International Motorcycle Show, 2011 pt.II

Again, I apologize for the blurry pics. All I had was my phone. Stay tuned, I have more pics to post!

International Motorcycle Show, Javits Center, NYC, 2011

This above bike is from 1917. They were letting people sit on it and climb into the side car and everything.
















More pics to come...

Cold Night at the Garage

It's dark. It's cold. It's my garage.



My very first bike, a '75 Yamaha XS650.





My project for the night; install a headlight and remove the front fender of my Uncle's '82 FXR Shovelhead.



So far, so good.



And we're done. Shiny new headlight. I successfully removed the front fender but not without the bike falling off the jack. Yeah, it was pretty frightening. Lucky for me, the kickstand was out and saved it from landing flat on its side and I was able to grab a handlebar, get the jack out of the way and save the bike. Don't tell my uncle.

Two Up

This one is dedicated to my fiance.

More Old Pics

I know the above pic is a repeat but it is one of my all time favorite photos of my Dad's friends and his Roadrunner.



Dad at work.



That's Mom leaning on my father's second Roadrunner. The first (and fastest) one was totaled when another car hydroplaned on a rainy day and t-boned him cracking his ribs and his pride. He planned to build this one up like the previous one but lost patience with it and bought a Charger. I will be searching the photo albums and old shoeboxes on my next visit to my parents' house in hopes of finding some shots of the Charger.

I've been inspired by American Wind to dig up more old family pics. It's just good to know and remember where you're from.

Dad's Cars

I imagine that was a lot of fun in the snow.







My Dad had some cool cars. He had a few bikes too but I can't seem to find pictures of those. Enjoy some photos from a simpler time. A time before onboard diagnostics. A time when cars had muscle and sounded like thunder.

Oil Pump Rebuild Article

"People who ride motorcycles have gotten something right, and I want to put myself in the service of it, this thing that we do, this kingly sport that is like war made beautiful." - Matthew B. Crawford

The above quote is from Crawford's book Shop Class as Soulcraft. It inspired me to post something that may be useful to people with old iron looking for some old tech.

Taken from the December issue of StreetChopper 1979, this article was scanned in by Al and posted to shovelhead.us. Really, if you have a pre-evo bike, you should go to that site and take a look at the message board. No matter how long you've been working on bikes, you're sure to learn something. If you need anymore convincing, Joe Smith, the wrench featured in the article, is a member of the site.

Keep it Sprung

These go for big bucks on ebay these days. Looks like fun.

American the Beautiful