Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Kayaking with the Florida wildlife

  This year for Florida Bike week I was treated with some bonus fun. On one day when the surf was really high ( 8 footers) , I got to go out with my good friend, Joey Porkchop and hit the surf. Another friend of mine, Glenn, showed up with a surf board that he bought days earlier at a yard sale for 20 bucks. We got out as the sun was coming up so we didn't even miss anything important except a little sleep. We spent all morning trying to conquer mother nature and I was not near as successful as Joey- He made it look easy!
   The next highlight was kayaking in the central Florida area 60 miles west of Daytona. My good friends Rus and Nikki at ARNI  , took me. ARNI is  an organization that is so much more then just an animal shelter. They are also the behind the scene organizers for Willie's Tropical Tattoo Chopper Show. Unfortunatly all the photos that I took on my camera didn't turn out. Fortunate for me though, they lent me a kayak and I went 2 days later with  another friend.
   Now everyone knows there are gators in Florida but it is still pretty cool to get up close and personal with one while you are in a kayak.  
Here is a video I filmed with another gator
All this gator wrangling made me a little hot so I cooled off with a swim.

But even with all the cool alligators, turtles and birds, the real reason I had to come back were for the Reese monkeys. I found out that a colony of monkeys have been living in the wild since they were released after the filming of an old Tarzan movie. Too cool.  Everyone that I told about the monkeys didn't believe me. They all thought it was like snipe hunting. THIS is why I had to return and bring another camera. In this day the monkeys were much farther up stream but we paddled the 4 miles against a strong current and found them.
There were about 30 in this group. There were many more on the other day but it is still pretty cool The little ones are the cutest-
 We brought some fruit and threw it to them and they shared it in the pecking order for the big boss man who ate first on down to the little ones

 We even put some food on our paddles and handed it to them.
 We even got to see some of the mothers grooming their young-

Here is even a video of the monkeys-
 And this may not be the average person's report on Bike Week 2013 but then again, I guess I'm not the average Bike Week guy.
 

Saturday, March 16, 2013

My 1954 Olds tail light and fender


The very first part that I got for my new chopper was a 1954 Olds tail light that my good friend Dirty Dave gave me.. You may remember Dirty Dave for his Exile days when he was all over the TV screen for the Biker Buildoffs. Dave is still as crazy as ever but he has a heart of gold. I packed that tail light in my luggage and road back across the country from Los Angeles, to Daytona Bike Week  2012 before swinging by Faith Forgotten's shop (Facebook Fan Page)where I dropped it off and continued my jouney.

  Now a year later, I am in Daytona doing my thing and signing books to try to make a few bucks to buy some scooter parts. Frank Kaelin of Kaelin's Custom Cycle (Facebook Fan Page), received the KlockWerks (Facebook Fan Page) fender that they shipped to me and frenched in the tail light that Big Will had dropped off, ALL while I'm in Daytona. Man this is so cool to wake up and see these pictures sent to my phone this morning. I'll be heading home soon and continuing on with what I can do to help but as I have said so many hundreds of times before- I couldn't do what I do without the help of my friends! Thanks Dave, Frank, Big Will and my whole family at Klock Werks!!!!!!!

Friday, March 15, 2013

The New Indian 111 Thunder Stroke

  At Daytona Bike Week 2013, Indian Motorcycle company unveiled their all new power plant. Named The Thunder Stroke, it lives up to it's name with 111 cubic inches and keeps the traditional lines of the old Indian Chief flat head motors while using the proven technology that they learned from the Victory line. One of my favorites in the 3 cam design with the center intake valves sharing a cam thus creating  perfect up and down geometry with the pushrods. My hats off to Indian for a job well done!

                                                                         
Check out my video here on youtube and not only SEE for yourself but HEAR for yourself! I dig it!