BIG BRASS ONES

A little more bike on ice action, I don't know how he stays on that R1 with the set he has.

Check out those meat grinder tires!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks Like Someone Is Going To Need Some Asbestos Converse

Curly is back at work on his XS650 bobber and by the look of things, he is going to need to commission Converse to whip him up some asbestos Chuck Taylors. He and Big Toe whipped up a new exhaust for the XS and it is going to shoot flames awfully near the forward controls.

They are working on a way to get the shifter to shift the normal one down four up pattern without the linkage winding up looking like a ladder.

They still have quite a bit of tweaking to do, so the exhaust will probably get tweaked as well. I hope so, 'cause if it stays like it is now, it will look cool, but Curly will have some awfully toasty feet.

Turkey Buzzards

Two sure signs that spring is right around the corner for me are, I saw two Turkey Buzzards today

And Felix and his "Ducati Buddies" are making me jealous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those who may be wondering, the Ducatsi are as follows; 999, Diavel, and Mulistrada. And believe me, the owners, BASTARDS all of them.

Plus my foot is at about 96.3% so I am cracking out the FJ for the first time this year Wednesday and riding it to work. YEEE HAAA Mo Fo's. Shit, that's three things. I guess I'm not as smart as I think I am, well I can count to three, that has to count for something.

Yer Unk

One of my Favorite people I have never met got some scary news recently. If there is one thing I do know about him is he is one tough son of a bitch. When presented with a challenge, Yer Unk meets it head on with both fist up. So I know this one will be no different, I'm thinking about you Unk, and I'm in your corner. You can stop by and check on Unk as he kicks this shit in the teeth at notwhatiwantedtohear.wordpress.com or just click on The Big Blue Plastic Motorcycle to embiggen as Unk likes to say.

It's Fat Tuesday And You Know What That Means

The Triumphant return of our luscious bathing beauty. Run out and get those paczkis' while they're hot.

What to Do About Those Mid Winter Motorcycle Blues

Well. If you're in my part of the country, you ride you're bike (unless you somehow broke your left foot). This year we have had almost perfect riding weather in South East Michigan. Normally, we are up to our armpits in snow and freezing cold temps. In a normal Michigan winter, if you're anything like Mika Kallio, head down to local motorcycle shop or fire up you 'puter and pick up a bag or two of Kold Kutter ice racing screws, get out your toolbox and start mounting them. Then you find a gaggle of like minded individuals, clear a nice road course on a frozen lake and have at it. Thanks to Felix for sending this video in my direction, puts a smile on my face. As usual, view in full screen for maximum viewing pleasure.
Maybe riding dirt bikes on ice is not your style, you prefer just a little more horsepower. Oh some thing that has like 193hp weighs around 455 lbs with all fluids topped up and has a top speed right around 190 mph. Maybe just maybe a BMW 1000RR is more to your liking. Either way, I can see many trips to my orthopedic doc if I find myself engaging in one or both of these activities.

I Think I Would Rather Be Shot Across The Straits From A Cannon

than cross the Mighty Mack in the conditions pictured above. That photo comes from the bridge authorities traffic cam. If you click on the highlighted link, you can view the current conditions on the bridge. They also have some interesting history about the Mighty Mack. Early last year, Red proposed a bike trip to Canada so he could add getting his "Canada Card" to his list of endeavors. He invited Unk and myself to Join him, but through a series of circumstances, his wife broke her ankle, I wound up being needed on an emergency project at work, the trip never happened.. Luckily, Unk and Surly did wind up going on a adventure of their own so all was not lost. The four of us have had a Internet kinship going for quite some time, and I would like nothing better than meeting these folks face to face and going on a ride.

While we were in the planning stages I pointed out we would have to cross a couple of bridges some find pretty intimidating. First being the Mackinac bridge, it is five miles long and spans the straits of Mackinac. Riding the bridge can be somewhat of a challenge, it seems to always be pretty windy up there. Second, the bridge authority paints the bridge from one end to the other May until October. The painting itself is no big deal in a car, but if you are on a bike and crossing the bridge between nine am, and five pm. Monday through Friday, the outside lanes are closed to traffic and you have to ride the grate. What is the grate you ask, it is a metal grate that spans 3,800 hundred feet and is 199 feet above the water. It was put there by design to allow wind to pass through the bridge so it remains stable instead of acting like a sail and leading to it’s failure like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge that collapsed in spectacular fashion on November seventh 1940 due to high winds. The wind had no way of passing through the bridge and it began an irreversible gyration and came apart.



Imagine being the guy rescuing the dog from the car and walking off the bridge, that must have been awesome. I digress, the whole point of this post is about “riding the grate” and crossing the bridge in less than ideal conditions. On a motorcycle, it can be about as much fun as pulling your own teeth with a pair of pliers. Your bike starts to gyrate like Gypsy Rose Lee and makes you want to clamp on the handle bars with a death grip. This only makes it worse. You have to have kinda have a light touch on the bars to lessen the effect and still maintain control. Then you have the added pleasure of having a front row view to the straits that lie two hundred feet below. Combine the two and you have a pretty hair raising experience on your hands. Maybe this year, if all the planets align, we can do the trip or at least something close to it. I guess we’ll have to see what kinda cards we are dealt. Here is a riders perspective of riding the grate, I sniped the photo from Pako's page, there is some good shots as well as their views about the experience.