New Shop Chopper Project: 1975 Shovelhead

Had a line on a cool Shovel project for a good price right before we left for Bonneville, and I worked it out and the guy brought it by the shop the day before we left for the Salt Flats. 1975 cone Shovel motor (dual plug heads), titled, a rigid frame with MSO, a stock frame, and a pallet of parts including some really nice chopper stuff.


Some nice Sportster forks that are turned down, 21" spool wheel, new tires, plenty of parts including an old cast body Hunt magneto that was freshly rebuilt along with the new nosecone for it, an SU carb and manifold, bars, rear disc setup, controls, and a bunch more. Pretty much needs a fender and seat, though we are going to change it up a bit and see what happens.

Stay tuned on the blog for more to come, including a full hot motor build with some S&S parts and lots more..

Front Page News in Medina, Ohio

Our local paper, The Medina Gazette, featuring the highest distribution rate in the United States just behind the New York Times, featured some dapper gentlemen racing their motorbikes on the cover of today's issue. OK well maybe the Gazette isn't quite that big, but we were pretty stoked on them covering our Salt Flats endeavors thanks to Greg's call to them with a tip on the story and even putting it as front page news. Maybe I will get recognized when I go to Chipotle for lunch, hope hope. Thanks go out to Jon Glover of SLC for the photos!

The Salt Ghost Brooklyn NY Premiere & Announcing the Chicago Midwest Premiere!

The east coast premiere of The Salt Ghost: Return of the Nitro Express takes place at The Gutter in Brooklyn, NY on Saturday night, September 16th, 2011. The screening is in conjunction with the DiCE Magazine release party, and is the night before the Brooklyn Invitational, and the weekend after The Gypsy Run 5. Come on out to NY for a week of awesome east coast chopper events! The one hour film will be shown at 10pm with The Black Tibetans playing afterward at 11:30pm. On Thursday, September 15th come on by The Lone Wolf and watch The Black Tibetans play, this party was set up by Walter at Kickstart Cycle so it should be a good time! Kyle and myself will be at the party at The Lone Wolf, the DiCE party / Salt Ghost Premiere as well as the Brooklyn Invitational. See you there!


We just got the details sorted for the midwest premiere, in Chicago, IL! It takes place at The Volcano Room at The Bottom Lounge in Chicago, IL on Saturday night, October 22nd, 2011. The screening is in conjunction with Ton Up Club Chicago Halloween party, 'Hell Rider vs. Godzilla'. The one hour film will be shown at 8pm with live music to follow. Come on out and party! A big thanks goes out to Biltwell, Inc. for their sponsorship of this event, which helps keep it 100% free!

The Detriment To Having Motorcycle-Riding Employees

The detriment to having motorcycle-riding employees is they are more apt to get into motorcycle accidents. John was out riding his KTM Super Motard last weekend with a friend and they came around a blind curve right into a flock of wild turkeys stretching across the road. They both ended up going down. John's collarbone decided to hang out in a new place a couple inches separated from his shoulder, and they can't do surgery until his road rash clears up. That gives him the angry expression depicted below. Luckily John was wearing his helmet (which got beat up in the wreck). Get well soon, John!

Custom Engraved Lowbrow Cast Aluminum Seat Pan

Kyle Armstrong up in Canada sent us these pictures of his Lowbrow Cast Aluminum Solo Seat Pan which was heavily engraved by Heather New of “New Line Engraving”.
This is just amazing work and I can not wait to see it on the finished bike! Good work Heather and Kyle!

Haifley Bros. Bates-Inspired Solo Seats & Pillions

The Haifley Bros. are Doug & Kelly Haifley, and they churn out radical custom rod & bike work at their shop in Phoenix, Arizona. I had some email correspondence with them previously, and didn't realize I was drinking tequila with Kelly Haifley down in San Felipe, Mexico on the El Diablo Run earlier this year until in my drunken haze my mind finally put together the facts that the guy I was drinking with was named Kelly and he was wearing a Haifley Bros. hat.

Apparently Kelly introduced himself to me the night before, but after some rapid-fire tequila shots with Jeff from Street Chopper I was doing my best to stand up and didn't remember the initial conversation with Kelly which apparently ended with me bumming a smoke off of him. The whole point of this story is that Haifley Bros. products are top-notch, made in Phoenix, Arizona, by some cool dudes who walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk. Get yours today.

Bonneville Speed Week 2011 Wrap-Up

We want to extend a heartfelt THANKS to everyone who helped make our race endeavors at Bonneville Speed Week 2011 a reality. To everyone who bought a support t-shirt from us or one of our land speed racing compatriots, to Wes at Four Aces for his help and guidance, Vanson for the custom-made leathers, Biltwell, Inc. for their continued support as friends and business associates, Jon Glover for being there to capture the week on film (tons of photos and video coming soon!), and we absolutely couldn't have done it without our crew, who dealt with high stress levels, long days, and verbal abuse, all for the love of being there. Denny our dad and crew chief, Greg who seems to be able to thrive on work without need for food or rest, Jon Glover our team photographer for the 2nd year running, with his ninja like abilities to capture all on film without being seen, and Ava for her help and majestic cleaning abilities (which works out well since she also spilled 672 drinks during the course oft he trip, including 492 cups of coffee in the RV).


Kyle and I both set the goals we set out to achieve. Kyle's 'happy speed' was to break 110 mph this year. He did it his first run and went on to break the APS-PG 650 c.c. world record, upping it over 117 mph. I set the record I bent a valve pursing last year and also knocked another one out of the book. The 750 c.c. APS-VG record was set by an Indian motorcycle in 1995 at 105 mph and change, though I have now upped it to about 117 mph. The A-VG (no fairing) record was open, and I set that at a similar 117 mph speed, with a top recorded speed of 120.9 mph.


Between the two of us we did 7 world record runs, with records being broken Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Not bad, this is going to be tough to beat next year! We will be posting more photos and video as Jon gets them over to us. All the photos in this post are by Ava Larkin, thanks Ava!

Lakewood Kustom Culture Show!

It is now a Cleveland tradition! If you are in the Cleveland area head to Lakewood and check out a day of hot rods, bikes, and live music! They close down the block for this show so you know it's good!


The weather looks perfect today, sad to say we will miss it as we are in the RV driving home from Bonneville! Stop by and visit Katy Bear and John at the Lowbrow tent and pick up your official show shirt.


They are on Arthur St right off of Madison Ave next to Beer Engine, and the bike parking is right there as well!


It's just starting so get a move on!

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Location:Lakewood, Ohio

Friday update continued

I just had to share this picture, the weather and wind were not favorable for our Friday morning back up runs but we both managed to raise the records we set and ended up at the same spot on the return road. It was a pretty special way to end an amazing week and I am so glad I could share this moment with my brother and have it captured on film. Cheers, Kyle

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Friday Speed Week Wrap-Up

This morning ended with me upping my partially streamlined record by 5-1/2 miles to about 117 mph. A 12 mph headwind, rain and lightning slowed down my run but it went well nonetheless. Kyle bumped his record up by 1/4 mph or so after the strong wind slowed him down. He ran once more and I got in two more runs but the strong wind kept dashing our speed attempts. I broke two records, Kyle broke one, and we upped those records for a total of 7 record runs this past week. I ran a record run every day Sunday though Friday. We couldn't have had a better Speed Week and can't wait til next year!

Wednesday Salt Report

Set a record this morning at 120 mph, with a 117 average, upping the record I set yesterday morning by almost 9 mph. Did another run with my fairing, partially streamlined, and ran 116-1/2 mph for a qualifying run against the 109 record I set beginning of the week. The record run is at 7 am tomorrow and I aim to up my APS-VG record by 8 - 10 miles per hour.

Greg found large crack through my aluminum clip on handlebar mounts and we were able to get it welded up by the Speed Demon team, who had a TIG welder with them. Good thing Greg found it, if one of my bars broke off at speed I wouldn't be a happy camper.

Kyle ran 115.4, a bit shy of qualifying for a run for his record of 116.4 mph in the 650 c.c. APS-PG class. He aims to get a run in tomorrow morning to take advantage of the cool morning air.

Bonneville Update: Tuesday

Both Kyle and I got our records this morning, Kyle ran an amazing 117 mph and I ran 108 in the two mile because of an accidental double shift (from first into third) and 112.8 at the 2-1/4 though that doesn't count, it is just for reference. However I ran 116 mph at 7pm, qualifying for a record run in the morning again and besting my own record that I just set this morning by 8 mph.

A Good Day At Bonneville

I ran 109+ early this a.m. without my fairing for a qualifying run in the A-VG 750 c.c. class. Kyle ran 115.77 mph for a qualifying run in the APS-PG 650 c.c. class. We have to do our record runs in the morning if all is successful that will make three world records for the Lowbrow team this week. And it's Kyle's birthday to boot.

Record Run A Success

Record run of 111.867 mph. APS-VG previous record 105 and change set in 1995 on an Indian. Waiting to get bike inspected and displacement checked.

Getting Ready To Race!

We are on the salt flats, our pit is set up and we are ready to go through registration, tech inspection, and fuel.


The pits are filling up and there are amazing machines of every make, model, and design present! We will post more as the action starts!


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Location:Wendover, Utah

Bonneville or Bust

We're still on the road after a twelve hour delay. Looks like the RV had a full batch of faulty tires leaving us with no choice but to camp out in the Big O parking lot all night. After tackling the manager before he could reach the front we lucked out and by 9 AM we hit the slab with our new rubbers. We just left Nebraska and were greeted with a beautiful Wyoming sunset, so we thought we'd share it with you. Cheers!

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Location:Cheyenne,United States

Now Arrived: Biltwell Kung Fu 1" Grips

The Biltwell Kung Fu grips have been available in 7/8" in both black and natural gum rubber for quite some time, and we have been getting asked regularly when they would be available for 1" handlebars. Well they are finally done and in stock! Get yours now, included in a pair is a 1" ID grip for your clutch side and an 1-1/8" ID grip to go over your throttle. Like all Biltwell products, the Kung Fu grips have custom styling but keep it classy at the same time.

On the Road.... And stopped

We made it around 50 miles on the way to Bonneville and BANG threw a tread! No major damage done and a tire crew is on the way. Hopefully this will be the only one this trip and Murphy will leave us be!


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Location:Ohio Turnpike,Elyria,United States

World class booze that will knock you out of your shoes...

Shawn Long at Imperial House 71 sure hooked it up when we asked him to gild and stripe some liquor bottles for us! These will be sent to various motorcycle events as trophies, so one of these could end up at your place with a little luck! If you need some paint work done, give Shawn a yell he always does us right.

Lowbrow Customers Donate More Than $750 to Charity In July

Lowbrow is about the best job I can imagine. I really, thoroughly enjoy what I do every day and I think everyone else here does as well. One thing that I thought was missing was our chance to use our customer base and reach to help people in the world who have much bigger problems than a motorcycle project to complete. We started earlier this year by donating the full sale price of our Winged Wheel Patch and the proceeds from the Moto Mouse T-Shirt to charity. We decided to take it a step further and the last month or so; when checking out on our site you may have noticed the 'Charity' section asking you to round your order total up to the nearest dollar figure, donating your spare change to a choice of two charities, Room to Read or Donor's Choose. You stepped up and we raised about $750 in the first month with this new program!

We are currently supporting two educational charities, and will switch it up occasionally to help support different causes. The idea behind education is it empowers young people to do something with their life and rise above their means, to take care of themselves and their families. Donor's Choose supports U.S. public schools, teachers can put up requests for donations for a variety of things their class room might need to help give the students a more enjoyable and educational experience. For the month of July funds were donated to high-poverty locations to help buy elementary school students exercise equipment in Grand Rapids, Michigan, help with a purchase of an iPad for literacy and math skills for students in Siler City, NC, and to buy more books for children in Kyle, South Dakota. What is so cool is the photos above aren't of random kids, these are the actual children in the classrooms that Lowbrow's customers helped support.

Room to Read builds schools, reading rooms (libraries) and helps girl's get schooling in developing countries. In countries such as Cambodia, Nepal, South Africa and Zambia (just to name a few) public school isn't a choice, and in many areas there are no resources to teach children. Our goal this year is to raise $12,000 which will fund the construction of three reading rooms, stocked with local language books and a trained local librarian. So far we are at $4,707.01 raised and donated, so we are more than a third of the way there.

I am not writing this to pat ourselves on the back but to bring awareness. Help us meet the goal and help so many other people, next time you order from Lowbrow choose one of these charities to donate your spare change to.

Big Batch of Gas Tanks Just Arrived

We just got in a large batch of gas tanks today including Narrow Alien in standard offset filler, center filler and dual filler varieties, as well as the Sporty tanks in standard and Frisco mount. They are all bare steel however, the paint above on the center fill Narrow Alien tank is by Josh at Old School Helmets, very nice! If you have been waiting on one of these gas tanks get yours now, based on how quick they are already selling I have a feeling we will be out again in the foreseeable future!

1955 Triumph Salt Flat Racer Dyno Run

Myself, Todd, and our friend Greg made it over to Northern Ohio Ducati and Triumph today to give my 1955 Triumph pre unit land speed motorcycle a go on the dyno. Stan was the man at the helm and due to his personal passion of vintage motorcycle GP racing and vintage bikes in general, he was likely the best suited dyno operator I was going to find to do some pulls on my bike. Check out the video above of a couple of pulls, your motorcycle sounds much louder in a small room when it isn't going anywhere, yikes!


I learned quite a bit from the few hours spent this morning, and have a follow up booked for this weekend to try and glean the last bit of horsepower I can from my Triumph before leaving for Bonneville Speed Week next Thursday!

2nd Annual Salt Flat Social - Salt Lake City, August 12th, 2011

Andy at Pangea Speed puts on the Salt Flat Social, and the 2nd annual one is coming up quick, this August 12th, 2011 in Salt Lake City. Check out the Salt Flat Social blog for details. The Lowbrow crew will be there, we are going to stop on our way to Bonneville Speed Week as we drive right through Salt Lake City, and will be spending the night and finishing the trek to the flats early the next morning. Make it out and have a good time!