P@

You should all check out Pat Perry's art. It's really something else. All hand drawn detailed epicness. He's my little buddy from the Grand Rapids, MI moped gang, The Ghost Riders. Super sweet kid. Full of talent. Now go lurk on him.
patperry.net
pat's flikr

In other news...

I got my shin tattooed(FUN!) a couple weeks ago by Scott Santee from Columbus, OH. Really rad guy. Super fast too. Oh, and jokes. Lots of jokes. (oh, and yes, that's Thyme around the hour glass.)
scottsantee.com

That Cromags/Merauder/Death Threat/The Killer/Left Hand Path show that I went to last week was righteous! Such a fun show.

photo cred: Chris Z



ps. I love Chicago.

chicaggro

so, after years of trying to move here and my plans blowing up in my face, I finally was presented with a rad job, rad roomates, and a really nice cheap apartment. close to everything.

Magnolia Photobooth is now up and running in and around Chicago. Already had two really successful events, and already have a bunch lined up for october. stoked. I also scored a part-time warehouse job at Threadless, picking/packing shirts, and as a t-shirt model through a friend. which is hilarious and a lot of fun.

My gila e50 is so close to being done. put together, cases sealed, just waiting to get circlips. and a carb. maybe narrow my bars. and to make the seat, which shouldn't be too hard. i'm crafty. My general tank came in the mail a few weeks ago. paint and decals done, thanks to jamie leslie and david brooks.

Dear Bandits and TBS, please don't be upset with me for missing our joint moped rally camping trip, but...I'm going to see Cro-Mags and Death Threat next month!! so excited!

I will be back to Louisville this weekend for two photobooth events, then back to Chicago. Come visit me!

title for this.

my lack of motivation is at an all time high.
i dont even feel like working on this shit anymore.
i used to be in love with a dremel. now i dont even want to look at it.
why is the cylinder skirt ENORMOUS on the gila?
womp womp.


oh, changed the layout of this spot somewhat, with the help from the tallest man alive, matt ballard. YUP!

pathetic

shit looks pathetic just chillin in my room.
i need to find time to start putting this guy together.

crunch time

so i got a lot done today on my bike. bondo, sanding, primer, (auto)paint, gloss. i'm truly lucky to have a friend with some pro-tools/setup to help me out with this. i paid him in short-stack Buds, a sixer of pbr, and my truly genuine comedy. tight!

bondo

sanding

cleaned up the headlight bucket

cleaned up the flywheel cover(i'm going to be painting the Puch symbol by hand)

primered frame

close up

primered headlight bucket and flywheel cover

primered tripletree plate, handlebar brackets, and swingarm thingy

primered forks

primered swingarm

final primer coat on frame

black + gloss stuff

black + gloss frame


everything is painted and glossed and ready to go. hopefully i can find time this week to get that e50 finished. i still need to find some red bmx pedals and get the graphics done on the tank. i think i might still need a stator. probably some other shit i'm forgetting too. i rode an old ass vintage beach cruiser with massive ape hangers to the store while the paint was drying tonight. it was pretty sick, to say the least.

pump your brakes

painted some brake levers last night.
cut my bars down.
bondoed the frame.
cleaned the e50 cases.
crank is in the freezer chillin' out.
just ordered my intake from treats.
buying the rest of my bearings and pedals today.
primering the frame, forks, and swingarm in a few hours.
hopefully painting them too.
thanks terry dean for the grips.
STOKED!

optimus primer

got a lot of shit done on the tank today.
lots of sanding and bondoing and primering.
hopefully start painting it on saturday?








trying to get this thing done in time for the Chicago rally.
STOKED!

flex your head

exhaust arm finally taken off extra murray frame and welded onto top tank frame. which means, i can finally finish cleaning up the other welds and start the painting process. hopefully going to cut down the bars so they arent so obnoxious this week. hopefully put together my other e50 next week. so ready for a gila.


in other news, my new job (http://www.louisvillephotobooth.com) is kind of amazing. and fun. i just set up these fancy ass awesome photobooths at different events, watch people take photos for a few hours, tear it down and go home. pretty awesome, eh?


ps. i was prom queen at bomb prom. no bigs.

motivation!

treats came in the mail today. well... now i just have to put it all together. 2nd E50 rebuild, here i come!

+++++
TBS rally is tomorrow. SOOOO STOKED!!

i suck.

So I work open to close what seems to be every single day. I have had no time to get anything done on my moped. Plus, I am not motivated. At all. And I'm broke. So, there's that.

In other news, I had my first real moped wreck. In cinci visiting TBS. mashed up my shoulder, scraped up my ankle, then got drunk and ripped one of my pockets out of my jeans. real cool. (the maxi doesnt even have a scratch on it somehow.)


New tattoo. Love it.

bomb prom is so soon!
so stoked!
-a.

womp womp

I feel totally overwhelmed thinking about all of the things I still need to do to this project before it's even close to being finished. It's starting to bum me out to the point where I haven't even felt like working on it at all. I know that doesn't even make sense. Sooo... I'm writing out a damn list of all the shit i need to do so I don't freak out...and so I can be reminded of how little motivation I have. Maybe it will help me on my days off. Meh.

-weld brace onto seat/rack area so my ass doesn't get dumped onto the tire
-weld tank mounts onto the crossbar
-strip paint off the tank
-rough up/prep the rims for the rattlecan session
-find an old leather jacket to cut/sew for my seat cover
-touch up the welds on the seat/rack
-powdercoat everything(another complete nightmare)
TO BUY:
-headlight
-grill
-handlebars
-some sort of taillight
-pedal crank & arms
-rear shocks
-fancy bmx pedals
-fancy cables & colored cable housing
-fancy bmx grips
-other fancy odds and ends for detailed sweetness

IN OTHER NEWS
Ghost Rider Peter hooked me up with another general cap WITH A KEY. super stoked on that. And Bandit Maggie shot some pretty amazing photos of me and my maxi last week.


Spring is almost here. It's time to GET SHIT DONE!

spring is just around the corner..

wrapped the seat with the foam and duct tape...

another shot of the crossbar weld-cleanup.

close up of the reweld/cleanup job on the engine mount plate.

welded on a plate on the base of the back rack to screw the seat into.

cleaned up the most rusty shitty looking wheels with a wire wheel brush.

so far, so good...

-----------------------------
whenever I get out of this rut and make some money I will buy everything else I need. Or continue to salvage everyone elses unwanted parts like I've been doing thus far.

(I'm so excited for the Latebirds rally!!!)

long overdue....

So i've been working on this winter project for a little while now. some friends had this frame sitting outside collecting rust for a while and said i could take it and give it life again.... and so i am.
this is what it started out as:

i stripped all the paint off of it with a wirebrush wheel.

then cut the seat post down so it was flat with the back rack.

found an old fence post in my friends garage that happened to be the same width as the rest of the frame. stripped all the galvanized coating off of it, and welded it on for a crossbar.

close up of the welds:

smoothed everything out with a little grinding and lots of hand filing.

used an old skateboard for the base of the seat. (it totally says "skate or die" written by a 11 year old)

cut the sides down and sanded everything so it was closer to the same size as my tank.

bought some foam from hobby lobby.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
as soon as i can get the rest of the pictures, i will post up the rest of the updates. (i dont have a camera)
:)