This goes for a lot of things adv touring and christanity

this was done by my good friends in South Africa 

The time has come

The time has finally come for the sportster project to begin. Call it a dirtster or dual sportster or even come up with a better name. The real goal here is to build a modern sportster built after the XLCH of the 50's. The bike of choice here is a xl1200s which is basically a screaming eagle version. it has dual plug heads, 10:1 compression hotter cam and screaming eagle intake and exhaust. That is all we need to know and all that will be kept with the bike. The other "S" items will go to ebay and is all suspension and brake goodies.

My main concern with this bike was figuring out the rear suspension so that I can get the proper travel to go with the MX forks. After that the next big thing is finding someone to build the new swingarm. I am picky when it comes to fabricators, it takes more than knowing how to weld to build a swingarm that will hold up to off-road abuse. It is even harder to find someone who knows about the forces that are seen when converting to a single shock, how to keep it from flexing to much and keep it from cracking. I have found that shop and am glad they took on the new job. here is a link to them http://www.btrmoto.com/

here is where I am at today

Winter play time

We got snowed in today so I took the time to go do a little practicing for the worst we should face on Alaska trip

First snow

Our winter weather has finally come. 4" of snow is plenty for littles ones to have fun. As in redneck tradition the sled is home made using xs650 headers and some scrap wood. The vehicle of choice is a klr650, to add to the trickery is a street tire on the rear. The six year old still thinks dad is the coolest and can build anything. So I'm still cool for the moment.

I am on the look out for a 1998-2003 sportster. It will be my next build for several reasons on of which is weight, and another rigidity. So far I have gathered a few parts, just need to find the right bike at the right price.  Here is a few parts

with all this talk about dirty sportsters it wouldn't be fair of me to not post a photo. One of the baddest dirty sportsters of all time

The winter wondering

During the winter months, the mind often wonders. It's a way of staying in tune with the spirit of adventure. My mind wonders and normally lands on dreams of the next bike build. This time it is on the HD Sportster. I believe that it could and would make a great scrambler type bike. Looking into it you could get 6" of travel easy enough with loads of bottom end torque. Just the right recipe for a back roads blaster, that one can go sliding around the gravel roads on. That’s the way motorcycling use to be. It a time before we thought one should pave the planet. Harley has its root deep in dirt track and that root could grow into a nice adventure bike based on an old sporty. There's a lot that you can do with one of the longest running production bikes in the world