Well, the family ranch might be gone, but I was successful in keeping the family Willy’s Jeep. My parental units tried to auction off the Jeep, or worse, give it away to the ranch hands that were begging to have it, but I put my foot down. I was willing to leave alot behind, but I didn’t want this classic family heirloom to get away. My grandfather had owned this Jeep since the 1960’s and then passed it to my mother ten years ago. It lived its life as a ranch and back-country hunting Jeep for as long as it was in the family. I have fond memories of being a little kid, riding in the bumpy back with my G-Pa in the mountains of Baker City, Oregon. later I would drive it whenever I was on the family ranch, using it to go shooting, or dig arrow heads, so when the ranch sold and was being cleaned out I rustled up a friend with a 24 foot trailer, put my foot down on the selling or giving of the jeep and headed to the ranch to confiscate it so it could remain in the family. My nephew Forrest will be next in line, hopefully he will pass it to future generations with his memories of learning to drive in the old Willys on the ranch.
Category Archives: Motorcycles, Scooters & Automobiles
Rowdy Rebels MC jacket
I have been wanting to start documenting pieces from my collection of vintage jackets for quite some time. This is the start…
The first jacket is a 1940’s Horsehide Motorcycle Jacket. It has the original detachable fur collar and is in near flawless condition.
1971 Honda CB350 Cafe Racer Project – Episode 7: Getting There…
First, let me say that I am almost there… Then, let me add that it is one thing after another! The bike is almost ready to hit the road. Until yesterday I had power to all systems and it was turning over and idling nicely. I had gas overflow running out of one of my carbs so I started the day by adjusting the float to limit the gas inflow. It all went downhill from there. Prior to messing with the float the bike would idle nicely and would rev, but not beyond about 2800 rpm. I thought this was a timing issue but wanted to stop the gas overflow prior to adjusting the timing. Once I adjusted the float I stopped the overflow, but then the bike was not getting enough gas to rev at all. Instead it would die every time I gave it gas. I checked the float bowl on the suspect carb and it was not getting gas at all so i readjusted the float and tried again. Same situation. I put it down and tackled the turn signal wiring to clear my head. I had power to all turn signals but they would not blink. They are on steady. I switched wiring around and around with no success. The headlight works perfectly bur no signal blink. The other problem is that the tail light is on but the brake light will not register. If I turn the key to position 2 then the brake light is on all the time. Something in the wiring is not right. Frustrated I turned back to the carb problem, I was just beginning to mess with the air gas mixture when all power to the bike was lost! The battery has juice but I get nothing anywhere. I checked the starter solenoid with my continuity tester and it is completely dead. I now have to swap out the solenoid from the parts bike to see if this is the culprit. Meanwhile here is what the bike looks like before I start beating on it with a hammer…
French Motorcycle Posters
It occurred to me today that Benzina magazine only published a small portion of my French Motorcycle Posters, so I thought I should get them up here so everyone could enjoy: