Capt. Cals RetroFit

Fun with 5hp

2012-01-31T14:17:00.001-05:00

This not-so-mini mini bike was built a few years ago just for fun. Pretty much everything was built from scratch including the springer that actually works. Oil filler cap for an air cleaner cover, piece of vacuum pipe for an exhaust, torque-a-verter, Schwinn bicycle lights and taillights, (it took me 3 years to find another set to make the dual lights). The lights are hooked up to a bicycle generator so they actually work. 20" bicycle front wheel and a rupp minibike rear wheel. Brake pedal is a Honda shifter. The bars are narrowed and cut down XS650 pullbacks. My neighbor stitched up the seat. The whole bike was sprayed down with Testors model car paint. Yeah it took a lot of cans but it was work it.

I later changed the dished peanut tank to a fake prism tank with lace work.

And it pulls wheelies! Whats not to love.

Oh yeah I had a pony tail at one point too...

We'll be there!

2012-01-30T01:10:00.001-05:00

And you should too!

Some Tank Work

2012-01-29T19:20:00.001-05:00

I started work on the tanks for the GS550. I cut out the bung and filler neck so now I have two clean shells to start with.

Ed's Place

2012-01-28T16:36:00.004-05:00

Went over to Ed's place this morning to check out progress on his shovel and troubleshoot some things.

Tryin it on for size!

Back on the 550!

2012-01-20T18:47:00.000-05:00

Back in the shop I can start on the GS550 again. Not too much is left but its still going to be a lot of work. Split tanks, exhaust, foot controls, new battery box, and some frame modifications are in the future.

The split tanks, some photos for inspiration, and the caps and bungs I extracted from two old Triumph oil tanks are all I need to get going.

This is about where the tanks are going to sit. Not to high, not to low and is just the right size for that motor.

I'm thinking I'm going to hide the coils in right in that opening in the frame.

Old Foto Friday

2012-01-20T17:32:00.002-05:00

Getting back into the groove of things here. I know its been dead for a bit here but I've got some new things coming up to post for the new year. For now enjoy this Old Foto Friday. Brand new '69 Sportster and the decals were already ripped off and replaced with pinstriping. Also note the front plates they had to run in the late '60s.

This Esso Station was somewhere off of Skyline Drive in NJ.

Mark Your Calendar!

2012-01-12T15:14:00.001-05:00

Last year was such a blast we're doing it again this year! We are kicking it off on Friday July 20th with a SHOW CLASS magazine release party at the Vernon Inn bar with live music from Uncle shoe Horn. Saturday July 21st at the Rickey Farm will be vintage motorcycle show( Harley, British, Jap, and people choice awards) BBQ, Cold Bevs, live music, bonfire, camping, giveaways! For more info and updates be sure to check out http://strangedaysevent.blogspot.com

If you want to check out last years event check it out here

Easy Winter In NJ So Far

2012-01-10T20:26:00.000-05:00

Just a few more days and I head back to NYC for my last and final semester. In the meantime I'm enjoying as much riding as possible.

Sunday I hung out with Ben working on his pan. He's been in the process of putting it back to looking stock.
He's installed floorboards, tin primary, mousetrap. The stock style fender is out for paint. New chain, sprockets and tires are also on their way. The engine is also getting new head gaskets.

New tabs for the inner primary to mount to.

Ben also had to turn his own spacer for the inner primary.

End of the day Sunday things were starting to shape up nice.

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T20:14:00.000-05:00

Nothin says Happy New Year like a new set of pans. Big thanks to Slink! While the heads were off they were cleaned and got new valve springs and guides. Also at long last we modified the S&S backing plate to fit the old style round air cleaner. What an improvement! Its something we've wanted to do for years. Next thing to do is to toss those burned up pipes!

The sidecar bike is still being worked on. The rear wheel needs some serious attention and a new rear axle is on its way. The new forks are on and the new tires need to be mounted on their rims. I also need to order new rubber bushings for this sidecar body and then we can finally start putting this thing back together.

Merry Christmas Fellas

2011-12-24T14:58:00.001-05:00

Nice Shot Mike!

2011-12-18T18:35:00.002-05:00

Also be sure to check out Mike's new blog Ride Chop Repeat!

Madien Voyage For My Old F150

2011-12-18T17:53:00.001-05:00

I made a run with Ben back to Brooklyn to pick up the sidecar and to drop off the next project to finish, the GS550. I also just got my old truck back on the road after 4 years of sitting apart. The truck needs hubcaps and a few more odds and ends. Overall the ol' girl did great and I'm so pleased to be driving it again. I had no idea if we were going to make it to the city and back but we did.

24 hours later the sidecar is back and read to be reassembled.

Sidecar Floor Repair Is Done!

2011-12-15T18:38:00.000-05:00

I had to wait till the wee hours of the night for some peace and quiet. Since its finals week the shop has been a mad house.

It was a two person job to do the dolly work because you cant reach inside with a dolly and hammer at the same time.

The support bracket was spot welded

It's 6am and there you have it. I need some sleep...

And Little More Steib Work

2011-12-11T23:13:00.001-05:00

It was time to weld the stiffener plate in before the bottom gets closed up.

I ended up reshaping the panel by hand to get it to fit properly.

Fast forward - I painted the panel and the body so the panels wont be bare steel on bare steel anymore. Sure its gonna burn a bit when its welded but its better than rusting through again.

I pre-drilled holes in the stiffener so it can be spot welded to the floor later just like the original panel.

All tig welded and this was the biggest pain in ass ever. Basically the way you see it in the above picture was the only access I had getting inside. But its in, its solid and its smooth.

The floor panel is up next!

Sidecar Sunday

2011-12-11T10:53:00.001-05:00

Billy's pan with the Steib sidecar. Such a cool setup!

Flame Tank Hopper

2011-12-10T14:06:00.001-05:00

A number of years ago when the Yamahopper had the flame tank I did with just spray bombs.

I had this bike with me when I was in college out in western NY state.

Old Foto Friday

2011-12-09T11:23:00.001-05:00

Heres a wild duel carb knuck! I wish I had a better shot of that front end.

Greasy Kulture!

2011-12-07T15:03:00.001-05:00

So stoked to be featured in one of the best magazines out there.

Get Issue #24 here!

Old Foto Friday

2011-12-02T12:53:00.001-05:00

The ol' VL

Red Bike, Red Truck

2011-11-28T23:39:00.001-05:00

Sidecar Sunday

2011-11-20T11:24:00.001-05:00

This 1920 JD Harley was owned by my father's cousin, Chris Kusto, who use to run Antique Cycle Supply in Cedar Springs, MI. These photos were actually taken right in Chris' driveway.

Chris and Bruce Lindsay seen here in a news clipping from a small town they stopped in when they were on a 4 state road trip including a stop at the Harley factory. (More on that story at another time).

Here is Chris in a 2 page spread about their trip in an issue of American Motorcyclist, August, 1984. That Harley racing shirt use to be my father's. He wore it when he was a kid and hes the one who cut the sleeves off. He later sent it to Chris and it was used in some of the photos in the Antique Cycle Supply Catalog.

It Was A Good Summer

2011-11-17T15:43:00.001-05:00

Still More Steib Work!

2011-11-16T12:41:00.001-05:00

My apologies if this is all I've been posting lately but this really the only thing I've been working on lately motorcycle wise. Also as soon as this is finished I can start working on the 550 Suzuki project again.

I used the two vice clamps to get the flanges as flat as possible against each other to make for a better weld.

I started cutting material out so the new panel can lay flat against the body so I can trace my lines for the final cuts.

Lookin better all the time!

More Steib Work

2011-11-14T00:00:00.001-05:00

Since the two bottom panels are done the next piece that had to be made was the inside support piece. A quick template was made.

This piece turned out great. With all the pieces made I can start cutting the floor apart.

Old Foto Friday

2011-11-11T09:14:00.004-05:00

Here is an earlier version of the Sportster posted here and here. I'm actually looking for those handle bars if anyone has a set they want to sell.

Sidecar Repair Continued

2011-11-10T16:40:00.006-05:00

Got a little more work done on the sidecar the past few days.

Both panels look good and fit nice so its time to tip the edge to match the seam the runs underneath the sidecar body.

I ended up making my own tipping tool out of some sqaure tube and angle iron.

Both halves tipped nicely but once I got to the "nose" of each panel I had to stretch the edge at the same time to keep the piece from buckling.

Both edges are tipped and smoothed out great. I think next I am actually going to spotweld the two halves together just like the factory and then drop the two panels in as a whole and weld everything up.

Now You See It

2011-11-06T20:11:00.002-05:00

Now you don't. See you in the spring ol' buddy.

Sidecar Sunday

2011-11-06T19:40:00.004-05:00

My father and his father. My Grandfather wasnt a bike guy but its cool he posed for the photo. Still have that helmet too! This was Billy's Honda and the sidecar I'm repairing now. This ol' Steib was on a lot of bikes.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T12:06:00.001-04:00

Sidecar Sunday

2011-10-30T22:37:00.002-04:00

New series until I run out of sidecar photos!

By Request: Sporty Paint Scheme

2011-10-29T12:23:00.007-04:00

Heres a few shots of the sportster's paint scheme. This may have been the 3rd or 4th version of this bike at the time. Hand made sissybar, struts, raked trees, looks like 8" over tubes, and the frame was molded with squared off front legs.

The design on the gas tank came from Rick Griffin's cover for R. Crumb's Zap Comics. See below. He painted it by hand with 1 shot. He changed it up a bit and put the sun running in tennis shoes. Same thing on other side of the tank. On the flat spot of rear fender I believe he had a cartoon hotdog running in sneakers too.

Found Some Footage

2011-10-28T14:23:00.008-04:00

Goin through my old tapes I found this video of taking the pan out on a test run around the block about 4 years ago. I totally forgot this was taken. The bike still had the shovel tanks on it from when we picked it up and the fish tails were not yet cut down. I almost kind of like the stance it has with the short front end and long pipes!

This is most likely the first time I rode the pan too. It felt like operating a tractor compared to the xs650 I was zipping around on at the time but, I was hooked.
(click on the image for the video)

Old Foto Friday

2011-10-28T13:31:00.002-04:00

Another Photo

2011-10-25T23:50:00.001-04:00

Taken by my friend Samantha.

Still Shaping Metal

2011-10-23T21:42:00.002-04:00

I was...

Sidecar Sunday

2011-10-23T18:39:00.004-04:00

Old Foto Friday continued

2011-10-21T16:08:00.002-04:00

I made a post on the Jockey Journal of the photo I had below and as it turns out the Knuckle Norton is still around! It's still on the east coast and in good hands too. It was storage since the 1980s.

Old Foto Friday: And Now For Something Completely Different

2011-10-14T14:46:00.003-04:00

Found this among the stacks of photos. A Norkle? Knuckton? you decided, either way this is pretty cool.

Photo was taken at an AMC meet in Fort Mott, NJ

The Panels

2011-10-12T19:05:00.002-04:00

The panels are starting to take shape.

These two panels are junk.... (no bodies perfect!)

After a lot of shrinking and some stretching in spots I wouldn't have expected, my replacement panels are almost there.

Once I'm positive the panels are shaped properly I'll then tip the edge for the spot welded seam and then start cutting out the old material.

Secret Bike Show 5

2011-10-10T10:33:00.017-04:00

The Secret Bike Show was a great turn out. This year Ed brought the show back to the alley behind his art gallery, just like the first year. The show has hopped around different locations in Milford and it was cool that he brought it back to his place. Later in the afternoon we went on a quick loop through the Dingmans Ferry area. Great winding roads and perfect weather. I'm really not ready for winter yet...

Who needs a comb when you got the wind and a chopper to slick that greasy hair back for ya!

It was great to see Mike and Nick, and Ed who rode all the way up from Brooklyn. (I mean did too but I drove haha) Can't wait to see you guys on the next one!

The Template

2011-10-04T23:15:00.015-04:00

The sidecar body was the perfect example to show the sheet metal shaping class tonight how to make a template to transfer shapes and forms using painters tape.

Blue painters tape is laid down in one direction with reinforced packing tape laid down in the other direction. This locks in the shape and allows the form to be transferred. Once its pulled, sprinkle some talcum powder to prevent the blue tape from sticking again. Very simple and much more effective than trying to use chipboard or paper and pie-cutting it to lay flat against the surface.

Need the template for the otherside?

No problem! Just pop it inside out and works for otherside.

The 20ga steel has been cut using a Beverly sheer and is now ready for some shaping. Stay tuned!

More James Stone

2011-10-03T14:21:00.000-04:00

The Damage

2011-10-02T18:38:00.009-04:00

I'm going to make an attempt at fixing the floor of this old Steib sidecar body. Over the years moisture has gotten in between the support bracket and the floor and has caused the floor to rot.

I need to take the rest of the trim off and begin making my template out of layers of tape. More on the in the next post.

Old Foto Friday

2011-09-30T12:31:00.001-04:00

My ol'man on a friends bike. .

The 5th Annual Secret Bike Show!

2011-09-29T16:43:00.007-04:00

Fall is approaching so its time for the Secret Bike Show again! This is usually a good local turn out. One last chance to hang with your buds before the snow flies again!

The Hack Came Back...

2011-09-28T13:18:00.004-04:00

... the very next day. For repairs that is. It looks like Friday the Stieb sidecar body will be coming back to Brooklyn. The floor has rotted out along the body seam underneath. No better place to fix it than the school's shop because I have access to the sheet metal tools I don't have at home. It's a step in the right direction for the long awaited overhaul this machine needs. For 35 years this thing basically only had the oil changed. Last summer I rewired the whole bike and got the big bore 836 engine running again. We mocked the bike back together just to get it back on the road. But now its time to really go through this whole bike.

The new plan is:
Fix the sidecar floor
New tires
Rebuild the front end
Put the old fenders, tank, and faring back on
We're still debating whether or not to repaint the bike too

Stay tuned...

I'm thinkin about it...

2011-09-26T12:45:00.002-04:00

Black and White

2011-09-25T22:50:00.004-04:00

Check out more James Stone Photography here

Old Foto Friday

2011-09-23T11:37:00.005-04:00

The ol'man out in the desert somewhere on his way to San Diego.

Brooklyn Part 2

2011-09-22T18:17:00.019-04:00

All these shots are a mixture of photos taken by me, Ben, and my friend Gen.

We were only at the Invitational for 5 minutes when Ken Nagahara snapped a few pics of all 3 bikes for HotBike Japan. Way cool!

Jeff's sweet, sweet knuck.

This dog was trained better than most children I've seen....

The big highlight of the day was Guy Bolton snapping some shots of the pan for Greasy Kulture! Thanks again Jeff for introducing us.

Good food at the Matchless.

Got a video leaving the city early Sunday morning.

Good times had by all!

Brooklyn Part 1

2011-09-21T23:26:00.007-04:00

Such a good time this year. Probably the best yet.

Had a bad plug wire on the pan just before we left.

Rt80

Just before the Holland Tunnel.

Also just before the Holland Tunnel....

Ken's long johns decided to let loose and get caught in his rear wheel!

Ben and my ol'man stayed with me at my school apartment. A minute after this was taken we were flanked by the school security guards. It was rather humorous. I dont think they knew what to do with us.

Pedros Friday night.

More to come...

Recovering

2011-09-19T22:47:00.006-04:00

One for the books! Another awesome weekend spent in Brooklyn on two wheels. I got to meet so many great people and heroes that I would never have the chance to otherwise. It was great to meet you Jeff and a big thanks for introducing us to Guy. I'll be posting some of my photos later.

This weekend...

2011-09-12T13:00:00.006-04:00

The past 2 events were a total blast, this year shall not disappoint either

Decisions, decisions however....

I honestly cant decided what to take!!!! I'll take a vote! Pan or Sporty?!

Old Foto Friday

2011-09-09T10:19:00.014-04:00

Seeing ZZChop's latest picture helped me decide what to post this week. I instantly recognized the photo and the man sitting on that sweet pan. The photo is from I believe the June 1979 issue of Easyriders. The man is Casey Mass. He was good riding buddy of my ol'man's back in the day. Casey rode the snot out of a chopped slabside he bought from George. The pan pictured here was a bike he started building in his living room. In the late 70s he sold the shovel and put the pan in the trunk of his car and moved to Florida and started C&L hogshop with Lou Falcigno.

Another photo I found randomly on the web of Casey's bike and Lou's.

And heres some of my own photos of Casey. I've got a lot more but these are some of the good ones.

An awesome shot of the pan pre-springer. This photo was enclosed with a letter to my ol'man after Casey moved to Florida.

And a few shots of his shovel.

6 Over Has Won Me Over

2011-09-08T17:01:00.002-04:00

I dont normally like to post stuff that everyone else is but just simply wow!

6 Over - Teaser from Wild Honey Productions on Vimeo.

This makes me wanna puke

2011-09-08T02:31:00.006-04:00

If you like this show theres somethin wrong with you...
These people, this show, will never be or ever come close to the image below. Its a disgrace.

Theres nothin mainstream about being an outlaw.

Old Foto Friday!

2011-09-02T14:34:00.005-04:00

Is back again with more photos scanned from the albums. I'm stuck behind the computer again for the next 10 months so I will be posting regularly again.

Story behind this one....
In 1970 my ol'man was traveling out to California and stopped at a rest area in southern Colorado. Off in the corner he spotted this guy with this wild knuck and AEE square forks. My dad is on the left and the owner is on the right. The guy apparently just got out of the service was traveling back home to NY. Pretty wild if you ask me! Wonder where that guy is today... or the bike!

Hey, when did our yard have a lake?

2011-08-31T15:46:00.004-04:00

Just up the road from the house.

With the power being out for four days we resulted to toasting bagels and reheating coffee on the grill.

When everything finally calmed down I when out for a ride.

This is the same area as the picture above with the water finally receding. Thats a small one lane bridge in the background.

Chasing the setting sun.

Last ride home before heading back to the big city.

Next up is the Brooklyn Invitational. Don't miss it!

Melt Down!

2011-08-17T23:24:00.006-04:00

Be careful about quick improvements you make. It may come back and bite you in the ass, or cause your battery to short circuit and have a total melt down. A small 1" wide by 7" long 18 gauge piece of steel just cost me big bucks. Big bucks because I don't have any spare parts laying around to fix this. And at this point I'm tired of dealing with a battery that doesnt fit correctly. Its going all stock, I've had it....

All trash.

Now it only took me a minute to figure out what happened. I guess I was more surprised that it even took out my rubber battery box mounts. That frame got hot!!!! I have to go through the rest of the bike and make sure everything else is ok. Not even my breaker could have prevented this.

But Wait! Theres More!

2011-08-13T12:02:00.006-04:00

I almost forgot my ol'man was walking around with his film camera taking a few snaps here and there. Heres some of his photos.

Strange Days: Part 5, The Best Shots

2011-08-10T09:00:00.018-04:00

This one just about sums it all up!

If anyone wants any of these photos in original format feel free to contact me at captcal@gmail.com

Strange Days: Part 4

2011-08-06T16:35:00.008-04:00

As the sun sets on the grounds of Strange Days...

Round 5 is next of the best photos saved for last.

Strange Days: Part 3

2011-08-04T10:55:00.009-04:00

Its time to give away some free stuff!!!

Part 4 coming your way!

Strange Days: Part 2

2011-08-01T20:27:00.018-04:00

From the greasy work bench of my ol'man:

"Chris and Ken came over to my place on a cold November night to discuss the initial idea of Strange Days. I was impressed. These guys are some riding motherfuckers. I brought out some stacks of old photo albums from back in the day for a little inspiration. Over some cold beers and some faded photos, the Strange Days wheels started rolling. Those boys saw the light and rode away late that November night with a whole new attitude.

The day of Strange Days a couple of the younger guys asked me if this is what it was really like. You guys nailed it. Throw down your bag in a field with like minded people. Ive been doin this since 1966 and I've slept in train yards, garbage dumps, and burned out garages but Rickey's Farm was truly a unique and special place.

The photos above are from Easyriders coverage of Indio 1972. The scenes of Strange Days weren't all that different. Just the bikes are old now and photos are in color!

Thanks to everyone who came out." -Joe

Hang in there for Part 3!

Night Shots

2011-07-31T14:59:00.002-04:00

Strange Days: Part 1

2011-07-29T22:23:00.003-04:00

What a trip! I can't believe its over. After months of planning with Ken and Chris it came and went but I'll never forget it. I remember Ken telling me one night that he wanted to have a grassroots bike event here in northern NJ. Like the old days. Ride in, thrown your tent down and party on. Now, I can't speak for the old days because I was never there, but my ol'man was there to verify that we were pretty damn close. He said its been well over 30 years that he has been to something like this.

Just the right amount of the right people were there. There was no "hey-look-at-me-contest." Everyone that showed was chill and had a mutual respect for each other and their bikes. We talked about having an actual bike show but there really was no need! There were bikes all around in the field. It wasn't a select crowd of "the cool kids" and just everyone else was a spectator. Every single person that came made this event.

The money at the gate wasn't for our pockets. It was to pay the bills we had so you guys could have a good time. So thanks to all that came out and supported us. We will definitely be doing it again next year.

My ol'man is doing his own write up about the ol'days and Strange Days. I will be posting that soon. So enjoy Part 1 of the photos.

Friday evening setting up. Wes' bus was probably the coolest thing I saw rolling up the road, blaring the horn, letting everyone know of his arrival.

Setting up the stage. Couldn't ask for a better backdrop!

Sun went down, time to get some grub at the Vernon Inn.

Ed lost his fender and sissybar late Friday night between the Strange Days grounds and Ken's place. The Indian Larry goodies he brought up from Brooklyn for Aidan's benefit caused a lot of stress to his fender. The spotlight on my ol' cop car came into use in searching for the missing fender and sissybar. We found it but the sissybar was destroyed. Some quick bends in some threaded rod and a 110 mig welder got Ed back on two wheels to get him back home on Sunday.

Mean while Ken was trying to get his moon machine back on the road too.

Saturday morning.

Stay tuned for Part 2.

Still Organizing Photos

2011-07-26T17:28:00.004-04:00

Stay tuned...

Freaky....

2011-07-26T13:43:00.002-04:00

I told ya history can repeat itself!

STRANGE DAYS

2011-07-25T10:33:00.004-04:00

Just wanna give out a huge thanks to everyone who came out to Strange Days. The heat certainly didn't keep people away from having a good time! We believe we had over 250 people attend. The bands were great, the food was exceptional and the people were one of a kind. I took close to 300 photos so keep an eye out for more here and at the Strange Days blog.

See ya at Strange Days!

2011-07-22T15:01:00.002-04:00

Its gonna be a scorchin good time!

2011-07-20T13:03:00.004-04:00

Its gonna be a hot one folks! We will do our best with bottled water but it would also be wise to be prepared yourself. We don't know how long our supply will last.

But either way, just as a reminder there is an A&P food store just 2 miles down the road. Ice to fill coolers, water, gatorade etc.

View Strange Days Places of Interest in a larger map

We also have a few tents up for shade and we also have the tree line along the back to escape from the sun too. So plain and simple be smart about the heat. I feel silly having to type this but last thing we want to do is call in for heat stroke or somethin. We'd like to not have the authorities up there for any reason. Stay cool my friends!

NY State

2011-07-18T18:13:00.011-04:00

Awesome weekend for riding. Clear sailing and perfect weather Saturday and Sunday. I had a wedding to attend so to take advantage of the awesome views and roads, I packed up the bagger and took off Saturday morning.

All dressed up for the wedding with the dresser!

Sunday morning I headed to my cousin's place.

We ended up pulling over into this abandoned farm for some cool photos

Monday morning was an entirely different story. I left my cousins house and got caught in one of the worst storms I've ever ridden through. I was heading south east and so was the storm and I pushed hard to get ahead of it. But each gas stop it caught right back up to me. Basically 150 miles of constant heavy thunderstorms. Last 30 miles home however, it was clear weather again.

Overall it was a great weekend, got to see what this ol bagger was capable of. This was it's first big road trip since who knows how long. It ran fine in the rain and no problems with the electrical job I did. Now its time to get ready for Strange Days!

NY State This Weekend

2011-07-15T21:19:00.001-04:00

Packed up and heading to NY state tomorrow! I'm use to riding rigids with back support from the sleeping bag so the ugly green afghan blanket is a nice back rest. Also a nice bed roll where ever I end up crashing for the night. I really didnt need to pack much with me since Ill only be gone for 3 days. See ya'll next week.

The Strange Days Sssssssisssy Bar!

2011-07-15T00:44:00.012-04:00

Here it is gang! One lucky person is gonna walk away with this stainless steel sissybar. A small group effort between my ol man, benny, and me. My father bent up the bar and came up with the "S.D." design. Benny tig welded everything together and I hand sanded and polished the bar.

Now I will admit the bar is not 100% perfect. There some dings and stretch marks in the steel but that's because its HAND MADE. But it will hold up 100%. Its the same style of bar we made for the panhead and its great. If having a perfect chrome sissybar is what you want, then maybe pass it on to someone else and buy one out of JP Cycles. Its a pretty sweet simple bar that I so badly want to keep for myself but one lucky person is getting next weekend!!!

Got it back from my dad. Not too shabby way of transporting it!

Lots of sand paper and Wizards Polish!

Wizards is by far the best polish I have ever used for stainless or aluminum. I stand by it 110%. However do NOT use it on chrome. It will eat it up.

GET STRANGE!

Breakin The Wall Down!

2011-07-11T09:23:00.003-04:00

The time finally came to take the wall down for more shop space. Both of those walls house smaller rooms. The room with the door was already holding 3 motorcycles so there was really no point in having the wall! The wall wasn't load bearing so it was snap to get rid of.

What a huge difference! We moved the bench and toolbox over to make a better work corner.

Even threw a little bit of paint on the walls.

We'll continue to fix the sheetrock finish off the walls and hang a few more lights. With the studs taken out of the wall I'm going to build a decent bike stand. All about recycling what you have!

I'd like to even move the air compressor into the old closet.

We just found out through a neighbor who has been living in the neighborhood since the mid 60s that the house really use to be a barn. At the time the owner of the house behind us was a pilot. He was into cars and built the barn to house them. It wasn't until the late '70s early '80s it was actually converted into a house. It's gone from car barn to bike barn!

Happy Birthday To My Dad!

2011-07-09T21:10:00.016-04:00

Today being my dad's birthday we took a ride up to Milford PA to Shaun's shop, Golden Hammer Studios, so he could get some ink work done. He decided to get "Brooklyn" tattooed across his fingers. One, it was the right amount of lettering and two, its a way to remember some family history. Which also has a strange story.... (Ive been consistent with the "strange themes" the past few weeks!)

My father's grandfather Fritz Karl Rudolph immigrated to Brooklyn from a small village in Germany in 1910. He was sent with recommendation letters to work at a German chemical dye company, which today is known as BASF, one of the world's leading chemical companies.

Here he is on the far right. He was about 18 years old when he moved to this country. Karl took lots and lots of photos and kept a large album. Photos off all the places he lived in Brooklyn. I can see where all the photo documenting comes from. My father has albums upon albums of photos hes taken back in the day. And now I'm doing the same thing.

Now here is where things get interesting....
I moved to Brooklyn to continue college in 2009. Not long after living in the city my dad dug out some of Karl's paper work. He found numerous letters and envelopes with addresses. I looked them up and it turns out I was living only 2 blocks away from where Karl did! So almost 100 years later I'm on the same stomping grounds as my great grandfather.

This photo here I found of the Pratt campus. Ive been living in the large high rise to the left and Karl's brownstone on the far right. I had a hard time getting use to living in the city (I live in the most rural part in NJ) and finding out this information made NYC suddenly feel like home. So with me living there it has reconnected what has sort of been forgotten over time.

Karl was also responsible for my dad getting his Sportster (this bike came after the Knucklehead) Karl was the co-signer for my dad so he could buy the brand new 1969 Sportster. My dad took this bike many times into the city in the '70s. 2009 was the first year for the Brooklyn Invitational and that brought things full circle for me and my father.

Shaun and the ol'man

It was an awesome day for riding and the bikes were running great. We stopped at good Mexican restaurant on the way home. So what does Mexican food have to do with Germans and Brooklyn? Nothin! it was just good food on the way home!

There are many other strange parallels (that not even one blog post would cover) between me, my father, and my great grandfather Karl Rudolph. Even though this tattoo isn't on me, it still has the same amount of meaning. Don't forget your family history and embrace the good times.

Old Foto Friday: Inspiration

2011-07-08T10:47:00.006-04:00

This is my Uncle's sportster he had back in the day. This is a serious machine. So serious in fact the guy he sold it to ended up killing himself on it. As you can see, I didn't have to go far for my inspiration.

Another version with a psychedelic paintjob. The little honda behind it is pretty wild too.

Another version with a questionable paint job that was done by my ol'man hehe.

How you park in the sand pits in Laconia, NH.

And a bonus. My uncle 16 years old on the '46 Knuck my dad had. My dad actually bought this knuck completely stock from my uncle's father.

If the chopper gods reunited the fender with my gas tank, maybe they can reunite me with this bike? please? pleaaaaaase?

The Slum Goddess Rebuild Is Complete!

2011-07-05T21:08:00.025-04:00

The direction of the rebuild for the Slum Goddess changed over night. The main reason the bike was torn down in the first place was for leaky rocker boxes and a bad swing arm. I decided it was taken apart this far I may as well get my frame painted. Then one thing led to the next and I was cleaning and polishing every part that was going back on the bike. But I still had crummy spray bombed tins that I figured I'd have to paint again to try update the bike. Then one Sunday afternoon Ken and Chris stopped by to check on my progress....

It was Chris's first time by the house. I a bunch of stuff hanging from the ceiling and junk on the shelves. Chris stopped dead in his tracks looking at an orange sportster tank with silver scallops, covered in dust sitting on my shelf. He asked where I got the tank from. (I got it from a swap meet a few years ago.) Then he said "I have the matching fender!"

This pic was taken in 2009 when I was putting the Sportster back together when the motor was rebuilt. Theres the tank on the shelf.

I couldn't believe it. Later that evening I rode up to Chris's place to reunite these long lost brothers. I purchased the super clean tank for $50 at Rhinebeck 4 years ago as a replacement tank for the Voodoo Child. The tank was leaking badly on the Voodoo Child and paint was a close match. I never got around to changing tanks and the tank I purchased just sat on the shelf. And now I'm glad it sat!

Chris bought the fender complete with Shovelhead struts on ebay. (So it could have ended up anywhere!) If it wasn't enough that we had matching tins, the Shovelhead struts were also notched to fit a Sportster frame!

The fender is an Arlen Ness fiberglass fender. The underside of the fender is absolutely spotless. No dirt, no mud, nothing! The paint on my tank has also just started to wrinkle around the gas cap. So I believe these tins were never run! Or they were on some crazy Ness style digger show bike. As seen in the above pic, the fender was never drilled for a license plate. Just the taillight.

I guess I was destined for this because I even had the proper taillight also just sitting on my shelf.

The Slum Goddess started looking like she was no longer from the slums!

I was fighting with finding a proper seat. Nothing fit right and I wasnt about to cover that fender with my stock 2 up seat. Greg gave me an old seat pan he had laying around. I reshaped it and with his help (hes made other seats for me in the past) we laid down some foam and I shaped it to fit the bike. The blue foam is an old yoga mat! Comfy and doesn't collapse!

Greg then made the cover for me with simple pleats wrapped tight. The vinyl was actually scraps that came from the roof of a 1975 Cadillac hearse!

I just couldn't run my wide handle bars anymore. I always wanted a bike with rabbit ears so I made my own out of split buckhorns.

The tabs were welded from underneath and then attached with a set "SS" bolts I found. Pretty cool! The jewels in the back of the light were actually holes for switches. I didn't need the switches so I plugged the holes with my oil and generator jewel lights. A slick solution instead of making new mounts for them.

I was finally able to get out tonight and take a few good snap shots. I have one last thing to do and its to fix my front caliper and put the new brake line on. Why the red bullet nut sack catcher lights facing forwards? I dunno, my old seat bracket was there and I didnt want to cut it off. Besides it looks cool at night. I also put the old struts back on as much as they suck riding wise. But it does the stance right.

I am in love! This bike has never looked this good before. I finally feel like I have a real machine, and a machine to be proud of.

Next thing to go is that dented oil tank. Whos got a chrome one?!

As the sun starts to go down the paint starts to change color. During the day its a bright orange, and during the night it turns red.

The silver scallops just accent the chrome perfectly! The more I look at this paint job the more and more I like it. Its so simple yet so unique.

The scallops on the tank also accent the rabbit ears and the shape of the exhaust headers.

Big thanks to Chris for the gracious donation, Greg for the seat, and Ben for making up the rabbit ears! If ANYONE has any info regarding this gas tank and fender please let me know! I would like to know more about the history behind them. It's a one in a million chance that these tins were reunited! Yes, Strange Days are certainly upon us...

New Header This Month

2011-07-05T13:33:00.002-04:00

Would make a pretty cool t-shirt I think!

Strange Days Map!

2011-07-03T17:21:00.005-04:00

Here it is gang! A map of the layout for Strange Days. It's just 3 weeks away! I spent some time making these maps so its easier for you to find us!

Visit http://strangedaysevent.blogspot.com for more info and updates!

View Strange Days in a larger map

Plus an interactive map of local stores and stuff. This map contains what is outside of our event. Gas stations, diners, hardware stores for that bolt that fell out on the ride over, etc. We got you covered!

View Strange Days Places of Interest in a larger map

Who can pass up camping at a place like this!?

I'm still alive!

2011-06-28T00:27:00.004-04:00

Its been crazy the past few weeks and have rarely been on the computer. But just wanted to let you guys know I'm still here and have just finished my sportster and there is one hell of a story that goes with it too! Stay tuned! More to come on how this went down.

Ken's Place

2011-06-19T09:58:00.001-04:00

It begins

2011-06-18T12:37:00.001-04:00

Thursday Bike Night

2011-06-17T12:25:00.005-04:00

Between bikes being down and bad weather just about every other day we finally made it down to our local bike night for something to do. My brother snapped these shots from the sidecar.

Finally!

2011-06-17T12:10:00.001-04:00

Old Foto Friday

2011-06-17T11:38:00.004-04:00

Heres a few shovelhead fotos

Rhinebeck

2011-06-11T21:16:00.005-04:00

Only photo I took the entire day, but it's a good one in my book. I really didnt take any other photos. Basically it was the same stuff as last year and the year before, and the year before that with the the usual overpriced parts.

At any rate, I went up there with basically no list and ended up finding not one, but two needles in a haystack. And actually it wasn't in the haystack, it was in the last place I would have looked and I'll explain more on that later.

Anyway, enjoy this bad ass black dude on this chopper.

Midnight Bagger Riding

2011-06-08T12:28:00.001-04:00

The Bagger Is On The Road!

2011-06-05T09:11:00.010-04:00

Back in March the bike shorted out on me and died and sat since. I tore the bike down to rewire what shorted out. However, there wasn't "one" wire that shorted out. The whole harness was screwed. It had a melt down years ago and I don't even know how it was still running. So it took about 4 days to rewired everything. I followed the stock factory wiring, colors, and used the original terminal blocks. Everything works! All the idiot lights and even the turn signals in the dash work. It was a lot of work and confusion but in the end it was worth it. All the wiring I've ever done was simplified so it was a change of pace doing something complicated.

Heres what the bike looked like the day it was brought it home. Not bad, but my ol'man had his plans.

He still had some stuff left over from his black bagger he had back in the late '80s that he wanted to put on this bike. Like the chome windshield lowers and the long fishtail pipes. We also took the big shroud off and put on the old chrome tins we got from Ken. Thanks again! We swapped out the big turn signals for bullet lights. The front bumper was changed for an older style. And of course its not a bagger unless you load up the back with lights!

Caution low fishtails! I've already caught both of my shins in these things walking around in the garage...

Overall it runs good. Few more adjustments to dial it in. The trans is noisey, but thats expected for a 37 year old motorcycle that was used a lot. Now that its off the jack I can start putting my Sportster back together because I got my frame back from paint. Thanks Billy!

Awesome Weekend and Summer Is Finally Here!

2011-05-31T10:14:00.011-04:00

Here at the RetroFit headquarters we had an awesome weekend of selling stuff and good people stopping by.

Later in the afternoon Ken stopped by.

I'm liking the vw switch!

The ol'man let Ken take Mary out for a spin too!

Day 2! The Allentown brothers Mike and Nick took a ride up.

Mike found 2 cracks starting in his rear fender. So we ran over to my neighbor Greg who has a small mig welder and Ben fixed up Mike's fender real quick.

Gregs barn find slabside.

Later in the afternoon Ken came back with his crew.

Chris' Crazy Frank!

The backyard turned into a chopper pow wow.

Afterwards everyone took a ride up to the grounds where Strange Days is going down. I had to stay behind and mind the store but Ben sent me this photo. WOW! Can't wait for July!

Day 3: I finally broke free for a while and took the sidecar up to Port Jervis, dodging the memorial weekenders. Had good food at the girl's apartment. Ben's niece got her first ride ever in a side car and she was smiling ear to ear the whole time! (I think Ben needs to find a hack for his panhead now!)

Good weekend for sure! Now its time to get back to work. Rhinebeck is around the corner and I still have a mess of wiring on the bagger to finish yet.

Early Old Foto Friday

2011-05-26T11:16:00.009-04:00

I have stuff to deal with the garage sale tomorrow or rather a barn sale. So here's an early one for you guys this week.

So heres the deal with this photo. That's Billy standing next to a sportster he owned. But what this photo is really about is the trike sitting in the background.

A little closer...

There we go. I tried to do a little color correction. If you remember a while back on the post I made: Strange Connections I was told the Yamahopper use to be a trike. Well I now have the proof!
If you notice the front wheel has subtle red stripe along the edge of the rim.

This photo is from the day I brought the bike home. And theres the front wheel with the red stripe!

I always heard about this bike being a trike but I never saw an actual photo of it.

We're Thrashin!

2011-05-26T10:53:00.006-04:00

I spent the whole day yesterday tearing down the wiring on the bagger and what a mess! This has to be one of the worst wiring jobs I have ever scene. (And I thought when I got the Voodoo Child with bandaids holding connections together was funny) Simply put, it was senseless for half of what was done to it. No reason for it.

On top of that almost half of the wiring was melted! And it wasnt from when it shorted out and stranded me when I took it for test ride back in March. This wiring was bubbled, melted, corroded, and stuck together from a long time ago! I honestly don't know how this thing even ran. This bike was one spark away from a total melt down.

Benny stopped by to lend a hand. We're tossing the aluminum shroud aside and putting a set of panhead tins up front. A little modification on the shovelhead trees were needed.

I've got two weeks till Rhinebeck so I need to hustle on this wiring. I'm hooking EVERYTHING back up. All the idiot lights and signals. And not to mention the Christmas tree hanging off the back!

(See wasnt kidding about the bandaids on the Voodoo Child!)

Garage Sale! This Saturday and Sunday (5/28 5/29)

2011-05-24T15:20:00.006-04:00

Or a mini swap meet if you will. Multiple sellers. Motorcycle parts, toys, and tools.
So if any of you local yokels wanna swing by, contact me for directions captcal@gmail.com
Cross your fingers this rain will stop!!!!!!

The Paughco Tank

2011-05-23T13:34:00.004-04:00

They've been making them wrong all these years!!

So rewind 3 weeks. The ol'man came to brooklyn and we spent the afternoon putzin around in the shop. I was showing him the latest on this build and we were playing around with gas tank ideas.

The peanut tank that Ive been using for mock up is really too small. Ive had this Paughco tank laying around it doesn't look right either. The tunnel is too low, but overall the proportions aren't right for this bike. The Paughco mustang tanks are supposed to look like split fat bob tanks welded together. They're close but there's something I never liked about them.

I envisioned this bike with something close to a set of flatside tanks. But real flatside tanks would be too big and look cheesy. This bike has a very close stance to that of the pan Fonda rode in the Wild Angels. I was becoming frustrated with not finding the right kind of gas tank for this bike. You would have to put a gun to my head to put a sportster tank on this bike. Even if I lowered the Paugho tank it would still look.... typical. With such a unique bike, it needs a unique solution for a gas tank. I wanted to steer clear of the jap chop formula that so many use today.

No sir... I don't like it....

I love the little side fill wassell tank but it's really too small to feed those 4 hungry carbs. It's all about riding isnt it?! And something still doesnt sit well with me about that Paughco tank. And then it hit me out of dumb luck!

I was messing with the tank and had it upside down. I walked away for a minute to get a wrench or something and then I hear the ol'man holler, "Check this out!" I come back and instantly saw what he did. The tank has a better shape upside down! And then I figured out after all this time why I'm not crazy about those Paughco Mustang tanks...

Its that flat spot that's in the center of the tank!

There's my mini split tanks that I originally envisioned! Believe it or not, these tanks have a better profile upside down.

It may not seem like much looking at these photos but in person it's day and night.

So we broke out the battle axe...

So has Paughco been making their tanks upside down all these years? Who knows. But what I do know is I definitely found my tanks for this bike.

I debated whether to sew the two halves back together or make them split. I think for something different I'm going to make them split. The biggest challenge is going to find two small gas caps and bungs like the one pictured. We'll see what Rhinebeck brings this year, hopefully not rain, I think we had enough already....

Mock up!

2011-05-22T20:20:00.005-04:00

Ive been waiting for months to put the motor back in the frame and man what a scooter! The lines and stance are blowing my mind. And I finally settled on a gas tank. Oh yeah, I didnt tell you guys about that one yet. That was an unexpected slick trick that I'll explain later.

Basically I need a battery, wire it up, and then attack those carbs. I'm not looking forward to figuring out the jetting. The unfortunate side of jap bikes is they're so sensitive. I'm no longer running the air box and changing the mufflers so we'll see how this goes.

Frame clean up starts

2011-05-09T01:13:00.003-04:00

The clean up on the frame is almost done. I tackled most of the engine mounts and neck today. I filled in all the holes except the one, and I took out the spot welded stamped steel gusset. Nothing structural really except holding the two stamped halves together. I was surpised how bad a lot of the welds are on this frame that are from the FACTORY. Not mine! Lots of porosity in spots, and most of the welds look like they were way too cold. So I had to go through and clean those up too.

All cleaned up, center section was welded back up and ground smooooooth.

Old Foto Friday

2011-05-06T01:39:00.000-04:00

Dog, chops and baggers. This photo also goes with this one here. The pan and the slabside are George's. If you look closely the bagger has some sliver and black scallop like flames on it. The blue bike is my ol'man's shovelhead before he cut it up.

Heres another shot of George's pan. Check out the skinny front fender put on for road trippin! This photo was taken earlier. The bike next to the pan is the sportster my ol'man had. He sold it after his long trip up out to Michigan, Canada, Vermont and back down to NJ. He had enough of hard tails and 60 mile gas stops. I'll be writing up somethin soon about that very transition. And yeah thats the man himself standin there.

Um, wow....

2011-05-04T20:42:00.002-04:00

I was searching for anvils for other reasons but found this. The title speaks for itself...

Finished up my fender work.

2011-05-01T18:29:00.007-04:00

I was dreading the thought of hacking up this fender yet again, but it had to be done. And went surprisingly well. I had to cut the notch for the chain. I could have stopped right here at this photo and call it notched but I didn't.

I cut another 3/8" strip out and stuck the rolled edge back on.

Tacked, then welded small sections at a time, grinded down, stretched the metal back out with a body hammer.

Also had to fill in the gap.

All welded up and buffed out with the oribital sander.

Getting close! Only a few more things left to do.