[MDairheads] Dale and Carol's 2018 Summer Solstice Tech Weekend

Tue Jun 26 10:32:05 EDT 2018

 Hedz,

Once again... if you missed it, you missed a good one...

This year's tech weekend extended into three evenings for some attendees
who showed up Thursday evening and could have pushed to four if Jim McKinna
hadn't scheduled a delivery of materials to his 'last job'...

For those of you who have been to Dale and Carol's tech weekend, you
understand that this tech day is unlike others.  The core group of
attendees and smaller scale makes one feel as thought they are attending an
annual reunion where you know everyone and are really interested in what
they've been up to the past year...

The workload was lighter this year with only one major project on the
bench.  John Eckenrode came in either Thursday or Friday with a post 82(or
is it an 83?) R100RS for a rear main seal job and rear disk brake sort
out...  The bike was on the lift Friday with many eager hands ready to tear
it down, and that's just what happened.  Jim McKinna, Dale, Peter Gruner,
John and others got into it pretty quickly and even gave me a call
regarding removal of the clutch carrier mid day.  I didn't have an answer
and they figured it out before I could find additional information on the
internet.

That call prompted some thinking about how my work life balance has been a
little off-off kilter and how I might work to realign a few things...

I had hoped to be there for most of the weekend and was initially planning
a Thursday arrival as well to rebuild my spare transmission, but alas it
was not in the cards...  I thought I might get out of work and on the road
by 2:00, but the timing slowly slipped away until I was firing up the bike
just before 6:00PM.  What irked me most about leaving at this time was that
I had to blow-off Craig Barnhart who I had initially planned to meet in
Frederick for a leisurely ride down there.

No matter though regarding the departure time... it was the second longest
day of the year and with only slight rain at the time, so I figured I'd
easily make the 140 miles by dark.  It was not meant to be... First, I
wasn't riding my R80. I was on the 223cc single dual sport, which in itself
is a pretty fun little motorcycle, but not one meant for swallowing huge
sections of asphalt between stops... probably something to do with the 1.5
gallon tank, 50/50 knobby tires, maximum speed of approximately 65mph on
generally flat terrain, and poor excuse for a headlight. Jim McKinna's
comment about a 6v lantern is pretty accurate!

That and more rain than I can remember riding through since Chris Kennedy,
Sean Hembree, and I rode to the Gathering of the Clans Rally in 2012 and
the 2014 Rolling Rally return trip from WV with Eric Zwicky and others.

Parts of the 522 outside of Culpeper had six or seven inches of standing
rain in low lying areas! Most cars were rolling slow with flashers on.  I
thought of the whole thing as one giant stream crossing and rolled through
these areas at relative speed.  It was hoot except for the low visibility!
After four hours I pulled in soaked to bone and ready for a entirely
different kind of dark and stormy. Lucky for me David Hamburger was present
and I was with drink immediately.  I was so cold and wet, for a brief
moment I thought a hot beer might be a good idea...

After the initial hellos and drink in hand, I was a little surprised to see
people still working actively on John's bike. It was 10:00PM and these guys
were on a mission. Apparently the rear main seal was not fully seated and
when the bike was reassembled the motor failed to turn.  Of course, we
didn't know what the cause was at this point, so a second tear down ensued and
was completed in record time.  That's when we found the main seal
protruding just enough... Wrenches were put down at midnight and picked up
bright and early the next day.

The bike was put back together, in the morning and some serious work was
done to revive the rear disk brake system. Turned out there was an air
pocket beneath the rear MC that once removed freed the system to work as
well as it ever did- which still leaves much to be desired! John test rode
the bike and then it was ridden home!

Eric Zwicky pulled his bike in the garage Saturday as well for a KatDash
install (note to self and others- always inspect the instrument cluster to
be certain no debris slips past the speedometer and odometer as we found a
small piece of something trapped under the instrument face once it was
fully assembled and on it's way back onto the bike) and a front MC brake
fluid replacement.  Most airheads keep their bikes in top condition, so
there was relatively little work to be done in the middle of the riding
season.  Offers were made for valve and timing adjustments, but there were
no takers...

The hospitality Dale and Carol extend is warm and welcoming.  The food is
always good. John Eckenrode provided venison for burgers and some backstrap
which was excellent. During our lunch conversation he indicated that he
might have to take another deer this fall in support of the tech weekend.
Good idea John..

A few highlights for me from conversations that are now a part of the
lexicon of the group's inside jokes include-  Good... but NOT too good...
your's truly  Clean... but NOT too clean... Craig Barnhart (referencing his
desire to not have the vapor honing of his project bike's case parts
outshine the rest of his restoration)  and  We CAN DO patina... Dale
Simpson!

We are absolutely getting shirts made.

David's documentary on his trip to the UK and tour as a young man was
masterful and so inspiring.

Most people were packed and heading out before noon Sunday, with some folks
up and gone much earlier.  There was a threat of rain coming from WV, and I
didn't have a lot interest in riding back in the rain...  Craig and I
headed out of Culpeper together and met up with Florida Airheads Kim and
Ricci riding K bikes on a long tour at a local gas station.  We had met
them last summer at the 25th Gathering of the Clans Rally. I remembered
Kim- greying hair in a ponytail with a beard... hardly an identifier in the
airhead community...  They said they would be at the RA, so we figure we'll
see them there in less than a month.

We continued north on 522 to Front Royal, picked up 340 through Harper's
Ferry, then caught RT 17  north to RT 77 and then east to Westminster. The
last 25 miles had me nearly cursing aloud at not having the airhead back
together.  340 plus miles on a 223cc bike was almost too much for a two day
weekend...

Dale mentioned that he and Carol will keep doing the tech day as long as
people are willing to show up for it. They are wonderful people and put on
a great weekend- and the added bonus is that not only does Dale have
everything you need to put a bike together... he knows how to do it too...

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  It's one of my favorite
weekends of the year and I plan on being there next year.

If you didn't make it this year, make your calendars for next June.

I set up a folder for this year's Summer Solstice Tech Weekend. Feel free
to drop photos for all to see.

And lastly- the pig roast is this Saturday June 30th. Would be good to see
you folks there...

We are leaving for the RA Wednesday evening July 18.  I will be on my
airhead. The thought of a thousand mile weekend on the enduro is enough to
give anyone night terrors...

Hope to see you all on somewhere on the road...

Will Andalora
Maryland Airmarshal
ABC 11737
410.596.0812
www.airheads.org

Maryland Airheads Online Calendar:
*https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=marylandairheads%40gmail.com&ctz=America/New_York
<https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=marylandairheads%40gmail.com&ctz=America/New_York>*

Google Photos Links to Maryland Airhead Events
2018 Summer Solstice Tech Weekend
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YhLFV2AUHr2A6vWR7
2018 TecnhoBarn https://photos.app.goo.gl/mwbNEFZBDM2sAetJ3
2018 Supertech 2.3 https://photos.app.goo.gl/PLn3L34iSenMLnMR2
2018 Supertech 2.3 Museum Tour Day
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2cJl3ylJbNaUVG2A3
2017 Last Days of Summer https://photos.app.goo.gl/JEVvywZREED7OptL2
2017 Golden Age of Airheads https://goo.gl/photos/nQkpXFtvxHmwLDek8
2017 Summer Solstice Tech Day  https://goo.gl/photos/qN2YsweKParKqvXQ8
2017 Rolling Rally  *https://goo.gl/photos/KJT2wXuH6eTM19wU6
<https://goo.gl/photos/KJT2wXuH6eTM19wU6>*
2017 TechnoBarn  https://goo.gl/photos/j1f8tByCfVaBnCUKA
2017 SuperTech 2.2  https://goo.gl/photos/XrckZWXUDRdgJGjk6
2016 Last Days of Summer  https://goo.gl/photos/nYfKa6TabUay714h9
2016 Tom's Tech Day   https://goo.gl/photos/dmh5pktuHvUuvAwH9
2016 Passing of the Airmarshal Flag https://goo.gl/photos/u429MPzKALcJeuF79
2016 Summer Solstice Tech Day  https://goo.gl/photos/SkV19aC4Qc6vJTL78
2016 Rolling Rally  https://goo.gl/photos/ZuNcyMc2DMcrghXP6
2016 SuperTech 2.1  https://goo.gl/photos/Tdg86q3VsR87FdCF8
2015 Last Days of Summer  https://goo.gl/photos/w1XEMp9EkamucpK19
2015 Rolling Rally  https://goo.gl/photos/GKYhLDgV4VC4jUcZ9
2015 SuperTech 2.0  https://goo.gl/photos/oq99m9x492qFFbGR6
2014 Last Days of Summer  https://goo.gl/photos/WSmGi4YhUrHjY8Xt7

Note:  If you are a Gmail user, you can permanently add these albums to
your Google Photo Account. If not, you can simply reference the tag line of
emails from Maryland Airheads to access the albums. These albums are
shared, so people can add images to them.  Some folders are set up, but do
not contain images yet.  Feel free to add relevant images and if you want
to add additional images from another event, we can create albums to
support new or past events.