Vantastic Thursday Night

Agent Orange

Aqua Velvet

Clean Green Machine

Valhalla Bound

Six Pack

Chevannigan

I got busy and forgot about Vantastic Monday this week. So, as a token of my regret, I offer up a few craigslist gems from within about a 500 mile radius of So Cal. Each one has it's own sad story but if the prices got low enough they would make some classy haulers. My pick is the double axle Chevy, or that crazy 4x4 unit that I've been peeking over the fence at on the way to Mike D's old house. All for about the price of a used evo Sporty. Pound for pound, it makes you think, doesn't it...

Black Risers are Back in Stock

Let there be darkness.

The Last Stand: Rumble in Ramona

The end.

Bubblegum Pink

We got 'em.

Ride For Lightning

Ride For Lightning is going to be a great event, with proceeds going to help fellow rider Lee Bender in his pursuit to fight MS. Registration is required beforehand on this run, and has just opened so you can sign up or buy swag now. Good dudes, good cause.

Slab City Riot 2 Update

Alright, one more band added to the list for the Slab City Riot 2. Smiling Face Down will be in the number two slot, so if you are a Meatball and Co. fan, get your ass out to the desert Nov. 6th. That makes a total of four bands, in the following order:

Shelby Cobra & The Mustangs

Smiling Face Down

Bricktop

New York Ninjas

This thing is going to kick ass like Chuck Norris. More as it develops...

Useful Bits

Finally, some cheap, useful stuff! First up, replacement seat hinge mount. This is the part that mounts to your frame and comes with both our cast Stainless hinge or the 4130 Chromoly unit. They both use an identical, cast, weldable chunk that fits seamlessly onto 1.5" tubing, or can be carved up and modified to fit other surfaces. Check this Lowbrow How-To for a good example. I just used one of these things as a front gas tank mount and it worked out real neat. There are a wide variety of applications where this would be handy, so we figured we'd sell them separate from the hinge. Each one also comes with a shoulder bolt that fits the bore perfectly, just like the whole seat bracket set up ships with.

Next are replacement liners. All helmet interiors break down over time, given enough use. Ours can come out and get washed and that helps, but sometimes you just need to freshen up that old stinky lid with a whole new interior. You can also customize this and make it work inside your old Buco or whatever swap meet find you are running. Use a little glue or 2-sided velcro and wal-lah! No more black dust all over your sweaty dome. These are direct replacements for Gen1 and Gen2 Biltwell Novelty lids. Pretty hard to beat for $20. I've got an old original Arthur Fulmer laying around, I'll try this out inside and see how hard it is and post some results next week.

It's that time!

Old Harley Ads

Long before the factory was selling fake dark attitude tough guy stuff it sold machines on the idea that they were fun, performance-oriented and could take you to neat places.

I guess any motorcycle could do that, but this collection of old ads makes me want to do it on a Gnarly Davidson.

Back from the Philo

Whew, I'm smoked. We did the trip up in two chunks with a great relaxing campout on the way up, and then made the rest of the trip to the Philo on Saturday. 395 north to 88/89/49 was epic. Just perfect riding conditions and some of the best roads possible. We got off to a super early start on Friday and that made the vibe great since we made such good time. We were drowning worms by 1:00pm, and the 300+ miles seemed like nothing. Saturday was a little more work even though the mileage was way less. We hammered over the Sierras through a couple hundred miles of world class twisties. The Philo event itself was a good, low key time, and I'll put up some pics from that later in the week. Suffice it to say, it was the best food of any event this year, or maybe ever. Gabe and Lois sure know how to cook, and we scarfed it down after getting skunked on trout and eating canned chili and MRE's the night before. We got off to a late start this morning since breakfast was so good and we were just enjoying hanging out. A crash on the 80 had traffic backed up for miles. We threaded through the single lane of open car doors and people spread out all over waiting at a dead stop until we finally couldn't fit between a semi and the barriers on both sides. That probably cost us an hour, but the people in cars were even more bummed. We rode as hard as we could down the 395 and all made it home about 10:00pm-ish. About 600 miles in about 12 hours. Not bad time, especially considering the passes we had to clear (7,000'+), the traffic jam and two bikes that only get about 100 miles to a tank. We were on reasonably modern bikes, BCM Chris' 8--something sporty, my '92 FXR, Larry's S&S pan, Tony's 88" Dyna and Craze's brand new Wide Glide. He's had it three weeks and turned 3,000 miles on the way home. The only mechanical issue was Tony's headlight breaker popping after dark and Larry's brakes needing some fluid and a couple bleeds. An exhaust hanger fastener backed out on my FXR but luckily I noticed it before the bolt fell out. Chris' trusty old sporty hauled ass the whole way, with zero complaints. We discussed taking the 99 freeway back and it would have been faster and easier for sure, but this route was more scenic, less crowded and worked out fine in the end. Thanks guys, this was another one to remember.

Brooklyn Invitational

Man, there is a lot of cool stuff going on in September all of a sudden. I dig NYC, and specifically Brooklyn so I'm going to bummed to miss this one!

Curiously Strong

Our good friend and Biltwell stockist Sumo from Vintage Chop puts on a fun weekend of riding/camping/drinking each year in the ever-sunny United Kingdom. If you have half a chance, get with it and enjoy some good times. Here's the "official description":

This is a chill out and party kind of deal, no attitudes, no fees, no promises. If you don’t expect much then you'll come away happy

If you think your bike has a fighting chance of making the run then you are welcome. If you like building and fixing stuff its probably your kind of thing, be it on a supercharged trike, an old brit restoration or anything in between. If you are more of the weekend power-ranger, colour coded bike/leathers brigade then its most likely not for you.

A word to the wise - THIS IS NOT A RALLY... it's all about riding - as the name suggests its a RUN - its about the riding then party when we get to destination. There are no bands put on, evening campfires, burger vans or entertainment of any sort. Ride your bike make your own fun.

You need to look after yourself, your gear, and your own bike - there wont be anyone behind you to pick you up if you break down. There will be other riders with tools to help but if you break down you'd better have some sort of recovery because we arent putting on a chase truck / trailer or anything similar.

Team Lowbrow

The Malinky Bros. are getting close and if the bikes are as fast as they are beautiful, some record holders better watch out! Good luck on the Salt, lads, we'll be cheering for ya'.

OG Dezert Sled

Here's a copy of an e-mail my Dad sent me recently about him riding and racing dirt bikes in the early 70's. I figured I would share the nostalgia.

Here are some pics of the dirtbike that I had that was a Rickman.

Bike floated around my hometown for several years and I got hold of it in late '72. It originally had a Bultaco 250cc engine. Side covers for the area under the seat had been lost during its wanderings from owner to owner. Motor was trashed when I got the bike so... I got hold of a 360 CZ engine and put it in the frame.

Pictures of the bike in yellow were taken after I had it together the first time.

The picture of me on the bike is from an MX race at Live Oak Springs in September 73, just before I went into the Air Force. I borrowed a 21 inch front wheel assembly for the race. The 19 inch was good for the desert, but sucked on the MX track.

The pictures of the bike with the frame painted red was from late '74 just after I finished rebuilding it during Christmas leave from the Air Force. Rear hub was upgraded to a cable style brake hub from a Kawasaki 350 Bighorn. Front rim was also upgraded to a 21 inch rim.

Wedding Bells

Whoa, how's this for a center piece on the table at your wedding? Thanks to Joshua & Tiffany who had Shawn at The Imperial House work up this masterpiece. I'd sure like to see some photos if Josh wore it during the first dance...

Mike D's Sporty

Ol' Mike has been gaining some momentum on his sporty project lately. It's his first bike build and while he hasn't figured out which side is up yet, he's learned a whole bunch of other stuff! Nice work Mike, can't wait to see you putting some miles and smile on this unit!

Evel Doer

Just a preview of a little sumtin' my ruling buddy Alan Close is working on just for fun. There is a bunch more little detail stuff to be added, but this is the basic concept.

Ground Zero 2010

This just in from Trent about this year's GZ.

Ok, so this year is gonna be quite a bit different than years past.

1. NO Albuquerque.. we are staying in the mountains for 2 days this year... riding, bbqing, partying, camping.

2. There may or may not be a "bike show", if there is one.. it will be mandatory that you rode your bike from wherever it is you came from.

3. The party is the LAST WEEKEND IN AUGUST.

Havent set a price on chow yet.. it will be reasonable and for both days. There will be a tip jar for Gabe, please.. tip him. His chow is world class, show him the love. Reserve, NM is the location. Exact camp area not set yet. I will be leaving the compound Friday morning. If you want to ride with me plan on being ready to roll around 10 or so AM. More to come as I figure it out.





If you haven't been to a Ground Zero event yet, make this one. The best part was always the riding and camping anyway, so I'm stoked to see it get stripped down to the essentials.

Philo Trip Update

Alright, if you wanna tag along on the 395 to Lundy then over to the Philo on Saturday, here is the meet-up plan. Meet us at the Circle K, Exit 131 off the 15 fwy. It's the exit that goes to Wrightwood, hwy 138. We'll be there at 0600 on Friday, grab a cup of coffee and hit the road. It looks like there are four of us.

Twine Ball 2010

Wow. About a year ago we started a silly social networking website for the chopper-inclined: Chop Cult. Not long after the launch last August a few members piped-up that they were tired of reading about fun times on the internet and wanted an event of their own. We didn't have the time or energy to do one more event, especially not one 1500 miles from home. Being the go-getter Americans that a few fellows were, they took matters into their own hands and organized the Twine Ball Run. The idea was simple, Osborne Kansas had a fairground that was near the world's largest ball of twine and also happened to be squarely in the middle of the country so folks who don't happen to live on either coast could make it a little easier. Plus, the town was named after Ozzy so you know it likes to party. We loaded up a couple bikes and trailered them out there in a non-stop coffee-fueled frenzy with our buddy Joel and another truck behind us with Craze, his wife Lori who wins the award for least complaining woman of all time and his friend Dan. Now, it may be douchy to trailer your bikes, but we did it and it allowed us to make it to the beer soaked campout in about 28 hours. We made it home in just under 24. I've got to say driving Kansas in the daytime is hard. We all agreed that the state is moving the same direction as the truck, because you never seem to get anywhere. Corn. Lots of it. Anyway, the event was a relatively simple affair, but that's only because CC members Bulldog, ChoppyGee, Weedkiller and the rest did the heavy lifting. These dudes proved that you can put some work into an event without needing a whole lot of moving parts. There were no vendors or organized games or entertainment, but there was plenty of cold beer, a fire pit, a huge circle track raceway, food, bathrooms and antics galore. I'd estimate we had 50+ people. Did I mention pink hats and tribal tats? Check. We actually rode our motorcycles on Saturday. We went around 200 miles and turned about four times. Kansas may be boring to ride in, but you don't need a helmet and it's pretty easy to navigate. We ate lunch at a cool bar and visited a world class motorcycle museum as well as a neat Triumph shop in Marquette, Kansas. There was a low key bike show back at camp later that night and raffle to make sure nearly everyone went home with something. I think by the end of the deal everyone was stoked on it. I know we were. Thanks to everyone for the gumption to do the event in the first place and sack to ride from all over the country just to hang out with other sweaty dirt bags you previously had only known on the internet! You can see some pics of the mayhem here, I stole the ones I'm using on the blog because I still haven't gone through the hundreds we took.

Vantastic Monday

Let's all have a moment of silence for this once stellar cruiser. Enjoy the glorious pegasus on the side, lovingly applied with style and taste, now just rotting in a New York parking lot. This once dignified dream machine was someone's rolling fantasy and now it's a slowly deteriorating shitbox stuffed to the shag headliner with boxes of old junk and the doors held shut with speaker wire. Thanks to Marco for the pics, but dude, rescue that thing, it deserves it!

Goin' to the Philo

Jason Craze, me and hopefully Tony are heading up bright and early Friday morning towards The Philo. We're taking the 395 up and going to camp at Lake Lundy then meet up with everyone on Saturday at the bar. If anyone is going up around the same time and wants to ride along, hit me up for launch details.

2011 HD Lineup

The new 2011 Hardly Dangerous's are up.

I'm kinda partial to that Super Glide.

I'd like one of those and about six months off from work.