Yes this is mainly but not exclusively a motorcycle related blog some of you may wonder why I seem so enamored with bicycles. The contents of  this post were originally written as a reply to the thread “What triggered your bicycle revival” over at Rat Rod Bikes. After re-reading it I decided to share it with you.

I was a really small little geeky nerdy kid. As a child I learned to ride a bike and rode around a lot, didn’t think much of it. I had go-karts & mini-bikes to play on. The bicycle wound up just being around the neighborhood transport. I was too small, too slow, and perhaps too lazy to really care about even trying to race anybody or jump anything so even though I grew up through the infancy of BMX & mountain biking I honestly did not care. Being a twerpy deaf guy with thick glasses athletic endeavors were something I strenuously avoided.  At the age of 12 I got my first motorcycle, and my last bicycle. Both were green, a Kawasaki KD100 and a 26″ Western Flyer cruiser. Once I mastered the operation of the motorcycle the bicycle never moved unless I was either out of gas, or prohibited from riding the Kawi for some reason. At 15 I got a license and a junkyard Mustang. The bicycle was never seen again, and was probably abandoned in the garage when we moved. Many years, cars, motorcycles, jobs, & a family later it finally happened, I had that gnarly bone grinding crash that every motorcyclist dreads. My left knee was repaired by a partial knee replacement and I spent some time in a wheelchair until the broken ribs I also incurred healed enough to walk on crutches. When the leg healed enough for me to begin walking on it again it was a flabby atrophied shadow of its former self. I had a really bad limp and would occasionally fall flat on my face just because it was not strong enough to hold me up. In order to build up strength in it I purchased and began using an exercise bike, but riding and not going anywhere got b-o-r-i-n-g. At the flea market I grabbed an old $20 mountain bike, and took up light trail riding.

But I really liked styling and profiling on a mean looking ride so when a friend of mine gave me this even though it actually rode great I instantly jumped on the internet looking for ideas to customize besides the “Lowrider” style and that is when I found this site and this community

The start of my custom bicycle fetish!

Today I have a great hobby, have met and befriended many interesting people, built an interesting collection of bicycles, and plan to continue indefinitely. Oh yeah as I nice bonus I no longer walk with a cane, rarely fall down any more. 😯  Plus my wife loves trail riding with me and doesn’t mind going to the bike show either. Wins all around as far as I am concerned.

Peace Y’all

Yes this is my home office/studio.

One of my favorite customs that I have done.

My show winning 20″ Ross custom.