Love was the word for the day! Love's Cycles that is

It's been pretty nuts for me since the holidays and I have fallen behind on so many things.  Things I want to get done, things I wish to get done and things I NEED to get done.  One of the things that I NEEDED to get done was get my knuck back up and running strong again.  It's been sitting for far too long in my living room and poolside.  Since I moved into and rehabbed the home that I am living in, I have yet to get the garage cleaned out much less set up, the very reason my bike lives inside my house,  (The reason I tell the lil woman that is).  It's nice to have it right inside but it is a real mess when you start pulling primary covers and changing the oil. 

My good friend Pinner finally said enough of this shit, bring on up to the shop and let's change that primary chain.  You mean a shop, with a lift and easily accessed tools that aren't still packed in different unmarked boxes, that kind of a shop?  So I got the bike up to Glendale and rolled it into the yard, the carpeted yard, try that shit where it snows.... 

Sitting on that carpeting is a 46', 47' and a 48'.  Off in the background are two Shovelheads, another Panhead and an XR1000, not to mention another bad ass Shovel chop in the shop.  I am not sure why I feel the way I do when I am there, but a sense of calmness comes over me while dicking around in that shop.

We got the bike up on the lift and of course changing the primary wasn't as simple as you would hope it would be, the old, slip one off and slip a new one back on it's place.  Once we pulled the old primary chain, we held it up with the new one side by side and the old one had been stretched a good 1/2 inch.... Now that is some hard riding.  It took some time extra time because I knocked some of the needle bearings off, woops.  We finished up the bike and I loaded it up on a trailer and trucked it back the 35 miles home.  Pulled it off the trailer, changed my clothes, kicked her to life and took off...  About one mile away I began to think, oh shit, I should have test ridden her before loading her up.  The clutch was slipping!  I was now running late to meet some folks that had ridden in from Cali. for the Love's Party in Phoenix.  I had pretty much no tools on me, but I did have a screwdriver.  I adjusted the linkage and it appeared to have solved the problem.  I rode balls out to Phoenix and met Pinner over at Love's and we rode up the street to the bar.

 You know you can't go wrong when you pull up to the bar with two Knuckleheads on Two Knuckleheads and park next to another Knucklehead.  We hung out in the bar for an hour or two and then decided to hit the one and only TT's Roadhouse in Scottsdale.  We fire them dirty bitches to life and took off blasting through the city.  We headed towards the freeway and upon pulling away from the last light, I could feel the clutch slipping again, oh well, The Candy Man has a bag of tools, I'll fix it at TT's.  We banged the right and tore ass up the on ramp and merged into the right lane of traffic and with that, the pack pulled away and I hit fourth gear and had nothing, oh shit!  Down shift, 3rd, 2nd and I look in my mirror and here comes this guy in a truck in the right lane flashing his high beams and holding on the horn, yeah boy, I'm screwed!  I look down at my dash and see that I am doing 45 now in a 65 and I'm gonna be plowed down, I also notice that the numbers on my trip meter read, you guessed it, 666, now I know that I am dead for sure.  In the end it wasn't as close as it began to appear and the guy went around and I coasted halfway up the exit ramp and pushed it the rest of the way.  Here is where she sat.

In my rush to get out and not keep anyone waiting I didn't grab shit for tools, just some pliers and a pair of screw drivers.  There was nothing I could do, I needed one simple tiny lil allen wrench and without it, I was one stupid, stuck, non test riding ass on the side of the road, 25 miles from home at midnight....  Really great day gone to total horse shit in just two series of Jockey Shifting!  In my rush to get the bike done and having gotten distracted, I only hand tightened the nut on the shaft.  Gotten side tracked with dicking with another bike and came back took a look and buttoned up the primary, I never wrenched it down tight and now I would pay for it!  Pinner took off and came back with an allen, tightened down the stupid nut, buttoned her back up and took off for the bar, total down time, 1:10 minutes. 

The next day we met in the afternoon with a bunch of Cali. guys in downtown Phoenix.  Hung for a bit as a guest of some fine fellers "house" and then rode into the party probably 20 of us on choppers.  What a turnout, you could see it as you rolled up on the place.  We parked our scoots pretty much each knowing what section of the lot to go to.  I was blown away by the bikes as I rolled up.  Flatties, Pans and knucks everywhere you looked and all surrounded by Shovels and even a few Indians, today would be a good day.  I got to spend the day surrounded by great people bullshitting about amazing old iron.  A really good day.  I won't bore you with any more story, I'll just show you some pics of the bikes that came out for the ride and to party.

These are just a few of the incredible bikes that were there.  Not only were there choppers but full on 100 point originals as well.  Some as original as they "remain" or have "survived".  This show and event were truly an event for you to mark on your calender.  Once again I will say it, without my friends I wouldn't be the person that I am nor would I be able to live the life that I do, so thank you again brother Pinner!  I will see the rest of you guys somewhere on and down the road soon, until then,

KEEP THE WIND IN YOUR FACE

TITS IN YOUR BACK

AND THE MAN OFF YOUR ASS!