The Old Girl Needs a Transplant.

Last year the Duc didn't sound like her normal self. Thought she was just a little under the weather to I decided to give her a few weeks off to see if some rest would bring her back. Didn't work! Whats next? Exploratory surgery? Well thats what I did. Both side covers came off, flywheel came off, clutch basket came off, all in the efforts of discovering her ailment. No luck. "Lets put it back together and give her a light work out and see how she's doing", I thought. When I took her out she still had the same not so healthy sound. After a few miles on my way to work the next day the sound of a slow death disappeared. Could this be? Maybe it was the "Tussin" I gave her at Bobby and Steve's! What ever it was, I was happy. That only lasted a few days. She was still sipping that same Tussin but she didn't sound very good.

This leads me to this spring. On first start up she sounded the same as every year. A little rough at first and then clearing out and running smooth, except for that damn sound. After talking with Big D, the Arkansonian, I started wondering. Could she be suffering the same fate as his. I needed a second opinion so I called Dr. Snyder. After a short but to the point discussion, my fears wete coming true. I drained the oil I found those little bits you never want to see in your oil. Magnetic slivers! Early signs of main crank bearing failure. Not good!

Whats next?
Option 1. Fuck it. Leave it. Ride it until she blows.
Option 2. Open heart surgery. Very spendy! $400 in bearings just for the trans and we haven't fixed the problem yet.
Option 3. Heart transplant. Swap it for a slightly used ticker.

The good news is that Gelato has given her blessing for the transplant. Now if I could only convince her that if I had a mill and a lathe I could build a new motor from scratch.

Option 3 seems the best right now. Dr. Snyder has a nice donor on ice ready for the transplant.

More news to come.