(The story of the Gas Pump and the Henderson)
By Erik Bahl
I could not think of a better name for what just happened. Although this outlines my individual experience as several Smoky Mountain members overlapped at various events from the Ozarks to Montana, Ohio, Georgia, and Florida! This event began when Cecil Frost participated in the 2021 Cross Country Chase in the Ozarks. After his successful completion of the Chase, he ended up at the Wauseon National meet. This is where my story starts as well as that of our brethren.
Cecil’s Servi at Wauseon – yes, it’s raining in this photo
Wauseon had a great turnout. In typical North Ohio fashion, it was a rainy event. It’s always good to carry your rubber boots to this one as it can be a muddy experience. The SMC was well represented, and it seemed like everyone was finding treasure at the swap meet (yes – even motorcycles). Except for me – I bought a t-shirt and ogling a couple of four cylinders and a VL. That’s the first time I have left Wauseon without any rusty gold. Next time we have a campout ask the guys about our guest from Michigan….
My next stop was the AMCA Yellowstone Chapter Road Run in Billings Montana. My trip included an overnight stop with Cannonballer Dave Currier (#64) in Fargo North Dakota (he had just run the Cross Country Chase with Cecil). He is running a 1911 Belt Drive Single cylinder Harley Davidson in the 2021 Cannonball this September, and I was curious to see how preparation was coming along. I got to see his great collection, cruise his lake in the boat, eat some pizza and try a good bourbon.
Pulling into Billings I noticed the temperature on the White Whale’s dash read 111F! It was warm out there, but it was a dry heat which was not as bad as we have it in the South. Luckily during our three days of riding the temperature did not exceed 100F. Representing the SMC was Roy Chapman, Joe Gimpel, Dorsey Uptain, and Kent Bennett. I brought along my 1947 Harley and she ran flawlessly. We did get to work on Kent’s Panhead in the evenings as he had tire issues and battery charging issues. The evening parking lot action always keeps things interesting.
Dorsey with his trike in Red Lodge Montana
One of the highlights was climbing Beartooth Pass. At almost 11,000 feet it was a heck of a climb on a carbureted knucklehead. They still had snow up there.
So onto the “GASPUMP”…. On our last day of riding our lunch stop was at RR Frames in Belfry Montana. This place was unbelievable – Rick, the owner has quite a setup.
I was fortunate to get a tour and found a real interesting visible gas pump that I thought was great. Of course, it was not for sale, but after further discussion it turned out Rick had a friend that had the same pump for sale in Billings – 4 miles from the hotel. So now I was a new owner of a 1926 Butler Visible Pump.
As we sat in the parking lot that evening discussing my new pump, the conversation meandered to four-cylinder motorcycles. As things seem to work for me, especially when I am not planning on anything – things happen!! It turned out when Joe returned to Florida he was helping a friend sell some motorcycles. In this group of bikes there was a 1925 Henderson Deluxe four-cylinder machine. After returning home from Montana and working for the week to catch up on business, I was off to Florida to look at this potential acquisition. The bike had been neglected somewhat in the past few years. We put her on the lift in Joe’s shop. Went through the magneto, rebuilt the carb, and after about 7 hours work, she fired up.
Joe working on the severely gummed up Zenith carburator
The next day it was time to head back to Alabama with my new purchase. The story doesn’t end now. The SMC had a contingent displaying bikes at Southern Devil Harley Davidson in Cartersville Georgia. So, a quick two hour stop to visit with everyone then I was on my way home. This loosy goosy trip covering a couple of weeks and a large portion of the country resulting in a slight leak in my bank account again. I am probably a lot better off staying home!