Gotta have gear

So I am kinda sitting around waiting for my parts to come back from paint and chrome, not to mention a day worth fishing that I can go on, and I am looking at gear. You gotta have gear if your gonna ride a bike, huh?

I started collecting, first thing I got today was my gloves. I saw Matt Hotch with a pair of these and had to have them. Unfortunately I, through the deal I was getting on them ( things are too good to be true sometimes), I ended up with the LONG ones. But man are they cool.



10, count them 10, titanium plates riveted to the back side of the glove. These are going to be killer. Next I need a jacket.........

Dixie, dangit

Got this email from one of the blog readers, I almost pissed me self I was laughing so hard.

Brand new custom motorcycle - - - $25,000.00
Motorcycle certification class - - $129.00
Being the first moron to crash in class - - - Priceless!

Thats great. More later, I gotta go find out if I passed or not.

By george......

....I think I got it. I tried a new technique for the painting this afternoon, so far so good. If it works, I will post some pictures and a story. If it doesn't than kiss my ass!

Classy class

I am on break from my motorcycle training class right now. Last night involved some book learnin' and today we did the range. I rode a Yamaha TW:



Actually a nice bike, but I am sure it is a lot different than what I have sleeping in the garage. The riding is going well, there are 12 people in the class and the course can get a bit crowded. We have only had one crash in the class thus far, and guess what, it was yours truly. I was sitting in staging, and the instructor said to kill the bikes. I reached for the kill switch and popped the clutch, sending the bike flying into the guy in front of me. We both went down, and the only thing hurt was the bike and my ego. Now I am "that guy". Great!

The rain is also fun, we are supposed to get 2 inches this weekend, and 1 on those inches came down during the riding portion this morning. Jeez.......

I hate paint

Remind me on here, if I decide to some day do another bike, do not paint it yourself. I cannot get it to do what I want it to do. AHHHHHHHHHAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Wow, I guess I am in the wrong business

So, having fallen in love with the pinstriping on this gas tank,

I contacted the gentleman who did it. I asked how much this was and explained to him what it was going on. Try 2000 dollars. Now I understand that there is alot of work there, especially since I am trying to paint these tins on my own, but 2000 bucks? WOW, I guess I am going to get a couple brushes and learn to pinstripe now.

To all you with motorcycles, this summer I will taking orders for paint, pinstriping, and leather tooled seats. ;D

Paint my ride, poll

I am torn, torn between to paint effects. I will soon have the pieces painted flat black like I want them, but I need something else on there to make them pop!
I have two styles in my head, one is 'ghost flames' and the other is pinstriped.
Choice A below are the ghost flames, although the ones in the picture are more visible than the ones I will use.
Choice B below is a great example of some really nice pin striping.


A.


B.


I personally like the striping, especially since I am looking at this picture.LOL
In the comments section of this post, please choose A or B, to let me know what you guys think.

Thanks!

If you want it done right..............

.......do it yourself. Isn't that the saying? Well, I went out to the shop today and started sanding. The paint those numbskulls (I am calling tomorrow to really get after them!) put on was so thin, 800 grit wet paper took it off. Shheezz!

I went up to the store and bought a qt of paint and went to town. I started with the oil bag, I am using that as my test piece. If I can get it to look like I want, than I will hit the rest of it. Fingers crossed, prayers said, let's see what happens.



Spraying the oil bag

Superhero or superzero?

Before I start work on the bike today, I took a quiz telling me which superhero I would be if I was a hero.....`.`.`
Here are the results.

Your results:
You are Iron Man

Iron Man 90% Catwoman 80% The Flash 70% Green Lantern 70% Spider-Man 55% Hulk 55% Superman 40% Robin 40% Batman 35% Supergirl 35% Wonder Woman 10%

Inventor. Businessman. Genius.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

That aint no BBQ!

I wanted the four pieces for the bike, the two tanks and the two fenders, to look like a BBQ. As they sit now, they don't. I am currently thinkin' of ideas for them, including having them redone by a different outfit.



The gas tank

The oil tank


The rear fender


The front fender

A set back for sure, but one I will deal with. I need some $$$$$$$$$!!!!

Not much

Not much trouble found today. I drove over and picked up my tins from the painter. Not that stoked about them. I am thinking about getting them pinstriped and that will improve things. When the frame is back and I can put stuff together, I am sure it will change.

Off today

I am off today, let's see if I can find some trouble to write about...............

Imagine a school of 30 pounders doing this

This video is getting some press, but I think it is great. These guys sound like they are having a blast, and that is what fishing should be all about.


Here's a hyperlink to that video.

10 days and counting

Stayed up a bit late last night getting things ready to go to the powder coater. I was making so much progress I decided to get the parts ready to go to chrome as well. Woke up this morning began putting things in the truck, and got a wild hair up my ass to take me tins over to the painter too. I dropped of the frame, and the tins and headed up to boon town to get a quote on a local chrome job. The guy wanted like 600 bucks! For two pieces. Try again bub.......I went with plan A and took them over to All American Cycle in Portland. Totally stand up place, I recommend it to anyone working on or building a bike. They threw it in with their pieces and charged me like 150 bucks. Good to go! Lots of driving and lots of money spent, but a very satisfying day today. In the next 2 weeks, I should be able to start the final build.

Powder

Planning on going to powder coat tomorrow. Just got done taking EVERYTHING apart. Fingers crossed.....

Let's get moving!!!!

Parts came in today, and nicely I was off from work. I have been waiting for a number of weeks for a one off sissybar that was fabbed by the OKCKingpin in Oklahoma. The part looks nice, VERY close to what I wanted and will work fine. I put in it in place, and marked my rear fender for death.

Fender before the cutting wheel got a hold of it!


You can see how many times I changed the design of the rear fender.

Grinding wheel was removed and cutoff wheel installed. Goggles, check, earplugs, check. GO! Cutting went pretty smooth, no snags and I still have all my fingers.

The fender once it has been cut.




Once it was cut I rotated the mocked sissy bar back into place to get a good idea of what it is going to look like. I think I like it.

sissybar




Much progress will be made on this bike now! I am going to go over and weld the mounts on the bar tonight, and hopefully take the frame to the powder coater this weekend. If I really get going, I can maybe get the tins to the painter this weekend or Monday at the latest. I have a few parts, including that sissybar, that are going to chrome as well. Once those things return, the final build begins. I am starting to feel it again................

Parts is parts

Just got an email this morning from the guy doing my custom fabrication I have been waiting for. He mailed it priority express on Saturday. That would mean it should be here very soon and I can start working on this bike again. Stand by.........

Brokeback boatramp

Got down and dusted off the old steelhead rods today. With the rain we have been having, the choices for rivers was a bit limited. We did an old favorite, one I haven't been to in a long time. We floated farther than I have in the past, hoping to find the boat ramp before we went too far.





We found the "boat ramp". That has to be the worst ramp I have pulled my boat out of. It slopes down in pure mud, than there is a shear drop off to the water. We had to winch the boat up onto the mud, before we could pull it onto the trailer. NICE!

And on top of that, we broke off the only fish we had on for the day.

Where are my motorcycle parts!!!!!!!!!

Goodbye old friend

When I was 19 I was living on my own in a small one bedroom apt. I wanted a companion, so I called an ad in the paper for Australian Shepherd puppies. I went out to Bulverde Tx, and picked one up. Being "Australian" I aptly named her Brisbane. She lived with me there in that small apt and later moved with us when we moved back to Oregon. There she lived in a 2 bedroom apt in Lake Oswego, and later she got herself a huge 1/2 acre yard in Aloha to run in.

She used to love the beach, she would dig in the sand for hours, drink sea water and puke all the way home. I could have swore she had a smile on her face when I had to clean it up and was cursing her.

She also loved the snow.



She used to run and catch snow balls as we threw them at her. She couldn't eat enough snow.

She was around for my daughters entire life up till today.

She was a great dog and a good friend, she will be missed.

God of War

IMHO, only like the best game ever~

Home sweet home

We made it back. Ahh the gloomy skies and drizzling rain. But it sure is nice to sleep in my own bed.

I had a GREAT time down in South Texas, lots of good people and lots of laughs. The hunting was marginal, but fun none the less. Some ask what the javelina we were hunting looked like, here ya go.



I ate some fantastic food while there, too much of it at that. It got to be a joke after awhile, I went the entire time, everyday, having at least one meal that was inside a tortilla. Pretty funny.

Back to the motorcycle and some hungry steelhead when these rivers lay down.