Another Coastal Washingtonian

P

psuggmog

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Hello one and all. I've been viewing this great forum for a few weeks, but waited to join on the first day of the new year. I am a kid trapped in an aging body. I've been messing around with bikes since I was six years old. At that time my dad pulled a 1920s vintage Coleson brand bicycle out of my grandma's chicken coop and said that we were going to fix it up together for me. I still remember how bad it looked covered with feathers and chicken sh*t. We took it home and completely dismantled it. This bike had a trussrod fork and a kickstand that lifted the back wheel off the ground when parked. It used 20 inch singletube tires which we couldn't replace so my dad installed semipneumatic tires instead. Those tires were very heavy with high rolling resistance. I ended up with a beautiful thirty year old bike that weighed over fifty pounds. It was really hard to peddle for a six year old kid, but I developed really strong leg muscles as a result.
That was the start of a life long interest in bicycles and motorcycles. I've been up working on bikes ever since. I made enough money fixing bicycles to buy my first vehicle(1941 Dodge military 4X4 ambulance). Since then I've done pretty much all aspects of bicycle repair including wheel and frame building. One of the things I do for income is chainsaw carving. As a result of the long hours running chainsaws, I have dismantled and fixed numerous 2stroke engines. I live on a beautiful very hilly 50 mile long island located in Puget Sound.
 
see guys? there is intelligent life up this way, after all. if i'm correct, that makes 3 of us now :p

hey, hey, psuggmog! nice to meet ya & welcome to the 'board :D

i can't wait to learn a bit more about you and the island, i'm 4 months new to the peninsula, but completely in love with it. i think it was best i didn't discover this corner 'til i was old & tired enough to really appreciate it 8)
 
got my 1st question all geared up for you. how large are those competition chainsaws?
 
welcome! we need pics of those bikes. and personally, i want to see the military dodge and your carvings!
 
Welcome!
It's great to meet you.
There's more of us up here but most of the other fellas don't really go online much...
Though for those interested, the Annual Seattle Old Bike Swap in Kent happens in March and most of these fellas show up there. It's a great way to spend the day (and wayyy too much $$$ sometimes), digging through old bikes, parts, engines, and chatting with fellow enthusiasts.
http://www.geocities.com/seattleoldbikeswap/
My friend Bob in Puyallup does phenomenal work and is a swell guy to boot. Here are some examples of his work:
http://mywilson.homestead.com/gallery97.html
Anyway, Nice to meet you and look foward to chatting!
Rif :cool:
 
I spent about 2 weeks hiking along the coast from La Push up past Ozette lake, I want to say all the way to Neah Bay, but that seems a little far....maybe not. Also been down the Hoh River Valley and over some pass I can't recall the name of right now. I absolutely love that area and am envious of y'all out there sometimes.
Welcome to the forum! I love old military (and bike) stuff and currently drive a decommisioned ambulance (it was either that or a CUCV)
Feel free to give us any pics you wanna share, bikes or not.
Interestingly enough, I just brought in a chainsaw carved Moai head to show Heath today at work; so I'd love to see what else you've got up your sleeve.
 
A question and a few answers.

I'll post bike pictures in the picture gallery soon. Where do I post the miltary truck and wood carving pictures? Augidog, the saws I run are various sizes. I use three stihls and 5 husqvarnas. The largest one is 81cc and has a 36" bar. The littlest one is a stihl018 and has a 12" bar. These saws are not the "hot saws" used to cut through a log in the shortest time possible, they are used to remove wood and leave the sculpture behind. The largest saw I own was made in the 1940s and has a 2cylinder engine. It is a museum piece. The biggest modern saw I have is a husqvarna 3120. It is 125cc and still in production. My main carving saws are husqvarna 346XPs. They have a high power-to-weight ratio and rev upto 15,500 rpms. I participated in two carving events sort of near you last summer. One was at Ocean Shores and the other at Tokeland WA. I have thought about making a chainsaw powered bike to ride around at the carving contests. The modern chainsaw motors don't visually appeal to me as much as the old skool looking stuff. I have only been to the Seattle area bike swap once, but I got a mid 1930s Raleigh basketcase girl's bike for $10. The gem of the deal was a 1935 sturmey archer type K 3speed rear hub with a built in drum brake. I got there late and all the fanatical collectors had long since picked over everything still, I got an eyefull of beautiful bikes.
 
:eek: man, that'd be like putting a blade on my back wheel and doing a lil logging...i bet the high revs make for good handling/balance tho?

(your other pics...just go ahead and mix 'em in w/your bikes in "picture gallery"...thanks for asking)
 
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