The chopper just ain't going to make it to the show...

Unless it's trailered. I had something lined up, but it was just too expensive. That, and the hauler has to drive an hour & a half to move my chopper 20 miles to the show. So, I figured I'd drive it instead & began the inspections of road-worthyness. Simple lube points first! I always run across mechanical issues when I crawl all over a machine to find fittings. I found fittings that have all THREE layers of paint intact! The next issue I found was the rear wheels, the bearings are either shot or were not tightened after there last repacking. Provided they were repacked. The king pin (axle) was not taking grease, so I figured I would pull it, clean it grease it & put it back. No. The pin is not leaving the axle, even though the axle saged down a quarter-inch when I lifted it off the ground. To shorten the story, the gear selector box is jammed, again, the variable drive belt squeals & squallers for no apparent reason, the engine did something with a half-gallon of 30W in a half-hour's run time & don't know where it went, my manifold isn't here yet, I p'd away last weekend looking for manifold gaskets that no longer exist & I have a dent in my head from smacking it on the infernal confounded frassin' spout that's three feet too short. Oh, I'm also missing a few zerks, not that THAT is anything new. I was told that long ago. Aw, the humanity!

So..... unless the planets align & all the parts fall where they're supposed to, that poor death trap probably isn't going very far for a while. My apologies for going on, I'm just having a time of it. I will still go to check out the show, meet some good people & take plenty of pics.

Mike

thats the trouble with trying to get something ready on somewhat short notice. at least you found enough reasons not to drive it before you were 6 miles down the road and had a real issue. you'll have another year to perfect it and take it to the show then.

Welcome to the hobby! Things come up. My projects always take longer than I expected because I find more things that need done as I dig deeper. Look at it this way... you now have a list of things that need worked on.

Nothing Breaks until you need it.

Nope, it sure don't. At least it keeps breaking within walking distance of the tool box.

Mike

Funny how that goes. 2yrs ago I got a good deal on an old service truck and moved all my farm tools into it.

Since then I run it out to the field and park it before I start doing anything, breakdowns seem to be less frequent that way. Neighbor has borrowed it twice this year to fix something, both times I broke down within the hour it left my eyesight...

Are you talking fall harvest days in union grove or is their show somewhere else i missed?

Lube points serve a dual purpose. One is for lubrication, the other is so you will notice other mechanical issues while you are crawling all over the machine. Of course the main thing is you HAVE to utilize the lube points in order to notice anything else. Sadly, in so many instances, yours included it seems, someone previously neglected both items. It ain't an exclusive club. Good luck.

Shoot! I was so flustered, I forgot where I'm going this weekend. Lol! Richfield Historical Society hosts a thresheree off of 164, just a few miles south of Hwy. 60. It's a neat little show, partially tucked away in the woods. On October second, they are having their first swap meet. There's a link to their website, below.

Mike
Threshin....

we'll have to take ride up their,take in a another show before the snow flys