Fingers crossed ....All seemed well...Shake down ride

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Took off this afternoon to see if I've finally got this bike " fixed "    I put a new rear tire on and did the final drive service last week before we took off for Florida. The morning we was leaving out I pulled it out of the garage and the rear brake was dragging ( not the first time    ). Good thing about having another bike is I did'nt have to mess with it and ruin the planned trip so I pulled it back in the garage and rode my Interstate to Florida. Worked on it all day the other day only to find out after putting a new rear brake assembly on that on the test ride my front ( R ) brake was dragging ( not the first time    ). I took both fronts apart yesterday and cleaned everything and installed new pads. Seemed to be working great now ... Fingers crossed...Rode about 75 miles today just checking it out .Took a few pictures to share...Norris Dam just up the road from my home.








I've shared this story before but I'll add it again ...My grand-father helped build Norris Dam and hired on during the war and worked here for 44 years. My ridin' bud Gordon ( Lucky 13 ) Grand-father also worked here when they was building this and was killed when he fell into a rock crusher   Norris Dam was part of the New Deal and TVA's first project .As stated above my Grand-father had 44 years with them and I'm working on my 25th year with them. TVA is the nations largest power provider serving over 9 million customers in 8 southern states....They told us the other day that all the powerlines we lost in the April and May tornados this year cost 38.9 million to get the lines hot again  


All the material needed for concrete was took from this wall on site.






I've been here so many times over the years and today was the first time in many years I've looked at this...WOW I sure hope the dam is doing better than this sample  






" The Money Shot " taken just below beautiful Norris Lake at the 18th Century Grist Mill .

[donaldcc]

   interesting!  thanks.  I liked the pics and story. 

[hal47]

Great pictures Joe,I remember that dam,really like the way that wall was lighted at night,ride safe and say hi to grodon for me.

[DarkMeister]

Wow...awesome! That 'money shot" is so calendar material! 

[Gary]

Ditto on The Money Shot, also much belated condolences for Grandfather/Lucky 13.

Thanks for sharing! 

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

Great pics Joe. Hope all is good with the scooter.

[fon1961]

Nice Joe!  Thanks for posting your ride pic's 

[Jess from VA]

Joe, when my dad was a young man just out of engineering school ('50s) he traveled around and designed 11-12 of TVAs smaller dams (structure, not hydroelectrics).  Don't think he was directly employed with TVA, probably a contractor deal.  Earlier, he designed the main gate at Camp Lejeune NC while a Marine NCO, and so far as we know it has not been changed.

http://www.tva.gov/abouttva/history.htm

Concrete continues to harden for 80 years after poured.  At the end it gets brittle and chips and cracks, like the sidewalks in small old towns.  But buried in the ground and a mountain of concrete with no air or water, it will last a long time.          Probably not as long as the pyramids.   

Cleaning up my scrungy gummy brakes/bolts/hardware/pistons, I found my gun cleaning bore solvents with brass/stainless brushes on a short pistol rod worked better than anything else (use your old brushes).  Got tired of eating the back splash of brake cleaner, which wouldn't break loose hard gum anyway.   

[YoungPUP]

Do you know what/why the brakes were dragging? Just curious...

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Do you know what/why the brakes were dragging? Just curious...

Yes it's like Jess claim's above ...." scrungy gummy brakes/bolts/hardware/pistons "....They get funked over and it was time to change the fluid...I bought a like new rear brake assembly over 10 years ago off a crashed bike with 8,000 miles on it , it's been hanging in my garage ever since....Now it's on my bike.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Joe, when my dad was a young man just out of engineering school ('50s) he traveled around and designed 11-12 of TVAs smaller dams (structure, not hydroelectrics).  Don't think he was directly employed with TVA, probably a contractor deal.  Earlier, he designed the main gate at Camp Lejeune NC while a Marine NCO, and so far as we know it has not been changed.

http://www.tva.gov/abouttva/history.htm

Concrete continues to harden for 80 years after poured.  At the end it gets brittle and chips and cracks, like the sidewalks in small old towns.  But buried in the ground and a mountain of concrete with no air or water, it will last a long time.          Probably not as long as the pyramids.   

Cleaning up my scrungy gummy brakes/bolts/hardware/pistons, I found my gun cleaning bore solvents with brass/stainless brushes on a short pistol rod worked better than anything else (use your old brushes).  Got tired of eating the back splash of brake cleaner, which wouldn't break loose hard gum anyway.   

Thanks for the comments Jess...Cool read on your Dad 

[Michael K (Az.)]

Nice read from both of ya's!

[highcountry]

Great photos and story!  Hope the bike repair works out.

[BigAl]

Wow one day I hope to make it to Lake Norris.

Cool place.

Have you ever been to Glendale?

Al

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Wow one day I hope to make it to Lake Norris.

Cool place.

Have you ever been to Glendale?

Al

Yes as a matter of fact I hit it today    Went by Lucky 13's to see if he wanted to ride up to the lake.I also hit Big Ridge 

[BigAl]

Cool Big Ridge as well.

We have some good ridden around here.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Cool Big Ridge as well.

We have some good ridden around here.

I agree    Are you going with us to Mt. Mitchell on New Years Day ?

[R J]

Joe, send that $$$$ shot to Lady Draco for the calendar hse produces monthly.................

I assume you have her email address.  If not PM me.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Joe, send that $$$$ shot to Lady Draco for the calendar hse produces monthly.................

I assume you have her email address.  If not PM me.

Tracy sent me a e-mail with her new address I thought I saved it but now I can't find it  ???

[R J]

Boy, check your PM box.

Yeah, I said Boy, just get over it.

 

[JimmyG]

Great pictures and story SJ. hey, my dad worked on some dams too. The only one I remember for sure was Old Hickory Dam in Hendersonville/Old Hickory area.  Those Dam guys were a heck of a bunch of workers.  

[Reb]

.As stated above my Grand-father had 44 years with them and I'm working on my 25th year with them. TVA is the nations largest power provider serving over 9 million customers in 8 southern states....They told us the other day that all the powerlines we lost in the April and May tornados this year cost 38.9 million to get the lines hot again  

In a few more years Joe I hope to start on my 1st career year at TVA. Thanks for posting, great report as always

[Fudd]

Joe, send that $$$$ shot to Lady Draco for the calendar hse produces monthly.................

I assume you have her email address.  If not PM me.

I ain't waiting for no calendar.

This pix is going in my favorite Valk picture slideshow that rotates images on my screensaver.