DVNR February Update

Tue Feb 16 19:19:04 EST 2021

Wow, Dave wrote more in one email than I did in 4 years.  Think best to postpone gathering decision to April meeting.  April should be no problem to resume open air meetings.  We did have a nice meeting at Classic Cycle when Dan was running it.  I just told the grocery/restaurant next door advance notice there would be a large crowd and they were great about food orders.
Not as ambitious as Eric, but did try out Don Pender's 13mm sleeve kit on a master with a pitted bore.  Brake is less wooden but no great improvement.
Hope all are safe and COVID free.

George

________________________________
From: David Behnken <davidebehnken at gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, February 15, 2021 12:07 AM
To: DVNR email list <dvnr at casano.com>
Subject: DVNR February Update

Hello DVNR members,

I hope this finds everyone healthy and well.  After the last few months we've had, I'm sure most of us are tired of either the cold, the snow or probably both. As we're now half way through February, hopefully warmer temperatures aren't too far off and the snow may begin to recede.  Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll even stop snowing at some point too.

I wanted to drop a note to update everyone about current events and near future activities.  I spoke with our contact at the State Park in mid-January.  He said to check back with him at the end of February to confirm, but it was almost guaranteed that the park will NOT be available to us in April if we wanted to try to hold a Gathering of the Nortons event.  I'm sure no one is surprised.

As such, we have a few options for the 2021 Gathering of the Nortons event: 1) cancel the event for the year 2) postpone it until later in 2021. I don't think it's a good idea or even a viable option to try to hold the event in April at another location for several reasons -- we'll never get anyone's permission, liability, who's comfortable attending and the list goes on.

I've spoken with Todd Robertson who, along with me, has been hosting spring meetings and neither of us think it's a great idea to hold a March meeting in our houses.  As an alternative, I thought I'd throw out Dan Sellers' idea of seeing if the club was interested in finding a restaurant or diner that would give us a room for a meeting.  I know the Spinning Wheel Diner by us in the Somerset & Hunterdon County area of Jersey has a room that can probably be requested, but I'm sure there are more central locations around the majority of the members.  I'll let you guys make suggestions if you know of options.  Hopefully we'll be able to arrange something for those who wish to get together in a group setting.

I picked up a few brackets from Dave at Classic Cycle in Baptistown last Friday.  He asked what the club was doing for the Gathering and I told him basically what I said above.  He's not able to offer his shop for a Gathering of the Nortons size event, but said we were welcome to have a club get together at his shop on the third Sunday of April if we wanted.  Due to limited space, he said no cars, bikes only.  The deli across the street has good food too.  He also mentioned that it would work out great for him as he was planning on bringing his Model 18(?) to the Gathering if it had worked out.  This way he didn't even have to move it to display it.  It's a beautiful bike for those who haven't seen it.

So, if we aren't able to plan something for March, we have something on the books for April whereby we can get together and have a discussion regarding what we want to do for the 2021 Gathering of the Nortons.  What I'd like to do is have a discussion in a group setting in March and/or April to hash out the ideas members have and then probably put out a poll to choose a plan. If we do a poll, those who aren't able to attend or would prefer not to meet up in a group setting still have a voice.  I'm trying to avoid a prolonged chain of back and forth emails where everybody throws out their ideas at once and it usually ends up feeling like being in a room where everyone talks at once and nobody hears anything.  Fingers crossed.  In short, we'll figure out what the members want to do with the Gathering in either March or April.

As it's cold, snowy, nasty out and the roads are an icy/salty mess, now's the time to do the bike preparation and maintenance that you always say you're not going to put off and do before it's a scramble in April before the Gathering.  The oil's almost guaranteed to be in the sump, is it due for a change? New oil filter?  That's pretty easy.  How about the gearbox and primary?  When was the last time you changed it?  If your memory is as bad as mine, it's probably twice as long as you're guestimating it is.  That's the low hanging fruit - when's the last time you changed your fork oil?  I've never bought a used bike and not found the forks to have about an inch of peanut butter thick sludge in the bottom.  Not the best for bushings or ride quality.  Brake fluid?  Couldn't hurt, right?  If you get on a roll there's always the swing arm - 140 weight oil or grease (depending on your school of thought).  Fuel and carbs ready?  That's just the fluids.  How's the battery?  If it's not on a tender or won't hold a charge, now's the time to get a new one. Any fixes you've been putting off?  How's the wiring harness?  And then there's everyone's favorite topic: Tires.   When's the last time you took a GOOD look at them for cracked sidewalls, wear and age?  They're the only thing between you and the road and the ability to stop and turn sure is nice..... Now's the time to get some new ones if needed!

Speaking of tires, I've attached a few pics of the tires I recently took off a new-to-me bike.  As you can see, the tread looks good and they are only about 5 years old.  I didn't see any significant cracking of the sidewalls and they were still relatively soft.  However, I decided to play it safe and replace them.  The tiny round pellets of rubber and silica(?) that you see in the pics were inside the tires; that's exactly how they looked when they came off the rims. I'd never seen that before.  From what I learned from my bike shop guy who was a MSF instructor for many years, it's the inside of the tire coming apart from being ridden at too low of pressure.  The tire was failing from the inside out. My guy said he used to keep a small glass jar of the pellets to show the people in his class what could happen to their tires if they didn't check the air pressure.  Crazy stuff.  Glad I bought the new tires.

Stay warm and be well!

David B
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