Monday July 23, 2007
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2007
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Trip End
Jul 26, 2007
Tucson, Arizona
Monday, July 23, 2007
Up early the next morning, we checked out of the motel and were at APC Trailers just before opening time, we thought. After about twenty minutes of waiting, I said, "it's Monday morning and I can imagine an employee showing up late, but this place looks like it employs more than one person and they couldn't all be late."
There was a notice on the front door and I went over to see if it was announcing that they were closed for vacation or something. "No, it just says please use other door." We looked at the map and Pacific Time wasn't supposed to begin until Nevada, but we suspected that the time wasn't what we thought it was. So we returned to the motel and confirmed that it was 7:30am and that Arizona does not observe daylight savings time so we were basically on Pacific Time. With a little time to kill, we pulled out the computers and used Econo Lodge's wireless signal for a while.
When we returned to APC the gate was open even though it wasn't quite eight and we took that as a good sign. When we entered the shop we saw all kinds of trailer parts, but everything was too big for our little trailer. They sent us over to another shop two blocks away and it looked as if we would have the same luck at first.
We followed a man out to the shop area and rummaged through a big wooden box full of new and used hubs, but everything was five-bolt and we needed four bolt. We were about to leave for another shop when one of the guys found a new four-bolt hub in the parts room. They also had the cap for the hub so we bought the hub and two caps and left in search of a hardware store. Nearby we saw an old hardware store with a split-window VW panel truck out front that was still being used as a work truck. It was at least a '62 and looked as if it hadn't had a day off in all of that time.
There we picked up a file to dress up the axle and tubes of grease for the bearings and I took a couple of photos of the old VW. Then we got headed for Steve's house stopping to take more photos at Davis-Monthan AFB and the Military Aircraft Boneyard.
Back at Steve's house, I jacked up the other side of the trailer and got to work packing the bearings on the side that didn't fail. They sure needed it they might have failed down the road if I hadn't have done it. Paul packed the new bearings and installed the new hub and set the pre-load on the bearings and put in the cotter pin. We tapped in the new caps, lowered the trailer off the block, and set it down on the driveway.
While all of this was taking place, Paul's cell phone rang and he was told that his father had passed away. He had been suffering from late-stage Alzheimer's disease for a long time. There would be more changes in our plans now. We had to get to Las Vegas and unload all of the bikes and Paul would have to make arrangements to get the BSA shipped to California. There was also a streettracker Triumph that we were supposed to pickup there and it would have to be shipped to Laredo.
We wrapped everything up and got the toolboxes back in the truck and thanked Steve and said our goodbyes. We would make it to Las Vegas that evening, but it would be late. Outside of Chandler, AZ and just past Firebird Raceway, we had a quick lunch at a truck stop Arby's and were back on the road.
North of Phoenix, we passed under AZ 74, the famous Carefree Highway and I took a photo out of the widow at the sign. Our next planned stop was in Flagstaff, AZ just off the Historic Route 66. There was an independent bike shop where we picked up a Norton frame, forks, swing arm, and a couple of cylinder heads. It was pouring down rain when we arrived in town and luckily it let up a bit while we loaded up.
There were many cool old motorcycles in the shop. Lots of old BMWs and even a WWII vintage sidecar rig. In the office are there was a Bultaco M49 trials bike that I would have liked to have brought home. It was pretty and seemed to be in good mechanical condition, but the price was a bit high for the non-standard paint job and the frame which was white and should be silver.
At Kingman we got back on to old Route 66 hoping to find a diner and ended up at a Denny's that was built over a large drainage ditch. From there we headed north on US93 and crossed into Nevada on the Hoover Dam. Before crossing, we had to stop at a police checkpoint to make sure we weren't planning to blow up the dam. The dam was impressive even at night and Paul told me that we would stop on the way back and take photos by daylight.
We pulled into the house of another Paul in northern Las Vegas after making a few calls for directions. We unloaded all of the bikes save the '59 Triumph that was going to Brian on the other side of town. Paul was graciously going to meet up with the guy from Utah that was taking the Triumph chopper and the Honda Café Racer and help with the shipping of the BSA to California. Paul himself was getting the '73 Norton as well as the Norton bits we had picked up in Flagstaff. He also had a real sweet sixties Ducatti single that he had restored.
Once all was unloaded Paul tried to kick start the big Norton, but on the first kick, water shot six feet out of the left muffler! We had driven through a lot of bad weather and that was the side that faced the outside of the trailer. After two or three kicks, the mighty Norton that usually fires up on the first kick roared to life. Paul rode his new bike around the block a couple of times and put it up. We would return the next day to settle up with him.
We made more than a few wrong turns and had to call for directions before we made it to Brian's house. He freaked out when he saw the custom machine that Paul had built for him. It certainly wasn't the bike I would have built, but it was just what the customer had ordered.
