It Rained Saturday and Messed Up My Plans....

I had planned to hang out at GarCo for a little bit, then go back over to Conte Kustoms to get some better shots of their bikes. I only made it to GarCo before the rain came crashing down. I ended up hanging out there until after 5 waiting for the roads to dry enough to ride home. I didn't take my rain gear since it was only a 30% chance of rain and around here that just means its daytime in the summer for Alabama. I managed to get a few pics so I'll share what I have...

Spenser working on a friend/customer's bike. He did a LOT of the work, but got the GarCo guys to handle the stuff he didn't have tools or experience for. In this shot Stewy is shortening the handlebars they made.

Outside for a test ride around the parking lot.

Ok, we survived the trip around the lot, let's go down the road a little ways!

Coming back from the test ride. Everything was A-OK!

Larry working on the Chop Off bike for the Smoke Out.

I got a few more pics, but I'll save those. Don't want to spoil y'all!

Dain From Evel Twin Motor Werks

While we were on a Beer run during BMR I saw these guys at the grocery store and had to go over and talk to them.  A little while later I noticed Dain sitting out in the open area of the BMR campground a got a few pictures.  I see a good number of guys who have been messed up pretty bad from either bike wrecks or from Military Service. Too many of those folks have given up on what makes them truly happy. They think that since they lost a little flesh that they are not "whole" anymore. I love it when I run across people who said "screw that!" They love life and intend to live it as fully as they can. Dain is one of those guys and so is his long time riding partner (I'm an asshole and forgot to write down his name). Basically Dain was in a bad motorcycle wreck a few years ago and ended up losing his leg from just below the hip and his left arm which is still there, but has very little use except for his middle two finders. Did this stop him from riding? HELL NO!! He has pulled himself up with the help of some friends and learned to deal with it and to get on with life. He's modified his bike so that he can still ride even though his prosthetic leg doesn't want to cooperate in that act. Screw it He's gonna ride! He gives a lot of the credit for him being able to get back on the road to his friend who himself lost his leg many years ago and is actually the subject of Michael Lichter's photo "Early Morning" from Sturgis in 1979. Seeing these two guys riding around reminds us that if we really want to ride we need to quit whining and get off our asses and just do it!

If you're ever in Nashville and need some work done give Dain a call at the shop, Evel Twin Motor Werks (615) 818-7027 By the way did you catch how he spells the shop name? That's right he knows the deal :)

Dain and his Dyna modified to be hand shifted from this side with a simple but ingenious shifter set up..

Yep, that's his leg strapped across the back of the bike, doesn't stop him from riding though.

Dain's riding partner and inspiration to get back on two wheels. He was the subject of M. Lichter's famous photo posted below. It was really cool to not only meet a man who wouldn't let his injuries get him down, but who is also the subject of one of the coolest photos ever taken at a Biker Party.

Yep, that's him under the blanket and that's his leg leaning on the back wheel.


If this doesn't inspire you to quit yer bitchin' to get out and ride I don't know what will.

A Bad Ass Station Wagon!!!

Saw this at the Farmer's Market over Memorial Day Weekend and had to get a few shots. I dig it and thought y'all might like it too. All I know is that it's an old Buick Wagon and is in BEAUTIFUL shape. Hope ya dig it!

Primitive Cycles!

Met some guys at the Conte Kustoms open house from Primitive Cycle in Tuscaloosa, AL. These guys live up to their name! A month ago when the tornadoes ravaged Tuscaloosa these guys managed to get through it alive and mostly intact. However they were busting ass to get this bike ready for the Dixie Roundup so they were in their shop with no electricity and not much else trying to get the bike wired and plumbed in time for the show. They ended up not making it, but that was because of a vendor screwing up a parts order TWICE. It sure as hell wasn't from a lack of effort on their part. On to the bike, it's an old Honda 750 with a nice looking hardtail added to it, a round oil tank, a vintage mustang style tank with the old flush mounted gas cap straight from the old days, not a modern repop. The pipes are 4 into 2's and sound mean as hell. The rest of the bike is your basic chopper bad ass stuff. Killer king & Queen seat on a flat fender, drum brakes and a cool set of handlebars that really seem to work with this set up. Check out the pics here and see even more on their website Primitive Cycle.

Nice way to get the word out about the shop. Make it obvious who made the beast.

Good view of the pipes in this shot.

Those handlebars, the seat and that vintage tank really make this bike a standout in a sea of retro choppers.

As you can see no front brake is the way to go.

The guys from the shop showing some of the details to Spenser.

It's great to see some more local/regional shops get up and running. The more cool bikes around here the happier I become ;-) Be sure and give these guys a call or go by and see them.

Primitive Cycle
(205) 242-5537
Tuscaloosa, AL
www.primitivecycle.com

oNe WiLd BmW!!!!

Another great bike from the BMR. It started life as a BMW and somewhere during its life it managed to start running with the wrong people and ended up in the shape you see here. once again I didn't get the details, but as you can see the details are there for you to see. If you know more about this bike feel free to add the info in the comments. Great work like this needs to be recognized!

Top view, not much left from here that came from Bavaria.

Handmade leaf spring forks and all kinds of other cool details.

Some more details of the front end. I like the cool cage they made for the light as well as the way it is mounted and the handlebars are VERY unique. The wing nuts holding the leaf spring are a nice touch.

Very nice clean lines from this angle.

You don't see this style of brake set up very often. ESPECIALLY on a shaft driven engine. A very nice job was done converting the drivetrain to a chain drive. A lot of work and design went into this set up.

I never knew the key switch was part of the engine cases. I've always liked how the kick starter was set up on old BMW's. It makes sense with the way the crankshaft spins, but it just looks odd. Once again a lot of details for you to stare at and ponder.

I promise that I will start carrying a notepad of some kind and will get more details on these bikes. A lot of great work is seen, but not really understood. I want to give you the details needed to understand it.

Conte Kustoms Open House and Grand Opening!

There's a new shop in my area and I was lucky enough to make it out for their Grand Opening Party. The shop is called Conte Kustoms and they are building some damn nice bikes. We all know my first true love is Harley, but after getting 67,000 trouble free miles from my old Shadow ACE 750 I have a soft spot for some of these bikes. Also, they are one of the most economical ways for younger guys to get into custom bikes without needing a ton of cash and a full tool box full of Snap-On's best. What they do is take late model metrics such as the previously mentioned ACE or Honda VLX 600's as well as Marauders and Aero's and any other suitable donor, strip them down and make them look a helluva lot better than the factory ever did. These bikes are a lot of fun and will let the newer guys and even some older ones get out on the road and enjoy riding a custom bike while they learn the ropes of maintaining their own ride. I've always said the last thing a new rider wants is a damn old Ironhead Sportster if you expect them to still be riding in a few years. And of course for a couple of grand the only Harley you'll find is an old mistreated Sporty. I LOVE ironheads, but most of them have been neglected and jury-rigged to the point of needing a LOT of TLC to be ridden regularly. These metrics take that pressure of the young guy and lets him enjoy the bike and the ride. I took a bunch of pics of their bikes, but I'm not happy with most of the shots so I plan to get back by and reshoot most of them. A few pics DID come out pretty good so I'll share those with you. If you want to see more in the meantime check out their website Conte Kustoms or their Blog.  I have a feeling you'll be seeing more of their work on these pages in the future.

Hanging out and enjoying the free beer and food.

The band was set up inside the shop near the beer coolers of course. They had a nice little crowd that filtered in and out all day. Not a bad turnout for a new shop without a large marketing budget.

The Honda ACE I talked about earlier. It's done right, they mounted a flat rear fender with a slight lip on the rear to keep it interesting. The fender is mounted to the swing arm so that it sits down nice and tight on the wheel. The pipes are stock head pipes with custom ends done in the same way that I had done my own. The VW bus is a friend of theirs that stopped by. It looked cool so I snuck it into the picture.

Nice little VLX with the rear fender mounted in a similar way to the ACE, the paint is a beautiful House of Kolor Silver metallic. It also has custom exhaust and a cool looking air cleaner to help bring out the lines of the engine, the sissy bar is handmade and really works with the p-pad seat combo.

This is the rear fender on a Marauder, I've always liked this style of fender mounted on the rear like this. It sits up at a nice angle and really sets off the rear of the bike.

Give these guys a call if you're interested in their work. They'd love to hear from you.
Conte Kustoms  (205) 757-7238
643-A Stuart Lane, Pelham, AL 35124
www.contekustoms.com

The Suicide Imbecile at the Big Mtn Run.

Another beautiful Sporty I saw at BMR. I need to start carrying a notebook and trying to get more details about these bikes when I see them. I can certainly tell you a few things about this bike such as the details are kick ass and worthy of looking for. There is some really cool engraving in places like the brake plates and kicker cover. The air cleaner is a one off for sure and the way the paint was done makes me smile. I'm not into the fake aged paint where a guy paints a bunch of layers and then grinds some off. These guys did it differently though. They used this technique, but not to look aged. They painted the silver to match the tank and then in places like the side of the front down tubes they made a grind stripe (for lack of a better term) so that it looks like they painted a really cool stripe with a quick brush swipe, but it has a better look done this way. You'll have to see it in person to really get the effect, but I can assure you it is worth the look.

Suicide Imbecile in all its glory. I'm not sure about the all terrain tires, but they are growing on me. I think it gives it a meaner more aggressive look.

I love the sissybar/tailight set up, it looks like the light is an original piece as well.

I love those old tin primaries.

You can look at this pic for days and still not catch all the details. I know I've looked at it at least 20 times and still see something new. I like the way the shifter is done. If you make a shifter too heavy it's going to wear out your seals faster and can cause other issues. This way of doing it keeps the weight down and at the same time doesn't over power all the other cool details.

A closer view of some of the engraving.

Lunch Ride Last Saturday

We had a nice ride to lunch last Sat. Spenser broke his key switch on his shovel so he decided to ride the "Artistry in Iron" bike (Negra Pantaloons) to lunch. This little Panheaded beasty is a monster! This bike has PLENTY of power and Stewy wasn't even raising hell with it. It's just gonna get better as it gets broke in too. Anyway, enjoy the pics I for sure enjoyed taking them.

Took a picture of Ashley taking a picture of Spenser. Of course I thought it was funny, no one else did ;-)

Stewy trying to get me to come over and give him a hug.

Just playing around with how I held the camera. I was trying to not get my handlebars in the pic.

Ed came along as well. He keeps up pretty good for an old guy (HEY! He's older than me at least!)

Ed slipping up alongside me.

More Randoms Because It Is...

hell week at work and my neck is giving me fits. It sucks getting old! Anyway, here are a bunch of pics to get you by. I'll be mixing some current stuff in with the BMR stuff after this one....

Hanging out, waiting for the sun to go down and the craziness to begin.

Gettin' gas before riding up to the falls.

Wading in the Hiawassee.

Larry with "Dixie wrecked" loaded down and rollin.

Larry, Warren and Teach.

DO NOT eat at this place. The service was so bad I almost choked a damn hippie!


Remember to come back tomorrow, same bat-time, same bat-channel!

My Favorite Sportster of the BMR.....

Of course I'm a little biased since Buttas is a friend of mine. I first met him through the Quad Cam Bastards forum and we got to hang out for a bit at the Bastard Bash last year. Buttas is damn fine bike builder and has out done himself with this one. If I'm not mistaken they shot it for Cycle Source so keep your eyes peeled for a real feature on this bike. In the meantime check out my pics and do a little drooling.

Kick ass narrowed tank, with a custom filler, sight gauge and the QCB logo placed on it. This is the same tank I showed you in an earlier post.

I love that steamroller look with the 16" wheel and the springer fork. Of course those pipes are custom made

Just more beauty to gaze upon.

Good view of the pipes here as well as the super clean fender set up.

Good view of the floorboards. Everyone said he couldn't put those on a Sporty,but he did anyway and they look great with the fat front end. Basically Buttas RIDES this bike (He was in the middle of a ride from FL to VA and back toe FL) so he needed more space to move his feet around on the road. The shifter set up took some trial and error and a few redo's but it came out great.

You can see how the rear brake set up worked out AND the required cam cover chop since he IS a member of the Quad Cam Bastards. You can also see the mods to the sprocket cover, most guys try to get rid of it, but some of us want to keep the rear Master Cyl in that spot so a little creativity is in order.

Rat Fink taillight and vintage style toolbox. I think he's road ready.