Taiwan

2 more days till I head home. it will be nice to enjoy socal for a while. Friends Krista and Josh will be in town from Wednesday till Sunday with young Gunnar and it will be great to see them and get in the water.

here's a few snaps from the iphone from Taiwan

sex sells the scoot

ummm....can I buy everything in this room?

Great cafe in Taichung.

another pic of Robot Station

bikes and skates

I don't know what it is, but nostalgia has got the best of me. I realize that when I bought my sportster I loved the flat tracker and K-series styling of the paint job and its almost like my bike is a "re-issue" of the old sportsters....

here's a great example of a nice XLCH done up right with an amazing paint job and that racing vibe.

ALSO, I just found out that Powell Peralta reissued my first real skate deck, the Caballero Mechanical Dragon. I had it in the Purple color and all they have is the teal, but i'll take it. If anyone is in need of getting me an awesome childhood memory gift, now you know.

One of the coolest things about this skateboard is that the powell peralta ripper logo on the top was a robot head on my original. I wonder if they went that far on the re-issue. I sure hope so...

can't....update....from....the road.....

travelling and working and travelling to work....and the internet at hotels

these pics are from last week when I was in Italy, but they are just too good to keep to myself. Chad is fun to travel with, and a funny dude. He sees the same stuff that I do and just starts laughing.

oh really?

too easy.....to easy there.

pics from good ole Rhody

a few good iphone pics from after Jon B's wedding....

Sausage and Pepp slice from Fellini on Wickenden Street

Grabbed a few more Makers on the Rocks at the Wild Colonial

The Agniel's dining room. Khaki walls, White molding and trim, and Baby Blue Ceiling. Yes, blue ceilings are amazing.

picture this

so, after a few great days in Rhode Island, I'm back in Italy. Definitely a mellower flight from the east coast to Europe, cutting the 5 extra hours of flight time across the USA helps.

Got to the office here in Pozzoleone around 3pm, stayed till 6 and then headed to the town of Bassano del Grappa where my hotel is. Chad and I hit the streets, got an appertif and some pizza and beers.

Walking down the cobble stone streets I couldn't help but notice everyone staring at me and chad says to me "well, look at you.....Vans, tight black jeans, black tshirt, a mint green hoodie, 80's Tony Hawk haircut and a mesh cap. You're either American or Japanese and I think they figured out which one..."

nailed it on the head. I guess I stick out here.

I'll be taking some pictures with the iphone today after work hopefully. I left my digi cam home again this trip so I'll be relying on my phone which works pretty well for quick pics but never really captures how beautiful it is here.

welcome to Rhode Island, lets get some dunkin'

So I landed this morning at good ole TF Green Airport in Rhode Island and got picked up by the illustrious Jon B of Tiny Showcase fame and the groom to be. So of course the first thing we did was get an Italian Grinder and some Dunkin Donuts coffee, only to see this new offering...

So Jon says, "what do you think this is for??? faster diarrhea?"

"yes Jon, exactly"

motorcycles on the brain

is there a 'perfect' bike?

man, there's some good deals to be had out there on good ole craigslist right now. BUT, I can't really have a project bike AND a working reliable bike. I've been toying with the idea of just selling the 06 rubbermount sporty and finding a '90-2002ish sportster to just go full weld on hardtail, OR better yet find one that someone has already done that to.....(there's a nice flyrite framed 2002 in san diego right now). then there's the option to get a 60's/70's XLCH that's been a rigid for years, but then suffer the wrath of 'not knowing if yer gonna get there...' Anyone who has owned 30-40 year old bikes knows that feeling and my Honda CB has left that sour note for me.

So, I snapped some vanity shots of my bike for the purpose of posting the bike for sale on craigslist to raise the funds, or sell it for more than I would spend on an older sporty that was easier to mod and after reviewing them, I just love my bike.....the weld on kits cause for a shitload of work afterwards on the rubbermounts, but I have a feeling that in a few years, someone will figure out how to do it a bit more easily and show me how they did it.

my task is how to make a bike that has the swingarm look/feel as cool as I want it to be, and to be stoked every time i go to take her out for a spin whether it be my 45 mile commute to work, getting some milk from the market or checking the waves...

as of current, this is where where she stands right now, pretty lean, kinda mean, and reliable as hell....

70's dirt bike inspired street tracker nerd dealio

and from the rear

It was a good weekend!

Saturday, Leigh and I did some babysitting for Jess and Trav's baby, little Lyla. She's only 8 or 9 months old (I think) so definitely still a baby, but kinda human-ish. Tons of great baby farts were going down after we fed her each time, so that made me laugh. And who knew that infants liked beer and rollercoasters that much? I had no idea!

Playing in the back yard

Then, on Sunday headed to Hernandez Hideaway for Dustin's homecoming. well its just a short visit, but we had to head to the spot and just cruise for a bit. It was a good turnout with Carter, Jordan, Dustin, and Dustin's sister and brother in law Brianne and Nic. (i'll double check the spelling of her name)

Jordan and I, ready for margaritas

fender mayhem

Chris and I have been chatting about some rear fender stuff and I know he's been working on his sporty, giving the panhead a break for a change, and he sent me some great inspiration pictures of swingarm bikes with cool fenders. After seeing T-Bone's 73 Shovelhead, I've been digging the look of the skinny rear fender look. And his looks amazing with the swingarm in place.

I got this little rear fender (actually was my front) mocked up on my bike in the garage. its the look I want, super skinny. looks a little strange to me because my frame is so wide at the shock mounts, but i think it'll be a good little mod until I decide if i'm gonna just go for the full hard tail conversion....and in this economy who can just drop in on.......(you know...)

a few hits with the grinder should take care of those frame struts and then I'll have to make a sissy bar/fender strut from my rear axle. sounds like this could take some thought.

your thoughts?