Trike done. Bar next. Starliner after that. Then movie.

Man, that was a TRIP! I probably should have passed on the trike build but it's Shige's 20th and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to show some respect and love to the Shige-san and Mooneyes so goodbye sleep, hello hell. Oh! Where to begin and where did it end? As far as the last post goes, that was two days before delivery. I was able to get everything done but starting and riding the night before delivery. Poon, Grant and Drews were nice enough to join Rodney and I for the first kick. It lit but started flooding pretty bad so after a while everyone split and I buttoned a few things up and figured I would take care of the starting and riding before I loaded it in the net day. Carlos let me borrow his truck in the a.m. and we got Drews bike in the back and delivered no problem. We then shot over to Rodney's place and I put new oil line clamps on all of the lines and tilted the carb up a bit and tightened it down. One kick and it lit and idled like I had never changed a thing. (Ralph at Mesa Cycle had recently done a full split-case rebuild and I had not fired it since it went back together) The thing was idling sooo nice and then BAM! An oil line was resting against the pipe and I didn't see it. It burst all over me and the stuff behind me and jesus. I jumped! I shut it down and ran to the hardware store for some more oil line and replaced it before loading it in. It looks like I'll be riding this one for the first time again in Yokohama behind the Moon Cafe the day before the show. Sometimes, that's how things go. I put the word out to the Japanese homeboys that we'll be wrenching the day before and they're stoked to have a hand in it and I'm stoked that it's coming together this way. I get a kick out of finishing something like this but to share it this way with the guys who live and breathe motorcycling like we do but on the other side of the earth...sheeeeit. THAT is cool and that is what it is really about. The photos are of Drews and I the day of delivery.

jesus will I finish this?

roadblocks etc.

Holy crap. Here's some good info for those of you who plan on taking a servicar rear end and mating it to a big twin motor. Sheeeeit. I split the rear end apart to chrome it and forgot to pull the races and bearing out of the ends. (the races are huge, fine threaded and spin out) I figured the chrome plater would silicone the shit out of them but no luck. chromed and frozen bearing in one and plated race in the other. I got it back and ground the bearing out. Rodney got the race out somehow and I went and bought a slightly undersized bearing with the same original inner diameter and master Rodney made a race for the race. It looks like it may work. I'll be putting the rear end together tomorrow night and hope to light it up by the weekend. I better since I have to deliver this bike on the 26th. I have to wire it, set up the oil lines and clutch and work out a master cylinder still. And also the brake pads may be too big for the drums now that they are re-lined. Eh. 5 more days. No problem.

Building the trike in ten days.

I have begun putting the trike back together and it is looking really cool. The paint job by Jose and Maestro is really stunning in the light. I picked the color from a color book of new paint options for hondas and fords. The color is Jade Metallic and it is one of my favorite colors.

Tran and the red interior

Tran came in today and knocked out some seating for me. There are now three half booths and one full plus two very long benches. It's hard for me to believe that all of the interior was free and fit perfectly.

hola crapola there is progress

Mason and I put a day in at the Hook Up and a DJ booth appeared. The floor is a foot off the ground and we used a fiberglass form as a radius that I picked up in the big wood recycle I got behind that warehouse around the corner. The trike is coming along also. Here are some shots of the frame and tank.