Getting Sorted

Curly almost has his bobber sorted out. All he has left before he tears it down for paint and powder coating is the battery box,rear fender placement, pseudo oilbag, and the electrical.
He has it almost to the point that you would be able to ride it. He had his rotors resurfaced and drilled by this guy and I don't think you could get a better job done for the money. I will be sending my rotors there. The bike shaping up great, and will be a real head turner when he is finished. After he is done sorting out the bike, He will be sending his motor to Thomas Racing Service for the big bore treatment. This place basically doubles the horsepower of the stock XS motor.

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

My Grandpa and his '27 Harley

My Grandpa and his 1927 Harley. In this picture he was seventeen and just graduated high school. The ‘27 Harley was his graduation present. Shortly after this picture was taken, He and his buddy rode their matching Harley’s out to California from Michigan. This must have been quite an adventure as there was barely a paved road at this time. He is responsible for my interest in motorcycles, cars and the out doors. Although he passed away in May of 1975, I still think of him on a daily basis. He left quite an impression on me and was a big part in shaping me as I headed for adulthood.
My Dad had and still does not have any love for bikes, cars, hunting or fishing. That’s ok, he was into working, his hobby always working. He has been in the real-estate business since the age of eighteen (he just turned eighty). We all have different things that set our boats a sail. Although he never liked my motorcycle addiction, he at least understood it and did not discourage it. We all need a pursuit to pour ourselves into, My dad loves real estate, all aspects of it. It is a very time consuming endeavor, many times growing up, I would already have hit the sack by the time he returned from the day’s transactions. He pretty much still has this schedule although scaled back some.What his bike looked like with the sidecar.
So my Grandpa was somewhat of a surrogate, taking me fishing, hunting keeping my dirt bike up at his place in St. Helen. So when school was out I pretty much was in St. Helen exploring the State land that surrounded the area. I had been looking for this photo for quite a while, and it surfaced at my Aunt’s house in Chicago. There is another one out there with My Grandpa and his friend with their bikes decked out with sidecars full of their gear just before their epic journey. I suspect my Uncle in California is in possession of that photo, and is currently trying to scare it up. I hope he does, ‘cause it would make a fine book end for an old story that was passed on to me by someone I really respected.
I do have one very cool memento from this long ago trip. These are the very goggles my Grandpa wore on the California trip. One I will keep until it is time to pass on to my boy.
Till Next Time....................................

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday!

Veterans Day

Get out and thank a Vet today.

Let's Face It

You can probably do a better job than I did at this, but AGV is letting you order their helmets with your graphics on them. This includes your face. I think is is a great marketing idea. To see how your mug would look on AGV's latest lid, ride on over to AGV Valentino's face it. Pretty damn neat.

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

I Have a Dripping Suspicion

I had been reading on the XS boards that I need to replace my sump filter. Those in the know say the stock filter gets a rip in it early on in it's life and it lets all the debris it it supposed to filter circulate though your engine. Not a good thing. So I picked up a new filter and gasket from Mike's XS. After the parts arrived I scurried out to the garage to do the swap out. The first thing I noticed was this big old dollop of silicone on the edge of the sump plate. Well after cleaning it up, I found out the ol' XS had a minor oil leak that the previous owner failed to point out. Using my superior skills of deduction, I figured he knew about it, because the silicone did not find it's way there by accident. Not a big deal really, I would either ask Big Toe to tig it or find a new plate on ebay. I chose the latter and scored a used plate in excellent condition for the paltry sum of four dollars and twentyfive cents. The new one did not have the same problem as the original and solved the drip strait away. The original filter did not have the rip everyone on the message boards were talking about. At least the swap out gave me peace of mind and allowed me to find the shoddy patch work the previous owner did. I would have found it sooner or later as I need to pull the engine to paint the frame and do the street tracker transformation this winter. It also let me get a peek at the bottom end, all looks fine. The XT still needs it's side covers, but is running fine despite not having them. I'll find a set sooner or later on ebay, she looks unfinished without them. I have a new chain just haven't put it on yet. Procrastination isn't in the tag line for nothing.

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

She's a Roller, A High Roller Baby.

Curly has his bobber in roller form and is currently working to fabricate the odds and ends that will separate his bobber from the rest of the pack. Curly and Big Toe have a assload of fabrication experience,so Curly dreams up and fabricates the parts he wants to use. Then BigToe with his big ol' tig setup can meld the pieces together. He also has access to quite a bit of heavy machinery, so he is able to whip up bits and pieces in no time flat. They made the tank mounts out of round stock, machined them to welcome the mounting bolts. Then Curly modified the frame to accept the new tank mounting slugs he whipped up. The result is a very clean setup that looks as if it came from the factory that way.He was not crazy about the seat mounting brackets the were out there, so he picked up a TC Bros. setup and modified it so it does not have half of the bracket sticking out in front of the seat. Curly also fabbed up a pretty trick mounting bracket to hang the front of the seat on. He is currently working on a setup for the seat springs. Curly is pretty much a perfectionist, so he is very methodical in the parts he makes. It may take a bit longer, but in the end he will be the proud owner of one hot machine.

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