Boots & Braces

Or fork braces, anyway.

Super Safe Test Fire

It was a total success, for the record. Wiring is good, carb tune is good.

The finish line approaches.

SPEED HOLES!!!

I think this is looking pretty fast.

Some photos from Jaime.

Jaime Mason is an awesome photographer and I am so glad to share some of the digital photos he took of the trip. There may be even more coming when he develops his film.

Enjoy.

Every journey ends somewhere...

Yesterday involved the departure of Jody back to Bend, some awesome cross country gravel road travel, some crappy traffic in Medford, a nice swim in the Illinois River and the lodging at the most bizarre place I have ever stayed, Sparkplug's motorcycle campground.

We rolled out of there early this morning and scooted over the border into California. Highlights of the day included: cliff jumping into the Smith River, a ride through the awe inspiring redwoods at Stout Grove, and riding through a giant Redwood. Sadly, Ryan, Jaime, and I parted ways in Klamath, CA. Hopefully they are getting home safe and sound right about now.

1312 miles, all told. What a weekend. I can't wait to do it again. TONS of far superior photos will be coming soon when Jaime gets his all up.

Crater Lake, White Horse Falls

Crater Lake is one of the most breath taking things I've ever seen. These photos do it no justice. Got to dive in and swim too. Stumbled upon this camp ground and got the last spot too. So awesome.

Sisters, Indian Ford, Camp Sherman

Met up with the guys in Sisters yesterday afternoon. Set up camp in Indian Ford. Went swimming in Suttle Lake and stopped into Camp Sherman for supplies and a look at the beautiful Metolius river. Packed up this morning and had breakfast in Sisters and it's onward to Crater Lake now.

Adios Klamath

Thanks for the wonderful accommodations last night, A-1 Budget Motel.

WTF Klamath Falls?!

If there were any more bugs in the air I think I would have gotten knocked off of my bike. It was like riding through rain, except every raindrop was a bug meeting it's grizzly demise in rapid deceleration against my body.

Mt. Shasta

Looking all puny. Probably no big deal to climb.

Pit Stop #1

This trip is getting expensive already...

The Oregon Bro Trip 2014 Commences Shortly!

Got the "touring model" Buell ready to roll. Looking like some kind of retarded insect. No saddle bags, no problem.

Exhaust tucked in tight!

Modified Yoshimura 4 into 1 header and a shorty stainless steel "muffler." There won't be anything quiet about it!

SV650 fork rebuild

I'm selling my trusty SV650 to my younger brother and finally got around to upgrading the front end. It's now sporting 95kg Sonic Springs and Race Tech Gold Valve Emulators.

Wow. What a difference in ride. Now the front end is keeping up with the rear, which is wearing a GSXR1000 shock. I'm gonna miss this bike!

Rejetted and rebuilt!

CV carbs cleaned, rejetted, and hooked up with stainless hardware. Ready to mount up on the GS550 cafe racer.

Those are some nice looking rotors

Cross drilled spiral pattern and surface ground.

Aluminum tail is taking shape

Getting this bad boy roughed in and tacked together. I'll weld it up and smooth the welds but full metal finishing will wait il until the tank is done too.

The devil is in the details

Mitered the ends of the cut off frame tubes to mirror the angle of the tail section I'm working on for the GS550z

Hammer form beginnings

The GS550 cafe racer I'm working on is going to have a hammer formed, raw aluminum tank and tail. All the mounts are welded to the frame and the time has come to start shaping the tail. I made the bottom template yesterday and hammered the base into rough shape.

Dirt Bikes in the Desert

My brother and I haven't had a chance to hang out and do something fun in the better part of two years, so this past weekend I packed up the KTM and drove down to San Diego to pick him up and go for a ride out at Plaster City. I just got a GoPro so this is my first attempt at video as well. Prepare for boredom. On the plus side, you do get to laugh at me crashing and kicking my bike over a million times.



Dirt Bike Ride in Plaster City KTM 450 EXC and Suzuki DRZ400 GoPro Hero 3 from Eric Thompson on Vimeo.