Saturday, January 17, 2009

Tool Box Pics

OK, this is some pretty blatant filler material, but I've been too busy to write a serious post, so you will have to bear with me.


I would guess it is pretty common for anyone who make their living turning wrenches to have a tool box with a bunch of pictures fastened to the inside of the lid, so that with the tool box open, you have a sort of gallery facing you. Normally there will be pictures of the girlfriend or wife (hopefully not both), children, and as you get to be my age; grandchildren. Sprinkled in with those there will usually be some pictures of you favorite car or motorcycle. My tool box is no different. Since they were getting loose, curled up and in need of remounting, I thought I would share some of the motorcycle pictures that have been on my box for more years than I care to recall.


This picture is from the spring of 1982. I had just built my first Knucklehead, leaving my '75 Shovel free for a little serious hot rodding. 88 cubic inches with an SU carb and 468+ Sifton cams gave it some "git up an go". Goodyear roadrace rain slick was very soft and sticky.








Pete and me. This was at a 1986 AMRA drag race in Belle Fouche, S.D. Dave, my friend and pit crew, asked the legendary Top Fuel Knucklehead racer to come over and look over my bike since he knew that Pete was my hero. Pete graciously obliged, and even humored me by rubbing the tank to instill some of his magic. That resulted in a new National record.













I always liked roller starters. This was taken in 1987, a couple years before they were banned for safety reasons. Talk about safety issues, can you believe full leathers were not even required for Pro Stock! The guy holding the wheelie bars is Robert, another friend and that year's pit crew


This has always been a favorite picture. Some would say that I have the wheelie bars set too high, but I have always maintained that they are more fun to ride that way. This was taken at the National Finals in Clarksville, TN. I think the year was 1989.


Here is our son Joey at the Sturgis Nationals on his 1200cc XL. I think he was either 16 or 17 years old at the time. As you can see, he learned how to do a smokey burnout early on.

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