Autorama...Motorcycles...

Now for some motorized two-wheelers....

A wee bit not-focused, I was running around like a mad man trying to take it all in and snapping pics as I went...one very shiny 441 Victor.

I believe the seat matched the upholstery in the car behind it (oh well, a few cars are gonna sneak in with the bike pics...as I mentioned in my last posts, the cars will appear at my other blog...)

Don Harrell, the engine builder here...has built many fine BSA's, which show up at the local bike shows .

A Spiderman Honda...behind it is a Batmobile, that was built for DC Comics in 1963, before the Barris built Batmobile.

Slightly blurry shot of the Spidey-bike with it's trailer...

An interesting 'plastic maggot' as some unfondly call CX 500's. I have one that is undergoing a long term make-over. This is one that appeals to me more than so many others I have run across on the web..

A bit surprised to see this Ironhead Sportster, looking a lot like a bike that might have passed through the shop I use to work in during the 70's. Fancy, but looking rideable. (Wonder if it is ridden...?)

Lil Harley all dolled up...

And one left as found, an interesting contrast...

 Wild Bill's Tatoo's bike hauler..Chrome on Chromium... (did you guess that might be his shiny auto back there?) 

A friend of mine has a black R 50 BMW...interesting to see the reverse, white with black pin striping.

Another part of the 'Wild Bill' display...a mini car hauling a mini-bike...

 

Not sure what the story is on the 'Hawly Wood'...

a blurred shot of a Kawa drag bike...

Like the Ironhead Sporty, a Trumpy...lookin' all 60's, 70ish...like a lot of the Triumph choppers that would pass through the shop...Well, add a long sissy bar and a long seat, and it would look more the part...

An old Indian Scout in a custom frame up...

I've managed to misplace a file with a bunch of pics in it, so this is a good place to stop...

Monday, my ski/mountaineering partner Rick and I took a trip up to the 'High country' near Loon Lake. Normally the stunted trees here, where we broke for lunch...would be under snow and not visible. There was more snow here back in October, when we last skied here. This does not bode well for California's water situation this coming Summer.

Be back with a few more bike pics, and automobile pics at the other blog...

Came back to post a few more pics that I found floating around the hard drive...

Examples of 'Show quality' plating and painting...and that's all I got to say about that...

I did also manage to get some Woodies (Station Wagons )  up at the other blog....so check them out.

Autorama...Push Bikes...

as they are called in a faraway plus across the Atlantic...one whole exhibit space at the Autorama was filled with bicycles, and one even had a motor in it...

This pic is a bit blurred...these were all quickly snapped with my phone. An original 5 speed Schwinn Stingray.

This bike with the extremely large rear wheel and tire seemed like it could really use a motor....

The rest of the 'big' bikes seemed small in comparison with the monster tired red bike...

An old Schwinn customized to look more like an old 'board track' motorcycle...

Restored old timer...

A ladies model Panther...

What every paper boy must have lusted for in the day...A Whizzer...I believe this was a 1948 model.

A Whizzer motor.

A couple of Kustom 53 Corvette style pedal cars...

Next post will be some motorcycles. I've decided to put all the car pictures in the new 'Car blog' I 've started. Lots of those to go through and upload over there. So...next time here, some bike pics.

Sacramento Autorama, this weekend...

Cars, bikes, this weekend in Sack of Tomatoes town...64th year...one of the longest running car shows. Might just go check it out.

Did I mention I have a new blog?? Hint hint, click the rusty link...over there...that rusty Model T cowl piece...

Mr. WLP....did you get a chance to read the post titled "Chromium Baptism"? It really is yours and my pal Jack's fault that I have started spilling the beans on my sordid past.... 

Singing in the rain....

what a glorious feeling...it's cold and wet again.

That's OK since it is breaking a nearly 2 month long dry spell. Now, if we could get about 7 or more wet weekends like this...the water situation and snow pack would be closer to normal. So last weekend before the rain hit I got a little work done on the 350 project...

What we have here is an early Honda CB750 fuel tank, a K1 first model example. Now, if this was in primo condition I'd have it on E Bay to the highest bidder....but judging by the many layers of paint and bondo it probably isn't a prime example...

Rather than mess with nasty noxious chemical strippers, I decided to give this oh so awesome cordless 18 volt Milwaukee side winder a go, with Gator brand paint and rust stripping pads...

Started off with the coarse thick black pad....

And as I cut through multi layers of paint...maybe close to 3/32'" in places...layers of thick bondo were exposed so kept cutting...

Eventually working down to medium and fine pads...the nice thing about these pads is that they remove very little metal...whereas with sanding pads you can end up grinding off material and over heating it..Overall the tank had far smaller dents than I was expecting...somebody just went a 'bit' heavy on their Bondo job...

This fine wire cup brush did a great job in tight areas...

Starting to get there...

Going to leave the badge holes filled...with the paint job I have in mind, I'm going to try some pin stripe painting...been awhile, will probably have to practice up some...

Earlier style Honda wing..

A later more modern style wing...I'll probably go with the earlier style wing with a 60's 'twist'..  Stay tuned...

Some more Monkey business...a quick post going into the weekend.

Last weekend I paid another visit to The Vintage Monkey during an open Studio/Shop day. This is a steel 'Grapevine' sculpture that is going together for a show back on the East coast, and then to a local client's new business. The grape clusters are constructed to hinge open and have a space for electric lighting...

From some industrial steel remnants, a very heavy-duty 'sofa' project is coming together. It'll roll on very heavy duty recycled castors. 

A recycled shot of Shasta from an earlier post...

And again a look at her Triumph 250

Another view of the sofa...

A visiting metal fabricating artist came rolling up in his 38 Chev. Here it is, in parked mode. All late model running gear under that body...and it does scoot when the pedal hits the metal...

Always fun to shoot the breeze with Shasta and Tom, and see what's going on...on the other side of town. If you do the Instagram thang...check out ...thevintagemonkey5  and dreadedartist.    

Water is life...

                                 ....and life might get a bit tougher in California this year.

A couple of pics borrowed from the web...

Yeah it's looking a bit grim around these parts for summer. We did have a bit of rain and snow for a couple of days recently...but not much. Went almost 2 months without precipitation this winter so far...not looking good.