, due to the demands of the event, I wasn't able to constantly replenish the oil level. I think that is what caused the transmission to die. The motor was running strong, even after the transmission quit working. The brakes are surprisingly strong, for the peri- od. The CB450 was one of the first production
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Feature My $300 Rat Bike bikes to receive a disk front brake. The paint is what you'd expect from a 37-year old bike that hasn't always been garage stored (although it was in a garage for 23 years). There is rust on the chrome, but the exhaust pipes are in pretty decent shape. The frame is also in good condition and I didn't have any unusual com- plaints about the suspension. In fact, I had more fun riding the old Honda than I did when I test rode a Hy- osung 650 a few months back. For sure, it needs work but if you are a vintage Japanese bike fan it would probably be worth the effort. Don't bother to ask about a test ride, it will start but it won't go anywhere. If you want it, you'll have to have a way to transport it. I'm asking $250 for the CB, but that's negotiable. There are some serious fans of the Honda CB450 and there are lots of resources for re- storing the bike. I could probably part it out on eBay for a lot more cash, but I'm old and lazy. I just want the space in my garage back. The ad got me a lot of email replies, but practically no one actually came to look at the bike. I suspect that pictures of me jumping the old girl off of a motocross cliff didn't do much for my case. Mostly, I gave half- hearted replies to inquires because the State of Minnesota had failed to expedite my title I paid for the service, they just didn't provide any service for the payment. In fact, selling my rat bike turned out to be as big a hassle as buying it was. When Victor and the other judges gave me and the old Honda the "most likely to rot in the garage" award, I thought they were nuts. After a month, I was re-evaluating who was nuts in that transaction. In early November, I found a buyer who was not overly concerned with the title and just wanted the bike for parts for two other CB450s he was rebuilding. He hauled it away and I cleaned up the oil spill in my gar- age. After he got it home, he wrote to tell me how surprised he was that the old girl would actually start. I was- n't surprised at all. I can't say I suffered much seller's remorse. I'm back to riding my modern bikes and appreciate them all the more because of the Challenge experience. If I can avoid it, the bikes I own from here out will be the oldest bikes I will ever own. I didn't like 1970's street bikes in 1970, why would I like them now? Two months after I sold the rust bucket, MMM ran another ad "for me" along with the publishing of the Challenge results in the winter issue. This time, I got a few more emails and several calls about the bike. It, of course, was long gone. Thanks Sev. There is still an oil stain where the Honda was parked for a month. It will probably wash out with the salt and winter muck this spring. Other than that stain, I have only this article and the money I was paid for being part of the Challenge to remind me of the Honda experience. The money and the bike are gone. Good rid- dance. Postscript: Remember the category my Honda won at the MMM inspection, "least likely to be resold"? Yeah, thanks for the curse guys. The first buyer of the CB450 was willing to take the bike away before the official title arrived. A couple of weeks later, the title showed up and I mailed it to the address he had provided. A month later, I got a call from the buyer claiming he'd never received the title. I don't know about you, but I don't have much trouble with the USPO and always doubt folks who claim "the check is in the mail" or "it must have gotten lost." However, he was trying to sell the bike and wanted me to help with getting a new title. Since we're talking about a $250, 38 year old dead bike, I wasn't particularly motivated to put much time into that project. I offered to meet him at the Roseville DMV if he ever managed to make it to our area. In February, another guy called claiming to be the current owner of the CB and hot on the rebuild project. I made him the same offer. In April, yet another new owner of the POS called with the same story. You know the "6-degrees of separation" theory of how we are all connected? I figure by the end of 2009, I will be connected to every person on this planet through that POS Honda.
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Member Stories Be That Person - From Ron Spargo
How many times have we all heard the question of how to attract younger members to our club? It is a common problem in most all enthusiast clubs from cars, bikes, model trains, planes, boats, etc. etc. Name a group and my guess is the issue has been discussed. Over the years Viking Chapter elected officials and board members have heard as many or more reasons than a lot of clubs including: old bikes are not dependable; can‘t get parts; too expensive to have someone fix it; not fast enough for modern traffic; only old guys ride old bikes, and the list of excuses goes on and on. The interest- ing thing is that none of the excuses are entirely wrong or are they entirely right. I am not only a member of the Viking Chapter AMCA but also a member of the Ohio Valley BSA Owners Club. As one would expect, the OVBSAOC is also dealing with an ageing membership especially considering that the last BSA left the factory almost 50 years ago. Most of the young folks that we are trying to attract have never heard of a BSA as well as the many other brands we cherish and enjoy. It‘s no wonder they just don‘t seem to be all that interested in our old iron. High tech toys are winning the day. Ted Guthrie is the president of the OVBSAOC and wrote an article for his club newsletter this month that speaks to the issue of reaching out to younger riders. I have included a transcript of the article, with Ted‘s permission, and ask that every one of you read it and then tell yourself, ―I can do that!‖ Here it is.
“Our President‟s Page” - with Ted Guthrie
Most all of us have a great story to tell about how we got started in motorcycling. For some fortunate indi- viduals, motorcycling was and is a family affair – bikes were simply always around, and it was just natural to climb on and begin riding. Or, to a lesser extent, there was at least one older sibling who was into bikes. Still basically inside the family. For many however, interest in motorcycles was an unfamiliar, and quite often unwelcomed diversion from what was typical within one‘s own immediate family. If you consider yourself among this group, chances are there was something or someone in particular, which (or who) first attracted you to the sport of motorcycling. Maybe it was an adventurous Uncle (or Aunt), or a neighbor, or a friend. Whatever the case, chances are there was someone who first got you interested in bikes. Now the next best thing to being a part of a motorcycling family was to have a bunch of buddies, and you all got into bikes about the same time, and rode and wrenched together, and everybody helped everybody to progress into the sport. Ah, but what about those individuals who absolutely love bikes, and manage to get into riding, but really have no one to team up with and help them along? Well, that was me! Oh sure, there was a bunch of us kids around the old neighborhood, who all got minibikes about the same time back in the 70‘s, and a few even graduated into small trailbikes. Ah, but then the teen years came along, girls and cars became the focus of interest for most, and before I knew it, all my buddies had moved away from the bikes. I was left alone to try to advance myself in the sport – learn how to work on my motorcycles, figure out where to ride beyond the old strip mines up past the end of the road, get a license and begin riding on the road, get myself into racing, and so on and so forth. Well, I did it, and here I am, fifty years later and still heavily immersed in the sport. And, I did figure out all the stuff which led me to where I am. But you know what? It was a long, tough, and lonely effort. Oh sure, I eventually hooked up with like-minded individuals, got into a club, found some support, etc, etc. However, the one thing I never had, and what would have made a HUGE difference for me back in the days, was a mentor. Yep, if I‘d been lucky enough to have hooked up with someone, anyone, back in the early days, to show me the how's and where's – how to work on the bikes, what tools to use, go riding with me, take me along to events, get me into racing (the right way), my early experiences, and trials and errors, would have been much, much better. So here I am, fifty years later, and I am that person – the mentor, and I love it. Any situation which comes along and provides the opportunity to get someone involved in motorcycling, and/or help them along in their efforts to progress in the sport – I‘m on it! And you know what? You can be too! How? Simply be available. Out riding your cool, classic bike and someone comments favorably on it? Engage them in conversation! Who knows what you might spark? Kid down the street asks you to help him change a tire? Get after it! Your niece or nephew (or great-niece/nephew, or grandkids) express interest in the bikes? Show ‘em the ropes! There is no better way to perpetuate sport – especially as it pertains to the vintage bikes, than to be someone who is remembered as ―that person who got me started‖. Be that person!
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Member Stories What is it? By Jim MacCallum
I originally sent these in to the then editor of the ―What is It‖ column that appeared for a while in the bi-monthly AMCA National magazine as I thought it might be sufficiently strange and unique that some- one might know what it is beyond the obvious. How- ever, I did receive a note from him that he was expe- riencing medical issues and have not heard from him since. So - here is a few of the set of pictures that I took of my what‘s it. The shots show, respec- tively, an overview of the complete assembly, a de- tail shot showing how the drum and hub assemble together, and a comparison between a 1948 & up Indian Chief front brake drum backing plate c/w speedo, and the mystery equivalent. I used the 1948
Chief as my comparative basis because both these sub-assemblies shared a common as- pect in that they possessed a version of a front wheel speedometer drive. This was a modification that Indian introduced for the ‗48 production year. However, by also by direct physical comparison, the drive for the 1948 Chief and the one for the URO (―Unidentified Rolling Object‖) display dis- tinct differences in their respective outer housings and the backing plates them- selves. Beyond this, what is most strikingly different is that the URO brake drum is a two piece design with a removable drum, unlike the norm which typically would have been an integrated hub and drum configu-
ration. For purposes of maintenance or re- placement, a design of this type would al- low the drum to be turned or swapped out without disturbing the hub bearings or seals. This is more an automotive way of thinking. I have it all in a box and could bring it with when I head for the Viking meet if someone made me a serious offer. It has no application to any of my projects so it would be for sale or trade to whoever could use it for a replacement or a restora- tion; as a unit; I am not parting it out, too unique.
Jim MacCallum [email protected]
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Humor
I was rummaging through the effects of my great-uncle, Major- General Tremorden Rederring, KCB, and found this photo of Bart. Capt. Isidore Dunn-Spagthorpe, late of the Royal Flying Corps., test- ing the Spagthorpe unirotor at his seaside villa near Tintagel in 1931. Both Capt. Dunn-Spagthorpe and the prototype came to an unfortu- nate end when the Captain‘s trademark silk aviator scarf fouled an idler wheel, breaking his neck and pitching the machine over a cliff edge into the crashing surf of an outgoing tide. Neither the Captain nor the prototype was ever recovered. This ended Spagthorpe‘s inter- est in the monowheel concept. The machine, according to pencilled notes on the back of the photo, had been given the developmental title ―Mongrel,‖ but, had it endured to production status, would undoubt- edly have been provided with a more marketably euphonious appela- tion. What appears to be the word ―Rottweiler‖ is faintly inscribed in a lower corner of the back, and it is possible that this was the projected product name.
Beyond this, not much is known about the Spagthorpe Rottweiler ex- cept that it had a chain-driven oil filter.
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Want Ads
2001 Moto Guzzi V11 Sport One owner, new tires front and rear, needs rear brake rotor, needs engine tuneup. The original air box was removed and K & N air filters were installed. Mistral after market mufflers. The speedometer was replaced so the new one shows zero miles on the odometer. The original speedometer shows 13,548 miles. Engine num- ber 013232. Maier fairing. $3950. Arlen Johnson 763-670-9701 (cell) 763-497-8555 (work) [email protected]
(Savvy buyers want to know if non-oxygenated gas has always been used, because the plastic tank can absorb the alcohol in standard oxygen- ated gas and cause swelling of the tank. The an- swer is YES, non-oxy gas has always been used. The tank has no signs of expansion. )
FOR SALE: 1994 BMW R1100 RS 34,834 miles Assorted spare parts and maintenance Accessories: items Tank bag w/tank bra Tinted windshield Asking Price: $3000 Headlight stone shield Battery charging port Contact Gary Corbin touring seat with passenger Email: [email protected] backrest Phone: 612-644-8717
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Want Ads
FOR SALE: Goulding LS29 Sidecar 1930s vintage Rolling frame restored complete Body needs completion, I have all parts and repro upholstery $4,500.00 Kim 952-929-4961 [email protected]
WANTED: HRD/Vincent project bike, basket case, pile of parts or a single part, Wanted: Ducati Monster (600cc to 750cc) sheet metal, tools, books, etc. Prefer injected over carbs Please contact me about the items you Prefer with lowering kit for shorter rider have. Thanks, Tim. Prefer with original body work and signals Email [email protected] or Email [email protected] or call call 651-675-6560, 9am - 9pm MN 651-675-6560, 9am - 9pm MN
1963 BMW R50/2. All original with title. Engine stuck. $4000.
George [email protected] 612-483-7606
WANTED: Info on any other Zundapp WANTED: Altette horn, 6 volt, proba- Bella scooter owners in the bly made by Lucas, for old British bike. club or in the near area. Please I can send you a picture. give me a call. [email protected] Thanks!! or call/text 612-532-1112 Dave Rademacher 763 755 8520 [email protected]
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Want Ads Books for Sale 13. The Scrapbook Series I - Triumph Paperback Originally from Jack Crane‟s Collection James Robinson Email [email protected] or call Paperback $12.00 651-675-6560, 9am - 9pm MN 14. The Scrapbook Series I - BSA Paperback 1. Indian Four Motorcycles by Jerry Hatfield and James Robinson Jeff Hackett Paperback $ 10.00 Out of Print, 128 pages, Color and B&W photos. 8.5 x 0.5 x 10.5 inches $40.00 15. Triumph Bonneville & Tr6 (Motorcycle Color History) by Timothy Remus 2. Classic British Motorcycles Book By Bob Currie Paperback $20.00 Hard Cover Book $ 7.50 16. The Illustrated Motorcycle Legends: Yamaha 3. Classic British Bikes by Andrew Kemp and by Roy Bacon Mirco DeCet Paperback $ 30.00 Hard Cover Book $ 17.00 17. The Illustrated Motorcycle Legends: Triumph 4. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Motorcycles: by Roy Bacon More Than 2,500 Marques- From 1894 edited Paperback $ 8.50 by Erwin Tragatsch Hard Cover Book 1984 edition $ 15.00 18. The Illustrated Motorcycle Legends: BSA by Roy Bacon 5. AJS 7R by Mick Walker Paperback $ 20.00 Paperback $ 40.00 19. The Motorcycle A Definitive History; A com- 6. Norton (Classic Motorcycles) Don Morley prehensive chronicle of motorcycles throughout Paperback $ 10.00 the world by John Carroll Hardcover $5.00 7. Triumph (Classic Motorcycles) Don Morley Paperback $ 10.00 20. Original Triumph Bonneville, A restore's guide to all models 1959-1983 by Gerard Kane 8. Triumph Motorcycles: Twins and Triples by Hardcover $ 40.00 Timothy Remus Paperback $ 20.00 21. Modern Motorcycles Mechanics by JB Nichol- son seventh edition 9. Illustrated Triumph Motorcycle Buyer's Guide Hardcover $45.00 (Illustrated Buyer's Guide) Paperback $7.50 22. The Ultimate Motorcycle book, by Hugo Wil- son 10. Illustrated BSA Buyers Guide by Roy Bacon Hardcover $15.00 Paperback $15.00 23. The World of Motorcycles; an illustrated en- 11. Classic British Motorcycles: The Cutting Edge cyclopedia - Road Bikes 1950-1972 Hardcover $ Steve Wilson, Hardcover $7.50 25. Triumph T140 Bonneville and Derivatives 12. Triumph Motorcycles in America by Brooke & 1973-1988, by Roy Bacon Gayle Hardcover $ 7.50 Paperback $40.00
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Want Ads 26. Triumph, T90 & T100 Unit Twins; 1960-1974 40. Original Vincent Motorcycle, A restorers by Roy Bacon Guide to postwar singles and twins by JP Bick- Hardcover $ 10.00 erstaff Hardcover $25.00 27. Norton Commando, All Models, by Roy Bacon Hardcover $10.00 41. Triumph The Legend, by Mac McDiarmid Hardcover $10.00 28. Norton Dominator Twins, 1949-1970, by Roy Bacon 42. The Art of the Motorcycle by the Guggenheim Hardcover $ 10.00 Museum $20.00 29. Norton Singles OHV & SV, 1931-1966 Hardcover $10.00 43. The Classic Motorcycle Encyclopedia of clas- sic motorcycles by Richard Rosenthal $ 40.00 30. BSA A50/A65 Twins All Models, 1962-1973 Hardcover by Roy Bacon, Hardcover $20.00 44. Ultimate Motorcycles, The Most Exotic & Ex- clusive Bikes on Earth, by Mark Holmes 31. Super Profile, Ariel Square Four by Roy Har- Hardcover $5.00 per Hardcover $ 25.00 45. Cycleworld The total motorcycling manual by Mark Lindemann 32. BSA Singles, Restoration by Roy Bacon Softcover $ 10.00 Softcover $ 20.00 46. A Racing Lengend, Norton by Jim Reynolds 33. A-Z Guide to British Motorcycles from 1930 Hardcover $ 12.50 to the 1970's by Cyril Ayton Hardcover $7.50 47. Osprey Collector's Library Norton Rotaries by Kris Perkins 34. Don't trudge it Rudge it, by Bryan Reynolds, Hardcover $ 40.00 $ 40.00 48. Triumph Twins and Triples ...350, 500, 35. BSA and Other Singles, by Roy Bacon 650,750 & Trident by Roy Bacon Hardcover $ Hardcover $25.00 10.00
36. Norton Commando by Mick Duckworth Hardcover $40.00
37. Vincent , Osprey Classic Motorcycles by Dun- can Wherrett Paperback $ 15.00
38. The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle by Hugo Wilson Hardcover $ 10.00
39. Velocette Motorcycles, MSS to Thruxton by Rod Burris Hardcover $50.00
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Friends of the Club
1618 Central Ave. N.E. Minneapolis MN 55413 612-789-5282 www.diamondscoffeeshop.com
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