The 2013 AMCA Southern National Meet!

Indian Chief

A fantastic motorcycle but just a little out of my price range.

This was the first time I have attended this event, the AMCA Southern National Meet. I went on Saturday & had to duck a few showers in the morning but other than that it was a great day! There were some truly outstanding motorcycles on the grounds along with a few neat old bicycles too. Here are a few of the pictures I took around the show grounds, enjoy!

Schwinn Cycle Truck

Kinda Rough & Crusty

Ross badge on Schwinn Cycle Truck

I have no idea why it had a Ross head badge on it.

<neat little bobber>

Triumph in a Bubble!

Triumph in a Bubble!

antique Harley with a saddle

Giddy Up!

Triumph Cubs

Triumph Cubs Hard to resist!

Vintage Vespa & old moped.

Vintage Vespa & old moped.

Carbide Bike Headlight

Who doesn’t love an old bicycle?

rusty Monark Super Twin

rusty Monark Super Twin

BSA Motorcycle

A nice ride able BSA!

antique Benelli 2 stroke

antique Benelli 2 stroke

another great vintage Triumph

I really enjoy seeing bikes like this Triumph Scrambler getting ridden. instead of merely displayed.

another nice old hog

old Harley with bare sheet metal

BSA B50MX

BSA B50MX

crusty project for sale

crusty project for sale

<old motorcycle>

The theme for this year was British Iron and the were some first class examples placed inside of one of the exhibition halls.

Ariel Square Four

Ariel Square Four

A Magnificent Triumph

A Magnificent Triumph

beautiful restored Vincent

beautiful restored Vincent

 cool custom Bonneville

cool custom Bonneville

AJS all decked out for touring

AJS all decked out for touring

Harley Davidson Sprint

I would like to have one of these

1960 Triumph Thunderbird

my dream machine

1960 Triumph Thunderbird

fantastic looking engine

Thunderball BSA

Thunderball BSA

<BSA Thunderball>

Cushman Eagle V2

Cushman Eagle with v twin engine

 coolest dog at the show

coolest dog at the show

Harley K model

Harley K model this would be a great restoration project

<Harley K>

kool tow trucks

kool tow trucks #1

kool tow trucks #2

kool tow trucks #2

field events pictures

field events pictures

Cushman in plank  race

Cushman in plank race

winner of the plank race

winner of the plank race

slow race

slow race

slow race

slow race

immaculate Moto Guzzi Eldorado

immaculate Moto Guzzi Eldorado

immaculate Moto Guzzi Eldorado

Moto Guzzi Eldorado another of my dream bikes

Briggs and Stratton motor wheel

Briggs and Stratton motor wheel

This was the first time I had ever seen a Briggs & Stratton  motor wheel. Neat old piece. The same gentleman also had the Smith motor wheel pictured below.

Smith motor wheel

Smith motor wheel

This event is held each year at Denton Farm Park in Denton, N.C. This is a fantastic venue for events of this type check their website for a schedule of different interesting events throughout the year.

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Dark Horse Racing 9623 The May Website of the Month!

Do you really want to know how fast you can go with a 250cc four stroke engine? Then go check out Dark Horse Racing 9623. This is the internet home to the Worlds Fastest 250 Ninja, as certified by the East Coast Timing Association. Be sure to watch the video of his 123 mph run.  Go check it out here at this link!

<fast 250 Ninja>

Something to Write With (& other essential documentation tools.)

For this random tech tip I am going to talk about one of the best tools that you absolutely must have in your toolbox, a notepad & something to write with. Some mechanics and owners even go so far as to keep actual log books of the work they do. These are wonderful people to do business with & buy motorcycles from, and if it suits your personality I highly recommend that you do the same. For the rest of us, myself included, who are not quite so anal, a small note pad or note book is essential to write down the occasional part number or measurement.

the ever useful notebook

the ever useful notebook

I have even sketched out an assembly or written down re-assembly directions for things that I have taken apart. Even if you have an eidetic memory, sooner or later you will likely miss some small detail or another, but the act of writing things down helps you to remember them better, and prevent mistakes in re-assembly, parts ordering & custom fabrication.

A good cheap calculator is another great item to have for doing quick calculations & conversions. If you are a machinist or a designer you will probably have a scientific calculator but for the vast majority of us, a simple little calculator is all you need for things like figuring out what size shim to use when adjusting valves, or how much further a part can go before it hits the wear limit. Here I must confess to overkill, since my day job is working in the engineering department of a local industrial equipment manufacturing company I own multiple  scientific calculators, it’s just how I roll.

And last but not least you probably have one of the greatest, & most handy mechanical tools right there in your pocket. A smartphone with a camera has become one of my favorite ways of documenting progress on a job or a project. Take a picture before you start, take another one for each part you remove. Then if you need to refer back to your pictures to remember which way the thinga-ma-bob fits into the doohickey, you have pictures to refer back too.

By the way, here is a quick update on my Honda CB650 project bike. Originally purchased to be modified in the “cafe racer” style I have since changed my mind and am now currently pursuing an “urban scrambler” style. This is going to be really cool so stay tuned!

1980 Honda CB650

Got the airbox & other non- essential stuff out of the way!

The Derrick Amerson Memorial Page is up for Reading

The Derrick Amerson Memorial Page is up for Reading

I sat on this story for a long time hoping for some good news, but none is forthcoming, so I decided to publish the story anyway. Please click the link above to go to the page and read the whole thing in it’s entirety.

Thank you,

Dont EVER STOP Believing!

Hello everyone!

It’s hard to believe this blog has been going for over two years now. In the beginning I started doing this just because I wanted to show off a little, and maybe make a few of you happy, or help you if only just for a minute. Never for one second did I dream that I would still be doing this for this long or that tens of thousands of you would be stopping to read the words I write & look at the pictures I take.

The helpful hints and how to articles were just my way of sharing my little tiny bit of knowledge with people whom want to do it themselves but to do it right. Yes, you may look for a few more tutorials in the year ahead, just be patient with me.

The product reviews started out with me just sharing my experiences about items that I had actually purchased. I never dreamed that one day I would be road testing and reviewing new motorcycles & other products. WOW! What rush, now I feel like one of my moto-journalist  heroes. Most of my heroes growing up were writers anyway, people like, Twain, Hunter Thompson, Robert A. Heinlein, Kevin Cameron, Ayn Rand, and many others kept me dreaming of what could be throughout my life and I am most grateful for that.

Even more shocking is finding out that a nobody writing a little blog like this could actually make some difference in the world around them. I published a post recently entitled A Low Down Dirty Shame and while it may have been a coincidence but Auburn School Road in Darlington was cleaned up within a couple of weeks. The other road is still a disaster zone, but there is hope.

Another example are the challenges & changes being made to what was a a thoroughly draconian and down right evil animal control ordinance proposed by our local Humane Society . You can find the text of the original proposal at this link here.

The latest proposal can be found here at this link. While still very much overkill and still focusing too much on punishing the law abiding owners and breeder for the sins of those who ignore the existing laws, at least now there is an organized resistance, standing guard ready to fight this. It has not come up for a cosideration in our county council but we will be watching.  The Darlington Pet Owners Advocates will be holding their first meeting on Thursday May 2nd at 7:00 pm at The Music Hall, 1945 Harry Byrd Highway in Darlington S.C. Join us if you will.

That’s enough from me for now, This has been a great ride so far & I owe a lot of thanks to my patient & loving wife, my patient & loving God, & to all of you, my dear readers. Just remember, if you don’t try, you’ll never make a difference.

Peace Y’all

Adventureism The April Website of the Month!

A fellow WordPress blogger named Jesse Mckay is getting read to head off on a coast to coast to coast ride (He’s starting from Corpus Christi, Texas) on April 29th.

Click here to check out his blog at  http://twowheelin.wordpress.com/. 

This gentleman has a lot of that good do it yourself spirit that used to be universally prevalent amongst motorcyclists. Check out his Buell Blast modification page too. At any rates let’s all wish him a safe, happy trip & follow along on the ride.!

Again the link is http://twowheelin.wordpress.com/