Some of us got up a little Later on Sunday. Bike work was wrapping up, and I had to get the Wing ready for the ride across country. I'd found time to take it on a couple local ride to the tune of 50 miles or so.
Outside of being kind of big, it seemed to run pretty well. The seat had some rips in it so I got the duck tape out and patched it up. One of the guys gave me an unused GPS mount that I installed.
A couple of the electro boys tried to get the Wings radio system going, but they said that the amp (whatever that is) seemed to be blown.....so no tunes. Of course, that would have been a first for me. I'm pretty content with my one thoughts anyway so no big loss.
Amazingly the old girl was in good operating condition. It was full of oil and even the air pump for the suspension worked as it should. All the boxes had locks and keys. It looked like the ride home would get a big thumbs up.
Sunday was spent making up lost time with friends, young and old alike. No telling if I'll ever see these guys again. That T Blum, from Past Cack/ ADV St1100 fame on the left, and Wall Street George on the right.
That's Art in the front and Ed Shea in the right Foreground. And of note is Bob Amadon, rhymes with Mastodon) in the girly pink tee shirt. Bob was our ace in the hole in Labor Days Harmony town fair 'Hammer throw' contest.
Speaking of the Hammer and Skillet throw at Harmony, Maine's Fair, Last year the Zim folks invaded the contest and took several place ribbons. The sabmag boys stormed back this year to take top honors with a 79' toss, and maybe six ribbons in all. It was a lot of fun.
Top honors Bob...
And the rest of the ribbon holders....not all our guys. Good clean fun.
Here's a picture of Jason's NX650 faking a hookup with the towns tractor pulling sled.
They had an antique Flywheel engine exhibit.... I still don't know how some of them work.
Some old tractors.........
And some antique chain saws. Some of those were bery interesting.
Click on pic for larger image...a couple times.
Tomorrow, Tueday the 7th, the fun would come to an end, and I would ride.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
[LEFT]Friday was more wrenching. The 'ceptor project progressed. More tires were change. A '98 'Cepter got moved into the garage for advanced electrical repairs.
Ziggy's angle drive was out. of course it required special Honda tools to extract the bad bearing. We managed to get it out with a big hammer. We didn't have the parts to get his Sabre back together, but the Ziggman figure that he could put it back together by himself, once he got the parts, at home.
This is Zim, himself, in the garage. He's more of a director type, and runs a tight ship. I think he's asking for another beer in this pic.
From Drop Box
[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkOrange"]
It's really amazing what goes on shop wise up there. One year Jason brought six bikes up to work on. He had his Dodge Diesel on that trip and the alt on the pickup went out.....well, to get back to Mass where he lived he wired in a running ST1100 and ran his Dodge's electrics off the motorcycle.
Yep pretty amazing.
Steak and Lobster tomorrow......[/COLOR][/SIZE][/LEFT]
Ziggy's angle drive was out. of course it required special Honda tools to extract the bad bearing. We managed to get it out with a big hammer. We didn't have the parts to get his Sabre back together, but the Ziggman figure that he could put it back together by himself, once he got the parts, at home.
This is Zim, himself, in the garage. He's more of a director type, and runs a tight ship. I think he's asking for another beer in this pic.
[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkOrange"]
It's really amazing what goes on shop wise up there. One year Jason brought six bikes up to work on. He had his Dodge Diesel on that trip and the alt on the pickup went out.....well, to get back to Mass where he lived he wired in a running ST1100 and ran his Dodge's electrics off the motorcycle.
Yep pretty amazing.
Steak and Lobster tomorrow......[/COLOR][/SIZE][/LEFT]
Day 2 at SMNOE '10
........a good night's rest brought along with it the new day. Many hugs were enjoyed by friends separated by a few years. I'd even almost died of Cancer since I'd seen these guys in Late '08. I'm cancer free now, BTW.
Linda, bless her heart, provided the first breakfasts of many to come, and soon the move to the Garage took place....ruh, ruh.
ADVer Ziggy Stardust had already arrive with his V45 V4 Sabre. Ziggy was looking for garage space as his bike had destroyed a bearing in the drive shaft line.
I suggested that he get his bike in there while there was still space. He was first in the shop. He's been trying to get the angle drive off the engine for the last several months, and had come to an unmovable object. I'd promised to help him when I got there.
Jason got second spot with his 2 VF500 'ceptors. He had a rusted out frame that needed to be replaced by a good one from the other bike. Both these bikes had been outside under tarps for a few years.....what a job.
The brown Santa, UPS, soon showed up with some new tires that needed changing. So I also got to sharpen my field tire changing skills. There was much help with the tire changing. The inexperienced got a chance to witness the struggles of bead breaking and tire spooning, and even participate if they wanted to.....that always good to know.
Ziggy's Bike wait for new Angle Drive Bearing
[LEFT][/LEFT]
...and here's Ziggy and crew showing off his bad Bearing
Jason's 'ceptor project...
Tire changing and carb cleaning project Magna....
............but it's not all work....Later that night Linda got out of the kitchen long enough for some socializing, ah....that's me chatting her up. I'm trying to get an extra lobster on lobster night. :lol3
Linda, bless her heart, provided the first breakfasts of many to come, and soon the move to the Garage took place....ruh, ruh.
ADVer Ziggy Stardust had already arrive with his V45 V4 Sabre. Ziggy was looking for garage space as his bike had destroyed a bearing in the drive shaft line.
I suggested that he get his bike in there while there was still space. He was first in the shop. He's been trying to get the angle drive off the engine for the last several months, and had come to an unmovable object. I'd promised to help him when I got there.
Jason got second spot with his 2 VF500 'ceptors. He had a rusted out frame that needed to be replaced by a good one from the other bike. Both these bikes had been outside under tarps for a few years.....what a job.
The brown Santa, UPS, soon showed up with some new tires that needed changing. So I also got to sharpen my field tire changing skills. There was much help with the tire changing. The inexperienced got a chance to witness the struggles of bead breaking and tire spooning, and even participate if they wanted to.....that always good to know.
Ziggy's Bike wait for new Angle Drive Bearing
[LEFT][/LEFT]
...and here's Ziggy and crew showing off his bad Bearing
Jason's 'ceptor project...
Tire changing and carb cleaning project Magna....
............but it's not all work....Later that night Linda got out of the kitchen long enough for some socializing, ah....that's me chatting her up. I'm trying to get an extra lobster on lobster night. :lol3
SMNOE setup
To understand this ride, you have to have some history. I'm an older bike kind of guy. I've been riding Honda V4s for years. That means over 25 years for my '84 Sabre. Well, to keep them running I joined a V4 internet list back in '98.
There's about 500 members on the list, and I've become good friends with many of them. These guys have toured Baja with me and much of the states as well.....even Alaska.
They've even nursed me thru engine overhauls and all sorts of other major V4 repairs. They are a crafty crowd when it comes to the workshop.
Getting ready to touch down in Boston
So anyway, one of them, and his wife, throws a moto-get-together on Labor Day weekend in Maine every year. As I live in SD Calif, it's a struggle to make the party. I had been able to do the party 5 times in the last 7 years, but didn't think that I'd get there in 2010......or maybe never again, since I'm get a little long in the tooth.
Four of the past visits, I managed to get some old POS bike in the east and ride it back to San Diego. One year it was a V4 Magna, then an NX250, and a '81 Silver Wing, as well as a PC800. But I figured that was all over probably.
About a month before the event, I got a call from Jason in Mass about an '83 Gold Wing that was in pretty good shape, and was available at a good price, and why didn't I come back, do the get together, and ride that home to SD.
Well, I didn't know why. Except getting 2 weeks off from my lovely wife, Dee, might be impossible. But I told Jason to sign me up, and that I'd think of someway to get Dee to agree to the trip.
I was even prepared to ask for forgiveness when I got back, if I couldn't get permission up front.
...Long story shorting.....I touched down in Boston, and Jason picked me up at the airport with the Gold Wing, 2 VF500s, and His running NX650 in a trailer behind his pickup. We were on the way to SMNOE (SabMag Event North of Everywhere)
Let me tell you a little about this gathering. Zim and Linda have a place on a small Lake in Maine about 50 miles NW of Bangor Maine. Every year, at least for the past 10, he's invited the V4 list members to come visit for the long LD weekend, from Thursday to Tuesday.
Zim supplies everything, and Linda cooks 3 meals a day for about 40 guest.....that includes beer, and Linda pushes Long Island Ice Tea. :freaky
The guests put a donation box up and make contributions. I've no idea how that comes out.
A highlight of the weekend is a steak and Lobster dinner on Saturday night. The other high lights are day rides to Bar Harbor and such, as well as much wrenching in Zim's 2 story large garage.
Rider's save up there projects to bring them to Zim's for this weekend to get their carbs cleaned, Valve adjusted ....or motor's swapped. It's a pretty intense weekend of bike works.
Ok, you get the picture, the 3Bs, Bike work, Bike rides, and Beer....oh, and plenty of lies around the camp fire.
So here are the players.... Photo by Zim
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From
Drop Box
FromDrop Box
[left][SIZE="4"] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]Jason and I were not the First to arrive there at about10:30pm. No one was up so we went straight to bed in the Garage upstairs.
Click pic to enlarge......
Other's tented
some motorhomed, and set up across the driveway....
More drove 4 wheels this year than in the past.....were getting older :cry
This was the morning after Hurricane Earl came thru...2.5 inches of rain, not much wind.
More serious work and Partying would start tomorrow, Thurs.....and ultimately the ride back to San Diego[/COLOR][/LEFT][/SIZE]
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