Some More Cars From The Rockabilly Luau

Not much commentary on these pics. I don't know any details about the cars, they all just caught my eye. Check em out and enjoy the view.....

Early 60's Chevy station wagon. Nice paint and wheels on this one.

Flat black and bad ass!

Very nice old Buick. You just don't see these very often.

Clean Model A. I didn't check to see if it was steel or fiberglass. It looked nice either way.

Other side.

Stay tuned hopefully something fun will happen this weekend. If not I still have a bunch of old pics to share.

Scanned in some old pics....

I was scanning some pics to share with my old Army buddies and decided to scan in some of these to share here. They're a mix from different places and times, but they are all at least 10 years old. I hope you dig em!

One of my first real riding partners Tattoo on his old ironhead Sporty riding through the German countryside. We had a blast back then, no real cares, just looking for a good time and a few wild women. Luckily we usually found both ;-)

My old '75 XLCH after I put the motor in a older XL frame with a welded on hardtail and a ton of bondo to hide the welds. I was trying to put an old VW taillight on it as you can see on the back. Never did get it to fit like I wanted but the idea was a good one I just needed better tools.

Me sitting on the bike outside the barracks at Ft. Bragg, NC around 1992. I was building this bike on the concrete slab just in front of where the bike is in this pic. Not a great place to do any cool work, but better than nothing.

The parking lot outside the Night Owl Lounge in Fayetteville, NC (FayetteNam for those who know). This place was a really cool Biker Bar with a pool table and bar downstairs and another bar and small stage with strippers upstairs. One of the best things was when the woman who owned the place got drunk she would walk out and tell Ted to "start that damned bike I wanna ride" that meant we were all gonna line up and ride our bikes through the bar. One night Steve decided to stop in the middle of the bar and do a burnout on the knuckle. It was beautiful to see all that tire smoke fill up the bar. The pool table had a huge scar from his passenger peg for the whole rest of the time I was stationed there. Starting from the left in this pic there is a stock Sporty, then the white Softail with one of the first set of Indian style fenders you could get for Harleys, pretty much a prototype for the later so called Indians they sold. Next was my friends old Knucklehead then another old friend's ironhead Sporty in an Amen Savior frame and finally a 1200 Sporty. You never knew what bikes you would see here or what club might show up. It was always a blast and I really miss the old place.

 A few of my fellow Stray Dogs from Germany. This day we decided to go to Darmstadt because one of us really wanted a DarmstarterBrau beer. What the hell, 75 miles for a special beer is no big deal so we took off. This picture was taken in the parking lot of the real Frankenstein's castle the actual place where Mary Shelly wrote the book. I'll post pictures of it sometime later. In this pic we have Horse and his now Ex-wife on his Shovel then John and Jacque on his Low rider that John still owns today with a few hundred thousand miles on it. John also owns and runs Millar Machine in Orchard, TX.

This is Shannon Graham and his son standing by his drag bike. It was an early 80's ironhead that was a mean damn machine. Unfortunately a busted axle adjuster let the chain get loose and bind up on the front sprocket blowing the cases vertically, ending our racing days.

I hope y'all like this old stuff, be sure to leave comments and let me know if you like it. I still have plenty more pictures I can scan and add off and on.

More BMR Pics

The new Cycle Source just came out recently and that got me to thinking about BMR again. I was actually quite happy to see that my bike made it into the main image used for the BMR article. Mine is the black/blue Bad Boy with the Evel Knievel helmet on the handlebars. Not a great beauty shot, but hey you take what you can get. Also in this months issue is a feature about Adam Doyle's bike and I realized I had a good pic of it so I thought I'd share that as well. The rest of the pics are just ones that I like.

Adam's Bike, if you want to know more about it then go by the new Cycle Source! It's the only magazine I subscribe to.

Kick ass Panhead. I LOVE that old stock paint on that ironhead Sporty gas tank. There's not even much of anything I would change on this bike and I ALWAYS want to change something on every bike I see. Even my own......ESPECIALLY my own.

Another view plus you get to see the Shovelhead parked next to it. A couple of very sweet bikes for sure.

This bike tripped me out when I saw him out on the road before he made it to the campground. This bike is SO low and the ammo cans are SO wide he could barely turn it. Definitely NOT a great bike for winding mountain roads. I bet it was a scary ride through the hills that weekend.

You can get a better idea just how low and wide it all was. Nice bike, and I'm all about using Army surplus stuff, but this one made me scratch my head. The main thing is that HE likes it so my opinion doesn't really matter.

Some Behind The Scenes From GarCo's Chop Off Bike....

One of the great things about being friends with the guys in cool shops like this is that I get to see the Top Secret projects as they are progressing. Larry lets me take pictures of the secret stuff as long as I hold on to them until the appropriate time. Since the Smoke Out is over I guess it's OK to share some of these pics of the building of the Garage Company Customs Chop Off entry.

As you can see the tank is a permanent part of the frame now. It was welded on and molded in to make it as slick as possible. The paint was done by the overly talented Shane. You can see Spenser decided to get out of the way and get a little paying work done in the background and Boozer is sitting there pondering the meaning of life.

You can get a better look at the molding of the tank and the cool paint that Shane came up with. Lots of details here and a lot of them can't even be seen when the bike is together.

Details such as this work under the seat. Very cool pattern and it's not even out on display. That's OK, we know it's there.

The tank mural is of course over the top and unbelievable. Shane painted this with brushes and a little air brush work as well. Who doesn't love a Wizard riding his giant Basset Hound? You can also see the round bar that was bent, welded to the tank and then molded in.

A nice little detail. Larry needed a spacer/washer so he machined up this cool stepped spacer to get the job done. It's the little stuff like this that makes a bike great.

OK, that's it for now. I'll have more later so be sure to keep checking in!

Playing With My Camera And Having Some Silly Fun

Since I got the new camera a while back I've been trying to get the hang of all these new wizz bangs and cool stuff I can do with it. One reason I wanted this camera was so I could play with the depth of field and a few other creative ideas. Since it is much easier to practice with small easy to manipulate subjects I like to take pictures of my toys.YES, I still have toys, just because I have to get older doesn't mean I have to grow up! Some of my favorite toys are my Evel Knievel bikes and figures. Since this is a chopper blog and I actually have Evel's chopper why not use it and then post it here for y'all to make fun of ;-) Hopefully soon I can find some more cool bike stuff to share. Until then I'll mix in some old stuff and some weird stuff to keep you entertained.

Evel out for a cruise in the countryside, just him, his bad ass chopper and the open road!

Then just to get the adrenaline flowing a nice romp through the woods on the dirt bike. Enjoy the mud my friend!

My Wife had a fit when she heard that I was out laying in the road taking pictures of toys, but that's how we roll around here. Screw danger get the got shot for my readers. Catch ya later....

Actually Did A Little Work On The Flyrite Sporty....

I'm still collecting parts and hoping to get the bike ready in time for the Bastard Bash in August. I might make it, but don't bet money on it. Won't be from a lack of effort though, just a lack of money. I've been wondering what headlight I should get for the bike. I see a lot of folks using the old spotlights and I like them, but I wanted something else. Luckily I can across this light on ebay and got it for a steal because of a casting flaw on the bottom back side. I like it so far, even though drilling through that bottom tree was a major pain (especially after the drill caught, snapped the bit and slung the drill into my face). Finally got a big enough hole in it, but still have to do a little work to get enough room to tighten the nut. I got it close, but still need to tweak it.

From the front with the 4" over tubes. Next year I'll probably pick up a set of 6" overs.

You can see some of the details in this one. I like the little raised spots. Makes it look a little more interesting to me.

Tucks in nice and close too. Not overpowering at all and I like it that way.

Making Some Custom Pipes

GarCo has a customer with a really nice old 85-86 FXWG (notice there is no damn D in the letters. There were Wide Glides WELL before the Dynas). Since the owner has chromed and customized so much he decided he needed truly custom pipes. That leads us to Spenser doing his magic and creating another work of art. The owner wanted 2" pipes so that had to be dealt with, but they still came out nice and the size transition doesn't dominate the look like some pipes I've seen. Starting with a few pieces of bent tubing and some good tools Spenser will sit and stare then cut a little, then grind some and then stare a little more continuing over and over until a set of sweet pipes suddenly appear out of the welding smoke. This set is going to chrome so they are steel, but the best work comes out when Stewie gets to make them out of stainless. That's when we get to see the best welds and super nice finished product.

These pipes really lined up just right and follow the lines of the bike without being the same as every other set of pipes on the market.

The bottom line and the alignment of the ends really works out well.

The master at work.

Blending in the 1 3/4" to 2" transition.

Independence Day In Franklin TN

Sunday the 3rd was spent downtown Nashville with the kids, but Monday the 4th was spent in Franklin with just my Wife and I. It was a great time and really takes you back to a good time in our history. Franklin is a town that has embraced growth and modern life, but only outside of its downtown historical district. Independence Day in Franklin is a slice of the good old days. They block off a a few blocks around the town square and have a good old fashioned party. Vintage cars, square dancers, food vendors and all kinds of other small town goodness. If you get the chance to visit on the 4th DO IT! I expected to see Andy and Barney walking down the street at any moment. I'll be posting car pics off and on for a while until I show you all the really good ones.

Under the hood of a 1968 Chevelle SS396.

This car was a beauty and for having a 20 year old paint job I was totally impressed with the straightness of the body.

Another view.

From the rear. The guy taking the picture of the interior is Dave. He is from California and was in town with his Wife visiting relatives after she finished a training class in Memphis. Dave takes pictures of old Ghost Towns and other cool places in California and decided to get as many cool pics while he was in the South as he could. It was great to meet ya Dave. Hope you have a great trip.

Sweet 1966 Chevy Malibu. The paint on this car was RED and I mean RED! Once again flawless body work and super smooth paint make this car a beauty to behold.

The tail of the beast.

Looking down Main Street from the Courthouse Square.

The Confederate Memorial in the Green of the Courthouse Square.

I'll post more pics from the trip on my other blog if you want to see them. I try to stick with mostly Bike/Car pics on this one.

Sunday Night July 3rd in Nashville

We went to Nashville to spend the weekend visiting my Stepson. Sunday night we went as a family down to Broadway St and the waterfront area for the city's celebration. They had bands playing on a stage set up on a barge moored in front of an amphitheater type area. The show was good, but pics of a concert are boring if you don't know the band so I won't waste your time. As soon as the band finished the fireworks show started. It was a great time and I'm glad we saw if since the fireworks celebration here in Birmingham is pretty screwed up because of the rain that moved in this afternoon.

Beautiful flag display at the end of Broadway.

After it got really dark you could see this on one of the buildings to make sure you knew what you were attending .

Cool neon signs are all over this street since it is the party area near the Ryman Auditorium. If you don't know what that is check google. It's a sacred space in music.

walking down the street toward the waterfront. Lots of cool bars and record stores on that side of the street with a few cowboy clothes stores thrown in for fun.

The other side of the street. This side is more t-shirt/trinket shops , bars and some boot shops.

Walking back toward the car. The Ernest Tubb record shop is a truly historical business that has had a HUGE part in Nashville's music scene.

Coming down the hill toward the riverfront.

The "rockets red glare"

The "bombs bursting in air"

The grand finale! Have I told y'all that I love my new camera ;-)

We had a great time and I'll post more from this trip later. We also went to the Lane Auto Museum and Allison and I spent part of the 4th in Franklin enjoying a small town America 4th of July celebration.

Stay tuned.....

All Weekend In Nashvile And Only Saw Two Cool Bikes!

I'm sure there are a lot of cool bikes in Nashville, but they were all hiding from me. I saw a ton of stock bikes, but no killer chops. Here's some pics of the ones I did see.....

Not sure what the deal is on this one. It is a heritage style softail with a handshift and a sidecar. Not sure if it belongs to someone who needed the mods to ride or if it was just done to be cool. Either way it is an eye catching bike and I would love to know more about it.

Gotta love the Flying Tigers style shark mouth on the side car.

I know a little more about this one. I first saw it Saturday night out behind the restaurant where we ate dinner. I went back to check it out and when I was almost to the car I saw the guy that I knew had to be the owner. Turns out he was and he was pretty friendly.  I told him about the blog and about the Quad Cam Bastards, and I hope he finds his way to both. When I saw it that night it was stripped down and looking sweet. Sunday when I was out with the family I saw the bike again at Centennial Park and snapped some pics. The owner wasn't around so I could ask anymore questions. It seems he has the detachable sissy bar and a set of bags to make it easier to go riding with his sweetie or a friend. The bike itself is a pretty clean and simple set up. Custom pipes and gas tank as well as some very nice pinstriping work from a local artist. You can tell the bike is a daily rider and is being modified as time and funds allow. Keep it up dude and I hope you see your bike here.

Close up of the striping on the fender. The fender is chopped as it should be .

Nice work on the tank striping.

Overall view from the rear.