2011 El Diablo Run Photo Extravaganza!

Yes this picture says it all......Bros being Bros. (I am pretty sure Bill or Wes may have some incriminating photos of me, but this was too good not to post!) This is one of hundreds of photos Ava and I took on the 2011 EDR, check em out HERE in our Flickr album! Thanks to our friends at Biltwell for putting on another amazing event!

El Diablo Run 2011: A Study in Photos & Haikus

I posted this same blog the other day, but somehow it disappeared? Here it is again..

I have never been one to take a lot of photos; even though I had a camera in my pocket the whole trip I just am hard pressed to grab it and snap pics. I got some, and here are a few of them, hundreds were taken by my brother Kyle and his girlfriend Ava, and countless others on the trip, so more will continue to surface and we will get some more up here on the site as well.




My Pan was running great the day before the run and that morning, but we left on the run and while I was still in Temecula I heard a 'thunk..thunk' that ended up being the moment my OEM H-D rear exhaust rocker arm snapped (!) and my pushrod met the inside of my rocker cover. I didn't discover the exact cause of the noise until later, but my bike cruised on various trucks and trailers for the remainder of the run, and I was unable to locate a rear exhaust rocker arm for a 1959 Harley-Davidson Panhead in Mexico, go figure. It should be home end of week and back on the road next week, where I will flog it for giving me such a hard time. I just now wrote a haiku about the experience:

riding wild thunder
then a disheartening sound
tequila flows free


Despite mechanical trouble, Mexico was a blast, everyone on the run was great and I had lots of fun eating, drinking, relaxing, wrenching, talking, and the whole deal. McGoo was kind enough to let me ride his BMW enduro the last day so I got to ride from Ensenada back up to Murrieta, California, so that was a nice added bonus.

El Diablo Run 2011... Westward Bound!

My daughter Darly and I met up with Kyle and Greg at the shop this morning and loaded the bikes. Kyle left at noon, headed towards Indianapolis, then down near Dallas, Texas to stay at my Dad's house and get some sleep, then headed westbound for Murrieta, California and the start of El Diablo Run 2011! My bike and Greg's are in tow, his plan: get our bikes safely to California, drop the trailer there and do some off-roading in Baja while Greg and I ride the wild thunder and raise hell. Can't wait!

Crunch Time! EDR is coming up quick!

Tyler is hustling like a madman to get his Panhead done and try to get some mileage on it before El Diablo Run 2011! He roped Todd into helping with wiring, lines and other last minute details. Even though EDR doesn't start until May 5th we are 2200 miles away from the Biltwell crew and I will be leaving with trailer in tow this coming Sunday! It may not be painted all purty but I know Tyler will have this running strong (probably JUST in time, that's how he operates!) Hope to see a bunch of you guys down in Mexico, but for everyone else Katy, Todd and John will be shipping orders and taking care of business as usual. (Part of the fun in this post is as soon as Tyler reads it he will realize how close it is and start stressin' bad! Yeah, thats brotherly love right there.)

Lowbrow Panhead: Fender & Solo Seat Mounted

I have been working on my bike pretty much every night, as I need to get it done and get miles on it, and soon! El Diablo Run is coming up Cinco de Mayo and this is the bike I am riding! I got the Haifley Brothers solo seat mounted last week with the help of a cast stainless Biltwell seat pivot and some of our springs and spring mounts. Tonight I mounted the Gasbox 18" fender and am now ready to start working on bending up the sissy bar that will support the rear of the fender, give a nice place to strap gear, and look bitchin'.


Before I mounted the fender I got the 4 speed transmission in place and the primary more-or-less adjusted and put a rear chain on and adjusted that to the proper tension. I then put another chain over the tire and set the fender on it to give me even clearance along the radius of the fender. Top mount was nice and easy, one of our 1" diameter coped 3/8"-16 threaded bungs was a perfect fit. Bolt from inside the fender threads right in.


I used the stock HD lower fender mount tab and turned down an aluminum ribbed spacer and this was through-bolted. I will use a button head allen going through from inside the fender and then cross-drill and cotter pin just after the nut to ensure I don't have any bolts rattling loose. This weekend I should get the sissy bar done (hope hope) so stay tuned!