I broke down once on Hwy 1 north of Santa Cruz. Musta been 1990, about six months after the Loma Prieta earthquake. I had a kind of major problem when my oil filter bracket busted off the front engine mount and went under the bike. The engine would kill and I’d pull over, kick it through and start it again, thinking (duh) that it was a fuel or spark issue or some momentary thing. Finally I got off and saw the filter underneath, bleeding the shovelhead’s life blood onto the asphalt.
A short while later, as I was pushing it up the hill between the beach just north of Scott Creek and the little town of Davenport. A guy in a Chevy S-10 pulled over and offered help. I couldn’t figure out how we would get it in the truck (you lift, stupid), and more to the point how I’d keep it in there (you hold on and he drives slow, stupid) on the few miles to the bar up the hill. So I never had the particular experience we see depicted in this strip, at least on that day.
Speaking of my dear ol’ shovelhead, it appears that recent repairs to my inner primary cover may have been in vain. There’s some cracking going on around the weld, and some welds in the vicinity of the primary chain tensioner mount are blocking the action needed for correct adjustment. I could probably pull the thing off and grind down the welds some, but I’m a bit concerned about the other weld on the mounting ear. I guess I may as well go for it until and see how I do, while piling up some cash for a new cover. Kinda bums me out as I was pretty sure it was gonna rumble last weekend. That and the fact that I’ve had this particular cover since I got the pile of parts I built the ol’ beat from in the decade of new wave, the 1980’s
We’ll git’r going eventually.
did you preheat that piece before you started welding? Did you let it cool slowly enough? Cast metal can be a tricky fucker to work with when you’re trying to weld it electrically…and cast aluminum can be the trickiest bastard ever when it comes to welding…it cracked because it cooled off way too fast and unevenly…
Thanks. I didn’t actually do the welding myself. I welded a goat from rebar in an art class in college, using an oxy-acetyline torch, but that’s my welding experience.
However, the dudes who did it come highly recommended. They’re bikers who work at fabbing stuff for medical equipment and I think are highly skilled. Prolly could send it back for another round of attention on the weld and the tensioner mount.
Great strip Rob, hope the guy driving the truck didn’t MF the bike to much but on the other hand Jones now knows what he is dealing with.
So many possibilities from here. The dude seems reputable from the drawing I saw of him, so…
I got a bike off the intertnet once and it was exactly as advertised. I’d imagine while he may not be a bike expert just yet, Porkins probably knows a thing or 2 about shopping online.
You make a good point Alan. I think I’ve learned a thing about buying bikes online just running this story. Previously I didn’t think it was such a great idea, but have read evidence to the contrary.
Coincidentally, I was asked last night by the auto shop where I teach to help them sell a mini chopper they built. You can expect that here fairly soon, selling a bike online through your favorite Jones outlet.