2020 Bikes of the Month
January
1942 Harley-Davidson FL
By Dave Mull
The story of this bike started like many do, a swap sheet listing of a 1942 knucklehead for a price way out of my budget. It was of a bike I had seen and heard about, a 60's chopper, peanut tank and extended superglide front end, not what I thought a 1942 FL should look like. Fast forward six months and it was still in the swap sheet.. Hmm, Maybe I should go look at it. After about 20 unreturned phone calls the owner's friend finally picked up. Still got that Knuck? Yea. I will be up to look at it. So a good friend of mine and I hit the bank for a stack of dead presidents, loaded the enclosed trailer and ventured to the city of Bishop. There it was, a 60's chopper with all the stuff it should have for that era, sissy bar, suicide clutch pedal, 15 inch car tire on a star hub, late 46-47 frame with a stretched neck, peanut tank with flames and that 6 over superglide drum brake front end. So the dance began. How much? That's a lot for just a motor and trans, the rest is just parts. After about an hour we came to a deal and we loaded my newest antique bike up. Within a few hours of getting it home we had it running and taround the block I went. It ran good!
Fast forward a few years. After talking to Dale from Dale's Wheels Through Time about how rare the 42 FL's were I decided to make it back into an old school dresser. I had a set of 41- 46 flight red knucklehead tanks, and ordered a V Twin 41-46 frame. After pulling the motor and checking the belly numbers I realized it's had a hard life. The 42 side had been in a terrific explosion from inside and welded back by someone who knew what they were doing. The right hand case is a 47 and in great shape. I decided to run the 15 inch rear wheel and 155SR-15 tire. It lowered the bike a bit but not enough to drag in the corners. I had a 40's inline springer that I had laying around so on that went. At the Hanford swap meet I was looking for a front fender and came across a servi-car front fender that was flight red. Hmm, won't the rivet counters love that? Bolted up just fine and was the correct color. A custom set of bars were fabricated by my late friend Bob Olson using a springer top tree and welding 14 inch apes to it with a panhead internal throttle. A V Twin rear fender, exhaust, and seat that made it a real joy to ride.
I have put way more than 10,000 miles on it since then. Its been to the Yosemite run, the Kanab ride, numerous Dixon meets, and a great ride for my friend, Mark Lobsinger's, 40th birthday, a ride up to Crater Lake and over to the Oregon coast with six of our pals and Mark on his 46 knucklehead. Also rode it into Mexico for the El Diablo ride early this year. Its been into Death valley at 110 degrees and in the snow of Crater lake. .
Years after buying it I was contacted by the old owners son who had a story about the bike. After his dad had passed he was sitting on the bike in the shop and started it up just to hear it run.. upon revving it up a few times somehow it dropped into gear and proceed to climb up the work bench. The throttle cable caught on the bench and full throttle was obtained.. So there he was with shorts on, the pipe burning his leg, motor racing, burning rubber, and no way to reach the key. Somehow he was able to choke it out! After getting it back on the ground and bandaging his leg he noticed a scrap of paper on the ground, it had the number 36 on it. Hummm, his dad had left a 1936 Chevy pickup to him as well as the 42 Knucklehead. It must be a sign from beyond the grave from his father, fix the 36 not the bike! So that's the story. It has been the most fun ride of any of my bikes..
February
1961 Triumph T120C
Bonneville Scrambler
By Rick James
I bought this Triumph in 1970 for $450. It had been made into a bobber by the previous owner. I rebuilt the top end and painted it blue. Later, I sold the bike to a good friend who painted it red and bolted a hardtail on it. He owned that bike for nearly 23 years, and the last few it sat outside neglected and leaked all the fluids out. He called me one day and asked me if I wanted it, I said I'd take it for free. Several days later he delivered it to my house, in pieces so it would fit into his panel truck.
This started an 8 year restoration. The first thing I did was remove all the "chopper" parts and tossed them in the trash. What was left to start with was the engine, transmission, speedometer, and rear hub. I had to find and purchase everything else. Keep in mind this is pre-eBay. During this period I was attending nearly every swap meet I could. I met a guy named Greg Hult who sold me some parts and informed me that the engine number T120C designated this to be a rare factory Bonneville Scrambler, and he recommended that I restore it to original. I decided to take his advice. I'd never seen or heard of this bike and even photos or information were scarce. Years and months went by and dollars were spent getting it finished. I did all the mechanical work as well as the paint job, including the tank badges. Triumph sold this model in two forms - one was an east coast version with quick detachable lights, and a west coast version without lights. How this bike went from brand new in 1961 to the way I bought it just 9 years later will always be a mystery. I was extremely pleased with the way it turned out, but I will NEVER start another restoration with a chopper!
Just for grins I put an ad on eBay for what I considered an astronomical amount and it sold the next day to a collector in Colorado for $15,000.00. I've never seen another one and I thought the members would enjoy seeing it.
March
1942 Harley-Davidson WLA
By David Funk
I had been looking for an antique Harley-Davidson for a few years when I came across this WLA. Circa 2014, a coworker of my brother in Salinas, California had recently lost a leg and decided that he could not ride any longer. He informed my brother that he had an old Harley for sale. Knowing that I was looking for an older Harley, my brother passed the information along. As is typically the case, the bike was running when it was parked, but after a quick look, it was apparent it needed some TLC. Half-assed work was previously done to get the bike running, it was missing a few parts, and it was fairly corroded from the moist Salinas air, but other than that, it was in perfect condition. After some minor negotiating, the WLA was headed to its new home.
The complete history of the WLA is unknown, but I have documentation that the bike was purchased at an auction in Iowa in October 1991 for $3,200. Eventually the bike made it out to California and was owned by an absent-minded individual who forgot that he had a handgun in the glove box of his vehicle. Apparently this individual was pulled over by the CHP for speeding, or something minor, and when he reached into the glove box to fetch his registration, the handgun fell out of the box in front of the officer. Cuffed and stuffed, the absent-minded WLA rider was off to jail. In need of a get out of jail card, he sold the bike to the aforementioned peg legged owner.
Approximately 90,000 WL’s were made for the American and Canadian militaries between 1941 and 1945, and approximately enough spares to build another 30,000 WL’s were also produced. The WL’s produced for the American military were badged WLA’s, while the Canadian military WL’s were badged WLC’s. Although this WLA does not bear a VIN number, it is thought to be the real deal. The matched engine cases indicate that the engine is indeed a 1942 and it is thought that the original cases on this WLA were replaced with a set of one of the 30,000 spares. Plus, it was painted in military drab green, so it has to be a military machine, right?
After I got the bike, it sat for a couple of years before I started working on it. Unfamiliar with the WLA motor, I didn’t touch the engine. I focused on cleaning it up, removing the corrosion, painting, locating as many original parts as possible and getting it running. Parts were sourced from eBay, Kick Start MC, and Tom’s NOS and included items such as a genuine military ignition switch (7-pole), belly pan/skid plate, ammo box, and tail light. I was not able to source a few items including the Tommy gun scabbard/rack and black out light. The rear fender and horn are not original WLA pieces, but based on the attention that it receives, nobody seems to mind. Overall, I am pleased with the build, but if I had to do it again, I would not paint as many parts.
Riding the WLA requires one’s full attention. In addition to being slow, it has poor brakes to make up for it. Add in the tank shifter and the foot clutch, a helicopter pilot license is a prerequisite to being qualified to ride a WLA. Since I have completed the WLA, I have ridden all three days of the 2019 Comstock Classic and have ridden to Topaz Lake a couple of times. If the weather is decent, I frequently ride it to Saturday coffee.
I have really enjoyed the WLA, but while participating in the Comstock Classic, I realized that I would like to have some more horsepower. Consequently, the WLA is on the auction block. If you are interested or know somebody who is, let me know.
April
1963 Honda C110
By Jerry Meadows
Back when my brother and I were lads growing up in Crescent City, CA our father took in a 50cc Honda on trade. I remember loads of fun riding on the beach and on camping trips.
Fast forward about 30 years. I was working in Carson City when I spied that very model parked outside a trading post looking very forlorn. In retrospect, I should have walked away but it stirred some nostalgia so I brought it home.
I had been rebuilding strictly BSA’s, so this was a novelty Thank goodness Mr. Honda still was offering new parts and cosmetic pieces for the 30 year old pile. Tad, my son, was 10 years old at the time, and I like to think he enjoyed helping me put it back together.
After spending more money than would ever be recovered, though that doesn’t seem to be the point, the little bike was done. Patti enjoyed riding it to PJ’s Bike Night several times and people enjoyed seeing it. We had to be home before dark as the lighting is a bit anemic and surface streets were a must for the max speed of 35 mph.
It was on display at the Auto Museum’s “Kickstand Corner” in 1997 alongside my ’58 BSA Golden Flash. I do still have it, even if it is hidden away in a corner of the barn.
Some things you just have to do for the fun of it.
Bike of the Month
May 2020
1973 Triumph X75 Hurricane
By J.P.
Built for the USA, Loved by All
Previously published in “Triple Echo” the magazine of the Trident & Rocket 3 Owners Club.
Part 1 – The Build - Interview with Worth Mathewson
I have been riding motorcycles for many years and had a good number of BSA 441 which I have been riding in western Oregon both off and on road. In the early 2000s I bought a few triples, a 1971 and a 1972 BSA Rocket 3, and a 1971 Triumph T150, but the bike that I enjoyed the most was my Triumph Hurricane. Sadly, it was lost in an accident in 2002 and was sold for parts.
I knew of another Hurricane, TRX75KH00104, which was owned by someone in another small Oregon town and in 2014, after about 12 years of courtship, I was able to buy it. The bike was running but was in poor shape and I wanted to restore it, so I had to set it aside for a few years until I was able to attend to it.
Initially I was planning a partial overhaul, but in late 2016 I got in touch with Jerry Liggett and we decided to perform a full restoration. The frame was powder coated, the chrome parts were re-chromed, and the Aluminum parts were re-surfaced, the fasteners were all replaced but plated in Cadmium to have the original look. The engine was rebuilt to standard specifications (the crankshaft had to be ground, and pistons are a size larger now), new valves, new guides. To alleviate the tendency of the top and bottom yokes to crack, a modified set was sourced from Baxter Cycle. Tires are Dunlop K70s. The only part that was re-used as is was the wiring harness which was in good shape. The ignition was left as the original system (points). The bike was repainted with BSA badges because this is how the bike was meant to be marketed.
The project took over two years with the actual work taking about six months. The bike was completed around April 2019. It was presented at the Oregon Vintage Motorcycle show in Corvallis in May 2019 and won first place in the British bike category.
Part 2 -Riding it
So far it has been ridden about 400 miles over a span of a week, both to get it through the break-in period and also to find minor adjustment items.
What is it like? Well... I have witnessed the most experienced Triple rider that I know answer the same question. He said, in a Black Country accent, well it's shite (spelling? language?). I am not an experienced rider but every one of the rides that I took since I got my motorcycle endorsement in 1992 has been a blast. The great, late, Lou Reed was asked (in 1996 if memory serves) what is it like to write another rock song (after an active career of 30 years). His answer was that it is like drawing a circle in freehand, every time that you do it, it gets a little better... I didn't look for the quote, but this is how I remember it, so, paraphrasing on it, every ride on a vintage bike is like drawing that circle. In my case it isn't always better (it usually isn't), but when the bike runs right, when I feel that I am shifting correctly (especially with my right foot), when I am cornering just at the right speed and powering through the curve, I feel content! So maybe I am subjective... but I can't say that the bike is shite.
There are some points that my friends who always ride modern bikes may bring up:
1. The sensible range of about 70 miles, this is especially tough when gas stations are 40 to 50 miles apart and one is trying to get maximum, points on the Doug Hele centennial riding program.
2. The need to undo the two screw-on knobs in order to check the oil level on an engine that is known to consume oil.
3. The squeaky body work.
4. The Single mirror.
5. The lack of turn signals, some prefer it this way, but I am of the opinion that it is to my advantage to signal my intention to the drivers around me, while hoping that they are not busy texting.
6. The front brake can and should be better.
John Proto said "the Hurricane? I had one. It was hard to turn right, because of those silencers". But John is a racer, even with a 20-mph allowance over the speed limit, I don't have a lean angle issue. And this bike is a grin generator, once I get going, I just can't stop smiling....at least for the first 50 miles. The engine that Jerry built is strong and smooth even while limiting the engine speed to 5000 rpm (which is where the fun should begin). The wide bars allow for an effortless steering both in town and on a mountain road, the combination of those (them, as we say) bars and the geometry of the bike give that blissful feeling of a radical lean angle despite being a law-abiding citizen on a public road. But after 40 or 50 miles, the seat, rear shocks and the wind resurrected an old sensation in me and it took a good part of that 150-mile ride for me to figure what it was, but I did. This is exactly how I felt when I was riding BMW’s R9T Scrambler. It was brilliant for shorter rides and effortless around town but a little demanding on a long ride. So, I gave a call to my friends at Sierra BMW and asked for a photo shoot of the X75 next to the R9T Scrambler. They didn't have one available so I had to settle for the Pure version, but I hope that you can see the resemblance as well. I kept the R9T for a little under a year but decided that I can’t love it. A lot of this has to do with the other great offerings that one can get from Sierra BMW and the type of riding that northern Nevada offers. However, the connection with the X75 was immediate and it was easy for me to see how one can find room in their heart and in their garage for such a bike.
Craig Vetter certainly created a bike designed for the US market.
Photo by Jeff Weeks
June
1971 Harley-Davidson FX
Super Glide
By Dick Toth
In the late 60’s and early 70’s custom bikes or “Choppers” were very popular. Taking a stock bike and replacing handlebars to drag bars, and installing a peanut tank, springer front end with dual square headlights, 21 inch front wheel with no brakes, rigid frame with king & queen seat and a sissy bar! With the Easy Rider movie in 1970, I noticed a lot of new companies popping up selling custom extended front end, seats, frames etc..
These custom parts were available for Harley, Honda, Triumph, BSA and Norton.
This brings us to the first Harley-Davidson Super Glide, and how the company or Willie G. Davidson transformed a touring Electra Glide into a custom performance Super Glide.
First the stock front end from a Sportster is grafted onto the standard Electra Glide frame including the stock brake assembly, wheel, fender and Sportster headlight.
The large 5 gallon gas tank was replaced with a smaller 3.5 gallon tank that would reveal more of the 1200 cc engine and accommodate the cleaner looking front forks. The floorboards were replaced with foot pegs and a new rear brake lever and pedal connected to the standard master cylinder. A new shift lever flipped over in front of the left peg, that will now have first gear lifting up on the lever, and down for 2nd, 3rd& 4th gears.
The engine received a new 1 5/8” Bendix carburetor with an accelerator pump (which was a great improvement over the Tillotson) along with a two-into-one exhaust pipe tucked neatly to the bottom of the frame and connected to a cigar shaped muffler below the “Sprint” passenger foot pegs.
The mechanical presentation of the exhaust pipes, air cleaner, kick start (no electric starter) and timing cover together all depicts the form and function of the Super Glide.
The Super Glide is powerful, and handles well in curves and the open road. The clean two piece handle bars had no wires or throttle cables dangling on them. The distinct sound of the engine, the clunk of the transmission all made the ride excellent!
The boat tail seat mounted over a shortened rear fender and the large rear tire made a strong visual statement, and I believe that is what makes this bike stand out, like it or not. The seat sat a little higher than the frame mount seats that were used the next year, but many people preferred the lower seats.
July
1934 Harley-Davidson RLD
By Rodd Lighthouse
In the fall of 2011, I received a phone call from my father about an old Harley-Davidson in Yerington. The lady that owned it called her old school teacher because she was aware that he had an old Indian and thought he may have an idea of what the bike was worth. Her old teacher, Mashall Hyne, was that father of Ray Hyne, who was an acquaintance of my father. My dad had helped Ray with some other antique bike stuff, so Ray knew that he was into old bikes. Prior to informing my father of the bike, Ray did a little research and found out that bike was a 1934 Harley-Davison RLD, a high compression, 45 cubic inch, flathead model. Knowing that I wanted an older bike, Dad called me and soon a trip was coordinated to head to Yerington to check out the old Harley.
Upon arriving in Yerington, we met with Ray and the owner before we headed off to the storage shed. When the door was opened, I saw a rusty pile of partially disassembled motorcycle. I didn't really know what I was looking at. The old H-D looked rough, I could not tell if it was complete, and I didn't think I was capable of bringing it back to life. After some hemming and hawing, I made an offer of $2,000, which I though was too much. The owner politely declined my offer, but we exchanged contact information.
Heading back home with Dad, I came to the realization that I may have screwed up my opportunity to own an old flathead Harley. I could not quit thinking about the '34. After a short time, I called the owner and shared my thoughts with her and told her how much I would like to have the H-D. I assured her that I was not buying the bike to part it out, but rather make it operational and ride it. At the end of our conversation, she said that she would give me the first opportunity to buy the bike when she decided to sell it.
Months went by and I still could not get the rusty pile off my mind. Eventually, I called the owner and she informed that she still had the bike and that I was still going to have first crack at it. She also informed that she moved the bike to another location, as shed on private property, and that there was another party interested in purchasing it. Unfortunately, she still had a deep emotional attachment to the bike and was not ready to part with it. This same scenario went on for a couple of years, and the offer kept getting higher. Finally, a deal was struck in the fall of 2013, and Dad and I went to Yerington the day after Christmas to get my newest prize. To this day, I have never paid more money for a motorcycle, but I was stoked that it was mine and could not wait to get home to start working on it.
When I finally started working on the old '34, I came to the realization that they are rare, only 260 RLD's were made in 1934, and parts are hard to find if not impossible. It takes a lot of patience to work on a depression era motorcycle and one must constantly search eBay for parts and follow all of their leads. Fortunately, most of the engine parts that wear out are interchangeable with later model 45's, and there is a gent that specializes in 1929 to 1936 Harley 45's that reproduces a good selection of parts, but some parts are still unobtanium. Anyway, I started gathering parts (spokes, springer bushings, wiring harness, battery, pistons, piston rings, valves, valve springs, gaskets, ignition coil, points, condenser, tires, inner tubes, brake shoes, and miscellaneous hardware), and working on getting it going. I decided I was not going to restore the bike, but I did restore the wheels and had the seat reupholstered. Jim Meadows supplied the parts and rebuilt the carburetor (thank you, Jimmy). Another friend bored and sized the cylinders. A local machine shop made the almost unobtainable rear brake shell.
It took about 2 1/2 years to piece everything together to see if it would run. Jim Meadows offered to teach me the finer techniques of starting an antique bike and after four or five kicks we got a couple of pops and after a few more, the '34 was billowing smoke and spraying the curb with black oil. I was pumped and couldn't wait to take it for a ride. Since the bike has such poor brakes, it took a bit to get used to coordinating all of my motions so I was able to stop the bike in an acceptable amount of time, but it was a blast to ride.
Since I have gotten it going, I have had a few seizing and oiling issues, and the motor has been apart a couple of times. It now has plenty of piston clearance and I think I have solved the oiling problems. I think I'm finally ready to log some miles and am looking forward to it.
August
1955 Zundapp DB255 Elastic
By Rodd Lighthouse
Late last year or earlier this year, club member Jim Meadows informed me of some motorcycles that may be available for sale in the near future, including a 1935 VL Harley-Davidson and some British bikes. Being a H-D flathead and British bike fan, I was looking forward to seeing what might turn up.
Jim claims to be an Indian guy, but in early January, Jim contacted the owner and made arrangements to check out the bikes without me. I am sure that if he had not been popping off about how great Indians are for the past 40 plus years, he would have tried to finagle the VL. He knew that he would have had to take excessive abuse if he were to purchase the H-D, so he gave me the opportunity to try to strike a deal. In addition to the H-D were a unit construction 500 and 650 Triumph, a Honda CT 110, a late 60’s Yamaha Enduro, and a rusty two-smoke Zundapp that was missing a seat and tank.
To stoke the fire, Jim sent photos of the VL, the machine that interested me the most. After several weeks of trying to make arrangements to see the bikes in person, I was finally able to check them out in March. I must admit that the VL looked better in the photos, but I was still interested. The Triumphs were nice bikes, but I wasn’t really looking for a 500 Triumph and the 650 did not make sense to me financially at $15K. I’m not sure why, but the rusty, naked Zundapp caught my eye. Maybe because I had never seen one, or was it that “German engineering”. After some conversation with the owner and learning that there were additional parts at his house, we agreed that we would do some research and make arrangements to check out the parts at his house in the near future.
The near future finally came in late June and Jim and I met at the seller’s residence. Upon arrival the seller indicated that there had been a change in plans regarding the VL. The seller’s uncle wanted to keep it in the family, so it was unavailable. Entering the backyard, there was a modern day 1955 Royal Enfield positioned on the back patio and a shed containing parts off to the side. Rummaging through the parts, I found the seat, tank, side panels and other miscellaneous parts for the Zundapp. Based on my memory and a photo I had of the Zundapp, I felt that there were enough parts to make a complete bike and a deal was struck. I loaded all the parts and we headed off to the storage shed to get the bike.
By the time I got home, I was questioning myself and wondering why I bought the Zundapp, it was a total rust bucket. After about a week of riding around in the back of my truck, I washed the Zundapp and unloaded it. The wash did not do much for it, but the motor cleaned up a bit. Over the next couple of hours, I inventoried the parts and pieced the old Zundapp together. After tinkering with it for a couple of weeks, cleaning the carburetor, testing for spark, installing a battery and fuel line, the Zundapp was ready for testing. Would she run? We were going to find out, and if she did, we were going to ride her to Saturday Coffee on July 25. The morning of July 25 I mixed up some fuel for the two-smoker, fixed a few fuel leaks and kicked her over. Kick one, nothing. Kick two, got kicked back. Kick three, the Zundapp fired up. After a quick run through the gears and adding some air to the tires, I was off to coffee.
It was quite fun showing up to coffee on the rusty Zundapp, and it ran flawlessly. I don’t know much about the history of the machine, but the clock shows that it has 28,500 miles on it. Although it is a total rust bucket, everything works except the lights and the horn. I must admit that I never bought into the German engineering thing, but apparently I was wrong. The Zundapp is a fun little bike. Would I do it all over again? Yes, without hesitation.
September
1949 Powell P-81
By Rodd Lighthouse
I have always had a hankering for a scooter so when a friend sent me a photo of a Powell rolling chassis a few years ago, ideas started running through my head. At the time, I had no idea what a Powell was, but after some quick research on the world wide web, I found out that Powell’s were manufactured in Compton, California. Being from Compton, I had to have it.
The rolling Powell chassis, which was a 1949 Powell P-81 Deluxe model, was sitting in an antique store in Boise, Idaho and it consisted of a complete frame, forks, seat, fenders, wheels, handlebars, headlight, tail light, bumper, chainguard, center stand, engine center cases, side case, and broken cylinder head. After some minor negotiations, a deal was struck and my buddy purchased the scooter for me.
Prior to purchasing the Powell roller, I should have performed more research, but I was sure that somebody would snatch it away from me, so I purchased hastily. Additional research revealed that Powell’s are rare, parts are hard to find, and they are not necessarily in high demand. I screwed up and now I had to live with it.
I immediately went to work looking for parts and found a guy with a tank for sale. A few months after purchasing the scooter, I attended the 2017 Fort Sutter Chapter AMCA National show and swap in Dixon, California. As luck would have it, a Powell engine was being offered for sale by a vendor, which I snapped up. Additionally, Comstockers were commissioned to be on the lookout for parts and contacts, and Charlie Stewart came through with a great engine parts source. Slowly but surely, I acquired most of the parts that I needed to complete the scooter.
The engine was disassembled and magneto was sent off JM Carousel to be rebuilt. New main bearings, rod pin and bearing, piston, piston rings, wrist pin, wrist pin bushing, valves, valve guides and springs were sourced from Ernie Banducci and Leo Tracy, ex-Powell engine builder guru. Cylinder was sent off to U.S Chrome of Wisconsin to be bored and plated back to standard bore using nikasil. Crankshaft was rebuilt by a Bill Botelho. Cases were sent to Gasket King to have gaskets made. Cylinder and cylinder head repairs were made by Reno KTM. Brakes and clutch were relined. Clutch covers were made by David Wheeler. Magneto cover was sourced from David Brown. Muffler was sourced from Hitchcock Motorcycles in England. Clutch was purchased off of eBay.
The chassis was disassembled and the body work was straightened by Accent Auto Body. Tank, fenders, front fork and chainguard were painted by Tom Keith. Striping was done by Weber Graphics. Frame and chassis parts were powder coated by The Powder Man. Nickel and chrome plating was performed by ABC Plating. Wheels were vapor blasted. Hand grips were sourced from David Brown. Tires, tubes, wheel bearings, steering head bearings, and throttle cable were purchased off of eBay.
With everything cleaned up and prepped for assembly, I started assembling the Powell last November. I have had a few hiccups along the way, such as a motor that would not turn over due to the incorrect piston hitting the head, but completion is near. After completing the wiring and a little tinkering a couple of weeks ago, the Powell came to life on August 15. Some final carburetor and clutch adjustments need to be made and the she will be ready to ride to coffee and other events. With the exception of the pipe restoration, and the final adjustments, the Powell restoration is complete.
October
1977 Yamaha RD 400
By George Canavan
The back story:
The first new motorcycle I owned was a 1973 Yamaha RD 350. It was flashy, nimble and very quick. After a few months of commute and recreational riding the romance ended with a set of orders to report for temporary duty at Andersen Air Patch, Guam for 180 days of temporary duty. This is how I learned to buy bikes at retail then sell at a loss. I knew that this was a temporary interruption as I would get back to the ZI*. Of course, that never happened.
The Tee up:
Raresportbikesforsale.com recently noted, “If you bought a mid-size two-stroke Yamaha street bike in 1975, you got the very, very good RD350. You also got shortchanged, because buyers who waited just a year got the 1976 Yamaha RD400C, which Cycle World lauded as the perfect motorcycle, and which carried way more improvements than a simple displacement bump.”
The pertinent bits:
That brings us to Mark Siegel’s pretty spectacular oil-burning twin. Cruising the classified postings on the world wide inter webs, Mark located this promising Yamaha right here in Lemmon Valley. Before it arrived, he knew it would need attention to bring it up to his standards. And for this, he got his reward. How about fixing that little bit of piston slap? How about discovering he was at the end of a long line of previous owners with the same idea? Cha-Ching went the cash register bell after he located a new set of barrels that would hold the pistons upright again. Our very own Peter Hipp worked his magic to exorcise the devils who made the piston rattle. End of story? Nah, not by a quarter mile. Seems a previous owner also went the asymmetrical jetting route to cover up the worn rings and bores. If one side is sucking lots of air, just add a fat jet to make up the difference. With that fixed, you would hope we could cut to the dreamy bit of riding enjoyment. Well, not quite yet. Remember the cliche, “When he is good, he is very very good. And, when he is bad, he is horrible!” Mark spent several months chasing intermittent cut outs and dropped cylinder performance until a bad wire in the ignition system was diagnosed and repaired.
Happy ending, now? Yes! Mark rode his sweet running RD400 to Saturday coffee in downtown Reno the morning of August 8 and was all smiles. Good on ya, Mark!
Oh, as if he wasn’t lucky already, Mark also nailed down a rare and desirable 1989 Honda GB500 from Colorado Springs. How’s that for a happy ending?
*Zone of the Interior as we called the Continental U.S. of A. back then.
November
1968 BMW R69US
By George Canavan
Cover Girl
If we climb into the “Way Back Machine”, I can recall buying this R69 US back in 2010. It was an intriguing model that represented a sea change at the Bavarian car manufacturer’s HQ.
See, BMW was content to hold on to a design while making incremental improvements year over year. After all, they were the “ride your Rolex to lunch bunch” with oil tight engine cases, shaft drive and frames made of oval aircraft tubing that could effortlessly haul a side hack filled with a metric ton of Bratwurst, Weisswurst, Leberwurst, Bockwurst and Knockwurst. The 600 even had a 14 pound flywheel to assist you in your swift completion of your appointed rounds. Superb machines, that few were buying. People wanted speed not utility, technicolor, not Avus Black with Dover White pinstripes. Buyers wanted hip, quick sporty gear, not an escort for a funeral procession. The new bikes from Japan were eating the Bavarian’s sausage. Change or perish. The boys with the blue and white rondel needed to adapt or go the way of the carrier pigeon.
Change she said, and change they did. Change doesn’t come quickly to a traditional bike builder. Do you feed the new customers while starving the faithful buyers? How much change could be absorbed into the market? What to change?
A new bike was on the drawing boards but not on the roads where the revenue is generated. Enter the 1968 R69 US. The R 69 was the flagship sport 600 with 42 HP and a 100 mph timing slip. It would be replaced by the R600/5 and R750/5 in due time. The US variant represented a nod to the future and signaled a major change was in the makings but not quite there yet. The oval tube frame was retained with the shaft drive but the side car lugs were removed. The omnipresent Earls forks were binned for long travel telescopic forks. There were even a few color options and if you read the fine print you could get your retailer to special order any color that was in the current BMW car catalogue. In 1968, BMW was able to peddle about 485 R69US models. It might not seem like victory was on the horizon but the changes were well received. The Slash Five models would stretch some heads in 1970 as they had lighter frames, electric starters, more displacement and OMG! metallic paint. The old timers in their Lederhosen were convinced that Hippies had taken over the Mothership.
Back to the bike at hand. It was a long suffering but solid standard model in black with those white pin stripes. After some initial experiences, I just couldn’t handle the beat down cosmetics. Time to blow the bike apart, kill off the surface corrosion and visit the paint booth. One thing that I love about these old steeds is that they are built with high quality materials. Bolts do not seize up, nuts do not round off, nothing snaps apart when attempting a removal of a part that has not budged since 1968.
Regarding the powder coat for the frame and the paint for the tin, we needed some direction. Most folks have seen a black BMW/2. Few have seen a Dover white one. Fewer have seen much else. As we mulled over the Granada Red, the Dove Gray and even the Principality of Monaco Royal Escort Mediterranean Blue, we were stumped until I saw a photo of a German police green bike that was on display at the BMW museum. Some sleuthing led to a color code and the trigger was pulled. German high-viz green it would be. (In the US of A most motor patrol machines were dark stealth colors but on the Autobahn the attitude was “Achtung! I’m over here. Don’t hit me!” Makes sense doesn’t it?
After we did some miles the mechanicals needed a refresh so the engine received a rebuild and more miles were accumulated. While building up those miles the bike came to the attention of Margie Siegal at Motorcycle Classics. She wrote an article and Nick Cedar did the photoshoot. As this was happening, Bill Wood was shooting photos and writing an article of the 2019 Monterey ride for the AMCA publication.
Fast forward to March, 2020. In the most unexpected coincidence, the two magazines were published and released on the same day. Margie got her article as lede story in Motorcycle Classics. Nick got the cover with the green R69US. And! Bill got the cover of the AMCA magazine with a sweeping downhill shot of the green BMW heading from the mountains to the ocean with a fair amount of pace.
That, my friends, is about as rare as Unicorns flying in formation over a rainbow moon.
December
1928 Harley-Davidson JDH
Twin Cam Bobber
By George Canavan and Jim Willette
Jim Willette down in Lodi is a Comstock member and has this to share about his 1928 Harley Davidson JDH Twin Cam; “I bought the bike in about 1990 from Walt Cabral. He got it a few years prior from an old timer in Fish Camp, Ca. The story from Walt was that he (maybe Harold, unknown last name) was a weekend m/c racer prior to WW2 and he was trying to recreate or restore my bike to its racing form. He was in his eighties and finally decided to pass the project on.
30 years ago I paid about $9k for the bike and all his motorcycle spares. That was a pickup load that included a lot of NOS stuff from the invitation only parts sale prior to the Harrah auctions. It was a good deal but not a great deal at that period of time.
Walt had it a few years and took it mostly apart. The frame had been cutdown by removing 2" from the rear top tubes to give a lower profile, he put it back into the standard frame it has now to make it more street rideable. He left the engine as Harold had built it, among other things it has nicely made set of 4 1/2" stroked flywheels with Rambler Pistons (higher wrist pin) so that stroker plates were not required. Walt sold it to me when he was downsizing prior to moving into an assisted living place because of his ailing wife.
I reassembled the bike but didn't really do any serious work on it until after I retired in 2002. I painted it and redid the wheels, controls linkage issues and all the miscellaneous little stuff. The "Baby Bosch" was the last big issue that I dealt with and finally paid the big bucks to have the magneto repaired. That finally brought it back to life about 5 years ago.
Not related to the bike, but my friend Walt was an interesting character - born in 1915 he developed an early interest in all things mechanics especially motorcycles, cars and airplanes. In his twenties he developed and patented an electric transfer pump to regulate the fuel supply between airplane wing tanks - it was used extensively in WW 2 aircraft. After the war he teamed up with Alexander M. Poniatoff at a development company were he continued to work on aircraft, travel trailer and air cooled engine innovations among other things. He patenting several of his ideas. He sold his interest in the company after Alex wanted to put money into a “harebrained idea” about using magnetized tape similar to movie film to record voices- AMPEX did pretty well with the idea. Walt lamented, everybody's entitled to a mistake now and then.
Alex and Walt remained friends and Walt was the administer of his estate after his wife's death at 105. The Poniatoff's lived in Atherton in a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Their neighbor ended up buying the property and demolished the house to expand their garden - nice to have that much money!”
Walt, along with his "year of his birth 1915 Harley" was instrumental is the resurgence of the Pre-16 motorcycle runs. He rode his '15 at numerous events into his Eighties.
