Date: Sunday, September 9, 2018
This morning I was up at the crack of 8:30.
Yesterday we crossed from mountain time into central time so our bodies are a bit confused.
Mark had coffee made and was working on a skillet full of hillbilly omelet. It was delicious.
I neglected to take a picture of our breakfast, but you can see our outside dining table in the lower right of the picture below.
After we ate, the saddlebags, seat and gas tank came off the Bubba.
Since I drained the engine and transmission overnight the drain plugs were reinstalled, well almost. The treads in the transmission for the drain plug were stripped. The temporary fix was the installation of a 1/8 NPT plug. Once that was done it was time to deal with the generator.
THE BUNGEE BRACKET INSTALLED IN SHERADIN
When the generator was removed I discovered that the bracket hadn’t broken, but the nuts had loosened up.
I pulled the bracket out so the entire area could be cleaned. Things were a little grimy.
Bubba was then rolled to the end of the drive and serious cleaning began.
A liberal amount of degreaser aided by Scotchbright pads were used and used and used.
The power washer is a critical weapon in the war to take a bite out of grime.
Mark also had a gallon jug of aluminum brightener, aka muriatic acid. When you take the cap off a product and smoke comes out you know it’s got to be good!
A CLEANER ELDO
Once the bike was sufficiently clean I blew it off with a leaf blower and parked it in the sun to dry out while we ate lunch.
With the area now clean, the generator bracket was reinstalled using heavy duty washers and a good dose of Loctite 271 on each stud.
Other fixes included topping up the battery, installing the proper battery hold down bracket that Don had given me, cleaning the distributor cap, rotor and distributor wire connections, sanding the points, getting the left front turn signal working, again, adjusting the headlight, adjusting the fairing and replacing the rear tire.
I noticed the diminishing tire tread in Sheridan. Hints if a center groove were still visible so I figured it had one more day of riding left in it, but no more.
READY FOR THE DRAGS!
PEACE OF MIND
Mark pulled down a windshield he had in the garage and we set about trimming it down for the sidecar. While cutting it with a router it cracked baldly in two places. We left it for dead but then circled back to try to cut a shorter windshield out of what was left, it cracked again. The material was just too brittle to work with.
HERE, LET ME TAKE A RIP AT THIS
I KNOW, BUT SAWING INTO YOUR THUMB WASN’T INTENTIONAL!
Slowly Bubba was reassembled and fired up. All the lights worked sans the brake light. I used the meter Don gave me to diagnose the problem, the brake light switch. It was removed, a real pain. The removal would have been so much easier while the rear wheel was off! The problem was remedied by shooting a bunch of brake cleaner into the switch while working the plunger then blowing it out with compressed air. No doubt the malady was a result of the pressure washing.
We cleaned up and sat down for another feast.
MASTER CHEIF MARK’S GRILLED VEGGIES AND PORK CHOPS!
I better get out of here before I gain 50 lbs!!
SOME OF MARK’S HUMOR
It’s midnight, time for lights out.
Adventures With Bubba 