Panther Update

More on the Panther

Hey, talking about Panthers, how about the Carolina Panthers making it to Superbowl 50?

I know who madame will be rooting for, I mean a Panther and a Leopard are pretty similar creatures, right?

Any way, back to the plot.

Earlier this week, I went to the California DMV to register the Panther.

DMV 1 Norm 0

On to round two, I needed a vehicle inspection, so instead of loading, unloading, reloading, unloading the bike on my truck, I paid $75 to a licensed contractor to come and inspect the Panther at home.

Once done, I headed to the DMV for the second round.

"No your appointment from earlier does not count you have to wait in line"

I got ticket B340, they were serving B290. I timed the progress, about 1.5 minutes per number.

About 75 minutes, at the DMV!!!!

Well they picked up the pace and it was only about 50 minutes.

I now have the registration docs and the license plate

with tags. The pink will come in the mail.

Much to my chagrin,  Jerry Brown, AKA Moonbeam, Governor of this great state of ours can sleep easy tonight knowing that I have made a significant donation to the state coffers.
It also helps keep the guys in Folsom gainfully employed.

Even though I registered the bike in February it got January tags as that is when I bought it.

In the words of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "Stiffed Again Moriarty"

Well he would have said it if Sherlock had to deal with the DMV.

Oh well, you can't fight city hall or the DMV.

The tech stuff is progressing and a further blog will give updates on that real soon.

Ciao Bella 

Norm

Panther Progress

Progress at the end of January

Significant progress has been made in the two weeks that the bike has been home,

Not the least of which is that it starts and runs.

After bragging recently about the winter being over, I had to move the work bench into the shed today because of rain.

In support of the goal to ride the Panther to the OC Vintage bike meet on 2/14/2016, I have been pressing ahead with the tasks required to ride the bike over there.

The rear fender was unbolted and the license plate frame removed. The new tail light assembly was installed on the license plate frame.

A new wiring harness complete with ground wire was made for the rear end of the bike.

The fender and license plate frame have been installed.

The next job is to rewire the headlamp bucket and make a new harness for the front end,

We will start on Monday with the installation of the seat and gas tank once the wiring harness is in place.

My present plan is to ride the bike one time (DMV willing, I go to do battle with them on Wednesday) and then start the restoration process.

Those of you who know my bike preferences realize that I'm neither a fan of over restoration nor trailer queens.

However I believe that this is an honest bike that deserves a bit of cosmetic attention.

No not lipstick on the pig!

Just make it look better.

More soon on the project.

Ciao Bella 

Norm

New Blog About Bikes

A test of the new blog for my gear head friends.

What it may look like one day.