Amps and hot rods and fabrication and...

I enjoy meeting people with high attention to detail and uncompromising standards. I'm surely not one of them, but Mike Soldano, the gentleman who made nearly everything you see in these pictures is.

I'm fortunate to be able to call Mike a friend and have him as an invaluable resource for the times when my automotive or cycle projects go sideways, which is often.

What I like and respect most about the guy though is that he's nice. Small accomplishments often result in large heads, and that's just not the case with Mike. For every 100 guys who've done very little while playing it off as having done a lot, there's a guy like Mike whose done a lot and boasts very little. That's cool.

And yes, his amps really do go up to 11.

Thumbs

Kayelynn and Chopper Jim aboard their OG Denvers choppers...
Kayelynn puts on the Street Legal Drags in Kingman, AZ which is happening this weekend. Check it out.

Nic, nic, nic...Indians.

Seattle is a good city. It's surrounded by water, has mountains looming in the distance and has great in-town riding. Depending on which way you point your machine, you can be on the coast (101), in the mountains (Olympics or Cascades), in the desert (Eastern Washington) or in a temperate rainforest (Northwest) within 1-3 hours.

In addition to the great scenery and riding, there are a surprising number of vintage cycle and auto collections up here. One of these collections belongs to a gentleman named Jerry Chinn. Jerry's an interesting fellow, having a past in the antique business, a present in the film industry, and an uncanny knack for finding crazy old Indians and Harleys with race pedigree. What sets Jerry apart from a lot of collectors though, is that he races the wheels off nearly everything he owns. This old privateer built Indian is no exception.

Of all of the bikes I've pointed a camera at, this is the one I lust after the most. Owning it would change the look of our living room. The family couch would be gone with a quickness.

Paint By Molly

A couple weeks ago we were at a friends BBQ and an old roommate of the Little Red Tomatohead, Bill, showed up and said "Hey, i brought that Paint By Molly shirt i told you i had since i was a kid". I had kinda forgot about it and figured i would never see it since i hadn't seen Bill in some time.
Well, here it is, never seen another and Bill has had this for decades since new.

Molly was one of the premier painters back in the '70s chopper scene and excelled in metalflake and candies. He painted quite a few of the famous AEE Choppers bikes. Later in his career he was still painting and doing design work and even came up with the Kawasaki Green color. Sadly he died about a year and a half ago.

 

Old York

Don't forget! East Coastin'

Readers Rides

From Dave Clark in Ohio...he paints...well!

For Johnny Surprise

Next Saturday~

The new issue of Street Chopper is out! It is even bigger than before and features our good friend and FMA blog contributor Jeff Leighton and his killer knucklehead on the cover by Mark Kawakami and the story by yours truly. There is also Born-Free III coverage in there and a host of other good stuff.

There is a release party next Saturday in Costa Mesa, California with some good rock and roll bands like Night Horse and our friends Revolution Mother.

Introduction - New Contributor

Hi, I am Anthony. Thanks to 'Poon and Grant for allowing me to share a little bit of what I am up to here in the Pacific Northwest with you good folks.

I am a 10 year resident of Seattle, a transplant from rural NY, a father of two, a husband of one, a supporter of small business, a slave to large business, an urbanite with a country boy's heart, and a guy who likes to fit alot into life. I am an inch deep and a mile wide.

I have owned quite a few motorcycles over the years and I have ridden since I was five years old. With the help of friends and family I have put together, made better, and made worse a handful of vintage bikes, cars and bicycles. In addition to a never-ending '63 Panhead project, I do battle with the masses on a Husqvarna 450 SMR Supermoto bike. It is THEE most fun road going motorcycle I have ever owned.

What else? I occasionally contribute photos and words to a handful of small to mid-sized custom car and cycle magazines, I walk my kids to school nearly every day, and I live by these words:

"Treat me good I'll treat you better. Treat me bad I'll treat you Worse."
-Ralph "Sonny" Barger



Here are a couple of the bikes I've cobbled together over the years. Version one of my '53.



Version two.



And version three. This is the one where I actually figured out how to make a Panhead run well. It now lives in Japan.



My little old pre-Unit. Wonderful neighborhood bike, now living in Southern California.



Four people I count on who count on me, and who I look up to a great deal: my son, my daughter, my wife and my friend Jake. You'll hear more about Jake as time goes on. He is talented, has consumate patience, is my older-wiser-adviser, and is the keeper of many a great project and the very well equipped shop that allows me to play the custom motorcycle game.

May your ears hang low, may they wobble to and fro.

Born-Free 4 update

Hey kids,
We are now signing up vendors for Born-Free 4, and earlybird gets the worm, the good deal, and the best spots! check the BORN-FREE BLOG for more if you wanna be a vendor next year or email me at the address below.
We are also shamelessly looking for sponsors for the show. Because of its growth it takes quite a bit of money to put this thing together and keep it free, so if you are serious about your or a friend's company sponsoring the show, email me at grant@bornfreeshow.com.
And in an attempt to raise some money we setup a Born-Free webstore where we have shirts, hats, and posters from last year if you missed out on them at the show. CLICK HERE for the store or the icon to the right.
THANKS!!!

HI-BLUE RUN PART 3

HI-BLUE RUN PART 3












THE END.

WORK...

Been busy at work lately...working real hard...doing burnouts and breaking stuff since this video was shot i replaced the stock trans with a Performance Automatic AODE/4R70W with a transbrake and full manual valvebody...it was killer for about an hour and 30 minutes until i blew a head gasket...555 lb-ft of torque is fun in a 3000 pound car.... My sweet Mustang will be on the cover of Car Craft soon...watch for it or check out www.carcraft.com

HI-BLUE RUN PRAT 2

HI-BLUE RUN PRAT 2














CONTINUE TO PART 3

HI-BLUE RUN (THE LAST MEMORY OF SUMMER 2011)

TODAY IS JUST A DAY BEFORE THE HI-BLUE RUN.
LET'S GO TO NAGOYA CITY!!!!!!




















CONTINUE TO PART 2..............