Monday, June 27, 2016

Roads and Ditches

In my minds eye I cannot help but see a gate with a road leading from it. The road is a narrow one with a deep ditch on either side. The ditch on the left is called lawlessness and unrepentant sin. That on the right hand side is called legalism and self righteousness. The narrow road between the two is sanctification and holiness. A wise traveler will closely follow the Counselor sent from above who will guide him on his journey.

Matthew 7:13-14
Matthew 15:14
John 14:26
 

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Viking AMCA Meet 2016

Thought I should put a little something up about the Viking Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America National meet from earlier this month.  As usual, it was warm, and it seemed that the outdoor swap meet was yet again a bit larger than the year before.  We had a booth inside the show building, and though I am sure some of the people who came only for the used parts never made their way inside, that was a reasonable price to pay to avoid two solid days of baking sun and the obligatory quick passing rain.  And speaking of a reasonable price to pay, the Viking meet may be one of the few public places where a guy can still find a pretty good deal on old parts; certainly far below what things go for on eBay (which normally includes exorbitant shipping costs).  Of course there always some parts so "in-demand" that they claim a premium price no matter where they are sold, but I tend to set my sights a little lower so I won't be disappointed when I check my wallet.

But the inside display of bikes at the Viking meet is never a disappointment.  Below is just a small sampling.



The VL based board tracker was one of my favorites; and why not?  Besides outstanding workmanship by BTR Builder, it also features a lower end built by yours truly.


 
Hard to beat the combo of brilliant nickel plating on a red background


 
Guess the builder had a pair of 500 Kawi's with one bad jug between them, cause he combined them into a 5 cylinder 2 stroke of about 850cc.  Apparently the idea never caught on big.


 
The wife was good enough to man our booth while I took pictures and checked out the swap meet.


 
"Spirit of Sturgis" aims to keep the racing heritage of original rally alive

Monday, June 13, 2016

What Would Jesus Say?

What would Jesus say about the mass murder which happened this past weekend in the Orlando?

"There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Luke 13:1-4

The context of this passage, according to Matthew Henry, is Roman governor Pontius Pilate being enraged by the sedition of a band of Galilaean Jews under the leadership of Judas Gaulonitis, "sent a band of soldiers, and slew these his followers; who were come up to the feast of the passover, as they were offering their sacrifices in the temple, and so mixed their blood with the blood of the passover lambs."

One must note that Christ in no way excused the rebels, or took their side. He did not call for Israel to bestow honors upon the slain, such as we often do in this age by lowering our flags to half mast. On the contrary, his statement seems to confirm that this was indeed the judgment of the Almighty, but uses the opportunity to point out that except we each repent, we will each likewise suffer judgment.

Then our Lord goes directly on to point out that "natural disasters" too may be used of God as an act of judgment, but points out that rather than dwelling on the question of whether or not those who die in such a manner were under God’s judgment, we need to focus on repenting of our own sins.

"God is too loving to ever do such a thing," our modern christain ethic cries out!

Read the book of Isaiah. Study the book of the prophet Jeremiah. God’s chosen people moved continually toward apostasy and wickedness. They worshiped the false idols of the surrounding nations. They committed acts that the LORD calls abominable. When God, after much patience and many warnings, rained down judgment upon his chosen nation, he did so in the form of another nation; but not another nation more righteous than Judah (as one might expect), but one at least as wicked. That nation’s actions in the destruction of Jerusalem, despite being used as an instrument of God to punish, would in turn be judged by him for those very actions, because they were not done to serve the Living God, but to serve their own sinful desires.

If you cannot see the parallels, you might consider having your eyes checked (at least your "spiritual" eyes). As a nation, we have embraced child sacrifice (abortion) and sodomy (the "gay" agenda) and a multitude of other forms of lawlessness. If the LORD chose to allow the Orlando murderer to punish some of those who are in flagrant rebellion against the God who made them, he did so simply by allowing that Muslim to act on his sinful hatred. That man now faces God’s judgment, as do those he killed. As do each of us.  In fact, except we repent, we will all likewise perish.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Crazy Horse Garage at The Ohio Mile

This was just going to be a quick "plug" for a couple guys who set a new ECTA (East Coast Timing Association) record while using my big intake valves and 5/16" stem guides for Knuckleheads. But as I write this, I can see that it will likely spill over into a second post. So be it.

It began just over a month back when I went into my shop on a Sunday evening to retrieve something. There was a message on my voice mail, so hoping that it would not be some sort of emergency requiring immediate attention, I took a listen. Lo and Behold the person leaving the message identified himself as Russ Hendron of Crazy Horse Garage; a name I had not heard in years. You see, Russ was the first person that Bobby and I met when we tried our luck at the inaugural Iowa Hog Drags back in 1985. His fuel Sportster was on a trailer just ahead of us in the line waiting for the track to open.

The reason for Russ’s call was to see if I could expedite a pair of the 2.060" Knuckle intake valves to him so he could install them for the spring ECTA meet (the Ohio Mile) the following weekend. "Cutting the time a little short," I thought, but "last minute" and "drag racer" have always been terms that, if not synonymous, then at least close cousins.

So I sent the valves, along with another of my "Lee’s Speed Shop Exclusive" items; a twelve pack of valve spring shims that actually fit Knucklehead guides and collars correctly. Receiving the parts mid week, Russ worked his magic and had the engine back together late Friday night. The Knuckle responded by starting on the first kick. Ya gotta love when that happens!


day before race day - big valve takes up all extra real estate


This might be a good place to insert a little background on the bike. It is owned by Mark Hutcheson, though Russ jokes that it is his bike and Mark only gets to pay for the parts and ride it. The engine started life as a 1941, but by the time it found a new life running the M/VG 1350 class, it was a matter of transforming a pile of junk parts into a fine racing engine. By the way, if you’re wondering, the M stands for modified frame, the VG for Vintage Gas, and 1350 is the maximum cubic centimeters (basically 80 cubic inches). Russ mentioned that the current right side crankcase is the result of grafting two blown case halves together to make one good one. The left case half also got a lot of attention as it now sports a heavily reinforced Timken main bearing.

As you might suspect, along with the Timken bearing goes a set of early 4-1/4" stroke Shovel flywheels which happen to maintain the same taper on the right side to allow use of a recycled Knucklehead pinion shaft. A set of Ross pistons with one inch domes running (with a lot of clearance) in OEM Panhead cylinders provided for 10:1 compression ratio for the Knuck’s initial record runs. They set the class record at 113 MPH, and then 124 at an ECTA event last year. Which brings us to this year...



One week before the April 31st spring ECTA meet Russ decided to freshen the top end on the record setting Knuckle. That’s where my valves came in. Along with the bigger valves, Russ shortened up the cylinders by .060". As already mentioned, the Knuck seemed to like the attention and cooperated by starting on the first kick ..., and it has continued to be a one-kick starter. Arriving at the track in Ohio, it seemed the weather was less willing to cooperate. Saturday was a wash out, with no speed runs.

 
at the track
 
 
the front view of a Harley springer w/o fender and headlight always looks like it means business

Sunday, on the other hand was an entirely different matter. Perhaps following the fine example of the race ready Knuckle, the weather decided to grant full cooperation with the exception of a slight head wind. The 71 year old Knuck responded with a 129 MPH first fun out of the van. A second trip down the track bettered the record to 131.5 MPH for Mark, Russ and his Crazy Horse Garage! Congratulations guys!


if you can't make it out, Russ's shirt says "Where the customer isn't always right"

Now, cool as all this is, its only a bit of the story. When corresponding with Russ for some of the details on the Knuck, he also reminded me of his years of racing a high gear nitro Sportster (most of which I witnessed first hand) as well as a number of behind the scenes facts. Stay tuned for an upcoming post to hear, ...as Paul Harvey would have said, ...the rest of the story.