Great American Road Chip

the 2022 “Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge” recently concluded in Hot Springs, South Dakota, after launching from Rapid City, 13 days earlier. As usual, the route was roughly 10,000 miles of winding secondary roads. There was no use of Eisenhower’s

Interstate Highway

System. This year, riders touched the borders of Canada and Mexico, which included a good stretch along the

Pacific Ocean in

Oregon, somewhere in the middle.

Since I was already in Sturgis, after crushing a 2-day, 2,000 mile bomb ride from Rhode Island, I took the short scoot down to the Finish Line Party, wich is always on the 13th night. It was a soul-quenching event, full of many of the hardest riding men and women in the country. The camaraderie and sense of brotherhood was palpable. Like insurmountable odds, were plenty.

There were amazing stories everywhere you looked, including those from KSolo DaRyder crossing the finish line before all others with a serious injury to his leg and a battered bike from a deer strike, to Cathy Lynne Carter finishing despite arriving with a plaster cast over half her hand and up to her elbow, to Kimberly “Twister” Walling who was the first female “Finisher” on her first attempt, to AJ “Pothole” Hanson not only being the youngest rider to be a “Finisher,” but also being the 3rd rider across the line, a few feet behind his uncle, Patrick Cornell. Getting to spend an evening with these “Professional Long Distance Riders,” along with Hoky Hey

friends like fellow Rhode Islander, and multi-time Finisher, Heinz Spielvogel, Mr. 100,000 Miles in 100 Days Chris Hopper, original Mile Monster and superstar fundraiser Jeff “Riot” Wyatt, 2 time Finisher Pete Milani, and the Crazy One Eyed Biker himself, Eric Buskell, along with many others, really brought back the memories of my run, four years ago.

At the very end of 2017, after my first foray into this new lifestyle of actually Living to Ride, I was back at my folks house in RI for a couple cold months. While tucked away indoors, out of the snow, I had a few beers, was feeling pretty good, and applied on line for the 2018 Hoka Hey Challenge. After being on the waitlist for a few months, I finally got word that I was in.

Shit! I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to do it, and was fairly certain that I actually wouldn’t be able to do it, as I was never much of a long distance rider. Sure, I had a lot of long hours in the saddle, one 1,500 miles in 24 hours notch in my belt, but nothing like two weeks of straight insanity, and I had become quite accustomed to dawdling along at my own pace, often with no predetermined destination. Despite the doubt and the formidable financial investment required, I knew I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to test myself and my machine, and marked July

15th on my mental calendar.

An entry from my journal, dated three weeks before the launch in June 2018, described what I knew about The Challenge then and what my goals were:

“The Lakota term ‘Hoka Hey,’ meaning ‘It’s a Good Day to Die,’ reminds us that we have just one life to live and that a life spent standing idly by is no life worth living.

In stark contrast to the previous year of slowly meandering around the country, with few destinations or deadlines, I will participate in the 2018 Hoka Hey Challenge in July (Rider #943).

For those unfamiliar, it’s a “cannonballrun” style event that goes roughly 10,000 miles, all around the country, with almost no interstate highway, no GPS navigation, and no sleeping inside (which is obviously not a problem for this “outside dog”). The quickest riders will finish in 10 days! I’m shooting for 12 but will be thrilled to just finish within the 14 days allotted. Quick research seems to say that about 1/3 finish before the deadline, 1/3 after, and 1/3 don’t finish at all (as was the case in 2016), so my seemingly modest goal of finishing on time is suddenly not so modest!

There was some indication that we’d be seeing both coasts (with checkpoints listed in Florida and Washington state),

but that was pure speculation at that point. Each rider is given written directions at the Starting Line to the next checkpoint, where the process is repeated. At this point in the next month, I intend to be finishing and will update on where it went!”

Little did I know that the sanctioned event wouldn’t be my only challenge that July! As documented here, the ride to the Starting Line was no cup of tea!

“Wednesday, around 8pm, I rolled out of Fort Thunder Harley, near Oklahoma city (after leaving RI at 10:30 the morning before, pulling an all-nighter, and then breaking down at 2:30, Wednesday afternoon). Though I tend to seek out the indy shops, Harley dealers have always treated me well when on the road... so much so that I suspect it’s a directive from the company. While nothing is ever free there and always costs more than the little guy, the true benefit isn’t money. It’s more important. It’s time. Maybe they like me, perhaps they feel bad for me, or most likely, it’s a requirement from corporate, but regardless, Gloria is always pushed to the front of the line and right up on a table. This is such a good business practice.

This time was a little different, though. I had doubts that they’d let me carry out my questionable plan. I intended to tow her there and try to do the job in the parking lot. The attraction was that if I couldn’t fix her, or if they wouldn’t let me work there, she’d be ready to roll in the door the next morning. The part that caused unrest was that I had hastily assumed I could find a place to sleep out back of the shop, which was not the case resist the urge to call Uber and book an actual campsite.

With the help of Aaron, one of the techs, and some of his power tools, the job went smoothly. The clutch jam nut, which had come off and dropped into the bottom of my primary case, was now back in place. Everything was running great, and the gasket was only dripping a little (which fits the old Harley stereotype), but it was the first time Gloria marked her territory). The 70-mile tow was covered by my roadside plan. Aaron gave me a quart of oil, and I was out nothing except for a handful of hours and the tip I happily gave him. A couple hours later, I was camping about 7 miles from my destination in western Oklahoma. Though exhausted, having had only an hour of sleep in the past 36, I was quietly proud of overcoming everything the day had thrown at me, and although the Hoka Hey Challenge will be six times the miles (without any interstate!), I now felt more prepared than ever! I was ready to go!! Did we really have to wait until 6am on Sunday?!? Let’s go!” That excitement and optimism were soon replaced by anger and pessimism. Gloria was leaking oil all over the place, and I couldn’t figure out why! I got her to Wind River Harley, one of the dealerships sponsoring that year’s Challenge, and let them get to work on her. They determined it was the primary oil, and we all agreed that I probably damaged the paper gasket that I had just recycled. They dropped the case, replaced the gasket, ran the bike,

and there were no leaks. Sweet!.. It was just a few miles to the Starting Line where I could register, get through inspection and orientation, then relax for a couple days.

Nope, once I got up to speed, oil was everywhere, again! A slick u-turn later, she was back up on the rack in the service department. This time we surmised that it must be one of the seals around the clutch shaft going from the primary to the transmission, so I looked at the estimate and, without any other options, told them to get started. A few hours later, they fired her up, and we were all happy when all the primary oil stayed inside the case, where it belonged. They generously refunded my money for the first repair. I

paid the difference and was on my way!

Ten minutes away, after getting her up to speed, oil was everywhere! Again! DAMMIT! Another oily u-turn, and she was once again pulled right up on a lift so we could all speculate what the hell was going on. After disassembling again, and a lot of head-scratching, we found the problem. A tech who was working on other jobs picked up the outer primary case and pointed out a dime-size- hole in the top! Somehow I and the other HD pros never saw that, but it explained why she only leaked at speed and not at idle in the shop.

Time was now getting short, and they didn’t have any new cases in stock. That seemingly major problem was remedied when they agreed with my idea of taking one off of a used bike that was for sale, then replacing that whenever the new part was received. With a bad storm on the radar that night, the Owner would not allow me to camp behind the shop as planned and insisted on putting me up at a nice hotel down the road! What excellent customer service!

That truly admirable move was only matched by another remarkably generous offer I received while hanging around that place for two days. A then-stranger, named Gary Simoneaux, who saw the troubles I was having and provided an ear throughout the ordeal, offered to pay the 4-figure bill I had ultimately racked up. With perhaps too much pride, I declined twice, which I now regret because I know

he truly wanted to help, and I denied him the joy it would have brought him.

Finally, less than 18 hours before the event was set to launch, I rolled away from Wind River Harley for the last time. With bike inspection and orientation behind me, I rode to a nearby gas station, made camp in some grass out back, and got to sleep a little after midnight. The Challenge was set to commence in 6 hours, and I rambled in with about 15 minutes to spare. I was handed three pages of directions on an Excel Spreadsheet, got in the very back of the line, and nervously laughed to myself while realizing the Challenge had yet to begin!

Article By: Heather Callen

was perusing garagebuild. com when I came across this killer Triumph Chopper. I instantly knew it would be an excellent fit for a Dennis Kirk Garage Build Feature, turns out I was right. This bad boy was built by 70-year-old Mike Gallo in Tucson, AZ. Gallo has been riding for 56 years, and like many, it all started when he would watch his neighbor fire up his Triumph and ride

ioff into the sunset, and of course, when he saw the Peter Fonda movie, “Wild Angels,” he knew he had to be that cool too. At a mere 14 years old, Mike squirreled away his paper route money and bought his first bike, a 1967 Yamaha Twin Jet 100. Once he had that baby in his possession, “all hell broke loose!” It was only a few short years before the custom bug bit Gallo. He was seventeen when he built his first chop, a 1965 H-D Sprint 250, which he rode round trip to Florida when he was eighteen. He says he had to stop every fifty miles or so to pull the seat out of his ass, but that didn’t deter him. It only fueled his passion.

Over the years, Mike has built many bikes, but he says he likes to stick with the old iron, such as Knucks, Pans,

and Shovels. Gallo seems to have a knack for frame repair and has straightened and repaired wrecked Harley, Indian, and Triumph frames. He’s never met a frame that he couldn’t make better than new.

When I asked Mike how Pinky came to be, he told me he wanted to build his version of a 1970’s chopper. So, he took to the world wide web to look for the heart of the motorcycle first. Luckily, he scored a 1971 Bonneville basket case. The motor was just about the only thing he used from that purchase. Pretty much everything else you see was designed, built, or modified by Gallo. The frame is his creation and was one of the biggest hurdles he had to overcome. Gallo had to extend the swingarm mounts four inches to get the proper seating position.

Owner: bigmikesplace City/State: Tucson, AZ Builder: bigmikesplace Year: 1970 Model: Triumph Bonneville Value: Unknown Time: 9 months ENGINE Year: 1971 Model: Triumph Bonneville Builder: Bigmikesplace Ignition: points/condensers/ coils Displacement: 750cc Pistons: MAP 10 to 1 forged Heads: stock shaved rocker boxes, Kibblewhite valves, springs, alloy pushrods Carb: Dual Sudco Mikunis Cams: MegaCycle Air Cleaner: Sudco—custom built intakes Exhaust: Stainless steel two into one Primary: Bob Newby Racing Belt Drive TRANSMISSION Year: 1971 Make: Triumph Shifting: 4 speed—foot and jockey shift FRAME Year: 2015 Model: Stankarm Jr Rake: stock rake Stretch: stock stretch on front, 4” stretch at rear FORKS Builder: Harley Sportster Type: Narrow Glide Triple Trees: Polished Aluminum Extension: none WHEELS Front Wheel: Size: 21” Harley Hub with Profile Rim Tire: Avon Front Brake: Disc Rear Wheel: Size: 17” Harley profile rim laced to Aluminum hub Tire: Avon Rear Brake: Aluminum drum PAINT Painter: bigmikesplace Color: Astral Pink Type: Urethene basecoat clearcoat Graphics: Scallops, stipes and pin stripes Chroming: Very little ACCESSORIES Bars: Hand built polished stainless bars. Risers: Bars and risers are one piece 1” stainless tubing Hand Controls: custom By Owner Foot Controls: custom By Owner Gas Tank(s): Wassell style Peanut Oil Tank: custom By Owner Front fender: off a wrecked bike Rear Fender: modified Honda VLX 600 Seat: spring solo with tooled leather Headlight: 5” Bates Taillight: Dual LED combo Speedo: none Photography: Courtesy of owner He says that although the bike sits like a rigid but rides smooth as a baby’s bottom thanks to the sprung seat and shocks. Mike machined the neck out of 2” cold rolled and used 4130 Chrome Molly tubing. He calls this frame the Stankarm Jr. The original Stankarm is on his 65 Panhead. Gallo used a Sportster front-end for this project. Of course, he couldn’t keep it stock, so he disassembled, rebuilt, polished, and shortened the tubes. The pipes, including the collector, are hand built from stainless steel tubing. Most of the shine on the bike is either polished aluminum or stainless steel with very little chrome. Being resourceful, Mike scoured swap meets for parts he could modify or refresh to fit his needs. He picked up the aluminum rear hub, aluminum brake drum with aluminum sprocket, and aluminum backing plate laced to a steel 16” Harley rim at $100. That’s a helluva deal. Gallo laced both front and rear hubs to Harley profile rims and used Buchannan Stainless Spoke. The shocks are shortened Harley using springs from Triumph Thruxton shocks which he shortened to fit the modified Harley shocks. He says it took a while to attain, but the suspension on this bike is perfect for its weight of just 300lbs.

Mike spent about nine months bringing Pinky to life, typical of one’s baby. He says that he finds it to be a comfortable, extremely fast, and well-handling little Trumpet. It was his daily rider for a long time, but now he mostly rides it on weekends and to the occasional show. Mike proudly informed me that it has taken Best in Show twice and even took the People’s Choice award at the local Harley shop show.