Horn Cover Relocation & New Skull Theme

I mentioned in "My Trip To Harley's 105th Anniversary" part one, I almost lost my custom horn cover. The bracket broke from the vibration caused by the engine. The cover and horn was hanging by the two wires connected to the horn and that saved it from falling off.

When I got home I looked at the parts I had and came to the conclusion that the cover could not be saved. The mounting hole was gone and fabricating a new bracket and welding it to the cover was not an option because I don't have the equipment. Plus, after welding the new bracket back on the cover it would need to be powder coated. I think it would be a waste of money. I already paid $117.00 for the cover and a new horn. I could not even save the horn because the screw that adjusts the sound got broken. The reason I changed the horn cover in the first place? The OEM, cow bell horn cover was hitting my knee when I rode the bike and at idle the cover would shake so bad it looked like it would fly off the engine.

I decided I would relocate the horn to the front of the bike. I saw some Harley models like the new "Rocker", that has the horn mounted in front. I went over to my local Harley store and checked out what it would take for me to mount the horn to the front of my scoot. I had the counter guy Jim, look up the cost of all the parts needed. I was not happy about the total cost he gave me. I had him order only the bracket that holds the horn to the frame of the bike. Aftermarket horns give you a metal strip with holes as a bracket. So I ordered the horn. It only cost me about one third the price of the Harley horn.

I now had to figure out what I would put on the bracket were the old horn was mounted. The bracket is also the motor mount. I looked at the broken horn cover and said to myself, I would like to save the Harley-Davidson medallion. This medallion would look cool in-between the two jugs. I even thought, a Wille G. Skull in the middle of the medallion would even look better.

Boy, I'm lucky I live close to the Harley store. I found a skull that fit right in the middle of the medallion. I then decided, why not go the whole, Wille G. Skull Theme, on the scoot. I purchased the derby cover, timer cover, top handle bar clamp, skull license plate bolts and a timer cover for an XL. I'm going to attached it to the chrome cover on the new horn.

In order to use the horn on the front of the frame I had to splice longer wires to the horn wires in the wiring harness. Then run the wires under the tank and out the front where the horn would be mounted. It took about forty-five minutes to reroute the wires. I don't use butt connectors, I solder my splices and use shrink tubing so no moisture can corrode the splice.

After the horn, I put all the skull replacement parts on. The scoot looks like a different bike now.

I had the "Live To Ride, Ride To Live" Derby Cover and Handle Bar clamp on the bike. There for sale at my eBay store. They are priced to sell.

My next Post, I will have comments and photos of my last two Harley dealer functions I attended.

Slide show below shows how changing a few parts can really change the look of your scoot.




Meaning Of The Day: Wiring harness - The main collection of wires that are usually bundled up in some protective tubing.

Now You Know, Biker Joe

American Chopper Has Jumped The Shark

Let's have a show of hands, who watched American Chopper last night? American Chopper has "Jumped the Shark". For those of you who don't know what "Jump the Shark" is, Google my friend.

I watched this program for the last time. Sorry, biker buds, I know this Blog is about motorcycles and what better place to get info on motorcycles, to watch biker TV programs. This program is a total waste of my time. The whole story line, if that's what you want to call it, was about the Teutul's helping a woman sponsor a charity, a car show, not a BIKE SHOW, for her brother who passed away a while back.

Now, I'm not against charities. "Stand up for Cancer" was on last week, I watched it. Come on this program is about motorcycles! What ever happened to "Biker Build-Off", "Build or Bust", and "V-Twin TV". (I heard V-Twin TV is coming back in Oct.) These programs where about building scoots. That's what bikers want to see. The technical and mechanical side of the story not an on going family feud or a company "giving back to the community". We all give back to the community in one way or another.

So what do you think, biker buds? "Just say no" to American Chopper?

Another program that started last week, "Sons of Anarchy" on FX, cable channel. The second episode aired the other day, Wednesday. OK, my opinion, it sucks big time. Hardly any bike time and the lead actor, Ron Perlman , "Hell Boy" and "Beauty and The Beast" fame, I heard is scared crap less, riding a scoot. Katey Sagal, "Married with Children". I can see her joining a biker gang after living with Al Bundy all those years, also stars in the series. I'm going to watch it one more time next week. I have this, three strikes your out rule or philosophy with new programs. If it sucks again I'm moving on. The vibes I'm getting from the biker forums out there, I hear others feel the same way.

What do you think? We need your opinion.



This bike is no more. After I detailed this scoot, getting it to look like this was no easy task, it was totaled in an accident. A car turned right in front of the rider. The rider was not seriously injured, but the bikes frame was bent to hell.

Meaning of The Day: Went down - Crashed. Can be any type of accident at any speed.

Now You Know, Biker Joe

My Trip To Harley's 105th Anniversary Part Two

As I promised, "My Trip To Harley's 105th Anniversary Part Two".

A little recap. Before I left home I went on Mapquest and printed out directions so I could find my way to Thiensville from Milwaukee. I wanted to see Vinnie, you know, from American Chopper at Suburban Motors.

As you know I don't have a bagger. I have a nice sleek scoot, no bags to break up the flow, as you look at it, from front to back. I even got rid of the two up seat so there would be noting to stop that chopper/racer look. So without bags I have to put everything I want to use on a trip in my vest pockets or inside between the vest and my chest. A tank bag could work, but I don't want to scratch the tank.

I kept the directions from Mapquest in my vest, so anytime I needed to check the map, I had to pull over to the side of the road, pull it out and see if I was going in the right direction. After I said goodbye to my new biker buds, I looked at the map one more time. I then got back onto the freeway, I rode for awhile and I thought I was going the right way. I pulled over and checked again and I found out that I was going away from Thiensville. I got off at the next exit, made a flip over the bridge and got back on, going in the right direction this time. It is really hard to follow a map riding a motorcycle. This winter, I need to save for a GPS or maybe the kids can all pitch in for Christmas, hint, hint.

This little mistake set me back about 45 minutes. I wasn't too worried, because it was still early. I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss Vinnie. I finally arrived at Suburban Motors. The street was packed with bikes and the parking lot across the street was full. I rode around the block a few times. The last time I came around the parking lot was open and I pulled in and found myself a parking space.

I came here for the sole purpose to take photos of Vinnie and any other stuff I saw that would be of interest. I got my camera out and started taking pictures. I went looking for Vinnie and I must have passed him about four times. They had him hidden among other venders and it was hard to see him. I thought he would be the center of attraction and have a special booth set up for him.

Anyway, I found him and took some pictures of his new chopper, he and Cody built at their new facility, V Force Customs. They traveled around the country showing the bike in order to drum up business and will be giving it away at the end of the season. I asked Vinnie, what other kind of bikes he is going to build? He said that he is not going to do production bikes. He is doing custom builds, (built to order bikes). I think that's cool, because the bike build will be a one of a kind and no one out there will have one like it.

For more information click here. V-Force Customs. I will put a Link on my Links page soon, so you can check what Vinnie's doing on his Web Site without having to hunt for this Post.

I think it was time for me to get ready for the ride home. It was a great day. I met some new riding buds and saw Vinnie. There was no break downs or mishaps, except for almost loosing my horn cover and horn.

I got home around 9:00PM, safe and sound. No one was home, so I just took a shower and fell into bed. Boy was I tired.

My slideshow.



Meaning Of The Day: Tank bag - A bag or luggage that mounts on to the top of the fuel tank.

Now You Know, Biker Joe

My Trip To Harley's 105th Anniversary

OK, I know I'm a little late Posting about my trip to Milwaukee, WI. for Harley's 105th anniversary. Better late then never I always say.

I've been very busy again. Detailing, eBay store and all that other good stuff, that takes up all my time. Not that I'm complaining, you know. I love it, love it, love it. It definitely beats pounding the pavement in an 18 wheeler. 40 years of pounding the pavement, that is.

So, lets get on with it. I left home about 9:30 Am Friday morning, after doing some finishing touches on a detailing job I had the night before. I rode over to Woodstock Harley to meet up with some people that I knew where riding over to Milwaukee, because I saw it on a poster in the store, last time I made a visit. I wanted to ride with a group, unfortunately, this was my second choice, because my friend couldn't go, he had a bad knee and could not ride for too long.

When I got there the parking lot was empty, so I thought I was early. I went inside and looked at the poster and saw I was late. The group left at 8:00 AM. Alright, I'm going myself I thought. Not the first time I did this.

So I made a pit stop and then talked to some friends that work here at Harley. I looked outside and saw some bikes riding into the parking lot. They looked like they were packing for a trip. I went outside and asked if they were going to Milwaukee? One guy said, "yes we are", so I asked if I could tag along. He said sure, but wanted me to know they were meeting up with a couple in Antioch, IL first. I said that's OK with me.

Now, I really want to apologize, I'm really bad at remembering names, I mean really bad. So my new friends, if you're all reading this, I apologize. I need to get a note book and jot down names of people I meet and make notes. I'm new at this Bloging thing you know.

I did forget to take photos of all of us at the Harley store. Anyway, off we went to meet the couple in Antioch. We rode for about twenty five minutes and arrived at a Walgreen's parking lot, where we waited for them to arrive. When they did arrive we did all the usual hand shaking and exchanging names. That did matter, as I said, I can't remember names for the life of me. Now this time I did take photos of the gang.

After everyone got their bottles of water, and other stuff, we got back on our rides and off to Milwaukee once again.

It was a beautiful day to ride. Not too hot, not too cool. We rode for a bit on Wisconsin's two lanes till we reached the freeway. Once we got on the freeway we saw motorcycles heading toward Milwaukee. I saw a sign that read 26 miles to Milwaukee. The further we rode the more bikes we saw. It was about ten bikes to one car.

Since I purchased my scoot, four years ago, I haven't had time to really take a long trip, so this was a real treat. I rode at the rear of our group, I saw the lead biker go off onto a ramp leading us to the festivities. When we got off the freeway, I felt something hitting my knee. I looked down and saw my horn cover and horn hanging only by two wires connected to the wire harness. I waved to one of the riders and pointed to the cover, we all pulled over, so I could check out the situation. Well, the bracket broke and I couldn't put it back together with out the proper tools.

The guy I met first this morning, said he could put it in his saddle bag till I decided to leave or could bring it over to my home later that weekend. I said OK, thanks. After this, we decided to go over to the Harley-Davidson Museum and see what was going on there.

It only took a few minutes to get there. I could see the big Harley-Davidson letters on the side of the museum building, from over a bridge we were on. We pulled down into the parking lot and there was no room, so they had us park in a grassy field behind the building. We got to a place where we could park our bikes and then walked around the grounds. We saw some really cool bikes and then looked for some food and drink.

We found a concession stand near the band shell. Boy, the music was so loud, I had to put my ear plugs back in. The stand had the usual food and drink, hot dogs, burgers, bratwurst, and pop.
I had a bratwurst. This was the first time I ever had a brat and it was pretty good. It was like a polish sausage and hot dog mix. We all sat down, listened to the music and talked to people at our table. I then went off and took some pictures.

After we ate, we took a walk, we stopped to look at some clothes that were for sale. One of the women bought a Harley sweat shirt. Then we decided to leave and take a ride around town and go over to the lake, where we heard a lot of bikers were parked over there. Traffic got pretty heavy going over there and the group decided to take a pass. I had plans to go to another town near by, so I asked if they wanted to come along. Vinnie from American Chopper fame was going to be at a Harley dealer's 105th party. It was about eighteen miles north of Milwaukee. They took a pass, so I got my horn cover, thanked them for letting me ride with them and I would talk to them soon. I gave a few of them my business card, hoping to detail one of their bikes in the future. Then I said my goodbyes and was on my way.

This concludes one leg of my trip. I'm going to write about the next leg in my next Post.

I'm going to leave the link to Harley's site above for a few more weeks. It has photos and videos of the celebration.

Below is a slide show I made.




Meaning Of The Day: Formation Ride - A motorcycle road event in which participants maintain their relative position in a group while riding down the road.

Now You Know, Biker Joe