The Roll

600 Miles coming up this weekend in northern MN and WI. I’m cruising around with my bro-in-law and his buddies. They’re totally bagged out, Fuel injected, and are even rocking satellite radio and what not. There’s no way Im running at the front of the pack but hey… maybe they’ll carry my tools!

The motor is running good. Just put a little Loctite on a few bolts. Remounted the coil. Still need to swap belt drives and adjust shift linkage but that maybe 30 minutes. Im still missing a spare belt, points/condensor, instant coffee, and a cell charger but thats all last minute stuff anyway. Here’s the roll. Everything I think I’ll need with some random stuff mixed in. Hopefully all goes well cause I’ve got another 700 miles coming up in a couple more weeks. That shit is for later though.

Check back often. I’ll post what I can when I can. Guaranteed 100% original. Buy a shirt. Help support 2-wheel needs.

Garage Feature I – “Pinky”

If you’re even remotely serious about building bikes in the Twin Cities or Midwest for that matter then you probably know Rick. He’s a wealth of knowledge and quite a unique character. When I asked if I could get some pics for the site he responded with “I dont give a shit whatcha do.” Believe it or not, he and I get along really well. All the local bike and car guys gravitate to him when it comes to heavy duty fabrication work. He’s an all around motor man with decades of experience and experimentation.

I’ve heard him referred to as Handsome Rick, Fabricator Rick and my personal favorite… “Pinky.” Rick is one fine fella. He’s professionally or semi-professionally raced just about everything with a motor at one point or another. New rules have been written because he knows how to exploit the unmentioned details. He told me a little story about 3-wheeler ice racing in the 80’s. He asked what the widest wheel base allowed was. They said something like 3 feet. He went home and built a trike axle so narrow and with such narrow tires that you could canter around a corner like an 2-wheeled enduro. They showed up a couple weekends in a row. Won 1st place in their amateur division on every race they attended. The next season they introduced a minimum wheel base and that was that.

Rick’s really a bit of a living legend when I start to really think about it. I’m pretty sure he’s never had a “regular job.” At one point in his life he was racing 48 weekends out of the year at different tracks across the US. The last time I visited, the founder of House of Kolors Paint, Jon Kosmoski happened to drop by with a front end for Rick to work up. On top of it all, he’s a really solitary guy.

He’s good shit and he’s probably one of the most interesting guys I’ve met since my move to the Midwest. Who better to start off our first ever Garage feature than the one-man garage master himself. I shared all kinds of oddball ideas with him and he always says to me, “if you can imagine it, I can make it.”

welcome to the chopper blog Garage Feature I. More to come.

Two to Spare

RL came by last night and gave me a hand remounting the xs650 motor back in the bike. A quick process. We knocked out the timing, carbs, and wiring in about an hour and after some uneventful kicking, she eventually fired up for the first time since last September. Called it a done deal with two PBR’s to spare. I’ll revisit this thing in the spring to adjust the valves and timing and to mount a new rear fender but for now, this one is destine for storage.

xs650 Motor Rebuild – DONE

Another small win on the workbench. Just finished the xs650 motor rebuild. New cam chain on Sunday and I finished rebuilding and torquing down the head last night. Slapping it back into the frame later today and trying to move on to the next project as quick as I can. Gotta get the next one on the lift. Dreaming of warmer days. Tune in again. Garage features coming up soon on the chopper bog.

SALE ~ Vintage ’64 Vespa VNB

Vintage ’64 Vespa VNB

Body in Great Shape. Beatles Yellow New paint. Motor rebuilt from split cases up. Nothing overlooked. Everything new. Electronic ignition. Stock 125cc motor w/ newer 3 port 150cc top end. Mikuni Race carb set up. New wire harness which I already routed through out the entire body. All you need to do is reassemble and plug in the stator and reg/rectifier (also new and included) and you’re ready for spring. You name it, I’ve fixed, cleaned or replaced it. Looking for quick cash for yet another project.

Come and get it today for $1200. Easy winter resto project. Hell, I’ll even help you if you want.