General Posts

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.

Mikuni American’s popular HSR42mm Series Smoothbore Carburetors are available in easily installed “Easy Kits” for all late model Harley-Davidson and other American V-Twin applications. Included are kits for 1990 to present 1340cc Big Twin engines, together with 1994 to present 1200cc Sportster and Buell S2 models. HSR42 Kits come complete with a properly jetted Mikuni HSR42 carburetor, installation instructions, and works with your stock throttle cables. Included is a special adapter that allows you to retain your stock airbox or use the higher flowing Screamin’ Eagle performance filter kit for an additional performance gain. Mikuni says the HSR42 flows more air at full throttle to produce more peak power than other carburetors with bigger venturi bores. While at smaller throttle openings the Mikuni’s smaller, yet higher velocity flowing venturi, together with its advance fuel metering system provides a stronger overall powerband with improved ridability. On a stock engine without any other modifications you can expect the HSR42 Carburetor Easy Kit to provide a significant 10% increase in power and torque, and up to a 25% increase in power and torque when matched to a higher flowing intake and exhaust system, Mikuni says. Mikuni HSR Carburetors and their Performance Features, Tuning Components, Replacement Parts and Rebuild Kits are available from Mikuni Dealers and Distributors in the USA and Worldwide as shown on www.MikuniPower.com.

A few years ago, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsored a competition where companies were challenged to come up with a compelling stealth motorcycle design. The goad was to provide ground troops with the ability to navigate through tough terrain quickly and without detection. Such a bike could also airdropped down to troops on the ground whereupon they could use it and subsequently hide it “for later retrieval.” Earlier this week, at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Special Operations Forces Industry Conference, two prototype stealth bikes were on full display. One bike — The Silent Hawk — was developed by Logos while the other bike –dubbed Nightmare — was developed by LSA Autonomy. Both are hybrid bikes. The Silent Hawk in particular weighs 350 pounds, has a range of 170 miles, can reach a top speed of 80 mph and can store as much as 75 pounds of equipment. More importantly, when the bike is in “quiet mode”, the noise it emits is less than 55 decibels, which is to say about as loud as a normal conversation. Troops attempting to maneuver with equipment during field operations face a number of challenges. Conventional transport vehicles can move people and cargo fast, but they have trouble negotiating extreme terrain. Likewise, the size and weight of these conventional vehicles is designed to make them difficult to airdrop. With its thin profile and innovative two-wheel drive, Silent Hawk makes easy work of thick forests, narrow mountain paths, and rocky landscapes. The military bike is lightweight and is made for easy deployment—its large cargo capacity, auxiliary power ports, and interactive user interface support deep-penetrating operations. The Nightmare sports specs similar to the Silent Hawk, though it weighs about 50 pounds more and can generate just a bit more horsepower. A photo of

Crosley Brands Kawasaki rider Bryan Smith made it three wins in a row powered by a Ninja650 engine in the AMA Pro Flat Track series at the Springfield Mile I. This victory also marked Smith’s third consecutive win at the Springfield Mile, after winning both races in 2015. The No. 42 Kawasaki started the day strong by winning his Heat Race and putting the field on notice. In the Main Event Smith fought off a pack of riders for 25 laps and would eventually take the win with a .119 second margin of victory. Smith now leads the GNC1 standings with a total of 110 points, with a 16-point advantage over second. “It feels pretty awesome,” said Smith. “To have three Miles back-to-back and win them all. To win on the Miles that I love, and obviously to have three in a row at a historic venue like Springfield, is great. There’s not just one thing that was going through my mind through the last lap. There were a million thoughts of what to do, what not to do, go fast, not too fast, spin the tires, just a million thoughts. I was able to get enough of a draft off of Turn 4 in that last lap and just barely squeak by for the win.”  

Custom Cycle Engineering’s front fork truss is a performance part that was designed to improve front end handling on Narrow Glide or Wide Glide front ends. The engineering design and sleek styling are obvious characteristics in this part. The compound arc, which sweeps upward and rearward simultaneously, imparts greater resistance to deflection, twisting and bending of the fork. The upward arch also provides additional fender clearance. The addition of large diameter holes spaced out to a maximum strength calculation helps keep unsprung weight to a minimum. Installation is very simple and the disassembly of the front-end is not necessary. These trusses are designed to bolt securely to the lower sliders. Trusses are machined out of solid billet aluminum and can be purchased in a polished or chrome finish. Advertisement

In “A Passion For Speed”, we follow the Indian Motorcycle team – Calibration Engineer Wayne Kolden, Senior Development Technician Chet Michaelson, Development Technician Dan Gervais and Powertrain Development Technician Neil Sikora – as they build a Scout and Chief Dark Horse specifically for dry lakebed duty, recall where their passion for fast machines came from, work together to overcome setbacks, and then travel 1,800 miles to realize their dream. The series begins when the team has only 22 days remaining until race day and culminates in a surprise ending that has team members counting the days to their next opportunity. “It’s not a one-man show, by any means,” says Michaelson. “It’s everybody coming together and chipping in and building something phenomenal. And that really is the foundation of where Indian Motorcycle came from – a bunch of guys in the shop working for the win. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.” “The first motorized bike that I had was actually a homemade minibike that my dad built with me,” Kolden explains while assembling an engine in his home workshop. “All of the kids our age had minibikes, motorcycles and go-karts. Everyone was a motor-head. That was just the environment we had growing up. To go to El Mirage, or hopefully someday Bonneville, is one of my dreams.” “At Indian Motorcycle we love riding and racing as much as our dedicated and passionate owners,” says Reid Wilson, Marketing Director for Indian Motorcycle. “Wayne, Chet, Dan and Neil reflect the obsession we all have for motorcycling.  All we needed to do was follow them with a camera and do some interviews. This was their passion project.” Check out the videos here.

You can score a huge list of parts and accessories for you and your Motorcycle by entering the Garage-Girls Ultimate Biker Makeover 2016, brought to you by Geico Motorcycle. Contestants (Girls and Guys) must submit a 600-word or less essay – describing why they are most in need of a biker makeover as well as a photo (jpeg no larger than 5mb) to bikermakeover@garage-girls.com Deadline for entries is June 29th 2016. Submissions will be narrowed down to the final four by selected judges from Garage-Girls. From there, the judges will decide who they feel most deserves the Ultimate Biker Makeover and will get to take home all the prizes which include; A wardrobe of shoes from Harley-Davidson Footwear, a case of full synthetic oil from Spectro Oils, A new Mustang Motorcycle Seat, a set of tires from Avon Tyres, Motorcycle Helmet, Jacket and Gloves by J&P Cycles, clothing by Hijinx Apparel, exhaust from Vance and Hines, surprises from S&S Cycle, Klock Werks, Baker Transmission and more. Geico Motorcycle during the 76th Sturgis Rally will announce winner live on the Buffalo Chip Stage Thursday August 11th, 2016, winner will also be posted online at www.garage-girls.com. For more information, rules, eligibility and submission procedures, visit www.Garage-Girls.com If interested in getting your company involved please contact Sara Liberte at sara@saraliberte.com

The Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle Factory Team has just unveiled the XG750R, its first all-new flat track race bike in 44 years, to battle on dirt ovals across the U.S. The XG750R will make its official competition debut Sunday, May 29, at the AMA Pro Flat Track Springfield Mile in Illinois. Powered by the fuel-injected, liquid-cooled Harley-Davidson Revolution X V-Twin engine, the XG750R will be raced by Factory Team rider Davis Fisher on the AMA Pro Harley-Davidson GNC1 presented by Vance & Hines flat track series. The new XG750R motorcycle is strictly for race competition and will not be offered for sale at this time. The new flat tracker is powered by the 750cc Revolution X V-Twin engine designed for the Harley-Davidson Street 750. Tuned for the track, this modified Revolution X engine will power the new XG750R as it fights to be first to the finish line. Read more here.

Hey, This has been a fascinating week. I could say it was a challenge. I could also say it was fucked. But I try to keep a constant positive attitude and my goals at the forefront of every effort. Let’s get specific. I had another meeting with the City of Los Angeles regarding my building. It was quick and direct. I spent hours trying to draw blueprints of the building to their specifications to prevent being forced to hire an architect to scan it for $2,500 to $5000. I sat with the Chief and reviewed our permit direction and one more drawing. I need a plot map. So, I have another homework assignment on my plate but we’re getting closer. My 93-year-old ma is having health issues. She’s sharp, but her building structure is breaking down. She’s very fragile and it’s forcing us to research various living options. It’s actually a bummer to be forced to move a 93-year-old from place to place. There needs to be a better plan. Just the move could kill her. Then, I attended a community meeting last night. Our headquarters are basically across the street from the Port of Los Angeles, in Wilmington. We live in the only coastal community in California without access to our waterfront. Basically the port took it. We once had canals. So, they presented their plan for our waterfront. It was bullshit. They need a much better approach. I got up and spoke briefly about thinking out of the box and the benefits of our community. Again, it’s back to the drawing board. All these efforts above have nothing to do with survival, running Bikernet, repairs to the headquarters, doing the laundry, or working on motorcycles. I need to get back to work on the 5-Ball Factory Racer, goddammit.