Austin and Back, Part 2

 Valdez!

Artwork by Jon Meeks

 Burning out.

 Morning view over the water at the last campsite

Austin and Back, Part 1

So I had big plans to document this run with words like I did the OK is OK trip but there was too much fun being packed in to keep a ride journal going. I even went so far as to compose some drunkenly one night at 4am but when I looked back it was just incoherent and laughable. As a result, two posts of some pics is all you get. Enjoy and if you ever have a chance to visit Austin or camp in Louisiana or Mississippi, I highly recommend all three. 

 Officer Smith

 This place...just wow. Overwhelming.

Old Friend

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

New Stickers

New stickers designed by my buddy Jonathan Harris and printed by Frank from the Haints.

Thanks guys. If you want one, use the free sticker link up top.

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.

 

For Sale and Events

I have a couple friends with bikes for sale so here they are. 

02 sporty 883. has XR1200 shocks, Progessive springs in front, SS braided brake lines, EBC pads on semi floating rotors up front, Screaming Eagle stage 1 jetting with a K&N filter, Cycle Shack slip-ons, Mustang Daytripper seat, Avon tires, SS braided/teflon lined clutch cable. also have a set of crash bars that are not pictured.
http://bham.craigslist.org/mcy/4167330797.html 

There's also a couple events coming up so here are the flyers on those. 

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 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...

Home for the Holidays

This guy came by on his holiday back to the states to pick up one of his bikes to ride while he was in town. We shot the breeze over beers for a bit. Bad weather was threatening and a clock was ticking so we had to cut it a little short. 

"Hey...take a picture of me leaving and if it's cool enough, put it on your blog."
Nudge nudge, wink wink...great stuff buddy.

Mark Your Calendar

Did someone say costume required bike show?

Kustom Jeff

Hooked up with Jeff this past weekend to deliver a late birthday gift. Some time ago he posted a graphic on facebook saying he wished he had it as a patch. I couldn't find one available for sale so I reached out to a company I'd been wanting to work with since I first saw their products: Iron Thread.

Killer company, Valerie is great and super quick with communication and extremely helpful all throughout the process. This company is a breeze to work with and the end result...well I'll just say the quality exceeded my expectations and I was a little sad to see it go. Check them out here.

I'd been trying to get my hands on some of Jeff's schwag for months and Saturday he delivered like the mail man (I have no idea why the photo is upside down, damn blogger). We hit some back roads to lunch and tore downtown and hung at the Haint's Dojo for the remainder of the afternoon. We split off later so he could grab the new Cycle Source that he has some credited photos (though you've undoubtedly seen his work elsewhere). In case you've been under a rock since the moto-blog explosion, check him out 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