Gophers and Cheese

Another full-color re-post to bring some warmth for a freezing cold day... Here is the original post: Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show 2010 - Part 3 Here is full-color version: More pictures from the 2010 Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show ... The day was full of live music on an outdoor stage behind the 331 Club .  I couldn't stay for it all but the bands I heard sounded great. Here's the schedule.  Never mind the dude creepin' behind the sign... These guys were goin' all Emmet Otter Jugband... while these guys were goin' all Riverbottom Nightmare Band. If you don't understand the two references above, you need to watch more Christmas movies involving Muppets. While the Bearded Lady may be a freak show on the surface, it is a bike show at its heart.  The prizes were highly unusual (and awesome) - tattooed piglets in jars. Bikes and scooters were everywhere. Here are a few of the rats... Yee-haw!  Seriously though, a fur-covered scooter with a saddl...

Here's another blast of summer in the middle of winter. Here is the orginal post: Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show 2010 - Part 2 Here is the full-color version: As promised, more pics from the 2010 Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show / Freakshow... I have lots of pictures of bikes to post but I'll get to them soon.  Let's start with the crowd.  If you click on the picture and look closely you will see a few Minnesota Rollergirls and that guy on stilts again. While the majority of the crowd was relatively normal, what made the crowd cool and interesting were those in costume. Of course there were a few bearded ladies (guys with beards in drag): This guy was bearded but he was rockin' a chef's outfit instead of a dress: There were ladies dressed in Victorian-looking outfits selling merchandise and munchin' on cupcakes: There was this guy on stilts with a burlap mask and megaphone: Let's not forget the cigarette girls: The last group I noticed were...

It's been almost 6 months since the 2010 Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show (aka Bearded Lady Motorcycle Freakshow).  It was my first time attending the show and it was my favorite event of 2010.  The weather, bikes, and overall feel of the show were great. The weather is currently cold, snowy, and gray.  The high tomorrow is 8°F and the high on Sunday is 5°F.  For a small taste of summer in this bitterly cold time of year, I have decided to re-post the 5-part series from the Bearded Lady in FULL COLOR.  When the hell is Spring anyway? Here is a link to the original post with black-and-white photos: Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show - Part 1 Here is the full-color version: Today was the 5th ever Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show (aka the Bearded Lady Motorcycle Freakshow) at the 331 Club in Northeast Minneapolis.  The weather was perfect - 80s and sunny.  This was my first time attending this event and it was easily the best bike show I have ever been to - ...

Since I had a lot of little parts ready for paint, I went ahead and sprayed them all black. From left to right, there are three bolts (one small bolt to mount the ignition switch to the bracket and two to reattach my brake/footpeg bracket), ignition switch cap, ignition switch bracket, coil bracket, and two tank lift brackets.  The bolts, ignition cap, and ignition bracket are all flat black while the rest are gloss. I used a few coats of primer before the black on everything but the bolts.  Unless they are chrome or stainless, I like to spray paint my bolts since, in my experience, it helps prevent rust.

Since I am in the process of relocating the ignition switch, I am left with an ugly ignition mounting bracket on my coil bracket.  I couldn't think of anything to mount there so I decided to get rid of it. I started to cut it off using my Dremel but that was going too slow so I used a hacksaw. Then I used my sander to smooth it out like it was never there. I roughed up the rest of the surface a little and primed it.

Since I'm relocating my ignition switch, I want to cover the back of it.  I picked up a PVC cap.  I thought I needed a 2" cap because the diameter of the ignition switch is just under 2" but the 2" cap looked huge at the hardware store.  Since they're cheap, I picked up a 1 1/2" cap too just in case as it looked to be closer. I'm glad I did.  The 2" cap was huge and the 1 1/2" cap fit nearly perfectly.  Here you can see the cap slipped over the front of the switch just to illustrate the fit.  Plumbers and pipefitters can probably explain why the 1 1/2" cap fit even though it's not 1 1/2" diameter but all I care about is that it works.  From this photo, you can also see the back of the switch and why I want to cover it. I carefully cut a notch using my Dremel and you can see how it slips over the back. Once I was happy with the fit, I sanded off the logo and text on the cap and roughed up the surface for paint.

After getting a little carried away with the wire tuck, I decided to relocate my ignition switch.  The spot I chose was in the area above the derby cover, below the battery, and next to the starter motor. There is a grounding bolt that I planned to use to help mount it.  Here it is looking at it from the air cleaner side of the bike.  I already removed the nut that kept the two wires in place. My next step was to bust out my trusty cutting wheel and cut off a piece of 1/8" thick 1.5" x 1.5" steel angle. It took some trial and error but I made a paper template that fit the area because I wanted to match the curve of the starter motor so my bracket would stay put once mounted. I traced the curve from the template to the steel I cut. I then used my cutting wheel (for big chunks) and Dremel (for finer detail) to match the curve, being careful not to grind away too much. I then drilled out the hole and test mounted it.  I used the Dremel to take off just enoug...