final assembly

Pulled apart for the last time.

Once she is assembled this weekend, I will fire & take her out for the maiden voyage.

As always 100s of hour more than anticipated.

Worth the wait.

My friends on race day

45, 46 47...

sunrise on Bonneville

It would have been a good time to end it all!

The food, the visual delights & the genuine hospitality would have made the moment right to end it all with this lovely family heirloom.

CHEAP THRILL

While in Nagoya, Taka & I visited Masa & Saori at their shop CHEAP THRILL.

Great people & really neat stuff!

Look on the bright side...

or the dark side

I've loved early race cars since I was a kid

key chain

My Uncle Curtis hand makes each one with a special gig, he also made.

belt buckles

conflicted

I don't like the idea of selling junk on the blog, but we haven't gotten to the store on the website.

This stuff only gets pulled out when I go to Yokohama Japan.

When I do get pinned in a both, I usually wander & hardly ever pull out the smalls because they cheapen the sculptures, or I am just lazy.

These photos should answer a lot of questions.

HIPPODROME STUDIO

SPECIAL K & DECKER CUSTOMS

You ride like a girl

We cost more & take longer

AVON Calling

As Mark Shubin would say...

Nicest custom I've ever seen.

RULER

Clever

nice belt buckle

The agony of defeat

With the motor completely disassembled, we discovered the previous rebuild had left us with a scary repair on the cam, a 1/4" play in the drive shaft. A lack of replacement parts, even among the 1,000's available to us in the Competition Distributing stock, put a halt to our plan to rebuild her in a day.

I went home with my tail between my legs getting more & more nervous about the cross continental commitment I've made!

overhaul

Lonnie Jr., Lonnie Sr., my uncle Curtis & other friends all teamed together in a mad rush to freshen up this beauty.

THE MAIDEN VOYAGE

Made a last minute trip to the Black Hills to pick up the 1914 original paint HD for the CANNONBALL.

The founder, Lonnie Isam Jr., spent the day before my arrival, trying to bring her to life.

We got her started, & I took off, at about 30mph, the road turned to gravel & I noticed I had to stop, go thru a barbed wire fence or make a sharp left or right.

I rocked the pedals backwards... a pedal fell off... no brakes.

I calmly pulled the clutch lever back, making note of were the rare pedal had fallen, and not found the clutch lever was in my hand, but no longer attached to the motorcycle.

PANIC

no kill switch... barbed wire closer.

Disengage clutch with foot, & drag both feet to end my 1/4 mile trip, knowing I am a very long way from driving this bike 3200 miles in four months!

Very rare photo!

Sinners on motorcycles