Monday, March 20, 2006

Origins of my fascination w motorcycles, cars




















My fascination w all things Iron and mechancal has to be with go-carts and tricycles. i wish i still had that #8 go car, in California we lived on steep hills , a few kids got killed riding theres down some super steep hills,& others busting their skulls open like pumpkins, i think i'm about 15-16 yrs old w this 1969 xlch sporster chopper , clutch cover was broken so you had to shift to neutral quick to stop,magneto kick start, this was my 2nd bike, this was when having choppers made folks think you were just motorcycle bums or worse, now its trendy to own choppers, turns like your driving a semi, the other chopper was a 1942 HD 45 , someone carved up into a chopper. I had bought the '69 xlch iron head from some useless bum w "chico" tatooed on his arm. i think i paid $800 in New Mexico, just a historic note ..1969 was the last year of "original" HD bikes before AMF ..A Mutha F ..well you know the rest.theres just some magic riding old motorcycles , i hadnt seen Easyrider until yrs later, that movie did more damage to antique bikes than anyone could ever imagine, Riding motorcycles has always been cheap therapy after dealing w lifes assholes.
tricycles to choppers to chiefs , knuckles, scouts, fours...
takes more than going down to your local Blockbuster and renting EasyRider to be a rebel.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Mein Treuen Koko ,my beloved Airedale Terrier 1991-2006


















Koko was my very best friend, she was a real free spirit,she loved the wind in her face , riding in sidecars or my Alfa Romeo, she loved her companion dog Buddy, they were devoted to each other . she loved snow, mountain bike riding, these are just a few of my favorite fotos.When her health started to decline, In a supreme act of loyalty & devotion , she died in my arms. i'll never ever forget her.

1930 Indian FOUR motorcycle

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heres my 1930 Indian Four , i have gathered some missing items like carb,chainguard, toolbox, xtra magneto, i still need a du-5 generator & bracket ,dash etc, i feel bad its not done yet, i'm just going to rebuild the powerplant & leave the original paint as is. i'll post the previous owners name, Al Shirer ,who was a Indian dealer in Allentown PA, who believe it or not had some +470 Indians etc, i'll find that foto & post it,
The foto was in a old motorcycle magazine called Motorcycle Collector , i'm guessing it was in the 1980s. If anyone has a copy of Motorcycle Collector w an article on Al Shirer and his world of motorcycles , please write me or comment, love to post that foto of the 100s of motorcycles tossed in this massive pile...
Indian at some point bought out ACE ,is that right? Ace fours are the precursor to the early Indian Fours, its mine now.Terry Krumm in Austin Texas is rebuilding the engine, you won't find a finer engine builder.
Progress is really slow turned out the engine had every years worth of wrong parts thrown in,
should be a runner this year.Alot of mechanics are just scared of Fours, one must do whats called an offsett line bore,

Monday, March 06, 2006

Malmo Sweden Oresund bridge


I used to live in Skane thats in southern Sweden, i lived there as a little boy before this Oresund bridge was in place, i used to take the ferry to & from Copenhagen to Malmo. I lived in Ystad, Trelleborg, Falsterbo, Skanor & Malmo. I went to Bladins skola. My ancestry is Finnish , dutch & Swedish ,some Hamburg Germans if you go far enough back. the Baltic is super cold. One memory i'll never forget was at Bladins skola on the 2nd floor during an icy cold Swedish winter , a classmate poured a huge pitcher on some poor wretch walking below the window. I got the hell out of there before that guy could blame me. He was pissed. Sweden was a blast. Swedish girls ... unbelievable... Then there were these abandoned 1920s era buildings that were just occupied by some homeless bums, this was near the school. We used to explore these old buildings & get chased off by the present occupants. fun shit..I lived in the Netherlands & Finland too, but Sweden was a major blast. i can remember Viking graves in farmlands on the way from Trelleborg to Malmo. if you are from Sweden & went to Bladins skola, write me..


1963 Alfa Romeo 101 series 1600cc Giulia Spider



heres my fathers , now mine 1963 alfa romeo 1600cc, i had to use my dog Koko for the bosche horn that doesnt work & as an alarm . i got all the missing trim & headlight bezels from Munich & brake parts from UK, still needs paint & plating, i added Koni shocks & new front suspension springs, new tires , i've done alot of work on it but it still has some low priority work left, these cars are abundant & easy to work on , plenty of enthisiasts produce parts.damn cold to drive in winter.......weber carbs & rebuild kits are on ebay 32/36dgv, great carb.Added front disc brakes i think the maker is ABS its a maker for most foreign cars, it originally had 3 wheel brake piston assemblies per front wheel, once they started failing we could never adjust them to brake evenly, so the disc brakes were the correct solution.
Theres plenty of resources to make your old Alfa even better than factory.

1957 porsche 356 sunroof coupe












so heres that porsche i was going to build, i sold it after learning how costly the steel work would be ... a wiseman from New Jersey once told me " a handfull of cash can wipe away alot of tears" one day i'll buy a 356 that doesnt need this much work,,, i'm only interested in 1950-59 A cars, this went to Italy to a porsche builder.i know where there is a 1958 speedster , dont bother asking me where,, its a secret.