Vintage 1000 2020

[Rick Bennett]

With salt on the roads now in NE Ohio and my racing schedule over it's time to start thinking about next year. I have already signed up to ride both of the Vintage 1000s, coastal and mountain. Adam is changing up the routes a bit and trying to add more dirt. The mountain ride will start in North Carolina and on into Virginia.
Having ridden my 74 Six Days for 5300 miles over the two with absolutely no problem, I think I will try a Berkshire. I have another high breather frame with title and core motor on the shelf. Time to open up the tool box and get out the Sachs engine stand.
Anyone want to join me?

[Daniel P. McEntee]

Hi Rick;
    I thoroughly enjoyed your previous adventures and will be watching for the next editions. Going along would certainly be a lot of fun but don't think I could swing it. You tell the story well enough it's almost like being there anyway! Good luck to you and I'll be watching!
   Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee

[Rick Bennett]

150 days out now. I am starting from a bare 1974 frame for the Berkshire adventure bike. Right now it is hanging from the rafters in my shop. I started sorting out Sachs parts and will build the motor from pieces. First off will be the crank. I will again follow the "Paul Danik" method of balancing. Last time I balanced at 55 percent of G and it was way better than stock at 80 percent. I may vary this slightly just to experiment. The case will be a 6B, with as many new parts as I can come up with. I am really enjoying owning Pentons the second time around. Back in the 70's my shop was in a wet basement with workbench and VERY few tools. Racing and repairing was a struggle, especially in the winter.

[Rick Bennett]

Just came in for the night from my shop. I cleaned up a nice B case and removed all the bearings for replacement.  Somehow I managed to get the crank apart on my last motor. I had to cobble up some plates to hold it on the press. Since I have more cranks to do I cut out a thick steel plate just for this job. I then proceeded to take two cranks apart. One came apart reasonably easy but the other one took all 25 tons of pressure to get it to pop. The crank and plates jumped up and then hit the floor. I had put cardboard boxes down to catch the parts so all is well. Glad I took them apart even though they seemed in usable shape. Both of the lower pins and bearings had pitting. One has rust where the seal rides on the ignition side. I can buy a Speedi Sleeve to repair this. I will reassemble them tomorrow and true in V blocks before balancing.

[Rick Bennett]

Cranks trued up tonight. One started at .009 and one at .006. Now both at .0005.

[Daniel P. McEntee]

That was pretty fair shootin' there butch! Did you cover the crank balancing in detail last time? If so I'll find it and re-read it. That sounds interesting even though I have no need or plans to do anything like that.
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Rick Bennett]

Cranks are not too hard to do. All you need is a press, copper hammer and V block set up. Sometimes getting them apart takes quite a lot of pressure. My press is rated at 25 tons and it can take that to separate the halves. I made my V fixture out of a 6" x 12" x 1/4" steel plate and two 6" pieces of 1" square tubing. I cut a V notch in one end of each tube and then welded them to the plate 2 1/2 inches apart. The crank without bearings will lay in the notch and can be rotated with dial indicator placed on the spindle. When pressing the crank back together I place a straight edge along the flywheel weights to get it as straight as possible. Once together and being rotated you will see how far out the spindles are. With the indicator on the left side, find the high point. This will tell you what you have to fix. Hit the right weight. The weights can be twisted or not parallel. You fix the twist by hitting one weight with the copper hammer. You will have to hit it pretty hard to move it. You can hold it in your hand to do this or what I do is place it on a sand bag used for sheet metal forming. If not parallel, I drive a chisel between the flywheels. Cut a thin piece of aluminum and bend into a U. Place between the webs with the chisel in between to protect the parts. To pinch, place in a vise. There are YouTube videos showing all this which will help to understand the process. It takes a while to get it right but you can do this. Both the cranks I just finished were not parallel and twisted. I like to get the twist out first but had to do both about three times. Like anything else, the more you work on it, the better it comes out. Each one of mine took about a hour to straighten.

[Rick Bennett]

Yikes, time is flying by. Time to get back to this project.

Since the last post my time has been taken up building a Honda XL125 racer, bored to 170, for one of our youth CC group racers. I delivered this bike to the York swap meet where he picked it up.

My Sachs 100 motor is ready to have the shaft end play checked and then the case can go together. I put in an order with Brian for another aluminum tank since he was at York. It looks like fair weather on Sunday, so I can get the frame down and sand blast. Who has the best deal on aluminum rims these days?

90 days from leaving on the 2800 mile round trip to Florida.

[Rick Bennett]

Just over 60 days until I depart for Chattanooga. Parts are rolling in for my Berkshire adventure bike. This will be a pretty close copy of what I did last time. The Kenda 270 tires and new Preston Petty fenders arrived yesterday. I have been doing my best to keep Al B. In business. Speed Deluxe just sent out emails updating riders. I am working to cut down ounces out of what I have to carry. I picked up a nicer tent and saved a good pound over the last one. Riding a 100 will be a challenge.

[Rick Bennett]

Yippee skippy, almost forgot. There is a 53 Panhead signed up this time. Which would you rather ride on the sand roads in Florida, a Harley or one of JP's finest?

[Richard Colahan]

Remember to true and balance those wheels!!!

quote:Originally posted by Rick Bennett

Just over 60 days until I depart for Chattanooga. Parts are rolling in for my Berkshire adventure bike. This will be a pretty close copy of what I did last time. The Kenda 270 tires and new Preston Petty fenders arrived yesterday. I have been doing my best to keep Al B. In business. Speed Deluxe just sent out emails updating riders. I am working to cut down ounces out of what I have to carry. I picked up a nicer tent and saved a good pound over the last one. Riding a 100 will be a challenge.

Richard Colahan
1969 V1225
Upper Black Eddy PA

[Pat Oshaughnessy]

I cant think of anything better than a 53 Panhead in the sand! I saw a Harley Sportster at the Wilseyville Hare Scrambles yrs. ago. He made one lap & got standing ovation from the crowd at the finish line. I still remember it. One tough Hombre. He didnt come back the next year![]

[Rick Bennett]

All the riders on this event are characters, and dedicated to the brands of bikes they ride. What we have in common is the love of riding. It doesn't matter what you ride. In fact it is more fun and interesting to see the diversity. I am sure he will struggle in the rougher parts, but in the end, will be on a trip not to be forgotten.

Had a good day today. I was able to get my title changed from off road to on road, and get license plates. I ordered a PVL from REMX after having a long conversation with them about my over voltage problem. Will go with the DC version this time. It supposedly does not require a battery. Also called Full Circle Racing to order rims and stainless spokes. Yes, I will do a better job getting them straight this time. On pavement it really makes a difference.

Spots are still open for anyone looking for the ride of a lifetime.

[Pat Oshaughnessy]

Rick when you start planning for the TRans. Am. trail it would be better to go west to east. Because of snow in Colorado. my Son has done it & you have to wait for the snow to melt in Colo.

[Rick Bennett]

All the riders on this event are characters, and dedicated to the brands of bikes they ride. What we have in common is the love of riding. It doesn't matter what you ride. In fact it is more fun and interesting to see the diversity. I am sure he will struggle in the rougher parts, but in the end, will be on a trip not to be forgotten.

Had a good day today. I was able to get my title changed from off road to on road, and get license plates. I ordered a PVL from REMX after having a long conversation with them about my over voltage problem. Will go with the DC version this time. It supposedly does not require a battery. Also called Full Circle Racing to order rims and stainless spokes. Yes, I will do a better job getting them straight this time. On pavement it really makes a difference.

Spots are still open for anyone looking for the ride of a lifetime.