FACTORY SCHOOL
Written by Henry N. Patterson

It was late in 1936 that I had the urge to go to the Factory School. Through the efforts of Jim Phillips, who was the Factory Representative at that time, I was scheduled to go the last week in March and the first two weeks of February 1937. The school was a three weeks course and consisted of a lot of lectures, hands on work and learning how it was done in the factory. I basically took a leave of absence from my job. I received no wages while I was gone. I paid my own railroad fare to get there. The school itself was free but I do not remember whether or not I had to pay for room and board. I do know that the boss paid nothing. He did make arrangements for me to ride a new bike home. Three other students and myself stayed at a place about two blocks from the factory and the food was very good and I put on some pounds.

I don't remember just what part of the cycle we started on but I will begin with the motor. Either Joe Ryan or 0. Lamb would talk to us and explain each part of the motor as he took it apart. After they were through explaining we were given a motor and we would take it apart and examine, measure and get it ready to reassemble. After everyone was ready they took us over to the factory and into the particular area that showed us the process of what we were working on. Sometimes we were gone a lot longer than we thought was necessary but we found out that was for a reason. When we got back we had a bunch of basket cases. We had to go to other benches to find our part. The bearings we had so carefully measured were gone to some other place and we had to refit them. After we got the lower end put together it was another trip to the factory to see how the pistons were put on. When we got back our rods were all twisted out of shape, bent sideways, etc. We had to straighten that all out before we could put the pistons and cylinders on.

Generators--it was the same format. We each were given a generator and told to check it out and then again went over to the factory. By then we were getting a bit of confidence and thought we knew what was coming. When we came back to class our generators were scattered and mixed up. After putting mine back together several times and thinking I had checked everything it would not charge. One little piece that looked so good I had not checked. It was a brush made out of hard rubber. They finally had to show it to me as I was holding up the class.

Transmissions--again the same story. When we went over to the factory after checking out our tranny we went by where they were being assembled. One fellow looked like he was goofing off. However, when we came back by him he had every step of assembly laid out for us to see. He then put it together and it was fun to see how quickly it could be done. Another day they took us to an unused street and had us each ride a bike they had prepared. We were to tell what was the problem with it. It ran beautifully until you shut off the throttle and then clang-clang-clang. There were only two in our class who diagnosed the problem correctly. This was a flat head machine. At that time there was only one sixteenth of an inch clearance between the head and the piston. They had taken that off the bottom of the cylinders and then loosened up the rollers so that when you took the gas off it would hit the top. They were telling us what a carbon built up would be. They admitted that at that time their oil would build up carbon but it was necessary to have an oil that would be compatible for air cooled motors. I found out that I was not ready at that time to take such a course but I was not alone. There were very few experienced mechanics there. But that was what the course was for. I was so impressed with Joe Ryan, who was the head guy in the service department that I thought he could look at the spark plugs and tell you what was wrong with the transmission.

When I left the factory on the new bike I made a big mistake. There was a fellow there with a sidecar and he offered to take my suitcase as far as Chicago. I was going to visit my uncle in Chicago and then pick up the suitcase. It took us about four hours riding the street cars to get that suitcase back. I then rode to Pleasant Hill, Illinois to say hello to a couple of aunts and then back home in Colorado. My route took me through Topeka. It was a stormy day in Kansas and near Topeka I went through a mud ball storm. Winds from Oklahoma blowing dust and the rain in Kansas made my face a real mess. When I got as far as Wakeeney I stopped for gas and the operator said I should get a room for the night as the road ahead was closed with snow. I took his advice as it was late in the day and the next morning I found out that the road had been closed but a motorcycle could have gotten through all right. Then on west through Colorado Springs and instead of going over Monarch Pass, which was supposed to have a lot of snow, I chose to go over Cochetopa Pass. This could have been a big error as I meant to get gas at Saguache but passed by a single gas pump thinking I would find a big station in town. There was no town. I went on and after leaving Saguache I rode for I don't know how many miles through three or four inches of snow with not another track to be seen either going or coming. As I got further up the mountain I was wondering where everyone was. I saw no ranch houses and no tracks but I kept going. How happy I was when I made a turn and could see a car on highway 50 that I would soon be on. I made it into Gunnison and it was a great relief to get gas and to know where I was. Then on home. It was an educational trip.