It looks like the weather is going to hold for tomorrow. The weekly staff meeting was not too productive for me. Once the topic turned to football. I don't know an end zone from a no parking zone. So I just kind of zoned out. But we did manage to get the official business done. We will leave from the Roadway Inn @ 10:00.
TIME........11:00
Here it is
Gridiron Cafe
211 N. Main St
Hope, Kansas 67451
785-366-7700
Facebook Page.....https://www.facebook.com/Gridiron-Cafe- ... 6/?fref=ts
Web Page..........
Map site.............https://tinyurl.com/y95zj3gt
This week turned out to be a pretty good ride. I was worried about it being a little chilly, but it wasn't bad at all for December. I'm beginning to think all the doomsayers that were predicting a cold and harsh winter aren't as clairvoyant as they think. I was the first to arrive at the Roadway Inn and being only 15 minutes from launch time I was considering the possibility that I might be making the trip alone. It didn't take long for others to roll in. Come launch time we had 7 bikes. We got to Hope a little early and there were a number of bikes on the scene and there was a lot of tire kicking and lie swapping going on already. I passed the book off to Terry Powell and proceeded to go snap happy. In the mean time more bikes rolled in and by the time I got inside we had 20. That worked out since I told them to expect about 15 to 20. The fare was a variety of burgers, so I opted for the one with the cheese, bacon, and BBQ sauce. Just hold those evil onions. All bellies full we filtered out for round two of the tire kicking session. Some had other places to go or wanted to take a more scenic route home. I just backtracked home and by the time I got there my back was saying "that's enough for today". All in all it was a good day for a ride.
After a day of rest I got a front end loader to dig a path to my bench in the garage and attacked the Goldwing project. The engine is all back together and ready to go back in the frame. My second lift was serving a bench to tear into that engine and it was occupied with the project engine and the parts engine, since my work bench is buried under a ton of useless junk. That and It's easier to have the engine closer to the bike when it's done. Throughout my many years working on bikes I have learned the value of a small furniture dolly. It makes moving a heavy engine around the shop a lot easier. So I had each engine on a dolly and found one of the few places in my garage with enough space to stuff the parts engine in so I rolled it there. The project engine was on the lift yet, so I positioned the frame so I could get the engine to it. Now it's time to roll the engine off the lift. I hooked a tie down strap to the engine in effort to avoid having to chase the engine down the street when it rolled off the ramp. Well, you've heard about the best laid plans of mice and men. It turned out that I didn't account for all possible contingencies. There is a little bump to get over where the ramp attaches to the lift. I got the lead wheels of the dolly over the bump but the trailing wheels seemed a little reluctant to follow suit. Well, the dolly stopped, but the 250 pound engine didn't. That's where then engine and the dolly parted company. Now I have the engine on the floor and the dolly sitting comfortably beside it. At this point I am swiftly losing my enthusiasm. This engine is way too heavy for my creaky old bones to lift back onto the dolly. If I try to rock the engine on to one end and try to roll it back on the dolly, it will just spit the dolly out from under it. If I remove the ramp from the lift I can butt the dolly up to the end of the lift and then rock the engine back on the dolly. So with much wailing and gnashing of teeth I was able to muscle the engine back on the dolly. Rolling the engine over to the frame I realized that I was once again at an impasse. The engine has to be lifted about 4 inches to fit into the opening in the frame which is almost big enough to get the engine in. Now this is usually a 2 person operation. In terms of sheer mass I'm probably the equivalent of 2 people but I lack the required extra arms and legs. The problem is how to raise the engine to the required height without causing significant self inflicted injury. I can't get my floor jack under the dolly, and the engine is too heavy to lift. So I snuggled the engine as close to the frame as I could. Then I took a ratchet tie down, slung it under the right cylinder bank and another under the rear of the engine and hooked both to the upper frame. With that I was able to ratchet the right side and rear of the engine up to the required height. Then I took a bazaar looking ratcheting floor jack under the left cylinder bank and lifted that side up to match the right side. Now the engine is off of the furniture dolly and hanging by the tie downs and resting on the jack. But now I can get my hydraulic floor jack under the engine. With a little trial and error I found the balance point of the engine and could jack it up to the needed height. Now with a little wiggling and jacking and twisting and turning and holding my tongue just right while whispering a magic incantation, I got the engine within the frame. Now to get the bolt holes lined up. A little more jacking, wiggling and some prying and I got the lower right bolt in place. Then the left frame section went on. Wiggle wiggle, jack jack, pry pry, and the left rear bolt is in. More jacking and the lower front bolt goes in. SUCCESS! IT'S IN AND HANGING BY ITS OWN MOUNTS!! I declared victory with a huge King Kong chest thump and primeval scream. After this adventure I have a new respect for Sumo wrestlers. The only thing left that I wanted to get done was to get this behemoth on the lift, but now the frame is 250 pounds heavier and I just didn't have the steam to get it up there. I called my friend Shorty who was on his way back from Wichita and he stopped by and supplied the extra muscle to push it up the ramp. When I got up this morning my back reminded me of what I did yesterday. Ibuprofen is my new best friend.