After selling my BJ70 years ago, a decision I still regret, I'm back in a Cruiser. I bought Johns BJ42 and drove it 16 hours home on Friday. It was an adventure. I flew to Calgary and had a good buddy drive me to Fort Macleod. John and I negotiated and loaded up the cruiser on his trailer and headed to Sparwood BC so I could register it and drive home. The tires were weather checked from sitting around so there was no way I was going over Kootenay pass on rubber that looked like a roman mosaic floor. Try to find R15 tires on short notice. I ended up staying at another good buddies place in Baynes Lake while I sourced 16" rims and new tires. Off to Cranbrook shaking and shimmying the whole way on unbalanced 35's. Had the new landing gear installed and headed off again. Getting used to new noises, vehicle handling and vibrations is unnerving especially when there is a 2000 foot drop on your left.
I first noticed not only is John a giant of a man but he's all legs and I'm all torso. He had the seat way up and back with a tiny hot rod staring wheel. I felt like a Shriner in a tiny car with the seat as far forward as it would go and having to duck to see traffic lights. I then figured out there was no antenna for the stereo, no music for 16 hours. With the new tires the truck was humming along just fine but I kept seeing what looked like sparks flying out of the front of the truck. I stopped in Osoyoos and after some head scratching found a wing nut on one of the batteries had been hitting the hood when it bounced thus burning a hole through it and shooting sparks. 10 feet of electrical tape temporarily solved the problem. I got to Manning pass where the rain started and I found one of the wiper arms was stripped so I swapped them over but it didn't help as the blades were old, loose and kept flying off. It's now getting dark, poring rain in a mountain pass with no wipers I'm not too relaxed. I pushed through, made the last ferry and got home at 02:30.
It was an adventure and a long drive with no music in a diesel cruiser but well worth it. I can let go of the regret for selling my 70 as I've always loved the 40 series and never owned one until now. It's no where near as comfortable as my old 80, less refined than the 70 but I suppose that's what I like about it, the simple purpose built nature of it. The seat is already repositioned and that grant steering wheel in the scrap metal pile. It's good to be back! The first 3' of the journey and 1 1/2 was down, no ramps required.
I first noticed not only is John a giant of a man but he's all legs and I'm all torso. He had the seat way up and back with a tiny hot rod staring wheel. I felt like a Shriner in a tiny car with the seat as far forward as it would go and having to duck to see traffic lights. I then figured out there was no antenna for the stereo, no music for 16 hours. With the new tires the truck was humming along just fine but I kept seeing what looked like sparks flying out of the front of the truck. I stopped in Osoyoos and after some head scratching found a wing nut on one of the batteries had been hitting the hood when it bounced thus burning a hole through it and shooting sparks. 10 feet of electrical tape temporarily solved the problem. I got to Manning pass where the rain started and I found one of the wiper arms was stripped so I swapped them over but it didn't help as the blades were old, loose and kept flying off. It's now getting dark, poring rain in a mountain pass with no wipers I'm not too relaxed. I pushed through, made the last ferry and got home at 02:30.
It was an adventure and a long drive with no music in a diesel cruiser but well worth it. I can let go of the regret for selling my 70 as I've always loved the 40 series and never owned one until now. It's no where near as comfortable as my old 80, less refined than the 70 but I suppose that's what I like about it, the simple purpose built nature of it. The seat is already repositioned and that grant steering wheel in the scrap metal pile. It's good to be back! The first 3' of the journey and 1 1/2 was down, no ramps required.
