!o!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Pangea Speed *new* Streamliner Bars


Received a nice little package from Andy over at Pangea Speed and decided it was time to mount up these beautiful little bars.

I've always like the rabbit ear bar look, but proportions never seemed right. The either stuck up too much or were way too narrow and straight back making them awkward to actually twist a throttle with.

Well, he made his slightly lower than the last round and wider....aka perfect!?! First thing after mounting them up was lopping 2" off each end of the bars to get the right feel. Then I threw on a gorgeous new brake caliper/master cylinder set up that came from Kim. (more on that on a later date)





re-bled the front brake pretty quickly, but will be putting on new brake lines and throttle cable once the season tells me it is time.

CHECK OUT:
Andy from Pangea Speed on the daily

Saturday, November 26, 2011

New York City November


its almost december, yet the weather is holding in epic-ness for a few more days. I haven't ridden the shovel for a bit so I decided to go for a short ride around Gowanus, Park Slope, Sunset Park, Red Hook and then Soho before heading home.







Keino had a few pans at the shop. One of which is Gentry's with the coffin/prism tank. I really like this bike. Its not a 'pretty pan'. It isn't like every socal pan with the wassel peanut, 18" rear, 21" up front and a chrome springer. Its not flashy. And its not really my style, but every time I see it, I want it.

As with most rides I gave myself one goal, get a firewire 800 to firewire 400 adapter. needless to say after looking in a few local 'small businesses', and having no luck, I have decided to order it for $4.00 from a small internet company called amazon.com.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

*sold* 52 telecaster for sale...be like The Boss this thanksgiving


mid 90's
Made in America
Fender '52 reissue telecaster
butterscotch blonde
$900

incredible sounding and versatile guitar. I've used it in every band I've been in over the last 10 years, from power pop to the metal of Get Your Death On. This guitar can play rhythm grooves and reggae and also cut right through the mix for leads as well.

great upgrades:
Brass Compensated Saddles.
the stock brass saddles aren't angled at at all the bridge which makes it 100% period correct but unable to actually get intonated properly. The compensated ones take care of this without having to switch to a modern saddle set up.
4-way switch.
This was a cool upgrade done by Noll Guitars in Rhode Island. The front neck pickup now works and isn't the stock '52 bass only set up. The switch positions are like this:
front - neck pickup only, 2nd position - neck and bridge in series (like usual tele), 3rd position - bridge pickup only, then the 4th position on the switch actually wires the two pickups in parallel like a humbucker. yes, it works, output increases and totally beefs up the tone. I usually played the guitar with that set up, and then when I needed to play a lead, switch it forward one notch to just use the bridge pickup.

Includes the original 3-way switch, the original brass saddles, the original modern style bridge and saddles and the original chrome pickup cover. OH and the Fender Tweed Case as well. Yeah, I'll miss this guitar, but I'm not using it. And I don't believe that music instruments belong in museums.....the deserve to be played.









*no, my foot is not included with the headstock. that was just a bonus.
hit me up if interested: mattlandman@gmail.com

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

ahem, introducing....Miles Ray Landman


Definitely the most amazing experience in my life. His Mom and Miles did great the first week of his life! Ups, downs, victories, frustrations, sleeplessness, 2 hours of sleep a night, learning. We wound up trusting our instincts and leaning on each other for suggestions when things weren't going as planned and with the teamwork of the great nurses and doctors I can say that it was/is an all encompassing joyous feeling. All worth it. I can tell we have some amazing times ahead of us, even if it is unconventional.

Without further adieu, a few iphone pictures:

this shot was taken during his first 6 hours of life outside of the womb....damn....he's a good lookin' boy.

he did a little bit of this sleeping thing when we were still in the hospital. Its pretty crazy/great that within 5 minutes after they are born, its like, here you go, all yours, have a good night, we'll be back in a few hours to check in on you!

they say that babies cry for a handful of reasons; hunger, gas, poop, pee, tired.
But I can tell you first hand that it takes a little while to figure out which one it is, because once they wake up from those short lived 1-2 hour naps of utter cute and cuddliness, comes this:
(yes, he is practicing his hardcore metal breakdown scream/face)

I had posted on facebook if anyone had a hookup for kids sized glasses to get Miles started as young as possible...I mean, if he's gonna be a Landman, glasses are a key feature. Kim came through with a pair of vintage Rivets. They are proudly displayed on the shelves with a few of the great prints that Leigh Anne picked up for his bedroom.

so precious. so incredible. This picture was taken when he turned 1 week and 2 days old. Here's what I keep doing; scroll back up to the first picture from a mere week earlier, then back down. It's crazy how much babies will change/grow in these first few days. Yeah, yeah, this may be old hat to some of you, but its my first time really sitting with it and observing it.

and finally for now. Yes, he loves his glasses even if he has to wait a few years to grow into them. Look at that baby smirky smile.

Friday, November 4, 2011

making bars from bars


with no bike here and completely slacking on getting Chris's sportster running, I need some sort of project to keep the few hours (read:1 hour) a day of free time busy. I had talked to both Chris and Kim about using the bends and bungs from the 70moto Gentleman's Bars and changing a few things ever since the shovel was getting finished. brought some pieces by BCM and we've slowly worked on it.


so....some heat, some patient coping, some tacking, back to coping, tacking, welding, heating, smoking, yes, a good amount of smoke was coming out of the ends of the bars, bending, heating, bending, and mounting. Kim was on heat duty while I was on the bending duty and I will fully admit that we went with the "art, not science" style of fabrication which can get interesting when bending stainless steel tubing. tip:use some science with your bends. bend it once, bend it right. whoopsie!

they are not the right style for maximum Bob's bike, but it's what we had to make sure the bars were perfectly in line with the front end. that was my biggest want for these. oh and a nice tight radius in the vertical sections of the bars....I think that they will look quite mounted up, especially after I spend some time behind the polishing wheel!!!

now, back to waiting!!!!! almost there!