Bike to Work Day

Today is national Bike to Work Day. I rode and I hope anyone reading this blog also rode to work today. Here in Colorado, the weather is hot and sunny -- a good day to ride.

Be safe out there.

Must be my month

As if The Horse article was not enough, Chopper Build published a small article and picture of my Norton chop in their August issue. It shows a picture of my son Ian on the bike from a year ago spring. I submitted this info via their website so time ago. So it was a surprise when I turned the page and saw Ian and the bike in front of me.

Article Published in August The Horse

Over a year ago, I submitted an article to The Horse on our bike trip to Rajasthan. Never heard a word back from them. No acknowledgment, zip, nada, nothing. Imagine my surprise yesterday when I opened the August issue and saw my article printed "in living color." Over the years, I've subscribed to several different bike mags, but hands down, The Horse is my favorite. So it's great that they published my article. You can check out The Horse at www.ironcross.net.

First Day of Spring Update

Today is March 21, the first day of spring. Unfortunately, I didn't ride to work today since rain is predicted this afternoon. However, I have been riding every day for the past week or so. This Saturday, Gary Bolduc (Fast Frog) came up to visit and go for a ride on our Norton chops. The ride started out great. My chop started right up on one or two kicks every time and the engine runs good (except the right cylinder smokes; I need a ring job). However, just when things were going great and I was having a ball, the drive chain broke. It seems I did not engineer my chain tensioner well. In any case, the skateboard wheel support that kept my chain from running along the underedge of my oil bag broke and then that broke the chain or vice versa. So now I'm re-engineering the chain tensioner and will have to get a new chain. Gary also had an idea on why my rear brake does not work. So I'll be redoing that at the same time. Since I'm working on that part of the bike, I've already redone the battery box so it is easier to get the battery out. I've also been working on the bobber project. I've got the oil tank mounted, the seat mounted, the oil coooler and rectifier mounted, and the horn mounted. Plus I've got the front end complete. I strengthened the rear end of the frame and created a surface for the battery box to sit on. I will be welding on tabs for the steering damper. I also will be welding in new axle blocks.
So things are moving forward. And finally, my Indian is running strong and I'm enjoying riding to work every day.

Coliseum Bike Show

Jan. 29, 2007

This weekend I went to the big annual bike show at the Coliseum in Denver. I met up with Will Edwards, President of the Colorado tribe of the IIRA. We walked around the show for a couple of hours, talking about this and that. Then at 12 PM, we met up with some of the southern tribe's members. Had lunch and talked about what we might do during the next year in terms of rides and what not. It was nice to meet some of these folks. In any case, here's also some pics I took on Saturday. There's aHenderson Exselsior, a Velocette, a nice old Harley, and a couple of customs.

Not much happening; that time of year

Not much happening in my life in terms of bike riding and building. I'm riding as much as I can, weather permitting. In addition, the garage has been too cold to work much in and I've been on the road alot with work. 'Bout all I've been doing is buying all the parts and pieces of my current build. I have pretty much everything, at least all the major components. I hope to get back to building regularly each day after work once the New Year has arrived.

Norton Chop Starting Reliably

The Norton chopper has been starting reliably lately -- usually on the second good kick. That's pretty encouraging. I think I've got the hang of it now. I've redone the rear brake pedal to make more room for my foot on the peg. I've also opened up the outer primary cover. So a few minor changes here and there. Still haven't got the rear brake working, but that's a whole other story. If the weather cooperates, I'm hoping to drive it to work tomoorw morning so I can take it to Colorado Powersports to see if they can figure the brake thing out.

A couple of weekends ago, Honora and I were on business in LA a block away from Yoshi's Garage Company. Stopped in and had a chat with Yoshi about my various bikes and projects. Yoshi is an extremely approachable guy with a wicked eye for classic Americana. I urge anyone who has not been there to check him out. He's in Culver City not far from Venice Beach and Washington Ave. If you like Kustom Kulture, Ed Roth, Von Dutch, and old school shit, you'll love Yoshi's.

I've been moving forward with my next build. My engine and tranny rebuilds came back from Matt Rambow at Colorado Nortonworks. They look like new. Just gorgeous! I've got my frame welded back together. If I can get the girder front end together, I've got myself a roller. I'm replacing the spring with a pneumatic shock absorber sort of like Jesse Rooks. I'll start posting pics on that project once I get that far. I've got a lot of the parts and pieces. So once I've got a roller, the rest should go together much quicker than the first project.

There's been some false rumors about why I resigned from the IIRA TC/presidency. I hope I've laid those to rest on the Indian Community BB. That reminds me, the weekend before last, Honora and I were in Racine, WI. Honora was teaching her class and I had a few hours to myself. So after visiting the local H-D dealership, I went looking for an independent store we had passed the night before. When I found it, I realized it was the Racine Indian dealership. What a surprise! They were still in business, keeping the dream alive. We had a nice visit, talking about things Indian past and future. Of course, they didn't have any Indians for sale, but they did have five Indians they were working on in the the back, three Chiefs, a Scout, and Spirit. Hugely nice folks. However, I was surprised to hear that David Wright of Stellican had moved on. I hope that doesn't bode ill for their resurrection. In any case, anyone in the Racine area interested in an H-D alternative should stop into Racine Indian. They've got some interesting Indian memorabilia on their walls. Bought another black t-shirt just to support their cause.