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Buellish
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 - 01:12 pm: | 
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Have a fantastic trip John! |
Natexlh1000
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 - 01:18 pm: |
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Taking the sporty or getting something suitable there? |
Crusty
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 - 02:13 pm: |
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I have a 1979 XLCH (converted to an XLH) that's been sitting and rusting since late April 1997, waiting for my return. Getting it running will be a priority project for me. I built it from a rolling Basket Case here in the USA, then shipped it over to Australia so I'd have a Harley to ride to the 8th Australian National HOG Rally in Launceston, Tasmania. I'm hoping that it hasn't deteriorated too badly for me to revive. If it has, I might just be bikeless while I'm there. Knowing me and my priorities, though, if it is beyond my abilities, I'll find some sort of two wheeled motorized transportation to get me around; even if it's just a Honda 50 step through. Ron & Melia have a rather large pickup that guzzles gas and a Suzuki (not too) Swift that sips it.
I think that most of our traveling is going to be in that Swift. |
Greg_e
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 - 08:48 pm: |
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A 79 carbed bike? How bad could it be that it wouldn't run? Battery, scrape the rust off the brakes, fresh gas and go. |
Crusty
| | Posted on Thursday, November 12, 2015 - 06:44 am: |
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Hopefully. But if there are issues, I'll be attempting to get it running without a local parts supply. Harley parts are common here in the USA; that's not the case half way around the world. And parts prices are a lot higher.
Clutch plates have been sitting for 18 tears, the chain could be rusted into a solid rod, electrical connections could be a corroded mess, clutch and throttle cables could be ready to snap and did a nest of mice decide to use the seat padding as insulation when they decided to move into the muffler?
18 years is a long time for any machine to be sitting unused. I'm hoping for a Good Case scenario, but I've also dealt with enough other neglected machines to not get my hopes too high. |
Crusty
| | Posted on Thursday, November 12, 2015 - 07:55 am: |
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Don’tcha Just Hate Goodbyes?
This is the last Snippet I’ll be writing on this past year’s Tramping about. It’s been a magnificent year; one of the best years of my life. I traveled through 44 States (most of them more than once), a bunch of National Parks, saw a few Dirt Track races and visited with a lot of really good people. I got Invites from a lot more that I didn’t get to visit, as well. I’ve seen a lot of new and interesting things, I’ve ridden on roads that were wonderful and roads that were crap. I’ve seen changes to places I haven’t been to in decades (and not always for the better) and I visited a lot of places that I’ve never been to.
How do I say Thank You? The sleeping bag and tent I’m using are not the ones I started out with. Both are much better than the items they replaced. The generosity of Badwebbers and other friends just blows my mind. There is a long list of people I want to thank, but I’m afraid to name them all as I’d probably forget somebody and I really don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or make them feel that I don’t appreciate their efforts. A couple of people want to stay anonymous; that doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate the help I’ve received from them. Also, not all help is financial. Moral support is even more important than money, to me. If you’re reading this, then you’ve helped me on this trip.
You guys are all my friends. Friendship is the greatest gift I could get.
Now I’m beginning a new phase in my wanderings. I’m heading to Queensland to visit with Ron and Melia and have new adventures in a very different place. I’ll get to see things I’ve never seen before and do things I’ve never done before. There are some things I’m looking forward to; a steak sandwich at the Hotel in Byron Bay is one of them, the weather is another. I want to explore a new place and see a lot of new and fascinating things and I’ll write about them.
Once more, Thank You. Because I have people like you in my life, I feel incredibly fortunate. |
Natexlh1000
| | Posted on Thursday, November 12, 2015 - 09:18 am: |
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As a "proud" owner of the finest year of ironhead, I would suggest you bring a set of points, condenser.
Common failure points in the wiring I have found are in the headlight bucket.
The big white block of sucky disco era connector's contacts can be cleaned with a round wooden toothpick. Then tweak the female ends a little so that they contact the other side.
This was the cause of most of my '79 just stopping randomly issues.
Those sealbeams are getting hard to find. They used to be $3 in any auto parts store. now they are not even stocked anywhere.
I had to buy a few from some online vendor. |
Damnut
| | Posted on Thursday, November 12, 2015 - 09:27 am: |
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Cheers my friend, hope you have a most excellent adventure whilst down under. |
Zac4mac
| | Posted on Thursday, November 12, 2015 - 10:09 am: |
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Only 5 more days John...
Enjoy the trip to Summer, we'll be waiting for updates to get our wanderlust fix.
6 years of West Coast tripping in the Navy, Oz was the crown jewel, we are ecstatic you are on your way back.
Hope to catch you at another Homecoming and hear some stories first-hand.
Be safe and happy
Zack |
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