The owner of The Los Angeles Times is firing so many of his hacks that all the other hacks at “major news entities” are freaking out about it and WRITING about it. While they can! HAHAHAHAHAHA

This is so fucking newsworthy that even Congress is freaking out! At least Adam Schiff is. And he’s apparently doing Shitshow Harris’s job. He’s second in command at the White house and he is looking to become a senator so if Biden wins the election and Schiff becomes a senator….he’ll basically be President of the United (more or less) States.

For the moment however somebody has to be vice president, Kamala doesn’t know what the fuck anything is or does. And Vice President Schiff is NOT happy about the owner of a newspaper running his own newspaper. Because if you’re a newspaper owner and you are firing your journalists that can only mean that you are going to become threat to our sacred democracy that is run by Communist writers at “news” conglomerates.

The Los Angeles times is considered in the shitworld of news-journalism the distant second – but still second – to the lofty and godlike entity called the New York Times which is the ultimate job site for the failed novelists of news-journalism to end up at in order to be called gods of the written word aimed at enlightening mankind, and, or, their stupid readers as they probably haughtily call their readers. Assuming they have any.

The degree of internal bleeding at Kim Chee’s powerhouse of emptyness is 30 to 40 million dollars a year. What was going through his head when he bought the rag at a time when the “menace of social media and independent observers” not journalist, college-graduate reporters, came into existence overnight, each with his own expertise and style and communication skills focused on specialization aimed at people who were actually interested in things other than political crap, and who in fact routinely mock political crap…..is anybody’s guess. He clearly didn’t see this coming. He was likely in the med lab. He is Chinese after all. Those inscrutable rascals DO seem to like tinkering with little tiny life forms inside test tubes and wriggling across petri dishes. And he thinks that some “next generation” is going to even be aware that “news journalism” (political-agenda propagandering) exists? He needs to stick to creating whatever it is he creates in his medical labs and let the UN Health Advisors run the world, not news hacks.

Now the reason the printed-news empires are declaring the LA Times disintegration as something that must be stopped and that the LA Times must remain in existence even – probably – via eternal financing via government printing presses if necessary – is because if the LA Times actually disappears…..then this is a trend that will spread. Kinda like a pandemic. Only a real one this time. One that will actually keep us safe. From hacks.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/22/business/media/los-angeles-times-tensions-cuts.html

The “news” and government are close, symbiotic parasites, which I explain in lengthy detail in my unpublished government-journalism translation dictionary which at the moment only exists on my laptop because what am I, Random House Publishers? And because they – news hacks and bureaucrats in office – rely on each other for continued existence you SOON will be being barraged by urgent panic-button hysteria from the likes of David Muir and Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow and whatever The View is that the the loss of “the news” is a national health emergency requiring the citizenry to pay higher taxes, assuming there’s still some altitude available up there where taxes already are…..to keep “the press” as a “viable safeguard against the enemies of democracy.” That’s what’s coming: you being forced to pay for news agencies you are not interested in. HAHA, thanks to Ling Ting Tao, or whatever the fuck his name is.

 

The Five Ball “H3LLRAISER” invitational was a show that was put together in a rush due to crazy circumstances.

My friend’s father owns a warehouse In Boyle Heights that’s in the middle of being re-leased and currently vacant. He told me I had a month to pull something off before… We reached out to Carrie from Choppers Mag and started the uphill battle of planning everything.

Cary Brobeck from Choppers Magazine backed me 100 percent of the way and we pooled our resources to make the H3LLRAISER BIKE SHOW as cool and fun as possible within our budget (pretty much 5k) and limited time–three weeks.

“Yeah,” Cary said, “it was way bigger than we anticipated. Frankie did such a good job.”

We invited 20 builders, 20 artist, 20 photographers, 4 bands and 17 venders. It was all love and friends who helped pull it together and everyone had a good time. No drama. No bullshit.

We were expecting 300 people, maybe 500 max. I think about 1000 came and went through out the galvanized tin doors. The Chopper Gods were on our side that day and everyone came to pay homage to the Great Keith “Bandit” Ball and Five Ball Racing leathers.

“Frankie had a good turn out,” Zack, a Long Beach rider said. “I got there early and stayed a couple of hours. It was a black jeans, purple-haired crowd.”

From the overall consensus, we put on the coolest show in Los Angeles this year and people are already asking about the next one. The melting pot of Southern California sub culture was all in one spot and the energy was undeniable. If you didn’t know about the Ball Brigade before Sunday, you sure do now.

–Frank Ball Jr.

 

This post raised quite a few questions from quite a few folks, and so I reached out to the Thomas Paine of the Salt Flats, Keith ‘Bandit’ Ball himself, to help me try to break this all down for you guys.

I sent the bastard Bandit a list of questions that I have seen people asking on social media and compiled them here for you all. Before we get to his interview, let me break down a few things he says.

You will see him mention ESG. This stands for Environmental, Social and Governance and is a type of credit score for businesses. This is being used by the EPA to enforce the green agenda on businesses… if you don’t comply with their forced agenda, you will get a bad ESG score that can affect business loans and stuff. ESG compliance is best personified in lay-terms by looking at Bud Light cans, Disney remakes, paper straws, cow farts, and EV vehicles.. the whole rainbow of the ‘go woke or go broke’ agenda.

We already know the heavily regulated Harley-Davidson has boarded that long green train rolling over American Industry with their EV Livewire… and now Drag Specialties is drinking the green Kool-Aid as well. This is important because, if dealers speak out against this program, they could risk losing their Drag Specialties business. Drag Specialties is now massively important to the aftermarket… and this game plan will be forced on other aftermarket manufacturers and distributors as well.

The Drag Specialties waiver is just the beginning of some serious overreach by the emissions control crowd… and if they have their way, when we roar through tunnels and under bridges, it will soon sound like a bumblebee in a Mason jar.

ESG means using Environmental, Social and Governance factors to assess the sustainability of companies and countries. These three factors are seen by liberals and tree huggers as embodying the three things they consider to be the major challenges facing corporations and wider society, now encompassing climate change, human rights and adherence to laws. Keep in mind, no-one voted for this shit.

An example of H-D babying their ESG score is the Live Wire Program.

So… without further ado, let’s get to that interview with the legendary Keith Ball, comprised of your questions and mine.

What does the Drag Specialties waiver waive?

It’s basically testimony that could be used in a court of law. Whoever fills it out and signs it is testifying that said performance product is not being used on the streets but only on the race track.

Who created the waiver?

Drag Specialties the largest distributor of aftermarket parts in our industry. They were no-doubt bullied by the EPA and or the ESG government agencies.

What do they hope to accomplish?

This is all about being doomed via Climate Change which does not even exist. CO2 is not a pollutant and more CO2 means a healthier planet, the opposite of the anti-Fossil Fuel, anti-human movement. The control-freak movement is simple. “We are doomed, so we must do everything possible to reverse everything over the last century that improved our lives” is their battlecry.

Who will enforce it?

EPA and any other government agency they can recruit, like CARB in California (the California Air Resources Board).

What is the punishment for violating it?

Extremely stiff fines. I haven’t seen where they will actually confiscate motorcycles, but that will be coming sooner or later.

What parts and bikes does it affect?

It will affect all bikes capable of being modified in a performance manner. The parts affected are the ones that are pertinent to emissions, like pipes and air cleaners and engine components.

Can onboard computers and GPS be used as enforcement?

This is a good question. No doubt any onboard computer system capable of monitoring the performance or omissions can detect changes.

Does it pertain to certain year models or engine sizes?

No. It’s all of them.

Will it affect my insurance?

Not at this point. Although, down the road fines may be recorded on your record. Then they will surely impact insurance pricing.

Is it state or national?

It has recently gone national. Before it was restricted to California.

Are there any similar current laws in effect?

It might depend on your state.

Are they doing this to cars too?

Absolutely.

Is it similar to the mandated governors on automobiles proposal in California?

Yes and no. It’s just another effort. Don’t say governors out loud…

Can they use the computers in my engine to track the parts added to my bike?

In some cases, with later model bikes, absolutely. Computers will become an element of monitoring and evidence.

Can they use GPS to force me to comply to the waiver?

In a sense yes. If you can be tracked riding a performance enhanced motorcycle on the highway, you have invalidated the waiver.

Can they take my bike or disable it from running if I violate the waiver?

Currently, I believe we are facing stiff fines only. Think about it…. If a government agency comes to your door to check your motorcycle, what will happen? Say you have installed a performance cam, ignition system, air cleaner and exhaust system. The fine could be $500 per item. They might require you to return it to stock configuration and prove you did.

What do we do to stop it?

Start by joining the MRF or the IMA, which is focused on independent shops and bike builders. And maybe join the CO2 Coalition and learn the truth.

Will protests or writing our legislative bodies help?

Yes. We must do anything and everything. In a sense, Drag’s problem might spur the motorcycle industry, the motorcycle rights movement and the individual riders to step up in a big way.

I have one last question. Does the waiver pass the buck down to the repair shop, or the rider?

That’s what it’s designed to do, pass the buck away from Drag Specialties to the dealer and ultimately to the customer.

Where do I find the Motorcycle Riders Foundation and join this fight?

Since the mid ‘90s when we threw our helmets in the corners, our lifestyle has lived a pretty lackadaisical sense of freedom. That lifestyle is now being smothered by Green New regulations. And y’all better be paying attention. It’s time for us to rise up and work with our MROS and the MRF to unify once again… because whether you like it or not, we are now the third monkey on the ark and it’s already starting to rain.

-Amy Irene White

Additional info sent by Chris Callen, Cycle Source Magazine

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

SALES OF RACE ONLY PARTS
The federal Environmental Protection Agency’s policies related to tampering and defeat devices are publicly available at the following sites:

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-12/documents/ epatamperingpolicy-enforcementpolicyonvehicleandenginetampering.pdf

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-12/documents/ tamperinganddefeatdevices-enfalert.pdf

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-01/ documents/caatitleiivehicleenginepenaltypolicy011821.pdf

The EPA has taken civil and criminal enforcement action against companies and individuals for violations of the Clean Air Act’s tampering and defeat device prohibitions. By ordering “Race Only” parts from LeMans Corporation, d/b/a Parts Unlimited® and Drag Specialties® (“LeMans”), you, as the selling retailer, expressly acknowledge and assume all the responsibility for ensuring and documenting information to verify that the sale or installation of every “Race Only” part is for competition racing vehicle use only.

Require that the buyer of the part(s) sign an acknowledgement that the part is for “Race Use Only.” The acknowledgement would contain enough information (i.e., invoice number, purchase date, purchaser name, part number, etc.) to be able to track the part to its ultimate installation.

The detailed owner or operator information and vehicle VIN are recorded.

The vehicle is being used in only closed course competition events like King of the Baggers®, BRL Bagger Racing League®, SUPER HOOLIGAN®, AMA FLAT TRACK®, or one of the hundreds of similar competition racing use only events throughout the US (road race, flat track, drag racing and land speed).

This notice is a material condition of LeMans’ willingness to sell the product to you. By accepting the terms:

You will provide LeMans with copies of the documentation that shows evidence of the use of “Race Only” parts purchased from LeMans upon request; and

You consent to the disclosure of your identity to any governmental entity responsible for regulating emissions and/or enforcing emissions laws, if requested.

NOISE REGULATIONS

A number of jurisdictions/states have exhaust noise laws. Exhaust products advertised might not be legal for sale or use on highway vehicles in such jurisdictions/states. Check applicable laws and regulations.

Editor’s Notes: First, this is one of the most spectacular articles refuting Climate Doomsday I’ve read in 2023. We are living in a time of extreme proliferation of content. Most folks can’t read a couple of paragraphs on Facebook without moving on to something else. We need info direct and to the point. Daniel Nebert succeeded. We picked it up from the CO2 Coalition website, with their permission.

Enjoy,

–Bandit

For the past 35 years, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned us that emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, predominantly carbon dioxide (CO2), are causing dangerous global warming. This myth is blindly accepted — even by many of my science colleagues who know virtually nothing about climate. As a scientist, my purpose here is to help expose this fairy tale.

The global warming story is not a benign fantasy. It is seriously damaging Western economies. In January 2021, the White House ridiculously declared that “climate change is the most serious existential threat to humanity.” From there, America went from energy independence back to energy dependence. Another consequence has been the appearance of numerous companies whose goal is to “sequester CO2” as well as “sequester carbon” from our atmosphere. However, this so-called “solution” is scientifically impossible. Life on Earth is based on carbon! CO2 is plant food! CO2 is a colorless, odorless gas! CO2 is not a pollutant!

Generations have been brainwashed for decades into believing this imaginary “climate crisis” from kindergarten through college and in mainstream media and social media. Indoctrinated young teachers feel comfortable teaching this misinformation to students. Dishonest climate scientists feel justified in spreading disinformation because they need governmental support for salaries and research.

The evidence contradicting the climate apocalypse is vast. Some comes from analysis of Greenland and Antarctica ice in which air trapped at various depths reveals CO2 levels of past climate. Proxy records from marine sediment, dust (from erosion, wind-blown deposition of sediments) and ice cores provide a record of past sea levels, ice volume, seawater temperature and global atmospheric temperatures.

From his seminal work while prisoner of war during WWI, Serbian mathematician Milutin Milankovitch explained how climate is influenced by variations in the Earth’s asymmetric orbit, axial tilt, and rotational wobble — each going through cycles lasting as long as 120,000 years.

It is widely recognized that Glacial Periods of about 95,000 years, interspersed with Interglacial Periods of approximately 25,000 years correspond with Milankovitch Cycles. Multiple incursions of glaciers occurred during the Pleistocene, an epoch lasting from about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago, when Earth’s last Glacial Period ended. Around 24,000 years ago, present-day Lake Erie was covered with ice a mile thick.

Within each Interglacial Period, there’ve been warming periods, or “Mini-Summers.” For example, within the current Holocene Interglacial, there have been warmer periods known as the Minoan (1500 – 1200 BC), Roman (250 BC – 400 AD) and Medieval (900 – 1300 AD). Our Modern Warming Period began with the waning of the Little Ice Age (1300-1850). Today’s Mini-Summer is colder so far than all previous Mini-Summers of the last 8,500 years.

How did CO2 get blamed for global warming? French physicist Joseph Fourier (1820s) proposed that energy from sunlight must be balanced by energy radiated back into space. Irish physicist John Tyndall (1850s) performed laboratory experiments on “greenhouse gases” (GHGs), including water vapor; he proposed that CO2 elicited an important effect on temperature. However, it’s impossible to do appropriate experiments — unless the roof of your laboratory is at least six miles high.

Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius (1896) proposed that “warming is proportional to the logarithm of CO2 concentration.” Columbia University geochemist Wallace Broecker (1975) and Columbia University Adjunct Professor James Hansen (1981) wrote oft-cited articles in Science magazine, both overstating the perils of CO2 causing dangerous global warming — without providing scientific proof.

Most of Earth’s energy comes from the sun. Absorption of sunlight causes molecules of objects or surfaces to vibrate faster, increasing their temperature; this energy is then re-radiated by land and oceans as longwave, infrared radiation (heat). Princeton University physicist Will Happer defines a GHG as that which absorbs negligible incoming sunlight but captures a substantial fraction of thermal radiation as it is re-radiated from Earth’s surface and atmospheric GHGs back into space.

The gases of nitrogen, oxygen and argon — comprising 78%, 21%, and 0.93%, respectively, of the atmosphere — show negligible absorption of thermal radiation and therefore are not GHGs. Important GHGs include water (average of 2%, with a range of 1% to 5%), CO2 (0.042%, or 420 parts per million (ppm) by volume), methane (0.00017%) and nitrous oxide (0.0000334%, or 334 parts per billion). Water vapor (clouds) has at least a hundred times greater warming effect on Earth’s temperature than all other GHGs combined.

As atmospheric CO2 increases, its GHG effect decreases: CO2’s warming effect is 1.5oC between zero and 20 ppm, 0.3oC between 20 and 40 ppm, and 0.15oC between 40 and 60 ppm. Every doubling of atmospheric CO2 from today’s levels decreases radiation back into space by a mere 1%. For most of the past 800,000 years, Earth’s atmospheric CO2 has ranged between about 180 ppm and 320 ppm; below 150 ppm, Earth’s plants could not exist and all life would be extinguished.

Today’s global atmospheric CO2 levels are ~420 ppm; even at these levels, plants are “partially CO2-starved.” In fact, standard procedures for commercial greenhouse growers include elevating CO2 to 800­-1200 ppm; this enhances growth and crop yield ~20-50%. As shown by satellite since 1978, increased atmospheric CO2 has helped “green” the Earth by more than 15 percent, substantially enhancing crop production.

If global atmospheric CO2 was ~280 ppm in 1750, and it’s ~420 ppm today, what’s the source of this 140-ppm increase? Scientists estimate that human-associated industrial emissions might have contributed 135 ppm — with “natural causes” accounting for the remaining 5 ppm.

In Earth’s history, the highest levels of atmospheric CO2 (6,000-9,000 ppm) occurred about 550-450 million years ago, which caused plant life to flourish. CO2 levels in older nuclear submarines routinely operated at 7000 ppm, whereas newer subs keep CO2 in the 2,000-5,000-ppm range. Meanwhile, ice-core data over the last 800,000 years show no correlation between global-warming or -cooling cycles and atmospheric CO2 levels.

CO2 in our lungs reach 40,000-50,000 ppm, which induces us to take our next breath. Each human exhales about 2.3 pounds of CO2 per day, which means Earth’s 8 billion people produce daily 18.4 billion pounds CO2. But humans represent only 1/40th of all CO2-excreting life on Earth. Multiplying 18.4 billion pounds by 40 equals 736 billion pounds of CO2 per day. This approximates the overall CO2 excreted by the total animal and fungal biomass on the planet.

Worldwide industrial CO2 emissions in 2022 were estimated to be 38.5 billion metric tons per year. If one metric ton is 2,200 pounds, then “total industrial emissions” amount to 84.7 trillion pounds per year, or 232 billion pounds of CO2 per day. This means that the entire animal and fungal biomass (736 billion pounds) puts out more than three times as much CO2 as all industrial emissions (232 billion pounds)!

Can any clear-thinking person comprehend the facts above and still create a company with idiotic plans to “sequester CO2” or “sequester carbon?” Scientifically, “net-zero” and “carbon footprint” are meaningless terms. There is no “climate crisis.”

If you try to find these facts on the web, good luck! Out of every 10 “hits” on any climate topic, you’ll be lucky to find one or two sites with truthful scientific data. The door of a nearby classroom displays a poster of Abraham Lincoln with the caption: “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.” It is advice that our 16th president surely would have offered — had he lived to see the rise of this global warming quasi-religion.

This commentary was first published at American Thinker on January 27, 2024.

Daniel W. Nebert is professor emeritus in Gene-Environment Interactions at the University of Cincinnati. He thanks Professor Will Happer (one of the CO2 Coalition directors) for valuable discussions.

A friend, the notorious Deadwood John, called recently about his 1960 Panhead roller project, sort of a basket case on wheels. The engine still remained in the frame and a glide front end was in place, but not much else.

He wrote to Ron the shop owner in Alaska and said, “What about the transmission?” Ron who ran this shop for 40 years was an old friend. Semi-retired he was willing to help with all aspects of the build, so he sent John a box of transmission parts.

John tried to hand it to his engine rebuilder who rightfully turned him down. I’ve been around 4-speed transmissions for 50 years and rebuilt one in 1971. Kinda fucked it up but made it right.

“I’ll give it a shot,” I said to John and went to work with a manual, a parts manual from the era, a Lowbrow, Frank Kaisler video and any other resource I could find. I worked with Frank for years at Easyriders and he was a Hamster until his passing a few years back. I also dug out every 4-speed transmission part I could find, which took serious sorting from all the 5-speed stuff.

So, if you’re in the mood to rebuild an early, greasy 4-speed transmission I’m going to share my notes and suggestions from the bros. I will also share product warnings, tools, etc.

Watching Frank’s video with the Lowbrow crew covers the entire process, but I find videos cumbersome. I want to turn the page and see what I need. Can’t do that with videos without getting grease all over the screen.

Still, if you watched the entire video before you started the process, you would know what you’re up against and what you need.

My notes here will help with the sloppy effort and inform you of the blunders I encountered.

First, I inspected all the shit in the box. Much of it was junk and needed to be replaced. I soaked the trans case and the partially completed kicker cover. I studied all the threaded holes and the stud threads.

Ron sent a case which was approximately a 1965 electric-start version with the wings cut off. The corner of the case was also damaged where the mounting stud rested. It had been welded and later in the game the stud came loose. I re-installed it with red Loctite. I also coated the inside of the case where you can see the studs, with Permatex to prevent leaking.

Otherwise, the case seemed fine, but then I noticed the counter-shaft steel sleeves were missing and we ordered some. Here’s a major point. There are good parts out there and there are shit parts. You can go to a distributor and find good shit and shit, so it’s on you to determine what’s good quality, and stick with it. I won’t mention names.

We ordered a new set of counter-shaft mounting sleeves, and I heated the case using a portable room heater. You can use an oven, which might stink up the house. I coated the sleeves with never-cease and found some appropriate punches to do the job, including one JIMS tool. In the process I annihilated my right thumb with my JIMS brass hammer, but after a few tender weeks survived. Regarding these sleeves be careful. One is specifically designed for the kicker side and one for the sprocket side.

Before I started final assembly. I heated the case and tapped them a few more times. Under ideal conditions you can feel when the sleeve bottoms.

With the sleeves in place, I studied the case for other missing elements. We didn’t have a drain plug or the fifth mounting stud. I checked the threads and took care of those from the tranny stash.

The next move included securing all the pieces for the main-shaft and John reached out to Ron, who sent us another box of goodies. The shaft he sent was over-heated and damaged. I had a shaft with a slight ding to some of the mounting threads, otherwise it was golden. I also had other shafts. They were longer, so I researched early 4-speed shafts. There are three or four leading from about 1962 to 1971. They started to get longer as soon as the first electric-start was introduced and a ring-gear added to the clutch basket.

1936-1965 Knuckle and Pan era. Kicker only: 11.750 inches

1965-1969 Pan to kidney Shovelhead with electric start: 12 inches

1970-1984 Cone motor Shovelhead to Evo with alternators and electric start: 12.5 inches

1985- Belt rear drive Evos: 13.750 inches

Some of Ron’s gears were dinged and I discovered I had some good replacements. My mainshaft could not be corrected, so I reached out to Lee Clemens, who operated Departure Bike Works for over 40 years. He scored me another mainshaft and started to coach me on the rebuild. Lee is also a Hamster. Neither of them were rich guys, but they were a part of the industry since the beginning.

 

Ron sent us used main bearings, but not the sleeve. We ordered one and Frank recommended ordering a new main bearing, since they are cheap. It came as a sealed bearing, which I question.

We also ordered a new set of thin, long roller bearings. There are 88 bearings in total and the batch came with extras. Here’s where the quality issue came into play. Just because one distributor sells the bastards for half the price of another, doesn’t mean you want them.

Out of all the 4th gear choices we had, we picked the best one, cleaned it, cleaned and checked the case race, checked the thrust washer that goes on the inside, greased the bearings and stuck 44 around the gear race.

Frank slipped the gear, bearings and thrust washer up from the inside of the case through the case race and added the sleeve and the massive left-handed nut to hold everything in place and then he moved on.

I watched another film about tranny rebuilds and they installed the fourth gear, the sleeve, the cork washer and the seal. They checked for a .003 to .013-inch end play, and then they started to install the other gears and main-shaft.

I watched both films a couple of times and moved along with Frank’s process. He slipped his 4th gear with the thrust washer and bearings stuck with grease right into place, bada bing.

I wasn’t so lucky. They wouldn’t go. I could get them started from the outside of the case, but not from the inside. I struggled with it a few times and then took three bearings out and was able to install it. I added the three back in from the outside, no sweat. Then I added the sleeve, a couple of Shovelhead intake manifold O-rings and the left-handed nut to hold everything in place as Frank did.

Installing the mainshaft is a puzzle. Just slip the shaft through from the kicker side. About 2/3s the way in, you will add the third gear, thrust washer, keeper snap-ring, which needs to be worked up over the shaft teeth carefully and then the shift dog. The shift dog will have “High” stamped on one side. It goes towards the 4-speed gear. The dog will also help in pushing the snap ring into place evenly once you get it started.

When I first started this process, I had a snap-ring, but once in place, it seemed loose so we ordered a new one. I’m glad, but the new one was a chore to slide up over the teeth on the shaft and it’s critical not to stretch it. I joke that being a good mechanic is similar to being a surgeon. Sure, we’re grubby and covered in grease, but the operations are just as critical and delicate as surgery. I think sharp mechanics deserve way more respect.

With the snap-ring in place, you want to spin the shaft and with a punch, tap the snap-ring to insure it’s properly seated. Oh, and make sure you grease all the pieces as they slip together. I used assembly lube.

The shaft slipped into place. This is the stage where we needed a main-shaft bearing housing. We had a new one, but it was larger, most likely for a 5-speed. We ordered another one quick. We also considered Frank’s recommendation and purchased a new main-shaft sealed bearing. Ron sent a retaining plate. But it was dinged. I had another one in my stash.

Between Ron and I, we had enough pieces to finish off the main-shaft assembly after the ordered pieces arrived. Throughout this process, I checked every pressed in bushing for fitment.

I shifted to the countershaft and started to research all the parts. Once all the parts were located and sourced, some from Ron and some from my stash, we ordered a set of various sized thrust washers. I sensed an issue. That’s why I heated the case and punched the sleeves again using the JIMS tool.

I took care with checking this assembly several times without the new bearings in place, 22 in each end of the countershaft gear. Once I had all the pieces, I took it apart and added the grease to help the roller bearings remain in place during assembly.

This was an early case, but not super early, still it didn’t hold an electric start countershaft, or the oil cap on the end. All the necessary pieces came in the James gaskets seal kit. So, with the countershaft assembled with the roller bearings, lock rings, thrust washers, second gear and low gear in place with bushings, the entire assembly slipped into place, but there didn’t seem to be room for even the smallest thrust washer. With the additional sleeve taping I was able to install a small thrust washer and check for end-play .008 to .012 inch.

When I slipped the countershaft into place, I had to take notice of the slotted end on the kicker side. It had to line up with the thick steel washer shape.

Throughout the video Frank struggled with the transmission on a bench. Part of his problem included filming and access to what he did. I didn’t have that issue, so I took a long chunk of angle Iron, drilled a couple of holes and bada-bing, I had a transmission rebuild tool. It was long enough to allow several mounting positions in a vice.

With the shafts in place, I moved onto the mainshaft retaining plate. It’s a trick like a puzzle to fit with an oil guide tin piece. I cleaned and wire brushed the retaining screws. The plate goes into place against the bearing housing. I used blue Loctite and tightened the screws several times carefully. Then I installed the large coil spring and the mainshaft kicker gears.

There’s a ball bearing in one gear. I made sure it was free. Most of the shafts are held in place with flat washers with tabs to bend up to prevent the nuts from loosening. I bent the tabs slightly to make picking a tab and punching it into place easier. I torqued all the nuts before bending the shafts.

I found a clean kicker shaft and I had a good kicker gear with the plate riveted to it. Keep in mind that over the years there were different kick gear ratios. Make sure you have the right shit. You’ll know as soon as you try to install the kicker cover.

I checked the kicker shaft through the kicker cover for fitment. Ron sent a new set of brass bushings, but I only replaced the O-ring seal in the center. Keep in mind the large generally chromed return spring on the outside of the kicker cover must be positioned properly. Some of the shafts come with one notch for the kicker arm bolt. This shaft had four notches. At first, I thought I was golden, but not-so Kemosabe.

With everything in place, the spring wound way too tight. I needed to take it apart and shift the gear on the shaft 90 degrees.

Next, I installed the shifter forks after hunting down the dinky shaft retaining screw. The forks only go into the shift dogs one way, when shift drum pins and sleeves face the same direction toward the front of the motorcycle. With everything in place, I dropped the ratchet top, which was in Neutral into place and carefully removed it, several times. The shift forks should be in the center between gears.

I removed the shaft and carefully straightened the tabs and shifted the shims until both shift forks were close to center. Lee Clemens said, “It’s okay to set the tranny up so that the forks lean one thin shim to 2nd and 4th gears.”

With the shift forks adjusted and the kicker cover in place, I could lock the shafts from moving with both shift folks in gear. I went digging for the JIMS tool to replace the mainshaft seal. I couldn’t find it and called Kit Maira a longtime Easyriders staff member. At one time he borrowed some of my JIMS tools, and I couldn’t find the puller/installer.

I looked in my special tools drawer, but not the puller drawer. There it was. Here’s the issue. While trying to find the proper tool I attempted to install the mainshaft seal with another JIMS tool and it worked, but I looked up from my successful operation and discovered I had not installed the cork under it.

At the time, I was consulting with Lee Clemens and he recommended I Permatex the area before installing the cork and then the seal. In order to remove the seal, I had to knock holes in it and use sheet metal screws to pull it out. Frank also recommended wiping the outside of the seal with Permatex to prevent leaking around the seal.

I found the JIMS tool, installed the screws, pulled the old seal, Permatexed the inside of the area around the sleeve, installed the cork, which was also coated with Permatex and used the JIMS tool to install the seal after I added a coat of Permatex coating the outside.

That left the ratchet top. I didn’t completely disassemble it. I took out the spring-loaded shifter paul, checked it, regreased it and replaced it. I took the cover off the ratchet case and inspected the springs, which are generally the issue with shifting. If a spring breaks, shifting goes to hell. I checked the alignment and greased everything.

I noticed a stud bolted into the ratchet top and wondered WTF? It must have been a neutral indicator for cop bikes at one time or electric-start bikes. I tried like hell to find another alternative but could not find a matching fine thread, short bolt.

I cleaned the gasket surface, found a set of fasteners. Note, that one is a vent hole. Make sure it aligns with a threaded hole through the case to the interior for proper venting.

I installed a greased gasket and the ratchet top. It shifted like a dream. I dug around for a kicker arm and found one offset and one straight, John went for the offset one, but we might reconsider. Also, I noticed the sleeve for the clutch arm, which was cast into the case was loose.

I tested green Loctite in this situation. I was told green was for studs and permanent stuff. John researched and discovered green is for situations when you can’t reach the threads. You can drip this around the opening and It will seep into the threads tighten and seal. Ya got me.

During final assembly I studied his clutch actuating system. This was a mousetrap bike with the clutch rod that extends past the trans. I knew we would incorporate and clutch eliminator bracket, which would eliminate the use of at mousetrap. We needed a shorter clutch rod and it had to be short for clearance under the oil tank. I had one.

One final note, the chain sprocket. John wanted to go with a stock 22-tooth configuration. I had a bunch of them. Some were offset for wider tires. Some were flat and seemed to rub against the case and some were just slightly dished on the inside to clear the case but run the sprocket tight to the transmission. I had a 24-tooth and discovered I also had and 22.

The trans was rebuilt and complete when I returned it to John’s Deadwood Garage. Bada-bing

–Bandit

Sources:

JIMS Machine

Ron Harvey’s Classic Motorcycles
Alaska

Lowbrow

5-Ball Racing

Baker

Now, if you’re a commie hippie douchey-douched douchery of doucheness type you might think that the American CEO is public enemy number 1. Not number 13. But no. He’s number 13. He’s preceded by some real experts in fuckery: the IRS, the WHO, the CDC, the FBI, the CIA, the BLM, the ATF, the DMV, the WEF, the DEI. the EPA and the ESG.

You might also probly think than an American CEO – or any CEO for that matter – if he has risen up the ranks to the level of being the boss of a multi billion dollar a year operation…..you might think that he might ON SOME LEVEL actually know what the fuck he’s doing. Well, if you think helping the IRS and the WHO and the CDC and the FBI and the CIA and the BLM and the ATF and the DMV and the WEF and the DEI and the EPA and the ESG destroy what’s left of America is “knowing what the fuck you’re doing,” then, yeah, they know what the fuck they’re doing.

Now, some alert person might ask “Why are CEO’s even involved with all that other crap anyway? They can actually DO things.” Actually, no. No they can’t actually do things. CEO’S are the reason all the other Letter Triads in that list exist: CEO’s could command all those bureaucrats out of existence tomorrow. There’s a hell of a lot more CEO’s than there are bureaucrats. With a lot more potential clout. But they’re too afraid. They’re so doucheried up the ass by now they make Adam Schiff look like Brock Lesnar. Now, you might say “What are you, a Commie Fuck? CEO’s are the backbone of American Free Enterprise! You must be a Commie Fuck!!”

No. I am not a Commie Fuck. I was born in Boston, the cradle of Liberty. I am a diehard pro-colonialist “to the victor go the spoils” war monger. Jesus the Jew is my deity. John Wayne is my guidance counsellor. Paris Hilton is my notion of the perfect woman. I think illegals and “the homeless” should be marooned on the Channel Islands in a Lord of the Flies scenario. And I think Israel and the United States both need to learn lessons from Alexander the Great on how to fight wars, which if Israel and the United States are listening right now here’s a hint: you fight wars in order to conquer. Not just to get your own guys killed for no reason or to rescue some asshole nation who likely hates us.

Now then: American CEO’s are not paragons of United States Might and Industrial Supremacy. They’re amateur politicians ordered-around like little bitches by PROFESSIONAL politicians and whose allegiances are to the gambling halls of the various global stock exchanges and who give as much a fuck about their own products and the satisfaction of their customers ABOUT as much as I give a fuck about the fate of the Kaaba and the Dome of the Rock: pending the day America decides the World Trade Center buildings need to be avenged. Which day is apparently Neverday.

Returning now to the imbecility of CEO’s, a CEO is not an owner. Unlike what you have been taught to call “the robber barrons.” Who were owners. Not robber barrons – as the press and the government and your school books as a child in mandatory de-education centers in the USA refer to the industrial tycoons who had a flair for making and selling products and services – like, ya know, cars, trains, planes, cameras, etc. that made lives easier. As opposed to the makers and sellers of bullshit who are called “American Office Holders” who are dedicated to fucking with anyone doing anything and outlawing whatever it is they’re doing as “being a threat to the public health and safety.”

The “robber barrons,” as our Marxist government and Marxist “news” shitfucks call them, were actually what is called OWNERS. Not fucking CEO’s. “Ownership” is very important to God, and USED to be important to Americans before the “everything is everything” hippie intellectual wasteland became the governing philosophy of America.

The Ten Commandments, with the possible exception of the one about lying, are basically a list of property rights. You don’t hear this preached in school or in church because teachers and preachers are all either fucking stupid or are so busy having their cocks sucked and their twats licked by demons from hell that they just don’t have time for learning anything that happens outside their scrotums and slits.

A CEO is a tip-toeing smiling, basically show-dog ass sniffer who’s MAIN function is to never say anything politically incorrect or in other words, never say anything that is remotely connected to actual physical reality anywhere in this galaxy. He can rise up through the company ranks OR he can be hired from the fucking moon. He can be appointed from off the streets. Just like the Pope can.

Only “corporations” have CEO’s and a corporation is a mini government created by the ruling government, that, like the ruling government, becomes in essence a mystical entity. It becomes a “person” but with no physical attributes, yet is regarded as an “entity.” Like an angel or a ghost. Just like the government is regarded as.

Corporations are LEGAL creations created by the lawyers in government – which is damn near everyone in office – in order to dilute the capitalistic production-pool of its owner-operators – or in other words the people with the ambition to provide a product or a service who can actually DO something. Unlike anyone in government OR in a legally-created-out-of-smoke, office-post that the government obeys. This week it’s health advisors. Soon government-licensed “weather experts” will be running things into oblivion.

Having a private ANYTHING is now considered a health threat to society since we are all in this together. You don’t even have the right to be healthy anymore since the Covid con. You are a threat to the group of people who are not healthy: you might survive while they die. You are therefore immoral. You are a threat because of success at not being a threat. That’s what I said. That’s what’s now in play.

Since the American “robber barrons” were barreling-ahead of DC in making life better for everyone, the lawyers running the government, lawyers being very cunning, realized that if private American empires of productivity and increased standards of living weren’t reined-in that federal, state, country and city governments would become obsolete. Which would upend the entire course of human history.

No one wants to do that. No one wants to move fucking forward, all our sacred traditions of war and taxes and jail and mandatory service and mandatory obligations to neighbors we would just as soon kill as assist – would evaporate. Who would want to bring an end to that?

Since personal computing and wide-spread global communication between individuals is, on a small scale, reproducing the same effects among the populace as the robber barrons created – namely, things being more bitchin’…..this governmental panic is again on the rise and all the worthless shitheads ordering people they never met around and tossing them into jail and taking their stuff and their licenses and their cars and boats and guns are huffing and puffing that all this free exchange between normal people is mostly “false information.”

Trust me, the only false information is coming from every fucking mayor, governor, senator, congressman, assemblyman, councilman, cop, sheriff, marshal, park ranger, license-inspector, health advisor grotesquerie in existence. Not from us. We don’t have a MOTIVE for spreading false information. And government has no motive for spreading TRUE information.

Which brings us to CEO’s and global warming.

The CEO’s of America – not the business owners but the business douchebags with keys to the executive toilets because the underlings must never realize that the executives’ shit actually does stink – the CEO’s of America are in a race to 1: proclaim their dedication and devotion to the preposterous fables that the earth is a greenhouse, that methane from cows is the only methane source that is actually dangerous, that carbon – which is what we’re fucking made of – is a threat to human existence, that “the damage from capitalism and industry the past 200 years” is “locked-in atmospherically” – as they are now proclaiming – such that even with universal compliance with all the trillion climate edicts, even if that happened right now overnight…..it would take hundreds of years for the earth to “get back to normal.”

In other words, it’s already irreversible even with full cooperation and all of us living like Bangladesh beanpoles sitting in the dirt. You might think “then why even bother. Let’s just go balls-out pollution.” Yeah, well you think like that because you have a fucking brain. Climate Gurus don’t have brains. They have cocks up their asses.

Since CEO’s are agreeing to basically go out of business, as a last ditch effort to stay afloat a little longer, they are kissing government ass. This is not hard for a CEO to do because corporate management, as opposed to private ownership management, is all about kissing ass. Private ownership management is all about doing a fucking job so good the boss has no choice but to promote you since you are actually valuable.

Ceo’s are not only not valuable, they are SO not-valuable they are basically interchangeable. A CEO from Fukme Beer can move on over to being a CEO of Yormom’sawhore Bedding and Bathmats Corporation overnight with no disruption in either company as a result: the downslide will continue both places uninterrupted.

Since kissing ass is all CEO’s actually DO, the pressure from the climate con via the government is causing the small and ineffective corporate brains which only understand kissing ass and lying about other employees….this pressure is causing CEO’s to come to the moronic conclusion that maybe government will allow them to exist a little longer if they become HOLY!!!! Government is all about holiness, after all.

Having a “proper moral compass” is almost like a sacred runic mantra to bureaucrats. Bureaucrats are high priests of global humanity and non bureaucrats – who outnumber the bureaucrats basically 6.9999 billion to one – non bureaucrats are gentle Eloi who look to the sacred morally-compassed bureaucrats for truth and guidance and safety.

CEO’s, noticing this, being politically cunning but naive when dealing with actual politicians, have assumed that by touting their companies’ SANCTITY rather than their companies’ PRODUCTS this will buy them an extra year or two of whopping salaries before they are shut down forever as being a threat to the atmosphere, the public health and “the moral compass” of the citizenry and Gaia.

Hence you have car manufacturers saying their cars are built with love, not competence. Other car makers are going around giving Cute Little Consuelo guitar lessons and buying a new RV for Hammadi Dudi; drug makers of compounds with three-syllable names and a litany of possible if not likely fatal side effects are displaying people either happy beyond description taking these drugs despite these nightmare-level risks while living vivacious lives, judging from all the smiles and happy greetings and chowing-down ice cream.

OR, if it’s an anti-depressant with a thousand warnings, they are depicted living slow-motion, trance-like lives but still smiling with a kind of transcendent calmness, like the spirit of the Dali Lama has infused their entire being. You have stores posting banners inside declaring how much of a percentage of everything you buy will be given by the store to the maimed burn victims from meteorite strikes in Bangladesh and how a percentage of the profits from Fukmehighly Brand Asswipes will be devoted to providing “affordable housing” for crackheads….in your very own home. What? You don’t like that idea? You are so immoral!!!

In other words….CEO’s are useless assholes trying to win bureaucrats, not customers.

In an effort to prove this, here is an interview of the former marketing something or other for Bud Lite being interviewed by someone every bit as dim as the marketing director and not even close to the marketing director’s pay rate, and this upper level management CEO-in-training gives a very clear and concise picture for one unrelenting hour on the depth and degree possible for sheer blather calmative word-salad brain-obliviating emptyness that is actually possible within a corporate executive washroom member’s airhead head when the air in the head is filled with metallic skull-dust blowing at a hundred miles an hour against whatever stray braincells it may encounter on it’s way to exiting the ears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnsSoS8s6Ok&t=513sing

The average serial killer is more focused and coherent than this broad.

This imbecile….THAT SOMEONE HIRED AND PROMOTED!!….is trying to sell beers to queers. In fact if she had had that as a slogan instead of installing a wrongly-wired aberration of the terrestrial reproductive mandate for life on earth to try and sell sell product to actual men rather than to deranged crossdressers……she might still have a job.

She has NO idea of “make a product…..sell a product.” She doesn’t get that. What she DOES get is bunnies and “what is home” and women are special and that a cock-sporting pinwheel in a dress is a good way to sell beer to drunken men who boast about the foulness of their farts and like to kill handsome noble deer for fun and put their severed heads on the living room walls.

No: she thought Bud LIte meant light in the loafers. Or who the fuck even knows what she thought. Her CEO certainly had no clue. And he’s really the one with the problem. He ok’d all this shit. God only knows where she is now, but her boss? The Ceo? He’s right there firmly in place planning his new scapegoat. As for the product? Oh, well, who gives a shit about the product, we can always get more product. In fact, it’s still in the warehouse, exploding one can at a time. Walk in with your mouth open, sparky, have a drink.

Why are CEO’s all idiots? Because idiots are what the Feds – the creators of corporations – are rewarding with trips to the little girls’ bathrooms underneath the Capitol building, and with looking the other way regarding corporate violations of one or more of the ten trillion anti-corporation laws in exchange for a little more emphasis on the need for Climate Awareness in your ads and a little less emphasis on your product.

Shell Oil is actually running ads declaring their commitment to achieving a “fossil-fuel free” planet. Shell Oil is running ads saying oil is bad. Only a CEO would agree to this. An owner would blow the brains and butthole out of anyone who ordered him to run self-destructive ads. But then owners weren’t created by government lawyers. Ceo’s were.

CEO’s in interviews, the few CEO’s that give them, never talk about their product. They talk about their Quest For Universal Love. “Don’t hate us because we are trying to provide you with something to make your life better, why should YOUR life be better when other people cannot afford our product? No, rather let us not focus on crass materialism which Karl Marx has proclaimed immoral, let us focus instead on how virtuous I, as CEO of Shitstain Industries….am.”

You ever hear Elon Musk talk crap like that? You ever see him trying to get an interviewer to like him? No. He in fact goes out of his way to piss interviewers off because he doesn’t need their fucking approval: he’s selling product. Who care’s if it bursts into a fire even Superman couldn’t put out by flinging it into empty space. Let the buyer beware, it’s not as though its a fucking SECRET lithium batteries are unexploded bombs.

If his company was turned over to a CEO? Holy shit, Tesla factories would start producing party clothes for the starving children in Padook Pradash India and the Tesla name would become a Fashion & Designer brand on Project Runway.?
–J.J. Solari

endo

It’s been awhile, but I haven’t dawdled. I’ve been working hard on various projects. That guy in Deadwood, who was once 45 John bought a 1960 Panhead roller/basket case and I’ve been helping with the reconstruction. I rebuilt or built and trans from a case and a sketchy box of parts. With Fab Kevin we built a front disc brake. John rebuilt the rear star hub and I helped with fitment and the rear brake.

I now have my son’s ’58 Chevy Belair and drove it to Spearfish the other day to the third mechanic. I have a good feeling about this one. He has a slick operation and was recommended to me by the TNT crew. It looks like the Carb may need to be replaced and or overhauled. I walked through the snow carefully into a large Antique barn and found a Rochester GM carb, amazing. I may see major progress in the future.

I sent the seat pan several months ago to the famous leather tooling expert Howard Knight. Howard is a master and the seat arrived just as the paint was completed. But I had a few more leather straps I needed make and one day, while cruising through Sturgis with the bros, we stumbled into Sturgis Leather. We met the longtime owner, fabricator, patch sewing maniac, seamstress, leather shirt maker, and metal artists extraordinaire Ron Hall. He’s been around a minute, part owner of a couple of bars and a bike riding fool.

I took him my strap projects for the oil tank and battery and he performed his leather magic on the spot, making suggestions and hand fabricating each piece. Bada bing, I had a completed battery strap.

I’m concerned about the battery. It’s not quite 200 cranking amps, and I’m not sure it’s enough to turn over a new, tight, 93-inch S&S Knucklehead engine. I’m thinking about a back-up Shorai or Anti-gravity lithium battery. Lithium batteries are dangerous. If your lithium battery gets wet and or catches fire you’re fucked and so is your garage, be careful.

My plan would be to keep the battery stored away from my home. We’ll see about that down the road.

I received my frame back from Tim at flat earth, but I wanted some additional pinstriping. As you can see above with Atomic Bob’s concept drawing, we initially considered a cream tank and fender with orange graphics, but somewhere in the mix I shifted. Let me know what you think.

Tim from Flat Earth has a process for giving the pinstriping a patina effect, as if it was pinstriped a long time ago. With TNT Paint, Tim and Nikki we discussed making the cream flat and the orange glossy. That worked for awhile, then we decided to flat everything, which had a major quirk.

Here’s a bunch of shots from their stellar shop.

“Don’t touch the flat clear,” Tim said. “It will go shiny. Don’t get anything on the paint, it will turn glossy.”

I sorta freaked. It’s a motorcycle frame and everything is open. I’m touching shit constantly and I’m not going to wear plastic gloves throughout the process. I tried, but then the gloves get greasy…

I cleaned and prepped my shop for the final assembly, painted my lift and the top of a couple of rusting benches with Valspar rust preventive paint. Travis at A&J Welding supply recommended it, but he said they don’t make it anymore. This stuff is the shit. It’s tough, thick and glossy. It was even fun to apply. I mixed white with black to get the gray I wanted.

As soon as the bike paint arrived completed, I anxiously greased my Timken neck bearings and installed the springer onto the lift and the frame onto the neck stem.

With the frame on the front end but still bare sitting on a pad I wanted to install the engine. John came over to guide the left side as I lifted the heavy engine off the engine stand. Before it could go into the frame, I needed to sand the paint off the motormounts.

Irish Rich modified this frame and he helped me modify the XA springer front end I got from Matt at Carl’s, with fork stops built into the bearing cups.

We slid in the engine after I stumbled. I used the rear axle and a flat lift jack to jack up the bike, so I could block it, remove the jack and start to install the 5-speed trans in a 4-speed S&S case. The trans didn’t want to go so I filed and ground all the paint out of the 4-speed slots and the slot I made and welded for the 5th stud on the right. I even had to grind the rear tab on the trans case more for additional clearance.

I couldn’t run an old school 4-speed trans for a couple of reasons. It’s an alternator S&S engine and I wanted it to be electric start.

I faced the toughest aspect of this build at this moment, the driveline alignment. If you followed this build, we’ve made several adjustments because of the alternator engine and VL frame configuration. Fortunately, I ran a very narrow rear Black Bike wheel and tire. The sprotor rear brake was also an issue.

With the engine bolted in place, and the transmission setting in the frame with maybe ¾ inch of adjustment, I needed to grapple with the front, Tech Cycle, single-row chain. The chain fit with the transmission moved as forward as possible. I punched the master link in place after adding the O-rings and additional white grease. Paul Cox coached me on the rivet-styled O-ring chain.

I was careful not to crush the O-rings anymore than any of the other plates had. Then I looked for a punch to do the rivet job. I didn’t beat it to death, but just a couple of solid smacks at a time with a heavy ballpeen hammer. The punch can’t be too sharp or I wouldn’t splay the head but just drive against the center.

Paul Cox said he used a sharp flat punch to make cuts into the rivets across it at 90 degrees to give the head four slices. Then he punched the head and could see how the rivet split and splayed. Interesting suggestion.

At first, I was very concerned about setting the masterlink. What if I had to remove it to remove the chain. As it turned out I could remove the whole drive line by removing the nut on the engine sprocket, the left-handed nut on the transmission and pulling the entire system free. I had to do this a few times, machine a washer perfect alignment, etc. I will need to remove it once more to install a Paughco tin primary piece as a chain guard.

Then I shifted to the rear wheel. I’ve installed and re-installed this bastard 20-some times. Everything changed, but ultimately for the better.

Everything was a struggle with the Sprotor brake system, so I shifted to the same thinking as the front brake on John’s Panhead. I bored out the hefty brake bracket to 1 1/8 inch. Amazing, I had a drill bit that came super close, then some grinding and sanding finished the job. Now spacing became a more direct operation and the caliper could adjust itself to the rotor for more efficient operation, I hope.

On the other side I found one spacer that worked but I didn’t like the outside diameter to the frame. I went with a shorter spacer and a 1/8 thick washer on the frame side. Everything seemed happy until I tried to mount the sissybar.

Keep in mind, everything was fine in mock-up, but during final assembly shit shifted. Now the rotor mounting bolts hit the machined carriage bolt even after I machined the head down. I was forced to take the wheel off again to install this machined carriage bolt. The hardware store didn’t have the 1 ¾ 7/16 coarse bolt I wanted. I ended up with a 3-inch bolts. I had to machine the carriage aspect off, cut the bolts to size and die-cut additional threads.

Even with all these efforts, the 12-point rotor bolts still hit the head of the sissybar mounting bold. I considered my alternatives and thought about replacing the rotor bolts with domed Allens. I thought for sure the bolts were 3/8 coarse bolts and dug into my fastener bins. No problem. I had what I needed and exchanged them with the chromed 12-points. Nice, lots of clearance.

Just as I was about to shut the shop down for the whiskey night, I picked up one of the 12-pointers and discovered it was a 7/16 coarse bolt. Un-fucking real. I immediately loosened the 3/8 bolts and reached out to McMaster Carr for more bolts—WTF. The wheel is coming off again. Then it came off to mount the fender twice.

Then I tried to install a rear chain. It was fine, but two short and my half-link wouldn’t fit, why. I ordered another standard chain a D.I.D job. Nothing is standard anymore. You can buy a 530 chain for as low as 37 bucks, all the way to a $150 for a chromed O-ring chain. Beware, they make standard chains, heavy-duty chains, O-ring chains, heavy-duty O-ring chains. They keep getting wider.

I’m going to compare the chain I have with the new one when it arrives. As you know, I have a serious issue with the width of the chain and my transmission case because the sprocket is reversed.

Next, I moved the wheel back to the center of the travel because I couldn’t get the Tech Cycle starter in place. I did, and it slipped into place. Remember we went through several changes to the clutch housing, sprocket placement, ring gear location and the engine sprocket. We moved the engine sprocket out another ¼-inch and we moved the clutch sprocket in about a ½-inch. They were close, but it messed with the pinion shaft housing on the starter.

I thought about using my Smithy to machine a notch in it. I would have need to create a mounting plate to clamp the cone into the milling machine. I chose the old school way by using my new grinding wheels to do the job, then the Scotchbrite wheel to smooth it and ultimately my Eastman buffing wheel to polish the piece. I did this several times until I had about 1/6th of an inch clearance above the chain. I’m going to keep a close eye on this during the warm-up and break-in stage.

I started to install my controls. I have them a light coat of Rust-o-leum satin black paint, making sure some rust was still exposed. I dipped and painted the handles with flex seal for a rubber-like grip.

Today, master cylinder, pipes, petcock, oil tank, oil lines, sparkplug wires and gas lines. Hang on. Hopefully, the toughest installation elements are over.

Ride Free Forever,

Bandit

My grandson is building a classic Panhead and asked me about gas tanks. Here’s what he said, “I wanted to be period-correct for the ‘60s outlaw look.” Sounded like Dominic talking, his mom’s boyfriend who builds classic chops. He’s a celebrated builder at Born Free every year.

It’s a kick. There are builders out there like Micah McCloskey, Paul Wheeler and Dominic who are religious and specific about how they build choppers. They are precise and follow the classic code.

It’s sorta funny. The whole notion of outlaws and choppers thumbs their middle fingers at any rules. Build whatever you want and fuck anyone who doesn’t like it. There’s the code of the west in a tumbler of Jack Daniels on the edge of a bar fight over nothing.

SOURCES:

Atomic Dice

Clauser’s Machine Shop
Spearfish, SD

Dakota V-Twin
Spearfish, SD
www.dakotavtwin.com

JIMS Machine

McMaster Carr
www.mcmastercarr.com

Paughco

Shamrocks Customs
Sturgis, SD

S&S

TechCycle
www.techcycle.com

Terry Components
Check on J&P Cycles

Nash Motorcycles

Colony
www.colonymachine.com

Black Bike Wheels
www.blackbikewheels.com

Custom Chrome
www.customchrome.com

Barnett’s clutch and cable

Dennis Kirk

Flat Earth Paint
Spearfish, SD
605-645-7192

TNT Collision and Glass
Tim and Nikki
605-641-8602

 

Sturgis Leather
Sturgis, SD

Carl’s Motorcycles

This is my Bikernet report on getting an extended set of fork tubes for my current chopper project. For whatever reason I decided my new fork tubes have to be American made. Why? Maybe because I am still mad at the Chinese government over Covid 19. Maybe I’m upset because Fang Fang knows things she shouldn’t. Maybe I just love apple pie and the red, white and blue. I don’t know why. American stuff is just better.

And, do I really need a reason? Jeesh. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be a chicken and have everyone asking me why I crossed the road. You know, I didn’t over think it. I was on one side of the road… I was probably thinking about riding my motorcycle to Dairy Queen and the next thing I know… I am on the other side of the road. I am getting off track here. Point is, American made stuff is almost always better.

My first call in any suspension related project is always to Suspension Technologies in Largo, FL. Mike always has great answers and he steered me to Frank’s Forks. AKA “Forking by Frank.” Frank’s has been to go to for forks since 1966 but the question was, are they still in business? The answer is a resounding, yes.

For a bit it did look like this beloved fork institution might succumb to the pressure of cheap imports, but no! After being a customer of Forking by Frank for 20 years, and then kind of an employee, a man named Greg (a different Greg, not me), bought into the business in October of 2019. Greg has steadily been rebuilding an avidly loyal following. Frank’s continues to do a ton of late ‘60s and ‘70s metric bikes, but they really do it all.

I ordered and received a set of 4-inch over 39mm tubes and the hard chrome is brilliant. The fit and finish is perfect. God bless ‘merica!

Frank’s Forks
4441 McCracken Rd
Hernando,Ms 38632
847-475-1003

sales@FranksForks.com