Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wow... I may have one too many pics
The wonders of computers... now if those were real files, I would need a garage alone to house filing cabinents. If anyone needs any reference photos let me know!
Just taking some down time, organizing the many many files I have. Will probably start posting more again next week.
Just taking some down time, organizing the many many files I have. Will probably start posting more again next week.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Finished Triple Tree for the GS550
So just a recap here is what the top tree looked like, scuffed up, painted black, crappy looking. (I'm keeping the choke pull though!
Sand blasted for a fresh start. The gauged ear lobes hanging off the front had to go.
An ugly casting seam ran all around the piece
Filled in some divots in the casting on the underside that otherwise would show through. Also built up a ridge of weld so I had enough material to reshape the piece. Big thanks to Adam for help with the tig welding!
Cut the tabs off and sanded area to get my basic shape.
Filed off the casting seams.
Half polished, started with 100 grit all the way up 400 then wet sanded with 600. I could go further but, it looks good to me.
Before
After
Sand blasted for a fresh start. The gauged ear lobes hanging off the front had to go.
An ugly casting seam ran all around the piece
Filled in some divots in the casting on the underside that otherwise would show through. Also built up a ridge of weld so I had enough material to reshape the piece. Big thanks to Adam for help with the tig welding!
Cut the tabs off and sanded area to get my basic shape.
Filed off the casting seams.
Half polished, started with 100 grit all the way up 400 then wet sanded with 600. I could go further but, it looks good to me.
Before
After
Monday, December 13, 2010
A Rad Photo and Some Venting
I don't normally write posts this long, but I just gotta clear some things up for my own head's sake. Yeah I'm gonna be a whiny little bitch with my panties in wad because I'm seeing this photo all over the internet. Unfortunately its my own dumb fault for not water marking it when it was posted years ago somewhere. (that wasnt the cool thing to do then, and chopper blogs weren't in full swing) I regret letting it loose out onto the world wide web mostly because I don't know where ol' George is today and whether or not he'd like this photo loose.
That cant be helped now because its out there. But what bugs me more is people don't give credit where credit is due anymore. (I greatly appreciate those who do, you know who you are) And its even harder to control over the internet. Everything is just right click> save, and a few days later, we forget where we got it from. This is why I watermark my photos. Some guys bitch and moan and think it's self-righteous, but from an artist's mindset, you naturally want your name on your shit. The world wide web is no holds barred so you gotta protect whats yours. You wouldn't want someone else's name on a painting you made right?
Yeah okay, so these photos aren't paintings and I didn't take them, but they were handed down to me personally. To me these old photos are like a form of art. I grew up flipping the pages of the albums with these photos in them. They mean a lot to me. I have a lot of respect for these photos, and where they came from. If you read an earlier post below you'd understand what I'm saying.
I can understand why I keep finding it in random corners of the internet. Its a pretty extreme photo. It's raw, it's outlaw, it's 1960's, it's like a Hal Robinson drawing come to life. To me it speaks everything that ever was about the chopper scene back then. This photo has attitude you don't find today. Sure you can replicate it, but this is as original as it gets.
For a long time I kept from posting this photo on here just because I didn't want it to get out there anymore than it has. This vintage shit is all the hype and I didn't want this photo to get sucked down and worn out because of that hype. By keeping it hidden it stays fresh, it stays unique. However, that's just not gonna stop it from resurfacing now and again. This image is like my diamond in the rough, my original bates solo seat, my NOS war bird taillight etc etc. But here it is.
So if you can't beat em, join em, and it's joining them with a damn watermark. So there. It's my photo, it's one of my most prized photos, do what the hell you want with it now. So if you see this image any place else send them this link. Rant over, I feel better...
That cant be helped now because its out there. But what bugs me more is people don't give credit where credit is due anymore. (I greatly appreciate those who do, you know who you are) And its even harder to control over the internet. Everything is just right click> save, and a few days later, we forget where we got it from. This is why I watermark my photos. Some guys bitch and moan and think it's self-righteous, but from an artist's mindset, you naturally want your name on your shit. The world wide web is no holds barred so you gotta protect whats yours. You wouldn't want someone else's name on a painting you made right?
Yeah okay, so these photos aren't paintings and I didn't take them, but they were handed down to me personally. To me these old photos are like a form of art. I grew up flipping the pages of the albums with these photos in them. They mean a lot to me. I have a lot of respect for these photos, and where they came from. If you read an earlier post below you'd understand what I'm saying.
I can understand why I keep finding it in random corners of the internet. Its a pretty extreme photo. It's raw, it's outlaw, it's 1960's, it's like a Hal Robinson drawing come to life. To me it speaks everything that ever was about the chopper scene back then. This photo has attitude you don't find today. Sure you can replicate it, but this is as original as it gets.
For a long time I kept from posting this photo on here just because I didn't want it to get out there anymore than it has. This vintage shit is all the hype and I didn't want this photo to get sucked down and worn out because of that hype. By keeping it hidden it stays fresh, it stays unique. However, that's just not gonna stop it from resurfacing now and again. This image is like my diamond in the rough, my original bates solo seat, my NOS war bird taillight etc etc. But here it is.
So if you can't beat em, join em, and it's joining them with a damn watermark. So there. It's my photo, it's one of my most prized photos, do what the hell you want with it now. So if you see this image any place else send them this link. Rant over, I feel better...
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Old Foto Friday
Trying somethin new here to keep posting on a regular basis. These "fotos" are from my ol'man's albums from years ago. This stuff is priceless. I post his old photos on here anyway, but I figured it would be good to get into a routine.
These five men, only three of which I have contact with, basically have been my biggest influence in motorcycles. If it weren't for their old photos, stories, and mentoring, I wouldn't have the education I have today when it comes to building and appreciating bikes.
George
Dave
Joe
Billy
Neil
These five men, only three of which I have contact with, basically have been my biggest influence in motorcycles. If it weren't for their old photos, stories, and mentoring, I wouldn't have the education I have today when it comes to building and appreciating bikes.
George
Dave
Joe
Billy
Neil
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
This Is Real Good
Had two crazies show up to have a meeting about STRANGEDAYS. We're trying to settle on a location and also just run some new ideas past each other.
The ol'man and I are hanging out in the garage late Tuesday night waiting for Ken and Chris to arrive. Its a few days before thanksgiving and its just about 30 degrees out. The weather was awesome during the day but as soon as the sun went down the temperature dropped.
So I'm keeping an ear out for Ken's slant 6 Dodge Swinger but instead I hear a rumbling in the distance. I see two round headlights running down the road and then realize they're separate from each other.
Seeing these guys beats the winter blues.
The ol'man and I are hanging out in the garage late Tuesday night waiting for Ken and Chris to arrive. Its a few days before thanksgiving and its just about 30 degrees out. The weather was awesome during the day but as soon as the sun went down the temperature dropped.
So I'm keeping an ear out for Ken's slant 6 Dodge Swinger but instead I hear a rumbling in the distance. I see two round headlights running down the road and then realize they're separate from each other.
Seeing these guys beats the winter blues.
Suzuki Update
I finally got my 18" wheel, paid through the nose, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I'm going through all this so I can get my rear wheel centered in the frame, long story, don't want to get into it. Just enjoy the photos.
De-laced both wheels, the hub on the left is from the 16" wheel, notice how much taller it is than the 18" wheel hub on the right. Why the hell Suzuki would make something so different for so little is beyond me.
Identical in diameter and spoke pattern though.
I ran into issues in re-lacing the wheel, but thanks to my friend Billy we got things straightened out and trued up (sorry no pics of that though)
Here is how it sits now. Rear wheel laced to its new hub, and now I can begin working on mounting the rear fender and that tall ass sissybar!
Starting to polish the top triple tree, should look real snazzy when finished.
De-laced both wheels, the hub on the left is from the 16" wheel, notice how much taller it is than the 18" wheel hub on the right. Why the hell Suzuki would make something so different for so little is beyond me.
Identical in diameter and spoke pattern though.
I ran into issues in re-lacing the wheel, but thanks to my friend Billy we got things straightened out and trued up (sorry no pics of that though)
Here is how it sits now. Rear wheel laced to its new hub, and now I can begin working on mounting the rear fender and that tall ass sissybar!
Starting to polish the top triple tree, should look real snazzy when finished.
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