"No Norton Too Old,
No Distance
Too Far"
JOHN BASHAM REPORT, Ride from Ohio to The INOA National
in Lake Selmac, Oregon and back; on the 1936 16H 500 cc side valve
single
by Bob McKenzie
John & the 16H (on his first trip after building
the bike) at my place, from a few years ago, when he was on his way
to the Canadian Vintage Meet in Paris Ontario.
06/22/05 Wednesday
Hi Folks - I had a phone message from John this
afternoon. He sez that he's doing great. He headed out for the Norton
National on the 1936 16H 500 cc side valve single on Tues am. He
was calling (Wed. afternoon) from Red Oak Iowa ( in the SW corner
of Iowa on Rte. 34, just east of Omaha) this afternoon. He said the
bike was holding up better than he was! It was hotter than Blazes!
He was heading in for a couple of hours of AC to recuperate during
the heat of the afternoon & would set out for the Nebraska border
later in the day. He'll be heading up to Rte 20 to cross Nebraska & Wyoming.
He's hoping to be in Yellowstone by Fri. evening or Sat.(where he'll
spend two or three days site seeing)
Take Care - Bob
06/25/05 Saturday
Hi Folks - Just got off the phone with John (Sat
am) He's in Crawford in NW Nebraska, on Rte 20, hoping to reach Cody
Wyoming tonight. He sez that the bike is running great. With the
total loss oil system that lubes the valves on the 36 16H, he's gone
through about two quarts of oil in about 1,200 miles. He's able to
maintain a constant 58 to 60 MPH without any problem, which is pretty
good for the old 500 cc single. He said that he was detoured onto
a major highway at one point & was able to maintain 65 to 68
MPH without any problem, so was able to keep out of the way of the
big trucks & RV's. He did change out the main jet on the monobloc
for a smaller one.(a 370 I think he said, from about a 430) He's
using a AR51 plug that is for a higher temp engine & sez that
the plug colour is good. The old flat head doesn't have a lot of
cooling fins, so stays pretty warm, especially when the temps are
in the high 90's +.
He's had some generator problems. It quit working
the other day.He thinks he may have smoked the modulator. Luckily
he bought a new gelcel 6 volt battery with a larger capacity, so
that he can run for two days at total loss with his modified headlight
on, so he's doing OK. He has a spare modulator that he has put it
in, but hasn't run it enough yet to tell if it's working yet or not.
Al might be getting a phone call to send out replacement parts!
His rear stand also broke, but he ran into a guy
that pointed him to a local welder & for five bucks he heli arched
it & he was off & running again. He said yesterday was great
riding weather as it was cool with occasional showers. That really
beat the 102 degrees the day before while traveling through Iowa.
He stopped at Seneca Iowa for an while to soak up some AC, drink
ice tea & to recuperate. He's stopped at a couple of museums.
At Fort Robinson near Crawford & there was the Fur Traders Museum
at Chadron (since John is into muzzleloaders, etc...) that was a
great one for him. He also stopped at Car Henge near Alliance Nebraska
(a recreation of Stone Henge, using junked cars)
He said at big wind storm rolled through his campground last night & it
snapped off one of his tent poles. This is on his brand new Eureka tent. He
was able to rig something up so it is still serviceable. He had picked up a
cold bug a couple of days before leaving that is still hanging on & bothering
him, as well as a bit of an allergy to some small blue heather like flower
that grows along the roadside. He said that some of the high dollar bikers
weren't too friendly. He was at a gas station & went over to ask them directions.
He said that they treated him like he was invisible. Oh Well.... It takes all
kinds.....Everything seems to be going as planned for him & he's having
fun!
Take Care - Bob 06/27/05 Monday
Hi Folks - I heard from John this morning. He's
at the Parkway Campground in Cody Wyoming. Pulled in there the other
day & went site seeing yesterday. He feels a good today after
having the day off from riding yesterday. He sez it's pretty comfortable
there after the high heat in Iowa & Nebraska, but it was down
to 46 degrees F overnight. Got his air mattress leak fixed. Got his
laundry done. Hit Wally world for a few things to make life a bit
more comfortable. Still working on the generator, with no luck so
far. His little LED bicycle speedo/trip meter went south (used to
measure gas mileage between fill ups) It was registering 80 mph at
a stop, then went blank, so he pitched it.
The bike is running great. Starts right up & has
good power. He sez that the head winds are killing him though. He
was going down hill at full throttle & only reading 45 mph against
the wind. He hopes that he gets them as tail winds on the way home!
He plans to head into Yellowstone tomorrow, for
a few more days site seeing. He sez that the eighty year old guys,
towing cars behind their monster motor homes, at 80 mph are the biggest
hazard so far.
He's been playing with his 389 monobloc carb. It's
running a little rich, but that's not a real problem.The needle that
he used might have been from a twin carb, (a longer "D" needle from
a twin carb, where he possibly should have had a shorter "C" needle
from a carb from a single cylinder model) so because of the fuel
banjo used in the twin carb is a longer needle. He's down to a 350
main jet & thinks that he could go to a 330 if he'd brought one.
I'd offered to overnight UPS him a different needle & a range
of jets from 290 to 340 but he sez that he's happy with how it's
running at the moment.
06/28/05 Wednesday
I received a phone call from Cindy last night. John
is in Yellowstone. Bikes running fine. He said that he has noticed
a difference in running at altitude. It's anywhere from 6,200 to
7,900 feet around Yellowstone. Norris is about 7,500'. Also the weather
change. It's in the mid 60's during the day & 40's at night.
His plan was to stay at Norris campground, as they are one of the
few places in the park where tenting is still allowed. Pesky bears....
06/30/05 Thursday
Hi Folks - John phoned from Yellowstone last night.
The tourist season is in full swing now. He said everything is
crowded & that he got the last campsite available when he pulled
into Norris. He said it was probably the worst site in the campground.
John likes the State Parks for their camping facilities better
than the National Parks. There are better amenities like hot showers,
nicer, larger campsites, etc. at the State Parks. Norris being
within Yellowstone National Park is pretty primitive by the sounds
of things. He said that he woke up with ice on his tent Wed. am.
It was cold all day, raining on & off, sometimes real downpours.
The tent is holding up well & everything is dry inside.
The bike is running fine. He changed the oil the
other day at Cody. He had added an oil filter during his rebuild & changed
that too. The oil was somewhat dirty, but no surprises (he uses
magnets in his drain plugs to check for any undo wear or floating
metal bits)& everything looked OK. He has used synthetic gear
oil in the gearbox & was surprised that he was low on oil.
He wished that he'd used regular gear oil as he had to make a special
trip to hunt up a place in Cody to find synthetic. The generator
is still not working. He still thinks that it is the modulator
that he fitted as a regulator that is fried, but decided to go
site seeing, rather than mess around with it. He sez that the gelcel
battery is still holding it's charge with just the use of the LED
taillight, so will continue on, he's not worried about the carb & still
having fun.
I have checked all of my books & could not
find anything much about the different needles for Monobloc carbs,
except in Bernie Nicholson's Modern Motorcycle Mechanics, where
he sez that the 375 carb uses a B needle, the 376 uses the C needle & the
389 carb (that John is using) uses a D needle. I could find nothing
on lengths of needles(I think that all "D" needles would be the
same length), just the three main sizes used in monoblocs mentioned
are the .105 diameter (used by the 375 carb), .106 (which is the
standard & most widely used needle in both the 376 & 389
carbs) & .107. He sez that the .107 was used in the T.T. type
carbs up to 1 1/32"& ,109 was used for larger bore size with
gasoline. The .113 & .120 were used with alcohol. Roy Bacon
mentions needles with "T" stamping on needles used in trials machines & also
the .120 size used for alcohol.
If anyone has any ideas or knows about different
lengths of .106 needles, (he thought that if the needle that he
has was from a twin carb bike, that the needle might be longer
to facilitate the space added between the carb body & the main
jet holder by the fuel line banjo that feeds fuel between the two
carbs) you could let John know when he gets home. He's heading
down to Old Faithful this morning & then heading out to the
Craters of the Moon National Park between Arco & Carey on Rte.
20 in Idaho & will probably stay until Mon. Then on to Crater
Lake National Park in Oregon. He sez that he'd like to hit Redwood
National Park in California before the Rally begins.
With the number of total loss oil drain holes
on the bike, he sez that it's a greasy mess at the moment. He sez
that he wants to make a few changes to the oil drain lines so they
go into the primary to lube the chain before traveling out to the
road, as the tin case doesn't hold oil all that well anyway & it
would help keep him & the bike cleaner. He's been taking some
pictures with his Polaroid, that he sends out with his post cards,
but because it's been so cold, he's noticed that the photos seem
to be coming out darker than he'd anticipated.He also has his instamatic,
but won't know how those shots turned out until they are developed
at home.
John has a saying that he use to get ridiculed
about at times. "No Norton Too Old, No Distance Too Far."
Jim Todd might be eating some crow when John gets
back.
Take Care - Bob
07/01/05 Friday
Hi Folks - I heard from John this evening. He
had pulled into Arco Idaho late this afternoon & is camping
at the Landing Zone Campgrounds near Craters of the Moon National
Park. He said he was going out in the morning to look for Neil
Armstrong's foot print.Yesterday he went to see Old Faithful. He
joked that it was running slow. He ran into a Rolls Royce Touring
Club road trip group. There were 12 to 15 vintage Rolls at Old
Faithful. He was parked beside a 1912 Silver Ghost. He got a few
photos of them.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8362718/ & http://www.rrab.com/rsg_gb.htm
When he was in Cody, he ran into a local guy who
was an INOA member on a Commando Hi Rider chopper.
It was a wet & cold ride from Yellowstone.
He'd hoped that it would be dry in the morning so his tent would
have a chance to dry out. No such luck. He said that the head winds
of 40 to 50 MPH beat him up all day & were slowing him to about
45. The speed limit on Rte. 20 is 65 MPH in Idaho, so there were
lots of folks passing him on the two lane, at the most inopportune
times. He said he wasn't getting much respect from the Idaho drivers.
When he got to the campground he said that he was close to being
pop cycled. (real cold) There are hot showers there, so he was
heading over to get warmed up.
Tomorrow, after a quick trip to the Craters of
the Moon National Park (http://www.nps.gov/crmo/)
he's heading for Mountain Home. Depending on how he feels he may
head up to Boise, but that means going on the interstate, as 20
merges with I-84. If the headwinds continue that way they have,
he sez that he doesn't feel comfortable riding on I-84 at 45, so
may look for a different route. He sez that there is a road marked
out on his map as an unimproved highway ( Rte 78 that runs on the
west side of the Snake River) that will get him back up to Rte.
20 on the west side of Boise. He'll take 20 across to Bend, then
head south on 97 towards Crater Lake National Park. ( http://www.nps.gov/crla/ )
He said that even without the generator working,
the gelcell battery is holding it's charge, just using the LED
brake light. He said that he'll have to do a bit of an overhaul
on the girder front end when he gets to the Rally. He's noticed
a bit of play developing. It just needs adjustment as part of the
normal maintenance during the break in period.
Have a good holiday weekend.
Take Care - Bob
07/03/05 Sunday
Hi Folks - John just called from Juntura Oregon,
about 200 miles east of Bend on Rte. 20, about 60 miles west of
the Idaho border. Yesterday he made it from Arco to Ontario Oregon
(about 300 miles) in 14 hours. He said that the head winds were
terrible. He was roaring along in second & third gear on flat
ground to keep about 40 to 45 MPH. There were up hill areas that
he would be wound out in second gear climbing for a half hour at
a time. Hard on both him & the bike.
There was some sort of big bike rally near Mackay.
He ran into lots of bikers. Craters of the Moon was different,
a flat lava expanse, where the astronauts trained for the moon
walk. He said that he braved the interstate (84) from Mountain
Home, up through Boise to Ontario. It was not a pretty sight. He
was able to maintain 55 to 60 MPH. but everyone else was doing
80. He sez his best performance speeds are from 50 to 55. The bike
response well at that range. He camped at a private campground,
so had showers etc.., but his neighbors were a group of Mexican
partiers that were still going strong at 4:30 am. John was pulling
out about 6:30 am & they were just winding down & going
to bed. There was an old couple from Lake Havasu City Arizona that
he met. The guy had been a dispatch rider during WWII. They'd moved
to Australia after the war & had Norton's, BSA's etc... until
their first child was born, He was going to buy a side car, but
the wife said no way! John got some pictures of the guy on his
bike & the old fellow told John that he still had a few of
his Whitworth wrenches at home & would send them to him.
Rte. 20 in Oregon has a 55 MPH limit so there
isn't the pressure of being passed so often. Also since it's Sunday,
there isn't as much traffic on the roads. It sounds like gas stations
are few & far between in the area, until he hits Bend. He's
hoping to get as far as Deschutes National Forest tonight. http://www.fs.fed.us With
tomorrow being a holiday travel day, he said he might bide his
time & do some maintenance work on the bike. Adjust the chain,
do a little lube here & there. The generator is still not working,
but the battery is holding it's charge, only using his LED taillight.
He sez that he's just been too busy to deal with it yet & as
long as the battery holds up, he doesn't need it. *Doug, John asked
if you could bring a six volt charger to the Rally, so he could
give it a good charge.*
He said that is still cool & once you are
rolling on the bike, that it can get down right cold.
He plans to head over to Crater Lake on Tues. & spend
some time there before heading down to the Redwood National Park.
He's already thinking of different ways to go back home & sites
that he wants to see. He's sure hoping for tail winds! Some locals
told him of a few places that he'd be interested in seeing. One
is Lost Forest, a volcanic area. http://www.oregonsoutback.com The
other Mountain of Glass, http://www.nwsource.com another
lava flow. He also wants to hit some historic sites like The Pioneer
Village in Minden Nebraska http://www.pioneervillage.org & Nauvoo
Missouri http://www.nauvoo.net He
sez that the bike is holding up well & he's still having fun!
07/04/05 Monday
Hi Folks - John called from Paullina Lake in
the Deschutes National Forest, south of Bend. He had planed a
lay over day today to do some more site seeing, etc..., but was
so whipped from listening to the Mexican partiers all night at
the last campsite in Ontario & yesterdays long ride, that
he slept until after noon today. He said it felt good!
He said that he missed out on free camping at
a site near an observatory near by, but it was up & down
a 10 mile gravel road & he was too fried. For John to pass
up free camping! He must have been tired!
When he was heading into Bend yesterday, he
decided that he wanted to use his headlight for extra visibility.
He was not sure how the battery would hold up, as he still had
not done any work on the generator since Cody & it wasn't
working then & he had not used the headlight since Nebraska.
To his surprise, the ammeter jumped to life! The generator is
working!He said "who sez procrastination doesn't work!"
He plans to head down to Crater Lake tomorrow,
then he's planning to head out to the coast & take 101, the
coast highway down to the Redwood National Forest.
Take Care - Bob
07/05/05 Tuesday
Hi Folks - John & the 16H have been on the
road for two weeks now. We finally received one of John's post
cards that he sent from Yellowstone today, post marked June 30th.
He'd mailed it the day before. He was surprised that it took
that long, but with the holiday on Monday. It had a photo of
the satellite image of the great Caldara. http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/ & http://www.unmuseum.org/supervol.htm He
wrote that it was very cold & rainy. That he'd been to Yellowstone's
Grand Canyon that day.It also had a small Polaroid photo of John
taped to the card. It looked cold.
We got a quick call from John tonight. He's
at a campgrounds at Diamond Lake, just north of Crater Lake National
Forest. He sez that it is still cold. That might be a hint for
the folks planning on attending the INOA Rally at Lake Selmac
next week, to pack a few warm things for the evenings. He's going
to head out west on Rte. 138 in the morning, winding through
the Cascade Mountains to Roseburg, (about 100 miles)cross Interstate
5, then take Rte. 42 through the Coast Range Mountains towards
the coastal town of Coos Bay Oregon & the Pacific (about
45 miles). He then plans to head south on Rte. 101 towards the
Redwood National Park.
http://www.byways.org/browse/byways/2198/overview.html
John may need some time in a decompression tank
from being up in the mountains for so long, now that he's heading
down to sea level. He said that he's traveled over 2,700 miles
since leaving home. At least that's what the chronometric speedo
sez.
There's a map at: http://maps.google.com If
you reduce the map by two sizes & click left directional
arrow on the map (at the top left) you can easily chart John's
route west across Oregon. They also have an interesting satellite
image too, that shows the rough terrain that he's traveling through.
He said that he celebrated the 4th with a meal
of canned chili & a bag of Cheatos. I guess everything was
closed for the holiday. He'd had someone take a photo of him
yesterday & then he forgot to pack the camera & it was
left on top of his gear on the luggage rack. When he took off,
it took a spill at about 40 mph, but he thinks that it will still
work. You remember his philosophy on his generator.... : ))
Take Care - Bob 07/06/05
Wednesday
Hi Folks - Got a call from John tonight from
the State campgrounds at Sunset Bay, just outside of Coos Bay
Oregon, on the Pacific. This is his first time riding all the
way out to the coast. The last California Rally he went to was
at Lake Tahoe on his 54 Norton ES2. His last time to view the
Pacific was during his all expense paid excursion to Viet Nam.
The run down from Diamond Lake to Roseburg on
Rte. 138 had a few logging trucks to keep things exciting, but
was fine. He sez that everyone in Oregon drives like they are
on an expressway.
He found it strange at the campsite at Diamond
Lake that this was the first time ever, that he could not get
any radio reception at all. He carries a little portable that
has AM/FM/ Weather Band that picks up any local stations, but
in the mountains, I guess they just don't exist. All was quiet,
except for the drone of the hungry mosquitoes. When setting up
his tent, they were outside buzzing, with more coming all of
the time! They new where the fresh meat was. Once he was outside,
they were so slow that he could swat them easily, but that there
were just so many. Thanks to Greg Hasser, he had his MP3 player
to drown out the mosquitoes symphony. In Roseburg, he stopped
for about three hours. Did laundry, hit Wally World for some
shopping, got photos developed & put on a disc to send home.He
couldn't believe the amount of traffic there was for such a small
town. My guess is that it's because of Grants Pass.
At a gas station this morning, parked beside
five guys on some Hyaboosa like bikes, he was joking with them & said
that it was too bad that they were going in a different direction.They
could've ridden along with him! He said they gave him the eye,
then laughed. When he headed out on 42 it started to rain & was
cold the whole way to Coos Bay. Again, a possible warning for
the INOA Rally goers to pack some warm clothes & maybe an
extra blanket.
He had mentioned the other day that his back
had been bothering him a bit. He found out last night that it
was from sleeping on his side. The air mattress depressed, so
that his hip was touching the cold ground. He padded the underside
with a blanket & it was solved.
The campground that he's at tonight at Sunset
Bay is excellent. Big sites, divided by shrubs so you don't see
your neighbor. It was far enough from the coast that there was
no cool breeze. The place is almost deserted. He still had to
set up his tent when he called & then was going to head back
into Argos Bay for a meal.
Looking at the bike, there's a fair amount of
wear on the chain & tires, that they would need replacing
when he gets home. Possibly sprockets too. He's had to adjusted
the clutch play. Those long hills in Wyoming, Idaho & Oregon
have taken their toll. The gearing from second to third is very
tall on the 16H, which doesn't help either.
He's going to take his time going down the coast
on 101, as it's still a week before the rally starts.
We laughed about entering his bike in the conquers
at the rally. It's pretty dirty from the total loss oil system & the
miles that he's put on. Also many parts on the bike, like the
engine plates, tool box, rear stand, fender stays, luggage rack
are home made. I told him that maybe he'd get a few extra points
for riding it that far. He laughed & said that he didn't
think that would be enough! The speedo now read 5,000 miles & it
was 2010 when left home, so it's 2990 miles on this trip, so
far. He thinks it's pretty accurate. When the magnetic bicycle
speedo was still working they read out the same mileages.
We talked for about fifteen minutes about different
routes to take back home. There's one route from the Grants Pass
(he said that locals call it Grass Pants) area that heads east
on 140 to Klammath Falls, then continue east on 140 to Lakeview.
One possibility is to continue on 140, down into Nevada & then
back up into Oregon on 292, then head east through Whitehorse
Ranch to 95 up to Burns Junction & on into Idaho. Maybe cut
across to Murphy to cut out Boise, but it is an unknown road.
Marked as unimproved on his map. Another was to head north on
395 at Lakeview to Riley at Rte. 20, then east to Ontario & the
Idaho border. From there head SE to Kemmerer Wyoming, his next
destination. From there, there are a few possible routes east
for him, depending on what sites that he wants to visit.
On the phone calls, John calls me, gives me
the call box phone number, (if there is one available) then I
call him back. In most cases that works out, but at Diamond Lake
they had a cut off, so we could only speak for two minutes at
a time, then the phone company would disconnect us. Anyway, he's
very pleased with his progress, the bike is still running good & sez
that everything from this point on is gravy.
Take Care - Bob
07/09/05 Saturday
Hi Folks- Heard from John last night. He's really
enjoying the 101 Coastal Hwy. From Coos Bay he meandered down
towards Brookings Oregon yesterday. He had to stop at all of
the road side pull offs to catch the views.
It's a shame that he is not a seafood fan. He
sez there's all sorts of local fish & seafood restaurants
that he's passed.
It's still raining. He said the type of light
rain, where you might decide not to wear raingear until it was
too late.
He was setting up camp last night at Harris
Beach State Park. He sez it's a better place than most motels!
He's heading down to Patrick Point State Park
just below the Redwood National Park this morning.
He was told that there is another Redwood Park
off 199, on his route back towards the Rally, so plans to stop
in there too.
He sez that the lilac, eight foot tall foxglove, & other
flora growing along the roadside is incredible.
The bike is still running fine, although still
wonders about the generator. He'd hoped to have a back up generator
for the trip, but the deal had fallen through, before he left
home.
As we were talking on the phone, a guy was driving
into the park with a sea plane on a trailer. John marveled at
being able to go to a State Park for a weekend & to go flying
from there.
He met a guy the other night who had a few Norton's
(G15, model 18 single, 2 Commando's as well as a BSA Gold Star,
an AJS & Triumph) He's not an INOA member. John mentioned
the Rally & the guy might drop in for a day.
I confirmed that he can get 120 miles on a tank
of gas & has another maybe 15 to 20 on reserve. He's never
run it dry to check it out. Thanks to Doug & Peter in Oregon
for relaying road info for John. He appreciated it.
We finally received his first post card, sent
June 27th from somewhere near Carhenge (Alliance NE) Twelve days.
Not bad guys. He sez on the card that our Amish friend Rufus
should do one in buggies! Buggyhenge! Then adds, or would that
be an idol?
Anyway, he's gonna relax, do some local day
trips(without all of the weight of all his gear on the luggage
rack, he sez it's like riding two up) & take his time to
get up to the rally site.
He is sending me some of his photos copied to
a disc at Wally World, so might have some photos to share soon.
Take Care - Bob
07/10/05 Sunday
Hi Folks - Spoke to John this afternoon. He's
been in the Redwood National Forest. http://www.nps.gov Said
that it was great, with huge treesby Ohio standard. but the really
old big trees were felled in 1957. He's camped tonight at the
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park betweenKlamath & Orick
California. http://www.parks.ca.gov He
might spend a couple of nights there to do some sight seeing
before starting back northto 199. He's thinking of stopping at
the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park on the way. http://www.parks.ca.gov Bike
is running fine. This was the first time in a while that he hasn't
mentioned it raining.
He tried to find some Hot & Sour soup at
a restaurant last night, but they didn't make it. He sez he mistakenly
stayed on for there dinner special. Very mediocre. Could have
gotten the same at home in Dayton. I received four CD discs of
photos (over 90) that he mailed from Coos Bay. There are some
great photos on it. I'll try to post some of them.
I tried sending this out with four of John's
photo's, but the program that runs the photo recover from the
disc seems to be awfully huge. It came back undeliverable. I
hope that I didn't clog up to many computers with these.
It looks like Mid Ohio will get lots of chances
for thunder storms all weekend for Vintage Days. If you are camping,
bring rain fly's & ground covers & appropriate rain gear.
Take Care - Bob
07/12/05 Tuesday
Hi Folks - We received two calls from John today.
He spoke to Janet earlier in the day for a few minutes. His chronometric
had just rolled over to show he's traveled 3,300 miles so far.
She said that you can really tell by his voice & his manner,
that he is really enjoying himself, then called back later when
I was available. He's in Gasket California. OK it's really Gasquet,
(John's joke) on Rte. 199 (The Redwood Highway) in the Smith
River National Recreation Area. He rode through the Jedediah
Smith Redwoods State Park. Said they were the best big Redwoods
that he's seen so far. The ten mile good gravel road he went
down as a bypass (instead of going through Crescent City) went
along the Smith River that was just beautiful. (it looks like
it might be Howland Hill Road on my map) Further along on Rte.
199 has some nice twisties as well, along the Smith. Lots of
areas with no guard rails so you have to pay close attention.
He was in buying cleaning supplies for the bike & mailed
his last ten post cards, looking for a place to grab a sandwich
for lunch & was planning out his bike maintenance for the
rally site. He's still getting about a quart of oil loss in a
1,000 miles on the engine, which is good. He still plans on getting
more oil usage by re routing one of the constant loss oil drains
into the primary. Still using the Mercury Quick Silver two stroke
oil in the gas for upper cylinder lube. Sez he's getting low
on it, so needs to find a Wally World to buy some more.
He said that gas prices were up there. I told
him that I'd paid $2.239 the other day at the Flying J down at
I-71 & Rte. 36 above Columbus. He said he'd just paid $2.75.
The cheapest that he's seen in a while was $2.69. He is surprised
that he has yet to see another Norton on the road, since the
chopper near Cody.
There's a crust of burnt on road crud & oil
built up everywhere. He claims that the salt spray has oxidized
his alloy fenders finish, so there'll be a little elbow grease
to shine them up again. He wants me to look for some bits & pieces
for him at Vintage Days. Another Norton girder front end, with
the brake stop on the left, a Vincent Comet 500 cc single motor,
for a featherbed project that he's dreaming up & any other
$5.00 Vincent motors that I see. He sez Jensen will get that.
And two of everything that's free.
Other talk about how this bike would love pulling
a chair around town at 30 MPH, then he thought about building
a sidecar when he got home, one of the big Swallow double adult
jobs.
The bike is still running fine. It likes 52
MPH best. Up to about 57 is OK, but the amount of throttle used
to get up to 60 is quite a bit & the engine just doesn't
like it. The configuration of the flat head just doesn't let
the mixture & exhaust gases flow.
The weather is excellent. High 60's, light breeze,
nice sunshine. He's picked up an apple & some gorp for dinner
at the campground just outside of town. He was gripping that
the campgrounds charge $20.00 a night if you are a single rider
on a motorcycle or a motorhome with up to eight, but ride in
on a bicycle & it's only $3.50.... There was then some discussion
of tree hugging ........ individuals.........inequity...... :
)) Someone in the National Park Service might be getting an angry
letter. The Rally starts tomorrow, so he's planning to be ready!
Take Care - Bob
07/20/05 Wednesday
Hi Folks - Got a quick call from John this afternoon.
He was in Vernal Utah about 40 miles from the Colorado border.
He sez it's real hot. The last two days have
been hell. He ran into Art Bone's brother, from Georgia in Vale
(just outside of Ontario Oregon) He was on a modern rice burner,
loaded to the gills, flying down the interstate at 80, in comparison
to John pace. From where he camped near Ontario Oregon on Sunday,
has been a series of long round about roads to stay off the interstates.
He had a semi play tag with him on Rte. 30, and he said it was
two lanes in each direction, so the guy was just being a jerk.
Rte 30 through Burley Idaho, down to Snowville Utah, back up
to Holbrook, 38 across to Malad City, then meander through Weston
up to Dayton, across 36 to Preston, through the Caribou National
Forest to Montpelier, then jumped on 30 & finally out of
Idaho then down to Kemmerer Wyoming . He headed south on 189
to 412 & pulled into Lyman at about 9:00 pm local time to
set up camp. He was one tired puppy!
This morning he headed south east on 414 through
Mountain View, Lonetree & McKinnon towards the Utah border & had
stopped for a sandwich for lunch in Vernal. He's heading east
on 40 & may get to Steamboat Springs. He may see if he can
find Dick Mann & drop in.
The bike's running well. He's happy that he
got the award for the Longest Distance Ridden to the Rally on
a Norton, Oldest Norton Ridden to the Rally & second place
in the Bike Show in his class. 07/21/05 Tuesday
Hi Folks - Well John's trip has been more than a
month long so far. He called from Ault yesterday afternoon (just
north of Fort Collins Colorado on Rte. 14). He'd taken a break from
the 108 degrees outside & was soaking up some AC & ice tea.
He has his Cooldana to help keep him a bit more comfortable, but
he sez the heat is really kicking his butt. www.cooldana.com
He stopped in at Dinosaur National Monument, east
of Vernal Utah, just inside the Colorado border. www.nps.gov He'd
spent the night at a campground at Rabbit Ears Pass (at almost 10,000
feet elevation, between the Rocky Mountains & the Gore Range
just outside of Steamboat Springs) He said the campground left lots
to be desired & it was really cold, especially after the 100
degree heat that he's been in over the last few days. There were
no amenities there. An outhouse & no running water. He said that
Steamboat reminded him of Yellowsprings, lots of trendy yuppies & hippies.
He was saying that going up through Rabbit Ears & then
Cameron Pass (over 10,000') he had to wind out in second gear, doing
about 35 MPH. Everything to his east is now prairie, so lots of flat
ground. www.sledcity.com He
was aiming for the Nebraska border last night. His front wheel has
developed a slight squeak. He figures that it's the brake shoe. He's
been using a bit more oil & attributes that to the steep climbs
through the mountains. He sez he's noticed that the Chronometric
speedo has developed a bit of a jump too, but still seems to be working
OK. Everything else seems to be running fine. He is hoping to hit
the Pioneer Village in Minden www.pioneervillage.org & wants
to get a picture in front of the Pony Express Statue on Rte. 36.
(I'm not sure if it's the one in Marysville Kansas or the one in
St. Joseph Missouri) www.xphomestation.com He
has one with the ES2 & his 66 Atlas on other trips out to Norton
Nationals. Then on to the French Fur Trade Museum at Nauvoo. http://www.nauvoo.net & www.iowahistory.org He
thinks that he'll be home on Sun. afternoon. He plans to take the
same route back through Illinois (136)& Indiana (Rte. 36 into
Ohio) as he took out.
07/23/05 Saturday
Hi Folks - John called from just west of St. Joseph
Missouri (where it's still well over 100 degrees) this afternoon.
(2:00 pm his time) He's been taking it easy because of the heat,
making more stops & traveling in the (hopefully) cooler mornings & late
afternoons. He'd thought that he'd be a bit closer to home today & make
it home sometime on Sun. but that's out the window now. Probably
be late Mon. or Tues. before he hits Dayton now. The bike is still
running fine. He sez that the generator is still a bit of a worry
to him.
 He
got his picture taken at the Pony Express statue in Marysville Kansas
again (third time, now with three different Norton's) He was really
disappointed! The town has become a major railroad center, where
they switch out the crews, so it's really expanded & become kind
of cheap & cheesy from a quaint little western country town of
just a few years back. The Pony Express statue had been ripped out
of the ground & thrown up on a trailer, to be moved someplace
else. Progress! He's noticed that the gas stations & convenience
stores don't sell 'Gorp' on this side of the mountains. That had
been his staple snack since Yellowstone.
He was soaking up some AC & drinking a Pepsi
when he called. He's been saving the ice & wrapping that into
his bandana & wrapping that around his neck. He sez that it's
bone dry in an hour!
There was a pack of Harley riders off to some big
meet (RUBS as Mike Reed calls them) They stopped at the filling station & spoke
to him for a few minutes. He was glad they were heading west. He's
heading east on Rte. 36 towards Hannibal.(about 200 miles) There
are a couple of State Parks (Wallace S.P. near Cameron & Pershing
S.P. just east of Chillicothe (mid state) that he might stop at.
If by Chillicothe he's still feeling good, he'll head on to Hannibal & Brown
(which I think is in Illinois)
Take Care - Bob
07/25/05 Monday
Welcome Home
Hi Folks - Just got off the phone with John. He's
home in Dayton. He did one last 'tourist thing' by rolling into Yellowsprings
to buzz Hasser's Barber Shop this morning. Stopped to see if Old
Barber Boy wanted to go to lunch, but Greg was busy with customers
so he headed home.
The Chronometric quit on him in Fort Collins Colorado,
so no real accurate mileage clocked. It must be someplace close to
6,000 miles. Aside from the speedo & the intermittent generator
problem, mechanically, everything went fairly well.
He stopped at the Pioneer Village in Minden, but
decided to give the French Fur Trade Museum in Nauvoo a miss, as
it would have added another 10 to 12 hours to his trip & it was
104 degrees at 10:00 am.
John Collier of the Cincinnati British Motorcycle
Club wants to start a fund to send John someplace else! : )) He thought
either New Foundland or South America.
Take Care - Bob
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