I know, I know…I’ve not updated the progress page on the bobber since June, but here’s the latest news: The Bobber Project Page
SHE LIVES!! Here’s a bit of video before we put on the pipes…
She rides great – even with my back issues, the 4″ springs make it feel like she’s not even a hard tail. It was darn exciting to take my first ride on her.
She’s now got rear lights, a license plate holder (and she’s registered), pipes, and some other little goodies. Still some final bits to finish up before we tear her down for paint after Christmas. Though I’ve been keeping the paint scheme a secret, I will let you know that there’s gonna be blue metal flake on this bike. She’s gonna be sexy!
The bike is nearly complete!
Putting together a motorcycle from the ground up can be a daunting task. I am blessed that my husband is so mechanical-minded, and is a great fabricator! There are parts from about 6 different motorcycles on this project, plus a bunch of hand-made items. I have no clue how he makes it all go together. It’s very interesting to see him work out the issues and fabricate a piece as a solution.
By the way, I’ve been invited to be a guest on thepacepodcast to talk about painting bikes and motorcycling. Chris and James have more than a few episodes up on the site now, so check it out when you get a chance. It’s not just chitty chat, they actually talk about real bikes, real products, and other motorcycling topics.
Until next time,
never ride faster than your angels can fly!
Eclectic Dawn
Whew – what a blast! I never saw so many home built bobbers and choppers in one place! I was prepared for a wild weekend, and surprisingly, it was actually pretty mellow. The wildest part of the trip was riding the crosstown expressway in Winston-Salem and trying to get off on the exit I needed when some guy was oblivious to me and was crawling up my bike’s butt. Wait, the wildest thing we SAW was a topless chick doing burnouts on a huge chopper in the Days Inn parking lot Saturday night!!
The locals were so afraid that there was going to be a problem with so many bikers that there were cops at just about every intersection on the way out to the dragstrip, and lots of cops on the grounds. You would have thought they were expecting WWIII to break out at the event, but the cops said that they have more issues in the WalMart parking lot on Saturday nights than they had at the Smokeout!
The ingenuity of the builders, and the tenacity of some of these riders is amazing. Some of them rode these bikes all the way from the Smokeout West in CA to attend this event – hardtails, no saddlebags, no fairings, no windshields. My arse hurts just thinking about it.
We really enjoyed talking to the other builders and painters and regular folk who shared their love of building, chopping, and tweaking bikes. What else can I say other than it was a wonderful weekend of hanging around with like-minded folks!
My $6 camera mount that I made for the bike worked out great, too. I hid the PVC piping with my little beanbag Patrick (Spongebob’s buddy), and he was a hit with the bikers – more than once, someone broke out into the Spongebob theme song! Nothing funnier than seeing a big biker sing that tune!
I would go to this event over Daytona in a heartbeat. This was the real deal. The Horse Backstreet Choppers magazine is to be commended for a well-organized event, especially since this was the first time in a new venue. There was something for everybody – besides the bikes, there were rat rods, roller derby girls, anvil tossing contests, lots of food, live music, the obligatory wet t-shirt contests, informal drag races, and stunt riders…and I know I’m missing half of what they packed into the weekend!
And here’s a video if you don’t have time to click through all the Smokeout pics in my Scrapbook.
Till next time…never ride faster than your angels can fly!
Eclectic Dawn
First of all, the big news: I’ve sold Mermie, my custom VLX600! She’s going to California, not too far from Wyland’s studio, and the thought that one of my art heros may someday set eyes on that bike is too cool. I am picking up my ‘98 1100 ACE Tourer next week, and so I’m like a kid waiting for Santa!
Now here’s where we’re at with the 750 paint progress:
John finished prepping parts, and I geared up to start the artwork. It took many hours to get all the masking done, as the skulls have so many tiny parts (I cut them on my plotter, but still had to “weed” the masking material).
Here’s the process: I masked off the flame shapes, then applied the masks for the skulls right over that, then taped off anything that wasn’t skulls. This way, I can remove the masks in layers, and not have to remask the whole tank. I sprayed silver metallic into the skulls. Removed the skull masks and came back in with black to detail the skulls with shadows/cracks. Removed the rest of the masking from the flames to add the wisps of smoke. I then sprayed Burple Kandy over the interior of the flames, covering the skulls and smoke with that beautiful color. Then removed all the masking material from around the flame shapes, and checked for any overspray – woohoo, none of that silver metallic got under (the stuff is notorious for finding the tiniest hole).
Today, I’ll give the artwork a coat of intercoat clear to protect it, and the parts are off to the clearcoater tomorrow. I was going to paint a chrome-looking strip or pinstripe around the flame shapes, but we decided we liked this much more subtle look for the 750.
Here’s the bike before:
Here’s the tank (the rest of the parts can be seen at Projects: 750 )
I can’t wait to see what the parts look like on the bike! Well, I’m off to the spray booth again…work never ends… Until next time, remember to wear your respirator!
Check out what we've got for sale on Ebay: motorcycle parts, vintage items, pinstriped purses, tiki art, and ??? You never know what you'll find in my listing!
The locals were so afraid that there was going to be a problem with so many bikers that there were cops at just about every intersection on the way out to the dragstrip, and lots of cops on the grounds. You would have thought they were expecting WWIII to break out at the event, but the cops said that they have more issues in the WalMart parking lot on Saturday nights than they had at the Smokeout! 
We really enjoyed talking to the other builders and painters and regular folk who shared their love of building, chopping, and tweaking bikes. What else can I say other than it was a wonderful weekend of hanging around with like-minded folks!
First of all, the big news: I’ve sold Mermie, my custom VLX600! She’s going to California, not too far from Wyland’s studio, and the thought that one of my art heros may someday set eyes on that bike is too cool. I am picking up my ‘98 1100 ACE Tourer next week, and so I’m like a kid waiting for Santa!
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