Friday, June 18, 2010

Frustration 101




It’s been over three years since I moved into my current residence.  A two bedroom apartment with a one car or seven motorcycle garage attached.  The garage has been my workshop for the past three years.  I’ve accumulated bikes and a ton of parts over this time period.  It’s a complete mess now.  There’s a truck load (actually the back of Bronson’s Trailblazer from the front seats to the back…..floor to roof) of Yamaha 500 thumper parts, the three frames hanging on the wall, cabinets that laying on the floor that need to be hung and a rolling cart stacked with everything.  There’s a great bench with a stainless steel top in the garage and of course it’s stacked with crap.  I’ve always had this dream of being able to set a rack of carbs on it and totally rebuild them in a clean, safe environment.  It hasn’t happened….at all and it’s really starting to piss me off. 

So what’s needed to organize the garage?  A sheet of plywood and some 2 X 4’s……that’s all.  What has stopped me from buying said wood?  It’s the fact that I can’t hop on a bike and go get it.  Jumping in the Blue Bomber on a warm, sunny day seems like a huge sin.  It’s not right no matter how you look at it.  My poor car just sits outside 365 days a year and only gets a few thousand miles on it…..most of those in the winter.  It should go to a good home, but my paranoia of someone buying it and “donking” it out freaks the fuck out of me.  Figured we were meant to be since I saved it from being crushed seven or eight years ago.   

So I’m going to collect all my super human focus tomorrow morning.  Drive down to the lumber supply shack and pick up a couple of 2 X 4’s and a sheet of plywood.  Get some shelves made and hang those cabinets.  Once that’s done, all those Yamaha thumper parts can be stored and the garage will start to take shape again. 

Hell, there’s not even a radio in my garage.  What a huge disappointment I must be to the founding fathers of motorcycle tinkerers.    

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Prelude To South Dakota

This weekend's camping trip was a test run for Sturgis in how the bike was packed up.  It's good to know that one saddlebag was almost completely empty and everything rode well. 

The trip to Sturgis isn't about rolling your bike off of a trailer in front of your hotel, making sure your "disco" down wave is up to par and your lady friends turquoise jewelry is shined up.  We won't be taking interstates to prove we can do the ride in a day, it's all back roads.  It's about four guys riding together that have known each other since before I could say "aluminum" correctly. 

Riding along depending on a four inch screen to give you directions, isn't pleasure and I'd go so far to say kind of disgusting.  There is something to be said for having a coil overheat, having to stop, asking some locals where a good place to grab a burger is and eating the fucker.  What fun is it to see a sign for Boston Market on the interstate and then pulling off just to sample the same tasteless and preservative packed pot roast you could get everywhere?  American's are lacking the sense of adventure and individuality that there ancestors once had.      

In closing, I'd like to apologize to those that don't and refuse to understand the above.  The co-president of the Mallwood Kickassers always told me, "it's not about the destination, it's all about the journey".  Because being the first to a destination isn't very relevant when there's two Shovelheads and a round head Guzzi involved.