its actually an inside joke, btw, i had alot less tatoos,i was thiner,and had more hair in that pic. i bought that bike back in '92 . i sold my 68 camaro that i had built all through out high school to buy a harley,at the time i felt it was my destiney, i was only 18,what they hell did i know,i sold the camaro for 4500.00,big money for a NON RS or SS back in 92. i thought i had done good,especially since i had seemed to gather a nice collection of speeding tickets through out that time anyways, as soon as the money was in my pocket i put out the word out and grabbed the recycler..i looked at a few nice bikes and with hindsight being 20/20 i passed because of the $500 differnce,back then you could buy a cool decent used older shovel or pan for around 5grand. so after looking at a few bikes i called an add in the paper..the guy on the other end of the phone said it was an ex show bike that was featured in easyriders back in like 84(ive never confirmed this,but it would be cool if anybody could). so the guy gave me directions to his Hollywood hills pad .we drove up the winding road and found the St. number. when we knocked on the door the guy from allienation(gary graham) answered the door. he explained how his girlfriend was getting ready to have a baby and the main reason he was sselling it was beacuse he needed the cash to get his pilot/(helicopeter?) license, either way,,, i have some reall good memories and some badd memories about that bike! one thing that i think about when its cold is how i remember riding on new years eve on that harley, ill never forget it because i was heading home on the 60 fwy when the open primary belt drive decided to break and slapped me on the back side of my leg.i had to push that fucker for about two miles up rosmead blvd to the nearest gas station,, which brings us back to what i was getting at,most people in the southwest take for granted getting to ride your motorcyles year round,and one of the main things i miss about not living in so.cal is the fact that its SOO cold out here year round riding is few and far in between,,unless you really get covered up good,which i dont mind, but the past few days have been unusually warm,(up in the 50's!) ,i saw a few bikes riding past the shop and i got to thinking today about new years eve and how itd be bitchin to go for a ride after i got off work. well, i got home and pulled the bike out and got ready to go. i didnt really have no place to go,i just wanted to ride for a while. i cruised over to jimmys where theres a just finished 36 three window that i was hoping to check out ,but the owner picked it up Xmas day, oh well,. so i headed back home,back in to town,through the main drag,, i was getting close to walmart and looked over at blockbuster,i was thinking about pulling in and seeing if the had Thunder Road,but the parking lot looked packed.... ..well as soon as i looked up, there was a faded 80's monete carlo pulling out DIRECTLY in front of me,i mean RIGHT in front of me...i put it into a slide pointing the front wheel into the inner lane thinking the section 8 lady would continue her inertia towards the oposite side of the road,but she decided to Freeze like a deer in the head lights,,,so at this point, i had never realised how long these monte carlos actually were! they're long!,,,so i cant really tell you what happened at this point,cuz it was more like refleaxes or instict or whatever you call it,but i let off the brake for like a milisecond and whipped the apehangers to the left and locked it up again,now sliding towards the middle painted island,as soon as her headlamps shined on my front fender(and i could put my foot on her hood) i felt like i made it threw,,, ,,but the bike(or God) decided he'd give me a lil warning and at this point i entered a mini "tank slapper"..i road it out and and finnaly got it straightend and looked back at the welfare recipents with an evil glare and pulled up to the next stop light.. ...at this point ,(about 10-15 seconds later)the shock hadent even set in yet. and some dude and his ol lady in a lifted ford PU who had been next to me for about 3 miles were freaking out more than i could even imagine,between the sound of the harley and the sound of his truck i kinda made out that he was stoked cuz i rode it out and his ol lady said something about happy new year... anyways,,i just hafta say,,,when i did get home...i opened the garage,,parked the bike,grabbed my nuts, and looked around,,, ..im thankful for the life i take for granted,the junk which i take for granted and everything,,,man your life can end in a second,,, happy new years fuckers
Cool my brother built his HD in 79 a ripe old age of twenty still hadn't put the seat on. Is name is Jimmy
Glad everything worked out OK. As I was reading I kept thinking how you were going to tell us that you came through the surgery OK and Were looking forward to Physical therapy and being all healed up by spring. I'm not a rider and it gives me chills when someone relates a story like that to me. Anyway, now you have got a REAL reason to have a happy New Year. Frank
no,its a gay joke,cuz i was riding that chopper around all over So. Cal(when choopers were lame) in the early 90's , my obnoxious uncle used to joke around in the past few years saying that jesse james copied me cuz he saw me riding it around ... BTW,wear your FUCKING SKULL LID
I'm not a fucker...I'm a fornicator!!!! Much more fun!! Glad you did'nt crash the pan. Might as well throw those shorts away...the wife will never get the skid marks out of 'em!! Happy New Year buddy...tell your pops I said howdy and Happy New Year too. You guys about ready for Bowling Green. Man I can't wait for spring. Gotta get a ride in that truck of yours.
Here's a shot of my little brothers Sportster. He bought it in a basket a year or so before he got drafted and sent to Vietnam. It had a broken case on the right side. Interesting thing is, my bother-in-law had a Sporty with a broken left side case. Since H-D only sold cases in matched pairs it worked out great for them. They split the cost and went on their merry way. Lou rode the Sporty for a while and before he went into the Army and went overseas. Bein the good brother that I am, I used to drag it out of dad's garage every couple months when I went to the folks house and ride it long enough to get it good and warm. Took it home with me for a while as well ... Louie is a generous and sharing guy, couldn't ask for much more in a brother. Anyway, he's good about saving money and he came back from Vietnam, spent maybe 6 months at Fort Sill, OK and got out with more than a few bucks in his pocket. It was off to the Harley shop for Sifton cams, Tillotson carb, some other stuff and the two of us did some modest port work on the heads - copying what we could of some printed material from the flow-bench guy who used to write porting articles for the bike mags. The Sporty eventually ran 12's at the strip which was pretty good for a street bike at the time. Spooky stuff for a dirt bike rider like me, I didn't mind wheelies on my dirt bikes, but the Sporty was another story. Most times it would spin the tire pretty good at the strip - Long Beach mostly - and when you'd feather the throttle sometimes the tire would bite really good and you'd get more wheelie than you wanted. Was kinda weird too, to race a high 11 second car, get a hole shot on him and listen to him catching up to you. That was a bit of a worry and I always hoped the car would stay in his lane. A few things broke on the bike and between dad, Louie and even me it got beefed up here and there and Louie won a few trophies with it. Eventually he reverted to street use only with it, got married, started a family and put the bike away. He'd get it out and start it up every couple of months though. Couple years back his younger son bought a new Harley and I was surprised to see the two of them plus a family friend I knew show up at the Fillmore car show. Sure was funny to watch Louie give the old Sporty it's usual one or two kicks to start it up - always was a good starter, due to the accel pump in the Tillotson carb - and then see nephew hit the starter button on his new H-D. And then watch the new bikes engine rocking in the mounts while Lou's Sporty engine sat there not moving due to the solid mounts, but making that great hot cammed Harley sound. Sounds even more radical than a stock Harley. Last I heard, Louie, an inveterate hot rodder/drag racer if there ever was one had the Sporty apart and was installing a stroker kit. Like the old California hot rod saying, "Too much is not enough." The real interesting part in all this is - he and his wife deny it - they named their boys Harley and Fender. Kinda appropriate for a bike riding, drag racing car loving guy doncha think?
damn. scary shit. people don't realize how idiotic drivers are until you put yourself out on the road on a bike! whats worse than the people who don't see you is the people that DO and STILL insist on doing stupid things, this fall, while riding with a small group, we all got forced off the road by a STRING of cars that ALL decide to try to pass on the left, with oncoming traffic to boot, AND the truck in front of us trying to make a left turn, fucking insanity i tell you..
killer bikes...and glad to hear you made it out relatively unscathed.I've def had the same and worse...and I'm grateful to be sittin here writing this. Since we're postin' pics...here's one of my big brother on my 51Tbird.
Let me see...less fat, more hair, less tattoos...yep that's me in 1972! Kinda ironic now that I look at this pic, my life was just about as blurry as this photo!
Great story. Mainly because you came out ok. Glad for that. A good friend of mine was not so lucky a few months back. He was hit by a soccer mom in her Suburban. She was (of course) on her cell phone, and decided to cut off my buddy and his wife. This was in Sept. He came out of his coma in early December. The fully restored 48' pan was not so lucky. His wife recently sold their 51' Merc woody (very rare) to pay for some of the bills that kept growing. You don't know when your time is up. So I say, enjoy every min.
old dump shit i am forgot to say it was a 72 kick only in 83 and it always startes on first or second kick but only if you were sober. a good ticket preventer. here's a shot of the 95" stroker shovel that put together in 84. it would run 45 in 1st and top out at about 145. a fun ride.
Butt, Glad you saved it. Happy New Year. I rode a lot when I was younger, and when a close call happens you can feel it through your whole body. Hope 2004 is a great year for you. Chuck
Glad you made it! Happy New Year. Great story, both you and C9. Be careful.I'm building my '71 Shovel (bobber) now too, this shit scares the crap outta me!
thanks guys,ive had a pretty good day,kinda cool in an ironic way how a close call can change your attitude.so far 2004 is looking pretty good! hell yeah Don,im ready,you going to the swap meet in louisville next month? theres another swap in the begining of feb,in nashville,but prob way to far,and in my opionion it isnt as good as louisville, i probably wasnt clear when i typed the story last night,but i sold that bike in the pic along time ago,this happened on a differnent bike. later, sam
loved this post, my 65 pan and i will be celibrating our 25th aniverary tommorrow. i've had him half my life, the storys he could tell!
Great stories and pics....thanks! Rude Dude, your brother built a beautiful bike. I love that style, rigid with short frontend...perfecto! Butt, I'll bet Irish Rich could tell ya if that bike had been in ER.
The Jalopy Journal
