torsdag 30 september 2010

Death To False Mongos


Punk Rock didn't start anything
but it ended everything that was any good...
My band, HFOS; one of the reasons I never finish anything in time ...or at all.



HFOS / Death To False Mongos

tisdag 28 september 2010

TT Conversion / Transmission Spacer Kit

Mill-er time!

Front left side milled out a little extra for the crossover shaft's brake arm

I really like the sandblasted finish and it will look even better as time goes by
I did the spacers exactly 1.1/4" to match the 1.3/8" lowered oiltank, since the frame's down tube is angled it came together perfect. Well, after measuring about 65 times that is, so now the transmission finally has the exact same distance to the oiltank mount plate as a stock bike.

While doing this I had serious mood swings and I think I also might have developed severe measuring mania
...I never want to see another vernier caliper.

måndag 27 september 2010

The Teardrops of Ingmar Bergman

Rigid Hips Teardrops of Ingmar Bergman fits 1936-1969 Harley-Davidson OHV's.

Aluminium Teardrop mounted on a S&S Knuckle with adjustable advance/retard magneto base.

This is what an adjustable magneto base looks like "stock" and I always hated that little spacer and irritating open space around the shaft.

The extra O-ring guarantees no leakage from old worn out oval distributor holes.

~ Brushed aluminium finish ~

~ Polished aluminium finish ~

~ Brushed bronze finish ~

I've done maybe 25 of these so far, and they work really well and they are really time consuming to fabricate and I always end up giving them away for free, so at least it's a very interesting business idea.

fredag 24 september 2010

The Glory of George Riley

Bring out the Glüwein

And season the swine

Cuz we're gonna party

Like it's 1699!

Riley Carburetors are finally DONE!

Park(erized) Bench Aristocrats

Everybody sing along;

The park bench aristocrats - they're drinking in the park, and the junkies are still sneaking in for fix up after dark

And Jock laid out on his park bench like it was his home settee, singing like a fallen angel "Me and Bobby McGee"

torsdag 23 september 2010

What Does Your DNA Taste Like?


When you re-live every moment of your life a million times over and over in no particular order in an extremely rapid dream sequence all at random, when you experience all happiness and all pain of all human existence at the same time, when you are the rapist and the rape victim, the child and the parent, the living and the dead, the universe and the vacuum.
When all sound gets visualised around you, when you become your surroundings looking straight into you, when sound acts like spectral transitions of multicoloured atoms swirling ferociously, when your own pulse is your only perspective. When hot is cold and there is no more temprature, when time vanishes and when your body melts out into the great wide open, when you're twisting on the Devil's filthy fork in God's devine kingdom of heaven, when your DNA tastes like electric salt, when you become but one atom among millions and millions of indistinguishable atoms. Any of them, none of them, all of them, swirling in a never ending timeless cosmic orbit, when you do you know what it means to be you.

tisdag 21 september 2010

In The Sign of The Grasshopper

Goodyear Grasshopper, the original MoCo dirttracker/offroad racing tire and still the best looking motorcycle tire ever made, there’s just no replacement, and it has never been reproduced.
And even if there’s a lot of good looking knobby “vintage” re-pop tires on the market right now they’re all pale in comparison; pretty much like comparing John Bonham to Phil Collins.

Now why would you even compare John Bonham to Phil Collins? Well, after John Bonham died Phil Collins played the drums in Led Zeppelin ...yes, it's true.


And even though Phil is a great drummer there simply was no replacement…

lördag 18 september 2010

An Electric Line To Your Zodiac Sign

I was hoping to use 1" pipe to keep it simple, but since the risers ID was a bit bigger than the Springer top clamp's ID, I used thicker pipe and did the ends in two different OD's to fit two different ID's while listening to D.I...

I only have one cd in my garage; the first song is D.I's "I Hate Surfing In H.B" and then it's "Hurry On Sundown" by Hawkwind at least 6 times in a row, then it's "Silver Machine" like 4-5 times. The ends came out 1" / 1.007" pretty sober.

Silver Machine is one of my all time favourite Hawkwind songs, Lemmy's vocals are truly magnetic.

I love Silver Soldering, and silver soldering listening to Silver Machine.

Dave Brock was the original heart of Hawkwind and since I didn't have the heart to cut any original handlebars I did it this way, and lucky for me I had an extra in-line Springer top clamp. Now they're all done and ready to go on the Knuck and I'm all ready to go right back to the fridge.

torsdag 16 september 2010

Liberace's Feet

Wladziu Valentino Liberace was the worlds most famous pianist, people from around the globe admired and followed his fingers. But it was his feet that brought him to the piano.
Before serial production of stroker flywheels got started, the early drag racing and hill climber heroes sometimes ran UL flywheels in their 61" & 74" OHVs’ for more cubic inches and higher compression. The stock 61" OHV stroke = 3.1/2", 74” OHV stroke = 3.31/32” and the stock 74" & 80" UL/ULH stroke = 4.9/32”, so the UL’s quite a bit longer.

UL/ULH 80 inch and a pinch / offset-drilled crankpin hole...

At times when even this new longer stroke wasn’t enough, the crankpin holes were re-drilled to fit FL pins (=1.250”)* and the crankpin was mounted offset, so the stroke now became a massive 4.13/32” sometimes two right-side flywheels were used to get a lighter and quicker revving flywheel. The very forefather of todays stroker flywheels; Liberace's feet.


Modern Truett & Osborne 4.1/2" stroker flywheels (lightened)

Liberace's feet!

It’s the combination of all these little tricks put together that makes the magic happen. I’ve dreamt of running a dual right-side offset-drilled UL flywheel setup ever since the first day I heard of how they did it. And now, I finally will. These flywheels are like Liberace’s feet, and without his feet there would be no music.
*I googled the diameter of the FL crankpin to seem cooler than I really am.

tisdag 14 september 2010

Rigid Hips - We're So Behind We're Ahead

In the mid 1950's you could send your Panheads to George & Co at S&S for dual carb conversions, this was, of course, before daily threats of global heating and mass Carbon Dioxide poisoning.

Now, about 60 years later we have reached the other end of the line, and here at Rigid Hips environmental consciousness is a priority; it’s time to plug!

The most effective way to do this is to plug the pushrods holes, that way there will be absolutely no combustion. Rigid Hips offers plug conversions for both Pan & Knuckle Heads (45" & 80" Flathead plugs available in the near future) So what are you waiting for? Send them in!

måndag 13 september 2010

Rivet Sequences & Conspirative Codes

Observe the rivet sequence that holds the sprocket on this 1950's brake drum;
2 apart, 3 together, 2 apart, 3 together, 2 apart, 3 together.
For years and years I've had a hard time getting why they put the rivets in that exact sequence, and today I finally translated that sequential pattern into Morse Code;


- -…- -…- -…- -... = MS MS MS MS
Now I’m no conspiracy theory kook, I hope, or maybe I am, however I suspect MS means the bike “Might Stop” when you push the brake. I mean, it happened to me several times, these brakes do work from time to time, and when they do the bike just might stop, so it all figures. So who's behind this sequential rivet code, Willie G. Davidson? Harry S.Truman? Eric Bloom? Why has it been kept a secret all these years and just what made them do it?

lördag 11 september 2010

Near-Life Experience

As the tourists are being shown the works of Michelangelo

Deep within the bowels of the Vatican sits a large, circular room

With 13 separate chambers

Each leading to a distinct catacomb


13 choices, each leading to a different result. I’ve always had trouble picking the right decisions, almost feels like the decisions pick me, but since I decided to do this TT conversion I’m sticking with it and today I cut the front oil tank bracket from the frame, sand blasted it and got it helicoiled.
Now it's welded back in place 1.3/8" higher up so the transmission will have all the clearance it needs to be raised quite a bit. Helicoiling and welding is so grown up and mature, almost made me feel like a real person. A near-life experience.

fredag 10 september 2010

Tinnitus In My Heart


Robin Nillsen took this photo of me lipsliding the bottom corner

One of my all time favourite skate spots, the Vilda Vanadis adventure bath has been bulldozed.
Located down town Stockholm right above Sveavägen we used to go there a lot. It was built in 1938 and has been closed down for decades, the concrete water slide was super scary, fast, cracked and best of all; totally covered with chipped and cracked fiberglass. The transitions were stupid tight, way kinked and went all the way to over vert.

Vanadis in the 1950's

I don't think I ever skated there without bleeding from at least three different body parts, I’ve been arrested there twice and have ran from security guards & pigs countless times, but it’s still the most fun I ever had...

torsdag 9 september 2010

Reincarnation of The Circle Melts The Wheel


Jason Jessee sent me this photo of Anders that he took in Del Mar in 1994, back when Anders were still in charge of Flathead Power. I really love this photo, it’s perfect; the Knuckle, the shoes, the moustache – thanx J.
There's a storm of molecules in motion on the horizont, secret things are coming together. Reincarnation of the circle melts the wheel! So don't pretend you haven't been warned.

onsdag 8 september 2010

Yusuf Islam & The Decline of FLTT Conversions

In 1949 the MoCo offered TT conversions for FL’s and I’ve been thinking about building a bike like that for quite some time. Yesterday I sent my oiltank to the fastest working man in the business, LeBeef and just a few hours after he got it he sent me these pics! Pressure tested and ready to go in the frame. Look at the proportions on that thing, pure perfection, even puts the original tank to shame.

I’m finally converting a Knucklehead to FLTT standards, and building a bike to fit TT standards can be pretty tricky but hey! Cat Stevens converted to Islam, and even adopted a cool Muslim name; Yusuf Islam. Now that is some SUPER heavy tricky shit and I’ll never be able to measure up to that guy, I mean I’d totally go for converting to Islam too but I'm missing the special bulletin on how to do that?