Blue Cheer

You know you like it. Blue Cheer. A somewhat obscure legend of the 60’s; these dudes took that fuzz face shit to another level.  Check ’em out. Rip some of their shit off the internet. It’s well worth it.

Brian’s Shovel

Finally got my shovel! Cant believe the day finally came. Once I get done ripping that spike and skull crap off, I think she’ll do just fine. It was covered in garage dust the first time I saw it. Didnt realize until now but she’s got a Hi-4, chrome trans case, S&S Shorty E, and a hand full of other chrome extras that will likely get re-purposed for the build. I gotta say, I’m loving it. Did I mention the plate number is 666? Yeah – for real. I thought I was reading it wrong or some shit. Crazy!

Here’s a pic. I threw a spare wassell tank and solo seat on it. I also swapped over to a different bar for mock up purpose. I got plans to make this thing my Born Free Funky Stick! – Dig it.

Sissy Bar – Dig it.

It’s been so nice out these last few days! I went out to the garage over lunch and started screwing around with some round bar. A cut here; a bend there and I’m thinking I might have some new sissy bar plans. Nothing too fancy. Just a little something to strap some shit down every now and again. I’m thinking some heavier gauge round bar stock a little taller still. Dig it.

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.

Save A Buck ~ Fix it

The sh*t I’ll do to save some scratch is pretty low. My XS timing chain snapped on me while bombing back into the Twin Cities last September. After I pulled the top end off, I could see that the teeth on the cam were perfect. The crank sprocket on the other hand… DESTROYED. Not a single tooth left. Unfortunately, this crank sprocket is an obsolete part meaning I’m up sh*t creek. My options are wait it out for  an old xs motor on Craigs list for around $100 beans or just swap the crank and buy a gasket set on eBay.

I went with the replacement crank and a gasket set. The crank ran me $1.99 and the gasket set… $60. Other than an hour of open heart surgery, at least I know I’m running a clean motor with new timing chain and gaskets. The top end was still well within tolerances so I’m gonna let sleeping dogs lie with that one.