The Nature of Things

"In this world, the rider smiles when he confronts a fatal incident or drama. That is the beautiful thing, because life has meaning only when it stares death in the face."

Dr. C. Costa

The Right Way

Like how this bike is done.

And just to reiterate, if you don't get why this bike is so much more right than any bagger in existence, we're not friends.

No Caption Needed

Professional Shit Compressor

Sometimes you have to be an expert at putting 10lbs into a 5lb bag.  The wiring I'm in process on for a rigid Buell XB project we're finishing up.  The big black box on the right side is just the control unit for the electronic speedometer!!  Not my choice of course, but sometimes you've got to give the customer what they want.  Shenanigans.

A New Member to the Club

My friend Don and I took a no-holds-barred trek to Gadsden, Alabama last Saturday to pick his first bike.  After an extensive search he found this cherry 2008 Triumph Thruxton owned by a great old guy named Bob, who took meticulous care of the bike.  Less than 700 miles on it, and already squared away with a nice aftermarket exhaust, jet kits, air injection eliminators, etc.

The owner, Bob as mentioned, was a really interesting old guy with a real passion for motorcycles.  You could tell he was going to really miss the bike, but I think the stack of hundred dollar bills Don gave him eased his pain a bit, hahahaha.  After about a 13 hour round trip, Don and I made it back to his place and he took his first few spins around the neighborhood.  I was lucky enough to take it for a short blast and the exhaust sounds awesome when you get on it.  All around a beautiful bike and a great choice for Don's first ride.

It's All Good

Been awhile since I've posted, but a lot has been going on.  All good stuff, and I'm almost completely relocated to Charleston.  Stay tuned, I'll be back at it soon enough.

West F'ng Virginia

We made the trek to W.Va and it was good. Me, my Dad, Newton, and Big Mike rolled two wheels north and did what only we can do. The rally itself was the typical lame collection of "Harley riders", waaaay too many baggers and people riding in shorts and flip flops. But, West Virginia has some great roads and it was good to get out of the shitty summer heat of SC for a few days.

The Torment Garden where we met up with our friend Tia, complete with old animal bones.

Our transport to get up and down the hills to our kick ass accommodations at Tia and Fay's place. Newton and I rode on the roof each time, dodging tree branches the whole time. Like a ride at Disneyland, but with less little kid urine involved.

Packing up and heading out of the Bouman farm on our way to Morgantown. Next time we'll just stay there, that place is awesome and the hospitality is first class. Thanks a million to Tia and Fay for putting us up and being the coolest sisters we know. A good 1200 mile ride for the first decent road trip I've taken all year. The long ass ride home Sunday was a bit rough, but still better than the best day ever at work. Family Reunion 4 coming up in a couple months!

Not A Minute Too Late

The crew is headed to Mountainfest in West Virginia for a few days. Stopping on the way up to stay with some friends on their beautiful farm near Lewisburg. With all the big changes this summer I haven't been on the road nearly enough, but that's going to change this weekend, can't wait to roll out.

Here's the right song for heading WV, although John Denver really looks like a hippy pussy next to the Man in Black.  Hahahahaha.

Done

Finished and delivered.

Shit Just Got Real

After some serious hours this past weekend it's just about done. A few more things to lock up and it'll be ready for final shakedown.

Home Stretch

Started final assembly on this one today. Hit some delays due to a powdercoating issue, but it's all good now. Pics the first of next week of the complete bike.

Frame and front end reunited.

Shiny metal ready to go.

One More Time - Lucky 13

Smoke Out XIII is this weekend. Me and some of the NC crew are riding up for the day on Saturday and it should be a fine time with some good people. The event isn't what it used to be, but I'm still excited to see good friends that I don't get to hang out with nearly enough. Oh, and if you plan on riding a bagger up there, do yourself a favor and don't. A bit of trouble with the powdercoating for the Walsh bike has delayed final assembly by a good week, but it's being rectified right now and I'll post pics when the bike starts going back together. Stay tuned.

It's a New Week and Things are Going Down

Starting a new job, moving into a new house with a beautiful girl, and finishing my latest bike build at the end of the week. Could be worse. *photo blatantly stolen from Chopper Dave's blog.

Chopper Reborn

Got up to Newton's a couple days ago to help him get his Honda Nighthawk chop wired and fired. I love air cooled inline 4 motors, but the newer they are the more wires they need to run. Regardless, Mike and I started about 3:30 and just past midnight we had the bike turning over and firing like a champ, including bypassing all the safety lockouts the Japanese build into their bikes to attempt to idiot proof them. This is going to be a rock solid reliable bike and I'm ready to see it blasting down the road in a couple of weeks for the Smokeout.

The pic is from a few months back, but I didn't think ahead and bring a camera to take pics while we were wiring it. All building and fabrication by Mike including the entire frame. Pay attention, this is how you build a bike without wasting time on whatever the hipster flavor of the month is.

Put it together, take it apart

Over the last couple days I disassembled the bike and did all the final welding/frame prep. The tank and rear fender went to the painter Tuesday, and the frame and other parts made it to the powdercoaters today. If all goes well, final assembly will be complete by the end of next weekend. The light is at the end of the tunnel and it is bright my friends.

Popping the Cherry

The Walsh bike is done and ready for tear down for paint/powdercoat. A couple short shakedown rides and it runs great and rides nice. More pics in a couple weeks when final assembly is done.

Like a Boss

A mere three months from the start of this project and it's ready for paint & powdercoat. The bike turned out very nice and I'm happy with all of the work I've done on it. It will definitely be a real deal, every day rider. Get on it and head for the Rocky Mountains if you want to.

If you're wondering why there's no headlight, well, a certain big name builder apparently had too many gay baggers to work on and forgot how to find the post office. Hopefully it shows up in the next few months.

Say No To Swoopy

With my encouragement, Barry made the call to ditch the fat, butt ugly seat we had on the bike and go with a Biltwell unit that looks about 100,000 times better. I'm down to the last handful of steps before I can put some gas and oil in this monkey mobile and fire it up.

And on a related note: Baggers suck and they always will, and say NO to swoopy shit.

Every Day I'm Hustlin'

All kinds of things going on lately, so I've lacked a bike post. Waiting on just a couple of parts for the project bike, but it will fire up within the next week, so there will be video of that. Headed for the Southeastern Beard & Moustache Championship tomorrow to see friends and watch my awesome girlfriend win the female fake beard category. Oh, and see a bunch of guys that are waaay too obsessed with their beards, hahaha. Until then, here's this:

Form Follows Function

And this set up has them both in spades. The legendary Fabricator Kevin's springer brake kit, the Gold Standard for any chopper builder with a brain in his head. This bike is a rock rolling down a hill and it's just picking up speed.

Organized Chaos

The middle stages of building a bike, the mess that only the builder knows and people who only see the finished product rarely get a glimpse of. Fabbed up a nice ignition switch mount today and started on the wiring. Only 3 weeks to go.

Disregard

I picked up another load of parts yesterday and the project bike will take a couple more big steps forward this weekend. Plus, the Fab Kevin springer brake and tag/tailight set ups are on their way, so things are looking good to have the bike mechanically complete and running by the end of the month.

This chick is psyched too, she's just cool like that.

Short Skirts Always Look Good

I did the final trim and shape on the Walsh bike's rear fender today. It came out nice and I'm very happy with it. It fits the overall look of the bike and shows off the 18" rim/200 tire properly. Check it out.

I'm on to the primary drive & clutch set up next and it will be wired and fired by the end of this month.

Fire & Steel Puzzle

Got down to business yesterday fitting the Fab Kevin fender strut kit on the Walsh bike. It had been awhile since I'd done some good steel bending with my little Home Depot MAPP gas/Oxy torch, but with the right amount of planning and measuring it came out perfectly. It doesn't hurt being the greatest bike builder alive today either. Check it out:

Making the first bend, an old 39mm fork tube makes a nice leverage multiplier for this type of work.

Second bend done, strut trimmed to length and fitted.

Bar Fight Soundtrack

The best song I know to play right before an epic bar brawl.

Sleeved Out

Love it.

Hide & Seek

I'm just beginning to install some components of the electrical system. When Kevin stopped by last week I mentioned how I'm always looking for a balance between ease of access and aesthetics when placing necessary electrical components on a bike. It's one thing for these guys that run everything inside the frame on a super high dollar custom bike, because guess what? Those bikes get rolled from one trailer to the next, and maybe accumulate 100 miles on them in 3-4 years. They don't get ridden. Anything I build is done so with the idea that it can be ridden every day. With that in mind, I always work to hide things as much as I can, but still make them reasonably accessible for maintenence/repair. Here are a couple of examples:

The main circuit breaker that I mounted on the bottom of the battery tray. Well hidden, but still close to the battery since the wire from it to the battery is the only unprotected wire on the whole bike.

Reinstalled in the bike. When the bike is on the ground, you'll never see it, but if you need to get to it it's still pretty easy. Also, mounted upside down so no water can settle down into it.

Barry chose the Cen-Tech wiring kit for this bike. It's a good solid set-up and comes with a rubber isolated circuit breaker mount for the ignition and lights breakers. I drilled and tapped two holes in the frame to mount it under the gas tank. Again, completely hidden with the tank on, but if you need to get to it you pull a couple bolts and the fuel line and lift the tank right off. I did my Evo chopper the same way years ago and it's proven to be a good set-up. I'm a believer in making your wiring as clean as possible and with a little planning you can do it and still make it maintenence friendly, for real bikes that see the road for more than just Hooter's bike night.

Welcome Back

It's been awhile since The Horse had a cover that really caught my attention, but this coming issue's did just that. Well done boys.

It's That Time

Kevin rode down today on his FXR to check out the projects I've got going on here. We took a short ride to meet up with Jimmy and chow down on some tasty Mexican food. He and I talked a good bit and we both agreed we're ready to hit the road for a trip. The Dixie Roundup this weekend didn't play out for us, but we're definitely aiming to make the BMR next month. Either way, it's time get back out on the road with the boys and have some two wheeled fun.

Hey, It's Looking Like a Motorcycle.

Cranked out some nice work on the Walsh bike today. Here's the rundown:

Backbone drilled, custom made mounts welded in, tank is in it's permanent home.

Custom coil mount fabricated and welded on, DIY plug wire kit cut & installed. Also put petcock in and fit the fuel line, and installed the clutch cable. Rear fender with Fab Kevin strut kit is on the board for tomorrow. On a side note, I did the coil mount similar to an FXR, but not exactly like one because FXR's are for fags.

Shift Drummin

Tommy finally pulled the trigger and ordered one of Baker's N1 shift drums for his 5 speed. I was just anxious to check it out as I'd never installed one before now. He rode up to the house and we knocked it out.

Oil tank out and exhaust off, this is really the most work of the job.

Trans. lid off and old shift drum ready to come out. I have to say that for the long, hard miles Tommy has put on this transmission, everything was in great shape. The stock H-D 5 speed is a damn good trans.

New Baker piece next to the OEM drum. High quality like you'd expect, especially the roller detent instead of the OEM plunger type.

New drum in and ready to go back together. It fit perfectly, no issues. We test shifted it on the bench, gave the bike some fresh oil, dealt with a couple of other small issues on the bike and Tommy was off for one cold ass ride back to Charleston in the dark. A good night wrenching and hanging out for sure.

Like a Cold Drink on a Hot Day

I picked up a big order of parts for the Walsh build. I took this pic to illustrate just how many little parts you need to build a bike from the frame up. These are only a fraction of everything that's needed, but you get the idea. I wanted to include it for the guys out there that have never built one, just so you're not too shocked by all the little bits & pieces it takes to actually go down the road on two wheels.

The big success of the day was finally solving the riddle of the drive chain alignment. For whatever reason, this bike was a bit trickier than most that I've done, but it's all good now. By the way, Barry has a brand new trans. and rear sprocket set for sale if anyone needs them, hahaha. It's all lined up now and I can move forward with the rear fender mounting and a bunch of other things as well. Check back often as this project will start moving faster from here on out.