Noot

1975 XLH - 1st Fire-Up

This initial start-up of a new engine is always a little nerve racking. Got juice, got fuel, got oil (most important) and it sounds nice and quiet - Started right up. Nice Bike.

I just rode over 100 miles of Illinois blacktop with grass right up to the edge - no shoulder. Passing trucks, getting passed by a couple locals in speeding cars (and a few sportbikes). A milk truck about blew me off the road. Mostly runnin' 65 in 55 zones on my '64 ironhead with minimal brakes and wiggly handling. It was a tripout - Trying to pay attention to the road - My hands gripping the bars and nerves crawlin' up my spine at times. Mature oak trees growing right near the edge of the highway. Some larger trees had big, bare spot scars - barren of tree bark - like where a 1955 Chevy Wagon struck, changing lives forever.

Read, Attempt, Build, Ride, Repeat

Late night indexing cam timing. Trying to get our old system rigged up to check the cam timing on a mismatched set of KHK cams. I have Tom Sifton notes to advance the intakes 2-teeth for an extra 4-5 horsepower? On the first check, it appeared I had about .650 lift? What? Then we realized the dial indicator we are using was in millimeters. Then we realized Bake must have the degree wheel? We'll figure it it out later - I got all winter.

I've been riding my digger lately. For a stroker motor with an L-Series . . . it starts nice, and really gets you around town quick. It was a beautiful Iowa night, 10:30pm with lightning flashing, but no rain. I went out on a blacktop and ran it thru the gears - with lightning in the night sky ! Kinda surreal . . .

The next morning, I switched bikes - took the long way around, through a park, down a trail . . . and off to morning coffee. Fun to ride . . . but, "You Can't Go Far On An XR" What a little animal this thing is. It's like riding a wild cat. You just want to twist the throttle and rev it . . . make it snarl.

Paint: Chad Clapper

Motor: Rick & Noot

Parts: Gordy, the Benassi Bros., John Penner

Swap Meet Randy, Biltwell, Sudco, Corso, Joe Hunt, H-D oem
Tech Advice: Jeff Wiley & Carl Patrick
Inspiration: Mert, Cal, Markel and E.K.

Mantorville Car Show @ Marigold Days

This blue-graphic Super Bee was at the Mantorville, Minnesota Car Show on Sunday. The owner (Scholbrock from New Hampton, Iowa) said the blue graphics and the rear spoiler are really rare. These old Mopars are starting to grow on me as a Chevy guy.

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A 427 Biscayne !

It was a great day . . . just stumbled on this show on the way back from Minneapolis . . . really nice cars, and it was over by about 2:00, so everybody had a chance to hit the road and do something. Some of these car shows go 'til 4 and 5 o'clock . . . and you blow your whole day hangin' around when you could do a little cruisin' . . . the summer is slippin' away for us northerners. The older I get, the more "stock" I like the cars.

A few of my favorites . . . and early GTOs have the best interiors - low back white buckets, stick, gauges, wood grain wheel - classy performance !

Get off the phone !

Get some shit done around here . . Oh, I guess the oil tank is on? Cool.

Model: KR ( R = Racing Version )

Green Salsa

Coolest beer banners . . .

Vintage Gary Nixon and Jay Springsteen . . .

Mike's K

This bike had some different stuff, more than an ordinary K Model. Race inspired. You could tell he rides it, where some of the bikes were just for show mostly.

Cool Bike Mike !

Huh ? I'd say, Jimmy'd

This race ID was so out-of-round . . . It couldn't be lapped. Didn't know what the deal was until it was pressed out of the case ( it didn't have much press fit ). Someone had welded it all up trying build up the OD - and save it from spinning. This may be one of the motors that came from that big sale in South America?

STOP & LOCK: Ironhead Lock

This lock is neat. Takes the place of the spacer.

It must have a pin that locks the hub?

The Rolling Thunder Show

The Main Event - shadows becoming long, still 90+ degrees and tire blistering may be a factor . . . but it sure doesn't show here as the field comes roaring past, in full tucks, all 18 riders, completing the first full circuit of The Mile . . . Smith leads the train - with 24 to go !

THREE National Flat Track RECORDs at Springfield

FIRST TIME IN THE 75+ Year History of the Sport:
FIRST MARRIED COUPLE IN A NATIONAL:
   - Jared Mees and Nichole Mees
FIRST BROTHER AND SISTER IN A NATIONAL
   - Cory Texter and Shayna Texter
FIRST TIME (2) WOMEN MAKE NATIONAL FINAL SAME RACE
   - Nichole Mees and Shayna Texter

All in the 25 Lap Main GNC1 Springfield 2 - Sept 6th, 2015

Congratulations !

Markel's Iron Short Rod

Bart Markel's Iron XR race bike, now owned by Bob Butler.
The spark plug in the center (like a Hemi motor) is actually a good idea since it may allow the flame travel an easier route to ignite all the fuel, make a bigger explosion, thus more power - or more efficient power. This is why "dual plug heads" benefit the ironheads, with their high-dome pistons. The piston dome can block the flame travel. It's what I've read, and it makes sense.

Kosinski and Atherton

. . . hangin' with Coolbeth's camp.

Bryan Smith wound tight . . .

. . . with a full straight lead in his heat race. Springfield 2015 Labor Day Weekend.
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2015 Labor Day Weekend Springfield Mile

The Stadium Bar & Grill - Across from the track

Bryan Smith has a good horse . . . he calls' it Old Reliable since that Kawasaki has taken him to victory more than once. But, he's also probably one of the best Mile racers to come along in awhile. He's paid his dues. Smith was just 15 or 16 years old when Parker raced his final season before retirement. After 24 and a half miles (in 90 degree heat) into the last turn, we all thought Johnson had outfoxed 'em with a bold, outside move . . . then the crowd went wild when Smith went from 3 to 1. That "Green" really shows up - you can see it plain as day streakin' down the backshoot !

A Non-Stop Ride Weekend . . .
It felt good to ride the 1964 ironhead sportster again. Get on the road in that 90+ heat and hit the interstates and backroads - on Labor Day weekend, when it's busy-as-shit . . . and hot. To ride 750 miles with that Ironhead Harley - all 55 cubic inches - hammer down. I left at 6:30am, but it soon got hot. A stop at Davenport to see that '39 Knuckle Motor the Noot's built (which runs great) and see all my old-bike friends.
I hooked up with my 70 year old dad, who's a pretty hard road rider - and we set off for Springfield - and the Saturday Nite Short Track. On the way, a couple Chicago Outlaws blew past. It looked like a scene from The Bikeriders. Their Labor Day Weekend Club Run to Springfield. This town is just so cool. The night-life. It's kinda a run-down old town, but the people are so gung-ho for that "MILE" - and they all know the reason you're in town. The morning cafes are all full. People waiting. Race shirts everyone. Big, Welcome Racers signs everywhere. The Cove. Rockin' Robins. The Truck Stop. The Stadium. All the places I like to go. We took a different, new back way home, through mid-Illinois rolling hills, then flat country, then hills again. Over, then up thru Macomb - and on to Hamilton, Illinois - across the mighty Miss into Keokuk. The sun goin' down - we just kept going - into the dark. Cooling off the 90s . . . now into the 70s. The old ironhead just soundin' so sweet. I've become this rare rider, in a handful of riders with so many many miles of listening to those ironhead pipes over so many miles. It's one of the best sounds in the whole world. I can still hear it.