Sprocketting into the great unknown...

Is this gonna work? Some dude who might know says it does. Did I follow his instructions to the letter? sure i did...sort of. (Klattu, Veratta, Nictugghghh)

Memorial Day Kickball...

It was a fine day for a pack of tootat-clad moose-nookles to engage in gladiatorial competition. Cursing and heckling on a biblical scale for the full 9 innings.

Warren's-law

As I was across the street having the most successful weekend ever, Warren was in his office doing what he does best..or at least most often; not catching a break, throwing tools, and inevitably giving Lumpy all his money over the course of three trips to the shop. Amazing what a "simple" gasket change can turn into.
"Just a little crack" turned into a bit of inclusion by "he who cannot be named" which led to "fuck, it still leaks", which turned into a new "highfuckingperformance/price" clutch, spring, helicoils, 2 primary gaskets, gasgacinched hands, and saying "fuck" many many times.

Tune in next week while he explores his drive chain and sprockets...

Ever have one of those days?

Where you just wanna say "fuck this, I'm out"?

I need some fireworks...

swap finds...

some very satisfying hunks of metal

once i remembered to put the plug wire back on, dylan got it started on the first kick

i declare it to be summer...

its a thousand degrees in the shade and some insulation needed to go away

if you are going to be motoring around the state of MA, be weary, the police are out in force. this weekend marks the start of summer and everyone is pumped to BBQ, drink beer and (in our case) tool around on our home-made shit-sleds. and i will admit, its kinda fun to pipe it every chance you get. however, don't do it, not this weekend. the cops are out there with decimeters and they are writing noise violations like their lives depend on it.

we were planning on heading to the plymouth downtown area this weekend, but our local field agents have issued an "avoid at all costs" warning for the entire area; i would take it easy anywhere the tourons will congregate. cops have been spotted in the sneakiest of ambush spots and are out to make a difference. and if you do happen to get nabbed, exercise your right to FIGHT IT!

--Maximum allowable A-weighted sound levels as measured from 50 feet (Chapter 90, Sec. 7T): 82dBA at 45mph or less; 86dBA over 45mph. Stationary noise levels: Motorcycles required to be registered for operation on the ways of the commonwealth shall not exceed the following noise levels when operated at 1/2 redline speed--99dBA manufactured after 1/1/86--102dBA manufactured before 1/1/86 (540 CMR 3:00) http://home.ama-cycle.org/amaccess/laws/result.asp?state=MA

--Generally speaking, you must have a baffle in the exhaust system of a motorcycle. Straight pipes are illegal, and your motorcycle must meet certain noise requirements. For motorcycles manufactured before 1986, 102 decibels is the legal limit, 99 decibels for motorcycles manufactured after 1986. http://www.mass.gov/rmv/faq/inspection.htm#9

i think i knew a kid...

and he had something like this...

swap find

i could afford either the bike or the speeding tickets but certainly not both

do work son

making space

the street tracker was sacrificed for the greater good. it is such a bummer to abandon a project regardless of how far along you are. this particular one was really close but it wasn't in the cards after all. i need the time and money to get back out on the salt.

100% pure adrenalin...

one of my favorite places to be day or night.
i have never claimed to be an exciting person.

just doing what the sign says...

so there i was...

so while i was working on my tan at the swap this past weekend i looked over some of my crap and wondered why some of it was brought along. one item in particular was a '78 DT400 motor. granted, i also had the title and neck, but who would really want this silly odd-ball?

then Steve walked up with his son. we got to talking and he ended up with my motor as a spare and i ended up with gas money in my pocket and a really cool story with pics.

take it away Steve: This is a '74 DT360 frame with 400 motor in it. A Motard style is what I was after. I did all the work but the fiber wrapping of the tank. Intake was modified with a custom made boost bottle (old technology now but new in the '70's), delta force reed cage for a yz125 and a Power Mister on the carb. The expansion chamber was also built by me. I have just over $600 into the entire build including a donor motor. The bike even came with a MA title. When I registered it they had no idea what to charge me for sales tax and I got away with a $5 charge.

burnt

no clutch lever? no shift lever?

Annual Great Woods Swap...

Ummm... where to begin... so, the other day Kenny asks me what I had planned for the weekend. What started out as a day trip to the swap turned into a weekend of fun.

Camp Coconut

Gentle Ken: Purveyor and surveyor of motorcycle antiquity.
Craig of Motocyde: Expert in all pedal-powered wackiness and our hook-up dude for the space to set up, thanks.
and then Dylan showed up...
and then Dylan was asked to leave...
I was curious, but very afraid of the weed-whacker.

ACO progress...

definitely cutting it close with this one. the smoke out is just around the corner and there are still a bunch of things to do; electrics, wiring, rear brake, foot controls, clean-up and paint.

he might skip a couple things on that "to-do" list for the sake of finishing. that sounds kinda strange to say but all that is important is to tear down the road; neither paint nor a rear brake help a bike to go fast.

Specialty Tool #1267532-9978

gas cap

more barn finds...

i think this is fun...

i dont care if this isn't bike related, when you're unemployed you need to find outlets to curb your frustrations. bikes are one way and torturing squirrels is another. sense the dogs are too old to chase anything besides a nap, the little bastards are getting brazen. but when you do scare one they flip out even more. note the inverted escape technique.

stop judging me.

hanoi, traffic free for all, constantly

new expansion chamber, some assembly required

barn find...

barn finds?

are they still considered a barn finds if the bikes are outside? ahh who cares. so i was taking the slow-route home from northern NH the other weekend and off to the side i see some interesting things.

Kunnalingus Highway, NH.

the Manomet Mystery Riders

today was their annual Blessing. i was easily the youngest dude there and i also had the oldest and dirtiest bike. nice bunch of folks.

please, enough of the same question...

lately i can't make a stop for gas or a donut without some dweeb shouting out "what year is that". really?! regardless of weather i'm on the phone, minding my own business, engaged in another conversation or whatever; some ass-hat needs to butt-in and ask that same stupid question. and usually that is just their stupid segue for more thoughtless-based inquiry.
such gems include;
"did you ride that here" R: "no, it fallowed me here"
"does it run" R: "no, i pushed it from home"
"did it come like that" R: "if it had i wouldn't have bought it"
"did you know its leaking" R: "thats the undercoat re-vitalizing"
"it looks like an old knuckle, is it" R: "sure is, one of the few to come with sportster castings"
now i realize that folks are curious about my rusty glob of grease and would like to know a little bit more about it, fine, cool, i love shooting the shit about bikes. i love bragging about mine! but what the fuck ever happened to the phrase: excuse me. i'm not looking for much, just a polite attention getter with the emphasis on polite. i often ask people all kinds of things; could you give me some directions, what kind of bike is that, are those boobs real, is that your sister, blah, blah, blah. regardless of my line of questioning, i try to be respectful unless i am purposefully being a dick. and then once the retardation is set in motion, oh then it picks up speed. when i say that it is in fact a '78 ironhead, please, tell me why they argue? "oh, one of them shovels" is the usual reply. to which i retort "no, not a shovelhead, an ironhead. kinda like a shovel, sorta, maybe, in the dark, but its an ironhead sportster". to which i sometimes get "my (insert their friend, grandma, dude-i-knew-in-college) had a sportster and it didnt look anything like that". okay, fine.
and lately, i'll admit, i've been being a turd...
"what year is that"?
"its a '42 indian".
"i thought so, needs some paint work".
"yeah, workin on it"
if you knew, why did you ask? if i own it, why dont you think i know what it is? and what the fuck would make me, a perfect stranger, want to respond to "hay, what year is that" shouted above whatever thoughts may be going through my head?

some people are gonna tell me to stop being so sensitive and to them, i am trying. i just dont like being yelled at by dweebs that butt-in and that i don't know. thanks for reading.