and s'mor Rice-O-Rama

 this is Ryan, he works at sky cycles, if you want to get into old Jap bikes, do yourself a favor and meet this dude, he will make life easier.

Rice-O-Rama!

Steady Jeff is never afraid to strap on his armor and go in deep for the most dangerous of photos.


And then there was this. If only our offer of a stack of wet towels and a fart in a can hadn't been declined...

Brooklyn Invitational 2k10

I really don't have anything to add to this..this bike blew me away.

$100, 3 days, 500 miles

There IS a time and a place for a Honda. That time and place is when your Sportster's broken, and you've only got 3 days and $100 to find, buy, fix, and register a bike that can cart your ass to Brooklyn and back. Short story shorter..I found this ugly duck on craigslist for $100 with a title a few miles from my work. The owners were moving and this had been sitting in their garage for 3 years. on Wednesday night I scooped it up. Fast forward to Thursday, Ed at Sky used parts in Fitchburg hooked me up with a pair on non fatally varnished carbs. Thursday night at midnight she was a runner, albeit a push start only one thanks to the bum starter. Friday brought a fluid change, insurance, registration, and about 100 test miles. In no time it was Saturday at 7am and and the ugly CX that could was holding 80 all the way to Brooklyn. Although i still find it to be ugly as hell, I have a new found appreciation for these wierd Japanese Moto Guzzi's.

i heart swap meets, Rice-O-Rama

just wondering why they didn't go all the way and use boat-anchor chain 

yeah, its a velvet print

the second half

once oils were replaced, chains tightened and engines fed, there was a whole lotta nothin. nice and boring for a bit.

this is easily in my top 3 favorite camp spots. abandoned motel in north dakota behind a bitchin mexican restaurant. the downside was finding out my sleeping bag was still wet from wisconsin.
fuckin snow, really. Beach, ND. no beach, no warm, totally jipped. this picture makes me look like a complete sissy cause there is nothing on the ground yet. but my cloths were in the dryer, again, and there was 3" waiting by the time the buzzer went off. i called it a day.
apparently my fuel range is 112 miles. Beach, ND and Miles City, MT are 115 miles apart.
from here on it was smooth sailing till Billings. Behind a McD's i got curious about my primary oil again after the snow thing. i found yogurt. fortunately i had purchased another quart of juice before i left Duluth.

and here is a thing: i don't care who you are, if you've been riding old motorcycles for awhile you believe in some sort of hocus-pocus that keeps the machine together and you out from under an 18 wheeler. that being said, the last thing i want to do is dump a full quart of goo into the dirt, i don't care how many other people have done the same thing in this parking lot. besides feeling like an asshole i wouldn't want that bad juju to catch up to me in the home stretch. so with the purchase of a bladder-buster and a big-mac, i had a drain pan.
it was a very long trip, but i got here. total breakage tally: 4 quarts of primary oil, chain shortened by one link, half a quart of motor oil added, lots of gas and a million quarters into various laundry mats. wonder if that gets me to attack chopper status.

route traveled: from Duluth, I-35S, 210W, 10W to Fargo, I-94W to Billings, I-90W to Fun Land! miles this leg: 1,002 for a total of 2,415.

things i now see a need for: a new drive chain, set of tires, bark busters, better air cleaner cover, a water-tight primary and better rain gear.

epic bike trip, sorta, or just a soggy one

early sunday morning coffee in wareham, ma. i'll miss you dunkies, snifle snifle

later that day i met up more of the moose-nookles at Rice-O-Rama. i didn't find anything i needed but it was really cool to hang out with Steady and Dylan; i gotta convince them to come out west.

i nearly fukin drowned so many times on this trip. the worst was without a doubt in wisconsin, i should have packed a snorkle and fins

yay canaydia! i wish i took more pictures of Canada, i need to go back. everyone was super nice and may i suggest going to Mattawa, for some reason i really liked that place.
the morning ritual: check primary oil, check primary chain tension, check plug's color and condition, check motor oil, adjust drive chain, grumble about drive chain's shittyness, adjust rear brakes. then at the first gas stop adjust the carb. deviation from this ritual will result in punishment and a long walk.
ahh yes, wisconsin. that was 300 miles of rain with an old bike. i gotta say, it ran like a champ. but the next day i needed to find some help. i forgot to pack a 3/4" wrench. after the local Dealership reminded me that they don't "do" old bikes they were nice enough to give me a helpful phone number: 218-722-8322.
i had enough primary oil to drain and replace what was in there, but since i was at a good bike shop, i did a flush too. while i was working in the parking lot, the owner comes out and says "dude, your chain concerns me, here, take these".
if you are around Duluth, MN on a Harley new or old and need some work done look for Blackstone Custom Motorcycles. really this place was great.
the trip up to this point: I-495N, I-90W to Syracuse, I-81N to Canada, 401E, 416N to Ottawa, 17W for a long and lonely ride to Sudbury then Michigan, I-75, 28W, 2W to Duluth. miles so far: 1,414.

helping out

i would like to introduce Dylan's replacement as head of R&D for DFLRacing.com.

Just a little something for everyone

Caught a gimpse of this gem in Boston the other day and felt i needed to share!

Nothing to do with anything!

okay so today is the start of the second epic bike trip of the season and likely the last. the plan is to head to Rice-O-Rama, enjoy the festivities, and then bounce west, again. this time going the northern route through Canadia but still on an unreliable boat anchor. the only thing going for me is that i can at least push this pile on my own. i can't imagine anyone giving a shit about what i'm doing nor is it likely that anyone reads this page at all; i know i don't. well, maybe bird will care cause its going kinda far on a rigid. regardless, if you happen to be anywhere between N. Brookfield, Ma and the front range of Montangya and see what looks like a hobo on a leaky cart, say hi and buy me a coffee.

a fascination with tractors

old tractors are, in my eyes, some of the most brutal machines ever created in this country. i also think they are fantastic, given the chance they will end life as you know it.

cast iron radiator housing
forged, spoked wheels and cleats
a one-piece, cast iron block and head; a very satisfying piece of metal with aesthetics that equal function
and an iron, up-draft the size, and likely weight, of my ironhead's cylinders
and some iron pistons, oh man these made me happy.

stop by the Pioneer Auto Show and Antique Town in Murdo, SD if you get the chance. its along the I-90 and well worth the $9.50 to get in. this place has more neat stuff than you can even imagine including an entire barn full of sweet old bikes (those will be up here soon), almost 2 barns worth of pre-1940 sedans and trucks plus a whole shit-ton of gnarly tractors.

Pool table-top rebuild

Sometimes you win...
and sometimes you kick the wristpin right out of your piston.
Piston chunks in the crankcase...mmm crunchy!