4/29/11

Hondalicious







What is it with old CB750's around here lately? More progress on Sumo's Praying Mantis today. I made a trip out to Dennis' place and we went through timing and carb-syncing, neither of which I've done on one of these before. I always kind of thought it was voodoo, but like most mechanical things, once you've been shown, it's really not rocket science. Dennis is nearly 70 and much prefers stock predictability over "that custom stuff you crazy chopper guys dream up". Yeah, I hear you Dennis, it ain't always smart. In the end the Mantis won him over, and he had to throw a leg over and go around the block just to see what it felt like. He said something like "Wow, it rides way better than I thought. You know, this thing is actually pretty interesting, I bet we could really do it up right if you ever wanted to..."



He had another old roach in there and when I asked about it he said "Yeah, I guess it's a bobber. I liked it better when they called them rat bikes or just plain old pieces of crap." Well said, my friend. Thanks for letting me ugly up your shop this week with this crazy old Hard Head. Mexico, with fingers crossed, here we come.

4/28/11

Clubman Bars



Dmitry's got some new Clubmans on his sporty. Narrowing your bars by trimming as much off the ends as possible makes a big difference. We make 'em a little wide so you can adjust to your preference, but my favorite is just as narrow as possible. If you want to do this, start with the smooth, non-dimpled bars. If you have stock controls you can get around the whole dimple thing by drilling holes or modifying the control housings. Here's a how-to on that.

4/27/11

Pray for the Mantis



How many dudes does it take to clean a crusty old tank when it's molded to the frame? Apparently at least three, and me to video it for proof. Getting this survivor of the 70's ready for Sumo (who is flying in from England Friday) has been a struggle and I haven't spent enough time on it so it's kind of a last minute thrash to get it ready for the EDR. The carb linkage hit the back bone so I cut all that factory stuff and made a low profile set up last weekend. Today I just blew off the real work and me and Canada Shawn showed up determined to make some headway. Jason and Tony happened by for some heckling and tech support, and we all jumped in and made little things happen. Crazy petcock got solved, cleaned the tank, fixed the rotten old oil line for the third time, some clutch adjusting, fender mounting, battery tending and simple light wiring (internal I might add) and the little green beast stumbled to life. No smoke, just needs a little fine tune on the carbs and maybe a front brake... Shawn is a great dude and I really appreciate his patience and help on this thing. We put a couple actual miles on it today and as ridiculous as this machine looks, it rides bitchin'. Gotta pay attention at low speeds, but it's comfy on the move!

New Lid from Imperial House

Shawn hooked it up with some mellow scroll/leaf work this time. Need some lines on yer lid? Hit him up here.




(Ever heard of reflectoporn? This would have been a good opportunity, this thing was hard to shoot!)

4/26/11

Bikers Custom-El Paso

I'm out in El Paso this week. Anyone know anything about this shop Bikers Custom? Love this bike above! Gonna stop by and check it out. Some cool old pictures HERE

Goosebumps

4/24/11

Nick's Pan For Sale

Nick's super secret pan is for sale. 

Tell him SBK sent you. 

Read about it here

Contact him here.

4/23/11

Yesterday

Just one more reason Bolts rules: Positivity...

4/22/11

Long Beach Easter Swap Meet this Sunday the 23rd.

Random one for the day.

Boogie Welding

A few weeks ago while Wompy and I were working on the pull start for the Sex Panther, we introduced me to his friend Matt @ Hazecity Fab in Corona. He does some pretty wild fab for anything from flat track frames to ridiculous hot rods and even some neat furniture. He even took some time to maneuver his way into the starter area and weld some bits upside down. It looked more like a break dance move than and actual fab skill so I snapped a pic. The finished product was far from a boogie weld and I'm stoked to have met another super talented semi-local guy. E-mail him here is you are in Corona and need some high end fab work.

Strangedays


4/21/11

2 weeks from now. EDR time!



Can't wait to hit the road for a few days and head to Mexico!

Hanford Swapmeet

One Month.

Rootbeer Gets a Cover

Ben @ Classic Bike in the UK threw us a bone and got the old faithful Rootbeer Megaflake Novelty helmet on the cover of their May Issue. Lots of cafe' goodness to be found in their book. They'll be featuring the Ducati 750GT, Norton Commando 750 Roadster and Suzuki GT750J. Look for it to arrive on newsstands shortly.


Low Drag Bars


Justin Long and his buddies just finished this sweet sporty. Trimmed about 1.5" off each end, which makes these Low Drag bars perfect. Check their blog here.




4/20/11

Lock's Iron Butterfly


I had the good fortune to meet Lock and shoot this bike and his more controversial, but equally creative and well-executed Speed Fetus in Daytona. The white pan is now on eBay. If you are interested in a ready-to-go, finished motorcycle with loads of original thinking/work involved, I would have to say this one should be on the top of your list. Link

Old School Helmets

Does it again. Check the time and date, son.


Small Bike Rebellion



More madness from Zack at Machine-13, using our Windows bars in 7/8" which are available exclusively from Lowbrow Customs.

None better


The only seat hinge, period and correct.
-

4/19/11

All Dressed Up


Big O in SD needs to thin the herd, so Darth Vader is for sale... hit him here.



4/18/11

New Luggage



Picked up this sweet piece recently. This will make a nice little pod for holding gear on the EDR. Thanks to Darren over at Steve's. Last I talked to him, he had a couple more and they are NOS in different colors. He's gonna post 'em in the Classifieds over on Chop Cult this week, or give him a call. I'm digging mine!





4/17/11

Bajacation

Don't ask me to go find fire wood unless you really want some!

Carrie and I were out all last week, so we'll be playing catch up this week. If we owe you an email or phone call, don't worry, we will get back to everyone. While McGoo, Mike and Kenzie were hustling we were goofing off with the family down in Mexico for spring break. We have a little shack off the grid about 150 miles south of Ensenada where there is no cell service or internet (or people for that matter), just analog fun and hermit living. I was super stoked that Canada Shawn happened to be ending his three-week long Mexico adventure and came by the house for a night. He'd been all over mainland Mex on his Sporty and then just hauled ass up Baja in two days. The dirt road to the house is about ten miles, but poor Shawn probably did about 25 off-road looking for it (he'd only been there once). He made it just before dark and hung out for some smores and firepit action and then hit the road in the morning. I followed him out in the old beater Baja bug just to make sure he made it. (Like the dude needs my help with anything!) Thanks for making the detour Shawn, Carrie and the kids were stoked to meet you and of course I was inspired as always. Back to work...

All kids should learn to drive a stick in a 40+ year old car with no brakes on dirt roads.

Some day we'll finish that garage...

The mile-eating Canadian having a little desayunos before hitting the road.

There is some wild thunder riding going on here. Shawn in his natural habitat. 

Period correct.

If you are going to get dragged down the beach on a piece of plywood, please wear proper safety equipment.



Hippy Killer Highlights