Stage 10: The Day After

Stage 10 would be 300 miles from Sturgis to Billings Montana. We had finally arrived at the stages I had been looking forward to, with open roads and beautiful scenery. After a long day off, the #96 Indian is at the start for the 7:00 am start.

The morning was cool and crisp and the first 50 miles clicked off without a hitch. The first gas came and went, and as is typical with this motor, it doesn't like to start and stop. So at about 50 miles I noticed a drop in power, and looked down to see the front cylinder intake pushrod and lifter pins had been ejected. I soildered on for another 100 miles on 1 cylinder, then lost the rear cylinder due to a stuck intake valve. I changed the valve, spring, cage, and seal again, but the pushrods was not the correct length, and immediately broke the rocker.  So I had made it to Montana, only to be waiting on the bus.

Big Sky Country, not far from Custer's Last Stand

Another long night in the motel parking lot, but we figured out the problem with my valve geometry. All the spares were different lengths, and the valve stems were different lengths also, so we made the correct length pushrods and lifter pins. We also decided the new intake valves were to tight on the guides, so we opened them up.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll be back on track.