it's a 1970 k0 with a k1 motor, and a lot of frame parts from other years. someone had built it themselves with an 836 motor and a tracy body. it doesn't have either anymore.
i rode from san francisco to minneapolis first, via oregon, idaho, wyoming and south dakota. i stayed with a friend for a week. then i went to montana from there and roamed around for about eight days or so. that picture was taken in glacier national park on going-to-the-sun road, or at least the short section that was open back then. then i headed south through idaho, utah, and colorado to northern new mexico, where i attended a wedding in the sangre de christo mountains. after staying in santa fe after that with my girlfriend and her mom and aunt, they drove in a car through utah with me. then i headed up nevada and back home via sonora pass in the sierra nevadas.
the weather kept things interesting. there was a lot of rain, snow at one point, hail, and wind. the clouds were pure majesty. i rode through a severe thunderstorm for about three hours heading into minneapolis on the night of 5/27. i'm too cheap to buy a $400 nylon suit, but i do have a nice hein gericke leather jacket and rain shell pants. i wore a t-shirt under a thermal (i forget the brand but they're always navy blue i think and have no waffles and are awesome) with sleeves i tucked into my gloves, and a western shirt over that for a bit of formality, and i used hand warmers in my breast pockets to minimize heat loss. i wore long johns and jeans and wool socks and boots. i have a fleece hood/neck-warmer thing that saved me. i was usually pretty cozy, but in minnesota i got soaked through. i kept going that night because i saw a lone headlight on the other side of the freeway -- some harley dude was in the same boat as me, so i figured if he could do it, well what the hell. my camping gear did not let me down either.
that's the bike i ride everywhere in the city as well, so i'm pretty familiar with it and how it handles rough treatment. before leaving, i spent a couple of days tuning up the motor, getting new tires, and putting on a new front wheel (bearing retainers are a nightmare). everything turned out fine except that my master cylinder gave out and i had to get some parts overnighted to glasgow, montana. the master cylinder actually had two concurrent problems... oh and i looked down at the chain in moab and one of the plates was half broken off. at this point i also noticed that the rubber bootie under the m/c lid was broken and i was losing brake fluid from under the lid. there was nothing i could do about it there, so i ended up having to ride to durango, colorado from there with a bad, worn chain held together with a dodgy master link and a weak front brake. oh on the second to last day my side stand broke off from the frame somehow while i was parked on a bit of a slope. i was trying to get back on the bike at the time, and it fell on my leg, but somehow i caught it and was able to muscle it back upright. that was not cool. i was left out of breath and heart racing. i found a welder in town. he turned out to be a young guy like me who was just starting out his own business. he accidentally set a rag on fire at one point. but he did a good job with the re-welding, and he wasn't a goon like the other welders i talked to who i found on google SMS.
i ended up being able to deal with everything fine, even if it cost kind of a lot of money because of shipping and time constraints. i rather enjoyed it, actually, at the time. other than that i just kept an eye on my oil, changed it every 3K (more than i usually go for), and my points. my "hondaman" ignition box never had a problem. i never got in a mood to check valve clearances even though i should have. by the time i got home they were wayyy off.
now that i'm home, i'm still riding the bike everywhere, only the rear tire is square as a car tire, the motor leaks a little oil, my forks are COMPLETELY shot, and i'm pretty broke. donations are humbly accepted.
i'd like to share some more stories and pictures with the people here on this forum. as soon as i get my act together, i'll be sure to put up a thread.
