Black Beauty Black Out with PlastiDip

He just can't help himself.

The Rattle Can King went crazy blacking out Betty.

And now he has blackened the wheels on his Marauder. Ladies and Gentleman - Black Beauty!

Brought to you by, http://www.plastidip.com/

Betty is BACK!

After nearly a month at Sweetwater Harley Service Center, Betty is finally on the open road again this morning.

I had intended to write a scathing review of the service center at Sweetwater, because it took nearly a month to fix my husband's motorcycle. But truthfully, now that we have the bike back, I don't hate them so much.

And they gave us a military discount on the parts, so we saved over $100!

I would recommend that if you choose to use Sweetwater Harley's service center, that you make every effort to be crystal clear in your expectations. And hopefully Sweetwater Harley's service center will be crystal clear in what they can accomplish.

One of My Most Favorite Photographs

An Old Photo - 1000 thoughts

I stumbled across this photo from September 2009.


Not many photos exist of me on Chris's bike.

I haven't seen a pic of me pre-pregnancy for a long time.

Hagen hasn't been around for over a year.

Chris's bike looks NOTHING like that.

A Birthday Has Passed

A year ago, Our Two-Wheeled Adventure was ramblin' down the road.

My ramblin', however, came to screeching halt when I chose to let my husband start working on turning the Rebel into a Bagger.

I did do a LOT of cross-country travels in our Nissan Frontier and by airplane.

And because I am "in the family way," my husband is pretty adamant that I stay off my motorcycle at least until the little biker is born!

And so, as my 32nd birthday came and went, I couldn't help but notice the great difference in our lives compared to the start of year 31 - most of it with Rattle Can ;).

Betty (and Chris) Nov 2009


Betty (and Chris) Nov 2010

Black Out

Betty is in what Chris is calling the "Blackout" phase.



As you can see in The Evolution of Betty post, the bike was not so black in September. Every time I turn around, he is painting something on his bike black. Let me see if I can make a complete list of everything he has painted (not necessarily in chronological order).

Right side (exhaust side):
Fork
Trees
Blinkers (Front and Rear)
Exhaust (he actually bought that black)
Heat Shields
Air cleaner cover
Strut
Rail on the rear fender
Top of the engine
And the stripe under the seat is now red.

Left side (Which I call the "B" side):
Forks
Trees
Blinkers
Horn Cover
Strut
Rail on the rear fender
Top of the engine
Belt Cover
Derby Cover (he painted black and then later added a red "B")

I think that is everything. I am sure Chris will let me know if I missed something ;)

1730 (PST) Apparently, posting a photo of Betty on the Internet is inspiration for Chris to paint something...As I type, he is painting the spokes on his front wheel...Pictures to follow...

Broussard's Bike Betty

When Chris got the 3B's bell, I thought it stood for Mrs. B, Mr. B, and Bikes. As it turns out, it stands for Broussard's Bike, Betty!

Have you seen Betty lately?

She's had some cosmetic work done recently.

Turn Up the Volume!

Chris's exhaust came in Monday



Brytin got to help him "fix" the bike :)


















He decided not to put the heat shields back on; he used exhaust wrap instead.


















Down with the baffle!

















Betty

A Street Bob: The Evolution of Betty

March 2009 - Original


April, 2009 - For his birthday, Chris got the Bare Bones seat by La Pera. He also tilted his handlebars back a smidge.


June 2009 - He removed the emblem from his tank.


July 2009 - He fabricated a side-mount plate holder so he could move his license plate from the rear fender.


Sept 2009 - He removed the reflectors in the front and rear and removed the front fender.


He still has more he wants to do, but for now, he is satisfied.

Our Bikes Chose Us

We did a LOT of research before we purchased the motorcycles we have. Our ideas and plans changed 1,000 times. Neither of us had our motorcycle endorsements yet and so test-driving was not an option, but we certainly sat on a lot of bikes. We talked to a lot of different salesmen at a lot of different stores.
I needed a bike that was low to the ground and lightweight. Chris wanted a Harley, but had heard somewhere that a Sportster was a girl bike, so Harleys were a bit out of our price range. The first bike he wanted was an HD Rocker. He likes the chopper look. Then, he found a website that sold kits to turn almost any bike into a chopper. http://www.chopper-kit-usa.com/ He spent weeks looking at those websites and pictures and talking about all the things he wanted to do.

Meanwhile, because my bike would no doubt be less expensive, we started really looking (figuring Chris could also ride it a bit to gain experience before settling on what bike he wanted). My first choice was a Honda Rebel 250. It is so lightweight, that I can kind of manhandle it if something goes awry on the road. It is so low to the ground, that I can touch both feet flat on the floor. The motor is small enough that I won’t be scared by its power and yet strong enough to keep up with bigger cruisers. Plus, they are very inexpensive.

We went to San Diego House of Motorcycles to check one out. http://www.houseofmotorcycles.com/ Convinced that I would quickly grow out of the Rebel, the salesman convinced me to sit on a Suzuki Savage, and I liked it. Chris and I went home to research our options in the 600cc range.

I very much love the look of the Yamaha VStar Classic. It looks a lot like my mom’s bike (well, it’s at least white with big fenders). The next time we went to San Diego House of Motorcycles, I sat on one…I think it’s beautiful, but it felt too big for me. At that time, I hadn’t ridden a motorcycle in over a decade, and most of my memories were of NOT enjoying the actual driving of the motorcycle – it’s scary, it’s complicated, it’s dangerous…I much preferred being a passenger.

The next bike I sat on was the Honda Shadow Aero. It was PERFECT (except for that particular bike’s paint scheme). It was not too big; it was super easy for me to maneuver. I loved it! I wanted it! We drove to a different bike shop that had an Aero for a little less – I hated it. I do not know if the handlebars were different or my mindset was different or what, but I hated the exact same bike at a different store. I cannot even remember the store’s name because I hated that Aero so much!

Chris, on the other hand, was falling in love with Yamaha’s Raider (rival to the HD rocker) at that store. I tore Chris away from the Raider and made him take me back to SDHM. I needed to know if my mind was playing tricks – did I want the Aero or not?! When we got to the store, I made a beeline for “my” Aero, and suddenly I was NOT sold on it. It felt big, awkward, I knew I was just nervous, but I did not want to buy a bike that made me nervous.

While I was hemming and hawing over the Aero, Chris found a totally custom GORGEOUS Raider. He LOVED it. I loved it. Unfortunately, used non-Harleys were more difficult for us to get financed. Ray Bilbrey, our most awesome salesman, presented Chris with two options:
1. A new glossy black (non-custom) Raider
2. A 2008 matte black Harley Dyna Street Bob
For Chris, the choice was almost instantaneous. He felt like it was destiny that there was a matte black Harley at this metric bike shop.



So, March 7, 2009, we bought a 2009 Honda Rebel and a 2008 Harley FXDB (Street Bob). We still did not have our endorsements, so the bikes were delivered the next day. It was such an awesome moment at the Broussard house when the delivery truck pulled up with our bikes on the back!





We spent the afternoon sitting on them (while Channing took photos).

The only time I’ll ever sit behind Chris (he has since removed the passenger seat from his bike).



Isn’t my bike the cutest?!!










Both of us are very happy with our final choices.