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Rant Archive - January 2006
January 29, 2006 - MAYBE I HAVE OFFICIALLY
BECOME A SOUTHERN BOY
 We
had amazing weather today and since I spent most of my spare time yesterday
working on the MadKaw, I was more than anxious to take advantage of the biker
friendly temperature and sunshine! So after church and a quick bite at the
local Chinese Buffet... and while my "much better half" settled in for her
scheduled Sunday afternoon nap... I set out once again to experience the
backroads of Tennessee on two wheels.
Some of my friends like to call me a Yankee since
I was born up north but I have to say that after sixteen years of living
in Middle Tennessee, I can't imagine calling anywhere else home. Maybe I
have officially become a southern boy, I don't know but I can tell you that
I love the great state of Tennessee. I'm continually amazed by the the beauty
around me. Even in the dead of winter the countryside just echoes the
joy of God's creation. It's gorgeous and it's
 perfect for a motorcycle
nut like myself, providing countless backroads that lead to hidden places
not known by the masses.
Take for instance the small town of Norene, Tennessee.
It's the kind of place that you would miss if you weren't paying attention
but it has a personality all it's own. The main part of town is literally
less than a block long but has a post office and general store where
you're certain to get a heartfelt welcome and a friendly smile. Such was
the case for me today. Even the town dogs that wandered by gave me a nice
welcome! These are the kinds of places that not only make Tennessee a great
motorcycle state but in my book define why America is the great country it
is.
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January 28, 2006 - MAD KAW PART
FOUR
You can tell I'm having a lot of fun with this
project. Today was a gorgeous day filled with sunshine and temperatures in
the mid sixties... and I didn't ride! It's hard for me to believe myself
and I'll probably regret it when the inevitable February freeze hits,
but I spent the entire day working on the MadKaw! The task of
the day was painting. The tank is now solid flat black and so are the front
fork lowers. I started spraying the front wheel but it's going to be a long
process requiring several coats with drying periods in between. The
make-shift paint booth we have set up is less than desirable but hey,
it works and it's cheap! I also
got the cool red grips installed today. Little by little it's all starting
to come together and starting to look like I envisioned it in my mind.
CLICK HERE to check
out pictures of todays work.
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January 21, 2006 - MAD KAW PART
THREE
Got a little more done on the Mad Kaw today. When
we took the logos off the tank, of course there was an indentation so
we had to fill them with "bondo". We're using a brand called DYNA-deLITE
and it seemed to work OK although we have not yet sanded it down. We also
got rid of the rear part of the frame, the part that supported the passenger
seat. No American Chopper tools here... came off the old fashioned way with
a hack-saw! Check out the PICTURES of today's
progress. I also ordered the whitewall tires and picked up a cool retro looking
tail-light.
CLICK HERE to check
out pictures of todays work.
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January 20, 2006 - HARLEY-DAVIDSON
SNOWMOBILES
I'm sure growing up in the Chicagoland area somehow
contributed to my current disdain for winter but at the time I loved what
I now consider the dark months. It was different then… it was fun! As
a kid in northern Illinois, winter meant snow skiing, tubing, broom hockey
on the frozen ponds and winter's alternative to motorcycles…
snowmobiles!
 Sometimes
I wish I still lived where snowmobiling could be part of my life but then
I remember the same places would shorten my motorcycle season and I'm quickly
brought back to my senses. It's almost laughable that I complain so much
now about the Tennessee winters having lived through "real" winters in the
western suburbs of The Windy City. I can remember more than one time when
the snow banks on the sides of the driveways were taller than the cars parked
in them and at times the drifts would be so tall you could actually walk
right up them onto the roofs of the houses! But I will always remember one
storm in particular that unleashed its fury in January of 1979. Now known
as the "Chicago Blizzard of 1979", it got so bad that the local police
departments couldn't sufficiently cover all the accidents and tend to all
the stranded motorists. As a last ditch effort they had the local TV stations
broadcast a plea for help from the snowmobiling community. Being the good
kid I was, (well most of the time) I wanted to help out and plus I couldn't
pass up the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ride my snowmobile legally
on the streets… so off I went on the old Rupp to do my part. I spent
most of that day running back and forth from my little community to the
interstate giving some very appreciative people rides. One gentleman in
particular stood out. I spotted him walking along the highway in the near
blizzard-like conditions with only a light jacket, no hat, no gloves and
a bright red face. I'd guess he was about 65 and he was obviously in pain
from the punishing wind so I handed
 him my gloves, put
him on the back and rushed him home. When we pulled into the driveway his
wife came running out in tears obviously worried sick about her husband.
It was a nice moment that I was proud to be a part of and I refused to take
the cash he kept trying to hand me.
There were a lot of people pretty grateful for
that little red Rupp that day! I'm not sure what happened to the Rupp brand
but at the time it was very popular along with SkiDoo, Polaris and Arctic
Cat. But a few years earlier there was another brand of snowmobile being
marketed that a lot of people are not aware of today. In fact, most here
in the mid-south are surprised and don't believe me when I tell them that
Harley-Davidson used to be in the snowmobile business. Yes, at one time there
were Harley Davidson snowmobiles! Produced only from 1971 to 1975 and part
of the AMF years these sleds were essentially the AMF SkiDaddler line updated
with the HD logo and HD red-white & blue color scheme. I'm not sure how
many were produced overall but I do know that less than 100 were made in
1971 and that all years are now considered rare. Imagine walking into a Harley
Dealer today and seeing bikes on one side of the showroom and the other side
filled with HD snowmobiles. I doubt that will ever happen
again.
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January 19, 2006 - MAD KAW PART
TWO
 Got a little more accomplished on the Mad Kaw
today. As you know, one of my objectives with this project is to see
how low I can keep the overall cost so I've been doing a lot of Ebaying lately.
I found a set of 28.5" drag bars for $15 and snagged them. I also got a pair
of really cool old-school looking red grips that came yesterday. They are
flat out bad! Taking the stock bars off and putting the new ones on was actually
much easier than I expected. The only minor issue was that we had to drill
a couple of pilot holes for the throttle housing and clutch housing. Not
a big deal though. It looks like the stock cables are going to be OK too
so that's one thing I won't have to replace. It's starting to come together
little by little.
CLICK HERE to check
out pictures of todays work.
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January 17, 2006 - MY FIRST "REAL"
MOTORCYCLE
Twelve year old Swag on the famed
Honda CL100. Dig those socks!
Everyone that rides has a special place in their
heart for their first motorcycle. Like many of you, I started with a Briggs
& Stratton powered mini-bike but my first "real" motorcycle was a 1970
Honda CL100 "Scrambler". My dad bought the bike for me in 1973 and the little
red Honda probably had more impact on me than any other bike I've owned.
You see, back in those days most of the guys in the neighborhood were still
riding mini-bikes and the ones that did move up were riding Honda 50's. But
the CL100 was a "real" motorcycle with full-size tires, suspension, five-speed
transmission and a blistering 99cc's of raw power! And although I wasn't...
it was even street legal. This was the motorcycle that took me to the next
level of riding and instantly crowned me king of the neighborhood motorcycle
brats! You should have seen their
faces the first time they saw that red beauty!
 It's
funny to look back now and see how small it really was (and how young I was)
but I owe a lot to that Scrambler. It taught me how to use a clutch which
proved invaluable when it came time to learn how to drive a car. It taught
me how to use a front brake and why using it while going down a dirt embankment
is a bad idea. It taught me that wheelies without proper execution can result
in scars. It even gave me my earliest inkling that bikers get the really
pretty girls as evidenced by the sudden interest of Mr. Bowmans lovely daughter.
Ahhhh, to be young again!
In retrospect, I really didn't have the bike that
long before moving on to more powerful motocross bikes like my Suzuki RM-100
but I will always have fond memories of the Honda CL100 Scrambler that thrust
me into motorcycle manhood! I wish I still had her.
Here's a little history on the Honda CL100 for
you:
1970: This was the first year of production for
the Honda CL100 and the bike was labeled CL100K0 "Scrambler". Powered by
a single cylinder, 99cc OHC engine with 5-speed transmission, Honda produced
the bike in three colors that year which were Candy Sapphire Blue, Candy
Topaz Orange and like mine, Candy Ruby Red. The fuel tank featured the Honda
Wing logo with a white stripe and the distinctive exhaust pipe which wrapped
its way to the rear of the bike just under the seat came with a 2-piece heat
shield to protect the rider from burns. It didn't work so
good!
 1971:
Minor changes were made in 1971. Now known as the CL100K1 Scrambler, three
colors were available, including Candy Sapphire Blue, Candy Topaz Orange,
and a new Poppy Yellow Metallic. The fuel tank on the blue and orange bikes
had white stripes but the yellow bike featured black stripes. The exhaust
system had an updated one-piece heat shield and the CL100 side cover emblem
was now molded plastic. Also available in 1971 was the The CL100S0 Scrambler.
This bike was identical to CL100K1 except the side cover emblem read "CL100S"
and the engine was a detuned version of the CL100K1.
1972: In 1972 Honda changed the model name to the
CL100K2 "Scrambler". Now available in only two colors, Candy Yellow and Hawaiian
Blue Metallic. Gas tank stripes were white and red and the side cover emblem
was red. Again this year a 100S version was sold with a detuned version of
the CL100K2 engine
1973: The CL100S3 Scrambler 100S was sold in 1973
and the was last year of production for the CL100 series. It came in two
colors which were Candy Ruby Red or Hawaiian Blue Metallic. The exhaust system
was black with a chrome heat shield.
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January 14, 2006 - MUSIC CITY MOTORCYCLE
SHOW & EXPO
 I don't know what I would do without the Music City
Motorcycle Show & Expo. Each January the show gives local riders a break
from their winter motorcycle despair and for a few hours lets them get lost
in the kulture, totally oblivious to the near freezing temperature outside.
This years event was held on January 14th and was bigger and better than
ever. Having previously been held at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, this
year it was moved to The Municipal Auditorium in downtown Nashville to
accommodate a much larger show and what looked to me like a record attending
crowd. As usual, all the local dealers had booths with the latest factory
models on display but this years show also had more custom bikes on display
than I have ever seen in Nashville before. It was way cool and of course
I had my camera with me.
Check out some of the awesome bikes on display
by CLICKING HERE.
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January 7, 2006 - MAD KAW
BEGINS
 One of my favorite magazines is
The Horse Backstreet
Choppers. In fact, it's the only motorcycle magazine I subscribe to.
I like it because each issue features REAL choppers. Somewhere along the
line the Discovery Channel convinced people that a chopper was something
with a bunch of extra chrome and a big fat rear tire that serves better as
a driveway ornament than a motorcycle. For those of you that understand that
a chopper is something you take everything off of, paint the chrome black
and ride... The Horse is for you. Lately, along with the normal dose of USA
twin bikes they have been featuring some older metric bikes that everyday
guys like you and I have chopped and bobbed. Well, the coolness of these
metric bikes and the fact that these guys didn't have to drop $30K to have
a cool chopper has inspired me. I've had a 1984 Kawasaki LTD550 kind of just
sitting around for the past three years and it is perfect for one of these
projects. First of all I have practically nothing in it. It had been sitting
in the garage of a friend for several years because he couldn't get it started
so one day I offered him $100 for it and he took it. Four cleaned carbs later,
it has been running great since. Secondly, chopping a 1984 bike is a lot
less scary than something newer. So, enlisting the help of my dad, today
we began the process of converting the LTD550 to The Mad Kaw. Of course the
first order of business was to start taking stuff off... which is exactly
what we did. CLICK HERE to check out the pictures
from today. I'll update you more as we go along. In the mean time, check
out The Horse for some inspiration for yourself.
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January 7, 2006 - LOCAL HARLEY DEALER
HOLDS INTERNAL BIKER BUILDOFF
 This
morning I headed to the local Harley Dealership for a special event they
were holding. A few weeks back the dealership management had challenged their
own service department to a biker buildoff of sorts. They divided into four
teams and each team was given an in-stock model to customize any way they
wanted to. The results were pretty good and gave the locals a good idea of
what can be done with a little thought... and of course some hard cash. I
have to say, It would be pretty cool to have your employer fund a project
for you, even if you didn't get to keep it. CLICK
HERE to check some pictures of the resulting bikes. I think you might
like what you see.
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January 4, 2006 - SUPERCROSS: A GOOD
WINTER MOTORCYCLE FIX
They say this is the worst time of year for a
motorcyclist and I'd have to agree. It's a time when "Old Man Winter" does
his dirty deed and literally takes our bikes away from us. For some it's
worse than others, with many being forced to put their bikes in storage while
they wait out the tundra like conditions. At least here in the Mid-South
I get little breaks in the precipitation and sub-freezing temperatures allowing
me a quick fix now and then. But, the constrictions disrupt my psyche all
the same and my family is forced to deal with my grumpier than usual attitude
and tolerate my sudden obsession with weather.com.
One thing that helps me through the abyss that
is January to April is
Supercross! Like many who are obsessed with two wheels,
I started riding at an early age. Of course being too young to hit the streets
at the time, my alternative was to tear up the empty fields around our house
on a too-tall bike with knobby tires. For many years the smell of two-cycle
exhaust and the distinct sound of a finely tuned motocross bike were what
I lived for. While a lot of kids had posters of Walter Payton or Farah Fawcett
on their walls in 1976, I had one of a yellow and black clad
Roger DeCoster, the five time 500cc World Motocross Champion.
OK… I did have Walter and Farah posters too but Roger was the man, the
inspiration behind me ruthlessly badgering my dad to purchase a Yellow Suzuki
RM125 for me. The badgering finally paid off and the little yellow dirt demon
was my first experience with Motocross and real torque!
So what is Supercross? It's Motocross on tour!
It was born out of a desire of the
American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) to bring Motocross
racing to the people. To do so they built a temporary track at the Daytona
International Speedway for a race in 1971 and a year later the show was taken
on the road to major sports stadiums around the country. Supercross was born
and continues to grow in popularity today. The 2006 Series of races are as
follows:
January 7 - Anaheim, CA
January 14 - Phoenix, AZ
January 21 - Anaheim, CA
January 28 - San Francisco, CA
February 4 - Anaheim, CA
February 11 - San Diego, CA
February 18 - St. Louis, MO
February 25 - Atlanta, GA
March 4 - Indianapolis, IN
March 10 - Daytona Beach, FL
March 18 - Orlando, FL
March 25 - Detroit, MI
April 1 - Houston, TX
April 22 - Dallas, TX
April 29 - Seattle, WA
May 6 - Las Vegas, NV |
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CBS and the SPEED Channel will carry nearly all
of these races (some delayed a day or more so check your local listings)
and once you watch one race, you will be hooked. In particular, look for
the "Big Three" which are Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed and James Stewart.
Carmichael, who is the modern day Roger DeCoster, is gunning for his fifth
AMA Supercross title in the 250 class but is expected to be challenged hard
by Reed and Stewart. Reed won the title in 2004 and Stewart has already beaten
Carmichael in preliminary races this season in Canada. A couple of notes
of interest this year… 1) For the first time in his career Carmichael
will be riding a four-stroke Suzuki RM-Z450 in the stadium series and 2)
Legendary Supercross star Jeremy McGrath who happens to be the all-time
Supercross wins leader is coming back for a limited number of races this
year including the opener in Anaheim
It's going to be a great year of Supercross racing
and it couldn't come at a better time. A time when we all need a good winter
motorcycle fix!
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