Takin' a Whiz

Got tired of sitting on the couch. My bike is still at a friend's house, so I hoisted my old 47 Whizzer up on the horses and began putting it together. I rebuilt the engine about 8 years ago and stuck it in a corner. Since it and I both celebrated our 70th I thought I should get it running. I need to get a few small parts. Luckily, I have a guy nearby that has tons of parts. I'm going to leave it as is, bumps, bruises and battle scars.........just like me

The End

It's been a while since I've updated this blog. The motorcycle era has come to an abrupt end. In October, while riding with my club on a winding canyon road, I stuffed it into a rock outcropping. While the damage to the bike is minimal (more on that, later)damage to my aging body was more significant. I suffered, what is known as, a Monteggia fracture of my right arm. This is where the ulna breaks and the radius is dislocated from the humerus. Additionally, the right elbow was shattered. Just to make it more fun, the MCL in my right knee was torn, though not badly. I was flown by helicopter to Huntington Memorial in Pasadena where the dislocation was reduced and the ulna was stabilized with external fixation rods and pins. After the swelling went down, the surgeon opened my forearm from wrist to elbow and reassembled the whole mess with titanium plates and screws. As of yesterday, the cast was removed and I have to endure PT until I get back whatever function I will have. I was told to expect some loss of range of motion. Hopefully, I will be able to swing a hammer so I can return to Baja in July to build some more homes. So, because of all this drama, I will be retiring my helmet and leathers. Nearly 55 years of riding was a good run and I will miss it. I have to consider Wifey's concerns, my age and how much this hurt. I hope to continue this half assed self promotion as soon as I get the bike home. It is at a friends house, in storage. I will, probably, repair it to the point that it is rideable, then offer it for sale. Once that has taken place, I hope to buy another antique car, almost certainly a Model A Ford.I sold my Model T to buy the bike. It was fun, but very impractical. The Model A is a much more refined car and can be driven every day. Until I can regain use of my arm, little will happen

The Home Stretch

I have been busy with the bike. I've also been ill for over three weeks plus I spent a week in Mexico with a team that built three houses for poor families in Vicente Guerrero. This has hobbled my efforts, but I am back on track. The bike is 90% back together as I write this. Tomorrow, I need to slide the fork tubes into the triple clamps and she'll be up on two wheels again. The Linexed frame looks good and required very little extra effort to assemble. I just had to clean out a few holes and scrape some of it off to get good grounds for the running lights. I hope to make some noise late tomorrow or the next morning

A Lesson in Fluid Dynamics

Prior to our misbegotten vacation to Japan, which resulted in Lady LaFong being hit by a bicycle and spending over two weeks in the hospital with a broken pelvis, the bike experienced, yet another, catastrophic failure. Excess fuel, from the previous, leaky carburetor, flooded one cylinder and caused a hydrolock, which bent a connecting rod. So, upon our return from Japan, I, once again, reduced the bike to a pile of parts. The new rod and gasket set arrived the other day. My plan is to replace the rod and button the engine back up. No drama, no complete rebuild, just the one bad hole. In the meantime, I've stripped the frame back to bare metal. My plan was to have it powder coated, probably in a hammertone finish. I took it to the guy that I've been using and he quoted me 500 bucks for the job, up from the 350 he quoted me a few months ago. Additionally, I was told that the Lab Metal filler, which is recommended for powder coat use, would be blown away when the frame was sandblasted. So, I am going with plan B, against the very good council of a friend. I will have the frame coated with Linex bed coating. The concern my friend had was, that it will turn gray in time. I don't think it will, since it will spend very little time in the sun. Time will tell. I have already spoken to another friend about painting the rest of the bike

Making a Big Splash

The transmission is back together but lousy weather has kept me out of the shop. With no automotive adventures to occupy my time, I decided it was time to readdress the kitchen remodel. We found some tile that looked nice and matched the decor. I ordered an amount that was sufficient to cover the back splash area. Also, I ordered a pot filler faucet to put above the stove. They have become a must have in new kitchens. In order to install it, I had to crawl into the attic, again. It was really simple. I cut into an existing cold line, that runs to the refrigerator, and dropped a line straight down to the range. A bit of drywall patching and it was ready for tile. Of course, I miss measured and there isn't enough tile to finish the job. So, off to Lowes to get some more. It is a non stocking item so we have to wait 4 or 5 days for it to show up. I the meantime, I grouted the tile that I was able to install. I have some fancy, brushed nickle, wall plates on order for the switches and outlets. So far, it's lookin' pretty good

Shafted Again

Today, I dropped the transmission out of the old Dodge. Not a horrible job, but a horrible mess. Try as I may, I couldn't get the drain plug out. So, I just let it leak all over the floor. I should have removed the pan and emptied it, but I, incorrectly, figured it wouldn't be bad. At least a gallon of fluid leaked out. Armed with a pail of sawdust and a broom, I cleaned up most of it. I'll scrub it down, later. Anyway, my initial suspicions were confirmed. I snapped the input shaft. The transmission, itself, is fine. I just have to source a new shaft and it'll be back on the road in no time. They're all over eBay for 50 to 75 bucks, so it will be a cheap fix as well. Of course, I could pop for the 800 dollar billet race shaft ........... uhhhh..........no.

Carl La Fong...Adult Idiot™

The bike has been giving me fits for 6 months. In an, ever increasing, quest to spend as much money as I can, here's what has transpired. The carburetor has never been right from day one. I had two, very good, people go through it. One at the beginning and another a few years later. It was OK, but still never ran right. I finally sent it off to a guru in Pennsylvania for his Super Legatz Stage II rebuild. Worse that ever. It spewed gas out of every orifice in the carb. Multiple efforts to determine what was wrong were met with failure. Having had enough, I went to the auto parts and ordered a brand new double pumper Holley spread bore. I stuck it on and fired it. It ran OK, but there was still some problems. This is where it gets hazy. I cannot recall in what order I began throwing money at it. It was a frenzy. I replaced the plug wires. Top of the line set. Very expensive. New Accel Super Coil. New Accel cap and rotor. New Module, New pickup coil. New plugs. Now I have a bike that won't even try to start. Now, I'm sitting on my little stool, dejected and ready to call the scrapper. I look at the distributor and there are two connections. One for the tach, which I don't have and the other is the hot lead. Everything looks fine. I think, "Hmmmmmm?????", so I switch the hot lead to the tach terminal. What can I lose? If I fry something, I have plenty of extra modules. It fires instantly. I had the coil leads, inside the cap, reversed. You would think that there would be only one way to assemble it, but nooooooooooooo.............that would be too easy and make it too simple for guys like me. You would also, incorrectly, assume that the red wire was the hot lead but, again, no that is the tach connection. I guess the upside is, I have good, used cap, rotor, coil, module and pickup coil as spares, that I will never use, I'm sure