For Sale 1979 CX500

For sale 1979 CX500. Liquid cooled V-twin, shaft drive. 

Rebuilt carbs, fresh oil change, new air filter, new battery,

satin black paint, Daytona bars, new grips, good tires, 

aftermarket front fender, bobbed rear fender, CB750 headlight.

Excellent condition, this thing will cruise at 80 mph all day long.

Super smooth with plenty of power. Get on it and take a road trip.

I'd keep it, but the Norton needs to get done.

1700.00 or best offer. 320-293-0147

Twistin Vixens

With their LED hoops.

First of the Year

Max

I regretfully shrunk the hell out of my favorite t-shirt so Max got it as a birthday gift. Still the coolest kid I know. 

R.I.P. No Show Jones

Grandpa

Today is my Grandpa Helm's birthday. With the wedding coming up he's been on my mind more lately. He was extraordinary in many ways. 

He shares a birthday with and was a huge fan of Ella Fitzgerald as well.

Home 'tattooers' can bite my dick.

At my job, it's usually the same crap again and again; words with deep meanings, bible verses, something some kid wants that he feels a huge desire to explain how much it means ad nauseum. I do a fair number of cover ups, but today for some reason, this one really got under my skin. The first picture is what the kid had done in some piece of trash's house. It took this guy about 5 hours to do this junk. He paid the guy quite handsomely for it. His name is Tony Hennes, and he probably deserves several knuckle sandwiches for doing this kind of thing to people. To say nothing of the health risks involved or how much additional work he is creating for other hard working people out there who actually try to operate legally and with quality.
The second picture is what I drew on him and he was pretty excited about it. He was very surprised that I could do something this good looking to coverup what he had.
The third picture is where we finished on it today. Sadly, large work like this cannot be finished in a single run, but more will get done in the coming months.
If you or anybody you know is looking at getting tattooed in someone's house please don't and talk them out of it. Nonprofessional tattooing is never a good idea. "But it's so expensive in a shop." Hell yes it is! Do you know how much my supplies cost? And I do expect to charge a bit over that to feed my kid. "He used to own or work in a shop." He isn't there anymore because he was bad at it. Either his work was so poor he had to close or got fired, or he couldn't make a living at it because nobody wanted to pay to have his junk on them.
End of rant. Go about your normal business.

FTW

Ophiuchus and Colleen

Digging through old pictures I came across this one from a couple Halloweens ago of Colleen at her husband Andy's drum set after an Ophiuchus show. I thought it deserved a post and some words. 

Colleen is Kayla's best friend, business partner, hula hooping accomplice, our maid of honor, Adam's mom, Andy's wife and a great person. She deserves a very big "thank you" from Kayla and I because her help, advice and hard work has been invaluable to us in planning the wedding. Without her this would have been an even more difficult process. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 

Past, Present, Future

I'm working hard right now to bring a large selection of new LYDF clothing to you via a rad new online store. I'm also getting married in less than two months, trying to finish my chopper, working full time and constantly blasting my pecs. Please be patient and stay tuned. Minds will be blown. 

A thousand miles from home.

Free Stickers

Free stickers and patches. Email me your name and address. 

lydfstickers@gmail.com

Kid smarts

I went to pick up my daughter today. She was having cake with her mother and sister. It's her seventh birthday today and it's all she can talk about.
I was glued to NPR on the radio today. They had live coverage of the capture from one of the neighbors of the property where that kid was hiding in the garage and boat.
I got my hugs and kisses and helped her pack up all she wanted to bring; a new dress she wants to wear to her birthday party, her coat, her boots ("Yes you need to bring boots hunny, it's really snowy and it's gonna be cold and wet."), and some dolls. We loaded into the car and took off for home, still listening to the radio.
We talked for a bit about her day at school and how excited she is to go swimming. After about half an hour she asked, "What are they talking about? Why do the police want to get this guy?" I replied curiously, "He might be one of the bad guys that made those bombs that hurt and killed those people, baby." She just looked at me, vacant eyed, "I don't know what you're talking about, Daddy."
I know that her mother and I have differing parenting styles, and that's fine, but it floored me that she hasn't heard about this on TV, from friends, or saddest of all at school.
Some people in her life want to protect her from hearing anything about the disgusting parts of our world and some want to protect her from just select issues or happenings. I personally want her to know and understand how dark and scary things can get sometimes. This will prepare her to cope and not fear in that moment when things get dark and scary.
"Why would somebody want to hurt those people, Daddy?"
"There are bad people out there hunny, and they do bad things sometimes. It's sad, but that's why we need to be careful and safe."
"What if a bad guy comes in the house, and has a gun, and wants to take our stuff, and he says... (long little kid rant that doesn't really go anywhere, you just gotta wait while they get through it.)"
"What ifs don't really matter hunny. If things get scary or bad, you need to listen to me, do what I say, and you'll be fine."
"Why?"
"Because listening to me will keep you safe. Because a daddy's first job is to keep you safe and teach you to be good."
"Why would those guys be so bad? What made them so mean?"
"It doesn't matter what made them that way or why they are that way, baby. What matters is that we are good and do our best to be good and do good things for everyone."
"Like how you are good and keep me safe? Like if we are good then it makes their bad go away?"
"Yes hunny, just like that. If we are good and enough people try hard enough to be good and do good things, the bad things don't matter. Because there is more good than bad and we win."
"OK Daddy. I think we're gonna win."
I don't tell this story to show you my parenting or show what kinda dad I am. I couldn't give two shits what you think of me. Just gotta say, I think this kid's getting it. Things are turning up aces.

Max Rules

April 18th, 2013

Mother Nature is a cruel bitch.

"Find what you love and let it kill you." - Charles Bukowski

I don't remember exactly when this thing with motorcycles started for me, it was just always kind of there. I do remember though when I went with my Dad to get my first motorcycle. Some guy he knew was selling his kid's old bike. We drove out into the country to this guy's place, went to the barn where the bike was supposed to be and it was gone. The guy's kid sold it and didn't tell him. I was crushed. Easily in the top 5 worst days of my life. After that my folks surprised us with a CT70. They had us all stand in the back yard and Mom rode it down the hill on the side of the house, which is especially funny because my Mom doesn't ride motorcycles. I strapped on an old red 3/4 face helmet and drove it straight up a steep hill into my neighbors yard. I remember the first time I seized a motor. I was hauling ass down the road on a different dirt bike with my buddy Jared and it just locked up. I had no idea what happened but pushed it a couple of miles back to Jared's place and called my Dad. He told me he thought I blew it up and I almost started to cry. We fixed it though. Then there was the time my Dad let me take his Electra Glide around the block, the block was 7 miles around. I was so nervous I don't think I went over 40 mph. They were worried I crashed because I was taking so long. Another time Troy and I were blasting down I-35 outside of Duluth at 3 am doing speeds I won't mention without a soul in site when suddenly Troy went dark, no lights, no power, nothing. In our infinite wisdom we felt the appropriate shake down run on his new chopper was a few hundred mile ride in cold weather with no tools. We limped into a town, begged for beds and fixed it in the morning. Not many years after that Troy, Pops and I went to the Great Smoky Mts and rode Deal's Gap; broke my Dyna motor in there. 

There's a million more stories, bikes, people...everything. It's always been all about motorcycles, it always will be all about motorcycles. It's given me the friends I have, molded the person I've become. I've never really been able to explain it, just makes sense to me. I know other people have hobbies and whatnot, but for some of us it's more than that. This is so much more to me. 

 I don't know who built the first motorcycle; but to you sir, from the bottom of my heart, this is your fault. 

Personal Policy

As you all hopefully know by now, America has had yet another bombing. We still don't really have anyone to point the finger at as the guilty party, but I would like to take a moment and hopefully have us all take a look inwards.
Sometimes I wonder if the way we, as a country and more so as individuals, treat people has at least a tiny bit of culpability in the dark things others do. Is it at all possible that trying to be a little kinder and tolerant of those we disagree with could maybe keep our relations a bit more civil? I'm not talking about super hippy, 'Love everyone and all that they do' crap, just less name calling and trying not to be condescending when dealing with someone whose opinion differs. Maybe if we weren't so aggressive in our differences, the other party wouldn't feel so defensive and ready to lash out. Maybe also we wouldn't have to deal with them belligerently yelling at us about how we are wrong. This animosity serves no one.
Just some rambling thoughts. Thanks to everyone who ran to help in Boston, and all of you trying to help now from other places. Try not to be a dick to each other, and if you can't, walk away. Love you. Mean it. Now get back to work.
Photo courtesy of Yahoo News.

Stone Cold

Hugo - 99 Problems

Well she beat me to it.

Clutch ruled at first ave. One of the best live bands to see these days.

 

 

And don"t forget Orange Goblin. Bad dudes from England.

Clutch was amazing last night.

Of coarse I was there for the classics, Regulator, Profits of Doom, Mob Goes Wild etc. but if you haven't heard their new album, YOU should! Earth Rocker is a mix of their classic ”stoner rock” sound, with a lot of blues added. Neil is a master at vocals and shredded on the harmonica!

Mr. Jake 'The Face' Marshall

This guy stopped by for some chuckles and lunch. We had a bit of time to talk about custom build philosophy and the finer points of swollen knuckle culture. We'll have an interview with him about life and his current project soon. Also here's a sweet old straight six for eye candy.

Choppers suck

"Take me with you." it cried. I couldn't say no...

What is your favorite Motorhead song?

Don't stop get it get it.

Shoe doodles

Doodling up some shoes while I wait on my computer and the circus.

Join the Mailing List

We're going to keep this free sticker and patches thing rolling and want to make it a little easier on all of yous...if you have already emailed me your info at lydfstickers@gmail.com you are now officially on the mailing list. Every time we come out with a new sticker or patch you will get some. If you haven't yet emailed me and want to get on the mailing list then get after it. 

A Little Bit Closer Now

Front and Center

Go.....

for a long drive. You never know where you'll end up.