Well on my way

This pic is making the rounds in the blog world. if it wasn't so true and awesome I would not share it.

Top 5 Saturday

Top 5 reasons to own a chopper. Easy right? We will make a stab at it anyway.
Number1. I love the individuality of a chopper. My bike is the only one out there with the parts that are on it. I do not go through a catalog and order all the latest and greatest do dads for my chopper. For the most part I mix a good amount of one off parts with vintage items. Has always worked for me so I would imagine most guys do it this way.

Number2. Stock sucks and everybody that rides gets that. The difference is most fellows bolt on a bunch of bullshit to make there bikes look different. It takes a certain type to strip there bikes down and start from nothing. I did this today with the SR and let me tell you just stripping the bike down to the ground was great. I can now see what the lines look like and where I want them to go.

Number 3. Changes Changes is the name of the game. I am the worst or best at this. Only Tony changes his bikes as much as I do. I love the fact that nothing is sacred after you chop your bike. Fuck it just change it up when ever you feel like it. I have built the same bike 5 times and I am about to change it up again. So don't think you are gonna ride the bike forever the same way, it is liberating to change it up.

Number 4. Knowing your bike is pretty important. If you know how it went together then you will know how to fix it. Choppers can be super reliable if you do the work to get them there. Pretty nice only having 4 wires to worry about.

Number 5. CHOPPERS ARE COOL FOREVER. I am not even gonna pretend to say choppers aren't cool. The cool factor will always be a part of why guys ride choppers. It is a no brainer but I just wanted to say it out loud. You may be a dick but if you are riding a chopper at least your bike is cool, get it. So once a again I ranted and made no difference what so ever.

Sr 500 starts getting the Chop.

2 hours in two chopping and this is where I am at. Gutted the entire bike and cut the back off. Needs allot of attention on the tank and seat area. These bikes have the fattest backbone due to the oil tank running in the frame. We shall see what transpires as the build goes along.

Redheads are GO

Been awhile since I ranted about redheads so here is a prime number 1 example. I do not like skinny girls and this is the best damn reason I've seen in awhile. Christina Hendricks is blowing my mind. Anyways my wife found this for me. So thanks

Brakes Oh My!

So I have already got someone out there in blogland asking about my brake set up. On my other bikes the brake is on the right so I have done them a few times the same way. Use a disc brake set up on a drum brake frame is a pain. Adding the fact that it is on the left this time really blew my little mind. So I picked up a stock cross over shaft for a drum brake sportster. Cut the stop tab and the pull arm off and flipped the pull tab around so it goes in towards the frame 2 inches. The hole was all wallowed out so I welded it closed and redrilled a 5/16 hole in the right place. Next I bent up a bracket from some unknown jap bike to make a s shaped bracket or to reversed L's. One side bolts into the swingarm hole and wraps around the case. Drilled 2 3/8 holes in the other side so the master cylinder bolts on flush. Now the bracket can swivel a little so I can get the actuation perfect from the pedal. When it is set I just crank down the bolt and it isn't going anywhere. As for the brake arm I took a length of 1/2 stainless and started bending till I got it around the primary basket. I wanted it in front of the peg so I had to do some serious tweaking to get it there. For the foot pad the torch came out and a 90 was melted into shape. I took a little bit to mold all the welded joints so the pedal flows into the bracket. I love mechanical pieces on bikes and you can stare at this set up and watch it work. i was pretty happy all this worked out I was entertaining a master cylinder on the bars just to make this headache go away. Glad I did not go the short route. Disc brakes work better and that is a fact.Sure they take a little more work but when this bike is done it will look like it was meant to be. Thanks for your interest.

One Week In....

Pretty much ready to blow apart and finish all the welding and prep. So knocked out the coil, fender, sissy bar, brake, foot pegs, tailight, and tank all today. So a very productive day indeed. Take it all apart next week and get ready for chrome and paint. I all I have left is the oil filter and key set up. Bang

Top 5 Saturday

Ok folks here we go. Top 5 simple ways to maintain your cycle.

Number 1. Tire pressure- This is as simple as it gets but a huge thing if you are running on half flat tires. Not only does your mileage go down but your tires are wearing out uneven. If you ride allot just checking once a week or so but if the bike has sat check them every time you take it out.

Number 2. Chain Dummy- Ever had a chain break? It sucks and not only leaves you stranded but can seriously mess some stuff up as it goes flying. When adjusting your chain there should be the width of the chain slack. That is as you move the chain up and down it should not be looser than 3/4 of on inch. On the flip side of that you do not want it to tight. A chain that is to tight is also prone to breaking and ruining your drive shaft bearings. Also lube that bitch up. If the rollers are shiny than it is dry. Chain lube is cheap and simple to use. Spray it on all center area as the wheel is spun. Go in a back and worth motion until all roller area is coated. Most chainlube says to let sit for 20-30 minutes so lube has time to adhere. Then ride.

Number 3. Valve adjustment- Unless you riding a new bike your bike needs valve adjustments. Get the manual for your bike out, find the page with the lash measurements and go for it. I will say some bikes are easier to do than others.Once you do them a few times it will be a snap and your bike will be running better than ever.

Number4. Timing- This should of been number 1 in most important thing to do. Another deal where your manual will have what you need and the steps to do it. My Ironhead gave me fits but once I got the timing dialed in it has been a one kick wonder since. Another job that is overlooked but if you have a problem check your timing first then move on.

Number5. Wiring- The gremlin of the bike world. Granted I have got pretty damn good at wiring a chopper most people are scared shitless. Once your bike starts with the wiring drama it is all down hill from there. My advice is to gut the entire bike and start over. I know I know people have anxiety attacks thinking about wire, electricity, fittings, but if I can learn anybody can. Crappy wiring on a bike is a big thing and if you have a cool chopper with a spaghetti mess of mismatched wires then your bike is a pile. My advice is to go buy a good set of wire strippers and wire pliers at the local tool shop and just practice on some scrap wiring. Wire fittings as well as the tools have all the sizes on the tool. If you are working with 16 guage wire then you buy 16g fittings it is simple. That is where most hacks go wrong. Again if you use the right parts and tools things go allot easier. My first couple of wiring harnesses I laid out on the floor and just cut all the crap out of the stock harness. Then shorting all the the rest to size and just plug it in. Yes I had a learning curve but now it is one of my favorite jobs at the shop. I love a really clean wiring job and so does everybody else. What you can't see is the key folks.

Big Jake is Selling This

Tony and I built this bike about 2 years ago. Jake has one of the best xs's out there and he wants to sell it. Anchor built hardtail, exhaust , sissy bar, etc etc. Bike is titled and is a solid running machine. 3500.00 or best offer. Hit me up and I will pass along his #.

Two Days in....

So two days in on the fab work and I am making some good headway. Pipes are done and mounted SOLID. I want to know I could stand on my pipes and they aren't going anywhere. Carb is on and cables all run. Waiting on a tank and bungs so I can mount the fender. Still need a ton of little bits that always add up to a large chunk of money. So I will plug away at the fabrication and start thinking of paint. So far I am loving the stance and that is a good start.

Some WOW bikes

The little blue Triumph is the bike I finished up for Webb in the club. Super fun little machine and everybody that rides it falls in love. Super nimble and pretty quick for a 500. Check out the Hill climb/dirt drag sportsters. Looks fun and really stupid. I love it. Fritz brought out his pan and I love the gold Bonnevile.

Silver Surfer

So Shea got his bike up and going right in time for WOW. I finished up the wiring last week and all that is missing is the crazy tall exhaust that is still at the chrome shop. The bike took on a new look and motor for that matter. Look out world its silver and its gonna get surfed.

WOW 2012

Top 5 Saturday

A little view into my reading. So top 5 things you should be or want to be reading. My taste is mostly along the magazine line but I have read some great books.

Number1. On The Road. I have read on the road like 6 times at this point and every time I get something else out of it. I long for a time that you could just leave a place and thumb your way across America.

Number 2. Rodders Journa.l Best car rag out there. If you want details and history about the cars you are lookinh at then this is the one for you. It is more a book then a rag and cost allot. There is no Retro BS going on in it. Just real good cars and the writing is always top notch.

Number 3. Chopper mags. There are quite a few out there now and I love all of them. My favorites are old rags but My collection needs some more in it.The end

Number 4. Ugly Things. Ugly Things is all about 60's punk rock. Every issue is crammed pack of knowledge and facts. I love music so reading about a band from the 60's that only made one 7 inch record then fell off the face of the planet is very fun. The writing is the best and again it is a large periodical type magazine. They do include some new record reviews and I have found some great bands through the Ugly Things.

Number 5. Hop UP. Just buy the first 12 issues book. It has all of the first 12 issues in one book. Timeless hot rod photos and has some great write ups. Like all things old I am fascinated by mechanical genius, so this will blow your mind. Men drove deathtraps at unimaginable speed ust for the fact of going fast. Great product reviews and always a legit girl in the back.

Des Moines or bust

Not much to say about the drive up. We got to the show about 10 and was driving back home by 2. Scored some trinkets and got the motor. Out of the car and into the frame. Thanks to Shea, Michael , and Noot for making the trip a good time.

Springer Redo

So here it is. After about 5 hours and a small wad of money I shortened and rebuilt better then new this old springer. Shea had this on his bike for a minute and after I pulled it apart I was scared for him. When he bought it I believe it was about 10 over. We shortened it to about 4 over but left it all together when we did it. That is not the right way to go but as I found out it was allot easier. Just to get it apart took a solid hour. I broke one of the spring bolts trying to get the nut off. One came off with the heat put on it and the second one just snapped right off. the next hour was spent drilling out the broken bit from the fancy nut. I had to save it due to the spring sits in a little cup built into it. Lots of cussing and drill bits. So I pulled the springs and front leg out and I see the spring bolts are bent like a banana. So I cut both out and then punched out the part in the front leg. New home built spring bolts out of stainless and thread for the top spring nuts. Ever tried running a die on a piece of 1/2 stainless. Fine thread no less by hand.Pressed in to old holes and now have them set up to last forever.These springers from the 70's are poorly built even when they were new. So I drilled out the back leg to 5/8 and pressed in a new bronze bushing. Front legs got 1/2 heims. Cut new slugs and then spent a solid hour making sure everything was dead nuts square. Also had to weld in slugs for risers and cut down the stem so everything went together tight. Well worth it and now I have a 2 under super narrow little jam. Enjoy

Noot kills

Going up to Des Moines for the swap meet and bike show this weekend. I will be picking up my motor at the show. Noot in Iowa built this absolutely perfect 63 sportster for my new project. Weird it is the first motor I have not built. I trust Noot that much and his work speaks for itself. Check back next week and I will have the mock up pics going. Its like the day before you lost your virginity but better. This thing is gonna put out for sure. Woo

Electric Wizard - Scorpio Curse (Live @Bierkeller Bristol 06/03/2011)

You want Proof

Here is Tom with his wife Rose and the trike. Randy Smith is stronger then you and this is his Famous 45 Magnum. 45 flathead bottom end and a ironhead top end. I can't even imagine how many hours it took to think and execute this motor. I do know I love it.

Damnit

So after my post below I forgot to include all kinds of others. Damn. So I was going to talk about Randy Smith who was behind CCE. Killer parts and a engine genius. Also I was going to talk about Tom McMullen, he changed the entire chopper world with AEE. Street Chopper magazine was basically a magazine to show off his products. In the 70's he was insanely rich and had his hands in allot of things. You could look through a magazine and see all there products on the bikes in the magazine. Brilliant marketing. Sure allot of it was goofy crap but he started something that was bigger than himself. Sorry just had to add these.

Pics to prove it

Top 5 Saturday

I have had a cold for days now and feel like crap. So I was laying around thinking of the best bike builders of all time. Someone that has changed the face of motorcycling time and time again. There has been tons so I will name a few. So no real top five but more a list of 5 awesome builders.

Number 1. Someone out there was the first person to strip a bike down to its core. They called them bobbers but I think it was genius. No one person can be found but there was a movement of like minded fellows that decided that a fast sleek bike was what they wanted. Hence the chopper craze was born. So to the men from the 40's thank you.

Number 2. The EL Foresteros. If you don't know about this club then you need to pull your heads out of the dirt and check it out. Midwest originals at its best and with a amazing history behind them. David Mann was a member and from KC as well as all the Iowa members all rode the best choppers out there. There style is what you see in almost all of the current retro built bikes out there. Including my taste in bikes. For us all we have is this idea of what a chopper should look like, these guys are the reason we do it. The COC blog always has pics up of Tom Fugle and the club guys so check it out and get schooled. We are talking early 60's here and the bikes speak for themselves.

Number 3. Arlen Ness. I was going to rant about Arlen for hours but I all I have to say is DIGGERS. I don't care how or when the real first digger was built but I know I love them. Arlen built the sickest diggers out there. Supercharged sportsters sitting 2 inches off the ground and about 9 feet long is just koo koo. Engraving, paint, flow all where top notch. Many tried but Ness in the heyday was king.

Number 4. Ed"Big Daddy"Roth. Everyone in the now knows he is responsible for the first real Chopper magazine. What most people don't know is Ed was a true biker at heart. He danced a fine line between art and insanity most times. It was the late 60's when the first Choppers Magazine came out and needless to say they are rare as shit and I have only seen one in real life. I almost went insane and spent hundreds on it. There is a great story about a certain club wanting money from Ed for showing there bikes in his magazine. He dealt with it by setting up on the roof of his studio with guns and a pile of ammo and was going to squash it. He was a black belt in martial arts and a large man so if you wanted to get destroyed he could do it. Robert Williams worked at Roth studios back in those days and he recalls so insane stories himself. In his own right Williams is a true counter culture icon and a really nice fellow to speak with. Anyways Ed built some amazing motorcycles in his day and you can look them on line and just drool for hours.

Number 5. Shinya Kimura. I wanted to include one new school old school builder. I really don't need to go into how insane his bikes are. Just look him up. His bikes are handcrafted works of art that serve a purpose. They get ridden and he knows how to build a bike for riding. The Zero bikes where his company when he was still in Japan. He know runs his Chabbot Engineering co. in SO Cal. Famous people own his bikes and if I could afford one I would have one. They aren't choppers, or cafe racers, or drag bikes but some how he can turn all of these into his own. His Triumph he calls The Needle is simply amazing as well as his Knuckle he brought to Bonneville. Take a minute and look him up.