The World's Fastest Indian [2005]

I just saw this remarkable movie on the life of Burt Munro, a New Zealand legend who set a land speed record of over 200 miles per hour under the 1000cc category on the Bonneville Salt Flats back in 1967, kicking ass at age 68. Very inspiring, very uplifting and very entertaining. I love underdog movies. Modifying his trusty Indian scout from a 37 cu. in. (600cc) engine through almost 57 years all the time it was under his care and bumping it up to 58 cu. in. (950cc), Burt never gave up trying to make his bike go faster up till the time of his death in 1978 (that was just 7 years after I was born darn it). Burt left behind a legacy, and a record that still stands unbroken till this day.

Desktop Wallpaper

Bare-bones.
Garage built.
Raw.
Grit.
Grime.

WillieStreet Choppers

We hate pretty.

Against Time

Had a long list of things to yesterday so where to start? Boulevard Boyz' Chito's birthday was tonight and I wondered if I could make the cut by then. I also had the hard start issue as my first big hurdle so I called in Manny and like a 5 minute pizza delivery he came over to the shop and as always wowed me as he had Brutus up and running in less time it took me to buy Coke light.

The bike is scheduled to have its electricals tweaked to respond like a cheetah on speed as he explained what was needed to have this 400cc smoke even a higher displacement sportsbike while minimizing the need for maintenance and stretching the engine's lifespan and performance.

Ok so its running. The familiar grunt was a welcome noise so sweet to my eardrums. But where to sit? I had been playing with a personal design for the special springs I got so off to cutting and fabricating the mounts. I also tigged the brace across the inside of the frame, opting not to do the steel-plate-over-the-frame type thing, which is what a commoner would probably do. Took me about 3 hours to do everything before Cicero started call-text barraging me about what where and when to meet later. I'll finish sealing up the frame this weekend. At least the seat was functional - and I can test the welds tonight.

I fetched Gil at his shop and off we went to QC via Edsa towards Greenhills and out the back to ABS where we hooked up with Cicero and rumbled to Nato's, a great hangout in QC that somehow mutated from a normal carinderia to a full blown cruiser hangout. We were greeted with familiar faces from my old group the Boulevard Boyz and it turned out to be a nice exchange afterward. Too bad Ed is down with the flu and he couldn't come. (Get well soon, Ed) Food was great - amusing thing was if you want extra rice you have to eat with bare hands, use a spoon and fork, no free rice. Cute :)

I didn't bring my borrowed camera. Darn it i really need to get my own.

Tweak Tweak..

Some shots I did of Edwin's bike. Surreal and beautiful none the less.

New Skin For My Ass

Finally my seat is done, though not perfect, I love how it suggests "personal" at first glance. Snake skin baby. Leather sucked in all around and under. You can't find anything like this in any shop anywhere. Home cut, hardware screws, hand sewn - oh my goodness. All that's left now is to have the springs installed tomorrow and I'm a happy camper. Oh, and I need a new battery too.

Edwin Gets His Bike

Edwin finally got reconciled with his bike after spending a week in my garage. The bike has evolved tremendously from what it was when Ed and I started on it. Ed sent me the side covers and seat one night, some of the missing pieces to make it finally ride-able. The seat is a simple synthetic seat from Easyriders, ridiculously worth 4K. Geez, we can make something far more gnarly for less the price. With WillieStreet Choppers, hand made is the way to go. The fenders are due next week and I'd probably have a hand in fabbing the sissy bar doubling as fender support. Another painting session in store of course. We'll see what transpires till then. For now the bike is in sick bay with a torn diaphragm. Pablo's operating on it as I type. Bye Edwin :)

Snaps

This week saw an important venture that merits a consideration: setting up my own paint shop. Seeing what my painter did wrong in applying coats, I figured I could do way better. Plus, its hard trying to speak "bike" to a non biker in the first place. Cicero's tank turned out 8 out of 10 for me. Thin coats on some places but the fenders turned out great. Thin top coat too but I can live with it. The flames - geez, I LOVE the flames. The cream scheme went very well with it. This is probably not my best flame yet, but I'm happy and so is my client. Bottom line is, I can improve where they fell short. I just need a compressor, and so the search begins. I'll post photos soon as I can get the USB adaptor.

An email came in today and I am in awe at what I saw, a well paved highway carved into and through what was once desolate landscape. The new Subic Interchange. Very beautiful and inviting. Wish I could ride this this weekend going to the bike convention in Clark Field, Pampanga. Enjoy.

CBH Bender

This is a screen shot of the bender I did in CAD and had it printed, xeroxed, and delivered for consultation to a machine shop near here. I'm supposed to follow this up tomorrow because its been over a month since I last heard if they could do what I asked. Here's keeping my fingers crossed. I now only lack a bender and a lathe machine. Gil said he had a friend who disposed of a lathe for only P2,500. Hot darn those things cost P35K, second hand even. Always the optimist, mine is out there somewhere and is scheduled to be purchased at the right time.

Edwin's Bob

Just a follow up of some snaps Ed did just this morning before Edwin came and whisked it away. One happy camper. But he still prefers apes. While he's away in La Union we'll be coating this baby up real nice and snug.

Making Noise

Tonight's mini gathering at the NOS hot spot in Coffee Experience, Macapagal nearly didn't push through as the skies threatened us with small showers as I was pushing through Sto. Nino. Nonetheless everything cleared as the hours crept on and we were rewarded by Edwin and wifey with a (very) hearty (and heavy) dinner. Some local sports riders came in and there was even this 7 year old girl - tough as nails - doing the public stretch on her pocket bike as her dad rode alongside her for a bout half a mile and back. Wow. Kamen really wanted to have a baby after that.

Before riding out we cranked up the ante around MOA and did a small tour around the free road. Geez, every time on the bike its always like the first time. Had a great night guys.

Helping Out

Early Morning Late Return

I've managed to break in Brutus along with the gang with a small short ride to Tagaytay via SLEX on the way there and Daang Hari going back. This was the first time I've seen Taal volcano in all its splendor. She looks so deceivingly peaceful, and surprisingly since it was summer but the air was cool.

Met up with Ed and rode out to see new buddy Gil and son already waiting at Puregold along Sucat. (Gil owns a shop near here and tomorrow is gonna be visiting the Brute for a fixer-up thingy.) After a few short introductions since it was my first time to meet Gil, we rode out south to Shell and met with Mandy and Boogie. It was the second time for me to see my ex-Dragstar and she was all dirty and messed up. I felt like she was looking at me with begging eyes, almost as if the bike and I still had a connection. I fixed some minor issues with a missing nut for the pipes in time for Cicero to join us and on we went to the next gas station - to meet up with the last two guys from Ed and Cicero's former group V-Twin - Dom and Chito, who by the way had awesome bikes.

So on we went southward - broom broom - road was a disaster really. Virtually under repair more than half of the way we were in it, littered with barricades, holes, uneven asphalt, gravel and sand - really not the ideal skin for our rubber. We missed an exit and overshot to the next, which gave us ample time for some snaps.

We circled back and exited out to Tagaytay and up we went till we reached a familiar place from my last ride with the Boulevard Boyz. Breakfast was grrrreeeaaaat. Had corned beef with eggs and I finished it in a jiffy. Twas really good. Spent an hour exchanging stories and met a mom who was very enthusiastic about our bikes. Turns out her young son who was talking with the other guys was a fanatic. It's refreshing to see and meet people like that guy's mom who're very supportive of their children's activities. It was nice really.

It was my first time too to ride Daang Hari and it was a way much better route than going through SLEX, but longer, a fact which I didn't mind since the roads were smooth and wide with lots of long stretches in between which makes for some fun throttle twisting. Cynthia, Ed's wifey, kept document of the whole thing: