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.