The lack of blog posts attests to the way life has been these past five months; the loudbike store consumes an immense amount of time and the work in the shop eats up the balance.
It’s been a brutal experience pulling the Yellow Bike together and at times I wondered whether I’d actually get it ready for the beginning of the season. I thought I’d gotten over the hump last month; only to discover that I needed to relocate the starter solenoid. Then the dry clutch became wet. And then when I was installing the front fender, I noticed the small pool of fork oil. And finally, the weeping Pingle (and no one wants that writing on the wall..). And that’s how it’s been for the last 5 months.
But last weekend, I pulled it out in front of the loudbike World Headquarters for the first time since I took delivery last fall and snapped a bunch of pics – which means we’re done. Yellow Bike Flickr Set
Mosport – only 11 days away – looms menacingly.
But we’re close. The Yellow Bike is about done, with only the final suspension tweaking left –although I’m finding the seat/peg relationship too tight for my knee, so another inch of padding is needed.. The BMW (what BMW?) needs only the mirrors and center stand off, and numbers on. The ex-Sears BOTT Pantah runs well and should be as ready as it’s gonna be by the end of this weekend. And although I’m still fiddling with carbs and electrics, the ex-Mertens TT1 is ready to go.
The Sears Pantah is an amazing package. Gary Wolf did the rising rate monoshock set-up and frame mods and Tim Speigleberg built and maintained the motor as it morphed from 500 to 600 to 705 to 750. The combination won two AMA BOTT championships (1984/85) It looked different back in the day and is by far the tidiest package I’ve had the pleasure of working on. When Bar picked it up Roger Sears had converted it to street trim and I prefer this set-up over the original fairing and tail. Sears Pantah Flickr Set
Paul Robbins (new owner of my old 853 F1) took to the track at Shannonville last week and as the pictures show – he and the machine bonded well.
The Yellow Bike is based on a 1988 Ducati 750 F1 and the 853 on a 1987 Ducati 750 F1. loudbike is a state of mind, a weblog about fast, loud Italian motorcycles .
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