!914 Twin HD Cannon ball request

[Slojo]

The following video of the newly prepared Ghost came out so poorly I almost didn't post it, just not smooth . Time is short so it will just have to do sorry. Today we hit the road for NY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9IP4...1&feature=plcp

[c.o.]

I would say the video is acceptable Joe... Best of luck!!!

[Dkgoz]

Joe,

Thanks for the video, its cool to see the changes you made to the Ghost for 2012.

Good luck and be careful where you point your headlights - don't want to toast any of your competitors!

Dave
AMCA9757

[fillibuster]

Been at Black Hills Road Run (great time).
Just moved to new job site 20 miles from Spirit Lake, Ia. Be seeing Joe and anybody else there Tues nite. If crew are good enough without me, I'll chase the Cannonballers all the way to Sturgis!
Any emergency requests for Sioux Falls area support people, drop me a line here!

[Slojo]

Cannonball Two completed , I would like to state some facts.

One, The wolf pack huffed and puffed and blew ,,,,,, nothing down.

Wolf Pack threats of running down the Ghost didn't happen until 3950 miles into the event about 5 miles away from Dudley Perkins Shop finish line where a Pack of neutered mutts appeared at an up hill climb red traffic light stop where upon green the mutts darted off in first gear and later puffed out their chests on how well they left behind the single speed Ghost struggling to run a high geared setup from stop up a steep up hill climb slipping the clutch to a 35 mph roll.

Indians? where were the Indians? We need more representatives from the WIg Wam. What a shame they didn't have much of a showing.

Competition Distributing, Lonnie Senior shop saved the "half broken" Cannonball Run in his Sturgis shop. All makes of bikes were limping into Lonnie's shop and roaring out. The perfect lay over location !

Brand Rivalries were high (my fault) so was the comradery (all who were there).

Elements were tougher than the road conditions. Sideways rain, high twenties F. temps, strong head and cross winds, iced up helmet shields and clothing, fog thick as peanut butter. Even iced up carburetors including the ghost frosty the snowman Schebler throttle body (photos later).

One must be diligent in looking out for Deer, Wolves, Buffalo, Moose, Turkeys and a multitude of other obstacles such as mini vans (Bill Buckingham) and cliffs Darryl Richman (hope both of you are OK)

The tenacity of this Cannonball group was just as determined as the first Cannonball group in finishing the event, even a limp was acceptable.

Scenery was incredible , the sent of green (?) in the air while passing through the wineries mmm !

Gas was expensive.

Hot Springs Arkansas still has the best stop for Cannonballers. Is that an opinion?

California riding was the best. Is that another opinion?

Opinions

H.D. museum put on the best meal.

The best sports were the Henderson riders of the Wolf Pack they took a lot of kind hearted harassment and continued on without a fuss. Mark Hill and gang lets do it again it was grand.

Brad won again on his anvil like "X" what a machine and what great patience Brad has for operating his machine in its most tolerant happy zone. I think I will have to do something about that in the next CB run. A new approach, a new formula.

Did I mention the Ghost was FAST not having a problem holding it's own and more with any bike that came along. Dusting two Deluxe Hendersons , including Dan Emerson's fast deluxe at speeds around 80 mph. Dale Stoner's KJ missed the muster in the high speed twisties. Yes the Ghost ran well and after a little chassis tuning handled great!

Ghost carnage , Two tail lights a Speedo transmitter, a velocity stack , magneto trouble. Apparently my fault, next time don't forget to use Dielectric grease on the points fiber block. Also try not to mix up the prototype intake valve springs with the heat treated production intake valve springs.

Did I have fun? Yes, I raced across the flat lands to leave behind the boring rear tire wearing first half of the event and then enjoyed the second half more than the entire Wolf Pack combined enjoyed their parade run across the entire country. Oops,,, still poking a little fun guys.

Fast bikes

Paul d Orleans Velocette KTT 350cc's
Tom McBride 21 J (Vills prepared) ???cc's
Vils/Decker 29 JD (Vills prepared) ???CC's (note uppercased usage of CC's on this one)
Dale Stoner KJ 80ci?

Best scenery, Red Woods

Best riding, NO Cal

Funniest comment , Mike Lichters second most photographer miles,,, (negative) -3956, He ran the entire event sitting backwards on a Victory.

Steepest grade and highest elevation 10% and nearly 10,000 feet ( a little tough on a single speed bike)

Favorite stop guests, those who came just to tell me they followed this article from the beginning.

Greats challenge, the elements.

Enough for now good night.

joe

[Tom Lovejoy]

Fun reading Joe thanks, we saw you in Oregon. You were at a gas stop and atleast 20 minutes ahead of the next machine, very impressive. You said probably a BMW would be next, but it turned out to be another HD. I too hope there will be more Indians next time. At the gas stop the Grey Ghost did'nt want to start, looked like you popped a spark plug out and put it back in. Next thing I knew you were running and off like the wind, that was on hwy 20 in Oregon. Congrats and well done, don't know how you could do any better.

[dane]

Joe,
You sure we were goin 80? Felt a little faster to me. Fun ridin em that hard ain't it?

[dane]

Joe,
What you failed to mention when you spoke about dusting the Hendersons was that in my case I had about a hundred pound passenger and you didn't. Her name was Too Much Baggage....saddlebags,tour pack,gallon each of gas and oil, toolbox and tools, spare chain,air pump, tire irons, fix-a-flat, rain suit, etc. You, me, and Mr. Lichter all know the results of that little drag race could have been a little different if I hadn't loaded the trunk of my old Deusenberg with all that lead. Just returning a little friendly harassment on behalf of the Pack. Pinks All Out anyone? Great ridin with you Joe.

[4thcoast]

Coast-to-Coast Pig Roast 2012 Year of the Henderson

First off, all of us in the Wolf Pack would like to congratulate Gardella for completing his first Cannonball. As you all recall, he ran in the 2010 Cannonball but did not achieve a perfect score. Of the 19 bikes that finished with perfect points, 5 were Wolf Pack Hendersons. That's 25% of the field, first crack out, on motorcycles that are supposed to be big, frail, and not work all that well. Wolves only take the weak. Alphas send Omegas to test the field. Favorite comment, "Frank's not running that well, he has no power." 19 year old Tanner Whitton responded, "yeah, he's only in first place in Class III." If I recall correctly, all three positions were filled by Mr. Schwinn's creations. On an average, the bikes that finished in Class III, the Hendersons that topped the list, were 5 years older than their counterpart JD's. Of the bikes that finished in the 9 possible positions for points, 4 of Schwinn's bikes placed, including Brad's amazing X, Class II victor. Class I was dominated by foreighners, BSA popcorn poppers (secretly Class I guys are my heroes). There was only one HD that finished on the podium, congratulations Mr. Gardella, on completing your first Cannonball. Class III was open warfare, and that's where the action was. Big, strong, fast, powerful JD's and airplane smooth Hendersons and one lone Indian, Gentleman Jim Petty. So out of the 9 podium positions, Mr. Schwinn took home four. 3 BSA's in Class I, Class II was one X, one Harley, one BMW and 3 Hendersons in Class III. Mr. Schwinn's machines dominated the 2012 event. Yes, I know you probably know this by now, it's just fun to write it again. Pack animals work and hunt together. Westfall's job was to lay up, ride smooth and not screw up, which he did perfectly. Steve MacDonald's little Deluxe was built to antagonize and demoralize, and that he did. We flew by more JD's in Class III than you can shake a stick at. Joe is right, Vills's bike was very fast in the end, but we had 5 bikes working on perfect points. No need to pick a fight. You'd hear them mumbling "those guys are gonna break." We bent, but we didn't break. Nobody wanted a part of the bad little Deluxe. On the last day, we did get Gardella in the hills where he was weak. Joe's machine is a great machine, but you exploit weakness. Besides, Gardella has bigger things to worry about besides some old, frail bikes that should never have made the run. Four years out and he still can't get by that bike of Brad's. Favorite Cannonball momemt: buzzing up those big Hens passing everything in sight in Class III and watching the JD guys leak oil all over gas stations. Only one podium position out of 9? Where were the Harleys? It must have really sucked to be at Dudley Perkins and watch Hendersons fill all the spots in Class III.

[Slojo]

" It must have really sucked to be at Dudley Perkins and watch Hendersons fill all the spots in Class III. "

Mark

What "sucked" was never hearing those great machines ride by me at speed in formation. Although I may have had a 15 minute head start in class two over class three I regularly finished two hours ahead of the fours. Instead of reserving my bike for the finale I ran the snot out of it for nearly 4000 miles (the entire way) and it still is in great running condition. I did not need to spill my motors guts all over the bench at Lonnies either.

"we did get Gardella in the hills where he was weak'

Only from a dead dig was the ghost weak in the hills, at speed the Hendersons did not prove themselves against the twins superior torque rich nature in hill climbing,. especially the little terrorize , The Ghost.


Dan

I don't have super man eyes and could not see the contents of your bags , 100 pounds wow. maybe that is what the 80 cubic inches is for hauling around the extras needed to keep the rest of your wolf pack running. Should not have had your fine four sprinter as a pack mule. Yes it was a great time ridding with you (fast and fun) , only three Hendersons fours came to the front of the pack one at a time to challenge the lilttle Ghost , the turtle was,,,well,,, " the turtle" your bike and Dale Stoners are very fast just not fast enough.

Can't wait to do it again.

There was no Pig Roast this time ! What we all had was a grand time !

joe

[Slojo]

Joe,
You sure we were goin 80? Felt a little faster to me. Fun ridin em that hard ain't it?

Dan

We probably exceeded 80 mph but I did not have my speedo working, I lost the transmitter bouncing over a rail road track earlier in the event.

Yes we did have a blast while riding together at speed, just think if the entire Wolf Pack was riding with us during our blast through the mountains. Our ride together is what I thought Mark and the wolves as a pack were planning on. The wolves must have know that they were not yet refined enough to Huff and Puff and blow down the house of brick Milwaukee built.

Better luck next time.

joe

[c.o.]

Is it just me or is this still a damn great thread?

[dane]

Joe,
One of these days we'll have to do some official performance testing with these machines to shut both sides up even though the jousting is more than half the fun of it. You've brought your Harley to a level of performance and mechanical perfection far exceeding its original form and I for one thoroughly enjoyed watching it take form on this forum. The Cannonball is really the acid test for this equipment and as a first time Cannonballer I learned a lot about what it takes to bring in a perfect score. Next time, if there is one, I will be leaner, faster, and smarter.......as you did on your second go at it. Then we can put this Hen vs. Hog argument to rest. Right now you've earned the bullseye on your back but don't take your eye off your rear view mirror. I believe a properly tuned 4 can run with the Ghost but for now that's conjecture. Can't wait to test it again.

[Chuck#1848]

Is it just me or is this still a damn great thread?

Yepper!!!!!!!!!!! It would be pretty cool I think to be standing road side among the tall red woods when the Ghost and a couple of the Hen's cam blasting through imagine the sound

[Slojo]

Joe,
One of these days we'll have to do some official performance testing with these machines to shut both sides up even though the jousting is more than half the fun of it. You've brought your Harley to a level of performance and mechanical perfection far exceeding its original form and I for one thoroughly enjoyed watching it take form on this forum. The Cannonball is really the acid test for this equipment and as a first time Cannonballer I learned a lot about what it takes to bring in a perfect score. Next time, if there is one, I will be leaner, faster, and smarter.......as you did on your second go at it. Then we can put this Hen vs. Hog argument to rest. Right now you've earned the bullseye on your back but don't take your eye off your rear view mirror. I believe a properly tuned 4 can run with the Ghost but for now that's conjecture. Can't wait to test it again.

Dan

I have no desire to shut up either side of the conversation the banter is always welcome as long as it is in good clean fun..

"Then we can put this Hen vs. Hog argument to rest" About the same time we put the Indian/ Hog wars to bed, never.

Since you mentioned next time,,,, I guess the time has come to make an announcement !

I think the Ghost will be retired from further Cannonball competition, and out of the dark shadows of my shop (the bat cave (hibernating bats)) and the c,c,c,coooolllllddddd Michigan winter nights will come the ghosts older little brother " THE EVIL TWIN " . When the going gets tough the tough get going and with a target on my back I will need to keep moving . Good Luck. Oh,,, keep in mind the Ghost is actually in a mild state of tune .

Let the games begins , you silly four guys sharpen up your pencils , your going to need too.

Lonnie, we need some class rules in a hurry , two years is a short time.