Handy Cam Formulas

Last week I found myself doing a little research on cams for a certain application. As part of that project I ran into some specs that were not always published with each cam manufacturer. I decided to make a list of some cam formulas to help fill in some of the blanks. Some of these are self evident, and others not so much. These may have been published elsewhere, but I did not copy them. The last four listed here are of my own "invention" brought about by one particular cam grinder listing some of his cams with the duration @ .053 but not the specific opening and closing at that .053 event. If my equations look a little odd, it is because it was the best I could do to make them readable with "Blogger" formatting

INTAKE DURATION = 180 + INT OPENING + INT CLOSING

EXHAUST DURATION = 180 + EXH OPENING + EXHAUST CLOSING

INTAKE LOBE CENTER = (180 + INT CLOSING minus INT OPENING) divided by 2

EXHAUST LOBE CENTER = (180 + EXH OPENING minus EXH CLOSING) divided by 2

LOBE SEPARATION ANGLE = (INT LOBE CENTER + EXH LOBE CENTER) divided by 2

INTAKE OPENING = (INT DURATION divided by 2) minus LOBE CENTER

INTAKE CLOSING = DURATION minus 180 minus INTAKE OPENING

EXHAUST CLOSING = (EXH DURATION divided by 2) minus LOBE CENTER

EXHAUST OPENING = DURATION minus 180 minus EXHAUST CLOSING

You may notice a trend here, in that the constant "180" is used in many of these formulas. That is because most cam specs are given in degrees Before Top Dead Center / After Bottom Dead Center, etc. rather than using a full 360 degree scale. For example, an intake valve may be opened at 15 degrees before the piston reaches TDC on the "power" stroke. It will remain open for the full 180 degrees of the "intake" stroke, and then close at 31 degrees after BDC of that intake stroke. Add those three figures (15 + 180 + 31) and you get the 226 degrees of duration as listed for an Andrews EV13 cam.

note: if anyone has any corrections to any of these formulas, please let me know. I am working from a 40 year old high school education, and I often wish I had a couple of those Algebra and Geometry textbooks handy to refresh my memory.

Missions Info Central

Godreports.com is a web site that is set up to be a sort of a information clearinghouse for missionaries and Christians interested in missions. Quoting from the site: "In the psalms, David writes: “Proclaim among the nations what He has done.” On the Godreports website, you and your organizations will have a place to do that. If you see your life in terms of mission, you can create your own “Godreport,” describing what God is doing through your ministry."

I had the pleasure of meeting Mark Ellis, the President of Godreports this fall. We instantly hit it off, and after some discussion of the marvelous grace of God, Mark asked me if I had ever written out my salvation testimony. I had, and to make a long story short, it is now posted on the Godreports web site.

The Godreports web site is worth a look, with a lot of information on it. I think having one place to check out numerous missionary efforts worldwide is a great concept, and I suspect more organizations will be taking advantage of it all the time.

Manhattan Declaration, Statement or Alliance?

About a week back there was a short entry on a blog that I follow endorsing the Manhattan Declaration Note that if you click on the link I just provided, it takes you to the home page of the Manhattan Declaration, not the declaration itself. I have to admit that I mistakenly read the home page, and went from there to a page to sign, and never noticed that I had not read the actual declaration. And I may never have noticed my mistake, but for another blog that I follow coming out strongly against the declaration.



So what is this declaration all about? In a nutshell it is a statement affirming the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as the union of husband and wife, and the rights of conscience and religious liberty. Not exactly the type of thing that I would normally expect to find denigrated on a blog that I normally find edifying. But it seems that there were a couple items that made this declaration anathema in some quarters.



One "problem" was that the declaration includes Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians. The other was this statement: "It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season." As a matter of fact, it is this second statement about the gospel which alerted me to the fact that I had not read the actual declaration before signing it. When the declaration was condemned for implying that Catholics taught the true gospel, I had to go back and look because I didn't recall any mention of the gospel in it.


Now anyone who knows me well can tell you that I am about the last guy on the block to endorse any sort of ecumenism, however after reading the entire document and considering it much more, I must admit that I do not believe I made a mistake in signing it. The document says nothing about joining together to proclaim the gospel, and I certainly believe it is my duty to proclaim the gospel to the best of my ability. The three issues that are the meat of the declaration are all one's that I am willing to put my name to in support. The declaration does not even speak of joining together to accomplish any goals, but only to affirm the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage, and the right of religious liberty.


I am thankful that those of our founding fathers who were Christians (and most of them were), were willing to put their name to a document that affirmed that God has given us rights such as life, liberty and religious liberty, dispite the fact that they did not all belong to the same denomination. "But that was a political document", you say? Sure it was, and so is the Manhattan Declaration. And for those who are too "spiritual" to ever dirty their hands by becoming involved in politics in any way, shape or form, I hope they are prepared for the persecution that is sure to follow the downfall of this nation as it was founded.

Lightning Cam Pics?

In my last post I featured a Leineweber # 5 Knuckle cam. This elicited a response from a reader, Jim Franco, saying that he has a cam that recently came out of a Knucklehead hillclimber with lobes that looked quite similar. He was kind enough to send me some pictures of the cam, which I have posted here. The holes in the drive gear immediately bring to mind the legendary Knucklehead "Lightning" cam. Contrary to what seems to be popular opinion, I do not believe that the Lightning cam was the only factory cam to have these holes.

As can be seen in the above picture, the lobes do have the radical shape similar to the Leineweber #5. I have heard the Lightning cam referred to as the "banana lobe cam." I am not sure if this was a common slang term for it or not, but one can certainly see where the name came from.

I ran a factory Knuckle cam which had holes like this in my street bike for a few seasons. The lobes did not visually appear any different from any other stock Knuck cam, and it did not perform noticeably better. I also do not remember a keyway, like the one seen in the above picture.

Barring someone with more knowledge of the elusive Knucklehead Lightning speaking up, I am very inclined to conclude that Jim has himself a genuine one here!

That's Not a Cam; This is a Cam!

Thought you might enjoy seeing a somewhat rare cam. This is a Leineweber #5 Knucklehead cam. It is .540" lift with the Knuckle's 1:1 rocker arm ratio. The description for this cam is as follows: Radical racing cam. Designed for fuel, alcohol, or gasoline. Major engine modifications needed to fit this cam. Expert engine builder a must.

Is that cool or what? The lobes at 8 and 12 o'clock are the intakes, and the milder exhaust lobe is the one at 3 o'clock. Jim Leineweber only lists his Knuck cam specs at .020" lift. For this cam the duration is 318 degrees on the intake and 298 degrees for the exhaust. The picture doesn't do it justice as to just how radical this cam looks!

Twenty + years ago a local drag racer from the '60s and 70's, the late Doug Gall, showed me a cam which Jim Leineweber had ground for him. He told me it was one of Jim's first. It was a stock cam that had been welded up and reground. As I recall, it had much this same shape to the lobes.

The best part is you can still get one of these for your own nitro burning Knucklehead at leinewebercams.com (or contact me).

Spiritual Chain Letters

I don't know about you, but it seems like I get a lot of email forwarded to me that is just a little lacking. Much of it is in the form of "sky is falling" political gossip. I say gossip, because they always seem to include some truth, but that truth is often marred by accompanying wild claims that are usually can be disproved easily.

But those don't really bother me so much. The one's that bother me, are the ones concerning Christianity. Case in point: I recently received one from someone in my family. It had a host of things which I find objectionable, though I have no doubt that the heart of the "forwarder" was in the right place.

This email contained what is called a Novena. Not being a Roman Catholic, I had to look that up. It is "a devotion consisting of prayer said (most typically) on nine successive days, asking to obtain special graces. These may consist of small prayer books, recitation of the Rosary, or small prayers through the day." Of course, being a Baptist, the first thing that comes to mind is the Biblical injunction in Matthew 6:7 "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."

I could overlook that part of the email, but it goes on to say:

GOD WANTED ME TO TELL YOU, It shall be well with you this coming year.No matter how much your enemies try this year, they will not succeed..You have been destined to make it and you shall surely achieve all your goals this year. For the remainder of 2009, all your agonies will be diverted and victory and prosperity will be incoming in abundance. Today God has confirmed the end of your sufferings, sorrows and pain because HE that sits on the throne has remembered you. He has taken away the hardships and given you JOY. He will never let you down. I knocked at heaven's door this morning, God asked me.. My child! What can I do for you? And I said, 'Father, please protect and bless the person reading this message.... '

Wow! Where do you begin with something like that? Apparently the creator of the universe personally speaks to the originator of this email. And not only speaks to them, but gives them messages to pass on to the thousands who read their emails. Joseph Smith move over, we got a new cult leader in the making!

But that's not even the worst of it. It is one thing when a self proclaimed prophet claims "thus sayeth the Lord," but when what he says contradicts what the Lord has told us through the Holy Scriptures, then I have a real problem with it. If you read the entire New Testament, I doubt that you will come away with a health and wealth prosperity gospel such as is presented in this email message. 2 Thessalonians 1: 4-5 says: "So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:" and further, 2 Timothy 3:12 "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." again Philippians 1:29 "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;"

And just so we don't finish with a merely a heresy trifecta, the email also turns this novena into a spiritual chain letter, asking you to send out 20 copies within 48 hours, claiming that it has never been broken. Off the top of my head I don't have a verse to combat such superstitious silliness, but I don't doubt that there is one.

One final personal note. This is partially a test to see which of my family members actually read my blog. If you are the one who forwarded the email mentioned above, know that I love you more than you can imagine, and I don't write this to mock you, but for your edification.

Looking Forward

This might be a good time to lay out some of the subjects that I would like to cover on this blog in the near future.

On the Harley front, I would like to get to several different projects:

1. As you will see if you click on the sidebar under the heading "Drag Racing 1985" I did a series of stories documenting my first year of involvement in drag racing. It is in six parts, beginning with When Shovelheads Ruled the World. I really would like to continue on with the story by covering the 1986 racing season wherein I finished my Knuckle drag bike and began piloting it myself. If I don't get it down on paper soon, I will find myself too rattlebrained to remember most of the details.
2. I would like to do a step by step series on installing big intake valves in Knuckle heads, and the related porting work. I have a set of decent stock heads for the project, and would like to photograph the process as I go. I recently had a large batch of Knuckle valve guides made up with a 5/16" bore instead of the stock 3/8. (if you are in the market for some, go to leesspeedshop.com and follow the link to my eBay store) I just ordered some valves with blank stems so I can do some R&D. Once I have the valve specs finalized, I plan to have a bunch of them made up with grooves and tips finished to make a "simple to install" package.
3. With the return of interest in Shovelhead motors (They are classics now, you know!) I have wanted to explore their flow potential a little further. Way back when I started porting heads in 1989, I did a LOT of Shovelheads. I have had good success with them over the years, but the gains that I realized in later years with Twin Cams and Evolutions never materialized on the Shovels. Part of that has to do with the fact that Shovelheads have only trickled in for porting work over the past 10 years, however, I have some new ideas that I am confident will translate into some BIG gains in flow. I would also like to document this project with photos.

While there are plenty of other shop projects that I have in mind, I am quite sure that I am already biting off more than I can chew in covering the three listed above on this blog.

As for the "Theology" half of this blog, that is a no brainer. I am still blessed with the opportunity to preach approximately once a month at Friendship Manor, a local old folks home, so I will continue to post abbreviated versions of those sermons. To supplement that, it seems that every time I open the Bible (which is daily) I find something I would like to expound upon, but of course there just are not enough hours in the day.

I do need to add one last note. All of these grandiose plans need to be prefaced with "The Lord willing." As it says in James 4: 4:13-15 "Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."

On Psalm 49

In many ways I find Psalm 49 to be like a condensed version of the book of Ecclesiastics. It seems to cover much of the emptiness and vanity that is man's lot without God.

Verses 1-4: To him that excelleth. A Psalm committed to the sons of Korah. Hear this, all ye people: give ear, all ye that dwell in the world,as well low as high, both rich and poor. My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and the meditation of mine heart is of knowledge. I will incline mine ear to a parable, and utter my grave matter upon the harp.

Here the psalmist says that everyone needs to listen to this. Everyone in the world. Whether you are counted as important by other men, or are just an average person, you need to hear this! What the psalmist is going to say is wisdom and knowledge, yet of course it is not his own, but God's.

Verses 5-9: Wherefore should I fear in the evil days, when iniquity shall compass me about, as at mine heels? They trust in their goods, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. Yet a man can by no means redeem his brother: he cannot give his ransom to God, (So precious is the redemption of their souls, and the continuance forever) That he may live still forever, and not see the grave.

What do I have to be afraid of when sin surrounds me? Those who are rich, what good are those riches to them? Their money can't buy the salvation of their brother. And what is the value of riches compared to the value of a man's soul? In the New Testament we find in Matthew 16:26 "For what shall it profit a man though he should win the whole world, if he lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give for recompense of his soul?" All of a man's riches does him absolutely no good in the matter of salvation. In fact, riches may be a detriment. Jesus says in Mark 10:25 "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
That should give one pause. If you are rich, and who in America today is not, by the rest of the world’s standards, then this pertains to you. This should concern you enough to dig out your Bible and read on from verse 25, for the answer is clearly given.

Verses 10-14: For he seeth that wise men die, and also that the ignorant and foolish perish, and leave their riches for others. Yet they think, their houses, and their habitations shall continue forever, even from generation to generation, and call their lands by their names. But man shall not continue in honor: he is like the beasts that die. This their way uttereth their foolishness: yet their posterity delight in their talk. Selah. Like sheep they lie in grave: death devoureth them, and the righteous shall have domination over them in the morning: for their beauty shall consume, when they shall go from their house to grave.

Men think that they can erect buildings and accumulate great wealth and their accomplishments and their families will live on after them, but whether a man is wise or a fool, all the same he will die and cannot take his riches with him. His family may brag about how great a man he was, but even that is short lived. No matter how important a man strives to be, just like an animal, he will die.

Verses 15-20: But God shall deliver my soul from the power of the grave: for he will receive me. Selah. Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, and when the glory of his house is increased. For he shall take nothing away when he dieth, neither shall his pomp descend after him. For while he lived, he rejoiced himself: and men will praise thee, when thou makest much of thyself. He shall enter into the generation of his fathers, and they shall not live forever. Man is in honor, and understandeth not: he is like to beasts that perish.

Don't let it bother you when others become rich and famous. They won't take any of their riches or fame with them when they die. A man may be famous, but if he does not understand God's salvation, does not know God, it does him no good. He may just as well be an animal. Proverbs 9:10 says "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and the knowledge of holy things, is understanding." The understanding that the man in this Psalm lacks is the understanding of the holy. If he were to understand the holiness of God, it would cause him to fear, which in turn would be the beginning of wisdom.

You see, once you start to understand the holiness of God, and how it is reflected in his laws and commandments, it should scare you. When you realize that you have not kept God's laws and are under his judgment, it cannot help but cause you to fear, and that is the beginning of wisdom. But the man who is like the beast that perishes, is so because he has never had an understanding of the holiness of God. It is a pretty depressing picture. But praise the Lord we have verse 15 of this Psalm.

Verse 15 says " But God shall deliver my soul from the power of the grave: for he will receive me." A similar verse in the New Testament is found in John 14:3 when Jesus says "And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there may ye be also."

It is only God that can save us. It is only through the death of Jesus Christ in payment for our sins that we can avoid the judgment that we deserve. It is only by faith in that payment, which leads to repentance from our sins, that we can be received by Christ.

The Pup Wins One

The following is a just a short anecdote involving an old friend affectionately known as "Pup." To appreciate the humor you need to know that years ago, I liked to harass Pup about hogging all the "biker names." Though his name is Darin, he was such a youngster when he started crewing on our drag bike, that calling him Pup was a natural. Later when he was prospecting for a club he acquired the nickname "Dagwood." Yet another moniker he picked up was "Piglet" though I believe that one would more properly be called an alias. It seems that there may have been one more somewhere in there, but memory fails me. Back then my favorite way to greet him when he came into the shop was "PupDarinDagwoodPiglet....!
As I said, Pup was just a ....well, a pup when I met him. Now-a-days however, he looks much more the part of the stereotypical biker; husky with shaved head and the ever popular facial hair. Add to this the fact that Pup has been riding a real chopper since long before the television shows brought them back into style and ....well, you get the picture. (Trust me, all this set up is required for the story to make sense)


It seems that recently, Pup felt the urge to go to the weekly open house at a local Harley dealership. I think he was mostly there for the combination of free hot dogs, and an opportunity to laugh at all the new bikers in their new leathers on their new bikes.

As he loitered on the show floor, he was approached by a cute little female from the sales department. "What do you get for this V-Star?" Pup answered her inquiry as to whether she could help him. Either not noticing or ignoring that Pup had called the Harley V-Rod a V-Star (Yamaha, I think!) she quoted him a price. He countered by asking "How much for the two tone V-Star?" This proved to above her pay grade, however, so she left him with the assurance that she would send over another salesman who knew more about that model.

Soon Pup was greeted by the promised expert saying "Hi, my name is _____, but the clubbers call me Grumpy." Pup replied in his best deadpan, "My name is Darin, the clubbers call me Darin. How much for the two tone V-Star?"

"Its a V-rod, not a V-Star." insisted Grumpy. "Same difference." Pup dryly replied. At that point Grumpy had the good sense to turn on his heel and walk away, leaving Pup to enjoy his minor victory in the oft imagined skirmishes between genuine old time bikers and their synthetic counterparts.

Freedom of Speech and the Pulpit

This morning, over at The Recliner Commentaries, is a post concerning last week's "Pulpit Freedom Sunday." This annual event sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund, is an attempt to highlight the freedom of speech/freedom of religion which was trampled by the 1954 Johnson Amendment.

I am proud to say that my pastor, who also happens to author of the Recliner Commentaries blog, chose to take part in this years "civil disobedience." In contrast, I am ashamed to say that only 82 other pastors across the United States cared enough about the right of free speech, which our founding fathers said was a right GIVEN BY GOD, to do likewise!

In case you are wondering, Pastor Ingolfsland delivered a sermon for the occasion which was very even handed. He addressed both sides of several issues, and showed where the Bible comes down on each. One point that I feel especially worth sharing: every time a government run school teaches that homosexual relationships are good and natural and right, they are in effect telling your children that the Bible is wrong. By extension they are teaching your children that you (if you are Christian), are wrong and that you are a bigot!

Only 83 pastors. Wow. That is truly pathetic. My only hope is that the lack of participation was due to lack of awareness rather than apathy. Please ask your pastor if he knew, and if he might participate next year.

Finalizing the Carbs

As the Knuckledragger nears completion, here is a little info on the Linkert carbs it is fitted with:

Alcohol in a Linkert carb? Yes, it has been done before. As it happens, world record setting motorcycle drag racer from the mid '50s, Lloyd Krant, ran Linkerts on his Knuckle drag bike. And thanks to a blog post in which I mentioned Lloyd, his son Guy contacted me, revealing priceless technical details of his father's bike "The Giant Killer." Some of this info includes such tidbits as the fuel mixture Lloyd preferred (30% nitro/70% alcohol) right down to the jets sizes he used.

Keeping in mind that you need to be able to flow roughly twice as much volume for Alcohol as you would running gasoline, a few modifications were in order. When I got the "Whizzer" gas tank, I had a pair of bungs with 3/8" pipe thread welded in, and installed the largest brass petcocks I could find. (BTW - these were donated by Kevin at Bass Metal Craft - thanks again Kevin)


Next up were the needle and seat. I started with a couple of generic aftermarket seats, and machined the round holes that allow fuel from the needle to the bowl into rectangular ports. The picture below shows the stock one on top and the modified one below.

From there I chucked them up in a lathe and turned down the inlet end to take a 3/8" hose instead of the stock screw on fitting. I also chose to lap a pair of old stock steel needles to the new seats rather than take the chance that the aftermarket "Viton" tipped needles would deteriorate from the alcohol.

The floats were up next. I happened to have a pair of used brass floats left over from when Kokesh Motorcycle was manufacturing them. These provide the added advantage that I know they don't leak. If you detect a hint of my distrust of aftermarket parts, let me assure you that it is well founded.

Since alcohol also has a different specific gravity than gasoline, the float level needed to be addressed. The float level for a stock (cork) float is 1/4" for gasoline. Due to its heavier weight, a brass float needs to be set at 5/16" to 3/8" for gas. I chose to do a mock up on the float bowl assembly to be sure that 1) I got the fuel level right, and 2) the needle and seat actually seal. As you can see from the picture below, no expense was spared on the test fixtures. (that was sarcasm, in case you hadn't noticed)

As it turns out, the specific gravity difference and the weight difference of the float very nearly cancel each other out. I wound up with a float level of 9/32" (compared to the stock 1/4"). Increased fuel flow in the carbs are via addition of a fixed jet (like an M74) along with the stock adjustable mains. Below are the finished carbs mounted on the bike.

If these carbs look exotic, it is mostly due to the mods performed on the bodies. These started as run of the mill M35 Linkerts, from which the choke assembly was removed. In its place a steel ring which acts as an air inlet guide was installed. This necessitated the use of Flathead style side fill float bowls. Each carb also received a new, larger M74 veturi from Colony.

How do they work? Hopefully I can tell you soon.

Pray for Social Justice?

It seems that with increasing frequency one runs across the term "Social Justice." Most often the term will be used in a political context, though increasingly it is spoken of in relation to "Progressive Christianity" or its newest catch phrase; "Red Letter Christian." All of these terms; Social Justice, Progressive Christianity, and Red Letter Christian are inter-related, and in need of some explanation.

Social Justice, as it is used in the political realm, basically has to do with redistribution of wealth. It is a Robin Hood mentality that would see the rich taxed until they are no longer rich, and the poor subsidized until they are no longer poor. That may not sound so bad to you until you come to the realization that if you are anywhere in the middle class, Robin thinks you are rich. Keep in mind though, that despite all the good PR, Robin is still a Hood.

Progressive Christianity is, for the most part, just the application of this political ideology to the apostate church. The term "progressive" is getting to be a little too well linked to politics lately, so it is falling out of favor with the Progressive Church. The sweepstakes winner for a new name for the same old song appears to be "Red Letter Christian."

The term Red Letter Christian takes its name from the popularity of certain editions of the Bible which have the "words of Christ" in red print. Red Letter Christians would emphasis the words of Jesus over all the rest of scripture, thinking it excuses them from believing what the Old Testament and the Apostles teach about such issues as homosexuality, abortion, etc. Nothing new here; it seems that every form of apostasy begins with a low view of scripture. Of course when push comes to shove, the true "Red Letter Christian" would be forced to ignore and or twist the words of Christ to maintain their political allegiance.

So with all that said, I would like to submit a more accurate definition for the term "Social Justice." Social: of or relating to human society. Justice: the assignment of merited rewards or punishments. Put them together and you have a society getting what it deserves.

A good example of Social Justice would be for modern day America to suffer the same fate as Sodom and Gomorrah. Think the cesspool that is Hollywood. Think the debauchery in San Francisco. Think the corruption that is politics today. Think Mardi Gras. Think the millions murdered by abortion. Yeah, Social Justice would be a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah treatment. So don't pray for Social Justice.... pray for Repentance and Mercy!

Great New Bulletin Board

Here is something quite exciting if you are an old motorcycle drag racer, or even if you are just a fan. Granddaddy Joe Smith's All Harley Drag Racing Forum is a great new bulletin board started by none other than world famous drag racer Joe Smith.

On it you will find discussions on Harley drag racing from all the way back to its beginnings in the '50s up to present day, along with great vintage as well as contemporary photos. Best of all, many of the comments are by those who were there and created those memories.

The forum is only a couple months old, and already has a lot of pictures and info on it, so I am looking for great things from it in the future.

Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified

1 Corinthians 2:1-5: And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

I can relate to verse one of this passage. I don't have a good speaking voice. When I preach, the passion I have for the subject does not really come though very well. I certainly don't have any great wisdom of my own to give. But just as verse one says, I do seek to declare the testimony of God. And I feel that like Paul, I need to concentrate on what he says in verse two; "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."

Many religions claim to know about Jesus. Some call him a great teacher. Some even call him a prophet. Most of them draw up short of what was so important to Paul: "Jesus Christ, and him crucified." There is much else to be said about Jesus, his life and his teachings, all of which Paul knew, but he gives us the impression that the most important part is "him crucified."

What is it about this aspect of Jesus ministry that was so important that Paul declared that he was bound and determined not to preach anything to the Corinthians except "Jesus Christ and him crucified?

The answer is payment for sin. Every religion other than Christianity seeks to provide men with a path to God based at least partially on their own merits. True Christianity, in contrast, shows us that if we rely on ourselves, we are without hope

Most false religions admit to the sinfulness of man, though there are exceptions. Most of those religions would admit that sin has separated man from God. In that they are correct. Their method of dealing with that sin, is where they leave the Bible. Most offer some form of a set of scales which weigh man's sin on one side and a his good works on the other. If the good works outweigh the sin, they believe that they will go to heaven. Some false religions come closer to the truth. They teach that you need to use those same scales to weigh a man's sin against his good works, but they seek to throw in Jesus death on the cross to tip the balance in their favor.

But the Bible says that all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. That's right, all of our righteousness, all our right acts, all our good works are no better than filthy rags in the sight of a holy God. That is why Jesus Christ, and him crucified, is so terribly important. The Bible says that if righteousness could come by keeping the law, then Christ died in vain. In other words, if righteousness could come from a man's goods works, then there was no reason for Christ to die on the cross.

Righteousness does not come from keeping the law. None of us has even come close to keeping the law of God, and no one ever has, except for Jesus Christ. That is why Paul made it a point to make so much of Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Christ's death on the cross in payment of our sins is the only path to reconciliation with God.

If we go back to that set of scales that all of those religions like so much, here is the situation in light of what the Bible teaches. A man's good works on one side of the scale and his sin on the other is a lose / lose situation. His sin will earn him hell, and his works cannot earn him heaven.

Likewise the one who tries to balance his sin on one side of the scale against his good works plus Christ's righteousness on the other has also lost his soul, for Galatians 5:4 says "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." Do you see what this verse is saying? If you seek to be justified by the law, then it negates grace. You can either be justified by the keeping of the law or justified by grace, but not a combination of the two. And since no man will ever be justified by keeping the law, there only leaves one avenue. Galatians 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

Back to that set of scales one last time. There really are a set of scales, at least figuratively speaking. But they are God's scales and they operate by his divine rules. Each person's sin will be weighed on one side of that scale, but there is only one thing that can go on the other side to tip the balance in your favor, and that is the righteousness of Christ. It is Jesus death as a payment for our sins, and his death alone. The only one that can tip the balance in your favor is Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Instant "Parkerizing"

Here is a quick and easy little tech tip for those of you who have early bikes that use a lot of Parkerized parts. As you probably know, Parkerizing is a process that protects metal parts from corrosion, leaving them with a dark gray appearance. It was widely used through the 1940's on Harleys, especially on hardware. While it is not a complicated process to perform, and there are kits available for the do-it-yourself-er, there comes a time in every restoration when you realize that you forgot to get that one bolt Parkerized.

Rather than getting the Parkerizing solution out and tricking the wife into leaving the house for an hour so that you can use her kitchen stove to bring it up to temperature, you can always use the handyman's secret weapon. No, wait ....that's duct tape. OK - the restorer's secret weapon; instant gun blue.

All you need is a bottle of instant gun blue, and your part. For best results the part will have been cleaned by glass beading (just as if it was to be Parkerized). Dip the part in the bottle for a few seconds, rinse, oil the part and you are done. Turns a half hour project for one bolt into a minute or less. I like to use a mechanic's magnet to hold the bolt, though a wire would work fine. Automatic Transmission Fluid is a great deacidifying oil to finish the bolt with. The finished product is virtually indistinguishable from Parkerizing.

The bottle of instant blue in the before and after pictures is one I picked up at Fleet Farm for under $10 this spring. I doubt that the brand matters. The last bottle I had lasted about 10 years.

9/11 Eight Years Out

This post is directly prompted by what my friend Joe over at Hear God Speak posted today. Titled "A Thought for 9/11/09" the post is simply a quotation of Luke 13:1-5. To paraphrase the Bible, some people came to Jesus with news of a tragedy in which others were killed. Far from comforting the people by telling them that it was not a judgment of God on those killed, Jesus told them that those who had died were no worse sinners than they themselves. He went on to say, that unless they repented, they would all likewise perish!

A very appropriate topic for this day.

I recall the days following 9/11/01. At the time I was a member of a small Baptist Church that went door to door on Thursday evenings. That first Thursday I was met with more openness to hear the gospel and more appreciation than at any time before or since. In that next week, our Church had far more visitors than normal; even some for the Wednesday night service. I remember thinking "is this what it takes to get people's attention?"

But, of course, by the time another week had passed, all had returned to normal. Friend, if it only lasts a week, it can't be called repentance. Please pray for our nation.

Our Medicated Society

The following is a short article written by someone I am proud to call my daughter

Our Medicated Society

by "married with children"

Is it possible that the decline in our nation’s healthcare could be the amount of prescription medications the American people are now taking? It seems that every ailment, mental or physical, now has a drug available to “fix” it.

I once sat at a table of seven grown women, doing crafts of all things and within an hour came to find I was the only one not on something. They suffered from OCD, depression, and anxiety. My husband and I often crack jokes about this topic, “I’m tired” there’s a pill for that, “I’m angry and out of patience” there’s a pill for that, “I’m constipated” there’s a pill for that. The crazy thing is there really is a pill for just about everything. Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned attitude of our forefathers. You’re depressed? Put on a happy face or grin and bear it. Your child has too much energy and can’t sit still? Send them outside to play!

Our society has become too quick to label everything and I believe the second you give the problem a clinical diagnosis you no longer think you have the power to change it! I’ve recently watched first hand someone “battling” depression. Medicated and seeking counseling, her attitude was appalling. She truly believed and said “ I can’t find joy in anything because of my illness”. I instantly flashed to the scene from the movie “Airplane”. I wanted to grab her by the shoulders, shake her, and yell “snap out of it” with a good slap across the face. And why in the world would the side effect of an anti-depressant be thoughts of suicide? Does anyone else find that alarming?

And when you seek counseling for depression they have you dig deep into your past because of course you know any problem you have as an adult can be traced back to something that must have happened to you as a kid. Give me a break! If that were true and certain events of our childhood determined us as adults, this society would be more screwed up than it already is.

Maybe if the drug and insurance companies would stop over-prescribing for everything imaginable, the healthcare system wouldn’t be where it is today. And if you can’t quite stomach this article or agree with me, I’m sure there’s a pill for that too.

E-Glide in Blue

I just thought I would put in a plug for a blog that I was recently introduced to; "Electra Glide in Blue" This is definitely a gearhead blog with some vintage pictures as well a current series on the author's top end rebuild of his '68 Shovel. If you are into vintage iron, give it a click, its worth a look!

Vinnie Update

"The KnuckleDragger" is finally nearing completion!

Well behind schedule, but I am maintaining some important objectives:

1. I have not gone into debt or dipped into savings for this project
2. I have not missed family events or given up time with my wife to work on this project
3. I have not let this project become any kind of obsession

In other words, this is the polar opposite of my racing career 24 years ago.

You Deserve It!

One can hardly go an hour listening to the radio without hearing some form of the "you deserve it" commercial. I think it may have all started out with the fairly innocent sounding "You deserve a break today" jingle from McDonald's. I get the sentiment. You work hard all the time. Take a little break and treat yourself. You've earned it.

That jingle was obviously a big success, and so of course many other businesses want to jump on the band wagon. Perhaps the one that irks me the most is the one by a company that promises to help you to get away with not paying your debts. "The credit card companies have all gotten their bailout," it claims "so now its your turn ....you deserve it! We'll help you settle your debt for a fraction of the amount."

You deserve it? Let's see, you act like a politician spending money you don't have for instant gratification, and now you somehow deserve to not have to pay it back?

"But I do work hard, so whats so wrong with treating myself to that ________ (fill in the blank; new big screen TV, new computer, new designer clothes, night on the town, etc.)" Well, if you spend more than you make, that's what's wrong. And do you really work that hard ....really?

As our pastor takes us through the book of Acts in our Sunday morning services, he has repeatedly brought out the point that the current "Health and Wealth Gospel" being preached in some quarters is patently un-Biblical. All of the trials Paul went through are just one of his examples. 1 Corinthians 11:23-27 tells of how Paul was beaten, imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked, weary, in pain, hungry, and thirsty(partial list). Paul was a choice servant of the most high God! He went though all of this and was likely martyred for the faith. But the "name it and claim it" preachers would have you believe that you will be blessed with untold riches because of your faith! And after all, don't you deserve it?

Lest you think that it was only the apostles who suffered, in 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, Paul commends the church there for their patience and faith through the tribulation and persecution that they were enduring. Yet here in 21st century America, we are being told that we deserve a break today; we deserve to not pay our debts. If you are a Christian and you buy into that, then shame on you. If you are not a Christian and you buy into it, then sorry, but you are mistaken.

The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death. That is what we deserve! Anything beyond that is by the grace of God. The same verse that tells us that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) goes on to say that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So the next time you are told (by someone trying to sell you something) that you deserve it, keep in mind what you really deserve. You don't really deserve that Big Mac. You don't really deserve to avoid paying your bills. And most of all, do you don't really deserve eternal life. But faith in the Messiah who died on the cross to pay for your sins will provide you with it none the less.

Free Performance Upgrade

Who doesn’t like to get something for nothing? We all like the idea, but we are often scared off by the suspicion that there must be a catch. We have heard too many horror stories of charlatans, cheats and con men to believe that you can actually get something free. But this performance upgrade will not cost you a dime. There are no installation fees, hidden costs, or refills.

Unlike porting work, cams, high compression pistons and the like, there is no disassembly required. You won’t have to hire a shop to install it, or even bribe your buddy who is handy with a wrench. In fact, believe it or not, this performance upgrade is already installed on your bike, and only awaits you to put it to use. Is this is beginning to sound too good to be true? Right now you are likely thinking that even if this is not just a scam or a joke, the performance increase must be negligible. Nothing could be further from the truth.

So what is this magical performance part that is supposedly already on our bikes? It is the lowly, often overlooked shift lever. What?!? Yes, I am serious.

Proper use of the gear shift lever is one of the best and most practical solutions to increasing the performance of your motorcycle. Many a rider has at least a rudimentary grasp of how to get the most performance from their bike when running it up through the gears. A shift point a couple hundred RPM past the horsepower peak will generally give you the best possible acceleration (ask any serious drag racer). However, it seems that there are far fewer riders who know when or are willing to downshift for best performance.

As the proprietor of a engine shop which specializes in high performance, the one thing I hear from potential customers most often is that they would like more passing power. Perhaps the best way to answer that is with a question. Do you downshift to pass? If your answer is no, then why would you want to spend thousands of dollars to increase the power of your bike when you are not using what’s already there?

So what about those performance modifications? Can’t you just increase the power of the motor so you won’t have to downshift? Well, yes and no. If you are willing to settle for some really mild power increases, yes. But if you, like most riders, would like to see at least 100 HP and 100 FT LBs of torque for your money, then it is not so simple. You see, most of those modifications that get you to that 100 HP mark want some RPMs. Hot cams tend to move the power range up on the RPM scale. High compression pistons hate to be lugged at low RPMs. The result of not down shifting a hot rodded motor is normally going to be pinging along with mediocre acceleration until the RPMs are up.

Let me borrow an illustration from my friend Neil Ryan, owner of American Thunder. "When you are driving along in your car, and stomp on the gas to pass, what happens? The automatic transmission downshifts for you so that the engine is in a suitable RPM range." If you are unwilling, or unable to do the same with your gear shift lever, perhaps you should get back in your car so it will be done for you.

(Some of the above is likely to be somewhat controversial to your average Harley rider. I have often said that what today's "biker" really wants is an automatic transmission, but they would likely be too afraid of compromising their macho image to buy one. I say "exercise that left foot; build up the muscles in your clutch hand; have some fun really using the power your bike has!)

A Small Challenge

If you follow any amount of blogs, then you have probably seen an entry something like this: Such and Such over at So and So blog tagged me with this challenge. I have never had the honor of being tagged by anyone before, but Joe over at Hear God Speak recently tagged me with the "Honest Scrap" challenge.

The challenge is to share 10 honest things about myself and then tag 7 bloggers to do the same. In the spirit of good clean fun, I am going to cheat, but just a little, and with (I think) good reason. I will list the ten things about myself, but I am not going to tag seven other bloggers. The reason for no tag, is that I am quite sure that there are not seven other bloggers that follow my blog. It just seems like it would be a little weird for me to tag someone who probably doesn't know I exist. And since Joe has tagged me, I can hardly tag him. By the way, you should really check out his blog. I find it truly edifying, and it has steadily climbed the list of blogs I read daily.

So here's my list in no particular order:

1. I once had the honor of towing the legendary Pete Hill on his Top Fuel Knucklehead drag bike back to the pits after he made a pass.
2. I start to get panicky and nervous if I miss more than one Church service in a row.
3. My wife recently spent way too much money to get me a ride on a B17 Liberator.
4. My wife is my very best friend (and that has nothing to do with #3).
5. I spent four years in the USAF and never flew on a military plane until #3.
6. I love to prepare a sermon far more than to deliver it.
7. My reaction times while drag racing were never all that good.
8. I got my first Studebaker when I was 15 and have lost count of how many I have had since then.
9. I actually enjoy doing gardening/landscaping type projects in our back yard.
10. Though sarcasm is probably my favorite type of humor, I often miss it when it is used on me.

Something Old / Something New for The Knuckledragger

This weekend I buttoned up the primary on the vintage style dragbike that I am building. Here are a few Pictures.

How is this for something old? I used these "lightened" clutch steels 24 years ago when I first started drag racing.

The clutch basket that I am using is not new by any means, but it is new to racing and the lightening holes are also new.

20 tooth motor sprocket and 80 pitch primary chain were normally used for sidecar service. Note lightening holes even in the tin primary covers.

Everything you see here is finished and ready to go. Final compression ratio is 12.83:1

Scripture Calls 'Em As It Sees 'Em

This morning during our daily Bible reading, the wife and I came to this proverb:

He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. (Proverbs 18:13)

Since Congress is about to vote on yet another huge (1000+ page) bill without even reading it first, it is pretty obvious that we are represented by shameful fools of Biblical proportions!

A Concise Blueprint to Witnessing

There is a local pastor by the name of Tom Brock who does a radio show here in the Twin Cities. One regular segment that he does is called a "Heresy Update." I find it refreshing in this age of political correctness that Pastor Brock is so bold to expose blatant heresy in all of the various denominations including his own! My hat is off to him.

But that is not what this post is about. Last week on his show Pastor Brock made a statement that caught my attention. I am not sure whether he attributed it to someone else or if it was original to him. Obviously the thought it conveys is not original, for it is drawn from the Bible, but I find the crafting of the line to be wonderful.

"Preach the law to afflict the comfortable, and preach the gospel to comfort the afflicted."

Yup, I really like that. A concise blueprint to witnessing.

More Vintage Drag Racing on East Coast

Wish I could be there!

MN Supreme Court: "Election Fraud OK with Us"

In a not unexpected result to the contested election between Senator Norm Coleman and comedian Al Franken, the Minnesota Supreme Court today declared Franken the victor.

Minnesota has a history of making elections into a big joke, the last memorable example being the election of Professional Wrestler Jesse "the Body" Ventura as Governor. However, even in practical joke loving Minnesota, a healthy dose of election fraud was required to give Franken enough votes to carry the day.

In the days following the election, which originally showed Norm Coleman as having won a narrow victory, extra votes for Al Franken showed up in the most unlikely places. Nearly everyone I know has a story of finding at least a few Franken ballots. I even found a dozen myself, when I disassembled our snow blower to replace the belt.

Those of us who find ourselves to the political right of Joseph Stalin, and so did not vote for Franken, can take solace in the fact that we have not lost a conservative in Norm Coleman. In reality we have only traded in a liberal Senator for an extremely liberal Senator.

Reflections on Psalm 1

(the following is the message I delivered last Thursday at Friendship Manor during Valley View Baptist's monthly service for the residents)

Psalm 1: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The man who chooses not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly is blessed. Blessed by God. But what does it mean to walk in the counsel of the ungodly? Obviously the ungodly are those who do not follow God. They do not acknowledge him as their Lord or their Sovereign, or their Savior. Such a man follows his own heart to lead him to do what is right in his own mind. But the Bible tells us that man’s heart is not a good or proper judge of right and wrong. In fact it says in Jeremiah 17:9 that "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" And yet, if a man does not acknowledge God, then he is left with nothing but his heart to guide him. The man who is blessed will not follow after this ungodly man’s counsel.

This blessed man is one who does not stand with sinners, in fact he will stand against sin. He cannot ignore sin, and he cannot join himself to the scornful, or those who scoff at the idea of an all powerful God. In other words he will not "go along to get along." Why, you might ask? The answer is in verse 2. Because "his delight is in the law of the LORD and in his law doth he meditate day and night." A man that delights in God’s word, and spends his time reading it, pondering it, and reflecting on it, will have little trouble avoiding the pitfall of following after the urgings of the wicked.

This blessed man’s soul will be sustained by that meditation in God’s word. Just as a tree planted next to a river will never be in want of life sustaining water, so too will the blessed man be continually refreshed by God’s word. In John 4:14, Jesus says " But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

One of the signs of a healthy tree is that it bears fruit. This Psalm states that one of the signs of a healthy Christian is that they will bear fruit. He "bringeth forth his fruit in his season." If a Christian is keeping close to God’s word, reading and meditating on it, then he will undoubtedly bear fruit. In fact, in Matthew 13:23, Jesus when expaining the parable of the soils, says "But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

"His leaf also shall not wither;" another sign of a healthy tree is that its leaves stay green and healthy. Often withered leaves are a sign of lack of water. The same is true of the Christian. A regular partaking of that life sustaining water, which is the Word of God, will keep the Christian fresh and spiritually healthy.

The ungodly man is just the opposite. He cares nothing for the Word of God, and so without its nourishment, he dries up in short order and is blown away by the wind like chaff.
Because there is no root or anchor to hold him, the ungodly man will not stand in the judgment. He will be found guilty. Since he has rejected God, rejected Christ, he has no righteousness except his own righteousness. But in Isaiah 64:6 it says: "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Can you see how well that fits in with Psalm 1?

This Psalm also tells us that sinners shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous. What exactly is this "congregation of the righteous." If we go back to Isaiah we see that our own righteousness is no righteousness at all. But there is a righteousness available to us. Philippians 3:8-9 "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:"

The only ones that can truly be called righteous are those to whom the righteousness of Christ has been imputed. In the same manner, even though we are aware that we are all sinners, in the context of this Psalm, "sinners" is used to denote those who cannot claim Christ’s righteousness.
So you see, "the congregation of the righteous," is an assembly of Christians; a gathering of the Saints. Now this could be a Church, but in this case I believe the Psalm is speaking of heaven. It says that sinners will not stand in this congregation. The New Testament makes it clear that not all who claim to be Christians really are. Jesus told a parable of the wheat and the tares. In Matthew 13:30 he said "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."

It seems that at this point in time, sinners do indeed stand in the congregation that we call a Church. But it will not be so in heaven. Those who have Jesus Christ as their Savior will finally be forever free from their sinful flesh, and those who do not will be in hell. There will be no sinner standing in that heavenly congregation! "For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

World' Fastest V-Rod?

There has been some speculation recently as to whether Joe Lieske's drag bike, nicknamed "The Disruptor," might now be the world's fastest Harley V-Rod drag bike. To date his best pass has been an 8.684 et and 150.21 mph in the quarter mile. Some of the guys I know who are deeply involved with the sport say they have not heard of anyone going faster or quicker on a V-Rod. A superficial check of the Internet by yours truly failed to turn up anything. The way I figure it, the quickest way to find out if anyone else can lay claim to the title is to just put it out there. I have little doubt that someone will speak up if they have gone faster.

By the way, if you have one faster, you might want to speak up pretty soon. Joe is shopping for a nitrous oxide kit for The Disruptor and those times will likely change.

More Progress

Thought I would post a few pics of the progress on the nostalgia drag bike engine build.

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"XA" rods were clearanced for stroke and polished before being shot peened.

Longer stroke necessitated cutting down the O.D. of the flywheels for piston skirt clearance. This in turn required a flywheel scraper modification that I chose to do by attaching a formed steel plate rather than the traditional weld and machine method.

Flywheel half in crankcase, showing scraper clearance. Black flywheel color is from an oil shedding coating.

Same oil shedding coating in crankcase.

Pre 1940 oil pump has thinner feed gears and so was a favorite with drag racers all the way into the 1970's

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At this point all stroker clearancing is done, the rods are rebuilt, the flywheels balanced/assembled/and trued. The crankcase halves are assembled, the oil pump installed, the breather timing blueprinted, the cam and circuit breaker drive gear are installed. The tappet bodies have been lightened and installed.

Knucklehead Reunion July 11, 2009

(and now for something a little less controversial)

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I recently received an invitation to display "The Knuckledragger" at the bike show portion of the Knucklehead Reunion. It should be a great event, and I am flattered to have been invited.

Woe Unto Them

Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

This verse comes into my mind on an almost daily basis. The most recent was just this morning when I read a comment on one of my recent posts called "Murder" The anonymous commenter said "Who says anyone of us can pass judgement upon a person? Abortion should be the choice of the woman who needs to decide what's right for her. Politicians and religious fanatics need to mind their own business." In other words, a woman having her baby murdered is good, but someone opposing that murder is evil.

And that brings me to another point. How is it that most of those who are pro abortion are also anti death penalty? It boggles the mind, and is perhaps the personification of what Isaiah 5:20 is talking about. There has to be something really twisted in the mind of someone to affirm murdering an innocent but to rail against executing the guilty. Or could it be that, rather than applying rational thought, they just choose to oppose whatever God's word says.

Woe unto them.

Flat Track Twin Class

This Monday morning when I got into the shop, there was an message on my answering machine from Bill Hofmeister thanking me for the work I had done on his iron head XR. It seems that Saturday night he ran the Vintage Twin Class at the flat track races in Cambridge. Bill managed to lap all but two of his competitor's bikes TWICE! Bill is an absolutely great rider, and I chalk up most of that success to his ability, but I would still like to think that without my porting he would have only lapped them once.

Murder

AP - WICHITA, Kan. - Late-term abortionist, George Tiller, has been shot and killed at his church in Wichita, Kansas. A suspect is now in custody.
His attorney Dan Monnat, says Tiller was shot as he served as an usher during Sunday morning services at Reformation Lutheran Church. Monnat said Tiller's wife, Jeanne, was in the choir at the time of the shooting.

A clear case of a cold blooded murderer being murdered by a cold blooded murderer.
What I found most striking though, was that this monster (Tiller) was apparently a member in good standing in what passes for a Christian church. What that says about the state of so-called Christianity in our country today is far more unnerving to me than his assassination by another (albeit a lesser) murderer.

Pilot Selection

Recently I took a limited number of applications for the job of pilot for "The Knuckledragger", my soon to be completed nostalgia drag bike.

My wife, Jane, was the first applicant. She is light weight and has previous experience piloting Knuckleheads, however a recent shoulder surgery has disqualified her.

Grand daughter Kaya is even lighter weight, but lack of riding experience coupled with absolutely unacceptable footwear for racing, knocked her out of the running.

Grandson Max. A real daredevil attitude gives him an edge for future consideration, however the present inability to reach the brake means he will not be racing this season.

Despite protests that the selection process was rigged, I won the job .... mostly due to the fact that I already own a vintage helmet.

The Definition of Love

1 Corinthians 13
Though I speak with the tongues of men and Angels, and have not love, I am as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I had the gift of prophecy, and knew all secrets and all knowledge, yea, if I had all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and had not love, I were nothing. And though I feed the poor with all my goods, and though I give my body, that I be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, it is bountiful; love envieth not; love doth not boast itself, it is not puffed up, It doth no uncomely thing, it seeketh not her own things, it is not provoked to anger, it thinketh no evil; It rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; It suffereth all things, it believeth all things, it hopeth all things, it endureth all things. Love doeth never fall away, though that prophesyings be abolished, or the tongues cease, or knowledge vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect, is come, then that which is in part shall be abolished. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass darkly; but then shall we see face to face. Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I am known. And now abideth faith, hope and love, even these three; but the chiefest of these is love.

(the above scripture is quoted from the 1599 Geneva Bible )


This passage, 1 Cor. 13, is often referred to as the "Love Chapter." If you happen to use the King James translation then you will notice that every place that the word "love" is used in this passage, it is rendered as "charity" in your Bible. Nearly all other translations also render it as "love." This is not a failure on the part of either translation. The word from which both "love" and "charity" are translated is the Greek word "agape." As a matter of fact "agape" is translated as "love" two out of three times in the King James. Though the King James is closing in on its 400th birthday, this difference in translation of the word agape, is perhaps just as appropriate now than it was in 1611.

The Old English concept of "charity" is that of a generous and unselfish concern for others. It embodies the concept of love expecting nothing in return. The meaning of the word "love" in our day has devolved into many and varying meanings. It can mean the romantic love that a man and woman share. It can mean an erotic love, and it can even mean simply to enjoy. For instance "I love a good cup of coffee." However, in the context of this chapter, the word charity perhaps does help clarify the intended meaning.

The first three verses point out that even if we are involved in all manner of Christian service, such as worship and ministry and good works, they are in vain if done with the wrong incentive. They are of no effect. Remember; a generous and unselfish concern for others, expecting nothing in return. If write this with the motivation that you will look up to me; hold me in esteem, that is not love; that is not charity.

Our motivation for the deeds we do is so important, that Paul says here that even if we were to die a martyrs death, it is no gain to us if it is done without love. In other words, if we perform an act to get something in return, we will get nothing in return.

If you were not quite sure that I had the definition of this Greek word that is translated Love or Charity quite right, then verses 4 - 7 give the biblical explanation of what it means. It is patient; it is kind. Envy does not have a place in it. Love is not boastful, nor is it prideful. Love is not rude, and does not insist on its own way. It is not easily provoked and it doesn't think evil. Love does not enjoy wrongdoing, but it rejoices in truth. Love bears up under all circumstances, believes all God's word, hopes in all God's promises, and endures through all adversity. And to top it off, Love never ends. That is how the Bible explains this word we call Love, or Charity. It must be pretty important trait, because I cannot think of another in the Bible which gets such a thorough explanation. The Lord didn't want us to be able to miss what this word Love really means.

Verse 13 tells us that Love is the greatest of the three; faith, hope, and love! How can that verse help but bring to mind another verse.

In John 15:13 Jesus says: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

Paul tells us that Love is the greatest of the three spiritual gifts mentioned in our text, Faith, Hope and Love, and here Jesus tells us what is the greatest expression of love. The greatest expression of love is that you would sacrifice yourself for your friends. If we read on in this passage verses 14,15 "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."

The greatest expression of love is that you would die for your friends. Jesus Christ showed us that greatest of love when he died for us on the cross.

Christ commanded us to love our neighbors, love our brothers in the faith, and even stated that men will know we are his disciples by our love. This being the case, shouldn't we study this definition of love we have been given to be sure we understand what it is that he would have us to do?