Waiting for DVD

As I wait for the DVD to further me along, let's get the target in our mind.




Stay on target...........

First days progress

Today was the actual first build day. I woke up pretty excited to get er going, and I bounced into the garage with a smile on my face. I soon realized I didn't have the right tools. Well there is only one way to fix that, go buy some!! (see below post)
Soooooooo, today I accomplished:

Engine in
Tranny in
Swingarm on
Triple trees on



Not a bad start. Tomorrow I am going to toy with the primary, and than think about fishing. I almost feel like I am cheating on a lover here, my drift boat sits in the rain, saying HEY, we have been waiting for the rain, let's go.

I am going to see if I can come up with a back drop for my pictures, that looks like crap.

Little steps

Chopper Sean came over today to lend a hand. I tried to get the heavy stuff done while he was here. We got the motor and tranny in, and a little work done on the swing arm. The swing arm has proved to be a challenge thus far. More research is needed.
Sean decided he like small gas tanks a little better, so he mocked up the bike with whatever he could find. This way I can vacuum while I ride, sweet!

They don't give that stuff away!

So a quick trip to Sears and a check of xxx.xx (x's are there to not protect the innocent, but me from anyone saying "you paid how much?") has restored my confidence. I broke down and bought a lift. I figured I would need it for the whole build and servicing it down the road.
It actually looks pretty good up there. HAHA. A couple of the other tools I bought allowed me to do in 5 minutes what I was struggling with for the last 2 days. I am going to go out and make some serious progress while I wait for Sean to get over here and help me put that engine in.

Progress? Not really

The last couple days have been null for progress. Basically I found out that I need some more tools (nothing wrong with that right!) and a lift. I am headed to Sears in a couple minutes with a list. I hope to pick up that video from the guy as well today. I want to get this thing done quickly, but I also want to take my time and do it right. Soooo......this blog may end up longer than I had planned! Stay tuned.

Todays lesson

I learned today that I don't know anything about putting together a motorcycle. The kit I got was one of the few that didn't include the "how to" dvd. How does this stuff always happen to me? I went ahead, and from some schematics in a Harley manual, put together the swing arm and rear suspension. I am confident that I have it on correctly, but when I tried to install the tranny, the bolts hit the shocks. So I took the damn thing apart and I will now wait for a video to guide me. I am pretty sure tomorrow I will be able to borrow the one my friend used.

Praying and keeping fingers crossed......

First things first

Well you gotta start with the basics I guess. The frame is well, the framework for any motorcycle. Mine is made by Big Bear Choppers in, yep, you guessed it Big Bear Lake California. As you can see in the picture the frame is raw metal. I am going to have it powder coated for the final assembly, but I havn't decided on a color yet. I am leaning towards a matte black and tan finish. But I won't know until the mock up is done and I can sit there and meditate on it.

The motor is a Revtech 100 CI, or 1600 cc for you metric people. It should generate somewhere in the neighborhood of 110 horse power. I think that is more than my VW Beetles used to crank out.


Shiny and pretty, this beast wants to hit the road.

My plan tonight is to get everything unpacked and lay it out on the table. Take an inventory and watch the first part of the video to see what "step one" is. I don't wanna go to work I am so excited, geez.

And it begins.

I am going to spend the next couple of months putting together the motorcycle of my dreams. I am planning on chronicling it here with stories and photos.




Here is the garage space before the boxes arrive.




And here it is after the boxes and sheet metal arrived.

I am truly looking forward to building this machine, and riding it.
Please check back often for progress, I hope to make some soon.

Beyond that!

Now I am beyond that. I just got back from handing a guy the biggest check I have ever held in my sweaty little meat hooks. He said it is all clear and I can pick my "boxes" up tonight. Pictures to follow! Here we go.

Pump the dump!!

Man am I getting pumped. I talked to the guy who has my motorcycle today, and things are progressing. I think I will be able to pick it up on Wednesday. I got the garage cleared and ready to go this past weekend. Man am I pumped!!!

Weekend wind down

The week at work flew by nicely and now I am on call for the weekend. Not being able to go fishing is a bit of a bummer, but I do get things done around here because of it.

I hope to pick up the parts to start working on the bike this week.


PS I am never drinking again.

Tuesdays

Day off, not a whole going on. I installed a new wash down pump in the sled. Sent off the paper work for my new motorcycle. (the building of which you are going to see chronicled here on this blog) Brined some salmon for the smoker. Got a new cell phone. Pretty much busy work. Who knew life could be so relaxing.

Oh snap......

First of all, I am an attention whore. I need people to be looking at me and saying wow, that guy is cool. The rods kinda did that for me, but not enough. So I made my boat yellow. That works good. I went from 0 - 60 with an arm full of ink. That works good. I am going to build a bike that turns heads. That should work good.


Second, my mistakes. I should never have gotten married at 20 years old. I should never had a baby at 22 years old. I should have went to college. I should have not stopped working out at 25. There are probably more, but those are the ones that bug me the most.
Now I am not saying that those first two ruined my life, but I am saying they sent me down a life path that I am now wishing was different. I love my ladies, and will protect and provide for them as long as I can. I will be with them forever, it is too expensive not to be.
I wish I had done other things with my life, and now I am steering my current life in a direction that is going to make me happy. Maybe I will die on that motorcycle, maybe I will die when the next elk comes flying through my truck window. Maybe I will die the next time I take my sled out to Bouy 10. Maybe I will die the next time I run across the road. I don't wanna live my whole life worried about an untimely death, that's not living, that is life waiting for death.

I don't like looking deep into myself, there are things in there that I have always been told were bad and sinful. They must stay there, at least for now.

An old trick, but one of my favorites

It is my 4 day weekend, I decided to do something completely out of the ordinary and go fishing. Tillamook it was, and I have now come to the point where if I am not towing a boat I take the VW Jetta to save on gas. I mean crap, it is still 3.10 for a gallon of diesel.
Anyhow, I was cruising over there this morning, had the music blasting and sailing along at a nice 60 MPH. Off in the distance, behind me, I see some headlights. It is pitch black out there cuz it's 0500 and all I see are these lights, coming up on me pretty quick. I continue on, and sure enough this pickup truck gets right on my butt. I mean right on my butt. He is less than a car length from my rear bumper. I shrug it off and flip the little switch on the rear view mirror so as to not have to squint at 5 in the morning. He doesn't give up. Twice I pull over so I have the white line going right down the center of my car, he does not pass. I slow down on the passing striped sections, he does not pass. Whats up this guys ass?

Whatever right? Than there it is, one of my favorites. I see a big road kill up ahead. So I ever so slightly veer towards it, as if I am going to center punch the thing with my car. He drafts in right behind me, SWEET!!!!!!!!!! At the last second, I drift to the left, missing the smashed coyote carcass by what must have been 6 inches. I look in the mirror.....................BAM! I see the carcass fly up and in front of his headlights. LOL HAHAHAHA, he swerves back and forth on the road a bit, I hope it went over the hood! He pulls over to the side and I speed off into the darkness. I didn't have another tailgater the whole trip.

On the way home, I saw the carcass off to the side of the road, you couldn't even tell what it was.

Tailgate me.......have some of that!!!!!

THWC

Tillamook Here We Come!

Site test

I recently was asked to build a web page for someone who is starting up a fishing guide business. Being on call this last weekend kept me at home, so I bang it out for him. Now ALL the text that you will see on the page is just canned made up stuff, and would be changed to the actual information when the site goes live. But for now, take a look and let me know what you think by leaving me a comment in the comments section. Thanks all!

DC Guide Service, test site