Road Trip

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Being on vacation this week, the wife and I decided to do a bike road trip from our home in Southern NH to the island of Martha's Vineyard off Cape Cod Massachusetts. She on her Honda 750, and me on the Mark III. This was really our first long road trip, (well, long for us), a distance of more than 150 miles and 5 plus hours over the back roads. The Norton has been running sweet all summer, so I just did the usual maintenance, and packed a few basic tools. (Tape, pliers, screwdriver, adjustable wrench, nylon ties, and spare fuses). The trip went fine, both bikes running fine, only getting lost once, but with me in the lead this is standard procedure. We made it to the ferry in Woods Hole, loaded the bikes and relaxed for the boat ride over. As the ferry docked, we were soon off, no sooner had I left the dock, during that first little burst of acceleration, my throttle cable broke. Rolled into the nearest parking space, sat down and realized just how screwed I was. One hundred fifty miles from home, on a small island, in need of a thirty five year old throttle cable, despair was setting in..... Just then a guy pulled into the space behind me, jumped out and said "nice Norton". I explained my situation, whereupon he told me he knew this guy on the island, "Panhead", who might be able to help me out. I was a little skeptical, but he gave me his number.
I called Ken "Panhead" Fuss, he said he'd be right over with a tow. Forty five minutes later I was in his truck on the way to his shop, my wife following behind. It was around 5 PM. Once at his shop, "OFFSHORE CYCLES", he began rummaging through his old British parts but didn't have a cable that would suit. To make a long story short, using some old cable, and machining the proper ends to solder on, he fabricated the exact cable to fit. He stayed at his shop way past closing to get me on the road. This man is truly a master of motorcycles, he had bikes of every make and year, and a knowledge of them all. In the end, after nearly 4 hours of work, he charged me for an hour and a half shop time. It was really just a stroke of luck for me to have been in just the right place at the right time. Saved the vacation, bike ran great, and I have ordered new throttle and clutch cables.
This may not qualify as a technical article, but I just wanted to share a great experience. If anybody is ever on Martha's Vineyard, be sure to look up "Panhead" at Offshore Cycles in Vineyard Haven.
Oh yeah, that's me on the right in the first photo....
Road Trip

Road Trip
 
As far as I know it was the original cable. When removing the cable from the sheath we noticed that there was what appeared to be a piece of teflon in the bent metal adjuster tube end. It was badly frayed, and had to be poked out in order to get the new cable threaded through. This piece of plastic causing binding, may have been the reason for the failure.
 
that is a great story about two old bikes, an excellent ride to an awesome place, and a totally cool cat. Thanks!
 
I guess so.... I had previously replaced the right side switch cluster, it looked ok then, even shot some dry lube down the cable. Guess you never know.
 
Great tale to get on your first real Norton risking adventure. After a number of similar events I just sorta relax while doing what I can all the time wondering how it will work out for the best with new contacts. Nice your mate is sharing the road joys with you. Striking ride you got to break the ice everywhere it goes too.
 
If you have working Amal chokes, you can normally cobble something together from the choke cables to get you back on the road in this situation.
 
dave M said:
If you have working Amal chokes, you can normally cobble something together from the choke cables to get you back on the road in this situation.

Right on Dave, I believe the choke cable is identical.
 
That's a story with a happy ending.

Choke & throttle cables are different for the relative sheath/cable length. they can be made to work in a pinch, but you need either some way to chop off some excess sheath, or add spacers (I forget which way around that is)
 
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