I saw it

Grandma and Grandpa came by today to watch the boy, and I took the wife to see "The World's Fastest Indian" It's cool. Go see it, and take the wife she'll dig it too. I'm not going to review it here, but if you own a motorcycle and you think going to Bonneville is cool-you'll dig it. My old man went to see it as a knee-jerk reaction to Bon Jovi playing at Daytona. That's what he gets for watching a car race at Daytona. He actually didn't watch the race-halfway through the second song he split for the movies. He's now boycotting NASCAR. Crumodgeonly is not the word. Going to the movies did provide the impetus for him wanting to build a streamliner,however. For the past few years his class has built cars for the IMSTEA Super Mileage Challenge. So he's got some streamliner experience. I'm all in for this. Someone brought to my attention the fact that the record for 50cc streamlined-blown/fuel is 121.7mph in 1956! The record was set by H.P. "Happy" Mueller in a factory built NSU. In fact, Happy went and set 60 odd records and 50ish of those broke existing records. Apparently, NSU was dead serious about speed. NSU and several other companies merged into Audi, the four rings symbolizing the four parent companies. One of the companies (Auto Union) developed an extremely successful Wankel powered sports car. Volkswagen bought the whole shootin' match and that was the end of NSU. That's why you've never heard of NSU or H.P. Meuller. I really like the idea of a 50cc or 100cc land speed record attempt. Yeah, I'm nuts. Perhaps it'll actually get built someday.

Quite right

There's been a few videos around lately of people in cages really fucking up the commutes of some riders. I was over at Smidsy's and he had a link to this. I think you should read it. If you don't ride a motorcycle you should read it twice. I told my cousin when he started to ride that everyone in a car was trying to kill him. He laughed. The truth is people aren't really trying to kill him, but they will if he doesn't ride as if they are.

A quick one

I just got home and I had to post this picture. I actually made some progress on the Sprint. I scored a new set of bars that really look nice and are just the right size for this little thing. I got a piece of tube welded in the frame for the Bates style seat to mount on and some springs for it as well. The exhaust is all tacked together and is looking pretty sweet too, if I do say so myself. Before I put on the new bars the bike fell over and the drag bar that was on there put a nice big crease in the tank. Another item on the list to fix. After I took the pics, I sanded and blasted most of the paint off the tank. There is a ton of rust inside so I may have to do some serious surgery. I've pretty much decided to shit-can the front fender and I'll probably shave her legs too. I have a bowl of ice cream calling my name and then its off to beddy-bye.

Scallops, not just for potatos anymore!

I made a little time to get into the garagemobile last night and I did a litle painting experiment. One of the sidecovers on the Honda has nice black metallic paint. It's an N.O.S. piece my buddy Joe Dirt scored for me at the dealer. I masked off a scallop and shot some rattle can gold in there and it looks fairly good. I also worked on sanding the other ugly sidecover in an effort to make some actual progress. The fizz can gold is just an experiment but I think I can pull off the effect. Gymi was gracious enough to offer to help me with the job and I may still take him up on that but I am the king of fickle when it comes to paint schemes. The emblems on the bike are gold which is why I chose gold. I'm going to shoot the other side and try to roll on some gold metallic One-shot. I know this sounds crazy but I saw it in a book I have on paiting flames and they say it works. The amount of metallic in the one shot is quite great too. Again, just experimenting. I need to come up with a nice contrasting color for the outline as well. I can't think of anything that would go with the gold. My bike is a 77' but the emblems I have are for a 78'. Either one will fit but the 78' emblems have a decidedly Trans Am feel to them. Not the TransAmerican roadrace cars, but the cheesy prism-dashed cars with the handcuffs hanging from the rear-view mirror and the "Ass Kickin' Southern Rock" license plate on the front. I'll need a big screaming chicken on the tank. The batteries died in the digicam so no pics of the sidecover yet.
Got the camera working - the emblems needs to be replaced or refurbished but you get the idea.

Nonsensical ravings of a lunatic mind

This is sort of two posts in one to fill in for my lack of content lately. While it's still the dead of winter here it's been pretty mild of late. Mild weather brings out the die hard motorcyclists. It was in the 40's for a few days but it will be getting colder for the weekend. This is reminding me of how my Honda is still not really where I'd like it to be in terms of reliability and, of course, it's dirty and brown. I'm not making a ton of progress on the Sprint so I'd better make a move on the Honda so I actually have something to ride. This will involve tearing the head off, as I've mentioned before. Pulling the head is not really a huge job but it's not the kind you should start knowing the Mommy is going to ask you to some baby-distracting so she can actually make dinner or do laundry without Potato Man clutching her legs. He's a good kid, just at that clingy stage. So when I can alot some time to motorcycle manitenence I need to pull the head, replace the cam chain tensioner, figure out why my carbs won't close all the way, put on new chain + cogs, true up the wheels, and give her a proper bath. The poor thing also needs a proper paintjob. I've got a few ideas, but going back to stock seems to be the most prudent thing to do. It would help the resale value and then, perhaps I could sell it and buy something a little more me. I want to make the 550 a finely tuned commuting tool. A to B with no worries, you see? Despite the Chiefs greatest efforts against it, I may go with electronic ignition. My father is Dr. Ketterings greatest proponent, for whatever that's worth. I may even put some hard bags on her if things go well. Shit, why wouldn't they? Last weekend we went to the big ol' bikeshow in Chicago, and while the show was smaller this year, the quality of the show seemed on par with what I'd expect. I took lots of pictures and while the quality improved over that of the last show the pictures were still pretty rough. I shot two rolls of film and ran out of film just before I got to the HD booth. That's about right anyway. They didn't have anything earth shattering and honestly, most of Harleys models look the same to me anyway. One thing did stand out, however. The Street Glide. I must be getting old. I've never been into baggers or touring syle bikes much. Now that I've done some commuting on the bike I can appreciate having some place to put your shit and I'd imagine on a long ride you'd want some of the creature comforts one of these bohemoths afford the rider. The Street Glide just has nice lines. The abbreviated windscreen has a nice look to it and doesn't make the thing look like a clipper ship, and the hard bags in the back have a nice angle to them. The long pipes end under the bags with a complimentary baloney slice that matches the bags' angle. Christ, I must be getting old if I post a picture of a psychedelic Sportster and give a glowing review of a bagger. That picture is cool though, no? If I was in the market for a touring bike, I'd definitely take the Street Glide for a ride. Then I'd go the BMW dealer and buy one of these. When I win the 350 million in the Powerball, I'll buy the following, in no particular order: 1) Ducati sport 1000 in burnt yellow (just like my Dad's) 2)Yamaha R1 in bumblebee livery. 3)Yamaha R6 in flat black 4)BMW R1200S 5)Aprilia SVX. This, of course is the short list culled exlusively from last weekends show. What I'd do with all that money is a topic for another post. What have we learned here? I like motorcycles and I need to get mine running so I can be a cage free commuter and if I had my 'druthers I'd be doing it on a brand new European two-wheeler. Rock on.

Have you seen this motorcycle?

Nope, me neither. Well, I've never seen another one that I can remember. This is a 1964 Ducati Falcon 50. This particular bike belongs to a friend who I conned into letting me restore it. I've never done a restoration before so this will be a great learning experience. Because it's not mine I won't be too tempted to make it something it's not. This cute little guy is a 50cc two stroke street bike that is suprisingly original. The only thing missing that I can see from a cursory inspection is the speedometer. It's really small. The tires are 18 x 1.50. I've seen fatter bicycle tires. I have very little information on this little gem but by the time I'm done I'll probably be an expert on Falcon 50's. I've been interested in Duc's for as long as I can remember. I've owned one and my Dad's had a few so this is going to be cool. Just think, someone saved all thier Leave it to Beaver paper route cash so they could plop down some dough and ride home on thier brand-new Eye-talian motorcycle. Warm summers buzzing through the Michigan backroads on a little red and silver bumblebee pretending to be boy racer. Quite cool, no? If anyone has any info on one of these or a line on parts please leave a comment.

I suck

I enjoy photography from both sides of the lens. I think I do a pretty good job most of the time. This past weekend I went to the Chicago SuperCycle show and parts expo. It was a big swap meet and bike show. The bike show was pretty much all choppers with a few restored stock Harleys and a Triumph or two thrown in for good measure. I brought my wife and my camera hoping for a day out of the house and some cool bike pics. Well, I got out of the house. The pictures are abysmal. Apparently, I don’t have a clue about flash photography. A demon-possessed monkey on crack could have produced better shots. I’m not taking this lightly, but I’m not going to jump out of any windows either. I didn’t owe anyone anything and all I have is a little money spent on film and processing. I’m moving forward. If I might digress a little, a photographer’s best tool is his ability to edit. All good photographers have made horrible shots. They do not let anyone see the bad ones. You never see a talented photographer passing around an envelope from Walgreen’s with every shot on a roll. A roll of 36 exposures may yield 5 or 6 good shots or twice that if your really good. I’ve heard people argue this point but this is my bully pulpit so go read their blogs for the other viewpoint. I do indeed have some photographs that I am particularly proud of. The majority of which have never been digitized for your web viewing pleasure. This is partly due to our digicam being a bit lacking in features and partly because scanning my negs or prints is a drag. Enough wound licking and excuse-making for one entry, I will now make a promise to you dear reader. I will work on the poor flash pictures, and get a few good ones posted. The pictures from the past weekend will never see the light of day.

Catching up

I'm aware of the infrequency of my posts lately. The reason for this is a cross between nothing interesting to write about and sheer apathy. Things at work have picked up considerably and I usually like being busy. This, however, has been the getting pulled from all directions at once kind of busy. Sort of a drawn-and-quartered affair without the excruciating pain. Well, not phisically at least. I have made a little progress on the Sprint and the Honda too, but nothing really post worthy. The Honda needs paint and some engine work. I may just farm the paint off to Gymi if he's up to it so I don't have to worry about it. I need to tear the top end apart and figure out my carb problem and put in a new cam chain tensioner. I should have done this when I had it apart the first damn time. I put on a different center stand so I should have more ground clearance on the left side and the chain no longer rubs. We've had a pretty mild winter around here but it's still damn cold in that garagemobile. I'm pretty hesitant to tear the engine down in that cold ass garage. Not to mention I need to buy some parts to get the job done. It'll pay off when I get to ride it this summer and it goes and stops like it should and I don't have all the chains on it trying to eat itself. Potato Man will be one year old in a couple of weeks, so I've got that going for me. I've got a writing job courtesy of Wooley with his new magazine he's trying t get off the ground. That should be fun. I'll get to do some photography for him too. I usually go stagnant photo-wise in the winter. I need to get on the ball and post some of my photos here instead of web-jacked ones like the BMW above. Click on the pic for the link. I'm trying to learn Photoshop too. Nothing like spreading yourself too thin eh? Naw, that's just how I work. If I didn't have too much to do I'd have to focus on one project at a time. With my ADD, that just ain't gonna happen. There are two big bike shows in the next two weekends and I'm gonna try to make them both. I'll try to report on them and I'll definitely take some pics. One last thing, the neighbor Bill and I fried a turkey for our little post holiday get-together. It kicked ass. Next time we're gonna toss Punxatawnee Phil in the oil. Mmmmm.....fried groundhog.