She's a runner!

Well I fired off the 46 the other day and let me tell you! She runs like a bat out of hell! The linkert likes to fire a giant flame out of the core so most of the boys have kindly dubbed her the "fire breathing dragon". It literally started first kick. Gave her 3 primes and then bang! Had I not been so damn excited to start her, I probably wouldn't have forgotten to open up the needles on the carb prior to start up. She started anyways and ran just long enough to burn the fuel I had primed the bowl with.
Needless to say I am beside myself with joy. I will spend the next 8 weeks finalizing fab on the pipes and other accents, and breaking her in prior to breakdown to paint the frame and fender. I got a long way to go, but for now, she runs!

Follow me on Instagram! @semigoods

46FL and the journey to Born Free 5

Well I have been working on this knucklehead for born free 5 for a while now. Picked up the cases late last year and managed to scrape together a top end from a dude in Alaska. Decided I was gonna put the motor together myself to learn more and save some dough on assembly. So minus the flywheel balancing and valve seats I went to town. It's been a pretty crazy ride so far, but I have a clear vision for the bike now, I just need the time and to get it done. Was hanging with my buddy Dalen the other night and he inspired me to put my nose to the grindstone, so here we go. Below are some pics of where we were and how far we have come.

Holy crap it's been a while

Well if you haven't seen her already, here are some rad shots of the 36 finished. The first one is taken by my buddy Todd Blubaugh (toddblubaugh.com) and the rest by Carey Haider (careyquintonhaider.tumblr.com). Got her running right before the Christmas holiday as a present to myself and have taken her down to Portland for the 1 motorcycle show and put about 100 miles on her. She absolutely flies on the freeway with that large compensator sprocket and the 29 tooth on the tranny. Had my buddy clock me at almost 90 on the freeway, and man was that sketchey. Pretty much my favorite experience with Harley's to date as these pre war machines are incredibly complicated and test your patience and your pocketbook. In the end, I wouldn't change a thing, but if anybody has the correct headlight for the bike, I wouldn't mind taking it off your hands ;) other than that, she's all real. Gonna try to post some more, but until then, enjoy

Logging hours on the 36

Crushed some hours on the 36 this last week and she is only a few hours from a bench test. Had some trouble with the bar ends and spirals, but a little hack saw, lathe work and tig and we were back on track. Love them old bikes ;). Fred Lange swung by to drop off his 29 JDH motor (amazing) and had a twinkle in his eye for the old girl. I was pretty excited about meeting him and even more flattered that he was digging my bike. Will post some pics of his amazing machine soon.

Old looks paint ;)

Just wrapped up some old looking paint on the sheet metal for the 36. Good from far and far from good, but it suits me just fine.

Vashon , Filth-Mode , Rain Dogs and Colorado Cool-Aids

Vashon TT was this weekend and we had a blast.  Made some new friends and had a blast with some old ones.  Ash and Linda came down from the Couve and brought one of the craziest knuckles you have ever seen in your life.  88" of pure insanity.  A great pairing from up north and it was a pleasure to get to know them.  Their crew "Filth-Mode" has a blog linked here, so check em out.  Our brother Dave from the "Rain Dogs" came out and represented and the rest of the Seattle crew hit the ferry out to Vashon.  I ran out of gas once and the scoots kicked and bucked as usual, but every bike but one, made it back. If you know the Seattle crew then I'll let you guess which one didn't, but if you don't, it'll be our secret ;).  Be sure to make it out next year if you didn't this time.  Enjoy!

Teak Velocity Stack?

Why Not?  I got wood laying around and everyday I think what can I do with this junk.  One of my new obsessions is teak accessories for the scoots.  Got a few bike projects going lately and as a woodworker, I feel it is absolutely critical that every one of them has something that throws back to what I do.  Here is my latest experiment with it.  A roth scoop and v-stack for the pan and the knuck.  If you follow me on instagram some of this stuff will be redundant,  but if you dont, you should!  "semigoods" on the old instagram thingamabob.  Enjoy!