RE: OH SH!T @ the thunderdrome

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This past weekend, we nearly avoided a wreck while a bike came flying out of the Thunderdrome in Detroit.

Turns out, the guy piloting the bike had a camera on the handlebars!


That'd be me and the girlfriend on the left, and our friend John Conner on the right, nearly escaping the wrath of the mini-bike.

The rider, who will remain nameless, has expressed his sincere apology for what almost happened. No grudges held on this side - it was all in good fun and everyone had a great time.

PROJECT CX: the seat returns and the profile takes shape

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The completed seat is now back in my possession as of last night. I've been reading up and teaching myself how to properly go through every project I'm tackling with the bike, but when it came to the seat I knew my fabrication skills are just not up to snuff. And my upholstery skills... non existent.

This is where Tony of Analog Motorcycles and Art of Rod's Designs came in. Both shops are located in Gurnee, IL. Tony handled all the fabrication work of the seat pan and frame modification, while Art crafted the upholstery. I can say I'm 100% pleased with the way it all came out. It fits snug like OEM and the seat has just the right amount of padding.



I finally had all the items needed to mock up the bike's profile last night, so I put all the pieces in place to get an overall visual of her. As shown, I think I'd like to lower the headlight mounts a bit so they're more in line with the tank. I'm pleased with the way the seat hugs the CX's kinked frame and fills up that void. The side covers should pick up and continue that lower line of the tank nicely. Those are next on the list. I'm also looking for a good set of turn signals to mount at the ends of the seat frame to finish up that area.






Next up is some carb cleaning, and sending the wheels out to get powder coated. I'll probably start stripping the tank as well and get it ready for paint.

OH SH!T: we almost get taken out at the Thunderdrome

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The throw down at the Thunderdrome this weekend in Detroit was a true grass roots good time. 
Grass roots, not only in the way it was set up entirely by Detroit civilians, but also in the way that there were no saftey provisions.

Exhibit A: the first bike to fly uncontrollably out of the velodrome ended up rocketing straight at us.


That's me in the gray jeans, striking what looks to be an "oh shit" style running pose.

Luckily no spectator contact was made on this attempt. We were told that a moped went off later in the day and did in fact connect with an on-looker. Not too sure how that panned out but we were told he was carried away. Hopefully everyone involved was alright. It'd be a shame to see this event get all "safe."

Photo taken by Tom Briggs - Click to see all of his Thunderdrome shots.

Here's a great short video of the event, by Grant Zoschnick



5/17 UPDATE: Turns out the runaway rider had a camera mounted to his handlebars and recently uploaded the video of our near encounter. Check out the video and screen capture below.





DAILY INSPIRATION: crd's bonneville

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Exhibit A today is a beautiful Triumph Bonneville, built by the folks over at Cafe Racer Dreams (CRD).

I have some trouble with these guys as a brand, since it's very hard to distinguish their style from the wrenchmonkees - except that WM seems to have a bit of a leg up. That being said, they present themselves very well, with quality media design and photography. I think they need to work out their brand language a bit more to separate themselves, but otherwise, they build great looking, well composed motorcycles.

All black, street tracker Bonneville? Yea I'd ride that.






 

Read up on this Bonneville over at the Bike EXIF Feature.