....this thing on?

I keep promising a comeback.....

....and every time, it's usually one post followed by at least six months of inactivity. Normally I wouldn't apologize, but if you are out there and you still check this place in hopes that something happens, the least I can do is say sorry. Life happens. And since nearly every one has deserted the blogosphere, it makes it tough to even want to bother to come here and post anything. But I think i've come to the end of my rope. I can't do this chopper scene anymore. It's exhaustingly ridiculous. Every bike looks the same, every "chopper dude" looks the same, and nearly every chopper show is currently sponsored by the company that we all used to hate. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?! 5 years ago we were all flipping our patches and flipping the bird  to the company that turned their backs on us so long ago. So what did they do? Waved a bunch of free Oak Leaf logo t-shirts in front of show organizers  and put a bunch of big time chopper dudes in their ads and suddenly they weaseled their way back into the scene. I'm sorry, but I can't get behind it. It's nothing more than a marketing scheme and you all fell for it. They're exploiting all of you in commercials and advertisements in order to sell overpriced piles of shit, all the while still giving you a huge middle finger every time you walk up to the parts counter looking for replacement parts. It's a joke, and you all made yourself the butt of it.

As for all you period correct dorks, you already know how I feel. If your bike never leaves its own zip code, I got nothing for you. Sell it, you missed the whole point.

Sure I sound preachy. Sure I'm on a soapbox. But if I don't say it, none of you will. The whole scene is crap and "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." Like I always tell kev, the scene may burn to the ground, I'll still be riding my chopper coast to coast while all the "zip coders" sell their choppers for low riders, speedboats, or whatever trend is the new thing.

So, with all that being said, check back here. I'm over Instagram and am gonna make an honest attempt to update this page more often. Living in Palm Beach county Florida means chopper sightings are rare, but theirs plenty of other good stuff to show. OH! And if you enjoyed our  California trip coverage nearly six years ago, stay tuned. Kev and I are setting our sights on the 100th annual Pikes Peak and then riding to the Redwood Forrest and down the illustrious PCH. Born Fee? Nah. We were there when it WAS ACTUALLY FREE!! I refuse to pay $35 admission to be inundated with Vans and Harley advertisements.

Thanks for watching. Sorry no pictures. My computer finally kicked the bucket and I'm writing this from my mom's iPad. So chopper tough.

coming up on the end of an era....

Ok, an era makes it sound like a long time, but trust me, 3years in Kansas feels more like a 10year prison sentence..... Allright, maybe not that bad, but not that great either. Today I have to do a presentation on my senior project that I've been working on for the last year, next week is the deadline on paperwork, and after that, finals week. Talk about high stress levels. But on the bright side, it's all downhill after that. No more pencils, no more books! No more teachers, dirty looks!

yup, it's almost that time again....

sliding door out back with a fold down deck- what more do you need?

 so wanna build this bike.....

 

and so wanna take it here.

 

Kev, I still think you should build your pan this way.

Grandma, exploder of brains.

If you're tired of seeing this one posted here, you obviously don't belong here.

Flashback Friday.... do those even exist in the blogosphere?

Kev, way off in outer space somewhere, en route to California...

 

...where we finally landed at Born Free 2, packed to the gills.

...we literally rolled into the show to the as the winners were being announced, almost exactly how Kev and I had joked that our Born Fred experience would be. That's Joe's CB750 on the left side of the pic, packed down as well.

 

year or so prior to the Cali trip, in Milwaukee.

yea, well, sue me.

Yea, sure, the car posts have been thick around here with the chopper posts very thin, but hey- I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere Kansas till May, my chopper is waiting for me in Florida with a blown oil pump, and my soon to be daily driver is almost ready for a license plate. Don't worry, I still love choppers, but I'm a man of many different tastes. Just cause I put the Temptations on the player, doesn't mean I don't love Black Sabbath anymore. Besides, you guys love anything period correct, especially when it comes to old photos so sit down, fire up the yesca, and let em soak in.

Jesse Valadez's Gypsy rose....  the 1963 version.

ART Valadez (brother?) 1969 Impala "Wild Orchid"

Jim Arkin's 65

And then there's this bad boy....

Let's see if we can get this to work.

wait for Brandoli's last two lines, they sum it all up.

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hey, I update....

just takes me 6months at a time to do it... lay off me man.

 

 

 

So here's a shot of Geo on a 3 day bender next to his freshly rebuilt shovelhead that took best paint at Tarball Run...

...and here's Kev's shovel that took first place chopper. Well deserved, might I add!

 

And here's the newest mess I've gotten myself into. I couldn't help it- I've been wanting a 65 for a hot minute now, just never could find one that wasn't falling apart or cost an arm and a leg. Finally found one... now I just gotta get her back on the road....

Fuck blogger. wouldn't let me rotate this picture.

There's an A in front of the word America, dillweed.



Bobby likes his jams.

R.I.P. Larry

I won't pretend to really know Larry or say that he was a good friend, but I met and partied with him once in Daytona, and that was enough to be saddened when I heard about him passing. Great guy, great times, great smile. Sucks when you hear about this kinda stuff happening. Just brings you back down to Planet Earth and makes you realize how fragile life can be, and why you have to enjoy every second you breath. Wish we could have partied again, man... just means we'll do some chopper riding on the other side.

Bacon!

So, I figured If I was gonna be at the biggest hot rod show in the country, I'm sure I'd see some motorcycle booths. And since it's Austin, I figured my buddy Bacon would be there. Sure enough, I spotted the DC Choppers bikes from the coffee vendor's airstream trailer. If you don't know Dan "Bacon" Carr then you won't understand just the kind of man he is. The Canadian James Dean as I like to think of him, Bacon is a motor-building mad man and builds some of the coolest choppers around thanks to his buddy that works with him ________ (totally forgot his name). Bacon is currently US distributor for Motortechnic Manufacturing, a Germany company that makes knucklehead cases, as well as some bitchin clutch hubs. Dan even put us up in his shop for the nite so we wouldn't have to sleep in a tent, and then introduced us to Opies BBQ- If you are ever in Spicewood, TX, you HAVE to eat there. Get the brisket, it's unreal!

 

Now, the bikes.

Yes, that is a radiator on the frame...

I believe this was the Drake kit, water-cooled knuckle.

Elf's slipper frame. 

Go to the Bacon Blog for more crazy stuff like this.



Lonestar Roundup

So a group of buddies convinced me to hop in Bob's '94 Buick Roadmaster with them and shoot 8 hours south to Austin, TX for the annual Lonestar Roundup- one of the biggest hot rod shows in the country. Here's some of what we saw!

Checkered block

Overheard: (in best cholo voice) "Check it out, holmes. She got in the way. She's gotta stand there to cover up the bare spot."

Oh yes.... with a caddy under the hood.

 

One of the sharpest cars there.

 

Hand-built Aluminum truck body.

So cool.

Then we went to a drive-in show at the place where they shot Dazed and Confused, now called Top-Notch. If you're in Austin, go eat there. Hot Rodder owned and operated.

Bonus points if you can tell me what the hell these things are....

 

 

 

Oh yea, and it's FRIIII-DAY!