Love me some Pans

A Couple of ones I dug.

I don't think I even saw half of what was there. Mike, Grant and the crew did an ok job I'd say...Crazy good time!

Us Vs. Them

Stoked to see our bros from Us vs. Them at BF3. These dudes bring the quality. Check this edit for a great sense of what it was all about.

Perfect Panhead

Stoked to see Jamie over at Girl got his Pan on the road just in time for BF3. Thanks for running our grips, throttle, and risers Jamie.

OLD-STF

Swing on by and say hello to Mike and the crew at Old-Stf. We've got a road trip around that neck of the woods the same weekend, so we're adjusting slightly to make it in time for some BBQ. See ya there.

Coffee Leaker

So Kenzie calls in late to work this morning and Mike threatens her into bringing Starbucks in as penance. She shows up balancing some caramel machi-frapa-whatevers on the tank and grabs a little too much front brake right in front of Mike's window and goes down. Luckily she's unhurt but my damn coffee is all over the parking lot. Her new name is "Yard Sale" just so you know. See, Yard Sale, if you rode a proper chopper this never would have happened!

Freeborn

I shot about a thousand photos over the weekend. No one wants to sift through that many, so I just pulled about 50 of my favorites. Thanks to Wayne and Jay from Acme for coming out and riding with us and hanging out all weekend.

Born Free 3

The best part of any bike show is getting there. It was a great ride from our neck of the woods. Born Free Three was the largest collection of two-wheeled freedom machines I've ever seen in one place. Mike, Grant and everyone else, thanks for letting us be a part of it and thanks for all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to put such a thing together.

Camping Tips from Girl Scouts

Just in case you don't know how to make smores, Mrs. Chan makes it easy. Biltwell tip for the day? Skip the Hershey's bar and use a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup instead. Lots of camping going on this weekend, just thought I'd share some science...

This Just in from Italy

Dear Bill,
Sorry I was unavailable  for your 'team building' exercise but some of us are busy collecting 'intel' abroad. Tiziano and Jimmy of Rat Bike Service in Como, Italy have been kind enough to help me with the above referenced task and for that, I'm grateful. Tiz is a good friend and knows his way well around Milwaukee tractors . Jimmy is a lazy, tattooed long hair but besides that, he's harmless. Here in Italy, the weather is good, the food is better and the women want nothing to do with the follically challenged, heavily tattooed Californian here on European vacation.
Ciao!
Otto Von Blotto
33 Nomad, son

Sporty Wiring How-To

OK, gutting your wiring on a modern bike can be a little scary but it's really not that big of a deal as long as you take your time. I wrote a really long-winded explanation of the process used on BF Josh's '02 "S" model Sportster on Chop Cult. Of course it may be slightly different depending on your year and model, but here's a diagram of what worked on his bike.

Team Building

Anyone who knows us here at Biltwell, knows we aren't some band of biker outlaws. We're just nerd workaholics with a bad motorcycle problem. Once in a while, we do cut out of work early and have some fun though. This afternoon was one of those days. A friend of mine turned me onto a legal BLM shooting area about a half hour away from the shop, something that is pretty hard to find in So Cal these days, and I much prefer it to shooting at an indoor range. So, we loaded up and took off for an afternoon of pokin' holes and wasting brass. Our buddy Blotto Mike is over in Italy living the good life for a week or so, but before he split I grabbed a pic of his terrorist-looking mug. It made for a perfect modified target. Another buddy of ours, we'll call him J-Love, has an impressive arsenal so we linked up with him for an extra dose of fun. My boy Flynn and his buddy Michael have been busting ass over the summer as extra warehouse labor, so we thought getting a chance to throw some rounds down range on full-auto would be a nice reward. Mike D.'s got more experience dove hunting than tactical shooting so this was a first for him too. Team building, you know? J-Love showed up with the goods and we had a blast, literally. I got to break in my new Stoeger side-by-side and confirm my love and devotion to my 1911. I usually try to shoot organic targets, it's just more fun and it doesn't add to the junk pile at shooting areas. Today we brought a half dozen watermelons and a couple pineapples to sacrifice to the cause. We also brought a warranty Hustler helmet that had some weird peeling in the finish, and tested it for your protection. Verdict? Birdshot from about 25 meters doesn't penetrate. Isn't that nice to know? 9mm, .223, .357, 38 special and 45ACP, well, not so much. Blotto, have fun in Italy, you missed one of the good days!

Smokeout 2011

We can't make it back to NC this weekend but Kyle and the Lowbrow crew will be there hocking Biltwell helmets and merch along with their new badass P-nut tank and other good stuff. Have fun, hope the weather is better this year!

I Love NY

Gypsy Run and Brooklyn Invitational just got even better. The Gutter is a fun bar, perfect for a DicE party, and it'll be a great place to watch Tyler & Wes battle the Salt. Not to be missed.

This weekend

I don't know if you've heard but there are a few things going on this weekend...here's another event to hit on Sunday.

 

Century Motorcycles Shindig Pics

Just a few pics from Sunday's party down in Pedro. Lots of interesting old machines!

SCR3

Out bro Shelby has been working on the Slab City Riot 3 art. This will get turned into the full poster soon, so stay tuned...

Special '79

Need something custom made just for you? Hit up Jay at Special '79. 

Dear Mexico...

Thank you for not popping my back tire on the El Diablo last month but you killed it.

I think the knobby might be a better choice for this adventure bike.

FXR Airlines

I asked Walt how he was getting out here for Born Free from Jersey. "FXR Airlines, Baby!" Just one of the reasons I love this man. This will be his second round-trip, cross-country trip this year. Animal.

Century Cycles Father's Day Shindig

Century Cycles in Pedro rules. I've never been able to make it to their Father's Day Party, but we're planning on making it this Sunday. Luckily my dad rules too, so we're gonna have a big fat family breakfast at home and then ride out. We lived in Pedro from about '76 to '80 so it'll be cool to romp around the old hood, not to mention get in some miles with Pops. There is a breakfast ride too, starting in Redondo, you can get info on that here. See ya' there.

Pickin'

My favorite show. 

Finally on the Road

I finally caved in, hopped in Otto's truck and went to Rico's for some help on Joel's old bike. It's really nice to have a patient friend who can lend real skills when you need them and Rico is a generous dude who's probably forgotten more than I'll ever learn. The fancy old PM calipers up front are still giving us fits, but we chased leaks and stripped holes and I have to split them tomorrow and replace the o-rings, it's about the only thing left, we've been through everything else. A few blasts around the back streets of Pomona, some fine-tuning, three different air cleaners and it's running like a scalded ape. This thing gets it! Voltage regulator was bad, so I'm picking up a new one in the AM. People all over are scrambling to get ready for Born Free and man, I'm glad to not be in that boat. Good luck, Craze! I'm just finally getting back on this project after months of other priorities getting in the way of finishing it off. I think I'm gonna ride Sumo's Honda to BF3 anyway, but it's nice to have this one rideable. I guess it's time to actually register it, get some legal tags and do some real shakedown miles. Thanks Rico!

Sportracker

Hey Josh, it's midnight, and your bike runs... Did I mention I like frappuccinos?

I gutted the wiring about two weeks ago and just got a chance to get back on it tonight. About three hours into it, much to my surprise, it fired right up! Goodbye ten pounds on wiring, hello super simple, stripped down harness. Everything has been eliminated except a switch for the headlight, a keyed ignition and of course the charging system. This was with the dual plug "S" set up and stock ignition module. It's even simpler with an aftermarket ignition.

Beatnik Blowout

Philo Beddoe Family Reunion 2011

Tell Grandma to put down the 12 gauge and grab the bikini, Gabe's throwin' a pool partay. No matter where you are coming from, the roads through the Sierras of Northern California are peg-scrapin' chopper goodness. We had a great time at the Philo last year, and though we can't make it this time 'round we are still sending a big ol' box of raffle goodies. The one thing you have to appreciate about anything Afterhours does is the chow. Gabe and Lois cook up some mean food and I'm sure this year will be no different. Have fun!

Hold that Reg

Hermit rocks the registration tube. Super simple way to keep your paperwork on the bike. Just use a little Loc-Tite on those wingnuts!

Bananas!

Brian sends these pics of his new Banana Seat all mounted up. These things are like the Lapband™ for sporties, trimming things up nice and tidy. Thanks Brian!

TANK envy

I sure do love Harpoon's tank on his pan. Picture is from a random show a few years ago.

Santa Cruz July 30th

Some more than others

Did you know Evel has a facebook page? I wish he had one back in the day. A promosexual like him would have been tweeting every thrity seconds... "Just polished off a bottle, gonna do a few poppa-wheelies and then go look for sluts. Let's go buy something and maybe get in a fight..."

Lost and found

Old footage, new edit.

-

Enjoy

Hell on Wheels Slideshow

Great time today at Milestone. Thanks to Scott, Meatball and everyone who worked to put this thing together. I was stoked to see Kim work the track on his just-prepped, craigslist-fresh 1980 RM125. The track was super fun and mellow, but it was still too much for my mini which laid down during practice. Thankfully Kim let me borrow his Honda for a couple hot laps. I don't know the numbers, but it seemed like way more entries this year and the pull-start mini-bike classes were serious! Lots of good vintage iron and bar-busting going on. Tony won the Beer Booters chug-a-lug, no surprise there, and fellow Biltwell blogkook Huber MC'd the underwear contest, nice job as always. Next stop, Born Free...

Salt Ghost Premier

Big thanks to Chris Huber for helping set this thing up. Orange is a cool town and the District Lounge is a perfect spot for this premier. Wes White and Tyler Malinky (among others) have a ton of work in this bike, the whole Bonneville challenge and then the movie-making thing on top of that. They're gonna have the bike there to check out in person which is neat. Support the Salt! Details here.

Dirt Moto

Dirt Moto time tomorrow at the Hell On Wheels Whiskey Challenge. I didn't get my T100 race prepped, but did sticker up some Johnny Walker for a trophy and pulled the mini bike out of mothballs. See you nutjobs tomorrow.

Dry Hump

Seeing it sit on it's wheels starts making it real. Super stoked on this project.

¡Bananrama!

If you've recently mounted one of our new Banana seats up, do us a favor and post a pic of your bike on the Biltwell Facebook page and we'll use them in the Customer's Bikes section to show other people how the seats look on a variety of bikes.





Since our friend Jake doesn't have a stock fender, he modded the seat slightly by removing the rear mounting bracket. He also blacked out the white contrast stitching because, well, Jake is that kind of guy. He's going to take advantage of the hole in the foam and slit in the little rubber patch. See, if you put a bolt down through this slot and drill a hole that lines up with it in your fender, you can have a solidly mounted seat with no exposed hardware. It's like a Pivotal seat post set up on a BMX bike if you are familiar with that. Our original design for this seat called for that mounting method (to the stock insert in Sportster fenders) but after we tested them on enough stock H-D's, we determined the inaccuracies  from one bike to the next was too much of a pain in the ass for customers to deal with, so we added the external bracket out the back. If you want to mess with it, there is still a washer on the inside, between the seat and foam to add strength to the plastic pan if you wanna drop a bolt through and attach it that way. Either way, Jake's bike kills and I dig the moto style with this flat seat where you can adjust back and forth for optimum performance, and we all need optimum performance. Thanks for the pics, Jake!