Time to Ride"Damn-it"

Well my scout "Damn-it" is done all but the bicycle speedo.  I hope to get it out and start riding it some.  Last week was a good week in the shop, finished with Damn-it and started up a old hillclimber that I bought during Thanksgiving of last fall (2011).  Took off the front head so I could retime the mag and boy was I surprised!  New pistons inside the grease covered motor.  The valves have a new grind and seat, and the cams and followers where Bonnies...  The hillclimber along with a original paint 29 101 belonged to Art Buskie of Rockford Il, both bikes were his pride and joy even though it looked like the hillclimber may have been in the bottom of a grease pit.  But thats alot better then out back in the leaky barn.  Both bikes run very well, you can check out the hillclimber on my youtube videos posted here on my blog.  I will post the original paint bike later.  Hope everyone is having as much fun as I am with there Cannon Ball ride...  Well the weather looks good outside time to go..

It's Done...... Or is it????

  Well my CannonBall Ride was done about four weeks ago and the cold weather prevented me from making any kind of nice test run.  But I couldn't wait so I took to the road anyway, and man was I ever surprised!  The motor runs great, clutches are nice, and the ole girl just falls right in gear.  Then came the big surprise as I pulled out on the road and came up to some speed the bike was a nightmare...  It was bouncing all over the place, so I limped the bike back to my shop.  As I am riding back (doing about TEN) I was trying to think what the hell was wrong.  Then I remembered the rear wheel I used came off one of the race bikes and I had to spoke the wheel over to run center of the frame...  AH-HA!  I left it on the bike and never took it back off to check for true..  So the back wheel came off and that took about 4hrs out of my life. The wheel was not only out of true but looked alot like the egg I had for breakfast..  So while the rear wheel was off I took it to our local Yamaha shop and had it balanced.  I also took the front wheel over as well, but the shaft on the machine wouldn't fit my hollow axle so I brought it back and done it "ole school"..  I had also found that the front bearings had loosened up on the front a bit.  So know its all done again!
 But wait there's more..  I have a neat old tool that is used to spread the leaf spring apart so you can grease them and I like using it.  So I started to grease the springs and once I spread them apart I found a broken leaf. Not the main but the second long one with the clamp..  I didn't now how well 20 year old paint held parts together.  So with a quick call to Kent Tompson I had what I needed on the way (more to this parts order later).  Now the front end is coming back apart, I rob a spring pack from another 101 in my project pile's and get it back on its feet... 
  So whiled sitting on the lift the bike has broken a leaf spring, sprung a leak in primary, and oil was pouring out of my shifter tower...  My dad keeps telling me I will never make it through the state of Pa...  I am starting to believe him......
  Ok let me tell you about the parts order.  I am running the original 6 volt system on my bike.  Same DU7 generator that was on it when my dad bought it 16 years ago..  So I have been playing with some LED's in the headlamp..  They glow well, but you can't run them at nite.  I was also talking to Randy Walker about my light deal I had and I plan on using a LED and take a original Mazda if I need to run it in darkness.  Randy also suggested that I put some tape on the lens so when I had to take off the outer ring I don't drop and break the lens..  I laughed and replied "done that last month"...  So --- The bike is still on the lift and I decide to do the tape thing and guess what??  Broke the second one!!  I run to the phone and have Kent put another lens in with the leaf spring...
    Last week the weather was nice here so back outside I went with the bike and this time it ran great!!  I like checking out every ones blog's and Jeff Alprin's site is really neat.  I also like the fact that Jeff calls his bike "The Beast".   Fighting with my 101 I have given it a nickname also.... From now on it will be called "DAMN-IT"  So if you walk by us on the run and you here me saying phrases like "come on Damn-it", or "what now Damn-it"..  You will know that I am calling her by her name!!
    I also have my map thing on the handle bars, added foot rest to the front spill bar, and installed a pair of ugly ass break lights...  I will try and post a video of my bike this..... Oops wait a minute!!!  I will try and post a video this week of Damn-it with all her mods..
  Anyway I hope that I am not the only one laying in bed at nite fixing things along the road and pushing there bike to the next gas stop... Or am I??   Someone posted on the cannon ball site that the event starts now and not in Sept, boy  are they right.   Hopefully the bike is done for now and I should start thinking about myself a little.  Damn-it wont be very happy pulling my big butt up some of the hills that we will face..  Thanks for taking the time to read my problems and hopefully your build is going a whole lot better.  Steve

Almost Ready!!

  Well the hoildays are behind us now and I can get back to work on the bike.  I had to do alot of cleaning on the tank, the old tank cream was peeling off and rust was showing through.  So during Christmas I let it soak in Acetone for 5 days and that removed the old cream.  Used a varitiey of rust removers and got the inside looking pretty decent.  I used Red Kote to reline the inside and hopefully it's ready to go.  I am still going to run a filter on my rubber gas line.  For those of you that don't know or remember the 101 that caught on fire at the Wauseon races two years ago was ours, the copper gas line broke and the bike back-fired through the exhaust and set the puddle of gas on fire.  Bike burned for what seemed like an eternity, but was okay after lots of work the day after..  So I am using rubber gas line on this 101..  Not worried about being orginal just functional for the trip.  I have to finish up carb and brake lights and then get it off the stand and start.

 Dad looks over my doctors bag that I will be using as tour pack..  Not sure if it meets his approval???

Motor in Frame!!!

Well the heart beat of my 101 is back where it belong's.  Hope to get back after it as soon as the hoildays are over.  I have been checking out the exhaust system and the chain guard, looks like the orginal builder had done a lot of his own mods.  Hope to get it all put back somewhat the way it was.   I have also looked down in my tank and the old white thank cream is coming apart inside and I can see rust behind that.  Once again nothing is going as planned on this supposed to be easy rebuild..

PS motor not Done

Well, when you think your done, think again.. When torquing the heads I had two pull their threads at the end.  So, I had to take the head off, tape up cylinder and add two repair sleeves.  It's a good thing I had Time Serts on hand.  20 minutes later, Motor Done!

Motor Done!

Well it's a good thing that the Cannonball isn't next week as long as it has taken me build this motor.  Head cold, flu, and just a overall things not going my way, made it seem like this thing took months to finish.  This was my first attempt to do nickle plating.  I used the Caswell system and lots of phone time with George Y.  I did my cylinders, heads, intake, and oil pump.  Parts look OK, just have to wait and see what the heat does..  I did replace flywheels with  S&S flywheels from Randy Walker, that worked out real well!!  Then got a rebuilt mag from Marks Mags through Randy as well.  I also want to mention the help that Kent Thompson has been, my right side case was junk and he had a better one..  Thanks again to George, Randy and Kent.

First Snag on 29 Rebuild

Got an email two weeks before Thanksgiving about 2 101's that were offered to our collection.  The first bike is an unrestored 1929 101 with original paint except for gas tank which was done in the 40's, so it has the patina to go with the rest of the bike.  The second bike is a 1931 101 hillclimber/TT racer that belonged to the same owner.  Art Buskie of Rockford, Illinois was inducted into the Indian Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1991 and these were two of his bikes.  We were excited to acquire them and add to our 101 collection.

Now for the hard part.....I am already obligated in my other 29 101 to run on the cannonball and I cannot back up and run this original paint bike with all the work I've completed to date on the other one.   What a Damn Shame!!  This old bike is pretty cool.  I have made a couple of trips on the road with it and it runs like a top..

Posted 7 minutes ago by Steve Rinker

0

Add a comment

Dec

18

Getting Started

We're gonna try to start our blog in preparation for our 2012 Cannonball journey in September.  To date, we have disassembled our 1929 101 Indian Scout and have started our rebuild process. 

We also have acquired our support vehicle and are in the process of customizing it for the trip. 

Posted Yesterday by Steve Rinker