WHCM 2010

We hit the road for the World Honda Chopper Meet 10th Anniversary this past Tuesday. This was by far the best party at the roost to date.

If you'll take a look at the main photo at the top of the blog, it was taken at the same campsite we got this year. You have to check out the Rider's Roost.

There were no troubles on the way down until we hit Harrisonburg, VA. We had stopped to hit up an old restaurant I used to go to all the time and while we were eating, the skies decided to open up and turn the back end of our truck into a pool.

Yes, the parking lot even flooded up to the bumpers of the cars.

After a good amount of cleaning and pitching water, we hit the road. Eventually running out of gas. No problem though. Two gallons on the trailer.

Stupid EGR valve. Stupid Chevy!

Down in Southern VA, rolling through the hills. It's one of the best parts of the trip... Aside from actually getting to the Roost.


Another gas stop and a leg stretch.

We made it to Wilkesboro in time for some dinner at Glenn's. They have the best Livermush. Ohh and 50 million milkshake flavors.

Time to relax. We set up the tent's and got to the important stuff.

Drinking and sitting in the crisp creek. Washing away the sores of the day.


Unfortunately there is a fellow member who has created a very interesting tradition. Saran wrapping a few random bikes after everyone's passed out for the night. Funny stuff and it keeps the dew off your bike.

If you build it long enough they'll eventually run out of wrap.

All's good on the home front my friends.

Would you ride 3000 miles if the good side of your front tire looked like this? Junk Yard Jon would... And did. Balls out.

Ok now, to the show. Here's a bunch of pictures of the entry bikes. No classes, just a good old show. BC and Dave, co-creator and co-owner, respectively, of the Riders Roost judged the show.

3rd place and People's Choice Award, Vince.

2nd place winner, Gurnee.

While the show was going on, it was a good time for some shade tree tuning. Toecutter, a local friend asked me to tune up his old superbike. I did a few things including setting the valves, which were way out. I'll show a little "how-to" on this later.

Trophy time! There was a four way tie for People's Choice. Me included. To solve the issue, you hollered for who you wanted to win. The choice was clear and Vince took home the Peoples Choice. His bike is the up top with the red and white tank and red saddle bag on a Tigman hardtailed stock frame with wrapped 4-1. Great looking bar hopper. Vince also took 3rd place overall.

Gurnee took 2nd place with his red modified stock frame bagger. The mods to the frame were extensive, clean, and well thought out. The 3d flame job was subtle but definitely eye-catching. Great job Gurnee!

The 1st place winner was yours truely. 1st MC trophy. I was on cloud 9 my friends. On top of that, right after I won, I get a picture of a bunch of goodies Jeff at Saint Motorbikes scored for me. My face hurt for a full day from grinning ear to ear.

Here's carl with his loot. A busted clarinet and a participation trophy.
At the midnight auction and raffle, the Maryland boys cleaned up. Carl won a hand tooled leather seat, John won a Cycle One Manufacturing hardtail section, and I won a Cycle One Manufacturing hardtail frame! Unfortunately I was to happy and having way to good of a time to remember to take pictures so I snagged one shot of my new frame before heading to bed on a nearby picnic table.

On the way back home, we decided to throw on some imaginary parts and take the new frame out for a spin. This thing rocks! I know, it wasnt registered or tagged yet, but I didnt get caught.

One last shot back at home. I dropped off a bunch of stuff at John's place and finished up the drive. 1st place at the show, hardtail frame from Cycle One, won a door prize, John and Carl won the other big raffle prizes. Damn it was a good time. The best part of all of it though had to be the people. You've all heard the saying "You meet the nicest people on a Honda." Come check out the next WHCM and you will see. It's like a family reunion. Not to mention the hospitality at the Rider's Roost. You can't find nicer people anywhere.

Honda Choppers Rule!

Now get the ants out of your pants Jeff. Here's your writeup!

To the Roost!

John, Grace (his wife), Carl, and I are headed down to the Rider's Roost in Ferguson, North Carolina for the World Honda Chopper Meet 10th Anniversary!

I had to take the trailer for the day to swing by and add a piece o channel to the rear so my bike would actually fit. It's rediculous how short 9 foot trailers have gotten.
Someone says this needs a safety flag. Screwwww it.


Perfect fit!

Now it's down to the roost for one hell of a party!

Wait... That was a different kind of party. Check out the Rider's Roost website for more information about the place. It's spectacular. The people are great, the facilities are top notch, the scenary is unsurpassed, the great roads are never ending, and the river through the Roost will wash all of your troubles away.

Website one more time:
http://www.ridersroost.com/

COME AND JOIN US OR CHECK THEM OUT NEXT TIME YOU'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE NORTH CAROLINA!

Prep and Powdercoating CBR 600RR Fuel Cap

To thank my brother for being the Best Man at my wedding, I decided to paint up his bike and do some powdercoating. He had recently moved to Arizona and we were going to ship his bike out to him. He had no clue we were doing anything to the bike, but he had always wanted to paint his bike white with pc'ed metals. Everything for these bikes is pretty straight forward except for the fuel cap, I guess. It looked like a few people had stumbled over how to tear them down

If anyone really wants to know anything about this, feel free to send me a message if the pictures arent clear. Otherwise, I'm just going to post up some pretty pictures of the fuel cap deconstruction and a few of the finished bike.

Remove Cap (3 screws) and get tools
(flathead and philips, JIS if you have it):

Peel up the rubber seal and remove the metal ring underneath:

Metal ring has a notch for alignment, just keep that in mind:

Push back rubber seal again and remove the philips head
screws holding the latch to the top plate. Leave them in their
respective holes for easier install:

Latch, key, inner ring, and cover now separated:

Remove two screws holding the key door on
and slide key door through slot:

Remove key door o-ring seal:

Be sure to remove false screws on the outer ring of the
cover before coating. Inventory your parts: Latch mechanism,
fuel door cover, metal seal ring, four false screws,
three mounting screws, two key door hinge screws,
key door hinge spring plate, key door, Key door o-ring seal.

Clean and powdercoat to your liking:

Before (taken in the fall):

After (taken in the early spring so the sunlight
was hard to get right):

The bike is now Ibis white with sateen black pegs, controls, fuel cap, and frame sliders. We shipped it out to him and he flipped. He was happier than a coondog on a bare leg.

Or, happier than a fat cat in a small box. Git it Twinkie!

Lowside Syndicate Issue 2 Release Party

The great peoples at Lowside Syndicate are throwing a little party for their 2nd issue. This is going to be a blast. Be there or be bored.

Some people shouldn't even own tools...

When I picked up my daily ride, the '94 Magna, from the previous owner a few little things nagged at me. One of them was the obvious RTV poking out around the clutch cover. I asked the PO about it, and he told me he'd had a clutch put in it recently. Fine, although I don't understand why a 9,000 mile bike should ever need a clutch. It didn't look that bad, and the clutch worked fine, so I kind of forgot about it for a couple thousand miles. I've got a long ride coming up in a couple weeks and I'm taking care of all the little things before I go (and a couple big things, more on that later) so I figured I'd get a new clutch cover gasket and put it on to get rid of the unsightly RTV. Know what I found when I pried the cover off?





Yeah, no gasket, just a GALLON of RTV with half of it inside the lip of the cover just waiting to get into all the oil passages and pickups in the engine. What the hell is wrong with some people? The dude I bought the bike from doesn't turn wrenches, so I can only imagine this happened in what someone was pretending was a motorcycle shop. Please, people, don't do this to your bike. RTV does not belong anywhere near the inside of the engine unless the manual tells you, and then it's to be used SPARINGLY. Also, it is not a substitute for an easily obtained $18 gasket. Some people just shouldn't own tools.