Hey,
From time to time I send Tony Sanfelipo, investigator for Hupy and Abraham, article notions, mostly about freedom and legislation. Recently while talking to the Redhead of Redheads, she mentioned a new Portland ordinance. It required you to scrape or steam all the labels off any glass jars you plan to recycle. Keep in mind, recycling is mandatory in Oregon. Suddenly an article notion surfaced:
Imagine all the time-eating shit you must do daily unrelated to work, family, or fun. Start a list, like recycling trash, drop your kid off as school, pay car registration, car insurance, home insurance, register to vote, go vote, and keep going. It begs a couple of questions. If you are not doing all the required shit, what are you leaving on the table. Start a list.
Sometimes I think about selling everything and going back to being a biker. Just a backpack, one motorcycle, the Redhead of Redheads, and the open road… Oh, don’t forget the whiskey.
PROP 47 SEMINAR COMMUNICATIONS– This is Bryan Fazio from the prop 47 seminar. I really enjoyed talking to you earlier today at the Prop 47 seminar and I so respect your service to our country during Vietnam and the service you do assisting veterans with their benefits.
I am glad you share my passion for advocating and assisting veterans and I look forward to working with you to assist our veterans.
It is unacceptable that the story for far too many of our veterans is epidemic suicide, homelessness, unemployment, and mass incarceration and I as a legal professional along with you and want to change this story.
I am working very hard at the Veteran Legal Institute and with my law school Whittier to be a leader for advocacy and support for veterans in our community in making sure their voices are heard in America’s Halls of Justice.
It is unacceptable to us a society and country as the beacon of hope and freedom to the world to have over 700,000 veterans incarcerated across this country, over 15% veteran unemployment, and 26 veterans killing themselves a day which means we have lost more veterans to suicide then Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
I along with you am working hard to ensure our veterans are getting the advocacy and benefits they earned and deserve.
I look forward to hearing from you and working with you on veteran issues and have a great rest of your week.
–Bryan Fazio MBA/MAOL
bfazio@poets.whittier.edu
OS 3-United States Navy-RET.
J.D. Candidate Whittier Law School, 2016.
Veteran Legal Institute Intern
Whittier Law School Veteran Law Society President
OCBA Military/Veteran Task-force Member
THIS JUST IN FROM THE BIKERNET TEMPLE–
Four Givings
Give others Confidence
Give Others Joy
Give others Hope
Give others Convenience
–Venerable Master Hsing Yun
VINTAGE INDIAN PROJECT OF THE WEEK–
This was done the hard & expensive way largely due to the whores who buy whole bikes, take ‘em all apart and sell the pieces on eBay. A rice burner is one thing – Indians are American history and deserve more respect.
Not saying rice burners are bad by any stretch. They are fast, clean & reliable. You can’t ask for much better as a rider. They just don’t have the heartbeat you get from a twin, much less a thumper (but that’s another animal for another time).
Back on track – this bike had to be built from scratch (including the engine) from parts bought on – you guessed it – eBay, and Starks, and J Greers. It cost him a small fortune but in the end it was his bike, which of course was his goal.
He has since painted it Jade Green & black and it looks sweet! It was a serious undertaking not having a starting point or baseline. Usually you tear down an engine taking notes of clearances, areas of wear, thrust washer thicknesses and such. This was all virgin territory.
The first set of eBay flywheels had to be tossed – both were cracked. The second set were fine, although it would have been better if there were no need for a second set. The first set of valves (not eBay) were substandard but Starks provided good ones for us.
The owner did most of the work on the bike; my area was with the engine & transmission. He first got a 4-speed which as a unit was great. Unfortunately some machining wasn’t quite right and made the primary chain tight beyond any adjustment, and the kickstarter would bind in the pinion. He has since ditched the 4-speed and went back to the original 3-speed to solve several of those alignment issues.
Although it’s a bit of a shame he had to revert backwards, it turns out he would never see any benefit from the 4-speed, not in VT anyway. I can see the 4-speed advantage, 4th by the way is an overdrive, cruising on the flats of the mid central or southwest states. Shifts are clean although closer than I’d want, and dead quiet.
He’s got 6-7k on it already – my kinda guy – ride, ride, ride.
–Andrew Olsen
WACO UPDATE– Of 170 held after Waco biker shooting, all are now out of jail, with none charged in killings–
WACO — Only a few of the people arrested in the May biker shooting outside a Waco restaurant remain under ankle monitoring, and none are still in jail.
Of the 135 people originally ordered to wear GPS ankle monitors, all but 22 have been allowed to remove them, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported Sunday. Their lawyers have reached agreements with prosecutors to modify the conditions of their pre-trial release.
After initially locking up more than 170 people in connection with the May 17 incident outside Twin Peaks restaurant, McLennan County prosecutors have not charged anyone with the shooting deaths of nine people. At least 20 others were hurt.
Those arrested were charged with engaging in organized criminal activity.
Prosecutors did not return messages from the newspaper seeking comment. But defense attorneys suggested the district attorney’s office eventually plans to dismiss charges against at least some defendants.
“We are starting the letting go process, although they are not admitting they did something wrong,” said one attorney, Adam Reposa of Austin.
The shootout in the parking lot of the restaurant erupted during an apparent confrontation between rival biker gangs.
Investigators have not yet offered details about who shot whom or whether police officers fatally shot anyone, though reports reviewed by The Associated Press indicate police bullets did hit at least one biker.
–Dallas News
–from Rogue
If they ever get to the truth, we will find that the cops shot everyone. It was a set-up.–Bandit
SAMSON EXHAUST FOR INDIAN SCOUTS–
Bolt Samson’s new Chopper Longtails right onto your stock headpipes and achieve a traditional Chopper style for your techno-retro Indian Scout. Chopper Longtails give your Indian Scout the beefy rumble the stock exhaust lacks and increases horsepower and torque.
Or if you choose to make your Scout have a deafening roar, unscrew the removable Longtail Tips and slide out those baffles to have a free flowing straight pipe that will deafen innocent bystanders.
Cannons for Indian Scout
For those looking for something a bit different than the classic Samson Longtail style, the traditional straight Cannons are available to provide a very pleasing parallel aesthetic. Easily insert or remove your torque baffles to drastically lower or increase the decibel level of your exhaust.
Specs:
Drastically Improved Sound Quality
Removable Torque Baffles Included
Removable Longtails Included (Chopper Longtail Set Only)
Up to 20% More Horsepower and Torque
Unique Look and Design Found Only at Samson
WILD IN THE STREETS BIKERNET WEEKLY NEWS for October 29, 2015
Wow, that article by Benjamin….I was waiting for the end to rant at how far off the mark and obvious outsider can be…and there you were hitting all the marks.
Nice.
— Rebel
timspublic1@cox.net
Dago, CA
Once in a great while I get it right.–Bandit
SALES DECREASE NOTION EDITORIAL– My opinion of why sales have decreased from the Harley side of things is for one they over “teched” the bikes, too many bells and whistles. Too many things that you pay for that you never really use, examples: gear indicator, clock, gas range, $500 headlights, GPS, just to name a few.
Talk about Easy Rider, remember the scene where Peter Fonda throws his watch away? So why do you need a clock? When I ride I never think about time. That is one of the reasons I ride, to get away from it! I never rode a Harley thinking I was a bad ass or by doing so it would make me one. I rode to be different, to stand apart from the crowd.
Talk about disposable income. Most nowadays do not even know what that means. Wages for most are at least 30 years behind the cost of living, This is one reason I think the economy will never fully recover?
Harleys top end bikes are out of reach for most today. Guys are starting to hold onto their older bikes and are looking at older bikes. By the way if you own an EVO, buy parts when you see them. EVO parts are being “obsoleted” every day!
Why are they holding on to the older bikes? Because they can do most of their own work on these bikes at home and that means saving money! The new bikes pretty much have to be worked on at the dealer with fuel injection, electronic control modules, this sensor, that sensor etc.
To change out a set of handle bars today will cost you a cool $1500 with things like “fly by wire throttle.” Replace your stock exhaust with a performance aftermarket exhaust and it will cost you another cool $2000 with fuel injection, ecm down load, race tuner, and dyno run. Whatever happened to the days of bolting on an S&S carb and a set of drag pipes, you were as happy as a kid on Christmas morning!
Don’t get me wrong, I still love Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Times have changes but I don’t think it has all been for the good?
Until next time, RIDE!
I want this for my ‘15, seems not avail. What are the bars? Make and height? Look like 12-inchers and I’m ready for bars! And lower seat, I’m 6’2″ 190 , 43 yrs old ready to ride in comfort.
–Bob
Fatboybob72@yahoo.com
Florence, NJ
We will get the info for you. You might look to LA Choppers for the handlebars. –Bandit
SUNDAY POST HALLOWEEN CHOPPERTOWN DEAL– We’re having a Chopperween sale! Head over to the store and take 10% off any movies you buy this weekend with code “Chopperween15”.
While you’re there make sure to grab the new issue of Dice Digital 64, the digital version of the bitchinest biker mag on the planet. This month has some sweet Knuckles, Pans, and even a couple of sweet Triumphs for good measure. Check out the complete preview gallery here.
Don’t forget we got the new Dirtbag 2 movie and a couple more flicks for you in the Weekly Specials. Have a great weekend guys, ride safe.
Dirtbag 2
“This is a movie with soul. You laugh, you learn, you grow, and you come away thinking it’s time to go get a project bike and start wrenching. All you need is a vision, a garage, and a buddy or two by your side.” ~AMA News
We even have a special discount Dirtbag Bundle for anyone who hasn’t seen the first one yet – Don’t miss it!
Thanks guys, as always.
Stay independent,
–Zack and Scott
www.choppertown.com
MORE ON HOG FEVER, THE SERIES– Daniel Ash is no stranger to innovation. In the late 1970’s he and Peter Murphy formed the iconic English “dark glam” band, Bauhaus, and four weeks later recorded one of the most influential songs of the decade, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” Five years later, Ash was fronting a new band, Tones On Tail, and trying to sound “like a band from Venus or Mars.”
After that came the group Love and Rockets and the chance to experiment with electronic music, always trying “to make the guitar not sound like a guitar.” Between world tours and a dozen albums, Ash has spent countless hours in “two-wheeled therapy”.
Riding one of his twelve motorcycles through the surreal California landscape, “clearing his mind.” In fact it was motorcycles that brought Ash together with writer and fellow biker, Richard La Plante, author of the motorcycle memoire HOG FEVER. And it was La Plante who knew that Ash would be perfect as one (or two) of the characters in his upcoming “movie without pictures” HOG FEVER (directed by British music icon, Kevin Godley).
In La Plante’s words, “Yep. I discovered him. On the Pacific Coast Highway, in black leathers, riding a matt black Shovelhead.” Then I heard his song, Flame On and the rest is cinematic, or… ‘Earomatic’ history.”
To celebrate this union of chrome, leather, grease and creativity, the award-winning filmmaker, Benjamin Pollack, has written, directed and produced the rock video, Flame On.
Find the Flame On music video here:
Flame On is a featured track in HOG FEVER – An Ear Movie, and available on the soundtrack album through Downpour.com.
Daniel Ash may be heard as the voices of, ‘The Rock’ and ‘Pee Wee’ in HOG FEVER – An Ear movie, coming December 2015 to a podcast near you.
[page break]
TRIBUTE TO Ed ” Big Daddy” Roth TRIKES
BAD
— Jim Simpson
jimsimpson1881@yahoo.com
Oakford, indiana
MOTORCYCLE RIDERS FOUNDATION LOBBYIST RETIRES– After eleven and half years the time has come for me to step down. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the MRF. It has been a barrel of fun taking on our big, bloated government and putting them in their place.
We have taken on the EPA and won, NHTSA and won, we have taken on the CPSC, DOT, NTSB, CDC, the House of Representatives, the Senate and even the White House and won. Not to mention all of the silly institutions, like the insurance industry, that have tried to kill motorcycling, that we have beaten back over the years. Without your help and support none of this would have been possible, thank you.
A lot of people have asked me what lobby firm are you going to? The answer is not where I am going, it’s where I am not going. I am going to be living out of a van down by the river. Sort of. the only thing for sure about my next move is that I am firmly committed to one year minimum.
I am huge fan of the National Park System. When I found out recently that were 408 parks and realizing that I have only seen a fraction, I freaked. So, I am taking an 35 foot RV across the country with my girl and my dog. We might make it back to DC, might not. How can I know where I want to live if I have not seen it all?
We love our jobs, home and friends but sometimes you need to go an adventure, throw caution to wind and live, and that and that alone is why I am vacating my post.
I gave my notice one week ago to Kirk. I know that one week is not a lot of notice, but I hope you will understand. This trip is something that my soul tells me I must do. I am changing the trajectory of my life and nothing can stand in the way.
Conquering Washington DC has been a blast and I truly thank every MRF Member and Supporter for the opportunity of a lifetime. Please keep in touch or even better find us on the road.
Reach out to me at
Jeffrey_Hennie@yahoo.com or find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
(search for jeffrey hennie[Or click the links we did the searching for you.])
Or follow along on my new blog. Its not up and running yet but will be soon. In the meantime bookmark www.renegades.com
Let the adventure begin. We pull out of DC on 11-1-15
–Jeff Hennie
Lead Adventurer
RVenegades Industries Inc.
Jeffrey_hennie@yahoo.com
D&D BOBCAT ADJUSTED— Jeremiah Soto, a Bikernet Tech Associate, recently ran into a problem with his up slanted D&D Bobcat. It threatened to burn his bags. We made a heat insulated guard on the bags, and it worke for his soft bags, but he burned out on them and ordered something different.
His new bags, which we will show you soon, created more of a problem. We reached out to D&D and they didn’t have a straight intersection for the cool Bob Cat.
Leonard offered an alternative, but it removed the cool Bob Cat muffler and was another chunk of change. I suggest talking to Tim at San Pedro Muffler.
Jeremiah slipped over to a local shop, cut a small wedge in the pipe bend and heated and bent it, until it met his picky demands, then he rewelded it, and it was good to go. Not bad.
NEVER Ride Faster Than YOUR Angel Can FLY
Leonard, Tech service
817-834-0996
9:00 to 4:00 Texas Time Mon – Fri.
tech@danddexhaust.com
Sales: 817-834-8961
8:00 to 5:00 TEXAS Time Mon-Fri
Fax: 817-831-4260
D&D Performance
2923 Edith Lane
Fort Worth, TX 76117
sales@danddexhaust.com
warranty@danddexhaust.com
www.danddexhaust.com
CENTURY CYCLES THE OLDEST SHOP IN SAN PEDRO– Century Motorcycles offers a wide variety of services for your vintage , modern , or custom motorcycle.
We do ground up restorations on most motorcycles and specialize in Triumph, BSA and Norton and offer parts, service and sales for those vintage brands.
For all makes and models, Century can take care of all your repair needs from tune-ups and tire changes to custom fabrication. BSA, Triumph, Norton, Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki, Harley Davidson, Indian, Velocette, AJS, Matchless and Ariel are just some of the brands that we have extensive experience with.
NATIONAL MOTORISTS ASSOCIATION ALERT– Royalties for Prince George’s County
In our May 2014 ranking of states by how they treat motorists, Maryland didn’t fare well. It came in fifth worst – not counting the District of Columbia – behind only New York, Delaware, New Jersey, and Vermont. Law Enforcement Tactics was the scoring category most instrumental to Maryland’s poor ranking. The state earned only 6 out of a possible 30 points primarily because of its pervasive use of photo enforcement and reliance on the resulting revenue stream.
Hundreds of thousands of photo tickets are issued across Maryland annually. It is enlightening to tell the story of an NMA member who recently contested his speed camera ticket in Prince George’s County and found out firsthand how the system is only a perfunctory attempt at justice.
Joe (not his real name) requested several documents in writing including the photographic/video evidence used to charge him, and service/maintenance records for the speed camera that produced those images. None of that information was provided to him.
When Joe showed up in traffic court he was buoyed at the start by the fact that the judge had to dismiss the citations of most of the people there because the municipality involved failed to have a representative there. Joe was not so lucky. His town did send someone – a retired police officer who routinely testified on its behalf in photo ticket cases.
Although Section 21-809 of the Maryland Code (“Citations based on speed monitoring systems”) requires that a speed monitoring system shall undergo an annual calibration check performed by an independent laboratory and that a signed certificate of calibration “shall be admitted as evidence in any court proceeding for a violation of this section,” the officer said he didn’t bring it because he wasn’t formally subpoenaed. The court accepted that explanation.
Defense strategy shifted to providing proof that Joe, the registered owner of the car tagged by the camera, was at work many miles away at the time of the violation and could not have been driving the car. Although there are stipulations in Section 21-809 that allow the court to consider this defense, the judge dismissed the argument by ruling that the charge was similar to a parking ticket where the owner of the car is responsible regardless. Joe was found guilty and didn’t pursue the matter further because the cost to file an appeal was double that of the original fine.
In counterpoint to Joe’s case, we present a brilliant defense of a photo citation conducted in another region infamous for its ticketing policies. This account was detailed in the July/August 2010 cover story of Driving Freedoms:
A St. Louis man beat the red-light camera charge against him by raising reasonable doubt as to who was driving his car when it was photographed running a red light. Gant Bloom is not an attorney, but he put on a marvelously succinct and logical defense. The court transcript of the Bloom trial is 36 pages long, with 33 of those pages taken up with questions, testimony and summations by Bloom and the prosecutor. Bloom’s defense, startling in its simplicity, was laid out in only nine pages, while the prosecutor labored through the other twenty-four.
The photo evidence from the city provided an image of Bloom’s car, but not of the driver. He testified that both he and his girlfriend drove his car at various times, and since the ticket came in the mail a month after the actual incident, Bloom could not remember which of the two was driving when the car went through the red light.
Gant called his girlfriend to the stand and elicited testimony that the two of them sat down after receiving the ticket and honestly tried to determine who was driving. They couldn’t. His opening statement included a summary of his strategy: “I decided it just wasn’t fair for me to admit guilt to something that I didn’t even know if I did or not. The only physical evidence that the prosecution is going to show you is that it was my car running through a red light. That I don’t deny.” Bloom continued, “I don’t believe the City can satisfy this court that it was me who was driving and who committed that crime. And furthermore, I intend to demonstrate reasonable doubt that it was me driving that day.”
The prosecutor called a representative of American Traffic Solutions (ATS) to the stand and proceeded to ask detailed questions for several minutes about the operation of its red-light camera. Bloom’s cross-examination consisted of a single question.
Q: Sir, is there any way to tell who was driving the car at the time of the violation?
A: No, there isn’t.
The prosecutor then questioned a police officer about the evidence for another extended period. When Bloom was given the opportunity to question the officer, he asked if, during a physical traffic stop for running a light, the officer would attempt to identify the driver. The answer was affirmative. Bloom then asked if the officer would issue a citation if he wasn’t able to identify the driver. The officer said, “No, if I couldn’t identify the driver, I wouldn’t issue a citation.”
Next question for the officer: “If you pulled a car over and found out it was a different driver than who was the registered owner of the car, would you issue a citation to the car, to the registered owner who is not driving, or would you issue the citation to whoever was driving the car.” The answer, of course, was that the officer would issue the citation to the driver.
The judge ruled, “The Court finds both witnesses (Bloom and his girlfriend) credible based on the testimony as well as common sense. Finding for Defendant. Costs to City of Saint Louis.”
Some of the lessons to be learned when contesting a photo ticket:
Compare the local ordinances governing the photo enforcement program with actual operational details. Discrepancies are your ally.
HARRY’S BIKE SHOW, AUSTRALIA–
Thanks for all the support for our Bike show
We had a great day yesterday.
Just a few very bad quality shots taken with the phone
I will sent you some good photos and a story as soon as I get them from my photographer
Harry’s Custom Bikework
4065 Pacific Highway
Loganholme QLD 4129
Australia
61(0)7 3801 2702
61(0)417 957 286
Email: harry@harryscustom.com.au
www.harryscustom.com.au
BIKERNET TURNS 20 YEARS IN 2016–
Here are some rough thumbnail sketches for the 20th anniversary logo & for your Cantina story!
Let me know if you like any of them and if you have any notes/suggestions (and let me know if you want me to mix any elements together).
–George Fleming
Official Bikernet Illustrator
Watch for this story to pop into the Cantina tomorrow. It’s nasty.–Bandit
GUN NUT REPORT– 63% of Americans Blame Mental Health—Not Guns—for Mass Shootings?–
In another hit to the prospects of gun controllers, this week the Washington Post published the findings of a recent survey conducted by the Post in conjunction with ABC News. The results show that Americans overwhelmingly understand high-profile shootings as pointing to a problem with the country’s mental health system, rather than a lack of gun control laws.
The survey, carried out October 15-18, asked respondents, “Do you think that mass shootings in this country are more a reflection of (problems identifying and treating people with mental health problems) or (inadequate gun control laws)?” 63 percent of those questioned understood that these events are a result of improperly addressing those with mental illness. A mere 23 percent believed that a lack of gun control is the cause, while 10 percent answered that both were to blame.
Unfortunately, the wisdom of the American people is lost on much of the political class, who reflexively turn to decades-old gun control proposals as the solution to this exceedingly complex issue. Which is why, while Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton rail against guns and gun owners, each touting restrictive legislation repeatedly rejected by the American people and their representatives, NRA is working towards an actual solution.
In August, NRA announced its support for Senator John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) S.2002, or the Mental Health and Safe Communities Act of 2015, and applauded U.S. Representative Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) when she introduced the House version (H.R. 3722) this month. Both bills would encourage the states to forward prohibiting mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
Further, in order to protect the rights of all Americans, including those who have experienced some form of mental health treatment, the bill includes safeguards on the types of records states may send to NICS; ensuring that prohibiting records comport with the due process protections guaranteed by the Constitution. Moreover, the bill would remedy the Veterans Administration’s long-standing practice of reporting non-dangerous beneficiaries, who are simply assigned a fiduciary to help manage their finances, to NICS as prohibited.
It is important to note that the mentally ill should not be stigmatized as violent, as mental health officials recognize that mental illness alone is not predictive of violence. However, it is encouraging that the American public understands that this is a complex issue and that the focus of any policy to address high-profile shootings should not be about addressing the inanimate tool used by the perpetrator, but instead about the individual that carried out the violent act.
I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT— Each week seems more busy than the last. It’s a scramble. More content is headed our way to all three sites.
Only you guys can read the Cantina series. It’s just as well. If printed anywhere else, I’d be fired.
Watch for the 1919 Henderson four we plan to feature in the Cantina in the next couple of weeks.
I’ve had a couple of issues with Deka batteries. I’m about to try a Yuasa and Rogue is trying the new Biker’s Choice V-Twin batteries for stock bikes.
Steve from Paughco promised a report on the Krash Kranzler tribute bagger sometime next week. I’ll meet with LaLa in the morning and try to sort out the content flying at us. In the meantime, have a ball.
Ride Free Forever,
–Bandit
