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MANCHESTER ENGLAND SHOW REPORT FROM THE CHIEF– Went to the motorcycle event in Manchester, yesterday. Lots of roadbikes you’re not likely to see in the US. I will e-mail you a selection of pics. I will reduce them in size, so they are already perfect for your website. You can credit them “photos by Patrick Cusse & Christie Goodwin at CCBIKEART.biz”, or something to that effect.
Also, I hope to have an online store up and running on our site, selling some of our bike art pics.
–Patrick
www.ccphotoart.biz –
www.myspace.com/ccphotoartbiz – <
www.ccbikeart.biz –
phone: +44 7799174199
CALIFORNIA CUSTOMS WORKING WITH USO TO BRING CUSTOM BIKE ENTERTAINMENT TO THE TROOPS, BIKERNET TO SPONSOR– I’ve been in contact with the people at the USO about the possibility of gathering up some bike builders and hopefully bringing us and some of our bikes to the troops in Iraq on a meet and greet, photo, handshake type tour.
Not sure how feasible they think this idea is but it’s something I’m working very hard to make into a reality for our troops. If we can pull it off and get as many builders involved as I’d like to I’d also like to make sure we get as much media coverage as possible so the troops will have magazine copies to keep as memories of this tour and it might be added incentive for people not sure they’d like to be involved with the tour.
Of course Bikernet, being one of our favorite media outlets, I’m letting you know about this first with hopes you’ll be behind this project if and when we get it off the ground.
–Joe Cree
California Customs
California Customs bikes@calcustom.com
SUNDAY BIKERNET ART EXHIBIT– Spotted these two in the Smokey Mountains….cold as a witch’s titty!
Ride Hard,
–Whiplash Biker Photog
ATHENA “THE VAGABOND CHICKIE” RANSOM– Don’t get Athena Ransom wrong — she loves her kids. But after years of building motorcycles and a name for herself in the virile world of bike-building, Ransom also shares a maternal affinity for her elegant and bulky creations. “It’s like giving birth,” the 38-year-old said during a recent phone interview from her South Florida shop. “It comes to life in front of you. Every bike has a life of its own.”
Known as the “Vagabond Chickie,” Ransom joins a crew of custom-chopper builders this weekend at the ninth annual Thunder by the Bay bike festival.
Capitalizing on the popularity of the Discovery Channel’s “American Chopper” and “Biker Build-Off,” this year’s festival features appearances by two-time “Biker Build-Off” winner Eddie Trotta, the Detroit Brothers and builder Shorty Inc., as well as Ransom.
Ransom grew up in Illinois, California and Florida around motorcycles. Her father had Harley-Davidson Sportsters and choppers.
At 16, Ransom built her first bike — a 1945 Harley-Davidson Servi-Car Trike — with the help of a boyfriend. “I loved riding with him, and would get all bummed out if he spent too much time with the boys having beers,” she said. “So he told me I couldn’t ride it, but I could wash it and wait for him to come home. I loved it when it shined.”
After several years of watching, listening and helping in the garage, Ransom was familiar with the nearly 200 parts on a motorcycle.
But skillfully building custom choppers doesn’t always garner respect in biker circles. “When I started in the ’80s, it was taboo for a woman to work in a shop — period,” Ransom said. “Some men have a condescending attitude because I’m doing something that men traditionally do.”
Male riders urinated in her helmet. Some stole parts off her bike. Ransom thought she’d seen everything until she met some riders from the Motor Maids, the first women’s motorcycle club. “These ladies have been riding since the 1940s,” she said. “I thought I took a lot of crap. These women are pioneers.”
Ransom stopped working on bikes in 2001 when her mother got sick, instead waiting tables and serving drinks to spend more time at home.
Then about four years ago, she received a $5,000 bonus working as a paralegal. Vagabond Choppers Co. was born.
Just as her dream was taking flight, Hurricane Wilma destroyed the shop. She lost more than $50,000 in inventory. But Ransom soon reopened her shop at a bigger garage with $7,000 she had stashed away.
Now enjoying steady clientele, Ransom said she sells her motorcycles across the country for as much as $75,000.
As a result of her work, Ransom has appeared on the reality-TV shows “Miami Ink,” “Corbin’s Ride On” and “American Thunder.”
And although TV has helped heighten the profile of custom bike-building and builders, Ransom said not all of the exposure is good.
“Everybody thinks it’s so easy,” she said.”Just because you got a frame, transmission, engine and gas tank doesn’t mean you have a bike. You still need all the linkages, fuel line, carburetor, brake fittings, rotors … they’ll try to get it together, but can’t make it fit, so they have an unsafe and unreliable device.”
Her climb from shining her boyfriend’s chopper to running her own shop in Deerfield Beach was arduous, but Ransom has approached every obstacle as a potential lesson.
“Life is too short for a bad attitude,” she said.
Bikernet is sponsoring Athena’s charity build-off in Daytona, at the Speedway this year.–Bandit
–from Rogue
BIKERNET DOG FOR SALE–A guy is driving around the back woods of Tennessee and he sees a sign in front of a broken down shanty-style house: “Talking Dog For Sale.” He rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the backyard.
The guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador retriever sitting there.
“You talk?” he asks.
“Yep,” the Lab replies.
After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk,he says “So, what’s your story?”
The Lab looks up and says, “Well, I discovered that Could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA. In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running.”
“But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn’t getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in.”
“I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals. I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I’m just retired.”
The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.
“Ten dollars,” the guy says.
“Ten dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?”
“Because he’s a liar. He never did any of that shit!
–from Terry Leebove
BOOK WRITER REPORTS ON SALES GENERATED BY BIKERNET– Holy shit. now you’re applying pressure. You’ve rallied the hordes. Holy fuck. You’ve struck my weak spot: the buying public. I’m getting requests from people I dont even know. Shit, I’m bathed in sweat. I need cabo wabo. This is dirty pool. I see a long day in the masturbatoriam of forgetfullness today!!
–JJ Solari
DUAL SUNDAY SPORTSTER FEATURES QUICK– I started with a stock ’81 XLH so it still has the original Harley Davidson title. A new Paughco frame, a new chrome springer frontend, new chrome 4-piston front caliper, a bright dual lamp taillight. New custom, stretched and smoothed tank with all new dash, functional key locking switch and lighted speedo, all the indicator lights (oil, bright, gen) are functional, rear speedo drive unit with new extended cable, chrome key locking aircraft style gas caps, chrome generator mounted voltage regulator, bullet chrome headlight with halogen bulb, Drag Specialties chrome O-ring 530 drive chain, new chrome 48-tooth rear sprocket for better cruising speeds, new H-D Fatboy rear brake caliper, new matching 4420 stainless mirror polished 11.5 spiked rotors, new rear wheel, one of a kind custom made steel rear fender, Accell Super coil, chrome air cleaner, chrome piston crank case breather, chrome horn, chrome master cyls (both front and rear), new chrome levers, chrome firemans cross mirror, Billy lane whiskey bars (handlebars), chrome torpedo grips, new stainless braided lines incl front brake line, clutch and dual throttle cables, new pegs, new LePera bare bones solo seat that sits about 23.5 inches off the ground.
New Paughco pipes that sound unbelievable, seriously you have never heard an Ironhead that sounds better than this. Paughco oil tank, Paughco battery box. A 21-inch front wheel from an ’03 Softtail.
The wiring is all brand new in the frame and ultra simple. And last but not least, brand new, genuine House of Color candy apple paint.
THE BOBBER STORY– I built this bobber using a ’76 XLCH I bought from a guy who picked it up at salvage auction. It was quite a mess, see the next set of pics with the apes, 5-inch risers with stock gauges mounted on top of them, and the strange home made rear frame extensions coupled with a bolt on hardtail section. This was the state I received it in.
It took a couple of weeks in my spare time after work. The tranny and top end needed and received a rebuild done by myself. I used a Santee weld on for the rear of the frame. The rest was built with spare parts I had laying around left over from from other builds, an ’81 frontend, ’89 tank remounted high and rearward, orig 18″ rear wheel, a fender someone threw out on the curb, a lot of fabrication, a custom made oil tank and a one of a kind hand tooled “IRON_HEAD” leather solo seat of my own design.
I drew it on paper then “cheapBob” from MO tooled it out, riveted it to a steel pan and sent it to me.
It’s almost complete save for some more custom leather work I having done. danfam@iowatelecom.net
— “Larry, Mary, Collin & Ethan Daniels”
danfam@iowatelecom.net
THE REALS STATISTICS, HELMETS FOR EVERYONE–All this is for your info. In addition to HG’s extracted statistics I have pasted a page at the bottom that says how many lives would have been saved if they were wearing helmets, seat belts and airbags. This is really dangerous. Read the entire report, it is interesting. Make sure you have a helmet on when you do so you are not injured by the bullshit.
–Chuck
Here’s a couple of items items of interest from the 2005 Traffic Safety Annual Report – Final Edition. This report was released Jan. 4, 2007 from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The entire 200+ page report is available at: Out of the 4,553 fatalities for motorcycle operators, 55.9% (2,364) WERE wearing a lid, while 40.9% (1,732) WERE NOT wearing a helmet with the remaining 3.2% (144) falling into the “unknown” category. For the passengers that were killed, it breaks down as follows: 48.9% (157) helmeted, 48.6% (156) lidless, 2.5% (8) unknown. Out of the 4,652 motorcycle operators involved in fatal crashes, 972 had no valid m/c license/endorsement, 3,480 had the proper credentials, 145 had no license at all, 20 crashes occurred where no license was required, and 1 was unknown. The highest group of unendorsed riders (305) fell in the 25-34 age range. –Hairy George THE “DESTROYER” IS AVAILABLE!– California Harley-Davidson/Buell has ONE 2006 VRXSE Screamin’ Eagle V-Rod Destroyer dragster (stock #888618) available. You may have seen this limited production motorcycle on display in our showroom. Now, we are looking to find this baby a new home. Don’t even think about riding this bike along the beach at sunset; this untamed thoroughbred is meant for the track only. Our “Destroyer” has never been ridden. It has ZERO miles and is clean and shiny. Call for details and sponsorship package information. Contact our motorcycle sales department at 310-539-3366. Our sales representatives will be glad to talk with you. — www.californiaharleydavidson.com UNIVERSAL FENDER STRUTS AND BUNGS– Your fabrication parts source BungKing.com is offering universal fender strut kits for your rigid. Our kits come with all the parts needed including machined parts, hardware, and prebent bar stock, to fabricate your own custom set of fender struts, all you need is a welder and some time in your garage. We’ve done our best to keep the price low, and at $30.00 for a curved set and $27.00 for the strait, you can’t go wrong. To order these or any of our other products visit BIKERNET MYSTERIES UNWRAPPED– Q: How is a woman like a condom? A: By the time you’re finished with the breast and thighs, all you have left is the greasy box to put your bone in. A: They both begin with a lot of sucking and blowing, and you end losing your house. Q: What’s the difference between love, true love and showing off? Q: What do you call two skunks that are 69ing? Q: What’s the difference between snowmen and snowwomen? NEW BILLET STYLE REAR BRAKE LEVER FROM HARLEY-DAVIDSON– MILWAUKEE (December 22, 2006) – The new Billet Style Rear Brake Lever (P/N 42632-07, $159.95) from Harley-Davidson Genuine Motor Accessories is styled with radiused slots to complement Harley-Davidson Billet mirror stems and shift levers. The lever is forged from 2014-T6 aluminum, then machined and chrome-plated for a gleaming custom look. A choice of brake pedal pads is sold separately. Fits 1987-1999 FLSTC, FLSTS, FLSTF and FLSTN models, 1997-later FLHT, FLHTC/I, FLHTCUI, FLHR/I, FLHRCI, FLTR/I models, and 2007 FX Softail models. See dealer for fitment details. For additional information on Harley-Davidson Genuine Motor Accessories, see your local Harley-Davidson dealer or visit the Harley-Davidson Web site at www.harley-davidson.com. To find a dealer near you, call toll free 1-800-443-2153 in the U.S.A. or Canada. SUNDAY PAINTED SHEET METAL DEAL– Could you post these paint sets on your site and maybe I could find new homes for them. This first set is for a 1997 Heritage Springer. Galaxy grey and candy cobalt blue. All rivits removed and no light on front fender. Lettering and pinstriping by Bob Iverson. Original Harley metal. $1,600.00 plus shipping, no exchange. never been mounted — Jim HOT BIKERNET NEWS ON SUNDAY–We’re jazzed about the following. Valerie Thompson who rode a Destroyer to 6th place last year for Monster Drinks and set a World Land Speed Record at Bub’s Bonneville event on the Bikernet.com Salt Shaker picked up a new sponsor for 2007, GoDaddy.com. “If it wasn’t for the World Land Speed Record, they would have passed,” Valerie told the Bikernet staff. “That made all the difference for my racing this year.” GoDaddy.com flew Valerie to Los Angeles to shoot her for their controversial Superbowl television commercial with the OCC guys. She’s also being feature on Xtra Xtra, a celebrity reality show. As you know, we are building a specific 120-inch Accurate Engineering Panhead Bonneville racer to fit Valerie for the Salt Flats competition this year. We’re getting serious on this effort to make our Assalt Weapan the World’s Fastest Panhead and Valerie is the pilot. Don’t miss the Morris Magneto investigation in the Bikernet Tech area right now. They make mags for everything. This one is on my Dicey Knucklehead built by Milwaukee Iron, in Lynchburg, VA. Now, I gotta get back to the Pomona Easyriders show and pick up my bikes. Oh, check out the Brass Balls bikes and I’m working on a Nash Motorcycles feature for Monday. Hang on. –Ride Forever, –Bandit 
A: Both spend more time in your wallet than on your penis. Q: What does a woman and Kentucky Fried Chicken have in common?
Q: How are tornadoes and marriage alike?
A: Spitting, swallowing and gargling.
A: Odor eaters
A: Snowballs. 
(310) 329-4707
www.jimscyclepainting.com 
