Hey,
I’m going to jump right into the news. It cooled off today like some April fools weather bit. It’s supposed to be sunny, bright and riding weather. This is destined to be outstanding news, so let’s hit it. Then Sam Dixon is due to show up with Playboy model, Michelle Manhart, with a body-painting specialists, make-up and hair designers, and he’s planning to shoot her with our Salt Shaker.
I gotta dust off the bench and find a clean rag. Oh, here’s my hot tip for the day. I discovered a tap removal company here in LA. If you have a tap broken off in a part, you can send it to Jim Durish, and he’ll remove it. He calls in Electronic Disintegration. He’s also associated with Cunningham Rods. They manufacture forged, cross-grain performance connecting rods for anything including Triumphs and Harleys: (310) 324-4446.
Myrtle Beach Rally Not Cancelled – Hot Leathers to Have Five Rally Locations–Manchester, Conn.–March 31, 2009–Hot Leathers, the industry leader in motorcycle apparel and accessories, today announced it will celebrate its 19th year at the Myrtle Beach Rally with five locations to better serve rally goers.
Despite the controversy surrounding the Myrtle Beach Rally, the event will take place as scheduled, and Hot Leathers will be there with five full-size locations offering the motorcycling public the latest in motorcycle merchandise. Hot Leathers will have four locations in Myrtle Beach, open May 11-17, 2009, and one location in North Myrtle Beach, open May 8-17, 2009. Location addresses will be as follows:
?Mr. Fireworks, 4720 South Kings Highway (next to the Harley Dealer)
?Graham Golf Cars, 3900 South Kings Highway
?Lakewood Campground, 5901 South Kings Highway
?Calli Baker’s Firehouse Bar & Grill, North Kings Highway (in the Myrtle Beach Mall parking lot)
?Barefoot Landing, 4898 North Kings Highway, North Myrtle Beach
“We’ve been a part of the Myrtle Beach Rally for the last 18 years, and we’re not scaling back this year,” said Jerry Berkowitz. “Traveling around the country to provide rally goers with everything from shirts and leather jackets to helmets and saddlebags is part of what makes Hot Leathers unique, and the Myrtle Beach Rally is no exception – we’ll be there with the best we have to offer.”
Hot Leathers has been serving the motorcycle community for over 25 years. The company’s growing wholesale and printing facilities have earned it a place as one of America’s top 50 volume screen printers. Known for fast and friendly service, Hot Leathers makes its customers a priority whether in the shop or on the road. Hot Leathers is a division of Good Sports, Inc. and currently has store locations in Sturgis, S.D., Swansea, Mass., Daytona Beach, Fla., East Providence, R.I. and South Windsor, Conn. Hot Leathers also takes its merchandise to various rallies and events across the country. Keep an eye out this summer for the Hot Leathers logo. It’s a brand you can trust with prices you can easily afford.
For more information about Hot Leathers or the 2009 Rally Schedule, please call 800-845-0084 or visit www.hotleathers.com.
–Ken Conte
BIKER?S CHOICE HI-PERFORMANCE 4 PISTON BRAKE CALIPERS —These hi-performance Brake Calipers are made from 6061-T6 billet aluminum and are CNC machined, chrome plated and high polished. The front calipers are a direct bolt-on application to front fork leg assembly so there is no need for additional brackets or hardware.
They are also specially designed to also be used in rear applications, mounting bracket sold separately.
All the hardware needed to attach them is included. They will fit 1984 to 1999 H-D? FLH, FLT, FLHR, FLST, Fatboy, Heritage (exc. FLSTS), FXR, FXD, FXWG (exc. Fx with wire wheels, FXST, (exc. FXSTS), XL and XLH models. For more information, applications and other brakes, visit www.Bikerschoice.com or visit your local Biker?s Choice dealer.
Aquarius Casino Resort to Host Live Concerts and Special Events During the 27th Annual Laughlin River Run– March 31, 2009 ? Laughlin, Nev. ? Aquarius Casino Resort will host a variety of events and promotions as part of the 27th Annual Laughlin River Run beginning Thursday, April 23 and running through Sunday, April 26. Events include an open vendor area, live performances by a nationally known touring act, and parties in the porte cochere area and over-looking Casino Drive.
The Platform Party Zone will feature a live DJ, drink specials and dancers from 6pm ? midnight all three days; a three-day tattoo convention; the Ms. Laughlin River Run 2009 contest inside Splash Cabaret at 3pm on Saturday; a casino drawing for a free stay at the Aquarius during River Run 2010, Jack Daniels leather vests and more, and a live band nightly at Splash Cabaret. There will also be food and drink specials and t-shirt giveaways throughout the casino.
?The Aquarius Casino Resort is the only place to be during River Run. We are center strip and have the best value for our newly-renovated rooms and amenities, and we offer top-name entertainment,? said Paul Hobson, general manager of the Aquarius Casino Resort.
Special room packages are being offered for Thursday, April 23 through Saturday, April 25.
Packages start at $349.00 (plus tax) for two nights and $499.00 (plus tax) for three nights. The ?Ultimate? package includes a plush, new room for three nights, for just $599.99 plus tax. Each ?Ultimate? package also includes two buffet breakfasts per room, per day; one secured parking space for two motorcycles; one welcome gift and a $5 Starbucks coupon per room, per day. In addition, this package also includes unlimited access to the Party Platform Street Bar & two entries to the Tattoo Convention (Aquarius Pavilion). The packages can be reserved now at www.theaquarius.com or by calling (800) 662-5825.
The Aquarius Casino Resort is the largest 24-hour gaming resort in Laughlin providing 1,907 rooms in two 18-story towers and a 57,000-square-foot casino offering 1,250 new state-of-the-art slot machines with a modern race and sports book, keno lounge and live poker room. The Aquarius Casino Resort offers multiple amenities including restaurants to serve every taste from fine dining to casual dining.
For more information, please call (800) 662-5825 or (702) 298-5111. For further information visit www.theaquarius.com.
NEW GLOSS BLACK DOCKING KITS FOR TOURING MODELS–Provides Easy On-And-Off Installation of Harley-Davidson Racks and Sissy Bars
MILWAUKEE (March 27, 2009) ? Two Gloss Black Docking Hardware Kits from Harley-Davidson Genuine Motor Accessories fit the wider, cleaner rear fender area of the 2009 Touring chassis. Designed to match Gloss Black accessories, these Docking Kits are easy to install and bolt directly to the factory drilled-and-threaded fender struts for perfect alignment. Even if used initially only for a passenger backrest, these kits allow the owner to quickly change to a different accessory as touring demands change.
The Gloss Black 4-Point Docking Hardware Kit (P/N 54246-09, $149.95) can accommodate the Detachable Sissy Bar, Solo Luggage Rack, 2-Up Luggage Rack, Solo Tour-Pak Rack or 2-Up Tour-Pak Rack.
The Gloss Black 2-Point Docking Hardware Kit (54249-09, $109.95) accommodates the Detachable Sissy Bar, Solo Luggage Rack, or Solo Tour-Pak Rack.
These Docking Kits fit 2009 Harley-Davidson Road King, Road King Classic, Electra Glide Standard, Street Glide, and Road Glide models.
For additional information on Harley-Davidson Genuine Motor Accessories, see your local Harley-Davidson dealer or visit the Harley-Davidson Web site at www.harley-davidson.com. To find a dealer near you, call toll free 1-800-443-2153 in the U.S.A. or Canada.
BIKERNET WRITER’S GUILD QUOTE OF THE DAY–Suppose you were an idiot. And, suppose you were a member of Congress…. But then I repeat myself. -Mark Twain
–from James Schnarr
HARLEY-DAVIDSON RAN THIS AD IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, MONDAY–I’m sure it was in response to the lousy news column they ran a week ago.
–Dick Allen
80,000 MOTORCYCLE PRODUCTS NOW AVAILABLE ON BIKERNET THROUGH K AND G CYCLES.COM– www.kandgcycles.com
CHROME COWGIRL READER BOOK REVIEW– Hi Sasha…I bought your Chrome Cowgirl book and absolutely loved it! You expressed how I feel when I get on my bike and ride…there is no feeling like it!
I wanted you to know that I loved the personalized license plate you had on Tigerlily….”Soulo”… and I decided to get that for my bike. I hope you don’t mind and take it as a compliment.
Ride safe,
–Michele
GUY WRECKS HIS BARSTOOL & COP EATS TOO MANY POT BROWNIES–
BIKERNET PRESIDENTIAL ARCHIVES OPENED– ?One who values American prosperity and?American standards of wages and living can have no sympathy with the proposal that easy entry and a flood of imports will cheapen our cost of living. It is more likely to destroy our capacity to buy.?
–President William Harding
PARTTIME WORK FOR KTM EMPLOYEES–733 of 1,482 full-time KTM employees will transition to part-time work between May and August this year. The move effectively eliminates two months of production, but retains the company’s workforce and manufacturing capacity in hopes of an economic rebound next year. All levels of employees will be affected, including factory works, management and executives. Cross Holdings, KTM’s majority owner, and Bajaj Auto, which holds 31.72 percent, plan to inject ?30 million in capital to keep KTM race-ready.
–AUSTRIAN TIMES
ADP Forecasts Revenue Growth of 1% to 2% in 2009–While Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) expects revenues for its year ending June 30 to grow 1 percent to 2 percent from revenues of $8.78 billion during the previous fiscal year, the company?s outlook regarding its dealer services business is less positive.
?ADP continues to grow despite difficult economic headwinds, albeit at a slower rate than previously anticipated,? says Gary C. Butler, president and CEO. ?For Dealer Services, we anticipate a 2 percent to 3 percent decline in revenues compared with our previous forecast of flat to slightly down revenues. This updated forecast reflects increased out of businesses, delayed implementations, and lower transaction volumes.?
ADP provides integrated computing systems to motorcycle, auto, truck, marine and recreational vehicle dealers with its LightspeedNXT dealer management system.
ADP?s updated revenue forecast represents a slight decrease from a previously forecast year-end revenue growth of 2 percent to 3 percent.
– Submitted by Guido Ebert
DEALERNEWS
Swap Meet Saturday April 4th at Marie Reds–Sponsored by Marie Reds 12:00 noon till 5:00pm Anything you want to sell Vender’s Welcome Bring all your bike parts,Household items, Anything you want to sell Down to Marie Reds. Booth space is Free set up starts @ 10:00am Vender’s Welcome.
Hope to C-ya there
–Tina Fairless
3007 E. Abram Street
Arlington, Texas 76010
Italian builder scoops European Championship–An Italian competitor has won AMD’s Official European Championship of Custom Bike Building; the first time an Italian competitor has done so in a year that saw three Italian builders in the top ten.
Gigi Esposito and Luca Pizzano of Big Twin Motors from near Naples in Southern Italy repeated their January win of the AMD Championship Affiliate event, the Verona International Custom Show at Motor Bike Expo, Verona, Italy with “Panster”.
Second place was taken by former World and European Champion Stellan Egeland (SE Service, Sweden) with his radical departure, radical BMW, radical technology demonstrator “Harrier”.Third place went to Finland’s Andy Niemi/Flying Choppers whose much-admired and thoroughly convincing homage to early seventies choppers “Cloud 9” has been winning or placing at most of the events he’s shown it at since it made its winning debut at Twin Club MC’s Custom Bike Show in Sweden last year.
As ever, the competitor-judged ‘Freestyle Class’ based AMD Official European Championship was generously staged on behalf of the market by Custom Chrome Europe at their popular annual Dealer Show, with Custom Chrome vendors putting up a whole slew of parts and parts credit prizes and Custom Chrome themselves underwriting the DHL bike freight vouchers worth some 5.000,00 euro each that the first three win for competing at this summer’s 6th annual Official World Championship of Custom Bike Building at Champions Park on Lazelle Street, Sturgis in August.
Our thanks to Custom Chrome, their hard working staff, to their vendors (which included a record number of new vendors for the firm at the show this year) and to our advertisers and Official Partners for helping make this event the annual institution it is.
The recession-defying second largest ever field of 116 outstanding custom bikes (from an all-time record 16 different countries) showed that the market is proving “robust” in the face of the negativity and concern that had worried it as the year started, and with Custom Chrome sources unofficially intimating that dealer parts and accessory sales for the weekend “may well turn out to be even better than last year” the central message from all the season’s trade shows so far, that “there is still good business to be done out there” has been yet again reinforced.
As has the general perception that in custom market terms at least, Europe is “The” market to be active in at this time.
Always a stunning showcase and hot-bed of cutting edge, best practice and radical new-thinking custom bike design and engineering, the common reaction to this year’s entry from competitors, vendors and dealers alike was that the standard in competition represented yet another new high.
Whether or not that was the case, the most significant and apparent impressions that the thousands who witnessed the weekend will take away with them is of a market that is changing, and changing for the better, right in front of our eyes.
A market that is embracing performance engineering as central to the meaning of customizing as the 21st Century’s first decade draws to a close, and of a market that is going to be characterized by a massive diversity of styling as we enter the second decade.
A market where all possible trends will work side-by-side to attract more customers than ever into the lifestyle, rather than one where any one trend is dominant at the cost of all others, or where only one style of riding is considered “cool”.
www.amdchampionship.com
Euro Cycle OEMs Seek Government Assistance–Motorcycle manufacturers in Europe want the European Commission and EU member states to help the motorcycle industry defy the economic crisis with measures similar to those devised for the car sector.
Members of ACEM, the professional body representing the interests of 12 manufacturers and 15 national associations in Europe, met recently at Ducati headquarters in Bologna, Italy, to discuss the situation.
The European Commission recently announced multiple initiatives to help Europe?s auto manufacturers fight the economic downturn. EU countries are offering billions of euros in aid to carmakers and the European Investment Bank, the 27-nation bloc?s lending arm, is stepping up loans for auto research in response to the downturn. At a March 1 meeting, EU heads of government ruled out a centralized rescue program for the car industry while pledging more coordination of national initiatives such as fleet-renewal programs and a possible increase in EIB research loans.
ACEM says, due to its similarities to the car sector, the motorcycle industry should be entitled to the same benefits.
?The motorcycle sector needs the same urgent and drastic measures aimed at preventing a prolonged period of recession, supporting manufacturing and continuing to drive forward the environmental goals that are shared by policy makers and manufacturers,? organization leaders announced following the meeting.
?Not unlike the car sector, the motorcycle industry is experiencing the same kind of problems and, despite our lesser size, we need the same kind of tools if are to successfully overcome this downturn,? said Stefan Pierer, ACEM President and CEO of KTM Sport Motorcycles.
New motorcycle registrations in Europe in 2008 were down 8% compared to 2007. Two-wheeler sales during the fourth quarter of 2008 were down 34% (down 42% for mopeds and down 28% for motorcycles) compared to the same period of 2007.
?Another pressing issue to resolve remains the limited access to credit due to the non-functioning of the financial market,? Pierer said. ?Action must be now taken without further delay to lift bureaucratic barriers and speed up implementation at national level. A coordinated European policy would not only ensure more fairness and respect for EU competition rules but – more importantly – greater efficiency in a single, European market.?
In other ACEM news, the organization unanimously confirmed Pierer as president of ACEM for another two-year term and welcomed two new members: BRP and ARGE2RAD (the Austrian association of motorcycle manufacturers and distributors).
– Submitted by Guido Ebert
DEALERNEWS
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