George on a Super Tenere stopped in for a set of Heidenau K60's while on his way to Alaska. You can follow his trip here - http://ridingusa.blogspot.com/
The Simplex was made in New Orleans and then in Boston and somewhere in California. The engine in this one is not original. The engine is an REO made in Lansing, Michigan. One evening the bike was giving me that look so I decided to try and get it running. First thing I checked was spark. No spark. I had to get the flywheel off to check out the ignition and that was a bit of fun. Anyway all I did was clean and adjust the points and I had good spark again. Next up was the carb. Got that out of the way and added some fresh oil. I asked my 8 year old son if he thought it would run. He said the only way this thing is going to run is if you start over with a new motorcycle. Anyway I pulled it over 3 times and it was running. It even idled nicely. I really want to ride this one but I think its going to need some new belts and more attention before that happens. 
Here is another odd one you don't see to often. It a Rex. I guess it's pretty much a re-badged Italian Garelli that was distributed by an importer in California in the mid 60's. Its a push rod 125cc four stroke. Engine is currently stuck on this one. 
I figured today was a good day to see if the Jawa was a runner. This wasa recent acquisition along with all the other bikes that can be seen in an earlier blog post. The Jawa was in pretty nice original condition considering its age. I worked on it a bit while working on a couple of other bikes. First I had to figure out the key. Then figure out the wiring. It wasn't much of a mess but it didn't have a battery connected and it turns out that a wire hiding behind the horn had to be connected to the battery to power the bike. Couldn't find a wiring diagram so I had to wing it. Then I had to clean up and gap the points. New plugs and I had spark. On to the carb. Pretty straight forward on that. Hooked up the portable tank and it fired up in 3 kicks. Adjusted cables and reassembled a few things. Tank has some rust in it but not to bad so I put a filter in the line and dumped gas in the tank. Fired it up again and took it out for about 2 miles. The right side points need some more attention as it was missing a bit on that side sometimes. Also figured out first gear is all the way up and you shift down to higher gears. Kinda like my Guzzi. Pretty darn smooth for an old 2-smoke.  Some beauty shots out behind the shop.   This bike is running and ready to ride. It was recently used by the editor of Motorcycle Classics magazine on a 40 mile ride near Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. Mostly original except for the mufflers. Still has some of the hard to find parts like the plastic badges, chain guards, and the carb covers. SOLD     I will be at this festival in booths 250 and 251. I will have a few vintage bikes there and probably one or two of the CCW bikes. Click on the picture below for a full brochure. 
I will be updating the Motorcycles For Sale section as I go through them with info, picture and price. 
 | AuthorKevin at Scrambler Cycle Loading
ArchivesMay 2013 |
RSS Feed