Powerplus or Bust, Eh?

[Shaky Jake]

Patience getting her kicks on Route 66:








A few people came out to see us at Lake Havasu, including my old friend Chuck and his wife:













Kevin

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[Shaky Jake]

On the 21st the route went through Four Corners:








The next morning, getting ready to leave from Page, AZ.







I made some friends at a gas stop later that day:










This is the last free view of the Grand Canyon before you pay to enter the park:






It started raining just before I entered the Grand Canyon Park. It developed into a deluge as I rode through to park:






I could have used some of that rain later in the day when my exhaust pipe caught my rain pants and my jeans on fire:








Kevin

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[Shaky Jake]

Yes. They're a great bunch of guys.

To get one, I think you have to attend the event. I'm trying to figure out how to get one myself, since I'm stuck working out of town. I did arrange for the bike to be there though.




Kevin

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[BoschZEV]

his prototype design for the event T shirt

Congratulations. Recognition like that from your peers has to be immensely gratifying.

[frichie68]

That's about as cool as it gets!

[panthersteve]

Kevin
Feeling honored.

You earned it Kevin, you did a great job and we are all proud of you. Having you in the event was like knowing a jockey at a horse race, knowing one of the players in the superbowl etc. While we haven't met we were barracking for you as if we were close friends with you. Everyday I checked the updates and the first thing I did was to look down the list for #97 to see how you went the previous day.

I would be proud to wear one of those shirts, how do I get one

Cheers
Steve

[Shaky Jake]

I had to show you this. I got a text from one of the officers of the Omaha Chapter of the AMCA the other day. This is his prototype design for the event T shirt for the Lincoln Highway National Swapmeet in Fremont, NE this month:






Kevin
Feeling honored.

[Tom Lovejoy]

Fun reading Kevin, keep em coming - great stuff.

[Shaky Jake]

Dodge City was our "rest day." Most of us rested by working on our bikes. Dan brought out his guitar, and much beer was consumed:






This was my makeshift lathe, for turning down my valve stems:






The whole timing case came apart to check the valve timing and adjust the mag timing:






One of the high tension lead towers on the mag required repair:






That night Paul and I were up until 3 a.m. finishing up everything that needed to be done on that bike. Another new exhaust valve was lapped in. We spent literally hours de-carboning the cylinders. Another make-shift repair was made on that front exhaust port because the braze let go again. This time we used a hose clamp and that held for the rest of the Cannonball. The transmission and drive chains got adjusted, and everything got greased and oiled. We finally buttoned up the timing gear case at 3:00 a.m. on September 19. We were pretty tired. I kicked it over to no reward. None of that lovely cacophony that I was so familiar with. A couple of quick checks, and I knew that in my fatigue I had assembled the timing gears 180 degrees out of phase. Suddenly I was overwhelmed with exhaustion. I told Paul let's just load it up in the van. Tomorrow we'll haul it to the next stop, and we'll fix it there. Paul thought about it for a minute and he said wait a minute, Kevin, let's just think about this for a minute. We just put that gear case together. We know exactly what to do and how to do it. It won't take us long at all, we'll have it back together, then we can sleep. Sure enough, it only took a half an hour and she was running. It's nice to have someone to play good cop to your bad cop. I never would have made all the 2016 Cannonball miles if Paul hadn't talked me into taking that motor back apart at 3:00 a.m.




So, here she is, the wee hours of the next morning, on the starting line in Dodge City, along with everybody else:








Kevin

[Shaky Jake]

My friends Ryan and Clint working on Ryan's bike In Wichita. This is how the other half of the Cannonball time was spent; every night, working on the bikes:








Patience was accumulating stickers. She got one of these each day because she covered all the miles:






Kevin

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[Shaky Jake]

Here's the real thing, the evening of September 15, in Springfield, MO:






The following afternoon, in Jasper, it was pouring down rain:






Kevin


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[Shaky Jake]

My stepson Cameron made this sculpture of Patience for me. We're very proud of his talents:






Kevin

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[frichie68]

More good stuff, Kevin, your great-grandkids will want you to explain each and every one of the videos and photos in detail!

[Shaky Jake]

Eventually a crack opened up in the old braze on that exhaust port:







This is the mechanic at HD of Bloomington that brazed it back up for me. He is also a very talented speedway racer, I'm told:






Here is the after shot:






Kevin

.

[Shaky Jake]

Here are some pictures of Harley Davidson of Bloomington.










Kevin

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