!914 Twin HD Cannon ball request

[Slojo]

Herb
"Test" perhaps, Cannonball I, the shake down for Cannonball II THE GREATER CHALLENGE. "Ghosts"?, at least one maybe more. "Eight miles"? If at the time it was that important to me I could have made those miles one way or another. The time frame originally imposed prohibited me from chancing a DNF for the day. "Strength" = knowledge next time hopefully I will not go out on a magneto that can't handle the run.

I think about Cannonball II every day and am leaning more towards a reappearance of the Ghost. A stronger, faster refined Ghost with softer fork springs and improvements made to the front brakes. By doing this the fun factor may equal or exceed cannonball I.

I prefer light bikes, elimination of the transmission (return of the Ghost) will shed many unnecessary pounds. The Ghost now weighs 310 to 325 pounds with fuel and oil.

After much thought and conversation I think my "carburetor" issues may actually be intake valve float. This would explain why, at high speeds (70 + MPH) the engine is experiencing reverse intake pulses through the C.V. (flapper valve) carburetor intake port. With the way the Ghost pulls up to 70 MPH I think resolving this easy problem the Ghost may run 80 plus MPH???

Joe

[jurassic]

joe, the original rules stated that any rider who did not ride every mile of a stage recieved a DNF for the day {but got credit for the miles they did ride}. also any rider who did not finish in the time frame imposed got a DNF for the day {but got credit for the miles they did ride}. so you actually did recieve a DNF for stage four. in the beginning the time schedule thing was horrible. we had to give DNF'S to guys who gutted out 100 miles in the rain,and got in 15 minutes late. on the other end some guys had to wait for hours at the hotel before they could officially check in , so as to not be early.we had alot of people waiting to see us at a certain times and places. when all that didn't work we started changing the schedule day to day ,and trying to make sure everybody knew about the changes. i was dealing with alot of confused people all the time. i was confused. how do i solve this problem ? do away with the time schedule. so thats what i did. not so much changing the rules as eliminating the ones that were not working.

[Slojo]

Lonnie
I am ok with that, my disappointed is the failure of my rebuilt high dollar magnetos and the thought that I could have fixed it on the side of the road and maybe arrived on time,,,, or ten minutes late with a DNF, yuck.

I misunderstood the DNF section of the rules are you saying they did not affect the points? If so what did they affect? You did what you thought was best for the event and that is fine with me no hard feelings. I am sure next time , with experience things will be worked out better. My biggest concern is WHEN DO WE GET TO DO IT AGAIN?

I, like all the other Cannonballers are proud of what you did for all of us and Motorcycling as a whole. Keep up the good work.

Joe

[HarleyCreation]

Joe/Lonnie,

As the projected 2011 Cannonball stands now, will the 1914 Gray Ghost be eligible for a repeat performance?

Somewhere I heard 1915 to '29.

Thanks!

[Slojo]

Herb
After an enjoyable conversation with Lonnie today, (we both are suffering from post cannonball distress disorder) he informed me that I am not the only one who wants to run a pre !915 bike in Cannonball II. Lonnie's comment "as long as the early bike could hold 50 miles per hour and be reliable it would be a welcome machine".

This decision will bring more color to the Cannonball II event. Think of it, an improved Ghost side by side with two cam machines running from the RABID "Wolf Pack" Howling OUWW OUWW OUWOOWWW...... Here comes the bigger badder Wolf Pack. Perhaps I can get the mighty two cams to run protection for the elderly Ghost.
Joe

[junkyarddog]

My thought from the beginning of a possible #2 were that anything 29 down should be allowed if they think they can keep the pace.
If pre 16 bikes are allowed I think a time limit needs to be put back in the rules.
Joe, you and some others have proved that you can keep the pace. I think go for it.
Lonnie, the more entries the better chance it can come out in the black.
Jim

[HarleyCreation]

Herb
After an enjoyable conversation with Lonnie today, (we both are suffering from post cannonball distress disorder) he informed me that I am not the only one who wants to run a pre !915 bike in Cannonball II. Lonnie's comment "as long as the early bike could hold 50 miles per hour and be reliable it would be a welcome machine".

This decision will bring more color to the Cannonball II event. Think of it, an improved Ghost side by side with two cam machines running from the RABID "Wolf Pack" Howling OUWW OUWW OUWOOWWW...... Here comes the bigger badder Wolf Pack. Perhaps I can get the mighty two cams to run protection for the elderly Ghost.
Joe

That's good news! It seems right that if an earlier bike can go over the hurdles it should not be disqualified due to age alone. And like junkyarddog said, the more the merrier!

Man, an even more improved Gray Ghost single-speed twin running head-to-head with "Two Cam" 3-speeds would be too cool for words. The Gray Ghost would become the Gray Menace! There is something haunting about that gray fellow paint job in a single-speed twin that is very seductive and powerful. Of course, I don't need to tell you that, only that I feel it too.

I talked to an old guy (Hap's son), who was at Dale's place to watch the Cannonball and he mentioned the Gray Ghost without any prompting. He was saying how some bikes had been updated and remarked: "One even had a Honda front brake on it!" Had to be the Gray Ghost. He later had worked for Honda, so he knew what he was looking at.

[Slojo]

Man, an even more improved Gray Ghost single-speed twin running head-to-head with "Two Cam" 3-speeds would be too cool for words. The Gray Ghost would become the Gray Menace! There is something haunting about that gray fellow paint job in a single-speed twin that is very seductive and powerful. Of course, I don't need to tell you that, only that I feel it too.

Herb
I don't pretend to believe the underdeveloped !914 mechanics can compete with the far superior two cam mechanics. With luck I can coax enough power to run with two camers and the Wolf Pack at a comfortable pace, not in anger.
Joe

[HarleyCreation]

Herb
I don't pretend to believe the underdeveloped !914 mechanics can compete with the far superior two cam mechanics. With luck I can coax enough power to run with two camers and the Wolf Pack at a comfortable pace, not in anger.
Joe

I don't know. If you refine that thing a little more there's no telling what it might do. No anger. But like you said: Enough to run with the big dogs. Gray & green!

[Buzz Kanter]

Herb

I like the registered mark.

I thought of modifying the magneto with battery points ignition but decided not to. Rules called for stock ignition and carburetion, I complied within the prescribed guidelines. Just a proper magneto rebuild would do fine as proven by all the west coast guys success. Also, I knew magnetos were failing prior to the run so I bench tested the three I had and they worked for several days. From my experience it appears exhaust pipe heat caused magneto failures not condensers. The Ghost was not finished in sufficient time to research, locate and replace the magnetos with proven units.

Passing advantages, the three speeders are heavier and the Ghost ran well. The only time a serious performance run took place is when Steve Barber on his !915 rocketed past me merging onto the highway. Steve was tucked in tight for speed and pulled several bikes away from me when I decided to put him to the test. I rolled on about 3/4 throttle (never opened it up on the entire run) while sitting in touring mode, caught and passed Steve without difficulties. Steve paid me a good compliment after I shut down and allowed him to catch up. His comment was "its about time". Apparently he hadn't had a serious challenger. Steve was truly a speed demon on his good running !915.

The three speeders would have the Ghost up to thirty five MPH by then all bets were off. Truly, performance runs were kept to a minimum durability was on everybody's mind except Steve Barber and Vince Martinico. Vince on his Pope big single wanted to run everybody. I demonstrated a little Ghost power and told him he didn't want any more, save the motor Vince.

My decision, a !914 twin single speed was a perfect selection for my taste. Having to repeat the run I would make the same choice. Other than the magneto everything worked excellent. I did use the incorrect !915 and later engine sprocket. This caused a slight misalignment on the primary chain. I learned during the run that the !914 and earlier engine sprockets are offset further than !915 and latter. I am sure with the proper offset my primary chains would have lasted longer.

Joe

Hey Joe. I notice you do not discuss there were a number of different displacement 3-speed 1915s out there. Many were stock stroke and bore, but a lot of them were also strokers. And the strokers were faster than the chassis could properly handle. :-)

[Slojo]

Hey Joe. I notice you do not discuss there were a number of different displacement 3-speed 1915s out there. Many were stock stroke and bore, but a lot of them were also strokers. And the strokers were faster than the chassis could properly handle. :-)

Buzz
My !914 Ghost has 65.7 cubic inch engine. I made that clear as soon as I knew how the lower end was to be developed with the 1.25 inch crank pin modification. I did not hear what displacement other guys and gal were running. It would be interesting to know.

My chassis handled the 66 inch power while running the Cannonball. If the Ghost comes out to play with the big dogs and I find more speed and power I think the chassis will handle the added stresses without difficulties.

By the way Buzz, nice Cannonball article in the December issue of American Iron Magazine.

Joe

[Slojo]

Steady rolling on the Ghost

Cannonball II right around the corner I should finish Cannonball I documentation.

With Hot Springs Ar. and Magazine Mountain behind us the Cannonball Convoy enters fly over country.
Things started to flatten out here and it was time to put some serious miles on these old bikes. A couple more stops in Arkansas, Fort Smith Ar. 143 miles a short day and Lawton Ar. 276 miles things went smooth and quiet for the well manor Ghost now with its third magneto.

Next on the schedule was, Clovis New Mexico 293 miles. The past few days were hot in the mid 90's, with 293 miles too Clovis the weather forecast called for more of the same. This hot weather spells nothing but trouble for many of the magnetos. My pit crew chief Chris purchased and installed exhaust heat wrap insulation on the exhaust head pipes with the theory that the major heat damaging forces are coming from the rear exhaust head pipe not the cylinders. Keep the heat in the pipe and it will not dissipate into the magneto.

We left Lawton in the early AM to get out in front of the heat. Brad and I started the day together but with my concern of the day's heat beating down on my bike I decided to put as many miles behind me as possible in the early hours, see you latter Brad off I went. Passing all the class one bikes and laying hard on the cam all day I rode into our check point for the day the local H. D. dealership.

Like all the other stops the local bike shops had cold beverages and hot barbecue waiting for our arrival. Arrival here is the key word. When I rode in, the dealership was like a ghost town with the doors open and nobody home just the wind blowing through. I walked inside and hollered Hello anybody home? No answerer. I sat down for a few minutes when I was finally greeted by a young lady who offered me a cold drink and a warm welcome including a package filled with assorted local information and stuff.

They informed me that I was several hours early and to sit back and relax. Sitting sitting sitting finally over two hours latter in rolls non other than Frank Jim and Kris. One, two, three, four cylinder bikes in a row arriving second, third and fourth for the day with the newly dubbed moniker" Wolf Pack", Mark Hill's proud day. Mark spent all his waking hours maintaining these three four cylinder machines to make sure they made it across the country. You have to hand it to this bunch against all odds they finally prevailed over the rest of the events riders. Two Hendersons and a Militaire (a what?) rolling in ahead of all the other bikes less the Ghost.

Later, Chris and I while in the dealership's service department performing minor maintenance on the Ghost a local photographer approached asking permission to shoot photos of the Ghost while I was working on it, sure go ahead I replied. He shot a few frames and was off. The next morning I was front page in the local Clovis newspaper, imagine. Next perhaps the cover of The Rolling Stone.

The evening was capped of in the parking lot of the hotel having interesting conversation with this wild curly toped blonde lady who rode in on a Sportster her first big motorcycle trip alone or otherwise. She wanted to see the Cannonball and meet some of the riders like so many others who were aware of the event.

Joe

[c.o.]

I never get tired of hearing about the trip Joe. Thanks!

[Slojo]

Gray Ghost Rides Again

This morning I wrapped myself into an abundance of warm riding gear for another road trip on the well rested Ghost. Lets see, 25 degrees F. outside, modern long johns top and bottom, insulated leather britches, three shirts and a sweat shirt all under my armored Ducati leather riding jacket (tight fit), Don't forget a pair of thick Wooly socks.

Out to the barn, process the mental checklist, oil the intake valves, magneto bearings, rocker arm shafts check check check. Kick the tires inspect the chains, gas both tanks and oil the gas a little for the ti. valves.

Slip on the balaclava, full face helmet chin strap threaded and cinched down. Open the barn door, climb aboard the bike, gas on, oil on, spark delay and decompression set, throttle check. Adjust the flapper / choke valve for cold weather starting. All things ready pedal pedal pedal twist the left grip and listen to the sweet syncopated beat (or should it be psychopathic), combustion YES "that is what I'm a talkin about".

Am I nuts? That is a matter of opinion forget that lets ride. Down the drive onto the pavement and off we go. Cold finger tips, frigid air entering the helmet causing a draft on my face, all else is well. Back road twist and turns bring me to the open freeway pick up the speed and merge into traffic. An hour later with both back roads and freeway riding behind me I pull into the local BMW shop. A welcome greeting from my friend Chris and a small crowd gathers to inspect the ancient iron (to this crowd).

A hot cup of hand warmer (mud made from fresh ground beans???), Mmm lunch, pizza, nachos, grinders, bottled water . Transform into conversations and introduction to the AMCA web site for those who were interested in the !914 Ghost build (this article).

Next week the BM shop is having an open house the Ghost will be on display for all to see. My old friend and ex flat tracker racer George Bartle (national number 92 !960's) gave me a ride home.
First thing after the home tour is stoke the wood stove.

Again another Ghostly good day of riding, a short day ridding is better than no day ridding at all.

Joe

[jurassic]

"slojo and the ghost do the iron butt" now,that, i could sell to the network.