Month: September 2021

Product Review: Black Rifle Coffee

Good buddy Mike was in town for a few days, and what better way to spend it than on the range ringing the gongs that good buddy Duane built for me.  We had a blast.  We’ve known each other since the 7th grade. Mike and I joke about who’s the better shot, and after our session at the West End Gun Club, that’s still an open question.  The man can shoot (and so can I).

Mike wanted to stop at a nearby 5-11 outlet to pick up a few clothing items, and while we were there he pointed out the Black Rifle coffee.  If you read the blog you know that I’m not a member of the Mattel crowd and I have negative interest in so-called black rifles.  In fact, the closest thing I have to a black rifle is my Ruger GSR (it’s what you see Mike ringing gongs with above).  It has a green and black laminate stock that Ruger calls black laminate, so I guess maybe it could be called a black rifle.  The GSR is a fine weapon, and Mike and I were both making the gongs sing with those big 173 grain full metal jacket .308 bullets.

But I diverge.  This blog is about Black Rifle Coffee and the company that makes it.

In a word, Black Rifle Coffee is great.  I wish we had it when we rode across China, but like they say, better late than never.  You know, they don’t drink coffee in other than the big cities in China, and staying awake on the bike was a challenge for me on that ride.   But here at home I start every day with a cup of black coffee (the only way to drink it), and Black Rifle Coffee was rings my gong well.

Black Rifle Coffee is veteran owned and a portion of the profits go to veterans’ groups, police, and other first responders.  That’s a good thing.  And Black Rifle Coffee is a U.S. company.  Reading the labels tells me that the owners have a sense of humor, too.  That’s good.  Good coffee and a good sense of humor make the world more fun, I think.

It’s good stuff, and it became my coffee of choice as soon as I had my first taste.  Give Black Rifle Coffee a try.  You can thank me later.

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Yamaha RD350 Part 4: Stealing Moments

I’ve been on a tear lately. The shed floor is nearly done and I’m laying down some slabs, man. That doesn’t mean I haven’t managed to sneak in a little tinkering on the 1974 Yamaha Rd350. I mean, once the slab is poured and finished you’ve got to let it cure for a day. Green concrete is very fragile.

I wanted to drain the RD 350’s fluids before getting too far along. Which was kind of good because I discovered the oil tank wasn’t slotted into the rubber frame peg correctly. That meant taking out the battery to access the oil tank bolts.

It was no trouble at all to pull the tank, drain it and re-slot it onto the frame peg. The original feed hose drooped underneath the carburetors then rose over the clutch cover forming a trap. I didn’t like the looks of the trap so I shortened the feed hose a bit and routed it without a loop.

When I pulled out the battery to fix the oil tank I noticed the top of the battery had a melted spot. This melted spot corresponded with a melted positive wire to the battery. I suspect the battery is the wrong one. It looks too tall and there was a section of old inner tube covering the battery. I see no evidence of arcing on the seat pan but something melted the positive wire as it has been wrapped with electrical tape.

After refilling the oil tank I needed to bleed out any air in the feed line to the autolube pump. The pump area was shockingly clean. It looked like a new motorcycle inside.

I sent Deet photos of the pump as I was well pleased and wanted to show the thing off. Zooming in on my photo Deet noticed that the autolube pump was not adjusted correctly. The pin and dot are supposed to line up at idle.

The oil pump cable was adjusted as loose as the lock nuts would allow. This RD is near perfect except where mechanics have fouled it up. Resetting the pump was quick and now the pin lines up with the mark at idle.

The chain guard was sort of floppy because the front mount was missing its bolt and the rubber bushing, along with the spacer. I cobbled one together from bits and pieces; it will work until I find the correct parts.

The more I mess with the RD350 the more amazed I am at how unmolested it is. All the case screws look perfect (except for the ignition and pump screws).  Opening things reveals factory fresh assembly. It’s almost too perfect: I’ve got to up my mechanical game to treat this motorcycle with the care it deserves.

More on the RD350 story and other Joe Gresh Resurrections is here!

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Book Review: The Director

As a kid growing up in the 50s and 60s I only heard good stuff about J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI.  One example is a classic movie most folks my age have seen called The FBI Story. It starred Jimmy Stewart and featured a cameo appearance by J. Edgar Hoover:

Then the 1970s came and with it the protest era.   Everything that was good was now bad, and there were a string of books (mostly written by disgruntled former FBI execs) about J. Edgar Hoover.  I’ve read them all, and I pretty much dismissed them as the whinings of guys who had an agenda.  After college and the Army, I spent a few years in the US defense industry, and the security manager in one of the companies was a retired FBI agent.  I asked him if all the negative J. Edgar Hoover stuff had any truth to it and his answer was an emphatic no.  “J. Edgar Hoover was a charismatic guy and a real gentleman,” he said.  “We all thought the world of him.”

When I saw a Wall Street Journal review of The Director (written by Paul Letersky, who was a personal assistant to J. Edgar Hoover), I knew I wanted to read it.  I bought The Director on Amazon and thoroughly enjoyed the book. It countered the propaganda previously published about Hoover (and what motivated the urchins who wrote those lies) and told an interesting story.  Some things I found fascinating included:

    • Hoover didn’t carry a gun.  I thought that was interesting.  I knew that Hoover received one of the very first Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum revolvers in the 1930s, but he didn’t personally carry a gun.
    • Hoover was never big on personal security.  He didn’t keep a security contingent at his home, he dined out nearly every day, and he frequently went for walks around his neighborhood on his own.
    • Contrary to what most folks think, Hoover deplored wiretaps and worked hard to minimize them.  He knew they could backfire, and his principal concern was avoiding anything that could embarass the FBI.
    • Hoover didn’t “blackmail” U.S. Presidents.   The story about Hoover informing John F. Kennedy that the FBI knew about his affair with a Mafia kingpin’s mistress is true, but Hoover did it to protect Kennedy (who broke off the affair the next day).  Hoover never used that information to his advantage, nor did he ever reveal it.

There’s a lot more, but I don’t want to spoil it for you.  Trust me on this…if you want a good read, pick up a copy of The Director.

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The Buck Stops Here

No, I’m not going all Joe Biden (God forbid) or Harry Truman on you.  The “buck” in this case refers to Buck Knives, the big folders that seem to be standard issue for bros worldwide.  Not that there’s anything wrong with being a bro, mind you.

Talk about impulse buys and effective advertising:  I need another folding knife like I need another gun, but the ad from Buck Knives popped up and before I knew it I had customized my Buck 110 and placed my order.  It was a Facebook ad and it did what it was intended to do (it got me).  I already have four other big folders (all of those were similarly impulse purchases), but I don’t wear or carry any.  If I want to go armed it will be with my 1911 (never bring a knife to a gunfight).  But I like these big Bucks.  I didn’t know Buck offered custom knives or about their online customizing configurator (in fact, I had never even been to the Buck website), but when I saw it I had to click and start fooling around.  It was fun, and before I realized it, my wallet (figuratively speaking) was a lot lighter.

Buck lets you change the handle material (about a dozen different materials), the bolsters (brass or nickel), rivets (yes or no), finger grooves (yes or no), the blade material (different types of steel, polished or brushed), the blade configuration (drop point or regular), serrations (several options), and engraving (potentially infinite options).  Woweee!

I chose no rivets, no finger grooves, nickel bolsters, mirror-polished blade, and elk grips (it will match my 1917 Colt).  It’s the one you see at the top of this blog, and the ticket in is $161.50 plus freight.  It will be here in about two and a half months.  Be a bro and don’t tell Susie.

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Thinking about a Buck knife?  This is as good a place as any to buy one!

A Kawasaki Indian Wannabe

Fuel injected, shaft driven, water cooled, and startlingly reminiscent of a 1940 Indian Chief:  The Kawasaki 1500cc Drifter is one of those bikes I always wanted.  They were only made from 1999 to 2005, I think, and other than what I’ve read on the Internet, I have no idea if they were any good.  The most common complaint seems to be that the plastic gear that drove the water pump was prone to failure (Kawasaki used a plastic gear on at least one other model that was also problematic; these guys were slow learners, I guess).  But in my eyes, they hit a home run in the styling department.  They just look cool.

I spotted this one in a San Francisco Bay marina parking lot, and I instantly wanted it.  Don’t get me wrong:  Doug Bingham notwithstanding, I have absolutely zero desire to own a sidecar.  If I had this bike, the first thing I’d do is lose the sidecar and sell it.  But ah, that motorcycle.  That I would keep.  And ride, and ride, and ride.

The later years had different colors; the first year, I think, got it right with the deep burgundy, red pinstriping, and those beautifully valanced fenders.  Kawasaki got a little weird from what I’ve read with the rear fender design; it pivots up and down with the rear suspension.   Ah, what’s a little unsprung weight between friends, especially on a motorcycle that no one bought because of the handling.  I also read that the fuel economy was abysmal on these bikes, but other folks said it was okay.  Whatever.  I wouldn’t buy this bike to save fuel.  But I would buy it if the price was right, even though I could get a used Sportster for the same kind of money.  I like it.

Kawasaki made both a 1500cc and an 800cc Drifters.  The 800cc version came in a pastel blue that was stunning.  When one of my friends first saw these photos, he asked if the bike was a 1500 or the smaller 800.  I was pretty sure it was the 1500, but I wasn’t sure.  Then I remembered one of my photos caught the VIN label and I was able to zoom in enough to know.

I shot these with my phone, and I guess that iPhone 12 does a good job.  It’s a 1500cc Drifter, as you can see above.

If I owned this bike, I think the only thing I’d do (other than a regular service and a good detailing) is to maybe get the seat redone.  It looks just perfect to me as is.

We dream about motorcycles all the time.  You can read about some of them here!

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Hey, how about this supercool World War II US Navy Indian 30-50?

You can see the Indian 741 featured in the above video in person at the Chino Planes of Fame Museum, and you can read our feature story on it in Motorcycle Classics magazine.

Spotted: The Rivian

We were in northern California last week on another secret mission.  During a long and boring drive through the central valley, we took a quick break at one of those truck stop/gas station/everything stores spaced every 50 miles or so along what has to be one of the most boring roads in America.  To my surprise, I spotted a pickup just ahead of us that was something new.  I had only read about the new Rivian electric pickup in The Wall Street Journal the day before. They’re not for sale yet, and this one (with manufacturer plates) was obviously on a test drive of some sort.  On Interstate 5.   Where they evidently wanted to keep it secret.

The guy in the truck was not too happy I was there with my Nikon, but hey, it is what it is.   After the first shot, he kept moving between me and the Rivian.  To the honchos at Rivian:  Your guy tried.  So did I.

The truck was a sharp-looking vehicle and I was impressed.  I looked up a bit more about the company and the initial claims are impressive…a range of something like 300 miles, and a 0-60 time of 3 seconds.  The price is going to be $70K or $75K, with no dealers to jack that up.  The Rivian is being sold direct to the consumer, similar to what CSC does with its motorcycles.  The dealers won’t be able to get their snouts in the trough, and that’s a good thing.

Anyway, that’s my close encounter of the 3rd kind with the first Rivian I’ve seen.  I like it.

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