Jeff's Time Capsule Find

Richard Gard's "Red Ball Express" Custom Bike Oct '77

Richard Gard was killed in a motorcycle accident this past weekend in KY while on a trip with his wife.
I felt quite honored to have met this man. I just wish I had been able to spend more time with him. He was building show chops back when I was just a toddler. Last winter, on a whim I looked him up. I'd seen a CB750 called the "Red Ball Express" in this old issue of Custom Bike (Oct 1977) and it said the bike was built by Richard Gard of Casey, IL. I actually owned the mag for a few years, and the thought crossed my mind to see if I could contact him, but not until this past Feb did I give it a go. I sent an email with my name & number to his "Toymaker" email address I had found by googling his name. The next day I received an enthusiastic phone call from him. We spoke on the phone quite a bit thru the end of winter & spring. We had made tentative plans to do some riding and he even offered to teach some of his ways in painting and body work. Richard, you were one of kind my friend. I wish we had gotten to to spend more time together so we could have gotten to know one another better. You will be sorely missed by your friends and family. Rest in Peace my friend.

(click the images above for an enlarged, readable version)

Cody Pruitt

Neal Keyser's CB750 Chop - circa 1994

Neal "Houndog" Keyser '86

Matt Stier - CB750 burnout

Wabash, IN - TT Races 1951

Going thru my girlfriend's, grandparent's belongings, on saturday afternoon, we came across these old photos. They were taken in 1951 during TT races in Wabash, IN. We are told that her grandfather, Eugene Stauffer, was not only a member of the Wabash Cannonball MC, but that he also helped to build the dirt track in (or around...not sure) Wabash, IN.

Wabash State TT Races - September 3, 1951

Wabash, IN - TT Races July 29, 1951

This is a newspaper clipping from a few years later

Baltimore, MD 1975

"Flip" of Baltimore, MD (circa 1975) on his CB750 chopper.

Abraxas MC 1975

Pics submitted by Karl "Dawg" Goodman

Field of Dreams

Riders Roost, NC

June 22-29, 2010

One Crazy Summer!

As usual we are bogged down here at the So'full Garage with our common summertime activities. That is the excuse this time for our lag in posting. We've done alot of meanding thru the corn and beanfields of central IL in search of food, parties, and good times. We trekked out to NC at the end of June, to spend a week at the Riders Roost Motorcycle Resort outside of Ferguson to spend time with our fellow CB750 afficianados from hondachopper.com

Next weekend is our 400 mile putt over to Fairmount, IN to visit James Dean's gravesite and museum and then onto Wabash, IN to visit our friends at TAS Classic Motorsports (tasclassicmotorsports.com)

Needless to say if we're not working on our scoots, we're ridin' em! Keep the shiny side up and we'll see ya on the highway.