Art Appreciation...

I realize this is sort of non traditional as far as my postings go, but these are so cool I'm sure you wouldn't mind. They're all done by Gianmarco Magnani, a very talented illustrator who goes by "Silence Television" when it comes to his artwork. Very cool.

Check out his page... it's all pretty great, motorcycles or not, but you know me.
http://www.silencetv.com/work.html

The xs750 gas tank. Thank you Yamaha.

As far as I'm concerned, the motorcycles gas tank, makes or brakes the look of the bike. It's the focal point of the bike and it has to balance form and function perfectly. Once in a while, you run into a production bike with a tank that really stands out. One such tank is the the cb450 black bomber tank and another is the rd400, both of which are favorites of mine. Perhaps lesser known due to the bikes stock form being a bit...forgettable, the xs750 tank is what i consider to be one of the more beautiful production bike tanks ever made. I always thought it would look great on other bikes and now I see that i'm not the only one who noticed.

NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM = RAD

I stumbled onto many things on my recent motorcycle trip from Milwaukee to Austin. Besides the buckets of rain and countless terrible drivers, one undeniably positive thing was the the National Motorcycle Museum in Nowheresville, IA(a.k.a. Anamosa, IA). I knew I was going to stop because my stupid moron motorcycle brain wouldn't just let me just pass this mecca by and all self control seems to disappear when motorcycles are involved. I knew it was going to be rad when a grizzled old Harley guy said, "You're not going to want to leave..." while I was on my way in and his wife was dragging him out.

Well, to put it bluntly, this place is like crack to a motorcycle junky. The displays, the bikes, the facility were amazing. Not to mention, the entry fee was only 8 bucks.

You must all go to this place.

Info:
http://www.nationalmcmuseum.org/

Here's a few shots I took while I was there. To see anymore, GO THERE!

Almost forgot...

...that's right, I live in Texas. I tried to find the pair of zubaz paints connected to this monstrosity so i could congratulate him for having the ugliest bike I've seen all year, but no luck.

Centauri's Space car...I mean bike...

Centauri finally got a bike to go along with his sweet space car. Now he can recruit pilots for the intergalactic alliance and save gas too. He must've been recruiting near Milwaukee during Rockerbox.

Project CB160 - Reassembly Part 1

The cb160 has been painted, powder coated, re-chromed, polished and the engine has been rebuilt. Now the fun part...put all these beautiful parts back on to the frame. This should be an easy job since all parts were separated and labeled while the bike was being disassembled. Also, depending on your budget, this is the time to replace any and all rusty bolts with some nice stainless ones. It's imprtant to take your time during assembly, regardless of how excited you are to see the bike together and started. Fresh paint can be scratched, bikes can fall over...HASTE MAKES WASTE!

Props.

These guys are good. Better than me. Probably better than you. Lets just give them the props they deserve and think about eventually being that good, not how long it would take to do it.

More goodies from Japan. Almost too perfect, but cool none the less.

http://z1.itrobo.net/tavax/gallery/gallery_01/index.html

Rickman, Shmickman...

This bike won the best of show at Rockerbox this year and there is no doubt that this beautiful Rickman Honda cb750 is deserving of the title. That is, until i heard that the guy who owns it has yet to even start the bike after its restoration. Bikes were made to be ridden, not whatever you do with that thing. Best of show no mo...

Friends.

I've got some good ones.

Mongol General: Conan! What is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.
Mongol General: That is good! That is good.

Thanks.

Project xs400 - Cafe Racer

This is my xs400 cafe. A little inspiration supplied by me. I'm honestly almost done, honestly. Although I have made some changes since I took these crappy pictures with my phone. I know they say that you're never really done with these kinds of things and with vintage bikes thats often true, but I've decided to forgo the front suspension swap and move on to my new project. I'll let that one loose soon. Sketches will be the next thing that I post on the new bike.

I'll take some better photos in a few weeks.

Rockerbox 2011

Well, I wasn't going to miss two years in a row, now was I...

A few months ago, I formulated a plan. Well, more like sketches of a plan that I let rattle around this empty head of mine for a while. The plan was simple, or at least seemed simple in my head when it first appeared. I was going to go to Rockerbox, back home in Milwaukee, that was a given. My plan however, included a few things. I would fly to Milwaukee with a one way ticket. Then, once there, I would pick up the sv650 that I would have already found, had a friend check out and agreed to buy. Then I would have a really fun night, drink a ton and wake up feeling great. The next morning meet up with my friends and ride to Rockerbox. See some rad bikes, have a great day, drink a ton and wake up feeling great. The next day, I would check the bike over, see my family, relax and rest up for the long ride from Milwaukee to Austin.

I dont know how, but almost all of that actually happened. Here's my proof.

My old 350f!