SLO wednesday bike night @ Foster Freeze

[erkishhorde]

I finally got out to the bike night at the Foster Freeze last night. They don't really do much and the parking lot isn't even lit. Most of the guys just run the standard sports bikes but there are a few interesting characters there and a few nice bikes. For anyone that doesn't know, it's Wednesday nights, 8pm at the Foster Freeze downtown in SLO. Most of the younger guys aren't very interesting and just talk about random squid junk. It's the older guys that were interesting and actually had something worth wild to talk about.

One of the guys I met was a local mechanic and brought his custom bike in. He made it entirely on his own with salvaged parts. It didn't look like much but it was pretty fast since it was essentially just an engine and frame. Darty enough for some quick wheelies out of the parking lot and down the street. His idea for the kick stand was pretty interesting. He used hollow steel pipes for his foot pegs so his kick stand is a rod that threads into the end of the foot peg. It helps that he's a really tall lanky guy so he can actually reach the pegs while seated. This system lets him prop the bike to either side to make it easier to work on the bike. I thought it was cool but I'm easily amused.

One guy that showed up with his wife had an immaculate '83 Nighthawk 650. This thing was showroom clean and is older than me! He said the previous owner let it sit for 13 years so it's only got 11k miles on it. He cleaned up all the finishing on the shiny bits after he bought it and put back all the stock parts. After fixing a leaky fork seal and changing the fluids he was good to go. I'm just amazed at how nice it looked.

Another guy I met was named Kurt. Quite the bike enthusiast. He's riding a hodgepodge custom jobby but it looks cool. I didn't want to ask about it but I noticed that he's an amputee below the knee on both legs but he still rides. Quite interesting and very nice guy. He said he's gonna bring out his old Duc 250 Scrambler next week if anybody wants to come come see it.

Oops, the meet is actually at the Foster Freeze, not Dairy Queen. Back home the two are combined so I got that confused. [cheeky]

[SLODUC]

Thanks for the update Erkishhorde. I have been meaning to get out there to check it out. If Kurt is the guy I think it is he lost his legs in an airplane crash that happened back when I was at Cal Poly. I haven't seen him in probably eighteen years. He was a good friend and I lost track of him. Will have to make it out next week to say hi.

[erkishhorde]

Kurt says he's been here nearly all his life (he's 55) and used to be an aircraft mechanic when he worked. Now he's on disability and tinkers around with his bike. I wouldn't be surprised if he's the same guy.

It'd be nice to see some more Ducs out there even though I won't be as unique anymore [cheeky] I liked how they weren't all college students. The locals tended to be older guys but they were very nice and better to talk to than the younger guys. [laugh]

[DeadMR2]

i've been asked about this bike night a couple times - i usually just shrug it off as i fugured it was just a bunch of squids.
i had some guy on an older smoker (2-stroke) talk to me about it, and i got a note on my bike while i was at Mods N Rockers


i've been to the track with Krazy Kurt a couple times.

maybe i'll head out there tonight with some peeps
i'll probably roll up on the CB if i do go... you will hear me from a mile away

[erkishhorde]

Sweet, I'll be there as well on my m900.

[erkishhorde]

Good to finally meet you Mr. Fry. Nice to see you again too SLODuc. For those in the area (I think we're about it, aren't we?) that didn't go there was quite a turn out last night. Kurt brought his old 250 Duc Scrambler and someone showed up on a brand new 1098. The stock exhausts on the 1098 are a little... disappointing.

I'm not sure how summer will affect the turn out. A lot of the guys are Poly or Cuesta students but there are a fair amount of locals as well. I'll be here over summer and will continue to come out so drop on by and say hi.

[DeadMR2]

it was good meeting you two as well.
i was a bit suprised by the turnout.

summer will probably (hopefully) kill off the squid crowd

[SLODUC]

Great to see everyone and meet Mr. Fry. Maybe we should tell TCK that we now know you. Definitely we must plan a few summer rides. Guess I will have to bring the Katana next time.

[DeadMR2]

anyone going tonight?

[SLODUC]

I'm in Santa Barbara so maybe next week.