My bike died

[Chris Haynes]

I was hauling ass down the freeway on my old Panhead chopper. Suddenly I started losing speed. The engine was running great. When stopped I figured I had dropped the chain. Inspection found the chain in place. Problem was all the rivets in the rear sprocket had given up the ghost and the sprocket was spinning on the drum. I pushed all the rivet halves out of the holes. Scrounged up an old wire clothes hanger and wove it through the holes in the sprocket and drum. Being very gentle riding I made it home.

[exeric]

I had the same problem Chris. It was on my '51FL with sidecar. Just like the '68 adventure, I was on I-4 in Winter Park, east of Orlando, but this time I was right at an exit. Even better, there was a gov. salvage place called Skycraft at the bottom of the exit ramp so I put 10-32 screws into the rivet holes and Bob was indeed my uncle. I rode it that way for a couple of years. . . Jeeze, I'm an idiot

[fillibuster]

Bike died?
Man, I expected to read all this and get pretty sober. Like worse than when your dog dies!
I expected, well, the old bike is really out of commission now, like maybe it got the kiss of death.
I expected some long-faced, balls-draggin', sad-sacked bad-news. I got one of them.
But I'll spare you.

[exeric]

In the latest issue of The Antique Motorcycle, Roger Duffey has a column devoted to this subject. I think it is a great idea because we learn from experience, and often times we learn more from a bad experience. I've heard many stories from riders who had to fix their bike on a back road with nothing but a piece of barbed wire, broken glass, and string. These stories are always amusing, but often very educational.

[fillibuster]

In the latest issue of The Antique Motorcycle, Roger Duffey has a column devoted to this subject. I think it is a great idea because we learn from experience, and often times we learn more from a bad experience. I've heard many stories from riders who had to fix their bike on a back road with nothing but a piece of barbed wire, broken glass, and string. These stories are always amusing, but often very educational.

Okay then, I like it.
My generator quit about 30 miles short of Farmington. I was running the 3 little 1.5 amp 6v's, and barely made it to the meet. Found a guy with a parts generator, did what I could for it, headed home and it charged for a while--like 60 miles or so, then my buddy's laughing and pointing at the flames coming off my generator. Saturday afternoon, still 200 miles to home, whadya do?
I did pack a 1-amp trickle charger for the trip, and had to pig-tail it into a street lamp post. While it trickled I made up a pair of jumper wires about 6 feet long, with 1 alligator clamp, one eyelet, and one small vice grip. Hard-wired to his switch, grounded nearby. He didn't want to take off hooked up, but once in 3rd gear his kid would pass me the ends, and I would hook up the alligator clamp to my exposed hot wire and then with no hands on the bars clamp the ground to my dash panel. Away we went, and my ammeter says I was charging!! We made it to Windom that way, about 120 miles, slept there at a friend's, friend had a high-output for his chief and loaned it to me, and we came home in full repair. ....... jumper wires between a couple of chiefs, going down the road-- it CAN be done.

[T. Cotten]

I was hauling ass down the freeway... Suddenly I started losing speed....

Reminded me, Chris,...

..Of right after I got my first American machine, a trashed Kansas City Police Special. Got the hydraulic brake adjustor a little too long,
and it locked me up in the middle of a two-lane highway a dozen miles out of town.
Couldn't even push it, but the smoke trailing off across the fields from the fresh drum paint alerted the traffic.

Fix wuz ez.

....Cotten
PS: It was a dozen more years until it spun the rear lugs and dowels. Still trying to forget about that.

[pisten-bully]

....... jumper wires between a couple of chiefs, going down the road-- it CAN be done.

That is a GREAT story!

[Bills37]

Many years ago when bell bottom pants were the style I had a problem with the pants cuff catching on the clutch linkage of my 47 Chief. This wouldn't let my foot reach the ground and if the bike started to lean that way I would inevitably fall over. One day as I'm pulling out of a parking lot a kid ran out in front of me and I had to lock up the brakes and of course the cuff snagged the linkage and I fell over. I was so mad I just picked up the bike, kicked it over and roared up the street and out of town. As I start up a hill outside of town the bike begins to miss. I look down and the 2 wires going to my now non-existent battery. At this moment it died altogether and I coasted to the side of the road. I sitting there contemplating my dilemma when a pick up pulls up behind me and the guy gets out holding my battery. It's a little nicked up from tumbling down the street but no worse for wear and tear. I was able to rig up a quick little repair and rode home without further trouble. Apparently it had fallen out when I fell over and I dragged it up main street until it broke free. The bike ran ok on generator until I hit the hill.