Steer Inn Diner Bike Night 2012

It's New Year's Day 2013 and I'm looking through some of the photos of this past year.  This year for the first time I made it over to the east side of Indianapolis for the monthly Bike Night at the Steer Inn Diner.  I heard about the Steer Inn from the guys at Taco Tuesday Bike Night in Brownsburg so I decided to check it out.  It was a fun time looking at all the interesting bikes and at times even more interesting people coming and going throughout the evening.
I parked my naked vintage Goldwing, ordered a Coke, and began my stroll through the parking lot taking in all the sights and sounds and smells.  The guys from Brownsburg arrived and all together there must have been about 60 or so motorcycles of various description.  My tastes run toward custom and modified but it's fun to see the stock SOS motorcycles too (same old stuff).:-) There were some awesome specimens for any preference and everybody was pretty friendly.  Next time I'll be sampling the food, namely their cheeseburgers and milkshake.  I've heard Bike Night is a year round event.  Maybe I'll have to check out who shows up in January.  Here are some pics of some of the bikes.   

     

naked motorcycles

When you think of a cool motorcycle, what comes to mind?  Let me guess.  It's not a luggage rack on wheels. It's not a big barge of a sofa floating down the highway.  It's not a purple or pink monstrosity.  It is black, and naked, and loud, and it may or may not have some chrome.  Am I right?  Now if you are thinking, "My dream bike is a pink and purple sofa with luggage on wheels," then you probably won't like this blog article.
Three of the most iconic, coolest or exciting motorcycles that I've seen over the last two years have been these three.

Daryl's chopper in The Walking Dead, which is black and mostly naked.  I'm not a bike expert so I'm just guessing that his bike is various pieces of vintage bikes, maybe British, maybe not.


Second on my list would be the bike from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  We don't get a good look at this bike because the whole movie is pretty dark.  It's a cafe racer type, black, naked, very cool.

Finally, we have the bike that Kato rides in the Green Hornet.  There is no question that bike is a Harley.  We likes it.

I realize that movies don't have to be practical.  Dragon Tattoo girl doesn't have to worry about feeling the cold because it's a movie and she has no feeling anyway.  Daryl doesn't have to worry about going and getting a gallon of milk at the grocery store for the wife because Kroger's is overrun with zombies anyway.  He just has to strap on saddlebags for the weapons and illegal drugs that his brother Merle kept on the bike.  Kato doesn't have to worry about anything except showing up to help out the Green Hornet.

Now try to imagine these movies with the typical bikes that you see on a more regular basis.  Imagine Daryl on a bright yellow Goldwing pulling a matching yellow trailer.   Imagine Merle's name with pinstriping on one side and Daryl on the other.  There would be lots of room for weapons and such but they would probably rather be zombies than ride something like that.  Next try to imagine Kato on a purple trike with a big trunk on the back.  How does that grab you?  Or, finally, try to picture Dragon Tattoo girl riding on any vintage Honda with a stock paint job.  Nope, it just doesn't work.

Stock bikes don't have the same grit and character as what you or I would build ourselves.  They're certainly not the stuff of movies.  Yes, stock bikes are nice just as they are when they roll out of the factory, but I personally would much rather have the modified look of my vintage naked Goldwing than any stock bike from the same period.  No, I'll never be in a movie, but my black with ghost flames beats two tone tan and green any day.

Naked Goldwing glamour pics

I decided to take some nice pictures of my naked Goldwing motorcycle. I was dissatisfied with all the others I had taken for various reasons, namely:

1. I can see me in the reflection off the chrome or paint. If you look at photos by amateur photographers you often see the photographer, their reflection, or their shadow, or maybe even their finger or feet in the photo. I wanted to do better than that.

2. Extraneous material. I don't like seeing other objects in the photo besides my subject matter. Often when taking snapshots you end up with other motorcycles, other riders, signs, ugly pavement, etc. in the photo. I only want what I choose to be in the frame.

For months now I have been on the lookout for a suitable backdrop for the glamour pictures. I saw an old barn with peeling paint that I thought would work well. This was just a part of good planning, I told myself. Yes it was. The only problem was, I didn't plan other aspects of the shoot so well.

I finished up my repairs and polishing on my motorcycle and out the garage door I went with my camera in my pocket, and my destination in mind. I asked for permission to take my pictures by the barn, and rode out to the exact spot I had spotted. Here is where my lack of planning revealed itself.

The ground was so soft that neither the kickstand, nor the center stand would hold the bike up for more than a second before starting to sink into the ground. I have little plastic plates to rest the kickstand on to remedy this situation, but I didn't think to pack one. So I used my billfold. My credit cards may have been bent a little but they still work, so all is well.

My next blunder was when I tried to start my bike. It wouldn't start. Over the winter I had forgotten that my bike has "tired starter syndrome." There are some things that are good to forget over the winter. It is good to forget all your bad golf swing habits. I am a great golfer the first two or three times I golf each year because I have forgotten my bad habits. After that I begin to think too much, try to compensate, and correct, and then my golf game goes belly up. But I digress.

I have read that "tired starter syndrome" is when your bike will start fine in the garage at home. But after you've ridden for awhile you decide to stop and have an ice cream cone. The bike is hot now and when you go to start the bike the starter has no umph.

More lack of planning.

I however am in the proud possession of a 75 Goldwing which had both an electric start and a kick starter. I thought to myself, "I will just use the kick starter," which I had done successfully in the past. The only problem was, I had removed the kickstarter to make some other repairs and I hadn't put it back in it's little home in the bike. More lack of planning.

I thought, "I'll just call my wife on my cell phone. I'm only a couple of miles from home, she can bring me my kickstarter." The only problem was, my cell phone was on the charger in the kitchen. I hate cell phones and use them as little as possible, but sometimes they are a good thing to have.

Fortunately, when I tried my starter again, it fired up and I made it home without further difficulty. So here are my glamour pictures. Except I think they could be better, so I'll be taking more. Next time I will plan better.