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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.

 

Q&A, Part 5

11. What is your favorite food? My Mom makes a dish called Noodlebake that has noodles (duh), ground beef, olives, onion, cheese...basically everything awesome in it. It is a real pain in the ass to make so she only cooks it for me once a year. It usually doesn't last more than 24 hours.

12. What scares JBMFT? The thought of not being able to take care of my family or feeling like I failed or disappointed them. That and bears when I camp.

13. How is it that you and your wife both have dark hair and your kids are blonde? What gives with that? I was blond when I was a kid and as I got older my hair got darker. My guess is that this will happen with the girls eventually...that or my wife has some explaining to do.

14. What's your biggest weakness? Indecision. Close second would be my inability to stop worrying about things.

15. What's the story with your necklace tattoo? It is a St. Jude, the Saint of lost causes and desperate situations. Many years back I took a trip to St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN. I was going through a rough spot in my life so I bought a necklace at the gift shop and immediately put it on. After years of never taking it off, I thought it would be a fitting tattoo. I still have the old necklace.

16. What one gig from playing in bands stands out most in your mind as the best and favorite one?
I played in a band called Pure Crap years ago and our shows were always really fun. We always got sloshed before we got on stage. There were only two of us with acoustic guitars and our songs were all goofy to begin with. There was a lot of room for jokes and fooling around. It great to be in a band where the people on stage could heckle the crowd. What about the worst? Being in an experimental/prog rock/jam band and getting booked out of town not knowing you'd be opening up for thrash metal bands. We met the other guys beforehand and everything was cool but we were young and nervous. Before we hit the stage we agreed to play all the songs at double the normal tempo and scream all the lyrics. We didn't nail it but we didn't get booed off the stage either.

17. What's one place worldwide you've never been to, but would like to go? What would you want to do there? That is a big question. Other than places that are ravaged by war or places where they hate Americans, I would like to see and do it all. 

18. What is your favorite music artist/band, other than Representative Slice, of course?  
Matthew Sweet, no contest. He is a great songwriter, producer and performer. My feelings on this one are likely peppered by nostalgia since I have a lot of great memories that tie back to listening to his music. Any time I have answered this question in the past people seem surprised...I should know by now just to say "Motorhead" and move on.

19. Name someone you look up to and admire. / Whom would you consider your hero(es) ?
David Morrell, Lemmy and Panhead Billy.

20. If you could only drink one alcoholic beverage (one kind, not one drink period) what would it be? Beer. There are so many beers to choose from, seems like it would never get old.

The Big Easy

Though this wasn't a motorcycle trip and wasn't during Mardi Gras, it was still an awesome, relaxing time. We were down for the wedding of some of our close friends and got a great vacation out of the deal. We were able to see a lot of the city, do some drinking, gambling and we ate some awesome food. Instead of saying more, I'm just going to caption the pictures and that's it.

      Coffee, day drinking and a good book.

View of the water.

 Our limo.

 Jackson Square

 Bourbon Street

 The same.

 Cafe Du Monde.

The Napoleon House

Totally different sight in the morning.

07/28/13

     Its easy to lose track of things that you think are basic once you are on the road and out of a daily routine. I woke up and didn't even realize it was Sunday. Wes and his wife laid the hospitality on thick serving biscuits, eggs and bacon. It almost a shame we had to leave...almost.
     The morning was much colder than I expected. I put my rainproof windbreaker on under my vest and until the wind blew it back up to my elbows, it did its job. It was chilly but I managed to stay close enough to comfortable.
     Wes had first hand knowledge of the area and whipped around the farm roads and deftly negotiated us through the small rural towns. He would point at things, like a cemetery, and at a stop would explain that the cemetery was where John Dillinger was buried. In addition to being fun to ride, these roads were some of the most scenic I have ever ridden.
     We came around a curve and were treated to one of the best views I've ever seen. There was a clearing in the trees and you could see the field below. The sun was still low in the sky and had barely started burning off the dew and fog. Words don't do it justice. I was drop jawed and despite my attempts there was no place to pull off and get a picture. That said, there are always moments you can recall in your mind's eye. This was easily one.
     To get to Route 66, we needed to eat a lot of miles and in a hurry so that meant interstate. After the splendor of Indiana farm roads, it was sad to have to leave them. I was spoiled. That said, setting yourself up for failure and ending up successful can make the up-turn that much sweeter.
     The interstate was scenic, for interstate that is. The things along the interstate made it interesting. We passed a GIANT roadside cross in Illinois. Easily the biggest example I have ever seen, I would love to know the story behind it. Everyone's cameras came out so hopefully there will be one with me in it.

stolen from Wes at http://junkwithwheels.blogspot.com/

     Crossing into St. Louis, we encountered some traffic, which was strange for a Sunday. Thankfully, our route passed right by the St. Louis Gateway Arch. I learned the hard way at Niagara Falls, sometimes attractions are best appreciate from afar.
     The gas stops were good. The group seems really comfortable and we've become good friends fast. Good natured ribbing among guys is a good sign of that. There were laughs, some at my expense, but I know the score. It is a good sign that we are getting along.

      The last half hour was rainy and we got just wet enough to call ourselves wet. We arrived at the KOA in Joplin, 550 miles plus under our belts. The rain did not appear to be letting up so we upgraded our primitive site to a cabin. As I type this and talk to Ken, our companions are dining at an Ion Skillet restaurant walking distance from where I sit. There is cold beer and soon we'll have a fire. The fun has yet to stop. Tomorrow we hit the mother road. Its hard to imagine that we can still go up from here.

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. 

Drunken Monkeys vs. Sprocket

     Saturday was a blast. There were three bikes getting attention, numerous beers being drank, slawburgers being consumed and enough wise-assery to go around. It started at eight am with a drum, sprocket and an obscenely large c-clamp. When a punch fails, bust out the drill and when setting rivets, start with the hammer first.

Pretty sure the new sprocket was overdue.

Tools of the trade and the finished product. More to come...

Health Food. But no, seriously...

The Krispy Kreme burger cheese-dip dog heard round the world...

On a serious note, thanks to everyone who came out to my birthday (observed) party. 

My friends are awesome and came bearing gifts and food and liquor and even combinations of those things. You know its good when you look at the camera the next morning and there are pictures confirming things you thought you might have just imagined...like someone hanging upside down from your children's swing set or photos of the long-winded speech you made before blowing your candles out. 

I have the best family and friends. Thanks for all the well wishes and to everyone who has made the 35 year mark celebration marathon the glory that it was. 

Much love.

Independence

Hope your day is filled with awesome. I'll be drinking and manning the grill, rain or shine...

Quick sidebar to those that ordered shirts...there was a mix up at the printer and delay for the holiday so the shirts wont be in until the middle of next week. Rest assured, they are coming so sit tight. Thanks.

Death Cart

     Nick got his hands on an old, beat up, inoperable Chinese scooter and stripped it down to nothing and brought it over to the garage so we could get it running again. It took a little more disassembly but we got it to run. It's a bit janky though...like turn the ignition with a screwdriver, bridge the solenoid, try not to kick the battery off the frame and no front or rear brakes janky. It also wanted to take right off without even the slightest touch of the throttle. It's actually a small miracle it didn't hit and domino the 6 bikes in the garage.
    Since it left Nick says he got a brake on it and got it to stay running for a bit and even rode it. I saw a video but I am pretty sure it was doctored with a little CGI. I'll believe it when that SOB is back here and I can wreck it in to something. Which needs to happen...soon.

Lost Photo

from the weekend Nick was over to work on the Shovels. Mixed Sixes, Sailor Jerry and bad biker movies.

Tank Art

While Nick's bike was here, I decided his plain old green tank needed a little love. 

We brainstormed for a bit before laying out the panels and then started trying to get all the bases covered. Here, you can see at the top we have the line squiggles and scales. 

Front left we did some freak, or as Nick likes to call them, polka dots. 

Added a desert landscape...

and a space scene.

For flair, we threw a little lettering on the top as well. 

Last but not least, we threw one of our new stickers on there so Nick can keep track of his progress. 

I'm not sure he was as excited about the art as I was. He said something about painting over it but I know he must be joking. 

If he did that, he would totally ruin his chances of selling it online 40 years from now for hundreds and hundreds of dollars...

Rewiring The Wonder Shovel

     Idle hands do the Devil's work. Nick has had a little time to burn and to keep his head and hands busy, he's been trying to take the shovel where he wants it. In stripping things down, he realized there was a bunch of excess wiring, fuses and relays that needed gone. It was getting later in the afternoon so we moved from one shovel to the other.

   

    
 



After doing most of the reassembly on the top end, we proceeded on with several spools of colored wire and a couple pairs of snippers. I grabbed a simple wiring diagram from the excellent roadratroberts.com.If this site looks a bit dated by current standards, it is probably because it hasn't changed much since I first stumbled upon in in 2003. Anyhow, from B-movie reviews to killer old school photos to the rad drawn out photo wiring diagrams, this site is worth a look. The first time I saw wiring diagrams like this was here. 





   
      So we stripped off wires as we went and used the old pieces to judge the length we would need for the new pieces. One by one we made the new wires, added connectors as needed and put it all together. We tried to use some sort of consistency in the colors and Nick had done a good job of marking things when he did his initial tear-down. Cold beers in a hot garage on a Saturday night is a pretty great thing. It was getting late and somehow the idea of twisted yellow and blue wiring held together with green zip ties was too good to pass up. We're dumb and we laughed really hard about it.

     In the end, we hooked it up to the battery and an old switch I had lying around and held our breath. Low and behold, the headlight and tail light lit up and nothing caught on fire! The brake light even worked and everything. Nick was pretty excited as that hadn't been the case in quite some time. As the motor is still apart, we didn't get the satisfaction of hearing it run again but we made some solid advances in just half a day and barring other issues (fingers crossed) the bike should live again sooner than later.

Sorting Out the Rear Axle

So you know how an axle should slide in and out with relative ease? Well...the rear axle on the Shovel didn't and it was time to figure out why. Got everything loose and hammered that SOB for almost half an hour to get it out. Took the wheel apart and it turns out the outer spacers and both sides had some burrs that needed to be smoothed out. As a result, the axle had some rough spots too. The bearings are in decent shape so they stayed as is.

The sprocket is is rough cosmetic shape thanks to throwing a chain but the transmission leak keeps oil slung all over it so I'm not too worried about rust. 

Nick was on hand to give me an extra set of knuckles to hit with the hammer and to help dwindle the Jack Daniels supply. He also ripped off my tater tot casserole recipe and threw it up all over Instagram via his old lady...but I digress.

You can check out his take on this mania here. 

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a killer New Year's Eve last night, here's to 2013!

Rush, 11/01/12

Last week I piled into a giant SUV with a couple friends to see Rush in Atlanta. Touring in support of the new album "Clockwork Angels", they added a string section for this tour and changed up the set. I was stoked to see them again especially considering the new album and tour changes.

We stopped at The Vortex first for burgers and beer. I opted to try the Hell Burger, a half pound of ground sirloin topped with pepper-jack cheese, habanero relish and a roasted jalapeno. I also got a side of tater tots and the burger came with lettuce tomato and onion on the side. This thing was killer, just the right amount of heat that didn't overshadow the flavor.

For beers, I tried a concoction they call a Black Skull: a Left Hand Milk Stout and Laughing Skull Amber Ale blend. SONOFABITCH this was awesome! They have 9 draft concoctions on the menu and I've never had a bad meal there. If you are anywhere close, give the Vortex a shot.

I could talk all day about the show...but I won't. All I will say is that the new album is killer, the show was incredible, the string sections was a brilliant addition and if you are a fan and you've never seen them, do it now. They haven't lost a step and the video screens, stage setup, pyro and lack of an opening act make for an awesome experience.

Mark Your Calendar

Did someone say costume required bike show?