measured the gear columns and the cover to figure out the endplay and the required shim spacing. With that done, and the shims held in place with a spot of clean grease, I placed a new gasket on the edges, heated the cover and dropped it in place. After a few gentle taps with a hammer to settle things, I tightened up the nine bolts to 86 inch-pounds and the output flange to 160 foot-pounds. After checking how it shifted on the bench with a tool I made from an old clutch disc, I put it aside. I had also tested a rebuilt gearbox which
I had installed in my Slash Five (I used to do this A LOT!) and it was time to take it out. Instead of replacing my original 4-speed box in the bike, I mounted the project transmission in it. This requires a different set of throw-out parts and a minor rewiring of the neutral switch circuit. With everything in place, I waited for a warm afternoon. Like a lot of rebuilt gearboxes, this one shifted stiffly at first. After 20 miles or so, it loosened up and shifted nicely. I imagine it’ll stay in the bike until I have a quiet few days this winter, when it will come out and go on the shelf until needed. Meanwhile, I have been loading up the R
100 S for my three-day tour of southern Colorado. I am approaching this one as if it is a trip to Mexico or some other long jour- ney. I have had a long week of pain in a number of joints, but mostly in my back. I’m a bit anxious as to how I’ll do on this run. At least we are having a number of unseasonably warm days and there is no worry about rain. I know there will come a time when the riding must cease, or at least be cut way back – I’m just not ready for that yet.
Three Glorious Days on the R 100 S! The R 100 S has been sitting in our yard, under cover, since I got it going last Christ- mas. I’ve ridden it around town a little, but probably have put less than 50 miles on it. I realize I should sell it so someone who will actually ride it and can take care of it. It really should not just reside under a tarp in the back yard. With Susanna back east and
a tremendous high- pressure weather system in place, I took off for a few days to retrace roads I last rode over in the 1970s. When I was first in Colorado Springs, as a returned-from-Viet- nam medic at Fort Carson, I didn’t know anyone in town yet. That would change when I encountered, and then volunteered at, the Terros Hotline that served the local community. I had my brand new R 75/5 and I went riding just about every weekend I had off. One area I seemed to spend a lot of time at was the southern Colorado area with its many desert and mountain highways. There were lots of old mines, buildings and even ghost towns to wander through. In the ensuing years, between get- ting (very) involved in the local helping network, making friends and working (often several jobs at the same time), I had not returned to some of those roads. So, I began this run by dropping down the Inter- state to Trinidad. Colo. I stopped at the Ludlow Massacre Site, 10
miles north of Trinidad. The United Mine Workers have set up and maintain a simple but elegant memorial to the 16 people killed by coal company goons and the Col- orado National Guard during a long strike against Colorado Fuel and Iron in 1914. If you appreciate things like the eight-hour day and weekends, this battle was one of the major turning points in the struggle for decent working conditions. I’d been there a
The Ludlow Monument. Now out on a desolate prarie, it marks the area where a tent city once stood, during a coal strike in 1914. The United Mine Workers set it up and maintain it. I have stopped by about four times now, it is always lonely and quiet. Just about a mile off the Interstate, it can easily be visited as one rides north or south across Colorado.
Trinidad is a little different than what I remember from years ago!
couple of times earlier (it is about one mile off I-25) and it has always been a quiet, reflective place. Trinidad is an interesting old mining
town that has seen several different eco- nomic phases over the years. When I first looked it over in 1972, many storefronts were boarded up and the place had a real depressed feel to it. Drop City, the old hip- pie commune, was outside the town and still houses some interesting folks. During the 1970s and ‘80s, the town was the “sex- change capital of the free world.” A pio- neering surgeon specialized in gender-reassignment surgery and founded the Trinidad hospital; the entire commu- nity was very supportive of his work and the patients, who had to stay around while
December 2015 BMW OWNERS NEWS 51
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