XL185 ready for 'Smash Palace Shearers Run'... sort of

We're off this Friday on the second annual 'Smash Palace Shearer's Run' up into the mountains. This time instead of all going on small bikes we're all going on dirtbikes! So I've spent any free time I could squeeze out of this week painting my bike – see it how it used to look (bright blue) here. I actually ended up not minding the blue, but I'd always thought I'd paint this bike up and so this seemed like the time to do it.

My plan was to paint it these colours (black and gold) and then to hand paint some texts on the tank and also on the front mudguard... but alas time hasn't quite allowed for me to do that! Which is a bit of a fucker.

Also the seat, which I was planning to cut right down, I've ended up just having to quickly recover today so it's ready to go tomorrow. This has been really disappointing also, and is something I'll look at when I'm back. I dunno if the seat as it is will even survive the weekend to be honest!?

Watch this space for photos of our trip, it should be pretty bloody awesome with the following events being run:

1. Longest wheelie
2. Biggest jump
3. Longest skid
4. 1/8 Mile drag
5. Slowest 100m
6. Wiggle woggle
9. Best learner
10. Best expert
11. Best fall
12. The Greg award (for the most fixing of other people's shit)
13. Barrel racing

Hi Rider tank from India (Hi Rider tank number-bloody-2)

So I was really excited when this showed up at my old man's house today. It's ANOTHER Hi Rider tank. Why another one? Because the last one didn't fit... see it here... it's a long story but basically I've figured out that it wasn't a hi rider tank but rather a tank for a P11 or a Ranger, or even a Matchless possibly. The tunnel was too narrow. I tried to modify it and ground away a bunch of the fibreglass until I had holes in the tunnel and then realised how much more I'd have to remove to make it fit... so plan with that one is that either it's a decoration or I may get it re fibreglassed and sell it? So yeah that was a bit of a fucker!

Anyway Once I saw that one in real life I decided it definitely was what I was wanting for the Commando, so I eventually ordered a (so called) brand new bare steel one off Ebay from this company in India – 'Shivam Auto Trading' (whose ID on Ebay is autospare.parts).

I was getting nervous when over a week went by after I'd paid them and I'd had no communication with them at all. Eventually I contacted Ebay, having received no answers to my emails from the seller, and Ebay managed to get them to respond to me. They sent me a strange email (which sounded automatically generated) and then a couple of days later I received a tracking number.

This is when things got good – I tracked the package and it got here ridiculously fast! They sent it on Saturday and it got here today (Tuesday). And so yeah when I went to dad's today and saw this package sitting there I was pretty stoked.

Check out the packaging, amazing huh. It came in it's own tin case. Very impressive. Unfortunately the good vibes end there though...

When I got the tank out it was different to the photos of the one I thought I'd bought. The one I'd purchased wasn't painted at all. It was oiled bare metal. And it was 'brand new'. This one is totally fucking rusty! And has obviously been painted grey very recently. The outside's not such a worry anyway, that's easily fixed and I knew it needed painting anyway. But the inside!? Fuck.

When I picked the tank up you could hear all sorts of shit rattling about inside, so I spent a bit of time shaking it about and all this metal (weld I think?) eventually came out along with a shit load of rusty coloured dust. Needless to say I'm pretty fucked off. I've been trying to get help through Ebay's resolution center but haven't had much luck yet (because they keep putting me onto Paypal saying it's their problem, and Paypal point me back to Ebay!? Anyone have experience with this sorta bullshit?).

Feeling fucked off and down I went to show Marty Winders, the guy who sorted the T150 tank to fit my Thruxton. Marty convinced me I could clean up the inside enough with a bit of work (stones, ball bearings maybe, and a bunch of shaking), and he also pointed out that, on the good side (if there really is one here), it is made of really heavy weight steel. Hmmm...

So I dunno what to do just yet, whether to send this back and try and get my money back, or whether to try my best to just tidy the insides of this one up.

Anyone else out there had experiences like this with these Indian dealers? I'd read a few good reviews about their metalwork, and I thought this was gonna be all ok, but unfortunately it confirms all the stereotypes I'd already imagined. On that note I better check it actually fucking fits onto the bike!? Argh...

 

The Soft Moon

My Soft Moon album finally arrived! Been driving round in my van cranking this all day long, really digging this sound right now, and The Soft moon are hereby inducted into HFoS 'Motorcycle Rock and Roll'. The Soft Moon began as a solo (bedroom?) project of one Luis Vaquez from the city of Oakland... lotta good shit coming from Oakland in last few years it seems, must try and visit sometime...

Buy Fonzie's bike!

Just saw here that Fonzie's bike from the TV series 'Happy Days' is for sale through Bonhams in LA. Apparently it's been sitting about for 15 years and the guy who had it was unaware of it's celebrity TV heritage! I guess Bonhams would have checked its authenticity, but it does look a little different now – the handlebars, the tank rack, the pillion seat, and the muffler (just the heat shield maybe).

As cheesy and twee as it was I have to admit to quite liking 'Happy Days' as a kid, and probably Arthur Fonzarelli played some sorta part in planting the idea in me that I must ride an old British bike one day. Although, funnily enough, Henry Winkler, who played 'The Fonz', couldn't actually ride a motorcycle.

The auction is in LA on November 12... needless to say I won't be there.

Here's The Fonz riding the bike in the intro to the show:

And here's a bit of The Fonz jumping barrels outside the diner. God knows why they'd put the fried chicken stand at the run-off end!?

Police BMW goes up in flames!

This came up in my newsfeed yesterday – here – I go this way to work every day but somehow managed to miss this!? The bike is a 2007 BMW R1200 RTP. There's no explanation of how/why this happened, but interestingly enough it was some sort of mechanical error it seems... rather than what I thought originally, that some passerby had firebombed it!?

Pangea Speed Handlebars for sale

Local good cunt Chris Morresey just got these bars from Pangea Speed, but they weren't actually the ones he ordered.

Measurements are 1in dia tubing X 9in tall X 24in wide X 5in clamp area.

They're real high quality, hand-made in the USA. He paid $125 NZD for em and is keen to recover that. Contact Chris on 027 6726 786 if you're interested in them.

Dirty Beaches (again)

Been listening to music and playing a lot more myself lately... partly cause it's been shite weather and so riding the bikes hasn't been so attractive, partly because I've fucked both my shoulders and it hurts to ride, and partly I guess just cause I'm just on the buzz at the mo... anyway...

Dirty Beaches new album has been on hi rotate at home lately. Really digging this and thinking very highly of Alex Zhang Hungtai at the mo. Welcome back Dirty Beaches.

Motorcamp 'Pink Room'

  Our new band Motorcamp (yes it's supposed to be funny for fucks sake) played at Tommy Chang's in Lyttelton last Saturday. This was our first song, thanks to Jimi for the vid. It's our version of the song from the 'pink room', the strip club scene in Firewalk With Me, the film by David Lynch. Hear the real one here. I thought Angelo Badalamenti wrote it but a lot of people say David Lynch did, so yeah whatever. I was having a bit of trouble with the guitar sound being first song and all, but you can't really tell cause I'm way over the other side there. Aaron and Tim are tight and on it as bloody usual!

Buy Sid's bike!

Sid's 750 Triumph is for sale! It fucking rules and you should buy it off Trademe here

I would but I may very well be about to be unemployed (thanks Canterbury University)

Here's the info:
I built this bike about 1.5 years ago. It is a 1964 frame, with David Bird bolt on rigid rear section.
Harley Davidson Sportster forks.
1972 T120v bottom end with T140 barrels and head.
Later model MK2 Amal concentric carbs.
Brand new Joe Hunt magneto.
Belt primary drive.
Lightened timing gears and rocker shafts.
New chain and sprokets.
This bike goes really well, i have the altenator for it if you want to wire up a charging system and lights to get it on the road.

Smash Palace 1st Annual Bike Show

Poster I designed and printed for the upcoming motorcycle show at Smash Palace in November. Going to drop a bunch of these off at Smash Palace today, any of you who wants one should be able to get one from there. But I'm really hoping to get some bigger ones screenprinted too... although these bigger ones will be likely to cost a little bit...

Smash Palace Bike Show Poster

Finally printed the posters I'd designed for the 1st annual Smash Palace bike show on the risograph today. Really hoping to get some big ones screenprinted. Anyone know a cheap screenprinter? Might give it a whirl myself but retardedly fucking busy at the mo...

How to read your next HFoS

Chelsea Wolfe

Epic Chick-Goth track by Chelsea Wolfe and band. Turn your speakers up – Ow! 

First bikes

I stayed at mum's for a bit last week and dug out some old photos... this CB 175 was my first motorcycle, which I really only got cause I couldn't afford a car. Of course I became immediately obsessed with the whole thing, and spent a good couple of years riding this little thing way beyond it's abilities (meaning some quite long rides around the South Island)...

That's me on the left at about 17 I think. My friend, on the right, is David O'Keefe. Dave was a righteous chap who unfortunately caught meningitis and bloody died on a surfing trip in Aussie in the late '90s.

I quickly realised I needed a bigger bike, and although I really wanted something British – I'd already fallen in love with Triumphs, Nortons, and BSAs by this point mostly because I'd discovered 60s Rocker culture and cafe racers via various magazines – I couldn't afford a British bike. As a poor art school student at this point I bought the next best thing – a British racing green Honda CB 350.

This turned out to be an awesome bike actually, and really quite fast for it's size. These photos were taken when I bought it, and while I modified it a bit (drag bars and chopped down seat) I don't seem to have any photos of it like that. I actually crashed this bike, rear-ending some car in the rain when they hit their brakes for an orange light. (Interestingly enough these photos were taken in Lyttelton, where I have now lived for a quite a bit, and where I used to 'hang around' as a teenage hoodlum. We liked coming over here to watch the bike gangs line up outside the British Hotel!)

My next bike was an odd choice for me really – a bit embarrassing now? although we're talking very early 1990s here and I was only 19 or 20 so gimme a break – also, at the time, it was almost new and cost quite a bit. I put it entirely on my student loan (which had just been introduced by the government) as they didn't seem to care what you spent the money on (I also bought a ridiculously huge guitar amp and took a trip to Spain with my girlfriend!).

Dig my flowing locks? My girlfriend (Silvia Rico Lozano) and I rode this around around NZ one summer fully loaded with tent, sleeping bags, and all sorts of shit tied on. This last photo is of me just before leaving town, must have been '93 or '94.

Shortly after this my cousin, Matthew Woodley, got killed on his motorcycle. He was hit head on by a 15 year old drunk driver with no license. My parents pretty much made me get rid of the bike then and offered me a bunch of cash to buy a car. I bought a Holden Kingswood, which I then obsessed over for the next few years and blew thousands of dollars on! I didn't get another bike until about a decade later, and even then I kept it a secret from my parents for a while... 

Jean Jackets & The Teen Witch

Two things we all love! If you're in Sydney you should go to this for sure. Wilfred was a contributor to HFoS #2 and he obviously knows a thing or two about denim...

From the FB page here:

"Kate Jinx and Wilfred Brandt examine some the more unconventional tropes of Hollywood in this cinematic dissection of adolescence. Wilfred will discuss the history of jean jackets, the birth of the teenager, and the Juvenile Delinquent film and the romanticisation of misspent youth in his ‘JDs in Jean Jackets’ lecture.

A paranormal parallel will be provided by Kate Jinx as she traces the life-cycle of the Teen Witch and teases out its strange comparisons to her own adolescence, in this performance lecture which is part of a greater body of work on the four-corners of cinema."

Tropic of Cancer

Oh my god this shit rules my world tonight. I know I'm expanding my motorcycle rock and roll genre a little here... actually not too much considering my inclusion of Dirty Beaches a while back... but wow! This popped up while I was researching for the Goth/Psychedelic band Nadz and I are starting with Ella. The band is called Tropic of Cancer and they're from LA (so much good shit coming from the West Coast USA at the moment!?). Tropic of Cancer is actually a solo project of one Camella Lobo (whom I presume is playing synth/keys and singing in this). Taylor Burch is playing the guitar parts. There's a decent looking interview here which I'm gonna read tomorrow. In the meantime I'm downloading some of this to listen to in bed and imagine riding through the mountains on a cold winter night...

Max Schaaf

Born-Free 5 Invited Builder Series-Max Schaaf of 4Q Conditioning from Born-Free on Vimeo.

I know this video is fucking everywhere at the moment, but fuck it Max Schaaf is a pretty fucking choice guy and as much as I thought I always hated Harleys I have to admit I'm really digging his bikes.

Watching this Born Free flick made me revisit this interview he did a while back for Slap Magazine (Max is an ex-pro skater), thought I'd stash links to 'em here (I'm not including the middle one though cause it's just about shoes):

Jimi's done pulled his bike to pieces!

Thruxton new speedo and tacho

Here they go finally, the new speedo and tacho I got from Dime City a while ago – on the bike AND working. Again a massive thanks to Bad Evil and Jimi without whom I woulda been fucked. Bad did a beautiful job of the wiring and Jimi made the brackets (see 'em at work here). Bought the bike down to Dunedin with me this week, have been on a couple of rides and everything seems to be working sweet. My only complaint is that the colour of the back-lights in each dial is different... the tacho is a kind of yellowy light and the speedo is a bright white/blue light. Hoping I can change the bulbs or something. Apart from that I'm pretty happy, I mounted them as low as possible (tops flush with the top of the the triple tree and the really change the look of the bike, lowering the front end and, I reckon, looking much better with the old breadbox petrol tank.

Shorty megaphone mufflers (with no baffles) to go on next! Wanted to mount them on a fucked up angle but need to figure that out...

Norton Hi Rider petrol tank

 Ordered this Hi Rider tank for the Norton a couple of weeks ago off Ebay and yesterday it ARRIVED! Apart from just being stoked about this tank (and don't worry I'm not turning my bike into a hi rider) I'm really stoked about where the tank came from... Check this shit out:

It came from legendary Norton drag racer T. C. Christenson! Rider of the infamous 'Hogslayer'. Fuck yes! He sent me this signed photo above as well as a copy of this dvd doco...

 

 Haven't watched it yet but will be asap. But yeah the Norton is getting a make over. Also have some really nice rear-sets I got off Kev at bike night. Thinking about bars etc too, and also wanna do something with the rear end... dunno if it'll be anything drastic, but yeah watch this space...