onsdag 30 november 2011

iPhones & Flatheads; The Week So Far...

Here's some shitty iPhone documentations from this week so far.

This is as close as Nacka Skatepark came to see a roll in this day.



Rålis Skatepark under the bridge in central Stockholm is one of my favourite spots, and Kickflips are still the most fun.

Running out of gas at night in the middle of nowhere while it's 28.4 Farenheit outside is always a pleasure, I had to spend like over an hour right in this spot before I got gas and the only light I had was from my phone ...lovely.

Linus was stoked to see that I finally got around to fix the windshield on the Model U.

I really need to stay in the garage and finish the long one but since there's still no snow outside I have such a hard time finding the motivation...

tisdag 29 november 2011

Mullins Chain Drive

What they don't is secret, but what they do is now totally official since Brandon's amish webmaster Ronnie has finally managed to get the new Mullins Chain Drive site up and running.

Interesting perspectives, inspired ideas and craftmanship second to none.

So be sure to tune in and check out Richmond's finest before you even think about getting a frame, tank, hub or anything else from anyone else ...Aaah, what do we know about partying, or anything else.
MULLINS CHAIN DRIVE

torsdag 24 november 2011

The Original Mag Wheels From Pure Hell

I've been searching for an American Racing 12 spoke mag to run as a front wheel on the long bike for quite some time now and today the search finally ended, but in a way far beyond anything I could ever imagined! - And that's only because I'm blessed enough to have Brandon as a friend.

The original wheels from Pure Hell, I still can't believe it.

When I woke up this morning this e-mail from Brandon was waiting for me in my inbox;

"Ok you now have two 12 spoke magnesium wheels that were formerly owned by the legendary owner and driver of Pure Hell, Rich Guasco. So I explained to him that you were putting one on a knucklehead and that we were brothers and that it was a very important deal and he said he would take $800.00 for the set wich is what he paid for them. Originally he wanted $1200.00. That's a good deal even for one 17" because they are very rare."

Here's a photo of Brandon and Richard Guasco from about 14 hours ago.

You NEED to click this link and read up on Rich Guasco and Pure Hell if you're not already familiar with their fundamental roll in hot rodding and dragracing history.

Looks like the Knucklehead longbike and Pure Hell has just about the same wheelbase, and even if the longbike will have one of these front wheels I'm still not sure if I'll ever be able to pop wheelies like this, life sure can be wierd sometimes...

onsdag 23 november 2011

Barn Find Big Twin Flathead

Back in mid 1970’s Sweden, in the shadows of ABBA’s international breakthrough there was an anonymous gentleman who parked his 1946 Model U in a barn located on the frozen tundra way up north in an ancient village called Vilhelmina, the exact year was 1974. What the anonymous gentleman probably had a hard time predicting was that the Model U would remained parked in the exact same spot for the forthcoming 26 years. So, in November 2010, Agnetha Fältskog still hadn’t committed to a reunion with Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Annifrid Lyngstad in order to make ABBA see the light again. But lucky enough my friend Jonas Wickman committed to his passion for the ancient iron and rode all the way up north to make this abandoned 1946 U see the light again. This bike came with the original title and complete documentation, it was sold new in Spånga right outside Stockholm back in 1946, it was bought by a carpenter that used the bike in his job and it’s connected with a 1953 Steib sidecar complete with a carpenter’s toolbox.

The first thing that hit me when I kick started it was that this thing has a lot of compression for a Model U, it felt more like kicking over a stock Panhead. It started right up on first kick and sounded better than any of ABBA’s harmonies and idled lovely, like only a Flathead can. This bike came from the dealer in Spånga, Stockholm with an original Harley sidecar but somewhere in time it got switched out to this beautiful Steib rig. And since Sweden still had left hand traffic back then the sidecar is mounted on the left side. This bike runs strong and it still has the original everything pretty much including paint and tank trim, I would also guess that neither the motor or transmission has ever been taken apart. Nothing beats a Flathead.

tisdag 22 november 2011

Meet The Corrector

Sympathy for the Linkert; Late body casting M51 waiting to go on Supertuppen.

The Linkert M51's are correct for 1937-1948 U and UL Flatheads, the UH and ULH had the M51-F and M51-L, the obscure 1939-1940 UA had the Linkert M65.

The M51's are also correct for the 1942-1948 WL and WLD Flatheads.

So, if you got sympathy for the Linkert, you need to paint it black. Brian Jones has nothing to do with it ...If you mount it on a 1947 Model U, and don't wanna meet the corrector that is.

måndag 21 november 2011

The Secret Pilgrim of Stockholm's Archipelago

Riding out to Stockholm’s archipelago this time of year is one of my favorite things to do, taking the small ferries from island to island, riding around in the beautiful preserved nature on the characteristic archipelago roads. Preferably I leave at sunrise, all alone, and needless to say - on a Flathead.

Ferry Ferry, why you buggin'. Today it was 3 ºC / 37.4 ºF = not a chill to the winter but a nip to the air.

The sensation of being out rolling the throttle straight into supernatural weightlessness in one of the most gorgeous places on Planet Earth sure is a charming thing to do, perfectly soundless, when you turn off the ignition all that is left to hear is the endless ocean and the burning weed, I mean murmuring reed. No stress, no red lights, no sirens, no pigs, no horns, no OHV's, no people, no laws, no rules.

None of the drivers in these cars knew what their two wheels too many made them miss today.

The setting sun over the moist gravel roads in harmony with the hand-shift, foot clutch and buddy seat molds a cosmic combination of comfort that’s gracefully enveloping your body, the smell of the rolling ocean mixed with gasoline combustion are embracing your mind while your soul feeds of the vibrations left from back when dinosaurs still roamed this planet. It is days like this that makes you get through all the wintery months of no riding.
Flatheads forever.

fredag 18 november 2011

Emotional Hypochondria / Part #2

Brake pedal in the works, still needs a few minor details, like a pedal etcetera...

Bracket for master cylinder welded in place.

Since I raised the transmission on this one there's plenty of room to fit the brake linkage nice and tight up against the frame and still keep it short, the rod is right above the frame tube.

I used a mechanical brake rod and clevis pin for the linkage, but since this brake rod is so much thicker than the original plunge that goes into the cylinder it needed to be lathed down and rounded at the end.

If you drill the hole in the lower pedal part in just the right spot the clevis pin will lock and secure the linkage in place so it can't fall out of the cylinder if the pedal would want to swings upwards, and at the other side of the cross shaft (bike's left side behind the primary) there's plenty of room to hide a return spring. Now I only have to decide on how I'm gonna set up the pegs before I weld up the rest of the pedal piece...

måndag 14 november 2011

Emotional Hypochondria / Part #1

Fabricating something as disgustingly modern and frightening as a juice brake set-up on the early frames requires either mental strength or questionable taste. To me, starting to accept the juice brake is a process that requires the same kind of patience and focus you need to be equipped with if you’re ever going to accept any newer Rolling Stones album than Some Girls, which I think was their last 100% solid album and to this day it remains one of my favourites, then in 1980 the Stones released Emotional Rescue which is a terrible album, at least it’s terrible at first... But after you’ve spent enough time listening, feeling and analysing it will grow on you just like Tattoo You and the juice brake, and that’s what makes Emotional Rescue synonymous with the juice drum brake - the first ‘not so cool’ thing with a potential to grow in to something fantastic.

This is one of the most interesting phenomenons about the Stones, that no matter how crappy you think a song they wrote is at first, it will most likely grow into something totally amazing after a little bit of time. The Beatles on the other hand are not like that at all – if a Beatles song is shit the first time you hear it, it will be shit the hundred time. Not that it really matters because almost every Beatles song is amazing the first time you hear it, but it might not last as long as a Stones song. In comparison The Beatles is a confectionery and the Rolling Stones is a bakery.

And then we got the disc brake, but then we’re talking some serious Voodoo Lounge shit and I don’t even have my neon legwarmers on so, sorry... Evolution can be a hard thing to deal with sometimes and it sure doesn’t get any easier as time goes by and after Brian Jones got canned from the band the Stones never got as good again, and still they did manage to write even better songs in the 1970’s with Ronnie Wood than they did with Brian, that’s the cool thing about music, it’s so incredible multi-dimensional to the point where the songs themselves only becomes a part of the package.

The Stooges greatest period was during the Fun House sessions but still they wrote better music ones James Williamson joined the band. The Stooges however have nothing to do with juice brakes. As usual I have no idea what I’m doing, I just go wild with the angle grinder, write about it and hope for the best.

lördag 12 november 2011

Ripe Pineapple And Rusty Rebar: The Art Of Adam Wright

When I think of my cousin Adam Wright one of the first things that comes to mind is art. Art is what happens when we stop to imitate life and let life imitate us instead, art is the only thing longer than death and shorter than right now, it’s one of the truest testimonies that the universe inside us are so much greater than the universe outside. Art is a blazing sword from the future that projects through our past only to become a physical formation when it gets penetrated by the present. The concept of art shifts not only between different latitudes and longitudes but also between epochs, societys and cultures, and last but not least between individuals.

Me and Adam at the Jokers Show, the first stop on our little trip from Stockholm Sweden to Bottrop Germany, the best of times. Photo Love Cycles.

I always thought this photo projects the exact same emotion as Bill Wyman's last verse bass line in Gimme Shelter - straight, strong, striking and impossible to imitate. Shinya Kimura / Photo Adam Wright.

If you haven't bought Adam's books Road Course, Hauler and the Contributors Edition yet you're missing out big time. Adam is the inventor of this type of books that today has become a well known and popular concept but when he first came out with Road Course it was something no one had seen before. And even though a few people might have tried to imitate his work over the years he remains the undisputed master of moment photography. Adam's books all projects heavy passion and contains a motivated nerve that reaches beyond all, a nerve that delivers a striking mental structure that's impossible to achieve anywhere else - ripe pineapple and rusty rebar, contrast, content, proportion, form and emotion. ART for Christ's sake.


To me, art is the recoil of society. Art is one of those things you don’t need to succeed with just because you know how it’s done. Most people can take a photo and quite a lot of people can get them published in quite a lot of different books and magazines, but when it comes to art that necessarily dosen't say …anything. You don’t become a writer just because you write and you don’t become a punk rocker just because you got the costume, you don’t become a skateboarder just because you skateboard, and you sure don't live just because you're alive. If you don’t get it you never will – that’s the ART of it. If it would be the other way around then everything from traffic signs to news paper placards and pizza cardboard box prints would be the work of artists, Justin Bieber would be a skateboarder and Avril Lavigne would be a punk rocker. And in the end who really cares..? Well I sure do and that's why I'm telling you - Adam IS art, end of story.

tisdag 8 november 2011

The 2000 cc Knuckster

“Science is always discovering odd scraps of magical wisdom and making a tremendous fuss about its cleverness.”
― Aleister Crowley

Everything is a matter of proportion and perspective, nothing is abstract, there’s no such thing as abstract, there’s only limited perspectives. For example; Just recently scientists found out that Prime Numbers is not a random thing, they are connected in a pattern just like everything else in existence, it’s only that you need about 13 million decimals to detect this pattern, a perspective wide enough will foresee everything.

If it would be possible to examine the smallest particles; atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons, and quarks with even greater precision, if science suddenly evolved rapidly during our lifetime, then maybe we could be able to examine particles with a precision many orders of magnitude beyond our present technological capacity.

And if so, I am convinced beyond all reasonable doubt we would find that each particle is really composed by millions and millions of tiny, infinitely thin beyond imagination one-dimensional oscillating filaments, and also that they are all connected in this dancing net-like pattern. I know this because I have seen these filaments, I am built by them and so are you and everything in between, around, before and beyond us.

And I believe ones the filaments are crossed together they become this infinite net of oscillating energies that you experience when you are in direct contact with the other side. Our time here and now is nothing but a fragment in the circle of circles of circles that creates nature, a fragmental contribution to the vibration of life, but important non the less.

Our whole lifetime is nothing but a fragmental part of this intergalactic multi-dimensional pattern of patterns that builds all existence in all space and time. All these countless elegant lines of glowing energy in constant movement giving birth to the great net of life. The day we learn to interpret the net of life all down through its infinite spectral transitions and parallel spirals in every dimension we will not only be able to foresee everything that is to come for all time right down through all anatomy, every vibration, beyond every atom and all DNA, but we will also be able to look back in time all the way back to the end.

This is not an estimation, this is something I guarantee you. And the day that happens there will be no more science, religion, pseudo-science, no more me and you, no more us and them, everything will just BE. Ok, so until next time; let’s have a beer, or start a religion, is there even a difference..?

tisdag 1 november 2011

NickeLeaks Reveals The Truth About The Harley-Davidson / AMF Deal In 1969

Ok, I take great pride in finally being able to announce the very truth about what really happened back in the late 1960's between the MoCo and AMF.
Back in 1967 during the great Milwaukee riot in Wisconsin the Harley-Davidson staff tried to form an undercover elite bowling team to take on the European and Japanese bike manufacturing empires, this had nothing to do with the Milwaukee riot even though the riot worked very well in their favour.

This was a highly discrete and carefully planned master suppression mission thought to be used as a weapon in business techniques, a blazing arrow of power in the tactical war of greed right in the heart of late 1960’s America.

The reason for choosing bowling might seem like a long shot but make no mistake, the choice was very symbolic; big balls, being on a roll, knocking down the competitors etcetera. The MoCo staff aimed as high as they could when they tried to draft the Director of NASA’s research program Floyd “Tommy” Thompson as their coach. As you all know NASA is studying planets and planets are the biggest balls of all.

However, since the Motor Company staff accidentally left out an “A” in the address written on the envelope that was supposed to be addressed to NASA it ended up at the NSA. And from there it landed right on Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s desk – and guess what; he was thrilled to take on the task. But, things got out of hand pretty fast since Hubert already had his hands way too full with supporting the the Apollo 7 Project together with Lyndon Johnson, so the Harley staff’s big balling master suppression technique got put on hold. Their disappointment was so great they all started suffering from heavy depression and then because of this ended up selling the entire Harley-Davidson Motor Company to AMF only two years later.
And the reason that I'm letting you all know is nothing but a derivation maneuver, to draw away the attention from all the cutting, welding, bending, chopping, stroking and boring that's been done to this poor 1947 FL Harley-Davidson.