Perspective

As is so often the case this time of year, it seems there is no free time for writing. I have been porting heads like a madman ....well, let me clarify; like a madman in respect to volume - not in respect to quality! On top of that the Donnie Smith Bike Show is this weekend. The show is a pretty big event, to put it mildly. It consists of 160,000 square feet on three levels containing 200 world class show bikes plus nearly 1000 vendors either selling or promoting their wares.

It also happens to be the one venue outside of the Internet where I promote my business each year. Though the show doesn't open to the public until Saturday at 9am, for me it begins on Thursday, because Neil, the show's promoter, is a long time friend. For that reason I help both Thursday and Friday with load in, usually directing bike show participants and vendors to their assigned spaces. Late Friday evening, I will finally get a chance to set up my own display, consisting primarily of examples of heads which I have ported. This year I added a display for a new service that I offer: machining for Automatic Compression Release valves in Twin Cam heads.

Lee's Speed Shop display at the 2010 Donnie Smith Show

So, if it happens that you will be in the St. Paul area this weekend, be sure to stop by the Lee's Speed Shop booth and say hello.

But all of that was just a lead in to what I really wanted to share. I came upon this statement made by a fellow who goes by the screen name of "Sir Brass" in the comment section of one of the blogs that I follow:

"The beauty of the cross is that in offering Himself as a propitiation, Christ satisfies the holiness of God, the justice of God, the love of God, the mercy of God, and the wrath of God. ALL of it, there."

I say, well put Sir Brass! That kind of puts bike shows and such in proper perspective.

New Year: Looking Back and Forward

Here we are in 2011. As they say, time flies when your having fun! A little over a year ago I took some time and wrote about my blogging goals for last year. I guess its only fair to take a look and see how I did.

The first item on my list was to write about my adventures drag racing a Knucklehead during the 1986 season. Well, I took a wild swing at the first pitch and then got caught looking as the next two strikes (the rest of 2010) whizzed by. In other words, I did make an attempt at beginning the tale, but wasn't happy with the little I wrote, and never got back to it.

I did just a little better with plans to do a series on installing a big intake valve in Knuckleheads. I wrote an article on installing a new exhaust seat in the heads, in preparation to to the big intake valve conversion, but that was as far as the writing went. The work on the heads continued, because I wanted them for my display at the annual Donnie Smith Bike Show in March, but I did not find the time to do an article. The heads remain in a showcase at the shop, about 90% done but still lacking a flow test.

The third item on my "to-do" list, was to pursue a better flowing port configuration for Shovelheads. Here, again, I got some of the prototype work done, but nothing as far as documentation for the blog. I am excited about the project though. I have started with a set of new S&S Shovelhead castings, which have lots of "meat" to work with, along with a slightly smaller exhaust valve, which should help to give valve to valve clearance at top dead center without sinking them so deep. Of course, as usual, there does not seem to be a suitable intake valve readily available. A thin-stem (5/16") with 2.0" head diameter would seem to be in order. At least there are 5/6" stem Shovel guides available, so I won't have to leap that hurdle.

So, of the three blog projects that I proposed, I finished exactly zero. What is that old saying; men make plans and God laughs? Well, I choose to laugh along with him. Performance work on vintage Harleys, while I get a lot of enjoyment from it (and it helps pay the bills), is of very little lasting value. Much more important is that which pertains to the Kingdom of God. By God's grace I was able to deliver nine sermons at the local nursing home this past year. I also spoke briefly at my brother's funeral, and I filled the pulpit twice at our Church. Many of those messaged did make it to the pages of this blog.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: (Matthew 6:19-20)

So, going forward into 2011, what can you expect to find here at Knucklehead Theology? Well, maybe I can get some of last years projects finished up. But much more importantly, God willing, you will continue to find God's word and God's glory proclaimed here.

Wild Wheels Interview

Way back last winter at the Donnie Smith Bike Show, I met a young man by the name of Aaron Thompson, head honcho at Wild Wheels Biker Webcasting. Aaron has a vision for creating video interviews of the local motorcycle scene here in Minnesota. After a some conversation, we agreed to do a piece on my shop when time allowed. Well, we finally got to it about mid summer, and now I am finally getting around to putting it up here. It wound up as three parts, the first of which is below.







Be sure to check out Aaron's web site; he has a bunch of other great interviews posted there as well.

A Little Something to Keep in Mind for Tuesday

WORLDWIDE COMMUNISM:

Over 100,000,000 Murdered

and counting

A VOTE for a DEMOCRAT

Is a VOTE FOR COMMUNISM!

Drag Racing - a Family Sport

Perhaps it is genetic. After a couple of years absence from the annual "soapbox" race as part of our local Shakopee Derby Days celebration, my grandson Max came out of retirement for this year's event. Max, seen here in the far lane, seems to have perfected a type of "body english" which seemed to aid his mid track acceleration.

The hard right turn Max executed at the end of the race was also reminiscent of numerous passes from my own drag racing career when it was questionable whether I would finish in the same lane I started in.

One thing that caught my attention is the huge increase in payouts compared to back when I raced. Max walked off with $15 cash as well as certificates for two free Dairy Queen treats. Awe... maybe its just that he's not drag racing motorcycles; it seems that racing on four wheels has always payed better than on two....

Green Again

On the one year anniversary of the post that I have written which received more comments than any other, I wanted to do something special. That year old post was a humorous look at my disdain for the false religion variously known as Global Warming, Ecology, Mother Earth, or simply the Green Movement. There were a total of about 30 comments, of which over 2/3 had to be deleted because they were simply vile and/or blasphemous. It certainly went a long way toward confirming my suspicion that the Green Movement is a religion. I attacked their religion, and so they attacked mine. That Global Warming is a faith based religion has been confirmed by the fact that it has lost little steam despite the fact that it's prophets with their own Urim and Thummim (computer climate models) have been shown to be liars. And let's not forget their high priest, Al Gore. On second thought, let's try to forget him!



As I said, I wanted to so something special....but there is just not enough time. I toyed with the idea of getting someone to photograph me doing a smokey burnout on a Harley, but the logistics just were not there, one reason being I have been too busy in the shop to rouse my bike out of its winter sleep. I'll have to settle for this.

Above is a 15 year old picture of me heating the 10 inch slick on my last dragbike, "The White Knuckle Express" The bike was a 120 cubic inch Knuckle with a centrifugal supercharger running 20 psi boost and producing over 200 horsepower.

Note that in the photo, my friend, Krazy Karl, has been all but rendered invisible due to tire smoke. It is quite possible that the ecology of that little plot of land in western Minnesota has yet to recover from the combination of noxious tire smoke and fumes from 120 octane racing gas. I know Karl has never been the same.

Donnie Smith Show 2010

This past weekend (March 27&28) most of the Harley enthusiasts in the Twin Cities area gathered at Rivercenter in St. Paul for the annual Donnie Smith Bike Show. As always, the show was a big success, with scores of builders from throughout the Midwest displaying their latest creations. Unlike some bike shows, this one has also become a place for manufacturers such as Custom Chrome and Kuryakyn to promote their products. Many local shops also take advantage of the flow of 12 to 15 thousand spectators, by setting up at the event.

Custom Vincent had great lines

Since this is such an important event in my area, I tend to put a fair amount of effort into it. More than a few hours are spent in the week preceding the show, preparing my display. I generally take a number of ported heads and other performance items so that spectators can see the type of work I do.

Another thing that I do is to help with the physical set up of the show. Because of the show's size, two days (Thursday and Friday) are set aside just for vendor and show bike set up. Most often you will find me directing traffic inside the auditorium. No, not foot traffic. Trucks with up to 50 foot trailers are driven in to unload and set up. With sometimes over a dozen vehicles unloading at one time, it gives everyone a good test of their ability to back up a trailer.

My Display

Once the show begins on Saturday morning, I am well on my way to a sore throat from increasing my verbal output by factor of about 100. This year I had "The Knuckledragger" in my booth. It got a lot of attention, which in turn generated a lot of questions. I also had ported Twin Cam, Evolution, Shovel, and Knuckle heads on display.
There were a number of great bikes in the show, my favorite being a custom Vincent. Inevitably there were also a few "Karaoke Bikes" in the show as well. (You do know what a Karaoke Bike is, don't you? It's a bike so ugly that you are embarrassed for the owner even though you don't even know him) Of course some of the Karaoke Bikes wound up being award winners, so that just shows what I know.

Sunday morning before the doors opened to the public found about 30 of us gathered together for the worship service that the Bond Slaves MC puts on annually at the show. Their Chaplain always brings an excellent message. This one was no different. In a nutshell, the main point was that the book of Acts records the work of the early Church, and though Sacred Scripture ends Acts at chapter 28, the work continues, with each of us being an additional chapter. Good stuff, if you are a Christian.

Along those same lines, I had a sign saying "Free-Take One" on an air cleaner turned bowl. By way of that, I distributed a couple dozen S&S stickers, between 50 and 100 pressed pennies with the 10 Commandments on them, and another 50 or so larger coins which have the commandments on one side and a Gospel message on the other. I won't order more of the pennies, because I noticed that all the bikers at the show are so old that none of them could read the tiny print (me included). I think the larger coins are great though. Most people are more likely to take something shiny than they would a Gospel tract; and less likely to toss it in the first trash can they come to.

Finally a good (and innovative) use for those cam chain tensioners!

All in all, the 2010 Donnie Smith Bike Show was a great success and left builders, vendors, and manufacturers looking forward to next year's event!

Vintage British drag bike - oops, better look a little closer

Sweet Panhead

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The Visit

Visiting. From my point of view, the simple art of visiting may be on the verge of extinction. When I was a young boy, visiting was commonplace. You might even say it was a popular form of entertainment. The normal time for visiting was on Sunday afternoon. Whole families would travel to "visit" friends or relatives. Once everyone was settled in, the visiting would commence. Just plain good conversation. Hours of it. And believe it or not, I was normally perfectly happy just sitting there and listening to the "grown ups" talk.

I was happily reminded of this old custom earlier today (Sunday), as I traveled to my older brother Bill's home for a visit. Bill, his wife Carol and I had a good old fashioned visit. It went on for about four hours, during which time we covered everything from recent family events, to reminiscing about our childhood, to our faith and our churches. Although I have somewhat of a reputation of being a man of few words, I believe I held up my end of the conversation. All in all, a very pleasant afternoon.

As is so often the case, though, this visit was not just a part of a normal pattern of events. It was brought about by Bill's impending surgery. You see, Bill was diagnosed with stomach cancer just before Christmas. His doctors believe that the cancer is completely contained therein, and so on Tuesday they will remove his stomach. I have to say that I find Bill's faith inspiring. He says that he knows where he is going, so he just looks at it as another of life's adventures. For those of you who are Christians; please take a moment to pray for my brother Bill.

Looking Forward

This might be a good time to lay out some of the subjects that I would like to cover on this blog in the near future.

On the Harley front, I would like to get to several different projects:

1. As you will see if you click on the sidebar under the heading "Drag Racing 1985" I did a series of stories documenting my first year of involvement in drag racing. It is in six parts, beginning with When Shovelheads Ruled the World. I really would like to continue on with the story by covering the 1986 racing season wherein I finished my Knuckle drag bike and began piloting it myself. If I don't get it down on paper soon, I will find myself too rattlebrained to remember most of the details.
2. I would like to do a step by step series on installing big intake valves in Knuckle heads, and the related porting work. I have a set of decent stock heads for the project, and would like to photograph the process as I go. I recently had a large batch of Knuckle valve guides made up with a 5/16" bore instead of the stock 3/8. (if you are in the market for some, go to leesspeedshop.com and follow the link to my eBay store) I just ordered some valves with blank stems so I can do some R&D. Once I have the valve specs finalized, I plan to have a bunch of them made up with grooves and tips finished to make a "simple to install" package.
3. With the return of interest in Shovelhead motors (They are classics now, you know!) I have wanted to explore their flow potential a little further. Way back when I started porting heads in 1989, I did a LOT of Shovelheads. I have had good success with them over the years, but the gains that I realized in later years with Twin Cams and Evolutions never materialized on the Shovels. Part of that has to do with the fact that Shovelheads have only trickled in for porting work over the past 10 years, however, I have some new ideas that I am confident will translate into some BIG gains in flow. I would also like to document this project with photos.

While there are plenty of other shop projects that I have in mind, I am quite sure that I am already biting off more than I can chew in covering the three listed above on this blog.

As for the "Theology" half of this blog, that is a no brainer. I am still blessed with the opportunity to preach approximately once a month at Friendship Manor, a local old folks home, so I will continue to post abbreviated versions of those sermons. To supplement that, it seems that every time I open the Bible (which is daily) I find something I would like to expound upon, but of course there just are not enough hours in the day.

I do need to add one last note. All of these grandiose plans need to be prefaced with "The Lord willing." As it says in James 4: 4:13-15 "Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."

The Pup Wins One

The following is a just a short anecdote involving an old friend affectionately known as "Pup." To appreciate the humor you need to know that years ago, I liked to harass Pup about hogging all the "biker names." Though his name is Darin, he was such a youngster when he started crewing on our drag bike, that calling him Pup was a natural. Later when he was prospecting for a club he acquired the nickname "Dagwood." Yet another moniker he picked up was "Piglet" though I believe that one would more properly be called an alias. It seems that there may have been one more somewhere in there, but memory fails me. Back then my favorite way to greet him when he came into the shop was "PupDarinDagwoodPiglet....!
As I said, Pup was just a ....well, a pup when I met him. Now-a-days however, he looks much more the part of the stereotypical biker; husky with shaved head and the ever popular facial hair. Add to this the fact that Pup has been riding a real chopper since long before the television shows brought them back into style and ....well, you get the picture. (Trust me, all this set up is required for the story to make sense)


It seems that recently, Pup felt the urge to go to the weekly open house at a local Harley dealership. I think he was mostly there for the combination of free hot dogs, and an opportunity to laugh at all the new bikers in their new leathers on their new bikes.

As he loitered on the show floor, he was approached by a cute little female from the sales department. "What do you get for this V-Star?" Pup answered her inquiry as to whether she could help him. Either not noticing or ignoring that Pup had called the Harley V-Rod a V-Star (Yamaha, I think!) she quoted him a price. He countered by asking "How much for the two tone V-Star?" This proved to above her pay grade, however, so she left him with the assurance that she would send over another salesman who knew more about that model.

Soon Pup was greeted by the promised expert saying "Hi, my name is _____, but the clubbers call me Grumpy." Pup replied in his best deadpan, "My name is Darin, the clubbers call me Darin. How much for the two tone V-Star?"

"Its a V-rod, not a V-Star." insisted Grumpy. "Same difference." Pup dryly replied. At that point Grumpy had the good sense to turn on his heel and walk away, leaving Pup to enjoy his minor victory in the oft imagined skirmishes between genuine old time bikers and their synthetic counterparts.

Our Medicated Society

The following is a short article written by someone I am proud to call my daughter

Our Medicated Society

by "married with children"

Is it possible that the decline in our nation’s healthcare could be the amount of prescription medications the American people are now taking? It seems that every ailment, mental or physical, now has a drug available to “fix” it.

I once sat at a table of seven grown women, doing crafts of all things and within an hour came to find I was the only one not on something. They suffered from OCD, depression, and anxiety. My husband and I often crack jokes about this topic, “I’m tired” there’s a pill for that, “I’m angry and out of patience” there’s a pill for that, “I’m constipated” there’s a pill for that. The crazy thing is there really is a pill for just about everything. Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned attitude of our forefathers. You’re depressed? Put on a happy face or grin and bear it. Your child has too much energy and can’t sit still? Send them outside to play!

Our society has become too quick to label everything and I believe the second you give the problem a clinical diagnosis you no longer think you have the power to change it! I’ve recently watched first hand someone “battling” depression. Medicated and seeking counseling, her attitude was appalling. She truly believed and said “ I can’t find joy in anything because of my illness”. I instantly flashed to the scene from the movie “Airplane”. I wanted to grab her by the shoulders, shake her, and yell “snap out of it” with a good slap across the face. And why in the world would the side effect of an anti-depressant be thoughts of suicide? Does anyone else find that alarming?

And when you seek counseling for depression they have you dig deep into your past because of course you know any problem you have as an adult can be traced back to something that must have happened to you as a kid. Give me a break! If that were true and certain events of our childhood determined us as adults, this society would be more screwed up than it already is.

Maybe if the drug and insurance companies would stop over-prescribing for everything imaginable, the healthcare system wouldn’t be where it is today. And if you can’t quite stomach this article or agree with me, I’m sure there’s a pill for that too.

E-Glide in Blue

I just thought I would put in a plug for a blog that I was recently introduced to; "Electra Glide in Blue" This is definitely a gearhead blog with some vintage pictures as well a current series on the author's top end rebuild of his '68 Shovel. If you are into vintage iron, give it a click, its worth a look!

A Small Challenge

If you follow any amount of blogs, then you have probably seen an entry something like this: Such and Such over at So and So blog tagged me with this challenge. I have never had the honor of being tagged by anyone before, but Joe over at Hear God Speak recently tagged me with the "Honest Scrap" challenge.

The challenge is to share 10 honest things about myself and then tag 7 bloggers to do the same. In the spirit of good clean fun, I am going to cheat, but just a little, and with (I think) good reason. I will list the ten things about myself, but I am not going to tag seven other bloggers. The reason for no tag, is that I am quite sure that there are not seven other bloggers that follow my blog. It just seems like it would be a little weird for me to tag someone who probably doesn't know I exist. And since Joe has tagged me, I can hardly tag him. By the way, you should really check out his blog. I find it truly edifying, and it has steadily climbed the list of blogs I read daily.

So here's my list in no particular order:

1. I once had the honor of towing the legendary Pete Hill on his Top Fuel Knucklehead drag bike back to the pits after he made a pass.
2. I start to get panicky and nervous if I miss more than one Church service in a row.
3. My wife recently spent way too much money to get me a ride on a B17 Liberator.
4. My wife is my very best friend (and that has nothing to do with #3).
5. I spent four years in the USAF and never flew on a military plane until #3.
6. I love to prepare a sermon far more than to deliver it.
7. My reaction times while drag racing were never all that good.
8. I got my first Studebaker when I was 15 and have lost count of how many I have had since then.
9. I actually enjoy doing gardening/landscaping type projects in our back yard.
10. Though sarcasm is probably my favorite type of humor, I often miss it when it is used on me.

MN Supreme Court: "Election Fraud OK with Us"

In a not unexpected result to the contested election between Senator Norm Coleman and comedian Al Franken, the Minnesota Supreme Court today declared Franken the victor.

Minnesota has a history of making elections into a big joke, the last memorable example being the election of Professional Wrestler Jesse "the Body" Ventura as Governor. However, even in practical joke loving Minnesota, a healthy dose of election fraud was required to give Franken enough votes to carry the day.

In the days following the election, which originally showed Norm Coleman as having won a narrow victory, extra votes for Al Franken showed up in the most unlikely places. Nearly everyone I know has a story of finding at least a few Franken ballots. I even found a dozen myself, when I disassembled our snow blower to replace the belt.

Those of us who find ourselves to the political right of Joseph Stalin, and so did not vote for Franken, can take solace in the fact that we have not lost a conservative in Norm Coleman. In reality we have only traded in a liberal Senator for an extremely liberal Senator.

Knucklehead Reunion July 11, 2009

(and now for something a little less controversial)

*

I recently received an invitation to display "The Knuckledragger" at the bike show portion of the Knucklehead Reunion. It should be a great event, and I am flattered to have been invited.

A Rare Treat

I had a treat last Thursday morning. Carl Olson, his son Matt, and two of their buddies stopped in at my shop since they were in Minneapolis for the Kennedy High School Chopper Class open house.

What a great bunch of guys! And what a great bunch of bikes! Four Knuckleheads (the bikes, not the guys) the oldest being a 1939, and the newest a 1946.

And these bikes get ridden! Two of them were ridden from South Dakota, one from North Dakota, and one from Iowa.

After only the slightest hint at arm twisting by Matt, they sent me out for a ride on their unrestored 1941 with only 13,000 original miles. Not a bad start for my first ride of the year!

If you'd like to know more about Matt and Carl, you can check out nearly any issue of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America's magazine, or take a look at the web site for Carl's Cycle Supply

Go Figure

Let me get this straight ....according to President Obama, tricking a terrorist into thinking he is drowning is torture and morally reprehensible. On the other hand, also according to President Obama, the procedure wherein a living baby is delivered feet first, all but his head, into which a sharp object is inserted, then removed and replaced with a vacuum tube through which his brains are sucked out ....that is every woman's right.



Go figure.

GREEN?

I find myself submersed in this nation's biggest and most popular religious holy day; Global Scam Day, more often referred to as Earth Day.

Thinking about Earth day and its associated zombie like followers, brought to mind a small incident from a month or so back. I was in my full size GM (Government Motors) pickup truck with its gas guzzling 5.7 V8. On my way to work, I happened to find myself at a stoplight beside a little cracker box car which was all painted up in various shades of green. The signage on the car indicated that it was part of an "Eco Friendly" package delivery service. I can hardly describe how impressed I was with the obvious attempt to save the world from humanity.

As a matter of fact, I was so impressed, that I decided to show my enthusiasm. For the duration of the red light, I continually gunned the 350 cubic inches of Detroit cast iron. And I don't just mean tapping the throttle. No, I mean gunning the engine as though I was in the staging lanes at a drag strip, ready to make a record attempt! I am sure the glass packs on my truck allowed the driver next to me to share in my jubilation. Some might even call it "noise pollution."

Of course, after this show of braggadocio, there was no way to end it except in a haze of tire smoke as the light turned green. Chirping the tires as I banged second gear put a smile on my face that lasted most of the day. The smile ....partly from the adrenaline of using a big V8 the way it was meant to be used, and partly from the satisfaction of knowing that I had likely used up as many resources in my short tirade as my audience's Eco box would in the next several days!

2009 Donnie Smith Bike Show

If you live in Minnesota or the surrounding states, and are into Harleys, then you probably have already heard of the Donnie Smith Bike Show that is held in St. Paul each spring. As always, it is a premier event held at River Centre in St. Paul. For more info go to the show web site

As I predicted, this is a very busy week. Today (Wednesday) will be my last day in the shop this week. Thursday and Friday I will be at River Centre helping with the off loading and set up for the bike show. The promoter of the event, Neil Ryan, is a friend, so I like to lend a hand. Saturday and Sunday will find me in a booth at the show promoting Lee's Speed Shop. If you are in the area, stop by and say hello.

Sunday morning before the show opens to the public, the St. Cloud chapter of the Bond Slaves Motorcycle Club holds a short worship service for the vendors and show participants. Some years it has been only me and a half dozen club members, but last year there was a pretty good size turn out for the service. Join me there if you can.

The Joy of PC

It is interesting how much a little thing like your laptop being in for repairs can mess up a guy's routine. I carry mine back and forth to work, and use it there as well as at home to run/ship eBay stuff. Normally I spend my lunch break reading a few blogs that I follow, and doing a little writing for this blog. I usually manage to answer the occasional email during this time also.
But not for the last week and a half!

The laptop is in for major repairs, and not due back until the 8th. The silver lining is that I had purchased an extended warranty on it (something I would not normally do). I guess having the warranty put off the day when I switch over to a Mac. Microsoft has become something of a dirty word around our house, with the untold hours lost due to programs that don't work correctly. And then there are the viruses.

I have to admit to a little nagging suspicion in the back of my mind wondering whether it is the people at Mac who spend their evenings producing viruses that attack PCs. Nah....couldn't be....

Anyway, that is why I haven't posted for a while. Hopefully that will change soon.