Gnarly Davidson

Chris Smith, Nate, Hime, Myself. Japan 08

I know, the title is amazing. But I have to give credit where its due, and Hime did an amazing job of posting it.

One of my fellow Nixon associates has had a bike for quite some time, around 2 years or so. I see him around 4 or 5 times a year and every effing time I ask him, "Hows the bike?" "Have you ridden the bike?" "Is your bike still super gay?"....etc....etc. Finally I got tired of asking him how his bike was doing and getting the same answer of no, no no. I was determined to help him out and give him the itch.

Hime lives in Silverlake, we will just call it outer-Hollywood. I was in his neck of the woods last weekend to drop off Jordan's bike and to hit up the famous Rose Bowl Flea Market(which by the way was canceled due to the smoke from the fires. I didn't find this out until I had reached the Rose Bowl Parking lot, stupid). I stopped by his sweet little pad, met his French Bulldog named Morrissey, and picked up his Sportster that had been rotting on the streets of Silverlake for the past 8 months or so. Literally sitting out on the street. He doesn't give a shit about this thing. (Well, neither would I if that's what my bike looked like. However, that IS what my bike looked like when I bought it.) We chatted for about 15 minutes or so, I explained my vision, we got a plan together, and I headed back to the Desert. On a mutha-uckin mission!

We set a budget and a semi-loose timeline, completion in the first week of December. As of today its been 7 days since the pickup and I have only gotten 2 nights of work into it. This thing has a ton of potential. The goal is to clean it up, a little power upgrade, and murder it out. So far its been the only thing in life this past week helping me keep my sanity.

Here are a few shots of when he got it, pretty close to what it looked like when I picked it up. In Hime's defense, he did have enough sense to take off the sissy bar, saddle bags, crash bars and flame accessories.




Ground Zero, at my house, it has begun.

First night tear down. Took a pile of shit off: Air Cleaner Cover, Derby Cover, Plate/Taillight/Turn signal assembly, Riser/Speedo/Idiot Lights, Frame Rail Covers, Front Fender, King Gas Tank, Passenger Pegs, Upper and Lower Belt guards, Pipe Slip on Covers. Soooo much weight!

This is how she looked after night one. Got a lot accomplished in a few hours. Fender chop went super quick, maybe 15 minutes to garage perfection.

Day two's focus was on giving this bike a thorough cleaning. Between 40K on the clock, a few small oil leaks, and California humidity, it was extremely dirty and grimy. Simple Green to the rescue. After it was sparkling, we got it prepped for paint. I am not sure how hyped my GF was at this point. She has been helping the whole time, what a trooper.

Baffles _______. Fill in the blank with "are for pussies!"

The first coat of murder has been applied

Here's how it sits currently. I am psyched on how its coming along. For a mild identity change things are looking on the up and up. Wheels and front end are painted, pipes are wrapped.

To do list for this week: Freeze trick the dents out of the new peanut tank, paint the tins and random small parts, build and mount up a seat pan, lower the front end, hopefully some new rubber. Then its off to the shop for a 1200 kit! Updates to come.