Premier Innards
Felicia Morgan sent me this photo she took on the Cannonball. She titled it “Premier Innards”. It was taken around midnight in a hotel parking lot in a town that I don’t recall the name of. The workbench was my pickup bed, parked under a street lamp. To provide almost enough lighting, I was wearing one of those headlamps that strap on my head with an elastic band.
The re-assembly of the motor was almost complete, after tearing it apart to replace the broken crankpin. The fuzzy thing behind the carb float chamber is me, as I install the bolt to top rear of the crankcase and the frame lug. Timing the magneto was next, then installing the exhaust and the various linkages that are not yet in place.
I like the colors in the photo, somehow she did this with her flash or it is from my silly headlamp. Click on the pic to see the large version.
I guess that now is a good of a time as any to show some of Felicia’s other photos that she has sent me. These are from the Bud Ekins Memorial Tour in Atascadero May 2010. Taken in the field across the road from the Pozo Saloon.
In that last photo above, you can see the digital camera and mount that is clamped on the front of the Premier handlebars. Lonnie’s video team used the footage (is that term footage still used for digital filming?… ) for the movie shown here:
Occhio Lungo 
pete
i noticed on your rebuild photo
there is a cork gasket between the casing and the mag
my beezer has a gasket at the back of the timing pinion but its to old and i cannot replace a modern seal is no good as the shaft is not in the centre no matter how i try
i would put a cork gasket in the same place but i think the mag would fill up with oil
its a 1948 b31
what do you think?
Hi Grant. I made the cork gasket; mostly to keep oil mist from blowing out of the gap between the timing chest and the mag. Now it all stays in the timing chest or it flows into the magneto! I’m not sure if the gasket made it better or worse for the mag, but it kept some of the oil off the outside of the motor. The gasket doesn’t really seal very well on the armature of the mag, so I’m guessing that a bit of oil still can get inside the mag housing. But when I took it apart to check last time, it only had a bit of oil inside. Give it a try and see how your mag does. Another option might be to find a thin modern seal and center it on the mag shaft, then epoxy the housing of the seal onto the front of the mag. I’ve heard of guys doing this to seal old motors, but I’ve never tried it myself. good luck!
Super cool post, baby. When California gets beautiful she is a real stunner. Thanks again, Paul Venne (Ven) Bangkok/Los Angeles PS I’m wondering if the pedals on the 1916 Excelsior are floppy. I just won an NOS through case bushing for my pedals on Ebay. Tnx.
Hi Paul. Do you mean the pedals on the Premier? They do flop around a bit. But the pedal cranks stay put pretty well.
Nix, I was jumping threads to Excelsior stuff. I’m eager to get on it and ride when I get back to US. Premier pedals loose internally? Maybe need adjustment? I hate it when the shafts are bent. Thanks, Paul