Time To Daydream Again

In the late 70's early eighties a man named Harry Maillet built the closest thing you could get to a full blown factory suberbike. If you owned a KZ you could drop it off at his shop Performance Works, and after a wait, they would build you a fire breathing example of what a superbike should be. A couple of the bike rags of the day did a profile of his work and those bikes have stayed in my head ever since. I can’t even put into words how bad I wanted one of his works of art. Being a financially challenged young man at the time, the closest I could come to riding one of these beasts was in my dreams. I could afford the bike,not the hop up. Performance Works MkII

I don’t know what became of Harry and Performance Works, there is very little information to be found out there about the fate of either. But there has been a trend lately not unlike the resto- mods in the world of classic cars. Where a builder takes a vintage car and festoons it with modern running gear. So you wind up with the best of both worlds, vintage looks, with totally modern performance and reliability. There are quite a few builders out there now doing this with bikes. From the garage builder to the full service custom shop. Sanctuary Z1

Out of the pack (at least in my mind) comes a Japanese shop called Sanctuary RCN (Real Complete Machine) Not since the superbike specials of Harry Maillet has a builders bikes reached into my chest and ripped out my heart like Sanctuary’s bikes have. To those of you familiar with this blog and who know me, know that I’m a real sucker for naked bikes. And KZ’s GS’s and CB’s of the late seventies and early eighties hit all my pleasure centers. While Performance works utilized cutting edge technology of the time, Sanctuary takes the period bikes and while keeping the spirit of the original, lavishes them with the latest brakes, suspensions, and hand fabbed bits and pieces. Sanctuary MkII

These bikes, they have my tongue hanging out and beads of perspiration forming on my forehead like the originals did thirty years ago. While I’m in a better position financially, I have kids in college and retirement looming. So I find myself in the same place I was in way back in 1980. If I want one these beautiful sportsters, I’m going to have to build it myself. With my XS500 project not even close to half done, it looks like I will have to wait a while longer. I guess it’s back to daydreaming for me. Sanctuary CB1100

Till Next Time.................................

Freezing Your FL's Off

Three decades of FL's brought together for Christmas by Bayou Boy, Slug and their Old Man. Slug's '86 Liberty Edition, the Old Man's '10 Street Glide and Bayou Boys recently acquired '99 Road King. The Old Man headed down to New Orleans from Marquette Mi for the winter and to spend some time riding with Bayou Boy. B.B. got a great deal on this Road King a couple of weeks ago after selling his Triumph Scrambler earlier this year. The two of them got a hankering (as people do around the holidays) to spend some time with family and old friends. So the loaded their bikes up in the Fun Mover and drove the twelve hundred miles strait through.

They got together for Christmas and decided to do a bit of cold weather cruzin' today. That led us to a little photo op with the three of them and the bikes using a small gallery called 323east as a backdrop. It's good to see the boys together again and have a few laughs. The weather isn't exactly rider friendly in these parts right now with temps in the twenties and twenty to thirty mile winds. But as long as you keep you union suit buttoned up and stay away a from the side streets one is able to manage. They won't be able to get together again until spring, so it's nice to be able to steal a ride and a laugh or two no matter how cold it gets. Plus spending time with family and friends at Christmas, it just doesn't get any better than that

Have a safe trip back down to the Bayou Boys.

Till Next Time..............

Merry Christmas

Here's wishing one and all a Very Merry Christmas!!!

In Your Shed

Richard of Going Fast and Getting Nowhere fame suggested a magazine to me a couple of months ago called Back Street Heros. It features home builders of incredible custom bikes of every ilk. Sounded like a read I would enjoy, so I shot down to my local Barnes and Noble to pick up a copy. While I was there another magazine from the same publisher MCN caught my attention. The subject matter of this publication deals with sports bikes from the ‘70's ‘80's and ‘90's. I grew up utilizing this kind of tackle and currently have two examples occupying space in my garage so I picked up a copy of Practical Sportsbikes as well.
While BSH is a fine publication with some damn good content, I really took a shine to Practical Sportsbikes It is chock full of tech and how to articles on everything from tire pressures to adjusting your valves. Each issue features a shootout of bikes that would have went head to head back in the day. They also profile garage restoration projects and the collections of the real fanatics.
That brings us to In Your Shed. This section of the mag features readers current projects, recent finds and everyday rides. That’s where I come in. After picking up my first issue, the publications second offering, I submitted my FJ for their approval. I really didn’t think much about it after that seeing I have submitted bits to a couple of other mags in the past with nothing to come of it. Since I’ve started reading Practical Sportsbikes, I can’t wait for the next issue to arrive. It is a quarterly publication so it seems like an eon before it arrives. I received the November to January copy Friday and was pleasantly surprised to see my FJ among the featured bikes in this issues In Your Shed section. It’s just a picture and small bit on the bike, but is kinda nice to see your bike in a magazine. I guess the wieners are going to have to pull extra guard duty now that one of my priceless Yams is in an international bike mag.


Till Next Time.......................