Victor's pre Cannonball run

[Iron Dinosaur]

Attention all Cannonball riders. My friend and fellow Cannonball rider Victor Boocock has set sail for a little "test ride" on his ALL original 1914 HD twin single speed. I was sworn to secrecy about the whole trip until he had a few days under his belt. We have been planning this trip and preparing the bike since long before the Cannonball ever came about. He has been out on 300 mile daily rides here in northern Ca. for the past few months, some in the rain, just to get in a little saddle time. He left the east coast headed west a few days ago with only what he could fit on the luggage rack and saddle bags . He is averaging 300 miles a day and all is going well. He has a planned route of 3886 miles before returning home. He has been calling daily and I will post more if there is anything of intrest to report on. By the way, he plans to return home, freshen it up a bit, then do it again with us this September! Dave

[knossos]

Hey Dave. By coincidence, I was just on the phone with Chris C and he was telling me about Victor's status before I read your note. Victor said his rear tire might make it all the way to Colorado.

When Victor gets back here to California, we're going to head up to the Alturas rally for early cars and bikes. It is a good place for Cannonball folks to do a few miles on level ground while prepping for Sept. See you there?

Regards,
Pete
http://www.occhiolungo.wordpress.com

(05-25-2010 10:55 PM)Iron Dinosaur Wrote:  Attention all Cannonball riders. My friend and fellow Cannonball rider Victor Boocock has set sail for a little "test ride" on his ALL original 1914 HD twin single speed. I was sworn to secrecy about the whole trip until he had a few days under his belt. We have been planning this trip and preparing the bike since long before the Cannonball ever came about. He has been out on 300 mile daily rides here in northern Ca. for the past few months, some in the rain, just to get in a little saddle time. He left the east coast headed west a few days ago with only what he could fit on the luggage rack and saddle bags . He is averaging 300 miles a day and all is going well. He has a planned route of 3886 miles before returning home. He has been calling daily and I will post more if there is anything of intrest to report on. By the way, he plans to return home, freshen it up a bit, then do it again with us this September! Dave

[Old Iron Rider]

Can't wait for updates ! BTW, is he running clinchers.. 28x3 or 28x2 1/2 ?

[jurassic]

wow, go victor go.

[knossos]

I don't know HD's for certain, but I think that Victor's 1914 bike uses 28 x 2 1/2 clinchers. didn't they change to 28 x 3 in 1915?

(05-26-2010 03:33 PM)Old Iron Rider Wrote:  Can't wait for updates ! BTW, is he running clinchers.. 28x3 or 28x2 1/2 ?

[Iron Dinosaur]

Update 5/26, Victor is progressing well. This is day #4 for him, he has put on a total of about 1200 miles! Day 2 and 3 were partally in the rain, which he said was not really a problem. So far, the only real problem was a broken spark plug porcelin for which he had a spare plug. He is using a lot more oil than he had planned. He is carrying a spare fuel tank which is working well for him. I asked him about how the rear brake was holding up and his reply was "I have hardly had to use it at all". Old iron rider, Yes he is running clinchers. Black 28 X 3 Coker Nonskids. The rear tire is already becomming a concern, it is badly worn after just 2000 miles on it. He is having a new tire shipped to one of his planned stops to be replaced on Friday. He is carrying quite a load on the rear. The front tire is a whole different story. it has well over 6000 on it and it still has the little tits visable ! Todays ride was in 90 degree weather with blue skies and fluffy clouds, He is having the time of his life! His only real complaint is his ass, it's real sore. Everywhere he stops, he has become an instant celebrity with lots of questions and pictures. I'm beganning to think that all the upgrades and modifactions that everyone is doing is really not necessary. I guess that's about it for today, I'll let you all know what happens tomorrow. Anybody seen him out riding the back roads of America? Dave

[Buzz Kanter]

(05-26-2010 10:26 PM)Iron Dinosaur Wrote:  Update 5/26, Victor is progressing well. This is day #4 for him, he has put on a total of about 1200 miles! Day 2 and 3 were partally in the rain, which he said was not really a problem. So far, the only real problem was a broken spark plug porcelin for which he had a spare plug. He is using a lot more oil than he had planned. He is carrying a spare fuel tank which is working well for him. I asked him about how the rear brake was holding up and his reply was "I have hardly had to use it at all". Old iron rider, Yes he is running clinchers. Black 28 X 3 Coker Nonskids. The rear tire is already becomming a concern, it is badly worn after just 2000 miles on it. He is having a new tire shipped to one of his planned stops to be replaced on Friday. He is carrying quite a load on the rear. The front tire is a whole different story. it has well over 6000 on it and it still has the little tits visable ! Todays ride was in 90 degree weather with blue skies and fluffy clouds, He is having the time of his life! His only real complaint is his ass, it's real sore. Everywhere he stops, he has become an instant celebrity with lots of questions and pictures. I'm beganning to think that all the upgrades and modifactions that everyone is doing is really not necessary. I guess that's about it for today, I'll let you all know what happens tomorrow. Anybody seen him out riding the back roads of America? Dave

Wonderful and makes the rest of us sound like rookies out on a sunday ride. Hope he has fun and shares any tips or tricks he learns along the way. I, for one, sure would be all ears.

[Iron Dinosaur]

Update 5/27 Is anybody even reading this? Well, for those of you that are, here's Victors daily report. All is going well, although he did have another spark plug failure again today. He only took 2 spares, so he's on the hunt for some back ups plugs right now. He was able to get in another 300 mile day today, but it took him a total of 12 hours in some 90 degree heat and some long steady up hill climbs for miles and miles. There was also a couple of rain stroms that he had to ride through. He was totally burned out when I spoke to him this evening. You know boys, he's 67 years old!! That puts him in the catagory of one of the toughest guy's I know! I asked him how the rear tire was holding up, but he said he was so tired that he didn't even look at it this evening. His plans are to replace it at the end of tomorrows ride. Even I don't know the exact roads that he had planned to ride, although he did say that he had to take more major roads than he had planned just to keep up the pace that he is going at. A bit of advice from Victor, Don't try eating a banana while riding down the road with one hand on the handlebar! He said that he started to run off of the road and while trying to correct with one hand, he experienced a terrible wobble that just about bucked him off! He blamed the wobble on all the extra weight that is on the back of the bike. Again he stated that he is shocked about the amount of oil that he is going through, a good 3 quarts a day, and it's really not leaking any. Well, I guess that 's about it for today, tune in tomorrow for more tales about Victor, on assingment. Dave

[jurassic]

dave ,thanks for the update. victor is on an amazing journey,and doing it on his own terms. what kind of plugs is he running?

[Old Iron Rider]

This is a GREAT THREAD ! Thank you for posting and keeping us updated. You've touched on a few things I overlooked like lots of extra spark plugs and possibly 10 gallons of oil! Let Victor know that we're cheering him on !
I'm glad to see that the clincher tires are holding up. From what I'm told, it's not the tire so much as the inner tube. Could you ask Victor what he's doing to make sure the tires are inflated properly through the trip?