Well, I made it. What an awesome trip, I cant wait to go back to russia!
The bike was damn near bulletproof, most of the problems were road
related. I broke....
rear lug bolts (I carried a spare set, but it turns out front & rear were
different... what idiot thought this up? (of course my spares were
fronts....) Had em altered to fit by a machinist)
rear axle bent (had an ural axle machined to fit)
Rear hollow inner axle was pitted (may have been like that, & I just
didn't notice it. Found out the wrist pin from a KAMA3 (russian truck) was
the same OD, just had a machinist turn down the shoulder & bore out the
middle a lil bit.)
2 left mirror mounts, & 1 right mirror.
front shock broke in half
rear springs completely collapsed. Before I even got to siberia!
countershaft bushing in the transmission. (this was the most major thing,
had to tear the trans apart, & machine the wallered out case to put a
bearing in)
Battery (replaced with an Ural battery)
saddlebags started to crack, reinforced with some steel, no more problems.
Things that gave me problems...
late model harley CV carb. it worked good, but would start dumping gas now
& then. I musta took it apart 30 times. new needle, reset float,
etc...etc... Its been ok for the last couple weeks, I guess it heard me
say that as soon as I got home I was gonna take a hammer to it. Maybe I
just got a bad one, I'll try another. If it still does it, I'm going to a
dellorto.
I put a greer clutch in it, and it works great when cold, but gets sticky
when hot, like in traffic. I have a king clutch in my 101, & it works
great. But maybe the worm gear or something it worn, I'll replace that 1st
& see, before I swap the clutch.
And of course you probably read about my engine troubles when starting
out. I shoulda done the motor myself from the beginning, but was trying to
save time, & let an 'expert' do it. Once I got it straightened out tho
(thanks to my newest best buddy Hooter the machinist god in PA) it never
gave me another problem.
The things that Im amazed that DIDNT break or wear out....
Avon roadrunner tires. still have the original set I left with, and they
still look pretty good! I did swap the front n rear in Macedonia to keep
em wearing evenly. I cant believe they survived the russian 'roads'. I
didn't even have a flat the whole time.
I love Avons, gonna see if I cant get me some free tires from em
Electrics. New 12v cycle electrics generator did fine, as well as all the
other wiring. The headlight did come loose in siberia from the pounding of
not having a front shock, and when the headlight spun around, the wires
broke. They shorted out against the frame, and let the smoke out of one of
the wires under the dash. So I just ran wires to the lites, I'll fix it
now that Im back.
Things I'll upgrade before the next trip...
Gonna make the engine 80", shoulda done that from the beginning.
Upgrade the tranny with a 4 speed unit. I didn't know they were available,
or woulda done it before.
Change the tires, whether they need it or not
Total mileage, just a shade over 20,000
total cost, about 12,000 dollars, & half of that was spent shipping over
the 2 oceans. Especially the pacific. Dont deal with koreans, they'll
break it off in ya.
So to all the people that thought I was fulla crap, or said it couldnt be done.....
:beat:
hahahaha
So whats next? Well, Im gonna freshen up the indian, and next fall do the Pan-American. Northern Alaska to Southern Argentina. I have to time it right, as their summer is our winter, which means leave AK just before it gets cold, & get to Argentina just as its getting warm.
I am also working on another RTW trip. No one as far as I know had done it on an Indian, but now I have to think up another cool way to do it.
So, Im gonna do it on a chopper (yeah, I know... russian roads... but the indian was a rigid frame most of this trip)
So, Im gonna build a replica of the Captain America chopper from the movie easy riders
That should be a fun ride! Maybe I can get one of my friends to build Billy's bike from the movie & ride that.
