Motorcycle Cannonball Murdo to Sturgis

Long day yesterday but we finally have a day off today in Sturgis on the Motorcycle Cannonball. Great ride, bitter cold in the morning when we left Murdo. My bike was running strong, thanks to the mechanical skills of Steve Coe, drained the bad gas and added fresh, fixed the float issue in my carburetor in the float and swapped out condensers.

Our mechanic Steve Coe at work on my 1929 Harley JDH on the Motorcycle Cannonball

On the first gas stop I stepped in a deep puddle of oil and then ended up putting that oil on my left floorboard and clutch pedals but not until we got on the highway. When we pulled over (I was riding with Paul Ousey and Jim Petty)I trew some dirt on the floorboard and clutch pedal to absorb the oil. Then we rode on. A 1/4 mile later I saw my front clutch pedal fall off the bike. We stopped and I inspected the clutch rocker as Petty rode back and found my pedal. Nothing broken (thank goodness) but the pin and spring were gone. Paul pulled some cotter pins out of his saddlebag and we had it fixed in little time.

Left to right in the Badlands – Buzz Kanter with 1929 Harley, Jim Petty 1927 Indian, Paul Ousey 1925 Harley.

Then on to the Badlands Loop – amazing! Then on to Mt Rushmore, and eventually into Sturgis. My 1929 Harley ran great. About 3 hours before getting to Sturgis my right elbow started to hurt and I discovered it was all swollen up – more than a half inch. It was so painful I could not easily take off or put my helmet back on. When I got to Sturgis I put some heat on it and that helped. When I got back to my hotel room I iced my right elbow and left Achilles Tendon and that seemed to help.

This morning I the right elbow was still quite swollen so I went to the Sturgis hospital ER. The doctor told me it was infected and I need to take anti-inflamatory and antibiotic pills and it should start to get better within 48 hours. But the good news is that I can still ride.