Its Alive

bike is running

couple of more Pics of the Build

slowly but surely its getting there 

Morning Storming, riding with a reason..

Sun ain't up yet and the night was long..Got something that needs done..Words out the there is going to be heat but we have to make the move today. Strapped the scooter down last night, everything accept the stuff that can make or break today..Step into the closet and find the right one, fuck it I'm packing all three, you only live once..

Rolled up up the meet area just as the sun started raising it's fiery head..The gangs all here, strapped to the gills and ready for what ever goes down..I see the round up up signal so here it goes, been awhile since I felt this way..Roll too damn hard up the freeway to the little turn out..one way in, one way out..Damn..

As we throttle up the the winding road I wonder what we will find on the other side of the hill..Half a mile out we see the first CHP..he stares us down but waves us through..I count 10 CHP cars a few Sheriffs and some local motor cops..I see a couple of other hard riding groups broke off in their own area's..Looks like it will go down soon,,go let's get the party started..

We circle and park..I see Fabian give a wave..The little bald man is still here and I know what I have to do..Reach in the bag and pull one out, this is for you Fabian old buddy..I walk up and slide it out from behind my back..Harley bear for my friend..Were surrounded by the baddest, toughest people on the planet..Cancer Kids..come on Fab I'll take you for a ride..Then we can have some pigs in a blanket..fitting..

We promised we would be back and we made it, for those still here I stay tough, for those who made it home, be blessed..for those who didn't make it I shed a tear for you today...your smiles will be mine forever kids..thank you for your inspiration..

Rat...

The Show, oh no not again..

The little L calls me yesterday afternoon and tells me they still have tickets for the Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson show in Fresberg if I'm Game Dirty and Maria will go..Been years since I did an outside event and the only date I had with L was a John Cougar concert outside..Why not I'll be at the house in an hour..I have had a blast the last few weeks and know it is winding down..L's here a few days a week taking care of mom and moms fading..She has a business and a significant other to go home to..we have become buddies and best friends..or best shoulders..lived like we were 18 without the hangups...memories..

The show was a blast..bike parking right by the gate..small venue with no bad seats..lot's of room to boogie on the baseball field..I still think Dylan does All Along the Watchtower better then anybody..Whiskey River, Mamma's don't let your baby grow up to be cowboy's and Angel flying to Close to the Ground were great from Willie..The Dirty One two stepping was one for the books..Mellencamp was as good as gold..I Fight Authority was a tattoo on my mind damn near 30 years ago..All's well and the creek don't rise it will be on my arm with a new twist in the morning..

After the show we were pumped with adrenaline, still had shuffling feet and our bellies were thinking are throats had been cut..So we hard throttled it to Selma for the best damn late night burritos and a little end of summer planning..Looks like a fly and ride to New Orleans..The Dirty One has only been out of state twice..Jumbo in the French Quarter, Cuban Sandwiches in Tampa and Shrimp in Key West..Let's see..

Saturday morning head to the shop..nothing to do but the morning rides tend to calm the day..Dealing with a valley full of smoke from the coast fires..I roll in and cell is quacking..Don't know the number and normally would skip it on the weekend but for some reason I hit the green button..Hey Cuz..I'm out..now before you go off on me it was for the last time I promise..Now we were like brothers growing up..took my first long ride with him when we got out of the military..Talked him into pissing on an electric fence..well tricked him into it..Was driving the car when he kissed the transvestite.."Stop the car, this mother fucker has balls"..total silence on the rest of the drive home until I had to speak up.."Hey, How do you feel about french kissing guy's"..Ya we go back..

JW..is smart or was, nuclear wielder in the Navy..Good job and a wife when he got out..One day the Goddess of Heroin grab him and has never let go..The last 23 years he has spent about 17 of them in prison..He has stolen from everyone he knew..worked for or could..I walked away from him 10 years back..I tried but there is nothing mortal man can do once the needle has you..It's all from inside and Jimbo I hope you have found the inner strength to succeed..Like I said Cuz if your still walking the streets in a year..call me back..

Saturday night ride and BBQ at the Rat's..come on by and sit a spell..See ya

Rat

First bike night and some rat-a tics..again..

Made a hard choice after weeks of mulling it over..Favorite BBQ joint just kicked off a bike night..Me and the Dirty One have been tossing the idea around and finally we decide why not..So we pull in to the parking lot and it looks like a world war two revenge scene..I have never witnessed so many jap bombers parked in one place..So we find what looks to be a cuddy free area and toss down the jiffy's..Just as I'm completing my after a hot ride male adjustments and pulling off the not so legal lid I see movement from the corner of my eye. The old dude is walking away from his magna with his out of the bottle blond bringing up the rear..He struts by and stared down the shovel..Look over with his goofy grin and asks "Hey is this an old shovelhead, do you ride it?" Now I should have known something like this was bound to happen..I politely reply..No the fucking oil leaks and blue pipe are from pushing it..Unfazed he turns towards Dirty's Pan..Before he could do it again Dirty ask's him..Hey that's an old blonde,,you still ride it??? Well our bike night was over we headed out for greasy taco's at this joint where they don't ask dumb question..until after 10pm or so anyway..

This week in Rat-a-tics..Health care, the American people speak and the stupid are confused..Let's start with a question..What do you call a lawyer who can't make it in private practice??? Mr.President, Senator or congressmen..Let's cover some accomplishments of our government..

They can't run a post office..
They have spent all the social security money for the next trillion years already.
Medicare is so fucked up they can't fix it..

Our Government has over stepped it's bounds by investing in the private sector,,Banks, insurance companies, car makers..Now they want to have total control of our lives by controlling health care..Americans are speaking out, it is what our nation was built on..Freedom to question our elected officials..Where the talking heads are telling you this is a GOP plot to hurt the Prez..Well from a Rats view what I see is not party lines..It's me and you, it our friends and enemies..the dude down the street and Grandma..Speak up on this one,,See ya..

Rat..

Update on the Bike Build

Supposedley it'l be on the Road by the end of this month which'll be handy as i'm 50 on August 31st  

Headlight Shell will be black , them Gay looking Blingy fucking grips are temparary and as you all know the Bars will be Different 

more updates as and when 

Post 100..The Dirty one interviews the Rat..The Movie..

Dirty: So you have been making movies..Tell me about them..

Rat: Two Rat Bastards Productions have been secretly working on a few short movies..As you know, your in them..

Dirty: Tell me about don't park there..

Rat: I is a dark comedy based on 3 bikers, a black care giver and a quadriplegic parking in the normal people spaces..It was done in fun but so far reaction have been less than friendly,,been puked on and had a purse swung at me..

Dirty: I have seen the film and feel it would draw a diverse reaction..I think Bill O'Rielly would hunt you down and beat your ass..

Rat: Bill's a little old but looks like he can handle himself still..To anyone outside the actors it may look bad,,your wife shooting the movie with my Blackberry and screaming call the cops didn't help..

Dirty: Ya she should win an award for that one..So you going to put it up..

Rat: I'm thinking that Raghead bikers at 7/11 or Can I help you might be a better way to test the water..Ragheads are still a good target..and if you ride a Harley you should find humor in Can I help you..It's a what,,Bubba come on out here and check this thing out..He called a Yondododo or something..

Dirty: You might want to not call them Ragheads..

Rat: Dude you made a great Raghead..all you needed was a camel..well after the goat deal in our youth I was thinking live animals were a bad idea..

Dirty:You better not fucking write that..why you so weird dude????..

Rat: is that a question????

Dirty: Ya Fucker let's here why your so strange..

Rat: First off I would say it comes from the people I hang with..Second it could be something to due with caffeine levels..Third it is from lost brain cell working on your bike in the shit hole you call a garage..you ever clean that dump??

Dirty: Hey, I'm asking the question here..Why does you bike leak so much oil??..

Rat: During the last rebuild I poked holes in all the gaskets so morons like you could ask stupid questions and feel good about themselves doing so..and I ride it till a fails and duct tape will no longer work..

Dirty: We have had fun, lost friends, made friends, got in jams and got out of them..We have broke the law and still do but to a smaller scale..you been in the shit a few times..If you could start over what would you do..

Rat: The life and lifestyle I wouldn't change a thing..Some of the people through the years I would change the way things turned..Some I would have used a little bigger pistola on..

Dirty: So it's been a good thing???..

Rat: You know what Bro..Who would have ever figured..I'm sitting here with a dirt bag who has two great sons I Harvard..A doctor and a lawyer..shit..I have what I need to survive and more..still got some miles to ride, smiles to smiles and movies to make..Let's ride Dirty One..I smell grilled onions cooking..Number 100 in the books,,many more in the works..See Ya..

Rat

Dirt parking lots, 25 years later..

Busted our ass yesterday, breaking concrete and installing electrical for a bro..The damn things we do for fun right..After 12 hours of sweat and blood we got it closed up and one of the gang say's hey has anyone been to Les and Lou's in the last hundred years..Let's do it..

Les and Lou's in the day was the place to ride in and hang..Off the beaten path and away from John law..Back in the 80's you could find 60 to 80 rides in the lot on any Saturday night...Lot's good times, good fights, jukebox boogie's and hangovers..

So we roll up around 8pm..might be ten rides in the parking lot and I know 3 or 4 of them..Me and the dirty one stroll in first and ramble to the bar..Got that hardcore foot dragging swagger working..Mostly due to the exhaust burn from doing exactly what I said I would never do and taking a test ride in shorts and flip flops..I hate the smell of my own flesh burning..back to the story..I signal the bartender over..Give a fucking Shirley Temple and keep the damn cherry..He looks for a second like he had been hit in the nuts with a cattle prod..Must of been a first..I don't drink and ride so there..

We grab up a table and the girls head to the Rock-Ola..out of the corner of my eye I see a human blob either strolling or rolling our way..Tiny,,all 5'6" and 450lbs of him..Poor guys ass can totally hide the back end of his Dyna..Long time no see..we start trading stories when ZZ Topps starts blasting "Under Pressure" out..The night was young..

Learned a few lessons through the night..I can shoot just as bad a game a pool sober as I could drunk..Cutting the rug is more fun sober..Drunks are still drunks..Meth steals beauty and ruins lives..and it still runs rampant in the crowds..Pretzels must taste better with beer..Dirty, nasty hole in the walls are back on the favorite list..Watching the sun come up with friends before you go to bed is the perfect ending to a biker boogie night..I have a couch calling..see ya..

Rat

Cheap parts from Hell...

Me and the shovel had our first spat in years..The old dog left me stranded late at night at the cigar shop..Went in and grab a few fine fake cubans and went out to roll back to the shack..A sputter then nothing..Damn..

Every year I buy a new battery, this year it was a got to have it today Sunday morning rush..So I hit wally world and they were out of 1979 Shovelhead batteries..they were on order from the battery place in Dayton China..So the next best option is Kragen cause there ain't no bike shops open on Sunday in frick'n Orosi Californacation..So I grab the top of the line cheap battery and off I went, for four months anyway..Damn new battery died..

To late to fix it..Roll it across the street to Greg's Place and thumb a ride home..Damn it this is the first time since last week I didn't get to break the new community rules and ride in after 10pm..Guess I will have to do and early and a late this week to make up for it..

Next morning grab the multi meter and spare battery from the shop plus all the little switches and shit that all true shovel freaks keep on hand..Call the dirty one who is still living La Vida Loca and unemployed..If he starts trying to buy us lunch with food stamps he's out of here..We roll in and get to work..pull the seat stick the meter on the batt..13 volts, turn on the key, 4.2 volts..bad new battery, put the spare sporty batt in the hole and bolt it up..she fires right off..I'm sorry darling for ll the bad things I said last night..please forgive me..

Got a warranty on the junk so we walk in to Kragen..to be meet by the 19 years old master mechanic with a life time of experience in high school auto shop..I'm betting he ate the book..Sir may I help you..Sure give me a new battery and don't call me sir..well I need to test this one first..13 volts this battery is fine..OK Jr..put a load on it..4.2 volts..Sir,,I mean mister it might be your charging system..Jr...I been playing this game long before the better part of you ran down moms leg..14.7 volts 2200 rpms..I got my new battery..

Went back and stuck it in..nice, slow and carefully..the battery damn fools..and fired it up..were riding again..happy and the shovel is now known as Sir Shovel..I mixed up a fresh batch of Rat's special slow leaking sticky trans juice and filled it up..Hey it's 5:30 pm Friday night,,were riding..see ya.

Rat

Greed, Commitment and the Unknown

Mid May in the mid 80's...Been building automated machines and staying pretty much on the low side..Got the pan frame hanging in the spare bedroom, motor split between the coffee table and the dinning room..Thursday night decided to skip out on the after work bar stop and see about finding the bottom of the table and getting the motor done..

About 9 the phone rings..Pick it up and it's Crockett..did some long deliveries for him last year..Drop a car off in Dallas and another in Houston..Don't ask, don't want to know just hammer down and get it done..This ones a little different, gas station outside of Portland..be there at 3pm Saturday, trade an envelope for the package..Leave..drop the envelope in Roseburg a Jammer and Big john..Only wheels I got is the bike..Crockett just says meet me in Stockton Friday afternoon..5g's in the deal half up front..Greed..

Friday afternoon pack the FXST and hope the new motor stay's together..Spun the cam bearings under warranty and the local shop dropped the new evo two in..Did a little cam work and no charge..damn remember those days..Head to the truck stop to meet Crockett..Pull in and there he sits.. big man did two tours in 'nam with with Big John..Just like this deal I never asked cause I may not want to know..He climbs out and hands me a 10" bar bag and say's that away you can always see it..hands me some cash and the ramp to get off at..Two dudes, an envelope..don't fuck around when the deals done, get on the road to Johns..See ya..Commitment

Nice ride through the night..a little jittery..partly induced and partly not knowing..Hours of riding your mind tends to wonder..Seen a lot of movies about deals gone wrong..had a couple go wrong but on my turf..strange land here..About 10am the sky opens up in buckets..No time to stop so I just keep rolling..I hit the station about 1:30 am and found a dry spot..Now I had pretty much convinced myself in the 16 hours on the road the deal was going to go wrong..I pull the saddle bags off and head to the can..Pull the little Star 5 shot 45acp out and lock and load..sweet pocket gun not much bigger than a 25.cal..Slide into the pocket of my new Heine Grecke jacket and hope I don't have to blow a hole on the coat.I wait and hour seemed like a life time.Unknown..

Three pm roll in and I don't see any caddies full of goons, in fact the first car to pull in is a 1972 Delta 88..beat to shit and out hope to dirty looking hippie dudes about my age..He man you got my stuff..smiling a stupid way to stoned smile..Ya you got mine..Oh ya here man..I hand them the bag..Number two asks if I want to count it..No dude if it is not all there I am sure the next thing you will feel is pain..It still pouring but it don't matter..I'm out of here..I want to be rid of the envelope as bad as the bag..

I hit John and Jammers about 7:30 pm..I was wound tighter than a kick start spring on 1937 Indian Chief..I wanted Jack and lot's of it..John and Jammer were always good hosts and we drank ourselves silly..I drank my nerves back to normal..simple job and a way overworked mind..I got two days to cruise home..and a pocket full of Ben Franklins to get me there..It was my last haul, Crockett just sort of disappeared..Jammer told me years later that he packed up to some tiny island with a few million in cash..She started to tell me what he was moving and I stopped her..don't want to know............

Rat..

Country Roads, back roads to sanity..

Sun coming up this morning..started out as a breakfast ride and turned into a morning..I have been asked why I stay in the valley well I guess having roads to ride that entice me is a reason. I can go any direction to find a ride to pleasure. I finds happiness and solitude in the back roads to nowhere..



Small one lane roads that wind through the foothills..Nothing but me and the wind for miles..



Hundreds of miles of road less traveled..Places forgotten by the masses and those who have no time to reach out to the past..No fast lanes, passing lanes..Cattle guards and grazing herds..wild turkeys and rattle snakes..rule..I find each turn on the winding road a new beginning to a life long adventure..




Valleys, tree's and the lone Roadrunner..

My place, My space..My peace...

Rat