Month: December 2021

Steamtown National Historic Site

Folks my age love steam locomotives.  I think it’s because they were still pulling trains and generating revenue when I was a kid.  The Lionel thing probably figures into the equation, too.   Most guys my age had a Lionel train set when they were boys.  I did, and I loved it.  Some guys are still into it, like good buddy Steve.  Anyway, the point is when I’m traveling, I never miss an opportunity to visit a railroad museum.

A few months ago when we were back east, our travels allowed us to swing by Scranton, Pennsylvania, and visit the Steamtown National Historic Site.  It’s part of the US National Park network, but if you don’t have the senior discount card, don’t worry about it.  Admission is free.

The tour started with a movie, and it was great.  It told a lot about the early days of railroad travel in America, and it had an interesting section on mail cars.  I’ll get to that in a second.

The free movie that starts every tour of the Steamtown National Historic Site.

After the movie, you follow the marked path and see several locomotives and a mail car.  Some of those photos are coming up (I used my Nikon D810 and the 24-120 Nikon lens for all the photos you see here).  After that, the path takes you outside again to see the roundtable.  That’s what locomotive repair facilities used to rotate locomotives and put them on the right tracks.  Here’s a photo of the roundtable.

A locomotive maintenance yard roundtable.

It might seem mundane, but the movie told an interesting story about this aspect of railroad history and seeing an actual mail car immediately after was a nice touch.

The mail car interior.
Another mail car photo. The trains didn’t stop to pick up the mail. Mail bags were hung in each small town, and the mail cars snatched them as the train rolled across America. Interesting stuff.

The locomotives in the maintenance shop were interesting.  Photographing these would ordinarily be a challenge because of the dimly-lit buildings and the black locomotives, but the Nikon 810 and the 24-120 lens vibration reduction technology handled it well.  That combo has superior low-light capabilities.  All of these photos are hand-held shots with no flash.

The locomotives were huge. As a mechanical engineer, it was a real treat to see what the state of the art was a century ago.
Another interesting shot.

The displays included a cutaway locomotive that showed a steam locomotive’s innards.  I had studied steam generation as an undergraduate engineering student and like I said, I was a Lionel guy when I was a kid, but I had no idea.  This stuff is fascinating.

There was a lot going on inside these things.

We walked around outside and I grabbed photos of some of the locomotives in the yard.  This one was obviously unrestored.  It was pretty cool.

It’s only original once.

The rail yard had a Reading Lines diesel electric locomotive on display, too.  Most folks just call these diesels, but propulsion was actually via electric motors in the trucks (a truck is the subchassis that carries the wheels, the axles, and the electric motors).  The diesel engine is used to turn a generator that provides electricity to the motors.   If this sounds suspiciously like a modern hybrid automobile, it’s because it is.

A diesel electric locomotive: The worlds’ first hybrid.

As we left, it was just starting to rain.  It was overcast the entire time we visited Steamtown National Historic Site.  I was okay with that, because overcast days are best for good photography.  I stopped to grab a few photos of the Big Boy parked at the entrance to the site.

Big Boy 4012, one of only 25 ever built.

These Big Boy locomotives are a story all by themselves.  They were the largest steam locomotives ever built, designed specifically for the the Union Pacific Railroad by the American Locomotive Works.  They are articulated, which means their 4-8-8-4 wheel set (4 little wheels, 8 big drive wheels, 8 more big drive wheels, and then 4 more little wheels) are hinged underneath the locomotive so the thing can negotiate curves.   The Big Boys were created for the specific purpose of pulling long trains up and over the Rocky Mountains.  They only made 25 of them.  We had one here in my neighborhood a few years ago and we wrote about it on the blog.

Which brings me to my next point.  I started this blog by saying that folks my age love steam locomotives.  I guess that pertains to Gresh and me, as it seems we’ve done a number of ExNotes blogs that include railroad stuff. Here you go, boys and girls.

The California State Railroad Museum
Big Boy!
The Nevada Northern
Golden Spike National Historic Park
Going Nowhere, Slowly
Santa Rosalia’s Hotel Frances
A TT250 Ride

Pennsylvania is a beautiful state.  I grew up one state over (in New Jersey), and a lot of the folks I knew in New Jersey relocated to Pennsylvania because of the more rational tax structure.  There are beautiful motorcycle roads in Pennsylvania, too, once you get off the freeways and start exploring. If you make it to Scranton, the place has great restaurants, and like most east coast locales, the Italian food is the best in the world (even better than Italy, in my opinion).  Try Vincenzo’s for pizza.  It was awesome.

A Vincenzo’s delight. Thin crust, the right toppings, and wow, was it ever goood!

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ExhaustNotes 2021 Motorcycle Rider Gift Guide

Long after the last word has been typed, when the world lays in waste and all that remains is a ground-hugging sulfuric cloud of swirling brown gas fed on by fantastic single-celled creatures all named Bob, there will be Christmas gift giving guides. This is because gift-giving guides are really just listicles masquerading as useful information. Listicles are the lowest form of writing and like the single-celled Bobs, can survive anything. Of course that depressing scenario doesn’t stop ExhaustNotes from jumping on the bandwagon. At least we waited until after Thanksgiving.

The motorcycling community is many-fractured; to the outsider we may seem to require only one description: motorcyclists, but that is far from the reality. ExhaustNote’s gift guide recognizes both the Yin and the Fro of the motorcycling public and is helpfully broken into rider type to better match motorcycle-gift to motorcycle-giftee.

This beautiful gold-tone trophy is an excellent gift for the Canyon Racer. Canyon Racers are easy to identify because they just passed you on the inside of a blind corner…in a school zone. Canyon Racers ply their trade on public roads because those guys on the racetrack are going way too fast for Canyon Racer to get past; unlike that Chrysler mini van they out-braked and stuffed mightily in the Arby’s drive up window. Canyon Racers have colorful motorcycles that mimic the appearance of race bikes in the same way Canyon Racers mimic actual racers. They dress in expensive leather suits and spend most of their time sanding down the edges of their tires to mask a common malady named Chicken Strips. Have no fear of duplicate gifts with the above trophy, the one you give your Canyon Racer will be the only one he ever sees.

Morbid and practical describes both the finely crafted casket above and the riders in our next group: The Cruisers. Consisting of mostly dead men, the Cruiser rider segment is so old they can remember the time before the Internet was invented. As the Cruiser rider’s body withers away to leather and buckles the bikes he rides become ever larger, slower and more expensive. Often mistaken for a briefcase, the Cruiser rider blows all his money chasing chrome and noise-making devices leaving his next-of-kin no money to pay for his funeral. The casket above will subtly tell the Worst Generation, best known for their ability to close the door behind themselves, that the one thing belonging to future generations that the Cruisers can’t mortgage is time.

One of the handiest gifts you can give an Adventure Bike rider is this inflatable cast. The tall, heavy motorcycles Adventure Riders prefer are sized exactly right for breaking an ankle when they fall over. And fall over they do. A normal person would look at an Adventure motorcycle and never in a million years guess that you are supposed to take the machine off road. Everything about the bike, its weight, size, width and ground clearance screams ridiculous. The Adventure Rider only screams when the bike falls on him. Other suitable gifts for an Adventure Rider would be a first aid kit, health insurance, a girl friend or a gift card to a nationwide chain of coffee brewers.

These rose-colored glasses are perfect for the Vintage motorcycle enthusiast. Even older than the Cruiser Rider, Vintage Riders are way more stubborn. They can be found at home because their bikes are never actually ridden. Simply looking at a motorcycle is all the excitement their weak and failing hearts can take. (This means no girl friends!) If you get the optional, rose-colored magnifying glasses your Vintage Rider will be able to identify the date codes on the many, many parts he has stored in boxes. Knowing the date code won’t really change anything but he will sleep better having the useless data points. The Vintage Rider will never sell his parts because he knows what they are worth, preferring instead to leave it to his nephew to toss the boxes of greasy bits into a dumpster when he is summoned to settle the Vintage Rider’s estate.

This gift will delete…I mean delight Scooter Riders. Properly used, the castration tool will provide welcome clearance for the odd, two-feet-together seating position most scooters employ. In addition to the improved comfort, dramatic personality changes can be expected that will make your favorite Scooter Rider more pleasant to be around. He’ll fight much less and smell better to boot! If your Scooter Rider has designs on a singing career get him one sooner rather than later.

All these gifts are available online at Amazon or other local-shop destroying, mega corporation websites. Merry Christmas!

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Ferrari versus…Jeep?

You’ve probably seen the movie Ferrari versus Ford a few years ago about Enzo Ferrari, Henry Ford II, Carrol Shelby, and the 24 hours of Le Mans.  As flicks go, it was decent show.   Ford GTs are cool and so are Ferraris, made even more so by their stint in the police show a few years ago where a Ferrari Testarossa shared top billing with the two actors who played the good guys.  That show had one of the greatest intro scenes ever:

I didn’t know why that show and the Miami Vice sound track was playing in my mind repeatedly for the last day or so, and then it hit me:  Joe Gresh posted an old passport photo on Facebook.  Take a look and tell me what you think:

Gresh is a Jeep man, though, through and through.  Like me, I think he’d have a hard time even getting into a Ferrari.  Hence the title of this blog.

A bit about the Ferraris on Miami Vice.  It’s shades of Long Way Around all over again, you know, when those two dilettantes who call themselves adventure riders wanted to borrow a couple of KTMs and do a show about going around the world on motorcycles.  KTM wouldn’t cough up the bikes, so BMW stepped in with their GS ADV bikes, and Starbuck’s parking lots haven’t been the same since.

Something similar happened on Miami Vice.  Its producer asked Ferrari to give them two Testarossas and the answer was no.  So they had two kit cars made up using Corvettes as the base car and Enzo went nuts.  He sued the kit car company, but in the end,  he coughed up the two real Ferraris so Don Johnson could be authentic.  Not as authentic as Joe Gresh in a Jeep, but more than he would have been otherwise.

One more thing about Miami Vice:  A lot of big name actors got their start on that show.   Take a look:

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Newcomb’s Goes On The Block

All good things must come to an end, I suppose, and Newcomb’s may be one of those things.  I just read that this iconic roadhouse on what may be the most famous moto road in So Cal is on the block.  The article also said that Newcomb’s has been shut down for months…another casualty of the pandemic.  Ah, let’s hope the right somebody buys it and brings it back to its former splendor.

Truth be told, it was the ride, and not the Newcomb’s restaurant that made Angeles Crest Highway something special.  The food was okay and the service was always outstanding, but the real attraction was the Newcomb’s parking lot and the ride to get there.  Ferraris, MV Augustas, vintage bikes, Jay Leno…you just never knew what you’d see out there.  That was always worth the ride.

Hiya, Kenny!

I wrote a Destinations piece for Motorcycle Classics magazine on the Angeles Crest Highway and Newcomb’s Ranch a few years ago.  I’ve ridden the Crest many times, and I don’t think I’ve ever ridden by Newcomb’s without stopping.

You can approach Newcomb’s from either end of the Angeles Crest Highway.  The Crest, or California Highway 2, can be picked up off the 210 freeway just north of Glendale (which is just north of Los Angeles), or you can get on it in Wrightwood at the northeastern end on the other side of the San Gabriel Mountains.  It’s a delightful ride.

I have a lot of stories about rides on the Crest.  I led a bunch of CSC Motorcycles company rides up there, I’ve ridden it a lot with my geezer moto buddies, I’ve seen more than a few crashes (by others) up there, and I even went ice racing up there on a Triumph Daytona once.  Good buddy Bryan (who is fast approaching geezerdom) and I started out from the Wrightwood end one winter day and we soon noticed we were the only two people on the road.  Then it got cold.  Then it started snowing.  Then we realized the bikes were moving around a bit more than usual.  We were riding on ice.  And we faced that age-old question: Do we admit defeat and turn around, or press ahead in the belief warmer weather lies ahead and things will get better?

Being redblooded American engineers (read that any way you want), Bryan and yours truly pressed ahead.  We stopped at Newcomb’s, and we were the only ones in the parking.  We went inside to warm up and the folks who worked there were astonished.  How did you get here?  On our motorcycles, we said.  But the road’s closed, they said.  Wow.

Newcomb’s.  An American and So Cal icon.  Let’s hope it comes back to life soon.

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Yamaha RD350 No. 9: Shocks, It Was Nothing

The RD350’s rear suspension seemed kind of springy to me, like there was no damping or the shock oil had leaked out. In corners the bike would hit a bump and bounce. Nothing frightening or dangerous but in combination with the front forks needing a rebuild anything less than smooth pavement was a ragged, unsophisticated ride. The RD still wore its original shock absorbers from 1974 so I figured it was time for a replacement set.

I found many options online, prices ranged from $500 to $50. I think we all know what option I took. Look, it’s not that I don’t want a really nice set of shocks it’s just that I’ve had some bad luck with expensive shock absorbers. In a nutshell they didn’t last very long. I mean it’s not like a dirt bike where you need good suspension. I’m using the RD350 on the street, an environment where you hardly need rear suspension at all. I found a set of shocks on ebay that looked similar to the original Yamaha shocks. For $47 shipping included I was willing to take a chance. The shocks arrived in about 3 days.

Out of the box the eBay shocks looked really well made. The chrome was beautiful, the top-mounting boss was cast aluminum and the things even have a plastic sleeve between the shock body and the spring to eliminate squeaking. The original shocks did not have this feature and squeaked a lot. They sounded like an old, rusty gate swinging in the wind when you hit a bump.

Fitment was straightforward except that the original Yamaha shocks had no bushings: the rubber inside the mounts fit directly over the shock studs. I had to press out the steel bushings on the new shock, which was fairly easy using a bench vice and a couple appropriately sized sockets. Instead of black rubber like the originals the new shocks used a material that resembled urethane and may in fact be urethane. It is translucent yellow and looks cool.

With the bushing removed the new shocks fit a bit loose on the mounting studs but not loose enough to fit a bushing. I thought about cutting a strip from an aluminum beer can and wrapping it around the stud to take up the slack but instead decided to hope that the now-bushingless urethane would relax a bit over time and swell to suit its environs. I often hope for mechanical things to fix themselves and frequently they do. The washers on either side of the stud sandwich the urethane a bit when the shock bolts are tightened so maybe they will smoosch the fit tighter.

After fitting the shocks I found the first spring preload position was too soft so I stuck a pin punch inside the nifty preload adjuster hole and cranked it up to the second position. That seemed about right. I wheeled the Yamaha out into the daylight and fired up the sweet-running two-stroke twin. It’s a sound that never gets old.

The first thing I noticed while riding was no squeaking, the eBay shocks were quiet. The roads around my place are sort of rough and there was a noticeable improvement in the bounciness department. It seemed like with the rear shocks working better the blown out front forks felt worse or maybe I just paid more attention. Corners were steadier and the rear tire rubbed the fender less than it did before. Still, it wasn’t the dramatic improvement I was shooting for. That might be down to the $47 price point.

Curious about the original shocks I compressed the spring with a long bar clamp and removed the spring collar along with the spring. Now I could test the shocks for damping action. Surprisingly both shocks still had oil in them and offered firm resistance to rebound. The compression action was much less as you would expect. It’s really hard to tell but I think the two Yamaha shocks offer slightly different hydraulic action. Certainly nothing I could feel on the road. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that there was probably nothing wrong with the original shocks. They work like they work I guess.

I’ll clean up the Yamaha shocks and pack them away to rot. In the meantime I’ll be running the eBay shocks to see if they hold up for 47 years like the originals. The new rear suspension has moved fixing the forks to the front burner. The RD350 handles well with clapped out suspension, I can’t wait to get both ends sorted and sample some of that legendary road-racer for the street performance RDs are known for.

More of the Gresh Resurrections!