The top end overhaul has begun. Hope to be riding by the end of January.

Meditation is never one thing
Meditation is never one thing; you’ll experience moments of peace, moments of sadness, moments of joy, moments of anger, moments of sleepiness. The terrain changes constantly, but we tend to solidify it around the negative: “This painful experience is going to last the rest of my life.” The tendency to fixate on the negative is something we can approach mindfully; we can notice it, name it, observe it, test it, and dispel it, using the skills we learn in practice.

- Sharon Salzberg, "Sticking with It"

wet heat-tape steam bath

Got the new (old) wheels tightened up, trued, and packed in some new bearings. Now I just need to clean them up and scuff up the old chrome so it will take some rattle can primer and paint.

She's still down for the count... but I'm workin' on it.

The oil leak around the valve guide finally killed her. She's out of commission until I rebuild the top end.

I'm sure you may have noticed that I pussed out and put the front fender back on. Now that we are going into winter, I'm getting too old (ok I'm just lame) to eat second hand snow and rain off the road.  I'm not making an excuse, I will wear my pussified badge of honor.

Beyond Duality

I say recognize that the absolute is the relative, that nirvana is relativity. There is no way of not making a decision, and within every decision there's always a better or a worse. They are not equal. This attempt to go beyond good and evil posits some dualistic idea about nirvana. But let's not be dualistic. Nirvana is not someplace else. To go beyond good and evil means that good and evil are relative aspects that require choices.

— Robert Thurman, "The Politics of Enlightenment"

The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there. -Pirsig

At some point I'm going to have to re-wire this whole bike. A less attractive prospect now that it is 22 degrees outside and my fingers are frozen.

Sportsters I have known

1993 74 cubic inch Sporty

2005 883 Jockey Shift



Our servant, the mind

When we look for the mind, we can't find any shape, or color, or form. This mind that we identify as the self, which we could call ego-mind, controls everything we do. Yet it can't actually be found—which is somewhat spooky, as if a ghost were managing our home. The house seems to be empty, but all the housework has been done. The bed has been made, our shoes have been polished, the tea has been poured, and the breakfast has been cooked. The funny thing is that we never question this. We just assume that someone or something is there. But all this time, our life has been managed by a ghost, and it's time to put a stop to it. On one hand, ego-mind has served us—but it hasn't served us well.

– Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, "Searching for Self"

Some carburetors should not be rebuilt.

Sunday... playing around in the garage.

Happy Halloween Weekend

Paths that seem to lead far off into the unknown, often bring you back to where you started.

One of those extremely rare circumstances when I post a video. These guys did a really good job.

Old bikes, and old souls run best in the fall. Everything seems crisp and has an energy to it. Maybe its just the anticipation of it all coming to an end when the snow flies for both. But if you read this blog you know that snow doesn't stop the Shovel.

What We Call “Sacred”
Life is possible. Situations are possible. And anybody can start to gain some kind of insight and appreciation of their lives. That’s what we call “sacred.” It doesn’t mean something dramatic, but something very simple. There’s a sacredness to everyone’s life.

– Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, "A New Place, A New Time"

Great weather this weekend, too bad I gotta work.

The Shovel soils spark plugs in unholy ways.

Getting in the last of the weather before it goes to shit

Sunday Dharma

Attainment isn't scheduled

We should not have a time schedule to attain the goal, for our attainment depends on how we progress in our practice based on our understanding and development of our spiritual faculties. We must work diligently and mindfully toward the goal without setting any particular time schedule to reach it. When we are ready, we get there. All we have to do is to prepare ourselves for that attainment.

– Henepola Gunaratana, "Sitting Still"

Sometimes even Uncle Tim isn't as cool as he thinks he is.

Headin' back into wet and cold weather. Ironically, that means I may have time to do a little riding again.

New cheapo brass push rod covers

Dad's old $75 barn find Norton in the late 1970s

Grampa in the 1930s.

"The mind not distracted is present with things as they are. Sensations, sights, sounds, thoughts, mental moods, all of these phenomena are happening in the present, continually arising and disappearing. An entry point into stillness is a moment where the mind is not drifting or distracted with the constantly changing nature all around. It doesn't matter if you're riding on the freeway or sitting in a cave."-Michele McDonald

WWII Veterans are cool as hell. This guy's name is Sal, he had German P.O.W.s make him a dagger out of a big piece of shrapnel that almost killed him. He still has it today.

It's Friday, time to roll out the Dharma

Somewhere, out there.

The burble of my exhaust unwound like a long chord behind me... I lose detail even at moderate speeds, but gain comprehension -- T.E. Lawrence

Dogen said: “Directly upon encountering the dharma, we will abandon the law of the world.” In other words, once we discover the true order behind the appearance of things, our lives will no longer be dominated by the conventional values of society— the seeking to outshine, outrace, outgain. -Henry Shukman, "How to Be in the World"

'51 Pan

So I ran without a front fender from Nov-June. Everytime I got on the bike it snowed, rained, or sleeted and my Goodson air cleaner blew enough water through the motor to foul it out so I had to pull over and clean the plugs everytime. It only rained once since I put the fender on and was riding. My ride to Colorado Springs proved that a front fender didn't solve the Goodson problem. I hate front fenders, and now I figured it really doesn't even buy me what I hoped for. So... it's off Forever. YAY!

Blast from the past: When my old sporty was in The Horse