How I spent my winter downtime....

Besides trying to heal from my aforementioned broken leg, I've been finally working on my very own Harley-Davidson! I've spent well over a year, so far, accumulating parts and knowledge and I'm hoping the damn thing will function when it's all said and done.

Here's some photos of the "FrankenHarley" (hopefully!) Of course, they come up out of order! lol

A bit of mockup with the tanks and fender

The tank art. Done by ME!

After I got the rolling chassis out of the truck. No, I'm not putting the front fender back on!

Strappin' her down!

Went to Omaha, NE in a damn blizzard to get this thing! lol

I'm a cheap bastard, so the paint was "rattle-can". Gloss black Rustoleum, metallic cobalt blue Rustoleum, and actual airbrush paint I got from an awesome art professor at Dakota State University.

Now, with the broken limb, I was unable to get in the shop for basically the entire winter, so I used that time to order parts from a couple catalogs and more ebay stuff. Finally, last month, I got my pistons for my motor, another awesome ebay find!

Here are a couple more mock up pics....

The paintjob on the fender. Wanna replace the cool old fender trim that was on there.

Cheap-ass somewhat ugly exhaust pipes. Only till I can afford the ones I really want!

And FINALLY I've been able to work on the bike, lately! I could have the whole motor all buttoned up nice, but my progress has been brought to a screeching halt because of a small pushrod cover spring missing! These next pics are my progress to date...

Top shot of the motor with the carb on!

Starting to look like a bike again!

Still have quite a bit to do, yet on this one. But I think it's comin' along nicely. Here's why the bike is called the "FrankenHarley"...

1967 FL rolling chassis
1994 S&S Shovelhead cases (bottom end)
1984 80 ci Shovelhead top end (heads and cylinders)
1983 HD 4-speed "Superglide" transmission w/kicker
19?? Inner primary guts and chrome Primary case of unknown vintage.

Oh! and I made the backrest, which I'll get a photo of when the bike gets closer to done-ish. I do so enjoy hand fabrication work! Really, I do!

That's pretty much it for this installment! Hopefully somebody reads this shit! lol

WOW! It's been a bit!

Yeah, I have a hard time keeping up with this thing. Been nursing a broken leg, but it is way better now, finally! So, I stole a blog entry from my myspace page from October I think you all may enjoy....

Entertaining the (temporarily) crippled....
Well, I'm still laid up! For the rest of this month, at least. Bored outta my fuckin' mind!

But, all this free time allows me to watch alot of shit on TV. Although, not nearly as much as I could be watching if my Dish "Everything package" hadn't been shut down to damn near nothing. Fortunately, we have one of them fancy LCD TVs that I can hook my computer up to! This little tidbit of technological bitchin-ness has proven to be rather handy lately. But first, a little bit of backstory on just why I'm laid up!

Ok, the Ol lady and I went to a nice little bike run about the middle of last month at a cozy little park in Baltic, SD that was put on by a local ABATE chapter. The "OldWing" ran amazingly well, no problems at all! This was my second trip to this run with the Ol lady (Mystry) and my third all together. I'd put an album up with pics, but didn't get hardly any. But, I digress! Friday nite we got absolutely ruined! Ended up emptying a .750 ml of Crown Royal between just the couple of us!! And a bunch of beer. Amazingly, this part ain't the part where I "took the high side" (Heard that term in a 60's biker flick). Saturday came and I was in ..... ok shape. We ate some breakfast, I drank ALOT of soda and chewed ALOT of Rolaids, and finally felt somewhere near human. A bit after noon, I decided we needed some breeze on our knees, so we pointed the front wheel south and blasted down the 12 mile stretch to Sioux Falls. A short, but good ride. I'll skip the story about stopping at the hardware store on the edge of town to get some zip ties for my brake line on the front wheel. Oops! hehe. I guess I just told it.

I figured just for fun we'd go to the Harley dealership. My original intent was to go in and fantasize, dream, and piss myself off knowing there's no way in Hell I could ever get a new HD. I didn't know they were having a demo ride day! A very nice surprise, for sure! This year, it was better because I have my motorcycle license!!! To make a long story short, at least this part, Mystry and I got to ride two 09 Harleys! A Heritage Softail, and an 09 Electra Glide Ultra Classic. Since that day, I have become obsessed with that 09 Electra Glide!! What a comfy ride that was! She liked the passenger floorboards, and I liked the whole damn thing! And I thought my "OldWing" was comfy!

After all that, and a Burger King Whopper, we went back to the party grounds and hung out. A club friend happened to show up there and him and his Ol lady hung with us for a spell. We laughed as yuppies dumped their fancy "sickles" during the bike games, and talked about mutual friends. Finally, they had to split. There was a birthday shindig for another friend back in Sioux Falls that they wanted to make an appearance at.

Fast forward to later, waaaay later! We were hanging out by a huge campfire on the end of the grounds with some other folks we'd met the night before. Eventually, I had noticed that they must have left the good beer run out and left the NA beer to finish. I had quite a bit, but I was still stone sober....ish. So, about 2:30-ish, Mystry and I decided to call it a night and head to the tent. I had the bike over where we were at, so we got on, got it running, and proceeded to get bothered by some overly drunk chick (she musta been hiding the good shit!). I went to take off and, somehow, the back tire got away from me on the corner! Mystry said she felt it get squirly and jumped off as soon as it went. Me? I put my foot down, like I normally do in such a situation. But when I put my foot down, it got stuck in some deep sandy shit! The bike, and my body, spun around while my foot kept the same direction it came down at. I actually HEARD the snap! I knew I had broken something! When the cops got there, they proceeded to be dicks to the folks who were helping me keep my senses (Thanks, Nate! Wherever ya are!!). I seriously doubt they believed my "tale" of how I ended up horizontal, but they decided not to even take a report on the incident. Got lucky on that one!

What really pissed me off was the EMTs cut off my boot!! Completely ruined a perfectly good pair of $125 square-toed engineer boots! Ended up spending two and a half days in the hospital and having surgery to screw my bone back together. But at least the bike is completely UNdamaged!

And THAT is the "short" version of why I'm laid up at the moment! lol And GoldWings are damn heavy!! Mystry did make a brilliant, and comical, observation on Sunday. She looks at me on the way home (I went back Monday for the follow up from ER and that's when they kept me for the two days.) and says "This is the second year in a row we couldn't RIDE the bike home. Last year the bike broke down, this year YOU broke down!"

Now, for my original thought behind this entry!

I decided, since entertaining TV channels are severely lacking in my house at the moment, to hook my laptop to the TV and watch internet programming. Works like a fuckin' dream! At least I can keep up on my Sons Of Anarchy program! Well, one night, and I have NO recollection how, I stumbled upon a really bitchin online TV program called "Kickstart TV"! It's put on by two fellas from Denver, CO who've done internet show type shit before. It's very talk show-esque, with a "party" vibe. It's mainly focused on bikes built by real bikers in their own garages. The cool part is, it's interactive. They have a chat room you can chat with em during the live show. Really cool shit. Well, they have this community type section of the site where you can post build pics, and such. One night, I took it upon myself to post pics of my bike projects, and my art there.

This week I finally got to catch the show live, and to my surprise and utter amazement they featured MY SHIT!!!! I was genuinely touched! Really cool part was that they were diggin' my builds! And Warren Fuller, the "main host" of the show, said that next week he'd show my ART! He didn't on this episode because he thought they were David Mann pieces! I get that alot. lol But he said now that he knows they're mine, he'd be more than thrilled to show them off! HOW COOL IS THAT!?

Could this be the break.... (awww, really? no pun intended, at all!) that I've been waiting for? Hopefully, who knows. But it would sure beat the break that I'm healing from! hehe

Don't want to make a commercial out of this, but I highly recommend all my friends here to check out the site and the show. Good shit!

The site is www.kickstarttv.com

Till next time, ya fuckers! heheeeeee

S.F. ABATE Baltic Run '08

Yeah, I know, it's been a while since I posted here. Been rather busy since the semester started.

The first "actual" weekend of this month was the date of the River Park Rendezvous in Baltic. This is a run put on by the Sioux Falls, SD chapter of A.B.A.T.E. That (for those who don't know) is a motorcycle rights organization with chapters all over the U.S. and Canada. I went for the first time last year and had a good time. This year, I was able to bring the Ol lady, Mystry, along. AND, we were able to ride there!

I had to work Friday night, the opening night of the party, so we weren't going to be able to leave until afterwards. Mystry loaded up the bike while I was at school, after we had gotten the mail and discovered a LOAAAD of cash had come our way. A very nice Friday surprise!

It was pretty cool to see my bike all loaded for a camping run. Never been able to do that before. Mystry did a great job packing it! Wish I had a pic to post, but I don't think either of us took any. Sorry bout that!

Well, work ended, the home team got their asses kicked (I'm a studio engineer at KJAM in Madison and work football games), so it was time to roll out. I took Mystry to work with me since it made good logistical sense. Didn't have a riding jacket so I had to wear my duster... made things interesting. I also discovered I really.. REALLY need new goggles. It really isn't fun trying to ride with foggy goggles.

The ride was, for the most part, uneventful. It wasn't as cold as I thought it was gonna be, and no animals with suicidal thoughts, so that was good. I did, however, have a problem that ended up grounding the 'Wing. As we pulled into Baltic and went to back off on the throttle and turn in to the party grounds, my throttle wouldn't back off! Found out in the morning that my return throttle cable was broken. That SUCKED!!!

Even though we didn't get to go for a ride, like we wanted to, we still had a good time, and spent a wad of cash, which was nice to be able to do for a change! NOW, I have a riding jacket again.... and some chaps! Mystry looks better in hers than I do! lol

We were able to line up transport back home on Sunday, thanks to Ma! We dropped the bike off at the local shop in Madison to get fixed. Decided to go ahead and get the fork seals fixed, too, finally.

At last report, yesterday, my cables aren't in yet. I sure hope the bike gets done before next Wednesday. My club friends are hosting some Brothers from Germany so there are alot of events happening!

I'll definitely be posting the parties I attend that week! And I'll TRY to remember pics!

Vets Run -- July 25, 2008

Well, this was the day I'd been waiting quite a while for!

The rest of the day went by really slow-like. I went outside around noon and worked on my chopper for a little bit (turned out I wasn't able to make it to the car/bike show I wanted to take the chopper to on Saturday, but this post isn't about that)to try to kill some of the slow-moving time. Finally, the time came to get ready to go!

Mystry, my Ol lady, packed a duffel bag with some extra shirts and our jackets, since we knew we were going to be riding home in the middle of the night. I took a shower and got my gear together.

We were a little bit late leaving, which annoyed me for a little bit, but finally fired up the "Old Thing" and hit the road.

The first "funny" thing that happened on the highway was I ran over a dead skunk. Fortunately it wasn't a straight shot! A few miles down the road, I came across some more "fun"... A nice fresh chip-seal coat on the highway! I hate that!

After stopping for gas, the serious trip was on! Between Howard and Colton, SD is some really nice riding. Tree lined roads and small hills and pretty decent roads made the ride down rather nice. It was a relatively short 40-some mile run to Colton, but great, nonetheless.

We got to town and signed up for the ride portion of the evening. Now I have a fresh new run patch to add to my vest! Hopefully, I won't sew my pocket shut... again!

After grabbing some eats and a soda, and catching up with Ma, we got on the bikes and headed on the run. Now, I'm used to poker runs, which have stops.... that you STOP at. This one was a straight-out 50+ mile ride with no stops! Once again, there was some excellent scenery! We took a road I haven't been on since high school. Well, after I realized I missed the turn and turned around. I had a fear of sharp curves. I repeat... I HAD a fear of sharp curves! This road pretty much cured me of that!

A few of us had gotten separated from the main pack. Before I turned around, a couple of the guys I was riding with missed the turn and didn't notice. So, I was basically by myself on the twisty stretch. I can't say I minded much. lol

I must have been rollin' hard because when we pulled back into town, I saw the taillights of the rest of the pack ahead of me. I didn't think I was speeding that much! (hehe)

After the ride, I ate again and socialized. Talked to some other Goldwing riders and a bunch of other folks. I was looking forward to seeing how much the painting I donated to the silent auction would fetch for the cause. The price was a tad disappointing, but at least a Vet got it!

That's it for this one. Other than to say that the ride home wasn't nearly as much fun as it should've been. I'm not a huge fan of riding at night. Especially with a scratched up windshield!

Enjoy these pics! I don't have many, but there are a couple...

Fast Friends...

This particular June weekend, My ol lady, Mystry, and I rode up to DeSmet for a street dance weekend. It was a pretty good time, although I forget who the band was the first night. The guys from Twisted Choppers were there showing off their motorcycles, and doing a burnout or two. Friday night I got a bit... "happy". Saturday, Mystry was tired and napped in our tent but I didn't feel like it. I don't like tents during the day as they tend to get a bit warm. I decided to ride over to Lake Preston to see a couple "Brothers" of mine. I sat there for a couple hours or so relaxing and having good conversation.

After a while, some of the other club members showed up to ride back over to DeSmet for the second street dance of the weekend. One of my friends' bike didn't sound too healthy, so we hung out till the problem got fixed.

I rode over to DeSmet with the guys, but they were going to another house in town than where I was going.

Let it be known that when you ride with a club you better be able to keep up! These guys don't fuck around on the highway! We were going 80 MPH at one point. I gotta say it was pretty exhilarating! Except for my leaky fork seals, which made for an interesting ride through the turns we took at 75. We got to town and I waved to the guys as they turned off to where they were going.

During the dance I saw most of em again. I didn't get to drink anything that night, since we spent all of our cash getting ourselves and Mystry's 16 year old into the dance only to have him disappear for most of it. I was a bit pissed about that one.

There were a few little runs we took since then, but nothing worthy of posting here, but stay tuned to "Crash's Road Blog" for next weekend's posting. We'll be riding to a Vets benefit run that I donated a painting to. I'll try to remember to take my camera and get alot of pictures.

After The Rain...

I don't remember the date for this one. But its a fun tale, anyway.

It was a slightly rainy afternoon one Saturday in June. OH shit! I just made that sound like a poem! Anyhoo! My Ol lady, Mystry, and I were sitting at home being bored. We actually had some cash handy, so I suggested maybe we go on a "supper" ride.

We have a couple friends in Mitchell, SD we haven't seen in a bit, so we decided to ride down there to the restaurant they both work at.

It had just stopped raining minutes before. It was one of them nice rains. Not a torrential downpour, but just a nice bit just enough to get the road wet and make the air smell that nice smell.

So, we fired up the "Wing" and hit the road for a nice 40 mile run. Thanks to the rain, the temp was nice and cool and the air smelled fresh. A great ride!

Well, it was great until I hit Highway 38 east of Mitchell. That road SUCKS! A tip to all you readers headed for Sturgis this next couple weeks, stay off that stretch of road!! I-90 is just a couple miles down, so stay on that.

We hit Mitchell and got to the restaurant and talked to our friends. After a nice steak dinner, we decided we'd crash at their place that night.

Before they got off work, we decided to ride downtown to my favorite bar in Mitchell, The Jackpot, I highly recommend it! There was supposed to be a "fox hunt" contest put on by a local radio station, but that took way to damn long. We got to our friends' place around midnight.

Had a great ride back, too! Got home and took a long nap. lol

Stay tuned for more road stories!

This blog's about road stories...

Hello, y'all!

This blog is going to be mainly road stories. I got myself, or rather my Ol lady got it for us, a "new" bike this summer! A 1977 Goldwing. I dig it! Some readers out there may think "this dude ain't a biker if he rides a Goldwing". I think I'm MORE of a biker than I've been for the past two years since I finally get to ride!

With that said, enjoy the road stories!