Biker Blog

Military Service Comes with a Pricetag

 

       

Back in the saddle:  Julio’s customized Volusia puts a wall to wall grin on his face.

And the beat goes on: for Julio customization is the eternal pursuit of individualization. “Shared passion. Individual style.”

Air Force ex-serviceman and Cruiser Customizing member Julio Maldonado (tomcat837) notes that official transfer papers usually mean leaving your cruiser behind, a real heartbreak for riders in the armed forces. Keith writes:

“I got into motorcycles about sixteen years ago. Still in the Air Force, the urge struck when I snagged a Honda GS550 Silver Wing on consignment at a South Florida dealer. I had to part with the Honda as my family grew, but the itch to ride remained strong. A few years later I spotted a Suzuki GS850L in the paper. The owner owed the IRS big time and needed a quick sale, so his loss was my gain. Now I was in the saddle of a bigger and more powerful machine and loving it. But military service comes with a price tag; I was sent to Venezuela (and later Korea). Heartbroken, I had to leave my Suzuki behind.

“I separated from the Air Force in 2000, and found my niche working in South Texas in Information Technology. Five years later, there I was looking around for a bike once again. Since I had parted with my last ‘horse’ a baffling array of models had hit the market. Many things had changed, but one thing was certain: I had to have a cruiser. One day while out driving, a beautiful bike with a ‘For Sale’ sign caught my eye. I almost caused an accident when I U-turned to look it over. I’m a fan of metric cruisers and was thrilled to find this Suzuki Volusia Ltd. had only 2400 miles on the clock. It took a few weeks, but when I finally took the Vol out for a test ride, I fell in love with riding all over again.

“Now I have started personalizing my Volusia to reflect who I am. Like my Baron drag bars and grips which I purchased through Cruiser Customizing. Whenever I have the urge for accessories, I go to Cruiser Customizing first because of the wide variety of items, it is easy to browse and the prices are without comparison. There will always be something else to customize, but it’s all good. For me, there’s nothing like the feeling of freedom and individuality when riding my chrome horse down the open road.”

Cruise and be happy,
Miles Davis, (Pavandas)
Editor, Cruiser Customizing News

                        send us your ideas

Well Worth the Wait

   

Cruising Rocker Keith Drury has kept his love for riding alive since the days of Quadraphenia. Now back in the saddle despite a serious knee injury, Keith is the East Yorkshire rep for the National Association for Bikers with Disabilities.

Mellow in yellow: the Intruder is a formidable machine, and with Keith’s mods it turns heads.

Now a word from Cruiser Customizing member Keith Drury (keith52), a Brit rocker who began riding back in the days of the Ace Café and Brighton Beach.  From across the puddle, Keith writes:

“Well, it’s been a long rime since I’ve been in the saddle and, Boy, does it feel good to be alive!” Keith injured his leg in ’75, eventually having his leg fused at the knee. It made riding difficult, nearly impossible, but where there’s a will there’s a way, and Keith is a man of will. Keith couldn’t shake his love for riding, so a few years ago, Keith found himself haunting the bike shops once again, and a Suzuki Intruder became the pride of his life. Keith joined NABD, England’s National Association for Bikers with Disabilities, which helped him find a suitable thumb brake. Keith says, “I’m now an East Yorkshire representative for NABD and spreading the word!” Cruise on, Keith! We salute your bravery and that of your fellow NABD riders of Great Britain.

Cruise and be happy,
Miles Davis, (Pavandas)
Editor, Cruiser Customizing News

         

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Crazy Riding With The Crazy 8's

3. Crazy Riding With The Crazy 8's
       
 

       

While riding her V-Star, an angry tornado lifted Lori skyward, but the furious storm must have noticed her beauty and her spirit, so it gently set her safely down on the highway once again.

Lori's Beautiful Machine

Last issue we printed “Scooter’s Story”.  Scooter is a member of the Crazy 8’s and her fellow club founding member is Lori Maynard, a professional photographer for the Central Wrestling Federation and author of a book of poems called Poetry Carnival. Lori has written to tell us what it was like getting caught in a tornado on her 2003 V-Star. 

“Reaching Indianapolis, the sky was the blackest I’ve ever seen. Suddenly, the bike and I were picked up off the Interstate and together we were turned towards the fast lane, all the while being pelted with unbelievable hail, rain and wind. People were parking and fleeing from their cars, so I pulled under an overpass. There was no way that I would run away and leave my bike on the kickstand. Later I found out that a tornado had passed right through!

“My favorite time to ride is in the middle of a summer’s night when the world is so quiet, and I’m usually the only one out. I’m proud to be a woman rider. If we see each other on the highway, be sure to wave.”

Poet Lori’s verses can be read through link at her Cruiser Customizing member profile. Here’s a verse about getting sent skyward while riding a motorcycle in a tornado.

                        

Gnarling and gnashing, the present was cruel,
       No thought had I but, “Please, God, see me through!”
                          Life was suspended if but for one second,
                                    As I began to think this was my final cue.

Lori Maynard, aka "Lori2838"

Custom Spirit by Paul Schmidt

   

Schmidt’s Spirit is a spirited custom: Paul’s sumptuous street rod gets back to basics and displays just how far creativity can go with a Honda Spirit.

Front, back or side, Paul’s ride reveals tasteful customization—shared passion and individual style—from every angle.

Move over Orange County Choppers, at Cruiser Customizing we’ve started to wonder if member Paul Schmidt is going to be the next Discovery Channel mega-star. Readers might agree with us once they notice what Paul has done with his humble Honda Spirit 750. Paul was a customizing enthusiast right into the early 1970’s, but then, well, marriage happened and all that follows. (Why, oh why, is it that the bikes get sacrificed first right after the knot is tied? Look, New Husbands, those golf clubs and tennis rackets should be much higher on your sacrificial list than your most prized possession, your beloved motorcycles!)

Anyway motorcycles being as they are part and parcel of a rider’s ingrained psyche, they can never be completely forgotten, nor can a true love of biking ever entirely go away. In time, Paul and his wife began attending the Bikes and Blues Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas. By this association, Paul’s wife became a motorcycle enthusiast and now she rides a Shadow ACE. So Paul, who has suffered from M.D. (Motorcycle Deprivation) long enough, began hankering for something really different. Displaying some hard-core humility, Paul wrote to us that he and his wife “did a few things to the Honda Spirit 750 to make it ours”. Yeah right. In our opinion Paul’s redesigned Japanese street rod cruiser (we’re calling it Schmidt’s Spirit), is a rolling work of art fit for the Guggenheim Motorcycle Club, something Vincent Van Gogh might ride if he was throttling in the here and now. Paul’s “Violet Van Go” has a spring solo seat, a set of loud 2-inch custom pipes, l-o-o-o-n-g four-inch extensions on the forks, forward pegs and (would you believe…) a hard tail kit, as well as a whole bunch of other subtle changes. (Can you spot ‘em in the photos, Cruisers?)

Each naysayer who once told Paul that he was a total nutcase for his re-engineering of a perfectly good Honda is now whistling another tune from the other side of his mouth. Now, whenever and wherever Paul drops a kickstand, people gawk at his labor of love, and all agree that Schmidt’s Spirit is one rad ride. Very few gooseneckers can even figure out what on earth this sexy beast is. Paul, your next cruise should be to Washington DC, to the patent office, before, well…you know the story!

Is Paul crazy, or is he just an unwired creative genius? Take a look at his Violet Vixen and form your own opinion. We at Cruiser Customizing think that there’s only one vote here for Paul’s Mega-Honda, and that is “Best in Show.” Paul’s message to all his Cruiser Customizing members is “Thanks for looking!”

Paul Schmidt, aka "okshadow"

Miles Davis, (Pavandas)
Editor, Cruiser Customizing News
send us your ideas
 

Scooter's Story

             

   

Scooter’s Cruiser, a VStar 650 Classic.  Her wish list at Cruiser Customizing is growing…

Scooter with her scoot, at one of the many events she attended in 2005.

I am a forty-five year old Indiana grandmother named “Scooter”, and last year I decided that my turn had come to have a motorcycle of my own. My husband of seven years, who now rides an ’05 Vulcan 1500, has been in the saddle for some two decades now. Back in February of 2005, I let him know my feelings about getting my own bike. My husband’s response? “OK, you can go ahead and get a bike as long as you can pass the permit test.” Of course, he was thinking that I would never pass it. Wrong!

I easily passed the test and afterwards spoke with some of my rider girl friends about which bike to buy. Soon I chose a 2005 Yamaha VStar 650 Classic, a great all-around ride and a fine starter bike for women (or guys), too. Except for a set of Baron’s risers, I haven’t started to customize the VStar yet, but my wish list at Cruiser Customizing is growing…Over the past year I’ve become a much more experienced motorcyclist, going from obtaining a beginner’s permit, to buying a bike, to passing the ABATE course in June. (Incidentally, I highly recommend the ABATE course to all riders—beginners and experienced alike.) I suppose that you can guess what happened next; my husband went out and passed his permit and then obtained his license. Right—the same guy who thought that I could never pass the permit test finally obtained his own endorsement. Better late than never!

The Yamaha was love at first ride: I loved it from the very first time I sat on it. I look back and remember how I used to ride circles in the school parking lot, working myself up to feeling comfortable on the roads. I meet lots of great people on my bike, through the bike shows, at the biker charity events, on poker runs or just hanging out. I’ve made a whole new circle of friends. Today there is a new attitude towards bikers: you see a lot more lady riders than you did ten or even five years ago. I still ride behind my husband from time to time. After all, it was my husband who taught me to love bikes and I’m thankful to him for that. Bikes seem to run in our family; when our three-year-old grandson Dustin visits, he makes one of us put him on the bike.

In the past year I’ve put around 10,000 miles on my bike and I can’t wait to see how many miles I’ll put on the bike in ’06. We’ve started a group of riders called the Crazy 8’s Motorcycle Club (www.crazy8smc.com), which consists of eleven women and nine men, and we plan to have a ride to benefit United Cerebral Palsy of Indiana. We will also be having our Rebel Ride to Fairmount, Indiana, home of James Dean. We’ve met James’ cousin Marcus Winslow who still lives in Fairmount, and we’ll be visiting James’ grave site there.

It’s so much fun to be out there with the sun on my back and the wind in my face. Over the winter I have had serious PMS (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome), but when the mercury hits fifty degrees you’ll see me out there once again riding. I love being on the bike, being on the road with my husband and our friends, riding and enjoying life. Now when my girl friends see me riding my own bike, they want one, too. Spring is just around the corner. Enjoy life to the fullest, Cruisers and, when you see another biker, be sure to wave.

Hugs,
Scooter "scootergirl"

Miles Davis, (Pavandas)
Editor, Cruiser Customizing News          

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