She needed all the normal stuff but the bones were good. I rebuilt brake systems, carbs, clean out the tank, fixed all the butchered up wiring, new rubber, all the normal stuff and got her on the road. Ran real good so I installed my 4 into1 Header and Kerker muffler and my Harley wrap around fender and began riding her in town and enjoying it a lot. She was very quick and ran very strong. I rode her for a couple of months and then it was time for Old Fogey’s visit so I tamed her down a bit. I put a stock exhaust and a small windshield on it and trailered it up to Cyborg’s House about 100 miles North of me. When I got there I started it up on the trailer and because of the echo effect of the trailer I could hear a slight knock in the lower end. It was there for just a minute or so until the bike started to warm up and then it went away. Cyborg was standing there and he heard it also. We discussed it and then pretty much dismissed it.
Well a day or two later Old Fogey arrived from Scotland. We did a couple of local short rides then headed off to Lauray Caverns for the day. It was a long day (couple hundred miles each way) and the knock started to last longer and longer after each progressive start up. By the time we got back to Cyborg’s House that evening Old Fogey was very concerned about it. So knowing that we had a major trip scheduled in just 2 days it was decided to swap out the engine.
(Engine # 2) So I have several engines laying around in the shop but the only one I have any history on is the one from my dresser that I removed from service with @ 165,000 miles on it. It had only been out of the bike for about 6 months and I knew it was tired but still a good solid engine. I run that up to Tappahannock and drop it off and head back down to the house to rebuild a set of 78 carbs for it while Cyborg and Old Fogey install the engine. I get the carbs done and go to bed. I run to Tappahannock in the morning with the carbs get them installed and start putting oil in the engine and it runs out the bottom of the engine onto the floor!!
I turns out that during the wee hours of the night the hoist they has the engine hanging from had failed and the engine smacked the cement. From the outside the damage to the case looked pretty superficial but it leaked badly. We were all pretty despondent at the situation. Here it is almost mid day and we were scheduled to be on the road the following morning for the Dragon. We had folks scheduled to meet us in route so we kind of felt screwed. I headed back down to the house to prepare another engine knowing it was going to be an all niter to get the bike road ready.
Pete Clark comes to the rescue! Pete was going to join us for the trip and he shows up late that afternoon and gets brought up to date on the situation. Well he has a spare bike ready to go at his house!! Awesome!! So the rest of Old Fogey's 09 US visit was done with Pete’s lovely 76 LTD and my pieces parts laid in Cyborg’s garage until after Deer season was over and I could get back there to collect them.
So after Deer Season and The Christmas Holiday I decide to get to work on putting the 75 back on the road. I look around the shop. I have 2 75 engines on the floor but I have zero history on either of them. Both were bought used not in running condition for cheap. So I pick one (Engine # 3). I clean it up a bit and swap out the belts and tensioners check the coolant pump all the normal stuff and stab it in the bike. Starts up nice and idles good, a bit of smoke but nothing to worry about, things are going good until I put it in gear and she pops right back out of gear. Not good. I fuss with it and pull the front cover and nothing is binding or excessively worn that I can see. So out she comes.
I get the other 75 engine (Engine # 4) and go through the same procedure. Clean, swap out all the bolt on stuff and stab it. She starts up good also. I go slowly using a MMO and oil mix to flush things out and hanging from the hoist I run it through the gears and everything seems hunky dory!! I finish building up the bike and take it out for a short ride. Everything is going real good and after a few miles I get on it hard in first gear and she pops out and back into gear so fast I was not sure what had happened. At first I thought I had lost electrical power it happened that quick. Well it was School let out time and kids were all over so I went back to the house. I took it out again later that evening and it repeated. So back to the shop I go.
I pondered what to do next for a couple of days. I knew that the 78 (Engine # 2 the dropped one) had a good transmission in it so I tore it apart and pulled # 4 back out of the bike and put it on the bench next to the 78. I went part by part through the transmission and stole what I could from the 78. The shift forks in # 4 were horribly worn as were the engaging dogs of the gears on the counter shaft. I swapped out the forks, the shift drum and the entire countershaft including the Countershaft bearing cap as they were different from early to late. I also discovered that the shift forks had changed not in functional design but it strength. The bosses were beefed up sometime between 75 and 78.
So I built that all back up and reinstalled it in the frame. Now it won’t shift!!!! ARRRGGGG!! Well I had taken the cheap route and not bought any new seals and the front cover was just too tight jamming up the shifter mechanism. Plus I had leaks. So out it comes again. I order and get all the gaskets I need and tear her down again and fix everything I screwed up the first time. In the process of pounding on the lugs to separate the case halves I crack the case. It is not bad but needs fixed. I grind out a nice “V” Channel on top of the cracks and pack it with JB Weld. Good fix!!
Back in she goes for the 3rd time. And life is good!! It runs nicely, the transmission works good, and she seems to have adequate power. I start easing her back into service with frequent oil changes and lots of easy riding. I am getting some metal in the oil but I kind of expect that as the shift forks were ground down significantly and I had done a lot of pounding on the cases to get them apart. I really should have disassembled the clutch and clean that out knowing there was metal in the system but I did not.
I am trying to ride it at least 2-3 days a week and accumulate as many miles as I can before Old Fogey arrives for his 2010 visit. I get it up to about a 1,000 miles since the cases were split and the oil is getting better with each change. So on Friday I get caught on the Thruway right at the start of rush hour last week and I turned her up. I hate traffic and I tend to get very aggressive, normally I try hard to control it but I decided the bike was ready and I let her have it. 90-110mph 4th and 5th gear up and down, power on, power off, I gave her a real work out. I ran about 25-30 miles like that and exited at my neighborhood and pulled up to a red light and heard a noise. Not good! The best description I can give is excessive Valvetrain noise but from the back of the engine. That is what it sounded like from the saddle.
I get home and do some listening and it sounds like a chain. Using a long screwdriver as a stethoscope it is definitely from the back cover area. So Saturday I get the bike up on the work table and tear out the clutch. Nothing wrong there but when I start it back up I notice it takes a long time for the oil pressure light to go out. Sunday Sagebrush stops by and gives it a listen. He also says it sounds like a chain.
Monday morning out she comes again. I take off the rear cover and hope to find something obvious and I don’t. I start disassembling things and find the oil pump drive chain has quite a bit of slop. I remove the sprocket and the pump is very hard to turn. So I pulled the front cover and swapped out both pumps and the sprocket and chain. Reassemble everything and put her back in (for the 4th time) and the noise is still there.
I am now down to 7 days before Old Fogey arrives. I had one engine left in the shop. It is a 76 that was in my rolling engine test frame. I also have zero history on it. I know I have owned it for at least 4-5 years (I can’t even remember who or where I got it from). I did have it running about 3 or 4 years ago for a short time and do not recall any issues. I had stuffed the intakes with rags and 2-3 times a year I turned it over a few times with a kick starter just to keep it from seizing. It is very ugly and in desperate need of cleaning and paint. Basically bare aluminum just sitting there corroding before my eyes. I decide that is next.
So I get that engine out of the test frame and give it a bath and a good scrubbing and a fresh coating of primer and paint. Let it sit overnight and Wednesday morning out comes # 4 for the 4th time and in goes # 5. Again swap out all the bolt on stuff and start off very slowly. Get the engine mounted, load the jugs up with PBBlaster and hit the starter for 30 seconds every 10 minutes while I am building everything up. Did that about 8 or 10 times while I finished everything else.
The time comes and I light her off. She squeals like a struck pig!!! I shut her down and dump in a quart of MMO and start her up again. No smoke good idle just squealing anytime she is above 1500 rpm. Hit the starter button and the squealing stops. Must be the Sprague clutch? Screw it, let it squeal. I finish building the bike up and start and shut her down numerous times and everything is fine except for the squeal. It does seem to be getting better but very slowly.
I get her on the road and other that the squeal she is doing good. Remembering that I have MMO in the oil I go real easy. Never above 4,000 rpm and most of the time around 3,000. I get about 40 miles on her last night and she is steadily getting better and the squeal is getting to be more and more intermittent.
This morning I hung her from the hoist and ran her up to full temp while exercising the transmission and then did a hot drain. Expecting a lot of crap I was pleasantly surprised with the cleanliness of the oil. Well not cleanliness as much as lack of chunkage. I swapped out the filter and filled her with some new auto engine oil I had laying around ran her another 10 minutes and drained that. Filled her up with some fresh Rotella and hit the road. It is stupid Hot here and that makes for Stupid drivers and broke down cars everywhere. I got about 30 miles but both ways out of town have 2-3 mile backups and I am not going to sit in traffic on a bike in 100 plus degree weather so I brought her home.
Tomorrow they are calling for a high of only 90 so she will get a couple of hundred miles and we shall see what happens. If this engine does not work I think Old Fogey is going to have to hitchhike to Knoxville Tn
I wish there was a moral to this story but I have not found it yet. I just wanted to share my trials and tribulations of my reluctant 75 with you!
Maybe that should be her name “The Reluctant One”
