There is no store where you can order parts for the Flying Horses, the oldest operating carousel in the United States. So in Mike (Panhead) Fuss’s motorcycle workshop in Vineyard Haven, a space almost hidden from view at the end of a dead-end lane, where parked motorcycles announce his business better than the Offshore Cycle signs, 132-year-old cast iron parts sit on a bench. Small chips of bronze and steel are on the floor. The air smells of cutting oil. A shiny gold-colored cylinder spins on a lathe. Moving his fingers delicately on the crank, Mr. Fuss is bringing new life to an old relic.

The Flying Horses carousel is getting much-needed attention. And Mr. Fuss is doing it the old-fashioned way, with careful hands and local ingenuity.

About 300,000 youngsters and their families ride the Flying Horses each summer from spring to fall. Last summer the 20 horses and four chariots weren’t spinning as easily as they should; parts overheated. The biggest trouble was high above the heads of the young riders grabbing brass rings. At the top of the 18-foot mast, expired bronze fittings were in need of being replaced.

At ground level, a heavy gray child-size clutch which controls the starting and ending of each ride wasn’t working properly either. To stop each ride, at times, the operator had to shut off the 1931 General Electric 10 horsepower electric motor in the basement. It was an unhealthy step for a 19th century motor that preferred to be running constantly.

“All the parts are original,” explained Chris Scott, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust, which owns the carousel, at his office on the second floor of the Dr. Daniel Fisher House in Edgartown. “If there is a problem with a part, we have to fashion our own.”

No one wanted to shut down the carousel for a moment in the coming year, so this winter, as the shiny wooden horses stand idle, waiting, Mr. Fuss is busy on the big fix.

For more than a decade, Mr. Fuss has worked high above and far below, performing maintenance and repairs to the Flying Horses. When it came to expertise, he is the preservation trust’s carousel repairman.

Better known as a motorcycle enthusiast on a Harley Panhead bike, Mr. Fuss is a specialist in the restoration of old motorcycles. He is a familiar face around Christmas time; in November he dressed as Santa Claus in the Martha’s Vineyard Harley Rider’s Toys for Tots run, collecting funds and toys around the Island for the much respected Red Stocking Fund. His long gray straight beard isn’t the only feature that makes him a good stand-in for Santa — there is a youthful sparkle in his eyes and after a ride on a bike . . . he has pink cheeks.

Speaking from his three-room basement shop off State Road, Mr. Fuss said his joy at motorcycle work is matched only by his work on the carousel. “My love for both is neck and neck. As I get older and older the Flying Horses become more special,” he said.

Mr. Fuss said he feels honored to be able to keep those Flying Horse riders reaching for the brass rings.

At one end of the shop he has the Flying Horses 1925 Wurlitzer pipe organ which plays in the summer. Under blankets, he has the 1876 player piano; it was original and installed by the Charles W. Dare Company when they brought the carousel to the Island. That is a future restoration project.

In Oak Bluffs, high atop the carousel, an 18-foot wooden mast rises through the center. That is where the problems reside. From atop there is a hub which turns. The hub supports the full weight of the spinning carousel. The hub is connected to the carousel through a series of metal stays, like spokes to a wheel. When in full operation the weight of the whole carousel — all 20 horses, four chariots and hundreds of pounds of enthusiastic children and their friends and family — spins about 8 to 10 mph.

The cast iron hub once held a well-greased bronze bearing that looked like a large washer. Through years of use it completely disappeared. So cast iron rubbed against cast iron and overheated. Grease didn’t work; it baked.

Nothing is worse in the trades than cast iron grinding against iron, Mr. Fuss said. In the 1800s they made steam engines out of iron, but when it came to moving parts, there was always another metal in between with lubrication.

“They could have replaced that washer 50 years ago, but I don’t know,” Mr. Fuss said. “I just don’t know how old that bearing is.”

A well-shaped washer only needs a bit of grease to operate properly. A worn-out washer means trouble. Mr. Fuss used to climb to the top of the mast almost every week to grease the fitting.

“There are no moving parts like ball bearings to support the carousel,” Mr. Fuss said. Even a bicycle wheel has ball bearings. More than a ton and a half of weight, perfectly balanced, is carried at the top of the mast in the space of an area of metal that is three and a quarter inches in diameter. “When working right, the whole carousel rides on a thin sheet of oil.”

Mr. Fuss said he knew for quite a while the work was needed. Of the hub, in addition to getting hot, Mr. Fuss said: “It wasn’t taking the grease.”

A big part of the restoration project was learning how to safely support the carousel on temporary blocks once the hub and spokes were removed.

From a New Bedford metal supplier, Mr. Fuss acquired a cylinder of aluminum bronze to make the necessary bearing and two bushings. He also is making extra parts just in case they are needed. Aluminum bronze is used in engine and aircraft parts; it is an ideal alloy for its intended purpose. He also acquired a steel cylinder that was fabricated into a new foot-long shaft and that was finished this week. The total cost of raw materials was $450. Mr. Fuss said he had some fun explaining his intentions to his supplier.

“I love this rig,” Mr. Fuss said. “Nobody remembers when was the last time it was taken apart.”

When the carousel is reassembled right after Christmas, Mr. Fuss will immediately begin rebuilding the clutch. “I don’t know the last time the clutch was taken apart,” he said.

Mr. Scott is pleased by Mr. Fuss’s work and the work of others. The Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust spends about $50,000 a year in maintenance on the carousel and the building. John Anderson does the general painting, and Robert and Peggy Schwier do touch-up painting on the horses. “Every winter we plan on routine maintenance,” Mr. Scott said.

Mr. Fuss said he wants to finish the project soon: “I want to thoroughly test this well before opening day.” That comes Easter weekend.

Meanwhile Mr. Fuss is busy with what he calls “reverse engineering,” a process whereby a part is dismantled in such a way that details how it works, and how it can be made to work better.

Throughout the effort, Mr. Fuss said, he is documenting his work using digital photography and notepaper.

“The way I see it,” he said, “I am working on the Flying Horses so the next time, if there is a problem, the guy who takes over after the guy who takes over after me will deal with it.”