Top 5 Saturday

Simple Saturday theme Top 5 UK Punk Bands. My opinion of course.

Number 1. The Clash hands down are the best fucking band to ever happen on the island of England. End of story and we shall move on.

Number 2. The Damned. Technically the first band to release a punk rock record when talking about 1977 punk rock. Beat out the pistols by 3 months and were ten times better then them as well. Like every band I talk about there first record is the best but the following two are pretty damned good as well. Yes they got weird but with out Dave Vanian you would have no goth scene. Love song is my favorite song ever by them. Just remembered there song on the Young Ones. Video Nasty is the song. Ridiculous .

Number 3. The Buzzcocks. Truly I think only because they were around when the punk explosion happened they got lumped into the title. But the songs are so good and the riffs were different. They embraced a good song rather then hitting you over the head with a hammer. Pete Shelley is still at it and I will keep listening.

Number 4. The Jam. Another weird time and place they would have been like the Police or something. But instead Paul Weller had the balls to put his band on another level. Political with out being to much and style for miles. The first record is so fucking punk and they knew how to play so well that it probably made a hundred bands just quit because they knew they sucked so bad. I on the other hand knew I had to practice more. I used them as starting point to learn how to write songs and how to play the geetar. Sure Paul turned into some kind of icon but there early stuff is pure Punk Fucking Rock.

Number 5. My Bloody Valentine. Sure not the obvious last band but I truly think without this band there would have been a giant hole in my life. If you have not heard there first three records there is no doubt they were firmly grounded in the Cramps and Scientists camp. They basically invented the Shoegazer thing and I also love that shit. The UK was a very strange place by 1985 but out of all those bands MBV just killed it when they hit the scene. There Isn't Anything LP is there finest and the pure sonic volume is the punk noise that lights my soul  on fire. 


 If we were strictly talking Hardcore then the list would have been. GBH

More Sleazy Reading

Something like crossing a John Waters movie with the editorial of Life magazine and BANG you get Easyrider. I do love the article about straight people riding choppers and how much real bikers hate them. Seems to be a thing where only dudes like me and Noot want to ride and maintain there old bikes. Try and read Zen and the Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. I barely got through it but there are some genuine parts where the author explains the two different types of bike riders. I am definitely the hands on and make sure its right and not the I will fix it when it breaks kind of guy. Some other things I noticed is that I love the way 70's girls look and dress. The redhead that is on the bike is amazing and who doesn't like real tits. No plastic on my bike or girls thank you very much. Seems to also be a thing that each issue has a pretty good How-To article. I guess back inbetween drunk parties and pulling girls shirts off they actually worked on there own bikes. WTF

The Wizard 2.0

Yes I am  so fucking happy how Shovel Issue 1 chapter 2 turned out. I have wanted a Pagan Gold Bike for years and with the Candy apple lines it just pops like a firecracker. Rode it today for the first time with the forward controls and new belt drive. Rode better then ever and the new exhaust is really quiet. Almost to quiet but I'm sure the neighbors will love it. I have changed the bars three times in two days which for me is actually less then normal. I love the skinny z bars so far and the chrome split riser looks proper. Sky high sissy bar and I am ready to go back to So Cal  and be cool. Nah I'd rather stay under the radar. 

Norton Paint and Sleazy Reading

Well here is another sneak preview of the Norton. Super simple black paint with a fog of Pagan Gold around everything. Should really let the rest of the bike just pop. As for the Easyrider Number 1 Issue 1 I got that today as well as the rest of the first 20 issues or so at the swap. 50 cents an issue thank you very much. As for the old trading cards I have been collecting these for awhile and Marcy had these for sale at Greaserama so I finally laid them out to look at them. So retarded but they are so cool. I will post a pic or two of the shovel this week. New painted tins are done and our Buddy Tyler M. helped with the Norton stuff as well as my shovel stuff. Turned out killer and I have to polish the new sissy bar and then buff out the tins and its back on the road.

Holy Grail Type Bike

There are just a few dozen bikes that I would sell an internal organ to possess. Here is one that really gets me all geeked up. If you have read you already know I had a few r5 and rd motorbikes. This one is about speed and handling and that is perfect. R5 Factory race bike and could pull 140MPH down the straights. I usually only lust after bikes that I can see myself riding on. I probably would not fit on this one but damn it I would try.  Ring a Ding Boogie

Shovel Work and Top 5 Saturday

So another week is gone and I have got a ton done in those 7 days. Got all the fab work done on the Shovel and got the exhaust mounted today and the brakes bleed. Until you build a bike you really have no idea how much little shit it takes to get one on the road. Case in point. I am gonna run a open primary now and the fucking kick stand goes right into the belt. So I whipped up this neat little kickstand stop and holder. Bullet proof and it looks good. The top pick is my fender support and spacer. I still am totally stoked at my welds on the support. Still like magic to me. Kinda always a booger to get a fender spaced the correct amount. Took a piece of 1 inch square tube and cut about a 1/4 inch off after I bent it up. So I have my 3/4 inch spacer and tapped the mount for the bracket and once it is molded and painted it will be slick and stronger then what was there. The Triumph chopper is a customers bike who is quickly learning the evils of chopper glory.  Got it running this week but it is a smoking real bad and every bit on the bike is loose and fucked up. Its nickname is the Jankiesaraus so far. Front end is toast and there are no brakes. Yes. And let us welcome my newest member to my stable. Say hi to my 1954 Plymouth Savoy. This winter it is gonna get a full chop and drop treatment. Should have it running in the next week or two and then I will drive it home and get the sawzall out. I was gonna build the truck hot rod or tail dragger this Plymouth. Price for car 300$ price to get on the road will be about 400$ and that is a good fucking deal. Cleaned out the radiator this week and painted it. Rebuilt the carb today and I am gonna rewire the entire car starting next week. Love old stuff and I have not had a old car for a long long time. Old trucks rule but the drive like old trucks. Cars even lowered still drive a thousand times better then a 60 year old truck.

 Top 5 Reasons The 80's Ruled

Number 1. The music flat out was the best. Though I love the 60's punk stuff a lot in the 80's especially 1982 Hardcore came into its own. In that 10 years you went from the tail end of the disco era right into New wave, punk, Hardcore, shoegaze, Second wave garage stuff, power pop, College rock which is now called alternative. Whatever you were into it was the best and being that those were my formative years I look back at ridiculous punk fashion and goth girls with great fondness. 

Number 2. I know you have seen them as well. There are fucking kids dressing retro 80's style now around town. Let me just say it now only retards wore that shit back then and you my friends are like super jedi retarded fashion faulty if you think acid washed jeans and a hang ten tank top looks good. Fuck faces every last one of you.

Number 3. Skateboarding meant you were a rebel , loser, punk rocker, awesome or all the above. I can still remember hearing a rap song in a skate video and thinking why in the shit would you want to listen to that while skating. Riding your board is the sound of violence and the only natural soundtrack for that is punk rock and Hardcore. Well actually old country  is also would be great while riding. Whatever as long as it is not the Hip hop hip hip dippy  pop doo bang bang boogie crap.

Number 4. Bad hair do's were ok. I am not gonna lie I have had every kind of fucked up hair do there could be thought of. Yeah Yeah I know I'm bald now and thank god for that. I shaved my head anyways so when I started going bald I was like fuck it right. Tony Hawk bangs yep I had them, The cure big wave yep that to. Mohawk, liberty spikes, devil lock, etc etc. Now it just looks dumb well actually I'm sure it looked dumb back then but back then I didn't give a shit what people would say or do. Youth lends to being oblivious as you get older you just don't fucking care anyway. 

Number 5. Well back then you could buy old cars for nothing, old bikes for a lot less, girls were cuter, days were longer, and I had no idea I would still be alive to look back on that time in my life with longing and regret. I wasted time on stupid girls, stupid friends, and playing in terrible bands. I can still remember days we would just hang out in this park trying to do hand plants all day. I could have been riding motorcycles or trying to make it with any number of redheaded goth girls that followed us around. Priorities were always a little messed up. I think I will go listen to Jesus and the Mary Chain while putting on my X swatch.

I'm From Nowhere As Well

Shop Work, Norton, and a late Top 5

So after the Sturgis trip I needed to address some shit on the Shovel. One major issue was the fact I did not have a sissy bar. Second was the fact that panhead frames are tiny and running mid controls was just retarded. Also I wanted a nice clean set of 2 into 1 exhaust like a pan would have had. So with that I whipped up a new sissy bar out of 1/2 inch stainless and made the fancy pants fender strap. you slide the sissy bar through the support then weld it up and polish. Ordered a new belt for the primary and the alternator cover. Forward controls are on and really are just mids that are about 6 inches forward. Feel pretty good but we will see once I get out and ride it. Ordered a new Sportster tank and will have to move the petcock hole so I can get every drop out of it and then the paint. Pagan gold and pearl white panels I think. The fucking exhaust got taking out of the box and then went right in the chop saw and got made to fit. As for the Norton I have been really good about keeping it under the radar until its done but here is the first sneak peak. Gonna be a ripper and it looks fast just sitting there. 
 Top 5 for the first week of Sept.
 1. New Neko Record has been played daily multiple times. It is better then I ever thought and it makes me glad I am alive.

2. Might be getting rid of the Crack Pipe. Feel very torn about it but life has handed me a shit hand and its time to fix it. Plus if this does work out Panhead glory is a little bit closer.

3. This last week has been all about work work work and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Looking forward to winter and just tinkering on my shit and spending a lot more time with the kids. 

4. ? Mark and the Mysterions. Picked up there second LP last night and I have to say there are the best band with all Mexican members ever. Everyone knows the 96 tears song but honestly all there songs are great and Sunday morning was filled with organ sounds and singing about girls. 

5. I still love motorcycles more then ever. It feels the same way as punk rock or girls with red hair.It gives me some comfort to know in my heart there is still the ability to love so deeply that the term forever isn't scary at all. Just yesterday I was riding home from the shop and took the long long way home just to get another 20 mintutes on the sportster. In my life 20 minutes is like hours. So enjoy the day and do something that might kill you. You will live a better life not being afraid of death.

RanDumb Sunday

Greaserama #13 In The Bag

The weekend was a blast and I'm glad it is over. So much work but the show was killer diller. Some real cool bikes showed up and I had my hand in putting together  the Sweet 16 indoor show. We picked out 8 cars and 8 bikes that we as a club liked and let them bring them out for free. There is a pic of me pushing Ryan Longs really long 750 Honda around and it was a beast to move. Loving the blue Shovel with the dual lights. Gonna try and catch up on some sleep this weekend. I have been dragging ass all week. My band played and all is right with the world once again. New Neko Case is out and you should listen to it.