What's New Pussycat?

FIRST OFFICIAL CHOPPER PART came in yesterday.......

What's new Pussycat? This vintage chopper tail light I ordered from Ebay! Check out that original packing!

MEOW!

I have to admit, I have some certain quirks. I sage almost every part that was previously owned or was mounted on someone else's bike. I know that sounds funny... but I believe that an object inhabits the previous owner's vibes, or auras, if you will. 

I also believe that everyone has energy that omits from our mind, body and souls... I believe we take this energy and transmit it on objects. Sometimes our feelings, which can be good or bad, can reflect on an object. Especially objects that I hold dear, or one that will be "in-tune" with my life or soul.

I believe saging "cleanses" any past notion of any vibes from previous owners. I learned how to properly sage items from my cousin, Kristen. This yogi traveled the country in a van. She has even been to Nepal to learn the yogi life. 

When I first started really riding Hefner, I saged his entire body, even the underbelly of the bike. The smoke fills the cracks of mechanical workings. In some sense, it can satisfy the mind. The previous owner had an accident with Hefner, two of them actually. So I could imagine some fear and frustration was "spilt" on to him. I like to think of it like a spiritual shower, if you will. The great thing about sage/smudging is you can cleanse whatever you like. 

So, CHEERS to the first piece of my chopper and MAY THERE BE MANY MORE!

MUNDY BUILDS A CHOPPER. 

Is the sun in your eyes, easy rider?

I find when I look at someone's chopper, I could almost see into the person's mind. It could be cluttered with mismatched parts, painted dark, rusted, earth tones. Or to the extreme opposite, a brightly painted fantasy and with neon colors. It totally depends on that person's personality, taste, and dream.

I love looking at 60's & 70's era style choppers. Some of them are so outlandish, so psychedelic. I love it. I was always drawn to golds, burnt oranges, and 70's sleaze.

(WRENCH Magazine, February 2015. Owner: "Little Sven" Eriksson)

Joe brought over a box full of old classic Easyriders and other magazines from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. I'm trying to pull some inspiration for my build. The 70's were such a cool era. I even find the naked girls to be completely alluring in a carefree way. I still don't quite know what I want but it's one of those things I'll know it when I see it. So far, the Shovelhead above is pretty close.

As the weather grows colder it's the perfect time for planning and finding inspiration. I'm going pretty stir crazy because I really want to start cutting this bike up but I still need some parts before I can start. I'm hoping Tedd's in December will have what I need. Fishtails, tank fender, maybe a seat. This bike is literally all I can think about...


MUNDY BUILDS A CHOPPER

Q:What is a welder's favorite type of music?

A:

Heavy Metal.

I have never welded. I never even imagined I could fuse two pieces of metal together in any lifetime. I think the only type of exposure I had of a woman welding was the movie "Flashdance". She was an exotic dancer by night, and a union worker welding by day. I can't say the movie left a lasting impression for me, but I'm not really here to rate 80's movies.

But how empowering is it to hold a torch? It's pretty cool. As a child, I struggled with some serious dyslexia and learning how to weld was something I never thought I could do. Let alone welding a motorcycle together! However, as I’ve grown up I’ve learned ways to get around the dyslexia. I find that if I break something down and almost "regurgitate" it into some easier form of understanding, I can really “get it”.

The other night I held a TIG torch for the first time. How lucky am I to be taught by someone who really knows what they’re doing? Ben has been a welder for over 20 years. He showed me the basics of welding using the MIG and TIG and made it really easy to understand. Once I got the hang of it I couldn’t put the torch down. I wanted to keep going.

I first practiced the TIG just fusing little beads on a piece of stainless. No filler rod. I could see rainbows of color and learned how to control the heat with my foot. Ben then showed me how to add the filler rod. I tigged regular steel and even aluminum. I learned how each metal reacts totally different from one another.

He says practice makes perfect. Shaky hands, pressure on the foot pedal, tungsten and metal rods. It's pretty cool. I plan on cutting my frame, but not yet… I need much more practice.

A few of you know that my mom passed away from cancer 6 months ago. Just another reason, if not the main, to chase after happy moments in life. I've decided to practice welding skills with making mom a marker for her grave. Onward! Stepping stones for now...

MUNDY BUILDS A CHOPPER.

Welcome to my blog

Do you ever feel antsy?

I know I do and I can tell you how it starts.

I can feel it start at the tip of my toes. My heels start wiggling almost impulsively. Like a shock of energy racing through a telephone wire, it travels up my whole body and starts making my fingers tap incessantly. My shoulders tense up. My teeth grind and I get an uncomfortable urge to move. The surroundings that I inhabit suddenly become mundane. My thoughts dart from one thing to the next. Thinking does not satisfy what my body wants to do. My body twitches. Some might call this adult ADD, but I call this the urge to do something, to create. It’s the familiar “itch to scratch”. I can feel the wasted electricity coming out of my hands. They want to build something.

There are people who just work, sleep, and pay bills. That's it, that's life for them. No hobbies, nothing to enrich their lives. Then there are people who break out of the norm and make a life in tiny houses, or pack up their cars and traveling is their life. There are people who create and build and enhance their lives. Breaking out of the mundane is a romantic notion. It also causes anxiety that I don’t want my life to feel wasted. Thus, the waves of feeling antsy begin again. I envision myself chasing the moments that make life pure. 

Every time I close my eyes I envision myself riding a beautiful chopper in the desert. I can feel the hot air and see the sunbeams radiating a landscape that mirrors Mars. I believe that's my heaven. Thinking about that eases anxiety but I still want it. I want it now. I’m still antsy, still thinking. My thoughts intensify. Impulses grow stronger. I have an intensity that burns bright. I have an imagination that runs incredibly wild. Once I get set on something, I do it until I have it. 

Me and "Hef".

I am going to build my first custom chopper.

When you build a chopper you are the artist, inventor, mechanic, fabricator, painter, and to top it all off, you get to ride what you created. It’s a piece of fire breathing mechanical art that propels you through the world. I can’t think of anything else that embodies all those facets into one. The bonus is the comradery of likeminded people who embrace the same thing. When you surround yourself with people who believe in you and see the same artistic direction, the possibilities are limitless.

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a 1999 Honda Shadow VLX 600. It’s essentially the same bike as my other bike, “Hef”, a stock 1992 VLX 600. I didn’t have the heart to cut up Hef so I jumped at the opportunity to pick up another Honda Shadow.

The day we picked up my second Honda Shadow. 

I keep thinking of what I want it to look like. This is the most frustrating part, you have all these ideas and plans but can’t see it in person yet. Only until I start actually collecting parts I can then see where the build is going. I’m thinking of upswept fishtails, king and queen seat, and debating about building it into a real rigid.

I've never built anything before so this is a whole new ballgame for me. I even fumble at putting furniture together so the idea of actually welding a bike myself gets me super giddy and nervous. Could this be one of my life's highs? One of the things that I reflect on when I'm an elderly adult? To think I did something that I really wanted to do, and no one stopped me.

I started this blog because I want to track the progress on building my chopper. This is the beginning.

This is my “Goal Board”. (I will update this with new goals as I go along)

1. To have the bike on the road before Babe's ride out East Coast.

2. To bring it to Babe's ride out in Joshua tree.

3. Learn to weld.

The blank canvas.