Where is she?

Just waiting to hear whether or not the bike made it to LAX. We shipped it by boat to Honolulu where she was going to be unloaded and put on a plane yesterday to LA. No word yet... probably hear later today. Our friend Mark is standing by in LA with his trailer to drive her up to the mechanic's place. :)

On the boat

Bon Voyage Effie. Our 1915 Harley "Effie" is on her way to Honolulu on a boat this afternoon. She will be picked up and flown to LAX tomorrow. Hope she's okay in her crate and that no one drops her. Feels like my baby on her way to her first day at kindergarden!

Effie around all the new bikes

Out of focus photo. but here she is at the Harley shop service area. She's the old lady compared to the other bikes here... 95 years old.

Feb. 12, 2010

Feb. 12, 2010

Sadly, but happy too, we loaded Effie into the bed of the truck for her trip to California for her makeover. After riding her the other day we realize just how badly she is in need of motor work. She ran fine until going up any slight incline. Pat thinks it must be the magneto not putting out enough. The plugs seemed to be fouling a bit and she smoked and coughed too. Carb was running too rich too. We think the needle in the carb is the wrong one. Tough to get the gas/air mixture right. Probably needs rings, bushing and bearings too.
So… there is not much more we can do here. We know our limitations. A guitar player and a writer do not make a real mechanic! The bike will be sent to Steve Huntzinger in California for the “real” work.

So, we unloaded her at the service department of the Harley shop today. They will take care to load her into a crate.

I feel bad that I didn’t get much seat time practicing my shifting, but I will figure out how to do that later. Maybe in CA?

Road Test... kind of.

Today was the day! Bright, sunny and perfect for a nice test ride. We started the bike to make sure it was running okay first. After sitting for a few days it took a bit, but it started and sounded pretty good. We loaded the bike up in the truck and drove the mile or so to the spot we found yesterday. Pat made a test run first and actually got it into 3rd gear for a second or two, but it was too fast for the road we were on. It was easy on the downhill, but coming back uphill (not steep at all), the bike started running like crap. Probably fouling plugs in my opinion. The carb seemed to be running really rich too. We picked this road because it was off the beaten path, but we had people stopping to ask questions and even take pictures. It was a little distracting as I was nervous anyway. My turn came and I rode it about a mile down a slight incline. Not even what I would really call a huge hill. I shifted into second and she took off pretty well. I got to the bottom and turned around and headed up hill and it really lost power. Bummer… I really wanted to ride this today and practice shifting and downshifting. Oh well… at least I got to downshift once!
We loaded the bike back up and got it home. I was a little sad... and disappointed I didn’t get more time with it. I think it needs some major work before I can really feel safe riding it anyway. I imagine it needs some carb work. The jet in there seems to be wrong. Also, I imagine the rings are shot, as any uphill made them start to foul. Oh well… we did all we can here. The next step is to get it off to CA asap so Steve Huntzinger can go through the motor.
After we let the bike cool down a little, we played with the carb adjustment and got it running a little better, but it still seemed not as good as before.
We drained the gas and oil and are going to make some plans to ship it soon.

Test Ride?

Feb. 9, 2010

Pat and I did a little driving around the neighborhood and found a nice road close by that we think I can ride on. It’s a long 1mile straightaway, with a cul-de-sac at the end for turning around. It’s a dead end too, with little traffic. We figured we would do it in a day or so late morning, after people are at work and kids are at school. I think I may be able to get it in 2nd, maybe even 3rd gear.

Need a Road Test

Pat and also realize I need to find a good, open straight road to practice riding and shifting. I would like to try and get out of first gear sometime! I called the Maui Drag Strip a few months ago and they said no due to insurance. I found a Maui Motor Sports Car race track here too. They have a closed course that the public can race on once a month. I called and he said they couldn’t let me do it. I guess the county owns the land and they only have permission to use it for what they do once a month. Other times the police use it for training etc…
I’ll keep looking. There must be a place. I just don’t have a title or registration for this yet. So I can’t get caught by the cops. Reminds me of when I was a kid and rode my Yamaha 100 in the alley so the cops wouldn’t catch me. I was too young for a driver’s license.