riding old bikes is the key to happiness

I taught sonal how to ride a motorcycle yesterday. She did a good job and only killed it a couple times! Once she was rolling she did fine.


Here is a pic of my daddy riding the same bike at speed. This bike is a cream puff.



Here is a pic of tim on his knucklehead. He flew home today. I will miss you tim,I am looking forward to your return at the end of July.




Here is a pic I took of the 39 while I was riding it. To take this picture you have to hold both of your hands as high up as you can and point the camera at the dash. It works well as long as your frame is straight lol






we went to the red rooster to watch the old people play music. I guess they do this every Tuesday afternoon. this guy sang a polka song the whole day was really magical. I just took some time to enjoy people and riding motorcycles. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in things that I don't take time to smell the roses. I recommend it to every one.

Here is a pic of my sears so far. What do you guys think? The project is coming along!!! woo hoo, I Just need a frame now. Should be kind of rolling next week if everything goes well. Wish me luck and have a nice night

knucklehead hill climber case repair

This case is for a 46 fl that was an old hillclimber. It busted the bottom out sometime over the last seventy years. Here it is after machining and lapping the mating surface.


Here it is after grinding and texturing. It is a good job and will last a long time!

knucklehead hill climber case repair

old bikes and birthday wishes

Here is a cell phone pic that I took last saturday at six in the morning. I went for a couple hundred mile motorcycle ride on our 48. This bike has all the fixings and is a real garbage wagon. I rode this bike to california when I was 18. I love it.


HEre is a pic that my friend Joe Mielke took of our 47 el at our birthday party earlier this month. This is a real deal south dakota bike and has never been owned by anybody outside of the 605! Tomorrow is my birthday and I think that I will spend the day riding old bikes and hanging out with friends. I hope that you guys have a great weekend!

late 47 frame almost done!

I welded the top motor mount and tank mounts on this 47 frame today. What a bunch of damn work! It turned out really well, I am going to go silver solder the neck casting now, and maybe make a new brake crossover shaft for it. The only original tubes on this frame are the rails going to the axle castings! This is hard work spelled f-r-a-m-e

passenger pegs!

My daddy got all excited to show me an old chopper trick that he used to do back in the seventies. Here is a set of repro anderson foot pegs that he milled a square out ofso that he could mount them in closer to the bike.


Here it is installed on the transmission plate passenger peg mount.



There it is all folded up! Every time I threaten to throw him in the retirement home he pulls an old trick out of his sleeve and earns the right to stay free for a while more. lol

fire calls and break in miles!

I started out my morning doing a bunch of grinding and welding. Then at 11:00 our volunteer fire fighter pager went off. There was a corn field and tractor fire six miles from the shop, so my dad and I hot footed over to the fire hall jumped in a grass rig and headed over to the fire. It was a four hour deal by the time it got contained and put out. I usually only go on grass fires and I am amazed at how hot old corn burns. Anyways, when I got back from the call, I took the new 53 out to put some break in miles on it. I went to the red rooster coffee house for a shake and sandwich and was pleasantly surprised to find a bunch of old people playing music. I guess they do it every Tuesday afternoon.


Here is the 53 after the first 20 miles! I have a couple exhaust leaks to address, adjust the shift arm, and tighten up the head bolts. It runs great and I am very pleased with the way it turned out. Now I can move onto the next one!

1947 FL

I finally got a batch of stainless steel inline handlebar lock plates from the polisher. These turned out so nice. They are correct for 39 to 52 inline springers. Let me know if you need one.


I spent the morning getting this 47 up on wheels. I got the frame back from the painter on saturday and it is really beautiful! This will be a nice bike in a couple of weeks!



OOOO rear fender! I should have the handlebars pretty soon they are getting repainted.




Lots of nice details going on here. I love springers with shocks on them!

poison Ivy and circus peanuts

I spent all of last week out of commission because of poison ivy that I got on a fire call. It was a terrible experience and I have a new appreciation for anybody that can have a positive attitude while trying to figure out what type of illness they have. This is what my fore arm looked like, I had it on my knees and other arm as well. So consequently I did not get much work done.


However I did get a giant box of circus peanuts from Larry Medwig.

This is what a 20 pound bag of circus peanuts looks like. This is unbelievable! Thanks Larry!