Early twin carb Knuck in VL Frame

Early twin carb Knuck in VL Frame
This is a fine example of KNUCKIN FUTTY! An early Bonneville Lakester sportin' a dual carb Knuck in a VL frame!! Gotta Love It!!!!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Fuel. fuel everywhere but not a drop to drink........well maybe :)


Fire..... the #1 thing that took us out of the stone age and a prime necessity for survival today.

I have always been a fan of redundant options. Always on a bare bones budget, I have often felt that adding options is better than putting all your eggs in one basket. At first this may not make sense, but bare with me, at a minimum you may walk away with something to think about. In this post I'm focusing on fuel for cooking, heating, and lighting in down times.

With that in mind and depending on where you are, you have Natural Gas, Propane, Fuel Oil, Kerosene, Gasoline, Diesel, Alcohol, and Wood. All of those fuels can cook food, light a room, heat a room, etc. Some do it much better than others, but in a grid down situation you need to consider them all and probably have a few redundant options. I obviously will use natural gas to cook with and heat my home as long as it is available. It's clean, extremely easy, and reasonably priced compared to other fuels. But with a disruption in service, now what?

Kerosene-

Prior to my move, I was in the process of putting together a collection of Kerosene powered items, and stock piling some Kerosene. During my move I got a bit side tracked and I stopped prepping almost altogether because I had more important things to tend to. Well, I'm starting to get caught up and things where I want them, so I'm slowly getting back into the prepper mode. Kerosene was always my A#1 choice for a back up fuel.

Why Kerosene? Well first and foremost, if stored properly, it lasts forever. A very Close second would be the ability of most kerosene appliances to burn things other than K1. Third, it has some decent btu's.

As most of you know, K1 Kerosene is essentially a more refined diesel fuel. It is also a less refined version of Jet A Fuel. Between K1 and Diesel, you have Home Heating Oil, or as we call it around here, Fuel Oil. In a pinch, a Kerosene appliance will run on any of those fuels. If you have to resort to diesel fuel, add some alcohol to the mix in order to get a cleaner burn, especially if you are using it in something that uses a wick. Low odor mineral spirits also works well as a substitute and may even be cheaper when bought in bulk. You could also use Bio Fuel to run them if you wanted to go through the effort.

Back in the spring of 2008 or 9, I stumbled on to a Kerosene Heater on sale at my local Menards. They were getting ready for the spring season and had it marked down to $80. The box said 24,000btu's and that it would heat a 900sq ft area, perfect, that was the size of my house. So I bought it and two blue 5 gallon fuel cans. Went to the only station that I know of that has K1 in the area... and had a heart attack and filled only one can. Had to wait until my next pay check to fill the other LOL!

Right then, I knew this wouldn't be a cheap alternative to wood heat or even Natural Gas, BUT I was interested in seeing how it would perform in an emergency. So several months later, in the dead of winter I dragged out the heater and tested it out. Much to may amazement, it functioned 100% as advertised. It kept the house a comfy 65 degrees (3degrees warmer than I normally keep it) and the fuel (just under 2 gallons) lasted for 12 hours. I did this several times just to make sure the performance was repeatable. A side bonus to the use of the heater was a fair amount of light that it creates.

Another Kerosene appliance that is good to have would be a Kerosene Stove. Kerosene stoves have been around forever and if you dine in the finest of third world country restaurants you have a good chance of eating food cooked on them. These are simple wick based stoves, the more wicks the more btu's. They are built to handle the weight of a water bath canner without issues, and well insulated ovens are available the fit right on top for baking. They burn approx 1 pint of fuel per hour.

Kerosene lighting is also easily accomplished. From simple and inexpensive wick lanterns and lamps, to more expensive pressurized lanterns that put out tons of candlepower.

Propane-

I used to despise propane. I never cared for propane camping accessories and I still feel it has a lot of draw backs, primarily availability in a SHTF situation. BUT, it has some good things to consider. Clean and easy are the first things that come to mind, and during good times it's readily available. I currently have (6) 20lb tanks, all except one were acquired by garbage picking and then exchanging them for a nice clean and full tank. I also have (4)100lb tanks that are full waiting for a rainy day. Thankfully, propane also has a shelf life of approximately forever + 1 day.

Do to my days of camping at Appleseeds, I picked up a couple of propane stoves. The first simply screwed on the top of a bottle. Not my favorite at all, but it cooked a lot of breakfast and made a lot of coffee in it's day. I then upgraded to a 2 burner Coleman camp stove which is a lot nicer to use. I also have a high output propane burner that came with my turkey fryer. The stand for that is obviously stout enough for a large pot full of oil and a turkey, so handling a waterbath or pressure canner is no issue.

When it comes to heat, propane is very easy to deal with. There are many types of heaters available with btu ranges from heating a small tent to a small house with everything in between. These heaters can be quite small and portable as well.

For lighting, you can go the camping lantern route, though you will go through a fair amount of propane and they are a bit noisy.

Alcohol-

Alcohol stoves can be a real pain in the.... But they are out there and if you look in the marine world, you can find some quality stoves that will handle all your needs, but they can be pricey. What I do like about Alcohol stoves and heaters is the renewable resource of alcohol.

While distilled alcohol would best be suited for your internal combustion needs or liver therapy first, it is a viable back up source of cooking and heat if you are going through the trouble of running a still in the first place.

Wood-

Wood is great and if your lucky free. It does add to the chore list and is a bit dirtier than the above examples, but when it comes to heating a house, it's hard to beat wood. If you choose (or build) your wood stove wisely, it will have a nice flat top so that you can cook as well. But wood does have draw backs.

The most obvious is that it is labor intensive. This is fine if your fit enough to get it done, but cutting, hauling, and splitting wood is a work out. I know this because the last 4 years we lived in the old house, we heated almost exclusively with wood, with a non-electric back up gas heater only used for back up. Depending on the quality of the wood, your labor can drastically increase. Soft woods burn up quick and creates a lot of ash. Pine or spruce will have you cleaning the chimney 10X as often.

Another draw back with wood is cooking with it in the summer because you will really heat the house up. Then you have the smoke, personally I like the smell of wood smoke, but in a post SHTF situation it may be a “dinner bell” for those who didn't bother to prepare for themselves.

Conclusion-

I hope that left you with some food for thought. I have redundant options for emergency cooking and heating so that all the bases are covered. I'm using Kerosene, Propane, and Wood as my back up sources and will use them as the situation dictates. If I was locked onto 1 fuel source, that would limit my options on resupply sources, so I would have to stock pile that much more. The following is a list of links for further information on the subject.....

Links-






Monday, January 2, 2012

Vintage Motorcycle Drag Bike Nationals to be held at Eddyville Raceway Park.

Shamlessly stolen from St. Lee and his blog Knucklehead Theology for the Revival of the sport!
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Vintage Drag Press Release


Wayne, head honcho over at the NVMDRA recently sent this press release my way. Looks like a great venue and one to put on your schedule for next summer. As for "The Knuckledragger" and me, all I can say is "God willing, we'll be there!



Vintage Motorcycle Drag Bike Nationals to be held at Eddyville Raceway Park.


Eddyville Raceway Park an 1/8th mile drag strip at Eddyville, Iowa will have an all motorcycle event on Saturday, August 25, 2012. This event will be called Motorcycle Mania. This event will include a double header race for Eddyville`s Pro Bike class, a Street Bike class, and other classes TBD. The track was contacted by Wayne Skinner of the National Vintage Motorcycle Drag Racing Association about an event for vintage drag bikes. This race for vintage drag bikes has been added to the Motorcycle Mania event. There also will be a charity motorcycle ride from various places ending at the track. The charity ride will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.Gerald Kramer, co-owner and general manager of ERP was a motorcycle drag racer for 20 years and is super excited about having the vintage drag bike event. He started racing bikes in 1968 at Eddyville and in the 70`s & 80`s raced at IDBA and Dragbike all bike national events in sportsman classes including events at Bowling Green, KY.

Gerald feels that there is a potential for this to become a very big event but will take time to grow. Wayne has laid the ground work to promote the vintage bikes and hopefully together we can grow this type of event. We are going to need the support of guys out there with the old drag bikes looking for a place to play or just display if not race ready. This event is all about having fun not about racing for big money! The persons working on the charity ride also hope to make that an annual event and if we get some cool bikes for them to see it will also grow.

Eddyville Raceway Park is located about 60 miles S.E. of Des Moines, Iowa right off of Hwy 63/163 a four lane road and is easy to get to from all directions. It is a nice 1/8 mile facility with a state of the art Musco lighting system, clean restrooms, showers, good race track, plenty of parking, and a friendly staff.

We are still working on details of the event such as times, entry fees, classes, payouts, etc.There will be a test and tune on Friday night and Sunday will be a raindate. Gerald can be reached by email at manager@eddyvilleraceway.com or cell # 641-780-3534.

AMA Pro Racing Announces 2012 Schedule for AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship

AMA Proracing News

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (December 21, 2011) - AMA Pro Racing is pleased to announce the 2012
AMA Pro Flat Track schedule. The 19-round 2012 AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com schedule has 16 confirmed dates and three additional events in final negotiations.

Of the 16 confirmed events, the fire-breathing Grand National Twins will appear 10 times, which includes five half-mile and five mile tracks, and the 450cc Grand National Singles will be featured in three TT and three short track events. Every event on the 2012 calendar will also feature the Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles class, which debuted in 2009 and showcases the future stars of AMA Pro Flat Track piloting 450cc single-cylinder machines.

Once again the season will kick off with the traditional Bike Week doubleheader on March 15th and 16th, 2012 at the DAYTONA Flat Track, which is located just outside of Turns 1 and 2 at the mighty Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. In the 2011 contest, Grand National Championship title contender Sammy Halbert swept the mid-week openers in dramatic fashion.

In the world of flat track racing, Memorial Day Weekend and the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Ill. go hand in hand. May 26th, 2012 finds the Series at the Rodeo Arena for a TT race that serves to whet the appetite for the first "big bike" race of 2012, scheduled for the next day, May 27th, 2012. The Springfield Mile is one of the most coveted wins on the circuit and is one of the most highly-contested races each year.

Next up for the Series is a to-be-announced event scheduled for June 9th, 2012, with the series moving on to the first "cushion" race at the Allen County Fairgrounds in Lima, Ohio three weeks later on June 30th, 2012. The 2011 season saw the return of pea gravel to the Lima half-mile oval and the return of the sideways, rooster-tail shooting action.

The Series heads farther East on July 7th as Hagerstown, Md.'s Hagerstown Speedway hosts the only round on the east coast that features what is typically a very smooth, and very fast, half-mile track. Many consider this venue the "home track" for defending Grand National Champion Jake Johnson, and the New Jersey native will surely be looking to repeat his 2009 victory.

I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich. returns to the series calendar on July 14th, 2012 with its always action-packed half-mile circuit, before the Series moves to the west coast on July 28th, 2012 for the Sacramento Mile at Cal-Expo in Sacramento, Calif., the highly-successful Bob Bellino-promoted event run alongside the California State Fair.

A drive up the coast will find the AMA Pro Flat Track stars back on their 450cc singles at the Castle Rock Race Park TT in Castle Rock, Wash. on August 4th, 2012. Next up is another TT, and the granddaddy of them all, scheduled for one week later at Peoria Race Park in Peoria, Ill. on August 12th, 2012. The Peoria TT has been a staple on the Grand National circuit since 1947 and still packs the hillsides with spectators eager to watch the high-flying singles take to the track.

The Indy Mile at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Ind., returns to the 2012 schedule on August 18th, 2012 and the event will once again coincide with both the Indiana State Fair and MotoGP's state-side return for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Labor Day Weekend means a return to the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Ill. for a Short Track and another Mile, scheduled for September 1st and 2nd, 2012, respectively.

September 8th, 2012 will mark the return of the Series to Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. The 2011 event saw one of the closest finishes in the AMA Pro Flat Track's long and storied history and all signs indicate that next year's race will be just as close.

Details about an event scheduled for September 15th, 2012 will be released soon; following that race the Series will head to the Santa Rosa Mile at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, Calif. on September 30th, 2012. The last time a Grand National was held at the beautiful fairgrounds was in 1970, which saw Jim Rice win the contest on a BSA.

The last to-be-announced event on the schedule is will be held on October 6th, 2012 before the 2012 AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com schedule comes to a close on October 13th, 2012 on the half-mile track at the LA County Fairplex in Pomona, Calif.

Complete 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Schedule:

March 15, 2012
Daytona Flat Track I
Daytona Flat Track, Daytona Beach, Fla.
Short Track

March 16, 2012
Daytona Flat Track II
Daytona Flat Track, Daytona Beach, Fla.
Short Track

May 26, 2012
Springfield TT
Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill.
TT

May 27, 2012
Springfield Mile
Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill.
Mile

June 9, 2012
TBA

June 30, 2012
Lima Half-Mile
Allen County Fairgrounds, Lima, Ohio
Half Mile

July 7, 2012
Hagerstown, Half-Mile
Hagerstown Speedway, Md.
Half Mile

July 14, 2012
I-96 Half-Mile
I-96 Speedway, Lake Odessa, Mich.
Half Mile

July 28, 2012
Sacramento Mile
Cal Expo, Sacramento, Cailf.
Mile

August 4, 2012
Castle Rock TT
Castle Rock Race Park, Castle Rock, Wash.
TT

August 12, 2012
Peoria TT
PMC Race Park, Peoria, Ill.
TT

August 18, 2012
Indy Mile
Indiana State Fairground, Indianapolis, Ind.
Mile

September 1, 2012
Springfield Short Track
Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill.
Short Track

September 2, 2012
Springfield Mile II
Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill.
Mile

September 8, 2012
Knoxville Half-Mile
Knoxville Raceway,Knoxville, Iowa
Half Mile

September 15, 2012
TBA

September 30, 2012
Santa Rosa Mile
Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Mile

October 6, 2012
TBA

October 13, 2012
Flat Track Finale
LA County Fairplex, Pomona, Calif.
Half Mile