Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
If you've ever worked on an old vehicle (or really anything complex that's been out of production for a long time), you've doubtless encountered that point where you really just need a new part, and you have no idea how you're going to get that part.
I hit that point yesterday -- I managed to partially crush one of the floats in my carburetor. This is a sort of brass bauble which is shaped like a pair of round, lenticular pills scaled up until they're bigger than a quarter, connected together by an ornate bar. Each float in the pair is made out of very thin brass sheet, soldered together. It didn't take much pressure to crush the one.
As I yanked my fingers away from the damaged part, several thoughts cross my mind, none of which are suitable for a family-friendly journal such as this. After I calmed down a little, the thought crossed my mind, "Where am I going to get a replacement float?"
I could probably repair it. It comes in two pieces, and could at least in theory be popped apart by the application of a bunch of heat and the removal of a bunch of solder. Popping it back into shape then would be a simple matter, but the act of desoldering and resoldering the float doesn't actually sound that simple, and things usually turn out to be much more difficult than I think they will be.
There's a local 160 racing guy, Tim, who has a couple sheds packed to the ceilings with 160 and 175 parts. He'd probably have a float for me. There's a local motorcycle junkyard that might have something for cheap, and there's another which might have something for far too much money.
I joined Jesse today for a ride up to Cycle Barn. The expensive junkyard, Bent Bike, is on the way, so we stopped in. The guy behind the counter thought he might have a CL175 carburetor he could sell me, but not just a float. The carb, he said, would be about $60. Ouch. I passed, deciding I'd call Tim later.
We got to Cycle Barn, which is a huge multi-brand dealership with extremely sketchy salesmen, but usually friendly and helpful parts and accessories folks. One of their brands is Honda, so while Jesse went over to check out helmets, I drifted towards the parts counter.
One of the parts guys said, "How can I help you?"
"Well," said I, "I'm wondering if you can still get parts for a 1972 Honda."
He looked at me not quite like I'd just asked for a day-old dead fish. Instead of saying what was doubtless running through his mind, he said, "Let's see," and started typing on his computer. After a moment, he asked which model, and I told him what I was looking for. The dead fish look came back, but was quickly squelched.
While Guy #1 was typing away, Guy #2 looked over at me, and said, "Oh yeah, is that one of those Scramblers? I had one, a '68 or a '69. I loved that bike." Guys #3 and #4 looked on as if we were speaking Martian. Did they really make motorcycles in 1972? their faces seemed to say. That's so much older than me that it doesn't even make sense, their faces eloquently continued. Undeterred, I looked back at Guy #1, who had apparently located something.
With a look of surprise on his face, he said, "Um, yeah. Actually, there are 5 of them in California. I can have them here by Thursday."
I boggled. Was he seriously suggesting that Honda is still making (or at least stocking) weird incidental parts for a 36 year old motorcycle? "Um," I said eloquently. "Um. How much do they cost?" I was expecting the worst. Honda (literally) charges $1200 for the exhaust system of a 1982 Goldwing, although they no longer sell major chunks of it. But if they did, they'd charge you $1200 for it. I expected to hear, "Oh, it says here they're $150 each, but I can sell them to you for $100 each." 'Cause we're all pals, right?
He glanced down at his screen, and said, "$23.65 each." Our eyes met across the top of his stylishly out of date LCD flat panel monitor. "Huh," I said, wondering when he was going to add the one onto the front of the number.
With no extra digits forthcoming, I dithered for a moment, then said, "I'll take two." After all, you never know: those 5 floats might be the last five Honda will ever ship to North America. Who would have guessed I could actually get these things brand new, from a dealer?
Posted at 20:52 permanent link category: /motorcycle
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater