so i crawled out from under my rock it looks like

[Steve Swan]

this fits the criteria of being 2 wheels and so as being a motorcycle is "pertinent to the site."  here's where some of my spare time and energy has been going the past coming up on 3 years.  I remember my Dad saying, "getting those clincher tires on the clincher rims was a real bear cat." and.... NOW I KNOW.  my dad bought a 1927 H-D JD 74 ci new.  i have quite a few pics of him during that time in his life  the paint you see on the restored wheel is matched from the can of touch up paint that came with his bike when he bought it new.  this is called motorcycle love.  i love motorcycles.  all of them.  there are so many.  so, i only get in to bikes that have personal meaning to me.

[Steve Swan]

Dad's can of touch up paint - 1927. 

and my can of touch up paint - 1969.

[Steve Swan]

first start 1927 Harley-Davidson JD

[kp]

That's cool Mr Swan. Your abilities are exceptional.

[Wayne]

Wow! Nice job Steve! I wanna take that for a ride! 

[Steve Swan]

realized i did not have a pic of completed project.....

[Steve Swan]

on another 2 wheel note, my youngest son Sam and i made a quick (1900 mile) road trip over the weekend to pick up this F0, this is his first motorcycle and he wanted a father son project, so here we go.  after careful initial exam, this 5k mile bike has sat since 1980 after a minor accident.  the headlight and blinkers are still askew, i am certain the bike was parked after the accident and never ridden again.  not a single screw, nut or bolt head appears to have had a screw driver, wrench or pliers on them, including the screws under the points cover.  front tire factory original Bridgestone.  rear tire a factory correct period replacement Bridgestone.  Honda logo battery.  has the inspectors green daub of paint on master link, chain less than half worn.  the Sunflake Orange paint literally looks nos.  the down side, the tank sat with hardly any gas in it for 36 years, so i have a total of 10 pin holes to contend with.  considering either POR-15 or Caswell sealer.  i've not ever used either product for a situation with pin holes.  Can anyone share their experience ?  here's a pic as it appears.  we will do a sympathetic preservation, the boy intends to make it his main ride.  he is VERY VERY happy !

[UK Pete]

Wow steve that 27 is a thing of beauty, just watched the vid, what is the lever on the exhaust for does it adjust the noise or back pressure?
well done btw, your a talented man, i like the fact that alot of us on hear appreciate all types of bikes and not just early honda's
just out of interest are cb750 f0's hard to come by where you are cause traveling all them miles for the bike seems crazy
pete

[Sgt.Pinback]

That is a nice HD. Looks stunning.

Is it your dad´s bike?

[Steve Swan]

Wow steve that 27 is a thing of beauty, just watched the vid, what is the lever on the exhaust for does it adjust the noise or back pressure?
well done btw, your a talented man, i like the fact that alot of us on hear appreciate all types of bikes and not just early honda's
just out of interest are cb750 f0's hard to come by where you are cause traveling all them miles for the bike seems crazy
pete

i be crazy for motorcycles, especially if i can infect my son with same kind of crazy.  we drove from Fort Collins, Colorado to Minnetonka, Minnesota, 2000 miles in 54 hours.  nothing like a good road trip to draw the boys closer.

the lever is called a "cut out."  Horses were still in use on the streets and roads in 1927.  there was alot of antipathy towards motorcycles for frightening horses, causing accidents and death.  the cut out, when open, simply opens a hole in the side of the muffler for gases to escape more easily.  Louder.  when closed, the exhaust sound is not as loud.

[Steve Swan]

boy, now that would be something if it were my Dad's bike !   what few pieces i started with, appears my bike is a late 27 model and Dad's bike, from the 11 pictures i have of it appear to be an early 27 model.

not wanting to "contaminate" our site with non-sandcast/K0 bikes, but i have over 400 hours in this bike and we are a motorcyclist fellowship community, so i figured what the heck.  and i figure it would be nice to see other builds or motorcycle related interests we share....

couple pics of engine going together, except for setting up flywheels, weld repairing broken cases, i did do the better majority of all the engine and transmission work myself.  started August 11, 2013.

also a couple pics of "Parkerizing" process, really a wonderful finish that can be applied to steel, very durable, Manganese Phosphate.

[Sgt.Pinback]

That worth showing here!

[Steve Swan]

we are all apart now, made up a fork disassembly tool, chassis parts at the painters, having a few remaining pieces nickle plated and finished up Parkerizing the last pieces.  

a couple pics of my Dad taken in the year of 1927 on his 1927 Harley-Davidson JD.  one is of him asleep at the edge of the road, when he left Cincinnati to return home for the summer to Hartington, Nebraska  i know my Dad would be proud and excited.  This one is for him.  R.I.P. 1906-1991

if you want to see a pair of good old fellows motoring down the road, youtube Swan 27 JD

[Steve Swan]

can't resist.  final product, started the project, August 13, 2013, finished May 11, 2017, with 700+ hours of time to start to completion.  Every time i go for a ride with the old fellow, i celebrate life.  And my Dad.

[Steve Swan]

what the heck.  since some of us have known each other for over a decade and a half, some of us know a little about each other, and some of know nothing about each other.  so, here goes.

i enjoy history, in particular US history from 1800 - 1876, in particular the antebellum era when the US switched from a fur economy to a slave economy, and then the US Government's eradication of the Native Americans between 1850 to 1890.  i've read over 30,000 pages of history over the last 12 years.

here's pics from my motorcycle trip in 2012 trip to Springfield, Illinois, home of Abraham Lincoln, and then pics from 2015-2016, when i followed historic routes of the Oregon Trail, the Boseman Trail, major and minor Army Forts, and Indian/Army battlefields.

Lincoln's home, law office, and memorial.

Little Big Horn, site of Custer's calamitous defeat by Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse.  Little Big Horn is one of two battlefields in the world where stones mark the fallen souls.

A pic of my Moto Guzzi atop Beartooth Pass in Wyoming at 11,000 feet.

My brace of 1860 Colt Army revolvers, both saw action in the Civil War, and are fun to shoot.