Hey....they named a rose after me!

The Irish Rich Marbled. Rightly so! They were probably inspired by my rosey (cough, cough....) disposition, and outlook on life.

William Van Dyke "Swapmeet Special"

I looked all over the internet for this clip, and the only one I could find was on YouTube, from a Speed Channel program clip. It's William Van Dyke's Swap Meet Special, done live at the Buffalo Chip, during Sturgis 1982. Check the size of the crowd at the Chip! Also, check out the makeup of the crowd at the Chip.....a little different cut of attendees back then.

The clip originated from the the Easyriders' Video Magazine #1, in 1988. The good part of this Van Dyke segment is you'll get not only see Van Dyke at his best, you'll also get a couple quick shots of Phil Ross kickin' up his heels at about :46, and 1:00 into it. But.... this is such a sanitized version of this clip by Speed Channel, I almost thought about not posting it. I can maybe understand them blurring out the boobs, but they cut an entire verse of the song out of the video - for no other reason I can think of - other than not wanting to piss off some advertisers, I guess. The missing verse goes, to the roaring approval of the crowd:

"Well, I don't want no Honda, or no Kow-a-sock-ee,
Them Japanese motor-sickles is a little too plastic for me!
So Give me a Harley-Davidson, that's the one for me.
Hey, it's a swapmeet special, I rode it over for you to see".

Do yourself a favor, and hunt up a copy of the Easyriders Video Magazine #1, it's not bad. Segments like the Van Dyke one, and others like "JD John" Cameron and Lance Tidwell talking about, and riding their Flxi sidecar rigs make the video worth getting - it's only in VHS format as far as I know.

Metamorphosis....

Noun; plural
1. A complete change of form, structure, or substance, as transformation by magic or witchcraft.
2. Any complete change in appearance, character, circumstances, etc.
Everything fitted, tacked, and plug welded. I added in an additional 1" of stretch to the hardtail, to bring in the proportions of the previously done 2" downtube stretch. Otherwise, it'd look way too stubby from the seatpost to the axle plates.

You should see it with the Evo in it...... fits like a glove. Quite the difference. A 2" over repop springer, 5 gal. fatbob tanks, upswept fishtails, and a med. height sissy bar are on the build list.........trad Fatbob-style road bikes never go out of style!

HEY! Look who's on the cover.......

.......of the March, 2012 issue of In The Wind. Why, it's PART-TIMER STEVE!

Mike Lichter caught Steve in the rain on the Sugar Bear/Mike Lichter Ride in Sturgis last August. If the rain wasn't enough to ride in, Steve was just a few turns away from riding right into a hail storm.

Congrats Steve - you finally got your cover with a riding shot, just like you wanted, haha!

West Coast Choppers bare steel.....