'The Lamonster Chronicles'

[BajaRon]

#1 - My Longtime Friend
As you probably know, I went to visit Lamont a few weeks ago. It was a great time of seeing an old friend, and I posted a short description here. https://spyderlovers.com/threads/a-day-with-lamont.165107/

I just returned late last night from a week at the Maggie Valley event with Value Accessories, Trick LED, and other vendors. We had a great time meeting and seeing familiar faces along with many that I have never met in person before. Several asked about Lamont and thanked me for posting here about our time together on that Friday in September.

As you can imagine, I’ve been thinking a lot about my good friend, the great times we’ve had together, and what I might be able to do for him. And I don’t find myself coming up with many options. So, I thought what I might do is try to describe the man that I wish all of you could know as well as I do. I’m calling it ‘The Lamonster Chronicles’, for lack of a better term. This being the first installment.

Talking to Lamont in our recent visit, I think we decided that we met in the early 80’s. Though dates escape me, I remember my first sighting of Lamont well. I was sitting in a pew at our church in San Diego when he walked in and sat just in front and to the left of me. He was all ‘Biker’ decked out. Leathers, boots, and his classic biker wallet. The long leather kind, a flap running the length of it, fastened with 2 snaps and a long chrome (or stainless steel) chain running from one corner and hooked to his belt. He may also have had his signature red bandana around his neck. That detail I am not sure of.

At the time, I thought he was as out of place there in our Baptist church as anyone could be. But then realized that seeking God has no limits or protocols. And since Jesus Christ places no restrictions on seeking Him, then who was I to judge. (John 7:24)

Little did I know, or could possibly comprehend, what the appearance of this man would mean to me, my wife, and my 2 sons. A person who I was later to learn was the man, Lamont Bryden.

He came that day of his own free will, looking for Jesus Christ to change his life, (which He did). Then the Lord used him to change mine.

 

[blacklightning]

Haven’t known him as long as you, but I can honestly say that the few times that I have met him, it was a joy. I learned of him back in 2006 with his M109 day. We kinda ran in the same circles, but I didn’t get to meet him in person until 2015. We happened just by chance to both be staying in the same hotel in Maggie Valley. I had a 2014 RT then. He was on his F3S with the Corbin bags. We talked and I told him how incompetent the Spyder dealership was near me and how they didn’t allow me a test drive. He laughed and said ,”here you go” and gave me the key to take out his F3S. He said, I know how we both liked the M109 and its power, so push this one and see how it compares. That’s just one example of this type of guy. BTW, we both currently have 5.0 Mustangs, although I think I made that move first.

 

[BajaRon]

#2 - The Dirt Bike Incident
I can’t really say how Lamont and I ended up getting together. We are, in a lot of ways, complete opposites. Just my opinion, but taken objectively, I don’t think we would be two personalities that could be expected to build a lifelong friendship. Lamont is more of a down and dirty, get’er done kind of guy. And I’m over on the naive nerd end of the scale.

Lamont was welding for a large construction company near the harbor in San Diego. The first time I went to visit he was replacing the steel bed in a large dump truck. Later on, he decided that rather than continually patching up heavy equipment that kept breaking and wearing out, he convinced his boss to allow him to build the components from scratch, the way he thought they should have been done in the first place, so he didn’t have to keep repairing them.

Honestly, I think that is what brought us together. We both have a habit of looking for ways to make improvements with the skill set and interests we have. As different as we were, it turned out to be a once in a lifetime combination. I quickly gained a great deal of respect for Lamont’s fabrication abilities and his eye for what needed to be done. He never just ‘Fixed’ anything. He always made it better. Many times, a lot better.

He wasn’t afraid to think outside the box, or try something new. Definitely my kind of guy!

If I have my story right, he was riding a Harley Davidson Sportster at the time. I’d had street bikes in the past. A Kawasaki 350cc Avenger, a Kawasaki Mach III 500cc, and a Honda 750. I’d gotten away from street riding for a few years because the guys I rode with quit. But I also enjoyed off road and was riding a 390 Husqvarna dirt bike at the time.

Turned out Lamont also liked off road riding. He’d gotten out of it for similar reasons of me not replacing my 750 Honda. He decided to look for a bike so he could go riding in the desert with our off-road group. I think he’d tried some used bikes but didn’t find one he liked. A 390 Husqvarna, similar to mine, came up and he made arrangements with the owner to give it a try. He told me about it and was excited about the prospects.

The next time I saw him, which was shortly after because we got together several times a week, he was all torn up with a good dose of road rash. Turns out that the other bikes he’d been trying were not all that powerful. But when that 390 hit the powerband, he wasn’t prepared and he ground looped it.

According to him, he just left the bike where it laid, said ‘Sorry’, got in his truck the best he could, and went home to get doctored. It sounded pretty bad. And it looked worse!

That was the beginning and the end of our dirt bike history.

 

[old Timer]

Really enjoying this, thanks and keep it up.

 

[BajaRon]

Really enjoying this, thanks and keep it up.

I hope my ramblings will give people a better idea of just who and what Lamont has meant to so many of us. I plan to make another installment this weekend.

 

[Poppie65]

I hope my ramblings will give people a better idea of just who and what Lamont has meant to so many of us. I plan to make another installment this weekend.

Absolutely yes, and looking forward to what's coming.

 

[Deanna777]

When I first talked to Lamont it was in 2013 at Spyder Fest in Springfield, MO. He is a great guy.

I also saw him in 2012 @ SpyderQuest in Lake George, New York.


Deanna

 

[bikerbillone]

Ron, now that was one very good beginning thread comment. If I wasn't 92 and unable to do those distance rides anymore, I'd be sitting at your shop for a complete tire job and the famous BahaRon once over of my 2020 RTL. Best to you and your shop guys.

 

[JayBros]

My first encounter with Lamont was in 2018 when he recommended Federal Evo front tires to replace the POS Kendas. Bought a pair, local dealership replaced them, no questions asked or comments made. Rode them until they needed replacement and went to Vredestein Quatracs.

 

[BajaRon]

My first encounter with Lamont was in 2018 when he recommended Federal Evo front tires to replace the POS Kendas. Bought a pair, local dealership replaced them, no questions asked or comments made. Rode them until the needed replacement and went to Vredestein Quatracs.

Tires are almost like computers these days. Where the new one you just purchased is outdated a few weeks later. Not quite that bad. That's why I'm always looking for a better product.

With the latest issue getting Vredesteins (could be a tariff issue, I don't know), I've been trying other tires. It's amazing how different they perform on a Spyder. It has to be the weight as I don't think you'd see that much variation in handling on a car. In the dry, the difference is much less. But in the rain, wow!

My resent testing of the Continental Conti-Pro Contact has been rewarding. I rode them the 700 miles and back on my recent trip to see Lamont. They were very good, especially in the rain.

I love testing things and tires are no different. I've discovered that some can give you a thrill that you don't really want.

 

[pegasus1300]

Thank you, Ron for giving those of us who live too far away to interact with Lamont personally an insight into both him and yourself. Although I have had interactions commercially with you both, this is fun getting to know you all on a more personal level. Again, thank you for undertaking this project.

 

[BajaRon]

#3
My memory is somewhat less than perfect. Not to mention that we all see things a bit differently. So, I ask that you forgive any shortcomings with these stories.

As I’ve already said, Lamont spent some time working for the construction company, FRITZ NACHANT, in San Diego. He gained a lot of confidence and experience there. But in my opinion, he got to the point where he was wasting his talents, and I finally told him so. I think he was surprised, but that’s just my impression.

I said, ‘You need to start your own business.’ But he was quite leery of that. He was a young man with a wife, small children, and a mortgage to consider. What if it didn’t work out? Not to mention it would take some serious capital to get a heavy-duty truck and outfit it for mobile welding.

Though we discussed it from time to time, I didn’t hound him about it. I pretty much said my piece and let it ride. I had a feeling that deep down, he knew it was the way to go. I just wanted to encourage him to reach his potential. Easy for me to say, but a serious decision. I believe there were others telling him the same thing.

Eventually, Lamont did set out on his own. As always, he built everything from the ground up. He set up a welding truck with more stuff than probably anyone had ever attempted before. He loves, to this day, telling about all the novel things he came up with on that truck.

At first, every time I saw that truck, even at a distance, I knew it was Lamont. It was so different from anything anyone else was running (and believe me, there were a good number of mobile welding riggs running around in San Diego, even back then). But after a few years, it got very difficult to tell. I had to get close enough to identify the model (Ford, GMC International, etc.) or see his name on the side to be sure. Why? Because every welder in San Diego had carbon copied his setup. It was that good. Even to the point of having a white truck. You'd think someone would prefer a different color.

His business name? Noah’s Arc Welding. Pretty catchy, I thought.

Among other things, he’d built a heavy-duty steel utility trailer. I’m guessing 7’ x 12’ single axle. It was dark blue and had Noah’s Arc Welding with his business phone number in large white letters on the sides. I can still picture it today.

I was visiting my wife’s twin sister and her husband in Lakeside, a suburb east of San Diego. They lived in a horse centered area on a dirt road with large potholes. As I drove away, there was a guy shoveling dirt out of Lamont’s trailer into a pothole near his house. Though I didn't recognize the man, I stopped and said hello anyway.

“Hey!”, I said. “I know the guy who owns that trailer. You must be a friend of his.”

“Yes”, he replied. "Noah is a good friend of mine.”

“Well, his name is actually Lamont Bryden”, I offered. Now realizing that the guy didn’t really know Lamont as well as he thought.

“I don’t remember his last name, but his first name is definitely Noah”, he insisted. A little put off by my comment. “You can see it right there on the side of his trailer.”

I should have given up at that point. Sometimes I’m not too bright. So, I foolishly plowed ahead, oblivious to the futility. “That’s his mobile welding companies business name”, I attempted to correct. “His actual name is Lamont.”

“Yes”, he agreed. “Noah is a welder. But you must have the wrong guy.”

He went back to shoveling dirt, I drove away, and that was that.

I don’t remember how many years Lamont had his mobile welding business. But it was quite a few. He went through several trucks. He kept overloading them with bigger welders and generally, more stuff. Which required him to get larger rigs. Except for some large jobs along the way, he went home every night with no work prospect for the next day. But without fail, he always had work by morning. All the while, his reputation was building. After a short time, he was able to start weeding out the chaff. Turning down jobs for those that took too long to pay, always chipping away at him to do the job for less, or were otherwise, less than desirable clients.

It was easy to tell that he was in his environment. It was a joy to see his business take off. And he loved it.

I don’t say this lightly, but In my opinion, he became one of the best welders in California. And some of the best welders in the world resided there.

 

[Deanna777]

Tires are almost like computers these days. Where the new one you just purchased is outdated a few weeks later. Not quite that bad. That's why I'm always looking for a better product.

With the latest issue getting Vredesteins (could be a tariff issue, I don't know), I've been trying other tires. It's amazing how different they perform on a Spyder. It has to be the weight as I don't think you'd see that much variation in handling on a car. In the dry, the difference is much less. But in the rain, wow!

My resent testing of the Continental Conti-Pro Contact has been rewarding. I rode them the 700 miles and back on my recent trip to see Lamont. They were very good, especially in the rain.

I love testing things and tires are no different. I've discovered that some can give you a thrill that you don't really want.

HI BajaRon,

When I had my 2014 RTS-SE6 (since sold) I had the Continental Conti-Pro Contacts tires on the front of my Spyder. They were a great tire, and worked well in the rain and on dry pavements. The tires pushed the water away from the tires. I would get/run them again on my current Spyder (a 2023 F3 LTD SS).

Deanna

 

[Br549rick]

These are great stories, don't stop. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Little Blue]

Hello Ron, I have enjoyed reading your blog about Lamonster. They remind me about some of my crazy life experiences. I'm sure everyone can relate with some of them.

I'll be watching for the next episode.

 

[greer]

Thanks so much for sharing with us, Ron.

Sarah

 

[BajaRon]

I'll be taking a trip this starting this Saturday. So I won't have a chance to post again until I get back.

#4

I decided that I’d like to build my own log splitter. I figured that with the combination of my ideas, and Lamont’s fabrication skills, we could make one better than what I could buy. I wanted something that could split monster rounds of Eucalyptus and Oak (neither of which give in easily). I have a feeling that if I’d wanted a normal, standard machine, Lamont might not have had an interest. But with both of us using wood to heat our homes, and the prospect of splitting monster wood, the project definitely got his attention.

Lamont knew the local steel recycle yard like the back of his hand. I’d drawn out plans and dimensions so we headed to the yard where we found the plate and tubular components that I was looking for. It was my intention to use the hollow, rectangular main backbone portion as my hydraulic fluid reservoir, instead of the usual, standalone steel box that other splitters used. This would provide a great deal more surface area to dissipate heat, and hold more fluid than a similar setup. This meant that Lamont's welds had to be hot oil tight. It never leaked a drop.

I also felt this design might help to avoid the cobbled together look so many commercial splitters have.

We carried our treasure to the weight scale (paid by the pound) where I discovered the piece I’d been carrying around weighed 185 lbs.! Granted, I knew it was heavy, and yes, they provided dollies for this. But we were men, and the steel pieces were not all that big. Have I mentioned that ½” steel plate is deceivingly heavy?

But once I knew what I’d been carrying actually weighed, I was not able to pick it up off the scale. Lamont thought that was pretty funny. I think he knew all along about what that piece of steel weighed. A lesson in psychology!

Lamont set to work cutting the steel components and fitting everything together, with impeccable welds, and in short order. Knowing that it’s not only how you weld, but the metallurgy of the wire, where and how thick the weld is, and other aspects of assembly are also extremely important. If all of this is not right, beautiful welds can fail. And this splitter was definitely going to test every aspect of the machine.

Lamont knew what he was doing and I had no doubts that the job would turn out just right. During this phase, I assumed the role of gofer and occasional consultant.

Once things took shape, we added the hydraulic pump, ram, fluid and filter, etc., then got ready to see how well it all functioned. It looked impressive. But as we all know, looks can deceive.

It had a flat, diamond steel push plate attached to the ram. This forced the log into, and through, the splitting wedge at the end. We went all out, (another Lamonster trait). If I remember correctly, Lamont painted it himself (bright yellow) Then we had 'Stump Buster’ airbrushed on each side. Adding 15” alloy spoked wheels and a tow hitch, it looked great, and we could take it anywhere. No way was I putting standard sized, wimpy little wheels on our invention. And it had nothing to do with knowing that Lamont would not stand for it anyway.

The push plate slid along the 8” wide by ½” thick top surface of the splitter. (The piece I’d carried in the steel yard) This push plate was locked into place by 4, 5/8” Grade 8 bolts on each side. It worked great in the preliminary trials. As you can imagine, we split larger and larger diameter logs as we tested our prize machine. It was so exciting to see our invention work exactly as designed.

Lamont had a good selection of cured Eucalyptus on hand. Which he was more than happy to split with our new toy. We were both having a great time.

I don’t remember how big we’d gotten to, but I’d say it was probably an 18” to 20” diameter range. We had the engine running full bore when it happened, the 2-stage hydraulic pump having transitioned from its volume stage to the pressure stage. That’s when we heard some kind of explosion. It sounded like a rifle shot. I think Lamont was running the hydraulic lever. But in any case, whichever one of us it was, he immediately let off, and the ram stopped. Of course, with the noise of the engine, it was difficult to know what had occurred, or exactly where the sound came from. I think we so much wanted everything to be OK; we foolishly questioned if we’d heard anything at all.

With everything appearing to be good, and no obvious issues, we decided to continue with the split.

BAM! There it was again. No mistaking it this time. Having been clearly heard over the noise of the motor. Lamont thought it might be a weld that was breaking. But we still couldn’t find anything amiss. So, we again decided to continue.

But that didn’t last long at all. With the 3rd such result, we shut everything down. Something was definitely going very wrong. That gunshot sound had finally disturbed us enough that we wanted to find the cause before any more testing was attempted.

We found it! It was actually pretty obvious once we started looking in the right place. Something that both of us knew we should have discovered after the very first event.

3 of the 8, 5/8” Grade 8 bolts securing the sliding push plate were nowhere to be found. If the velocity at which they left came anywhere near the sound that they’d made at departure, there is no doubt in our minds that any one of the 3 could have killed one of us. Especially considering that neither of us had been careful to stay away from this component. I don’t know what the caliber or weight of a 5/8” bolt head might be. But I’m quite sure it would be substantial.

Ignorance is bliss, (though not necessarily healthy) comes to mind here.

We redid the push plate clamping assembly. Upgrading it to 10 bolts instead of the 8 used previously. And switched to ¾” Grade 8 from the 5/8” used in our first attempt. We never had another problem with the push plate. But I can assure you that we were both grateful that the Lord had protected us from the lethal projectiles we had ignorantly engineered into our little project. Nor did our temporary setback deter us from attempting bigger things. On the contrary, our success encouraged us both.

It's part of the reason I tell my sons, and others, that the only people who never fail, are those who never try. Which is actually the worst failure anyone can experience. Life is full of trial and error. But it builds a volume of experience that cannot be achieved in a class room, or anywhere else.

Yes, there is some shame in failure. But it’s not nearly as severe as the shame of giving up. Nor can it be compared to the reward of working through the problem to success. For Lamont and me, it was another building block in a lifelong relationship that no one can take away from us. And, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, not even death will be able to keep us apart.