Moonlight Fleamarket, J&P Cycles Rally, National Motorcycle Museum and misadventures along the way.

I have been getting e-mails from J&P hyping their rally and have really wanted to check out the National Motorcycle Museum's new building so I decided I would make a run out there. The original plan was to head out as far as Poopie's in Savanna on Friday the 28th and have a few drinks and camp but when Friday came the weather was constant rain so I decided to wait it out. I was also hoping to get new tires installed as my rear was pretty bald with over 5000 miles on it but the shop wasn't able to get me in til the next week. Saturday morning was still a rainy mess and I almost called the trip off.  But the rain started to clear by Saturday afternoon so I got my shit together and headed out to the moonlight fleamarket in Belvidere. Right as dusk was starting to fall I rolled into Marengo on Rt. 173 and took my foot off my highway pegs so I could reach the controls and I heard a loud ping noise and watched my left peg assembly bounce away.

Luckily it was bright enough I could go back and find it but the bracket that allows it to be indexed was a goner.  The grade 8 bolt holding it to the motor mount snapped.  Now running somewhat later I stopped in Marengo to grab cash and throw on my clear glasses.

 Once I got to the fleamarket I plunked down my $4 only to find the midway pretty empty of sellers due to the earlier rain.

The neatest item i found was this 50's PBR delivery jacket.  Unfortunately, it was a few sizes too big and the seller seemed to think it was worth $225 so I wasn't buying.

Why are my lights getting dim and my gauges flicking to zero!!?!!?

I had an issue with a broken highway peg.  After I replaced the peg I took the bike out for a spin and all was well.

Two days later I took a cruise up to Fontana, WI from Crystal Lake to check of the lake at night.   On the way the bike sounded like it was sputtering a bit and the horn sounded really funny.  I assumed the horn or the switch was going bad.  After i took a walk I hopped back on and the bike barely started,  I assumed the battery must have been going out and made a note to check it.  I moved the bike then parked again to chuck my extra keys in a saddle bag.  Big mistake!  The bike wouldn't turn over.

I tried push starting it but I was having trouble getting enough speed with all my gear.  After ditching my helmet and jacket I was able to get started but realized my attempts at starting had used up what little juice I had left.  Determined to get home or closer to home while I had her running I took off.  I was still thinking it was a bad battery but rev'ing the bike just made the gauges go dim and the needles sputter to zero.  Trying to use the turn signals was caused the gauges to drop out and the headlights to dim.  I realized I had no charging system. :-(

Quick Trip to Milwaukee to catch the Empty Pockets Live!

My old roommate plays in a great band called the Empty Pockets.  They generally play bigger events and private parties but as luck would have it they were booked to play in Milwaukee at Discovery Pier for a free concert by the lake.  I took it as a sign I should attend and headed up.

Parking was a bit of a mess and the museum garage was trying to charge me $8 to park my bike, so as you can see I squeezed into a quasi-legal space in front of a suburban.

The band was setup right on the end of the pier which was really neat because there was some sailboat regatta going on in the background adding to the scenery.

Gloomy Go Pro Snake Road Run, Goldfish = Best fish and Burgers in Kenosha

On a Sunday morning sidewalk,
I'm wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.
'Cause there's something in a Sunday
That makes a body feel alone.
And there's nothing short a' dying
That's half as lonesome as the sound
Of the sleeping city sidewalk
And Sunday morning coming down.

Kris Kristofferson knew how to write a song.

I awoke slightly hungover in Harvard after the exciting Drinkstravaganza we call Milk Days and rather than stumble about town and retread Kris's song I decided to go exploring.

First stop was to head up to Lake Geneva and try out my gopro chest mount on Snake Road.  For those of you who have missed it, it's one of the best motorcycle roads within an hour of Chicago or Milwaukee.  Left and right sweepers, elevation changes it's like they took orders.  Next time you are in the area head out of lake Geneva to the west and pick either entrance to Snake road, it slithers around the hills and million dollar estates and loops back to 50.

Here's the video I got.



After walking around downtown Lake Geneva I decided to visit WOCRR in Paddock Lake so I shot over east on 50.  After a short pitstop I decided to head up to the Kenosha area and put the Gastro in MotoGastro.

First stop was the Pleasant Prairie Mall to get some expired goldfish.  Pepperidge Farms has an outlet store for product that is nearing expiration at super steep discounts.  Unfortunately I unleashed the inner fatty beast and bought way too much stuff.  I ended up with a cart full of weird goldfish flavors and colors, baked snack crackers and Milano cookies.

2013 Mods Vs. Rockers Bike and Scooter Show at the Aragon

A few weeks back I decided to head into Chicago for the Mods Vs. Rockers Motorcycle and Scooter show.

Being as it was a Saturday I figured traffic would be decent and I was wrong.  I got stuck a few times in deadlocked traffic and the Sportster was running very hot.  I was tempted to lanesplit but I never have the balls and always end up roasting in traffic wishing I was in California.  Luckily I only had about 5 miles of 90 when traffic got bad so I was only delayed about 20 minutes and once I got on the surface streets the bike would cool down right?  Wrong again, once I got off I had about 5 more miles on the surface street which was totally backed up and I was really wondering if hell could be much hotter.   After a bit a big BMW tourer flew by splitting in the Bicycle lane.  The bike was running rough and starting to ping so I decided to follow suit.  After I got behind the beamer I made great time and I was thankful I gathered the Cahones or I'd Still be waiting.

Once I got close to the show I fell in behind a hottie in a distressed leather jacket and a retro bell half helmet riding a beautiful triumph and suddenly the heat became the last thought on my mind.  We both pulled up and snagged 2 questionable spaces right on the lip of the drive heading into the show.  I started to gear down when the security guard came up and asked if I had just parked my bike.  I thought I was going to get yelled at and told to move but he said it was the same price to register the bike in the show or pay for admission and pointed to the 50 person line for spectators.  I walked up to the show entry and plunked down my $10.  Sadly Triumph Girl also entered the show and I lost track of her due to the bikes being sectioned by brand.  I headed to the very back corner where they stuck the Harleys and my get was off like a prom dress.

I present the show bike with the least votes, not pictured is the fat-assed spectator with the shortest walk.  I walked around aimlessly snapping pictures of bikes that caught my eye.  Sadly the british bikes and scooters were mostly sparkly clean fresh off the showroom deals.  The neatest bikes were the custom Harleys and Metrics that chose to attend.

An awesome BSA chopper

A neat sportster

Boger Bog and the Stickney Mansion

A few weeks back I took a quick sidetrip to Boger Bog, one of my favorie parks in Mchenry County.  It is a newer addition and worth a look if you are ever in the area.  Before the land was donated by the Boger Family it was used as a place that Frederic Boger stored random architectural components that he had scavenged from historic buildings in Chicago notably the Terra Cotta roofing which is from the 1933 World's Fair..  When it was converted to a park MCCD repurposed some of the materials to make the park structures but left most of them undisturbed which make for a neat park to explore and take photos.

Here are some pics from a previous trip.

Bike Night at Skeeter's in Carpentersville with Mews

Every wednesday skeeters in Carpentersville throws a nice bikenight.  The bartender makes a homecooked meal that is free until it runs out starting a 6pm and there are cheap buckets of longnecks.  The main bar is closed for remodeling so the tikibar in the parking lot is in full swing.

At the burger night in Lombard some of the Mewsers were interested in checking out Skeeters for their Wednesday Bike Night the following Week. I threw up an event on meetup and about 10 riders dropped in.  There was a bit of confusion on which way to pull into the bar but the comedy of all the regulars screaming wrong way to the guys who missed the sign was priceless.

Eating at Jt's Porch with MEWS

I'm a bit behind due to being caught up in other projects such as getting this beast back on the road.

The Mews Meetup group meets a few times a month for $4 burger tuesdays at JT's Porch in Lombard.  My schedule and the weather were cooperating a few weeks back and I made a run down there.

There was about 30 bikers in attendance and it was probably the best $4 burger I've had.  The 30+oz cup messes with the scale as the burger/plate/cup were all huge.

Slimey Crud Run Spring 2013

After seeing the Slimey Crud Run whispered about in dark corners of the internet I decided I would like to check it out.  An old friend whom I will refer to as Whiney Old Crotch Rocket Rider or WOCRR for short was also interested so we agreed to to leave our respective houses at 8:00am and meetup at a halfway point in Darien by the titty bar and ride up together.

I left about on time but realized I needed gas and had to grab cash for food and drinks in case I couldn't use plastic in cheeseland so I booked it on the way up and arrived at the gas station with 2 minutes to spare.

And then I waited and waited and waited.   After double checking the Vegas Club wasn't open I waited some more.  After 15 minutes I got a call from WOCRR who said he was lost or some such excuse and would be there in another 5 minutes.

After 20 minutes or 3 extended lapdances had the titty bar been open I heard a pitiful sound come whining up.  Sadly the bike sounded OK, it was the rider whining about his old age related problems such as not being able to tell time or drive the speed limit.

Shortly after taking this picture he complained that smiling hurt his cheeks.  We were now both gassed up and ready to go but 30 minutes behind schedule.  I realized there may not be many places to stop once we get out of Janesville so we grabbed a quick breakfast at McDonald's.  WOCRR complained it would give him gas, luckily I was the lead bike.   We hauled ass up to Pine Bluff and knew we were getting close as we kept seeing more and more motorcycles.  Once we got really close we started to see earlybirds tearing off to start their run.  Just before town a Hayabusa flew by in a full tuck and must have been doing 100+.

The $100 Burger at Pilot Pete's

With a free afternoon before my accounting final, the temps pushing 85F and a need for an early dinner I pulled up my handy list of places I want to check out and picked Pilot Pete's.

On my way south on 31 I got stuck in construction traffic around  Algonquin.  Idling an air cooled bike for 20 minutes on an 85 degree day left me seeking a way to cool down so I shot across the Fox and followed the river into East Dundee.

 

Oil temp was 225F when I stopped to snap this pic at a picnic area on the Fox.

40 minutes later I arrived at Pilot Pete's hot and hungry.

Ninjas, Cats and Gyros or where I rolled on the first nice weekend in Chicago

With the weather finally getting warm I was able to actually able to get some great riding in without trying to cram in what I could while the weather held so I made the most of the weekend.

On Friday there was a meetup of the Chicago Motorcycle Meetup group at The Twisted Spoke in Chicago.

 The Twisted Spoke is a motorcycle themed bar and grill which had this cool skeleton spinning around on top.

 The also had a nippon rust garden.

The Quest for The Dead River

While I was looking for interesting places at Altas Obscura and saw the pictures of the Dead river I decided I would put it on my list of places to check out.

The weather was supposed to be in the mid 50's all day today and I decided to see if I could find it and check out the sights along the way.

I left Crystal Lake and headed Lakemoor to pickup RT120 to Waukegan.

Once I got to the lakeshore I saw signs for the Waukegan Municipal Beach so I decided to check it out.

Doesn't look very beachlike does it? 

 I drove a bit further down the road and came upon the actual beach.  There were tons of kites being flown which was neat.

The Whistle Goes WOOOOOO!

With spring finally peeking It's head up the days are getting warm enough to ride with a destination in mind.

I decided to head down to Bob's motorcycle shop in Dundee as he's shutting down and will be closed by 4/31 at the latest.

I bought some chrome head bolt covers to hide the rusty hot mess that mine have become and of course ended up buying the wrong ones.  Oh well anyone need a set that are too small for an 03 sportster?

I then checked my map of places I wanted to check out to see what was close.  I saw 2 Toots Grill in Bartlett or Priscilla's Ultimate Express in Hanover Park, IL.  Due to the fact that I had limited time and had to get back for a 3 hour accounting class I decided to hit 2 Toots.

Crusin' Cary Bike Night

Crusin' Cary is a summer cruise night held every Wednesday in Cary, IL. Each week has a different theme announced in advance HERE. I was digging through some old photos and on July 15 2009 the theme was motorcycles.  There are usually several bikes parked by the Tracks Bar but there was a great turnout for the bike night. Here are some of the pics I grabbed, I tried to guess the makes and models but comment if I screwed any up.

This was my favorite bike of the show and it was at most of the Crusin' Cary shows I made it to.

 

 Custom 1975 Kawasaki Z1 red with orange ghost flames

  Custom 1975 Kawasaki Z1 red with orange ghost flames

 

  Custom 1975 Kawasaki Z1 red with orange ghost flames

Wisconsin Rustic Roads Motorcycle Tour

Wisconsin DOT has a program where they select old farm roads that they feel are scenic and designate them as rustic roads.  If you drive them on your motorcycle and take a picture of your bike in front of the road marker and submit them you will receive official recognition from the state.  If you send in 10 pictures you get a patch, if you send in 25 you get a certificate.

A few years back I took my Kawasaki Zephyr 550 out a few times and got enough pictures for a patch.

The first trip was to the Lake Geneva area which has 4 rustic roads and up to grab 2 more near Burlington.

Rustic Road 11
Location:  Walworth County. To the east of Lake Geneva, R-11 includes South Road, Steel Road, Spring Valley Road and Knob Hill Road between WIS 50 and WIS 36. The route adjoins R-12 and R-36.
Length:  10.3 miles
Surface:  Paved
This gently winding route provides excellent views of glacial Kettle Moraine topography. R-11 passes through large wooded areas of oak, maple and hickory, with glimpses of a game farm and scenic agricultural land.

Rustic Road 12
Location:  Walworth County. This route includes Back Road, Sheridan Springs Road, Spring Valley Road and Church Road, between WIS 50 and WIS 36 adjoining R-11 and R-36.
Length:  5.7 miles
Surface:  Paved
At various points the road offers panoramic views of lush green hills and valleys. The sharply curving route passes outstanding Kettle Moraine formations, pine and spruce plantations, a tamarack swamp and several ponds. R-12 crosses the White River and runs through the community of Lyons with its several quaint churches.

Valentines Candy and Card Run

I had a few spare hours before class this afternoon and I needed to grab some Valentines gifts.  I noticed the sun was out and after finding the thermometer was at a balmy 45F I decided to take the sportster.

A quick run to grab a card and then to the Thornton's in Cary to get some Nutrageous bars for the burgermodel was all I had time for but it was a great day to ride.

I did find my throttle return was loose but I got it all straightened out.

Some pictures of the bike outdoors with all the modifications in place.  Now that you can see the rear you can get a look at the red turn signals and the custom chrome taillight visor.

3/4LB Cheeseburger at The Spot in Marengo, IL

The weather outside is still firmly in winter mode so riding is out of the question but food must still be consumed.  Seeking a great burger I and my lovely burger model made the short trip over to Marengo Illinois to visit The Spot.

If you haven't been to the spot you're in for a treat.  It's to quote their slogan "a sick little bar", mainly a dive for locals to eat and drink the day away but don't let the cluttered atmosphere and bleary eyed clientele fool you, they have a world class burger.

Note the dim lighting and overexposed windows, You are now experiencing "Blearovision"tm

As the map on the wall shows they have quite a far flung clientele.

We started with the Mac and Cheese bites, typical bar food but on special for $3.25.

Now for the burgers

They take 12oz of fresh ground beef and through some sort of black magic manage to make a burger that is perfectly cooked and juicy in spite of it's massive size.  Fries or onion rings are optional and I would recommend just ordering a burger unless you are extremely hungry as the fries that we ordered could not be consumed after the massive burger.

I got the Spotburger with everything and onion rings.

The Spotburger virgin ordered hers with pepperjack cheese aka the "HotSpot"  We were strongly urged by a patron to order a fried egg on top of the "Hotspot" which he referred too as a "Tyson Burger" but much like the cannibal who ate the clown I bet anything named after a guy called Tyson tastes a little funny.

Can I get a bite?

If you'd like to try your own 3/4lb Spotburger head to
The Spot

214 S State St, Marengo, IL 60152

(815) 568-8676

If the owner Ritchie is working, pester him to do some magic tricks. He is an awesome bartender to shoot the breeze with.

Fork Boots Redux

After installing the fork boots and getting the bike all put back together I realized that they had a bit too much slack.

After I installed the nacelle I had to push them down even more so they were looking pretty bunched up so I removed a total of 3 pleats from the bottom of each boot and punched new drain holes on the 2nd lowest pleat of each.

Here is how they look presently, I think I may cut out another pleat to give them a bit less slack.

A crash bar by any other name

I've always liked the idea of a crash bar on my motorcycles.  We all try to be careful but I personally have dropped a bike or two when I put the kickstand down and either caught it with my foot and knocked it back up or didn't extend it all the way and it snapped back up on it's own.  Luckily most times I've noticed or heard the kickstand flip up but when I didn't the bike fell over as I got off.  Luckily I put crash bars/case guards/engine guards on my Zephyr so the one time I leaned it over nothing happened but the guard got dirty.

On the Sportster I've debated installing a guard.  They do not usually make a bike look better but I have had the jiffy stand flip back quite frequently so I have a feeling it's only a matter of time before I screw up.  I decided I'd see if I could find one cheap and throw it on and if I didn't like the looks sell it on craigslist.

I found an ebay seller liquidating a pile of NOS 49018-88C engine guards from a dealer who went under.  I figured I'd throw in a lowball bid of $40 and see what happened.  The guard sold for $60 but the seller offered me another for my $40 bid so I jumped on it.

The install was quick and straightforward.  Remove the two upper engine mount bolt and the 2 upper lower engine mount bolts and install the guard.

I think it looks fine and goes nicely with the 50's and 60's look I'm going for.   We'll see if I change my mind but for $40 it's cheap insurance.

Here are some pics of it installed.

The Nacelle From Hell

I really like the look of a nacelle with fork books on motorcycles.  I also really hated the way the stock sportster headlight looks.  Luckily for me Harley has a nacelle kit for sportsters and dynas, unluckily it was discontinued in 2007.  After trolling ebay and only finding buy it now auctions for $400 and up and a few completed listings for around $300 I figured it might be like finding a unicorn.  On a whim I stopped in the local dealer and asked them to run the part number 67971-04.  They searched other dealers and found some that showed them in inventory and said they possibly could order from another dealer.  I asked how much and was told the msrp was $199 so it'd be 220 with shipping.  They wouldn't give me the dealer list so I was stuck having to go through them but they said they'd get a firm price and call me back if they could find one.

The guy called back and said they had one but the price was now $250.  It was still cheaper than ebay and I figured at least I could return it if it was broken or missing parts.  I gave the go ahead and they said they'd call me back the following Tuesday to get my credit card once the order was final.  I swung by on Tuesday as I was in the area and it turns out the reason it had to wait 5 days was the dealers credit cards was maxed and they needed to pay their bill to use it again, I had to wait so I could order it through them and pay them for the privilege.  What a great system Harley dealers have a corner on the parts ripoff market.  Now I know why people were paying more money to deal with ebay sellers.

Anyways, the kit shows up that Friday and I decide it's going on immediately.  I verified I had all the part and then read through the instructions and found out that I had missed that I needed an in-lb and ft-lb torque wrench and blue lock tight so I immediately had to run back to harbor freight before I could get started.

Here are some before pictures

The instructions say I need to remove the stock bucket and visor.  I get the bulb out and find that while the instructions say I just need to break down the stock headlight connector and pull the terminals out the back and reassemble, my headlight also has 2 6pin Deutsch connectors for my speedo and tach and I would need to break both down to get the stock bucket off, it would be nice if the instructions even mentioned extra terminals.

Too many wires, not enough instructions

One of the 2 extra connectors

I checked the FSM and it said to pry the locking block out and I realized this was going to be a huge pain in the ass.  I started trying to get the first one apart without breaking anything and got nowhere.  I realized the I stood a good chance of breaking the block and needing extra parts and even if I got everything apart there was a chance I would end up screwing up the seal in the connectors.  I then said screw it and got the tin snips and just butchered the stock bucket.  I can get a new bucket but a new harness would be pricey.

I'm a terrible person

 For sale 02 Sportster headlight bucket, lightly used

 Down to the bare forks

Ok, now the stock parts are off.  Next step start putting all the nacelle parts together.  Just one problem each screw hole is full of shit and the screws are binding enough that I snapped off a few T15 torx bits.  I ended up having to oil up a qtip and put each screw in a tiny bit then back it out and swab the threads and put the screw in a bit more and repeat until the screw was able to seat.  I really need to buy a tap set.

Next step is put the nacelle on the forks using two flat brackets.  I screwed this up by having the nacelle on top of the fork boots. I then had to pull it back off and pull the boots down.  after reassembling I found the boots had angled the nacelle enough to cause the flimsy brackets to deform and no longer hold the nacelle to the forks and I had managed to pinch a wire in the speedo harness luckily not hard enough to break it but I'll probably have it fail at some point.  Luckily the brackets were so crappy I could recontour them by hand and get the nacelle mounted up right.

Next step screw in the rear panels.  Of course the directions don't mention that you have to unbole the brake lines on the right side of the bike to get that panel to fit.  I skipped to the left side and found that they had apparently used the rarest allen key size ever. I had 4 sets of allen keys and none had the correct size.  I decided to check the flip out set I carry with the bike and found the correct size, it was 7/64.  Unfortunately I didn't have the space to get to the screws with the flip out set so I gave up for the night.

The next day I got a allen set with 7/64 from harbor freight and I was finally able to finish the install.  It was probably 4hrs total and would have been so much easier with better instructions.  Keep in mind I had pulled the throttle cables out then I put on the fork boots or there would have been the need to remove the throttle as well which would have been at least and extra 20 minutes.  I also still need to make a cover for the backside as it's completely open and I'd like to shield the wiring to keep it from possibly rubbing the frame or getting wet.  Overall, way too big of a pain in the ass and you can see why Harley only had them from 2004-2007.


The finished product

Now that it's all done I do think it looks great but I dread ever having to get at anything that will require removing it. Though now I kind of want to paint the forks, it never ends.


Before and after Comparison