Hey,
I’m beat. I made a mad dash to the All American Motorcycle Madness event put on by Seth Doulton, in Santa Maria, California. It’s 60 miles north of Santa Barbara and the traffic is tough.
I just got back, Harold Pontarelli tried to OD me on Jack Daniels. I was cool, but I feel like shit. So let’s hit the news. Big week coming; Long Beach and San Pedro bikers are under siege by cops throwing the book at anyone who has modified exhaust. We’re calling in the troops. I’ve sent my noise study to the city Council woman; the cop commander and we may be forced to sue the city of Los Angeles. It’s bullshit.
Let’s hit the news:
CANTINA LAUNDRY PRODUCT OF THE WEEK–I am writing to say what an excellent product you have! I’ve used it all of my married life, as my Mom always told me it was the best.
Now that I am in my fifties I find it even better! In fact, about a month ago, I spilled some red wine on my new white blouse. My inconsiderate and uncaring husband started to belittle me about how clumsy I was, and generally started becoming a pain in the neck. One thing led to another and somehow I ended up with his blood on my new white blouse! I grabbed my bottle of Tide with bleach alternative, and to my surprise and satisfaction, all of the stains came out! In fact, the stains came out so well the detectives who came by yesterday told me that the DNA tests on my blouse were negative and then my attorney called and said that I was no longer considered a suspect in the disappearance of my husband.
What a relief! Going through menopause is bad enough without being a murder suspect! I thank you, once again, for having a great product.
Well, gotta go, have to write to the Hefty bag people.
–from CarlR
TEXAS BBQ AT LUCKY DEVILS– Hey Bandit, I know you are just a little to far away for a last minute trip but I figured I’d see if I may be Lucky enough to get you to mention that Holly is throwing a party!!! from 12 noon to 6 pm may 27th, come and join us for Cold Beer, Texas BBQ and check out some of the latest Lucky Devil creations on display. For instructions please check the map on the web site www.luckydevilmetalworks.com . Take care, The Devil
AIRPLANE ENGINE; WATCH FOR FLYING PARTS!–Another custom, Airplane powered, bike surfaced.
–from Buckshot
RECEIVER NAMED FOR SPIRIT DEALERSHIP– Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge David Wecht has named Bernstein Law Firm as receiver for Spirit Harley-Davidson, which has filed for bankruptcy. The owner of the Shaler motorcycle dealership, Frank Terry Sanford, 62, also faces charges of rape, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, unlawful restraint, reckless endangerment and terroristic threats.
–from Rogue
EVEL KNIEVEL’S CAREER STUMBLES–The ’70s cultural icon and poster boy for fast living and derring-do is 67, his body broken by years of spectacular crashes and ravaged by a multitude of serious ailments. The king of the daredevils can hardly get out of bed most days, let alone straddle a Harley.
On bad days, Knievel wishes he had gone into another line of work. On better days, he doesn’t regret a minute. Lung disease sometimes makes it hard for him to talk, but his stories still drip with swagger. He can be kind and gracious one minute, irascible and profane the next.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition, is scarring and hardening his lungs. He’s recovering from a stroke and has diabetes. He’s broken about 40 bones, is full of plates and titanium parts and is constantly in pain. Repeated concussions have affected his short-term memory.
The man who survived 300 perilous motorcycle jumps and once climbed into a rocket-powered cycle to fly over a canyon, now stays close to an oxygen tank, ingests 50 pills a day and sucks on lollipops that deliver fentanyl, a heavy-duty painkiller.
“People think I’ve been through something in my life from what they’ve seen on national television, my accident at Caesars Palace for instance,” Knievel says. “Look at what the hell I’m going through now. How much can the human body endure?”
Knievel is preparing for his annual summer trip to his hometown of Butte, Mont., which celebrates his legend every July with the Evel Knievel Days festival. The event gets larger every year, but for him the journey gets more difficult.
“It’s awful hard for me to see him like this,” says Billy Rundle, an old friend and executive director of the festival, which attracted 50,000 people last year to see the daredevil.
His personal appearance days might be numbered, but one thing’s for sure – some 25 years after his last motorcycle jump, people still want a piece of Robert Craig Knievel, American folk hero.
BIKERNET RACE TEAM REPORT– Valerie Thompson – VTRaceGirl.com, BIKERNET.COM Salt Flats pilot, continues to make waves in the Rucker Performance Super Gas class. Just recently completed the AHDRA Gypsy Rendezvous Nationals in St. Louis.
Valerie rode her Hacienda H-D Screamin’ Eagle V-Rod Destroyer in the Super Gas and V-Rod Destroyer Class. She had her chance at a win against the number two point leader Bob Drapp. In the finals, Drapp and Valerie were side by side down the track. Valerie’s 9.660-second pass @ 139.76 mph to Drapp’s 9.674-second @ 129.99 mph. Valerie took the Runner-Up position.
In the Screamin’ Eagle V-Rod Destroyer Class Valerie had the top MPH in qualifying 143.92 mph, which is her best mph to date and qualified 16th. In the Rucker Performance Super Gas she qualified 2nd with a 9.71 pass (Index 9.70).
Valerie has had two Runner-Ups in Phoenix and St. Louis along with a #1 qualifying position in Dallas.
The AHDRA point rankings now have Valerie in the 3rd position (Super Gas class) with a total of 318 points and trail the championship leader by 55 points.
While most AHDRA races have next weekend off, Valerie, will be attending the Run for the Wall in Arizona May 17th, 2006. Honoring the memory of those killed in action from all wars. VT will be at Hacienda Harley-Davidson’s booth raising money for the bike rider’s fuel (RFTW), signing posters and giving out Monster Energy Drinks to everyone.
VTRaceGirl.com heads over to Atlanta Dragway, (Commerce, GA) May 26-28, 2006 for the Stone Mountain Harley-Davidson Southern Nationals.
I would like to thank Tripp Nobles, Patty Bush @ DOC’s Harley-Davidson, Kenny Folz-Crew Chief, Dale Rushmore, Gary Tonglet, John Crabb, Jim Shaffer-Rance Trailers and Rick Hatch at Hacienda Harley-Davidson for giving me a great bike to ride. A special thank you to all the DOC’s Harley-Davidson customers, fans, employees for there hospitality. Patty Bush and LaDonna planned a Ladies Day and Night Ride for VT on Thursday the day before racing took underway. Valerie also added Doc’s H-D made her feel like St. Louis is her second home and cannot wait to come back and give them a big win next year!
The Dirty Dogg Saloon Scottsdale, Arizona just teamed up with Valerie’s race program as a 2006 sponsor. The Dirty Dogg Saloon is Scottsdale’s #1 biker bar in town. People from all over the world stop in at this bar. Very well know for the wet-t-shirt contest every Wednesday. Great music, bar dancing, cold drinks and a friendly staff. Please visit www.dirtydoggsaloonaz.com
VTRaceGirl.com team has partnered with the following sponsors: Hacienda Harley-Davidson, Monster Energy Drink, Legend Air-Rid Suspension, MTC Engineering, Lucas Oil, Phoenix Bikers, Rance Aluminum Trailers and The Dirty Dogg Saloon.
STOLEN MOTORCYCLE RETURNED– ARANSAS PASS – A motorcycle the mayor turned in to police after learning it had been reported stolen is on its way back to Colorado.
A property hearing Thursday returned the bike to Jeff Bailey, a former Corpus Christi motorcycle mechanic, but attorneys for Mayor Jesus Galvan said he had no knowledge it was stolen.
Galvan paid Bailey to build a custom bike in 2005, but Bailey moved to Colorado in late November before he could finish it. Galvan’s parts were returned. Bailey testified Thursday that men came to his Colorado home with the parts for Galvan’s bike, forced him to continue working on it and then took his bike as collateral. Bailey reported the motorcycle stolen. Galvan turned over the bike, a 1997 Harley-Davidson, to police in late February after learning it was reported stolen. He thought the bike was offered as collateral while Bailey finished Galvan’s custom bike, but Bailey said he didn’t willingly give the bike.
“I don’t know how this has come to this point,” Bailey said. “I just want my bike back.”
Justice of the Peace Charlene Lewis presided over the hearing, asserting several times it was not a criminal proceeding.
Department of Public Safety Sgt. Ismael Gomez testified that he contacted Galvan about the bike when Westminster, Colo., police told him about the theft report and thought the bike might be in Aransas Pass.
“The last thing he wants is a stolen bike,” said Gordon Morgan, one of Galvan’s attorneys. Gomez also testified that Galvan had motorcycle parts for his custom bike, some of which were reported stolen. Lewis said Galvan could have back the parts for which he had receipts.
District Attorney Patrick Flanigan said he would review a report on the stolen parts and decide if charges against Galvan will be filed. Morgan said Galvan may pursue civil action against Bailey for breach of contract because the bike never was built.
–from Rogue
ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAMERS HEAD FOR STURGIS–The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are revving up to headline the inaugural Rock’n the Rally, a five-day summer music festival in South Dakota created to coincide with the famed Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the largest and oldest mass gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts in the world.
The concert takes place Aug. 6-10 at a 34-acre amphitheater on the Glencoe Camp Resort, located in the Black Hills near the town of Sturgis, where last year an estimated 500,000 bikers rumbled through to celebrate the rally’s 65th anniversary. Other big names on the bill include the Black Crowes, Nickelback, Keith Urban, Sammy Hagar, Live, the Gin Blossoms and Big & Rich, along with old-school acts such as Joe Cocker, Steve Miller Band, Cheap Trick, Steppenwolf and 38 Special.
“We are providing a modern and expansive venue with a full lineup each day of world-class acts that appeal to the Bike Rally’s audience,” said property owner Gary Lippold, who’s presenting the festival with Dork Fish Ink. “For 66 years, Sturgis Bike Week has been a celebration of independence and freedom–the same concepts that define rock and roll.” Ticket prices range from $50 to $70 and go on sale Mar. 10 at www.starticketplus.com . More artists are expected to be added to the lineup in the coming days. If all goes well, promoters hope to make Rock’n the Rally an annual tradition, in the vein of Coachella and Bonnaroo, which Petty and the Heartbreakers are also headlining in June.
Once the “Free Fallin’ ” singer is done carousing with bikers, he and his band will head south for the annual Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, Texas, which is ramping up for another musical blowout. This year’s shindig at Zilker Park Sept. 15-17 rounds up over 130 bands playing on eight stages. Along with Petty, other music heavyweights set to take the stage include Irish crooner Van Morrison, psychedelic rockers the Flaming Lips, Ben Harper, John Mayer, Matisyahu, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, the New Pornographers, the Shins, Massive Attack, Gnarls Barkley, Kings of Leon and such jam-friendly acts as the String Cheese Incident and Ween.
–from Rogue
DEAF WOMAN SUES RIDER ED FOR NOT PROVIDING SIGNER– A deaf Tampa-area woman who wanted to take an adult education class on motorcycle riding is suing the Hillsborough County school district for not providing a sign language interpreter.
“They are discriminating against me, which I felt is not right,” Merrie Carol Paul said in an interview conducted through a telephone relay system. “One of my dreams is that I wanted to ride my own motorcycle. … I love to ride motorcycles because I can do it. It doesn’t matter if I am deaf or not. I love to feel the spirit. It is me.”
Paul, 46, claims in a federal lawsuit that the district violated the Americans With Disabilities Act when officials refused to provide the interpreter when she signed up to take the class last year.
Paul said she was told the $175 class fee would not cover the cost of an interpreter. In the lawsuit, she says she was told she was welcome to bring her own interpreter, which the suit states would have cost her $2,340.
When asked if the district provides sign language interpreters for people in adult education classes, school district spokesman Stephen Hegarty said, “Regardless of what kind of class it is, the law requires that we make reasonable accommodations, and frequently litigation arises over how to define reasonable.” Hegarty added he did not know whether a sign language interpreter ever has been requested for an adult school class.
Deaf from birth, Paul said she rode motorcycles with her parents as a teenager in Michigan. She said she passed a written test but needs to take the course to obtain her license.
“I have my motorcycle in my garage, and it is waiting for me,” she said.
–from Rogue
MEGARIDER ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING– The MegaRider Organization is a non-profit body working on motorcycle safety. You may be aware of the MegaRider website at www.megarider.com.
This website is basically a motorcyclist’s introduction to advanced riding skills and appears to have aroused quite a bit of interest amongst riders throughout the world.
In the over three decades I have been working on rider training and motorcycle safety, I have come to realize that there are three areas to being a top road rider, what we call a megarider.
The first and easiest to master is the area of Physical Skills. Most riders gain fairly complete physical riding skills after the first nine months or so of riding.
The next area is the Riding Skills Knowledgebase. This is a totality of knowledge of everything to do with riding skills and motorcycles and is so large and so complex that very few if any riders gain a complete knowledge in this area. However, most riders will survive on motorcycles just by having a fairly complete Riding Skills Knowledgebase. But even this takes some time and effort to assimilate.
The site is a subscription site because it will be updated regularly and this updating has to be paid for somehow. It costs US$20 per year to join.
My aim is to provide motorcyclists world-wide with the opportunity to bring their skills to the level of what I guess you could call the local Megarider King level – the best in the area.
–Allan Kirk
MegaRider Organisation
(Saving motorcyclists’ lives since 1970)
www.megarider.com
STURGIS TELEVISION ADS WIN “TOMMY” AWARDS–Sturgis Bike Week won four “Tommy” awards at the Black Hills Advertising Federation’s first annual Black Hills Advertising Awards Thursday, May 18 at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.
Sturgis Bike Week Productions took first place in the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally category for the 2005 Sturgis Rally News magazine, Glencoe Nation brochure and www.glencoecamp.com internet site.
Sturgis Bike Week Inc. won first place for the Budweiser 2005 Sturgis Bike Week Inc. t-shirt design.
The Tommys, named in honor of Tom Franklin, a local advertising legend and BHAF Silver Medal Award winner, is a local competition for businesses in the West River region to compete against each other in a variety of categories for advertising, public relations and marketing.
Sturgis Bike Week Inc. is a large t-shirt screen printing company that employs over 50 people and produces designs for not only Sturgis Bike Week, but Budweiser, Bunny Ranch and Magic Crayon as well.
Glencoe CampResort is the sixth largest city in South Dakota during bike week with over 600 acres for camping and RV sites.
Sturgis Bike Week Productions is responsible for numerous publications covering Sturgis Bike Week including the Sturgis Rally News magazine. In addition this company handles the bike shows, events and vendors at Thunder Road – the premier custom bike show venue.
THIS IS GOING TO BE A HUGE EVENT!– Rowdy Ron here putting the word out about The 2006 PACIFIC NORTHWEST SKIN N STEEL EXPO. This is going to be an event like the northwest has never seen. Hardcore Custom Motorcycles , Hot Ink from the industries wildest tattoo artists , and Vendors from all over the place displaying all types of Motorcycle and Body Modification merchandise.
SPONSORSHIP SPACE STILL AVAILABLE.(SEE THE WEBSITE FOR MORE INFO) OR CALL US FOR ANY QUESTIONS OUR SITE CAN’T ANSWER:
–ROWDY RON
425 231 0742
LUCKY LES
425 268 7579
NEW PRODUCTS FROM NEW YORK CITY CHOPPERS– I’ve attached some of the new stuff a lot of brass. Updated my gas cap in Brass & Nautical star. 7.5 inch springer brake rotors, also have a custom mount for single piston calipers PM or J.Brake My Springer. This one is a14 over. Trucker girl oil tanks
Nick
Choppersnyc@aol.com
One of these days I’m going to build a trucker girl bike. I love that shit.–Bandit
THAT’S A WRAP–But there’s more. There’s now Inner Circle Radio by some bros and Open Road Radio by broettes, so we’re goin to launch Bikernet OnLine Television. Hang on for that, but first I gotta sober up and finish the Bonneville bikes. That’s one of the goals for this coming week.
One other thing I’m going to mention. I’m a three-time Vietnam Vet and always support veterans. I met a couple of Iraqi vets this weekend. I have always supported Billy Lane’s efforts for vets, but that’s not enough. From now on I want to do something for vets in every news column–remember we’re at war. If you have info about someone in Iraq, a notice about a brother or sister who just returned or news from the front, send it in. It needs to be here by Wednesday to make the Bikernet Thursday news. After Thursday all the news is shifted to the Cantina Sunday Paper. As of Monday we start compiling news for Thursday again. Fuckin’ creatures of habit.
So let’s support our troops as least twice a week on Bikernet.
Ride Forever,
–Bandit
