The BIG STOCKER

WOW, look at this totally cool stocker. It is a 1953 Triumph Thunderbird. Guy calls me up and say he has this bike and wants to get it running. I ask if it is all together and he says "yes." Of course I don't believe him because everyone says that. Then he shows up and this thing is NUT AND BOLT together and about 98% stock after all these years. Un-freakin-believeable!! So he wants to get it going for his brother for Christmas. A completely noble endeavor. The mag does not spark, but I clean the carb, set the valves, adjust the transmission and put in a good sparking mag and BAM it fires up third kick. Bo is the brother who painstakingly put it together from the grandfather's basketcase and Jason is the guy who brought it in. It was GREAT to fiddle with this old stocker and get it back on the road. Thanks for bringing it in, Jason!! What a great tribute to brotherly love.

What is up at the shop these days?

Here is some of the stuff we have been working on lately. Andy's panhead got an early Triumph front end. Looks bitchin', eh? Like an old survivor from a Roger Corman movie.

My crusty pre-unit custom has been coming along at a snail's pace. I finally got the swoopy pipes of my dreams put on there. These pipes were aftermarket items from the early 1950s and way out of production by 1960. They are super rare, and if I do say so myself, SUPER-COOL.

And there is always a motor going together on the bench. This one belongs to a buddy's brother and is gonna get the old Four Aces Beauty Treatment with tumbled cases, polished covers and re-cad plated hardware.

Oh and don't forget I have a couple of Denis' oil tanks in stock now. get one for a Christmas present for yourself at $210 plus shipping. THEY ARE NICE!!

MOONEYES --JAPAN !!

That is right big homies. We are headed for Japan! I can barely contain my excitement. The 16th Annual Hot Rod Custom Show in Yokahama is gonna be a serious HOOT!! Look for me there is you are going. I will be sharing some booth space with my good buddy Tom Hasegawa of FORK Motorcycle Company. Look here for more details. http://www.mooneyes.co.jp/english/photo/hcs07/entry/index.html

Holy Oil tanks Batman!! Look at this BEAUTY

Heads up folks, the long awaited return of oil tanks is here. My buddy Dennis at Cali Choppers has been working on this puppy for a while now and has finally gotten his product out there. Or at least over here. These puppies retail for $210 plus shipping and are the finest thing you ever see with their "moon-style" end caps. These are made in steel with three mounting bungs and CORRECT BRITISH PLUMBING!! Yep, they have the correct "T" pipe for return and rocker feed and have a bung to use the stock (and hidden) basket type oil filter. They feature a special vented cap that eliminates the need for an extra bung for a breather. These are special order items, so reserve yours now.

Stocker TR6 FOR SALE!! 1969 Black Beauty

Here is a cool stock bike I bought from a hot tip early Monday morning. It runs great after a fresh tune and service. What you see is what you get. CA titled and running, currently in non-op. It is mostly stock with only different mufflers, tail light and wiring harness. New rectifier, newer carburettor, debugged electrical system. Call me or email me to talk about the dough involved in you riding this bad baby home.

Finishing up the Brent A Project

It has been too long coming (sorry Brent) but I am putting the finishing touches on Brent's crazy pre-unit. Actually it turned out to be a little more traditional than I thought it was gonna be. The frame is raked a little bit and the frame is stretched about three inches to fit a slightly taller guy a little better. The idea on this one was to make it look like a fifty year old bike, so we used only good used stuff on it with some character and patina. If it was new or refinished, it was thrown out. After some breaking in, we are going to strip it all back down and paint it black, but we are gonna leave the old crusty parts, well. . . old and crusty. We hope to end up with something that looks like it just got loose from an old barn. The handlebars are Biltwell Inc., Frisco bars (http://www.biltwellinc.com/) and the fishtails are an old MCM catalogue item from the early 1950's. They have an awesome sound and shape to them. It has an Alton alternator and Joe Hunt magneto for some seriously updated electrical.

THE BIG TROPHY!!

Yep, we are super-duper proud of bringing home the Trophy for our 1960's showbike inspired creation. There was some stiff competition from Brewdude of Brew Racing Frames (www.brewracingframes.com) and Chandler Originals in Florida (www.chandleroriginals.com) but at the end the crowd just liked ours better I guess. Both of the other competitors had some serious engineering in the bikes, but at the end of the day, i think the one and only Nick-O-Teen's paint and inspiration body work ruled the day.

Big thanks to the Horse Backstreet Choppers, http://www.ironcross.net/, for hooking up an awesome show.

SMOKE OUT WEST Bringing Home the Bacon. . .

Well if you wonder why it has been quiet around here lately, it is because we have been busting our humps to get the bike for the Horse Backstreet Chopper Smoke-Out West Chop Off done. HUGE thanks to Jeff L, Andy J. and Uncle Frank K. their superhuman efforts to help out on the project. They did all the hard work on the bike. And our efforts were richly rewarded by FIRST PLACE at the Show. It was a people's choice award so it makes it even more gratifying. First a pic of the bike, these are taken right before we left. You get the idea.

BACK FROM BONNEVILLE AND HUNKERING DOWN

We are back from Bonneville and ready for some serious catching up. To all of our patient customers, a BIG thanks. Chuck upped his record at the Salt and I had a personal best of 5 MPH over last year, but I am still under 100 MPH. I blew up my primary and broke off my new carburettor spigots. I even got chased down the course by a car!! We had tons of fun though. A big thanks once again to our sponsors Biltwell, Inc., (http://www.biltwellinc.com/) Patterson Engineering and Steve Moody. Without their help, it would have been a LOT more difficult. Here are a smattering of pics from the trip.

OFF TO BONNEVILLE SPEED WEEK 2007

Well as of Thursday we are OFF to Bonneville for Speed Week 2007. Yes, the intrepid Chuck Zeglin and I are headed off to seek our fortune at the Great Salt Flat. Coming along for the absolute FUN of it all and to help us out incalculabley is CHRIS Collins of our Brothers in Arms over at Biltwell, Inc. Check out all the new stuff at http://www.biltwellinc.com/, when I get back you can buy it all from me. Biltwell was kind enough this year to sponsor us at the Flats. Chris went with us last year and had a blast. Once again he will be our Wingman and Rastafarian Spiritual Advisor. Here are a couple pics of the bikes. Both bikes have changed since last year. Chuck's looks like a restoration, but also packs WAY more punch since he installed the 250cc Big Bore kit and the old tried and true R Code Cam. A 276 Carb and a GP Float are new too. My bike is the same bike essentially but with some SERIOUS head and piston work, and a new gas tank that accomodates the new dual carb spigots that are now welded on. We love ruining stock parts around here and yes, dear purists that is a 1951 close pitch finned head I destroyed for racing. HUGE, HUGE, HUGE thanks go out to Gary Swan of Toad Town Racing and Frank Brewer, ex of Triumph of Burbank, both were Jack Hateley trained back in the day. Frank and Gary are Ascot alumnus from back when Ascot was SOMETHING. Frank and Gary helped me immesurably with my head, barrell and pistons. Without them I would probably be going slower than last year. Thanks guys.

Mike Chan----New Guy! Bigger Staff Get some

Mike came up a few months back when my hand was busted and got his bike fixed up. A few month later, I post an ad for a part time guy on http://www.jockeyjournal.com/ in the classified section and Mike responds. He is my first interview. I am impressed and voila! Mike is hired. Welcome Mike, you are doing great!!

The CHOP-OFF Bike Progresses. . . .

Well we have the transmission all figured out. After a bumpy start we figured out because of chain clearance we would have to lower the trans as much as possible. So we cut and lowered, lowered and cut. Then we slugged the frame and made adjuster plates much like the ones seen on triumph rigid framed bike of the 1938 to 1954 era. they look like scaled up plates. Next all we have to do is continue boxing up the frame to make up for all the meat we took out of it. Jeff is doing most of the work, I am mostly supervising. We started lining up sprokets too, and it looks like we are off to Mike Parti's place for some custom spacers. The tank mounts are done, too and we are starting to eyeball the rear fender and sissy bar. Ever onwards. . . . .oh yea, and we figured out the pipes too. Often times, a bike will tell you what it wants for different pieces while you are building it. The bike told us we needed to use cocktail shakers. Unfortunately, I had run out of the smaller sized ones and my regular supplier of shakers was ALL OUT. Panic city until good friend of the shop Kit saw fit to return a pair he bought from me a few months back. Talk about a SACRIFICE!! Thanks Kit, you rock!!

A FEW BILTWELL HELMETS ADVANCE SALE

That is RIGHT! I got a FEW Biltwell helmets in an advanced shipment. I have sold several already but here is what is left:

The rest of these ultra cool helmets will be coming in around the first of August.

(0) Black Helmets $75 plus S and H SOLD!!

(1) Blue Flake helmets $114 each plus S and H ONE LEFT

(2) Red Flake helmets $114 each plus S and H TWO LEFT

that is it for now.

refer to the Biltwell website for the helmets general guidelines on sizing, etc.

http://www.biltwellinc.com/Oiltanks.html

Remember these are novelty NON-DOT helmets that should not be worn unless you are protecting your noggin from a drunken stupor in a padded room. And Flippin'-eh proud of it.

We Call Him UNCLE FRANK !!

Lately we have been absolutely awed by the presence here at the shop of none other than Frank Kaisler. He came wandering in with our friend Sporty Steve one day and has made us a regular stop on his rounds. The name may ring a bell and it may not, but if you have been around motorcycles for a while and read some of the fine and not so fine print in Easyriders, Hot Bike, the Horse backstreet Choppers, Street Chopper as well as Motorcycle Electrics Without Pain and other technical publications, you have no doubt seen Uncle Frank's name.

Frank has been lending his HUGE expertise to a couple of projects here in the shop including the 45 Ha-Rumph Chop Off bike as well as a rigid Shovelhead that we have been putting together. Frank is like having your own personal shop teacher around, and his knowledge of Harley Davidsons, both new and old is just out of this world. And of course his stories of 22 inch over front ends and 1974 Halloween parties is providing lots of laughs. Frank is sharpening his pencil up on several technical articles stemming from his "research" here at Four Aces. He plans to submit to Street Chopper and other tastely publications. WATCH FOR THEM!!

A big shout out and a big thanks to UNCLE FRANK.

THE HD 45 Project. The Smoke Out Chop Off Bike

Well we have been thrashing away at the "Ha-Rumph." I did not get a harumph out of you!! I call it that, Jeff is not the biggest fan of that moniker, though. But we have been slamming away at it, trying to get some tank mounts done, trying to figure out the rear fender and generally putting metal to metal and welding it up.

We found some nicer heads than what we had from my old buddy Doug "the Dragon" out in my old stomping ground of Tallahassee, Florida. THANKS DOUG, what do I owe you??!! We also have been making bungs, and motor and tank mounts today. Or hell, I should just be honest and say JEFF has been making all this stuff. I have just been "supervising" so far.

Crazy Days, Long Nights, New Stuff. . . .

YIKES!! What a crazy bunch of summer days this has been. Four Aces has been chosen to do the Horse backstreet Choppers "Chop Off" for the Cottonwood, AZ, Smoke Out West this year and we are super busy hauling ass on the bike. Jeff and I decided to kick out the jams on his Harley Davidson 45 Cubic inch flathead project. It is gonna be way cool with a pre-unit Triumph Transmission, Amal Carburettor and a bunch of Triumph parts thrown at it. Chrome stuff, metal flake stuff, Webco stuff, Oh MY!!!
Yep, Exciting times.

Japanese Invasion

Just kidding, but around here lately we have had several Japanese bike builders come in for a visit. We were absolutely honored and humbled by the presence of none other than Go Takimine from the world famous Bratstyle in Japan. Check out is inspirational and innovative work at http://www.bratstyle.com/. Go visited once before a couple years back. Go is one of the most influential bike builders on the planet right now. He stuff is nothing sort of awe-inspiring.

Go came along with his friend Yone from Bull-Original in Yokahama. Yone's Big Twin flathead was recently seen in DICE! magazine, http://www.dicemagazine.com/. Yone is a talented bike builder and exceptional seat maker. Check him out at http://www.mc-bull.com/. You will not be disappointed.

We also had Natsuki Sakurai of Swallowtail Motorcycles. His shop is more of a catch all repair shop for Japanese bikes, British bikes and Harleys too. But he is a big fan of all things CUSTOM British and Harley. We could not really communicate, but we speak the same language, knowwhatimean?

Thanks for coming by guys!! Japan ROCKS!!! BANZAI !!!!