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Special Motorcycle Report Brian Sullivan on the Left and Dale Ward |
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Riders and Friends Gather for Outer Banks Winter Motorcycle Therapy |
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On
a sunny Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008, eight Airhead BMW motorcycle riders and
friends gathered at Brent Hollowell’s
home in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina for some mid winter BMW motorcycle
therapy and camaraderie.
The unofficial caffeine, chili and motorcycle therapy day was in full bloom by the time I arrived shortly after 10: am. Brian Sullivan, Dave Davenport, Larry Martin, Brent and son Devon were hard at work messaging new life into an old BMW motorcycle resting on a home made work stand. Brent, who is also the North Carolina Air Marshall for the Airhead Beemer Club; a national organization dedicated to old BMW motorcycles; had everything prepared and was busy organizing today's activities. |
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 Brent Hollowell on left organizing activities |
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The
subject of today's motorcycle therapy was Brent’s Dover White 1968
BMW R 60/ 2. Restored in 1993, the motorcycle was due for some serious
maintenance if it was to be ready for the upcoming riding season. I found
Larry busy balancing the rear wheel on Brent’s home built wheel
balancer after having replaced the tire. |
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 Larry Martin balancing the /2 motorcycle wheel |
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Devon,
Brent’s son, along with Dale Ward, a well know airhead rider and
retired BMW mechanic from the Norfolk Virginia area were inspecting the
motorcycle’s rear drive splines, a source of grief when not maintained
properly. With Brian Sulivan and Dave Davenport looking on and drinking
coffee, Dale and Devon cleaned the drive splines and inspected the weep
hole on the rear axle assembly. The motorcycle’s rear shoes were
oily and it was determined the cause was a weep hole that had become clogged,
allowing some oil seepage from the rear end housing to contaminate the
hard to obtain rear brake shoes. A discussion ensued over how best to
clean the shoes. A decision was soon reached that the best method would
be to boil the grease out with some special detergent, a process that
Devon soon became involved in. |
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 Devon Hollowell inspecting rear brake shoes |
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About
this time Allen Urbanic from nearby Point Harbor stopped by on his full
dress Harley-Davidson. Within a few minutes, David Squire also rode in
on his Honda Ruckus. A strange little two wheeled beast that appears to
be a cross between a motor scooter and two wheeled truck. Its arrival
brought everyone out of the shop for a closer look. |
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 David Squires on right with his new Honda Ruckus, Dale in background |
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David told the gathered bikers that he had ridden the
Ruckus on the Blue Ridge Parkway; he also said he had reached speeds of
up to 80 miles per hour while riding it. That comment let to some tire
kicking and story telling from everyone. Brent became interested in the
little two wheeled contraption and David offered to let him take it for
a ride. Brent quickly took advantage of the opportunity to ride something
different, threw on his helmet and blasted off. Everyone else went back
into the shop to check out Brent’s collection of old motorcycles
or continue working on the /5 project.
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 The workshop |
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Allen
soon left to go riding on his Harley while Devon continued with his chore
of cooking the oil out of the precious /5’s, 40 year old brake shoes.
Just as Brent returned from his ride on the Ruckus, Maggie, his beautiful
wife stuck her head into the shop to tell everyone the chilly was ready. |
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Once everyone got their chili and settled into the kitchen, talk returned to motorcycles. David Squires told everyone about his recent deer accident. He was riding his Honda Goldwing on the mainland when he struck a deer. He said he felt lucky to survive, however the big Honda was destroyed along with the deer. Talk resumed about the groups experiences traveling long distance and how many miles everyone could can ride in a day. David also mentioned that he had recently heard of two motorcycles riders that were killed by lightening while riding. He wanted to know if anyone had any ideas on how to avoid such at freak thing. No one had a good answer to that question except to hope for good luck. More long distance stories ensued and talk finally ended on the note that it was bad to ride a motorcycle in the rain with the cruise control on. |
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 Brent Hollowell, sitting showing Larry Martin the finer aspects of BMW repair procedures |
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After
lunch everyone headed back to the shop and more BMW therapy. After more
pondering on the needs of the old /2, Brent decided to pull transmission
and lube the transmission input splines. After some struggling, resulting
in a broken wrench attempting to get at the driveshaft bolts loose, we
were rescued by Dale Ward’s efficient garage manners. He quickly
dispatched the bolts leaving us with out next major decision. |
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 Dale Ward teaching Devon mechanical skills |
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In
order to remove the transmission and get access to the splines, the transmission
must be separated from the engine by a certain distance so it can be lifted
out. This requires moving in one of two directions. The first direction
would ensue unbolting the swing arm, fender and driveshaft assembly and
moving it rearward. The second option entails unbolting the engine and
moving it forward. Both methods have their risks. Everyone chipped in
with their thoughts on this dilemma. Progress on the /2 came sudenly came
to a halt for the day; everyone agreed the transmission removal operation
would be a great subject for another winter day’s motorcycle therapy
session. Riders quickly suited up to take advantage of the day’s
mild temperatures and remaining hours that seemed perfectly suited for
riding. |
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 Kicking tires and telling some road stories |
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 Road rash from twisty mountain roads was evidence that Brent's /2 was a runner |
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In
addition to being the largest collector of BMW motorcycles on the Outer
Banks, Brent Hollowell also owns and operates High
County Motorcycle Camp near the Blue Ridge Parkway in western North
Carolina. A great place to ride your motorcycle along twisty roads through
great scenic vistas. |
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BMW Side Car Motorcycle Giclee Print Perrone, Giovanni Buy at AllPosters.com |
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| Also
See Origins of BMW Motorcycles |
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