Powerplus or Bust, Eh?

[Shaky Jake]

How's this for some adventure luggage?












Kevin

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[TechNoir]

Re: Powerplus or Bust, Eh?

I didn't use a switch. I ended up using one of these: http://gearbrake.com/ It has an accelerometer that turns the brake light on whenever you slow down.


Kevin's

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Kevin that a fantastic idea.
I like your luggage although I do have one comment. I dont think your brake light is big enough!

[gww]

great job. looking forward to seeing her. take some bungees.

[Shaky Jake]

You know, twenty plus years ago, when I started getting into long distance dual sport riding, I had some of those big aluminum boxes made for the back of my bike. I remember that I designed that set to be just wide enough to hold a paper grocery bag, which was 7 inches I think. They're all the rage now, but they were less common then and most people had to either make them or find someone to make them for them. They make you look like a real adventure rider, they hold a lot of stuff, and they make you feel like your stuff is secure. I started noticing, though, that there was a bunch of stuff in the bottom of the boxes that just sat there and got packed down, but never got taken out. So I took all that stuff out and left it at home. I found that the bike was a lot more fun to ride without that extra weight, especially off-road. I had smaller boxes made, I think I had three sets made over the years, each set getting smaller and lighter. Eventually I ditched the metal boxes all together and got some small gortex saddle bags for my dual sport bike, which by then was a KTM 640 Adventure. I think it took me ten years to figure out that it's all about the ride, and the ride is more fun with less luggage. You don't need all that stuff, and the security of the metal boxes is an illusion. There are less thieves out there than you think, and if you don't have much on your bike, it's less likely to be bothered anyway.

So I guess I'm regressing back to the metal luggage, not my typical MO anymore. I just love the way the Fordson tractor tool boxes look on it. The top box is lightweight tin and doesn't weigh much. I like that it is crusty and doesn't match the bike. It fits the rack perfectly.

Enough rambling. I really wanted to talk about kazoos. I always say that a kazoo is the most fun you can have for a buck. People love kazoos and it's fun to teach people how to play one, especially if you don't speak their language. I have given people kazoos in, I think every country in Central America, about half of the countries in South America, a few European countries, Canada, Alaska, and Viet Nam. Brenda and I had custom kazoos made for our wedding reception. They're great ice breakers and everybody loves them. My favorite kazoo songs are La Cucaracha and Amazing Grace. Why am I talking about kazoos? Well, we had some custom 'Old 97, Motorcycle Cannonball, Team Kelly's Heroes' kazoos made. If you want one, send me a stamped, self addressed envelope to Kevin Naser, PO Box 784, Fort Calhoun, NE 68023. If you would like to include a donation to our Cannonball effort that would be very much appreciated, but not required. Many of you have already given us your support in other ways. We'll send you a kazoo either way if you're one of the first 200 to send in. We only have 250 kazoos, and I want to keep 50 of them for the ride, so I have 200 available. Don't forget the stamped, self-addressed envelope.Here's a picture:



Thanks for your support.




Kevin

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[Shaky Jake]

I spent yesterday afternoon fiddling with the magneto timing. It is supposed to be set at 9/32 inch btdc, but it always seemed to me like it needed to be advanced a little more. I bumped it up to 5/16 inch and it runs much better. I've put about 40 miles on it today so far. While I was in there I took a peek at the cam and valve lifters, they all seem to be breaking in properly. Next I'm going to swap the rear sprocket from 36 to 40 teeth and see what that feels like. After that I have a pretty bad transmission leak that I need to address.

Kevin

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[Shaky Jake]

If you happen to ride a pre 1918 Indian motorcycle with the mechanical throttle and spark advance linkages rather than cables, don't forget to safety wire the little pins that attach the clevises to the pivot arms. If you don't, the pin may fall out, rendering your throttle or spark advance controls inoperable. If that happens, and you're not quick enough in reaching for the kill switch, you may get to take a short ride through the tall weeds when you arrive at a stopping place only to find that your throttle won't close. Don't ask me how I know. If that's not enough, and if you're really lucky, the forces of nature may also conspire to rotate the pivot arm just right so that the little retaining pin lines up with the corresponding little groove, and the pivot arm may separate from the motorcycle frame to be lost forever. You'll probably end up walking up and down the road for a couple hours looking, and then make an emergency telephone call to ZOC for a replacement. The good news is, you get to ride home with your hand on the carburetor, feeling like a board track racer.

Sigh.

Kevin

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[frichie68]

Man, you sure know how to have a good time . . . . a true learning experience!
Glad it work out ok.

[TechNoir]

Re: Powerplus or Bust, Eh?

Kevin,

Frustrating and annoying as these little problems are at the time that they happen it is good that you are putting some miles on the bike and ironing out the issues before you get on the Cannonball. Hopefully this sort of thing happening now means less chance of it happening on the coast to coast.

Also, this just adds to the tales that you can tell in the parking lot.

Good Luck

John

[gww]

we need the video with sound .

[Spacke2speed]

Kevin
Going south on the freeway out of Carson City in Nevada, while slowing down (from about 60mph) for the next turn off, my '14 Indian dropped the neck linkage on the throttle side. This resulted in the motor idling only. After a long time walking up down the shoulder of the freeway too many times to count, my friend (who was riding my '14 Indian at the time) and myself stopped looking for it. Of course, some forcefully encouragement from the Nevada Hwy Patrol (two patrol cars, three officers) helped stop the search. We switched bikes and I hand throttle the carburetor until the turnoff, at which time I took the missing neck linkage parts from the other side (spark and compression) and got the throttle linkage back working for the remaining two days of the tour so my friend could continue riding my Indian. It made starting interesting. Do not remember what failed, but I do know I had the cotter pins in the screws on the neck linkage clevises. The only good news was at that time, I had extras of all the missing parts at home.

Mentioned this to show you that you had the parts with you to get the throttle side working again.
Ahhh, the joys of riding old motorcycles.
Spacke2speed

[Shaky Jake]

Kevin
Going south on the freeway out of Carson City in Nevada, while slowing down (from about 60mph) for the next turn off, my '14 Indian dropped the neck linkage on the throttle side. This resulted in the motor idling only. After a long time walking up down the shoulder of the freeway too many times to count, my friend (who was riding my '14 Indian at the time) and myself stopped looking for it. Of course, some forcefully encouragement from the Nevada Hwy Patrol (two patrol cars, three officers) helped stop the search. We switched bikes and I hand throttle the carburetor until the turnoff, at which time I took the missing neck linkage parts from the other side (spark and compression) and got the throttle linkage back working for the remaining two days of the tour so my friend could continue riding my Indian. It made starting interesting. Do not remember what failed, but I do know I had the cotter pins in the screws on the neck linkage clevises. The only good news was at that time, I had extras of all the missing parts at home.

Mentioned this to show you that you had the parts with you to get the throttle side working again.
Ahhh, the joys of riding old motorcycles.
Spacke2speed

Yes, you are correct. I already swapped the linkage parts over from the right side. I was only about 5 miles from home when it happened, so I chose not to do it on the side of the road. Ziggy is shipping replacements today. It's not a huge inconvenience for me to not have to right hand controls, since I've separated my compression release from them any way. I used baling wire to fix the spark advance in place for now.


Kevin

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[slamiste]

Hi Kevin,

I haven't checked the forum out much lately so I missed that you got your PowerPlus running and driving. The bike sounds great and video was super cool. Well Done! Thanks for all the documentation you provided.

[Shaky Jake]

Old 97 will be on display at Blair Pawn this Saturday from noon to 2:00. Stop by if you're in the area. The address is 1647 Washington Street, Blair, NE.






Kevin

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[Shaky Jake]

Thanks for the donations and kazoo requests. Brenda will be blogging the trip here: http://brendaandkevin.blogspot.com/


Kevin

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[Tom Lovejoy]

so far Kevin and his Powerplus are perfect in the run ! awesome