Gophers and Cheese

I managed to get the Stingray (mostly) done and rideable just in time for the Rockers Spring Social (see this post ).  However, it wasn't quite finished.  I still needed to swap the carb, wrap some wiring, add a crossbar pad, and give it a few shakedown runs.  It was by riding the bike I learned I needed to tighten the sissy bar clamps much more than I originally did (the seat slipped down towards the taillight, which could have damaged the fender) and that I needed to redesign the chain roller from a fixed wheel to something spring-loaded.  I did all that and now I consider it done.  Keep in mind, this started as a bicycle!!!

I put so much time and effort into the fabrication of the Stingray (see previous post) that I wanted to do something special with the paint.  Before I could do that, I had to remove all the black spraypaint from the previous owner.

In late-January, I spotted something on Marketplace I just had to have... it was an unfinished project and I was essentially buying an idea... a vision.  Someone had started to put a motor in bicycle frame and, to me, it looked awesome.  It wasn't just any bicycle, it was an early-2000s Schwinn Stingray that was the result of a collaboration between Schwinn and Orange County Choppers (O.C.C.).  It needed work (I didn't realize how much), but I knew that going in.  I was told the 50cc motor ran (nothing was hooked up to prove it) and, given I had experience with my Honda Z50, I took a chance.  

Here's one more big blogpost full of photos from the 2024 Twin City Vans Good Times Truck-In... After the Show & Shine was over, vans lined up behind Nate's Dodge for the van cruise.

Twin City Vans Good Times Truck-In Show & Shine coverage continues...

It rained overnight Friday night.  I slept in the van but had stashed my extra clothes and other stuff in my tent to make it easier to show my van later.  Unfortunately, my tent leaked a bit and a lot of my stuff got wet.  On the bright side, the rain made for some cool wet-van photos.

The Twin City Vans Good Times Truck-In #47 was held in Albert Lea, MN at the Freeborn County Fairgrounds  from June 7th though the 9th.  It was the same location where the club hosted the 48th Van Nats and was a change from recent years where the Good Times Truck-In was held in Preston, MN.  Unsurprisingly, I drove my 78 Dodge.

The Heavy Thursday Summer Mystery Tour was at Litt Pinball Bar in Minneapolis on June 6, 2024.  It was a beautiful night and there was great turnout.  Thanks to Zac for organizing another great event.

The 2024  Rockers Spring Social was Sunday, June 2nd at the Eagles #34 in Minneapolis.

Heavy Thursday  "Summer Mystery Tour" kicked off the 2024 season at 331 Club in Northeast Minneapolis, former home of the Bearded Lady Motorcycle Freakshow .  Heavy Thursday has been around since 2016 (see my last post ) but new for this year is the "mystery" part where the location isn't shared until 24 hours before.  You have to follow @heavyclothing for details.  The parking lot was blocked off for bikes & vans and bands played inside.  The weather certainly wasn't perfect, but most of the rain fell earlier in the day making for decent evening.  It was great seeing people I hadn't talked to in a while.

I left bike night at Dulono's Pizza and headed over to The Joint / Cabooze for the very first Heavy Thursday .  Heavy Thursdays would end up replacing the Moto Mania bike night that was held at the Uptown VFW.  It would be about another year before Dulono's Pizza would move locations and the era of First Thursday bike nights in Uptown would come to an end.

First Thursday in June 2016 was the first one where Moto Mania / Heavy Thursday split off to a totally different location.  I started the evening at Dulono's Pizza in uptown before heading to Heavy Thursday.

I went to the 66th annual Gopher State Timing Association (GSTA) Rod and Custom Spectacular on Sunday, April 7th at the State Fairgrounds.  The show was both Saturday and Sunday but I took advantage of the nice weather on Saturday to work on my own projects.  With all the rain on Sunday, I certainly appreciated the show being indoors.  At least it wasn't snowing.

Moto Mania at the Uptown VFW took place at the same time as First Thursday at Dulono's Pizza but was held in the covered parking lot of the VFW just down the street.  It had a different vibe, more-focused on choppers and garage-built bikes.  For the short time they co-existed, I always checked out and enjoyed both.  Back in  May 2016, Moto Mania 2: The Big Deuce was less than 2 months away and Dan was busy promoting it.  In case you forgot, Moto Mania (the bike night) had the same name as Moto Mania (the dirt track event in Owatonna).  Dan always liked to keep things simple.  If I'm not mistaken, I believe this was the last Moto Mania (bike night) as Heavy Thursdays kicked off the following month.

Way back in May 2016, First Thursday was still going strong at Dulono's Pizza in uptown and its counterpart Moto Mania was happening just down the street at the VFW.  Let's start with outdoor photos at Dulono's.  This particular set doesn't do justice to what a massive bike night this used to be, but you can check out my other blogposts to see what I mean if you never had the opportunity to experience it in person.

The 7th Annual Konawerks Bike Show was held at Grumpy's in Minneapolis back in 2017.

I went to the Donnie Smith Bike Show early on Saturday and waited in line for doors to officially to open at 9am.  I like to go early to have a chance to take photos before it gets really crowded.  A lot of people who attend early on Saturday head directly to the swap meet side anyway.  I've been attending since 2008 and the show always has a good variety of custom bikes and they always vary from year to year so it's never the same.  The timing of the show also means the riding season is typically right around the corner.  We just need this weekend's snow to melt and some rain to clean off the roads.

The blog became a smart-ass teenager last year and I failed to call that out but today marks 14 years since this rodent & dairy themed motorcycle & van blog started.   1,300 blogposts containing over 20,000 photos later, it's still going.  No ads, no sponsors, no merch, no income streams, only expenses...but continuing to do it anyway... like an insane person.  Thanks for stopping by.

The Joint's annual Hog Feed is held just before everyone packs up and heads out to Sturgis.  I attended in 2017 and there was a big stunt show by Authority Stunts .

2017 was the last year that the  Rockers Spring Social  was held at Club Jager in Minneapolis.  It moved a few times since and is now held at the Eagles Club.