Tech

The latest additive is ethanol, which — without getting into the political and environmental debates about its efficacy — is fine for use in fuel-injected vehicles that are run regularly and designed to use up to 10% ethanol (85% in flex-fuel vehicles). On the other hand, ethanol-oxygenated fuel is not so great for any vehicles […]

I have had my 2019 Harley-Davidson Street Glide for a little while now and the one thing I wanted to change was the sound of the audio. Since I bought the bike, I had my eye on upgrading the fairing and saddlebag lids with Harley’s flagship Stage II Boom Audio speakers and amps.   I upgraded

The unsung hero of the automotive world is the threaded fastener. Most people only think about the bolts and screws of their machines when they have to, when the components are stripped, seized, or broken off. That dismissive attitude, however, may cause these components to strip, seize, or break in the first place. For instance,

  I have had my 2019 Harley-Davidson Street Glide for a while now, and the one thing I wanted to change was the sound of the audio. Cruising around at city speeds the stock speaker system is not bad. But when cruising highway speeds, even all the way cranked up it, the road noise became

I’ve built a number of bikes and maybe I was just lucky. With the Pandemic not so lucky. Trouble getting it started in Sturgis, so we brought it home and sent the Morris Magneto back to Deadwood Custom Cycles for a check-over. When I got it back, I retimed the engine, adjusted the carb and

    Well as I age my hearing is not as good as it once was and rolling down the highway does not help the sounds coming from my stereo making it to my ears.  Okay, I may be a little spoiled but I do like music and I like to listen to it while

I thought you might be interested in seeing my ‘Horny Air Cleaner’ featuring part of an original ’34/’35 bugle Ford horn. I couldn’t make this puppy live without a kustom backing/mounting plate, made by my good friend Lee Wimmer of Wimmer Machine. That’s NOT the bike it will be going on. I just HAD to

My FXR chopper needed tools for the Bandit’s day roll and I checked with Cruz Tools. I don’t think this chopper has any metric fasteners except for the 10mm battery bolts. As you will see, there are a few metric tools in the Cruz Tools Speedkit for Harley-Davidsons. On the other hand, this kit did

I’m struggling. Because it is difficult to portray in words how the rider, who’s fitted carbon fibre wheels, can instantly feel changes in unsprung and especially rotational weight. How can I describe how much better the brakes suddenly work? Or how much dramatically lighter the bike feels around corners? How the suspension suddenly feels smoother

Dynas are tricky and handling is key. They are more popular now than ever and the later units were tougher with a new frame, 49mm front ends and cast swingarms. That’s the way to go, but it’s also, especially with big inch twin cam engines, tougher on the stock motor mounts, which are handling keys.

Recently I was on a ride from South Carolina to Sturgis (and then on to Colorado). One of the crew, my friend Biji, is one of those guys who has been a motorhead since Moses came down from the mountain with the stone tablets, and he’s studied M8s since they came on the scene. We

We blasted to the Badlands for the Rally. We shipped Dr. Hamster’s new 1950 Pandemic project. I installed one of our cool 5-Ball Dayrolls, but we needed tools. We ended up ordering two Cruz tool kits, one for the Pandemic and one for his 1981 Evo bagger. They were very similar, and we had a

    I installed LITHIUM Batteries in a lot of motorcycles for other guys, and everyone has had good things to say about them, so now it’s my turn.  Like everyone else I am looking for long life and powerful cranking amps.    The Harley Davidson LITHIUM Battery promises that. They offer 2-times longer battery life

I have 2019 Street Glide Special, I love the look of stock OEM short windshield but it was not functional for my ride height. I did a test with a 7-inch Wave windshield, and it still was not doing the trick. It was time to quit screwing around and go the source of the original

This story started in the ‘60s when Zack tried to buy his first Harley, a Knucklehead with his dad. Zack, still a teenager was already roaming the streets looking for action. He knew a chopper had to be a major portion of the picture. He found a guy, who said he had a basket case

The good Doctor Hamster was in a jam recently. We were building a Panhead basket case with a modified stock Knucklehead frame. We had it straightened and fixed by the local master Dr. John. We still weren’t happy and decided to search for a stock Panhead frame. Hell, it was the only way to go.

It all started in 1903 or there abouts…The motor company went through a number of changes over the years with the way they transferred the power from the motor/transmission to the rear wheel. The one most commonly known looks like this: Now, this clutch may have been the bad ass doohickey in the day, (and

Okay, as we all know tool kits are terrific presents for any biker. They are everywhere, in fact, the other day I was digging around and found a flashlight setting on a shelf. No big deal, right? This damn flashlight was six inches tall and the last two inches were devoted to tools like a

The tanks and fender are out to Deny 925, the master of patina paint, for a scallop classic paint job. In the meantime, I needed to install the Morris Mag, decide on a carb, install the front brake, finish a handful of welds, work with the guys at Bates on a clutch cable, make an

We’ve been working with Lindby for awhile and I’m surprised how often their product line surfaces. Their crashbar/cruising peg system has saved numerous rider and paint jobs. They make long distance runs more comfortable. And we’ve installed them on Indians, touring Harleys and Dynas. Here’s the latest story. My grandson, the Hollywood tattoo artist, Frank

This might be the simplest tech tip ever but it is really useful. Suspension Technologies was installing their touring fork cartridge on my Electra Glide. When they took off my brake calipers they did something I hadn’t seen before. Tech Tip:When you take off your brake caliper drop it in a Crown Royal bag and

Editor’s Note: Us old school guys need to know about this new shit. It’s not that new anymore, but what the hell, we need to know the does and don’ts and where we can find solutions. More and more I find myself helping guys with newer bikes, and I’m intrigued by the new M-8 configuration,

Okay, so the classic 19-inch spoked wheel rolled in from Black Bike Wheels, in Van Nuys. They have grown to build spoked wheels for every make and model in virtually every size. Too cool. If you need a spoked wheel give them a call and speak to Elliot or Eric. Tell them Bikernet sent you.

Story line started about ten years ago, during the bare bobber era. I was looking for a seat to go with an old school flat-tracker look. I had a pair of Flanders flat tracker bars, but it did not look right with the King/Queen seat. Remember, choppers were dead, done, caput. I was looking around