Fox Creek Blog

“I live over by Grand Rapids Michigan .. 
 
I wanted to show you a bike I built from 2 old bike frames and a $20
garage sale riding lawnmower …..
[before pic below]

 
I call it the “Farmers Chopper” – we live in a farming community
..  pretty crazy huh?”

Gary Dougherty

The “Farmers Chopper” has a Has 17.5 HP Briggs Twin and Hydrostat Tranny.  The Frame is partially made of an old bed frame and the Chrome is painted and cut out of an aluminum running board.

I want to introduce you to another friend of mine, Andy Jones.

During one of Andy’s recent rides, he found an awesome church and sent me some photos and information on the church. I was very moved and loved the article so much, I asked Andy if I could share it with you.

“Last week I took a ride out to the county of Norfolk (we pronounce it ‘nor-fuk’). It’s the part of our funny little island where I grew up. I found this stained glass window in a small church in an even smaller village called Quidenham.

The window was commissioned by American Air Force personnel who were based at a nearby bomber base in World War Two and was installed in 1944.

In the second picture you can see the church…

The ‘Yanks’ that came to Britain as allies in WW2 are still fondly remembered in Norfolk and there are many memorials around there, by old airfield gates, at crossroads and in Churches remembering them.
There used to be reunions a lot but in recent times fewer and fewer old boys have been able to make it across the big pond.”

-Andy Jones

Scottish weddings!

My buddy Brendan sent us some recent photos of himself in his Fox Creek Leather Jacket on his Honda Rune Trike (yep, per my request!):

And Brendan in a wedding photo:

I learned something new (which if you know me, really isn’t anything new) about the beautiful blue tartan in the photo that Brendan is wearing. It is called “Scottish Pride” and was made for any person to wear without an association to a specific clan or family.

By-The-Way: Congrats to the new couple - may you have long life full of love!

If you don’t remember my previous blog about my friend, Brendan, let me just refer you to his great internet radio website: Scottish Internet Radio - a variety of music genres, including traditional and modern Scottish music.

I was going to edit our birth announcement blog, but hey, it’s been 3 months.

Rylan is growing quickly and Ashley is back to work. She’s shared some gorgeous photos with us. Enjoy.

Fox Creek Leather Saddlebags

Our beautifully crafted, American made leather saddlebags are of thick (4-6 oz), top grain leather, with nylon stitching, and YKK hardware. The saddlebags hold their shape with a soft, natural look. Features and inside pocket and weather flaps over the zippered closure. The backs of the saddlebags are made of a sturdy, heavy-duty rubber and is constructed to guarantee the highest quality leather saddlebags for your motorcycle. Remember that you can always return or exchange your saddlebags if you are not completely satisfied with their fit.

Several Designs
Whether you own a Harley Davidson, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Indian or other type of motorcycle, we have saddlebags, ghostbracket mounts, and motorcycle accessories to fit your bike. Our saddlebags come in classic (or plain) style, studded, or full dressed (which includes fringe and conchos). Any style is available with or without the leather yoke. We also have a zip off option for our yoked bags.

GhostBracket Mounting Combinations

To mount your Fox Creek Leather Saddlebags to your motorcycle, we recommend and carry the GhostBracket mounting systems. The GhostBrackets gives you a convenient quick-release bracket and also the security of their patented key locking design. You can hardly see the mounting pegs when your saddlebags are off your motorcycle. The ghostbrackets are mounted to the rubber backing of the saddlebags. With the key lock system, you simply turn your key to lock the ghostbrackets to your bike and you are on your way. The ghostbrackets have an amazing design, amazing price, and are simply an amazing product.

We save you time by providing specific GhostBracket fitting information, not just measurements. Simply choose your motorcycle from the menu to see what ghostbrackets you need for your bike. This page also gives you additional needed information, such as if you will need to relocate your lights or if an adapter kit is needed for your bike due to removable backrests.

As always, feel free to e-mail us or call us with questions or concerns.

A couple of customers have asked us about their gloves “bleeding” dye. This usually happens when the gloves are new and have been worn in a down pour of rain.

This is what I have learned about bleeding leather:

It is not uncommon for leather dye to “bleed” especially if the item is not dyed with the drum-dye process. Leather dyes will bleed from the material if the garment gets wet. This bleeding is normal and will occur only for a short period of time.

The dye will not hurt the garment, and usually washes off the skin with soap and water. Wiping the garment down with a leather oil soap and then a dry rag may help extract some of the dye.

We have had a couple of pair of Lee Park’s Gloves bleed. What Lee recommends is for you to hand wash his gloves with Woolite. Then (like any leather) you want to let them air dry away from a heat source (and out of direct sunlight).

If you have any questions regarding your leathers, we recommend contacting the manufacturer for their specific bleeding leather treatments and recommendations.

“Soon-To-Be-Momma Ashley” is now the proud mother of a beautiful baby girl named Rylan Jade Conklin.

Baby Rylan was born at 7:20pm on Monday, February 20th. She weighed in at 7 lbs and 2 ozs and was 18 1/2″ long.

Congratulations to the Conklin family.

Scarlett

By the way guys, guess who won the FCL Office Baby Pool….Yep ’twas me.
;)

There is nothing better than the feel of a broken in leather jacket (or chaps, or vest, or…). This is the fit and feel we work hard to achieve her at Fox Creek Leather.

On occasion the standard jacket doesn’t fit a customer. In this instance we can look into special ordering a jacket for that customized fit. We can alter the length of the body and/or sleeves, delete or add common features, or make a combination sized jacket. As long as we don’t have to alter the pattern, we can attempt to accommodate just about any request.

To order, we have developed a trial size policy to help ensure that our customers get the best possible fit when ordering custom items. We started this process due to the fact that custom orders cannot be exchanged or returned. Instead, we like to send you an item that we regularly keep in stock for “trial sizing.”

We like to get a good fit the first time, and to do this we ask for specific measurements. Once we have those measurements, we would recommend a size. We would charge for the stock item and get it shipped right out to you.

Once you get the item, give us a call. We can then talk about the fit and you can determine what alterations you would need. (Any measurement given needs to be exact.) If you are not sure of the fit, try sitting on your bike to get a sense of how the item feels and the extent of the alterations needed. While on the telephone with you, we will place your special order. It generally takes 3-6 weeks to make and get shipped out to you.

Last, but not least, you just return the trial size item with the prepaid return label. We keep the original charge on your credit card and will on the box and ship your trial item back to us. Once your special order item is ready, we only charge you for the additional alteration fees. If you provided us with an e-mail address, you will receive the tracking number from UPS when it is shipped.

I just wanted to quickly share with you the funniest clip ever.

(Be forewarned: The clip is a beer advertisement.)

So here is a special thank you to John Brown for taking the time to read my blogs and share some fun with us.

There has been a lot of laughs in the office over the Fox Hat. Enjoy.

“Fox Hat” - Size: 370KB
(Download: Right-click, Save-As)

One of the things that people really seem to like is having photos of us on the website. I’ve had customers say, “I’m looking at you right now! You are in the red, right?!” I want to say no because it is such a terrible photo.

Okay, quick funny story: A customer e-mailed once asking me which one I was. I told him that I was the one laying down in the front. (With much humor intended, we got a laugh out of that.)

Seriously, I really don’t look like I did before. Hopefully next year I will look even better (keep wishing in one hand).

We are working on getting an updated photo posted on the website itself, so bear with us. Until then, Tammy was nice enough to take some photos when she was photographing us for the upcoming contest.

So, for my Texan friend Gary, these are for you. Enjoy.

This was us then:

(Back left to right: Paul, Chippy, Scarlett, Melinda, Bernie, Lisa. Front: Eddie with Cleo)

This is us now:

(Back left to right: Tammy, Ashley, Melinda, Paul, Chippy, Kevin. Front: Scarlett)