Mikey riding a 78 DynaGlide in 1990

So you want to know about the Bike Project. Well it's important that I tell you a little of the back story so that you will understand just how big of a project this is going to be.

On January 26, 1993 I was kidnapped from work, taken out into the woods and repeatedly shot and left for dead. All because two assholes wanted to take some money and leave no witnesses. Well those two assholes are now sitting in maxium security prisons for the rest of their lives and I am building a custom bike.

If you would like to keep track of these jerks just go here and do a search for AIS number 182247 and 182248 and you too can make sure the state does not screw up and let these folks out.

Anyway, back to my story. 14 hours after getting shot someone found me and I was wisked away to one of the best hospitals in the region for spinal cord injuries. There I was told that I should get real friendly with my new wheel chair because we would basically become one and the same. Since then I have proved them quite wrong.

Now, I'm not telling you this story for you to sit on your side of the screen and say, "Awww", or "Damn!" But you will not know what some of my hurdles are in this bike build if you do not know some of my history. So in the last 10 years I've gone from a bed-ridden blob with tubes and doctors telling me to take up a sit down style hobby to now where I am able to get around well with a cane and a brace called a KAFO that I wear on my right leg.

Mikey on his 1987 Harley in 1998

The current (and it's always changing) label I have is an Incomplete Quadraplegic. I have full use of my left arm. About 80% use of my right arm. 80% use of my left leg. And maybe 5% (yes, I said five) use of my right leg. I have a small hole in my spine and for some odd reason my cord has attached itself to the inside of my spinal column. I generally maintain a healthy pain in my lower back that I fight off with meds and 3 trips a week to the local physcial therapist.

This will be the only section of my site where I will mention any of this and this section will not get updated, so once you've read this section you can simply skip it in the future. Like I said it is not here for sympathy of any kind. It is only here so that you will know why I do things the way I do. So please do not write me and tell me that I have put the kick stand on the wrong side of the frame. There is a method to my madness.

As you can see from some of the pictures in this section and others on my site that I am no stranger to motorcycles. I've been riding them for years up until the time I was shot. The 87 burgandy sportster on this page I bought and started to modify a couple of years after I was shot but it had to be sold to pay some bills. It's expensive being a gimp in this day and age. I've built a couple of bikes in the past so I'm no stranger to custom bikes but a project like this is going to take a lot of work.

A custom I built in my bedroom

The bike I built in my bedroom took close to a year. It started life as an early 70s Triumph Trident. I chopped the frame and installed a weld on rigid rear section. I installed a set of Honda front forks that I had shortened by 2 inches. The handle bars were aftermarket drag bars and the gas tank was a coffin tank popular in the 70s. Sorry that's the only picture I have of it. It was stolen when it was about 80% complete and I never did get a chance to ride it. But I can say this, if you have to build a bike, building one in your bedroom is the way to go. Air conditioners and carpeted floors makes putting a bike togother a lot easier. The current project will not be built in my bedroom. I think the wife has vetoed that. But now the dining room is a different story. Since I don't have a shop, and I do have an unused dining room it seems only logical to me.

I know you're thinking, I should ride a Trike (a three wheeled motorcycle). Well I've been there and done that. A trike is really not the same as riding a two wheeled motorcycle. You do not get the same feelings or conection to the road you normally get from a motorcycle. So if I'm going to do this, I need to do it right. It may end up being a lot different than any other motorcycle you will see, but it will be a motorcycle.

My 72 Sporty before the rebuild in 1987.

So you can see from this section some of my history. There's more to the story and my disabilities but this is enough to let you see some of the problems I'm up against. Make sure you check out my roadblocks section to learn more about some of the specific problems I've anticipated and some of the solutions I've come up with to over come them. Some of the problems I have not figured out yet, but there is no time frame for this project so if it takes me 10 years to figure it out, at least I'll be working towards something. I also know that most of the problems I will face won't happen until I actually start turning wrenches. But at least I will be turning wrenches.

One final thing. A lot of people have mentioned that maybe I should just buy a complete bike, have some modifications done to it and go riding. I do plan on buying a beater bike (a term me and my friend Don coined to describe a running, yet ugly bike) to use and abuse during the build and to use as a testing ground. But for my custom bike I want the satisfaction of building it from the ground up myself. A custom bike is not really custom unless the owner puts his or her personality into it. Stock motorcycles are (in my opinion, sorry CW) just to stock for my taste. But I also know my limitations as well. So I will have to farm out some things like welding and applying the paint, but I do want to do as much as I can myself.

Well I've taken up enough of your time with this stuff, get onto the good parts.

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