Stage 13 began with a beautiful ride out of Kalispell, along Flathead Lake. We turned west on 28 headed for Washington, and at the first gas everything was fine. But old habits die hard, so at about the 50 mile mark, the front cylinder pushrods bound, and the tig weld broke. This time I had tiewired the bottom half so as not to loose the cup, and was able to save it. It happened on a pretty decent climb, but the bike made it to the top, so I packed the pieces in my tool roll, and soildered on on just the rear cylinder. I thought I would get as many miles as possible, but soon noticed the bike was moving along pretty well. At speed, the front cylinder intake valve was working like an atmospheric valve, with the most noticeable differences at low rpms, and starting from red lights.
But soilder along we did, and made all 254 miles into Lone Wolf Harley Davidson that evening.
Princess "Half-a-day": the 1 cylinder twinn
The reoccurring theme of this trip has definitely been trying to nurse a sick Indian to the finish each day. Long days and late nights are the norm, and it seems each day brings the same challenges. So tonight, I'm going to try to sleeve the pushrod and silver solder it, then redo the valve domes and grind new lifter pins. Afterall, It's the Cannonball.
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