Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Monday, May 30, 2016

Memorial Day

My gearhead son nagged Flathead Rob into digging his Jeep out for Memorial Day. He's been kind of obsessed with getting a Jeep ride ever since we started reading Arsenal of Democracy together (it's a fantastic book by the way). Given the Ford is the primary focus of the book it's especially cool that Rob's Jeep is a Ford. My son's month long obsession with getting a Jeep ride reminds me SO much of Rob when he was a kid.

Uncle Rob had a damn full dance card today. Thanks so much for making the time to get the Jeep out! More importantly thanks to all the service men and woman and the sacrifices they have made for our freedom. It's impossible to ride in that vehicle without being incredibly reflective about the our whole military legacy, new and old.

DOHC Triumph

From British Ironworks Brian. He digs up the coolest stuff. We were all proceeded by some absolutely fearless fabricators. This kinda stuff makes me feel like such a poser.

Sunday, May 29, 2016

London Bridge Is...

admiring a Tiger.

GKM #1

I have a slight motorcycle magazine addiction but Greasy Kulture is the only one I always read cover to cover. Initially picked them up from the newstand whenever I saw them (rarely). but didn't start subscribing until about issue #30 (#51 is just about to be released). A couple of years ago I decided I had to chase them all down. I finally found a copy of Greasy Kulture issue #1 that I could actually afford. You see them on eBay from time-to-time but they are almost always priced so high they don't sell. I'm so stoked to have found it!


That said the only early issue I still need to find is #3. If you have you'd be willing to part with or see one when you are out and about please let me know. This is the one I still need.

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Seafoam Blue

I think this is the first original paint Indian Chief I've ever seen in Seafoam Green (except for tiny portions under Flathead Rob's tank). So rad! Photo from Derek Althen Photography.


Friday, May 27, 2016

Early 60's Custom Chief

From Halvtopp Stockholm. You don't see many 60's dolled up Chief's like this. I'm not sure I've ever seen a Steib sidecar on an Indian. The Steib looks pretty good on a Chief.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Race Bikes

Beautiful. Not just for looks either. Check out Peter Allen's 1953 Tiger 100 sprint run on the lake bed. Nothing sounds better than an old Pre Unit winding up.

Vorhese's '64

I contributed something from my parts cache for this bike recently. There aren't nearly enough original paint Unit Triumphs out running around. Pretty cool bike.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Walter's Race Car

Screw all those rich guys scrambling to buy Steve McQueen associated vehicles. I'm shooting for one that belonged to the true King of Cool, Walter Cronkite.

Caesar's Suit

I can't say for certain this is the real deal but these leathers that Evel Knievel wore for his 1967 Caesar’s Palace jump give you an idea beyond the famous video of just how vicious that landing was. They might well be the holy grail of motorcycle memorabilia.

Monday, May 23, 2016

Conrast

con·trast
noun
noun: contrast; plural noun: contrasts
ˈkänˌtrast/

    1. the state of being strikingly different from something else, typically something in juxtaposition or close association.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Disintegating - Fabian Oefner

This Swiss artist might just have a shot at giving English Stephen a run for his money in the anal retentiveness department. disintegrating. In Stephen's case the sketch the artist is working from in the video would have been an exact to every detail mechanical drawing. In light of this I'll still give Stephen the edge. Several more photos and the full story can be found here.

Friday, May 20, 2016

Breaking In An F1 Engine

This is pretty much identical to the break-in process for Flathead Rob's stroked 80" 1948 Indian Chief.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Seatbelts?

It seems like the old seatbelts or no seatbelts argument has largely been replaced by the helmets or no helmets war. I remember hearing it a lot as a kid. If you apply the scientific method to your own seatbelts decision you might want to add this to your mental evidence file. You wouldn't want to misplace your shoe.
 

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Ran When Parked

1959 Triumph Bonneville Special - Pretty cool old bike



Melloy Datsun - Albuquerque

Melloy Datsun was one of the few car dealers that was a constant in Albuquerque as I was growing up. Given they handled some exotic stuff like Lotus and Jaguar I rarely drove by without craning my neck to see what they had. Later regular stops were made for both Austin Healey and 240Z parts.

1973
1976
1976

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

South Eubank

South Eubank in Albuquerque was one of the most notable street racing locations in the Southwest for years. I remember driving through a street race one night as a kid, maybe 10 years old. I was blown away. Completely illegal and yet racers were trailering race cars in...

South Eubank 1979
I never raced out there but had some friends who were regulars.

Monday, May 16, 2016

Albuquerque Dragway

Albuquerque Dragway - 1969
The legendary Little Red Wagon had a rough day at Albuquerque Dragway in 1969. I heard a local Albuquerque shop helped with some repairs but I don't know much more about the incident.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Bonehead Enduro 2016

I never seem to be able to make but the annual Bonehead Enduro took place today. I've mentioned the event a few times in the past. One of the prizes award every year is "Oldest Bike." Today's winner was Walter's 1941 Harley-Davidson Flathead UL. I just love it when old bikes really get ridden. Completing a full and very wet enduro on a 76 year bike with no front fender is pretty damn hardcore.

Simonson Cylces

A recent post on Remember When in Albuquerque had a load of discussion on Albuquerque motorcycle dealer history, much of which ended up being about Simonson Cycle. I've posted quite a bit about Simonson in the past. This is a summary of that discussion.

Simonson Cycle first sold Indian and later sold Triumph, Velocette, Vincent and even Honda. Simonson was possibly the original Triumph dealer in Albuquerque when located on 401 2nd St SW.  (I found Simonson ads mentioning Triumph as early as 1954). Simonson Cycle eventually relocated to their 315 San Pedro NE location some time in the 1960's. It was mentioned Motorsport bought Triumph from Simonson in 1966, a year after Cushman went out of business (I found a Simonson newspaper ad from April 1967, so this date might be wrong unless they continued to use the Simonson name). Simonson's San Pedro location was next to the Bodwells who handled Suzuki. Simonson eventually sold his Honda franchise to Berkeley Beaver. Beaver later sold it to Danny McCasland in 1978 who sold it to Rick Alcon in 2000.

Carl Simonson - 1916
Al Simonson - 1921



One contributor added this Simonson story: Al Simonson told a story of how he and a friend attempted to ride their Indians from Albuquerque to El Paso back in the 1930s when much of the road was dirt. They never made it past Hot Springs (now Truth or Consequences). They had a break down and had to get a truck and to fetch their bikes.

I never ceases to amaze me how much more difficult it is to document New Mexico motorcycle history than it is to document Washington motorcycle history. As always, if you have any information on New Mexico motorcycle dealer, racing or club history I'd love to hear the stories or see the photos.
Albuquerque Dealer.
})();