Just Words

In Celebration of 100,000 visits to the Blog!!

What a freaking cool milestone! I’ve had a blast putting this thing together. It’s still just a hobby for me and (despite a few serious offers to sell out) it will remain that way. To be honest, I was just goofing around when I started this thing.

I don’t have the old script anymore but my ham-handed first attempt at the layout was terrible and I really didn’t know what I was doing exactly. I really didn’t think this thing would last a month when I first started but despite a few slow months I’ve kept at it and enjoyed every minute all while making some great new online friends (you all know who you are).

So, I’d like to give a great big THANK YOU to all the visitors who’ve stopped by!! I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have! Anyway I need to commemorate the moment and since I feel like jumping for joy I figured I’d let Mr Evel Knievel do it for me so here you go! Oh and if you’re curious THIS was my first post. Not surprising since I’m really a 2-stroke junky at heart.

http://www.youtube.com/v/aXVlEAovgsw&hl=en&fs=1

Off to see Mickey Mouse with the family! Have a great weekend!

I’ve got some really nice auto-posts set up for you while I’m gone! Hope you have a great weekend! Everybody take time and go riding! Winter’s coming!

Holy Crap! Buell shuts down!

Found this over on “SOUP” Well this sucks.

Buell Motor Company Folds , October 15, 2009


BUELL OFFICIALS THANK CUSTOMERS, DEALERS AND EMPLOYEES FOR UNFORGETTABLE RIDEEAST TROY, Wis. (Oct. 15, 2009) – Buell Motorcycle Company officials thanked the company’s customers, employees and dealers for an unforgettable ride, following today’s announcement by Harley-Davidson, Inc. that it will discontinue the Buell® product line as part of Harley-Davidson’s go-forward business strategy. The new long-term strategy aims to drive Company growth through a focus of efforts and resources on the Harley-Davidson® brand.”I want to personally thank all our past and present Buell employees, dealers and suppliers for their efforts. I also want to thank Buell motorcycle owners for their support and passion for the brand,” said Buell Motorcycle Company President Jon Flickinger.Flickinger said a limited number of new Buell motorcycles remain available for sale through authorized dealerships and production will wind down by October 30. He also stressed that Harley-Davidson will provide replacement parts and service through dealerships and that warranty coverage will continue as normal for Buell motorcycles.”I will always be proud of what we have accomplished. It is a testimony to what a small group of passionate and inspired people can do, and with brilliant innovations, we’ve produced some of the best-handling bikes of all time,” said Buell Chairman and Chief Technical Officer Erik Buell. “I personally look forward to exploring how I can continue to work with Harley-Davidson to bring advanced product technology to riders.”I have also had the great fortune to meet and get to know many Buell riders over the years, and they are an amazing and interesting group of free thinkers,” Buell said. “May you ride with pride into the future. And may your roads ahead be as adventuresome and rewarding as mine have been for the last 26 years.”A wholly owned subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, Inc. since 1998, Buell Motorcycle Company was founded in 1983 by Erik Buell and produced more than 135,000 motorcycles. Over the past 26 years, Buell motorcycles won numerous design accolades and awards, and countless races and championships around the world, including the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike championship in 2009.
ENDS

Discovered some great new blogs.

A couple of new absoluly MUST READ bloggers have come to my attention. The first is Mike ‘Stu’ Stuhler who commented over on my 2-stroke blog. He runs Stusshots. To quote his profile he’s “Fan of all racing, but the bikes are what makes the adrenaline flow and the rush set in.”

While drooling over some of his work I tripped across a friend of his. Make sure to stop by and visit Larry Lawrence at The Rider Files for some fantastic photography and more importantly, the stories that go with the pictures.

I’ve been doing some serious wrenching on my Project -X so ther’ll be some updates there later and I’ll have more on both blogs later today!

Peace.

The 59 Club History…. or why I gave up on words and decided to stick to pictures.

Oh don’t get me wrong I do enjoy writing and I can to spin a good yarn over a cold beer with the best of them. And if I have the extra few minutes to spare I might actually include a little anecdote or two to the pictures I post.

But before I commit to a half dozen paragraphs relating to “all things motorcycle”I like to go out and see what the other like minded souls are going on about. I figure that maybe there’s a general “topic du jour” and I might have something useful to contribute.

And then after seeing what the “real” talent can do I decide to just leave it to those folks who truly have the skills.

Ahem…For example…

I’ve been doing a bit of research on the recent death of Reverand Bill Shergold who was the founder of the legendary 59 Club. There are some good sources of information out there and I thought I could spin together a short biography on the life of very interesting man who is a little known icon of Cafe Racer/Sportbike history. He’s the kind of person that all bikers (but especially the “No Fear” sportbike crowd) should know about. It’s like being a football fan and not knowing the first thing about Vince Lombardi. S0 off to google for some poking around…

…. and I come across THIS ARTICLE over on the Vintagent blog (head over and read it I’ll wait)…..

…..and I am once again reminded why I lean towards pictures instead of words. While I don’t think I’d bore anyone to death I wouldn’t be able to match this article on my best most clearheaded and most inspired day. So if you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and head over to The Vintagent and get a REAL education on motorcycle History (along with some of the best writing this side of real rubber tires and exposed valve trains). Not the televised and magazine based history but the foggy history of the sport with scans of tattered old pictures of grimy faces boys and stories of long dead and long forgotten heroes from the days when motorcycles were..

OK OK… I’ll shut up now.

Just go read it already. You wont be sorry.