And tomorrow I'll be gone

Drowning in Deming

Watch my speed through the mining district and more rain but back on the road in good spirits. Approaching Deming the rain sheeting down and starts leaking into my rain suit makeing my crotch wet and cold. Under the overpass and hit the first gas station and it really starts pouring. I am told to move my bike over but still under cover and proceed to wait it out. I make quick friends with the guy talking to the attendant/mechanic I hear all about Deming getting it’s first movie theatre and think their pulling my leg. They say there’s nothing to do in this town. The one guy is Hispanic and older and the mechanic is probably a few years younger than me. I hear all about the older guy selling his property in California and his daughter in San Francisco and her DUI. "That’s why I have her car" His wife has Family in Deming and he liked it here well enough, so he bought some land and built a house. After a while he leaves and I sit in the repair bay with the mechanic while he smokes. I learn about the owners problem son and the truck he blew up that’s sitting outside with a flat, and how he can only ride one of the Harleys if he has clearance from his dad. The harleys are getting good and wet from the run off from the building. He says they were just washed yesterday.

Mysterious clouds on the horizon

Triumph project

Narrowed, Sectioned, Chopped and Frisco'd, Triumph tank on a hardtail frame. Shop is a mess.

Triumph Points Covers

Super top secret Triumph points plates. Rough castings not drilled yet. Let me know if you need one of these handmade covers and I can put some holes in them.

Dog day sunrise

Back to the main road and I have rain drops on my sun glasses and on my helmet a little hard to see. At a stop light I remove my glasses and try to tuck them in my tank bag as the light changes. I feel a bump and a crunching noise. I look in my mirror and see a guy in a pickup pointing to pull over and I wonder I’m going to get beat up after being run into. I pull over to see what happened. I get off the bike remove my helmet and see a shattered tail light while receiving an apology. A feeling of dread about where the hell will I get another tail light for this thing as it wasn’t quick getting parts from BMW even in Phoenix. I really wasn’t interested in the guy who hit me. I was preoccupied with my dillema. I told him I was fine and didn’t feel like doing the police report nonsence. I asked if he could give me some money to fix it and we would call it good. He didn’t have any money on him but said he did at home and would go get it. He was late for work and would run home quick. Checked to see if the lights still worked and they did, just no lens. I ask where an auto parts store was and we agreed to meet there. I figured he would bail but I didn’t really care. I had a bike to fix and in retrospect I was a little dazed. I had a hard time finding the parts store and thought I was sent on a wild goose chase. I found it, pulled in and started removing the light as my friend in the truck arrived. I discovered that it had smashed into the tailsection and shattered it where the light mounts. He apologised again and I said it’s no big deal but how about some money to fix it. He offered me a hundred dollar bill and I asked if he could do two as I had to build a tail light here and then get a tail light and tail piece later. No idea how much BMW will want for parts either. He agreed and we shook hands and I thanked him for being honest. He left and I took my shattered light into Car Quest. Looked at the trailer lenses put my gear on the counter. Announced I got rear ended on my bike and needed to make a new tail light. They found some good parts, helped with tools and drilling some holes and $25 later it would work. The idea of getting run into was actually more disconcerting than the reality of what happened but I stilll had a moment of nerves or adrenaline let down after getting time to think about while at the parts store. Shake it off and back out into the rain to build the bike. The lens mounts were mashed in so a piece of metal plumber tape will work to hold my newly modified part on the bike. With the tight space inside the tailpiece and razor sharp oiled metal my fingers soon became sticky with blood. With a little pain and perseverance it worked. And brighter than the factory tail light. Washed my hands with my drinking water and cleaned up my broken lens parts. Food and getting far away from Silver city was my next agenda.

Righteous

Frank Frazetta rip off air brush job on a vintage GME frisco'd mustang chopper tank. That I bought from a biker that lived in a trailer.

Foundry pics

Watch out five o mang

Coalition Imagery pic

More rain and changing scenery as I climb my way into salt river canyon. The road switches back and forth and the road sides grow taller as I continue to climb. The rain keeps my pace modest and the cars slow to avoid large shoe box sized rocks washed into the road from the cliffs. More rocks in the road and rain and twisty road make for a treacherous ride. And up around a turn I see an upside down full size truck. Instictively I pull over to help. I take off my helmet and see someone walking towards the wreck. Then from the truck someone says "I’m alright" and we look at each other dumbfounded. Then the door on top of the truck opens then the man helps hold the door up as a man in a cowboy hat and matching duster climbs up. "Anybody else in there?" "Nope, just me" "Guess I totaled my truck" "A little bit" I say. Cars slow and ask if everythings OK and the man in the hat goes about collecting his things from the wreck. "Seatbelts work good" he said. After a few minutes I take a leak a few pics and wave goodbye as an emergency vehicle arrives.

Lengthening a Triumph swing arm for a Cafe Racer project. Machined 2" hollow stepped slugs and tig welded them in place. Smoothed out the weld with a hand file.

27-RPU with Hopped up Ford Model A motor

Starting Point

Starting Point
I guess for me I never got too old to run away from home. Truth is I was in a terrible state of mind for about a week prior to leaving. I had no inspiration to do anything. I didn’t want to go anywhere or talk to anyone. Everone was just doing the same old shit. The 100 degree days had just hit the Sonoran desert. I was dissapointed that the gal I met with the motorcycle only rode that thing as a fashion accessory to her drinking hobby. And I was going to have to get on another damn plane soon to go to Dallas for work.

Most people think traveling for work would be fun. And it is if you like airports, hotels, restauraunts, and office building. Your whole surroundings are manufactured and you start feeling like you’re trapped to an itinerary and a lonely hotel room. Enough complaining, I got to get out of here.
Being that I’m back in Arizona writing this my mind is still over 1000 miles away. Planning the next route to take thinking if this was or is a good idea. Should I be tending to my many project or doing some maintainace around the house. Who can I get to watch my old dog when I leave again. Do I really need all this stuff that anchors me to one place. Boredom was getting the best of me again.
After I told my boss I was running away from home and I would meet her in Dallas. It only took 2 days to get my ducks in a row to get the hell out of Phoenix. Bought some last minute camping gear at Big 5. A small tent, a bed roll and something else I forgot. Loaded the bike with cheap tools from
Wal-Mart, and a fancy Co2 tire patch kit from Cycle gear. Drilled some holes and bolted down the worn out swap meet hard bags to the BMW.Some months prior I had traded an 84 FJ1100 for the 1987 K bike and in the deal I got $300 for a new set of tires. The BMW was severly cosmetically challenged compared to the FJ. The plastics and tank were 3 colors and the guy had went down hard on the right side due to the petrified tires. But it had low miles, ran great and by this time I had bought tires, painted it with satin black aerosol cans, sorted the gremlins and put about 1500 miles on it.

Today is the day. First thing, I modified the bags with some lamp parts I had from one of my art projects. And tied too much stuff to this hi-tech for 1987 beat up relic of a motorcycle. I decide if the bike breaks, I will push it over a cliff and walk home. I get pointed down the road a little after 9 a.m. 5/21/2009