What a Stash!

Wow. Call the bank and a trucking company mama, I'm gonna fill the barn with rusty old junk!

Sam Goodman’s grandfather started a motorcycle repair business in 1919. His father recently passed away and his Sam has decided to take over the family farm instead of continue the business, so this huge inventory from S&G Custom Cycles is being offered for sale individually on-site as a no reserve auction. There are over 387 vintage bikes, truckloads of parts, a few odd cars, and a crashed Cessna(!). It is all happening June 25th in Columbia, Tennessee, with the items available for inspection the day before.

Click here for the Bator Auctions Catalog and auction details.

Get ready for the names: Triumph, Indian, Honda, Harley Davidson, BSA, Yamaha, Lilac, BMW, Kawasaki, Cushman, Zundapp, Ural, OZ, Suzuki, NSU, Sears, Bridgestone, and the list goes on. It is interesting how the bikes are from all eras and countries, this is not a typical one-dimensional motorcycle collection. Unlike typical barn stash offerings, this one is very well organized and administered with a fully itemized listing page and photo catalog.

Brass Balls!

Dar and the boys at Brass Balls Bobbers are offering custom bikes with our solo seat and seat hinge. Check BBB's recent ad for Dar's glowing praise. Thanks for the kind words, my friend.

SALTON SEA UPDATE

SALTON SEA CAMPGROUND UPDATE:

Salton Sea/CA Parks and Recreation are no longer taking reservations for this weekend, but we were told by rangers this morning that spots are still available on a first-come/first-served basis.

We don't have a reservation, either, but that ain't stopping us from going on the ride. We'll find a place to camp, so don't sweat it.

We'll pulling out of Biltwell HQ after lunch this Friday, June 12. Lunch will be at the Hard Hat's titty griller as originally planned, and we will sit down for said lunch at 11:30 AM.

We are leaving Hard Hats by 1:00 pm, which should get us to Salton Sea by 6pm.

We're coming back Saturday sometime, probably late afternoon, evening.

Thanks to Chris at Blue Collar Moto for the flier.

See you this Friday!

Chop Cult! What are these Jackasses Up To this Time?

Bill, Chris and I started Biltwell about four years ago because we weren't into the flamin' wolves and howlin' devils that dominated the chopper scene at that time.

We launched the El Diablo Run in 2006 because we didn't like what motorcycle rides had turned into—basically "douchebag extravaganzas" with very little riding and even less soul.

In '08 we hosted the SoCal Chop Meet to add a little rust and reality to the weekend rally experience.

And just last spring we threw the Bash at Lake Skinner with a bunch of help from our friends so people could ride bikes, drink booze and raise hell without being surrounded by all the goofiness that seems to define the modern biker event in the mainstream.

The point to my rambling is simply this: we're DIY guys by nature, so when we see an opportunity, we're not afraid to jump into it with both feet. Even if doing so seems crazy.

Our latest wild hair is ChopCult.com

There's nothing to see at ChopCult.com yet, but when we launch the site this summer, ChopCult will be the first news magazine, blog feed, photo dump, public forum, online classifieds, social network and e-store for people and companies who build and ride custom motorcycles. All kinds: American, Japanese, British and European. Think your favorite message board without the content Gestapo, Newsweek without the politics, Myspace without the sex predators, Flickr without the nature shots, Craigslist without the retards and Google without the Viagra banners. Just cool people, old bikes and lots of 'em.

If you'd like to sign up for the ChopCult.com e-newsletter and be included on the site's beta testing, click here.

Also, please feel free to invite others by forwarding this blog post to your friends.

From everyone behind the scenes at ChopCult.com, thanks in advance for your interest and support.

-- McGoo

Cole Foster on Joyrides Art Co.

One thing I like about the internet is that really long interviews can just ramble on to their natural length instead of being gutted to fit a reasonable page count in a paper magazine. I dig the stuff going on over at Joyrides Art Co. and this latest in depth interview with Cole Foster is no slouch. Cole shares his views on kids who can't sweep, living within your means and the search for that delicate "balance".

“I don’t care; I’m not selfish with knowledge, I’ll show a kid anything. I don’t have any secrets, I’m into sharing.”
-Cole Foster

Check out Salinas Boys HERE
Show some support for Joyrides and buy a shirt or something: STORE
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New Bike for Holly

Stoked!
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Vantastic Monday

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Pipe Kits, not just for Harleys!

Duane, Alex and Slim got together this weekend and hacked out some new pipes for the 750-powered Pink Taco with our DIY kit. Looks good guys!

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The Harem

Not the Harem, but still super cool.

I'm looking for any info on an early 70's Ford van called the "Harem". It was built by a dude we called Jonsey who lived across the street from my friend Matt on 182nd in Torrance. Six wheeled wonder with a vinyl chop, big hooka inside, etc. Rumor has it that his wife gave it to the Smithsonian after his death to represent "70's Van Culture". I've done some googling and tried searching the museum's archives but no luck.
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The Case for Hiring Professionals

Sometimes the wisest choice is swallowing a big ol' chunk of pride and taking your bike to a pro. Yesterday was one of them days, and luckily Rico had room to take my pile in and do some dialing in on it. I've gotten it pretty far, but at the end of the day, he's already forgotten more than I'll probably ever learn, so I feel no shame in having him breath on my machine.

Check out his Hi-Bond Modified stuff here: HBM

Thanks dude!

Photos by McGoo, the new photog.
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Salton Sea Ride Next Weekend

OK, It's been a month or so since we rode anywhere and camped. McGoo planned this thing way back in February. Is it really June already? Only thing thing that's changed is the date, we're leaving next Friday, the 12th. Hard Hats bar, Temecula, noon.

Here's a link to the original post with all the details: LINK
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The Pitch

Chariot of The Gods

If you must ride (or drive) a trailer queen, have enough self-respect to haul it in something like this:

GTPDOTCOM!?

I didn't know George had a website. I do now, and so do you.
Can't afford a big 'ol fancy painting? Buy a print.
GTP
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Jason

We are always stoked to see guys use our stuff. Especially to help learn how to make their own stuff for their bikes. Jason sent us these pics of his first hand tooled seat he did usng our seat pan and foam kit. He has an obvious connection to Friday the 13th and wanted to learn how to do his own leather work. Thanks for the pics Jason and remember cow hide is the best skin to tool.

She Lives!

1941 Sheldon 11" and I'm stoked!

Flickr Found Vol. 14

Some good old pics/scans here:
BCMACSAC1's photostream
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You're Doing It Wrong

Bar Update

OK, the bar recall has come and gone and we don't have the new ones in but we will sometime around the end of June/early July.

They will be released in three phases;
1. Keystones, Clubmans and Friscos with no dimples first.
2. Then Keystones, Clubmans and Friscos with dimples for stock controls.
3. Finally, sometime in August we should have 3-4 new designs in both dimpled and no-dimpled.

This next generation of Frisco bars has been lowered by about 2" to reduce leverage on the lower welds. Also, all material thickness has been increased to .120" wall and all of the bars are stilll made out of 4130 chromoly tubing. That is some strong shit there.

We've sent checks out to everyone who sent in their bars except these dudes, whom we need return addresses for. If you know them, tell 'em to get in touch with us for an address to send the check to.

Tom Comer
Jeremy Morgan
Mike Scheers

We'll sit on your refunds to see if you guys surface with the required info and if you don't, we'll spend it on beer and barbed-wire tattoos.

Thanks to everyone for their patience during this thing, we're almost through it and we think you'll be stoked on all the new stuff once it's in stock and shipping.

Bill, Chris & McGoo
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Alright, who's is it?

Run to the hills...
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ENGLISH 101

Wes (Four Aces) and Tyler (Lowbrow) have worked together over the last few months to do a new Triumph Tune n' Service video. This edit looks super pro and these are two of the hardest working, most generous guys I know. Biltwell is a proud sponsor of the video and I did the packaging design and gave it the name English 101, so there's a little pride of ownership for us in there too.

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SEPIPELGNAT!

D I Y
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Sharky's Machine

Sorry, I know yesterday was Vantastic Monday. I just didn't get around to posting this so you'll have to suffer through it on a Tuesday.




BF Josh picked up a smooth new ride yesterday. This used to be the official Last Chance Bait & Tacklemobile out in Hemet, CA. Let me list the fine features this van has; shaved cargo door handles with solenoids, fold-out couch bed, 318 w/ all the typical Weiand, Hooker, Holley, Mallory upgrades, leaky gas tank, over head console with TWO! stereos, billet grille with stacked quads, 360° swivel captain's chairs, sticky throttle, dual turbo muffs and air shocks. Sweet! Did I mention it has a shark painted on each side?

In theory, Josh is going to use this van to become the official Biltwell vendor every month at the Long Beach swap, so make sure to stop by and say hello. Just don't get in the van if he asks you to help find a puppy...

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APOC DESIGN

Our fuzzy friend Alan out in Michigan is not only handsome but is a super talented artist. He's the dude who did the illustration for the first EDR among other projects for us over the years. From corporate design to tattoo flash or handpainted work on canvas, Alan can pretty much do it all. Check his site for more info: APOCDESIGN

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Vantastic Monday

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