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A trio of Harley-Davidson racers filled the medal podium as Harley-Davidson® Flat-Track racing opened 2016 ESPN X Games Austin. Jared Mees rode a Harley-Davidson XR750 motorcycle to the win and an X Games gold medal following a race-long battle with Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle Wrecking Crew rider Kenny Coolbeth Jr., who finished second to claim the X Games silver medal. Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle Factory Team rider Brad Baker won X Games bronze for a third-place finish. “That’s a sweet gold-medal win for Jared Mees and a great performance by all of these talented flat-track racers,” said Dino Bernacchi, Harley-Davidson U.S. Marketing Director. “Flat-track racing is America’s original action sport. What a great way to kick off the X Games.” Mees was the fast qualifier for the race, staged on a challenging Circuit of The Americas half-mile dirt oval, but it was Baker aboard the Factory Harley-Davidson® XR750 motorcycle who led the early laps of the main. Mees got past Baker and opened a gap on the pack only to have Coolbeth chase him down on his Zanotti Racing Harley-Davidson XR750. Coolbeth was able to pull even with Mees on several passing attempts but never took the lead. Mees roared across the finish line on his Rogers Racing/Las Vegas H-D XR750 motorcycle just 0.369 seconds ahead of Coolbeth. Onsite for the weekend at X Games Austin, Harley-Davidson will be in the Galleria area with X Games athletes, its new 2016 motorcycles and the H-D JUMPSTART riding experience. Harley will also host appearances and autograph sessions with X Games athletes and a lounge area to stay cool with free giveaways and more. Fans can enter a sweepstakes to win Harley-Davidson Riding Academy training, a VIP experience and a 2017 Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Bell Helmets will road test working prototypes of the first-of-its kind 360-degree-camera integrated helmet, the Bell Pro Star with 360fly, during the 2016 Isle of Man TT. Bell ambassador, Gary Johnson, William Dunlop and Brandon Cretu will wear prototypes of the ground-breaking helmet, scheduled for release later this year, during portions of practice and competition. The Bell Pro Star with 360fly features an integrated 360fly 360o 4K camera, and while Bell riders are putting the Bell Pro Star with 360fly prototypes through the paces on the road, Bell Helmets and the new TT squad Team T3 Racing will be offering race fans the chance to win a Pro Star helmet of their own. Seven (in honor of Johnson’s race number) Gary Johnson replica Pro Star Helmets will be made available to fans who purchase one of 675 raffle tickets, currently available at www.tt3racing.com. The winning tickets will be drawn by Gary Johnson. The all-new Bell Pro Star is a complete rethinking of what a race helmet should be, driven by the essential needs of the modern racer. Engineered to perform at the highest level, the 2016 Bell Pro Star features the progressive protection of the Flex Impact Liner, an expanded Panovision™ field of view and the most advanced carbon fiber composites available by TeXtreme. Further, it includes a Transitions shield that adapts to light conditions, a VIRUS® CoolJade™ power mesh liner to reduce skin surface temperatures plus odor, and Magnefusion Cheek Pads for easy removal for washing or emergency responders. The Pro Star will be one of three purpose-built Star models consumers can choose from. See www.bellhelmets.com for more information.

Hey, I’ve discussed not giving up on anything, including the 5-Ball factory racer, and I’ve seen success. I went to Zack’s houseboat last weekend and we talked about motorcycles and chasing mechanical problems. A small electrical glitch in the headlight triggered his circuit breaker and killed the bike. I’ll dig into my headlight. You never know. I recently changed out my cam for a slightly different JIMS cam. I checked the intake manifold for leaks by spraying around the seal between the heads and the manifold with even WD-40 or contact cleaner. Almost anything will change the idle if it’s leaking. Let’s get to the news and I’ll report on more tech efforts. The Bikernet News is proudly sponsored by Cycle Source Magazine, Iron Trader, The esteemed Motorcycle Riders Foundation, ChopperTown, and Las Vegas Bike Fest. – See more from the NRA, the Senator, the Stealth, the Doctor, BDL, Custom Cycle Engineering, Law Tigers, Metal Sport, and even Saddlemen Seats here.

Designed for 1990-2006 Softail machines the EV-575 provides riders noteworthy advantages over other aftermarket and stock systems. First, BDL’s reinforced 2″ belt was developed specifically to handle the high torque and horsepower numbers being produced by today’s big inch V-Twin engines. Additionally, the system incorporates a one-piece billet motor plate, unique side guard and rear pulley cover along with the traditional BDL starter housing. Every EV-575 kit includes the very latest in clutch technology with BDL’s own patented Ball Bearing Clutch. The state of the art design offers up to 30% more contact surface, reduced lever pull, smoother transition, super quiet operation and flawless clutch engagement. EV-575 Series kits are available polished, black and clear anodize. Head over to www.beltdrives.com for complete details or visit your local BDL dealer.

Performance Machine has found a way to keep all their customers involved with the 2016 Rally Season, no matter where they are. With the support of Enplug, the Big Blue PM Semi is now equipped with LIVE Streaming! Fans from around the world can now share their favorite photos featuring PM/XM product, and have them displayed throughout the rally season in real-time! So even if riders can’t make it out to a particular rally, they can always join in on the fun remotely using a desktop computer or their mobile devices. Fans to Social Media, particularly Facebook and Instagram can now share posts by using any of PM’s designated hashtags or handles, giving users an opportunity to have their photos appear on the Big Screen during any of the 12 scheduled rallies PM will be attending throughout the year. Sharing photos through these Social Media channels is a great way to interact and engage with other members of the PM/XM Community. By sharing photos, individuals can learn more about current events that are going on in the world of PM, as well as give followers some potential inspiration on current bike builds they might be working on. Advertisement

There are few things in life as humbling as not being able to take care of yourself. Not being able to do things as simple as getting a plate from the kitchen cabinets will show you how lucky we are to get around and do all the little things that we take for granted. Well thanks to a recent accident I have been humbled. I have ridden hundreds of thousands of miles on many bikes. I’ve been down a few times, but was always able to get back up and keep on keepin on, even if I had a few broken bones and some road rash. This time I wasn’t so lucky, and ended up with both shoulders broken as well as a broken knee and torn ACL. The down side of this wreck, is that it was purely my fault. There wasn’t anyone to blame or be mad at other than myself. I screwed up. I got too comfortable and it bit me in the ass. I rode my bike into a curve at a speed that the bike wasn’t designed to go. I had two motorcycles, both of which were for the most part purpose built. One is my Dyna that is a blast to ride and will take most any curve I throw it in and the other was a Roadglide that was all set up to tour the country. I gambled that the Roadglide could do what the Dyna could and lost. I was fortunate that I was wearing a full face DOT helmet or I wouldn’t be writing this, as I hit my head pretty hard. I also was wearing my TCX boots that kept me from any ankle damage. What I wasn’t wearing were gloves and a jacket or at least a Kevlar lined shirt or hoodie. I got lucky and my hands were barely

How’s that working out for you, procrastinators? Hit the photo below if you want to save today.

In 2002 Harley-Davidson made many improvements towards the handling of the Dresser models. The most notable design change was the beefing up of the swing arm and adding spherical bearings to the swing arm pivot. With these changes in mind there has been a calling to adapt the new style FLH swing arm to early model FLH’s with the old box type swing arm. The problem with adapting the Later model swing arm to the Early FLH models is that the pivot shaft or axle is a ¾” diameter. This is larger than the bore in the early model transmission housing and would require boring out the 5/8” transmission housing to accommodate the newer ¾” shaft. This is not an ideal solution to retrofit the new swing arm. With our new retrofit kit there is no need to bore out the old transmission housing. You will press out the stock spherical bearings in the Later swing arm and refit them with new bearing spacers that have a 5/8” internal bore. Then reassemble the new swing arm either using the stock pivot shaft or a new one supplied. The refitting of the new swing arm will require the purchase of a later model rear caliper, a new 1” rear axle and swapping out the rear wheel bearing to 1”. Advertisement

In Toledo, Ohio, a little girl who allegedly is being bullied in school is getting help from some members of a biker club. Alexandria Reynolds says her daughter, 7-year-old Audrianna is having a hard time in school. The first grader at Marshall Elementary has allegedly been bullied for over a year. Alexandria tells 13abc, “It could be part of it that she is a tomboy, but who knows.” One of Audiranna’s favorite things to do is ride her dirt bike. It’s her daughters love for motorcycles that inspired Alexandria to enlist the help of “The Punishers”, a law enforcement motorcycle club in Toledo. And while they may look dark and dangerous, they’re far from it. Daniel Bushey, president of The Punishers recalls, “The first thing we thought of was trying to help her in any way we could.” The group says once they met Audrianna they formed a special bond. Bushey explains, “We got her a vest and told her to think of us like her uncles and she is part of our family now and if she needs anything let us know.” On Wednesday, the group made up of service members and first responders banded together to help this little girl by surprising her with a ride to school on a motorcycle. “We were just trying to uplift her spirits and let her know that not everybody is mean and there are plenty of nice people in the world,” said Reynolds. “The guys have really done a wonderful job at helping us.” Bushey says, “any chance we get we help kids out, we do in a heartbeat.” The original story, along with video can be viewed here.

It was an unmatched show the past weekend in Lignano Sabbiadoro. You could already hear the engines rumble since the start of the week, but the full amount of bikes started coming into the Biker Fest from Thursday morning, growing in number until Saturday, when the sun was shining and temperature rising. During the 4 days of party took place more than 10 live music shows and a great number of stunt acts, mainly with the Daboot Team and its leader Vanni Oddera, one of the few Italian FMX Riders able to perform a backflip. Daboot Team also hosted the “Mototerapy” event, entertaining 30 disabled youngs.
Swot Gang stuntmen was also performing their funambolic stunts with sportbikes. Read the whole story and many more pictures here.