Gomer the Ratster.5

So I gave the guys at the shop my carburettor and bought a Bendix with a fixed jet from them, because it was a Harley carburettor. I didn't ask about S&S, (because I didn't know about S&S), and they didn't tell me about S&S (because they had a Bendix in stock to sell). A few days later, I saw a project Panhead in the shop that had what looked like a Mikuni carburettor just like the one I had turned in.

I found out later that Mikuni carburettors are very easy to fix and maintain, that parts were cheap, and that even a doofus like me could tune them by reading and following a Mikuni manual. Today, I wonder if the only thing wrong with that Mikuni was that it was dirty.

I should have learned, never turn in old components. Clean 'em, lube 'em, wrap 'em up, and put them away where they won't rust or corrode.

Anyway, the guys at the shop sold me this Bendix with stock filter and cover. This cover is so big that it obscures the choke lever. The choke lever on Gomer would apply the choke by itself from time to time. Whenever the choke applied after Gomer was warmed up, she would run very erratically, and good luck with starting her.

I only found out about the self-applied choke phenomenon when talking to another rider whose motorbike had the same kind of Bendix installed as on Gomer. He mentioned that that the choke sometimes self-applied after he removed the choke wire and knob. I stopped having this problem after I changed to a round filter/cover setup several years after I changed carburettors.

I took Gomer in for a make-over in March 1980, using the $700 settlement money as a down payment.

1. I asked for a stock handlebar in place of the ape bar.
2. I asked for a 4-5 gallon gas tank in place of the 2.1 gallon gas tank
3. I asked that the motor be rebuilt to 61 cubic inches from 55 cubic inches. I didn't ask the guys to upgrade the oil pump; they didn't tell me that the later oil pump would provide more oil for more displacement.
4. I asked them to install a Phase 3 primary belt drive (I retained the stock primary chain drive in my parts stash).
5. I asked them to paint Gomer almost-white blue and almost-black blue, with a gold dollar sign on the gas tank, and with 'xalepa ta kala'(means nothing without work), using gold Greek lettering, along the left side of the frame.
6. I asked them to install cop-bike styled panniers that they had in stock. 
7. I asked them to install a big tail lamp.

I got Gomer back in June, for an additional $1400 in one dollar bills.

1. Gomer got a wide dresser-style bar. I guess that could be stock. Should have asked for a drag bar.
2. The gas tank ' is nearly four gallons'. I guess 2.9 gallons is nearly four gallons if you squint your eyes a bit.
3. The guys rebuilt the motor and transmission, and installed 1974 20 over cylinders and the heads to go with them. No oil pump upgrade.
4. The belt drive front pulley had to be repaired about a year later, I think.
5. The paint was not bad. Light sky-blue and dark blue, like you might see on a Ford or Chevy. Pretty. OK. Whatever. The dollar sign and the lettering were good.
6. The panniers looked good. The left one fell off of the frame about a week after I got Gomer back and the bottom got nice and scraped. The guys had used the grade three-or-five fasteners that were with the pannier frame instead of new grade eight fasteners.
7. The big tail lamp worked by itself, and not when the head light was on. I found that out the first night I wanted to ride with some friends. Turned out that the lamp was not properly grounded; a ground wire fixed that. I wonder why the guys didn't install the ground wire when they were installing the tail lamp?

 

Gomer after makeover

Doc and Gomer June 1980

More later...