Following are a few essays that I have written in the last year or so for the VME newsletter. I'm putting them here for me, and maybe you.

Rudy

This is Rudy, she’s a 1978 Harley Davidson XLCH. This year will mark our 30th anniversary together.   As a quick look will tell, even though she is in a “show” she is not a show bike. And, I am not a bike builder, just a guy that likes bikes. She is nonetheless a very special bike to me and we have had many adventures together.

When I bought her she was pretty much stock, except for a repaint, with low miles. I quickly shed the stock seat, handlebars, gauges, and various other parts to make her fit my idea of a cool looking little cruiser. I went out on the town with my good friend Wayne and his ‘77 Triumph putting slowly through the streets in what he called “silhouetting”...the idea being if we went too fast people couldn’t see how good we looked.  Rudy helped me attract my wife 28 years ago. 

We have traveled most of the highways in the Cascades and Coast Range around Portland, and she has never stranded me yet. I found her at Jeff’s American Classics in Dundee, Oregon. When I rode her home it was a beautiful sunny June day, but it rained almost every other day that month. I rode her every day nonetheless because I was so in love. 

In 2008 I watched Rudy get run over by a guy in a Ford F350 while she was parked. That was a bad day, but I put her back together with his insurance money. One of my brothers and I got tickets for parking on the sidewalk, but I went to court and the judge said I was a good citizen so he dropped the charges. Perhaps he was a motorcycle enthusiast.

30 years equals a lot of memories. Her name comes from her exhaust note, which can be quite rude, causing car alarms to go off, and people to roll up their windows when we pass by. This bike truly fits the original idea behind The One Show as she was modified by me for me and is my One bike even though I have collected a few others to share the garage with her. In the time we have been together we both have gone grey and show our mileage, but she still feels great every time I fire her up and go out for a ride.

Thanks for reading this and remember, ride ‘em don't hide ‘em!

Wayne’s Problem

     I had a long time friend named Wayne. You who know me might be tired of hearing about him, but too bad because here I go again. Wayne and I had a special friendship that mostly consisted of giving each other a hard time whenever we hung out. People would ask him what his problem was and he would point at me and say “Doug”, thus now I’m Wayne’s Problem.

     Wayne got sick and passed away in April of 2016 from cancer. Cancer sucks. When his last wishes were made public I found out that he had left me a collection of old motorcycles that he had stashed in his garage. None of them had run in a long time, and the whole time I knew Wayne I just wanted to fix those bikes. Well now it was time to put up or shut up. I brought them home to my house one at a time. The bikes are a ‘77 Triumph T140V, ‘74 Triumph T140, ‘73 Triumph X75, and a ‘69 BSA A65T. 

     The first one I got started on was the ‘77, as it had run most recently, in ‘92. It had been in an accident and as the ‘74 was too far gone to repair, I took the needed front end parts off of it to fix the ‘77. I got this bike running and next started in on the X75. 

     This bike had last run in ‘82 and she needed a lot of work to wake her up. I didn’t over do anything and kept her as original as possible. I brought this bike to the last Isle of Vashon and took home some trophies. Definitely a weekend to remember.

     In March of ‘20 I got started on the last of Wayne’s bikes, the ‘69 BSA. This bike had last been on the road in ‘80. It needed the most out of the three I kept. Wayne told me years ago that it was just a blown head gasket, but almost 40 years of sitting hadn't helped much. It was missing parts and had a partial seizure of the motor. It got bored out and got new pistons and valves. I had to add a kickstand and lugs on the fork lowers to mount a fender. It had no speedo so I got one from a local restorer. All new hoses and gaskets, a new Amal carb, footpeg rubbers, grab rail...you get the point.

     At the end of June I was getting close and as this was the last of Wayne’s bikes to get running I decided to make an event out of it. I set the date of July 24th and invited some of Wayne’s friends and family to be here when I first started it up. I also had lunch ready in case I was not able to kick it over. I spent lots of time on last minute things and knew I had spark, compression, and fuel to the carb, but I did not try to start the bike until we had all gathered together. This was very hard to do... I really wanted to start it.

     On the 24th at high noon, I brought the bike out of my garage and started kicking it over. One of my friends, in true Wayne fashion, asked if I was sure the choke was set right. I told him it was and moved on. The bike coughed a few times, and I had to tickle it a little, but on the 12th kick it came to life! About kick six I realized that the choke was in the wrong position when I started so I guess I am Wayne’s Problem.

     I have put a little over 100 miles on the bike in the last couple of weeks, just figuring it out and making sure it’s all good. It sure is a fun bike with gobs of torque, and really looks the part of a vintage British bike. Now my garage is a living tribute to my friendship with Wayne and as they are British bikes, I always have something to fix, to remind me of him.

     As always, Ride em, don’t hide em!

Hurricane Season in California

      This story begins over 30 years ago when I laid eyes on a Triumph X-75 Hurricane for the first time. It was in a friend's garage sitting where he parked it some time in the early 80’s after breaking the kick start crank. Even covered in dust and surrounded by gardening tools I could see it was something special. My friend, Wayne, told me a little about the bike. The thing I remember most was that even though it was a British bike, it was designed by an American named Craig Vetter. His name was familiar to me because of the Vetter/Windjammer fairing company that had their products on almost every other bike in the 70’s.

     Fast forward to 2016, Wayne had cancer and even though he was a real fighter, it took him from us. Wayne left me all his beautiful bikes. I started the process of bringing his bikes from his house to mine in order to do what I always threatened him I would: fix them.  This has been a remarkable way to talk about my friend and share some real cool bikes in the motorcycle community.

     Once I got Wayne’s Hurricane running I started taking her out a lot. She almost always gets attention, either from people that know what she is and can’t believe they are seeing one, or those that don’t know what she is but can tell it is something unusual. It is fun to educate people about this rare beast and the man that had the original vision. I wanted to contact Mr. Vetter and tell him the story of my bike, and the friendship with Wayne, but never got around to sending a note to him. It was on my to do list though. 

     This year I was showing a bike at The One Show here in Portland and met a group of misfits from the Santa Cruz area and when we got to talking about the cache of bikes I had. They told me that they were friends of Mr. Vetter and that I should look him up if I’m ever in the area. I thanked them, but didn’t see that happening anytime soon. I contacted them to see if I sent my owners manual to them so they could get an autograph for me. Again they said I should come down and get it myself. I still couldn't see this happening, but my wife could. I’m telling you I got the best one.

     Next thing I know I have a flight, hotel, and rental car booked for a mid week trip to San Jose Cali. I had been in contact with Craig’s son Morgan via email and had found a restaurant near his house where we could meet. I got there early with my owners manual and the seat pan from my Hurricane to get signed by the man himself. As we sat having a meal, and talking about his career in the motorcycle industry, I had to stop and remind myself that I was checking off a huge bucket list item for my life!  

Craig is an amazing man with so many stories and history to share. He was very generous with his time, but two hours into our visit it was time to go as the restaurant was getting busy and they needed our table. 

At this point Morgan suggested that we continue this visit at the Vetter Ranch! Again I was stopped short, by this amazing opportunity.  I drove Craig, my new best friend, to his house in order to keep visiting. I met his wife Carol and their dog Frank, sat on his patio and shared more stories. Craig then signed my seat and manual, and then he gave me some other posters that he and Carol both signed for me. At this point Craig was tired and needed to rest, so Morgan took me over to Craig's shop for a tour. I left there walking on air and even as I write this story I can’t express just how amazing this visit was for me.

     Craigs real passion is in fuel efficiency and streamline design. He had an accident on his bike in the summer of 2016 when he hit a deer and he can’t drive or ride anymore, but boy can he talk. He freely gives his knowledge to all that are interested.

     I am so grateful to my wife for her nudge to follow my bliss on this trip, and encourage all to do the same if you get even half a chance. Wayne’s gift has continued to give me joy and I will forever be boring people with stories like this. I plan on going back to visit Craig and his family again sometime in the near future, now that we are friends. 

Remember ride em’, don't hide em’!

July 19,2020


     Well as per my usual it has been a long time between posts, but because this is mostly for me I'm okay with that. When I last logged on here I was getting ready to show the Hurricane in a local show called "the one". It has been going on here in Portland for 11 years and grew enough to fill the Memorial Coliseum with several hundred bikes, art, food and drink, and indoor flat track races. It was an epic event and the people that put it on gave me a prime location to show off my bike. I spent most of the weekend at the show and enjoyed standing near my bike to listen in while people looked at her. My son made a replica of a dealer tag I had seen online, and I wrote a short bio about this bike.

Looking good under the lights in the main exhibit hall.

This is the sign I put up next to her.

It was a show that focused on builders bikes and also it was sponsored by Indian so they had lots of brand new bikes on display. They include bikes like mine to help round out the vibe and I'm good with that. It was a lot of fun all weekend and mine was one of the few that was ridden to the show. I also got a nice pile of swag so that was a bonus.

Margaret on the table.

    At the same time I had decided to take the top end off the Bonneville as she was smoking on the left side and fouling plugs. I had hoped to clean up the head and replace the rings, but it was evident upon inspection that the main problem was worn valve guides. I had already taken the engine apart and bought rings so I took the head to a local shop for new guides. The mechanic told me that Triumph used soft material on the guides so the machines that made them would last longer so it was not a surprise that they had worn out. I was lucky that the valves were in good shape and all he had to do was put in new guides. I got her back together and she fired on one kick, but started leaking a little oil and running rough pretty quickly. I decided that the running problem was in the carbs so I took them apart, cleaned them up real good and reassembled them. The oil leak was due to a torn o ring and I needed a special tool to put it back together without hurting the o ring. I'm always okay with getting new tools so that wasn't bad at all. Now she doesn't leak oil and is running better than ever.

All cleaned up and ready to go.

     Next on the table is the 1969 BSA A65. I hooked up a battery to check for spark and lights, he has both. I took the engines top end off and have found evidence of unusual repairs so I will go slow and check out the whole engine and transmission on this little guy.

It sure is a cool looking bike and I love the sound they make! I'm hoping that my bride will like him and be his primary operator but we will have to wait and see. 

   On a side note while driving in SE Portland in early April I saw Wayne's old Plymouth at a body shop. I had to pull over and check the plate to make sure and I was right. I'm glad to see it has avoided the crusher so far and hope to see a sweet hot rod out there some day.

That's all for now from me, thanks for reading and remember to ride em, don't hide em!

Wayne's Problem...

   
December 29th, 2019

     Well it's almost a new year and time to add to this thing. As I said in my last post I had plans to take the Hurricane to Vashon island this summer to show her off. I was still having problems with the plugs getting fouled pretty quick and was a bit nervous that it would strand me in front of everyone so I did some trial runs around town of over 30 miles at a time as that is about the length of the run on Vashon. Well it turns out that the problem with fouled plugs was I wasn't running her hard or long enough at a stretch. The longer I rode her the better she runs. With new found confidence I got my trailer ready and loaded her up for the journey north. I had arranged to stay with my brother Chris who lives near the island plus he has a much newer motorcycle and wanted to go with me to the rally. I got to his house Friday night and put the bike in his garage for the night.

Getting gassed up before we hit the road

     We got up Saturday and went to breakfast before heading over to the Island for a little pre-rally fun and to see the lay of the land. The rally wasn't till Sunday. It was overcast and threatened to rain so we cut the day short and were back to his house around lunch time. We did manage to meet up with some of my friends that were staying on the island and made plans to meet up again tomorrow.
     Turned out it was good we got home as it started to rain a little after we were safe at home. And by rain let me say it poured, a lot, also the biggest thunder and lighting storm to hit the area in years. If you read my other posts you might remember that on the day I first rode this bike it thundered pretty heavy after I put her away. I said it then and think it still true that it was Wayne riding by to say hello. He was never very subtle in life so why would death be any different.

Chris and I Sunday morning

      It rained all night but started to slow down by the time we set out on Sunday morning. We made it to the ferry dock without incident but there was lots of debris on the road so we took it slow. Going into the main part of the island to get registered it occurred to me that its a good thing I have a full face helmet because I was grinning like an idiot the whole time. When I pulled over near the starting point and parked the bike it immediately gathered a group of people who either knew what it was or wanted to know. The attention she got was so much fun and peoples reaction to seeing such a rare bike running was more than I hoped for. We got signed up and set out on the poker run around the island. The bike ran great and whenever we stopped she again got lots of attention. The weather also kept getting better as the day wore on with cloudy skies but no rain. The sun even peeked out a little.

Pulling into the last checkpoint
of the run

Me and the little red haired girl
in downtown Vashon

In front of the house my Grandpa owned
when I was a kid

     I decided to put her in the judging concourse because the parking would be better and it only cost a few dollars to enter. I then went to get some food and watch the field events with the rest of the folks. This was a lot of fun and we had good seating above the field with friends everywhere. Then it was time for the results of the judging.
     First they gave out door prizes and I won a BMW shirt and key fob. BMW's are OK but not my brand, too reliable, no challenge in that so I traded with another guy for a can of brake clean. Next came the awards for different classes. I won the trophy for "best unrestored" and when it was announced he said "of course goes to the Hurricane". I was beside myself with pride and again with the grinning, this time no helmet to hide it. But the big shock came when I won another trophy for "people's choice". That one means so much because there were several very nice bikes in the concourse. It didn't hurt that I have lots of friends that were there but I think it also shows how much people agree with the "ride em, don't hide em" idea. Of course the capper was that I also won the best poker hand prize of $100 cash. Chris and I decided that we better get off the island in a hurry before I got mugged and beat up. Chris took great joy in telling people that he only came along so he could carry tools and spare parts for my old rundown bike because of the side bags his bike has. I took more joy in having him carry all my trophys home because I couldn't possibly do that on my own.

Both trophys, proper way to
rep rockers northwest

     We got back across the sound and were about two blocks from Chris' house when it started to lightly rain again, the perfect way to end an awesome day. I am hoping that next year all of my brothers will go on this rally with me. Four of us own or have owned bikes it the past , and the fifth is an avid bicycle rider. When we were kids our grandpa lived on Vashon so it is special for that as well. In early February I am going to put the Hurricane on display at a local show that includes about 200 bikes from all over the area and beyond. Stay tuned for another update after that, thanks for reading.

Waynes Problem

July 2019

      Hello again and welcome to positive earth. I felt like writing again but have been unsure where to start. I have had fun taking Wayne's bikes out for rides around the city and showing them off as much as the weather and time allows. On the subject of the Hurricane I decided to call her "the little red haired girl" from Charlie Brown, his elusive crush that was always out of reach.
     She is running pretty good but fouls the plugs too soon. I think I need to pull the carbs off and adjust the needle placement, but till then I keep spare plugs on hand just in case. I put electronic ignition so she would be more reliable especially because she will be sitting more than the other bikes. Because of the time she spent sleeping I tore down the primary to the clutch and replaced all of the seals and gaskets. I have been riding her without a current registration so I decided to bite the bullet and spend the better part of a morning in the DMV. The tags on the plate expired in 1982, and as a bonus the plate was from another bike so the Hurricane had never been registered at all. The plate is the old colors and as Wayne rode illegally with it when he had her running I really wanted to keep that plate. The kind people at the DMV allowed me to transfer the plate and she is a special interest bike so for $101 she is good forever. Technically because Wayne never had a title and never had a proper tag on her she is a one owner bike now.
     It's always fun to go out and show her off. I am hoping to take her to a motorcycle rally on Vashon Island later this summer where she will shine for sure.

Arranged the garage to make it easier to take them out.
Backed in for quick getaways.

     I have gotten the Bonneville, Margret, to be a reliable rider and never hesitate to take it to work or play. The work thing is telling because with my job I can't be late even 5 seconds. I did have one incident of note this last year on her. The realtor that bought Wayne's house had a bunch of work done to it in hopes of renting out the upper floors as a large air b&b. He also put an apartment in the basement for his own space to live. A bunch of Wayne's friends and family went through the house on a tour and I rode Margret there. Afterward my friend Dale and I went out to lunch and all was good. We talked about how Wayne would have hated to see all the wood trim under a fresh coat of paint, but agreed that it was nice that the house will be around for more years to come. When I went out to go home the bike started fine but died when I put her in gear. Something came loose in the clutch so I had to call my son for a ride home, got my trailer, and towed her home. When I got home I called some expert help and found a nut had backed of the main shaft in the transmission moving the entire clutch out of place. A locking tab washer that was supposed to be there was not. It cost me some time and about $3 to fix and I'm sure it was Wayne messing with me for going into his house without his permission. I vowed to never set foot in there again, especially if I'm on one of his bikes.

Margret from the top floor of Wayne's house.
If you look close you can see Wayne backing the mainshaft nut off.

           Most recently a friend has been visiting from Costa Rica and she and I have taken both Triumphs out on the town. This is I'm sure the first time ever that both bikes have gone anywhere together, but certainly not the last. It's a little like taking my garage out in the world to share so that's awesome.

Up on Mt. Tabor.

We were half of a British Invasion at See See's coffee.
Looked like rain so the Hurricane hid under the awning.

    In closing I want to thank my bride, Angela, for asking me to add to this blog. She puts up with me spending too much time in the garage.  Well I think that's all for now, safe journeys to all,

ride em, don"t hide em.

Wayne's problem

June 22nd, 2018

      Well here I am again writing as Wayne's Problem with an exciting update. I got the Hurricane running last Sunday! What a fathers day gift from the universe.
      Since I last wrote I had completed the epoxy treatment to the tank successfully and it is not leaking at all. I put the carburetors back on. Replaced the plugs, plug wires, points, and condensers. Three of everything of course. I replaced the fork seals and cleaned up the front brake. I also did a few other odds and ends over the last couple of weeks and on Sunday I took her off the ramp and put oil in the engine, transmission, and forks. I checked my to do list and the only thing on it was "start her up".
     I called my friend Sean as I wanted him to witness the results. He has been a constant support in this process and spent a few hours in my garage listing to me prattle on about my latest issue on the bikes. So with my wife Angela and my kid Bobbie I started in. It went a little like this.

      For those of you counting it was 31 kicks till she roared to life. This seems like a lot until you realize she had last run in 1982.

      Next I went for the first ride up and down the street in front of my house. After she got going she starts in 1-3 kicks every time and runs very strong. About 30 minutes after I was done a thunder storm came on very suddenly and I like to think it was Wayne riding by to say hello and watch. I need to get new tires and dial in the timing and carburetor but it is so fun to show her off and she always draws a crowd. I have ridden her out to get coffee and tacos a few times this week and I'm going to get fat on all the bugs cause I can't stop smiling.

Feeling pretty good here.

Coffee date at See See's.

      A friend said "it's fun to be a steward of something so cool" and I like that wording. I am again able to talk about Wayne and be a steward of his memory when I share the story of this Hurricane and feel him with me when I ride.
   

Wayne's bike in front of Wayne's house.

Hello again,
     Yesterday marked the second anniversary of Wayne's death so I thought it a good time for a quick update on his bikes. I started in on the Hurricane about a month ago by buying a lift. I should have bought one years ago because it makes working on a motorcycle so much easier. I rebuilt the carbs, and removed the rear wheel to clean up and grease the bearings. The rear brake looked like something had peed on it as it was very rusty, but a good cleaning with a wire wheel and some spray paint and its good as new, almost.

    Of course once the Bonneville saw I was working on another bike the forks started leaking fluid out the bottom and onto the wheel so I had to tend to her for awhile, but shes all back together now and all is forgiven.
   Next I tried to put gas in the tank, it looked good as far as I could see and I was hopeful that it would hold because it would be next to impossible to replace. It didn't hold. Two pinholes started to seep gas almost immediately. I tried some of the putty to patch it to no avail so I needed to remove the tank to properly seal it up. This required extra care to not crack the fiberglass plus it had shifted a long time ago and the nut holding it on could not be gotten with a socket. After about an hour, success!

      The tank separated from the bike for the first time ever I'm sure. Funny how naked it looks without its tank on it. I bought the chemicals to coat the inside of the tank and will be tackling that soon, but as you can see in the photos, the sun is out and I have three running bikes that need attention or they will get jealous and break.
     This is Wayne's problem signing off for now.

      So I have never blogged before and am not really sure of any rules but the reason I wanted to do this was to document the restoration of a small collection of motorcycles I inherited from my friend Wayne. Well, here goes nothing.

Wayne on my wedding day keeping
it classy.

      The reason for the name of this blog is that the bikes are British and the electrical systems are positive ground rather than negative. In the repair manuals it is called "positive earth" and that has a nice ring to it. My friend Sean suggested that it would make a nice title for a blog and I agree.
       First a little background on my friendship with Wayne. We met sometime in 1986 when we both worked for different companies in the same building. He was a large man with a deep voice and I was doing a security check in the middle of the night so he kinda startled me. A few weeks later I ran into him in the neighborhood where I lived. We quickly became friends as we both had a love for motorcycles and anything with a motor. Wayne at that time had three bikes in his garage along with a 1949 Plymouth Business coupe. I peeked in the windows a few times and somehow not only didn't get shot but actually got him to talk to me about them a little. (Wayne was a private man and very few people ever knew what was in his garage. ) Those three bikes are a 1969 BSA Thunderbolt, a 1974 Triumph Bonneville, and a 1973 Triumph X75 Hurricane. In the late 80's Wayne added a 1977 Triumph Bonneville to what we called "The Museum". The BSA needed a head gasket, the Hurricane needed a kick start arm, and I'm not sure what the 74 Bonnie needed cause when I asked what was wrong he just said "the owner". The 77 Bonnie was put into the garage for the final time in 1992 after he wrecked it. Some idiot made an illegal u turn in front of him and he hit them. Wayne was pretty banged up but survived, however this kept him off bikes for the rest of his life. Our friendship was filled with us mostly giving each other endless amounts of shit. I could go on and on but I want this to be more about the bikes. Suffice it to say he was the best man at my wedding because he was the best man I have ever known.

The home for the last 40 odd years. X-75 was on the left,
74 T140 behind it. The 77 T140 and the 69 A65
are on the right.

Under the tarps and equipment was the
1977 T140

     

In back on the left sat this 1969 BSA A65

In the back sat this 1974 T140

The X-75, right where he parked it in 1982

      Wayne died in the spring of 2016 and in his will he left me the four motorcycles in his possession. This got a little sticky due to Wayne's bills but the kind people in Wayne's family and circle of friends made sure that his wishes were carried out at all costs.  Three of them were in his name but the DMV had no record of the X75. I asked how to get a title and got several different answers. I settled on what seemed like a good bet. The Oregon DMV could tell it had never been stolen in the US or registered in the state. I got letters from Washington, California, and Idaho stating they had also never heard of this bike before and sent all my info along with a bill of sale from the estate to the DMV and they gave me an Oregon title. This was important to me as I didn't want to start on them till I had ownership of them.
       Along with the bikes I received a motorcycle trailer from Wayne's back yard and one at a time brought them out of his garage and into mine. This was the first time they had even been moved for over 25 years in the case of the 77, and more for the other three. It was very exciting and sad at the same time for me as on one hand I had been asking to work on these bikes for Wayne as long as I had known him, but it also meant he was gone. I brought them home and did a quick assessment of all four along with a quick wash for them all.

     




     True to his word the only problem with the X75 was a broken kicker, the top of the engine was off the BSA indicating the blown head gasket, the 77 had front end damage from the wreck, and the 74 had the transmission and primary covers off indicating a tranny or clutch problem. Of course due to the length of their slumber they also have rotten rubber, rust everywhere, and dried up gaskets/seals.

     I decided to start with the 1977 T140 first as it was the one that had run most recently, if 24 years counts as recent. I had been bugging Wayne all that time to just take the front end off his other Bonnie and use it so that's where I started. The swap went fairly smooth and it moved much easier. I decided the 74 was too far gone to refresh anyway so after taking the front off I also took off any parts I might need or want. I sold the frame and engine to a friend as it did have a clear title. I later met the man who bought the 74 when it new as he was Wayne's ex brother in law and I gave him the tank badges and gauges that came off his old bike. He said he would give them to his daughter.
     While getting the carb kits I found a tank painted the correct colors but with no rust inside at a local shop. Good thing it was near my birthday so I bought it. I tried to talk him down on the price but I had to have it. I paid what he was asking pretty quickly. Next I rebuilt the carbs. New points, plugs and plug wires were put on. I got a battery and after a few weeks of slow progress I was ready to try and start her up.

       So now it runs! Not going to lie, it made me cry a little to hear this bike run again. As Wayne taught me running is nice but stopping can be real important so on to the brakes. I rebuilt both master cylinders and calipers and upgraded the lines to braided steel. I got a set of stock mufflers and a front fender from a friend and started to ride Wayne's old bike!

      This was about a year ago and other than a few easy to fix issues it has been lots of fun. I also get to talk about my friend to anyone who will listen. The bike runs great, is easy to start, and loves to lean into the corners. Several friends have ridden her and it's a very forgiving bike.

"Art picture" of me starting the old girl.

     Next I'm going to tackle the X-75. A friend bent a kicker arm to clear the pipes and I put a battery in it last week. The electrics are all working but I will need to move slowly as it is very rare and lots of it is made out of unobtanium. Still can't wait to show off Wayne's bikes.