Tech

Illustration by Jon Towle “Aw’ right. How many of you pencil necked geeks think you know how toride a motorcycle safely?” Our instructor, Wayne Jackson, grinned at ussardonically, as he tried to instill in us some degree of learned caution.We were all planted in the drewery classroom for a variety of reasons, some to qualify […]

Gates Poly Chain(r) Belts are extremely durable and give long life in aproperly designed drive. However, improper handling of the belt before orduring installation can result in dramatically shortened service life. Thebelt’s tensile cords are designed to carry large loads in tension but notcompression. Compression causes damage to the tensile cords of the belt andcan

 The competition has changed, expanded. Can home-built choppers fly to Sturgis? Can Jesse James build a chop and actually ride it, with all his tools, mechanics, equipment, lathes, milling machines, and money? Can Billy Lane from Choppers Inc. build a bike by hand while wanton women dance seductively around him daily in him Maimi based

Custom Chrome introduces the world’s first rocket-powered Zebra. The power plant of the Great Zebra Northern Steamer for Bikernet Chop-Off 2000 by Special Agent Zebra 05.22.00. The Great Zebra Northern Steamer is to be a biker’s bike. No fantasyland Hollywood bullshit in the way of $80,000 paint jobs or diamond encrusted spokes, no chop-shop hoopla,

 When the dust and metal filings settled, the smoke cleared, and the greasy gang of wrenches at the famous Bikernet Garage sobered up, before us stood a gleaming new chopper, complete and ready to break in, save for a few minor tweaks and a seat. The Zebra entry for the Bikernet ChopOff 2000 was complete.

This month we’ll take a look at the Jack Knife folding floor board pegs from FBI. At first glance, I thought what a great idea, low and hidden right where need them, mounted under the floor board. The pegs swing out when needed, and back in when not in use. So I ordered them. Delivery

    When I first got the V-Rod, I swore that I would never change a thing on her. As most promises go, things change the more educated you get with the experiences life gives you. Last year I rode to Sturgis and tied a sleeping bag to my handlebars…almost making a rudimentary wind-block. While

    Master builder and mechanic, Deacon, from Pro-Street in Oahu. Bob Kay. from American Iron Horse. was a bro and shipped the retro Shovelhead. from Strokers in Dallas. to LifeStyle Cycles in Orange County, California along with a new batch of Dallas Choppers. It arrived the day before a handful of weary travelers stumbled

In a dank dark corner of a dusty debris strewn shop behind the Strokers Saloon on Harry Hines Blvd in Dallas was a small stack of bike parts guarded by a massive starving pitbull with one eye and most of one ear chewed away. The beast was so vicious that it once chewed through a

When I last left off with this build up, I was building a long bike, and was knee deep in engine work.Since that article, a lot of things have changed, and many miles have been traveled in getting this project rolling.I would love to be able to say that I built this bike all alone

Just when you thought a project slipped off the lift, the paint arrived. Harold Pontarelli of H-D Performance, in Vacaville, California, made this puppy sing. It’s now mighty close to pavement miles. What started as a 1984 Mexican Police bike was transformed into a 1928 Shovelhead. All the Compu-fire electrics possible were stashed on brackets

    Here’s the deal. The 1928 project was recently completed except for a stylish exhaust system. The antique notion was based on racers from the ’20s, something way off the pavement, open and short. JR, the service director of Strokers, explained the steps, “They were cut and pasted together. Bits and pieces from the

  The pressure is on. Lena Fairless, a 15-year-old bubbly Texas beauty, is after Bandit. This hell bent young woman plans to become his sixth wife. To lure the big bastard from the coast, Easyriders of Dallas has been working hard on his Shovelhead under Lena’s strict direction. Even this article was investigated while the

It all starts on one of those days when you’re wandering around the garage, looking at all the odds and ends of past projects. You know, a front rim here, a back rim over there, fenders in the rafters. Then you start thinking about that old motor you have sitting in the corner. In my

In an effort to stay tuned with the rapidly growing and ever changing industry the staff of Bikernet began a project Shovelhead several years ago in conjunction with Randy Simpson of Milwaukee Iron and Arlen Ness. It’s been a strange road, but we’re now rolling closer to completion with the assistance of Rick Fairless of

The lovely Lena Fairless, who has threatened to marry Bandit (the sixth Mrs. Ball) and make him work for her folks at the Easyriders Dallas store, has been pushing to see that this 1928 Shovelhead project is completed in time for her wedding plans. Bandit doesn’t seem to move unless there’s a motorcycle and a

  One of the best aspects of building bikes nowadays is the integrity of the components. If you get the right mixture of components together and take care with the wiring and assembly, you’ll have a bike as reliable as factory stock. That’s one of the reasons Bandit has moved to using Compu-Fire electrical components

All the major basic elements are in place and now we need to get our hands dirty. This is where the builders at Brass Balls Bobbers come into play. We have the Paughco Frame platform, the engine from RevTech, the transmission from Bikernet.com, and recently Keith Horschel, from Jay Brake, supplied the brakes, hand controls,

  Contrary  to popular belief, you can’t judge a tire by its cover. Researchers and most  experts agree that along with tread depth and proper tire maintenance, tire  age is also crucial to your safety on the road.   This  tire was bought as new — it has never been on the road — but

“I want to do wheelies,” said Frank, my son, about his 2002 Dyna Glide. We recently stepped up his 88-inch twin cam performance package with a 97-inch kit from S&S including a Screamin’ Eagle billet cam plate, the high performance oil pump, Zipper’s Thunder Max, and a Bub Exhaust System. His blacked out Dyna was

I get a kick out of JIM’s tools selection. It’s as if JIM is Santa on some creative haven mountaintop marijuana lab. The staff sits around one of Bandit’s Panhead desks and passes a torpedo-sized doobie packed with the latest mind altering, creative juice expanding green recipe. Big Jim sits back in his chair and

Every project has a twist, and this is no different. First off, Kent Weeks, the master fabricator at Lucky Devil’s MetalWorks in Houston, Texas, can do anything. I mean, anything. And this is a tiny, but astute example. This bike belongs to Jeppesen Farrell. Jep’s dad is the owner of Farrell’s Frameworks. He is also

Life is nuts, or is it just me? Fortunately, we have motorcycles and women to chase. And this year became the year of the Evo, the FXR, and the mudflap girl. I’m scratching the back of my head and wondering how to kick off this build for 2011. There’s a lot on the plate this

In July of 2007 S&S published a release about the acquisition of Flathead Power. Suddenly many old school aficionados held their breath in anticipation of access to a long awaited, refined product line. A longstanding customer-vendor relationship between S&S and Flathead Power helped facilitate the deal for S&S. Senior Manager of Race and Customer Services,