Knucklehead Theology: 2024

Monday, March 18, 2024

An Artist's Touch

A big THANK YOU to Cliff Anderson for the lettering on the rear fender of “the Beast”. It far surpassed my expectations, which is what happens when give a true artist free reign. But a word of explanation is in order. The annual Donnie Smith Bike Show at Saint Paul RiverCentre is coming up fast: March 23-24 (this weekend). As part of it, I was invited to be one of 20 builders to display the bike of our choice in a new part of the show called the “Midwest Showcase”. And while it’s an honor to be invited, I am NOT really a bike builder – I’m an engine builder. But I thought this would be a great opportunity to promote vintage drag bike racing, so what better bike to display than the version of the dragbike I raced back in 1986 & 87. However, rather than leave the attendees wondering what an old dragbike that is far from show quality is dong next to 19 bikes that I am quite sure will be real works of mechanical art, I decided to have the lettering done as a bit of an explanation for its presence.

BTW, if you look closely at the "T" in NATIONAL, you might notice that Cliff took the initiative to make it into a cross. I certainly did not expect that, but it is a really nice touch and I very much appreciate it.