from above the clouds to flying through them

look at that view.....that was what we got to see all day Saturday up at Timberline on Mt. Hood. It was a gorgeous sunny and warm (30 degrees f) day and we head a good crew on the mountain. Just look how happy my lovely wife looks in that picture! It's an amazing thing driving up the mountain through what seems to be a cloudy day and then having it clear up as you park, only to get on the chairlift and turnaround to see that you are ABOVE the cloud line.....forget above the treeline

and now......back to work

after a great little Thanksgiving holiday filled with micro brews and tons of food along with some snurf action at Mt. Hood, I'm back in Taiwan for a few weeks worth of grinding....

In this first week, I'll be pushing to approve preproduction samples one by one of all the goods while trying to get the full quantities of the sample order by this weekend when our little trade show starts.

Then next week, it'll be finishing up what couldn't get done this week and then dialing in packaging and starting some tooling on the next bunch of projects.

CB 350 K4

This is my dad's CB and probably the reason I like motorcycles so much. But it took a long time to hit me. As I kid I would see this in the garage and not really think twice about it. It wasn't ever running from what I can remember once I turned 8 or so and it was way to high for me to be able to just climb up onto. BUT it was always there.

It wasn't until I moved to soCal that I realized why a motorcycle was a good idea. Sunny, warm weather 10 months a year, barely any rain and tons of fun little back road with hidden watering holes....

I just got his front wheel re-laced and trued at Buchanan's Spoke and Rim and they are true pros. Not even a question from me. Just put it in a box with a handwritten note and when they received it, they gave me a call and within a week, it was done, tire mounted and balanced and on its way back to Brooklyn for my dad to put it back on the bike.

Now all he needs is a new battery (he thinks that should fix it...) because for some reason the orginal 35 year old battery isn't holding a charge.....yeah, a new battery will probably be good...hopefully the points and voltage regulator are good as well, but time will tell. Since rebuilding it in the past 5 years it only got ridden a few times each year, so it needs a bit of love. It needs to be back running again in the spring so when I visit NY I can come and grab it for the week!

Bob Dylan

I consider myself really lucky to have been raised in a family where music was so important. Sometimes it was just how we communicated even. I know families today have DVD players to keep the kids busy but that creates 'separation' not togetherness. This was different, this was me HAVING to listen to my dad's music, unwillingly at first, but sure enough ALWAYS turning into singing together on our weekly road trips to the ski house in Vermont where I attended nursery school in the Pumpkin Patch at Mount Snow, or going to the bagel shop in New York in the morning, or as I got into my early teens heading to some shitty fireman's hall into the Jersey border with my brother to go to a 'tape and cd show' where the entry was $3 and you'd scrounge through the thick scent of stale cigarettes looking for that one missing record, tape or cd to your ever growing collection. My dad has always had amazing taste in music, recently its questionable (was that a NEW country album or 5 on your iphone?), but man his music collection and unspoken passion for great music really shaped me and my brother from a really young age....

Bob Dylan was a staple in his car and in his house. Among the Beatles, Neil Young, CSN, Harry Chapin, Neil Diamond and tons more......but Dylan always stood out. So moody. He could make you wake up from a long nap in the greatest mood, or he could put you to sleep in a bout of the deepest saddest thoughts, but I've always loved his music, his attitude, his stories, and his ever changing of his own songs and look.

When Dylan went electric, it nearly KILLED his career, but he didn't care. He knew what he was doing. He knew he couldn't sing, he knew that his stories about how he got to New York were all tall tales, but he played his cards his way and it always worked, despite the death threats before shows and despite everyone telling him how to do things differently.

He wrote and recorded perfectly crafted folk songs and then would get to shows not play one the same way it was recorded in 1968, or tour with a 20 piece band all dressed as gypsies and clowns and this was in 1975. Its something that stood out to me when watching the Wilco documentary 'I am trying to break your heart'. When Jeff Tweedy says "their my songs, and I can create them and they're mine to destroy" about the recording process of adding extra instruments and stripping things down and changing songs from just being pop/folk to masterpieces....it was all Dylan

I can't embed this video, but its a great live version of Tangled Up in Blue from the tour in 74 or 75. check out the weird makeup.....but he just did it.

Tangled Up in Blue

thank you to my dad for inspiring me from such a young age and thank you to church of choppers for posting that picture of Bob Dylan on the triumph that got me fired up on this a few days ago.

grinder

pre finger mangling.....just imagine where my right index finger is in that pic. then just rotate around to the right, clockwise and BAM......

hello there knuckle

by the time I snapped these pics, it had already started to heal, but when the 1/8" thick grinder disk went through the glove i was wearing and into my finger, all I saw was WHITE......

lesson learned. keep the guard on the angle grinder when I have to use it.....

its flu season

so everyone out there, do your part to stay healthy. Go ahead and get yourselves a neti pot and just flush out those sinuses and beat those nasty viruses before they beat you.

Enjoy the video demo of how to use the neti pot. I'm on a 1x to 2x a day program.

The F Word

take 21:36 out of your day today and watch the newest episode of South Park here.

it is wonderously funny and see if you too, are bikecurious...

bands with fake names

went to the Belly Up last night to catch this lovely gang of hippies/hipsters. 9 people on stage and yet not an ounce of sloppiness or clutter. great show.

sportster for sale in socal

this is a great deal for a sportster. owned by a friend of a friend and right in the OC. someone jump on it. already has some biltwell keystone bars and some Licks 10" shocks. some black powder coated parts, etc....3500 buckaroos.

check it out here

New Addition to the Family

I know that it may seem weird to unveil that we have a little one coming our way on a blog, but its true. She's still unnamed at this point, as I really want Leigh Anne to have the honor of giving a name, but I can tell you she's coming in at 125 cc's, a really nice shade of blue, and gets around 80 miles per gallon.

Introducing, our 2006 Yamaha Vino 125:

I have a feeling that after Leigh rides her new whip around town a bunch, she'll be wanting to learn on the sportster next, but hopefully not. hopefully, she'll stick to scooter living.