Havin' a bad day ?

You ever have one of those days when everything's just goin' down the shitter?

Charles City Car Show











I decent array of hotrods show'd for the CC Car Show Sunday.
A perfect day . . . AND
giant ice cream cones for only $3 bucks !
It's Summer . . . get out there and enjoy it.

Billy Lane

I guess Billy Lane finally accepted a plea deal. They dropped the manslaughter charge. The most he will get in prison is possibly 9 years(maximum). I doubt that however. He gets a lifetime license suspension. As far as an individual, he's always been nice to me the few times I was around him. He rode up next to me and we cruised the whole length of Lazelle one year. Me & Spina hung at his booth while talkin' to Indian Larry. Billy was always cool to us. You just can't drink and drive, and speed and go fuckin' around on the road - especially when you been drinking. Shit happens. Glad I didn't meet him on the road. We had a bad few years there with Indian Larry, Johnny Chop and Billy . . . These guys represent our industry and it's who we look up to. Hey - we still got Jesse James ! (unless he kills himself doing stupid shit). Keep on choppin'.

Church of Choppers

This was the opening header on the web blog: Church of Choppers.com for about 12 hours. Thanks to Jeff Wright and his bud Billy T for making the trek to support Iowa Dirt Track Racing. Jeff stopped by the "race van" and took some shots (unfortunately after Hawbaker's custom Honda) broke, before he could kick some ass in the pro class. If you haven't been to "Church" - go czech it out. It's one of the best online magazines on the web for us moto enthusiasts. Until next time - we'll be seein' you at the races !

'52 WLA Bobber Update !



1. Clutch cable mechanism fabricated and installed
2. Coil with fab'd bracket installed (I'm running a modern 6V regulator and I've rewired a 32E 3 brush generator to function as a 52K 2 brush unit)
3. Mirror (heated and custom bent) and parkerized finish(olive drab semi gloss)
4. New seat post bushing with parkerized post
5. Seat T welded and painted(olive drab lusterless)
6. Steel tank divider welded, fab'd and painted(olive drab lusterless)

Davenport Vintage Video Clip

Davenport in 16 Hours

a Harley KR pilot takes some instructions . . .
"Church" doing his thing . . .
Close racing on the black gumbo . . .
With a whole lots of cash, nerves of steel and a 4 Valve Triumph
you can have a flag too !

Still racing into the night - Iowa flat track is best.
The Friday Nite races in Davenport saw heavy winds and rain - all events were cancelled. But, with some last minute prep . . . Bake, Noble, Oz, Noot & Eric hit the road for the Saturday program. Bake blew a gasket a few laps into practice - sucked big time. Noble ran the Honda backup to a respectable finish. Oz kicked ass too. Jeff Wright and Billy T road tripped from DM (we'll hook up later) I guess even though a little bad luck was had . . .nobody went to the hospital and everyone had a little fun. Thanks to Bake for takin' us along - Go #17 !
(see churchofchoppers.com for more excellent photos)

Morty's pissed off . . .

We think Morty got shot with a BB Gun - and he ain't happy. The BB is gone and he's healing up - but, me and "The Mort" are gonna kick some ass with a couple shithead neighbor kids. Remember what Walt said in an earlier post?
I think they messed with the wrong cats . . .What goes around comes around.

Drag Racing History - Boris Murray


Boris Murray set a shitload of records in a career that spanned over 40 years. On any given day - he was a thorn in the side of many a Harley drag racer with his nitro Triumph. He defeated every big name drag racer that ever was at least once. In the 1/4 mile or at Bonneville - this guy flew. I'll bet that H2 Kawasaki X 3 was a handful . . . it takes balls to launch somethin' like that and let it scream.

1964 FLH with sidecar



Years ago my dad had a shop and we serviced a customer's panhead sidecar - similar to the one above. We'd have to open the big double door to get it in the shop. The customer would tell us, "Go ride it - test ride it, try it out . . ." but, we never did. Until one day my son Eric, about 9 years old, was at the shop and I got it going, he jumped in the side car and we rode around town. It was a blast. At a traffic light, this old truck pulled alongside - it was the owner coming to get it ! This was an excellent example of one done up right.

Fit for a king !

Pork cutlet with homemade onion rings - large coke. Voted best in Minneapolis. It was pretty tasty.

Ring a ding ding ding ding



Two Stroke smoke is the oxygen of the gods . . . The 1969 Kaw was one of a gang of dingers that showed at Porky's for the ride in bike deal. That Avenger 350 was too cool. It had dual high pipes and a neat twisted exhaust. The high revin' Yamaha RD shot down the street - with a big smoke trail. Mosquitos weren't a problem.

Swap Meet Goodies

Linkert DC-10 Carburetor $20 (ebay price $100-$200)
Cast iron seat tee $35 (ebay price $75-$120)
WLA army ignition switch $25 (ebay price $75-$299)
Carlisle 400.19 tire $15 (ebay price $50-$150)

Moral of the story: swap meets are still your best bet for good deals on parts, and it helps support the sport. It's more fun to find that item you're lookin' for too - and you meet the nicest people.


Buco


Buco made all kinds of motorcycle related items . . like helmets, shields, jackets, gloves, saddlebags - all cool stuff.
Their advertisements were the best too !

Farmington










I still call it Farmington. The antique meet and show that takes place in Minnesota every year in June. It was great ! The caliber of motorcycles that were at the event were better than Davenport (or at least equal to) the "big one." Those boys from the Viking Chapter of the AMCA did a really great job. Hats off. I counted 5 or 6 Vincents at the event . . . "Competition motorcycles" were featured - and they had a great turnout. We met some cool people like: Phil (his Indian pictured), Bromie, the Benassi bros., Billy Hofmeister, Kav, the dude from Iowa City, the ol' guy that lent us his radio with fresh batteries, Kevin and his beemer - just to name a few. AND kind of a dickweed, "Dutch" - ah hell - it takes all kinds to make it fun. The ride to Porky's Drive In Friday night was awesome. Like turning back the clock to 1962. Next stop - Davenport, Labor Day weekend. (PS. Question of the day: How do you carry beer on your motorcycle when you forgot your bungee?)