Chasing the 66

Many of my friends know and remember that my favorite Harley engine has always been the 1966 Shovel generator.  Now there are several reasons that make sense to only me, and several, that a lot of other folks can or might appreciate. First one that might make some sense is 1966 is my birth year.  Also mechanically speaking a lot of wonderful things happened that year for motorcycles and cars. The FLH went from iron heads to aluminum. Which turned out to give those engines a boost of 5 horsepower just to name one thing.  Second to my eyes it has always been the sexiest  engine  Harley ever produced as it has clean, simple lines that  I seem to be drawn to.  Third it is the first year of a three year production engine.  Not only is it rare, but all my other bikes (that I have loved and kept) are also first year production engines.  Why mess with traditions that seem to work.

So Attempt One:

The first motorcycle I ever tried to buy was a 1966.  I was just starting what was then my first job in the career that I seem to have.  I was working for minimum wages, poor and barely making ends meet.   I was  working as a laborer on a construction site.  A state inspector told me that he had a brother-in-law  that had a couple of old bikes he might sell.  You know we all heard the story of the old bikes rode into the garage and there they set for, well in this case nineteen almost twenty years.  At first I blew the whole thing off thinking yea right.  After a couple of weeks the old state inspector asked if I called the brother-in-law?  When I said no, he said why not?  He needs the money and can't ride anmore.  So after making the call, we went to go meet the brother-in-l,aw.   He was reluctant to sell but after sweet talking him for almost a year (and a lot of games of dominos!) a deal was made.   Remember this bike was being sold sight unseen.  Knowing it had set in a barn for twenty years, never kicked over, old gas and oil still sitting in her.  Knowing she was rusting away loved but never ridden.  The money at the time was a lot of money to me, hell it was half a years paychecks.  I beg and borrowed everything I could and I finally came up with the money.  

 We set a date of when he was going to go get both the bike I wanted and an old 49 Pan.   Well, lets say this old bike that was going to be my very first bike, was loaded on an old trailer, and was hauled from the barn to his house so that night I could pick up my love/ lust/ desired bike.  Nope it was stolen right from under me.  Some guy that had a lot more money then me, saw these two old bikes on that trailer and offered him $15,000 for them both!   Seven thousand for my beloved and eight thousand for the old pan.  When I got there that night the guy whom I though I had made a great deal with told me this.  He also said if I could match the other guys offer, the bike was mine.  I could not scream "what the fuck!" at him, after all, he did need the money but my heart was so broken that I did not go looking for another 66 for over a decade. But I did get to play/fix/clean her up a bit that night.  I cleaned the mud daubers nest out of the air filter.  I drained all the old gas and put in clean fresh gas in her.  I got to kick her over till she puked the oil that had settled in the bottom out her blow by. I guess a tease is all I got sort of like a lap dance when you want sex.  

Attempt 2:

  I was just casually looking at bikes for sell about  eight  years ago  and ran across one about two hundred and fifty miles north of me.  A 1966, two tone peach and cream paint job, everything else was all original, she was a beautiful old gal.  I was in lust even though the colors was not stock she was gorgeous  and she screamed my name.  So after debating if I should go buy a new or old bike I said what the hell when is the next time I am going to get a chance at this.  For  those that  do not know me  there is not much I lust, well motorcycles and guns.  Also and I am not the kind of girl that falls in love/lust easily.  So lust of the old girl won out and I went to talk to the owner of this bike.  Lets say some people have and want a lot of money for these old gals. And even though they may be worth a lot, to me there is a very definite figure to that I am willing  to pay for anything.  Well, he was a lot prouder of her then my desire for her, because we  never got closer than fifteen thousand dollar difference in our negotiations. 

I watched for months as he tried to sell her knowing that he was asking way to much money.  I was secretly hoping that no one saw the add or desired her that much. You know the saying a fool and his money.   I don't know if he ever found someone to pay that much money for her or not.   But she vanished, no longer listed, I watched for months heart broken that she was so gorgeous, so different, so me and so not going to ever be mine that once again my little cold heart was broken.  This time though to sooth my broken heart, I found and fell in love with the Submarine.  I bought her for my birthday seven years ago.  About a year after this little heart break.  So in the long run, everything did work out.  As I love the Submarine and she and I have had thousands of miles and smiles together and will have hundreds of thousands to come.

Thirds a charm:

 I don't know what made me start looking again.  Maybe it was Wooly trying to nudge me to a new CVO.  Honestly not one of Harley's new bikes has made my heart go pitter patter since the Sub had. I have two bikes that I love,  two very different,  two first years production,  two lovely ladies the make me and my heart content,  or so I thought.  I don't know if it was boredom, or fate that made me just do an internet search for the 1966 FLH.  But when I did there was a few bikes that popped up.  A black one, a red one and a blue one.   None of these appealed to me, I have a black bike Mydol, I have a blue bike the Sub, and I do not like the color red, not at all, not in the least.   A few days later I did the same search just to see if anything new was listed and there she was!  A 1966 two tone light yellow and cream almost totally stock.  Knowing that some guys get mad making deals with women over their  beloved bikes,  I had the Wooly man call the owner for me.  He made an him a cash offer. I will admit  it was less then what he wanted and  he did turn it down.  I guess he did not know how the negotiating process goes.  I make a low offer, you counter a little lower than asking, I counter a little less then you just offered… we meet close to the middle,  both content.   But NOPE!  He was going to let it go thru the auction process.  

I called and asked one of the guys I work for how E-Bay worked.  I had never bought any thing on E-Bay before and he was always buying on E-Bay so when in doubt ask an expert.  He said that every thing happens at the last minute, he was so right about that.  Actually the last 15 seconds to be correct.  Fifteen-seconds before the auction was ending I bid his reserve.   More then what I wanted to pay but still it was less then the top dollar I was willing to pay.  Wooly had bought on E-Bay once before and he had set his bid up to bid in increments of $100 to a certain max bid.  Which I will say he must have wanted me to have this bike because he had set it up for two thousand over what I said I was willing to pay for her?  But had it not been for him I, would not finally have my lusted after bike of over  twenty-five years.

So this makes a slight new drama  for us.  We already have a full garage.  With his four bikes and his personal first year Harley pick-up truck.  With my two other loved bikes,  and my not worth much car but fun ass to drive goes fast five speed car. And moms motorcycle with side car.  Well are you seeing the new dilemma.  The question now is do I let my little five speed  set outside and rust like all ones before her did  or do we build me my own garage.  Oh decisions… decisions.

 Here she is at long-last my desire, of over half my life:

                                       

The only thing I am planning to change is the seat.

Chasing Clouds and Curves.

Today I took off for a ride, just an average 120 miles of  going no where and do nothing but riding.   I still say that only a biker can log miles, go nowhere when doing so and end up saying nothing about the average every day ride.  So todays writing is about just that, an average ride.   No thrills no spills no nothing exciting happened.

 As the tempters  around here have been and are now staying   around the triple degree mark, I decide that I would chase  the  activity of where the pop up showers where going to be.  With all the  technology this is made pretty easy with  apps one can get on their " smarter  then me phones".  Besides  chasing storms  is a habit that  I have from being a storm chaser when I was younger, some habits just are hard to break and the older the habit the harder it is to break the habit.  But anyway not only did this  keep me 15 degrees cooler but I was hoping that  me the "Rain Goddess" as my friends call me,   might just tempt mother nature to deliver some  needed rain  back home.  Even though we did have a very wet winter,  all of   the shallower creeks and rivers  are drying up and the earth is needing the moisture.  But my temping of Mother Nature did not work.


Last Sunday when the family went out for a ride We were all heading back to the locker and instead of turning down one of what use to be my favorite roads. I say use to be because it did have these really great turns.  Basically right and left hand turns at 40 miles per hour.   But then some road engineers decided to make all these turns stop. They just  ruined my fun when they did that. I decide to take a road I had never thought about riding down before.   At first it was like most roads at home, straight some small hills.  Nothing to really write about.  But this is  now my new all time favorite I compare it to my favorite which is a little lake road, not much in distance maybe 7 miles in length but it has curves  and banks and even a few curvy banks...  Any way today doing this new favorite road for the second time in my life going the opposite direction I came from last time.  I was having myself to much fun and was soon reminded when I turned in to a tight curve.  I was  going over the posted safe speed like always  and scraped my bottom brace of my running boards...   I felt it dig into the pavement and knew I had better back off the throole a little.  So  I slowed to only 10miles over posted speed... still had some fun and survived the ride this way.

 But after all the fun on this road it was back to the boring straight flat blocks that  even though I love to ride these roads are about as boring as roads can be for a motorcycle, unless you are a racer.  I was clearing my head and finding me some Zen that only my motorcycle and a road gives  to me.   Later  after going down the  boring road  a few miles I got stuck behind a 18 wheeler from one of the local earth moving company's.    Now I am no speed demon on a bike or  in my car but I do tend to have a problem with keeping any thing at a posted speed,  a trait I am told I get from my father.   Any way as the big truck was traveling at posted speed, and who can blame him they get big tickets when they are caught doing things most drivers get away with.  I waited till it was safe to pass  on this little two lane road.   But when I did  I had a mile of nothing but a straight road in front of me  and no one on it so I cracked  the throttle hard and when I hit 95  while passing the big truck my shirt blow up and Mr trucker got flashed my bra...  Good thing I had on a bra, lol.

So my  average every day boring go no where do nothing but ride turned into chasing clouds and chasing curves... scraping boards and flashing truckers... not a bad way to spend some time.



PS: This little ride happened this past summer,  It just took till now for me to think about writing some thing about it.  Must be me  day dreaming as it is 10 degrees and riding is not really an option for me right now.