Hey,
This is an interesting one. We are running at life fast and furious. We peeled through the holidays, and never slowed down, except for maybe a minute. So, how do we make a difference in 2015?
It’s up to us, to stop doing anything that hurts us, our families, our brotherhood, or our country. Then we need to find the right path for all the above. Believe me, I’ve made all the mistakes in the world, but it doesn’t stop me from trying to correct past mistakes, and make a difference for 2015. Think about it.
Here’s a terrific example: One of Sinwu’s sons just turned 30. He smokes and has a no-end job. He has two major missions for 2015. I was hoping he would realize one of these goals in 2014, but not yet. He’s taking a refrigeration course to get into the longshoreman’s union as a mechanic. And as an asthmatic, he needs to finally quit smoking.
With those thoughts in mind, let’s hit the news:
QUICK OPEN BANDIT’S CANTINA AND PUB–I found myself in a pub in Cork.
A group of American tourists came in. One of the Americans said, in a loud voice, “I hear you Irish think your great drinkers. I bet 5,000 euros that no-one here can drink 30 pints of Guinness in 30 minutes.”
The bar was silent, the American noticed one Irishman leaving, no-one took up the bet. 40 minutes later the Irishman who left returned and said “Hey Yank, is your wee bet still on?”
“Sure” said the American, “30 pints in 30 minutes for a bet of 5,000 Euros.”
“Grand, ” replied the Irishman, “so pour the pints and start the clock.”It was very close but the last drop was consumed with 2 seconds to spare.”OK Yank, pay up.” said the Irishman.
“I’m happy to pay, here’s your money” said the American. “But tell me, when I first offered the wager I saw you leave. Where did you go?’
The Irishman replied, “Well sir, 5,000 Euros is a lot of money to a man like me, so I went to the pub across the road to see if I could do it.”
–from Rogue and Jerry
UNCLE MONKEY ON THE NEW YEAR–A new year, a new beginning. Turning of a page brings about a turning of a new leaf. Life twists us, test us.
We look back at the friends we’ve lost along the way, embrace the new friends that have come along to fill that loss. Center yourself, fill your life with the beauty we so often overlook, the laugh of a small child playing in a park, a flower pushing its way through hard concrete, the fine lines of a machine, the embrace of a lover.
Put away the negatives that seem to have control of your life. Breathe, love, laugh. Improve your life, radiate what is positive and change the world around you.
-bad Uncle Monkey
Well said!–Bandit
FROM THE BOSS OF IRON TRADER–As for musical quotes for 2015, how’s this classic: You’re the sun and as you shine on me, I feel free…
–Marilyn Stemp
Editor
Iron Trader News
Sturgis Rider Daily
Logistics & Publicity: Evel Knievel Collection
INNOVATIVE PRODUCT OF THE WEEK—
Hey here is a new product line from a friend.
Made with stainless steel nails!! Very kewl!!
They have a complete product line of bracelets, necklace’s, etc.
http://metallicreptilian.com/ is Mike’s website.
BRAND New Bikernet Reader Comment!—
PRE-AMERICAN CHOPPER BUILD-OFF THURSDAY NEWS
http://www.bikernet.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=10266
I want to know how the gear ratio of chain sprockets is calculated and how I can manage rpm and speed?
— Hemish
Surat, gujarat
Try RB racing. Try this link:
www.rbracing-rsr.com/gearspeed.html
–PSD
5-BALL RACING EXTENDS TO AUSTRALIA–Each year in Australia, beginning in 1993, a contest has been held between Harley and Indian owners with pre-1958 machines.
It’s basically a navigation style event, and keenly fought! The event has been won by both marques over the years with the 2014 event taken out by Indian. So the Harley-Davidson owners are keen to win the event in 2015.
Entries are open to both individuals and teams and this year there will be a Bikernet 5-Ball Racing entry. Yes, Bandit has kindly supplied four die-hard Aussie enthusiasts with t-shirts, stickers and key fobs for the 5-Ball Racing Motel.
I will be riding Bandit’s old 1948 Panhead, which I have owned for the past few years, and will be accompanied by Johnno, Fish and Pete. Johnno will be aboard his 1949 Pan, Fish, also on a 1949 Pan and Pete will be on his 1946 E 61-cube Knucklehead.
The event will be run over the weekend of January 24th and 25th and will field approximately 150 entrants with the very early machines given a kind of handicap to make the event fairer. There are many volunteers involved in the running of this event but the key figures are David Reidie, Peter Arundel, Warwick Ellis and Tony Blain and they jointly put in an amazing number of hours.
The base for the event is once again the Station resort in the stunning Snowy Mountains town of Jindabyne, located on the edge of Lake Jindabyne. And the mountain roads in this area feature stunning scenery and testing grades and corners for machines of any era, much less vintage iron. Stay tuned for further reports as the race draws nearer.
–Doc Robinson
Bikernet Australian Correspondent
THE DIFFERENCE—from the Midnight Express Motorcycle Company.
–AD
BIKERNET MEDICAL CENTER RESEARCH LAB REPORT–Can a juice really reverse memory loss?
Not long ago, I reported to you on the amazing effect that pomegranate extract had on mice that were genetically bred to develop Alzheimer’s disease. The mice taking the extract not only did not get worse as they got older, they actually showed improved memory and behavior. Now, another study on humans is showing the same thing.
The researchers looked at 28 older men and women who were all complaining of “Old-timer’s disease.” Old-timers is when you have aggravating declines in your cognitive function but completely normal cognitive function tests. I hear complaints about Old-timer’s all the time. It’s when you can’t remember the name of that book, movie, or person until 5-10 minutes has passed.
You can also see the signs of Old-timers when you find yourself going someplace and unable to remember why you are going there. Or how about when you can’t remember where you put something even though it was just the other day.
Here are the remarkable results.
After only four weeks, the pomegranate people were showing statistical improvement in all of the test scores. In fact, in several of the scores, the improvements were almost 100% better than in the placebo group.
But the most incredible thing to me was that compared to the placebo group, the pomegranate group had increased fMRI activity during verbal and visual memory tasks. That means that there were actual improvements in brain function that could be seen on an MRI image. Amazing! The authors stated, “Taken together, these findings support the hypothesis that drinking pomegranate juice may increase task-related brain activation and improve memory ability in older adults with pre-existing mild memory complaints.”
You can buy the same pomegranate juice that was used, it’s called Pom Wonderful.
(This is from the Second Opinion Newsletter written by Dr. Frank Shallenberger)
–from Doc Robinson
Team leader
5-Ball Racing Australia
TRIKES get a powerful makeover for 2015
One of the hottest-selling vehicles in the motorcycle industry isn’t a motorcycle at all.
It’s a three-wheeled variant that’s part superbike, part go-cart and all business.
Sales appear to be increasing rapidly — one of them is among Harley-Davidson’s top-selling models — and at premium prices.
Contenders in this arena include the Can-Am Spyder and the Polaris Slingshot, rivals to the segment-leading Tri Glide and Freewheeler models from Harley.
Three-wheeled motorcycles aren’t new. Meter maids and ice cream vendors of yore favored trikes driven by Harley engines.
But the new trike-bikes are sleek, powerful and expensive. The traditional ones, like those from Harley, use motorcycle engines to power two drive wheels in back and a single wheel in front.
The updated ones, such as those from Can-Am, Polaris and Campagna, have a single drive wheel in back, and do their steering with two wheels up front.
Together, they’re pushing sales in a segment that’s growing faster than others in the largely stagnant motorcycle world.
While the three companies decline to reveal unit sales for their motorized tricycles, Can-Am says the six-year-old Spyder line is a $300-million-a-year business for Canadian parent company BRP, which also makes Sea-doo watercraft, Ski-doo snowmobiles, offroad side-by-side vehicles and Evinrude boat motors. Can-Am has total revenues of about $3 billion.
Harley-Davidson says its Tri Glide, introduced in 2009, is already the company’s fourth-bestselling machine — behind only the Street Glide Special, Ultra Limited and Street Glide in the company’s current 36-model lineup.
—Charles Fleming, LA Times
See the full story on Bikernet Trikes.–Bandit
BIKERNET UNIVERSITY WARMING WORD OF THE DAY—Gleed:
noun
Quotes
“Not a gleed of fire, then, except the bit kindling peat, and maybe a spunk in Mysie’s cutty-pipe,” replied Caleb.
Origin
Gleed entered English before 950, and is related to the more common word glow.
QUICK, New Bikernet Reader Comment!—
1914 Feilbach Limited
http://www.bikernet.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=12048
Although I love H-D motorcycles I hate the MOCO. Too bad some of these other manufacturers didn’t make it until today.
The MOCO needs a kick in the ass for the way they do business. Hopefully Victory and Indian stays competitive in the heavy weight bike market.
— John
PLANS FOR ECTA & SCTA LAND SPEED RECORD RACING FOR 2015–Finally putting together my ignition together for ECTA & SCTA events in the New Year 2015.
The missing component was the DYNATEK Dyna Twin Fire single fire coil. I picked up the coil Saturday ordered from Drag Specialties thru Conrads H-D in Joliet, Ill. Conrads H-D are helping me out this year with my LSR racing for 2015.
The coil has 4 spark plug towers so you can run dual plug heads. The coil is rated at 3 ohms. The coil can only be run in single-fire mode with a single-fire dwell controlled ignition.
I’m using the Controller ignition from V-Thunder that was sold by Comp Cams. This is an older ignition I got from Don Tilley back in the late ‘90s. It is fully programmable using a laptop. The ECM has many features so you can dial in the ignition for just about any carbureted engine combination.
The benefit of running dual plugs with a high compression engine are many. You program the ignition curve, front & rear cylinder to fix a detonation problem sometimes incurred with running high compression race engines.
The time for combustion is less, and you get a more uniform burn of the air/fuel mixture.
It also helps if your pistons have a higher dome. I’m running a 30 degree dome with a
compression ratio of 13 to 1 at sea level.
The laptop I use is an old IBM Thinkpad running Windows ‘98. It’s good enough to run the V-Thunder software. I can also run a old Dos CAD program from Bobcad.
I use the Bobcad to draw and design up stuff I fabricate. Makes trig calc’s really easy!!
Also I’m using a billet timer cup from NHRS. These were made to help a problem with the stock H-D stamped timers cups when used in a high RPM race engine. Mainly for Buell tube frame carbureted road race/drag race engines.
Gotta come up with some spark plug wires. They will be similar to the H-D Sportster Sport spark plug wires.
Will be machining my heads for dual plugs using Sportster Sport locations this winter.I use tooling balls from the rocker box top side of the cylinder heads for my plug locations & counter bore depths.
I mount the heads on a sine plate mounted to the table on a Bridgeport to get the angles & depths in the correct calculated locations.
So lots to do during the rest of the winter and spring to get the engine ready.
Hell, I haven’t even mentioned my cylinder combination yet! That’s another whole conversation. Damn it, lots of work and the clock is running!!
More to come.
–PSD
Happy New Year Fellow Motorcyclists! from Triumph Classic Motorcycles—
Over the past year we have been working diligently behind the scenes and are now ready to open Triumph Classic Motorcycles.
We are dedicated to the preservation of Classic British Motorcycles and are soon opening our new facility with Restorations, Sales, Service, Parts & Paint departments.
We will be displaying our new lineup of motorcycles at the upcoming Mecum Motorcycle Auction being held in Las Vegas, January 8th-10th.
For more details visit our web site:
www.TriumphClassicMotorcycles.com
Grand Opening Coming Soon!
Stay Tuned for more details on when and where…
Have a safe and prosperous 2015! We look forward to servicing your British Motorcycle needs.
–John Calicchio
Triumph Classic Motorcycles
British Restoration Specialists
714-556-0170
BIKERNET MEDICAL CENTER HEALTH ALERT–You’ve seen all the commercials. But what really happens when you ask for help with an erection lasting more than 4 hours?
I walked into a drug store and asked to talk to a male pharmacist. The woman I was speaking with said she was the only pharmacist and since she and her sister owned the store, there were no male employees.
She asked if she could help me. I said that I really would have preferred to speak with a male pharmacist. She assured me that she was completely professional and whatever it was that I needed to discuss, I could be confident that she would treat me with a high level of professionalism.
I reluctantly agreed and began by saying, “As a shy man, this is tough for me to discuss, but here goes. I get erections every day that last more than four hours. This condition causes me a lot of problems and severe embarrassment. I was wondering what you could
give me for it?”
The pharmacist said, “Just a minute, I’ll talk to my sister.”
When she returned, she said, “We discussed it at length and this is the absolute best we can do:
* 1/3 ownership in the store,
* a company pickup truck,
* a king size bed and
* $3,000 a month in living expenses.”
2015 ROSE PARADE—Covered by our esteemed Bikernet International Editor in Chief.
BIKERNET STRANGE COP REPORT–New York, NY — The NYPD has basically stopped doing its job since the murder of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu earlier this month, according to reports in the New York Post and New York Daily News, and yet the city hasn’t descended into total chaos.
The Post reported that arrests were down 66% in the week following the deaths of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, compared to the same period in 2013.
For certain offenses, the arrest levels are staggeringly low, according to the numbers put out by the Post.
Citations for traffic violations fell by 94 percent, from 10,069 to 587, during that time frame. Summonses for low-level offenses like public drinking and urination also plunged 94 percent — from 4,831 to 300. Even parking violations are way down, dropping by 92 percent, from 14,699 to 1,241. Drug arrests by cops assigned to the NYPD’s Organized Crime Control Bureau — which are part of the overall number — dropped by 84 percent, from 382 to 63.
It’s not a slowdown — it’s a virtual work stoppage, reported the Post yesterday.
The Post says these numbers were obtained hours after revealing that cops were turning a blind eye to some minor crimes and making arrests only “when they have to” since the execution-style shootings of Ramos and Liu.
Some of the reason for the drop off in police activity is that there are some safety concerns. However, one of the Post‘s sources says that yes it’s partly out of safety concerns and partly a continuation of the childish and embarrassing protest against Mayor de Blasio’s response to the non-indictment of Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who killed Eric Garner last summer.
From the Post:
“The call last week from the PBA is what started it, but this has been simmering for a long time,” one source said.
“This is not a slowdown for slowdown’s sake. Cops are concerned, after the reaction from City Hall on the Garner case, about de Blasio not backing them.”
A recently retired cop who attended the funeral also noted that police from around the country joined in the stunning display of resentment toward de Blasio.
“It’s a national protest against the mayor of New York,” the ex-cop said.
After the police union blamed the mayor for the subsequent murder of two officers, the New York Times made the case that rank-and-file officers deserve better from their union reps.
“Mr. de Blasio isn’t going to say it, but somebody has to: With these acts of passive-aggressive contempt and self-pity, many New York police officers, led by their union, are squandering the department’s credibility, defacing its reputation, shredding its hard-earned respect,” it says in an editorial. “They have taken the most grave and solemn of civic moments—a funeral of a fallen colleague—and hijacked it for their own petty look-at-us gesture.”
“I think it’s probably a rift that is going to go on for a while longer,” Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said as he predicted a long, cold war between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD’s rank and file Sunday, while admitting that morale among cops was so low, the problem could no longer be denied.
The time for petty threats and antagonism is over. It is now time we talk solutions.
Mayor de Blasio is to meet face-to-face with the heads of five police unions today. If there is one thing that we can rest assured will not be brought up at this meeting, it is that this sharp drop in the enforcement of certain offenses has not created the Mad Max scenario that so many people predict would happen if police loosen their grip.
Drug offenses, parking violations, traffic citations; these are not so much crimes as they are streams of revenue for the city. They are also the reason for the majority of police harassment within certain communities.
Without the war on drugs and without police shaking down every young person who they suspect is carrying an illegal plant, the quality of life for so many people would instantly increase, as it likely already has.
Ending prohibition would also effectively and drastically reduce the amount of crime in communities derived from the black market sale of drugs and the gang-related monopolies which arise from making certain substances illegal.
These are real solutions to real problems and we have an opportunity now to show how many of these laws are based in irrational fear or simply designed for revenue generation.
Sure, if police start refusing to arrest murderers and rapists, things will probably get really bad, especially since most of the residents in New York City have been disarmed. But this lawlessness would likely be a temporary reality. As we’ve seen with the economic collapse in Detroit and the subsequent lack of government policing, solutions like the Threat Management Center arise, which provide a more efficient and much more peaceful means of societal security.
As Reason Magazine’s Scott Shackford said, presumably, next year, after this all dies down, the NYPD may note a big drop of crime in December entirely because they stopped finding reasons to charge people with crimes.
Police unions could use the experience to decry all the petty, unnecessary reasons they’re ordered to cite and arrest people in the first place, but that’s not going to happen because they love the drug war and the money that comes into the departments from fighting it.
–from Rogue
LARRY GROSSMAN OFFERS New Award Announced for the Grand National Roadster Show!— Rodshows would like to formally introduce the Grand National Roadster Show Perseverance Award, presented by Steven Young.
Making its inaugural debut at last year’s show, the Perseverance Award was given to St. James Davis, who completed his custom coupe with the help of his friends, after being physically debilitated by a chimpanzee.
Each year the award will be given to a worthy individual(s) who present an inspiring story of perseverance, overcoming great obstacles, whether personal or physical, to achieve their dream or that of another, who suffers from a catastrophic event or illness. It may also be awarded to the family posthumously, who created a car and/or are exhibiting a car as a tribute to the deceased owner.
The award is an original work of art by noted Hot Rod and Nostalgia artist Larry Grossman, which will feature the winning automobile. The selection of the winner and presentation of the award will be made by lifetime Hot Rodder and former Petersen Automotive Museum Chairman, Steven Young.
Please note, although the award is available each year, if there are no eligible candidates, it may not be given out in a particular year. It is also an award for those who have overcome exceptional odds and circumstances, particularly a physical condition, and not those who have insufficient funds and/or time to complete their build. If you or someone you know qualifies for this award, please email your story to info@rodshows.com.
SO WHAT’S IT MEAN—Uncle Monkey said it best. Ignore the negative and focus on the positive. And we have so many positive aspects/projects surrounding our lives at Bikernet.
Including Jessica’s fine art painting on our Gym door. She’s amazing, and I look forward to this process.
I finished, sorta, Raul’s feature for American Iron, although you won’t see his girlfriend on the pages. They don’t go there. I will see MetalSport and the Arch Motorcycle Team this week. We also have a 5-Ball Racing meeting this week, and I’m working with Kent Weeks or Lucky Devil Metal Works on our trike project for the Cincy V-Twin Show.
Ah, but we do… And of course we will continue the fight for Freedom in America. I listened to the Star Spangled Banner words maybe three times yesterday during bowl games and playoff games. Why don’t our politicians listen? You’ll read about the Australian Club laws this week in a Bikernet Special Report. It’s amazing and proves that Freedom works once more, and over-regulations don’t.
It’s all good, exciting and non-stop. Hang on for more reports, always moving forward.
All the best for the New Year,
–Bandit
