The Bastard Bash is coming up in August.

Trying to get things together to make the trip to the Bastard Bash at Deal's Gap in August. I'm getting pretty excited and am ready to go except that I need to get my damn Sportster running first. If you haven't heard of the Quad Cam Bastards you need to check out the QCB Blog  It's basically a group of Sportster Chopping Bastards who decided to start having a gathering of forum members. It's started to grow and now pretty much anyone is invited. Come up for the fun and enjoy the party. You can get more info here. In the meantime here are some pics I took last year to get you in the right frame of mind.

Gotta love a motorcycle resort being taken over by a group of chopper freaks.

This bike came all the way from Canada to partake of the festivities.

It had already been removed by the time I took this, but when this bike arrived it had a keg mounted to the sissy bar with an old Sporty oil tank mounted on the side with the tap installed. This beer went QUICK!

Alvarez's bike from Florida.

Everyone broke up into groups and went riding to different places.

My good friend Hollie's bike from Ohio.

The bikes are starting to trickle back in and people are getting their drinking shirts on.

My New Oil Tank...

Just got my new oil tank a few days ago. FINALLY got a few parts to start working on the Sportster again. This tank came from Spitfire Motorcycles and it is BEAUTIFUL. Worth every penny I paid for it AND it shipped super fast. I ordered it on late Friday and had it by Wednesday. Not bad for crossing the whole country. If you need an oil tank check these guys out. I don't get anything for promoting them, I'm just that damn impressed with the tank. I'll post more pictures of it during and after mounting it on the bike.

Look at stack of dimes around that neck. The cap is a solid piece as well. All the welds look great and I can't wait to see how it looks on the bike.

They have two other styles for the ends, but I liked this one the best. It's a little different than the usual tank.

Another view of the welds. Check em out, for $149 plus shipping it can't be beat. Spenser never wants me to buy anything, he always wants to make it and even he said buy it.

More Stuff From Saturday And The Ha Ha Honda...

After I left Conte Kustoms Saturday I swung by GarCo expecting them to all be gone to the Smokeout, but it turns out that Larry and Ashley were off having fun, but Spenser decided to stick around the home front. I guess that's a good thing since he took advantage of the time to wheel and deal to get a 250 Rebel for his sweetie Ha Ha Holly. It's about time she had her own bike. I think a lot of the ideas in this bike will be Spenser's but the sweat involved will be Holly's. They got started and so far so good. Obviously you can see the sheetmetal is gone, but they also relocated the top shock mount back about 2-3". That'll raise the seat a little and give them more room to play with the rear fender set up. Holly did all the grinding for this and Spenser did the welding. Sounds like a good combination to me.

You can see a little of the work on the shock and part of the new handlebars. They're a set of nice ACE bars from a cafe racer flipped upside down and used in the conventional configuration.

Better shot of the bars and you can see Holly in the background. She's really into this and I can't wait to see the results.

Better view of the shock relocation and handlebars. Once again that's Holly and Spenser's dog Luke in the back.

J-Body is finally making progress on his shovel. It's damn near ready to tear apart for paint. Can't wait to see it when it's finished.

Love the new handlebars and sissybar. The bike is over 8' long and bad ass!

Yep, it's been wet here a lot lately. Right after I got to the shop it rained like crazy.

Of course it kept raining and after a couple of hours I gave up and rode home in it. Oh well, it's not the first time I've ridden in the rain. Hell, it's not even the first time this month ;-)

Conte Kustoms Revisit!

Finally got a chance to stop back in at Conte Kustoms. Been trying to get back by there since the Open House, but weather and circumstances kept getting in the way. I'm glad I made it by, they have some exciting stuff about to happen and I'll get to see it all from the start and of course through me, so will you. First thing, if you've tried to get in contact with them and had problems that's because Raph had a minor accident in a cage and got banged up a little. He's OK, just beat up a bit. He's back at it now and ready to help you with your bike. The shop is just getting things rolling after moving from Raph's garage into a real shop so we spent a lot of my visit talking about the ideas they have and with me sharing with them things I've seen work from 20 years of riding and 10 years in the print industry. Keep your eyes open for them to start showing up in a lot of places both in the cyber world and the real one.

Part of the work area. This is a bike that the owner built but needed CK to help him out. They rewired the bike, mounted the new gas tank and did a few other things. Now it's up to the owner to finish what he started. That's the beauty of a shop like this. They're happy to help you get through a part of your project or to build the whole thing for you. Bring them anything from a simple service to a full blown custom (or should I say Kustom) build and you'll be happy with the results. I can guarantee you that you'll save money on your service if you bring it here instead of a dealer.

Another section of the shop where the goodies are kept. I saw a lot of good stuff stashed over here. It's a nice workbench and a place to keep the extra stuff. Up on the shelves are some sheetmetal and other stuff just waiting for a new place to ride.

The next shop project. It's a '74 CB750 SOHC (I had my notebook with me this time). The bike came as part of a trade for some work and it's all there. I can't wait to see what direction it goes in. I'll be posting updates on this one as it progresses.

The other side. You can see how rough it is, but I've seen much worse starting points that ended up show quality.

All the missing stuff is in a box. The motor turns and has good compression so we're hopeful that it's good inside.

Told you it was rough.

This bike is for sale! It's a Honda VLX and is a killer little bike that will keep up with any cruiser out there AND will last for over a 100k miles. Give em a call and buy this beast so they can fund the next project!

Conte Kustom
643-A Stuart Lane, Pelham, AL 35124
(205) 757-7238
www.contekustoms.com

Randomness Abounds!

Since it's Smokeout Weekend and a lot of folks are up there playing around I thought I'd go ahead and post some random stuff that I kinda wanted to post, but it never really went with anything. Hope ya like some of these.

This one is for Bill since he liked the truck so much and mentioned this van in his comments. Rough, but still cool. Supposedly it just needs a radiator, I'd love to have it.

Gotta have that ladder to reach the cool stuff you can't fit inside!

I made this YEARS ago when I was first learning Photoshop. The original picture was of a drag bike I was doing some marketing for. It was a small team and a $5 axle adjuster killed us when it let the chain come off and broke the engine.transmission case.

Same picture done a different way.

An earlier version of the Triumph. The springer looked cool but really sucked, especially since it was too short and had the front of the frame a 1/4" lower than the rear.

The last ironhead I owned. I used FX fender rails mounted on the outside of the frame so I could use a little wider fender and get the the bike lower and meaner looking. Hate that I had to sell this one. I traded a Rebel 250 to get it. Didn't look this nice back then though.

Another view of the previous Triumph incarnation. I love to play in Photoshop and do different stuff to my pictures.

Rockabilly Luau In My Sights Again!

Got some more cool stuff from the Luau. Not much to say about it, just scope it out and let me know what you think!

Sweet old Ford truck. I love this body style and would LOVE to have one. I really want a Dodge A-100 but would still take a Ford or Chevy version instead. This one is a really nice clean UNRESTORED original. It's even still got the hubcaps. Hard to beat a beauty like this.

Very distinctive grills on all these trucks. It would probably suck in a head on collision, but that's the price you pay for cool.

It's got a workhorse inline 6 and original bucket seats. Nothing fancy in these trucks, it's all business.

A couple of young ladies showing off their vintage swimwear.

Pretty little rockabilly redhead enjoying a nice cool adult beverage on a really hot day.

Another bad ass all original car. This one is a Plymouth and looked like it just rolled out of the showroom. There were a couple of killer custom rides as well, but I'll post them later.

And Another Visit To the BMR

Got some more BMR pics to share. There are just too many cool bikes to not keep sharing even if it takes me 6 months. Enjoy the pics and start planning now to attend next years party.

This bike is just plain kick ass. Just sit and stare at it for a bit and you'll start to notice the little details that make or break a bike. Anyone can toss on a hardtail and call it a chopper, but to be right, it needs the small details tied in.

You can see more of the details from this view. Hugh, you and the boys did a good job on this one!

Jeremy had just enough moonshine to decide this outfit was appropriate. I tried to get that drunk, but just couldn't make it. I'm glad I could preserve the moment for all the fans out there. Can't wait to see your party clothes next year ;-)

Moon and Bill getting gas. I liked this old station, it was like a time capsule from when I was a kid. They still had old style pumps and a REALLY old Texaco sign.

Now for a couple of pics of the greatest pair of bikes I saw all weekend. This person LOVED their smiley faces, right down to the mirrors of the bike. I guess it's all good as long as they're having fun.

And the other half of the pair, this one a HUGE Tennessee and SEC fan. I'd love to find out where they found the big orange T mirrors. After what I did to the old Batcycle/Honda I can't say too much, at least they're having fun.

And just to make up for the two previous pictures here is a near perfect Knucklehead to make amends. Hope this helps to clean the other images out of your brain.

Until next time.....

Black Betty, A 50's Caddy With Great Style.

How can ya have a Rockabilly show without a classic Cadillac? Fortunately we didn't have to find out because Black Betty here showed up for the show. Once again I didn't get much info, this time it's because I was in a hurry to get in and hear the bands. Sorry, that's how it goes sometimes. I gave the owner one of my cards so if you see this go ahead and post some details in the comments. Basically from what I could see the car is mostly stock with a few choice mods. The paint is flat black, but the roof was bright green and shining like a gem. Throw on a little pinstriping to get people to stop asking what color it was gonna get painted and you have this sweet ride.

Love the wide whites and Caddy hubcaps.

You can see the shiny green roof here.

The proud owner of this fine ride.

Love the small fins on these cars.

Nice view of the pinstriping.

Very cool plasma cut metal adorning the engine. This is a great very lightly molested car that I would LOVE to own. I hope this ride sees a million more miles before it reaches the end.

 How could I post this car without sharing the pic I took of the Big Boy tattoo? Gotta love it. Saw a TON of great ink, but I felt weird about just walking up to people I didn't know to get pics. I'll get over that one day, it's just a left over from those awkward shy teenage years .

Some of the hula hoop practice got a little interesting.