Hi all
An earlier thread about taking a trip in a Spit had me worried. Some
listers seemed concerned about a 200 mile round trip. Since my
motorcycle and my collarbone were still being repaired, my wife and I
decided to take the spit to Monterey (776 miles round trip as it turned
out). The day before we were to leave, heading home from work, I began
to hear a loud "clunking" sound under the bonet whenever traffic slowed
down. Turned out to be a broken bracket for the air pump, which was now
held in place (sort of) by the hose and the belt. So 10 o'clock the
night before we're supposed to leave, I'm out in the garage with the
oxy/acetylene torch fired up welding the bracket.
The next morning we headed across the bottom of the Mojave desert
towards the coast for breakfast. We then cut back inland to ride some
interesting roads (33 and 166 through Lockwood Valley). We cut back
over to the Pacific Coast Highway and rode the rest of the way to
Montery in and out of light fog and cold air pockets. I couldn't bear
the idea of putting the top up, but we turned it into what a friend of
mine calls a California Convertable: Top down, Windows up, Heater (or
AC) full blast. Worked great. We watched the World Superbike Races at
Laguna Seca, and I only two other LBCs; an MGBGT and Mini.
We needed to take the fast way home, so drove down 101 to Paso Robles,
headed over to 99 to 58 to 395 (fast, straight roads all). I'm VERY
glad I bought a spit with o/d. My concerns about overheating are
greatly reduced, I never saw more than 3/8, even going through
Baksersfield, where the temp was 112 F. The temp and hot sun forced us
to put up the top and zip out the back window. Worked pretty well.
So here's what broke (not counting the air pump bracket): The driver's
side inside door latch broke, and the little engine oil leak turned into
a torrent - over a quart in 700 miles. On the plus side, I cleared the
differential breather the night before the trip based on a tip from this
list (thanks James), and the diff leak was just about eliminated.
Except for the horsepower thing, driving a spitfire is the closest thing
going to riding a motorcycle. And on a tight twisty road, the gap
narrows considerable.
Will we take the spit on a long trip again? You bet.
Regards,
Mark Gardner
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