Easy Rider and Chopperguy

Once again I have the chopper working. I received the parts yesterday and bolted them on with only minimal modification. I had to drill a hole in the plate that acts as a lever for the brake. The extra long kick stand gets in the way if you use the standard mounts. I get around this by mounting the brake lever in an inverted fashion. I then mounted the other end of the pushrod on the top side of the forward control through the modified brake lever. Namely, instead of the brake pushing on the bottom, it pulls on the top. The same result through a different action. I also mounted up a new, shorter mirror. Interestingly, the new mirror looks more similar to the one used on Captain America. This replaces the long rectangular one I had before.

Due to the age of the bike, I run lead substitute and 104 octane booster. You should always modify the heads on old engines to help them run the low octane unleaded fuels, unless you've got a supply of the good stuff. But along with modifying the heads, you still notice a huge difference with the chemical additives. Without the additives, she goes and she goes well. With the chemicals, she positively screams! My father does the same thing with his 1969 Corvette and also gets great results. Another friend used to use the chemicals on their old 60's VW Beetle. The thing practically required it.

I've started designing a camera mount for my handle bars. I wouldn't try this if my camera didn't have stabilization. I will try to cut out as much shake as possible with some rubber padding. I want to set the camera up, start it recording, and just take off down the road. I have seen so many people trying to take pictures as they ride. That bugs the hell out of me. People riding one handed, no handed, surf board style, on a wheelie, or other stunts don't bother me. When people do that they still have their focus on keeping the bike upright. A person taking a picture has their mind elsewhere. Anyway, if my motorcycle movie mount works out, I'll try to post some short films of the open road.