Buying American

I took a load of shit from a few people the other day because my bobber has a Revtech transmission and not a Baker transmission. I've been very happy with both the Revtech transmission and Revtech motor installed on my motorcycle. The argument was about the fact that the Revtech is not American but the Baker is. Somehow, this automatically made the Baker a superior product even though the ones who were bitching at me acknowledged that they had never used a Revtech transmission and some of them had never even used a Baker transmission.

I personally have never used a Baker transmission so I will decline any discussion regarding the superiority over the Revtech and I will not make any assumptions on the quality of a Baker transmission. From all accounts, Baker makes a great piece if equipment. However, from my account, the Revtech has been a great transmission.

The argument became "if you buy anything not made in America you are not supporting America and what you are buying is shit." Well, I disagree with that with a passion. Take for example that Baker transmission. They manufacture it and assemble it in America. However, in order for them to get the raw materials to build the transmission they had to purchase the materials from overseas companies. In fact, regardless of what you buy, it is almost certain at some level, you have supported international trade. At this point it is unrealistic to think you can be 100% exclusionary and buy only American made products made from American made products. The fact that we no longer make steel tells you that anything made from it used overseas raw materials.

Those same guys who gave me shit are all "Harley or nothing" guys. I find it funny since Harley increases the quantity of components built overseas every year. They buy Harley because they feel like they get a quality product and because the company is American owned, they get a sense of pride.

That's cool and I understand it. My motorcycle was built 50-miles away from my house so I can understand the sense of local pride. I consider it American made but I fully understand that less than 50% of it was made and assembled in America. I recently bought my second Honda Pilot. It was built in a plant down south. That vehicle put food in the mouths of people who live in America. I am happy about that. We live in a global economy and the money I spent on my motorcycle put food in the mouths of local people and helped to support businesses world wide. I am also happy about that.

I think the people whose mouth runith over with, "I only buy American" should take a look at their own house. If you own a house, you do not ONLY BUY AMERICAN because there is absolutely no way your house is 100% American made. Get over it and realize the world you live in. Go out and buy a product that suits your needs, gives you the best quality for your buck and provides you with years of service. If the company happens to be American owned: great! However, understand that the products they build and sell support other countries. Just food for thought.

RedSoul Motorcycles

I came across RedSoul Motorcycles today and took some time to look around their site. Besides, the site not working very well with Google Chrome, I was quite impressed with some of the designing they completed on a few of their bikes. I'd love to check out that blue and white "Sodo King." I've always wondered how you can see past the gas tank on motorcycles built like that. It's intriguing.

I was also impressed by the way they mounted the petcock on their El Endrogado. Many bobbers are outfitted with very small tanks. My tank is a 1.3 gallon tank with the petcock located in the traditional location. Because of this, I have a cross over to help fuel get past the tunnel. However, even with the cross over, I sill have close to a half gallon left in the tank. This petcock design surely fixes that issue.

It looks to me that there are some pretty cool bikes being produced from that shop in Seattle. Keep up the good work men!

Pictures taken from Redsoul.com

Convert Your Evo to a Knuckle

I found this posted in another forum and I instantly thought about changing the rocker boxes on my Evo engine to knuckleheads. I've been seriously thinking about using a knucklehead on my next motorcycle because I love the old time look of them. However, most reproduction KN's offer less than interesting horsepower. WIth this knucklehead rocker box conversion kit available from Custom Chrome, you can get the look and keep the horsepower. I'm a bit put off by the price I found for them so I'll keep looking around for a better deal. They also make a panhead rocker box conversion kit.

Pictures taken from Custom Chrome.com

Bling's Cycles

I came across Bling's Cycles on another forum showcasing one of their motorcycles. Unfortunately the blog focuses on cafe racers so I don't think the motorcycle is getting the love it deserves. Love, it would get from the bobber crowd. What I really like about Bling's is the knobby dirt track tires. Although I'm not sure I would want one on a rigid street-driven motorcycle, it is cool none the less and I really tip my hat off to anyone who does ride one! As for construction, the bike I looked at on their site all look top notch. I absolutely live the knucklehead (3rd one down.) I would ride the shit out of that motorcycle all day!

Taken from Bling's Cycles.com

Free T-Shirt Day

I took the 80-mile round trip journey on Psycho Bob and went to ACM for a few oil filters. I finally rounded the 2,000 mile mark and I'm ready to make the much needed transition to synthetic oil. The owner of ACM decided to give me this great new T-Shirt so I could look good going down the road on my bike. It is interesting because I had just been talking to one of their sales people about having a Captain America bike built. Maybe he gave this to me as fuel for though!

It was a nice ride. I love drafting behind the big rigs on the turnpike at 65 mph. It always makes for a pleasant ride. However, once you get off the turnpike you get to go through some really nice rolling hills, lakes and country to get to the bike shop. They are not exactly located "in town." It is the first time I've had the time to take the bike out that way for a ride. It was about 60-degrees here today. Glad my bike isn't asleep for the winter!