I stopped in and payed my neighbor a visit today, { Ed Fisher}. For those of you that don't know ,Ed is a tough old motorcycle racer. He is in the Hall of Fame,,well, to be accurate ,he, Dave Despain and others sent their credentials back last year. But I digress. He was 48 National flat track champ,etc.. A Honda,Yamaha,Triumph dealer for many decades. When I stepped out of the truck. I Immediately smelled nasty bad gas.. Not your run of the mill green nasty crud.. SEWAGE smelling filth.. I walk in to find Ed pumping the fuel tank of a 76 Goldwing. I left the door open,knowing he had heat on.. It was BAD LOL !!! I assess the situation,look in with a flashlight. And tell him,I think my 3 wheel buddies easily conquer this situation with apple cider vinegar. You could see the rust and garbage had set up shop on TOP of pure,shiny clean metal! It was actually made of some good stuff!. Ed proceeds to tell me he promised himself he was DONE buying huge heavy pigs like these bikes. But that he had sold THIS bike new in the fall of 75. So he bought it back.. He said he was just thinking he wanted to see me and in the door I walk. I said you're a God fearing man Ed. You're in church every Sunday. You ask and you receive lol!
He then proudly points over to another Wing. This is a 40x50 foot truck garage FULL of vintage motorcycles. We go over to it. I see it's a 75 { 1st year for the goldwing} He says look at the vin,,as I WAS lol.. #54.. 84,448 miles. On the CO.. THE Fifty Fourth Honda Goldwing EVER produced!!! He kept it. NEVER sold it. Rode it to Cali and back once. Called Honda and told them if they ever tried to say it had a comfortable seat. He would care to differ! He then shows me around all the triumphs he has for sale. ... THEN we go over to the work bench.. Where there are 4 Cub engines all scattered. These are the Triumph racers he prefers. I'm gawking at the bronze bushed cases,knock apart crank throws. He's firing questions about cleaning the cases up,but not to shiny,and one that's welded and exactly the BEST way to go about saving it...,,I'm taking it all in. They come stock with dual chains. He runs a single in all his race bikes. He breaks out a ANCIENT NOS box. A needle bearinged lower rod bearing !!.. Points out how the crank seals are...Laughs and says he finds they are way over rated... How he doesn't run seals on his crank anymore.. He drills holes all around the outside circumference of the crank bearings,and drills a vent for the crankcase. No crankcase pressure, No leakage! He points out why he was thinking of me. A new Chinese scooter that won't start unless you choke it on the airbox with your hand. I traced the electric choke wire back and we think we figured it out but didn't tear into it today.. He had a new carb in case. He then started talking about my Uncles and that led to World War 2. He told me a couple wild stories he had heard...I said,,,that's true lol.. He said ,wow.. I told him My Uncle Frank was Pattons veterinarian.. He said wow.. I SAW Patton. It was a nasty snowy day ,and there was traffic and people jammed up everywhere,somewhere in Europe... Total chaos. As his company got up to the front of the mess. There was Patton at a crossroads screaming and directing which direction to head. He said Patton was definitely a real go getter and got things done.. We talked about so much. But it was just one of those days I'll never forget. To think some ,,,MOST,,people would simply pass him by for an old man.. Everyone has a story,and I sure like listening to his. He's coming up to my place for a tour. He's been here Many times. But never went through. I think it will be a very long day
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Originally Posted by fabiodriven
