Blue Collar Rides

One leaves, another arrives.....

2012-02-06T20:20:00.000-06:00

Finally pulled the trigger today. I traded my '07 Kawi Vulcan 900. It's been hell of a bike, not just for me but both my sons got plenty of seat time on her too. But with everyone out of the house, I've got my Drifter for the long rides with my wife, I've got my '06 sporty that's kinda heading down the bobber route, and the 900 just wasn't getting the attention it deserved nor did it fit in with what I've found myself getting into as far as bikes go. It went to a good home, a local guy has it and will ride the wheels off it.

Sitting in front of it's new home-

Now the guy that got it also had the bike I traded for, a '76 Sporty. Rebuilt about 2 years ago by a well respected local builder, S&S carb, bored and cammed, she just needs a little TLC to be back to where she needs to be. I'm also beginning the process of research and getting the parts I want so I can take her apart for a make-over later on.

Got her home tonight-

A little more nakedness.........

2012-02-04T21:26:00.002-06:00

Spent some time in the garage today and pulled the Screamin' Eagle pipes off in anticipation of the arrival of my new pipes. Hopefully next week!! Also got rid of the lower belt guard, nasty lookin' plastic piece anyway! Now it's time to order some more parts!

Winter project

2012-01-29T16:04:00.002-06:00

I have definitely been neglecting my blog for a while! There's not a whole lot new to update, except that I've finally started one of my winter projects. My '06 Sporty is getting a make-over. After a month of 50+ hours a week, I finally found the motivation to get in the garage and do something!

Here's how she looked when winter started-

Picked up a cheap LePera Bare-bones seat off e-bay(thanx Jimmy!)

Then proceeded to take it apart to take the tank and rear fender to a buddy of mine for a repaint-

More to come!

Sorry about the crappy cell phone pics, lol!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-12-22T18:35:00.000-06:00

Just figured I'd throw the Holiday greets out early as in a couple hours, we're heading to Mississippi to spend the holidays with our youngest son, his wife, our new grandson, our oldest son and his fiance are going with as well! I can't ask for a better Christmas than to spend it with my family! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and an even better 2012!!

The family grows..

2011-12-17T10:14:00.000-06:00

On December 9th, 2011, at 6:02pm Colton Troy Fickbohm came into this world. Weighing in at a solid 8lbs, 1oz and measuring 20.5", he was tired of waiting around for the due date (Dec. 19th) and came to us early.

Our Grandson, Colton-

Chillin' with his momma, our daughter-in-law Julie-

Already practicing his "WTF dad!" look on our son, Jayson-

I never gave a whole lot of thought to the idea of me being a grandpa and I don't know if it's really sunk in yet. I really wish we could have been there when he was born, but with them being just over 1000 miles away and with our work schedule it just didn't work out. Jayson and Julie are both SeaBees in the U.S. Navy and stationed in Gulfport, Ms. I am very proud of both of them for choosing to serve America, but even more-so now considering the challenges they'll face and the sacrifices they'll make in raising a family while serving our country. I know from experience how tough that can be. Our oldest son Jimmy was born in Song-Nam, South Korea while I was stationed there with the Army back in the late 80's and our youngest, Jayson, was born on Ft. Riley, Kansas while I was stationed there in the early 90's. It's a tough road they have ahead of them, especially with both of them being in the Navy. They both tough, strong willed people, they'll do just fine.

As for my wife and I, we are both counting the days till we head to Ms to spend time with Jayson, Julie, and Colton. On Dec. 22nd we're taking off for a Christmas vacation and spending both Christmas and New Years with them. To make this an even more special holiday our oldest son, Jimmy, and his fiance, Paige, were both able to get time off and we're all going together. I don't think I could ask for a better Christmas!!

'76 Ironhead

2011-12-04T15:23:00.001-06:00

Well, here's a couple pics of it. It was a rainy crappy day so I didn't get to ride it and the battery was pretty dead so I didn't get to hear it run either. It looks to be in very clean shape with lots of parts that'll either get taken off or sold. We agreed to wait for a nicer day so we could get it out, get it running, and ride it. If that all works out, I'll do the trade and start gathering parts for next years build!

Decisions, decisions.....

2011-11-30T19:20:00.001-06:00

In '08 I bought a new, left over, '07 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic. It's been a great, trouble free, bike for me. Between myself and my son we've racked up just over 30k miles on it. I still have it. A friend has the same bike set up for touring and just loves it. I was at the Carquest store he works at last week picking up some parts and we started bs'ing about bikes. He goes on about how much he likes his 900 and says that he should probably sell his other scoot cause he doesn't ride it much. It's not comfy enough for him, and with him being quite a bit older than me I can understand. So I said since you like that Vulcan so much how about we just trade. I've got 2 other scoots and would love to have some old iron again. He says, let me think about it. Now the scoot in question is his '76 XLH iron head. He said the motor has been rebuilt a couple years ago by a very reputable local guy, bored, cammed, and such. I did some checking and that checks out to be true. He said the carb(S&S, not quite sure which model) was built and tuned by a local carb guru, this also checks out to be true. I've also talked to couple guys that have actually ridden the scoot and both of them say it runs like a scalded dog. I stopped back in the store yesterday and ask if he's still thinking and he says, nope, I'm done, let's do it. I'm going to give it a look this weekend and decide........

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T10:42:00.001-06:00

Happy turkey day everyone! O.k., so I'm a day late, lol!

Even with as bleak as things can look at times these days, I do have a lot to be thankful for. I have a wonderful family, a wife that has put up with my shit for the last 24 years, 2 sons that are also my best friends and I couldn't be prouder of both of them. They've each chosen a good woman to share their lives with and our youngest son and his wife are expecting their first child on December 19th, our first grandchild, the family grows.

With as much as I can bitch and complain about my job, I have a good job for this area with very good job security. We're swamped with a lot of different projects with no end in sight, can't complain about that in this economy.

I've got a handful of true friends that I can always count on.

I've got scoots in the garage so "wind therapy" is never very far away.

I've got a lot to be thankful for.....

Ass Hats......

2011-11-20T10:21:00.001-06:00

I guess I'm just a magnet for ass-hats. My wife and I were invited to a neighbors birthday party last night. Nothing huge, just a gathering a friends and neighbors to celebrate his 40th b-day. As the evening progressed this guy(still have no clue who he was) comes up to me and asks what I ride (had my HD ball-cap on). I told him" '06 Sportster." Then it started. "Man, I couldn't ride one of them, too small, too slow, not comfortable, not comfortable with my ol' lady on, I gotta have a big bike. I put on way too many miles to do it on a sporty." Really, I asked, how many miles would that be? "Oh about 7000 a year." At this point I couldn't help myself, I started laughing. He asks, "What's so funny?" When I told him that he was about a third of the way to the miles I put on in a year I was hoping he would just STFU and leave me alone. Nope, wasn't gonna get that lucky. His story then turned into, "Well, mines a collectors bike so I don't want to put too many miles on it." My interest was kind of renewed with that statement. I'm thinkin' maybe an old knuck or pan so I set myself up. "Really? What is it?" He then proceeded to tell how rare and collectible his '09 Wideglide is. Ass-hat.

Just when you thought it would end, he starts with a whole new story line starting with, "I have a dilemma." Now having been drinking for a couple hours, I figure what the hell, I could use some more entertainment. He then starts with his dilemma of 2, 1% MC's that want him to patch in. One is an MC on his wife's side that within the next 3-4 years is going to patch over to H.A. The other is the dominant for our area that his dad has been a member of since he can remember. Really, I ask, which would be who? He says SOA. I couldn't fucking believe he actually said SOA. Just to be sure he wasn't meaning something else I asked,"Seriously! Sons of Anarchy?" He said, "yup, quite the dilemma huh" Time for me to go home, as I'm leaving he puts the icing on the cake and says, "Later Bro!" I really wanted to just turn around and punch the guy, but out of respect for the others there and my neighbor that threw the party I just kept walkin'. Fuckin' ass-hats!

The rest of the Detroit school ride.......

2011-10-23T18:40:00.000-05:00

The 1st day of classes got out at noon so I did what any normal guy would do....spent the rest of the day riding around the Lake St Clair area. Fall is definitely a beautiful time to visit!

The next couple days it was back to business to take these-

disassemble them-

Then put them back together(see the before pic, lol!)

I had a blast, robotics is a lot of fun, especially integrating them into a weld shop. Tested out at 92%! Woohoo!

I didn't get a lot of pics, but I did grab one crossing the Mississippi on my way home-

Covered just over 2200 miles and got a couple certs to boot! Sorry about the crappy pics, all I had was my phone, lol!

1100 miles....so far

2011-10-09T18:06:00.000-05:00

Previously I posted about going to robotics school, well I'm here(north of Detroit, Mi.) and classes start tomorrow. The last 3 days have been a blast. I got a new front tire on the Drifter and with a decent forecast I hit the road. Friday was a short day, got a tire put on and headed for Jimmy's for a short visit. We ended up hangin' out drinkin' some beer and changing the oil over to Amsoil in the Drifter, a good 200 mile day. Saturday was designated as miles day. At 6:30am I was on the road. Made it across Missouri into Illinois-

Then across Illinois into Indiana-

Once into Indiana I decided to stop for the night. I stopped in Peru, Ind. I think mickey d's in Peru hire only

crack heads, lol! 600 miles for the day, not bad.

Up at 5:30 this morning it back on the road bound for Clinton Township Mi. Made it to Michigan!

A detour through Hell is in order-

Hell, Michigan that is!

After I got checked in at the hotel, there's only one way to celebrate an 1100 mile ride-

22oz Leinenkugel!

Tomorrow morning it's off to class for robotics!

9-11 Ride to Remember

2011-09-11T20:51:00.002-05:00

I'm usually not one to go on huge group rides or even poker runs for that matter. I generally prefer to ride the roads less traveled with a small group(2-5 bikes) of friends.Today was different. I participated in a local 9/11 Ride to Remember put on by a local ALR chapter. 290 bikes and quite a few cages gathered in the heartland of America to remember 9/11 and pay tribute to our heroes. The route was right at about 88 miles and traveled though 6 small towns. There was a stop in each town and each town rolled out the red carpet for the bikers, streets lined with American flags, refreshments for the riders, and eager citizens, from infants to the elderly out showing their patriotism. The ALR did a great job coordinating with local law enforcement so that all crossroads were blocked and the huge group never got separated. I've to be honest though, it was also the longest 88 miles of my life taking almost 6 hours as speeds rarely exceeded 40 mph, mainly due the fact that probably 50 of the lead bikes were flying 3'x5' flags with the rest of us flying smaller ones. It was an awesome sight. The one image that is etched in my mind is that of an older gentlemen standing along the street as we came into the last town, hand over his heart in honor of all the American flags passing in front of him and tears flowing down his face. He wasn't the only one, a lot of tears flowed today as 9/11 was honored, our heroes were honored, and our pride as Americans was reaffirmed.

Labor Day ride

2011-09-05T19:55:00.000-05:00

Since we didn't work today I took a lazy ride around where we live, yes, we live in the middle of nowhere, but I like it that way....

Tried "stitching" frames together, need more practice...

Why am I always broke when deals come around!! $2700!!

9/4/11 Ride

2011-09-05T10:40:00.000-05:00

Finally! Some of the best riding weather is upon us, a cold front rolled through leaving morning temps in the mid 50's and daytime highs in the mid 70's, perfect!!! My wife and I saddled up on our Drifter and headed for the Cassoday Biker Breakfast in Cassoday, Kansas. A monthly event held the 1st Sunday of each month from March through November turns a sleepy Kansas town of 80 people into a town full of bikers, vendors, dyno shootouts, great food, and some of the coolest scoots around. At almost a 300 mile round trip for us it makes for a great Sunday ride. Onto the pics!

The south end of town is filling up

The north end is pretty packed too!

Probably my favorite of the day, I love sporty bobbers!

Love the timing cover!

Clean RE

I'm digging the pipes on this BT bobber!

Mad Max!

This guy is at Cassoday quite a bit and his scoot never disappoints!

Yes, it runs and rides! A local got this out and was puttin' around town on it!

Very clean! "drool"!

Nice artwork

I love a modded Buell!

Pretty cool fender

I still like modern chops

The Boss!

Beautiful Flathead!

WTF!! Come on now, I love my Drifter too, but let's not call it an Indian. Kawi did a great job copying the Indian styling, but to put the Indian badge on the tank is wrong.

This is a real Indian.

The Fatbob...one of my favorite factory bikes...but a spring seat on a bike with suspension is f'n retarded and looks stupid as fuck.

One of my favorite factory metrics..the '07 Kawasaki Meanstreak 1600SE

On our way home we stopped by Mike and Bev's and had some beer and BBQ with friends, great way to finish out the day!

'bout damn time!!

2011-08-17T19:39:00.000-05:00

After having smoke blown up my ass for almost 7 years, it's finally confirmed and going to happen! I'm going to robotics school!! The company I work for is sending me to Kuka College in Clinton Township Michigan for their basic and advanced programming courses.Our company got into robotic welders about 7 years ago and for various reasons I never got to go or have any specialized training. I read some manuals, played with stuff and figured a lot of it out. 3 years ago I had our robotic welders dumped in my lap, none of the owners "golden boys" could figure it out so I hit the books and turned our expensive "coffee tables" into productive, profitable machines. It's paid off, I finally get to go to school and learn from the best. One of the coolest aspects of this is that I get to ride 900 miles to the school, stay in a hotel for 2 weeks and get paid!! I love it! A paid road trip!!

2 Wheel Mania

2011-08-14T20:52:00.000-05:00

My son, Jimmy, calls me last Thursday and tells me there a bike deal at the Beaumont Club in KC, anything with 2 wheels is welcome and if ya ride in admission is free. Now who am I to pass up a chance to spend the weekend with my son, get some miles on, and check out some cool scoots. Late Friday morning my wife and I loaded up and headed to KC!

Hopefully they do more of the 2 Wheel Mania events, anything from electric bicycles to full dress Harleys were there. Finally an event where everyone on 2 wheels just hung out and had fun.

My wifes favorite, a 3 wheel scooter!

Time for some pizza at Joes!

my favorite of the show, a stretched Ruckus with a 225 rear tire!

After the show Jimmy and snapped some pics at cool spot-

Dodge City, Ks.

2011-08-14T20:24:00.000-05:00

Last weekend a good friend, Mouse, also our 1st officer for our chapter of the SCRC calls me at 5 in the afternoon. "You up for a ride?" Hell yeah I tell him, where we goin? "Dodge City". Cool! A good friend of ours moved out there for work and we haven't seen him in about 4 months. A couple hundred miles on a Friday night, I'm game!

Breakfast at a casino, lol!

Frosty and Mouse

Cosmosphere ride

2011-08-14T19:44:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago our chapter of the SCRC hit the road for a day run to Hutchinson Kansas to check out the Cosmosphere. If you've never been there and are into flight and space related things this is a must see! Our son, Jimmy was home for the weekend so he saddled up on the 9 and rode with.

Jimmy on the 9

Jimmy and Nate chillin at the house

Jimmy and my wife

playin with a buffalo head at Montana Mikes

An actual piece of the Berlin Wall

2 wheel mania KC

2011-08-13T14:01:00.001-05:00

mmmmmmm.........Corona.......

2011-08-08T05:52:00.000-05:00

Decisions, Decisions.......

2011-07-20T19:52:00.001-05:00

Should I stay or should I go........

Myself and a couple friends had planned on making the Sturgis run an annual guys run, ride, sleep with your bike under the stars wherever you end up and ride some more, drink some beer and have some fun. This year things aren't looking good, everyone has cancelled due to tight finances, understandable. When you have a family, they come 1st, period.

However, I still have the means to go.....and my wife has given me the go ahead.....

Should I stay or should I go now....

I'm gonna have to listen to that damn song now, lol!

Flat Track!

2011-07-17T10:39:00.000-05:00

Finally some flat track racing close to home, gonna have to go!

The "9"

2011-07-16T21:22:00.001-05:00

My Vulcan 900 Classic has become known as the "9". Myself and both my sons have put miles on her to the tune of just over 30,000 of them. She's been one hell of a work-horse and has never let us down. Since I got my Drifter, I'm taking more of a bobber approach to the 9. I got some 5" straight risers and drag bars from a friend who updated his '88 FXRS so on the 9 they went!

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics, but it's all I had with, lol! I definitely like the change, but she's got a ways to go yet!

beer bait

2011-07-14T18:28:00.001-05:00

Works every time

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Rednecks at work

2011-07-14T18:20:00.001-05:00

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30k

2011-07-04T21:22:00.000-05:00

30,000 miles!

She's been my work horse bike since I bought her new in '08. It's our '07 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic. She's given us 30,000 trouble free miles and more memories than I can count.

4th of July evening ride

2011-07-04T20:36:00.001-05:00

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why are you taking a picture of me?

2011-07-03T21:22:00.001-05:00

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Everyone gets in on the fun

2011-07-03T21:19:00.001-05:00

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No one goes hungry!

2011-07-03T21:18:00.001-05:00

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keepin' cool!

2011-07-03T21:16:00.001-05:00

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Happy B-day AMERICA, from Kansas

2011-07-03T19:42:00.001-05:00

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DB '11

2011-06-28T21:45:00.000-05:00

Why "Dirtbag" Run? Well, we'll probably look like a bunch of dirtbags the next day, lol! For the most part it'll be a guys only run, not that the fairer sex isn't welcome, but sometimes guys just need a chance to cut loose and be lewd, crude, and socially unacceptable. If the significant others can put up with that, come on out. Oh, I forgot to mention, tent camping or under the stars, no campers, no RV's, no hotels, no showers(unless a swim in the lake counts), no chase vehicles, no A/C, just a weekend party in the middle of nowhere. It doesn't matter what you ride, just ride the damn thing. Plan on being self-sufficient, if you want to get with your buddies and split loads, equipment, etc, that's on you. No fee's (other than possible camp ground or shelter fees)no vendors, no t-shirts. BYO, beer, food, tents, bags, whatever. Leave the attitudes and ego's at home, their not welcome, it's about having a good time with good friends.

Date- TBA, but it'll be within the next 3 months.

Place- TBA, right now we're looking at southwest Kansas

We'll roll out on a Saturday morning, ride about 300 miles, party, pass out, and head for home on Sunday.

Dirtbag Run '11

2011-06-28T21:07:00.002-05:00

Details for DB '11 coming soon!

Hangin' in KC

2011-06-26T21:08:00.000-05:00

We decided to spend the weekend with our son Jimmy in KC, unfortunately his girlfriend, Paige, had to work and missed out on the festivities. After having done our road trip on the Drifter, I was itching to put some miles on my sporty, so after a little convincing my wife agreed to ride on the sporty for the weekend. It's not a long ride to Jimmy's, about 170 miles, so once we got there he took us to the Westport Flea Market for some of the best burgers I've ever had.

Hangin' out in front of the Flea Market

Gettin ready to roll to our next destination

The next stop is one of our favorite hang outs in KC, Fric-n-Fracs, a cool laid back bar and grill.

Parking on the sidewalk at Fric-n-Fracs

gotta get the lime to the bottom!

sharin' a beer with my son....priceless

tank in a tree outside the bar

Had a great weekend hangin out with Jimmy!!!

Road Trip '11, pt 10

2011-06-19T23:41:00.000-05:00

The last leg, kind of a bummer, I could ride like this everyday if I could afford it, lol! After the Lake of the Ozarks, we headed to Lenexa, Kansas to spend a couple days with our son Jimmy and his girlfriend Paige. Lots of barley pop and good times were had. As an added bonus Jimmy and Paige got the iron head out and rode the last 170 miles home with us! We also spent this weekend together and had a blast!

Lilu loves bags

Paige waiting for Jimmy to get his scoot ready.

Jimmy and Paige, ready to ride

So now we're home, what an incredible trip! Seeing family and friends, spending time with my wife, seeing places I've never seen, and just being in the wind. This was the rejuvenation that I needed. I had a gentleman tell me at one point a trip like that will either inspire you and ruin you. I agree, I am inspired! I can't wait to hit the road again! 11 states, 20 days off from work, 3300 miles, I can't wait to do it again!

Road Trip '11, pt 9

2011-06-19T23:23:00.000-05:00

We could have made Lenexa in one day from Marion, Illinois where we stayed the night before, but we've got a few days left so we head for the Lake of the Ozarks!

Road Trip '11, pt 8

2011-06-19T22:09:00.000-05:00

Indiana was the shocker of this trip. We decided to take back roads out of Kentucky and run along the Ohio river in southern Indiana. What a gorgeous ride! If you find yourself in that area don't miss a chance to ride hwy 62 and hwy 66.

This store has been in business for over 100 years.

Barge on the Ohio river

I shouldn't have turned my wife loose with the camera, lol!

Rockport power plant, pics do not convey the size of this place, it's massive!

Heading into Illinois

The ride through Illinois was completely different than Indiana.

Road Trip '11, pt 7

2011-06-19T21:13:00.000-05:00

Next up on the itinerary was Louisville, Ky to visit an old Army buddy of mine Jay. We were stationed together back in the early 90's, and he wanted to learn how to ride, so I taught him and he's been riding ever since. There was kind of a turn around though, back then he was on a cruiser and I was on a sport bike. Now the roles are reversed, lol!

The ride to Louisville was uneventful, but there were some beautiful areas.

Once in Louisville we hooked up with Jay and he showed us the city for the next few days.

Jay and his CBR1000

I can't thank Jay enough for his hospitality and generosity during our stay. It was truly a great weekend spent with a great friend.

Road Trip '11, pt 6

2011-06-19T20:38:00.000-05:00

The day I've been waiting for, time to slay the Dragon! US 129, here we come!

The Drifter waiting patiently under the car port at our motel

our lodging in Robbinsville, NC

Earned a couple patches!

As we kept rolling towards Kentucky I couldn't help but smile, as I had finally ridden the one road I have dreamed of riding. In my opinion it was the most technical road I've ridden to date and I'm a better rider for it. Thankfully we had taken the advice and hit the Dragon in the middle of the week and traffic, bike or otherwise, was minimal. While my Drifter handled it admirably, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed in the handling, it wasn't bad, it just isn't what I'm used to. I found myself wishing I had my old Meanstreak, lol!

Road Trip '11, pt 5

2011-06-19T17:45:00.000-05:00

Our next destination upon leaving Georgia was something that I have been looking forward to for years. We were taking back roads to Tellico Springs, Tn where we would ride the Cherohala Skyway to Robbinsville, NC.

Road Trip '11, pt 4

2011-06-19T15:43:00.000-05:00

Time to continue on our journey, this time we head northeast across Alabama.

Once through Alabama we got into northwest Georgia to Cartersville to visit a friend of my wifes from Korea. Actually a reunion would probably be more appropriate as they hadn't seen each other in over 20 years!

Hanna and my wife reunited after 20 plus years

Road Trip '11, pt. 3

2011-06-19T15:32:00.000-05:00

While visiting Jayson and Julie they took us to tour the battleship, U.S.S. Alabama, in Mobile, Al. This thing is huge! Rather than a bunch of words trying to describe it, I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

Jayson and Julie under the big guns

always the comedian

Soaking up some AC in the only air conditioned spot on the ship

more clownin' around

stuck in the brig!

I don't think they had Vitamin water in the Brig...

tight sleeping quarters

yeah right, like you're gonna move that, lol!

Next door there was another museum for aviation and other things

Road Trip '11, pt. 2

2011-06-19T12:58:00.000-05:00

The next leg of our journey takes us from Mammoth Spring, Ar, to Memphis Tn, Jackson Ms, and finally one of our destinations, Gulfport, Ms where our youngest son, Jayson, is stationed with the Navy.

Now it's starting to get hot, by 10am it was in the mid-90's and it was only going to get hotter.

The bridge into Memphis-

For this trip I gave Mississippi the award of being the most boring state to ride in, granted we could've probably found more scenic routes, but we didn't look for them, our mission was Gulfport. Why boring? Because from Memphis to Gulfport it's nothing but this-

The one perk to all this nothingness was this-

As we got into Gulfport the temp was 107, but none of that mattered when we met up with our son, Jayson-

We also welcomed a new member to our family, Jayson is now married and we got to meet his wife, Julie. Welcome to our family Julie!

Jayson, Julie, and their Siberian husky, Leonidous

Jayson and Julie are also expecting their 1st child in December, our 1st grandchild, talk about making a guy feel old, lol!

No trip to Gulfport is complete without a trip to the beach-

Leonidous' 1st swim in the Gulf

nope, he don't like water, lol!

my wife and I

Good breakfast right next to our motel!

Jayson and Julie also took us on an excursion to Mobile, Al, pretty cool city, but they can keep the traffic, lol!

I also got some new ink while in Gulfport. My sons and I had been talking about all of us getting a tatto that was representative of our family, a family crest if you will. After getting the idea on paper, we turned it over to Billy Joe at Gulfport Tattoo's and let him work his magic-

The star is for my service in the Army, the Navy anchor is for my son Jayson, the treble cleff is for my son James, and the Korean lettering is for my wife, it says "Family First".

Road Trip 2011, pt. 1

2011-06-19T12:09:00.000-05:00

Well, it's over, it was amazing, but it went all too quickly. Road Trip '11 is over and what a trip it was, my wife and I took 17 days off, visited 11 states, and covered just over 3300 miles. I've gone through and edited pics and still have over 400 of them so instead of one huge post I'm going to break them down into several posts over the next few days.

Our ride for this trip was the newest addition to our stable, our '02 Kawasaki Vulcan Drifter 1500.

Loaded and ready for some miles!

The Drifter performed great during the trip. She rides like a caddy, although I need to get the rear suspension dialed in a bit better, bottoming out was not uncommon on rough surfaces. I was somewhat disappointed in the Corbin seat. After 700 miles my tailbone couldn't take it anymore so I stopped at a HD dealer in Southhaven, Ms and bought a Saddlemen gel pad. That was a very well spent $100 and made 500 mile days a breeze. This was also my 1st experience having a drivers backrest, I'm spoiled now, that made miles very relaxed. I found that fuel mileage was directly related to the twist of the wrist, lol! The worst I got was 37mpg with the best tank coming in right at 49mpg. Overall, I averaged a solid 40mpg for the trip, not bad for a fully loaded bagger. I would say that my only disappointment with the Drifter is it's handling in twisties or rather lack of. However, to be fair, I'm used to my Vulcan 900 and my '06 XL1200C, both of which are very nimble, well balanced bikes. The Drifter is a pig in comparison, the 900 and 1200 weigh in at 650lbs and 570lbs respectively, while the Drifter weighs in 720lbs, then add 100lbs of gear and 300lbs between my wife and I, and you've got one heavy set up. There was definitely no lack of power, the 1500cc's provided plenty of power for every situation, the Drifter is an excellent touring bike. Without a doubt, it's the best bike I own for putting serious miles, not to say the 900 and 1200 can't do it, they just can't do it as smooth or comfortably as the Drifter.

The 1st leg was a 500 mile shot from home to Mammoth Spring, Arkansas. We've made this same run before and there's not a lot for scenery so we changed things up and took a back road in Missouri that we hadn't been on before. Hwy 14 runs through part of the Mark Twain Natn'l Forest and is a very nice ride.

The view from our room in Mammoth Spring, Ar.

Unpacked and relaxin" at the end of day 1

Headin' out early into Arkansas!

Lake of the Ozarks, Mo

2011-06-14T20:44:00.001-05:00

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Cannelton Indiana locks and damn

2011-06-13T11:57:00.001-05:00

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Road trip update

2011-06-11T11:06:00.001-05:00

So far we're 10 days into our road trip and it's going very well. Currently we're hanging out at in Louisville, Ky with an old Army buddy of mine, Jay, who I can't thank enough for his hospitality and help during our stay here! It's fun trying to keep up with him exploring Louisville considering he rides a Honda CBR1000, lol! We'll be hanging out here in Louisville till Monday.

The trip has been incredible so far. The Drifter has performed great, the worst mpg I've gotten so far is 37 and the best was 49. I'm not very impressed with the Bridgestone Excedra's, the rear was worn out by the time we hit Louisville, unfotunately the only shop that had a tire in stock had the Bridgestone so I have a new one.

We spent several days in Gulfport, Ms with our youngest son Jayson and his fiance Julie. Welcome to our family Julie!

From there we rode to Cartersville, Ga to visit my wife's friend Hanna who is also from Korea and they hadn't seen each other in over 20 years! It was great to see them together again!

After leaving there it was off to Tennessee to ride the Cherohala Skyway and to slay the Dragon! It was an absolutely amazing ride and I am definitely a better rider for it.

Now we spend time with people we care about in Louisville before continuing our journey. We've taken alot of pics, but uploading will have to wait as I didn't bring my laptop and these road updates are being done via my phone.

Ride Free!!!!

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day 1

2011-06-01T19:09:00.001-05:00

Unpacked after 500 miles on day one. Made it to Mammoth Spring, Arkansas!

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kick the tires and light the fires!

2011-06-01T06:58:00.001-05:00

Lets get this party started!

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Almost time...................

2011-05-30T23:11:00.000-05:00

It's so close I can taste it!! On June 1st my wife and I are heading out for our 1st vacation ever! We've taken extended weekends and such, but we never really had a real vacation in 24 years! So on June 1st we're loading up on the Drifter and hittin' the road for 20 days! The route is planned, the maps are ready(paper maps, no GPS here, lol!) the Drifter is ready and we are ready to go!! 11 states, just over 2500 miles, the Cherohala Skyway, the Dragon, meeting up with some old friends along the way, and spending some time with our youngest son who's stationed in Gulfport, Ms, with the Navy. No laptop on this trip, however we will have our cell phones, just in case. I'll update occasionally with my Android, but don't expect a good trip report till the end of the month!

An addition to the stable...and one less.....

2011-05-30T22:27:00.000-05:00

After putting some 2 up miles on my '06 sporty, my wife and I decided it was time to get something geared more for touring, so the next some haggling was done, a deal was struck, and I brought home a very nice '02 Kawasaki Drifter! Now most are aware, the Drifter is Maw Kaw's copy/tribute, whatever you want to call it, of an Indian Chief. I call it one of the most comfortable bikes I've ever ridden!

1500cc's, more than enough power, air shocks, Vance and Hines Longshots, and the most comfortable seat I've ever ridden in, the Corbin Dual Tourer. This baby was built for putting on miles and that's what we intend to do! I don't have pics of my latest additions to it yet, but they'll be coming. I added a 22" SlipStream shield, a luggage rack and some more luggage. I can't wait to get some serious seat time on this!!

Now for the one less............

After some haggling, a deal was struck, and my oldest son, James, rode his 1st Harley home yesterday! Yup, he bought my '76 HD XLH1000!

Enjoy the wind Jimmy!

Now with it being a holiday weekend we didn't work today, so yesterday me, my wife, Jimmy, and one of my best friends for the last 18 years, Bill, rode to Jimmy's apartment and hung out there for the night. One of the most memorable rides for as it was Jimmy's first road trip on his 1st Harley and Bill's 1st road trip on his 1st Harley and the 1st time the 3 of had a chance to put on some good miles together, couldn't have asked for a better weekend! Of course we had to break in Jimmy's newly rented garage properly, lol!

The Drifter nestled amongst the Harley's-

Good looking garage Jimmy!

Bill's a little camera shy so I snuck this of him on his new to him '88 FXRS_

Other than the 30mph Kansas wind, it was a great weekend of riding!!!

Catching up!

2011-05-30T20:54:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've updated so here ya go, lol!

A couple weeks ago my good friend Frosty and I hooked up and went to Marquette Kansas for the Thunder on the Smoky rally. It's main purpose is to help raise money for the Kansas Motorcycle Museum in Marquette. There was a great turn out for the rally and the bike show in the park brought in some very cool scoots!

A very good turnout for the rally.

A couple shots of the ride home.

Another cool thing they had going on at the rally was a trials bike demonstration. The balance these guys have is unreal!

Helmets........

2011-05-13T23:00:00.000-05:00

This isn't a rant about pros and cons of helmets. I live in a state that has chosen to give us the freedom to choose (as it should be) and even though I choose not to more often than not (hey, I never said I was a genius, lol!), I have a small collection of helmets. I don't collect them, I've just gotten a few over the last couple years and I can't throw them away as I do travel to helmet mandatory states.

After going back and forth between full face, modular, and half helmets, I was looking for something different. Today I stopped by a local indy shop, California Phil's , and I found one I wanted and ended up bringing it home. It a Bell Custom 500, 3/4 orange flake helmet.

In case of rain I had to get a shield too!

The weather is looking decent for a ride tomorrow, we'll see how I like it.

It's about time!!

2011-05-07T08:24:00.000-05:00

I haven't been much for words recently, but I've been getting some miles on here and this year. The weather in Kansas is a fickle thing and the nice riding days have been few and far between. Other than the wind, yesterday was one of the best days yet, sunny and 80*, time for some miles!!

cassoday

2011-05-01T11:02:00.001-05:00

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breakfast stop

2011-05-01T09:56:00.001-05:00

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miles cont....

2011-04-24T14:30:00.001-05:00

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miles

2011-04-24T14:01:00.001-05:00

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History

2011-03-19T18:53:00.000-05:00

Got together for a good ride today with the RC I ride with. It was our 1st ride of the year and although conditions were less than optimal, 45* with occasional rain, the 4 regulars showed up as always. After stopping in Salina for lunch we went to the Kansas Motorcycle Museum in Marquette, Kansas. Marquette is a tiny town of about 580 people, for a town of this size it's pretty amazing that the museum is there. The museum was started in 03 as a tribute to Stan Engdahl a local racing legend. He was a 5 time national champion aboard his custom built Harley Davidson. His career spanned 6 decades from the 1940's to the 1990's and over 600 of his trophies are on display. Unfortunately, Stan passed away in 07 but his wife continues to be the curator of the museum. There are over 100 vintage and rare motorcycles of all makes on display along with race memorabilia. Onto the pics! Sorry for the quality, but all I had with me was my phone.

If you're ever in the area, this is one stop not to miss. Other than the weather, I couldn't have asked for a better day, good friends, good food, and great miles, all 300 of 'em!!

Freedom......

2011-03-06T00:31:00.001-06:00

Are we truly free? Think about it for a bit. A word that means so much to Americans, but are we truly free?

In a lot of ways we are free, in this country we have a lot more freedom than anywhere else on the planet. How many other countries people get to choose their leaders every 4 years? The sad part is most don't take advantage of our unique opportunity to clean house. But I'm not going to go there with this post, this is about freedom.

Don't believe me about Americans having so much freedom? Try living in a foreign country for an extended period of time. Sorry folks Canada doesn't count. Don't take that wrong, Canada is a great country, one of our greatest allies. Our brothers to the north have it together, they know freedom, things may be a little different up there, but they still have more freedoms than most of the rest of the world.

I'm talking about a developing nation, third world country, whatever you want to call them. I don't mean a week or 2 vacation either, I'm talking in years. I lived in Seoul, Korea for 3 years. Yup, they're a democracy, but they got a ways to go before their people have the freedom we do. I was there for their 1st democratic election, talk about an event! That was a long time ago, but to give you an idea of what it was like, here's an example. There were military checkpoint scattered throughout the country, quite frequently to be honest. They would stop cars, buses, trucks, whatever they wanted, at random, searching for North Korean spies and infiltrators. These guys were locked and loaded with automatic weapons, you did not mess with them. 99% of the time they would look folks over and they would leave, they never hassled anyone needlessly. But every once in a while they would take someone into custody. This was a daily part of life for the South Korean people, they lived with it, they didn't protest, they knew the danger of spies was/is a real and constant threat. Freedom? Most Americans have no clue because a lot never leave their home state.

Let's look at freedom differently. Ask a sky diver why they do it, ask a hang glider, ask a rock climber, ask a pilot, ask a biker, and you'll get a whole range of answers, but the one common statement I bet you'd get from all of them is "Freedom". I know that's one of the reasons I ride. No worries, just you, your machine, and the wind, free as a bird.

It is said "a man who lives his life without regrets is free". I would agree. I have one. Fortunately, I can change that. Years ago, when I was in the Army, one of my buddies that also rode made a plan. We were scheduled to get out at the same time and as a lot of Army buddies do we were making some grand plans. Our plan was to get out and take a month off from life and just ride around the U.S.A., no real route, a tarp and a sleeping bag and just ride. Well, the needs of the Army changed, we got sent to different units and places and lost touch with each other. I never did run across him again, that was before the internet and the age of instant everything. That was 26 years ago. I still have never heard from him or been able to find him. I hope life was good to him. I regret never having made that ride. It's not too late. The ride will happen, it may not be for a year or so, but it will happen. I'd love nothing more than to pick up tomorrow and head out on an adventure like that, but I have commitments that I will honor. I will however begin as of now preparing for that ride. Not really planning the ride, but fulfilling obligations and commitments so I can make the ride a reality. There are 3 others that in my mind have to go with me, I hope they say yes.

Live Free....Ride Free

It's an addiction!

2011-02-19T08:57:00.000-06:00

I really wasn't looking to buy another scoot just yet, but I am a bit of a Craigslist/Cycletrader junky so I'm really always looking for that "find". While browsing Cycletrader I found it at the same dealer I bought my '06. I had been wanting an old iron head sportster for a while, but was in no hurry to buy one as most I had found had been very modified or were basket cases. However, this one was the exception, a 1976 XLH 1000, one owner, 10,400 original miles, almost showroom condition, the only non-original items are the Mustang seat, sissy bar pad, Python slip-on mufflers, and forward controls, topping it all off was a brand new set of tires and oil change. Once I called and talked to the salesman and haggled the price to under $3000, my wife and I went to get her!

The 100 mile ride home was awesome! Riding an iron head sporty is definitely a very visceral experience. I felt very in touch with the machine, it was like being a part of, rather than sitting on top of. I must admit that the ride quality was way better than I expected. After years of hearing how bad the old HD's vibrate and shake, I was pleasantly surprised by how nice it did ride for a 35 year old machine. It vibrates like a Harley at a stop and once under way she smooths out quite nicely with the only noticeable vibes being in the after market forward controls. She loves 65 mph, that is her sweet spot on the highway.

Plans? The only thing I know I'm going to immediately change are the forward controls. They're more for someone over 6', I'm 5'8" and had a hell of a time reaching them, lol! Other than that, my plan is to ride her for a year, learn her, then decide what I want to do. For now, I'm going to enjoy riding her.

It may be kind of cliche, but she has a name. I've named some vehicles over the years, usually ones I've grown attached to and it usually takes a while for the name to surface. On the ride home yesterday she told me her name was Cherry.

Welcome Home and Satan Sauce!!

2011-01-31T20:41:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday we picked up my youngest son Jayson at the KC airport!! He's in the Navy and has been deployed for the last 9 months and we haven't seen him in 11 months, it is so awesome to have him home! Even if it is only for a couple weeks. We spent the night at my son, James, and his girlfriend Paige's apartment, having our own little welcome home party for Jayson. Jimmy and Paige already had their fridge stocked with beer so we had to pick up beer food, little smokies cooked in Famous Daves Devil's Spit bbq sauce, otherwise known as Satan Sauce. This is some of the best sauce I've had and it's plenty hot. Here's a video of some of our drunken fun-

Support Indy shops!!

2011-01-22T10:30:00.000-06:00

For the past year the web has been an invaluable tool for researching different aspects of modifying my sporty. I've spent countless hours looking at stuff, trying to find good deals, but so far the best deals I've gotten have been at local indy shops. Not counting dealerships, we have 6 local indy shops. Now I live in the middle of nowhere so my definition of local may differ from yours, 2 are within 30 minutes, 3 are within an hour, and the last one is about a 1.5 hour drive, I still consider that local, lol!

Just like the old jeeps, my views on my bike are more of a utilitarian nature, I'm not building a shiny show bike, mine is built for miles, lots of them, so new shiny parts aren't necessary. Granted, new and shiny is cool and has it's place, but I don't have to have that on my sporty. With that mindset, I began scouring local shops for good used parts.

In my opinion, indy shops are the life-blood of our addiction, for the most part these guys and gals are in business because of a passion for 2-wheels. Yes, they're in it to make money, what business owner isn't, but I think most of them have a passion for 2-wheels that is almost more important than making every dollar they possibly can. You can see it in the way they work on and build machines, you see it as they invite into their shop and answer endless questions from those of us less knowledgeable, you see it in their eyes.

This list is a small thank you to the shops that make life a little easier for us shade-tree wrenches.

Henry's Chop Shop
Henry's

Cowboy's Custom Cycle
Cowboy's

Road 6 Customs
Road 6

Prairie Hawg
Prairie Hawg

Motorcycle Supply
MC Supply

California Phil's
Phil's

more parts!!!

2011-01-21T14:31:00.001-06:00

I've been drooling over this for quite some time. The Joker Machine speedo mount for a sporty. Quite possibly the coolest speedo mount in the business. The only problem is that it isn't cheap, so I've been looking at other options, but not finding anything I like. I stopped by Henrys Chop Shop in Frankfort Kansas and he happened to have one on his shelf! It turns out that a customer ordered it and then couldn't come up with the cash so he offered it to me for what he had in it. SOLD!! I've bought a few parts from Hank and will continue to do so, it rocks to have a shop like his within 30 minutes of home!

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Volume!!

2011-01-16T13:23:00.000-06:00

Finally! More volume! Those that follow may remember the problems I had with exhaust and how the mount bracket for my Hooker pipes failed and I went back to stock pipes.
Damn it!

When I remounted my stock pipes I also debaffled them, but the sound still sucked and the look of the stock tapered pipes is just awful. By nature, I'm a cheap-ass, always on the hunt for the best deal, but this time when it comes to pipes, I know what I want but the cost is just out of my range for now. What to do in the mean-time? Why you scour e-bay and local shops for used parts, that's what! After many hours of searching the web and not finding anything, I started calling local indy shops. I called Hank at Henry's Chop Shop and he had a deal for me! He had a set of used Screaming Eagle II slip-ons that might fit. I took off for the 30 minute drive to his shop-
Henry's Chop Shop
After doing some measuring, we found them to be a perfect fit! Once I got back home I fired up my space heater and got busy.

While they're not exactly what I want, they are a huge improvement over stock both in looks and sound. I couldn't help myself, once I was done with the install I had to fire her up! What a major difference! These are some great sounding pipes, not obnoxiously loud, but definitely loud with a great bottom end rumble. I think they were one hell of a score for $60!!

While at Hanks, we were talking about what I wanted to do with my sporty and I said I wanted a 3.3 peanut tank for it but was having a hell of a time locating one for a reasonable price. One of the guys there that runs their sister shop in Wamego said he had one(sorry man, I suck with names!)at Bobbi Dees House of Chop. After some discussion making sure it was the correct tank for my bike a deal was made! I went to Bobbi Dees on Saturday and these guys opened up on their day off just to get me a tank! Talk about customer service! Talk about surprised when I saw a perfect factory tank off a rubber mount sporty, not a blemish on it! I apologize for no pics, but I was so damn excited just to get one I went straight to my friends house and gave him the tank, he's also a painter and will be laying down a sic paint job on it!

More to come!!

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-01T01:31:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year!

That is all..

Last ride of 2010

2010-12-31T10:55:00.000-06:00

I just can't believe this freakish warm weather this week! Usually it's in the 20's and 30's with a little snow and some ice on the ground by now, but yesterday was incredible! December 30th 2010, no snow, no ice, and a high of 65! This time around the weatherman actually hit the forecast pretty close so I was prepared and got out of the house at decent time.

While my sporty isn't quite where I want it, I figured yesterday would be a good time to scour the local indy shops to see if they may have some used goodies lying around. The 1st two were closed, the 3rd, Prairie Hawg, was open but no used sporty stuff around and I did find an oil filter for Jimmy's Yamaha project at the 4th one, Motorcycle Supply.

It was also a good shake-down run on my sporty as I've been working on her alot over the holiday break (see previous posts). The biggest changes were getting rid of that silly stock pull-back riser and mid-buck bars, switching to 5" straight risers and 25.5" drag bars with a 15* pullback, and of course getting rid of the stock shocks and switching to Burly Slammer 10.5" shocks. What a huge difference!! The handling is much more responsive than it's ever been, definitely an improvement! I absolutely love the new lowered stance, more comfortable for me since I'm a little on the short side at 5'8" with 32" inseam, I can flatfoot her at stops with ease. Like an idiot, I was in such a hurry to get out and ride yesterday I forgot to grab the spanner for adjusting the pre-load on the Burly's. The softest setting is not good for me and my 200lb frame! I'm also going to have to find another dual element light bulb for the LowBrow Customs tail light. While the marker light is plenty bright, the brake side is almost non-existent, not good, but I think it'll be an easy fix with a better bulb.

After getting some good riding in I met up with my son, Jimmy, in Wamego. He was riding home for New Years so we hooked up there and rode the last hour home together. I couldn't ask for a better final ride of 2010 than sharing miles with my son. It was dusk when we met in Wamego, the wind switched to being out of the north, and the temp dropped from 50 to 30 in a matter of about 20 minutes and I've got to admit that I wasn't as prepared for the cold as I should've been. That was one of the coldest rides in recent memory, stopping about every 10 miles or so to let our hands warm up on the warm jugs of our scoots, then haul ass for another 10. It was truly an adventure, dark, freezing, painful, yet fun all at once. Even when we pulled into a gas station close to home for one final warm before the last miles home, our hands numb and hurting, we were still smiling. The woman working, Amber, a friend of ours, obviously felt sorry for the frozen riders and the coffee was on the house, thanks Amber!! There were also some locals there that knew us and we just re-enforced their belief that those Fickbohm's just ain't right. Maybe we aren't or maybe we are, either way it doesn't matter to me, you get one shot at life, live it, enjoy it.

Some poser shots from the ride-

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and may 2011 bring many smiles and miles!!

Cut it!

2010-12-30T09:52:00.000-06:00

I love getting boxes in the mail! It usually means parts and more garage time, nothing beats garage time in the winter. Yesterday my box from LowBrow Customs showed up-

Time to get busy! This is the last time you'll see this-

Lookin' a little nekkid!

For the most part this was a fairly simple mod, with one exception, actually cutting a perfectly good rear fender, lol! As some of you probably know all too well, I'm a cheap-ass! There's no way I'm going to spend money on a chopped rear fender when I'm perfectly capable of cutting it myself so out came the 4.5" angle grinder and cut-off wheel. While this is not the perfect way to cut, it does work very well. I taped off the area to be cut to minimize paint damage, drew out the line I wanted, and went to town!

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

Time to get my new tail light mounted-

Now to wire it and finish it up. The wiring isn't hard, having a slight color-blindness disorder makes the 12v test light my best friend for this. I went through and identified all the wires, soldered and heat shrink insulated all connections, and finished up the job.

Not a bad hack job for a bout 4 hours of work, lol!

Progress!!!

2010-12-28T23:02:00.000-06:00

WooHoo!! More progress! After a road trip to Road 6 Customs in Geneva, Nebraska (more on them at- Road 6 Customs ) it was back into the garage for some more work on the sporty. (I have got to come up with a name for her, lol!) Now my main mission in going to Road 6 was to get their adjustable lowering kit, why a lowering over shocks? I'm a cheap-ass, that's why, lol! Well we made it up there and got the kit, a full tour of the shop and he offered a great price on a set of new Burly Slammer shocks. I declined and my wife and I headed to downtown Geneva to grab lunch at the Overtime Bar & Grill, great food! While my wife and I are talking about why I chose the kit over the shocks she said, "Just quit being such a cheap-ass and get the shocks! It's gonna ride better and you'll be happier" Not too many guys have a wife that is that understanding, I'm very lucky indeed! So we headed back to Road 6, took back the kit and got the shocks.

As soon as we got home I headed for the garage for the install, very simple. About the only catch was belt tension, dropping to a 10.5" shock allowed some slack in the belt. No big deal, tighten her up a bit and the difference was unreal!

Before-

After-

How's it ride? I don't know, but I'll know tomorrow, it's supposed to be a great day for riding. I do know it's low enough that my wife, at 5' tall, can flat foot it! While I was out there, I decided something else needed changing as well. The reflectors on the front fork tubes had to go. All in all, she's coming along quite nicely.

Details

2010-12-26T19:30:00.000-06:00

As the 1st year with my Sporty draws to a close, I've got to admit that I like this bike much more than I thought I would. She's given me almost 18,000 trouble free miles, more smiles than I can count, my 1st trip to Sturgis, and of course the "wind therapy" that we all need. This past year has also given me a lot of time to get to know her, do my research, and figure out what direction I want to go with my mods. I like bobbers and lane-splitters more than any of them. That's not to say I don't like long-chops, pro-streets, and stockers, but for my 1st sporty build, it's going to lean very heavily towards a bobber. Now I know that what I'm going to do wouldn't be considered a bobbers by purists, but I could care less. To me the point of building your own, is to build what you want, something that reflects you, not to please anyone else. Mine will be very bobber influenced, lol!

The wrenchin' began on Christmas Eve. One of the 1st things I wanted to change was bars and risers. I don't care for the stock mid-bucks or the goofy curved riser at all. I like things simple, so off they came.

One of the bad things about doing it this way is that the top clamp also houses the speedo and idiot lights. In HD's infinite wisdom they decided to make the top clamp for the customs with a different hole spacing than the others so finding risers that would re-use the top clamp and look good was near impossible. After not finding anything that I liked I said to hell with it. I stopped by the local indy shop, Cowboys, to see what they had. After not finding anything new in stock I asked if they had anything used. A set of 5" straight risers were found with a 25.5" drag bar attached to them. Not perfect, but in nice shape, $50 later they went home with me!

There were no holes or dimples in the bars so I had to run the wires internally. Don't let anyone bullshit you, this sucks, it's not necessarily that hard, but it still sucks. A slight color blindness issue played hell with me, see previous post, lol!

The finished product-

Tonight, Jimmy headed back to KC, I figured I'd go clean up the garage a bit. While I'm out there I'm thinking I really don't care for that mirror, it looks ok, but you can't see a damn thing out of it. Those 5" straight risers gave me alot of clearance between the tank and the blinkers at full lock, I wonder...........

Yup!! Plenty of room!!

I like it! Plenty of room between the tank and mirrors lock to lock and very good visibility, plus it keeps the top nice and clean, I like it!! Yes Jimmy, you can have the other mirror, lol!

It's definitely far from finished, I need to figure out how to clean up that bunch of wires in-between the risers. I'm also on the hunt for ideas on how to get my speedo and dummy lights back on the cheap, but so far no good ideas and it looks like I'll be stuck spending the green for a Joker side mount speedo set up. My new tail light got ordered today so next weekend it gets mounted along with a generous rear fender chop!

There's alot more in store for her over the winter!

P.S.

Jimmy, thanx for hangin out, drinkin beer, helping out the ol' man when he needed it, and just for being there. It was a great Christmas!!

Lesson learned......

2010-12-25T16:24:00.001-06:00

Don't try to splice a bunch of wires drunk, late on Christmas eve, with a red-green-blue color blindness disorder. Things don't work right....ugh....

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