Monday, December 23, 2013


  

Starts in the river town of Savanna, IL on Friday night where we meet, drink and camp for free. We leave in the morning and head north into Wisconsin all on scenic back roads for around 230 miles. We follow the Mississippi for a little while and then ride east through some state parks and we end up camping on private land in Mauston, WI. All makes and models welcome just leave the egos at home.


Monday, December 2, 2013

Test Ride with the GoPro

I received a GoPro from my lovely wife and son as an early bday gift. Weather was decent today so I had to try it on the bike.  I first mounted it to the sissy bar, which had a really nice view. But the bike vibrated so much that it made the video too shaky.  It also vibrated the camera enough that it eventually tilted down after a few blocks.

Anyway, this is my first attempt and I can already tell I'm going to have a lot of fun with it.

Can't wait for Spring!!!

First Test Ride with the GoPro from kcarvajal on Vimeo.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

HONDA DREAM.....NO, HONDA NIGHTMARE

 SO I PICKED UP THE DIRTY BIRD SOME TIME THIS SUMMER, AND PROMPTLY GOT TO WORK ON IT. AFTER WHAT SEEMED LIKE FOREVER, I FINALLY GOT IT ON THE ROAD, SORT OF.....
I FINALLY GOT IT STARTED AND WAS ABLE TO RIDE THIS HOLY HELL OF A NIGHTMARE DOWN THE ROAD ONCE BEFORE I HAD TO TAKE THE HUNK OF JUNK TO A SHOP. THEY SAY THEY FIXED IT AND HAD A BILL FOR 350$ AND I WAS ALREADY SICK OF DUMPING MONEY INTO IT. THE GUY ASKED IF I WANTED TO SELL IT........

SOLD!!
GOOD RIDDANCE -

Monday, November 18, 2013

With a little help from my friends

Big thanks to Panhead John, Party Ken, and Chris Lite for pitching in and helping me with the Dyna. Me and Party Ken got in a little ride this past Sunday morning before the tornados blasted the Midwest.

A little video Party Ken made
http://vimeo.com/79507568

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Escanaba Special aka Operation Dyna Bolt On

I picked up this 2003 Dyna with 4,000 miles bone stock a couple months ago with the help of a couple friends. With a new baby and a busy job I new it was the inevitable. Push a button a go. When there is no time, sometimes you have to come to your senses and realize its just about taking advantage of free time and try to maximize it with your other two wheeled friends. My Evo chop will always be my main bitch but sometimes choppers are just a pain in the ass. Its a love/hate relationship. When this Dyna pretty much fell into my lap, the price was right and I had to jump on it. Its nothing special by any means.
 
 I just received my newly recovered seat done by the Haifley Bros out of Phoenix AZ.
 
So, here is the plan:
 
-New Progressive suspension front and rear
-8" risers
-4" Big Als bars
-Haifley Seat
-Remove rear signals and install integrated tail light/with rear signals
-Lay down license plate bracket
-Metzeler 880 tires
-Arlen Ness Big Sucker air cleaner
-Joker Machine fork tube LED front signals
-Stage one carb kit
-Thunderheader
 
Figure I would run it like this for a season then add a performance set of cams next winter.
 
 



Monday, October 21, 2013

1st Annual Hartman Halloween Costume Bicycle Pub Crawl

All pics by the amazing Ken Carvajal and some by Chris "Poo Bear" Mcmorrow.

Shit got a little out of control this past weekend.....if ya only knew..I barely remember. Party Hard!!






















Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Iron Invasion 2013

I made it a point to make this year's Iron Invasion since I missed the first one with my bike being in peices at the time.  Not to mention it was chilly and I did not expect the bike turnout to be as high.  This year, the weather was perfect and dry.  (On Friday anyway).  I went with CM and met up with friends at the camp site which was just behind the show area, close to the parking lots.  The show had a great turnout with tons of cool hotrods and unique cars.  But what I was looking forward to the most were the bikes.  There was a designated building just for motorcycles, all of which were customized in one way or another.  Some of the well publicized bikes were on display as can be seen in the pictures below.  We met some really cool people, especially the ones who shared their fire pit with us, and another group who shared their awesome Bloody Mary.  Some were even walking around sharing their drinks throughout the night.  It overall just had a good vibe.  

The next day was a tad overcast and by 9 am, you can already see more hotrods, along with spectator cars and bikes coming in.  There was a 'Friends' parking area for custom cars that were not technically in the show, even though it could very well have been a show in itself with rows and rows of cool cars.  Sadly I didn't walk over to take any pictures.  I was preoccupied at the time, but I can see the number of cars increasing from the bleachers as we waited for the DIY stunt show to begin.

By 11:40 am, a few cars started to pull into the track for the stunt show.  It was mostly burnouts and doughnuts.  It was cool.  The most entertaining one was probably a car the blew a tire from hitting the sharp corner of the burnout plate.  Needless to say, he looked bummed.

Shortly after, I decided to make my 1 hr ride home to avoid the rain that wasn't in the forecast until 3pm, but made an early appearance at around noon.  We waited it out a little and stayed dry for a couple hours.  I had a quick lunch and rode home from there.

Overall it was a great weekend hanging out with friends and seeing the custom car and bike scene all in one.  Based on the turnout and the buzz, I would guess the next one will be even bigger.

Friday evening

The Black Orpheus

Matt Olsen's winning knuckle at Born Free 5.

White Wizard

The Locust

Saturday Morning

The only pic I took of the DIY stunt show.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

1981 Shovelhead FXWG for sale


$5,000 OBO. Call Corey at 847-815-3159 Runs good, lots of work done.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Time To Reflect...

Now that it is officially Fall, it's a great time to reflect the Summer activities that has allowed me to experience moments that I would not have otherwise, if it hadn't been for my love of motorcycles.  I have met so many great people and established strong relationships, some of whom I can legitimately call my friends.  So as my first post, I would like to say "Thanks".  I am extremely honored to have been invited to become a contributor to the blog for an event that truly set it off for me... the Violation Tour.

-Ken





Sunday, September 22, 2013

Harvest Run 2013





 Another perfect weekend in the books!!! Thanks to ken and Dick for organizing the Harvest Run. I had John Cougar Mellencamp playing in my head all weekend while we where riding through the cornfields. Roads where smooth and everyone that came was cool and down to earth.....the way it should be. Thanks again dudes! I needed this. Looking forward to Harvest Run 2014!!