Our Motorcycle adventures

Where Harleys started, back in 1903!

1894 Steam powered cycle

1934 Harley "V" twin. I have one of these!

Ham on a HOG!

1906 Harley Davidson single cylinder

What my wife wishes I would ride

You may already know that I am an Amateur Radio (Ham) Operator. Marsha and I belong to a group known as "Hams on Hogs",
and another group known as "MARC" motorcycling Amateur Radio Club. Here are a few pictures:

1894 Steam powered cycle

Marsha, and her Harley

1996 HD and hack.

A little cutie in Honduras, riding a Honda. Look at the condition of this thing. Immaculate, and I think it is several years old.

Uncle Elvis Elliot

Norm and Paul "eating Cajun"!

Mom's house in Cushman, ARK.

Paul "Ice racing". Yes it is on a frozen lake, and yes, it really is racing!

Paul and Zac, ready to ride! in 1999

"Hang on PAPA", said Zac in 2003

This is the "touring" camp trailer, that we used for several years.

Well we are off to explore the world!

Photo 4. The IC-706 control head

A little cutie in Honduras, riding a Honda. Look at the condition of this thing. Immaculate, and I think it is several years old.

Below is the story of how I mounted an Amateur radio on the Harley.

Some time back, Roger asked for pictures and articles
for a story he was involved with. I resolved to photograph
my setup, and write about it, for him. Typical of myself,
I was a little behind with the project (I am just now
getting to it, and Rogers article has long ago been printed)
as with many other projects, time seems to get away from me.
OK My radio setup on my present Harley.
I some times use an IC-706, and some times I use an IC-2700.
Some one recently asked me how I could change the radio
so quickly. So here is the story:
I made a bracket to hold the IC-2700 control panel and
mounted it on the "hinged" door to the regular AM-FM radio. 
This bracket was made very simply and of aluminum.
The control head snaps into it, and stays very securely.
Difficult to see in the photo, but the edges are slightly 
dovetailed.to grip the control head.
See photo 1.  This is the bracket.
See photo 2.  This is how it looks w/control head mounted.
Then I made an adapter that was a piece of Aluminum that
would fit in place of the control head for the IC-2700.
See photo 3.
I fastened the IC-706 control head bracket to this piece of
aluminum. Like above, it is difficult to see in the photo, but 
the edges are slightly dovetailed to Assist in holding the 
control head solid, in the IC-2700 bracket.
Photo 4, here is control head mounted in the bracket that I made
If you are familiar with Harleys, you will notice that the
AM-FM frequency and the clock are still visible. (well they 
would be, if they were turned on)
Photo 5. shows that you can still access the 
AM-FM radio.  Many years ago, I bought an Icom IC-22A. 
(actually, I bought 3 of them!) They came
with a "clam-shell" type of bracket. I had wired up
that IC-22 radio for remote control, but it was much harder
to do, than the present day offerings are.  On that setup, 
every wire from the front panel had to be extended to reach 
the home made control head!
Here is a photo of the clam shell bracket opened up.
See photo 6.
I cut the small ears off of the one side.
Then I drilled two holes and used screws to mount it
flat against the front edge of the Harley Tour Pak.
Here is a photo of the clam shell bracket installed.
See photo 7.
Photo 8, here is of radio mount bracket in tour pack,
mounted. With radio in place.
The leather pouch, was standard Harley issue.
I use it to keep registration papers, MARC bulletins, etc. in.
See photo 8.
These two radios use different remote cables, so I ran
one cable for each radio. The one NOT in use gets tucked
into the wire bundle, out of the way.
When you do not wish to use the headset for what ever reason,
I discovered that using a regular speaker, just did not work
very well. There was not enough volume control.
So, off to Radio Shack, to buy an amplified speaker.
This Photo is of the Radio Shack speaker.
See photo 9.
The very first thing I did, was to take the speaker enclosure
apart, and modify a few things. Such as adding a switch that
switches between speaker and microphone, and helmet
head set. Then I added a connector to plug that headset into
The microphone input connectors for the two radios have
different pin outs, so I added another switch to accommodate
that.I wrapped the speaker in cellophane, to help protect it
from wet weather, then I reassembled the speaker into the case.
Final Speaker mod. (for now!)
Later I added an outside switch, to control the screw driver antenna.
The transmit switch, is in a small enclosure that I used
epoxy to Fasten to the left hand turn signal housing.
I know that Ray likes larger buttons, but I wanted a
small button that was not noticeable. Some times I need to 
leave the machine un attended, and I do not want some idiot 
pushing the transmit button,causing havoc on the HAM bands.
See photo 10.
This photo is of the antenna mount that I made.
See photo 11.
I machined it from a solid piece of Aluminum. Then I
fitted a Piece of Stainless steel, for a short mast, in an
attempt to raise the RF above my head level. Then I
welded the antenna mount on top of the mast.
Photo 12, Is of a 2 meter antenna, on the motorcycle, the Maldol.
This thing is actually taller than the peak of my garage!
It doesn't show well in this photo, but the tip is about 3
inches higher than my garage roof peak
Photo 13, Is of my HF antenna, a little Tarheal,screw driver antenna.

Yes I know, I should have taken the time to dress the wires 
up neat, but that would have cut into my riding time!
Below is a photo of the complete vehicle.
All ready to go for a ride!
See photo 14
The Boat in the back ground also has a complete
Ham radio setup, as well as a Marine radio,
but that is another story.
And now, I must go replace all my gear that is kept in
the motorcycle tour pack. In order to photograph
every thing, it all had to be removed. Rain gear,
survival gear, flashlight, Scarves, gloves, first aid kit,
magazine to read while I am waiting for Marsha to
get ready to go etc.  I hope you enjoyed this story.  73, Paul K9PEP