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PRO ONE BLACK SERIES WHEELS–Pro-One has expanded the black out series to include their complete line visually stunning billet aluminum one piece rims, CNC machined for a precision fit to a wide variety of machines.
Rims come complete with appropriate hub, bearings and mounting hardware. Available in diameters from 16? to 23? and widths from 2.15? to 10.5? these awesome wheels can be ordered in Black Out anodize with or without machined highlights or finished in flawless show quality chrome, fully polished or black anodized with mill cut highlights.
Additionally, Pro-One offers pulley and sprocket assemblies to match wheel designs and finish. Wheel pricing starts at just $699.95 and delivery times have been virtually cut in half. For complete details call 800-884-4173 or visit them on the Web at www.pro-one.com.
A BIKER’S TOAST TO BIKERNET–Made me rather proud to see you post “The Biker’s Toast” the day after I sent it to you brother. I’ll send you another one of my short stories sometime (sent you one on the “first ride” series a few years ago).
Always a pleasure to visit Bikernet.com. I make sure everyone that I know is aware of your site. Keep on doing what we love (as if you’d have it any other way).
–Blue Cat
Houston, TX
terry.v.claibourn@mhes.com
SPRING PLANNING FOR LAS VEGAS BIKE FEST–Spring is upon us and it’s time to start planning for Las Vegas BikeFest. This is the 8th year of Las Vegas BikeFest and we are very excited about it because 8 is our lucky number (everyone needs a lucky number in Las Vegas).
If you weren’t able to join us last year, you missed the most beautiful weather in the history of Las Vegas BikeFest. The entire weekend never exceeded the mid-80’s, absolutely perfect riding and partying weather.
We are looking forward to another great year!
Registration Is Open
Online registration is now open. If you prefer to send in your registration you can download the form from our website. We continue to keep registration fees low with no increases for the 2008 event. Register for as low as $25.00.
The Party Pass ($25) includes Vendor Village Admission ($15.00 without registration); event t-shirt; rally pin; grand prize drawing entries; discount on food and beverage in the Vendor Village; entry into Artistry in Iron, Master Builders’ Championship; commemorative Las Vegas BikeFest gift (first 7,500 to pick up their package at the event); food and drinks at the Welcome Party; shuttle to Vendor Village from Fremont Street Experience; and eligibility and entry for all the events and competitions (excluding the Poker Runs, Poker Walk, and Custom Bike Show bike entry).
The Friday Fun Pass ($40) includes everything in the Party Pass plus: participation in the Friday Poker Run or Poker Walk; bike entry in the Custom Bike Show.
The Saturday Fun Pass ($45) includes everything in the Party Pass plus: participation in the Saturday Poker Run; bike entry in the Custom Bike Show.
The Ultimate Fun Pass ($65) includes everything in the Party Pass, Friday Fun Pass and Saturday Fun Pass.
The Party Pass is the only registration package that is unlimited so if you want the Friday, Saturday or Ultimate Pass, register early before they sell out.
All registration fees increase at the event.
THUNDERBIKE OF GERMANY SCOOPS SECOND EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP IN THREE YEARS– Andreas Bergerforth and the team at Thunderbike (of Hamminkeln in Germany) can now add their names to the list of those who have proven their championship grade credentials on multiple occasions, having backed up their 2006 European Championship win with this year’s title.
In 2006 Thunderbike won in Europe and went on to be second in the Official World Championship with ‘Spectacula’. This year’s return to the podium two years on from that success was with ‘Open Mind’, an S&S-engined fusion of old and contemporary styling that showcased the kind of engineering and production excellence that has become the acknowledged hallmark of Championship program winning bikes.
Thunderbike took the win in one of the closest European Championships yet seen. Second place was taken by last year’s third-placed builder, Riverside Motocyclettes of Vallon Pont d’Arc in France (in collaboration with Mort-M Garage) with ‘Sugarland Express’.
Third place went to another German, and somebody who is a veteran of the European Championship program, Tobias Guckel of TGS Motorcycles (Tittling/Rappenhof, Germany) with ‘Seppster 2’.
Fourth and fifth places went to two more program veterans. Frenchman Bertrand Dubet (Odyssey Motorcycles) was fourth with the much-admired ‘V-Rage’, featuring a reversed Engenuity 147 cu inch motor and futuristic biometric ignition recognition system.
Fifth place went to Freddie ‘Krugger’ Bertrand, with ‘Half Day’, a bike named for the Illinois Race Track where S&S Cycle founder George Smith used to race in the 1950’s, and the appearance of the bike marked the first competitive debut for one of the S&S-engined bikes that have been built to celebrate S&S Cycle’s 50th anniversary.
The event also saw Cory Ness’s S&S 50th bike being seen publicly for the first time, and a European unveiling for the S&S X-Wedge, with Jerry Greenlaw’s Custom Garage of Germany giving the new platform its first competitive outing outside the United States.
The event itself was the fourth annual Official European Championship of Custom Bike Building, and was staged at Custom Chrome’s European Dealer Show at the Phoenixhalle at Mainz in central Germany.
Altogether 100 bikes were entered this year, with builders coming from 15 countries in total.
There were eight entries in Custom Chrome’s own Motorcycle sub-class, with 62 bikes competing in the acclaimed Freestyle ‘Class’ from which the builders themselves, with selected former competitors and champions, custom journalists, Affiliate event operators and members of the Official Partner and exhibiting vendor community, chose the winners using the unique and internationally respected Championship Program judging formula.
In the Modified Harley-Davidson class, which received a record 30 entries, the win was taken by industry veteran Claus Guenther of USM from near Hanover, Germany, with ’48’. Second place in the Modified Harleys went to Alex Sluyter (Harley Factory Frankfurt, Germany) with ‘The Apprentice’; and French custom shop School Bar Atelier took third with ‘Old Gun’.
Tobias Guckel added to his third place Freestyle European Championship success with a win in the Custom Chrome Europe Motorcycles Class (bikes based on one of CCE’s kit bike packages) for the second year running, with Outback Cycles (Germany) second, and Custombike (Gerardo Chillico, Italy) third.
Custom Chrome Europe’s logistics partner DHL has generously supported the European Championship again with providing the top three with a voucher worth 5.000,00 euro (approx $7,500.00 each) towards the costs of bike freight for them to compete at this year’s 5th annual Official World Championship of Custom Bike Building at Champions Park on Lazelle Street during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally (August 3rd to 6th).
Jammer Old School winner was Andreoli Motorcycles of Italy, with Independent Choppers and Hells Kitchen Choppers second and third.
S&S President’s Pick winner was Custom Garage in Germany for ‘Dragon’, their X-Wedge project; with Krazy Horse Customs from the UK second, and RMF Motorcycles, Germany, third.
The event is trade-only for Custom Chrome Europe dealers and European Championship competing builders on the Saturday, with additional local consumer attendance welcomed through the doors on the Sunday.
www.amdchampionship.com
BIKERNET LAYS OFF ONE EMPLOYEE–When Peters learned that he was being fired, he went to see the head of human resources. “Since I’ve been with the firm for so long,” he said, “I think I deserve at least a letter of recommendation.”
The human resources director agreed and said he’d have the letter the next day.
The following morning, Peters found the letter on his desk. It read, “Jonathan Peters worked for our company for eleven years. When he left us, we were very satisfied.”
–from Rev CarlR
HINES RIDES SCREAMIN? EAGLE V-ROD TO SEMI-FINALS AT HOUSTON–Krawiec Out in Second Round of NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle National.
BAYTOWN, Texas (March 29, 2008) ? Andrew Hines rode his Screamin? Eagle/Vance & Hines V-Rod to the third round of Pro Stock Motorcycle eliminations at the 21st Annual O?Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.
Hines qualified fourth for the event with a pass of 6.972 seconds and beat Edward Murphy and Steve Johnson with runs of 7.107 and 7.171 seconds to advance to the semi-finals, where he lost to Matt Smith on the Nitro Fish Wear Buell with a 7.076 to Smith?s 6.991. Smith, the reigning NHRA POWERade world champ, beat Matt Guidera on the Rocklin Motorsports Buell in the final round, 7.060 to 7.140, to take his first event win of the season.
?This was certainly a better result for us than last year at Houston, when we both went out with red lights in the first round,? said Hines. ?We swapped engines twice before the finals, and then kind of missed our set-up on Sunday, when there was a big change in the humidity from Saturday. We gave it all we had and I didn?t beat myself, so it was a good weekend.?
Eddie Krawiec rode the other Screamin? Eagle/Vance & Hines V-Rod into the third qualifying spot with a 6.971 in the final Saturday round, bumping Hines down to fourth. Krawiec beat Michael Phillips with a pass at 7.066 in the first round on Sunday, but went out on a red light in the second round to lose to Guidera.
?I learned a big lesson in that second round,? said Krawiec. ?My bike stalled on the line before pre-stage, which has never happened to me before. We restarted but I lost my routine at the line and rushed myself, which caused the red light. It?s too bad, because the bike felt strong. We had the third-best time in the first round and I think we could have won some more. I?ll learn from that mistake and move on.?
After two rounds in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, Matt Guidera leads in Pro Stock Motorcycle points with 212, followed by Smith with 195, Hines with 171, Chip Ellis with 151, and Krawiec with 111. NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycles will race next at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals, April 24-27 at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga.
?The team had a challenging weekend,? said Harley-Davidson Racing Manager Anne Paluso. ?There were some great passes and some passes we weren’t so happy with, but as always we learned a great deal that helped us prepare for Sunday. In the end, we went rounds on Sunday and gained valuable points for the countdown.?
The Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle team is sponsored by Ford Truck, Dunlop, Matco Tools and S100.
ABATE OF ILLINOIS ATTORNEY WARS–Many of you know already that I have complained for over 10 years about an advertising agreement ABATE of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio have with Rod Taylor and Associates law firm. Taylor started something called ABATE Legal Services back then, in part to “protect” the membership from so-called bottom feeding attorneys. Of course he and his attorneys eat from the same feed bag, so I?m not sure what the distinction is. I do know that he wrote in recent newsletters for the above named ABATE states that anyone hiring an attorney that was not an ABATE (Taylor) attorney was probably getting ripped off. That inflammatory statement is an insult to the thousands of good attorneys in ITLA (Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
The president of South Suburban ABATE, Mike Donahue, an attorney himself, sums up the problem in a front page article. He alludes to his chapter being publicly chastised and threatened with a year’s probation for publicly thanking Attorney Michael Hupy for donations and other community support (like offering a $5,000 reward for information about the person who killed five women at a Lane Bryant Store in Tinley Park).
Editor Leo O’Conner complains about lawyers and finger pointing, etc, etc. Well, there are certainly some bad lawyers out there. I’ve seen my share, including one in Milwaukee who was advertising while serving time in federal prison for ripping off clients. Then there are the kind who want exclusive advertising agreements, like Taylor, that serve his purpose and little else. But in my 35 years in biker’s rights, I’ve dealt with dozens of good attorneys who never said no when asked to help us out, either financially or with some legal work, pro bono. I used the law library of one attorney back in the early 1970’s as I prepared testimony for public hearings at our state capitol. Another attorney took on several of my helmet tickets, pro bono, and also dealt with some community problems facing bikers at the time. Still another attorney helped us with our angle parking law and three bikes to a single meter space. To say that only ABATE Legal Services attorneys should be used is ludicrous. For the past 15 years I have been working for Attorney Michael Hupy.
There’s no way I would work for an attorney who didn’t help out the rights movement and certainly not if he were ripping off bikers. I’ve turned down offers of employment from at least two other law firms, because those attorneys didn’t do much of anything for the rights movement. On the other hand, Michael Hupy has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the rights movement nationally. He supports and has donated to the California Judicial Fund. He supports and donates to the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame. He supports and donates to ABATE of Wisconsin, A.B.A.T.E. of Illinois, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, the AMA Museum and much, much more.
Finally, it’s been said to me that some of the negative commentary and email blogs may bring the whole rights movement down some day. I say they have much more to worry about with the current leadership and trends in today’s SMRO’s. We’re getting further away from our mission of fighting for biker’s rights, while embracing the business of exclusive advertising agreements and censorship of the members. That is what will bring it all tumbling down in my humble opinion.
–Tony “Pan” Sanfelipo
Founder, ABATE of Wisconsin
National Director, BOLT
Sturgis Freedom Fighter Hall of Fame, 2002
Accident Investigator, Hupy and Abraham, S.C.
Accident Scene Management, Inc
ORIGINAL COSSACKS GAS TANKS FOR SALE– Here are the pics, the Cossacks gas tanks. I’m going to run them on a flathead 80, if I don’t sell them. Will be a fucking cool rat bobber. Keep the rubber side down.
–FATBOB
ps- I saw the parts in the Sunday Post, could have used a better pic, even though I am a shitty photog. I will find a complete ’69 if that’s what you want.
TECH QUESTION OF THE WEEK–I remember those Easyriders tech tip books and have some copies of certainpages. Any chance of getting the idiot wiring diagrams for the 1980 andolder Shovelhead? Would greatly appreciate it if you could help me out!
–Al
Hines.Alan@orbital.com>
POWERDRIVE 6-SPEED RIGHT SIDE DRIVE TRANSMISSIONS from RIVERA PRIMO–
? Features a close-ratio 2.94:1 first gear & a .860:1 overdrive 6th gear
? This combination will improve acceleration yet will reduce vibration
? Manufactured to our specs, each trans has super-strength shafts & forged back-cut gears for smooth & positive shifting
? Cases are designed & fit like a stock-style 1990-1999 Softail? trans
? Delivered with a chromed hydraulic clutch actuator or chromed cable- actuated end cover & a 32-tooth final drive pulley as well
? Backed by a 2-year replacement warranty
? Choose from full chrome finish or polished finish
? MSRP for the fully chromed hydraulic model is $1584.16, whereas models in a polished finish with hydraulic or cable-actuated end covers are $1409.12
? Always in stock, ready-to-ship !
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