The Hickey

Yeah, the bike is called The Hickey...

I make no bones about this.

That is my name for it.

It is kinda ugly and rather embarrassing.

At the same time, it is fun...

That is the whole point, right?

Well, the fun part at least...

I would like to say that there

was thinking about cool old bike pictures, Easy Rider or something, as I gathered parts.

It would be sweet to say there is a whole lot of thinking about style and shit, that went into this.

But the embarrassing part would follow that...

Is the paint some reference to Lee Marvin's shirt in the Wild unch, or Jack Nicholson's get up in Rebel Rousers?

Maybe something about the cool stuff going on in Japan?

Nope...

I just thought it would look cool.

I was thinking of a Duane Peters skateboard deck...

And knew this oddness would help hide

my f'd up removal of factory decals.

Did I hope it would look like a club bike (meaning some Angel's bike from the 60's).

Maybe...

But not in some planned way...

All of that stuff has been floating in my head, but it has been for years.

I would like to think that my "Cool" senses are pretty fucking refined, when it comes to bikes and such...

No, I just put together a cheap ass bike.

I ordered parts, not thinking about some big picture shit, but rather because they were cheap and I liked 'em or knew I could make them work...

Or both.

I used stock parts. I cut them up and drilled holes in them, I cut shit down, took crap off and generally focused on making things as minimal as allowed by law...

What I couldn't loose I tried to make better, lighter, more cool.

I could have done more...

There is still more to do, even.

But I built a bike to deal with my needs, to deal with the shit I will subject it to...

It will go two-up, it will hop curbs, it will take curves and it will haul ass.

So, here it is...

No more waiting for some glimpse at my vision.

There never was a concise vision.

That is the big secret, on this project.

I embraced the random, rather than waiting for years for just the right bits.

Hell, it wouldn't even be a Sporty, otherwise.

I picked up parts and things without seeing them, figuring I could make things work.

I allowed the weirdness and the beer to make shit come together...

Just a need and some ideas.

Some random parts and some tools.

Just a plan for some base level, street ripping shit.

Something that will carry me and KVC, keep me from getting run over and split a few lanes...

A business machine.

Will there be more (or less) to this thing, later on?

Probably...

But this will get some shit done, right now.

That is the score, with The Hickey...

It is fun and will get shit done.

I might be embarrassed when you notice it, but it is pretty fun having it.