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OMG the weather is gonna be terrible for the bike show. 30's in the am and maybe up to 44. Good thing the show is inside. Gonna end up putting a few vendor spots inside and just dealing with the weather as the day progresses. It was nice Mon and Tuesday so I rode each bike one day. Luck you say well I say fuck luck. I have put so many man hours into each of these machines that luck has nothing to do with it. Love the shovel then I will jump on the sporty and I fall in love with it again. I guess I love two machines. I like parking next to the Fag Boys bike it makes mine even better. My whole bike weighs less then the wheels on that thing. Not really but when the rules of horsepower to weight comes into play I win.
So story time will be starting now. I go to the same coffee shop every chance I get and there are always these arty type douche bags and the typical art school neo hippie cute girls, not to mention the homeless traveler kids that pan handle out front. I always hate these mother fuckers with every once of my soul. One part of me is just so pissed off that they have nothing better to do then sit and sip organic tea and talk about the fix gear movement and the other part of me is so fucking jealous that I don't have the free time to just sit and enjoy some coffee in the sun. Oh well the battle in my brain rages on. I went there tonight and witnessed a entire table of nothing but fat old gamer types talking about the new Start Trek movie and I laughed out loud and then had this post already brewing. The coffee is amazing and the comic relief doesn't hurt to bad..
Well whats better then Christina, cavemen motorcycles and a pile of Dice rags? The first motorcycle swap of the season. Thats what. So Shea and I headed out about 6:30 in the am to scope out the goodies and promote the show next week. Scored all these Dice rags off of Tony as well as a ton of nick knacks.
The list:
2x 5" inch chopper fenders
1 cool ole' timey 1 ton press
1 near new 530 o ring chain
1 Panhead oil bag pre' 58 style
15 Dice mags
1 Greasy Kulture
2 Vintage Motorcycle awards to give out at our show
1 set of fork seals for 39mm
Chrome split riser
1 Sportster rear caliper
Think that about does it. Went and rode the shovel and had quite the adventure. We took of from the shop and Shea's bike was acting like a turd. Condenser fail so we swapped it out then hit the road. Did a few miles on the highway with the shovel. I kept it under 55 so I wasn't pushing it at all. Have to say it did killer. On the way back Shea's bike decided to lock up the throttle so it would not turn and then in one more moment the ground wire decided to jump off. So all in all a fucking great day. Saw all my swap meet friends that I don't get to see all winter and get a pile of treats. Got reading material for the next month. Yes
Lifted from the COC blog. Fatties Ironhead is what I have been dreaming about. Just think about the curb jumping, wheelie popping, ear splitting, inner leg burning capabilities of this machine. Not so hip on the new paint job but I am talking about the whole bike so one part does not concern me. Two big thumbs up! I'm thinking something like this but a big two stroke motor is gonna be on my next list. Like a DT400 Yama or even a Xl 500 Honda and make it the ultimate urban assault machine. Plus something you won't mind tearing up on some dirt trails. Dreams and shit my friends.
I forgot to mention that this little Blog just rolled over 100,000 visitors so I think a big thank you is in order. Every once in a while some one will write me from somewhere crazy and I am always glad they are amused, inspired, into what ever I have going on. Mostly they just want more redhead bombs dropped. So Top 5 today will be Why Do I Do This Fucking Blog Thing.
Number 1. Free Looks and Free Thinking. I don't think I get a lot of business from this blog but it does trickle in. Someone that wants a real bike built with no hoorah will keep me in mind and when they get to that point they can get a hold of me and that is great. Mostly I am like a chopper hot line and get all kinds of people wanting free advice and ideas. I should just start a chopper building hotline and cash in a 1 dollar a minute.
Number 2. There Is More To The Blog Then Ripped Off Pictures. I don't know if it is just the fact that the shop and my personal life are so intertwined that I feel I should share everything. Besides being ate up over bikes, cars, trucks, music, redheads, chopper history and the depths of my crazy. I let you into how I talk, think, hate, love and all the in betweens. If you don't like my bikes then you will not like me I am sure. I say what I want and stand behind what I say. I put myself out there and with the bikes I think they speak for themselves. They look good, run good ,and are ready for the season to begin. The weather has been shit.
Number 3. Late Bloomer My Hole Life. The Blog world was already peaked when I started this one. I had had two bikes in The Horse and had just moved into my first real shop space and thought I could get the word out that I was open. It worked, people took notice and I had the ball in my court. I knew from the get go that I needed to update the fucking thing a lot so folks would come back and check it. Over the last 4 years I feel like I have actually made some friends just through blog wormholes. I still find it funny when I haven't seen someone in awhile and we start talking and they say " Yeah I read your blog everyday so I know whats going on". I always feel vindicated and a little weirded out.
Number 4. So Much More. I know that when I get sucked into the wormhole of wasting time I want to see more and read more then just reposted dribble. I will show a bike or two if I am impressed and feel like others would enjoy it. Most times I post that stuff so I can find it again easily. Like my own archive of sorts. If you like a bike I've built or owned then here it is. You can go back now 4 years and see all kinds of stuff that has had my hands on it.You may be bored and want to look up some music I have talked about that is also here forever.
Number 5. It Keeps Me Sane, Kinda. I rant, yell, love, explain, fume, try and understand, build, destroy, hustle, plan, execute, all in front of the world so you might be inspired to do the same. Thanks from the Anchorman.
Well I have been doing body work on the 51 so I can get the roof painted for the season ahead. Think the bottom is gonna be Satin black and the roof is gonna be all the above. Just go crazy style and use Candy Apple Red and Pagan Gold with the trim done in lime green borders. I think it will look killer. The hard part is just getting the sanding and prep done. Maybe another week or two I will be spraying material. Shovel has got about 50 miles on it at this point with out any other hiccups. I love this bike more than I even could have imagined. The ones that fight you tooth and nail are the keepers in the long run.
One of the true greats in my eyes. Anyone that is into Hot Rods or car culture knows this mans art or cars he has built.. I have looked at this painting a thousand times and it always makes me feel like I want to go raise some hell. Robert himself has quite the history and I have had the chance to sit and talk to him years ago. He had amazing stories of the Roth Studio days and riding Sickles around causing all kinds of shit. A true legend and I love his ability to capture time and space with just a little bit of surrealism. The cars are floating in the painting like they are going so fast they are about to leave earth. One day in the not so far future I will have my own Hot Rod Race.
I blinked and the week is over. Usually I would love this but since the bike show is looming ahead I need to get some stuff done for that. Time is being sucked up into the ether. So last week I listened to New Order on the WLP blog and decided I would post a fun little list of 80's bands that I love. Being born in 73 puts me in a weird age for the whole 1977 punk and then the 1982 new wave stuff. I have always been drawn to the Power Pop scene that was happening from like 78-84. They basically ripped off the simple punk songwriting and added beach boys into the mix and BANG Power Pop is born. So here is my list and I will keep it simple.
Number 1. The Flaming Groovies- This is one of the weirdest bands on my list. Originally they started out in the late 60's as a rock revival band but as time and taste changed some how they fit in with the later punk scene and the power pop scene. They kept making records for damn near 20 years and all of them are good. The first track I ever heard from them was Shake Some Action and I was hooked. Crazy good melodies and the guitar work is perfect. I have every record they ever made on vinyl and have made it some kind of mantra to share there music with anybody who will listen. They are that good.
Number 2. The Dirty Looks- Honestly I don't know to much about this band. I remember I paid 1 dollar for there 1980 release in a bargain bin years ago. It looked cool and they are sporting skinny ties and wraparound shades so I just bought it on a whim. Ends up being stupid good pop punk and one of my all time favorite records. Sounds like they listened to the Jam a lot and then maybe some Blondie. Very dance sounding as that goes but not like new wave more like the Ramones. I have since found some random e.p.'s and all of them are killer.
Number 3. Blondie- Guilty pleasure I am guilty for sure. Probably one of my first and earliest crushes was on Debbie Harry. By about 1980 I was already digging on music and I remember hearing Blondie playing the Nerves song Hanging on the telephone and loved it. Of course I did not know it was a Nerves song till much later but if you have never heard The Nerves then I suggest finding it like right fucking now. Anyways Blondie as a band played the New Wave formula to the key of perfect. I always kinda hated New Wave and was stuck in a very punk mindset my whole life. Blondie kind of wrote the book on pop songs and good hooks. So I will give credit where credit is due. Debbie is still cute and almost 70. Holy shit
Number 4. New Order- Definitely the most New Wave band to ever walk the earth. With there synth and killer drummer they had all the right moves and songs to back that shit up. Out of the ashes of Joy Division another one of my all time favorite bands the three others formed New Order. Even as a kid I would here Bizarre Love Triangle and sing along or play air drums along. WLP posted Temptation and I sang that fucking song for two days after so there is something there in that ability to infect your soul. Does it stand the test of time? Yes it very well does because like Blondie New Order wrote the book on using electronic instruments in pop songs and did it very well. So all the bands that tried to do it failed miserably and the OG just kept making good music. I'm gonna listen to Joy Division as soon as I get off this damn computer.
Number 5. The Jam- One of the only Mod Revival proto punk bands that made it work. Sure they dressed like Mods, sure they had fancy pants outfits and sure they played better then any other band of the time. But they wrote the best, powerful punk songs ever. There time was at the tail end of the first wave punk stuff but there influence would spark the second wave mod scene that infected the USA and the entire power pop scene world wide. Political lyrics and crazy good pop songs can work if there is conviction. Paul Weller had that conviction and believed his band could destroy the masses.. He went out there when kids were wearing trash bags and gimp out fits and went totally against that punk bullshit and did it his way. People got it on his level not the other way around. I look up to folks like that. I try for the same effect on people. There music fucking kills and you should already know that.
