Powerplus or Bust, Eh?

[Shaky Jake]

Here's a quick video of my arrival at HD of Bloomington. This is pretty typical of the kind of greetings we got all the way across the country.

https://youtu.be/-NY4qwrDn8M




Kevin

.

[Shaky Jake]

Here are some Cannonball pictures from September 12, 2016.

We had lunch at S&P Harley Davidson in Williamstown WV. Several local folks came out to visit with us:












Alex Trepenier's Bike. I cant believe he rode this thing across the country:








Shinya and his crew were always meticulous about their maintenance, and they were snappy dressers too:










That afternoon, at a gas station, I noticed that the threads were stripped on the exhaust nipple on my front cylinder. I wired it on with some safety wire, and installed a new nipple later that evening at the hotel:








Kevin


.

[Shaky Jake]

I'm not sure who's bike this is, but it sure is a pretty one. Merry Christmas!






Kevin

.

[Shaky Jake]

here's another fum little video. Merry Christmas!






Kevin

.

[Tom Lovejoy]

Very cool Kevin - fun reading

[Shaky Jake]

Merry Christmas everyone. I've been a little out of touch, sorry. I got started posting my Cannonball pictures and videos, and I intend to continue that. Some things happened that put a damper on the mood for a while, but I need to carry on. Some of you probably know what I'm talking about.

As far as the Cannonball bike, I finally started working on it again a couple of nights ago. On the last day of the race when I was starting it, it kicked back hard. Hard enough to hurt my ankle. I probably didn't retard the timing enough. When I went to kick it again, the kickstarter didn't line up very well with the gear any more. Not just the fore and aft adjustment, but side to side. And the kicker didn't clip in to the chain guard properly anymore. I was afraid that the mounting tabs on the engine case had broken or something like that, but the drive chains still seemed to line up so I managed to get it started and I rode it to the end. The other night I took the kicker off, and removed the clutch. Luckily the only thing wrong was that kicker was bent. Both the kicker arm and the toothed part are bent, and I ate the teeth off pretty badly when I kicked it that last time with the gears misaligned. Other than that, the thrust play in the transmission felt good, and the clutch lining looked very good, especially considering how much it had been abused. So I'll be looking for another kicker. I'll straighten this one again, but this will be the second time, so I'm starting to worry about it. And I suppose I can weld up the teeth and file them, but I'm not sure how well that will hold up. I also played with the transmission a bit, and it wouldn't go all the way into third, so that's going to have to come apart.

Other than that, some of you may have heard that Jason announced his intentions for the 2018 Cannonball. He is going to have three classes for 100+ year old bikes, and three classes for bikes made prior to 1929. The route will be from Portland Maine to Portland Oregon. Could be challenging. I discussed it with my crew and we told Jason that we are in for 2018 and we intend to run the same bike. As I said early on in this blog, my goal for the 2016 Cannonball was to ride all of the miles, which I did. For 2018 I'm adding the goal of spending less time working on the bike, and more time partying with my friends. I hope some of y'all can be a part of that.

So, I guess that means that this blog will continue for a couple more years. I hope you don't get too bored with me.

Stay tuned,


Kevin


.

[Shaky Jake]

I know it's not in the true spirit of being a board track racer, but my plan is to use the 3 spead transmission and the rear brake. Besides, I'm missing a couple pieces for the pedal set up and with 3 partial clutches I have enough to build one good clutch to go with the tranny. Part of my problem with this bike is sometimes I know I'm missing pieces but I don't know exactly what I'm missing. Like you, I went with Arias custom pistons. My cylinders are basically done and my magneto is done. Right now I'm working on the bottom end of the motor and starting on the clutch.

All the best,
Shawn

Shawn,
Energy One Performance Clutches can re-line your clutch plates for the powerplus three speed clutch. You have to send them your plates with the old lining removed, and they bond modern material to them, Kevlar I think. It was about $90 a set if I remember correctly. Their number is 562-404-5200, I think the guys name was Kent.

I have been wanting to build a single speed powerplus twin, so if you have any interest in parting with you pedal parts, please messsage me. I would pay cash or consider parts trades. Just let me know.




Kevin


.

[Tom Lovejoy]

Great video ! Man I have got to git my 14 running and Shawn very interested in your Board Tracker. I have had a Powerplus engine under my desk for years. Just started collecting parts to make a Powerplus powered board tracker out of it :-)

[Steve Swan]

What speeds were you running on the gravel ? Those tall narrow tires must have made you feel like the bike wanted to go everywhere. Feel and point.......!

[Steve Swan]

Kevin, simply WONDERFUL. Looks like heaven to me. Those mid-west back roads are timeless, like none other. Sure wish we had a couple like that here in the Fort Collins area.

[McLean Motors]

My pleasure Shawn. Glad you are finding it useful. That's a nice looking project you have there. Are you going to use the pedals, or the transmission?


Kevin


.

I know it's not in the true spirit of being a board track racer, but my plan is to use the 3 spead transmission and the rear brake. Besides, I'm missing a couple pieces for the pedal set up and with 3 partial clutches I have enough to build one good clutch to go with the tranny. Part of my problem with this bike is sometimes I know I'm missing pieces but I don't know exactly what I'm missing. Like you, I went with Arias custom pistons. My cylinders are basically done and my magneto is done. Right now I'm working on the bottom end of the motor and starting on the clutch.

All the best,
Shawn

[Shaky Jake]

Kevin,

I wanted to extend a sincere thank you for your thorough and detailed postings. I have been watching and reading and saving the posts for reference as I am rebuilding a 1920 Powerplus board track racer. Your thread is is a wealth of information. Many thanks.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18806[/ATTACH]
Shawn

My pleasure Shawn. Glad you are finding it useful. That's a nice looking project you have there. Are you going to use the pedals, or the transmission?


Kevin


.

[McLean Motors]

Thanks

Kevin,

I wanted to extend a sincere thank you for your thorough and detailed postings. I have been watching and reading and saving the posts for reference as I am rebuilding a 1920 Powerplus board track racer. Your thread is is a wealth of information. Many thanks.

1916 Indian right.jpg
Shawn

[BigLakeBob]

Great stuff Kevin, your bike sounds wonderful. I watched full screen on a 24" monitor! I live in SW OH and ride on roads like this all the time, here and in IN, just like it should be on an old bike. I have some friends that live on the east coast of FL and never leave the state, I try to explain to them these roads and they don't comprehend. Sometimes, just like in your video, you hardly pass any cars. Thanks for the video.

[Shaky Jake]

This video is kind of long, but it was such a nice ride on lovely Indiana roads in beautiful weather, that I decided not to edit it. The first 6 minutes or so is just me riding my 100 year old motorcycle on narrow asphalt roads that are shrouded in green. If you get bored with that, skip ahead to about 6:30, that's where the road turns to gravel and I catch up with the Rinker clan and Ziggy. I follow them for a while. At about 9 minutes into the video the road goes back to paved and I come up behind Dean Bordigioni and follow him for a while. This is how motorcycle riding should be. It doesn't get any better. September the 13th, day four of the 2016 Motorcycle Cannonball.








Kevin


.