== BILTWELL CUSTOM MOTORCYCLE PARTS ==

Ground Zero Bound

Lets go!

One of my favorite parts of a long trip is the preparation beforehand and the anticipation it brings. 2,000 miles on a motorcycle really isn't that big of a deal, but one still needs to get one's shit together, literally. I try to be relaxed about it, and not some militaristic weirdo, but it's difficult. I can see why normal people talk themselves into sensible bikes like baggers or GoldWings™, but that would just suck the fun out of it. So here it is, 40-some-odd hours before we launch and my bed roll, jacket and two(!) tool bags are mounted and ready. Plugs, filter and oil have all been changed, along with new rear brake pads and cables tidied up one last time. Nuts and bolts tightened, loc-tighted and safety-wired four days in advance, and I'll probably still break something in the first 100 miles...

After the Chop Meet, EDR3 and various other runs, when our good friend Joel suggested riding old Route 66 out to Trent's Ground Zero Throwdown, my reaction was "Hell yes, but you plan the route and lead the way! I'm not in charge of shit, and I'll just follow your lead." Joel is as solid as they come and has a sweet route planned, most of it avoiding the freeways, which will make it way more fun, but also make it longer for sure. He's also patient enough that when I suggested riding the back roads out of Temecula to Joshua Tree Tuesday night and camping there, he agreed. Our plan is to wake up with the sun and ride through that beautiful part of the desert in the early morning on Wed and then just make it as far as we feel like, then camp again. Wake up and repeat for a couple days until we make it to Trent's campground at a lake I can't pronounce. We don't have a chase truck other than McGoo back home with the team van and a ramp just in case.

Gear? My Sporty has just about zero gear-hauling capability. I made a luggage rack but it was so ugly and poorly made that I couldn't stand to mount it up. Instead, I figured out how to bungee my jacket and bedroll (Army-issue bivvy and inner-liner, plus a blow-up sleeping pad) to the fender. It seems pretty solid. Tools and spares went into two fork-mounted tool rolls. The cool one made by Breeane at Cycle Cosmetics, the other one some old junk I had laying around. Everything else is in my old assault pack; basic medic kit, flashlight, sunscreen, bug spray, skivvies and socks, poncho, etc. Joel taught me in Mexico to bring your worst old t-shirts and just throw them away when they get funky. That won't take long. Hopefully someone will be selling some new ones in ABQ or we'll be hitting the local WalMart for a resupply. If we had a solid itinerary and knew what hotels we were staying at etc, it'd be a different story but since we're "roughing it" keeping the list of essentials down, but well-thought out is paramount.

Joel is riding his (51?) pan he recently built, Chris is riding his Mr. Potato Head™ pan, Josh is on his Choppahead-built modern Triumph Chop and I'll be rocking my '98 Sportster I borrowed from the wife (kidding!). See you guys in New Mexico, if you need parts in the meantime, hit up Lick's Cycles, Lowbrow, Unit1Parts or your local shop, because we damn sure won't be answering the phone for about a week. If anyone wants to go with us, we're leaving the shop at 6:00PM on Tuesday, just show up ready to rock.

Chris

Joel

Josh

Gypsy Goes Down

No, Walter isn't helping Jersey Joe deliver a baby in the bushes, it just looks like that in the photo. Sounds like Joe went in a little hot and ended up in the ditch and his clutch perch took a good chunk out of his hip/side and tossed him around a bit.

If you don't know Joe "Scraper" personally, you might have seen him around here, I posted some pics of him jumping his Scrambler last month and his super-sanitary Trumpet won 2nd place at this year's EDR. He's a dedicated skater, motorcyclist to the bone, good big brother and all around solid dude so it sucks to see him giving birth in a ditch, but obviously it could have been worse so I guess we should be grateful. Joe, we appreciate you crash-testing that Biltwell helmet, but please don't do it any more! Heal up, son.

(I shot this pic of Joe last year as we rode through Jersey potholes. I thought it was ironic since he doesn't drink and I had no idea the sign was there, I was just pointing the camera backwards and shooting.)

-Bill

Vintage Gold

Our friend Andy sent over a link to this photo collection on Flickr earlier today. WOW! A small gold mine of inspiring photos. Many of them with personal recollections in the captions, names, places, descriptions, etc. I had a hard time picking a couple favorites to put up on here as almost every photo is rich in detail and superbly illustrates the sixties Triumph desert sleds (and stock bikes and other makes too) and the fun that came with riding them. Cheers to you Mr. bcgreeneiv.

Hippy Killer Garage

After a 2-month hiatus, I'm working on the StreetTracker project again. Duane Ballard and I drove out to Kutty's shop this afternoon to drop off the chassis and swingarm for a little light hack job in Hemet, CA. When I pick her up next Tuesday, Kutty will have the CB750 swingarm shoehorned into the CL450 frame, and all the extraneous bits on the Sportster fork legs will be shaved off and trimmed down so the floating brake caliper doesn't rub. Thanks for helping me out on such short notice, Kutty, and on Labor Day, no less! That's what I call work ethic!

Part museum, part motorcycle shop, Kutty's HKC is packed with goodness. Like a couple other talented young builders we know and respect, Kutty is a master at landing sweet deals on impossible-to-find stuff.

We're flattered every time we see a pair of our bars on a bitchin' custom-built bike like this. Kutty told me he's crafted several pipes for personal and custom bikes with our pipe kit, and he loves it. Thanks for the props, Mr. Notebloom.

Duane Ballard rode shotgun with me to Kutty's place today, and this is an example of his handiwork. I'm pretty sure every bike in Kutty's well-stocked garage features a DB Leather custom creation. Of course, I hit Duane up to work his magic on the leather seat that I'll eventually put on the StreetTracker when it becomes a roller.

I'm sworn to secrecy on the new bikes Duane and Kutty are working on, but I did see the front wheel Kutty dug out of a time machine for DB's top-secret project. Four words: minibike dual disk brake.

'Ol Browneye

Josh's '04 Triumph Bonneville was the first modern Bonnie chopper I remember seeing that actually looked right. I recall a couple other ones, but they always looked kinda awkward or goofy. Truth and the boys built this one and they nailed it. Looks even better now with some Keystones on it, huh?

Mild Face lift

Lowered, new headlight, some boots...

Good in the Hood

Just in time for fall, these babies are thick and comfy!

Almost Done

Check out this sweet Shovel Irish Rich is just finishing up for Chris in Jersey. Note those fancy schmancy Biltwell/Four Aces pipe tips. They look great with the outside polished and the inside left blasted.

Friscos

J-Rod's shovel looking good with some Friscos mounted up...

East Coast Destruction

I'm bummed we're not making it back to the East Coast this year for the Gypsy Run. We'll just have to soak up all the photos online when everyone gets back. Perusing Greaser Mike's blog really makes me want to ride into Manhattan again, that place is like nowhere else I've ever been, especially on an old motorcycle. Have fun you bastards.

Low budget camera mount

Me, Chris, Josh and Joel are headed east in a little over a week and we're going to take as much of Route 66 as possible on our way to Ground Zero so I thought it might be interesting to shoot a little footy. I've been interested in shooting some riding video since I saw the great results Keith got by zip-tying his snappy to the bed roll on his Thruxton in Mexico. I've messed with zip-ties and bungies and haven't been happy with the results. Since there is a tripod mount on the bottom of my old Sony (and most cameras) I figured this set up would work; 1/4x20 bolt welded to 1/2x13 bolt, threaded into an old short riser, with a nut on the 1/4x20 bolt to lock the camera in position. A cheesy 'beener around the lanyard just in case and wal-lah! I'll road test it this week and see how it fares. If you've got any decent riding videos, let's see 'em!

-Bill

Jumping Jersey Joe!

Our bro Joe demonstrates improper use of a Biltwell Helmet! Joe ain't scared to scramble his Scrambler...

Speaking of modern Triumphs, check these Keystone bars on Bob's Bonnie Black.

The James Garner Olds

Anyone got $55,000 I can borrow?

-Bill

More Nighties!

We get a lot of questions about bars fitting and looking good on particular bikes. Shawn out in NY has a pair of the Keystones on his Nightster and he's using the stock controls, etc. (That took some work, but was do-able). Thanks for the pics Shawn. The Keystones and Friscos look good on lots of bikes but are just the right width for a narrow glide front end.

Anyone else have decent pics of bikes with Biltwell parts please email them to Bill, we are compiling a photo section to show other riders how they look and the more examples we have, the better it will be.

Favorite of the week

If you come out to Bonneville for BUB, look for this one.

Big D Triumph

Norton 121 mph

For Kim

2nd record in the books!

Chuck got his 2nd Bonneville record yesterday. 250 A-VF at 86mph and
his first record was 250 A-VG at 78mph.

Wind this afternoon

The wind picked up this afternoon and stopped the racing for the day.
Tarps came down so its time to re-tune and get ready for tomorrow
morning.

Lefty

54 Triumph 500

Sun comin up this morning

On the Salt at 6 am

Wes 1st run

1962 inspection

And still going for Records!

K model

Okc Triumph primary Cover

If you have one of these, I want it so email me!

Chuck 1st run

Open record ran 86mph today.

Nightsters with Keystones

We get quite a few emails asking if the Keystone bars will fit on the new HD Nightsters™.

As Justin's photos prove, the answer is "yes". His exact words were: "Internal wiring was a bitch, but it was worth it."

That's the good news. The bad news is we are out of stock on 1" Black Keystones so if you want a set, you should hit up Lick's or your favorite retailer to get one of their last pair. It'll be fall before we have more. We do have chrome if you want.

Thanks Monster

They sponsor the event in alot of ways whether its the $ that pays for
the t-shirts, the lounging areas with misters or pretty girls walking
around handing out free drinks its all appreciated so thanks Monster.

XR

You meet the nicest people

I love this bike, how can you not.

DicE Party in SoCal August 30

We'll be joining Matt and Dean at another one of their sweet soirees August 30 in Ventura, CA, the same weekend as the Primer Nationals. See you there.

Missouri Knuckle

1950 panhead

141 mph last year and ready for more this time around.

Spray paint and duct tape how to

Step 1:
Rip duct tape to desired width and tape off areas on helmet or object
being painted.

Duct tape and spray paint step 2

Step 2:
Spray along the tape let it dry and remove the tape.

Inspection Day

Tech inspection

These guys are great and know their stuff. Tom and Drew are veterans
and thanks to them inspections run smooth.

Kimura is Rad!

He is racing this one here at Bonneville.

SALT!

On our way to Bonneville

Bikes are ready and tomorrow we'll be on the salt for tech inspection.
I'll post all I can so keep checking back.
-chris

UL in Wendover

Pintastic!

So you want some fine lines on your lid (or bike) and don't know where to go? Hit up Shawn from Imperial House. This dude has done a lot of work for us and people we know, and he is as good as it gets. You can order a brand new bucket direct from him and have him stripe it, or buy one from any of our retailers and send it to him to get done up. We've got metal flake Red, Blue, Gold and Green as well as flat Black, metallic Silver, gloss White and gloss Black in stock. Support your local line-slinger!

SOA?

Not sure what to think about this. I was shocked to see pics from the EDR on there until I noticed Todd was responsible for 'em.

TV + MC culture almost has to spell L-A-M-E, but you never know so I'll keep my mouth shut until I see an actual episode.

-Bill

Bonneville!!!!!!

Heading out tomorrow and if Wes had his way we would have left last week. Go here and buy a t-shirt to support Wes and Chuck in their efforts. Four Aces is in its 3rd year of racing out at Bonneville and I've been there everyday doing anything I can to help these guys out and just be a part of the whole thing. I can't say enough about how good of a thing it is and how much we need to support everyone there. Its awe inspiring from seeing the sun come up over the salt drinking coffee standing in line waiting for your turn to go, to eating with guys trying their best and hearing their stories. The pits, the tech inspection, the sound of a race taking place its heaven I tell ya. Now go, even if its for a day to spectate you will never regret it. Here is the Salt conditions if you are headed out and want to check them ahead of time. For more info on the whole deal go here and support these guys as well, Save the Salt and the SCTA are doing the hard work to keep this going and a small donation or t-shirt purchase does alot of people alot of good. Check back here all week and I'll do my best to post pics and stories of the day.
-Chris

Why did the tarantula cross the road?

Took the long way home tonight. Look who I almost ran over. He's one car-dodging fool. And yes, he made it to the other side.

The Clash!!!

If you're a fan get this. I never even knew about it but good ole Matt from Dice turned me on too it and well look what showed up! Must be my birthday or something! I know this ain't chopper stuff but its The Clash! overstock.com on the cheap
Thanks Duke!!

Hoven Rules!!!

Polarized and everything! Check them out.

Costa Mesa

I haven't been since I used to live off of 19th St. in Costa Mesa. A couple of us are riding out for this Saturday. Nothing like dirt in your beer and can't wait to see "Crazed Harley Racers..."

-Bill

H7o Global = High Speed Low Drag

I was laying on a gurney in Saddam's old hospital in Baghdad a couple years ago and thought I had a hallucination. I was used to seeing and working with private security contractors before, Blackwater and the sort but never before had I seen this duo. I rolled out of bed and drug my IV bottle over to the door and watched these guys walk down the long hallway. One big dude, typical deal–covered in the latest tactical gear, at the low-ready and alert, even in a hospital. Cool thing was, his wingman was a midget. Little guy, you know? Rad! The mighty one had fully customized gear and looked great with his equally compact MP5. All the various ways one of smaller stature could be used in tactical situations suddenly made sense, I bet that little dude came in handy all the time.

What does this have to do with motorcycles? Not much, except as a segue for this next bike. Modern military guys and especially contractors and OGA's are pretty much all gearwhores, meaning they love trinkets and the tricker the better. I get the feeling Patrick from H7o Global is one of those types. So it was with pleasure that I found out our Clubman bars are now on the H7o BMX R80/7. Cool bike, and you can read all about it here. Pint-sized killer not included.

Thanks, Pat.

-Bill

Death Star?

What the hell is it? It was part of an old manual crank juicer I found in a thrift store last weekend for $4.00. I have a fetish for old cast stuff, no matter how pedestrian. Maybe it'd make a good tailight or linkert deflector someday. For now, it sits in the ammo can in the garage with all the other junk I don't quite know what to do with.

-Bill

MS

Ruling.

Kooks

Thanks for the hook ups, Brian.

The kid made this video as a "thank you note".

KOOKS from Biltwell Inc. on Vimeo.

Hell Ride

I had pretty low expectations for this movie after reading all the crappy reviews. But, with an all-star cast, Mitch Cotie's artwork used for the MC's colors, and a chance to see custom bikes on the big screen, I wasn't about to miss it. Of course it's not playing in my town, or anywhere within 50 miles, so it was a good excuse to ride to San Diego and see it with friends. Josh and I headed south and picked up the Coach along the way. We met Fredo and Oscar (The Shovel Brothers, who both had their bikes out on semi-maiden voyages) as well as Joel and Rojo Dave (thanks for the beers Dave, sure your new neighbors love you now!) It was worth it just to get out and ride on a Sunday night while the weather is so warm. Anyway, the movie, right? I'm no film critic, but I like naked girls, violence and motorcycles so I'm easily pleased. Sure, the riding shots looked like they were filmed at about 10mph, but a few of the guys looked like they could actually handle a bike, though regretfully Dennis Hopper wasn't one of them. Every shot of him riding the Indian was from behind. The girls were great and the plot was slightly better than a 70's porn flick. I doubt it will make a ton of money or become a pop-culture icon, especially with the limited release, but it's worth seeing for sure. Anyone know where to buy a good crossbow?

(Oscar and Fredo, good to see you guys out on those bikes!)

?Klim Tog

Submitted by R-Dub. Washignton DC, 1921.

Rouser Down

100 yards inside the USA at the Tijuana border crossing, April, 2008.

Man, I'm glad you lived through this Robot. Thanks for the pics Keith.

It was fun while it lasted

Maybe it'll from the grave some day. Seriously this was one of the most fun and rewarding things I've ever been involved in. Thanks again to everyone who took the time to go.

Atomic Bombs!

Christian over at Xian Leather stitched up a sweet cover over this Biltwell pan for Adam's new shovel. Trent at Atomic Custom built the bike and it's getting a little final assembly from Walter over at Kickstart Cycles and is almost on the road. Looks good, Adam send us a pic when it's all done. Semper fi.

Speaking of Trent over at Atomic, check this lovely time-machine pan he just finished for Tim at Loaded Skateboards. If I ever won the lottery, this would be the bike I'd buy with that first check. Nuts photo work poached from GG over at Goodluckphoto. See more of Gary's work here.

Damn that was a lot of links.

What now?!?!

neat old deco light

-Chris

Lowbrow Backyard Beer Brawl

If you are anywhere near Ohio, ride to Tyler's backyard and whoop it up THIS WEEKEND! This dude (and his lovely lady) know how to party. Man, I wish we were going to make this one. It has all the ingredients for a good time; booze, bands, bikes and bonfires...

GZTD 3.0

Groundzero's coming up soon, we're planning on taking the slow way out on Route 66.

Check out these helmets done up by Imperial House for us to donate to the raffle. Plus there's gonna be a Flyrite frame and lots of other swag.

Sand Trap

New Jersey Joe ain't afraid of a little sand!

!Forest City Rockers!

Forest City Rockers Episode 1 from Eighty Four Films on Vimeo.

Poached from Andy Jenkin's blog: Bend Press, along with this sweet drawing by Bob Haro. Bob, I wasn't even a real BMX'er back in those days and I still copied your drawings onto all my book covers... -Bill

boylecomm.blogspot.com

Our friend Kim has a new blog. I am proud to have participated in influencing him (however weakly) to quit killing himself on his dirt bike and start building and riding bikes for the street.

I clearly remember him sitting on the workbench at the shop listening to my bullshit speech about how cool it would be to ride old motorcycles down in Mexico at my Iraq homecoming party in '05. Thanks Kim for indulging me and going along.

Lately he's put himself on garage-arrest and has a Norton project as well as the panhead I briefly owned last year. The Norton is gorgeous and the pan is a long term project that is going to be a stunner when done. In between those projects he built a bitchin SR500 that just exudes simple fun. He brought it up to the Chop Meet last month and after a small altitude adjustment, tore around on it for the first time, complete with wheelies and stoppies. A couple years ago when he nervously took his MC license test, the DMV dude noted "Serious motorcycle skills" on his test sheet. No kidding.

Kim always had the best dirt bikes, and pretty soon he's gonna have a very noteworthy stable of home-built street legal motorcycles to rival the best. Sorry Kim, I know the dirtbikes were cheaper and less work...

-Bill

I really can't wait

for 5 am mornings, the sun coming up over the salt, the smell of race gas, the stories from the vets, the sound of a bike flying down the coarse, seeing amazing contraptions of speed in line for hours just to get a shot of going faster than anyone before them and the anticipation everyone has as you get close to the starting line, sitting in the pits pulling parts, adjusting jets, gears, watching tech inspections and seeing whats under some of those streamlined salt rockets, just sitting and waiting, watching the starter as he listens to make sure the coarse is ready, knowing that jetting may change from early morning to late afternoon and trying to duplicate a run or better it. If you don't know just go and you won't be bummed. The Course conditions are sounding great so far. Thanks to the SCTA/BNI and all their hard work! I've been going for the past couple of years with Wes and Chuck running bike from Four Aces so go here to support their efforts.

Chris Koelsch

Chris was a great guy from OKC. I met him probably around 84-85 at this very spot skating the 50 penn ditch. From shows at the Velvet Underground to the pools off I-35 back in our day you knew Chris might be there. Chris and Justin went off to welding school years later and that was one of the coolest things I thought. Haven't seen him in about a year and a half but was always good when I did. Tonight and all weekend our car bombs are for you

Sunday, August 31, 2008