Continued From Page 2
BIKERNET CARIBBEAN/DISCOVERY REPORT– As always I have been receiving a ton of e-mails regarding my reports, now it’s the Discovery report turn. So let’s make something really clear.
Yes it was a bit biased, but if you read my reports as well as the news, you might know were I’m coming from.
I really don’t know the twist the show will take when the guys at Discovery edit it, but I’m guessing. Me, personally have no beef with the Hamsters, nor Dave Perewitz. That does not mean I can’t say what I want either. As I have said so many times here, don’t take what you read so seriously. It’s all for entertainment and fun. In all fairness I will post some more photos of the ride. I did not take the ride nor competition seriously either. It’s a deal so people can get their baddest shit together and build it. The bonus is riding with friends (who needs an excuse for that) and hanging out.
Once more, this is my point of view, and since I am the one writing the report, that’s the only one we have. I’m sure that we will receive lots of e-mails and comments after this, but next time let’s sit down and compare notes on the trip. I can’t do all this by myself…
Dave Perewitz and his Discovery Challenge Custom. The Hamster contender.
To top this off, even though Mr. Perewitz’ bike is not my style, I can still appreciate the workmanship and effort that he and his crew put into it. Maybe I’ll post photos of both bikes and let Bikernet readers choose the winner…Use It’s Your Shot Department to post your vote.Anyway, case closed….Kinda.
Here’s Jose’s bike from Florida. He’s the Choppers Inc. contender.
And now, back to ranting…I have been reading several boards about bikes. It’s very interesting the opinions of people behind a key board. From the latest Discovery motorcycle related TV shows, to the eternal bitching of high priced motorcycles from, ” well known” builders, and a lot of stuff that I’m not even gonna get into, so let’s start with the TV shows…
They are for entertainment purposes. Sure they enhance the careers and sales of certain people, but mostly are edited according to the ” tone ” the producer.
Nothing bad can evolve from these shows, au contraire mes amis, all good for the industry. The more exposure our small industry gets out to the ” normal” world, the better. Have you noticed that since these shows came out everyone and their mothers know what a chopper is, have a slight idea of what it takes to build one of them, and sort of knows that these are regular people with different talents– not thugs trying to take your ” virgin” daughters away in the middle of the night.
Let’s thank TV for those shows, good or bad, and make sure to e-mail Discovery and such channels our appreciation. Do it and do it often. Let them know how you feel about these shows. Remind them that if it wasn’t for Jose, they’d me out on the streets.www.Discovery.com As simple as that.
Which brings me to my next point, $$$$$$$$$. One question before I start again.. How much would you charge for your time and talent?People bitch about how expensive things are, how do people dare charging 150 grand for a motorcycle, how builders do this, how they do that?Ok, I think 150 g’s for a bike is a bit excessive, even 80. On the other hand this is an art. Builders are artists. They don’t get regular paychecks from a company, no bonus from the boss, nope, zip. What we do is what we do, the unseen side, the shops and bikes pay for the kid’s school, their needs, the rent, the utilities, everything….The wives shopping sprees, the cars, the mortgage, well I think you catch my drift.
Builders have to keep building no matter what. We all hope that what is being built is sold. In some cases it’s not sold, but the bills have to be paid. It’s very different to build a bike from the money you earn at your job, than being your job to build bikes, again I’m not excusing the 100 thousand bikes, but how much is time worth?
Again, let’s say that you are asking $20.00 and hour for label (yeah let’s be ridiculous) most of these bikes have over a thousand hours of work into them, do the math, at extreme cheap labor, is it $20,000 alone, not including the major components such as motor, tranny, frame, wheels, front end , etc… and then the other stuff that we always forget and adds up big time, the nick nacks. If I had more time I would provide a list of average prices for stuff and let our readers do the rest…
Then again, why choose the most expensive components when a nice cool chopper can be built rather inexpensively. Sometimes we gotta have the best, the biggest motor, the newest shit. And in reality this “hobby” or lifestyle, or whatever the fuck you wanna call it, is expensive.
That is why I am always impressed by people who do a good job on a cool bike with as little as possible, if it takes you on the ride and you have fun, there’s no need for lots of money. I will always prefer simple stuff, old stuff, things that used to be available for almost nothing and inventive and hard work stuff. Same as the top people, only that there’s people willing to pay for “their” stuff.All that really matters is that you take pride in, what you do and ride the crap out of. It does not matter which bike or which builder. It is all a matter of personal satisfaction.
And now to the very brief news…
Mike Seate from Iron Works has just released a new chopper book, T-Bear has more information on it, I’ve heard that it’s a really cool book…More info later on.
It’s being confirmed, The Camel Roadhouse is no more, effective as of now. Too bad it was a pretty good venue for our builders.
Freeway Magazine from France has released their April issue with a cover shot of the Rumble Customs Camel bike, and all the Daytona stuff. I really don’t care if you are boycotting the French, but this mag is very cool indeed.
I’ve got some info on what Indian Larry is building for the next Discovery Build off. Of course I have been sworn into secrecy, but I’m sure someone will send some spy photos pretty soon. Just a little hint..Old School rules !
Just received some information of a new show in Miami. It will take place labor day week end at Coconut Grove. Let’s see what happens there. It would be lot’s of fun to just go fuck around South Beach for a few days.
Anyway, I’m outta here, gotta check the hate mailand get ready for the next adventure. Soon, very soon.
–Jose, Bikernet Caribbean report,and lots more.
BUTT MEASUREMENTS– A man and his wife were working in their garden one day and the man looks over at his wife and says: “Your butt is getting really big, I mean really big. I bet your butt is bigger than the barbecue.”
With that he proceeded to get a measuring tape and measure the grill and then went over to where his wife was working and measured his wife’s bottom.
“Yes, I was right, your butt is two inches wider than thebarbecue!!!”
The woman chose to ignore her husband. Later that night in bed, the husband is feeling a little frisky. He makes some advances towards his wife who completely brushes him off.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
She answers: “Do you really think I’m going to fire up this big-ass grill for one little weenie?”
–from Ken Miller
A YOUNG PROJECT– I was looking on Hank Young’s (The Flying Pan) website:
Young Choppers and Hot Rods Inc –Chuck SCREAMIN’ EAGLE DRAG TEAM IN THE HUNT AT HOUSTON– Hines Qualifies 15th; Tonglet Misses the Bump by 3/100ths Against Quickest Ever Field. MILWAUKEE, WIS. – (April 16, 2003) The Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines drag racing team backed up their history- making season-opening performance by qualifying rider Andrew Hines 15th with a 7.260 second/183.05 mph run for the NHRA Pro Stock O?Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston, Texas. His qualifying effort aboard the V-Rod reset the record for the quickest time ever recorded by a NHRA Harley Pro Stock Bike. Screamin? Eagle V-Rod teammate GT Tonglet?s best pass of 7.296 seconds narrowly missed the qualifying bump time by 3/100ths of a second. The Houston event bump time of 7.267 seconds was the quickest in NHRA Pro Stock Bike history as 34 bikes tried to make the Sunday show. After qualifying in the 15th position, Hines faced an enormous first-round challenge against second ranked Shawn Gann (Suzuki). Hines red lighted his V-Rod with a -0.018 reaction time off the start, giving Gann the easy win. ?I staged as shallow as I could, but still red-lighted,? said Andrew Hines. ?But we proved Gainesville was no fluke and we can compete in this series.? ?We got both bikes running in the 7.2s and 180s, which is really exciting, because we?re still learning what these bikes can do,? said Byron Hines. Angelle Savoie (Suzuki) won the final, retaining her series championship lead with a perfect start on the two-race season. Hines is seventh in points on the season. Continued On Page 4
51 Lakewood Dr. Marietta Georgia 30060
Telephone:1 800 235 4013
