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Holy shitaroo, what a year! We started out with the notion for a Streamlined 45 like Burt Monroe. The streamliner rules prohibited the dream, but we kept moving with Departure Bike Works, until the economy sucked the life out of Lee's business, and state taxes almost shut him down. The Bonne Belle slowed like two flat tires in the mud.

Suddenly, like a lightening strike in the night, the Peashooter, with its stroked overhead valve engine, was almost rebuilt, and Sierra Madre Motorcycles offered to help modify and repair my old Peashooter frame, through Mackie. Berry Wardlaw from Accurate Engineering had the perfect front end, a miniature Ceriani glide from the '60s. I had to give the Peashooter Bonneville effort my best shot, but we only had a couple of months.

We now have three days before departure, and I'm still waiting on the primary drive through Classic Cycles, in Orange, California. It was recently shipped from England. This weekend, we made the Envy Cycle Peashooter fairing brackets and mounted the windshield. Terry Lee hand-fabbed the entire unit with my scattered dimensions. I thought the Peashooter would be a breeze, but it's been packed with interesting challenges.

"Just read the Sunday News; the Peashooter is looking sexy as hell," said Terry Lee. "You missed you're calling. Crazy week for you, I'm sure. Best of luck; it'll all come together. Too much effort has gone into this endeavor for it to take a shit this late in the game."

It's inspirational thoughts like Terry's that keep me moving and positive. I have a thing about communication. The more you communicate, the more you learn, find, and broaden your approach. Every positive thought helps.

        The front end was metric, so nothing fit. We saved it with Paughco 45 parts and a lot of machining. Someone helped me with the '42 pre-unit BSA transmission, but I've lost contact. Mike Pullin' and his partner made the oil bag out of a fire extinguisher. Then I had to find a primer pump for the total loss system. 

I was nervous about the amount of oil in the lower end, so we set up a clear tube, like a gas tank fuel level gauge, so we can monitor how much oil is in the lower end. I ran a valve at the end of the hose so I could jump some oil, if need be.

We are due to pick up the seat and chest pad at Saddleman tomorrow at 2:00. For some reason, this year kicked my ass. I let everything run too late, then pre-determined that all was well, when it wasn't.

Berry Wardlaw held onto the Assalt Weapan for two years, then sent it back, race ready, but it wasn't tuned, and now the top end is off, while we wait for J&E rings and gaskets. We made just 10 passes on the dyno and discovered problems with the rings and low compression in the rear cylinder, which was causing the famous Pan to spew oil. 

Eric Bennett, from Bennett's performance. He's also heading to the salt.

But we're prepared to give it hell, if the parts arrive, and the Pegasus crew is standing by for tuning. Berry is one of the most passionate guys in this industry, but like so many folks in the United States, the economy kicked his ass.

Click on the image for Bennett's Performance Info.

So, here's where I stand at this second. We need the Peashooter primary system, final powder-coating from Worco, a machined and modified engine pulley, the Saddleman seats, a Biker's Choice chain, a blessing from the gods of alignment, oil in the BSA transmission, and the bastard to start. Billy Lane will be proud. I traded him a 1913 Pope engine for the 1926 overhead valve Peashooter engine.

Wego system from Daytona Twin Tech components. Click on any of these image for more info.

Wego wiring system. It's a breeze, if you like tiny screwdrivers.

We are now ordering banners for the salt and  magnetic 5-Ball racing signs for our vehicles. I bought some spare sparkplugs for the Peashooter and the Assalt Weapan. Fuckin' auto parts didn't have all the plugs we needed. The salesman spewed sweet saleman's banter as he searched parts bins to no avail. If the inventory was as slick and his lighthearted remarks, we would have been in terrific shape.

Pablo warned me about welding coated pipes. I installed the 02 sensor bungs as close to the valves as possible.

I hate messing with the Wa of the Assalt Weapan, but we had to grab accurate air/fuel readings.

One hot wire and one solid ground, makes it work.

It's not a bad notion to purchase the proper tap size to clean the threads after welding. I used the plugs, and that was a nerve-racking pain in the ass.

Wire is simple but delicate. Follow the instructions closely.

The system was clear, and ready to rock.

The Wego system allowed us to dial in the fuel mixture from the Pegasus fuel injection system, which is a very clean unit. Click on this image for more info.

The sad Assalt Weapan, waiting for teardown. We discovered serious variations in compression from front to rear. Would it kill our attempt on the salt for 2010?

We will begin the packing process along with the continued Peashooter build and Assalt Weapan repairs tonight. Sin Wu should be packing, but she's making a sexy Burning Man outfit for a knockout Hispanic broad with the biggest torpedo tits I've ever seen. Sin refuses to introduce her to me. Wonder why?

Jim Murillo, official, certified, 5-Ball Racing painter.

Jim Murillo did a helluva job with the paint, matching the two-stage powder from Worco. The guy is a true master. He sealed the tank with Casewell epoxy, bondo-filled any imperfections, worked with me on the paintable decals from Wellington signs, and pinstriped the panels, which were his notion. Plus, he came across in record time.

A generally fantastic thing about Los Angeles is access to anything, but when you have three days left, even LA is dicey. I received this e-mail this morning, but parts are still missing. 

This just in:

Your primary set up is here!!  I'll work on hunting down the kicker metal piece and bolt/spring... Should be the same as Triumph.  Yes, clutch and throttle cables will still need to be made at my shop.  I'm pretty sure I've got the pushrod situation figured out.
 
 
--Andy

Classic Cycles

Orange, CA

Click on this image for ISR components from LA ChopRods.

Jeremiah peeled south to pick up the goods, but we're still missing the elements to make a clutch cable, the nut to hold the clutch in place, and a clutch pushrod. Damn, we're close, but alignment will be the key.

You should have been here the day Ray Wheeler, the president of Wheeler Racing, and I installed the transmission sprocket.

Check that mastercylinder from ISR.

"You need to raise or lower the transmission," Ray said, and started to take apart all my mounting parts.

I gulped hard. That was by far the toughest obstacle to making this bike work. Several days of thought, machining, and tinkering went into making a flexible, yet solid system for mounting a 1950s BSA 4-speed trans into this Peashooter frame.

Just then, Andy called from Classic Cycle. When I mentioned our dilemma he said confidently, "We run into those issues constantly, where chains smack the frame. We hit the local skateboard shop and run idler wheels. It's easy."

I immediately remembered the system we set up for the Assalt Weapan with a bar of Teflon from the Bikernet treasure chest. I hit the drawer and found the key, another chunk of Teflon. Our solution was in hand, and I could put the trans back in place. As it turned out, with some minor adjusting, the trans sprocket lined up with the ISR sprotor sprocket from LA Choprods. Amazing!

We used everything under the sizzling sun to determine whether the trans was straight or not. We didn't have any of the components in hand as we cut and welded a piece of rectangular tubing to two chunks of angle iron. We didn't have the trans sprocket, the money for the ISR sprotor, the primary drive, or the offset engine pulley.

Okay, most of the elements are in, and I'm waiting for a call from Bennett's Performance. No parts arrived from Accurate today, still waiting. This jams the Assalt Weapan, the World's Fastest Panhead repairs, right up against the efforts to finish the Peashooter.  The key issue over the next couple of days will be the offset pulley for the Peashooter engine and a handful of BSA tranny parts. We need to mate the Paughco 45 pulley to the belt pulley with a spacer that aligns it with the clutch. That's all and we're ready to go. Hang on!