Wheel showed up late Friday. The box had 2 of the expanding foam pillows protecting the gem inside , packaging gets a 10. It may have taken a minute to get it back but as always , worth the wait for sure. Their rim & spokes make my hub look like crap , but it is the rear and will be seasoned by the road in no time. But now it gleams , it shines and it’s true ! Slapped a new band & tube with a new Continental on it yesterday. Real road tire and a world away from those D404s. Cleaned the shocks removing stickers from them and inverted them on installation. And a new Iridium spark plug too ! New lithium battery on order & enroute. Balance and install rear wheel today. Button up the rear end , then battery & seat. Then turn it around to do front tire & fork oil. And then a good debugging , wash & wax. Back to being my daily.    

Last year I bought a shift knob on eBay. A antique shift knob off of 30s - 40s premium car of the day ,Caddilac or Lincoln . Made from a orangish Bakelite described as burnt umber ,swirled. It fit so I put it with the other parts for the F100. So I pulled it out of the box today , it was dirty , years of dirt removed with a scratch removing polishing compound , it shines , it’s old , it’s awesome looking. Just the plastic knob with a steel threaded bung in it , 3/8-24 thread. Admiring my work I got curious how it would look in the sun even better in the sun but it’s got a dark spot in the middle , maybe the bung. Appears to be something inside , threaded hole packed up with dirt or maybe really old dried up puddy , carefully kept digging at it with a pick. Below the puddy I see rolled cloth or gauze , pick at it till puddy is all out. Get some tiny tweezers , took a bit to work it thru the threaded hole. It’s a tiny bit of gauze rolled up barely a 1/4” round , so old it’s crumbling , tried to unroll it,just turn to dust. Inside was a tiny curl of hair & 2 teeth from a small animal/rodent. Creeped me out , threw that crap in the garbage , shift knob back in the box. I’ll have it blessed , then
For Sale: Antique swirled burnt umber shift knob , 3/8-24 thread , very old
Now that the knob has been hollowed out it kinda glows in the light , it’s kinda special. Just not sure if I want it on my truck. As cool as that old knob is it just doesn’t match anything in the truck. I do have a blue glitter ball knob for it that should be ok for era correctness & cool factor !  

That shift knob with the surprise inside can fetch $50 to $250. Believe it’s from a late 20s to early 30s Packard and possibly from other high end makes. Like anything cool & rare I’ve spotted some let’s say reproductions asking the same price that are fakes. So my somewhere near 100 year old knob has some value as well as looking classy. Even if it is creepy. Maybe I’ll keep it , maybe on the F100 , after it’s blessed. Don’t need no bad mojo on the old girl.

I’ve kept my bike fairly clean , but you find where it all hides when working on the bike. I’m sure not going to leave it there , all those spots a rag won’t get to. Besides the obvious chain, sprockets & rear wheel. Some oily mess near crankcase filter but I was surprised to find area at fork & brake caliper was a mess but looked spotless but black with brake dust just out of sight.  Can’t remember how long the Dunlop 404s were on the bike , has not had a good cleaning since then. Daily bikes collect it all but we only wash what we can see as dirty. Nothing thick enough to use a scraper but my lift table will definitely need a good cleaning too. However I’m seriously thinking about doing the front rim too , I think I can’t wait another month to ride , it’s most likely have to wait to next winter. Have scheduled maintenance then too.