Spoked and Trued

Spoked my rear wheel and trued it up in a bit of an agricultural way as I didn't have a proper truing stand.

Used my Hammer-In-Hand Bolt On Hardtail and rigged up some indicators.  Got it within spec...1/32 runout radially and axially.

Stations of the Cross

My Stations of the Cross T-Shirt arrived today.  Artwork and quality of T-Shirt is great.

Get yours if you want one from http://mcartgallery.blogspot.com/

What spokes will look the best?

Needed to respoke my wheels and just not sure what look I should go for so put together a few examples.  

From top to bottom:

1. Polished Brass Bullet Nipples and Polished Stainless Steel Diamond Back Spokes

2. Same as 1, except dulled down with an abrasive pad

3. Same as 2, except spoke painted black

4 & 5. Same as 2, except painted the nipple and spoke black and then scratched off some of the paint to try and give them a dirty look.

Intend making the rims and hubs black as I am trying to go for a dirty bobber look so I am kinda thinking that 4 & 5 would look okay, however kinda like 3 as well. 

Appreciate any comments on which would look the best.

All brassed up...cool parts have arrived

Got a heap of cool brass items for my build today: 

- 6" & 9" Antique brass heat shields 

- Oil filter assembly 

- 6" offset dog bone risers 

- Luggage rack 

- Sparto tail light 

- Bullet head light 

- Fish tail exhaust tips 

- Licence plate frame 

- 3" mirror 

I will make sure that those few items that have chrome on them are painted black before fitting them up! 

Big thanks to Ed from Mr Luckys, check out all the cool stuff he has at http://www.mrluckys.biz/

Hard Tail Mock-Up

My Hammer-In-Hand Straight Back Bolt On Hardtail arrived today and here is a rough mock-up of it.

Just need to get the right bolts for it now!  Yes I know the axle plates look kinda chunky, however I have a plan on how to hide these a bit...with 1 3/4" Fishtail Upsweep Drag Pipes on one side and a Nash Leather Bag on the other.

Ride In Peace - Marco Simoncelli

Simoncelli was involved in an accident with Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi during the 2011 Malaysian GP.

In fourth position during lap two, Simoncelli's bike veered across the track and straight into the path of Edwards and Rossi. Edwards was injured with a dislocated shoulder, while Simoncelli lay still on the track after the crash, his helmet having come off during the incident. The race was immediately red-flagged.

He was taken by ambulance to the circuit's medical centre, but at 16:56 local time it was announced that he had died from his injuries.Later, at a press conference involving members of the MotoGP Race Direction, Medical Director Michele Macchiagodena said that Simoncelli sustained "a very serious trauma to the head, to the neck and the chest", and was administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation for 45 minutes.

He was an awesome rider who gave his utmost. Ride in Peace Marco!

Hammer In Hand Straight Back Bolt On Hardtail

Just ordered a Hammer In Hand Straight Back Bolt On Hardtail for my build today.  I have read a lot of comments on these bolt on hardtails which are all good, however main item that was raised by a few people was the size of axle plates and how big they are.

I have a bit of plan on how I am going to hide these with 1 3/4" Fishtail Upsweep Drag Pipes on one side and a Nash Leather Bag on the other.

The picture above is the bobber build that Ivan Iler from Hammer In Hand Cycles did with his Straight Back Bolt On Hardtail which was in the March/April issue of The Horse.

Check out his website for more details http://www.hammerinhandcycles.com/index.html 

Go to the Info page of my blog for a copy of the instructions for installing one of these bolt on hardtails as it also has some good history on the development of the frame for the early Sportsters.

Rizla MotoGP Paddock Girls

KustomTech

Been looking for some cool brass components for my build and looks like these guys have some wicked parts for custom builds......has anyone used any of there stuff at all?

Their website link is http://www.kustomtech.eu/ and link to their cattle dog is http://www.kustomtech.eu/kt_media/documents/kustomtech_catalog.pdf

Planking...old school style

Who said planking was a new craze...has been around for ages.

Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollie_Free for more information.

Cool T-Shirt Swap

I recently participated in a Harley Davidson dealer T-Shirt swap on the XL Forum (www.xlforum.net) and received this cool looking T-Shirt from a guy who goes by the name of flskevin.

Thanks Kevin for this T-Shirt from Waugh Enterprises in Orange, Virginia and all the effort he made to send it to me downunder.

Sportster Tank Art

Gathered a few pictures together of some Sportster Tank Art with one of my favourites below:

Go to http://62ironhead.blogspot.com/p/tank-art.html for a heap more pictures.

Stickers

A big thanks to Rowan from Stockers Speed Shop/The Velocity Shack/Sprunghubs'n'Hardtails and TC from The Tinslecat, who both sent me some stickers, which have now been stuck to my work bench.

Check out their websites/blogs as follows:

www.thevelocityshack.com


http://sprunghubsnhardtales.blogspot.com/


http://stockersspeedshop.co.uk/


www.tinslecat.com


http://www.cluelessindian.com/ 

Good reason not to stall your car when the lights go green.......

Local V8 Supercar race at my home track on the weekend.....go to 1.50 for a slow motion replay.

Ironhead Tappet Adjustment

Evolution of the Sportster

Interesting article I came across on the evolution of the Sportster. Click HERE to download full pdf copy (4 pages)

More off my favourite pipes

Moto GP Spain - Action Shots

Rossi takes out Stoner

And now for some real action shots

Love the pipes on this one

Cool Looking Garage Wall

Just wanted to share this picture of a cool looking garage wall I came across from another blog at http://denofsportsters.blogspot.com/2011/03/garage.html

Holden wins again

Holdens won both races in the V8 Supercars this weekend in Adelaide, South Australia.


Check out the action shots below:

If you want pictures of the actual car racing, suggest you go to www.v8supercars.com.au