One question interview time - you know you’ve been craving it. In this months segment we asked all our favorite greasebags the following question:

What’s your favorite part about building a bike?

There seems to be a reoccurring theme when you look at the answers as a group, but I’ll let you figure that out on your own Einstein. Some answers are expected, some are not - good stuff to dig through.

As always, I love to hear you guys (yes YOU) answer the question as well, so use the comments section to drop some knowledge/sarcasm/humor/wit/etc…With that said, onto the show. (Make sure to click read more to check out all the answers).

Kevin Baas | Baas Metal Craft | www.baasmetalcraft.com
My favorite part of building a bike is seeing all the parts I’ve collected and scrounged through swap meets and friends etc. come together along with all the ideas in my head to a final running scooter. Each bike I build has cool stories of where things came from and memories of the build that will never be forgotten.

Read more…

The one question interview is back this month after a hectic June. In this months segment we asked all our favorite greasebags the following question:

What sound in your shop - reoccurring or not - drives you crazy?

Lots of great answers as always of the short and sweet variety. Lots of new guys in the mix this month, which is killer. This is one of my favorite segments on the site, so I’m psyched to see it get bigger.

As always, I love to hear you guys (yes YOU) answer the question as well, so use the comments section to drop some knowledge/sarcasm/humor/wit/etc…With that said, onto the show. (Make sure to click read more to check out all the answers). Now, onto the show:

Fabricator Kevin | www.fabkevin.com/
My mechanical pressbrake. Every cycle emits an ear piercing screech, and at the end of a long day it makes me want to kill anyone that looks at my crossways.

Read more…

In this months segment of the one question interview we asked all our favorite greasebags the following question:

When it comes to building or customizing bikes, what’s the most important lesson you’ve learned:

Lot’s of great answers, tips and tricks to grab from all the answers, a great extended answer at the end by Ian Barry of Falcon, so make sure to get to that.

As always, I love to hear you guys (yes YOU) answer the question as well, so use the comments section to drop some knowledge/sarcasm/humor/wit/etc…With that said, onto the show. (Make sure to click read more to check out all the answers). Now, onto the show:

Wes • Four Aces Cycle Supply • www.fouracescycle.com
The most important esoteric lesson I have learned building bikes is that the bike will tell you what it needs and what it wants you to do if you listen to it. The perfect bike builds itself. If you offer up parts to the bike it will either accept or reject those parts based on your eye’s interpretation of the package. Forced bikes look forced.

The most important concrete lesson I have learned is that building a bike, for yourself or for someone else, costs money. At some point you are gonna have to spend some dough. If you grind your builder he is going to have to fudge the quality and that is going to bite both customer and builder down the road. Pick the right builder and pay him well. On your own build, don’t be afraid to buy quality materials and quality parts.

Read more…

Here’s the second installment of our one question interview feature, if you missed the first, check it out here: One Question Interview P1. Everyone stepped up their game this week; your gonna dig what you read.

As always, I love to hear you guys (yes YOU) answer the question as well, so use the comments section to drop some knowledge/sarcasm/humor/wit/etc…With that said, onto the show. (Make sure to click read more to check out all the answers)

Question: What is the earliest memory you have surrounding motorcycles and how did it influence you?

Trent | Atomic Customs | atomiccustom.com
The earliest memory I have of motorcycles…
Well, I was 4 years old and my Dad took me out the Elks Lodge parking lot in Billings, Montana to teach me to ride my own. Now the Elks parking lot was nice and smooth EXCEPT for the back way into the property, which consisted of a gnarly, rutted out hillclimb! Of course this is where my Dad took me to learn. He took me to the top of the hill and told me to stay there while he walked down that rocky, rutted out, two track road. A few minutes later he yells up, “come on down!” I was scared and yelled back “I cant do it!” He yelled back “come on, you can do it”. Well, after several minutes of this back and forth I finally went for it. I actually made it about half way down this hill, gaining quite a bit of speed in the process before crashing the rest of the way. Years later, Dad and I were talking about those old days and I was giving him shit for traumatizing the fuck out of me (that memory is burned in my brain to this day) He replied “you learned to respect motorcycles didn’t you??”

Yes, I did.

Read more…

Last week I introduced you to the new one question interview feature I’ll be runnin’ on the site (check it out here if you missed it), and I also mentioned that my favorite response to the question came from Jason McElroy. Jason has some serious skills when it comes to putting pen to paper, and he weaved together a brilliant and detailed portrait, not only of his workshop, but the wrench-head community he is a part of. Seriously, there were parts where the words intertwined together so well it raised the hair on my arms

Don’t believe me? check out this excerpt from the full article….

If it were a warm day, although those lately seem long past, you might walk in by the ramp constructed of scrap wood and expanded metal and fiberglass cast offs. It’d buckle and sway underfoot, feeling a bit sketchy if this were your first visit. . . your eyes irretrievably drawn and locked on the motorcycles hanging from the ceiling. From I-beams. By chains. By safety straps. In every corner. On shelves. In lofts, on cars, in trucks, in racks, on blocks, under trash, over parts, near buckets, under foot. over head. With a six foot disco ball in the middle. Sun rays coming in through roof skylights and under the lintel throwing heavenly beams through the metal and paint dusty room like you’d died and gone to central booking for the heaven you believe in. Rust. Grease. Cracked vinyl. Crumbled seat foam. Cloudy lens glass. Dented paint. Sour gas. Musty oil. Hard metal.

Fuck. Now that’s what I’m talking about. Brilliant, and so is the rest of the article, so click on the read more link below to dig into it.

Read more…

Here’s a new bit to sink your chompers into like one of those gigantic turkey legs at the state fair - the one question interview. “What the hell is that?” Well here’s the skinny broham. Once or twice a month I email a single question to a bunch of dudes and ask them all to answer it. Who ever gets their answer back to me before the deadline will have it published on the site. Simple. Some of these dudes you may know because of the work they do, some of them you’re going to have no idea who the fuck they are, they’re just your everyday wrench head.

A lot of great responses in the mix, some long, some short - all good. On Monday, I’m going to post my favorite one - the answer I got back from Jason McElroy (www.jasonmcelroy.com). Jason didn’t just send me back an answer to the question, he wrote a killer article that had me gripped from the start. It really deserved it’s own separate post, so make sure to check back on Monday for that one.

One last thing, I’d love to hear you guys (yes YOU) answer the question as well, so use the comments section to drop some knowledge/sarcasm/humor/wit/etc…With that said, onto the show. (Make sure to click read more to check out all the answers)

Question: If I was to walk into your garage / shop while you’re working on a
bike, what would be the most likely sound I would hear… and why?

Truth | Choppahead | www.choppahead.com
You’d hear the sound of glory. That is, of course, if glory to you sounds like midget strippers dressed like clowns throwing 40’s of Olde English at our shop apprentice to a soundtrack of early 80’s hardcore punk. Oh yeah, and hammers to metal, grinders to metal, and welding arc’s to metal for ambience.

Read more…