Subject: Turkey Tracks
Author: Greg Dahlman
Date: May 16, 2001, 10:01 PM
Post ID: 1706754376
A few years back I crashed a PCA wine tour up in Washington. I was
driving a 1972 Saab 95, which is a funky little station wagon. It was
great fun until we were heading home when the nylon gear which powered a
counterbalance shaft and which powered the water pump and alternator
failed leaving me broke down by the side of the road. A great guy from
Spokane pulled me behind his brand new Boxster to the next town. Now if
you know these cars you would realize that they don't have tow hitches so
he wrapped the tow strap around his engine mount. He is truly a saint;
the reason for this little story is that on this same trip this great guy
was talking about "turkey tracks". Turkey tracks are things left behind
by people who either don't care or don't know what they are doing.
Tonight I finally got around to pulling the regulator from the
poor Ambo and ended up finding several turkey tracks. The regulator was
completely fried but it appears to have been that way for a long time as
its contacts were complete balls of rust and there are several balls of
that horrid black tape on most of the non-visible wiring. Well I cleaned
up most of that mess (good enough for this summer it will get a new
nervous system this fall). On the bright side I see a good 20 ohms
through the generator so it appears that the field coils are OK and with
luck a replaced regulator should allow me to attend this weekends
breakfast on a proper mount.
Thank you to every one who responded to my last email. I can already
tell that loopers are a great bunch of people and I hope to see some of
you this summer at the MGNOC National Rally.
P.S. I almost settled for a /5 with a toaster tank before finding the
Ambo. They are good practical bikes but just seem to lack personality.
Greg Dahlman
gr-@rm-rf.com
69 Ambo