Cannonball! Coast to Coast on a '28 Indian

[ricochetrider]

Bad ass trip, Doug. It amazes me what you went through to keep that old bike going dude! And not to mention helping everyone else while you were at it. Right ON.

an afterthought:
I've heard lots of bullshit going around over the past few years, that most of the CBR guys are rich fuckers with too much money, too much time on their hands, blah blah blah. Just cheap talk IMO. The pussy ass bitches talking that shit are TALKING while the CBR guys (AND gals) are RIDING. So STFU all you sour grapes assholes. (none of which are on advrider -to my knowledge- BTW)
Get off the couch every so often and get out on the bikes why dontcha.

Ciao 4 now Doug, see ya around man.

ricochetrider in PA.

[OHjim]

Originally Posted by ricochetrider

Bad ass trip, Doug. It amazes me what you went through to keep that old bike going dude! And not to mention helping everyone else while you were at it. Right ON.

an afterthought:
I've heard lots of bullshit going around over the past few years, that most of the CBR guys are rich fuckers with too much money, too much time on their hands, blah blah blah. Just cheap talk IMO. The pussy ass bitches talking that shit are TALKING while the CBR guys (AND gals) are RIDING. So STFU all you sour grapes assholes. (none of which are on advrider -to my knowledge- BTW)
Get off the couch every so often and get out on the bikes why dontcha.

Ciao 4 now Doug, see ya around man.

ricochetrider in PA.

At least you have it all figured out.

Bet you spend a lot of time in Jo Mamma

[rtwdoug]

there were alot of people on the CB that have money. some have alot. like millionaire types.
And some of the guys riding dont have any mechanical skills, and had others working on their bikes for them
But, they did ride the bikes. Not everyone can fix a bike, but they all rode their old bikes for over 3000 miles.

Yeah, Im sure it made life easier to pull in at night, hand the bike over to your crew and go relax in your hotel room.

I know staying up late wrenching then tossing the sleeping bag down next to the bike at midnite wasnt the most comfy way to do it, but it worked ok for me. I did find somewhere inside to sleep on the real cold nites tho :)

So rich or poor, I gotta hand it to everyone that rode.
because it wasnt a fuckin picnic.

but it sure was fun!

Doug

[rgiroux]

Originally Posted by rtwdoug

but it sure was fun!

Doug

.

[bkshovel]

Originally Posted by rtwdoug

there were alot of people on the CB that have money. some have alot. like millionaire types.
And some of the guys riding dont have any mechanical skills, and had others working on their bikes for them
But, they did ride the bikes. Not everyone can fix a bike, but they all rode their old bikes for over 3000 miles.

Yeah, Im sure it made life easier to pull in at night, hand the bike over to your crew and go relax in your hotel room.

I know staying up late wrenching then tossing the sleeping bag down next to the bike at midnite wasnt the most comfy way to do it, but it worked ok for me. I did find somewhere inside to sleep on the real cold nites tho :)

So rich or poor, I gotta hand it to everyone that rode.
because it wasnt a fuckin picnic.

but it sure was fun!

Doug

I had it explained to me one time that some people have wrenches in their toolboxes and some have a check book in theirs. I have tools in mine and the guys with check books in theirs sometimes make my wrenches worth more money. Bein rich ain't a crime. Never had a poor guy pay me to work on anything. It's what's in your head and heart that counts. If I could do the CB, and I'm thinking about trying to find a basket case to start on, I'd do it your way because that's the way I go. Nothing against the chase crews and nice rigs. Neither way is wrong just different. But to me Doug, your way rocks!!

[LeDakaR!]

Originally Posted by bkshovel

I had it explained to me one time that some people have wrenches in their toolboxes and some have a check book in theirs. I have tools in mine and the guys with check books in theirs sometimes make my wrenches worth more money. Bein rich ain't a crime. Never had a poor guy pay me to work on anything. It's what's in your head and heart that counts. If I could do the CB, and I'm thinking about trying to find a basket case to start on, I'd do it your way because that's the way I go. Nothing against the chase crews and nice rigs. Neither way is wrong just different. But to me Doug, your way rocks!!

and
you remind me of a good friend/mechanic/teacher advrider just lost

[Patrick46]

who would that be?? ^^^



seems I'm outta the loop again

[DanEngels]

Here is the recording:
http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web...75428&cmd=apop

Jump to: 01:15:00

Ha, ha, "Sidecar paintball war in the woods"

Peace

[miepiechief]

Originally Posted by DanEngels

Here is the recording:
http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web...75428&cmd=apop

Jump to: 01:15:00

Ha, ha, "Sidecar paintball war in the woods"

Peace

Thanks for the link, had a laugh ore two

[rtwdoug]

for all of y'all that sent me a msg wanting a cannonball shirt, they have been ordered, & I'll get them next week. Soon as I do, I'll send out PM's

Thanks, Doug

[rgiroux]

[rtwdoug]

ok...ok... jeez






so I got to Newburgh, NY finally, & spent a couple days messin with the bike, helpin others with theirs, and just gettin to know everyone.
Most of the guys were cool, some not so much (but later, even the uppity ones calmed down after a few days of riding)

So we gathered at the Motorcyclepedia museum for the grand takeoff.
This is an awesome place, its owned by the guy that has v-twin cycle, a harley aftermarket distributor, or 'taiwan ted' as he is also known.
I felt like I helped to buy at least one of the bikes in here, as much $ as I have spent with v-twin over the years.
Their wonderful parts have broken & left me stranded in russia, germany, armenia, iraq, turkey, bulgaria, russia again, etc.

Great Stuff!

anyhow, they gave us breakfast, then we all ran the gauntlet of wellwishers & hit the road

today we go from newburgh ny to wellsboro, pa. 209 miles. short day to get the feel of how things are going. I knew how my bike rode, but I was the only one that rode to the start. Some guys trailered 100 miles from their house to get here
and there were several fresh builds, with few if any break in miles. What a better way to break in a bike, right!

alot of people showed up!











I got out of the melee, & out of town, the countryside was nice. I didnt stop much & take pics, rolling farmland is ok, but not really worth stopping for.
I did pass Yasgur's farm, the sight of the great hippie uprising in '69.
There was still an awful stench in the air....

My friend Brian from Phoenix had one of the first breakdowns, so of course I stopped. He had burned a fuel line, was too close to the exhaust. no biggie, as I had a spare one & got him back on the road.



I met up with jeff, who is an awesome artist. we ended up riding together the rest of the day.

I took alot of pics at gas stops, as you will see. We always left them with oil puddles everywhere :)









This is Josh, from VA. He had emailed me about a month ago and said he wanted to do the c-ball, but didnt have a bike. But this 29 Indian was on craigslist. He wanted my advice if he should do it or not.
I said that was the dumbest idea I had ever heard of, and its EXACTLY what I would do.
So he did it.
That'll teach him to ask MY advice!



made it to Wellsboro in plenty of time.
They have a start time, depending on the class you are in.
and a finish time. They allow 4 15 minute gas stops, and an hour for lunch. I think the whole trip, I only sat down for lunch maybe twice.
At the end of the day, theres an end time. if you are 45 minutes late, you start losing points.

there were alot of people there to see us come in

[Beamer Bum]

I know that a lot of inmates updated this thread while it happened, but I've been waiting for your report.
Welcome back and keep it coming.

[rtwdoug]

Day 2, from wellsboro pa, to sandusky, oh, 320 miles

it was cloudy this morning, and the weather radar showed a big wall of storms heading our way. Looks like we were gonna get wet, and my magneto hates water.

I had put up my tent behind the motel everyone was staying at. One good thing about motels, they usually keep the grass nice. I'm sure they would not approve of me camping on the lawn, but I was behind a big trailer, so they didnt see me.

we all gathered in front of the hotel, & the groups headed out in 15 minute intervals.







no GPS's are allowed, but they wouldnt help much anyhow. They gave us route sheets the night before, which could be taped together & put in a roll chart. I was too cheap to buy a touratech roll chart box, it was over 200 bucks, so I cut my sheets in receding lengths, and stuck em in the map pocket of my tankbag, with the longer ones on top. when I got to the end of that sheet, I pulled it out. Worked fine, and saved me some $.
You do need a good speedometer tho, as the roll charts tell you how far it is between turns. I had installed a trail tech speedo which worked good, but then I saw a couple guys that had GPS speedos by Pyle. Its only a speedo, no mapping, but they were awesome. No wires, just needs a clear shot at the sky. I'm gonna get me one of those, as they can swap from bike to bike in seconds.
This guy had built a roll chart out of an old etch a sketch. friggin brilliant!







about an hour out, it started raining like a cow pissin on a flat rock.
a mile later, the bike died like I turned it off.
shit.
this has always been the one bad thing of this bike, the magneto hates rain. I pulled the cap & tried to try it out. in the rain. its like herding cats, basically futile.
Joe stopped to help, he is a volunteer, & rides along helping people when possible, or to do whatever needs done. great guy, we had become friends last year on the IMS tour, he works for J&P cycles.
He had some grease, so I tried to seal it with that, & wrap a plastic bag over it to keep the water out.
After about 300 kicks, I got it going again, & the rain wasnt so bad now. Rode about an hour to a town, & stopped for gas.
It wouldnt restart.
I dicked with it for an hour, drying & kicking, and it finally started.



My idea after that was that if I dont turn it off, I dont have to start it. So I kept it running. gassed it up while running, ran into the woods to pee while running, etc. It kept chuggin along. finally the sun came out, I was glad to be past the rain. About 30 miles from cleveland, I ran into Paul, stopped along the road. His harley had quit, so I helped him with it for about an hour, but finally realized something in the timing had slipped, & we couldnt fix it with the tools we had. The chase trailer had shown up, so we loaded him up, and I tried to head out. damn bike wouldnt start. finally, after 30 minutes of kicking & wiping the water out of the mag, I got it to start.





Some genius had decided the best way to take old motorcycles to Sandusky was thru cleveland. on the interstate. with 10 miles of construction zone.

it was fuckin scary!
I'm doing 45-50, cars are doin 70+
then when I get close to town, the traffic stopped. Wasnt moving. (turns out some chick had gone the wrong way on it, hit a couple cars head on, died, & the road was shut down)
so I cant turn the bike off.
and its getting way hot sitting.
if I was anywhere else, I woulda split lanes. But I dont like ohio cops, & wasnt gonna risk it. I made it a couple miles in an hour. the bike is not happy.
I realized that I wasnt gonna make the end checkpoint in time, and I didnt want to kill the bike. Plus, one of the chase trucks was next to me, so I said screw it, and put the bike in the truck.
(later I found out that the check in time limit had been eliminated, due to the weather & traffic, but no one bothered to tell me this!)

so the truck had 3 broken indians in it. Marcin from Poland had an oil problem the 1st day & seized a piston. Ian from England had a problem also, but I forget what happened.



This guy from ADV tracked me down with my spot tracker. (sorry dude, I forget your name!) and helped us get the truck outta the traffic thru some back streets. *edit* I was just informed that his name is Chip. Thats what happens when I wait 3 months to do a damn ride report. Sorry!



I was really unhappy with the routing on the highway, and was pretty vocal about it. I understand that the whole reason for sandusky, then north tomorrow was to go to the HD factory in Milwaukee for PR & butt kissing.
They tried to say thats the only route. I called bullshit, pulled out a map, & pointed out several routes to the south that would have been much better.
The guy that planned the whole route did a wonderful job, except for this. I cant imagine what it took to plan a 4k mile trip, turn by turn.
Anyhow, this was pretty much my only complaint for the whole route

[rtwdoug]

day 3, Sandusky, OH to Milwaukee, WI, 300 miles

I had pulled the mag cap off last night, hoping it would dry out during the night. I was up at dawn working on it, everything seems fine, & looked dry.
Today was gonna suck, as we have to take a ferry boat across lake michigan, and HAVE to be there by 3:30, no exceptions.
If you are lagging behind, you have to get in the trailer. If you miss the ferry, you are screwed.
I dunno why they wouldnt let us leave early this morning, but I was hoping for the best.



About 20 miles down the road, the bike started running on one cylinder.
I pulled over, a plug wire had come loose, no biggie. I fixed it, bike wouldnt start.
yep, still water in the mag. There was water sitting inside at the bottom, and the heat from the motor musta been turning it into steam, which rises, gets onto the rotor button, & makes it hard to start.

ok, another day of not shutting the bike off I guess....

I got a ways down the road, gassed up & kept going. it started running bad again, so I stopped to wipe out the mag.
Got it started, another 20 miles, same deal.
shit!
the sweep trucks are right behind me. they say I wont make it to the ferry if I have to keep doing this.
I hate it, but they are right. So, again, I load it into a truck. At least I will make the ferry!

Joe was working on his BMW, its such a cool bike. one of the valve tappets broke, but he was able to get it going again. I really thought the BMW's would do the trip without any problems. those old ones are great bikes, smooth & pretty fast. Another BMW kept blowing head gaskets, finally they put 2 gaskets on, & the problem stopped.
While we were here, another ADV guy found me from my spot tracker.
that thing is dangerous!



We came up on a wreck, Bill, on a Harley JD had a small suv turn in front of him, & he hit the side. He was a bit bruised up, but seemed ok, but went to the hospital to make sure. I took pics of the bike, but I cant find them....
the front end was like a pretzel, fender mangled, hole punched in the tank.

Bill met us in Milwaukee, stayed up all nite, borrowed a front end, JB welded the hole in the tank, & back on the road the next morning. He had to have other people start his bike for a couple days, as his whole thigh was a big bruise.
I have alot of respect for him.

We also stopped for another guy along the road, hid chain broke, and his master link was in his chase truck (chase trucks are not allowed to stop and help during the day, and are sent on a different route than the bikes)
Anyone else can help, another rider, a passerby, or anyone but your crew.
Well, I had a link, & Jim, who I was riding with had a link. But neither would fit his chain. But, with a file, and parts from the 2 links, I modified enough parts to get him back on the road. Of course a hammer was needed also....
We followed him to the ferry, to make sure he made it ok.

This is Buck, on a 20's BSA, as you see, they had us routed on yet ANOTHER interstate today. This one wasnt as bad, but still, the people were driving too fast, and we saw Buck almost get run over, so we got behind him.



we got to the boat in time, it was a 4 hour ride across the lake.









several of the Indian riders, Jeff, Josh, Steve & Marcin


Mr Helpful, Joe Sparrow



We got to the other side, and Jim's 25 Indian had broken something in the throttle, so we unloaded my bike, & loaded his. I'd left the mag cap off all day, & it fired right up. I missed the police escorted parade to the harley factory, so I asked a guy how to get there, he said 'follow me' & we took off.

I had some milwaukee beauty queen pull up next to me as we rode thru town & holler 'get out of the left lane asshole!' (we were fixin to turn left)
so I hollered back 'Alright BITCH!'
she was not pleased. hahaha

The museum parking lot was packed with people. I saw several friends of mine, & met alot of people who knew who I was. This has happened at almost every stop. I always try to talk to everyone, but sometimes there is just too much going on, so if you stopped to say hi, and I was busy, I apologize.




They had free food, so I figured anytime I can get something free outta harley, I should take advantage of it.







people worked into the night on the bikes. Mine was doing ok, so I just hoped the mag would stay dry.



Marcin was trying to get his indian back on the road