Life’s therapy

[Clunkmeister]

We said “enough’s enough”, it’s time to get back onboard and ride this train, so, first things first:  I pulled out an old junker custom job I had been working on,I had covered in the far back of the barn, cleaned it up, changed the fluids, put a battery in it, and went for a ride.

[Clunkmeister]

And promptly broke down. 
Got it home and found a plugged fuel filter. Pulled the tanks, rinsed them out and dumped out 5 years of shale rust. Gasohol really isn’t good for fuel systems. So the tanks got POR-15 tank lining, the Mikuni carb got pulled, cleaned, and built, and then I replaced the blown 7.5 amp fuse for the turn signals and brake lights I had mistakenly installed in place of a 10 amp fuse.

now it runs great, and a few hours of this per week should straighten out any lingering issues

[Martinnfb]

Beautiful piece of machinery right there. 

[Clunkmeister]

I put it on the dyno last week, and this old Frankenstein engine is putting out 89 hp and 130 lbs torque at the rear wheel.

The torque curve comes right up off of idle and is flatline from 1250 rpm right up to 3200.  These old air cooled Harleys aren’t horsepower machines, but they have HUGE flat torque curves the never seem to stop pulling. At 3200 rpm, they’re rattling your fillings, so I lay off at 2900 or so.  They’ll rev to 5K, but it’s a useless exercise.  Think old 1930s Straight 8, V12 and V16 cars and you have the idea. 
the engine will need compression releases, though, because the starter hates rolling it over. 

[Clunkmeister]

4 minutes ago, Martinnfb said:

Beautiful piece of machinery right there. 

It’s literally built from spare parts, to resemble a 1948 Harley. 

[Martinnfb]

Kinda resembles the FL look. 

[Clunkmeister]

13 minutes ago, Martinnfb said:

Kinda resembles the FL look. 

I was going for a 1948 FL Panhead, yes.  But with modern niceties such as a Softail hidden rear suspension that looks just like an old rigid bone rattler hardtail frames of the 40s, plus an electric leg: I can’t kick them to life anymore with these knees.

I lowered the rear and seat as much as I dared so I could get both feet on the ground with bent knees. My knees and right hip are SHOT due to arthritis, and I limp to the bike, but am a holy terror once onboard. Even throwing my leg over is agony.  New knees this fall I hope.

Like any lowered Harley, it’ll drag a board in a corner about 5 degrees before it drags a pipe and it goes out from under you, but you don’t ride an old open spring Harley to carve corners.  It’s not a Duc or Guzzi. You ride it they did in 1948: 55-65 mph, sitting upright like a proper English gentleman, chugging along and smelling the summer fields. It’s crazy fun for what it is. I even got my Barbour style oilskin jacket, a Davida TT helmet, and some Halcyon aviators. 

[ScottsGT]

[BlrwestSiR]

Ernie, if that's your idea of a junker I can't wait to see what the Sunday ride looks like. 

Like Martin said,  a lovely looking bike. Glad to see it bringing a smile to your face. 

 

[Clunkmeister]

25 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Ernie, if that's your idea of a junker I can't wait to see what the Sunday ride looks like. 

Like Martin said,  a lovely looking bike. Glad to see it bringing a smile to your face. 

 

It’s a paper tiger in many ways. It benefitted from many months of (literally) buckets of parts in front of our Chesterfield sofa, all taking their turn as I mindlessly polished them out. Then reassembling it on the lift table until it started resembling a motorcycle. Dropping the engine onto its mounting plates was the biggest wake up call I’ve received in awhile. I used to be able to lift these old engines easily enough. This time, my neighbor had to help.

Jeroen rides a moder Harley Softail with a modern Yarley V twin engine, and he’d run away and hide from me. This is pretty impressive on the straights, but in corners, this undampened front suspension will pogo you to death.  It’s best to remember its roots. 
Modern Harleys are world class motorcycles, but this was absolute even in 1948

[Clunkmeister]

3 hours ago, ScottsGT said:

I'm a sucker for the old stuff with an art deco look to it. 
Obviously I'm big into cosmetic enhancements, which is good because my two favorite colors are black, and chrome 😃

So a bit of extra chrome here and there, along with some gold leaf where needed, and away we go. 

[Clunkmeister]

One thing I’ve done in the last 3 weeks is to gather Sponsors for a cause many of us here really believe in here, and that’s the identification of and treatment for Veteran suicide prevention.   I managed to convince enough businesses that I’m wholly capable of piloting this old relic of a motorcycle for 300 miles per Saturday for 1 month, that if I can do this, the donations per Saturday will come to $10/mile, or $3000 per day, just from my contribution.  The cool thing is that the money is staying local and going directly to the caregivers and facilities, not disappearing into some corporate bank account where .02 on the dollar coughs down to the Veterans after all the greedy 10 million/year CEOs get their cut.  In other words, we’re not falling into the Goodwill store trap.
Doing the math shows this to be $12,000 for me giving up a month’s worth of Saturdays. From one person. For the cost of some oil and petrol, plus some food, of course.  I’ve done 2 Saturdays already, and 2 more to go.

The two pictures below are from last Saturday, and yesterday.  The pic from the arse end was last Saturday, and yesterday is the front view.

Joy tells me my bike looks like a Siberian Yak, with all the fringe hanging off, and she’s gonna give it a haircut afterwards. In no uncertain terms, NO!

 

 

[Clunkmeister]

I’m not the only one wondering what that big red monstrosity is. Good LORD it’s ugly!

My old Harley is lost in comparison 

My wife really doesn’t like the look of the 1948 twilight.  I wonder why? 

[Martinnfb]

That Venture is too much, a lazy boy on two wheels. I get it, it’s a cruise bike to complement the US market. Yet, it feels way too flamboyant. I always liked the 40-8 sportster. With a bit of custom touch?,  it kinda suits my immature aesthetic.   It would …

 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

11 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

I’m not the only one wondering what that big red monstrosity is. Good LORD it’s ugly!

For a moment I thought you meant the Ranchero behind your bike. Then I saw the uh, bike beside you. 

[KevinM]

Nice bike Ernie my brother loved his bikes "God bless his Soul" he had many Triumph,Harleys and a Beamer(to name a few) he rebuilt he scared me more than once.I am glad for yea and that you have a smile . 

[Clunkmeister]

Martin,

I agree, the Iron Sportster is one fun in town machine.  
But, it's utterly brutal on the highway and beats you to a bloody pulp. 
if I only needed to black around town, that Sportster is THE bike of choice for anyone who has any kind of beating heart.

That Kawasaki?  What a puffed up pile of junk. Same with Goldwings. They're cool, and a bit better thought than the Venture, which is just puffed up Marshmallow Man mobile 

[ScottsGT]

Back when I was a youte, somewhere around 1982-4 I almost traded my ‘65 Fairlane for a basket case ‘40’s or ‘50’s? Panhead that was a former police bike.  The Ford was actually in my parents name, so I needed their blessings obviously.   A friend of theirs had just lost a son on a motorcycle accident a few years earlier and it was a big “Hell NO!” From them.  
Wife’s a medical professional.  She sees it all the time and calls then donorcycles. She won’t even let me get the new Honda DAX 125 to ride up and down my street. 😢

[ScottsGT]

Ernie, you’re a good man perusing a great cause!  Kudos to you for taking this on, especially in the summer heat of Texas.  

[Clunkmeister]

On 7/1/2025 at 6:26 AM, ScottsGT said:

Back when I was a youte, somewhere around 1982-4 I almost traded my ‘65 Fairlane for a basket case ‘40’s or ‘50’s? Panhead that was a former police bike.  The Ford was actually in my parents name, so I needed their blessings obviously.   A friend of theirs had just lost a son on a motorcycle accident a few years earlier and it was a big “Hell NO!” From them.  
Wife’s a medical professional.  She sees it all the time and calls then donorcycles. She won’t even let me get the new Honda DAX 125 to ride up and down my street. 😢

They’re called murdercycles around here, because there have been several cases of a biker being involved in a fatal supposed single vehicle accident with no obvious cause.

Bikes don’t “just crash” any more than cars or planes do.  There’s always a reason. Cops think someone’s doing something. Running them off the road, laser pointer, who knows.

But I ride in a small group, pay attention to those around me, and don’t ride stupid.

[JohnB]

I sold my Harley before I killed myself on it! LOL Was fun to ride though.

[Martinnfb]

That’s a nice ride John. 

[JohnB]

20 minutes ago, Martinnfb said:

That’s a nice ride John. 

Thanks Martin. I miss it at times but it was time to let someone else have it. And he DID get killed on it when someone turned in front of him. Had a wife and 2 kids. SAD 

[Martinnfb]

That got dark real fast. Similar thing happened to me with my parachute. I sold it before I left Europe and the new owner , whose name was coincidentally Martin as well, had a fatal accident on it the next year. Reserve didn't deploy on time. Funny how it works.

Even recently a friend of mine wanted to give me Bandit 1200 so we can ride together, but that would be my end. I think it's Bandit, one of those plastic covered bikes that would fit my size. I might rebuild it for him, just for the heck of it.

[HubertB]

"For sale, because of death, brand new parachute. Never opened, used only once. Make offers on ..."

 

Hubert