Car99r's Garage

Parting out a 1974 Honda CB360T

2011-12-28T08:58:00.004-06:00

Winter...

2011-12-15T10:45:00.000-06:00

I HATE WINTER!

Honestly, I wish I could just hibernate through it sometimes. Starting to get cold around here in the venings and of course dark only 2 hours after I get off work. One of these days when kids are grown and gone and I get to retire I will move to southern California and get away from this weather.

Until then I guess I will keep plugging away at things and keep bitching about it.

Now that my house has all new carpet, hardwood flooring and new furniture it is time to get back on to my toys.

I did manage to get the shop cleaned back up and began working on the Kong Project again. I had cut the neck to rake it out to accept the +8 forks I had picked up from Landman over at So'Full Garage. Now I had to weld it back solid and put in some gussets. I got one side done and will hopefully have the other side done soon.

I picked up a DOHC swingarm from a 1979 model off of Mynameismudd on TCU and HC.com. I also got a local to bend some 1" DOM for me so I can get the seat post rails back into place. So Once this neck area is done it will be time to get the rest of the frame back together.

Until next time I will leave you with this truth...

New Shirts!!!!

2011-12-09T09:22:00.000-06:00

OK, so the prices are a bit high due to one off printing but I do have shirts available now. You can get yours by clicking the images to the right of your screen.

First up is the Official Car99r's Garage Black Tee with the CB750 SOHC motor on back.

The just for shits and giggles we have the famous WIFE shirt available in black or white. Be sure and pick one up for that loved one in your life... ***AT YOUR OWN RISK OF COURSE***

Fazer1sniper's Ride

2011-11-22T12:26:00.001-06:00

Seen this picture and wanted to share it plus a link to all other pics that belong to Fazer1sniper.

This picture is just 1 of many bikes that he has built and many more pictures here that show off his wife's beauty.

PS. On a separate note, Sniper's daughter is deployed with the US Army 3rd Special Forces. Our thoughts are with her and all those who serve our country!!!

Trip to the almighty Walmart...

2011-11-17T21:49:00.001-06:00

I figured you all would get a kick out of this one...

I decided after work last night to stop into my local Super Walmart to pick up a new wireless keyboard and a surge protector... Now, I never go to big stores. If I cannot buy it at the local farm supply store, hardware store, auto parts store or gas station then I buy online.

I suddenly remembered why I never go to that place...lol

It took me 15 minutes to find where I needed to be for the stuff cause I never know where anything is. Then I get it and decide to stop and check out that camera I have been wanting. I pick the camera up and an ear piercing alarm starts going off. Loud as hell and many employees looking at me as I stand there continuing to check it out but not a single one moving to silence this annoying ass alarm. Finally some guy walks out as I walk away to shut it off and I mention it is annoying and he says "Yep!" with a facial expression like it was all my fault for looking at something to buy.

I then go up to pay at one of the only 2 checkouts open (45 closed ones) and my friggin bank check card would not scan, lady scans it 3-4 times and says I will have to pay some other way. I tell her to see if she can round up a manager to hand enter it. She says they cannot do this and I proceed to tell her they can and have before so please call a manager. Finally a kid shows up and I tell him and he does it just as the last time when this happened.

Then I go to leave and the damn security thing goes off at the door and some 16 year old punk kid comes running over like he was gonna tackle me (Now, I remind you I am 6'1" and 300 lbs, this kid is about 5'5" and 90 lbs soaking wet... Yeah, tackle me...lmao). I stop him and tell him he better slow down. He asks to see my receipt, takes stuff up to register, runs over magnet and I walk out finally...

I will try to go another year without stepping into that place!

Why Do Bikers Wear Black

2011-11-17T18:29:00.000-06:00

We've had so many emails asking why bikers wear black that I thought the question deserved a detailed explanation and here it is.

The vast majority of the population at large imagines that Bikers and other so-called 'undesirables' and 'social misfits' usually wear black attire to make some kind of social statement. Many think that the adoption of a black wardrobe is done to reflect the horror of Hitler's infamous Schutzstaffel, the SS, who wore black uniforms with lightening bolts and skulls as the units hallmark Others think that black clothes are deliberately adopted to make one look tough, sinister or satanic. Where conventional straight society sees white shirts as a sign of success it is supposed that the 'underclass' adopts black in opposition just to be different.

Well it may surprise many, including a lot of bikers, to learn that the adoption of black clothing goes way back in time and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with social statements. It was just an adaptation to environmental conditions. People whose trade involved working with 'dirty' machinery wore black (or dark) clothing to hide dirt and grease.

The common term 'blacksmith' referred to a smithy, one who works with metals, and 'black', specifically meaning iron. It was the common practice for smithy's to wear dark clothing to hide the soot, slag and grease deposited on their clothes over the course of their everyday work.

Nothing has changed much over time and even today it is quite common for metal workers to wear dark work clothes such as the dark blue and sometimes black worn by maintenance workers in industrial plants.

As the matter of dark clothing relates to bikers who don't do any metal work the practice of dressing 'darkly' was popularized because old motorcycles were notoriously 'dirty' machines slinging oil and grease in all directions when they were ridden so light colored dusters were definitely not the thing to wear on one's bike. In addition it was not uncommon for those who rode motorbikes to be campers and if you've ever spent any extended time camping out you'll no doubt understand that white 'undies' or 'outies' aren't the ideal thing to be wearing for days on end.

Dark clothes are simply a matter of practicality when one works on or operates machinery that generates a lot of oily dirt. It's as simple as that. There is no social statement being made and there never has been except in the minds of those who believe wearing black means something special, which it doesn't.

The Hollywood crowd however loves the black Tee-shirts with all of the anti-social chopper logos printed on the back side and black leather chaps are just the rage these days but I'm personally suspicious of folks wearing black 'outers' with white 'inners' if you know what I mean.

~Chopper Builder's Handbook

2011-11-09T23:25:00.001-06:00

bikerMetric | custom yamaha xs650 honda cb450 metric bobbers choppers cafe racers parts: biker movie posters #1

2011-11-09T20:03:00.000-06:00

I wish I would have seen Biker Metric's latest blog before ordering anythign for my new theatre room walls...

bikerMetric custom yamaha xs650 honda cb450 metric bobbers choppers cafe racers parts: biker movie posters #1: thanks to the always kickass wrong side of the art for these gnarly old biker movie posters.

Harlo's Kong Project

2011-10-31T20:38:00.002-05:00

So a few weeks ago I picked up a hell of a deal. 1975 CB750 with 4-1 exhaust and Lester mags. Well, I have many projects sitting around and Harlo was over one day and said he really wanted to do a CB750 Kong project after seeing Landman's bobber he has been riding the last couple of months.

I decided to pass the deal onto Harlo for the same price and give him a hand building it when I have time.

This past Saturday while the rest of the Flatlanders were partying it up for Halloween at the So'Full Garage we tore into it.

Here it is at the beginning...

and 3 hours later...

Pile of trash removed so far!

This pile is stuff that can be re-sold for cool parts and/or re-useable parts on the build.

The motor on this thing has froze up over the past 2 years sitting outside but we dumped some PB Blaster in the cylinders that day and this evening I was able to kick it over just fine.

The Flatlanders

2011-10-28T10:57:00.003-05:00

Motorcycles have evolved greatly over the decades. The term “chopper” presented itself back in World War II, when soldiers were displeased with the bikes being built at the time. As the story goes, soldiers got together and “chopped” their motorcycles, shortening fenders and removing other unwanted parts, making them lighter in weight and looking less cluttered. This has been a hobby of mine for quite some time now, with motorcycles and "chopping" also comes, bringing people together, and sharing ideas.

The later is what being a Flatlander is all about to me. I have grown very fond of our little Rider's Club and I am proud to call each and everyone of them brothers. I know they have my back and it doesn't matter if I am right or wrong because they will still support it and I the same.

Chris "car99r" Robertson (That's me...)

Barry "Landman" Land

Mike "Scraphous" Heminghous

Cody "Weird Beard" Pruitt

Paul "Copper_King" Schanbacher

Harlo "Harlo" Watkins

Derek "Dirka" Miller

Justin "justin" McMullen

R.I.P Brother!

Jason "Brumie" Brumfield

Bill "Dirty Sparkles" Krummel

Tim "trfoltz" Foltz

Ken "Greazy" Corrie

Roger "Falldown" Lindemuth

Merchandise

2011-10-21T21:04:00.000-05:00

So, I am always looking for new things to toss in the TCU store and try to keep them cheap. Well, I recently had some new stickers made up and some new oval patches. You can see all of the TCU merchandise by clicking here!

Dudly's CL360 Build

2011-10-15T20:23:00.000-05:00

Some of you might know our member Sody from North (and I mean WAY North) Michigan but do you know that when he is not turning out sweet bikes like the Honda VLX pictured here that he spends his time assisting his little brother learn the wrench?

Sody's 07 VLX Build

Dudly's story...

Here is what he started with... (1974 Honda CL360)

and as any good chopperhead does in the first 4 hours of owning it...

5" stretch in the swingarm will give some much needed room on this little thing...

and how is this for low cost custom building???

A tractor supply trailer fender, narrowed 2" and shortened,

and one of the rear turn signals made with 2" bullet style LEDs and 1 1/2 conduit copmression fittings (slightly modified)

Massged some more room by using pod filters instead of those bulky air boxes. This should also make room for a new battery tray and electrics mount.

After a couple of weeks being immobile from surgery and only getting to watch Sody play in the garage, Dudly was back at it with some rattle cans.

Then it was time to start assembling all the pieces again...

and we have a low cost custom build straight from a hidden garage in the coldest part of Michigan!

Dudly finally gets to go for the first ride! Not bad for a little less than 6 months and a rotator cuff surgery in between. Good job Dudly!

Mother lode of barn-find Indians see light of day at Hemmings Blog: Classic and collectible cars and parts

2011-10-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

Mother lode of barn-find Indians see light of day at Hemmings Blog: Classic and collectible cars and parts

TCU Jackets & Hoodies

2011-10-12T21:18:00.000-05:00

The cold weather is starting to set in so I am going to to a run of jackets just like the one I wear and pullover hoodies.

Please read this carefully!!!I will be taking PRE-ORDERS on these. This means I do not have them in stock so please don't PM or email me 1 week after placing your order asking where they are.

I will be taking orders through November 5th. I will then place the order for the jackets and hoodies. It will take 1-2 weeks at best to get them to me and then I will have to have them screen printed. Once the printing is done I will have to sort them, package them and ship them out. Therefore I am going to say to allow me till December 15th to get the items to you. Still plenty of cold left at that date (unfortunately) to enjoy them.

Jackets - $55.00

Hoodies - $35.00

You can order yours by click here!

Here is a build to watch!

2011-10-04T07:37:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of first meeting Joe (JPSwino) at the 2010 Muskegon Backyard Bike Builders meet. One standup guy with a passion for CB750 SOHC's and of course anything else with a motor.

Joe picked up this Cycle One Mfg. (check them out here) Denver's Tribute frame a few weeks ago. He already had one that him and his father (Rick) had started last year for the old man. ***Note, I also met Rick and he is one standup knowledgeable guy as well. Even if he doesn't know the real answer, he will give you one anyway... haha

Both bikes will be CB750's. You can follow along on this build by subscribing to this thread at Thechopperunderground.com.

Rick's will be powered by an 80' DOHC with plans for some CB900 cams to wake it up a bit. Mock up pics with a Columbus springer and some fat wheels. It will receive the same treatment as Joe's with a 21" up front and 150/18 outback.

Joe's bike will receive one of the few punched out SOHC's that litter his shop. He has not decided on the 900 or 1000cc but I am sure it will be radical none the less. Joe has alreayd dressed it up with a Ron Finch springer that has been kicking around for a few years waiting for just the right project.

A few pics of Joe's bike all mocked up into roller form.

Here are just a few other projects that Joe has completed and trust me when i say there are many more in the works.

Bill Norton aka Blacksmithbilly

2011-09-30T07:42:00.000-05:00

Bill is not a fancy guy with a big fancy website. In fact he doesn't have one at all. I believe this to be a simple things as people knowing his work and seeking him out when they know it requires detail and craftsmanship.

You can check out some of his parts here!

I have had the pleasure of meeting Bill once and often find myself in amazement at the work he does on the build. If he is not creating something on one of many of his machines he is turning out parts for other members throughout TCU.

Bill Norton aka Blacksmithbilly started this build back in the spring. The build is for Andrew (The Comeback) from TheChopperUnderground.com which is giving his direction and thoughts on how he wants it done. Bill is working the magic!
I obviously cannot show the entire process here but there are tons more pictures and words located HERE.

"The Comeback"

Axle plates

The KR style hardtail

A bit of a change to the seat rails

The cutting down of a +15 springer

Andrew scores some new wheels

Now time for an oil tank...

and the beginning of another BSM exhaust!

A couple of sketches from The Comeback for Billy to go off of

and away he goes...

To see the rest of the pictures and a couple of th ebike in the daylight on it's feet you will have to check out Billy's thread RIGHT HERE on TCU! You don't want to miss this.

TheGavsDad

2011-09-25T13:00:00.000-05:00

Let me start with this, I don't use my blog for a lot of stuff so I figured to keep it active I would try and do a little write up on different builders from my website Thechopperunderground.com.

Here is the first installment:

TheGavsDad

TheGavsDad has been a member of TCU since early December 2010. He jumped right in and succumbed to the craziness we are known for.

In April of 2011 he picked up this little 81' Kawasaki KZ440. He was quick to name it "Indecisive" because he had no plans with the direction he wanted to go. He started with hops of incorporating a 1880's Iver Johnson Champion shotgun into the build somehow but so far has not found a true home for it. He wants to keep the patina of the gun and go with a a black with rust red accents paint job.

He removed behind the seat, cut the existing shock mounts and is moving them forward. Then he cut all the tabs off, the jack underneath and the pass peg mounts. Plans are to convert it to forward controls and re-use the mounts he cut off.

After a run in with a bad starter our good member The Goat hooked him up with a better one and a good set of carbs.

He then found some unknown origin Honda shocks to use and you can see the difference in height from these next two photos.

Another picture with the re-use of a stock OEM fender on the rear.

Now was the time to make the frame changes to accept the new shock in the new location. TheGavsDad cut the rear section and welded in a cross brace. Then he drilled out the new Shock mounts and test fit the grade 8 bolts that he will roset weld into the cross member. Below is a pic of the test fit. Threads will face outward and the shock will mount of the bolts smooth shank.

Upper shock mounts are done, and the lower just needs to be drilled out and tapped.

The Shock mounts are done and the frame is now welded he has also decided to keep the mid controls for now.

He plans for the tank to be an inch lower on the front and he has a set of 12 inch apes all bent and tacked together for it.

8/15/11:

Bars are done and painted, have the tank mounts all made just need to weld on.

If you want to follow along or check up on where TheGavsDad is at on this build you can see it here!

Plenty more build logs to follow so stay tuned!

Carlsberg stunts with bikers in cinema

2011-09-25T09:29:00.000-05:00

Old bikes and boobs!

2011-09-25T09:25:00.000-05:00

Boobs and bikes just go together. Doesn't matter what kind of bike nor the age of the bike. However, it does matter how old the boobs!!!... haha

Enjoy!

1950 RT125

1950's RT250

1956 ES250

ES175

MZ CUPI

So what happened???

2011-09-16T21:12:00.000-05:00

If you read the story from the last blog entry you probably read that I broke down and had to be trailer-ed back home from Springfield, IL.

Well, tonight I finally got a chance to dig in and find out what went wrong.

My first impression was the throttle had broke somewhere and locked because the bike was stuck at almost full throttle and would not idle down.

So, lets back up a couple of months and you if you have been following the BBO bike I built and the blog entries on it you know I wanted to get rid of the big nasty ugly air cleaner these Honda Shadows come with. That led me to research on Kajima Funnels. I waited 8 weeks for a set to be shipped from Japan since you cannot buy them in the states. I installed them with new jets, Jet kit and a few other mods.

Well, there lie my problem. The funnel had came apart and this is what I found when I removed the carburetors tonight.

The screen had fallen apart and the filter had been sucked into the carburetor. So after removing and repairing the funnel I decided to give them one more shot and re-installed. I also took the time to change for oil and get the levels set properly. The ol' girl fired up and besides needing a bath and possibly some new plugs in the morning she is ready to roll for my good friend Fred Thacker's benefit and poker run tomorrow.

2011-09-13T16:55:00.001-05:00

Stolen from the So'Full Garage

9-10-11 and a Full Moon

I awoke saturday morning with Kari nudging me, saying “Your alarm just went off!!!”. It was right around 7 a.m. and the Flatlanders crew was supposed to be here at 8 a.m. We were riding a 400+ mile round trip to visit our friend Jeff Hammel over in Hamilton, IL, just across the river from Keokuk, IA.

I first checked my phone, yep, slept right thru the annoying wake up call. I also noticed a few texts already from Scrap (our resident early bird) asking: 1) If I was awake and 2) had I heard from the others. The answer to both was no.

I scooped myself outta bed and headed for the shower. Once out of the steamer I’d noticed that the others had since gotten in touch and would be arriving shortly.

I thru some clothes on over my long johns and headed out to the shop to check over last nights doings. Everything was complete and tightened down. After double checking the rear brake adjustment I pulled the chop out to the gravel and kicked ‘er over to warm up a bit. It wasn’t long after I’d grabbed my jacket and vest, a few misc tools that weren’t already in my bag, and my camera, that Chris, Derek and Falldown pulled into the drive. Within about 15 minutes Cody rode up, and the main part of the crew was assembled. Shooting for 8 a.m., we finally hit the road closer to nine, in the usual Flatlander custom.

After our first fuel stop in Heyworth, IL we only made it a few more miles before I began frantically pointing at the McDonald’s as we rolled into McClean, the next town along Rt. 136 headed west. I raced up to the curb, found neutral and leaned ‘er on the stand, bailed and sprinted for the door. Once inside and sitting down I sent a message out to the rest of the bunch....lets just say the coffe and Honey Bun I’d eaten at the first stop wasn’t jiving with the Keithstone’s or Captain that had entered my gut the previous evening.

Back on the road, we cruised thru the corn ‘n beans until we arrived in San Jose, IL. This is where we met Scrap at the Casey’s Station entering town. I don’t think the locals knew what to think as they were rubbernecking and google-eyeing us as we stood next to our scoots in the corner of the lot. My guess is they’d probably been watching too many episodes of Sons of Anarchy.

The rest of the trip to Jeff’s was pretty smooth and enjoyable. We managed to dodge the rain all around us, only having to deal with pesky wet roads and overspray from other vehicles on the road. After a quick lunch stop in Macomb, it seemed like no time at all before we were pulling into the parking lot of Jeff’s favorite coffee spot on the east edge of Hamilton.

We met Jeff at his local coffee stop, where once again I was MIA for about 20 minutes, this time it was due to the tuna sub I had for lunch. It was obvious the little hole in the wall was “his spot” by the way he interacted with the locals and the waitresses, he had us all rolling. After eveyone (but me) had a cup o’ joe he invited us to check out his shop just a few blocks down the road.

Jeff’s is not your typical shop. He rents a place about a block from the carpet store he owns, that shares a building with a cellular store. Being ahead of us out of the java stop parking lot, he greeted us as we pulled into the lot.

We passed thru a wooden gate to a back porch that overlooked a decent sized “pond”. I say pond with quotations as it is an old rock quary and is about 75 ft deep. A canoe and a zip line were the first things that I noticed, then the giant carp and ducks milling about the pond. Jeff thru a handful of feed into the water and both the fish and the birds swarmed around sucking up every last morsel.

Beyond the porch was the doorway to his work space. Once we entered we were face to face with Jeff’s creations. A few XS650’s and a Honda 550 were immediately recognizable. Surrounded by shelves covered with misc parts and gas tanks, pipes and misc. Around the way was another 650 called the “8 ball” and another bike, known as the Barnstormer powered by an MT250 dirtbike motor. This was Jeff’s build off winner for the Chopper Underground’s yearly Build Off. Man, what a sweet little machine. Definately a head turner with it’s clean lines and all of it’s parts showcasing Jeff’s knack for re-purposing.

(the Barn Stormer)

(XS650 "Street Tracker")

We hung around asking questions, sharing stories, and taking in the surroundings for a few hours before deciding we’d better make the trek home. As mentioned we’d left around 9 a.m. and didn’t get to Hamilton until around 2 p.m. so we had another good sized jaunt ahead of us.

(fork lower tail light)

After sucking down a soda and mapping our way home, deciding to take the 4 lane instead of the 2 in an effort to make time, we said our goodbyes and fired up our crop of bikes. Jeff’s lot was quite sloped and covered with rocks leading right onto the main drag. As we were pulling out Chris hit a spot of gravel that showed him no mercy and slammed him onto the pavement. Derek and Scrap were already headed to the station for gas, but Falldown and I killed our motors and jumped off to make sure he was okay as Jeff ran from the shop.

(Jeff, Scrap and Chris)

(Chris & Falldown)

Chris jumped up in good spirits as we lifted his chop from the ground. There was no major damage except for a small dent in the tank. I commented “at least it didn’t fall on the left side”, where he had a Wild Turkey bottle for his coolant overflow. This was the beginning of our journey home.

After fueling up a few blocks from Jeff’s place we hit Rt 136 back east. We then picked up the four lane 336 to shoot south down to I-72 for our trek back across the state. As we merged onto the 4 lane I thought I felt a weird groove in my back tire, but after glancing around to the others in front and behind me, I shrugged it off to a vibe in the road.

Then my thoughts drifted to the previous night. “Did I tighten this? Did I tighten that? What could that feeling be?” We carried on down the highway at about 80 mph where eventually Scrap pointed behind us noticing the other 3 were not in sight.

He and I pulled to the shoulder to wait. I went to put my kickstand down and thought the crown on the shoulder was keeping me from putting the stand down, until I went to push my bike forward and thought I was in gear. I wasn’t.

“Fuck”, I exclaimed, “I gotta flat tire”. We both looked at each other with an expression of ‘what now’. After getting ahold of the other 3 on the cellie to find out they had pulled off for a break, we informed them of my dilema. Ten minutes later they were there with us scratching their heads too. I don’t know how we were running at the speed we were and within 5 min of pulling over I had a flat. I tend to think I may’ve been very lucky.

After the usual hemming and hawing of “what the fuck are we gonna do now”. We decided to head back about 20 miles to Quincy for dinner. We’d made a few phone calls and lined up a buddy, Tim from Springfield, to come get my bike. I told the others to go on ahead and I’d wait but they wouldn’t leave me behind.

I rode the bike down into the ditch along the freeway and tucked it behind some weeds by the exit sign to wait for Tim and the truck. I looked at Falldown and said “You ready honey?” as he was the only one with a 2 up scooter.

After we had some fine dining at Kelley’s Tavern we mounted the steeds once again, me riding bitch on Falldown’s ‘82 Tour Glide, and headed back out to the interstate to sit by my bike and wait for Tim.

About 20 min later Tim arrived, having missed us as he headed north, but making tracks back south once he realized. We had told him we were on 336 but actually we were on 172 as the highway had changed and we didn’t notice...so he didn’t start looking at mile markers until 336 and he was coming from the south! No worries, he was there with the rescue machine and we loaded my ole heap up into the bed and strapped ‘er down. We were on our way home!

A few miles down the road Tim and I noticed the pack start to slow down. No sooner did the 4 bikes in front of us merge to the shoulder. “Damn, we forgot to get gas back in Quincy!” In light of dealing with my tire no one thought to fuel up before leaving Quincy, where’d we’d already ran close to 100 miles, the last fuel up being back in Hamilton after leaving Jeff’s place.

No sweat. Falldown had a Poweraid bottle and I jumped out of the truck, pulled my fuel line and filled it up twice for Chris to fill his tank to get to the next stop. Once again we were on our way, that is until Dirka and Scrap succumbed to the same fate before reaching the truck stop at Barry, IL. Twice again I pulled my line and filled the Poweraid bottle so we could make the station...which we did, eventually.

Somewhere during this calamity I had gotten a text from Kari saying she was already in Springfield with my truck waiting for us. I regrettingly informed her of our woes and said “we’re still close to 2 hours out babe”. No sweat, she was chillin in the truck and just hoped we were ok and safe.

Once we left Barry, IL the pack was gone. With a few gallons of gas and a couple energy drinks those fuckers made tracks. Tim and I were left in the dust gazing at the full moon as we mozeed along the highway. As we were entering Springfield we spotted a side mount taillight in the distance ahead of us. We knew it had to be one of our guys.

As we approached the sideways red light we noticed the TCU emblem on the back of the rider and deteremined it was Chris. “He’s doesn’t have a headlight” I told Tim and once Chris realized it was us he merged to the shoulder.

His throttle cable had busted but he was able to cruise along at about 65mph as it had locked itself in. The other guys must have figured he’d catch up but at this point they were killing 90 mph and it just wasn’t happening.

Chris pushed his bike up under an overpass and we all squeezed in the Ranger before heading onto the Shell station on the east side of the capitol city to meet Kari and the others. We arrived to find eveyone in the parking lot. The unfortunate sight was that of Derek pulling all of his wiring from his XS650.

Apparentlyy he coasted into the lot as Scrap was fending off a local 5-0 that was yelling at him about his head light being out. “I know ya stupid fucker, thats why I’m trying to pull into the station!!!”

I’d lost track of time at this point but it was around 1 a.m. This had been a long day already and the end was nowhere in sight.

After we all put in our 2 cents about Derek’s electrical issues Kari, Scrap, Tim and I decided it’d be a good time to get my bike outta the back of Tim’s truck and into mine. We pulled across the 4 lanes into a car lot with a helluva ditch to make unloading and loading easier.

(Dirka & Scrap TCB)

Once that feat was accomplished it only made sense that we go load up Chris’ chop that had been sitting a few miles back along I-72 for close to 2 hours. Now we had both immobile scooters loaded up in a rescue vehicle and it was time to shit and git with Derek’s. After testing this wire and that wire to no avail, we decided to revisit the battery, which none of us thought was the issure hours prior. Chris, me and the local fella that just happened upon us with a truck full of electrical supplies walked over the Sierra and pulled Chris’ battery out for Dirka to try.

Sure as shit, once Dirka installed the new battery and had eveything hot wired, BAM, that ole XS fired right up, kept running, and the lights remained of solid illumination. All right, we’re back in business! ...well kind of.

It was now around 3:30 a.m. We had left the border of IA at 4:30 p.m. and were still 2 hours away from the So’full Garage. After bidding our adieus, and bungie-ing a mag light to Scrap’s girder to get him across town (he lives in Springfield), we hit I-72 once again in an attempt to make it to a mattress.

After one stop for gas and coffee, we made it back to the compound around 5:30 a.m. We all were approaching being awake for 24 hours with the exception of Falldown, who'd surpassed it at 4 a.m. Kari, Chris and I were cozeed in the cab of the GMC where I’d been hallucinating for about the last 30 miles of the trip from exhaustion...seeing trees, deer (that were construction barrels) and a raised garage door that were not real. All the while Dirka and Falldown were trying to keep their sanity following me.

Inside the garage a few Keithstone’s were cracked as we all questioned, “Did all of that just happen?”.....needless to say we all hit the pillows with force, only to rise a few hours later to deal with the reprecussions of the past 24 hours.

My attempt at a Kong style CB750

2011-09-05T21:03:00.000-05:00

Started with a 75 Honda CB750 SOHC stock bike. Lowered the rear 2", added +8 fork tubes and will will stretch it 4" up and roughly 6" out. Then will tackle rake if needed. Will also need to modify the softtail rear fender to look better on there too.

Here she is almost naked...

Done some surgery and made her skinnier...

added some +8 fork tubes...

testing a softtail rear fender... (will need radius trimmed out to give it a better look)

and on to the lift to have front stretched and seat rails lowered...

Chopper/Art Show Winter 2012

2011-08-18T07:38:00.000-05:00

This next winter The Chopper Underground, in conjunction with another collective or two, will be co-hosting Champaign-Urbana, IL's first ever Chopper/Art show.

The show will consist of handpicked local motorcycle builders and artists that will showcase their work. We're looking at a 3 night, 2 day, weekend event that will boast an opening reception the first night. We are really excited about this endeavor and realize we've got our work cut out for us. If any of you out there have experience you'd like to share we're all ears! Keep an eye out here and at the So'full Garage for updates.

Nicotene Free!

2011-08-18T07:36:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been over 24 hours since I had my last cigarette. So far so good. Going to give it my best shot to get off these things. Not only am I looking forward to being able to do things I can't do now because of my health I am also looking forward to all the chopper goodies I can spend the extra money on...lol

It has been a rough couple of weeks due to deaths in the family but things have seemed to calm down the last couple of days. I am itching to get back in the shop and start work on a new toy. I finally got the BBO bike where I want it after the big shakedown run to MI. (New exhaust mount, velocity stax, larger jets, floats set and fan wired up correctly).

I have the 77 XS650 tracker that I started a couple of months ago but really not feeling it right now so thinking I might dig out the 75 CB750 I have stashed and start konging it...

HUMPDAY HOTTIES

2011-08-10T12:00:00.000-05:00