Speed-E-UL from Finland

Ulf sent me this great pic of another Flathead

 with a Speed-E-Shift from Finland

Elvis Birthday Blue Wax!

Got the "Blue Wax" Baby!

Promised Land...

...and Blue Suede Shoes

They even include the card for your Juke Box...

Got this 30 years ago...1984...It says 50 year anniversary... although Elvis was born in 1935...close enough. I guess it was the anniversary of his birth (usually call that a Birthday)...
Happy Birthday Elvis!

Speed-E-Shift ULH

Krazy Kevin's (RIP) Speed-E-Shift 

Pictures taken at Rhinebeck NY AMCA meet in 2007

I was checking out Nicke's Blog  http://rigidhips.blogspot.com/  and the amazing work he's doing with his own "Nick-E-Shift". I remembered I had a picture of Krazy Kevin's Speed-E-Shift from a few years back on an unfinished Flathead project...don't know what became of it...RIP Kevin...

Knuck Bob Job carcass...

White Knuckle New Years Day ride...

Had my "White Knuckle" out on New Years Day and ran into this White Knuckle again. He took off the narrow fork and put a Wide Glide front end on it since I saw it last.

Soggy Balls Ride...

Lonely...at Mike's shop

Went and found two reluctant participants...

Oiling nicely...

Made it to our destination...

More rain...

and more...

still more...

It was that time of the year again! Time for the Frosty Balls ride! 

Every December my buddy Mike Wells has a birthday ride from his bike shop up to the Wagon Wheel Tavern on the first Sunday after Christmas. If you look back at previous posts you will see pics from years past. At it's zenith (a few years back) there were 170 bikes that took the ride. Then, of course, there was the year of the snow when thirty hearty souls followed me and all crashed (except me). Then last year there was ice and snow and only eight of us made the trip. This year the weather was great on Saturday but Sunday was shaping up to be miserable...

I stopped by Mike's shop Saturday to get a new primary chain for the Knuckle (see previous post) and I confirmed the ride was on for Sunday...weather reports said rain all day for Sunday...I told Mike I'd be there. I was sick as a dog with the flu or cold or whatever since Christmas Day...but I was determined to make it.

I awoke Sunday morning to a steady cold rain...39 degrees and a steady downpour...perfect for "what ales yeah". The ride leaves Mike's shop at 1 PM with people gathering around noon... I fired up the White Knuckle, with it's new primary chain and oil adjustments, and headed for the shop. I arrived to find the street and lot empty and the door locked! I sat there for a minute in the pouring cold rain and then decided to head down the road to a friends house who said he was going...

When I pulled up to his house I could see him and another buddy peering out the window cursing me. Apparently they were just about to get into their nice dry pick up and head to the shop. They knew they would never hear the end of it if I rode and they pussed out...so they saddled up with there girlfriends and followed me over...still no one else there...a few minutes later Mike showed up and a couple other people in trucks...no other bikes...

We had a couple of beers and I said let's go...even Mike said he wasn't stupid enough to ride in this shit and opted for his truck...fuck it...the three of us made the soaking ride. We hung out in drenched clothes for several hours. It was a good time!

It was dark when I left but the rain had subsided. As I hauled ass home on a twisty country road in the dark I came around a turn and unexpectedly hit the deepest flooded road I ever went through. The water musta been two feet deep! It was literally rushing up into my face as I blasted through it! It was like getting tossed by an unexpected wave at the beach...salty and all!

Soaked again! Lucky I have the snorkel muffler on the Knuckle! I just kept going and made it home...dripping wet, freezing and sicker than ever...another one for the Idiocracy Files...

Oh... and we officially changed the name of the ride from "Frosty Balls" to "Soggy Balls" for this year!

Red Death...

This is what we call the "Red Death" for your primary chain.

Not enough or no oil getting to the primary. Time to fix the problem and install a new chain...

I removed my primary oil adjustment screw...

It had 14 shims on it already!

After hitting the hole with a shot of brake cleaner, I blew air into it to ensure clear passage...I then checked the breather/oiler in the primary and the air was passing through...

I borrowed a jam nut from the much longer Panhead pump adjusting screw.This way I can eliminate the 14 shims and have better (easier) control over the adjustment.

New chain installed...

Foot Note: The inner primary was powder coated red at one time. 

I blasted it and painted it black but left the inside red, it has nothing to do with the "Red Death" story...

Now I need to adjust everything ...as usual...

Everything is crusty and salty due to riding in the multiple 

snow storms in the past couple weeks...

Running to check oiling...

Knowing that the passage to the primary was clear I now wanted to make sure the oil was getting into the adjustment hole area. I left the screw out and ran the bike to ensure oil came out of the adjusting screw hole...it did...

Oil "O" Plenty!

I replaced the screw with the jam nut and flat washer installed (washer against the pump body) and messed with the setting while the bike was running until I got oil to the chain...If it's too much I'll back off the jam nut and bring in the screw...or maybe the problem was a clog that I fixed with the brake cleaner and air and I can go back to just some shims, either way she's oiling now! 

Now I know there is a proper setting of how many drops per second at a certain RPM is proper oiling (someone told me once)...but fuck if I can remember...I'll stick with over oil and screw in as needed...