Rights of Passage

Grinding valves by hand, riveting sprockets, boiling corks, soaking gaskets . . . and changing tires with irons.  All soon to be forgotten forms of motorcycle maintenance.  To really get into vintage bikes - you must do these things.  A ritual.  A right of passage.  A pain-in-the-ass.  Too cheap to buy a tire machine.

Barn Find

Heard about a '66 XLH possibly for sale in a barn.  Original owner.  "All original."  I went and fished it out - sniffed around a bit - found the guy.  Not original, not what I thought - too much money . . . kind of a disappointment.  But, the guy who owns it is cool.  Neat guy, fun to chat with.  Priceless.

All Customs - All Cool

How many times can you get a shot like this with all customs, rode them in - and they're all bitchin'???
I saw that Yammy in Postville, Iowa parked at a Mexican Cafe the Sunday after Torque Fest.  Don't know who's it is - but he rides it !  Have a Coke and a smile - makes you feel good !  Sunny in Iowa today . . .

Dave is everywhere . . .

Functional

Don't ever change a thing . . .

Youth is King

Barbara Eden . . . yum.

. . . . Never Forget Their Names.

I've met this guy a couple times at Kung Fu - and I can never remember his name.  Super cool.  He must be a friend, since I can never remember who he is . . . names are for tombstones anyway.  Nice photo of him. (done in B&W with Serpia)

Gene & Mert show 'em how

World's Fastest Oil Change

Out comes the 3/4" plug, drain, replace plug and refill. Done. 
No filter needed.  Takes less than 2 minutes.

Let's Play

Have you ever seen a Harley jump?  Live in person?  You won't forget . . . It's not like a dirt bike jumping.
(this pinball machine is in the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa)

Dave's '48

 . . . next to Paul's '49.

Carl's '48

Trickle

Wisconsin's own Dick Trickle (pictured) would stop by our camper school bus at the sled races to warm up and maybe have a shot of coffee or schnapps.  He's a circle track hall-of-fame racer for sure.
Keep a night open this summer to support your local race track !

Annual Father's Day Run

Took the '65 panhead on a 320 mile run with the ol' man to "Back to the 50s" car show and swap at the St. Paul Fairgrounds.  Great breakfast of hash, eggs, hockey pucks & sausage gravy at Crossroads.  Drank a few 5% Red Dog beers with the Benassi's . . . fun times had by all.  Took a long nap (what a weekend)

Ramble On

Jeff & Kris had to get away for awhile.  They like to ride.  So, they came up for beers & camping.  Visited Dick Post (old time body man).  We're all friends for life now.

Bastard Stepchild

These ironheads are the shit bro . . . make you feel like a lil' badass runnin' round on this thing.  It's quick n- nimble and loud !  Very loud  Too loud for the neighbors.  They all sneer at me now . . .

This FXRS is . . .

Clean.  Progressive shocks, late model floating discs, Benchmark, flat track bars . . . keep looking !

National Motorcycle Museum

Very nice, new museum in Anamosa, Iowa - Well worth the trip. - but, this display made me sad.

one for Chris K . . . .

This FLH was at the Viking Chapter AMCA Meet in St. Paul, MN last weekend.  Looked like something Chris K would like so I took a picture of it.  Not totally original, but clean and functional.  I rode to St. Paul Fairgrounds for the meet on Thursday(pm) . . . then split for home Friday(pm) - then got up Sat and went to DICE and came back Sunday(am).  600+ miles, lots of weather, but a great time was had by all.  Can't quit thinking about how much fun it was.

John Copeland

Artist and custom motorcycle enthusiast, Mr. Copeland has been fabricating a twin carburetor set-up utilizing the Linkert DC.  One on each side.  First you'd have to come up with an intake . . . fab some sort of throttle cables(or wires) . . . how do you choke it?  A lot of hurdles to overcome.  Not an easy task.  If you've even seen his bikes - very professional.  NYC awaits the wrath of this chop !

DICE Facts & Gossip

Luke is cuttin' it close if he's going to Born Free III.

Jeff and Brad deal with the cops (due to cars doing burnouts I suspect)

The biggest Sinner gave me a huge hug and a squeeze, so I decided not to stay at the clubhouse.
Maybe next time.  Thank you for the offer - all cool dudes those Sinners !

There were more cute gals this year.  Nice !

The Speed Merchant was well represented by Denver Dan.  Nice quality parts I got to see first-hand for your Bonneville, Thruxton, Sportster and Dyna.  thespeedmerchant.net

Chopped & DICE'd

 

As I rode home with the sound of my pipes . . . I couldn't stop thinking about . . .

Tom Fugle is so full of history.  If you ever have a chance to stand around and chat with the man - you'll never forget it.  

Chopper Dave is doing all types of casting, and a lot of custom "one off" pieces.  Get with him about what you want and he'll be happy to get you a quote.  Seriously.

Ricky, Tony and Mike are pumped about their trip to Cali for Born Free III.  Good Luck on your 4000+ mile journey.  

Chris and the CR crew are still the party masters - so great to see you guys and your gals.  We'll hook up this summer for more.

Carl, Matt and Co. were down from Aberdeen.  Carl's bike was so loaded - for real or for effect - that was cool.  Matt and Brittney kick ass.

Josh and Slippery Pete are still my idols, even more now than ever before.  Wouldn't it be great to go on a run with the Chicago crew someday?  Holy fuck that would be cool.

Dustin, Dan and the Sinners from Cali (thanks for spending your hard earned money to come and see us - great to see you again.  

Gilly, Sully, Jeff, Brad, Billy . . . without you guys - Des Moines would suck.   Brad can't hardly contain himself when he talks about his trip to the Isle of Mann for the TT. I really need to get there someday.  Oh, and wait 'til you see Jeff Wright's FXR.  Insanely Innovative.  I like it a lot.