After not getting much sleep and having to eat breakfast and coffee from the gas station adjacent to the Hotel parking lot, I was as ready as I could get. I’m going to run all day on the battery with no charging system and no lights. The group was split between two different hotels and the starting line was at the other, a couple of blocks up the street. I did my normal cold start procedure and The Soda Kracker fired right up as always. I hopped aboard and went to the starting line where Cris Simmons came to ask a few questions. It was always a pleasure speaking with Cris in front of the camera or behind the scenes. I assured Cris I would be riding across the finish line today. We lined up for out Class 2 start and off we went, not knowing how long I could ride on the battery. We made our way northeast toward The Cape. Snakes were the animal of the day today. We passed a large black snake trying to get across the road while coming out of Arkansas. Shortly thereafter we crossed into Missouri and there was a huge copperhead sunning himself in the road. He was pushing 36 inches, one of the largest I’ve seen. Chopper Gary and I with Greg Porter in tow kept pushing it hard to get to the finish. We passed the Class 1 guys somewhere in southern MO and I looked down and The Kracker was running 57 mph. We kept a hard pace going in case we needed time for any problems, which is the lesson we learned yesterday with my breakdown. You really have to push everyday, no matter how well your bike is running because you never know when you might need time to make a repair and the sweep truck is unforgiving. We had not gotten wet at all for most of the trip until we pulled into our last fuel stop before the finish line and the skies opened up. We were 25 miles from The Cape and rain was coming down. CG asked me what do you think and I looked at the radar and said “we should push on through”. And that is just what we did. We rolled into The Cape a little wet but victorious. We staged up and waited for everyone to come in and then Headed to the finish line. We made the final turn into the waterfront district and the first people I see lining the streets cheering us on was my family. Eva, Faith and Thomas. It was an event of a lifetime and so happy for my family see me accomplish what I thought would be a miracle.
Stage 4
We had a great start out of Muskogee, OK for the beginning of Stage 4 of The Cross Country Chase. I connected with Chopper Gary once again and we were making great time heading southeast, to my surprise. We stopped for fuel around 11 AM and a lite lunch and then rolled in to Bentonville, AR, home base of Wal-Mart. And that’s when it happened! I lost all power. CG had not noticed that I pulled off so he continued on and I messaged him to let him know. After about 20 minutes the sweep truck showed up and I had to choose between loading up the bike or being left in Wal-Mart town. I loaded up. It was a rough day on The Chase. The sweep truck was full of bikes and disappointed riders as we admired the scenery that we missed riding through. We made it to our secret destination of Mountain Home, AR. I’ve never heard of it but it’s a nice small town here in The Ozarks. After troubleshooting my electrical problem, I’ve decided that the trouble is most likely the generator or regulator and I have no way of repairing either at this point. SMC member Erik Bahl recommended straight-wiring the battery to the ignition coil to bypass the charging system. I did a test run around the block with the direct connection and the bike runs normal. Tomorrow I will have to make the Chase to the finish line with no lights. It’s been another long day and into the night.
Stage 3
We pulled out of Hot Springs at 7:30 a.m. Class 2 start time. It was a perfect morning for riding. You know, the kind with cool air and calmness before all the daily commuters mess things up. We headed toward Ola, AR on Highway 7. We rode the same road yesterday and it is a motorcyclist’s dream, but not ideal for a Servi Car. There were multiple elevation changes with long sweepers and tight switchbacks. It’s funny when I look back at that road; I swear I was either fully opened or completely closed on the throttle, nothing in-between. We made our way to Mount Magazine State Park. I took a couple of pics from one of the viewing areas and have attached them below. We were also issued our quiz at this point and I felt I did poorly. We headed back down the mountain in a northwest direction and soon crossed into Oklahoma. It was again extremely challenging roads with 90 degree turns every 500 yards or so. It’s like the roads ran along property lines or something like that. The condition of the roads were below average and these 90’s were not banked at all. Instead of being exhilarating, it was exhausting trying to navigate them at any speed on the Servi Car. Once I broke free from that nightmare, it was clear sailing onto our secret destination of Muskogee, OK.
Stage 2
We left Branson, Missouri this morning for the beginning of Stage 2 of The Cross Country Chase. I had decided to ride solo today and not rely on Chopper Gary to do most of the navigating. Plus, I had figured out the map loading operation. My first stop was for fuel and breakfast. Then, on the road with The Soda Kracker and a properly loaded map. My first unique encounter today was crossing Bull Shoals Lake on a ferry. I have not been on a ferry since Pop took me across the Coosa River on one when I was just Small C.
After crossing the lake, the map took me south into Arkansas. I traveled some of the most challenging roads I have ever ridden with the servi-car. The scenery was incredible and created another challenge - trying to hold the bike in the road and at the same time, keeping an eye on the map and odometer while passing by a spectacular scenic view around every hairpin turn. We finished our day at our secret destination of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Who knows where we’re headed next!
We are staying at The Arlington Hotel in downtown Hot Springs.
I believe I have found The Overlook Hotel’s southern cousin, complete with its own Oak Room.
Stage 1
We started the morning of July 6 receiving our map a mere 30 minutes before our departure time. Being a rookie I spent most of the time just loading the map into my scroll box.
We left Cape Girardeau having no idea where we were going except we knew we would be in the Ozark mountains. The ride was great! Lots of changing scenery, curves, hills and all sorts of bodies of water. I rode with Chopper Gary the whole day. CG rides a 45 flathead also and we made a pretty good team, especially since my map got loose on the rollers. I vow to get the map loaded properly tomorrow. CG owns the Tintic Motorcycle Museum in Eureka, Utah. Look it up and check it out. We encountered several turtles, armadillo carcasses and deer along the way. One of the more odd sightings was this sign on the bathroom door at a refueling stop.
We figured drinking in the restroom has become a problem in these parts.
We finished the day at our secret location - The Chateau on the Lake in Branson, MO. We both received credit for all 283 miles.
2021 Cross Country Chase Prologue
It’s Monday and the official start of the 2021 Cross Country Chase. I started my day by riding the 17 mile practice route twice. I hooked up with Gypsy, Barry and their dog Molly on the second run. Everything seems to be working great. We met back at the hotel at 12:30 for a riders meeting where we received all the do’s and dont’s. It was a little overwhelming. We were given a new map to load into our scroll boxes. The first stop was the Red Star boat launch on the bank of the Mississippi River. At this stop we would all assemble for the group photo taken by the legendary motorcycle photographer Michael Lichter. It was a grueling 2.5 hours. Michael said it’ s going to be worth it. I have no doubt he will be right. We had to take The Soda Kracker and another Chase rider with a sidecar downtown and ride back to the photo shoot area along a pedestrian sidewalk on the river side of the seawall that protects Cape Girardeau during flood times. All other bikes could cross the pedestrian bridge but the two of us were too wide. I was almost late getting back to the start line for my class due to having to fly back down the seawall to downtown and then to the boat launch. I unfortunately may have frightened a family having a picnic on the seawall sidewalk. Anyway, I made it back just in time as the class 1 riders had just departed and (my) class 2 was starting. The 29 mile ride was great. The roads were not straight for this ride. Constant attention required looking forward and consulting the map. Hopefully tomorrow we won’t be making a turn every mile. The stage 1 route tomorrow is 283 miles. Thats 10 times longer than today’s route and I am already exhausted.
Arriving at The Chase
It’s been a busy couple of days getting ready for The Chase. I decided to have everything ready to load onto my trailer on Saturday morning by 10 am. The grass should be dry enough for cutting after that. Being gone for two weeks in the summer here in the south is tough. You may come back to a jungle. I got it all finished by 2pm. Eva and I were ready. So we thought. Going through our pre check list we found the passenger side tail light not working. They are led strip lights and not just a simple bulb swap out. We went to Tractor Supply and got a new one and swapped it out. Only a 45 minute delay!
We left around 4pm and stopped in Olive Branch MS for the night. On to Cape Girardeau on Sunday. We had a nice drive on I-55 through miles of cornfields and arrived around 11am. Tech inspections started at Noon and I was 10th in line. The bike cleared inspections and we are official now. I received the 17 mile practice route and loaded it into my scroll box. I was ready, I thought as I pulled away and made it less than a mile before I missed the very first turn.I went back and started again and managed to make the practice ride flawlessly on my second attempt.
Ready for the prologue tomorrow.
One Week Out
Today marks the official, One Week Out from the beginning of the 2021 Cross Country Chase! I’ve made a few adjustments on the Servi Car and ordered up a few maintenance items that I feel will give me some peace of mind during The Chase. I’ve experimented with getting my tire pressure where I like it along with fiddling around with my transmission shift linkage. I determined that my original shift lever lower pivot hole is worn to oversized now causing changes in fully engaging third gear and reverse. I am taking a new repop with me in case I decide to change it during the event. I also performed a full tank to bone dry run and discovered that my range is 65 miles to reserve and then reserve gives me another 20 miles. Of course that will fluctuate depending on my riding style for that day. I rode hard that day and hope to be able to run a little more leisurely on The Chase. That should help with my fuel range a bit. I also did another wet run during Tropical Storm Claudette just to see if any electrical gremlins showed up. We’ve had tremendous amounts of rain across the state this June that I’ve had to spend so much spare time keeping all of the grass around the house and pasture cut. I am finishing up packing the Servi Car, the truck and trailer this week and plan giving the grass another go before leaving sometime Saturday afternoon and arriving in Cape Girardeau on Sunday the 4th for tech inspections.
The Kracker all decked out and ready
Fresh battery for The Chase
MORE SERVICAR SHAKEDOWN
SMC Road Test Weekend Part II – by Erik Bahl and Cecil Frost
April 17th, 2021, Dorsey, Kent, Erik, Mike McCloud, and Troy gathered at the Frost compound in central Alabama for another go at a Cross Country Chase test ride with Cecil.
Before we get too far into this day, I think I may have to join a new club. All’s this one does is lay around! Where do you find the real riders? The proof for my case is in the photo’s below:
Exhibit 1 – Dorsey practicing laying around the day before the ride.
Packed and ready for anything!
On the road… We decided to take Alabama Highway 25 from Montevallo to Vandiver. This is a great road traveling up the backside of Double Oak Mountain. There is a nasty switchback halfway up which we believed would be a good test for the Servicar.
Exhibit 2 – Dorsey explaining to Mike how to lay around. Mike is almost there – just a little lower…
After some mountain riding we heard Mike say “Had to remind myself we are in Alabama”. We headed west on Alabama 119 and made it back into Hoover. We then headed south back to Montevallo for the Arts Fest being held in Orr Park. It was a nice break and we were all ready for some lunch.
Exhibit 3 – Mike has the hang of it now.
We left the ArtsFest and headed toward West Blocton where we took a break at Tannehill Leather Company. This is where a couple of new nicknames were hung on the crew. One of the staff at Tannehill gave the nickname “Big Boy” to Kent and “Slim” to Dorsey.
Exhibit 4 – Yep! On the ground again – trying a new technique. Yoga could help here.
Doresy did get the oiling corrected on his VL, which was one of his main punch list items to work on during the shakedown.
It was a great day for the ride. There had been a chance of rain forecasted but we stayed in the sunshine all day.
Exhibit 5 – Finally I had to see what all this laying around was about. So, here is a view from the trees right above me. Yes, you might nod off to sleep.
In conclusion: We had a great ride in beautiful weather. I think we might have a winner in Cecil! They have a great Mexican restaurant in Montevallo and Dorsey decided to pick up the check for the table. He’s a handy guy to have around!!
CECIL AND THE SERVICAR
CECIL AND THE SERVICAR
(#15 in the 2021 Cross Country Chase)
SMC Road Test Weekend Part I – by Erik Bahl
April 11th, 2021, Dorsey, Kent, Erik and Troy gathered at the Frost compound in central Alabama for a day’s ride. The purpose of the ride was to follow Cecil on a route that simulated a day’s driving experience on the Cross Country Chase.
This is a big challenge and Cecil will be the first to ride a Servicar in a Cross-Country Chase event. His approach to becoming a successful competitor is to test ride his machine to find the weak points before he crosses the start line in Cape Girardeau at the beginning of July.
Cecil has a nice place out in the country with plenty of space for camping. Below is a photo of us getting the bikes ready for the next morning’s ride.
We had a small crew following: Kent, Erik and Troy were there to enjoy the scenery and Dorsey had ulterior motives. He wanted to get some miles on his newly adjusted 1931 Harley Davidson VL to ensure he had the oiling set properly. It was a clear sunny day with cool temperatures. Perfect for riding. That morning Eva, Cecil’s wife treated us to a fantastic breakfast.
Cecil set a quick pace that was good for the entire crew. It was around 50 MPH. The country we travelled was hilly with curvy roads. Very nice riding to include going through an area with recent tornado damage – WOW! Right away we noticed problems with one of the riders. Dorsey’s sidestand had a lazy spring. As he went down the road the sidestand would slowly drop until it contacted the road surface showering sparks as it ground itself away. Oiling was right with the motor, but he had a couple of excessive leaks that dribbled oil onto the muffle smoking up everything in sight. Below is a photo of Dorsey tracking down the oil leaks. One thing that Troy and I got to witness was Dorsey’s catlike reflexes as he grabbed his mirror while riding down the road just before it dropped off his handlebar (the securing nut had just fallen off).
It was nice to be out on the road after this past years Covid lockdown. Even being stopped on the road by a train was a nice surprise.
Right before lunch we stopped at a local Harley dealer for a quick break. They happened to have a new rider class in progress and the instructor brought the students over to see if they could properly identify the controls on my 1947 Knucklehead. The hand shifter and manual spark advance seemed to frighten them. Dorsey marked his parking spot at the dealership like a real Harley should.
For the first time in a while, I suppose I get the rider of shame. It was me, not Dorsey, Cecil, Troy or Kent that caused the ride to end early…
We were pretty far along in the ride when suddenly my 1947 Knuckle lost power. Over to the side of the road I went. The dash lights were out but the headlight was working. After a quick diagnosis it turned out the coil had lost power. A little bypass magic and I had the bike running again but thought it might be prudent to shorten the ride as I did not know the cause of this issue. 45 minutes later we made it back, relaxed and loaded up to head home. (It turned out to be a broken wire at the ignition switch). I believe going through roadside troubleshooting did benefit Cecil as this is the kind of thing you need to do on the Chase more often than you want.
By the way Cecil had a perfect ride and that Servicar hums along. He is definitely a contender.
Many thanks to Eva and Cecil for the hospitality and comararderie.
Throwing my hat into The Chase
I remembered keeping up with SMC member Erik Bahl through his exploits and adventures on the inaugural 2019 Cross Country Chase. I was so excited and was consumed with where he was and what types of issues he dealt with on a daily basis. I was also very intrigued to see how his knucklehead would perform. I kept the blog going with Erick for the entire 10 day journey along with the events prior to start and at the finish. You can read Erik’s blog on The Cross Country Chase on this page.
http://smokymountainamca.org/the-chase
Erik inspired me to think, is this something I could do? I had already decided that in the spring of 2019 I was going to build a ServiCar. I had already found a rear end, frame and wheels earlier that year. I wondered if a ServiCar could perform well enough to compete or at the least finish an event like The Chase. During the acquisition of parts for the ServiCar project I ran across a 47 basket case in New Jersey. I spoke to the owner and verified every component he had. I even went to see it in person at Wauseon. I liked it but thought don’t buy the first one you see and I was going to Davenport in a few weeks, so I waited. I saw numerous parts and opportunities to buy and or build ServiCars there, but I still like the 47 from the Wauseon meet. I left Davenport and didn’t make it out of the state before I called and bought the 47. So it was off to Jersey to pick it up! You can read about the ServiCar project, also on this page.
Picture taken at the University of Montevallo
After building the bike and test running it around my hometown, I decided why not enter it into The Chase. There’s no better way to test myself than that. So, I’m in! #15…. By the way, all of my SMC Brothers and Sisters that have kept tabs on The Denton Servi project, meet The Soda Kracker……