Some Assembly Required

At least he has all his parts!!!!

Go Elf Yourself!!!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Have You Ever...

That's right, time again for my favorite time killer. Two in a row...how Freudian.

Carnage Day +1

Whew! Thank God That's Over!
Huh? Pie? Who said Pie?! ...........mmmm pie.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Parts Update

Still no word on the rear fender which is fine because I still don't need it yet so I still don't care.
The other guy I was going to get my tranny from for 30 dollars more than Jireh Cycles upped his price by 30 bucks making it 60 more than Jireh so I found another guy who has one for $550 and if he has it in stock tomorrow I will order it in between my cooking duties. The only thing that doesn't thrill me is it is the natural cast finish which doesn't match the rest of the engine. but I can paint it wrinkle black without much trouble and the price is right. As long as he has it in stock. I am sick of waiting for parts that don't ever arrive.
Don't forget to buy a shirt this designs days are numbered by the weekend it will be gone!

My Story

On a cold Thursday morning in November, the 28th to be exact, William and Patricia received a call they had been waiting for for several weeks. It was the adoption agency informing them that a baby has become available and they could pick him up today. What made this day special, besides the obvious new addition to the family, was that it was Thanksgiving Day.
As was the tradition in my family at that time, and for at least the next 18 years, we gathered at my Aunt Janes house in Sylvania, Ohio for Thanksgiving dinner. So William and Patricia drove their 66 mustang convertible to the agency and picked up their new son Thomas and took him right over to Aunt Janes. Patricia was concerned about the baby being to cold with the car being a convertible and the weather in northern Ohio in November. So before they left the adoption agency Aunt Jane was called and kept a lookout at the door to open the garage door so William could drive right inside to keep the baby out of the cold.
So at 15 days old baby Thomas spent his first day with his whole family on Thanksgiving, Thursday November 28, 1968.
A year never passed, even when we were a thousand miles apart, that I didn't get a call from my mother and hear that story. For most of my life I was blessed enough and at times embarrassed to hear it being told around my aunts big dinner table in front of my entire family. It always reminded me that I had more to be thankful for than most. I had two loving people that opened their hearts, lives, and home to a stranger.
Since my mothers passing a few years ago this will be the first Thanksgiving I am celebrating. This hasn't been an intentional thing it's just I worked the last few and my son spends time at his mothers family because they still do the big get together and my father dodged us on the first one after her passing. But tomorrow although a day early I will remember for the first time in 3 years all that I have to be thankful for and hope you all do the same. Listen to the ridiculous stories, especially the ones that surface at the holidays, because when the teller is gone the silence can be deafening.
On a side note it has never occurred to me until this writing to wonder if the reason I am named Tom is because I was brought home on Turkey Day? I will have to grill the old man about that at dinner tomorrow. There are no other Toms in my family....hmmmm.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!!

Where I Go When I'm Not Here

First off of course is ebay. The primary source for cheap bike parts. Also, as some of you may or may not know I airbrush also as a hobby. The best place to learn and get good information is at the Learns site. That's Mike and Diana Learn at www.learnairbrush.com. Great place for supplies and all things air brush related is Bear Air at www.bearair.com he also owns and runs probably the largest airbrush forum on the net www.airbrush.com. Any of these places are good places to kill sometime and look at some great artwork even if airbrushing isn't your thing.
As far as blogs go I frequent www.cyrilhuzeblog.com the blog of a custom bike builder and www.theothersideofkim.com a very interesting blog mostly about gun ownership and politics. Unfortunately he will be retiring from blogging on November 30th and I will have a large hole in my surfing time. Then of course there is www.bustedwrench.blogspot.com which is where I spend most of my time wondering why more people don't.

Really Looking Ahead

Now barring the fact that this project ends in some type of horrible murder suicide type of situation. Or that is goes so terribly that I never want to do anything like this again the next project will be a softail that can be dropped to the frame and a insanely overly uselessly fat rear end...like this

Ride able? Who knows, can't be any worse than my current project. Practical? No more so than any custom bike. SUWEEET? yep.

Gauntlet Tosser

In an attempt to move this project along and refocus my efforts I am throwing down the gauntlet. I am changing the countdown timer to July 4 2009. The only caveat I am attaching to this is that the bike will be ride able and complete it just might not be registered w/the great state of Florida.

Even though not much has gone right so far I feel the tide turning, a change in the weather, a new era of productivity! And any other saying you can think of that fits this new found attitude of hope. With this new change I will post another completed bike picture built on the same platform as mine except for the narrower tire and its a sportster power plant.

Is The Lowest Price Still Lowest If It's Never There?

Well that's where I am at right now. The project has completely stalled while I wait for this transmission to come back into stock at Jireh Cycles. And, as most things do, it got me to thinking. Is the having the lowest price but never having the item still the lowest price? How would a custom builder on a time frame feel about this situation or do they even worry about parts cost when the end product has a 60k to 100k price tag? Morale wise this is killing me. I walk by this project a 100 times a day and it hasn't changed in a month. I know a place that has the transmission I want, in stock ready to ship, for $32 dollars more. Which is what I am going to do. The way I look at it is, come labor day is the bike going to be done? Or is it going to be sitting around waiting on a part that never comes in stock?
Also if anyone is interested I have 1oz 24k gold coins for sale for $550 but am currently out of stock, but hope to have them back in stock sometime in the next decade or 2. Just hit the donate button above and choose the amount $550 and I will give you a call if they ever become available. (there are no gold coins...I am putting this disclaimer in because I know you people. If you donate that amount I WILL KEEP YOUR MONEY!)
Furthermore while we are thinking what's up with kulats, clam diggers, pedal pushers, and capris? Are these or are they not the same thing? Leave a comment and let me know. And while you're at it if you are silly enough to buy pants w/only 3/4 of the legs you can buy a shirt!

Joke of the Whenever...

With Thanksgiving fast approaching and the build at a dead standstill...
The Top 10 Things That Sound Dirty At Thanksgiving But Aren't....
10. "Just reach in and grab the giblets."
9. "Whew...that's one terrific spread!"
8. "I am in the mood for a little dark meat!"
7. "Tying the legs together will keep the inside moist."
6. "Talk about a HUGE breast!"
5. "And he forces his way into the end zone!"
4. "She's 5000 pounds fully inflated and it takes 15 men to hold her down."
3. "It's cool whip time!"
2. "If I don't unbutton my pants, I am going to burst!"
. . . and the number one thing that sounds dirty at Thanksgiving but isn't . .
1. "It must be broken 'cause when I push on the tip, nothing squirts out."

Tempest Cycles Conquest

This is way over the top for me, but if I had the cash I would definitely have one! Check out more at Tempest Cycles!

Engine mounted like a radial. One off everything! Hub less rear wheel. Me likey! Check out the exhaust from most angles it appears to be a closes loop but it's not. One off rear suspension and drive line. Santa if you're out there.....hint hint. It can't be much more that 75 grand or so!

New Tshirt designs are in!

Its going to be tough to beat the sales record of the last tshirt design but I like this one a lot. Get it before it is gone!!!!



Don't forget the much underused donate button at the top of the page. One size fits all and no shipping charges!!!

Have You Ever...

Yes siree Bob, its the next installment of have you ever typed random words into google and see what pictures you end up with. This one is very touching its about ones hopes and dreams. Check it out! The look on his face brings a tear to my eye. Buy a shirt you slackers!

Parts Update

Well, no news on the fender, so I assume it's still on back order. Or it could show up at anytime I guess. I called Jireh Cycles to see if they had an expected date for when the tranny I need will be back in stock and was advised they hoped to have them in sometime in the next two weeks or so. So I guess they are on the way back order. Get it? Not just back order but way back order? I'm killing me. So I will give them until Friday then I am going to just go to the other guy and pay the extra $30. I would rather not do that but sooner or later I am going to have a whole motorcycle bought and paid for on back order :)
Also the next paycheck will wrap up the Christmas Shopping so the check after that is all bike parts. The plans include the belt drive, the charging system and the rear wheel and tire if all goes well. And as we know from past experience the chance of all going well is about as good as the life expectancy of a fart in a whirlwind but we shall see. And the one after that will be the front end and front tire and wheel.

Make a donation and you can have a part in the next part being on backorder. Or buy a shirt this design is on its last days!

The Rant of the Week

Yes my little kiddies it's that time again. Time to make you aware of one of the retarded things that has somehow unjustly found its way into my life making it the living hell it tends to be.
The Florida Turnpike, hence forth to be referred to as "retard road". "What could the road have done to you?" you ask? Let me tell you, I was heading out to a airbrush get together this Sunday. The get together was held in St. Cloud in the middles of the state. This required me to drive down the retard road for a distance of 9 miles. I get on retard road at mile marker 249 looking for exit 240. At exit 244 there is a sign that reads "next exit 56 miles" this concerns me greatly because, as I previously mentioned, I was looking for exit 240 which in the normal world would be 4 miles up the road. "Tom" I say to myself "It must be a new exit keep going" so I did.
Sure enough shortly up the road is a sign that advises exit 240 is 1 mile up the road and is the last exit for 53 miles. The next exit being YeeHaw Junction."Self" I said to myself "it's your lucky day exit 240 exists". As 3/4 of the next mile passes and I approach the exit with very little time to make a choice I view a sign, much to my dismay, that informs the unlucky travellers of retard road that exit 240 is a Sun Pass only exit. For the woefully uninformed among you a SunPass is a little device you buy and stick on your windshield that racks up your tolls then you pay the bill at the end of the month. Usually used by travelling business people or locals who spend a lot of time of Floridas toll roads. Now, I have seen exits on toll roads in Florida, and only in Florida, that were unmanned and required exact change so I was prepared on my journey with a pocket full of quarters. But what in Gods good name do you do when you need a Sun Pass to get off retard road in the middle of nowhere?

• As a side bar I would like to remind you that the next exit is 53 miles up the road and is at a place named YeeHaw Junction. Being a anal virgin, and with the hopes of remaining one for the rest of my life, I will not willingly drive to anyplace that has a name that sounds like something out of the movie Deliverance. I could here the banjo music all the way up at exit 240.

So with precious little time to make a decision on whether to drive 106 miles out of my way and just go back home. Or go the next 53 miles and try to find my way back to where I wanted to be with no map and no cell phone. Or do the only really logical choice and take the exit. So that's what I did, even though the signs advise of a $100 dollar fine for not paying a toll that they don't let you pay. Not to mention that after having a wonderful time at the airbrush get away I had to take the same on ramp back onto retard road to get home because as it turns out there is now other way with out adding hours of time onto the drive taking the backwoods way home.

So, if anyone has wandered into this blog that is in any way associated in a official capacity with retard road take note. Keep your tickets to yourself. I truly feel sorry for the first dipshit that is going to have the displeasure of dealing with me if I get a ticket in the mail. I will get back on retard road and take it all the way to Tallahassee and club someone like a baby seal if you so much as dare to even consider sending me a ticket. It's bad enough that every election that comes down the pipe makes us the laughing stock of the nation, but you start putting unmanned toll booths in the middle of no where on a road primarily driven by tourist, requiring them to have a special device they have no business having they will end up vacationing in some other place with a smarter government. Panama and Haiti come to mind.

I did see a sign while on retard road advising of a web site you could go to with questions or comments about retard road but I am afraid anything I could write at this time would possibly be taken as a terrorist threat.

Slow Day at the Office

Not much happening today. I am feeling a little under the weather. Possible from a sandwich I bought at the grocery store. It may have been passed its prime. I am off to a airbrush get together over in St. Cloud area on Sunday, So I will have some pics to share on that Sunday. That's it for now excuse me while I go yack.

The big 4 0 Revisited

In an attempt to make it make sense I did a little Googleing. Apparently I share my birthday w/some pretty hip people....

The living...

86 Madeleine Sherwood Actress
74 Peter Arnett Journalist
74 Garry Marshall Producer, director
62 Ray Wylie Hubbard Country singer, songwriter
61 Joe Mantegna Actor
60 Sheila Frazier Actress
55 Frances Conroy Actress ("Six Feet Under")
55 Andrew Ranken Rock musician ("The Pogues")
55 Tracy Scoggins Actress
54 Chris Noth Actor ("Law and Order," "Sex and the City")
52 Rex Linn Actor ("CSI: Miami")
49 Caroline Goodall Actress
48 Neil Flynn Actor ("Scrubs")
45 Vinny Testaverde Football player
44 Walter Kibby Rock musician (Fishbone)
41 Jimmy Kimmel Comedian, talk show host ("Jimmy Kimmel Live")
41 Steve Zahn Actor
30 Nikolai Fraiture Rock musician (The Strokes)
28 Monique Coleman Actress ("High School Musical")

And the dead....

Robert Louis Stevenson 11/13/1850 - 12/3/1894Scottish writer
75....Wrote Treasure Island
Saint Augustine 11/13/354 - 8/28/430Roman bishop and theologian
64... who gave us these quotes

• "Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are."
• "Love the sinner and hate the sin"
  

Edward III11/13/1312 - 6/21/1377English king (1327-77)

Also on this day in history.....

On Nov. 13, 1956, the Supreme Court struck down laws calling for racial segregation on public buses.

1775
U.S. forces captured Montreal during the American Revolution.

1789
Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to a friend, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes

1927
The Holland Tunnel linking New York City and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River opened to the public.

1942
The minimum draft age was lowered from 21 to 18.

1982
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.

Holy Crap! I'm Forty!

More on this disturbing development later! Buy a shirt before I drop dead!

A Quick Funny

I know anyone who lives down here like I do can relate. And to you northerners yeah stuff like this does happen in God's Waiting Room..
Dont forget to buy a shirt!!!

Another Style Idea

Now I like this look a lot, however the V.P. of design and style isn't to keen on the idea. I would like wood grain panels like the one below only done in white then covered w/green kandy in a similar shade to the bike posted earlier and the rest of the bike in a nice purple kandy over gold base. It is tough to get the idea across. The wood grain would have no brown in it what so ever.
Leave a suggestion or a comment if you can follow the way I have drifted. Thanks!

Belated Happy Birthday!

Also, being so close to Veterans Day, I usually take a moment to remember Uncle Sam's Misguided Children. I missed it this year and I apologize. The United States Marine Corps came into being on November 10, 1775 so happy 233 birthday! Semper Fi!

The Continental Congress appointed Robert Mullan to raise two companies of Marines. Mullan also was the proprietor of the Tunn Tavern in Philadelphia. The tavern is where most of these first two companies were recruited at. Hence the reference in the earlier posted joke. Tunn Tavern is the birthplace of the Marines.

Joke of the Whenever...

Looking back my previous Veterans Day post was a little more depressing than I intended. So , while I stand behind it 100%, lets lighten the mood a bit....

• The Navy Invented Sex....
  A Marine and a sailor were sitting in a bar one day arguing over which was the superior service.
  After a swig of beer the Marine says, 'Well, we had Iwo Jima.'
  Arching his eyebrows, the sailor replies, 'We had the Battle of Midway.
  'Not entirely true', responded the Marine. 'Some of those pilots were Marines, in fact, Henderson Field on Guadalcanal was named after a Marine pilot killed at the Battle of Midway.'
  The sailor responds, 'Point taken.'
  The Marine then says, 'We Marines were born at Tunn Tavern!'
  The sailor, nodding agreement, says, 'But we had John Paul Jones.'
  The argument continued until the sailor comes up with what he thinks will end the discussion. With a flourish of finality he says...... 'The Navy invented sex!'
  The Marine replies, 'That is true, but it was the Marines who introduced it to women.'

Now have a happy Veterans Day!

Happy Veterans Day

Thank You to all those that have served this country and protected my freedom. I wish we as Americans thanked you more often then we do. And in a far better fashion than we do.

"We can be worthy of the values and ideals for which our sons sacrificed—worthy of their courage in the face of a fear that few of us will ever experience—by honoring their commitment and devotion to duty and country."

"Soldiers never die until they are forgotten, Tomb Guards never forget."

The above words are obviously not mine but they convey perfectly how I feel. The only way we can attempt to prove ourselves worthy of the sacrifices of these men and women is to honor them for what they do and did for us. And we can keep their contribution to our freedom alive by remembering what so many sacrificed for us.

Today isn't, or shouldn't be, about a day off from work or a time and a half day. If you know a Veteran thank them or do something nice for them. If you don't head out to the local Veterans Cemetery and take a walk around and read some of the stones. Remember the people that allow us to walk around in the self absorbed haze that has become today's society. Don't forget as you are reading this, that somewhere on every continent in the world right now an American soldier is risking his life to protect our right to live in a ignorant bliss that very few of us deserve.

I also highly recommend going to www.adoptasoldiernow.org . There you can adopt a deployed soldier and promise to once a month send a basic care package and letters of support.

Have You Ever...

Once again it is time for another installment of "have you ever typed random words into google to see what comes up". Normally I don't reveal the words I type in to get these gems but these were so pointless I am still trying to figure out the correlation. The search words were flippity floppity floop (no shit) and THIS is what I got. And I go through life thinking I got problems. Go figure.
Don't forget to buy a shirt very few days left for this design!

The Good the Bad and the Not Ugly

The good news is I finally have a picture of a completed bike built on the same frame I have, with the exception that it is for a sportster power plant and mine is a big twin also mine has a 300 rear tire where this one appears to be about a 200 or 250. The rake and basic design are the same. I may have had a bad experience with this guy but, in my opinion, he builds a wicked looking unit.

A 360 degree view can be found on this you tube video.

The bad is the transmission I was, note the word was, going to order this morning is now out of stock. The upside is I was going to order it through Jireh cycles, and they won't take your money on a out of stock item so my money isn't sitting around tied up for who knows how long waiting for the item to come in. And when it does come in they call you and see if you are still interested. The only downside is I can't find the tranny at their price with anyone else. The closest I can come is 32 dollars more.

The not ugly is this picture....

This is the part where you get involved. The V.P. of design and style likes this color very much. I like it also but it needs some added touches, some airbrushing or a stripe or something. But as of now this is the front runner in color choice.It is House of Kolor Planet Green Metallic under Pagan Gold Kandy. Leave a comment and tell me what you think, or your ideas for punching up the design a bit. Myabe some real gold leafing, a tribal deisgn? Thanks!!

Parts Update

The fender is on back order, no biggie, I can't really do a lot with it until the wheel and tire are on so it is not a critical piece at this point. The funds from my last donation cleared the bank today and I will be ordering the transmission first thing in the morning. I don't think the belt drive is going to pan out this payday or the next, but I have decided to mold the frame to a certain extent so I will have plenty of busy work to do during the holiday slow down. At the very least I still have all the shipping stickers to peel off and a lot of sanding to do. That's it for now!

New T shirt Design!

The new tshirt design is done. I am currently only offering it in the vaule tshirt to keep thinks cheap. Get them while they last! The pace of design changes is going to pick up rapidly in the near future. So once a design is changed it is gone!

It's Late

It's late, I am tired.................Buy a shirt.

Another Election Day Truism

Now that the polls are almost closed, and you can all breathe a sigh of relief after months of agonizing over the misconception that your vote will steer the path of the nation, here is the true definition of the office of President from one of the greatest in the nations history.....

“All the President is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.”
...Harry S. Truman

I am so glad you all stood in line to make that hugely important decision!

Thoughts for Election Day

First a good quote by Thomas Jefferson. Possibly now made popular to late.

• "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." ~ Thomas Jefferson

And now a small creed that we as Americans should be able to comprehend and try to live by. Give me the president that will support this and maybe I would vote!

• My Creed~I Do Not Choose To Be A Common Man,It Is My Right To Be Uncommon If I Can,I Seek Opportunity-not Security.I Do Not Wish To Be A Kept Citizen,Humbled And Dulled By Having The State Look After Me.I Want To Take The Calculated Risk,To Dream And Build-to Fail And Succeed.I Refuse To Barter Incentive For A Dole,I Prefer The Challenge Of Life To The Guaranteed Existence-The Thrill Of Fulfillment To The Calm State Of Utopia.I Will Not Trade Freedom For Beneficence,Nor My Dignity For A Handout.I Will Never Cower Before Any Master,Nor Bend To Any Threat.It Is My Heritage To Stand Erect,Proud And Unafraid-To Think And Act For Myself-Enjoy The Benefits Of My Creations.To Face The World Boldly,And Say This I Have Done.

God Bless America...now more than ever!

On a More Upbeat Note

As some of you may remember from Friday or you may be hearing it for the first time here. I went out to a local Harley dealer this weekend to look at a 1996 Heritage Softail Classic with very low miles and a price almost 4k below blue book. I figured if it was a good deal I would buy it and either sell it for a profit or ride it until the project was almost done then sell it off cheap to let someone else catch a break. Well the bike had sold 3 days before I got there so it was probably gone the first night I saw it online." How can this be more upbeat Tom?" you ask. "This is almost as depressing as no one entering your contest" you say. I couldn't agree with you more. However, someone close to the whole deal decided to donate a part to the project. This great man and wonderful human being decided to donate a Ultima black and chrome right side drive transmission. Per this persons nature his name will not be disclosed as he would embarrass to easily. But a super HUGE THANKS A MILLION goes out to this person.



If I can manage to pull off a belt drive for a birthday present to myself, I will have a complete drive line and will push the completion date up to July 4th! If you would like to assist me in this project the way underused, and feeling lonely, DONATE NOW button is still at the top of the page! Or there are always the tshirts . Thanks again for your continued support and the opportunity to entertain and inform you as we go through this project together.

Contest Results Are In!!!

Well the results are in! I know it was a long bloody battle, but the winner of the Spread the Word Contest has been decided. I know I am calling the results about an hour early, but we have come to a point where I don't think anyone else could possibly top the current winner. So without further delay, the winner is........Me, no one else entered, so Tom you are the big winner of a bustedwrench shirt. Thanks everyone, really looking forward to the next contest!...NOT

Joke of the Whenever.....

Sad but since it is a scientific study it must be true...not to mention my own observations.
After a 2 year study, the National Science Foundation announced the following results on the American Male's recreational preferences:

• 1. The sport of choice for unemployed or incarcerated people is: basketball
• 2. The sport of choice for maintenance level employees is: bowling.
• 3. The sport of choice for blue-collar workers is: football.
• 4. The sport of choice for supervisors is: baseball.
• 5. The sport of choice for middle management is: tennis.
• 6. The sport of choice for corporate officers is: golf.

Conclusion: The higher you rise in the workplace, the smaller your balls become.

Don't forget to buy a tshirt before the designs change to something you like less than what there is now!!