Mary McGee is a pioneer in American motorcycle racing, thanks to her untamable determination and a spirit as warm as her smile. Her excitement for motorcycling, especially racing, is contagious even in her eighties. She was the first woman to receive an FIM racing license in the United States, first woman to complete the Baja 1000, and the first woman to race the Baja 500 solo. These aren’t her only firsts, either. She was also the first woman in motocross and road racing in the States. McGee was rightly inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 2018.
Monster Project: Phase 3
It’s been a week since I first rode the monster and had it running, I posted a video of the first time I had it fired up a few days ago. Since then, I’ve been trying to make sure all the parts I got will work on the bike. Turns out a lot of people think they have the right information but as it goes with older bikes, it doesn’t always work out that way. It’s been pretty hard to piece together what will work with what since I actually know very little about the small bits like bearings and steering stems.
Anywho, on to my progress. (With LOTS of pictures.)
The monster was running a bit rough the first time, and didn’t want to start the next week. So I pulled the carbs, because hey… I’m familiar with them!
They actually didn’t look to be too bad, but there was still nastyness.
Oh and if any of you needed my fingerprint, there ‘tis!
Yeah okay, got some leakage maybe? (Discovered it’s ‘cause hey, the bolts weren’t properly tightened! Imagine that.)
Meticulous me.
Glad I chose to clean the carbs, we’ll just put it that way.
Screwing back in all the little bits… At this point the carbs were returned and Kevin (left- service tech at MotoCorsa) and Heath (right- welder, fabricator, awesome) helped install the master cylinders. Kevin had a really great technique that fascinated both Heath and I, that involved tapping the lines.
Kevin is definitely a mighty rad tech, and I thank him greatly for his teachings!
The new master cylinders look so good…
Now I really need to get that tank fixed…
After the front brakes worked again, I went for a ride. Just a short one, since the rear brake lever is still broken. But none the less, I am in love…
Can you blame me? 😉
Next up is the rotor replacement process (starting to install dual front brakes) and more about the fork conversion, which is becoming quite the task. But I will not be defeated! I WILL have new forks.
Posted on May 30, 2011 in Blog, Motorcycles by Alicia Mariah Elfving