Mech failure reports from RRuns

[AdminGuy]

I would really like to see mechanical failure reports from road runs. I thought it was great to see the hard luck acknowledgements on pg 63 of this issue from the Berkshire Mountain RR.

We all make mistakes, and yes, it can be embarressing sometimes. But I feel that as a club it would be great to see some sort of data collected to try to help riders possibly identify potential problems before they happen.

So in the future it would be great to see more info. ie "He broke a valve spring on his IND Four". Was it NOS? Was it new? How many miles were on it? Was it shot peened? Did he have it dialed right up at the time?

"Sudden flat tire on his Chief". Was the tube old? Was it punctured? Was it installed incorrectly? Was the tire worn? Did object puncture it?

And so on, and so on. I think most guys are big enough to **** it up these days and admit you made a mistake. Maybe this collected data will help other club members avoid the same problem on the road. So that we can all have more fun enjoying our machines.

[Baytown]

I had my tanks off my 47 Chief to work on the mongrel Speedo drive (which keeps stripping ring gears at the rear wheel Speedo drive).
I always clean my oil tank with Kerosene after draining the oil at 1000kms, and clean out any residual with a rag.
After reassembling my machine, I took it out for a 40km test ride, and just felt uneasy re the assembly.
On the return leg, the bike began to loose power, and died on me at approx 90kph. I pulled to the side of the road, and washed off speed, before reengaging the clutch, to which the bike started again and so I chose to limp home at approx 30kph.
On getting home, I remembered that I didn't remove the rag from the oil tank.
Sure enough, the oil feed line had been blocked to some extent by the rag, causing the front cylinder to nip up. It is running fine now, 1000kms later, and I haven't had the front cylinder off, but will be inspecting it for any score marks next time a top end is due.
Close, and I learned big time to account for all tools and rags.

Best wishes.

Ken.

[exeric]

Baytown, I have to admire you for confessing that, but I think I would have kept that one to myself and a priest.

[Baytown]

G'day Eric, live and learn I s'pose. As I work with aircraft, I'm well aware of accounting for tools / equipment. I had one of those blank moments when re assembling the bike is all I can say.
For the ultimate break down, go here, and see what happened to my Chief in 1994. Scroll down to the bottom and read the article entitled Ken Kemps wreck.


http://virtualindian.org/featureindex5.htm


Best wishes everyone.

Ken.

[exeric]

Baytown, I checked out the link you provided. That is quite a story. It's remarkable how impared some people can get on booze. Even more remarkable that they would want to be that impared. I like a drink as much as the next person but after maturity sets in and one to many hang-overs, most people stop before the stupidity becomes an addiction. I am delighted to see the Chief is looking as good as before. There is something truely disturbing about seeing a wrecked antique motorcycle.

I had a wreck in 1990 on my '51 FL. I had recently restored the bike and was enjoying a nice Sunday morning ride through downtown Orlando, Florida. There was very little traffic so everything should have been ducky. I was going straight on Orange Ave. when a crazy old lady in a big Chrysler made a spontaneous left turn, with no signal, 40 or 50 feet in front of me. Of coarse I couldn't stop so I layed it down and I got high sided which sent me on a long, slow motion flight through the air. I actually remember saying to myself that this was going to hurt. . . . And it did. I was pretty messed up and so was the "51. The police had to restrain the old bag becuase she kept trying to leave the scene, and she told the cop that she couldn't understand what the big deal was. "It was only a motorcycle."

[c.o.]

As always hearing bike crash stories can be a little disheartening. It's good to see that both you fellas made it here to tell your stories!!!!

[Baytown]

I'm actually surprised that it's such a slow moving thread.
Maby move it to Parking Lot chatter, as there's got to be some amazing stories out there.
Actually over 420 people have read this with only a few replies.

Best wishes everyone.

Ken.

[Jack_Hester]

I'll post a common problem, for those who make longer than normal rides on their machines. In my earlier years of riding, distance was all I could think of. Not for the pain. But, to see as much as I could, in the little time off that I had off. On two different occasions I had to remove a head off of my bike, to deal with sticking exhaust valves. These came from sustained running for a whole day, with gas fill ups every couple of hours as the only break. Lesson learned: top end lube must be added to the gas, to prevent carbon buildup on the valve stems, and to soften the existing carbon. And, to do the obvious of lubricating where there is little or none. Marvel Mystery Oil, in particular.

Jack

[AdminGuy]

Instead of Marvel can you use air compressor oil? maybe a table spoon per tank.

[Jack_Hester]

I don't have a clue about the compressor oil. MMO will not smoke. Compressor oil may. You can give it a try. If you use the MMO, don't over do it, as there has been some discussion about the fact that it may lower octane if mixed greater than stated on the container. So, in this case, more is not better.

Jack