Writer's Block

Rick Fichter: My writer friend says there is no such thing as writer’s block. Writer’s block means you regroup, get your thoughts together, do your homework and maybe smoke a J. I haven’t worked on the bike in a few days, so I figured I’d take his advice. We’ve been working like dogs the past couple months to grow the shop, move into our expanded digs and work out the kinks, while still trying to make a living. Let’s see, make a living: that means you give all your money to other people and hope you have enough left to eat. (I’m getting skinny).

But when you do a big move, you find all the old shit you forgot about, so I figured I’d share. I found this old Harley hat at the Olney Swap Meet, but couldn’t find much information on it until I ran across an ad in a collection of Easyriders magazines I scored. There was an ad in the back selling these black, missile leather visors. Every once in a while at a rally you run into an old biker that has one. I don’t wear it much; not really my style, but it’s definitely a cool addition to the collection.

Found my pop’s old vest. He passed away three years ago. I wear it on occasion but I mentioned losing quite a bit of weight, so it’s kinda big on me these days. Now I just hang it where I can see it as a remembrance of my old man. We got most of these patches together at rallies – Sturgis, Daytona, out west. Cool memories. I’ve got his 2005 heritage soft tail and I can still picture him out there in the refuge of the road. I’ll cherish that bike and this jacket the rest of my life. You can buy just about anything in the shop; but these two – don’t ask.

In the chopper world you can never have enough reference manuals, cheat sheets, catalogs of parts, Harley manuals, magazines, you name it. This collection provides a wealth of inspiration. While I’m old school at heart, I download old manuals and catalogs just to have them. You never know when you’ll score that old shovelhead. I gaze at these books and dream of the day when I’ll be rebuilding a ’47 knucklehead; man, can’t wait.

Last, this poster of the legendary Tom Fugel always hangs in my shop alongside pictures of his great choppers. Tom passed away not so long ago but remains an inspiration for all Chopper builders in this country and around the world. He was an artist and a bike builder that paved the way for the great choppers we have today.  Every bike builder’s dream is to one day fabricate a bike as cool as one of Tom’s…

…Guess I better get back to work.