Custom Exhaust on my 99 Dyna Wideglide "Touring Bike"

 

 

I've been thinkin about makin an exhaust for my "touring bike" for some time now, but didn't want to have any down time. I've been running this V&H 2-into-1 the whole time and never could get it tuned in to where I like it 100%. Never could get the feel and gas mileage I wanted, despite experimenting with different baffle pressures and carb tuning. Went ridin a few weeks ago and the baffle rattled out somewhere, turning the 2-into-1 into a sputtering, megaphone, pissed off mess. This was fate forcing me to make a custom exhaust, at least that's how I took it. Fabbed up this design in a few days and dropped them off at DeTray Plating for a chrome bath. Took em out for their debut the other night and couldn't be happier with the performance, sound, and style. Pretty stoked! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greaserama 2014 at the Platte City Fairgrounds

 

 

So, this is goin on. All the cool kids are doing it, so you should too!

 

 

New Exhaust for Curt's Ol' Shovelhead

   This is, my buddy, Curt's Harley Davidson Shovelhead motorcycle. I believe it's bored out to 93", dual plug heads, and used to be cammed and geared to pull monster wheelies! This offseason, he decided to quit abusing the poor thing and install a mild cam and a more highway friendly gear set. Oh yeah, he tore the bike down to the frame and, pretty much, rebuilt the whole thing. As with most old Shovels, he was having an issue getting his pipes to seal to the head. The front pipe's issue was that it was resting against the nose cone, not allowing it to raise enough to seal. That's where I come in. He gave me the bike and said, "Have at it!" Function and fashion can be a tight rope to walk and even worse when you have an old bike with a kicker. I wanted him to be able to access everything, not burn the passengers foot off, and look cool and loud while doing it. I believe this design checks everything off the list and it's solid as a tank AND seals well to the head. Can't wait to see how the pipes and the engine break in.

Vintage: Drill Press, Alarm Bell, Wolf Whistle

   Before my "almost" motorcycle ride to California, a few weeks ago, I was wrenchin on my "touring bike" and other things related to the bike. Since that fell through, the last couple weeks, I've been cleaning the shop and kinda catchin up on little projects I've been procrastinating on for a while. I have some motorcycle projects I could be doing, but thought I would put them off and regroup. Sometimes you gotta step away for a few.
   I scored the drill press this spring at the Shriner's swap. Dude made me an offer I couldn't refuse.  It's a Champion Blower & Forge, ball bearing, hand operated, post drill, No. 102. It actually functions pretty well, but is missing some parts and has some critical breaks and repairs. Instead of restoring it, I decided to display it as is. It has some cool functions, so I haven't been able to walk past without playing with it. I made the wooden mount / display out of a piece I found in the hen house when I cleaned it out. I used some old square headed lag bolts, to mount everything, in order to keep the vintage look and feel. I scored those during my recent trip to Chicago at Architectural Artifacts with this project in mind.
   I scored the bell, in pieces, at the same swap, with the intention of mounting it by my shop's walk-in door and having it sound each time the door is opened. With some tweaking and new hardware, got it working, but now I need to come up with a mechanism to activate it. It's a think piece.
   I got the Wolf Whistle in the same bundle deal with the bell. I was hoping I could, somehow, hook it up to my air compressor, but it functions on a vacuum. Pretty sure it was meant to mount to an intake manifold. I can blow air into the open horn and it whistles loud as hell! Gonna have to figure out a way to pull air through it, or build a hot rod, I guess!
    
 
 

 

 

 

 

Harley Davidson Motorcycle Museum

 



    Got my "touring bike" all geared up to ride to California last week, but the fellas I was gonna ride with had a change of plans. I even mounted a phone charger jack on the Dyna! Oh well, so I decided to visit my sister in Chicago. Spent about a week there and took a lil trip up to Milwaukee to check out a Brewer's game and the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Museum.

    The museum was tits. I spent about 4 hours there, by myself, reading and taking a second look at anything I felt needed it. There was a cool boardtracker room that had some original flyers and advertising about the track in Dodge City, KS. I have to say that my favorite era, for style, was the AMF days. I dig the wacky colors and designs of the 70's. There was also an Open Road exhibit that had this awesome homemade RV and a cool display of these choppers that took a cross country trip. Apparently, Tom Fugle did some wrenchin for one of these guys on the trip. I'd say it's worth a look if you're in the area. Enjoy......



 

 

Leather Face Mask

 



 

I think I may be getting old. Things, like road debris and bugs, never used to bother me, but now, when they hit my face while I'm riding, it feels like they're going to hit the back of my skull. I've been rockin the bandana on my face for a while, but it's a process to get set up. I've seen different versions of snap on, leather, face masks on line, so I thought I'd try my hand at some leather working. These are the before - during (creative explosion) - and after shots. Pretty happy with the look and killed a bunch of bugs with it last night. Even hit a bird this morning with my headlight and it saved me from gettin blood and feathers in my mouth! No joke!



 

Haz Mat Shelf

 

My chickee needed a shelf to store her trash can and haz mat stuff in her piercing station, so.......