Scenic route to Springfield.

I needed a vacation. So I threw my girlfriend on the back of my chopper, and along with a Swedish friend of mine, we headed out to Springfield Illinois for the flat track races at the Springfield mile. The racing was great. 140 mph on the dirt with hot rodded xr750s, Triumphs, Ducatis, and Kawasakis. What a blast. But that wasn't the the real reason for the trip. Sure we needed a destination, but we needed the ride more than anything. Breakdowns, idiot drivers, lane splitting, cops, truck drivers who weren't too good to blow the horn, quick fixes on the bikes just to get back on the road (that surely won't really get fixed till riding season is over), that is what this motorcycle shit is all about. I don't care if you ride American, Japanese, British, or whatever. Just go somewhere. And take some chances when you do it. Live young die fast.

Memorial Day

Simply saying "thank you" doesn't really sound like enough but I'm not quite sure what would, so Thank You to every past and current member of the United States Military. You're the reason this is the greatest country in the world. 

Grandpa Helm served in the Korean War.

Grandpa Gresser served in World War II. 

In the bottom picture Grandpa is posing with Nicoli, the child from a family that he and his unit befriended in Italy. In the second from bottom photo he is posing with a dog that he found in Germany and named Beaucoup. He used to talk about a night that Beaucoup started barking at the woods out of nowhere and like never before; the soldiers believe they were about to be ambushed when the dog scared the German soldiers off. 

Kayla Down By the River

Alyx

Available HERE

Witchy Woman

LYDF Clothing

Available HERE

Photos by Kayla

Every now and again Kayla will grab my camera and shoot like mad for twenty minutes and i's always good when she does. 

Move Over

Move Over shirts are in stock now! 

We've got large, XL and 2XL in black t-shirts for $20 shipped. 

PayPal the money, your size and shipping information to liveyoungdiefastmn@gmail.com and I'll put one in the mail for you. Thank you!

First Fifty Swap - St. Paul

My motorcycles aren't running and there's nothing I can do about it today. So I got up early (for a Sunday) and went down to the MN Fairgrounds for the First Fifty show and swap and met up with the guys from Ichabod Speed Shop. 

I have every intention of owning one of these very much like this. 

This late 60's camper was really cool, the kind that you'd like to spend some time touring the country in....until you have to gas it up.

My favorite car in the show was this 1967 Ford Custom unmarked Nebraska State Patrol police car. It has the original 428 (same as the GT500 Shelby), heavy duty C6 and 9 inch open highway rear end and it was all built at St. Paul's Ford plant. It's still got all the cool cop stuff and has only been mildly reconditioned but is otherwise all stock and all there. All that is cool enough, but being a 2 door makes it extra cool. 

I made it home with only $11 less dollars and a couple of things that I just had to have.

I should take my own advice more often....

Every day on my way home from work I see the back end of this Packard from the highway through some trees. Every day after I see it I remind myself to stop and look at it tomorrow. Of course I drove by it again earlier this week and reminded myself again o stop and take a closer look at it tomorrow then thought better and got on the binders in Ol' Blackie to catch the turn I needed to go back and take a look. It just sits there on a vacant lot; no sign in the window, just a neat old Packard. It was a simple reminder that a guy should really slow down every now and again to take a closer look at what's going on around you. My version of the old adage, "stop and smell the roses". 

Honky Tonk Special

Available at www.lydfclothing.com in all the shirt styles and colors you could ever hope for. Take a look for yourself. 

Ichabod Speed Shop

There are some very cool things happening at Ichabod Speed Shop and they are getting very close to being open for business. As always, stay tuned for more details on here but make sure that you're also following them on Instagram at @ichabodspeedshop for the latest and greatest. Expect to see a lot more than cars and motorcycles out of Ichabod; this really isn't your "average" speed shop.  

Photos by Kayla

There's some major road construction going on by our place, making it difficult to get on the highway that takes us to town. My lovely wife grew up about 50 miles from here so we set out the other night to show her all the back roads, minimum maintenance roads and shortcuts I know to get to town. These are a few of the many pictures Kayla took documenting the journey. 

Adam at the Compound

Time Flies by Nick Hams

Available at www.lydfclothing.com

Forgot to post these on the blog. Ladies sweatshirt example.

Benton County

I spent some time on the back roads by my place the other night on the Dyna and it felt oh so good.