More Deconstruction

I got the rear tire mounted and the wheel re-installed on the bike after cleaning up all the frame and swingarm parts:

I'm a little disappointed in the size of the rear tire.  The stock size is supposed to be 4.00 x 18, which is the old style tire designation meaning 4 inch width on an 18 inch rim.  When I ordered the new tire, I had the choice of 4.00, 4.25, or 4.50.  I chose the 4.25, and yet it seems narrower than it should be.  I measured it and it measures almost exactly 4.00 inches wide, but it looks skinny.  The jury is out until the bike is done and on the ground, but it would be expensive and a hassle to replace the tire with a 4.50 just to gain a little width, and merely for appearance sake. 

I cleaned up the rear fender and chain guard and then got the bike ready for front end work:

On removing the front wheel in preparation for re-spoking it, I discovered a mistake I made in the first restoration.  The spokes on the left side were all laced so that the ends were on the same side of the hub:

A closer look shows that some of the spokes don't fit the holes in the hub very well:

I had two sources for how they should look; one was the service manual and the other was the parts book.  The parts book diagram looked like the way I had them, but the service manual showed them alternating from inside the hub to outside.  I checked with my friend Orv, who has a couple of these old Triumphs, including a 1968 Bonnie like this one, and he said the spokes on both bikes alternated.  So that is how I laced them, and it looks a lot better:

I found my Harbor Freight tire mounting machine worked well for lacing the wheel without having to remove the axle and wheel bearings:

Next, I trued the wheel on my balancing rig and then mounted the new tire and tube.  I still need to get some spoke mounted wheel weights because the front rim is too narrow to use the stick-on type weights I used on the rear wheel:

Despite the fact that I replaced the fork seals in the previous restoration, they still leaked when I test rode the bike back then.  So now I have to take them apart and find out what went wrong.  The first step is to remove the handlebars, instruments, and headlight, which contains a lot of the wiring harness. 

Then the forks:

Another couple of  mistakes were discovered in this process.  The pinch bolt on the lower fork clamp was loose, and the top yoke of the triple clamp was also loose, even though the bearings were properly torqued.  It makes me wonder about myself as I was 20 years ago;  was I less careful in my work?  Or am I still making mistakes like that?

Some Disassembly Required

First up on the Triumph was some clean up and polishing.  I  got the primary case looking pretty spiffy:

Notice the exhaust pipe has been removed.  I took them both off to start polishing the chrome, and also removed the rear wheel in preparation for lacing up new stainless steel spokes I had ordered:

Here is the wheel getting ready for me to remove the brake drum and then dismount the tire.  Getting the tire off was a real chore because the tire was hard as a rock after more than 20 years. It had almost 100% tread, but was worthless.

When the spokes arrived, I proceeded to take the wheel apart.  Lacing spokes can be a daunting task, and most people recommend having it done by a shop.  I've done it before; in fact I did it to this bike on the first restoration.  That time I tried to polish each spoke individually, but they are made of galvanized steel that does not polish worth a darn.  This time I'm going all out with stainless steel.......expensive, but pretty.

The worst part of lacing a wheel is figuring out where to start......what hole in the rim does the first spoke go into?  Which hole the next one?  After awhile it gets obvious what the pattern is, but the start is hard.  There are two different lengths of spokes for the two sides of the hub, and two different types of holes in the rim that face different directions.  To make it easier, I numbered each of the hub holes and put a matching number on the rim for that spoke, before I took the wheel apart.

Then after all the old spokes were removed it was just a matter of putting the ends of the new spokes in the right holes.  Sounds easy, but it still took me a couple of tries and most of an afternoon to get the wheel complete.  The next tricky bit is getting the wheel trued.  The spoke nipples are first hand tightened and then gradually tightened with a spoke wrench while checking the wheel for run-out, or wobble.  To do this i used this dial-gauge setup:

If the wheel is moving over towards the dial gauge, I mark the wheel at the greatest deflection and loosen the spokes slightly on the dial gauge side and tighten them on the opposite side.  Vice versa if the wheel moves away from the gauge.  In the end, I got the run-out to around .005 inches.  I don't know what the specs are, but I think that is pretty good.  The wheel also has to be checked to make sure the hub is in the center of the wheel.  If not it will cause "hop".  By tightening the spokes slowly and evenly all around the wheel, it is pretty likely that the hub will be in the center.  If it is not, you have to loosen a bunch of spokes on the short side and tighten them on the opposite side.  It came out fine on my wheel.  I used to ride dirt bikes with a lot more wobble and hop than this wheel, but on a street bike it is more important to get it minimized for a smoother ride.  A final check for spoke tightness is made by striking each spoke with the spoke wrench, and going for the same high "ping" note for each spoke and tightening those that have a dull "thud".

Next, I put the brake drum back on the drive side of the hub.  The original bolts holding the drum on didn't look all that wonderful; the threads were smashed in the part of the bolt that went through the drum.  I replaced the bolts with grade 8 hardened SAE bolts and nuts, and used a paint pen to label the drum so that the next guy working on it will know they are not Whitworth fasteners.

The next step is to balance the wheel.  I've mounted a new tire, but I need to find a source of wheel weights for spoked wheels.  The wheel is pretty far out of balance and I'm going to need about 3 oz of weights.

Another Restoration

Almost 20 years ago I restored this 1968 Triumph Bonneville and put it on display in our living room:

Over the years, even being inside, it has gotten dingy and dull.  It is time for a little restoration and freshening up.  Although I rode it once after I restored it the first time, I had always planned to put it on display.  This time, I think I'm going to try to make it a rider. 

Just like the Mustang, anytime you do a restoration you have to decide whether to keep it strictly original, or make it better and more modern and usable.  The Mustang helped me decide on the latter course of action for the Triumph.  I like the idea of making it usable rather than just a pretty face.  For this reason I plan to replace the original zinc plated spokes with stainless steel ones, replace the rock hard old tires with new ones, and install an electronic ignition rather than the old points and condenser type.  I think a different set of handlebars would be better than the old buckhorn wide bars the bike came with.  The Brits didn't use those kinds of bars and only put them on the USA export models. 

The first order of business was to put some air in the tires so I could roll it out of the house.  Carolyn helped with moving some of the furniture out of the way and getting the bike out the front door.  Then we put it up on the work stand and got it ready for some disassembly:

 

Still one of  the most beautiful motorcycles ever made.

 

When I restored the bike 20 years ago, there was one disappointing result that I will have to correct this time, and that was that there were a couple of oil leaks.  There is an old saying that a classic Brit bike MUST leak oil, and in fact, I remember seeing brand new bikes leaking perfectly clean oil on the showroom floor back then.  Another snide remark was that if you bought one and it didn't leak, you could take it back.  Nevertheless, I'm going to try to see if with modern gaskets and sealers I can get it oil tight. 

Another interesting thing about this bike is that back when it was new, it was arguably the fastest production motorcycle made, and definitely an expert riders choice.  The model designation....T120....is supposed to denote that it could go 120 miles per hour.  According to Wikipedia, the Bonneville made 46 horsepower, which is actually one less than the specs for my current ride, the 2014 Honda CBR500R.  It's true that the Honda weighs quite a bit more than the Triumph, but I don't think either one of them can go 120 miles an hour in stock trim.  Also, while the Triumph was an experts choice, the Honda is generally looked at as a beginner bike.  Do you think riders have gotten that much better since 1968?  No.  More likely, we have gotten besotted with more power than we are capable of using. 

Pilgrimadge To a Good Road

Every fall I like to make a long ride before winter shuts down the riding season.  Although I do ride during the winter to run errands or to take day rides with friends when the weather is dry enough, I don't do multi day trips.  This fall ride was going to be a pilgrimage to one of my favorite roads, the Old Spiral Highway out of Lewiston, Idaho.  It might be possible to get there and back in two days by riding a lot of freeway, but of course that is not my style.  Plus, there are a lot of good roads on the way to the Good Road, and I even rediscovered one that I had forgotten was so excellent. 

Here is the bike ready to go:

I left on Monday morning, not too early, because of sunlight problems that I will talk about in a moment.  There were predictions for some rain moving in late Wednesday evening, which I hoped would be after I got home, but I took rain gear just in case. 

One of the problems with a fall ride in the Northwest is the low level of the sun in the mornings and evenings.  If you are heading into the sun and there are no trees for shade, the sun can be blinding because there is nothing like the sun shade in a car for a motorcyclist.  There are various tricks, like putting electrical tape across the top of the helmet visor, but I haven't found anything that really works well.  So I try to avoid leaving early when heading east, and riding late when heading west. 

And, if you are heading into the sun, and there are trees for shade, it can also be a problem.  The forest in the Cascade mountains can be so dense that shade is really dark, and in places where the sun shines through, the contrast between the sunny spots and the shady spots is more than my eyes can deal with.  Here is an example from my ride Monday morning.......this was at about 10 am:

You can see that it would be very difficult to recognize a deer in the road in the shaded area, or potholes, moss, gravel, or even which way the road turns.  So I slow down a lot, and sometimes even hold my left hand out to shade my eyes. 

I stopped for a break at the McCllelan overlook, where Mt St Helens was standing tall and topless waiting for the next blanket of snow:

Later in the morning I crossed the Columbia river at the town of Hood River and shortly after got on the old Columbia Gorge highway so that I could ride the Rowena Curves.  This is a relatively short section of road that is popular with Portland/Vancouver area riders.

I struggle to show what makes a good road.  I've tried videos and still pictures but both have their shortcomings.  How about seeing what I see on my Garmin Zumo gps?

When you combine those kinds of curves, with smooth, clean pavement and no traffic, you have the definition of a Good Road.  But if you haven't ridden a good handling motorcycle at a speed that is in control, but invigorating, then you still don't know what a good road means to a biker. 

Another picture:

It's a strange trend in this country that, while generally, it is getting more and more crowded, there are some places that are losing population.  Usually, these are rural areas (Detroit is an exception), where agriculture has been taken over by big ag business, or where some primary resource like timber or mining has declined.  You find a lot of these communities in central and eastern Oregon and Washington.  Lots of vacant homesteads like this one:

Inside this old home I found evidence that it might be a hangout for some of the more seedy locals:

Patrick Henry would be turning over in his grave at what has been done to his famous quote. 

I ended the first day's ride in Enterprise, Oregon; 414 miles.  When riding by myself, I like to eat a big breakfast and then skip lunch.  By the end of the day I am ready for a couple of beers and a full size meal at a restaurant within walking distance of my motel.  This day it was Mexican food. 

The next morning I headed out for the Old Spiral Highway.  To get there I first had to ride up what is called Rattlesnake Grade on highways 3 and 129.  I've done this road twice before......once north to south on a motorcycle, and once south to north in the Miata with Carolyn, but I had forgotten just how good it was.  This ride was south to north, which I think is the best way as it is mostly uphill.  Uphill always seems a little more comfortable to me, I guess because it is easier to stop quickly if you need to.  Here is another Garmin shot of some of this road:

The pink road with the blue center is my track, and the straight blue line heading off to the northwest is a Garmin glitch (I didn't take flight). 
Here is what it looks like in real life.  Note the lack of vegetation, giving a better view around turns:

If you look closely you can see the road down in that canyon. 

Shortly before noon I got to the Old Spiral Highway.  This used to be the only way to head north out of Lewiston, Idaho, but now there is a major four-lane road that bypasses it.  This is great, because it eliminates most of the traffic on the good road.  Here is the Garmin view:

Here is another way to look at it; Google Earth:

After the Spiral Highway I headed north along the Idaho/Washinton state line, following a route I had planned in my gps.  The program I use to plan these routes is Garmin Mapsource.  It is an older program no longer supported by Garmin, but it is easier to use, so I stick with it.  One of it's shortcomings, though, is that it does not distinguish between paved and gravel roads.  So I ended up on six miles of washboard gravel like this:

Eventually I headed west back into Washington through Moscow and Pullman and got on hwy 26, which is the Palouse Scenic Byway.  I stayed on this road almost all the way to Ellensburg where I spent the night.  The Palouse is an area of Washington where over centuries wind blown volcanic ash has created a soil that, combined with the climate, must be perfect for growing wheat because.....there...is...a...lot...of...it.  Miles and square miles of nothing but wheat.  A sample:

I wondered what kind of tractor could till along such a steep side hill without rolling over.  Later I saw someone actually doing it.  The tractor was a tracked vehicle, which meant it probably had a low center of gravity and a wide stance.  It was pulling a rake or harrow that might have been 50 feet wide. 

I got into Ellensburg fairly early, but didn't have to worry about riding into the sun anyway, as it was already clouding over.  The prediction of rain late Wednesday was proving to be a bit off, and now they were saying rain by morning.  I stayed at the Motel 8, which I think is the third time I have stayed there; the previous two times were when riding the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route.  Tuesday was 363 miles. 

Shortly after I got underway on Wednesday it started raining, but I had already put on my rain gear so I was ready for it.  It was pretty much rain off and on for the entire ride home.  Needless to say, I didn't search out the curvy roads, but tried to stick to two lane roads to avoid the truck traffic and road spray of the freeways.  I found that riding a full day in the rain was something I could get used to as long as I had gear to keep me warm and dry.  The bike, however, was a filthy mess by the time I got home.  The total for the ride was 1027 miles. 

10,000 Miles!

No, not on the motorbike.........on the pedal bike. 

I got this bike for my 68th birthday, so a little more than six years to get this mileage.  For the first year or two after I started riding this bike I was doing 2,000 miles, but I have tapered off a lot in the past few years.  I have become less comfortable with riding on the local two-lane roads with no shoulder, as traffic has increased and my bravery has decreased.  Before this bike, I was riding an old mountain bike that I put road tires on.  I might have done 10,000 miles on that bike also, but I didn't have an odometer on it.  And before that I was commuting three days a week on a different bike that I racked up 26,000 miles on.  Despite all those miles I don't consider myself a dedicated bicyclist........it's just the best way I have for staying fit.  My joints are pretty creaky when it comes to walking or running, but when on the bike I still have the flow. 

Day Ride To Mt. Rainier

Every year we try to do at least one day ride to Mt Rainier, and last Thursday was the day.  It's not a particularly curvy ride, and we often get stuck behind motor homes and travel trailers, but the scenery is worth it.  It was probably just as well it was not too curvy as I had put a new front tire on the bike and it felt like I had power steering. It took me awhile to get used to it, but when I did, I really liked the improved handling. 

At the altitude of the lodge the mountain was in full autumn splendor:

L to R, Leo, Mike, me
Orv is behind the camera

 

I turned 9,000 miles on the bike, which I bought in April.  The end of the real riding season is coming up, but I will probably have over 10K miles before winter.  



A Ride Report

I've been lax in making ride reports lately.......partly due to the good weather which makes it harder to sit inside at the computer, but mostly due to laziness.  I have actually got Orv and Ross to do a couple of two-day rides with me so that we could expand our horizons a bit with different roads.  The dry, warm spring and summer has meant that all of our normal one-day ride routes have been done, and done again. 

Before I get into writing about our second two-day ride, I want to mention a one-day ride I took with Ray and some of his friends that Carolyn and I met at his "end of summer" party.  I only have one picture from the ride and that is of the group before we left:

Ray and his girlfriend Ellen are second from the right and the guy to the right of them is a Canadian acquaintance of Ellen's who was passing through the area and attended the party.  The guy standing behind the immaculate red Triumph Sprint managed to drop the bike at an intersection during the ride and cracked the fairing.......it's going to be an expensive day for him.  We started late and rode a long way, which meant I didn't get home until around 7:30.  I actually would have been home earlier were it not for an incident that would have made for some interesting pictures for this blog had I had my phone with me to take them.  However, my phone was in my jacket on my bike while I was locked inside a service station.  It happened this way:  Ray and I had split from the Portland contingent of riders and had stopped to get gas at a station in Stevenson, Washington.  After I paid with my credit card I went to go into the station to use the restroom.  Just before I went inside a guy pulled up in a pickup truck and went in ahead of me.  I thought he was going to beat me to the restroom, but he went into the service bay part of the station instead.  So I did my thing, and when I came out the door was locked.  I guess the guy was the manager of the station and he was closing the place and didn't notice I came in behind him and went into the restroom.  I banged on window and got Ray's attention but other than laughing at me there was nothing he could do.  In desperation, I used the station's phone to call 911.  I didn't  really consider my situation to be an emergency, but couldn't come up with any other ideas.  The 911 operator sent a Sheriff's officer to the station and she called the owner who came and let me out after about a half hour delay.  I always had the final solution of throwing a car battery through the window, but I didn't like that choice either. 

So, on to the two-day ride with Ross and Orv.  Our plan was to ride some back roads up to the Olympic Peninsula and around counter-clockwise to an overnight in Forks.  These were not very curvy roads, but the scenery was great and the weather was about perfect.  At one stop along the Puget Sound I got this picture which is a good shot of Orv's new Ducati Scrambler in front of my equally new Honda CBR.

We took highway 112, which runs alongside the Strait of Juan De Fuca:

Eventually we arrived at our motel in Forks.  What a dump!  I had searched all the motels in Forks and this was the cheapest one, but it was not cheap.  Still, the pictures of the room on their website made it look pretty nice........LIE!  I should have known when talking to the manager on the phone, who was obviously not a native English speaker, that things might not be so great.  It was a kitchen unit (with no utensils), and the sink had a massive and strange looking spider that had Ross freaking out.  That was just before he ran into the flying bugs of unknown origin in the bathroom.  Here is a pic of the room:

No, we didn't all sleep in the same bed.  There were two more beds to the left of this picture. 

There was a grocery store next door, so we went over and got a six-pack and some popcorn and had a post-ride snack on the porch:

I thought the unpainted patch of siding was a repair, but Carolyn thinks it had been a window that became too much trouble to maintain, and I think she might be right.  We did get to park the bikes under cover so they had no dew on the seats in the morning:

Oh, and the TV didn't work so I got the manager to come over and after a half hour or so of rebooting the satellite feed he got it going. 

Another view of the joint:

Despite everything, the beds were comfortable enough and the shower had plenty of hot water with adequate pressure, so things could have been worse and I got a good night's sleep.  Next time, though, somebody else picks the motel. 

We continued on down the coast, passing the Olympic rain forest park, and riding through some really lush, forested area right on the ocean:

I got home with over 600 miles covered and a good ride with good friends.  I tried to talk them into a three-dayer I have planned, but I don't think it is going to take. 

Mustang Handover......The Do Over.

After I got back from my ride with Jenny, I called Pertronix and verified that they had found the igniter had failed and were sending me a new one.  I decided to go ahead and get one from the local Napa auto parts store just to have a spare handy.  I also got Napa to replace the voltage regulator for free (the second one), and bought another one of those for a spare.  I installed both parts and the car started fine, so I set the timing of the distributor and then did several test drives with no problems. 

My daughter Karen was up from her home in South Pasadena for a long weekend as part of her annual birthday/father's day visit, and it seemed like a good opportunity to take her for a ride in the Mustang to take the car to Brian and see her brother and his family.  We started out early to beat the heat:

Everything was going fine and we even had time to take a little side trip on some two lane roads just to get off the freeway for awhile.  Then after we got back on the interstate, and still south of Olympia, we came to a complete halt with a closed freeway due to an accident.  After awhile they opened up a detour around the accident and we began to creep ahead, but the Mustang didn't like the slow going and the temp gauge needle began to rise.  So did my anxiety needle.  However, the engine temp seemed to reach a steady state that was high, but not boiling over, and we eventually got past the jam and reached Brian's house, so I guess it was actually a successful test of the car handling a traffic jam on a hot day. 

I went over the procedures for replacing the ignition igniter and the voltage regulator, should those ever fail again:

Then Brian took us all to lunch, after which we drove to the Amtrak station for the return home for Karen and I.

Then Brian and Colin drove off..........the car was his, finally:

Listening to this video, I hear a little bit of fan belt chirp, but hey, it's not my problem now!  It sure has a beautiful exhaust sound. 

After Karen and I got home I went to my shop and reveled in the emptiness of it.