Bad Ass Suggestions On Surpassing Procrastination
The Old Bike Barn has started up a site geared toward the small biz/home motorcycle builders called The Greasy Dozen .
They’ve had a number of business offer to become sponsors with the
intent of providing ‘parts, paint, fab work, tech support for noobs’.
They will be sponsoring 12 bike in all; ’4 Cafe Racers, 4 Bobber, 4
choppers (one first time builder per category)’ . I’m gonna go for it
and attempt to get sponsored. Here’s hoping!
Anyway, the following is quoted from their post called ‘Killing The
Procrastination Demon’, which I found to be incredibly bad ass.
1. Make your project public, tell friends about it, ask for help and let your plan be known, nothing puts a fire under my ass better than saying I’m gona do something and having to live up to it. Start a thread, a blog, chronicle it on Facebook what ever it is just make sure you’re accountable to more than your self for the progress.
2. Don’t make excuses. Over the years I have found a laundry list of excuses why I didn’t complete a project over the winter. The fact is most of the excuses I have made are bullshit. I don’t have the money (I have seen plenty of $500 choppers that were cool), I don’t have the time (make it), I don’t have the skill (learn it or get help)… I’m at least 50% computer geek but I manage to figure things out when I decide to. Skinned knuckles heal and they make girly computer hands stronger. I have found none of the excuses most of us make hold water… when it comes to bike building you simply have to want it bad enough and commit.
3. Make A Move! It’s easy really, you can start right now… get out a pen and paper write some shit down, set you goals and your budget. It’s the first step and it gets you past the day dreaming point. Far too often people don’t realize how cheap it can be to resurrect and old bike or update their daily driver, but it takes figuring out what you want to do. Set some deadlines and make this a priority. The one irreplaceable commodity in life is time and if you don’t build now when will you.
4. Plan Ahead. Some of the obvious things that need to be considered: The parts you will need, the tools and of course the space to do it in. Now I know this all sounds kind of no-brainer, but how often do we PLAN UNTIL SPRING and not get the project done. Be mindful of the fact that it’s truly amazing what you can do with only a few solid weekends of work. Sometimes just getting a bike back in the wind is a good starting point. How many of you have a non-runner kicking around?
5. Always Have A Dedicated Area. Even if it’s very small, one too many bikes never see the road again because someone moved a box of parts and the wife or kids put it at the curb. Make it clear to people that you are working on something important to you and not to mess about in that part of the garage, basement, or living room (A special wife is required on that last one).
For me turning wrenches is 50% of being a biker simply riding one does not give you that title. Whether it’s a simple make over or a full on build does not matter, but turning wrenches does. I promise you won’t regret following through.
Just don’t get caught planning until spring! BUILT NOT BOUGHT it’s the only way to fly!
