Our New Email Look should be easier to read and more helpful!

A while ago (a year – more?) we updated our website. Now, we’ve taken it one step further and updated our email look. We’re pretty excited about it and hope you are too! We’ve formatted all the content we usually include to be easier to locate and read. With buttons that go out to our website, we hope you will enjoy reading our newsletter and other emails. We may tweak it a little as we get more feedback on it from you, but in the mean time: open, read, click, enjoy!

For the other love in your life: 15% off parts for your customizing needs, including handlebars and lighting.

What a journey it was starting out at 5 am slipping and sliding around on the icy roads on the cold January morning.  We knew it would be a long hall and decided to break up the time with a little site seeing.  Our first stop was Nashville, TN to check out Antique Archaeology (American Pickers Nashville, yea one of my TV shows).  We thought the old Marathon Motor Car building that Antique Archaeology is in was very cool.  They manufactured cars for less than a year in 1914 and continued making parts until 1918.  Back on the road we headed south thru Chattanooga into Atlanta where we missed the outer loop putting us thru the heart of Atlanta in the middle of rush hour on Friday night.  NOT a good move on our part.  After that mess we picked up 475 around Macon which gained us some time.  We traveled on to Ashburn Georgia where we spent the night.  Thought we were off the road at last, however, as we got off the ramp to our motel the state police had a sobriety check point set up only half a block away from our motel.   Being tired and a bit slap happy we had a little fun messing with the young troopers, but not disrespectful.  Doug mentioned that the troopers were so young looking and wondering where they had hidden they’re Big Wheels.  Lucky we didn’t tased!

After a good nights sleep, we headed over to Hurricane Cargo Trailers in Fitzgerald Georgia to pick up the trailer.  It did not go completely smoothly as I did not realize that we would have to take off the spoiler wing.  Luckily they had the tools that we needed to remove it.  Even with the proper tools it took a little cussing, fussing and sweat to remove the spoiler wing not to mention fishing the long ½” bolts from between the cab and bed that slipped out of hands.  Once this was accomplished we got the 38 foot trailer hooked up, paid for and down the road we went!

On the way back we decided to spend the night near Lynchburg Tennessee. Why Lynchburg you ask?  Why to tour the Jack Daniel’s Distillery of course!  If you are going to take a road trip you have to look for interesting stops along the way.  After the tour we started our 8 hour drive back home.   Thank goodness the temperatures had bounced back up and we had no severe weather on the way back.  All and all it was an interesting road trip to go and pick up my new toy!

One thing that has impressed me just as much as the quality of service work, which is very important, is their passion for people.  They take time to really help you find anything you are looking for and make sure it’s exactly what you want.  I am the director for HonorBound M/M in this area and for the last couple of years the gang from Chariots of Fire has been a great support.  Every year they team up with us for our annual bike blessing in downtown Troy, which drew over 500 bikes this year.  This wouldn’t have been possible without them.  They also do many other things throughout the year such as charity rides for camps and kids all over our area, Memorial runs for fallen brothers and sisters.  Some of the great times are on their weekly dinner rides throughout the area, and so many more things.

That all being said, I would recommend Chariots of Fire Customs LLC for any of your bike needs.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a Metric or V-twin they got you covered.  And who knows maybe our roads may cross there someday, and till then I pray you remain up right and ride safe.

One thing that has impressed me just as much as the quality of service work, which is very important, is their passion for people.  They take time to really help you find anything you are looking for and make sure it’s exactly what you want.  I am the director for HonorBound M/M in this area and for the last couple of years the gang from Chariots of Fire has been a great support.  Every year they team up with us for our annual bike blessing in downtown Troy, which drew over 500 bikes this year.  This wouldn’t have been possible without them.  They also do many other things throughout the year such as charity rides for camps and kids all over our area, Memorial runs for fallen brothers and sisters.  Some of the great times are on their weekly dinner rides throughout the area, and so many more things.

That all being said, I would recommend Chariots of Fire Customs LLC for any of your bike needs.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a Metric or V-twin they got you covered.  And who knows maybe our roads may cross there someday, and till then I pray you remain up right and ride safe.

As you are busy hopping from one task to the next, one party to the next, one shopping trip to the next . . . take time to smell the cookies!  Enjoy the look on a child’s face as they open up their presents.  Remember, it’s the little things in life.  Smile, relax, enjoy the season.  I know I will.

I know everyone is looking back at this past year, and saying, “Gee I didn’t get stuck on the side of the road even once.” Well don’t worry I can help get you there. First step is to stop caring about your bike. This means no washing, checking tire pressure, or oil levels. Also, if you have the habit of taking pride in things, you’re gonna want to quit that, or you’ll overdo it and it won’t seem genuine. Remember, your letting it go to get dirty on its own, not by smearing it with mud.  Don’t cheat and you’ll feel more successful in the long run.  Just ride and the dirt will come. Second step is to not service your bike. Remember oil has lasted 1000′s of years underground, it will be fine.  Once again after this step, you just ride. Some of you are like “O yea Jake like that’s gonna work,” saying “I’ve been running my bike for the past year like that and it hasn’t quit on me yet!” Well don’t worry we’re not to the end yet. Next we’re gonna have you: tune your own carb. or fuel injection, drill holes in your exhaust, wire in your own accessory lights, and fix any rattle or squeak with bailing wire!  Once this is done your gonna start doing burn outs and launching the bike.  This may seem exciting, and even get you in the racing mood, but remember, if you have properly done the steps up till now your bike should be a jigsaw puzzle of bailing wire and duck tape. So actual racing is frowned apon.  Remember, were not looking for speed,  just breakage.

This should pretty well do it. Now we’re finally on the side of the road!  Remember bright clothing may help show off your success, but it also makes you way too visible. How are you going to struggle if everyone can see you?  They might want to help out… This is not good.  In these situations, it’s best to anger easily, and have an aggressive nature.  Lastly always, and I mean always remember to bring with you only two tools.  This will help give you the appearance of progress, when really your going no where! Vise grips and a hammer are recommended, but any two tools will do.   If this hasn’t helped you get stuck on the side of the road,  remember you can always just ride till the gas runs out!  For more useful tips on how to break things, stop by our shop, and talk to me in person!

The classes we competed in were S/G (super gas), S/E (super eliminator), and E/T (estimated time).  As of the writing of this article, Jake placed 18^th in S/G out of 40 competitors and 49^th in E/T out of 60 competitors.  S/E was a non point class.  Not bad the first year out huh?

Our success drag racing can be traced back to many individuals.  Special thanks to Pastor Terry Burke for his spiritual guidance and technical experience;  fellow racer, David Hembeck for his technical advice;  Rich & Ray Vreeland of Vreeland Harley Davidson out of Bloomsburg, PA for their hospitality, technical advice, and racing pointers for Jake; James McCloud for his welding expertise and structural technical assistance; our race team Jake Knobbe, Jan Knobbe, Doug Dillon, and Jim Childers.  We would  like to thank our customers, friends, and family for their support and good wishes.

We are also very thankful for all of our sponsors:  Dennis Martin – Thunder Roads Magazine, MO S.IL;  Julie Roeder – Thunder Roads Magazine, Ohio;  Ultima Products; David Kessler – State Farm Insurance;  Todd Gilliam – Terry’s Machine Shop;  William Cheesseman & Craig Lazzaro – Steel Point Guns;  Mike Burke – Cherry Street Bar & Grill;  Bob Lowe – Ink Master’s Tattoos;  Doug Sauer – Full Contact Fitness & MMA; Hershel – Hershel’s Signs and Graphics; Koby – KCL Creations; Paul York – Thompson Choppers;  Jay Brake;  Baker Drivetrain.  Any businesses interested in sponsoring us next year are welcome to call Jan at 636-356-9015 or e-mail him at janknobbe@gmail.com.

Let’s not forget that the sun goes down earlier every night and we should have a few items with us in case we are out later than we planned.   A pair of night glasses, a light jacket or sweatshirt, a pair of gloves, something to put on to keep us warm if the temperature drops down.  We don’t need the distraction of being cold while driving a motorcycle in the early evening with all the other obstacles out there for us to be looking for.

The other thing that we need to remember is that as the temperature drops, animals start moving more in the evening and early night hours.  It looks to me as if there are a lot more dead nocturnal animals on the road ways this year.  We also seem to have an abundance of squirrels with which, if you are not paying attention, could surprise you and could cause a bad choice of maneuvering on the bike to try to avoid them.   Small animals can be just as deadly as a deer or a cow.

Remember, we are responsible for our own safety.  That animals do not know any better and, although the guy in the car or truck knows better, they are often not looking out for us.  We have to look out for them.  We know that there are lots of dummies out there texting while driving, trying to read and drive totally distracted and not looking for a motorcycle. Like I said before, we are the ones responsible for our own safety.