12/31/09
12/30/09
Biltwell 500
Well, when you are hip deep in snow it's probably hard to think about riding motorcycles to Mexico. Fortunately we're not snowed in and riding motorcycles to Mexico is exactly what I'm thinking about. We'll put up a little micro site sometime in the next couple weeks with all the pertinent info, but I wanted to get the rough idea and solid dates out there so people can make plans.
Date: June 13-16
This is the day after the Born Free show in Long Beach. We've got several friends planning on coming in from out of town to hit the show already, so why not throw some riding into the mix.
Schedule:
Day 1 - Ride from So Cal to Rancho San Antonio Del Mar (beach about 100 miles south of Ensenada) We will publish a map and a start time but there is no way we're leading an organized group the whole way. If you ride like we ride and stop when we stop, you can go with us. There is ample gas along the way.
Day 2-3 - Screw around, it's really remote and we'll be right on the beach. If you can get your bike through 100 yards of dunes and down to the beach, it is several miles of perfect flat sand with a few local clammers and that's about it. Wide open. Bring a fishing pole or a girlfriend in a truck with dirt bikes, quads, rocket ships, whatever. It's about an hour trip to Quatro Casa's where there is a right point break and a hostel with a skateable pool. We'll probably ride down there for something to do but there is no organized event/ride/whatever.
Day 4 - Ride home. It's about 500 miles of riding, round trip from Temecula, CA.
Things you should know:
I'll post up a little FAQ on the whole traveling to Mexico issue soon so please don't email and ask a bunch of questions until I try to answer them en masse first.
Rancho San Antonio Del Mar is a remote beach area with a handful of gringo homes. Some people live there full time and many just come down when they can. I'm lucky enough to share a little place down there. I'll ask that you respect my neighbors and if you really want to raise hell, just go down to the beach and get it on, no one will care. If you start doing donuts in the dirt in front of my house, my 80 year old neighbor John will likely shoot you. If he doesn't, I might.
The riding includes about seven miles of dirt road, mostly washboard, from the highway to the beach. We'll turn off in the little town of Colonet. The town has all sorts of services, gasoline, food, beer, ice, etc. It's not a real happening joint though, just a bunch of tire shops and beer stands on either side of the highway for the most part. This means you will need to be prepared to bring in whatever you need to eat and drink for at least two days or plan on the rough ride back to town for a taco. We've got two outhouses for old skool crappin'. My place runs on kerosene, solar, two twelve-volt batteries and Pacifico. The house only has three small bedrooms and those are taken, but everyone is invited to hang out on the porch, in the "cantina" (small screen room on porch" and the whole beach and cliffs area is wide open for camping. I'll do my best to be an accommodating host and make coffee in the morning and open up the shower, etc, but realize this depends on how many people we get. Our house gets overwhelmed pretty quick with two families, so we'll all mostly be hanging outside. Obviously you will have to ride the dirt road to get back to the highway too. The Quatros trip will include another, slightly rougher and sandier ten mile trip in from the highway. I've done it on suspended HD's no problem and Rob Rouser rode the dirt road into my house two years ago with no issues on his super low rigid. It took him a while but he made it without any drama.
The ride is open to anyone with the right attitude. We won't be providing chase trucks, but will probably have someone in the team van, possibly with a trailer and we'll do our best to help anyone out, but please be self-contained and have a back-up plan for yourself and your buddies.
The surf right out in front of the house generally sucks. It's a beach break and is always closed out. Shore fishing isn't bad. Fireworks down by the water are great at night. Bonfires are no sweat and there are fun dunes if you can have your OL drag down some toys. Think of this as a ride/camp out with friends not a big organized deal as we won't have vendors or sponsors or any of that sort of stuff going on. Biltwell might donate some beer or BBQ but haven't really gotten that far in the planning stages.
Hope to see a few of you make it!
12/29/09
12/28/09
Vantastic Monday
Well, I should have known. My boy will be getting his permit next year and we've been scouting around for various projects. Then this gem popped up on CL and we went and picked it up yesterday. Not going to win any land speed races with this thing, but that's kind of the point. Inside is a blank canvas, just waiting for some shag and panelling... Thanks to BFJosh for going out with us to pick it up.
If you wanna see a ton of real Vannin' lifestyle pics, and have the time for slow uploads, go to the Inland Vans Berdoo albums for some good stuff.
12/23/09
Idling Through the Holidays
Merry Christmas and all that jazz.
We'll be in and out over the next week or so, but mostly out. Feel free to place orders through the store, but our generally super-fast shipping response time is going to be a little slower between now and January 4th as we spend some much needed time with family and friends and less time around the phones and internet.
As for the 2010 Sporty post below, it's a joke. The bike is a new Honda Shadow and I think David's comments summed up my sentiments exactly. Here's a shot of Greaser Mike's dog Hank to make everyone feel better.
Gloves Make a Comeback
We got a lot of requests to bring the Moto Gloves back. They make a great three season riding glove and are also handy in the shop and work well for shooting. A lot of thought went into the cut and the gussets so they're super comfortable. Low key styling is devoid of Nascar logos, flashlights and other nonsense. One color - Black.
Lowbrow bought up the first batch, but we'll have more in stock early next year.
12/22/09
12/21/09
Crash Gets His Prize
We finally got out around to sending Kyle "Crash" Malinky his prize for best spill during the Slab City Riot. Below, Kyle ponders if the Non DOT lid he holds will also protect his brains from being spilled all over the road like the one he was wearing did. It won't, Kyle.
CANADA!
We are so stoked to finally have distribution in Canada. Hockey fans no longer have to pay so much for shipping and will get your parts much faster. Rogue Speed Shop is a distributor (sells to indy shops) and dealer (sells to consumers) so hit 'em up if you are looking for Biltwell stuff in the Great White North.
12/20/09
12/19/09
12/18/09
12/17/09
FXR UPR Refresh
Time for a quick freshen-up on the FXR. Mechanically it's sound as ever so it's just some light cosmetics and regular maintenance this round. Two owners ago, someone had the bright idea to bedazzle the mags with that diamond cut nonsense. It's been so dirty that you couldn't really tell, but it's been bugging me for a year or more now. So, a little powdercoat and the dazzle will be dimmed. Also working on making a narrower, longer seat with some more kick in the back. Duane calls it "one of those bullshit Japanese seats" but I think deep inside he really likes 'em. All the other junk I did to it last year seems to be holding up and I finally settled into my favorite bars for this bike. I probably tried four different set ups last year, but the Chumps just work. Also finally getting around to putting the proper lower on the right fork leg so I can go for some dual-disc action.
Looks like Spiccoli was hanging in the garage but it's really just smoke from carving up that plastic seat pan.
San Diego Super Chargin'
Mike Cavitt of Big Mike's Pinstriping in Texas painted this sweet Chargers themed lid for Mike D. Being the poor sport that Mike D. is, he felt it was time to blog about it after his team gave the Cowboys a beating. Thanks for the hook up Big Mike!
NorCal XS650 Update
Our buddy in NorCal, Bryan Hall, is building an XS650 for his entrance in The Chopper Underground's bike build off. Check out this sketch he drew up to show us where his head's at. We'll keep you posted as he progresses.
12/16/09
12/15/09
Gilby's Chrome Pan
Glad to see Gilby got his pan-refresh all done in time for the Mannshow. Stoked to see our black 12" Apes on there. He took about an inch off of each end, and is probably going to narrow them a little more. I say the more you take off the ends the better.
12/14/09
Yellow Gold
Friend of Biltwell and leathercrafter extraordinaire Duane Ballard won best Metric Chopper at last weekend's Dave Mann Chopperfest in Ventura, CA. Congratulations, Duane.
12/13/09
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