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.