Green Again

On the one year anniversary of the post that I have written which received more comments than any other, I wanted to do something special. That year old post was a humorous look at my disdain for the false religion variously known as Global Warming, Ecology, Mother Earth, or simply the Green Movement. There were a total of about 30 comments, of which over 2/3 had to be deleted because they were simply vile and/or blasphemous. It certainly went a long way toward confirming my suspicion that the Green Movement is a religion. I attacked their religion, and so they attacked mine. That Global Warming is a faith based religion has been confirmed by the fact that it has lost little steam despite the fact that it's prophets with their own Urim and Thummim (computer climate models) have been shown to be liars. And let's not forget their high priest, Al Gore. On second thought, let's try to forget him!



As I said, I wanted to so something special....but there is just not enough time. I toyed with the idea of getting someone to photograph me doing a smokey burnout on a Harley, but the logistics just were not there, one reason being I have been too busy in the shop to rouse my bike out of its winter sleep. I'll have to settle for this.

Above is a 15 year old picture of me heating the 10 inch slick on my last dragbike, "The White Knuckle Express" The bike was a 120 cubic inch Knuckle with a centrifugal supercharger running 20 psi boost and producing over 200 horsepower.

Note that in the photo, my friend, Krazy Karl, has been all but rendered invisible due to tire smoke. It is quite possible that the ecology of that little plot of land in western Minnesota has yet to recover from the combination of noxious tire smoke and fumes from 120 octane racing gas. I know Karl has never been the same.

New, Stronger Cylinders for Your Knuck

I received a set of S&S/Flathead Power 74 inch Knuckle cylinders into the shop last week, and thought there may be an interest in some comparison shots. The black powder-coating on the S&S cylinder on the left is a little too glossy for my taste, but will doubtless hold up well.

A nice touch is the cast in emblem which suggests (but does not copy) the original's MC (Milwaukee Casting) badge

Cast in number plate also pay tribute to the original, though on the Flathead Power cylinder the large "F" corresponds to Front cylinder. Note the crack in the spigot on the stock cylinder.

Even the pistons that come with the cylinders have a dome that is reminiscent of their vintage counterpart. On left is the new S&S cast 74" piston, on the right an English made replacement piston from back in the day.

Currently the S&S suggested retail for a set of these cylinders is $980 with pistons, or $850 for cylinders alone. Not cheap by any means, but certainly a worthwhile investment if you plan serious performance modifications.

Islam, Terrorism, Hutaree, and Westboro Baptist

For the last nine years I have been hearing something similar to this:
If it is a peaceful religion, and the terrorists are misguided, then why do we not hear an outcry from all those peaceful Muslims condemning the actions of those who have "hijacked" Islam?

Well, that's a pretty good question, and so I decided to add my voice to the outcry of genuine Christians condemning a couple of groups that have been in the news lately.

The first group is the so called "christian militia" called Hutaree. If what the media is reporting is true; that this group planned to kill police officers and then bomb more officers at the ensuing funeral hoping to spark an uprising, then there can be no doubt that this group is NOT Christian. In fact they have much more in common with a cult that was based around Charles Manson, than with Christians. Remember, Manson had a similar plan to spark an uprising.

The second group has been in and out of the news for the last several years, and never fails to make me shake my head. That group of course is the Westboro Baptist Church. As a Baptist myself, this one is particularly painful to me. I wince every time I hear the name Baptist in the middle of their name. This is the group that has made a name for itself by going to funerals of servicemen who were killed in action and insulting the dead and their families.

There is one thing that I would like to clarify for anyone reading this who is not familiar with the Baptist faith. Baptist churches are all independent. It is not a denomination in the sense that Baptist churches are not under the control or even influence of any national, let alone worldwide organization. Some Baptist churches are members of associations or conventions into which they have voluntarily joined together to accomplish common goals. Many other Baptist churches remain even more independent by not belonging to any type of association. I trust that if the Westboro bunch had been a member of any association, they would have found themselves out on their ear a long time ago.

The Westboro bunch seems to have one common theme running throughout all of their literature: God Hates. God hates fags, God hates America, God hates Israel, God hates the World - no I am not kidding, you can find each of these slogans on their website. I believe they missed one though: God hates false prophets. Fred Phelps, the founder of the Westboro group, has said " The Antichrist Bloody Beast Obama is going to become king of the world." and "Then Obama will lead the nations against Jerusalem to battle." Surely a Biblical scholar such as Phelps will embrace the Old Testament fate of one who's prophecies do not come to pass. We should not have long to wait to see if Fred really is a prophet.

Matthew 5:43-47 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

You'll have to excuse me now. I have to go pray for all the groups I just mentioned in this post!

Donnie Smith Show 2010

This past weekend (March 27&28) most of the Harley enthusiasts in the Twin Cities area gathered at Rivercenter in St. Paul for the annual Donnie Smith Bike Show. As always, the show was a big success, with scores of builders from throughout the Midwest displaying their latest creations. Unlike some bike shows, this one has also become a place for manufacturers such as Custom Chrome and Kuryakyn to promote their products. Many local shops also take advantage of the flow of 12 to 15 thousand spectators, by setting up at the event.

Custom Vincent had great lines

Since this is such an important event in my area, I tend to put a fair amount of effort into it. More than a few hours are spent in the week preceding the show, preparing my display. I generally take a number of ported heads and other performance items so that spectators can see the type of work I do.

Another thing that I do is to help with the physical set up of the show. Because of the show's size, two days (Thursday and Friday) are set aside just for vendor and show bike set up. Most often you will find me directing traffic inside the auditorium. No, not foot traffic. Trucks with up to 50 foot trailers are driven in to unload and set up. With sometimes over a dozen vehicles unloading at one time, it gives everyone a good test of their ability to back up a trailer.

My Display

Once the show begins on Saturday morning, I am well on my way to a sore throat from increasing my verbal output by factor of about 100. This year I had "The Knuckledragger" in my booth. It got a lot of attention, which in turn generated a lot of questions. I also had ported Twin Cam, Evolution, Shovel, and Knuckle heads on display.
There were a number of great bikes in the show, my favorite being a custom Vincent. Inevitably there were also a few "Karaoke Bikes" in the show as well. (You do know what a Karaoke Bike is, don't you? It's a bike so ugly that you are embarrassed for the owner even though you don't even know him) Of course some of the Karaoke Bikes wound up being award winners, so that just shows what I know.

Sunday morning before the doors opened to the public found about 30 of us gathered together for the worship service that the Bond Slaves MC puts on annually at the show. Their Chaplain always brings an excellent message. This one was no different. In a nutshell, the main point was that the book of Acts records the work of the early Church, and though Sacred Scripture ends Acts at chapter 28, the work continues, with each of us being an additional chapter. Good stuff, if you are a Christian.

Along those same lines, I had a sign saying "Free-Take One" on an air cleaner turned bowl. By way of that, I distributed a couple dozen S&S stickers, between 50 and 100 pressed pennies with the 10 Commandments on them, and another 50 or so larger coins which have the commandments on one side and a Gospel message on the other. I won't order more of the pennies, because I noticed that all the bikers at the show are so old that none of them could read the tiny print (me included). I think the larger coins are great though. Most people are more likely to take something shiny than they would a Gospel tract; and less likely to toss it in the first trash can they come to.

Finally a good (and innovative) use for those cam chain tensioners!

All in all, the 2010 Donnie Smith Bike Show was a great success and left builders, vendors, and manufacturers looking forward to next year's event!

Vintage British drag bike - oops, better look a little closer

Sweet Panhead

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Passover Coming

Passover is coming up in about a week; March 30.

Exodus 12:1-7 "And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever."

This "Passover" as it is called, is indeed kept by the Jewish people to this day. For the most part, Passover is kept as a memorial of the time when they were rescued from being slaves in Egypt.

In Jesus day, the Passover was celebrated by the nation of Israel. We find this in Luke twenty two.

Luke 22:7-20 "Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you."

That first Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as we often call it now, was actually part of the Passover meal that Jesus and his disciples participated in.

The very first Passover which God instituted through Moses focused on a lamb. That lamb had to be perfect, without blemish, because it was to be a symbol of Jesus Christ the sinless lamb of God. The blood that the Israelites were to sprinkle on their door posts was a symbol of the blood that Jesus would shed on the cross. Just as God would pass over those houses that had the blood on the door posts exempting them from the judgment that came upon Egypt, so also when God sees that Jesus blood has been applied to us spiritually, we will be passed over for the judgment that we deserve.

Romans 6:14-18 "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."

It is interesting that Jewish people today consider Passover as primarily a memorial of when they escaped slavery in Egypt. As Christians, every time that we commemorate Christ’s death as the Passover sacrifice, whether it is at Easter, or whether it is by participating in communion, it should remind us that we have also been set free from slavery. Christ’s blood has set us free from the bondage of sin. As Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, sin no longer has power over us.

Just as the children of Israel were delivered from being slaves to Egypt, and into being God's servants, Christians have been delivered from being slaves to sin and into being servants of the most high God. Both were accomplished by being passed over from judgement; both because of the blood of a lamb. On judgement day, will God pass over you because he sees that the blood of the lamb has been applied?

68" Racer Revisited

A few days ago I received a comment from Mark, of Early Iron Motorcycles in De Soto WI, on a previous post called Paper Engines. In that post I had proposed an engine combination using 61" Knuckle flywheels, UL rods, and overbored 74" cylinders. I called that engine a 68 inch racer. The term 68" Racer was one that I had heard from another old timer (i.e. my age) He remembered that he had a Knuckle "guru" from back in the day who talked of building them, but he did not remember the engine details. Without really thinking about it, I applied the name to my version.

Mark was good enough to give me a little insight into what the term 68" Racer originally meant. Mark tells me that his first 68 incher was influenced by a guy who went by the name of Chicago Smitty. Mark built it with lightened 74 wheels using stock 61" pistons with shortened skirts and using stroker plates made to get as much squeeze in the chamber as he deemed safe. He made up a set of custom guides to use cut down R valves (a slightly longer version of the 1.94 Iron XL intake), cleaned up the ports and used an SU carb with an Andrews K grind cam and a Panhead dual point breaker. According to Mark, it ran so strong he had no trouble outrunning Shovelheads.

Later Mark built another Knuckle, similar to the first, but with custom Ross pistons for 10:1 compression, dual plugs in the Knuck heads and a custom breaker with Dyna S single fire ignition. This one ran so good it was faster than a high buck modified Evo. (I know what you are thinking - just spending a lot to hop up a bike doesn't make it fast - but the guy who modified the Evo in question is the same guy that ported the Shovel heads for my friend Bobby's motor which set multiple national records)

Right about now, I would bet we have a few Knucklehead fanatics out there who are getting mighty excited about building something similar. Thanks, Mark, for sharing that info with us.

I think we can be pretty sure that Mark's version of the 68" Racer is the "period correct version." It also has the rather large advantage of using the nice thick, pretty much indestructible 61" Knuckle cylinders. The only drawback that I can see, is the small bore size would tend to limit the intake valve size quite a bit. I'll have to take a closer look at that as I continue with my big valve conversion project.

In Afflictions

2 Corinthians 6:4-5 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;

This past Sunday morning as our Pastor led us through 2 Corinthians, he paused, as he has done in the past, at one of the descriptions of what the apostle Paul had undergone. I do not recall his words, but they had to do with how far removed the "Health and Wealth" gospel, so popular today, is from what the Bible teaches.

The fact is, the way that we, as Christians, handle adversity should bring glory to God. So many of those first century Christians died a martyr's death, and brought glory to God thereby. Sitting comfortably here in America, it is hard for us to fathom that even today Christians in many parts of the world are suffering similar deaths and bringing glory to the name of Jesus Christ by steadfastly refusing to deny their faith.

While none of us has any promise that such persecution will never reach our shores, for the most part, we are insulated from such things. It struck me that perhaps for many of us, the greatest trial that we will ever face is to die a lingering death due to disease. Let us pray the Lord would give us the strength to also bring glory to his name by the manner in which we face it.