Road Therapy.

Mounting up and firing the iron horse called 88 to life, the walls of the surrounding concrete canyon echoed with a sinister roar of a snarling stallion.
Two more steel steeds announced their displeasure at sitting idle.
Snapping the darkness away with white light and blue flame, the dirt rose in protest as the three snicked into gear in unison and painted the asphalt a darker shade of black.
Unleashed and full of fury, earlier today these chariots had given full measure of compassion for a child treated wrongly. Proudly carrying safely the newest young member of B.A.C.A. They had spent all the empathy allotted them for the day.
Rage was all that was left. This valley was gonna hear the bellowing angry scream.
As if to haunt the sleep of an abuser, the steeds wound up and casting showers of orange sparks they tore down the off ramp leading to the highway. The heat generated from the friction of steel on pavement gave the floorboard of the first iron horse an eerie glow, if only for an instant.
Just under a hundred and still gaining momentum the three riders and Passengers held the steel reins of the chrome,war painted palominos racing to outrun the horror of child abuse.
The wind, rumble and speed would be the therapy needed.
The stench of evil would be lost in the dust, passed from view just for the duration.
Cool desert air was breathed to capacity in iron and flesh lungs. White and red streaks galloped clear.
The cloak of night swallowed the tragedies and injustices of days recent.

Tomorrow the world will still turn and the the destiny of souls will still follow.
But tonight....just briefly....nine broke free, three of steel and six of flesh.

I'm Famous!

I'm famous! I had no idea that I inspired a beer commercial! And I don't even drink beer!

Shadows

'Happy Birthday son. Your eighteen today. how's it feel?'

'Thanks Dad, OK, I guess'

'You Guess? What the hell kinda answer is that?'

'It's just that I have been doing a lot of thinking'

'About what?'

'My future, and what my life will be like, where it's going to go'

'Son ,it will go where you take it. It's the choices that you make that will determine it's path.'

'Yes I know, But will it be as interesting as yours?'

'I'm not sure I follow'

'What I mean is, will it be as well traveled and respected as yours is?'

'Did I teach you to honor your family and friends through thick and thin. Also did I teach you to give a hard days work for a honest days pay? Always keep in touch over the years as time and distance intervene?

'Yes'

'Then I don't see the problem'

'Well it's just you cast a long shadow'

'I do? How so?

'Your bro's respect you. And ladies love what you represent. You have story's enough to carry a normal person's lifetime.'

'So , What I'm abnormal now?' Where's this line of talk coming from? Do you think my life's unusual? It just depends on your perception of it. Whats normal for me isn't necessarily be gonna be normal for you. Nor' would I want it to be, And neither should you.'

'You get along so well with most people. I don't think I have that skill.'

'Say's who?.

'Say's me. Even my brother talks more like you and even act's alot like you.'

'That's his skill, you have yours. Your brother is like me in some ways and in a lot of them he isn't. He is himself...And so are you. And you have more of me in you than you think. With additional skills I can never hope to have.' I wouldn't want a pair of "Mini Me's".'

'But Dad, the things you have seen and done. I could only hope to have even half of that kind of life. I'd die happy.

'That's funny I used to think the same thing about my father.

'You did?'

' Hell yes, He lived through the depression. Went to war in a B17 bomber in a belly turret. Shot down a Focke-Wolf. Received several medals for bravery. Got the DFC with 4 oak leaf clusters.

Went to Korea as a Infantryman. Saved 2 wounded GI's while dispatching the enemy with his sidearm. Traveled all over the world, was written about twice in the Stars and stripes.

Raised a family and started a new successful career after retiring from the service. I could go on and on.

'Now, That's a huge shadow to follow.'

'Do you think that anymore?'

'No I don't' I realized that his is just a different shadow. Thanks to Ann. I see that my life although vastly different...Is in a lot of ways very similar. Looking back I fought battles that took just as much courage to get pass. I didn't have bullets being shot at me from a 50 cal.

But I've had my own close calls with death. And dead is dead no matter how it arrives.

And travels? I saw things that grandpa could only imagine. same as me for him, and will be for you.'

'You really think so?'

'No I don't think......I know. You leave for active duty in the military tomorrow. Correct?

'Yes'

' Do you honestly believe your life's gonna be boring? After all....You are my son.

Your shadows gonna dwarf mine I'm sure.

'Since you put it that way. I think not.

'Happy birthday Son'

'Damn straight it is'

Tranny Blues.

My Friend went to pick up a pile of scrap metal and found this engine. Brought it over to me and asked what the hell is it? There are no markings other than the serial # stamped on the case. 1 hour later I called him and said you found a 59 ST 165 cc 5.5hp Harley Davidson Hummer engine. Lucky Bastard! While not worth a huge hunk of change.....It's still a whole lotta 'F--kin A' factor. Certainly cooler than my Aermachi Italian HD moped motor.
At least this was cast here in the US. [Yes I know it was a German DKW design]

I finally got a '16 over Girder for my Trumpet......Also took in 2 500 cc triumph motors and a small stash of parts In trade for the BSA frame and motor.

Here's the Indian I was fitting for a different seat. Also added a sissy bar. This was interesting as the changes had to be made with no changes or modifications to the bike itself. Made custom mounts for the attachment points. Remove four stock bolts...slip the brackets out and put the original seat back on. No Irreversible changes made..

BTW...This is a 2003 Spirit Scout. Basically a S&S motor in a softail frame.
Not a 'Real ' Indian. Nice bike...But it ain't a Springfield MA. bike
[that's where the original Indians were produced]

And now the reason for the title of the post........Annabelle is still Down.

After assembling the clutch basket on the bike. There was too much play between the clutch hub splines and the clutch gear mainshaft. The intense vibration from the loose magnets had worn the splines loose. I have to locate a clutch hub and probably the clutch gear.

Only 85-90 parts will fit. I haven't even begun to figure where to look with my budget right now. [Zero] I'll figure something out. I always do.

P.S I think 'Annebelle is jealous of my previous ride. Eveytime I say the triumph is next on the list of work to do....She breaks down. Hmmm?

Desert Vengence 7

"Pull up some stools, this is gonna take a while," said Animal.

The tavern fell silent as all gathered to hear Animal. Sitting silently for a spell it seemed as if he was looking for a place to start. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a dollar bill. "This is gonna be an audio-visual lesson. Everyone pull out a George Washington and hold it in your hands."

Watching the brothers surrounding him he waited until all had complied.

Taking a long swig from his mug he began, "On the back of the dollar bill you see two official seals, the eagle and the pyramid. Let's start with the eagle. It has 33 feathers on the right wing and 32 on the left. 33 is the number universally accepted as the number for the Freemasons. In fact the main headquarters of the organization is in Washington D.C known as the 33rd Council of Scottish Rite. The president that approved of the placing of the seals on the dollar was Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president. Also a known Freemason."

"It is considered by many conspiracy theorist that the Freemasons have a belief system that is vastly different than mainstream religions. It is also believed that they have a hidden agenda to abolish governments and religions. Are you with me so far?" All nodded in assent.

"OK, let's look at the other seal...It's generally believed that it represents an unfinished pyramid, and placed above it is the all seeing eye of God, also known as a symbol for the Egyptian sun god Amu-Ra. The script at the bottom'Novus Ordo Seclorum' translates to new order of the ages."

"What you need to know is that while close...it's not correct. The pyramid isn't unfinished. There is no peak missing. It's an amalgamation of an Egyptian tomb and a Mayan temple. The all seeing eye is a ship in the sky watching."

Oracle stood up and walked over to Animal's table and lifted his mug. He held it up to his nose, sniffed the contents and asked, "What the hell did they put in your drink? "

Animal replied, " You think I'm drunk now...wait until you hear all of the story."

Looking Animal over closely Oracle could see he was serious. He placed Animal's drink back in front of him and with a wave of his hand said, "Continue."

"Alright, beginning on a completely different note: You have all been to Sedona and felt the so called 'energy' of the place, correct?"

Nodding in agreement all the brothers waited for Animal to continue.

"The vortexes people speak of are comprised of Diamagnetic energy. With extreme amplification of this current you can defy gravity. But the aging process accelerates while you're in the anti-gravity field."

"In fact astronauts coming back from zero gravity environments show signs of rapid aging, and until now no one really knew why. Gravity helps to regulate time in anything biological, but it's a small effect. The real cause is that while never realizing it, those astronauts have been passing through a dimensional rift. Just enough passes through to affect them."

"But the side effect is like a stone thrown in a pond; the ripples fan out and dissipate, unless the ripples reach the vortexes in Sedona and other so-called energy spots around the world. The ripples tear the diamgnectic force fields between their dimension and ours."

"This happened over 10,000 years ago when those in the other dimension accidentaly broke through. They were known as a race by the name Amu-Ra. They weren't aliens they were time travelers from their dimension; a parallel. They had been conducting time travel experiments and had already 'watched' the birth of man."

"They left behind the story of man's origins placed at various points all over the globe, so no one tribe could claim all the knowledge. When the energy fields lined up correctly, they went back through the rift into their parallel."

"The next time the energies align is December 24, 2011. They said they will return to see how man has progressed. Everything the scribes left behind has been corrupted over the last 10 centuries; altered and rewritten to fit whatever agenda the local people had in mind to gain power."

"Except two. One buried in a Mayan temple and the copy that secret societies have passed through the years from the Celts to the Templar Knights onto the Priory of Sion and finally to the Freemasons. All these groups have worn the title 'Keepers of the Secret'."

"Now back to Franklin D Roosevelt. He put in motion various programs to prepare the world for the return of the Amu-Ra. All these years later in subtle and not so subtle ways, they have been raising the conciousness of the world."

"Lately for example, TV shows about aliens and other possible life in the universe, the decline in Christianity and other religions around the world, the increase of non-religous scientific thinking. Books in the mainstream like the Da Vinci code and movies like National Treasure; all of these are clues to slowly prepare mankind for the return."

"Now, all of this was pure conjecture with only the one known copy. The discovery by the scientist matched the Freemason's scribe word for word. They are coming back and the world isn't ready yet. If this gets out before they arrive and the world's population hasn't been acclimated, anarchy will reign."

"We need to stop Tank before he sets the world ablaze."

Desert Vengeance 6

One hundred and forty one Harleys riding full bore down Interstate 17 was enough to make even the most stout hearted trucker pull his rig over onto the highways shoulder and stop.

The close formation and intense speed made it clear these riders had a purpose and they were pissed.

A rolling, rumbling mass of thunderous sound reverberated clear into the valley below.

Buildings shook, the occupants peered out windows and seeing the oncoming horde quickly closed the blinds and locked the doors.

Not understanding the purpose, no one wanted to be the reason for this groups arrival.

Pop, leading the pack, headed straight onto the off-ramp for Grand Avenue.

At speeds almost seeming to defy physics. The parade of angry snarling bikes rolled through town. Streets full of activity just moments before were devoid of any signs of life. Air raid sirens have never been known to be this effective.

Turning onto Camelback road from Grand Avenue The pack gained speed. Seeing the sign for the Panama Red bar. Pop raised his arm and made a circular motion. The military precision in which the bikers encircled the building would have made a West point drill team seem disorganized.

As one, the riders placed the bikes on their side stands, killed the ignitions and dismounted. The abrupt silence amplified the still reverberating echoes shuddering across the valley.

Local clergy hiding behind the doors of their churches hastily checked the big book's passages on the Apocalypse. Checking to see if perhaps they had misread it, just in case it was one hundred and forty, not four. Judgement day must have certainly arrived.

And for some. It had.

Animal heard a shot. Before his ears could tell him the direction of the sound, his eyes watched the gunman's upper body explode onto the walls of the tavern.

A second blast tossed the gunman's accomplice clear over the upturned table. The look of surprise frozen forever in his eyes.

Animal looked to the direction of the sound having regained his sense of direction. Oracle was standing at the bar with a shit eating grin, holding a duffel bag in one hand and a sawed-off shotgun in the other.

Oracle laughed and said, "They made a helluva motorcycle back in nineteen fifteen and they make some damn fine guns too." referring to the Iver Johnson shotgun.

Tossing the duffel bag over to Animal he continued, "Those two idiots were sent to take you out? They could have sent Abbot and Costello and they wouldn't have been as sloppy."

"Sloppy or not, had you not been here they might have succeeded," replied Animal.

"I doubt that dumb shit could've aimed well enough to hit you. Shit, he got Henderson in the leg. Not exactly a marksman."

"Still I owe you one."

"Yeah and for the times in ninety five and ninety eight. But then lest we forget the times in ninety one, two and four where you saved my ass. But who's counting?"

Looking over at Henderson, Animal wasn't really surprised to see him sitting upright in the doorway casually smoking a cigar. One hand holding a tablecloth over the bullet wound in his thigh.

"I don't know if I should even ask. You OK?" asked Animal

"Sure why wouldn't I be" replied Henderson.

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps the sudden ventilation of your leg?"

"This?" pointing to the hole in his pants leg. "I've gotten worse being bitten by a horsefly."

"Remind me never to go to your ranch." Chuckled Animal.

The tavern walls started to vibrate with a slow but steady capacony. The wooden floorboards creaked aganst each other spraying up dust plumes. Animal could hear the sound encircle the tavern and suddenly fall silent.

Oracle spoke up "The Cavalry's here, just in time, too" he laughed.

Animal, seeing Pop enter the doorway chimed in, "Hey Custer, too many Indians on the way here?"

Pop holding up a one fingered salute smiled and said. "Jack in the Box was having a lunch special today. We didn't feel the need to be in any real hurry. After all, it's just you three."

Henderson grinning replied, "Hey, don't bunch me in with this scooter trash. I'm a talented kinda guy, I'm worth saving. Can't say the same for this cretin," pointing a finger at Animal.

"Cretin? For a guy two barely evolutionary steps above primordial soup you should talk."

Marduk hearing the banter back and forth said, "Look if you idiots don't knock it off. I'll take your bikes and lock'em away for a week."

Oracle,Pop, Henderson and Animal replied almost as one "That's harsh Bro!"

"Hey I'll do what I gotta do and Henderson, stop bleeding all over the damn floor. This is a respectable joint."

Henderson lifted his leg saying "I've heard this place called many things...but respectable? I gotta look up the Websters meaning of that word because I must have got it wrong."

Oracle looked around the bar that was rapidly filling up with thirsty bikers and asked, "Before you get to tilting back the brew, anybody want to tell me if anyone figured out what that hell is going on yet?"

"Pop's got a theory." said Marduk, flipping his thumb back at him.

"Me? I wasn't the one who came up with it," waving is arm in a sweep, "it was those two. Digger and Springer."

"Well then out with it." said Oracle.

Springer proceeded to bring Animal, Henderson and Oracle up to date. Animal looked over at Digger, "All the possible outcomes and you still got that damn knack for getting close to the truth."

"You mean I was right?"

"Damn close. Since it's out among this brotherhood and I know it''ll never leave this group I'll tell you what I know."

"It all started with an ancient culture called the Toltec's. They wrote a codex that has yet to be completely deciphered. The scientists were able to gather this bit of information from them. Dec 24 2011 is believed to be universally accepted as the doomsday date in Mayan calenders. This is fairly common knowledge. But what the scientists figured out was, it's not an ending but a beginning. And if it comes to pass, shit's gonna hit the fan."

Desert Vengeance 5

"Marduk! You old goat I see you brought some friends with you. You need 'em to hold your date steady? Those hiefer's sure can run." chuckled Pop.

"Goat?" Marduk laughed ."This from a man who grabs his dick to take a leak with three fingers...and pisses on two? Shit, I didn't bring' em. As soon as the news went out that Animal was a suspect in a federal treason case they all showed up here on their own. There's not a man here who would consider it even a possibility."

Pop glanced around the circle of men. Some faces he hadn't seen in years.
Others had lived under his roof at various points in their lives. Some had stood with Animal in dense jungles and foreboding forests fighting for their country with extreme honor. Animal had saved the lives of a few of these hardened men. And several had saved his.

Seeing the respect earned of the son he raised left Pop at a rare loss for words.

Kathy aware this was a extraordinary event stood quietly watching.

"I still have contacts in the various agencies involved in this case. This is what I know so far. The stolen file has to do with the last mission Animal and and a few of us here today had worked together. It was called Mayan dawn. We were ordered to recover two professors and some crates from the ruins of a dilapidated warehouse near Peurto Penasco Mexico. We weren't allowed to inquire as to what was in the crates or even talk to the men. It was a straight forward in and out extraction," said Marduk.

"An entire team to recover two geeks and a copula crates..in Mexico? There's something wrong with that picture," replied Pop.

"All I know is that the crates were covered and the professors didn't say a word. The only thing out of the ordinary was the fact that Animal and Tank received orders to load the crates separately from the team."

"Tank? Didn't he muster out just after that mission?"

"Yes, when we reached the base stateside he kept to himself. He didn't re-enlist and never kept contact. A few of the guys tried reaching him but it was as if he dropped off the face of the earth. Nobody's seen or heard from Tank in years."

"I remember that mission. Animal wouldn't talk about it and seemed to get pissed off if it was even brought up. I could tell from the way he was acting when he got back, something shook the living shit out of him."

"We are never allowed to discuss missions even amongst ourselves. But even at that, this one was different. They didn't debrief us afterwards. No one ever even referred to that day after it was completed."

"Well, today that changes. We need to discuss that mission here and now. We've gotta piece together what the hell is going on."

Marduk gathered the four men who served with Animal on Mayan dawn. Walking to the rear of the clearing they stood in a circle. Each man fully aware of the consequences of breaking their solemn oath of silence.

Five men thought as one.

Not a word was spoken between them. None were needed. After years of serving together in all corners of the globe, each man knew the measure of the other. With a simple nod of assent they all walked back to the table and sat with Pop.

'Digger' having earned his moniker by always having the ability to quickly figure the bare bones of a mission, spoke first. His instincts were legend.
"Whatever it was that Animal and Tank saw that day had to be an abrupt change in a spiritual way or a relevant change in accepted history. I can't think of any other instance that would affect two battle hardened men like that. Both have seen greed and atrocities too numerous for them to be affected like they were. For the kind of life changing reaction they showed I'd put money that it was a combination of the two."

" I agree," said Springer, "but considering that Animal is less religious than Tank and the fact that Tank changed virtually overnight I'd also say it has to be something along the lines of rewriting accepted beliefs about our origins."

"What the hell could do that, in the middle of the Mexican desert?" asked Pop.

Weed stood up to his full six foot six height, looked around the men gathered around the table. Stroking his long pepper salt beard. He looked as if he considering how to say what it was that he knew. Taking a long deep pause he said, "Tank called me about a week after the mission. He sounded drunk and incoherent, all he kept saying was 'They knew...They always knew.' At the time I didn't give it much thought, I figured it was just the ramblings of a drunk...until today. Now I'm remembering a conversation we once had years ago about man's origin. Just idle campfire philosophy. Tank once made the statement that governments knew more than they were telling. He claimed he had collected many books researching it. Tank just needed to find the one missing book to prove it. The books content was supossedly written in ancient mayan pictographs. Which until just a few years ago no one could decipher. At the time I thought it was just conspiracy bullshit. But, now I'm not so sure. The one concept he kept harping on was that the true story had been fractured and that's why organized religions never seemed to get it just right. Think about it, if all the differrent 'bibles' telling the stories were right in general context..but not complete. If various religions each had just a part of the story and they found the one journal that tied them all together. Every religion would have to be rewritten. The implications would be staggering. churches and mosques would fall from power. Governments would collapse. Even being an agnostic, Animal would have to agree anarchy would reign. It was always Tank's belief that if it were true the information should be released immediately."

"Wait a minute, are you trying to tell us our beliefs are wrong?" yelled out Pope. Pope being ordained a christian minister looked visibly pissed.

"No, not at all...we are just speculating here. We have no proof of any of this. Just following a line of logic as to what could affect two men so deeply. What would it take to turn Tank against his brothers and distance himself and why our goverment is going to such great lengths to discredit Animal. Whatever it may be, it's huge. And simple espionage dosen't cut it. Homeland security my Ass!" replied Marduk

Silence fell among the canyon walls. Each man lost in thought. They all had heard rumors through the years of the existance of such a journal.
Secret societies throughout history had claimed to posess the knowledge.
But to date it had never surfaced. Belief that goverments and religious organizations weren't always truthful or forthcoming was part of what made them bikers. They stood outside societys conventions. Often paying the price of losing freedom and for some even their very lives.

They also understood that even if it was true, information like that would have to be released gradually to allow the worlds population time to grasp the changes. Releasing proof like that all at once would be devastating.

Many had held the private belief society was already being given clues to this very subject. But slowly to give it time to assimilate into mainstream thought.

Pop surveyed the men surrounding the granite table, stood up and said, "Well, we ain't gonna find out sitting here. Mount up!"

Canyon walls shook as every bike in the clearing fired up at once. Some bikes cold from sitting had popped and backfired echoeing sharp staccato shots. Sand filtered off of the mesa walls in mini avalanches. Pungent fumes of oil and fuel permeated the dry desert air.

Almost as one the riders kicked into gear and rode out single file. Heading into the Valley of the Sun.