Spenser's Tank Is DONE!

Once again Shane has outdone himself! He says this is the most intricate tank he has painted and I believe him. It's certainly the best one Ive seen from him. Each blue panel has a different design/effect done inside of it and the colors really pop in person. The masking and layers are really smooth and slick and it still amazes me that he just recently started painting. Shane is a consummate artist and it shows in everything I've seen from him so far from tattoo's to leather to metalflake paint, he is an artist.

Top. I like the airbrushed lens flares, they give it an old style look like what I used to see on the custom cars and bikes I saw when I was a kid.

The front shows more of that detail.

This side is amazing to me, to get all those lines to repeat evenly across the entire panel is mind blowing to me.

Love the pattern on this side as well. MANY hours were spent just on the masking alone of this project.

And just to make it even more unique this little scene is hidden on the bottom of the tank. Gotta love it when an artist goes to the extra effort for something like this that will not be seen by 98% of the people who see this bike.

I'll post some more pics of the finished bike later this week so come back to see the rest of the story....

(SOLD!!!!) Need to Sell these Wheels to Fund the Project.....

OK, these are the wheels that came on my new Sporty project. I've already replaced them with spokes so I need to sell these to get more stuff. The rear is wheel only, the front has a new Firestone replica tire with less than 20 miles on it. They are powdercoated black, the rear has one small nick out of it. The front looks good but there is one small area with a little fisheye in it. I'll try to get a pic of the flaw if you want it, the pic I have makes it look a lot worse than it is. I'll be putting these on ebay soon, but I'd rather not mess with it if I can help it. Ask questions if you need to. I will sell these with free shipping (one of the perks of my job). Help a Chopperfreak out and get some cool stuff for your bike. I'm asking $250 OBO for the set, but will consider partial trades. Let me know what ya have to trade.The bearings are for 3/4" axles and the PN for the front wheel is 43499-78, the rear wheel doesn't have a number on it, but it is from the same bike as the front I'm pretty sure. Tell your friends! I want these sold without having to screw around with ebay!

The rear wheel

Other side

The front with the Firestone tire.

Very close up shot of the nick on the rear wheel, it is actually slightly smaller than a BB.

UPDATE: The Weed Steed

Some of you will remember when I posted a while back about the Weed Steed. This was Nick's bike that he sold and Duane had fallen in love with it and wanted it so he tracked down the bike from the person Nick sold it to and bought it. Since then he has been working with Nick and Spenser to get it back to chopper glory. It's not done yet, but it's getting close. It still needs the wires run and a few other details but here it is for now....

New paint, rechromed oil tank, new pipes and a few other details.

Me being artsy again.

Dig those classic lines!

I LOVE the old ribbed primaries and king/queen seats.

Another Great Saturday!!!

Saturday was BEAUTIFUL! We had temps in the 70's and the sky had just enough clouds to keep us all from getting too sunburned. Started off at GarCo staring at the Sporty trying to figure out what I could do with the stock parts I had on hand. Ended up screwing around with the rear brake caliper and trying it in different configurations. Finally ended up like this. I think it's going to work well. Also in the afternoon I chopped off the brake and fender mounts from the front end so that Ross at SouthPaw Machining could shave the legs. Lunch turned out to be a nice ride. We took the long way and Ross got to take his first ride on an HD. He did fine and seemed to enjoy it. The best thing was that it was warm enough for no jackets. That is unheard of in February, normally this is when we have our coldest weather. I'm not complaining though I'll take it! Enjoy the pics, we sure as hell enjoyed the day!

The new brake set up. Gotta get a rotor and sprocket so that I can finish setting up the rear wheel.

Choppin' some unneeded aluminum

Leaving lunch, that's Nick, Spenser and Larry from left to right.

Heading out to the parking lot. Ashley (Larry's main squeeze) was heading to her cage since she had just gotten off work and met us for lunch.

The only intersection with a light long enough for me to get my phone out and take a pic.

We made that parking lot look good!

Ashley took this one with her iPhone. That's me at the back, someone's gotta run interference for these deathtraps. :-D

Ed's Shovelhead

The man I bought my latest Sportster project from is Ed. He likes to buy basketcases and make them into sweet machines, sell em off and do it all over again. Some of the work he does himself, some is done by GarCo. Either way the bikes end up pretty nice. This bike was an old shovelhead that was pretty rough when I first saw it. There were no rear shocks and it had to be brought into the shop with a forklift because it wouldn't roll. It's come a long way since then. Check it out and bask in its FL glory!

Dig the cool lake pipes end caps Ross made for the bike. It looks pretty damn cool and sounds really nice.

Shane at  is getting pretty damn good at this leather gig. Another one made by him, it's kinda plain, but the craftsmanship is really nice.

Just getting a little artsy. You can really see the exhaust endcaps in this one.

Another picture to show my creativity. Gotta encourage the artist in me, one day I might actually show a little talent and figure out how to make some money to help pay for those chopper parts.

A Future Project For Someone

Nick was surfing Craigslist and discovered this beautiful piece of chopper history. Apparently it sat in a garage unmolested for 10-20 years. The engine appears to have not been run since it was rebuilt. If you are interested in it give Larry a call at the shop, ya might get lucky.
http://www.garagecompanycustoms.com/
205-682-0040

By the way, I want to clear up some info. I am NOT affiliated with GarCo in any way other than them being DAMN Good Friends. Larry lets me hang around and bum shop space as well as take pictures of whatever catches my eye. If you haven't hung out with the GarCo crew and the Haints then you are missing out. As we used to say in the Army, they're "good people". Come by and visit, support the shop and bring your bike in for custom work or even a simple service. It's all good.

It appears that this tire was on a bike that had a bolt close to the tire and a large person must have sat on the back and made it rub.

Spenser Knows How to Break in a Bike!

Saturday the rest of the guys were in Cincinnati at the V-Twin show poor Spenser had to stay behind to mind the store. It's been cold lately and he decided he needed to hear his bike run, that led to a ride up and down the street and some playing in the parking lot. Luckily I was able to catch this shot. I'm looking forward to many rides beside this bike!

Not A Good Day for the Owner of This one!

 A few weeks ago this bike had just been rewired and was being run to test the new electrical stuff. While it was running it made a funny clicking sound for a few seconds and then died. Today Spenser and I had a chance to tear the head off to survey the damage. It is NOT pretty.....

The poor beast that a guy is TRYING to resurrect.

The valve broke off, flattened the electrode of the spark plug and wedge itself over the sparkplug hole while beating a tune on the piston.

Another view.

What the remains of the stem still attached to the valve did to the piston, this is not a pretty sight. I feel bad for the guy because it seems to be one thing after another, but then again he IS the one who keep plugging along with it.

I like this shot, I used an l.e.d. flashlight to illuminate the piston so I didn't have to try and use the flash. I like how it came out.

The Dixie Roundup and Dice Party!!!!

Y'all need to make it here for this party. GarCo parties are becoming World Famous! Attend one before they get so big you need an engraved invitation!!

Here is the info from Nick...

Here it is! April 30th 2011. The Dice Party in Birmingham, Alabama! We will also have a chopper show before the party put on by Garage Co. Customs. You don't want to miss this one. The plan is to have a radical chopper show at the Garage Co. Customs shop full of southern hospitality. Then, we'll get a mob together and ride through the city into beautiful downtown Birmingham to the party. The bar where the party will be held is in a historical spot in a super cool location. We might even get one of our famous dude lovin' dance parties started, who knows? It will definitely be worth coming to.

UPDATE: Spenser's Shovel runs!

Spenser has finally gotten his shovelhead running. It is not finished, he's still waiting for Shane to finish the gas tank and he is still working bugs out, but once again she's on the road and running like a dream!

Spenser had a small electrical issue on the way back from lunch Sat. but he got is squared away quickly.

The gas tank is a spare that Nick had laying around, it'll work until the right one gets finished.

Kyle's Nightster....

Spenser was working on building a new sissy bar for Kyle when I got to the shop Saturday. This bike started life as a Nightster and is working its way into becoming quite the bad ass little Sporty. You'll have to excuse the quality of these pics, it was late in the day and the sun was all wrong, but I wanted to get some pics to share.

Off to a good start. He's added solid struts in place of shocks, a nice little ribbed fender, the new sissy bar, a solo seat and some killer paint to the tank.

The new sissy bar

Good shot of the bars from this angle

In all it's Sportster Glory!