Law Enforcement

The other night I was racin' around in our little town - bored as shit. I ran it hard through the gears on all my smooth backroads on the edge of the city. The place was dead. No cruising scene - no motorcycles - no action. Then out of the blue, about a 1/2 mile ahead, I see a motorcycle tail-light. I crank on the throttle to catch up. Run a couple red lights, roll through a few stop signs. XLR pipes were cack'lin. I catch the guy (maybe someone I know?) and guess what? It's a cop on a Harley ! Whoops. Luckily, it was the one I know best. Actually before he was an officer, we were both drunk once, and put my Chevelle in the river with a car load of girls. So I cruised with the cop on patrol for awhile. "Hey fella, just where do you think you're goin'? . . . "Anywhere but here man !"

Japan

Early ironheads abound in the land of the rising sun . . .

What's Wrong?

Can anyone tell me the obvious thing that's wrong with this picture? (PS. I'm going to see Fonzie's leather jacket this fall in the Smithsonian Institute)

Old Box Art

I've been carrying this piece of cardboard around for years. Every time I clean, I just can't bring myself to throw it away. Even though it's only a piece of bent up cardboard - the motorcycle pictured was a huge inspiration for me to build a scooter like it. I had never seen the actual bike - just the pic on this box. I can't even remember which company called themselves "The Motorcycle People" or what originally came in the box? It doesn't matter - I'm still keeping it - probably forever.

Nice & Original

Secret Stash

Peedro is thinkin' prohibition is coming again, so he's stocking up on essentials: guns, ammo and Templeton Rye whiskey. Don't even think about getting near it - you might end up full of holes.

Fat Block Stroker Coupe on Main

Good Eats !

Iowa's "state fish" - the Grass Carp. Tasty when smoked, but real hard to get lit.

Run to the River . . .

A perfect day for a quick run through 3 states, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Stops in Lime Springs(for a cold Hamms), a buffalo burger at Stumpy's in Rushford, MN . . . through LaCrosse, WI and back again. 260 miles.

'tis the season . . .

A pretty good find this week - all cooked up with butter and the fixin's - Mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Flyin' Low

The first cruise night of the summer took place at Dave's Drive Inn - with plenty of aging iron in attendance. The baddest ass rods were The McCoy's Model As . . . fuck yes. A little rain didn't effect a thing, since rust never sleeps.

Mark your calendar . . .

Vintage Tools

WLA Exhaust Installed !

What a son-of-a-bitch trying to get the exhaust installed. More weird exhaust clamps, special bends, special bolts, spacing . . and try to do it without scratchin' up everything. It ain't coming off that's fer sure . . . HD made sure the pipes weren't fallin' off in the heat of battle !

125 X 2 PM Caliper

With a little help from my machinist friends McCoy and McFarland . . . and surface grinding via Schwartzkopf and Kelly, my new Performance Machine Caliper is installed and working ! The following operations were performed; surface ground rotor spacer for proper thickness, fork leg machined, mounting bracket machined, back of caliper machined for spoke clearance, axle spacer shims, brake pads machined. No problem. The fork legs(Kayaba) have been turned to resemble Ceriani (cheating). Borrani rim with an Avon and it's ready to hit the street. AND it bled perfect and hasn't leaked - yet. PS. I do my own polishing, and I'd still be working on it if it wasn't for all the techical advice from Big Noot. I always give credit where credit is due.

Datsun Muscle

The subject has come up about "muscle cars" and the fact that Japan has designed and built some performance cars is definite. A definite fact. The Datsun 240Z, 260Z, 280Z and the incredible (now Nissan) 300ZX may not be a muscle car to some . . . but the fastest I ever went around Ellis Drive was riding in some crazy maniac's 280Z. I know for a fact nobody has went that fast on the street before or since. Plus, the motorcycles that come out of Japan are the fastest in the world. Who would think all that could come off that tiny, little island? And, have you seen what they've been doing with Harleys lately? Some of those builds just blows my mind. (ask Lil' Joe about his ultra low mileage 300ZX and he'll tell you some stories)

Bronson

I believe this is from the episode where he wins the hillclimb and saves the family !

Opinions

Roeder Harley-Davidson Closes

You've probably seen this famous photo of George Roeder from 1965. He set the world speed record for a 250cc motorcycle. George did a lot of things. He was an expert racer at flat track and road racing. George raced the Daytona 200 - he is also in the Hall of Fame. He started his very own Harley-Davidson Dealership in Monroeville, Ohio in 1972. George passed away in 2003 at the age of 66 (too young). Now his dealership is closing(it was being run by his eldest son Will(apparently not the wisest son). I heard they owe the Harley factory about 2 million dollars - and Harley wants their money. In case you haven't noticed - it's been a little slow. Things never run quite the same without their original owners.

'58 XLCH Custom

James Butler Hickok

Noth Style

In the Quad Cities area of Iowa (around Davenport, Moline, etc) there is this style of early Sportster that's popular. I call it "Noth-Style" after Terry Noth. Noth is a Harley engine builder from "the old days." He's an expert on KRs, XLRs, strokers, ironheads - all types of things - HARLEY. This style of custom usually has short, drag bars, thin 19" or 21" front wheel, struts, low, thin and mean. This bike has 4 hrs left on ebay and it's up to $8600.00. If you go hang out at the Poor House (in Davenport) on Locust long enough - you may just see some radical ironheads like this !

Old Sparky

How a 40 year old ignition system can still function almost perfectly with only minimal maintenance is beyond me? The key lock is long gone (now an aluminum plug) and the clear "Drag Specialties of Minneapolis" cap is stained from years of sun and fuel spills. Just keep the points cam greased. Hell of a system.

Sunshine Cleaning

It's been Kate Winslet for quite awhile now. Any movie with her in it is a must see. Well, Kate's out . . . now it's Amy Adams. I paid big money to see Sunshine Cleaning in Madison - and it was worth it. Hot chics cleaning up blood. It's much deeper than that - but, who cares? Go see it - good flick.

Rich King

This photo is from a poster I ripped off the wall at Rapid City HD (old location downtown). We were on our way to the 1/2 mile on Hwy 44. King won it that night. He raced for Team Corbin on a Honda RS750. Rich King is from Waterloo, Iowa and he was our local dirt track star. Now retired. He can still be found promoting the sport - and I hope he puts on another race this summer. His son Aaron King will give 'em hell at the Springfield TT, Saturday Night May 23rd. Should be a great race as always !

Scott Parker

Parker was my flat track hero - still is. I go way back when he was Nat'l No. 40x and 11 . . . Many people don't realize it took him 10 years to win that first #1 plate. He kept it 4 years in a row - then he had a couple "bad" years.
Probably bad to Parker - but, still pretty damn good years to everyone else. He lost to Ricky Graham and Joe Kopp.
I sent Parker a letter back then . . . about how I was a big fan - and he sent me this autographed photo. Now it's pretty rare. Signed Parker with No. 2 . . . I think he picked the number since he was a fan of Roberts and Mann. He won the #1 Plate 5 more years in a row after that ! Nine Time Champion. He then rode a special farewell tour . . . I heard he builds homes now. Parker is still the king - just check the record books.

STD. (Standard) Bore

S&S stroker cylinders and pistons for a panhead. Freshly honed for fitment - ready to go ! Got 'em done last nite !

Civil War

There is a civil war reenactment near Bradford (Nashua), Iowa this Saturday. I believe I'll go witness the battle. The photo above is from around 1863 near Hagerstown, Maryland. Dead soldiers. Not a pretty sight. Hope the boys in Nashua use blanks?

Cruisin' Vegas in the Nomad

Tramp Repop

S&S via WCC

Paint by Spina - Vegas Baby !

How the hell did he get the effects . . . any ideas ?

Santee Shift Knob

I found this in a box of stuff at a swap meet - paid a quarter for it. I researched this - and some old duffer told me it was from Santee Manufacturing Company. All that is Art Deco is cool.

Dry Clutch

The early Sportster-style dry clutch set up is one of the best in motorcycling. It's design is basically still common on the XR750 race bikes. This clutch works great as long as you keep it dry. The plates are housed in a sealed clutch basket, the tranny mainshaft is hollow - and it's disengaged by a series of pushrods. Until very recently, many top fuel drag bikes still used this clutch. However, if it gets wet(and you're using Raybestos Dry Plates)you're screwed.
The K Model needed a refresher . . . it was wet and it had been 2 years since it was serviced. With the cover off, you can see the internals. The red springs are heavier Barnett springs - to help it hold under the massive torque of 40 horsepower ! The front compensating sprocket is about as vintage as you can get. It's in good shape - so I keep running it. Goth Girl gave me the Devil Doll sticky about 3 years ago.

NOS, New Old Stock

I really dig new old stock parts. Spankin' new parts, left over from bygone eras. I just received my WLA, Non-Vented "Eaton" Oil Tank Cap in the mail. Nice. Original olive drab paint with decal. It came in the original package, with cosmoline wrapping. A part over 50 years old, still in the package - NEW !

Shovelhead Stroker

Mike Brass had this motorcycle for sale. It was on the Noot's Custom Cycles billboard for about a year with no takers. I don't think there was anyone man-enough to start it? It was bad ass. Wonder where it went? I heard some young punk bought it and crashed soon after - figures. Young punks are usually fearless and . . . stupid. $8000, not a bad price for thrills. Bike is bitchin'. Cool is good. (you know it's been awhile due to the "instant" camera print)

Markel Man

Diggers are coolest . . .

I stole this photo from the blog: Blue Collar Moto. I can't believe I've actually been considering selling my digger . . .
I must need counseling too? Diggers fucking rock !
I've got magazines with thousands of photos so I'd better start posting some . . .

Somebody needs counseling . . .