Seattle enroute to Manhattan to meet The Bounty

I was able to stop off at my parent's house on the Puget Sound in Seattle, Washington overnight before coming out to the ship. Here is a video of the front yard and a photo of the logs which come up near the house during storms.

Two all-nighters and I fired the pan first kick. And THAT feels good.

Shoot. Two nights ago I attempted to wire the bike off of a Robinson drawing but crossed something up and when I turned the key, one of the wires started smoking and then turned cherry red along the center downtube! AAAAHH! Thanks to Syd's quick thinking of throwing oily rags on it, we got it out without any damage but a hurt ego. I pulled all the wiring and consulted Rodney when he showed up the next day. He tried to talk me out of it but I refused to split and had him draw me a diagram for the wiring before he went home. I stayed up all night and knocked out the wiring, all the while referring to all the things Ralph at Mesa Cycle has said over the years about doing show wiring. One main line along the top tube. Hide all zips. Cover all ends with shrink so no wire shows at all. I got it done and filled the fluids. Slept on a cement floor and went at it three hours later. Rodney figured out the brake and we pulled it off of the lift. I twisted the wick a time or two and it fired first kick. That was a proud moment for me. That means that I get to go to Japan with my good friends Roland and Drews and Cole and Kutty and we get to party our asses off with Mochi and Gaku and all the NFK guys. I am so stoked. Keith Coffin is here at the house now with the Moloch brothers from Norcal and alot of my friends are coming over tonight to check out the bike and see me off. I fly out tomorrow at 11:30AM for Seattle and day after that to Newark, where I will make my way to The Bounty in Manhattan for the beginning of my adventure across the Atlantic Ocean. Enjoy my trip. It's gonna be crazy.

I was too busy to bring in the camera last night...

So I got the petcock and a single plug from Scott Craig after driving all the way out to L.A. downtown and on the way back, picked up the other missing plug from Candy so my tank is now fitted, installed, and ready for fluids. Oil bag is mounted, plumbed, and ready for fluid also. I began on the electrical  by wiring the headlights back and the taillight forward. I ran the generator wire to the battery. The key switch with one side to all accessories and one to the battery positive. Ran the other side of the coil to the distributor. Zip ties hidden. Shrink tubing in all the right places. Turn the key! Oh SHIT! Smoke! That wire is turning CHERRY RED! AAAh. Pull the positive on the battery. Pull out the offending wire as it's burning hot. Check the paint. No damage. Just some smoke and  buzzed up nerves. The wire that ran from the key to the positive on the battery was toast as well as one of the two headlight wires. Hmmph. Where's Rodney?  Sick. He would know. I'll try again this afternoon. 

controls and whatever else. just a little bit more to go but only 72 hours left!

Thanks to Ralph at Mesa Cycle for the advice and to John at Banzai Machine for dropping everything when I walk in to tap or turn down something holding me up. Rodney and Stretch are always standing there to lend a hand or pull off some fabrication miracle. Mason hooked me up with some banjo adaptors for the police oil bag. He had them sitting right there on the bench like he knew I was coming over for them or something. Here's a few shots of my progress today. You think I'm stressing? Never. Back to the shop. This will be an all-nighter. 

John Candy working on the paint and a sneaker of the finished product

I'm on the home stretch but damn! The little things kill ya'. It took all day to hunt down the correct belt drive components since the primo stuff isn't interchangeable 64 to 48. Rivera discontinued the front tapered shaft pulley I needed so instead of just buying a pulley for 40 bucks, I had to buy the whole 400 dollar pulley-basket-belt updated system. I'll just go get that money out of the bushes here. Just a sec. Candy did a great job on the oil bag and fender. I took some shots of him working and here's a good one. Vid is a quickie of the parts together. 

some photos of the ship I will be sailing on across the Atlantic Ocean

Stretchy Stretch, in his search for obscure photos, has come across these gems. Here are studio shots from 62' when the Bounty was built for the movie Mutiny on the Bounty, starring the late, great Marlon Brando. This is the actual ship I will be on as we make our way across the pond to the land of red hair and freckles. Check them out! 

jun odashima dealing with the clutch basket

Jun and I dealt with the transfer of the Kill Yourself clutch basket and belt drive to the panhead. Here's a photo of Jun looking for the odd bolt to make the puller pull. Thanks for the hand Jun.

here's a mock-up photo

Here's the panhead at The Kennedy's shop the day I made the sissybar and cut down the bars. Pokey helped me figure out the hidden fender and tank mounts. Gettin' there.

Certification for international ocean voyage completed

I'm back from San Diego where, on the Navy Base, I took the Coast Guard Certification course that allows me to sail into International waters. It was a five day course that covered firefighting, emergency medical, disaster at sea, abandoning ship, etc. Let's hope I never have to use this stuff. I also got to go onto the Star of India, which is docked in the bay. It is an incredible square rigger from the 1800's. A "cape horner" some would call her. She is the oldest working ship of her kind. I wish I were born back when those ships ruled the seas! Brutal! Also, I threw in a video of my sleeping quarters for the last week. I drove the 1947 Chevy Panel Truck from Huntington Beach to San Diego and back. Not a problem whatsoever. This truck is a trooper! Comfortable, too!

Close-up of master cylinder and video of Rodney's contraption

I wanted to eliminate the stock master cylinder commonly used on Harleys and I wanted it to be as small as possible but still stop the P.M. 4 piston caliper that Roland gave me. I have never liked the fact that the front down tube and part of the cam cover is covered by this part. Those frames are so cool looking. I wanted to open that up. Rodney suggested we go with something off of a sportbike so we checked out a couple laying around the shop and went with this. I think it came of a GSXR. I could be wrong. What is not wrong is the placement of this thing. Sideways and tucked under the transmission. Is that ruling or what? Also, here is a video of this crazy contraption that Rodney built. It is battery powered and you use a toggle to direct it where to go. Pshhht. 

Setting the motor into the frame.

Sheesh. Had to take the motor to the shop in the 34 today with no way to tie it down. Hang on! Literally. So these aluminum rocker boxes are a bit bigger than the stock pan covers and I tried to put the motor right into the cradle but no-go. I took off the front head...no-go. I took off the rear head and it fit right in. Cock the rear head a bit and it slid onto the barrel. Slide the front on and uh-oh. The third mount for the stock gas tanks between the front legs is in the way! Shoot. So out comes the cut-off wheel. Slice and on it goes. A little semi-gloss and good as new. Took all day but the motor is in the frame. Get everything cinched up on the motor tomorrow and put the inner primary on and hopefully get the brake sorted out. Got to get it moving. Only a week of working time left. UPDATE: I got the bike over to Rodney's shop, The Nest yesterday to sort out the engineering of the brake and clutch arms I bent up. We put a sportbike master cylinder under the trans so we had to work out a cable and attach it to the arm. There's a photo of Father Stretch installing the exhaust and of Rodney in contemplation over the brake assembly. Also a photo of Pat checking out the finished product. I'm off to San Diego for a weeks worth of Coast Guard Certification so when I get back we'll get this bike started. Just need to install the throttle cable, clutch basket and pulley, wiring and oil bag, fender, and oil bag mounting bracket...and oil lines...and fix all the stuff that is going to go wrong, right? I'm off to San Diego in the 47'. 44 mph down the 5fwy. HA. Sad but true.

Rocker boxes back from Tay

Here are pics of my rocker boxes before I bolt them on and set the engine and driveline. Again, Tay did incredible work. The lids were the finned aluminum but I had John at Banzai Machine face them so I could throw some engraving on 'em. The Klan image is by muralist Thomas Hart Benton. It was part of a mural done for the 1933 Chicago Exposition in the Indiana Pavilion. The title of the mural is 'Parks, The Circus, The Klan, The Press'. I added it because it reflects the lack of minority representation in the club.

Video of Harpoon blasting off.

Here's Harpoon on his Pan doing what he does best. He is out every night crushing the pavement till all hours. Splittin' lanes and takin' names! Do it Poon!

Picked up cam cover from Tay today.

Here is the cam cover for the Panhead. It has elements of The Heathens stories from the documentary slipped in here and there. Tay Herrera is the best engraver out there and I didn't have to sit there and try to explain the whole thing. I drew out some ideas, told him what elements I wanted and he just got it. My most important request was that it be traditional colt/remington gun style engraving, which he has 20 years of experience at. My Pan lids are still there with him and he will be done with them tomorrow. The craftsmanship speaks for itself. Between Tony and Maryann at Hidecore Leather and Tay Herrera's engraving, my head is going to explode just from the great artwork on this machine!