Time Perception Experiment

Here's an article I did for DicE some time back, and if you're interested in understanding what 'some time' REALLY means - I suggest you read it.

Stockholm / 2011-02-08

This is what I believe to be the second part of the article series I’m doing about Matte Hedenstrand and his amazing bike collection, I am pretty sure this is the second article in the series but it might be the third or first. I do know I did an article about Matte’s longfork Knuckle a few issues ago so I’d say this is the second article - if you got linear time perception that is. You might have circular time perception and if so this might just be the first article, or third? All depending on what direction your circular time perception spins. To shine a light over this let’s do a time perception experiment.

Stockholm / 2011-02-09

Dean & Matt really needed this article from me yesterday or I would miss the deadline, so that would mean I am late right now, right? But hey, even though I have no idea what kind of time perception I’ve got let’s just say it’s elliptical; Two galaxies that collide will form one great elliptical galaxy - and let’s just pretend that’s how my time perception works; a collision of the linear and circular perceptions. And if so, that would also mean that I have a choice here; to be late, to be right on time, or even early. To start off this experiment I choose early, and now I’m going skating...

Stockholm / 2011-02-10

Hi again, ok now I’m back at my garbage dump office after going skateboarding yesterday, so am I one more day late with this article now, am I right on time, or am I even one more day early? Well, if you are reading this in DicE Magazine right now that would mean my little experiment with time worked and that I really am able to control cosmos through elliptical time perception. Or could it be that all this is just nonsense and that I had nothing to write since I lost Matte’s phone number and can’t really remember all the details about this bike? I’ll do a truth perception experiment for next issue and we’ll find out. But for now let’s concentrate on Matte’s Stroked Generator Shovel that he built all by himself including the paintjob. Stefan Grönqvist did the stroker motor and when Matte passed me on the freeway on this thing I almost shat myself and I don’t really do that all too often, at least not any more than once a year, once a month or once a day; it’s all up to me now.

Frontside And Backside Tailslide

Fs Tailslide / Photo / Mattias Hammarstedt

Bs Tailslide / Photo / Martin Karlsson

Proper Chopper Frontend

A long time ago Dicky Barrett told me “there’s plenty of time for rock ‘n roll if you quit school” and to this day I've asked myself if that statement might have had such a heavy impact on me it became the very reason that I never went to high school? I'm sure school is a great thing but sometimes great things just doesen’t fit.

Just like when my friend Nikola tried fitting his Sportster frontend together using after-market 10” over fork legs. Now we all know how delicate the tolerances of aftermarket parts can be at times but these legs were something else. So they had to be schooled...

The fork legs didn’t only turn out to have the wrong ID’s, but also two different ID’s measuring from one another, so new internals had to be fabricated on the lathe, and the remaining original internals had to be cut to size, the insides of the bottom part fork tubes also had to be adjusted. If there’s one thing I hate it’s having to deal with complications like different diameters of fork internals, dealing with such a thing would mean you’d have to keep track of the right and left side fork leg internals when you rebuild the fork the next time, so I made sure left and right side fork leg ID’s and internal part OD's became the exact same. That way you can drink a lot more when re-assembling it the next time without risking to mix up some of the parts.

Don’t bite the keyboard drooling in front of how great these Mullins trees look, just go get your own *HERE*

Now this frontend is all assembled and ready for some serious milage.

A Present From The Brain

I just came back from the future, and let me tell you – it looked tremendously bright!

When I finally returned to reality I found out I had been blessed with a present from the brain. OHV's are really just a passing trend, and due to my revolutionary expedition I can now confirm it.

It feels so good to be back in the present - a present from the brain.

'Superior' Chain Enclosure

"The increasingly popular ”Superior” Chain Enclosure is one of the most practical accessories for the large Harley. This beautiful item pays for itself in increased chain life. 97% of the chain area is protected. Dirt and grit is kept off of the chain. Actual tests and riders’ endorsement prove that lubrication stays on the chain much longer. Chain life is increased by 100% and fewer chain adjustments are required. Added benefits are: a cleaner motorcycle and protection of the riders’ clothing. Price of the chain enclosure includes the chrome inspection plate and all necessary brackets and parts for easy installation"
(the ad above was sniped from Chris Haynes over at the AMCA Community Forums)

Yeah we'll see about ‘easy installation’ and ‘increased chain life by 100%’ and a few other things stated in the ad... but finally my several years long search for one of these gorgeous covers came to an end, thanks to my beloved friend and eternal brother Dean Micetich. The word grateful is a horrible understatement here, I am forever ENCLOSED in appreciation.

The Bohemian Hedonist Sprinkler Effect

Jackie is a punk

Judie is a runt

They both went to the Mudd Club and the both got drunk

On his Knuckle Peter Longhair runs a Panhead oil pump.

Running a Panhead pump on a Knuckle may or may not over oil the heads, however my personal experience says it’s always best to put a restriction inside the oil line nipple that screws into the cam cover.

I know some people use rivets to do this restriction but since I have rivetphobia I had to machine my own little aluminum plug. It’s important to drill the hole AFTER the plug is pressed in, if not the hole won’t get the preferred ID.

The recommended size for this varies from; .0625” = 1.5875 mm up to .090” = 2.2850 mm, on Peter’s 1440 cc Knuckle I choose to go with what I’ve had the best results with myself; .0750” = 1.905 mm

Phil Spector used a handgun to restrict the work flow of Dee Dee Ramone and Leonard Cohen, I only wish I knew what he’d use to restrict oil flow...

1938 Dual Carb Knucklehead Racer

Just as if the hill climber people in Sweden weren’t humiliated enough already by Perra Leis and his touring 1600 CC Knucklehead…

Little do they know what's in store for them this summer.

Reinforced ribless 1930’s knuckle cases, open rockers, stroker, Trock cylinders, SU side float carbs topped with ’53 Triumph vacuum housings, special grind Leineweber Flat Track Cam, Aluminum Flanders risers(!) Hedlund Racing Clutch, VL Springer and ride control, 1938 oil and gas tanks, 1938 frame, Deka rubber. The pegs are from Lindblad who was an importer of Harley-Davidson in Sweden back in the 1920’s.

I had the privilege to build the Fairbanks Morse Magneto for this bike.

So if you're into racing old iron; Prepare for the final humiliation.

Within The Balneological Alchemist’s Mechanical Bathtub

Theurgy and Neoplatonism, two ships meeting in cosmos, twirling gigantic silver lined web of uncompleted beliefs, but only to the one who believe his mind is complete. Trash a bank if you got real balls - as Jello Biafra bravely said.

The herbal, medical, astronomical/astrological, balneological and mechanical secrets of the Voynich Manuscript is basicly what keeps me going, and ofcourse the live albums the Ramones did in the late 70's.
 

The Ramones didn't play all downstrokes, that's a myth, if you analyse most their live albums Johnny and DeeDee goes 16 downstrokes / 4 up and down / 16 downstrokes / 4 up and down, and for some reason that is really important to me.

If Ronnie Spector married Ronnie Wood her name would be Ronnie Wood... John Coltrane was the undisputed master of marrying different harmonic skeletons without using any real chord progression. The vertical aspects of music are the harmonies, harmonies that may or may not be distinguished from the line of melody, which would be the horizontal aspects of the song; I can't guarantee you anything but I suspect the rest is all within the volume.

Hermes Trismegistus poured the Baths of Pozzuoli and by doing so he both directly and indirectly shaped several multi dimensional conceptions of divinity. Me, I went straight to McDonalds.

The Satanic Circus Dandelion

A bloodcurdling instrumentalist strange parade
A band of gypsies rolling in today

There were acrobats from ancient Rome
Lion tamers, jugglers, strange cologne

There were ladies riding bareback, black horse eyes burning ‘n’ blazing
The mystery man’s painted skull, untamed sadistic grazing

Stilt walkers moving in
The jester’s screaming, dancing in a ring
Snake charmer flute, a Cobra's sting

The Fortune Teller takes your hand
Come follow me into dream land

Through Magnolia fields in haze
Circus wagons leave no trace

Sing this out loud and they will forever haunt you
The sky was green as the grass turned blue
The Dandelion has come for you

The MoCo's Secret Research Program

Here comes another very personal motor historical theory of mine;

Within the very heart of the late 1940’s Motor Company the congenial assembly line spun like ever before, powerful wrench wranglers with their oil stained foreheads made sure the iron made no escape. It was at the end of this very line that the world first got to see something called a Panhead.

A Panhead was a motorcycle with heads built out of aluminum and they contained not only a whole bunch of internal moving parts but also quite a few hidden oil passages. The year to be exact was 1948 and at the time no one knew that the MoCo staff since during the previous decade had formed and operated a top secret research program with one task and one task only; to spy on another Milwaukee based company, the lawnmower masters - Briggs & Stratton.

B&S are today best known for their bulletproof aluminum motors, a motor-design they first came out with in 1953, so the reasons for spying on Briggs & Stratton was pretty obvious, to gain knowledge about how to build a bulletproof aluminum motor.

In an attempt to really cover things up and to be ahead of time, but also to keep the B&S guys close, Harley-Davidson hired Briggs & Stratton to do their ignition switches and frame head locks, something that actually came out as a great deal, however as soon as the MoCo thought they had gained just about enough knowledge to get their own aluminum motor in production they went head over heels to get their new “lawnmower” motor on the market.

I even believe they rushed so bad that they had to hammer in these new aluminum motors in the previous 1947 FL/EL chassis, so I figure there’s also your explanation why the 1947 and 1948 FL/EL’s are almost down to every detail the exact same, I said almost you snob, well pretty darn close anyway.

So, the Motor Company copied a lawnmower motor that turned into the #1 icon motor of the chopper world, and all I can think of is... What if it was the other way around?

Just what would the world look like today if Briggs & Stratton had copied a Panhead for their lawnmowers, now that’s something I’d really like to know.

Rampant Wolf Navel Transmitter

Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall, I love poetry, and Tractor Pulling and I swear to God and Jim Jones and a few others, not CIA, that every living creature on this planet is designed to survive a direct crash into a rock wall at the top speed they’re capable of getting by their own legs, wings or fins.

Take the human creature for example, you run as fast as you can into a vertical rock wall and you’ll probably knock yourself out, but chances are you’ll survive. Now try a Panhead …ok sorry lame example, but I hope you get my point. Everything that makes you go faster than your own legs is deadly, that’s the law; It’s nature verses culture and when it comes down to that we’re all on the losing end.