Parting out a 1974 Honda CB360T

Winter...

I HATE WINTER!

Honestly, I wish I could just hibernate through it sometimes. Starting to get cold around here in the venings and of course dark only 2 hours after I get off work. One of these days when kids are grown and gone and I get to retire I will move to southern California and get away from this weather.

Until then I guess I will keep plugging away at things and keep bitching about it.

Now that my house has all new carpet, hardwood flooring and new furniture it is time to get back on to my toys.

I did manage to get the shop cleaned back up and began working on the Kong Project again. I had cut the neck to rake it out to accept the +8 forks I had picked up from Landman over at So'Full Garage. Now I had to weld it back solid and put in some gussets. I got one side done and will hopefully have the other side done soon.

I picked up a DOHC swingarm from a 1979 model off of Mynameismudd on TCU and HC.com. I also got a local to bend some 1" DOM for me so I can get the seat post rails back into place. So Once this neck area is done it will be time to get the rest of the frame back together.


Until next time I will leave you with this truth...

New Shirts!!!!

OK, so the prices are a bit high due to one off printing but I do have shirts available now. You can get yours by clicking the images to the right of your screen.

First up is the Official Car99r's Garage Black Tee with the CB750 SOHC motor on back.

The just for shits and giggles we have the famous WIFE shirt available in black or white. Be sure and pick one up for that loved one in your life... ***AT YOUR OWN RISK OF COURSE***



Fazer1sniper's Ride

Seen this picture and wanted to share it plus a link to all other pics that belong to Fazer1sniper.

This picture is just 1 of many bikes that he has built and many more pictures here that show off his wife's beauty.

PS. On a separate note, Sniper's daughter is deployed with the US Army 3rd Special Forces. Our thoughts are with her and all those who serve our country!!!

Trip to the almighty Walmart...

I figured you all would get a kick out of this one...

I decided after work last night to stop into my local Super Walmart to pick up a new wireless keyboard and a surge protector... Now, I never go to big stores. If I cannot buy it at the local farm supply store, hardware store, auto parts store or gas station then I buy online.

I suddenly remembered why I never go to that place...lol

It took me 15 minutes to find where I needed to be for the stuff cause I never know where anything is. Then I get it and decide to stop and check out that camera I have been wanting. I pick the camera up and an ear piercing alarm starts going off. Loud as hell and many employees looking at me as I stand there continuing to check it out but not a single one moving to silence this annoying ass alarm. Finally some guy walks out as I walk away to shut it off and I mention it is annoying and he says "Yep!" with a facial expression like it was all my fault for looking at something to buy.

I then go up to pay at one of the only 2 checkouts open (45 closed ones) and my friggin bank check card would not scan, lady scans it 3-4 times and says I will have to pay some other way. I tell her to see if she can round up a manager to hand enter it. She says they cannot do this and I proceed to tell her they can and have before so please call a manager. Finally a kid shows up and I tell him and he does it just as the last time when this happened.

Then I go to leave and the damn security thing goes off at the door and some 16 year old punk kid comes running over like he was gonna tackle me (Now, I remind you I am 6'1" and 300 lbs, this kid is about 5'5" and 90 lbs soaking wet... Yeah, tackle me...lmao). I stop him and tell him he better slow down. He asks to see my receipt, takes stuff up to register, runs over magnet and I walk out finally...

I will try to go another year without stepping into that place!

Why Do Bikers Wear Black

     We've had so many emails asking why bikers wear black that I thought the question deserved a detailed explanation and here it is.

     The vast majority of the population at large imagines that Bikers and other so-called 'undesirables' and 'social misfits' usually wear black attire to make some kind of social statement. Many think that the adoption of a black wardrobe is done to reflect the horror of Hitler's infamous Schutzstaffel, the SS, who wore black uniforms with lightening bolts and skulls as the units hallmark Others think that black clothes are deliberately adopted to make one look tough, sinister or satanic. Where conventional straight society sees white shirts as a sign of success it is supposed that the 'underclass' adopts black in opposition just to be different.

     Well it may surprise many, including a lot of bikers, to learn that the adoption of black clothing goes way back in time and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with social statements. It was just an adaptation to environmental conditions. People whose trade involved working with 'dirty' machinery wore black (or dark) clothing to hide dirt and grease.

     The common term 'blacksmith' referred to a smithy, one who works with metals, and 'black', specifically meaning iron. It was the common practice for smithy's to wear dark clothing to hide the soot, slag and grease deposited on their clothes over the course of their everyday work.

     Nothing has changed much over time and even today it is quite common for metal workers to wear dark work clothes such as the dark blue and sometimes black worn by maintenance workers in industrial plants.

As the matter of dark clothing relates to bikers who don't do any metal work the practice of dressing 'darkly' was popularized because old motorcycles were notoriously 'dirty' machines slinging oil and grease in all directions when they were ridden so light colored dusters were definitely not the thing to wear on one's bike. In addition it was not uncommon for those who rode motorbikes to be campers and if you've ever spent any extended time camping out you'll no doubt understand that white 'undies' or 'outies' aren't the ideal thing to be wearing for days on end.

     Dark clothes are simply a matter of practicality when one works on or operates machinery that generates a lot of oily dirt. It's as simple as that. There is no social statement being made and there never has been except in the minds of those who believe wearing black means something special, which it doesn't.

     The Hollywood crowd however loves the black Tee-shirts with all of the anti-social chopper logos printed on the back side and black leather chaps are just the rage these days but I'm personally suspicious of folks wearing black 'outers' with white 'inners' if you know what I mean.

~Chopper Builder's Handbook

bikerMetric | custom yamaha xs650 honda cb450 metric bobbers choppers cafe racers parts: biker movie posters #1

I wish I would have seen Biker Metric's latest blog before ordering anythign for my new theatre room walls...

bikerMetric custom yamaha xs650 honda cb450 metric bobbers choppers cafe racers parts: biker movie posters #1: thanks to the always kickass wrong side of the art for these gnarly old biker movie posters.

Harlo's Kong Project

So a few weeks ago I picked up a hell of a deal. 1975 CB750 with 4-1 exhaust and Lester mags. Well, I have many projects sitting around and Harlo was over one day and said he really wanted to do a CB750 Kong project after seeing Landman's bobber he has been riding the last couple of months.

I decided to pass the deal onto Harlo for the same price and give him a hand building it when I have time.

This past Saturday while the rest of the Flatlanders were partying it up for Halloween at the So'Full Garage we tore into it.

Here it is at the beginning...

and 3 hours later...

Pile of trash removed so far!

This pile is stuff that can be re-sold for cool parts and/or re-useable parts on the build.

The motor on this thing has froze up over the past 2 years sitting outside but we dumped some PB Blaster in the cylinders that day and this evening I was able to kick it over just fine.

The Flatlanders

Motorcycles have evolved greatly over the decades. The term “chopper” presented itself back in World War II, when soldiers were displeased with the bikes being built at the time. As the story goes, soldiers got together and “chopped” their motorcycles, shortening fenders and removing other unwanted parts, making them lighter in weight and looking less cluttered. This has been a hobby of mine for quite some time now, with motorcycles and "chopping" also comes, bringing people together, and sharing ideas.


The later is what being a Flatlander is all about to me. I have grown very fond of our little Rider's Club and I am proud to call each and everyone of them brothers. I know they have my back and it doesn't matter if I am right or wrong because they will still support it and I the same.

Chris "car99r" Robertson (That's me...)

Barry "Landman" Land

Mike "Scraphous" Heminghous

Cody "Weird Beard" Pruitt

Paul "Copper_King" Schanbacher

Harlo "Harlo" Watkins

Derek "Dirka" Miller

Justin "justin" McMullen

R.I.P Brother!

Jason "Brumie" Brumfield

Bill "Dirty Sparkles" Krummel

Tim "trfoltz" Foltz

Ken "Greazy" Corrie

Roger "Falldown" Lindemuth

Merchandise

So, I am always looking for new things to toss in the TCU store and try to keep them cheap. Well, I recently had some new stickers made up and some new oval patches. You can see all of the TCU merchandise by clicking here!

Dudly's CL360 Build

Some of you might know our member Sody from North (and I mean WAY North) Michigan but do you know that when he is not turning out sweet bikes like the Honda VLX pictured here that he spends his time assisting his little brother learn the wrench?

Sody's 07 VLX Build

Dudly's story...

Here is what he started with... (1974 Honda CL360)

and as any good chopperhead does in the first 4 hours of owning it...

5" stretch in the swingarm will give some much needed room on this little thing...

and how is this for low cost custom building???

A tractor supply trailer fender, narrowed 2" and shortened,

and one of the rear turn signals made with 2" bullet style LEDs and 1 1/2 conduit copmression fittings (slightly modified)

Massged some more room by using pod filters instead of those bulky air boxes. This should also make room for a new battery tray and electrics mount.

After a couple of weeks being immobile from surgery and only getting to watch Sody play in the garage, Dudly was back at it with some rattle cans.

Then it was time to start assembling all the pieces again...

and we have a low cost custom build straight from a hidden garage in the coldest part of Michigan!

Dudly finally gets to go for the first ride! Not bad for a little less than 6 months and a rotator cuff surgery in between. Good job Dudly!