Mama Tried Weekend

I like driving sometimes. 

Mississippi River, Iowa side open - Wisconsin side frozen.

This girl had her Triumph Cub, waiting for carry-out.

Races were great as usual . . . Jared Mees and Cory Texter battled until Mees pretty much ran into him to pass . . . bangin' is racing I guess ?

Michael Lichter was there doin' his thing . . . he also had a show at the Iron Horse Hotel with stories and commentary about his photographs.  I was gonna say hello, but he was kinda busy, tryin' to make

some money . . .  so was Kurpius.

Some guys fell on their ass . . . but it was pretty decent mostly. 

Nathan made it . . .

Hux checkin' out Keith Ulicki's bikes and leathers on display in the lobby.

 

in the stands . . . being "Instagram'd" and don't even know it !  Hey Rich !

The Mama Tried Show in Milwaukee is the best motorcycle show I've ever seen.  I haven't been to Born Free . . . but this show is really good - and it's great catching up with all the dudes !

It's the motors I like best . . .

 The best display of bikes today - anywhere in the world.

Itchy's new orange Kawasaki . . .

 

 

Roger Reiman catches a little air . . .

"Twins" will once again run the TTs and Short Tracks in 2017.

1998 with Resweber

Carroll signed my 1961 American Motorcyclist Magazine that day . . . it was a Saturday.

Joe Leonard's on Television !

The Marten Brothers

This stone wheel was used in founder Joseph Kelly's flour mill here on the bank on the Cedar River.  After the mill closed, the wheel, being really heavy, nobody wanted it.  It laid on the bank of the river for almost 20 years, until these Marten Bros decided they could use it to shrink and stretch wagon wheel tires.  Huh?  It's been on this "Andres Patio" for as long as I can remember.  It be difficult to find someone to make you a stone wheel like this today.  Concrete maybe?  But this is hard stone formed from a larger rock.

I'll need a can cooler . . .

Last Millenium

Ironworks: June 1999

Gary Scott won at Des Moines (1979)

From the left: Jay Springsteen, Gary Scott (thanks the fans in the crowd) Miss Camel Pro Series Lynn Griffiths and Ted Boody.  Dr.Pepper (Mid-Continent Bottlers) were big sponsors that year.

Ty Cawley - Nat'l #92

Who is Ty Cawley?  He had a national number in 1978-79 (No. 92).  Altoona is now sort-of a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa.  In his day, Ty was fast as hell to earn a national number !

Spring Cleaning the Cabinets

I've got more stuff I save for some reason, but today I threw out a pile of Cycle News, old crap . . . but I still save all the "good" stuff - Like this photo of the Corbin Race Team with #31 Ken Coolbeth Jr. of Warren, CT and #43 Joe Kopp of Mica, WA.



He's an old photo copy of me on a Yamaha Enticer at Eagle River ready for the Junior heats.  This photo was taken by Ted Trainer, a very competitive local snowmobile racer (who should have been a professional)

America's Least Wanted

1. This record rips.  2. I get a lot done in the shop listening to it . . . and 3. I don't care what they say about Whitfield Crane, I choose my own friends.

Early Hydra Glide

I pieced together an early set (stock rake for rigid frames)

but, it was kinda Fuk'd . . .

 

1. Fixed stem and threads

2. Stripped paint, roughed up chrome

3. Acid etched

4. Primed & painted

5. Sportster Buckhorns (made into one-piece bars)

6. Drilled & tapped for switches

7. The destroyed lower Timken removed

8. Lower stem repaired

9. Fork Stops repaired

10. Fork Caps repaired

11. New lower Timken installed with dust shield

12. Painted everything

13. Stainless top plate repaired

14. All special top nuts, and parts, etc deburred and fixed

15. All mock-up assembled.

16. All the parts were kinda cheap (for a good reason)

17.  Everything was kinda Fuk'd

18. Good now(but I missed a lot of TV programs)
19. Damper parts plug the hole - and look cool

 





Gordy's Panhead

My dad rebuilt this motor 25+ years ago for a local Vietnam Veteran.  Now it's back for a re-fresher and I'm really diggin' these gold cap bolts !

Measure It - Then Build It

The WHITE paper has calculations for 2 different crank pins(1.2505 and 1.2495) The pins are supposed to be 1.249, but these aftermarket crank pin sizes run all over the place!  I really didn't want to use the 1.2505 pin, since it's way too big anyway.

Each pin was installed in the flywheels (without the rods) to check the female rod endplay at the thrust plates with a divider.  You measure your rod width, and subtract it.  The pin(1.2495) I want to use has the best endplay for these parts at .023 - I'll use this pin.

The ORANGE paper has the calculations for honing the rod races to proper bearing fitment.  My rod race diameters need to be 1.6255.  Sometimes depending how they "feel" on the slip-fit test,  I might make the center rod have only .0008 clearance to tighten it up a bit. 

Workin' Weekends

Spinning down cast-iron 80" valve guides for Ricky's heads.  I like to buy them oversize, then cut the diameter to the proper press fit I need.

 

 

Every "X" needs a 10-24 Heli-Coil to keep those pan covers from leakin' on Billy Mize.

After Dustin repaired this exhaust flange, we rigged up this fixture to drill the hole straight - and tap it 5/16-18 for a stud on Ricky's shovelhead.

The lower cooling fin on this '48 head of Bill's was broken off and missing.  Dustin recreated the fin and shaped it to perfection.

McFarland surfaced Gordy's panheads, and undercut the steel inserts. 

I'm fortunate to have some talented individuals around me to achieve excellent results.  But, I feel this work benefits us both - two-fold.  These guys have furthered their resumes to include repair and reconditioning of a lost art, which slips away a bit - day by day - as we lose the men who serviced these engines.  The old-timer H-D mechanics who proudly repaired and serviced the brand.  Just trying my best to keep it alive - so these old marks keep burnin' down the road - rackin' up carefree miles . . .

S&S Cycle: "Where's the first one?"

Jeff Beck

 . . . is Wired for hot rods and Stratocasters.

Speed Merchant

. . . . Del Mar . . . and Brawny Racing

Rayon

Harley Racing Team Manager, Dick O'Brien in the race trailer - 1970's.

I ordered it immediately . . .

I'm walking around the swap meet in Lawrence, KS last Sunday morning.  Not much for parts, but these guys with the Jawa racers (and flat track tires) were playing a DVD in their booth titled:

 Take It To The Limit

I couldn't stop watching it ! 

Eventually, there's 6 or 7 guys all standing in their booth watching this.  It was getting crowded.  I asked what the movie was?  Do you sell it?  They finally got the DVD box out, and I took a picture of it.  As soon as I could get to a computer, I searched it - and ordered a copy.  There's a trailer for the movie on You Tube.

Lee Marvin

Lee was born in New York City.  He served in the Marines in WWII.  Marvin was a democrat and against the war in Vietnam.  He moved to Hollywood around 1950, and got the part of Chino in the movie "The Wild One" along-side Marlon Brando just 2 years later.  Married and divorced and then sued by a girlfriend (he didn't do so well with relationships with women). Later in life he moved to Arizona and died there in 1987. 

Marvin was in many many movies, and starred in many more.  But it's him as Chino that I always think of when the name Lee Marvin comes up . . . and his panhead motorcycle is the style which thousands were stripped to resemble . . . 'til this very day.