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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Up on Mt. Tabor. |
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| We were half of a British Invasion at See See's coffee. Looked like rain so the Hurricane hid under the awning. |
ride em, don"t hide em.
Wayne's problem
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