Blog

Went for a ride today. 77 miles one way. Stopped at Brent’s house for a look over and monitor oil drip.

66 miles in stopped for gas. Used 0.93 gallons so I know I will have over 100 mile range.

Now heading home and will put on another 80 miles.

A huge milestone day!!

Another flawless ride last night. Bike loves 38 MPh. Interesting to drive with a lot of control in the timing grip; as much as throttle grip. Here is a chart from my ride yesterday.

I also installed a air horn at bottom of carb. I’ll try this tonight when I go on another ride.

29 days to go! We are getting ready.

One month from today, the Cannonball ride begins. At 8:30am CST class 1 bikes will be allowed to leave and begin the 145 mile day. I will be one of three 1911 machines (oldest bikes in the event). My crew (Brent Thompson and Dan Rognsvoog) are ready and preparing for the event. Our other crew member Dennis Worthy will be watching from afar as he recuperates from some surgery. We will miss him in this journey! I will be continuing to ride as much as I can to get used to the nuances of this machine. Right now I am experiencing a good amount of optimistic stress. I don’t thing you are ever 100% ready for something like this, and in 29 days we will be ready to begin!

Thanks for all the encouragement and support. I continue to be humbled at all of the interest and support I have received.

Later,

After engine repairs we (Nancy followed me on her Heritage) hit the road. 89 degrees today and it was a warm ride. Bike ran awesome. Here are some stats.

Time for an inspection and getting ready for bike/car show tomorrow.

Engine repairs done and back in the bike. A quick 3 mile ride and some carb adjustments. Running great!

So now it’s time for a 30 mile ride before dinner. I’m thrilled!

Well well, and so it starts. 30 days before I leave for the ride of my life! This week the bike quit running, and I heard a slight metallic noise. Also noticed the exhaust valve not going up and down. Hmm, so take apart the timer and cam. Broken cam follower stud.

What to do? Only option; pull engine and disassemble. Separate cases and have a new pin made and installed.

I’ll install engine tomorrow morning and be riding by lunch! Better here than in the middle of Iowa! And so it goes.

Tune in this Saturday!

Well event motor in and all is going well. Two days in a row with 20 miles each day. Still making minor tweaks but overall going great.40 days to go. Here are some stats.

Here is the event engine with initial start.