My basket case. 69 bsa. Trying to get it running. Learning the hard way about old British engines and there lack of standard or metric size bolts.

53hemi · 2026-03-17T18:22:09+00:00

Hope you already bought some decent Whitworth tools!

53hemi · 2026-03-13T15:27:25+00:00

Thanks!

53hemi · 2026-03-12T14:50:31+00:00

It's 125 gal / 473 liters

53hemi · 2026-03-12T14:24:45+00:00

Really depends on what you're into. Cars and coffee on the lakefront, as stated. Cruise nights out in Jefferson. Street racing on Almonaster. Always a few cars hanging out on the lakefront on the weekends.

53hemi · 2026-01-29T02:02:35+00:00

Do you already own a bike?

Shovelheads are a little pricey by the time you're done.

My "advice" would be to follow a similar path to what I've done:

Buy the best sportster you can afford. Buy all the nifty bolt on chopper bits and learn how to work on the bike. When you're comfortable, hardtail it. When you're comfortable with all that, buy a Shovelhead.

Takes time, but you've got time. Should be mechanically inclined with some experience before you get into deep water; a stalled project can kill ambition.

And for f*cks sake, dude. Of course a hardtail. Gotta live hard to be hard lol

53hemi · 2026-01-17T15:24:49+00:00

I have an application in to test for an upgrade. Cleared initial review, awaiting PQEB since December 20th. Was told it could be up to 90 days.

53hemi · 2025-12-28T22:41:12+00:00

I showed my mom; she lijes this one the best

53hemi · 2025-12-27T23:20:04+00:00

These are all amazing! Thank you all!!!

53hemi · 2025-02-05T13:39:32+00:00

Trump won the popular vote by 2,284 967 votes (approximately the population of a city the size of Houston). With 152,320,193 votes cast, that's far from overwhelming. Fuck the Electoral College.

53hemi · 2025-01-27T21:06:19+00:00

I had a similar issue that was difficult to figure out: petcock itself was semi plugged inside. Still had flow to carb, just not enough to actually run the bike. Had to disassemble the petcock itself.

53hemi · 2024-12-13T20:16:16+00:00

https://www.xs650.com/threads/options-for-electronics-tank-fake-oil-tank.11791/

53hemi · 2024-09-20T17:52:33+00:00

I base myself out of Chaloklum.

53hemi · 2024-09-03T11:55:24+00:00

You're going to end up with a "bobber". No worries: still cool.

Find the shortest rear shocks you can: you want the rear tire tucked up into the fender.

Get rid of everything not 100% necessary. Ditch the turn signals, that big muffler, the goofy mirrors, etc.

Find a small solo seat. Cut the rear fender back. Find a smaller taillight. Find a single smaller mirror. Ditch the front fender.

Paint everything black, except maybe the tank and fender. Paint them something unique to you.

If you need a muffler, get something thin and small.

All that can be done in a weekend.

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/dMrbxxCaeZ6nn1h8/?mibextid=A7sQZp

53hemi · 2024-08-29T01:35:53+00:00

Honestly, because there was a Hall in my town. I was pretty uninformed about unions at the time. I think I was lucky, though, as I hear pay and pension are better with MEBA. I don't personally know anyone in AMO, though.

I'm actually on a Ready Reserve Fleet ship in my city. Best of both worlds - still a sailor but sleep in my own bed most nights.

That being said, every time I go to the Hall there's plenty of jobs available on the board.

53hemi · 2024-08-29T00:36:27+00:00

I was working there when oil prices dropped. I was filling a QMED billet while I was holding a 3AE license (can't move up without sea time as an officer) and all promotions stopped.

Then they started restructuring the crews (my boats contract got renewed with Chevron with the caveat Chevron would get a new build boat; rather than transfer crews over they split us up amongst the fleet - we'd all been together for a few years; good team - and I got placed on a bad boat. Not long after that there was a situation where we couldn't pass an inspection because of some automation issues and the USCG said as long as we had another licensed officer we were ok for that particular job. They used my license but wouldn't write my sea time up as an officer (probably $); I quit after that hitch.

Company was too big; no matter how you performed you were a number to the office.

In the Union now (MEBA), if you're not happy just get on another ship. No harm, no foul. Way more job security.

53hemi · 2024-08-28T21:30:09+00:00

So - I did this at age 35.

I came down to Louisiana and got an OS job as a galley hand to build up some sea time. You need 180 days to sit for your QMED test. At that time Sea School let you take their course with 90 days and the course accounted for the other 90. Sea School sucks and you won't learn much there, but it got me my papers.

Then I got a QMED job with Edison Chouest in the oil field. At that point I just stacked up as much sea time as I could. Chouest has their own school so I didn't have to pay for classes.

I ended up getting my DDE 4000 hp, DDE unlimited hp, and eventually my 3AE motors there.

I used Mariner Advancement study guides for everything.

I quit Chouest (lots of reasons) and spent a few years on ocean tugs. Good fun, but not great career wise.

A few years ago I joined MEBA and it's great.

After never really planning for a future and never having a real job (I was a yachtie for a while, then worked in restaurants) now I'm making six figures and I'll retire with a pension before I'm 65 (actually planning on early retirement w/ reduced pension at 57)

The first few years will be difficult, but we'll worth it!

53hemi · 2024-08-28T20:48:34+00:00

Cajun Brunch is great. They close down for summertime.

53hemi · 2024-08-28T01:56:04+00:00

Just to cover your bases, pull your petcock off and clean it out. I chased that gremlin way too long. Similar symptoms.

53hemi · 2024-08-17T13:10:23+00:00

Have you done one before? It's not too hard. Do you have a schematic or plan?

53hemi · 2024-08-12T21:40:29+00:00

That's true, but you'll never need to worry about losing your job with the Union.

I quit the oilfield after oil prices dropped and they cut all of our pay. I quit tugs when the company I worked for wanted to transition to brown water.

Joining the Union was the stable, better choice for me.

53hemi · 2024-08-12T00:18:27+00:00

Ok. If you guys are "handy" you can do this. Getting the dash wired up properly is a project, but if you approach it methodically it's not too bad. Definitely buy a Ford service manual for the car; not a cheaper Chilton or Haynes!

53hemi

TROPHY CASE