1974 1948 Harley-Davidson - Bad Luck Shovel

The frame was taken to the Frame Doctor in Sacramento to be returned to stock specs, and also to be straightened and to have a few cracks welded up.

I finally got the call that it was in the final stages, so I drove down from Canada in my piece of shit minivan. I managed to arrive just in time for the final coat of paint. Max is one hell of a painter, so it was a treat to watch him work. I had to busy myself for a few days while a few more finishing touches were added. Jasin had learned a bunch about wiring after his Panhead caught fire a few times, to he handled that task and did a darned fine job of it too.

Finally after several long months the bike was ready to be fired up. Max gave it a couple of primes and kicked the bike over first shot. Amazing. I got the call that the bike was finally ready to go. And you just couldn't ask for a better sign than that. What followed was a series of events which would lead me to regard good signs with a healthy degree of skepticism.

Max blew a head gasket on one of the first rides. Within the next forty miles, I blew the other head gasket. No matter, minor setback; head gaskets are now solid, should be ready to go for miles, right? After all, the ad had said "Totally rebuilt, zero miles!" What it probably should have read was, "Rebuilt by a total zero!"

About fifty miles after that, I totally seized the motor on the freeway. I should emphasize that Max had never touched the motor. He'd said all along that the motor was a question mark. "I'd say just run it until you have a problem." Which was what I wanted to do.

Unfortunately that run was a short one, and the problem was a huge one. I called Max and he put in a call to master machinist Pat Stephenson of Pat's Machine Shop in Soulsbyville California- a tiny town a little East of Modesto. Pat must've been trying to earn his wings in Harley Heaven, because he gave me the deal of a lifetime on a top-to-bottom motor rebuild. There were hunks of aluminum everywhere, and it was one of the worst motors he'd seen, but he did an amazing job, and in only a few short days and a few long nights sleeping on the bathroom floor of the shop, the bike was up and running like a Swiss watch. Of course, only 600 miles later I had to mail Pat my transmission, since it too had apparently been rebuilt by a total zero. Pat managed to get me up and running just in time for a ride from Oakland to Paso Robles, and I finally got to put some real miles on the bike. I've learned a lot through this whole process, and I can't thank Max, Jasin, and Pat enough for the time they put into the bike and to helping me out. I think with all the over the phone tech support I've even managed to upgrade my wrenching skills from tardmo to dunderhead!