Thanx for the invite Micky!

I was slightly bummed that the films debute has been delayed until the end of the season. But I await its arrival with bad breath.

Now that I have an acct. , I may just have to try out this blogging thing.

No Ordinary Enllightenment

So there I was, when it all hit me;

glancing down at the tach, watching the speedo steadily rotate clockwise and feeling the hum of the motor between my legs as I tucked behind the fairing. I was in some kind of trance. I felt no fear, and was nothing entering my mind except the reaction of the motorcycle as a result of my input. This subconscious enlightenment became clear to me as the straightaway came to an end and the road disappeared and the sweeping left guardrail grew larger and larger as I let go of the throttle and reached for the clutch.

The next few moments could be pivotal in my survival on this earth. For an escaping moment, the quintessential question entered my mind and just as quickly as it had come, it was gone; what do I need to do to survive?
Instantly I had re-entered this proverbial trance, and instincts regained control. I don't need to describe my actions for the following few seconds; obviously I executed the turn successfully, and the point here is not the turn anyway, it's the meditation.
It's the level of pure concentration and ultimate focus that interests me. Now, I won't pretend to have studied any form of meditation, or Tai Chi or Zen practices, but I do know that this has been discussed before; the level of focus acheived by anyone involved in anything intense. From my perspective, it's what naturally occurs when you are passionate about something, and when performance is everything. All thought leaves our brains and our bodies are perfectly aligned with our minds; this is the point at which meditation happens. This is the point at which we realize, in retrospect, that we were completely and solely dedicated at that particular moment in time, and to one specific function. It's an enlightenment that only happens in retrospect, and at times can even be frightening. It's not just the vernacular type of enlightenment, not the kind of enlightenment that happens when you first realize that the green stuff next to your sushi isn't avacado, and not even the kind of enlightenment that happens when you realize after twenty years of marriage that you're no longer in love. The experience of, and enlightenment from riding motorcycles is one like no other, and it's certainly not ordinary.


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By the way.. for all of you Sunday riders, it has been decided by the cinematographers, that the recent video footage will be making its debut in the form of a feature film at season's close.. so just keep your boots on ...

oh, the suspense!.........

the waves of the amish country

on yet another spirited 300 mile ride through the amish country I came across another thought in the expanse of grey matter inside my helmet. In my last philosophical moment, I professed that it's the ride that claims and retains our attention, and I dont think that could be any more true; it is the reason we do this.



But what is it about the machines that we chose to ride that makes us feel that we have chosen the right vehicle? or is there a "right" vehicle? i've been under the impression that because it has two wheels, it's right. am i wrong?
in the past there has always been some kind of unspoken rule that we don't wave at harley riders, mostly because they usually wont come off their high hog to wave at us first. do those guys think their ride will be more fun than ours? are they just loyal buy-american fools?
there must be another feeling of belonging in owning a harley davidson that we are just plain unexposed to. that infamous ideal of the american dream that can only be acheived on a harley; that level of freedom that can only be felt on a harley. or do they just feel that they have the right to disregard their fellow riders because they've spent $18,000 on a bunch of chrome and billet bolt-ons?
in the amish country, harley riders wave; and sometimes, they even wave first. in the amish, you're there for the ride; and the waves from harleys prove it. in the city it's another story; it's all show.. who can look the coolest, sound the baddest, and stick their nose up the highest.. but when you're surrounded by the roads that define our passion, every rider is there to ride; and it shows.



In the end, sometimes you are what you ride, but when it comes down to it, you are because you ride.



There was a big Corvette show going on in Roscoe Village when we rolled in, and here's my "best of show":

.. it's some crazy two stroke motor that only fires once every couple of seconds.. turns some big belts and churns the home-made ice cream in big wooden barrels. WAAY cooler than some LS1 with a $100,000 twin turbo motor in it. 600hp don't mean shit when you've got one of these bad ass little john Deers around just make some damn ice cream!

modern machines and philosophical moments..

And so I enter the world of the modern motorcycle. Some of you may be shocked to be confronted with such a machine on our blog, which has been so endearingly devoted to chopper building and riding vintage bikes since its inception. But what is it which aligns us all into this fanatical and maniacal sport? Is it the drag bars or the home-made suicide shifter behind your left leg, or the custom fender you so painstakingly fashioned, or the blood, sweat and tears we pour over our bikes in the garage or on the side of the road? Maybe so, but more likely it's something much bigger than all of these things. Motorcycles are associated in our minds with escape; from daily routine, from opression and law, and irksome obligations; and with absolute freedom. Or maybe it's simply the intuitive recognition of quality in the human experience. The purity and amazement in the experience of believing that we're breaking some kind of scientific law; defying gravity and the logical intuition of how the world functions. We intentionally position ourselves into an experience that constantly reminds us that in that particular moment, with no gaurantees, we're alive. In every motorcyclists mind there's something that assures us that there's nothing that more accurately and completely defines the experience of being alive.

So maybe it's time for a slight shift in the philosophy that supports AC Choppers. Sure we love choppers and, of course, the mechanical process of creating or modifying our motorcycles, but in the end it's not the choppers that command or retain our attention; its the ride.










And with the welcome of El Bandito, we also need to wave goodbye to a good friend. A bike that was dearly beloved.

But it went to good hands.. a guy named Matt from Knoxville. He definately had an appreciation for the bike and the work that went into it. Maybe the best part is that, continuing in the trend of constant improvement, he was eager to make it run even better and his girlfriend will be taking it to Phoenix with her while she attends MMI.. Surely this supersport will reach a level of mechanical excellence that even I couldn't give it. Ride on Matt & Supersport, hope to see you at Vintage!

the clips

me and the bandit somewhere in the Amish.. this curve lended itself to our little video shoot..


Tommy and the Beemer.. seems like he took this the slowest doesnt it? haha.. all joking aside, this guy out-rides most of us!


and the trooper, John, on the SV.. it sounds the best..


one more of the Sv for good measure.. this was after the Sv took a low-side in a blind, downhill, hairpin left turn.. John is braking with a roadside-fixed brake lever.. nothin like a 3/8x2.5 bolt through your barke lever...