I'm a bit looney and the tales of the Deus build off

So i've officially entered the Deus Ex Machina boundless enthusiasm build off for 2013. It is oct 26th. Holy shit I have so much work to do on this sucker. But I'm determined to give it my best shot. This can't be done without great family and friends. It will literally take everything I have time wise to get it done and the bar is set high and the budget is about non existent ,  Which is the name of the game. If any of you are feeling ambitious  and wanna lend a hand or have suggestions for a place to stay in Venice I'm all ears. Wish me luck and follow along I will try to keep the updates coming when I have a free second or two to post. 

Finishing up the welding on the tail

 

preparing a rolled edge for the front area

 

Tore the bike down to start the detabbing and smoothing of the rear section of the frame

 

Weld, grind, file, sand and repeat. A lot!

 

getting there. Only 150 more repetitions to go

 

mocked it up and started fabbing the number plates and mounts, made and mounted a splash gaurd out of n old junk fender fits in nice and tight.

 

The original headlight ears mounted the light about 6 feet in front of the bike. Not quite what I picture for this little cutie. So a pair of handmade ears are in order. this brings the Bates style light right in where I want it.

 

and an old sealed beam takes the place of the previous H4 conversion light I tried out. the lens just didn't really toot my horn. This is more of what I had in mind. Sometimes it is the littlest details that make all of the difference in the finished product.

Alright Lets put this Custom shop to bed. Untill next time......

Progress on the rd 200

After a great weekend enjoying a beautiful wedding for some great friends, waking up with my beautiful wife in the back of our car a.k.a. Hotel de la pathfinder (conveniently located in the parking lot of the Marriott near SFO.) we watched the sun rise over the San Francisco Bay as planes glided gracefully into the nearby tarmac. Enjoyed some coffee and tea followed by a great brunch with our friends and reminiscing of the previous nights dance floor shenanigans. (Coop's got the moves!)

       We then returned to the reality that it is Sunday and time to get ready for the upcoming week. Feeling like all play and no work I decided to tinker a bit with the RD and play with some of the new parts that have been showing up over the past few weeks. This thing is turning into a real cutie. Mounted and shortened the new bars popped on a bates style headlight that I loath due to the dorky ass lens that sticks out like 10 freakin inches. And finally whipped up a little bump for the rear of the seat after dinner. It's shaping up nicely and looking better than the vision I have in my head which is a good thing. Stay tuned, we have more goodies on the way and some more little tricks up my sleeve for the little munchkin. Enjoy your week. 

Stuff looks ugly during fabrication. 

Fits pretty good. Simple is the idea with this little dinger. 

I don't do "hurt"

So here I sit. On a pad of ice with what feels like a civil war battle happening on opposite sides of my spine. As if the left and right side of my back have decided that they can no longer operate as one united entity any longer. The left side is kicking the right sides ass. More little nerve soldiers are dying a slow death on that side. I have a severe gangster lean to the right and I can't walk very well. 

     I haven't been to work since last Friday and I'm freaking out just sitting here helpless. I truly don't see how any individual can just sit around all day and waste time weather it be video games or social media or the regular couch potato. Seriously if you are an able body get out and enjoy this amazing world we live in. Go for a hike. Talk with your neighbors, explore something new, try a new coffee joint, travel a mile or two and lay in a park and stare at the clouds. Call a family member and go hangout. Play a game with your family, work on that neglected project or start a new hobby. Seriously go do something. I don't take life for granted and this is why. As I sit here virtually unable to do any of these mentioned activities and more I am thankful to an indescribable amount that on an average unhurt day I grab life by the scruff and hop on for a ride I won't soon forget. 

     On a very positive note. I have been able to see my kiddos after the first few days of school and spend some time watching them play. Also I have had a moment to catch up on some less exciting non physical type work as well as do a lot of research and inspire myself to try harder and push tue limits even further. 

     It is also now that I want to thank my family for the help and support I have had these past couple days. And to my 4 year old sweet little girl for helping daddy get his underwears on. Pphhhheeewww. 

And here is the straw that broke this camels back. From all the dumb stuff I do to my body building this stupid bench is what knocked 7 vertebrae out of wack. Oops. 

New project. 72 yamaha CS3 aka RD 200

So this little baby showed up in my driveway last night at about 9:45. I wheeled it into the backyard and went to bed.

At around 8:00 tonight I sprayed it down and gave it a quick bath. 

Not bad. It's mostly there and in decent shape. The little 200cc two stroker is stuck and the kicker is broke  so I ordered a new shaft for it today for a few bucks. I will see if I can soak it and free it up. I pulled a few things off to get a visual and start thinking about a plan. 

This is a super cool little bike. I can just about hear the ring da ding ding tang tang ring. It reminds me a lot of my old yamaha R5. So now comes the time to figure it out. There are a few different scenarios to pick from. Make it run, clean it up, fab a cool little rear section for it and run it. Or part it out to fund the next cl450 build I have planned. Or lastly maybe one of you lucky viewers wants a super cool two stroke street terror. I can see this being done a few different styles. But for some reason I keep seeing a way cool street racer. Maybe a dunstall type fairing a nice tucked in stance. Shouldered aluminum wheels with some polished out hubs and spokes and a set of vintage chambers for that awesome two stroke buzz. Mild or wild I can make it happen. If any of you are interested send me a message and let's talk two stroke madness! 

Me and my boy for the weekend.

Last weekend Owen and I headed up into the mountains for a little camping at Pinecrest lake. A sweet little spot beautiful landscape pine trees a plenty large granite cliffs and fresh snow melt in the lake. This place has a really cool vintage camping vibe to it, and I recommend Pinecrest to anybody who will enjoy a weekend camping. We hiked, we fished , we biked, we ate a lot. And best of all we hung out and talked about life and stuff and I had a chance to teach. Even if he already knew what I had to say I felt a connection and a bond that is irreplaceable by anything on earth. We definitely need to do this more. It was a great break and I'm recharged. Lets get back to work. Check back in a day or so. I got a new project that just showed up here. It should be cool. Think mixed gas!

 Spotted this cool Panel. pretty sure I need one of these.

Yep

Bikes on the bay

Well it was a successful day. I had a blast and met some great people, sold some merch. But most of all I learned a lot. An I'm looking forward to charging full speed and bringing awesome to anyone who wants it.

     I really want to thank my wife and family for supporting me in this. My Wife has giving me so much confidence and encouragement through all this. I am lucky to have such a great influence and Friend that i get to be married to.  It really would not have happened any other way.  Thanks to my Dad for helping out setting up and taking down and believing I can do this. Also my brother who has been helping get this going through his networking skills and positive comments. I have some great friends that showed up and supported me today as well thanks guys it means the world to me. Also a great thanks to all that I had the  pleasure of meeting and talking to at this event as well as anyone who supported by buying hats and shirts and showing up to say hi. And a last but very not least Huge thanks to Daniel Abraham for the Kick Ass logo design. He took a simple sketch and made this amazing design you all get to enjoy. Guy is a genius and i highly recommend him for any design work you could think of

     I have so much more to share with this world. This is the very beginning of my attempt at bringing the Change i want to see in the world. And truthfully the reaction I got today was the best reassurance that I am on the right path. There are no rules and i don't plan to follow any.
    As I was unloading this morning I could see people drop what they were doing trying to figure out why this crazy kid has all these surf boards at a motorcycle show??? Puzzled looks all day and the deep thinking faces as they pass by then do a double take and come back two or three times to see if what they think they saw was real. I'm not doing anything original here, just delivering my own version of "cool"
    Whats next? Finish Noels bike in the upcoming months and I have another CL450 that is headed my way for a quick go through and restyle. a couple other projects are in the planning stages and there are ideas flowing like crazy. also finding another show to attend. keep a look out. Mixture Motor Co. is on the move.

Dads Triumph

         I feel obligated to let you all know a little about my self through each post. It is a way to express to you who I am and paint a clearer picture of my passion and where these crazy thoughts and ideas come from. I have been thinking a lot lately about why I am doing this. It is a question I ask myself all the time. Why am I here? What am I doing this for.
         Truthfully, I am here doing this because I can't not do this. I was born into a car family. Surrounded by hot rods, muscle cars, 80's euro cars, auto-crossing, dirt track racing and drag racing to name a few influences. My dad started restoring a 69 Camaro when I was about 6. I absorbed everything that I could, watching closely, helping when I could, reading every hot rod and car magazine I could get my hands on. I was hooked.

       To add to the motor mayhem I grew up with, my next door neighbors Jon and Dan were into motocross and eventually got to a serious competitive level. You can see where this is going. They wrenched on their own bikes with the help of their dad Dave who was like a second dad to me. I was part of their crew as well and they let me turn wrenches on the bikes. All of this was adding up to something I had no idea could affect me at an adult level. 

      Then there was this one night we were at the elementary school near our house.  We were riding our bmx's around and the school janitor pulls out on an amazing low riding Harley. Ape hangers, straight pipes, low and black, a very latino lowrider styled bike with white walls. It was at this moment surrounded by my buddies and the smell of spent exhaust fumes from the very loud piped Harley that rumbled the ground right before me, I was officially hooked. It was over. I had to have a motorcycle. It was also at this point that I learned of my parents dislike for motorcycles. A battle I would fight for many years to come. 

      Needless to say I didn't get a motorcycle. I couldn't go ride mx with the  neighbors they were "too dangerous" and then I had the stories about my dads motorcycle accident he had when he was younger and shouldn't have been riding. and on and on. Now a very discouraged young boy, I snuck around and rode every damn thing with two wheels and a motor I could find.  Built mini choppers with 5horse Briggs engines etc. It was on!

      As I got older and moved out on my own there were many projects as well as couple riders I've had. Some fun builds, some I should have not sold. Like my last Cb 450. I miss that bike dearly but it was for a good cause you see. The money from the silver and candy blue flaked machine was used to buy a dirt bike for my at the time 11 year old son. (See what I did there) I would not let history repeat it self and got him hooked in the two wheeled madness I so badly needed as a kid. We don't live through our kids do we? 

       My dad and I have always been pals. But not without the usual father son drama that happens when teenagers know more than their parents. Hahaha. We had our highs and lows so to speak. In high school we had a great bond and a lot of time to spend together. Most nights we'd be in the garage together messing around with something. Whether it was a house project we would do together or separate things in the same garage, we were buds and having each other there was all we needed. As a younger boy I went to endless. Car shows in his Camaro we would leave the house when it was still dark. My job when we'd get there was interior detail. I knew the drill and we could make good time getting the car cleaned up and ready for the days show. A good team you could say. 

      As time went by and we both were engulfed by our own separate lives there was more drama and family tension that would pull us farther apart. Not purposely but through time and lack of effort on both parts we had drifted far apart and my life as a husband and father and his life struggles made it very hard to repair any holes that were left in the relationship. 

      I thought about this a lot and it saddened me deeply that I had lost that tight close friend I had for many years. Longing for ways to refresh that bond. Maybe dad will get back into his Camaro and we can do some shows together? Maybe we can get him to come to the beach and hang out while we surf? I could show him how to surf! A lot of questions and no answers. 

       My dad then made one of the most incredible decisions of his life. He had finally come to terms with the fact that he had a drinking problem. Something we all wished would happen. we could see the amazing passionate person inside fading away and covered by a hydraulic haze. A thing to know about my dad. He will do the best at everything he tries. And there was no exception when it came to drinking. He was damn good at it. 

       He saved his own life by making the choice to change. It is now two years later and that amazing passionate caring and thoughtful man has surfaced again. I ensure you it was no easy task but remember, this guy is as stubborn as the day is long. And if he decides to put his life on track he is gonna do the best damn job at it. 

        Christmas 2011 I get a call from my dad. We had been in much better contact by this point and slowly repairing that lost bond we once had. He says. "Hey I'm close to your work and my truck is acting up, can I stop by". So a few minutes later he pulls up he has the smile of the Grinch. I see a headlight peeking over the cab of his truck. He hops out. "Look what I bought myself for Christmas."  He says with the excitement of a 5 year old who just got a new bike without training wheels. I walk around the back of the truck and there it is. The very thing that would recreate that passion and bond between us without us even knowing it at the time. A brand new black with gold stripe Triumph Thruxton. 900cc's of retro styled awesome. I just about fell over. "Dad. You. A Triumph. Hell yeah!"

I was a proud son at this point. A day I never could have seen coming. 

        Since then there has been a slow progression of more hanging out bonding, late nights in the garage, drinking soda water and listening to late nights with Alice Cooper. His bike has come a long way but in the process we have become even closer friends. Now armed with maturity and wisdom on both ends, mix in a little experience and attention to nit picking details and we have a great "Triumph" to show for it!

        Don't take my words for it I will let the pictures say the rest. An ever evolving relationship between man and machine mends the bonds of real life.