July 2006 Mid
Ohio
Flight
prices seem to have increased in the last couple of years, July through to
September is an expensive time to travel to the U.S. But with a few bikes
already stashed in the U.S. I decided to clean out the bank and gamble on buying
some bikes at this years Mid Ohio “Vintage Days Swap Meet”- - but as H2’s in a
poor state on ebay were selling for $5,000 before I left – It didn’t make this
trip look too promising of finding bikes, plus the fact that this will be my
longest trip ever to the U.S. and plans of covering some 5,000 miles in the next
three weeks at between 12 and 17 miles to the gallon (at a now hefty $3.20 a
gallon) made me realise that I need to start being a little more frugal, to this
end I took a tent along and planned on staying in camp grounds along the way
rather than hotels.
I arrived at
Brum and boarded my regular “Continental” flight. I settle down for a glass of
wine to lubricate my keyboard fingers before I try and catch a little bit of
sleep, it seems that nowadays they only have FRENCH red wine aboard the flights
– not the slightest hint of American and even the palatable Chillean has now
gone . .. . time to change airlines maybe
L
And that was only the start of an eventful flight, after missing flights and
spending over a hour on a runway I finally arrive in Michigan around midnight
(5am U.K. time).
Next
day I was all set to head to Mid Ohio but the darned truck wouldn’t start! It
had been struggling to start for a few months, I suspected lack of fuel but had
little clue of where to start . . . . . until I called a pal off the message
board! John(AtKens) suggested that it may be the fuel filter but was more likely
to be the pump, I ran through the tests that he suggested and the pump seemed to
be working fine so I bought tools and a fuel filter. Once underneath I saw the
fittings to the filter were totally rotten and there was no way it would come
undone without ripping the pipes apart, not only that but it was located in a
b@stard of a place, I called john back and he still suspected fuel pump, which
needed a ramp to drop the tank and even then it would be a lousy job as all the
fittings were again corroded (the truck had lived all it’s life in Michigan,
where, like us they salt the roads in winter and the top of the tank was a trap
for all that salt!) I called all local garages no-one could do it (or even more
wisely didn’t want to!), I called John again and he told me it was a biatch of a
job and there was no way I could drop the tank lying on my back under the truck
I needed a ramp or I was going nowhere, after looking at the tank all mountings
were rotten and no way it could be done at side of the road, I knew full well
that the mounting bolts would shear and the pipes would also shear off rather
than come undone! All looked like it was down the pan and as I was staring at
the truck full of disappointment it occurred to me that there is always more
than one way to skin a cat, off to wallmart and $20 later I am back at the truck
and cutting the bed floor out .with the angle grinder I just bought! A hole in
one! And the offending item is in view – but what a mess, it was a mass of rust
and as I tried to undo the pipes they all sheared off, but it was off and I was
quoted $250 for new unit, I bit the bullet and fetched it, but it was the wrong
assembly! Luckily I did get the correct pump and it was $120 cheaper
J
All
back together and it fired right up – John was right it WAS the pump! I was
somewhat relieved to say the least.
The next
challenge was that I had to get my Honda dream going that I had just sold on
Ebay and was delivering to the buyer in Tennessee - the news was no better
there, the battery was flat, and it was pissing fuel out, fortunately I was
already aware of this and swapped the float and needle, I also bought a new
battery and it fired right up! Problem was that it was still not charging
correctly, however, I load up and head out late but on the road! I am driving
through severe thunderstorms on the way down south so I made it 200 miles and
called it a night.
I
arrived Mid Ohio in the early afternoon and was made welcome by the “Smokeriders
Club” Mainly Suzuki Two Stroke boys but still I was welcomed with open arms, and
offers of beer and food! After finding a camping spot I headed over to the swap
meet to see what bargains there were, it was a long haul from the campsite
(about a mile walk) and I was envious of the dozens of guys on small bikes of
every kind that were nipping around as I made my way over in the 90+ degree
heat. Once at the meeting it was apparent that I was a day too late to buy any
“bargains” all the reasonably priced bikes had already gone to other traders
that are allowed in a day early, a couple of Japanese guys had bought up all the
Kettles, 900’s and smaller triples. I didn’t fair much better in the autojumble
as the triple parts were few and far between. It was now late afternoon and I
was beat – I wandered back to the campsite and was more than a little pleased to
see my pal Cody who had brought along my 1965 B8 that I had bought off Ebay
almost a year ago! The bike had covered just 900 miles in 41 years! It was last
used some 25 years ago but with time on my hands I decided to see if it would
go, I nabbed the battery off the Honda and purloined some gas off Jeff and after
blowing up the fuel pipe to unblock the strainer fuel started to flow. I hit the
electric start (yep, on a 1965 bike!) and within 20 seconds the bike was
running! A quick ride around the site revealed it was far from happy, after
cleaning and resetting the points I was in business – no more walking YEAH!
Friday was a
late night spent talking to Jeff (Gootblatt) and drinking Two small bottles of
wine and then half a gallon more of the stuff! I’m not sure if Jeff is a good
talker or just a good listener but we had an enjoyable night
Saturday
morning and not only was it in the mid nineties but I had the hangover from hell
– all my own fault!, I was SO glad that I had a bike to ride, especially as YT
was going to unveil the XTR machine this morning! However, on the way
back to the swap meet the back tyre went flat, And with temperatures again in
the low 90’s I was in no mood to change it but with the sweat coming out of me
like a sponge I soon had the rear wheel out and walked to the swap meet in
search of a new tube, my luck was in and soon I was back on the road just in
time to collect Brad & Maggie and give them a lift to meet up with the guys.
YT duly
unveiled his XTR project, the bike was a Triple but not in the sense that we
would expect, YT and friends had a built an Extreme Triple Racer
(Drag) the bike was based around a 1200cc Jetski motor with an amazing amount of
development, not least the addition of Nitrous and a slider (?) clutch.
The
afternoon consisted of walking around the pits and checking out the vintage race
bikes, being treated to a display from a Police motorcycle team (who left the
circuit with the lead rider riding up the road standing on the seat of his
Harley with his arms fully outstretched – Impressive!) and finally checking out
the bikes in the auction. The only bike of interest was a fairly original H2a
which I budgeted a bid of $3,200 on, as it approached $2,500 there was just
myself and Ex Aussie bike dealer Michael of “Michaels Motorcycles” bidding, I
hoped he would drop out but in the end he won the bike for $4,000 which I didn’t
think was any great bargain - especially for a H2a. So, it’s back to the free
beer, food and great hospitality of YT and the other GREAT guys from the NAKTC.
That night
it was onward down South and a scenic campground somewhere in Ohio that was
riverside and with only the sound of the animals and bugs in the trees!
Monday
was a day of driving down South, I called the buyer of the Honda and was told
that he had changed his mind and he didn’t want the bloody thing! So here I was
with a bike that was worth more in England and which was taking up valuable
space in my truck, I was beginning to wish that I had never set eyes on the darn
thing!
I decided to
check out a local junkyard in Kentucky, it seemed to be a little off the major
highways and was worth stopping by, but it was obvious that after hearing my
accent the prices went up! I bought a couple of items but the owner was not
going to get rich off me.
The
Kawasaki Triples were very thin on the ground, (apart from a KH400) but for some
reason the Suzuki GT380 & 550 models were plentiful at this particular yard, and
if you REALLY felt adventurous you could check out the seats or carburettors
stashed roof high in one of the old “freddie” buses in the yard.
I
asked the owner if there were any more yards worth visiting on my way down
South, he warned me that if I went out into the wilds of Tennessee I needed to
be wary of any junkyard flying “The rebel flag” or I may never be seen again –
scaremongering or wise advice? Luckily I never found out because after another
500 miles of driving I have had enough and after a quick check of the map I see
that Deals Gap is just 40 miles away, it’s getting late and rather than run up
the mountain I decide to pitch camp by the lower reservoir, it was interesting
to say the least as fishing boats were still trolling by at midnight. As the sun
came up to yet another beautiful day I ventured into the warm lake for an early
morning swim – FANTASTIC stuff, this was almost turning out to be a holiday
rather than work J
Another day
and with the “wireless” access at McDonalds I managed to relist the Honda on
Ebay in the hope that someone would buy it on the way down South or at worst on
the way back up North., I went out for a beer and got back at midnight, checked
the Honda sale and it wasn’t there, I assumed it had sold with the buy it now
option but when I checked it wasn’t there either, I checked my messages and Ebay
had assumed it was a scam listing and frozen my account (it was originally
listed from England and was now being re-listed from the U.S.A.), by 3.30am I
had managed to get through to live help at Ebay and they said they needed to
call me on the number that I had registered with them – problem, it was an
English landline number and I was now in the U.S. they then froze my Ebay
account until they could call me back in England (which wasn’t going to be for a
couple of weeks). I head on down South and
weds
night was yet another riverside campsite, it turned out to be an “alcohol free”
campground (Still in Tennessee) which was a novelty, I felt like a teenager as I
looked both ways and poured my wine into a coke can! But the campground was
also a “tubing” start point where you could rent a rubber tube, float down river
for 3 miles and then get ferried by minibus back up to the start, if time had
allowed I would have had a go – apparently you are never too old for it as these
pensioners were proving.
I finally
arrive down in Florida and make my way down to Ed’s house where I again meet up
with Tony Nicosia, no riding today but I get Tony to sign a T Shirt for Nipper.
I leave my
little Honda with Ed Zunz in the hope that he can sell it, I buy Ed’s GT750 off
him and after collecting another couple of bikes that I had bought I am almost
full . . . . when I hear of a guy in Ohio that has a few triples for sale. So
it’s Monday, and I am stuck with more bikes to collect and no trailer big
enough, I rent a larger U Haul trailer but when I check in the back there are no
tie down hooks! After a little bit of thought it worked out that I would be as
well to buy a good used trailer and then when I had used it to get back North I
could re-sell it, the dilemma with a used trailer is that they get little or no
maintenance, I found several but they all looked shabby, after checking the
local small ads I found a 18 foot car trailer, it was virtually new so the tyres
and bearings would be good and I could have a hassle free 1700 mile trip up
North, I struck a deal and was confident that I could get my money back out of
it when had I finally finished with it. The only downside with trailers in the
U.S. is that many have electric brakes and my truck was not fitted with the
adapter required, I was o.k. to tow the trailer unladen as it only weighed 1300
pounds. When I put a couple of bikes on it this may turn out to be a different
story.
So, I hit
the road North with just 3 bikes on the trailer and only 2 more in the pipeline,
this trip was not being too fruitfull so far. “Westriverex” (Ric) of Ebay frame
had been in touch and had recently had an influx of around 80 triples bringing
his inventory to somewhere near the 120 mark – the only drawback for me is that
Ric tends to draw top money on Ebay for his bikes so it’s unlikely that I could
prise any bikes off him at a bargain price. Coupled with the fact that it would
be a 350 mile detour it seemed unlikely that we would be meeting up.
I head on up
through Georgia and into Tennessee where I collect Two H2 frames that I had to
leave behind on last years trip. The owner gave me a friends phone number who
use to be into triples, I gave him a call and headed over to meet him. Tom was a
colourful character who Had been into triples for many years, he was now down to
his last Two, a tidy H1a and an old beater of a H1a that had stood outside for a
couple of years, whilst in the garden Tom picked a fresh fig of a tree and I
chomped on my first ever fresh fig – unusual and not at all bad! So, we struck a
deal on the H1 and freed off the stuck brakes and loaded it up on the trailer
(this was destined to be the bike that Classic Mechanics restored and gave
away). A friend in Illinois offered me a S2a so I could stop by on my way up to
Chicago where I had bought a Z650 off Ebay. Things were picking up but were far
from looking rosy.
As I head on
through Kentucky I hear of a guy with three basket case H2’s for sale in East
Ohio, I arrange to call by and my 1700 mile trip has just turned into a 2100
mile trip! So, it’s up through Kentucky and into Ohio stopping at various
junkyards along the way but all to no avail. I finally arrive early afternoon at
Herbs house in a lovely quiet and scenic part of Ohio, as always when you have
plenty of land and covered storage the place was full of dozens of go carts,
bikes and lawn mowers (when you have 10 acres to mow you get through a few over
the years. I struck a deal and not only did I drive off with the Triples but a
few other bikes as well!
J
I
Stayed overnight in Ohio and headed for Ric Seels the next day, He certainly had
some triples . . . But I now had neither the room or the money to but any off
him.
A day later
I am backing Traverse City unloading the bikes and trying to work out how to get
across Lake Michigan the fastest to collect the last bike – the KZ650, I was
relying on the ferry but when I tried to book it it was fully booked up! And
with time rapidly running out I ended up sorting out a last minute 800 mile
drive to Chicago to fetch the Z650. As this is a trip on a budget I again plump
for a campground, there seems to be a small one a few miles off 131 that will do
the job, after a few miles driving through farmland and woods I arrive at this
isolated location to find it absolutely heaving and that I was issued with the
last plot available! The campground had basic facilities and I suppose the big
attraction is the large lake that people come to enjoy. I am on the road
relatively early and hit the Chicago city limits around 11am, the Traffic is
flowing surprisingly well with very little in the way of hold ups and
bottlenecks – It’s Sunday morning and the bike riders are our in force, they
tend to ride in bunches of either sportsbikes or Harleys, the riding style is
totally different, it’s pretty common to see a pack of sportsbikes coming down
the road with the riders wearing little in the way of protection and that is
very understandable when it’s 90+ degrees out, however I am constantly wincing
as almost every group of these riders has one or Two guys wheelying down the
middle of them for a serious length of time wearing just T Shirts and shorts!
I collect
the bike and head South around Lake Michigan briefly through Indiana and back
into Michigan Something that always annoys me in Michigan, and I don’t know if
this is for profit or to encourage car useage mid week but petrol prices go up
at the weekend, at this moment petrol is around $3.05 during the week and around
$3.18 at the weekend and in Chicago it is a hefty $3.45 a gallon! One thing that
I do know though is that I would like to go back 12 Months and be paying $1.89 a
gallon – or even go back 7 years and be paying just 0.99c a gallon! (£0.46p)
A couple of
the bikes I bought don’t have titles, so the only option is to spend a day
stripping the H1, S2 & H2c down to ship them as spares. The container is ordered
and duly arrives on my birthday – as always we have 2 “free” hours to load the
container and it is VERY hard work.
and as I
wouldn’t like to find a container full of damaged bikes I always put the
responsibility of strapping the bikes down on myself, my pal Gary is the brute
force that humps the bikes sideways and I do the contortionists act of trying to
fit a strap to each corner and hold them in place, I am often confident that
even if the container is dropped most of the bikes would stay upright, but you
HAVE to use good quality straps and not the “Four for a Fiver” type made in
China! This container was almost a record, it was loaded in 2hrs & 10 mins and I
finally perfected the art by getting someone to take the driver to Burger King
for lunch as the 2 hour deadline approached - when he returned the container
was loaded and ready to roll
J
We sat down
to a well deserved beer and food cooked by Garys wife - - THANKS BARB!
Events have
taught me that rarely does everything go smoothly with shipping a container, I
had allowed myself 4 extra days in case anything went wrong, as it happens
nothing did (shock horror!) and I have a weekend free to visit “The Buckley
Steam and Small Engine Show” . . . Buckley is small town America at it’s best
– Nothing ever happens there (apart from the Buckley Twins) and The engine show
- a huge park who’s only use is the 5 day engine show, As a teenager I was
fascinated by steam and engineering so a visit to the show was fascinating for
me, I am use to old English industrial stuff – but American Industry in this
neck of the woods was largely revolving around farming, there are hundreds of
tractors and equipment from the late 1800’s and the turn of the century, if the
weather hadn’t been so poor I would have spent the whole day there.
A
wonderful break from motorcycles and just great to see people so passionate
about other stuff, small “fire every 30 seconds” engines, to the hand cranked
corn shredders - and the display of the “ultimate in John Deers” was impressive
as well!
Another
interesting trip comes to an end . . .
Keep One
Wheel Down . . . .. Rick
