Birthday Surprise

Those who read this blog regularly can trivially infer that Mrs. Flathead Rob is an incredibly patient, tolerant and understanding woman (and thankfully so is Mrs. Bitmonkey). What you may not know is that she is also incredibly generous. Take a gander at what showed up for my birthday. I have been searching for a 1951 Washington plate since before I made the move. I've only seen two and they were $$$.

Rob and I saw one that was pretty spectacular at a recent swap meet. It was in amazing condition with original paint. It was also priced such that I immediately said "forget about it."

I'm told Mrs. Flathead Rob directed Rob to go back to the swap meet the next day and pick it up. It is an item I simply NEVER would have bought for myself (even if I could afford to). That said, it sure is beautiful. I can't even express my gratitude. It's really fun to get a gift you'd never buy (or justify buying) for yourself. The last time was the points cover Mrs. Bitmonkey totally surprised me with a few years ago. I still absolutely cherish that part.

Pope

A bunch of people were talking about a new Pope at work today. I don't get it. 1918 doesn't seem new at all.

Headbanging

I was poking around a little to see if I could find any footage of the Terraplane running.

Best I can tell the photos I previously posted are from the Headbanging Hot Rod race in Germany. There loads of cool photos on the site. A bunch more cool photos are posted here. Check them out.

Traditional hot rods a product American history/culture. Where are the cool events like this in the US? I guess we are too busy with being Rockabilly cartoon caricatures (10" pompadours, jeans with 10" cuffs, rat rods, etc.). to get it this right. I'm so sick of "if a little bit is cool WAY WAY too much has to be great, right?" I can't wait for choppers with 8' sissy bars and 8' pipes to match to go the way of the beach ball tire pro-street bike bullshit.

ABATE Motorcycle Swap Meet

 Anyone been to this before or know anything about it?

 The Monroe swap meet is Sunday March 24th. It will be held in the new Event Center at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds. ABATE members only pay $3.00 admission. Non-members $6.00.

 

Terraplane

Of course. What other engine would you expect to find in a Terraplane hot rod? I sure would like to hear that thing running.

Oley 2012

I was flipping through some of the photos Flathead Rob took at Oley last year. These T100's just rule. My birthday is coming up soon, I think maybe I'll buy one of them as a present to myself.

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I'm so done with Winter. I want to ride more. I'm anxious for some of the vintage motorcycle events in the NW that I haven't been to before.

1949 Speed Twin

As I'm sure some of you know I'm a sucker for depth of field photos. I'm normally not a huge fan of "Vincent" tail lights on anything but a Vincent. The Vincent style tail light is undeniably cool but given the abundance of repops and their over use on everything it's tough not to see them as way over done. It sure looks great on this Speed Twin though. The original photos can be found here.

Ran When Parked

1949 Harley-Davidson Panhead, 74 cu.in. OHV - If I ever own a Panhead I hope it's almost identical to this one. Rigid, springer, I even love the color. My birthday is coming up... JK. "But it's not 100% original..." I couldn't care less. I'd ride the tires off of it.

 

Ran When Parked

1951 Triumph Thunderbird - Yeah, well sorta... It's a total Bitsa but it would make someone a great rider with some work. I wouldn't even change much cosmically. Unfortunately every guy I know that owns a bike like this has been sitting on it for 30 years and perfect original paint Pre-Units are getting cut up to build choppers.

 

  

Ran When Parked

1952 Triumph - I want to change a few things if it were mine but overall this one is kinda cool.

David Lozeau

Mrs Bitmonkey has always been a big Day of the Dead art fan. David Lozeau is a guy that posts stuff pretty frequently on the Friday Art threads on Jockey Journal. I've always intended to buy something of his for her but somehow or another I've never gotten around to it.

On a whim I decided to check in on his site recently. I remember seeing this commissioned piece on JJ a while back. Maybe it's just the New Mexico kid in me but I really liked the blend of cultures.

Once upon a time I was a pretty big Tequila fan so I like this one too (especially the worm).

This sugar skull kinda screams Mrs Bitmonkey

These two scream Flathead Rob

Take a few minutes and check out his site.

Alki Beach

Flathead Rob's team bike slept in today so he went overhead value. Blasphemy. It could just be that the typical grey sky color filter was missing from my day but Nate's Burgundy Mist '55 Pan & Mango's Lamborghini Orange make for a pretty eye catching color palette.