You Just Never Know......

Out front of the arena

  Have you ever had one of those days when it ended quite different than you planned, this last weekend I had one of those days.

On the field during practice

The day started out busy, lots of family stuff going on but early afternoon I decided to attend a meeting of  CVMA (Combat Vets Assn.) At the meeting they discussed that the local arena  AFL football team had a game and it was military appreciation night and they had been asked to ride their bikes in the opening festivities .
I decided I would tag along, unsure they could even use me or my bike but nevertheless I went to check it out.
   I had ridden my newest project bike which I had written about  a few days ago, turned out they were looking for 20 motorcycles to transport cheerleaders on to the field and 5 extra to carry the US flag and flags from the different armed force branches. I told them I did not have a passenger seat but I would be happy to carry a flag if needed so my old retro/military style Harley was chosen to carry the US flag.

Staged under stadium before opening event

We arrived a few hours before the game in order to practice the parade and riding on to the field.

 The opening ceremony went down fine. The first 20 motorcycles carried the cheerleaders and the flag bikes followed up behind. We rode on to the field and paraded around in formation before letting the dancers off so they could do their opening routine.




 After we exited the field and were staged under the stadium seating 3 ladies with clipboards (they were in charge of entertainment) approached me and said they really liked the look of my motorcycle and would I please ride it for them in the half time show, it would entail following 2 Army Hummers with cheerleaders aboard, I would be carrying the lead dancer. I reiterated the lack of passenger seat but after practice I found if I sat up on the tank some she would be able to ride on the back part of the seat, we were however unable to practice on the field because the game had already started but after much 'talking it through' I had it sorted out. The other bikes were taken outside and I remained under the stadium awaiting half time 






 I staged behind the Hummers while the cheerleaders practiced their routine one last time.
As half time approached we all loaded up and waited.











  The music started playing and the the crowd was excited, I could hear them and the music despite the lack of mufflers on my old Shovelhead Harley, they had specifically asked I rev the engine as I entered, It was a loud place I can assure you. The two Hummers followed by myself  pulled on to the field and stopped  near the right sideline allowing all dancers to jump off and do their dance routine.
After the cheerleaders did their routine, (a tribute to the armed forces) they remounted the vehicles and we carried them around the field one last time to wave to the crowd. (shown in last photo)



All told  not too bad a day I guess, beats getting shot at.  Maybe I will do something more interesting next week.

Project in Progress

This is a project I have been tinkering with for quite a while. It's an old Harley Davidson shovel head. They get that name because the top of the valve rocker covers (on top of the cylinder heads) look like the back side of an old shovel.
 
This is one I have had for a long while, I completely disassembled it and made a few modifications, my intent to give it the look of an old military bike from the WWII era. I modified the frame, installed an old style oil tank, and rear fender. The exhaust I fabricated from an old set of pipes. Everything from seat, brakes, oil filter etc had to be redesigned and modified to fit and brackets welded to accommodate them.

It is still not totally finished but it is up and running.
I think a rifle scabbard would really dress it up, not sure how much attention it would get from the local police.












I would like to would like to put some kind of tribute on it to the men in my unit who were KIA in Iraq.
I have a post planned around Memorial Day to them.