Burnouts Rule!

There's nothing like burning tire. When ya had a shitty day a burnout will always cheer you up.. Here's my (Liberte) boyfriend RT doing his thing on my 96 XL. Can't wait for some decent weather around here....

Friday Again???

Crazy Horse- God I'm feeling good these days. Nothing like good news from the dr to lift that 10 ton monkey off a lady's back. But I feel thankful for my life in general. We as a society are so programmed not to be happy. "You're not a millionaire, you can't be happy." "You're not as skinny as a swimsuit model, so once you are, you can be happy." "Unless you live in a macmansion, you are a failure, especially if you live in a trailer." "Your skin sags and ya ain't got the $$ for surgery, go hide under a rock, you're old and worthless."
What crap. We are programmed to buy all this shit in order to make us happy. We have supposed to fit into some narrow definition of what a successful person is or looks like.
But I'm happy. I'm not skinny, I live in a trailer, Im not rich, and my skin is starting to sag. But I feel good about my life. One of the things that make me feel good are my friends. I'm rich when it comes to good friends.
AJ Cates is the dude in the pictures. I met AJ 12 years ago at the HD Drags in Memphis. he said he lived in a mansion liek Graceland only bigger. I though he was full of shit. Then 6 months later I visited him and found out it was true.
We went on to have quite an adventure on the bike trip to Florida. It is a twisted tale that at the time I wished I had realized that I would be the last truly wild ride for any of us complete with sex, drugs, stalkers, strippers, and motorcycles.But I got to see AJ for the first time since that trip. I stopped on my way out to Vegas.
Well more later, as my breakfast in burning and the sun is comin g and warming up the frozen landscape. Tune in again tomorrow!

Tuesday, not Monday

Sitting here about to start working on the airbrush book. VTwin tv is on. Damn how the custom motorcycle industry has changed. Tuesday night on Speed Channel is all motorcycles. Starts off with Texas Hardtails. I like that show. Its silly fun which is what it is meant to be. Then it's Corbin's RideOn, a pretty interesting show. Mike Corbin is always coming up with neat stuff and it did not surprize me the success of his show. Next is VTwin TV and it's very watchable. They really make it intresting to watch with a great variety of material. I like these shows cos they are very real. There's no scripted reality. Speed is doing a fantastic job with their motorcycle content.
As for Crazy Horse Painting, there's a project from American Iron coming into the shop. I'll be handling bodywork and paint duties. For the artwork, I'm teaming up with Ryan White of Indocil Designs. Ryan is a kickass striper and designer. We're gonna come up with a simple yet, striking design to give this bike a different look. There must be thousands of "ol school" chops out there, and we don't want this little chop to get lost in the flat black with pinstripes crowd. So we're going to come up with some evil artwork and bring this baby to life. Keep your eye on American Iron as they detail the entire project in the coming months. The seat guy just finished the seat and it is killer. Sorry cant show yall a picture. Have to wait for the mag to come out.
Big news, well sorta, well almost, a passerby would never even guess that a bike shop is at the end of my driveway. I have the most boring garage building in North Carolina. That will not change, from atleast the street angle. But I will be flaming the side doors of the shop. And I may even do a step by step feature on it for Bikernet.
Anyhow, gotta get to the book. Doing an article for Ol Skool Rods about painting flames on a '39 Ford. The car this part is going on is the talk of the Charlotte area. The owner is digging all the people noticing the car and talking about it. So I guess it was a good idea to take a chance to paint this car last year. I'll post pics here once I finish this last part.

Missing any kind of riding

Crazy Horse here - I was just on The Horse's Back Talk board and someone was writing about riding on crappy days. Well, sitting here on a foggy, rainy, cold Monday morning I was thinking back to the mid 90's whwn I used to ride my Ninja everywhere in any kind of weather. There is a sense of the surreal riding in weather like this, the gray fog and drizzle gives the world a sense that it is all dream. It seems so strange that I miss those days of the old 90's. Never thought I would look back. But I do. I was young, in my 30's and life seemed infinate. Get on the other side of 40 and life feels completely different.
I guess the point of this post is to tell anyone out there who is feeling bad about their life, is to stop seeing all the hell. There is good, and years later when you look back, you'll see it. See between the edges of whatever you feel is wrong in your life and enjoy the good.
Thaqt pic above was taken after a day of riding in the rain and drizzle. I had just done 256 miles of it across the back country of South Carolina. I loved that day. Too bad I came home and let a situation bring me down. It was something I could have walked away from and not allowed it to bother me. But I did. And it was not worth it. Not one bit. I could have kept that golden glow from that ride. Kept it into the evening, shared it with my husband. But I didn't. I let myself get sidetracked.
My old cat is gone, buried out by the shed alongside my Evo cat and Hilda dog. Baby cat nearly made it to be 21 years old. She had a quite a life after she turned 10. That's when my dad died and she moved in with me. She moved to Florida with me, had her own screened porch full of plants where she could watch the birds on the lake, the storms move across the land, I wonder if she ever saw any of that. Then she came here to North Carolina.
Oh now to start my workday.

Boo Hiss Katy Couric

Despite the fact that my old cat is living her last hours or my Cintiq monitor/tablet came with the wrong pen and it took me hours to figure out, it's not a bad Friday. The reason is I'm going to pick up and deliver a paint job today and get paid!!!!!!! The sun is out, I feel good.
Then silly bitch Katy Couric has to come on tv and exhibit nearly every stereotype motorcycle riders have fought years to overcome. She whines and bitches about how dangerous motorcycles are using Gov. Arnie's accident as an example. Uh, if she had been paying attention, sure he didnt have the right endorsement, but a driver in a car pulled out in front of him. The motorcycle was not a danger to him, the idiot driver who pulled into the road in reverse was a danger to anyone on the road.
Then Katy goes on to say how nervous motorcycles makes her as she cringes. Stupid bitch actually cringes! And of course they had the OCC Pauls there and those bikes would have made me cringe too.
So Katy, you suck. Sure it's your opinion, but you're on the highest rated morning tv show and you're influencing millions of people. You could have said alot of things, maybe how Arnie's accident illustrates how vunerable motorcyclists are and how drivers should be aware. You maybe could have saved a life or two, but no you slam bikers and cringe as if you were facing Bin Laden or a morning without your makeup artist.
So thank you you silly worthless person, thanks for perpetuating myths. Between you and the EPA, we can expect more bullshit laws and clueless drivers affecting a group of people whose only crime is driving on two wheels with a motor.
Other than that I feel fine.

Routine Adventures

Crazy Horse here - Cornbread said he missed my usual posts so here's one for him. The winter pace is usually brutal, but this year, it's way past that. So many things are happening seemlying all at once here. My best guyfriend who I call my brother wants to move his family down here to SC. And if I had a wish, it would be for him, his wife and my godsons to be only an hour away from me. To see those two little dudes grow up, babysit them, take them to swap meets, Panther games, help them learn about life and watch as they grow and experience it. To be there the day one of them storms away from home, showing up at my front door cos Dad doesn't understand him. To tell them ghost stories in my back yard sitting around a fire and bitch them out when they break their first heart.
To be able to spend time with my sister in law, going out to eat and laughing about the latest situation my brother has gotten into.
But this is the busy season and he's ready to look at land NOW dammit! If I stall him, he'll lost interest.
And my old cat is dying. Now that may not seem like much, but she is all that is left of my parents. They died a while back, and having this old cat around helped me not to miss them too much. To be able to give this cat a good life and I know they loved the cat, so it was one last thing I could do for them, plus I fell in love with the stupid cat and she had a number of adventures in her travels with hubby and I. Now she's stopped eating. And a hard desision must be made.
As for paint work, I just finished a kickass paint job for the Charlotte, Easyriders Show in Feb. I love it.
I'm getting started on a few other paint jobs, pretty wild stuff, and I'm excited to be back working in my studio again.
And I am loving SATA's new airbrush, the SATAgraph 3. It is without a doubt the best airbrush I have ever used.
I started cutting a hiking trail to the back of our property, hell only took me 9 yrars of living here to finally do something.
But overall, despite being so busy with work and family, I'm happier than I was last year, for sure. I'm not taking things or people for granted. I'm enjoying the most of each day, treasuring the sunsets and the sunrises, enjoying the good and not focusing on the less than good.
So thats it. Old cats, new babies, old bikes, new paint. No time for fuckheads.

Winter, Sminter!

Yeah winter down season. Sure. Ya'll just wrapped up in your blankets dreaming about summer riding. For us bike painters and builders, it's almost summer! Most customizer's chedules are booked through March, so the way were thinking, it's May already. Yeah, I'm dreaming of summer too. It's been in the 70s and 60s here in southern NC, bikes rolling by my place. And the cobwebs continue to form on the two bikes in my shop. God, 20 years ago, I couldn't even dream of having the two bikes I have now. Of course if I made wiser desisions in the romance arena......
To hold some of you over until summer, here's some more pics.
Fuckhead Blake update! No Lindsey did not go over to his house to slap his face. She decided it wasn't worth the effort. Of course us ADULTS (I use the words loosely) tried to tell her this before, but like any young adult she had to find this out for herself. Punk Blake has his own problems as his parents are about to cut him off from his limitless funds.
In other Putz news, the putz are still out there, living among us. So enjoy the winter and hope you don't run into any of them.
Enjoy the pictures! More soon. Maybe I'll dip into the Crazy Horse wine cellar and get creative on the keyboard some night and post some silly stuff. Right now my mind is too into work mode, which should make my customers happy.

The Super Glamourous Life of a Bike Painter

It's a Friday night. Almost 11pm. I just shut down the airbrush studio and I'm down in my office. My office is actually a living room/sunroom thing that never got used. Jim doesn't come down here. It's nice, tall windows cover most of the walls. Big huge plants all over the place. Incredible clear big tv. I had pretty good speakers but they died this morning. I have two computers going, my laptop which I type on and my desktop which I store and look at pictures on. I find it's handy to have two computers going at once.
I'll work on my airbrush book for a few hours, mindless tv going in the background or maybe I'll shut it off. Get to bed about 1am. Tonight, I cooked whole wheat pasta with sausage tomato alfredo sauce.
I'm painting real flames and they can be bitch to paint. They're easy enough if you just want real flames but for the super true fire effect, it takes a special touch. The oil tank is done and looks great. Started on the rear fender but needed the seat to know where exactly to paint. Front fender is most of the way done.
Gonna get up, and get an early start on it. Maybe go for a jog through the woods in back.
So there you have it. For those who have any illusions, winter is work time for those in this business. Tonight, guys like Hank Young are working. Maybe sitting in the shop, compressor and machines shut down, sitting there staring at a bike on the lift, wondering how to get the curve of a certain part just right. Trying to come up with something as incredible and unique as the last creation.
The Cinci VTwin show is a month away but it may as well next week. Jan will be over faster than Dec.
Man I don't want to work, I want to sit back and relax and go to sleep. If I were at a bike event tonight, I'd be on a bike, breazing through the nighttime streets, taking the long way to where ever I was going. Not wanting the ride to end. It's so weird out in Sturgis. I'll get in at 2am or so from Jose's house. I'll pull up to the bike covered front parking lot of the Spearfish Holiday Inn, not a person around. Just endless lines of bikes sitting there. I'm usually cold and stiff from the ride. It feels sorta like a dream. Ears kinda stunned at the sudden silence that overwhelms when I reach down and shut off the ignition. Back the chopper into a parking space, flip down the kickstand and get off the bike. A day of riding is over and it's time to go to bed.
Each event I go to has it's nightime ritual of winding down from a day of intense riding. I feel alive just thinking about it.

Biker Photos!

Crazy Horse here - I've taken a bunch of killer photos over the years that never made into the magazine articles, so every week, I'll post some of those here. So check them out and let us know what you think. You never know, it could be you or your bike. I been traveling taking pictures of people and bikes for 15 years. This weeks photos were taken at Sturgis 2003 on the road, Key West '04, and Daytona '02.

Bring On 2006!

Here's to 2006 being filled with great times with great friends. Can't wait to get back out on the road with my Pals, Goth, Morgan, Joann, Ice and all our awesome friends, Marj, NY Myke, Jay Allen and all the great dudes we have so much fun with. Funny how sometimes the buds you only get to see once every few months, you have a stronger relationship with, a mutual bond of trust and loyality. At least I'm lucky enough to be able to surrond myself with pals like this. Here's to friends and the Motorcycle Femme Fatales reakin' havoc all over this land! ~Liberte

Life is a frickin picnic

Crazy Horse here (I think) - Many years ago I used to live in a place where people actually came over as I did not live in boondockville. Some mornings my landlords son in law, The Rupe would get off working 3rd shift and I'd find him sitting at my kitchen table drinking beers at 7am as the bars were not open yet. He'd always leave money in the fridge, $3 per beer just like the bar. And I told him not to pay but he insisted it just wouldn't be right not to pay.
Anyhow he had this saying, when some horrible thing would happen, and they happened alot to all of us who lived at the end of that dead end street as were all idiots, the Rupe would comment, "It's just like Thanksgiving everyday."
Well that's how this year is starting out. I had a wonderful, incredible Thanksgiving, relaxing Christmas, fun New Years, then whammo!
There are moments that mark your life. When you realize nothing will ever be the same and you divide your life into two parts, what happened before this and what happened after. And sometimes you can feel them before they happen and the strong keep going.
I'm not saying I'm strong. People like Morgan are strong. That woman has paid more dues than most of the toughest men can even imagine.
To see someone you care about hurting and not be able to do anything to help, to change it, now that's hard. I lost someone a long time ago. No warning, just bang, gone. Can't go back and say what you wanted to say, or maybe be nicer.
So today if you're reading this, think of who you are taking for granted. Someone you should treat better than you do. And be nicer. Let down that wall you hide behind. If you're being selfish, stop it. Try and be more thoughtful.
Cos there will come a day when you'll wish you had. And you won't be able to. I went through it once. And it's so easy to get into those selfish ways if people love you enough to let you get away with it.
Hey this might be some way too honest stuff. But like my high school welding teacher used to tell me all the time , "Be nice."
You never know when one of those "moments" will come along.

Lets hear it for the good men!

There are so few. The guys who don't lie, don't cheat, don't think that they are smarter than everyone else. There should be a special kind of eyeware, what when you're wearing them, you can see what the person inside looks like. Like an arrogant, good looking guy who swears he's for real and never lies, would look as ugly as he truly is inside. He would be twitchy, nervous, stooped over carrying the guilt, wearing his insecurites on his face.
Yes, men you could have these glasses too. But the question is, would you want them? Would you really want to know that the beautiful creature sleeping beside you, the one who all men go nuts when you walk into the bar with her? Would you want to know the truth?
I think that's the main difference between men and woman. Men for the most part seem to want to not ask too many questions when it involves a beautiful woman.
Whereas women - we want to know all the truth. Every little bit. Atleast older women do. We don't have time for bullshit.
If only 2006 could be a bullshit free year. For some it will. but for many, for the victims of the players out there, buy the high water boots, especially if living in the Pacific Northwest.
For the good guys, guys like Jay Allen, Paul Cox, Keith Ball, to name just a few, thanks for being real men!