5-Ball Racing 2012: Chapter 4

Editor’s Note: Ray left this chapter out, but it’s a helluva story about the final run on his Dyna Glide. He rode this hot rod for 175,000 and into two records at Bonneville:

We’re seriously backing up for this installment. Ya see, before we tore into my Dyna hot rod, the men at Hardtailz, San Jose, serviced my Dyna for a short road trip to Phoenix.

2/12/2011, Forecast Thursday evening

Weather folks predicted a massive rainstorm gaining speed and punch in the Pacific, rumbling our direction at a rapid rate.
Not to worry, piece-of-cake, my throw-over-zippered-soft-bags have water-proof covers, ya right.

Methodically packed during the relaxed evening for a fine week on the road, destination Phoenix, alone with my therapist (the Dyna). Made a mental note just prior to passin’ out that night, set the trusty internal alarm for an early morning get-up. Rain or shine.

Friday, Feb.11, 2011

Up at the crack of Dawn after a restless night of earth shattering dreams, landed on both feet running, hit the hot morning shower, then glimpsed outside.

Son-of-a-bitch, buckets of RAIN with strong winds.

WTF? Might has well slide into my warm, dry (at the moment), rain proof riding gear? No such thing is there? A break in the clouds, according to the weather map was headed toward San Jose. Here we go, 101 South, I-5 South, sunshine and warmth, Phoenix next stop.

Rolled out of my warm-as-a-bug bungalow, quietly latched the gate behind me, rolled to the curb, lit-the-wick and hauled ass straight to the corner petrol station for a hit-the-road-top-off. Patches of clear sky were visible to the West, good sign, maybe. I blended into five lanes packed with relentless, bumper-to-bumper, Southbound 101, early morning traffic.

Traffic on 101 generally rolls at about 70 mph minimum in large packs. One of my survival techniques includes riding through the pack, and staying in between the masses whenever possible.

No less than 30 miles down the road, just after making the left turn that leads over the Pacheco Pass to the I-5 corridor, heavy clouds appeared once again, and the gods opened the petcocks in the sky. The rain started fairly easy, progressing into a blinding, monsoon-type downpour. Hydro-plaining in the middle of traffic, I was slippin-n-sliddin in the wind and the pounding rain. The K&N air cleaner protecting the Aerocharger variable pitch vanes from small animals, dirt and road hazards, sucked more water than air, which caused the Twin Tech computer to add more fuel. My therapist was not happy.

Found a safe turn-around on the mountain pass outside of a storming Hollister. I immediately headed toward my warm bungalow, 2-hours later, much wetter and wiser.

Saturday, 2/12/2011

I changed the fouled spark plugs after a thoroughly-soaking, aborted ride.

Santa Cruzzzzzzzin!

Destination the next morning, 100 miles of seat time in the high and dry local mountains, no traffic, just twisties, spark-the-foot-peg, and exhaust tip scratching corners, chasin’ the elusive adrenaline rush. Discovered the perfect hot spots that day, nothin like predictable turbo boost lifting the front wheel sky high, exiting a tight corner while looking under the clutch lever and planning my next life-saving, lightning quick move.

Hang the fuck on, aim it, and peek into your future, or not?

The pros at Hardtailz, Ron (master mechanic, tuner), Jeff (pro-rider, mechanic, tuner) and Kevin (axel-to-axel and more) have maintained my hot rod since 2004.

Thanks to a flawless tune up, we managed to set 2 Bonneville Land Speed Records in 2009, while rolling coast-to-coast, hitting drag strips and all points in between.

The chassis rolled over 175,000 nearly-trouble free miles, through Rain, Frigid Mountain Peaks, Skinny 2-mph rocky roads (Cripple Creek Lost Canyon Road), slippery sleet, slick snow, salty Bonneville Flats, deserts, sticky drag strips, smog and fog.

The bright red hot rod always seemed to run just a little crisper rollin’ in after a cross-country road trip. The closer to the dyno unit, located in the San Jose shop, the cleaner it seemed to run. The Daytona Twin Tech computer was a bit of a challenge in the beginning, but always performed flawlessly, even with the addition of the Turbo system.

Refurbish and Rebuild!

I made a left onto Senter Street, on drive pavement, peeled right on Umbarger road, checked traffic and lit it up. Hitting second I stood it on the back tire, leaned left into the tilt-up complex, bounced over the speed bump and into their shop stall.

Rolling in just before lunch, the men at Hardtailz, with good hearing, immediately discovered both head gaskets seeping small amounts of precious combustion.

“Ya got a head gasket leak,” Ron pointed out while the sweetheart still idled.

The Hardtailz crew cleaned a lift, drained the hot rod’s fluids, then tackled the Dyna with a well-executed plan after a hot taco lunch. Seemed like a re-run tune-up performed in the past.

But they tore into my baby like emergency room surgeons. They pulled the rocker boxes, and discovered a broken rocker-arm support under the front box. They pulled the heads and spotted a shifted valve seat. Things were beginning to happen, after 175,000. They kept digging.

Ron pulled the cylinders, and noticed excessive side-play in the rods. There was massive run-out on the pinion shaft. They didn’t hesitate to split the cases. I fired up the bubble machine and started cleaning parts.

They pulled the crank and discovered the shifting wheels, yet it still purred. At that point, we just looked at each other, wrapped all the parts, and shipped everything back to Randy, at High Performance, even the junk parts. Nothing was any good except the cases, and the S&S 640 gear-drive cams and Screamin’ Eagle pushrods and lifters.

My 2004 Dyna Twin Cam cases were stripped, thoroughly scrubbed, the worn out parts and pieces were carefully wrapped and packaged then shipped to Pleasant Hill, Iowa, where Randy and his one man crew hang out in a bad ass, clean, professional, motorcycle-engine-machine-shop.