Monday, September 30, 2013

The "Ceremonial Cleats"...30 Years in the Making!





30 years ago I was at the Wall Township NJ swap meet and came upon a guy selling some old parts. Among those parts were a pair of floor board extensions (AKA Cleats). I asked him how much. He told me his price and I offered him $1 for them. In disgust he said he'd rather keep 'em than sell them to me for any price...he threw them back into his vehicle. I can still remember the look on his face...which could be described as hatred, loathing, anger...you get the idea. I thought fuck you and went about my drunken business...Well it turns out that this guy (Dave Minerva) and I became very good friends over the years and have had many motorcycle dealings (that wasn't the only time I've seen that look of disgust at my offers). We always joked about those "cleats". He said some day we'll have a ceremony and he'll present them to me...

30 years later Kelly has a surprise 50th Birthday party for me (last Saturday night, more about that later) and to my surprise Dave presents we with the "Ceremonial Cleats". He was so thoroughly disgusted with my $1 offer that he kept them these 30 years!
Today, with the turn of a screwdriver, they found their final resting place! I quickly removed the old chrome ones from my '46 FL and installed these beauties.
Dave, I can't thank you enough it's been a great (most of the time) 30 years!!! And thanks to you and Pat for making the trip from Jersey. It was great to see you guys!

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Billy Applegate Kicking Ass on the '50 Pan TT

Billy laying it over in the turn...

Billy and Eric

Billy wins the checkered flag!

The mod that helped make this win possible!

Friday, September 27, 2013

For Jimmy Monk...


Great to see you in Brooklyn Jimmy!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Brooklyn Invitational 2013
















































Brooklyn was a blast...Had a wedding to go to in PA yesterday so I arrived at the Invitational later then usual...about 6:30 PM. I had thrown the 46 Knuckle in the van the night before (yeah I know I shoulda rode it). At least I got to dump it outta the van and buzz around Brooklyn a little bit. Mel had a spot saved out front next to his Indian so I parked it and began enjoying the festivities.
I got to see people I only see in Brooklyn (or very rarely)...Jimmy Monk - England, Max Schaaf-CA, Ken Nagahara CA, Le Beef - Sweden, Tom Fugal - Whereabouts Unknown, Matt (Dice) - Everywhere, and friends from up and down the East Coast.
I finally got to meet Kasper Krogh Motorious from Denmark after corresponding with him last year. It happened quite by accident... I walked outside for a breather and was standing in the street about 5 ft from my Knuckle when a guy walks up to me and says "This is a long shot , but do you happen to know who owns this Knuckle?" That guy was Kasper. We went inside for a beer and I met the rest of the crew from Denmark...Great to meet you guys!
The party was still going strong (in spite of the rain that rolled in late) when I headed back to PA sometime after midnight...
Here are some shitty pictures I took...I actually had to delete a whole bunch that were just blurred images...
Enjoy.