Old Friend

If you've been wondering what my old Shovel has been up to, click here.

Barber's Vintage Festival 2013

Once again it was an excellent year. I spent so much time hanging out with folks I don't get to see ofter enough and meeting new people that I didn't see any of the races, any of the special events or anything but the swap meet area really. Thanks to the shine, rum and cold beers a lot of it was a blur. It was great and I even bought a little over an 8th of a minibike. After a couple weeks it ended up in the garage and I've been riding...a lot.

Special thanks to the Inbreds RC for making me feel at home and giving me a place to crash. Also to the Haints for a great party and Lowbrow for the Coctagon. It was great meeting the men of MHT and kicking it with the BamaRides crew. Seriously, if you don't go to this event you are completly missing out.

 

Saturday continued...

So Brandon is back in town and came to claim one of his trio of bikes from the garage. He isn't wasting any time getting back on the road and the CB he is taking needed a little carb work. It was leaking before he left and stopping that was the goal. It didn't quite happen before leaving here but before the end of the night, it was drip free.

Nick and Nick discussing something Shovel related.

The CB also got a new battery, some electrical work, a new clutch lever and clean gas. My Sportster got a new rear tire but as all four of us had a hand (or foot) on the tire at some point, there are no pictures. All in all is was a good, full day in the garage and Brandon's bike left under its own power before sundown. Safe travels, little CB. Hope you enjoyed your stay. 

Funny...

how that happens. Talk about your Shovel trouble in front of some folks at a party and they will give you the stuff to fix it. One trip to the Dojo and I am two parts closer to having the bike back on the road.

Thanks Nick, truly apprecitated.

Last Saturday

Well lets just say this isn't how I wanted to spend it. Nick was in the house to help with a few other issues that needed attention and after, we were going to try and finish the reassembly on the Shovel clutch. I knew that I really needed to give the kicker cover some attention as I knew for certain that the mopar clip was missing from the clutch release lever allowing it to be pulled up out of the top. Again, not an expert but that ain't how its supposed to be.

Lets just say we put together the clutch with the new clutch tamer and...it didn't work. Yeah Wes, you called it: basically during the process of trying to remove the hub by tapping, we managed to knock the guts off the end of the clutch push rod. So...that attention that the kicker cover needed came sooner than I thought.

After draining the tranny and getting the cover off I found all the washers and clips which I will replace. I've got a new gasket already so at least that is easy. I also found out my oil slinger is no bueno and  the stop on my kicker gear was about to break off. This isn't what I wanted to find under the cover and definitely not when I wanted to do it but like I told Nick, much better to find this stuff out in the garage than on the road.  So...more parts are ordered and again we wait.

Starting Sequence

Made this video to try out some video editing software. 

Yes, I am kicking the Shovel in pajama pants and house shoes with my kids talking in the background. 

Sorry if this offends your masculine sensibilities...

Last Ride of 2012

So it wasn't really as much of a ride as it was a chance to hang out with Brandon a bit more before he headed back to the Land of the Rising Sun. It was cold as Hell on the way there and the way back. All the same, there is always a good time to be had at the Dojo. Brandon assured me, when you can't ride for 6 months at a time, a ride of any length is awesome.

Nick was there working on his pan and took it for a spin around the block. There are still issues to be sorted out but he's getting very, very close. 

Brandon has mad trampoline and beer drinking skills.

It was good just to stand around and bs. I'm looking forward my first ride of 2013. That said, I really need to stop being lazy and change the oil on my Sporty...

The Wonder Shovel

Nick came by last week for lunch and to drop off some parts. Something about us getting together that always leads to the departure of sobriety...good seeing you buddy and thanks for the risers. Hope you enjoyed the returned parts...haha.

Do Good, Win Stuff.

I met Walter of Kickstart Cycle Supply at the Dixie Roundup this year. We BS'd for a couple minutes one morning, super nice guy. He's holding a contest in which you could win some killer stuff. The catch?
Read about it here.

IRS Auction

Don't forget to pay "The Man" or the IRS will take your bike...or in this poor bastard's case, bikes.
Auction is set for 12/01/12, more info here.

House Guest (Part deux)

 Two more from my man in Japan.

Its getting crowded in here...

Happenings

If you've been keeping score on the Hot Sauce front, here's where we are up to now.

I had a few in the hopper ready for the upcoming weeks and then...this happened:

My hot sauce homeboy Uncle Bill came through with a gang of sauces to try. This will literally keep me busy for months. Thank you for stoking my hot sauce love affair, I am excited about tearing into these. A few have me a little intimidated. I've read the ingredients on some. Ghost pepper...heaven help me.

If you saw the post Tuesday, my buddy Brandon is going to storing some of his scoots here as he gets ready to hit Japan for another year. As they come in the following weeks, you'll see more of them around. I also talked to a friend who gave me a swift kick in the ass about sorting out the Shovel so my goal is to have the bike where I want it by the end of the summer. There isn't much left to do in terms of real issues, maybe a couple days worth of tinkering.

Don over at Bama Rides has started a new online show called Dred's Garage. I sat in on the first episode. We talked about riding out west, gear, and a bunch of other stuff. Give it a look. Big thanks to Don for letting me hang out and to Hooters for letting us set up and film on location.

House Guest

Bikes of the Roundup