Save the Date - Bama Swap and Drag

The next edition of The Bama Swap and Drag will be March 28th, 2015.  Mark your calendars and come out to support a great local event.  More details to come.

 

Holiday Sale

americanaspeedshop.bigcartel.com or click the link to the webstore on the right.

While we're talking EDR

These Officially Licensed EDR Passport Wallets are available and made to order. I think they are a great way to remember your trip long after the Tecate and fish tacos have left you!

Email me to order - americanaspeedshop@gmail.com

Ride motorcycles in Mexico. Have fun.

2015 El Diablo Run

2015 EDR Fever has set in!  Ross and I are proud to sponsor next year's Baja Adventure, May 28-June 1.  Check out all the info - www.eldiablorun.com and make your plans now!

 

Bama Swap & Drag

This weekend we will be set up at the Bama Swap & Drag in Section, AL. This is an awesome event hosted by Rick's Cycle Parts and Violent Choppers. 

We'll have the last of our 2014 Bonanza and Gringo LE colorways, whiskey throttles, grips, risers and foot pegs (along with other odds and ends from previous projects).

Come see us!

Barber's Recap

The 10th Annual Barber's Vintage Festival was a blast! Ross and I set up a booth in the Swap Meet, selling on behalf of Biltwell, Inc., and we were BUSY! I didn't even get out of the Swap Meet area until Sunday afternoon, and that was only to grab a few tacos.

Thanks to McGoo for making the trip out from California and keeping us entertained!  Also, thanks to everyone for coming by, buying a helmet, or just showing support.  Ross and I really appreciate it!

Be sure to get there next year, it's always an awesome event!

Barber Vintage Festival - October 10-12

Come by and visit us at The Barber Vintage Festival, October 10-12 at the Barber Motorsports Park.  We will be set-up in the Swap Meet area, booth N22.

This year, we will be featuring a TON of items from Biltwell.  Helmets, grips, throttles, foot pegs, etc.

If you've been thinking of getting a new lid, Barber's will be a great time to do it!

 

Next Weekend!

Excited to see everyone next weekend. Use this address for your planning purposes. Ride safe!

Latest Leatherwork

I finished up this handlebar bag over the weekend. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

The Catalina Wine Mixer 2 Info

Here is some info on the party next month. It's $5/bike and $10/car admission. Each admission gets 1 raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets are $5/each or 6/$20. Raffle will be held around Sunset.

Finished Saddlebag

I finished the latest saddlebag and it's on the way to Chicago to be put into service.

Getting there...

Progress on the latest bag. Working on the lid next...

Saddlebag in Progress

Here's the latest saddlebag I have been working on. This is a full custom design for a customer in Chicago. It's been a challenge (I'm beginning to think every project presents their own challenges) but I'm liking the way it is coming along. Lacing this panel to the gusset took me over 4 hours!!

I'm taking a break and then it is time to tackle lacing the other panel!

Lowbrow Customs Getdown

Ross and I had a great trip up to Ohio for the Lowbrow Getdown.  This year, the event shared the venue, Nelson's Ledges Quarry, with an Electronic Dance Music Festival...that's fancy talk for "Rave".

It was quite the mix of people sharing a 300 acre campground.  People watching was extraordinary!  We met awesome folks and had a fun time exploring around the quarry.

We ended up clocking over 1650 miles round trip, the longest motocamping trip for either of us.  There is an art to long distance riding and I have a new found respect for those who log mega-miles.

Big thanks to Tyler, Kyle, Greg, Longhair and the rest of the Lowbrow Customs Crew for the hospitality.  We hope to see y'all down South soon! 

Get on up to Get Down!

This weekend is going to be awesome!  Big Boss Ross and I leave Wednesday headed North to Ohio.  It will be the longest trip I've done on my Shovel, 1600+ miles round trip.

Checking and double checking the bike.  Can't wait!

The Catalina Wine Mixer 2!

No, it's not being held on Catalina Island!  Come join us in Winfield, AL on Saturday September 13th for an awesome gathering of like-minded motorcycle enthusiasts.  We will raffle off awesome prizes from great companies at Sunset and the party will roll on into Sunday.

Bring your camping gear, some drinks and your buddies.

Please share and help spread the word!

El Diablo Run 6 Passport Wallets

Officially Licensed El Diablo Run 6 Passport Wallets are now available.  I'm getting an early start on next year's run.  Interior features 3 card slots, a license holder, stash pocket and protects your passport.

These make an awesome functional souvenir for your Mexican Motorcycle Adventure!

$60 shipped in ConUS.  Email americanaspeedshop@gmail.com to order.

The Catalina Wine Mixer 2

Save the date - 9/13/14. Keep up to date by following @thecatalinawinemixer_2 on Instagram.

Barber's Photodump

I've always felt like I didn't truly appreciate having the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in my backyard.  Every October we head out for the Vintage Festival and each year I vow to come out and enjoy the museum more.

I now live about 2 miles away from Barber's so there really is no excuse.  It's a world-class facility and there is always something new that catches my eye. 

Here are a few pictures from a recent visit.  I highly recommend the museum to anyone out there who appreciates vintage vehicles!

Sandrock Hillclimb

JBMFT caught my "hillclimb" on video from our last motocamping trip.  What makes this video great is the running commentary by Boss Ross!

Wheels Through Time

Whatever I say about this place does not do it justice! I really want to get back soon because I feel like I didn't even scratch the surface!

I'll let the pictures do the talking...

SW2DZ14 - Photodump

Here are a few shots from the weekend...

 Thursday afternoon crew.  Otto Von Blotto, Louis, Gigastatt, MikeD and Boss Ross chewing the fat.

 The Biltwell Dept. of Good Times Van loaded and headed for Mexican Food!

James and the "Big Man Platter" 

Skyway to the Danger Zone - Recap

What a weekend!  I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked for a variety of reasons.  First off, I had an issue with my Sportster that began about 150 miles away from Deals Gap.  Fortunately I was spending the weekend with some really competent Harley mechanics!

A broken exhaust flange on my rear head lead to all hell breaking loose! Got the exhaust welded up in town, still not fixed.  We eventually took the rear head all the way down to inspect the exhaust valve.  The fear was that my 150 mile ride with a loose exhaust could have bent or broken the valve.  

Once I was holding the head in my hand, I started to worry.  Everything looked good, no indication of damage and we poured gas into the combustion chamber - looking for leaks.

It was still mid-day Friday, so I was holding out hope to get it fixed in time to salvage the main ride on Saturday.  The trip to Maggie Valley, and Wheels Through Time Museum, riding back on the Cherohala Skyway and finishing with the Tail of the Dragon was the main event!

We were kind of at a loss at this point so we put the head back on, buttoned everything up and hoped for the best.  No good.  Still popping and backfiring through the rear exhaust pipe.

Since everything mechanical seemed to check out, we turned our attention to electrical and timing.  Points looked good, I replaced the condenser, spark plugs, and tried spark plug wires from Walt's FXR.  That seemed to be it.  The spark plug wires.  For a fleeting moment it fired up, idled, and revved like it was supposed to.  I was on top of the world!  Gigastatt Tim offered to drive me down the mountain in search of new plug wires.  All the parts shops were closed so we headed to Murphy NC (about 40 min away) to go to Wal Mart.  Big mistake, Wal Mart deems it unnecessary to carry plug wires.

I woke up early Saturday and headed down to Robbinsville to wait on the Carquest to open at 8:00.  The group was scheduled to leave at 9:00 so I was hoping the plug wires would do the trick.  I got back to Deals Gap and was really bummed that the new wires did not do the trick.  I could ride the bike, and I did around the parking lot, but it popped and banged and sounded like poop!  Oh well, I wasn't going to miss the day!

The bike would run, it just didn't want to idle.  Good thing there wasn't much idling in our 250+ mile journey.

All in all, it was an awesome day riding some of the best roads in the country.  Wheels Through Time was mind blowing and it was a great weekend with some of the best dudes on 2 wheels!

We had an awesome BBQ dinner and drank some cold beer while watching some intense pit bike racing in the parking lot.

Ross, Kustom Jeff and I left around 8:30 Sunday morning for the journey back to Birmingham.  We made it outside of Cleveland when we stopped for gas.  Kustom Jeff ran into a buddy who was in the area for the Shovelhead reunion.  Since he was driving his bike up in his truck he offered up his coil.  We were pumped that it seemed the coil would fix my problem but alas, it still didn't provide the fix.

We pushed on to Cleveland and I decided to pull over into a closed gas station for shade.  I thought that we could source some new points and another new condenser in Cleveland.  Kustom Jeff rode a few miles away to an O'Reilly Auto Parts and picked up the parts.  We installed them and while we were re-timing the bike, KJ noticed the points were arching on the cam bolt.  Apparently this was the problem all along!  We got the points installed into the notch that keeps them away from the bolt and it ran like a champ all the way to Birmingham!

I want another shot at those roads with my bike dialed in!  I am looking at the Bastard Bash in August and if I can make it happen I will be back!

I want to thank EVERYONE that pitched in and helped me salvage my trip.  Boss Ross, Kustom Jeff, Gigastatt Tim, 47 Industries Mike, Kickstart Walt, Otto Von Blotto, Biltwell Bill, MikeD and everyone else that chimed in with a theory on how to fix it.

This is probably the longest post ever on this blog, but it really was a crazy sequence of events!

I'll make another post with some pictures from the trip.  Search #skywaytothedangerzone on Instagram for everyone's pictures.

  

Heading to The Danger Zone...

Boss Ross and I are heading out in the morning.  Kustom Jeff is coming up Friday.  Been looking forward to this one for a long time!  

Great roads, good friends and a trip to Wheels Through Time!

I'll have a full report when we get back!

Recent Work

I've had a few orders for belts lately. I also started on one for myself today. I enjoy the challenge of tooling in such a small area.

1 Month Out. Be there!

I dropped my Sporty off with Rick's Cycle Parts this past weekend for some brake upgrades.  I want to have plenty of brakes when Big Boss Ross and I head up to tame the dragon! haha

This is going to be such a great weekend!  Ride Motorcycles Have Fun!!!