America! Hell Yeah!!

The Dead

Jerry

Baffle Removal from 2005 Honda Shadow 600 VLX

So, my neighbor stopped me the other day and asked about my pipes.  He wanted his bike to sound like mine without purchasing some new pipes.  Really this is wifes bike and that's what she wants but I didn't know this at the time.  I told the fella bring it on up to the house and I will rip the baffles out and you'll have some better sound for the low cost of nothing, maybe an abor extension and a sharp 1 3/4" hole saw ($25).  The finished product sounds much better imho. 

 Below - stock exhaust with baffle in.

 Below- after taking the hole saw to it and baffle still in.  The baffle is loose at this point and if the hole is big enough, it should slip right out which is what it did on the top.

 Below - baffle removed.  One more to go. The bottom pipe is where the shank extension comes in handy on these bikes.

 Below - Undo a couple bolts to get this black exhaust brake loose and it will allow you to reach the bottom pipe with the hole saw and extension with no obstructions. 

 Below - repeat procedure on bottom, pull out pipe, use some channel locks if needed to turn the baffle and slide it out.

 Below - baffles removed. 

 Below - I made this handy little "puller" out of a tent stake.  I sharpened the end to a point with a grinder and used it to pull the bottom baffle out to a point where I could get the channel locks on it.  For some reason it didn't want to slip right out like the top.

Below - the blue bike is the Honda Shadow that the baffles were removed from.

Gratis Stickers

Stickers from Church of Choppers and Forever Two Wheels Company.  Thanks guys. 

Check out Jeff Wright's site at http://churchofchoppers.blogspot.com/.  His blog is everything motorcycle and chopper.

Fixed lil' Man's Gator

Lil' Man's Gator was having some problems.  Diagnosed it and discovered that one of the two electric motors took a dump.  I scooped up a buddy's Gator that wasn't working and both of the motors were good, so I snagged one out of his and now my lil' man is back in commission and tearing up his trails again.  I didn't get any photos of the motors and replacement because I got in a hurry.  It was 75 degrees and sunny outside and I was itching to get on the scooter and take a putt. 

Notice the spike wheels I hooked him up with when he first got it.  This thing will go through anything now.  Next step is to hook him two 12v batteries in a series and make this thing do about 25 mph.

 

Maybe Santa will be kind to and bring this kid a 125cc 4-wheeler to tear his little trails up with.   Donations are being accepted at this time.  :)

-Later Gators

My boy...

So the other night I need to catch some fresh air and decided to go ponder over some magazines at the local BAM.  I scroll through, no Horse, but the new Cycle Source is out and the cover is graced by Garage Co. Customs from Pelham, AL.  "Cool," I think to myslef, "these cats from the South are doing the damn thing."  Under the arm the CS goes, I stroll through and notice that Tucker Max (author I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell) has published the sequel called Assholes Finish First.  No book has made me laugh out loud like his first, so now I'm stoked, I got great bathroom book and bike shit to look at. 

Well, when I get home I plop down on the couch (no T.V.) and start reading Max's book.  Immediately I'm hooked and I'm giggling.  My lil' man who is four is chilling beside me wanting to talk.  Daddy didn't want to talk so I give him the new Cycle Source that I haven't even really flipped through yet.  First words from him are, "Dedddy das not a harley dabison."  No son, you're right it's not.  So he's flipping and he sees a shovelhead.  He wants to know if it's a "harley dabison."  "Yeah, son it is, but really you call that a shovelhead."   Now he's confused.  "What about this one deddddy"  I proceed to tell him how he can focus on the motor, explain the shape of the heads, v-twins, inlines, etc.  Now that he's all set with the maximum amount of motorcycle engine knowledge that a four old boy's attention span can handle, he quietly sits beside me slowly flipping through the pages of the magazine.  Five minutes of peaceful, quiet reading later I hear, "Deddddy."  "Yes, son."  "Dis one's not a shubbbhead,  iss a Panhead, ain't it dedddy."  Son you are absolutely, 100% correct and you just made your daddy's night.

I celebrated the moment with him with big high fives, a kiss on the forehead, and told him I loved him.  Raising children isn't always easy, glamorous, or fun.  Sometimes it' downright stressful and hard to manage, but it's the little moments like this that make you really realize how special they are and how just a little bit of time with them can make your world and theirs a whole lot better.

-peace

Yamaha

Nescessity...

Sometimes shit breaks and you got to fix it.  ~T has been trying to do a bunch of paintings to make some extra coin and all the paintings are done on scrap wood, plywood, secondhand materials, etc.  Well, we use the jigsaw to cut the materials for the paintings and it took a shit while we were making her X-Mas ornaments for her to hand paint and sell.  Necessity is the mother of all inventions and teaches us some of the most valuable lessons learned.  This time nescessity taught me how to fix a saw. 

 This was the culprit. (Above) This is what broke. It holds the blade in place by supporting and holding the guard which has a stabilizer for the bottom of the blade.  (Below)  The broke piece and the new part.

(Below) Saw opened up with the blade assembly removed.

 (Below) Blade Assembly removed and clamped in.

 (Below) Blade assembly 'opened up'

 (Below) Just had to take the o-ring off the old part, put it on the new one, and reassemble. 

"Hmmm...Now where did all this shit go again." 

 And finito.  It Works.  Back to work now sucka'.

Leafless

The time has changed, and it's cold and freakin' dark when I leave work now. 

Queen City Sunset

My Angel

My buddy and me

True American Hero

Firefighter Tim Duffy arrives downtown on his Harley after first tower collapse, 9/11/2001.
photo by : Allan Tannenbaum

poached from Richiepan's blog

True Love

There is a story behind this one...

Hold on to it brother...

Thank you Veterans!

Thank you to all the Vets out there for all that you do and have done.  This was the line up for this past Saturday's DAV fund fest ride.  I didn't know a damn soul on the ride, but it was for a good cause and I met some new folks.  Approx. 50 bikes rode, the weather was cold as a well diggers ass in January but we raised some money.  Wish it would been a little warmer so some more cats would of showed up and ponied up their money for a good cause. 

Sportster tank lift

The start of JG's 3" tank lift for his sportster.  Finished pics to come soon.  The brackets were made, then put a piece of hollow brass tube in between for support.  Now to rewire, hide wires, and relocate the ignition switch and coil. 

Edit: Finished pics here:

http://motopanic1.blogspot.com/2011/01/tank-lift-for-sportster.html

Monoshock rear fender mount for Yamaha VStar 650 bobber

Should have taken more pics of the fabrication process, but the camera battery went MIA for a little while, so that was a no go, but you can get the idea.  12ga. steel with another 12 ga. steel backer plate and a lip that folds under the fender and front bracket.  I will take some pics of the whole assembly when I break it down for paint.

This is also a pic of the two turn signal brackets that I made because ~T demanded that I have turn signals.  They light up pretty good and make the ass end of the bike look like smile face at night.  They mount under the seat pan and can only be seen from behind.



New Tail light and tag mount