June 2, 2001, was the
date to again gather for a ride and share good times. All for a very worthy
cause, to assist the Boys and Girls club of Santa Ana. Unfortunately, the
weather would not cooperate again this year. It started misting almost as soon
as I pulled up to Tim’s house. Tim and Matt Burns were out prepping their
machines. A ‘48 Chief and a 1913 twin, which seemed too only want to run on one
cylinder that morning. This would be Matt’s first ride on the mighty chief, Tim
talked him through the steps and then it was up to him. I think we were all a
bit nervous, as Matt started out. A few stalls and tense moments later, Matt
was running up and down their block fairly well, a natural – way to go
Matt.
Next Dave Niederhaus
pulled up on a very impressive and fine running 1917 Powerplus. Don’t ask me
how, but Dave had gashed his head on some part of his Powerplus and he had a
fair amount of blood running down his head. I was a little apprehensive about
riding my Henderson in the rain, but decided to go ahead. Since both the teens’
bikes had even less brakes then my Henderson. Matt was new to the Chief, Tim’s
‘13 was missing, and Dave was bleeding. I began to wonder if this was going to
be more of an adventure than I had bargained for. Just then though Tim got the
‘13 running just fine and we were off.
As we arrived at the
auto mall it began to rain steady; it was then that I found out that my magneto
was not waterproof. The Deluxe started missing badly and only running on a
couple cylinders, oh great I thought. I started looking to see what was up with
the bike. Started checking the wires and got shocked right now, a little
further looking and I noticed that there were sparks going off all over the
magneto. I started laughing and thought to myself, that is not good. I also
started to think, it very likely I would end up in the rescue truck on this
day. I frantically started drying it the best I could and put a plastic bag
over it and hoped for the best. Waiting there for us were Ralph Krogh and his
trusty Ariel Red Hunter and Walt Frey on his old faithful Harley 45. In
addition, a fellow named Ken on a fresh and sharp looking ‘48 Chief.
The turn out was a real
disappointment. As far as our club and the modern machines were concerned.
However the rain had a lot to do with it I am sure. Also, I am confident we
would have had better participation. With a little more effort from the club
officers, - the V. P. for example. However I have been away for several months
and Tom Hart was out of action after a very serious accident on his modern
Harley. Missing were many of our clubs dependable members, so though we were
few in numbers, it was a good group. Lets give it a good effort next year and
have a turn out we can all be proud of.
We started out right
on time for the 75 mile run with a police escort no less! It felt kind of
strange, I kept wanting to pull over for the cops to get by with their sirens on
and all, but it was all for us – cool stuff! My Henderson was missing fairly
regular in the rain and I expected it to die at any moment. Much to my delight
though, it began to smooth out, good work Johnny! Our ride was very enjoyable
and the machines were running well. After about 15 miles, we were getting
pretty darn wet, but then the rain stopped. The sun never came out but that was
the end of the rain. Even with my patented speed shift techniques, I fell
behind at every stop and would have to reel the others in slowly. I am used to
that, but still seeing those teen’s bikes walk away was very impressive. At
this time, we were running quite well, all our machines. The sight of those
teen’s bikes at speed was very pleasing to the eye. Dave’s Powerplus is a fine
running machine, but I was most impressed with Tim’s old 1913 single speed twin
– or maybe just by the way he rides it. That 13 with Tim on it really roars and
he cruises quite well at 45 or so, truly impressive to see! and what fun! Both
the machine and rider looked very happy in merry flight. My Deluxe likes those
speeds too, so it was a blast. I believe all in our group enjoyed it. About 12
miles from the end the spirited 13 twin started missing again and Tim finally
had to give it up and put her in the truck. The problem, his rear spark plug
had broken off near its end and after only something like 88 years of service! J
We all arrived safely
at the Galaxy Theater ending point; there we greeted by more friends. Marc and
Patty Gallin with their ’50 Chief, Frank Colver and his ‘36 Sunbeam, Jim
Bradford and his cool truck and ‘50s Cushman and Janis Graber and her trusty
101 Scout. Way to go folks! We guessed
that about 300 modern machines took part, no doubt with a little luck in the
weather department. Attendance would have been much better. We were treated
very well and wish to thank all involved, especially the Santa Ana police and
fire departments. Special thanks to Malinda for an expert job handling the
trouble truck and our own Tim Graber, who goes above and beyond in this and
many other effort’s in the clubs behalf.
Until the next one have fun
and hope to see you there, Tom
P. S.
Special note, though Tom Hart was very seriously hurt in his accident. He is
making a fantastic recovery, which we are very grateful for and send him and
the entire Hart family our love and best wishes to all and the hope for a full
and complete recovery! We miss ya
Tom!
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