Racing on the Streets

It’s our version of Mecca. No other race in the U.S., or even the world, quite matches the experience of seeing the TT in person. Not only is the race action great, but the atmosphere is incredible. It’s you and 100,000 of your best motorcycling friends from around the world, all gathered to celebrate the love of fast motorcycles.

Isle of Man TT Grid Girls… Lovely!

This was the 100th year of the Isle of Man TT races. Except for a few war years, motorcycles have been racing on the island every year since 1907. Back then the roads were rough and unpaved. An Indian won the premier race that year, with an average speed of just 47 mph – a far cry from what’s possible today.

2007 saw a new lap record set. John McGuiness averaged just over 130 mph during the Senior TT on the last day of racing, on a Honda CBR1000RR. Wow!!! Unfortunately there was an accident during the race, leaving one rider and two spectators dead. The island can be a deadly place. The yearly death toll averages more than 2 riders per year.

The TT features several days of racing, with various classes including sidecars. The Superbike-spec 1000s can hit over 200 miles per hour on some sections of the track. The 600s and sidecars are a bit slower, but no less thrilling.

Car Racing at Speed

Locals and visitors watch the races from almost everywhere. Yards, driveways, house windows, schoolyards, gas stations, pubs……. anywhere along the 37 ½ mile course is fair game. It’s sobering to see the various hard surfaces – light posts, walls, gas pumps, houses – along the course that have been covered with hay bales and padding in an attempt to soften the blow for a rider traveling at over 100 mph.

Locals and visitors watch the races from almost everywhere.

When the races are over it’s time to head to the Promenade. The “Prom” is the main street along the bay where the nightly festivities happen. This year you could see a number of stunt shows and contests, as well as dozens of ancient race bikes being started up and ridden by racing legends. Where else can you see and hear a 1938 DKW supercharged 2-stroke race bike being ridden? And there were two of those things!! The sound was amazing, almost as nasty as the shriek from the exhaust of a 1960’s vintage Honda 250 six cylinder racer.

Quite a few racing legends were in attendance this year. Giacomo Agostini, Phil Read, and Kevin Schwantz were there, and there was a somewhat odd appearance by Michelle Duff, formerly Mike Duff. Duff was an accomplished Grand Prix and TT racer from the 1960s who later became a transgender. The announcer called her “Mike…er I mean Michelle” a couple of times. I think the audience was equally confused.

Bikes at the Isle of Man

Could this be an old Isle Of Man Racing shot from the Bob T. Collection.

Here in the states we certainly have a huge variety of bikes, in every shape, flavor and color. We have the choppers of course, and chromed out sportbikes with extended swingarms, repli-racers, vintage bikes, etc. And for a completely new take on the meaning of “custom bikes”, look around at the TT.

No trip to the Isle of Man TT races is complete without checking out the German streetfighters. Streetfighters are not exclusive to the Germans, but the Germans do seem to take their bikes to the greatest extremes. Check out the photos, and look at the detail of these bikes. You’ll see turbos, nitrous, bikes with no seat pads, and some with polished aluminum seats. Like your ‘fighter chromed? With flashy paint? Polished aluminum bodywork? Take your choice. Want your bike’s ass end sticking up sky high? How about a 4 into 4 exhaust, with underseat outlets going thru the bodywork? Nothing is too bizarre for the Streetfighter crowd. Function be damned, these are way bitchin’ bikes.

One bike in particular caught our attention. The “General Lee” appeared to be an early 80’s Suzuki, completely done up in full Dukes of Hazard paint scheme. This General Lee probably couldn’t jump very well, but I’ll bet it kicks ass at the dragstrip. The bike’s owner obviously spent a lot of time with the General. Among other things, it has a turbocharger, custom wheels with rim mounted brake discs in front, and an adjustable length swingarm to keep things stable at the strip. Even if you’re not a fan of the 70’s TV show, you have to give props to the guy who built this bike.

Want more weirdness? How about a bobbed Honda Valkyrie, with 6 intake stacks, and 6 into 6 exhausts with the ends pointed up as if to shoot at incoming aircraft? Then there was the Ford V-6 powered rat-trike looking like it came from a post-apocalyptic world, complete with mice, rats and bats.

Sidecar rigs abound at the Isle of Man. A blue Gold Wing had what appeared to be a small car attached to its side. In reality it was a 2 person sidecar with 2 wheels, front and rear, the front wheel being steered with the Gold Wing’s. And though I hate the idea of ruining the handling on a great naked sportbike, there was a gorgeous Aprilia Tuono (the Racing version no less) attached to an equally beautiful carbon fiber sidecar.

The entire atmosphere surrounding the TT races is amazing. With the Isle of Man’s location pretty far north, daylight stays around until 11 pm in the summer. It’s amusing to be at the Bushy’s tent (the local brew) after 10 pm, in full daylight, watching stunters and chatting with an international crowd of mad bikers.

Considering the danger involved with 200 mph bikes in close proximity to rock walls, it’s anyone’s guess how long the Isle of Man races will continue. For years there’s been talk of shutting it down. But as a substantial part of the island’s economy revolves around the annual TT races, the locals are doing everything in their power to keep this party going.

One more time–The Girls of The Isle Of Man.

CUSTOM CHROME EUROPEDEALERSHOW 2007–AMD European Championship of Custombike-Building.March 24th and 25th 2007, Phoenixhall, Mainz/Rhine/Germany.

Full House: The 2007 CUSTOM CHROME EUROPE DEALER SHOW exceeded everybody’s expectations both in terms of attending dealers, visitors and bike show-participants. The quality of the motorcycles exhibited blew everybody’s mind – as some 70+ never before seen custom bikes premiered at what now is the most excellent bikeshow of Europe.

Europe’s market leader in Customparts-Distribution again has teamed up their show with the AMD European Championship of Custombike-Building to create one of the best Custombike-Shows Europe has to offer. More than 110 awesome custombikes from all over the globe – this years line-up included entries from Russia, USA, Japan and Columbia (!!!) participated, competing for three tickets to the World Championship at Sturgis/South Dakota in August 2007 and prices worth no less than 30.000 €.

1st Place, the Time Machine.“The quality seen in these bikes is just incredible“, stated both Custom Chrome President Holger Mohr and AMD Show Organizer Robin Bradley. And the show will be remembered for the huge and high-class participation of east-european customizers, with Sapka Muvek from Hungary taking the European Championship to eastern Europe with his amazing “Time Machine.” If you ever thought how Jules Verne would have built a motorcycle – this was the answer!

Art of the Racer by Rock ‘n’Bikes.

Runner-up “Art of Racer“ won the jury with what might be remembered as the most compact Sportster ever: “Rock ‘n’ Bike” was as “Bonsai“ as a Sporty can be, with the frame running supertight around the “customized“ engine block.

2nd Runner Up in the Free Style category, the Crosser from Riverside Motorcycles.

2nd runner-up came from France too, featuring a great tribute to the 1924 Pikes Peak Hillclimb Race: Riverside Motorcycles from Vallon Pont d’Arc named the unique handcrafted machine “The Crosser“.

The amazing Goodwood from Krugger.

With a stunning new Bonneville theme bike “Goodwood”, Fred Krugger won 4th and the best German bike by TGS-Motorcycles, “Seppster” followed at 5th position.

The Seppster from TGS Motorcycles.

The Custom Chrome Motorcycle class, based on the popular kitbikes, was won by TGS motorcycles with their entry “Helter Skelter.“

Helter Skelter by TGS.

First in Modified Harley Class went to P-Tang from Young’s Choppers.

The modified Harley was taken by storm by the US-build Young Chopper’s creation “P-Tang“, that is now owned by Numero Uno at Milano.

2nd Place is in the CCI Class was the Gambler by Paradise Customs.

3rd Place in the Custom Chrome Category went to the model T by Stop and Go.

Adding to the immense attraction of the show, both Jammer President Ed Martin and S&S President Brett Smith picked their favourite Top-3 bikes, backed up with very attractive prices including S&S 96 Cubic Inch engine, gearbox and exhaust system!

Cadbike by DBBP Design hit 7th in Freestyle.

The Custom Chrome Europe Dealershow featured 21 european and 21 US Top-class manufacturers of V-Twin customparts, spareparts and accessories, answering to the dealers and the public, which can visit the show on Sunday. Several manufacturers offer seminars on their products, including S&S, Barnetts, Mikuni and Belt Drive Ltd.. A special seminar was focusing on the successful line of CUSTOM CHROME MOTORCYCLES.

A Champion from last year and 6th place this year, the Chemical Chopper by Oomega.

This years Special Guests included Indian Larry Legacy bike builder PAUL COX, world renowned Custombike photographer MICHAEL LICHTER, CCE designer and legendary bike-builder JOHN REED who left the show with new impressions and stunned by the variety of styles exhibited.

9th place was taken by Hide Motorcycles.

Lichter, who was attending the meeting on invitation by Custom Chrome won the audience with his classic Sturgis Images and two slide shows. “We are looking forward to the 2007 season with great confidence,” said Holger Mohr, we have very interesting new products for all Twin Cam riders and our Custom Chrome Motorcycle line is running well.“

8th place was taken by Petri Ruusunen’s Boomerang.

Check out: www.custom-chrome-europe.com

Smoke out West

“The hard way”… Well, not really

I had just returned home from my sidecar excursion with the kids, and was trying to figure out a way to break it to the old lady that I was leaving again in less than 48 hrs to head back down south on another bike trip.

I had been kicking the plan around for weeks. I was to hook up with Bandit and crew, and ride out to the Smoke out in Cottonwood AZ. I had already started packing before I even told her about it. After a while, I figured I might as well get this over with and propose the idea to her.

I told her of my plans, and then waited for the backlash. To my surprise, nothing happened. She was cool with the whole thing, and understood my need for the open road. Did I mention how lucky I am to have this woman by my side? Anyway, that’s a whole other story that I haven’t really figured out yet my self. So Sunday afternoon, I called Bandit to see when he was thinking of leaving. He wasn’t home, but Nyla tells me they planned to pull out on Thursday morning. YIKES! I’m located about 3 days away, and still had a ton of shit to do to the Glide before I could hit the road.

Monday morning.

I hit the ground running that morning with the destination of Port Alberni (where my bike was located) locked into my sights. Once I got to the bike, I immediately began tearing in to it. One of my main tasks was to pull the fairing apart, and fabricate 3 of the 4 brackets that hold the thing on the bike. The LA roads busted the shit out of them on my last trip down there with the sidecar. I also want to change all the fluids as well as do a quick repair on the main bracket that holds the tour pack on.

The authors’ steed.

As is usually the case, once I started working on her, I remembered several other items that needed tending. I had to rig a toggle switch to replace the ignition switch that had calved on me the week before. It totally gave up the ghost after I had gotten home.

After a few hours of cutting and torching, all brackets were fixed, ignition was working, and I saved about $200.00 on parts from the stealership. I would leave on time. Although it was raining heavily at my departure Monday at 3:00 pm, I doggedly rode ahead for the ferry scheduled for a 5 pm departure to the mainland. I just made it before the ship was ready to depart. It stopped raining while I was on the boat, and I thought I was in for a break. NOT !!!

When I got off the boat, the rain really started to come down. Adding to the drama was the fact it was getting dark as well. Riding in the rain isn’t that big a deal on a touring bike, but riding in the rain and the dark, forget it! I tucked into some dumpy little motel right by the border, and thought to myself, I will hit it hard in the morning….

Tuesday morning.

I got up about dark-thirty and chugged a few Styrofoam cups of bad coffee while waiting for the daylight to appear. Unfortunately the rain was still lashing down like liquid knives ready to cut me to ribbons. I was encouraged by the rising sun hoping the new day would slow the rain, but I would have no such good fortune this day. So once again, I donned my rain suit, and loaded up for the road. Before I knew it, I was minutes from the border. I decided I would wait to eat breakfast until I crossed the border. I planned on some biscuits and gravy on the other side, a meal you can’t get in Canada. I rode for a couple of hours before finally stopping to eat. It was still raining off and on. My plan was to ride hard as long as I could, and head inland towards I-90, and then on to Yakima. I hoped to get a break in the weather as soon as I got over the Cascades. While it did ease up a bit, it still wasn’t the best.

I took I-90 to Ellensburg, then I-82 to Yakima, and got on to Highway 97; 97 runs all the way from Northern BC to the California border. It is a great Highway with decent speed limits, until you cross in to Oregon.

What the fuck is up with Oregon?

That state has a no fun law as soon as you cross the border! I was doing 75 mph plus with no problem until I crossed into Oregon, then BAM! I had to slow down to 55. Oh well, carry on and make the best of it. The weather was starting to clear up a bit, but still grey and foreboding. I stopped in Bend to have a look at one of the Harley shops along the way, but once you have been to one, you have been to all of them.

After a while, with a bit of sunshine poking through here and there, it really started to look better out. I jammed all afternoon, staying on 97 and after seeing a few deer on the side of the road, I decided to shut it down about 8:00 pm. I have an innate fear of deer after hitting one on my bike about 20 years ago in the dark. Believe me, they leave a mark.

I was just outside of Klamath Falls Oregon, near the California border. I had ridden about 600 miles. Not bad for day one in the rain. I checked into a cheap motel and got the weather report for the next day from the girl behind the front desk. RAIN!!! WTF?!!! In Klamath Falls? It’s like a desert here, and I hit it the one day a year they get rain? Oh well….

Wednesday morning…

She was right, it was raining out. I sat in the lobby and filled up on the free continental stale breakfast muffins and cereal. In the dark I sat, waiting for the sun which seemed as if it would never come. Finally, I toweled off the bike with some complimentary super 8 towels, and hit the road. It was just after 7:00 am. I crossed over into California less than half an hour later still on 97, and heading for Weed, Cal.

It was really coming down, but I could see off in the distance there was some sunshine. The combination of rain and morning sunlight created some of the most brilliant rainbows I have ever seen. I just had to get past this one downpour, and I did, shortly after hooking up with I5. It was nice now. Clear sunny skies and crisp morning air. The bike and I were digging it now.

I rode hard for the next few hours and ended up in Redding just before lunch. I stopped for fuel, a bite to eat, and asked the station attendant how long he would guess the drive to LA from here was. He says, “Oh no sweat, you are pretty much there, only another 550 miles, and absolutely nothing to see between here and there”. This guy wasn’t kidding man. It’s a wasteland along that stretch, like something out of Chopper Orwell. The good thing about it is you can really make time, so that’s what I did. This stretch of road was pretty uneventful, other than cooking along at sometimes up to 90 mph, and covering some major miles. I hooked up with another rider on an Electraglide like mine. We rode together for the next couple of hundred miles taking turns in the lead while really booking it. We never communicated, it was just an unspoken agreement, we were both in a freaking hurry, and would take turns riding out front…and risking the ticket. I finally lost him when I turned off for a rest after a 150 mile stretch without stopping, and he carried on.

Jeremiah and the “bar-hopper” he and Bandit built this past year.

The weather was nice enough now, I was down to a long sleeve T and a vest. This is the reason I ride all the way down here at this time of year. After some time in biker euphoria, I’m back on the freeway jamming. I knew I was getting close, and I didn’t want to stop. It was still warm when the sun started to go down, and I just needed to cross over the hills outside of LA and I would be done for the day. It got a bit crisp at the top of the hills, but was still warm enough to ride in a T shirt so I carried on making it in to LA before dark. I arrived in Santa Clarita around 7:00 pm, just as it started to get dark. I called Bandit to let him know I was there and that I would see him in the morning.He tells me I am welcome to spend the night at his place, but I am done. From where I am to his place was about an hour on some of the scariest freeways on the planet. Besides, it’s dark now, and I just rode about 700 miles. I’m spent. Thanks anyway Bandit, but I couldn’t if I wanted to. I grab a room at the same Motel 6 I just stayed in a couple of weeks before with my kids, which is just down the road from Magic Mountain. It is familiar, and I am tired.

Thursday morning

I woke early, and was stoked. It was a sunny and warm day, and I knew I was on my way to ride with a legend. I called Bandit and told him I would be there in an hour or so. “No hurry” he says, “we are just getting ready to load the bikes in to the truck”………….I said “Pardon”???…………………..He tells me that he and the boys are loading up the bikes and truck them out of LA as far as Parker AZ. After the ride from Santa Clarita to Long beach, and Bikernet HQ, I ask him if there is room in the truck for one more bike. I don’t know how you cats that live down there do it man. Those roads are THE SHITS!! No 2 ways about it and I’m on a bagger. Now I see why he wants to truck them until we hit the desert. I wouldn’t last 50 miles in downtown LA on a rigid.

I arrived at the HQ just in time to meet Nyla, who is just pulling out. I told her I was just going to grab a quick bite to eat, but she says “hang around, I am just on my way out to grab some breakfast burritos with Glenn.” She has Glenn Priddle from Australia with her, so I pull in to the high security compound at HQ, and a minute later Jeremiah pulls in on “The Hard Way”, a bad as shit rigid him and Bandit put together for the Smokeout. I had met Jeremiah a few weeks earlier at the Salt flats, so we had a good bullshit for a bit, while we were waiting for Bandit to get out of the shower. I was looking over their creation, and was in awe of the details that went in to this bike. Bandit hasn’t done a feature on it yet, but I’m hoping he will. It is unreal. Not a big buck show bike, just a mean as hell, in your face, shovelhead, rocker foot clutching, jockey shifting, sprung seat, open piped, bitchin rigid ride. I loved it right away…

Some of the mounts on this thing look like they should be in a museum, and Jeremiah tells me they are all Bandits doing. The oil bag and the oil filter mount he whipped up should have a patent on them. Easy to see why Bandit was chosen for the one and only chopper build that Monster garage has ever done.

The man pulled up the big garage door and we started getting things ready to roll. Nyla and Glenn P pulled in, and I got to meet Glenn for the first time. We hit it off instantly, and you could tell right away that this guy is the real thing.I play official photographer as the boys messed with tie down straps and what not, loading up the bikes. I ain’t touching these things….. Long story……

They got them lashed down, and we finished up our breakfast burritos, and hit the road. Bandit, Glenn, and Jeremiah in the Bikernet shop truck, and me taking up the rear on my E Glide. We were headed for Palm Springs to meet up with Larry Petrie from Chop N Grind racing team, and have a quick lunch at the “Handle Bar” right next door to the Harley shop. It is a dark and ominous place with waitresses that just oozed attitude, even in the middle of the day. I like it.

We had a quick lunch, then hit the road again. The landscape was surrounded by a thousand windmills sucking up the continuous gale force wind that this area is known for. I had never seen anything like it. Again, it reminded me of something out of Chopper Orwell; very futuristic.

We passed through Joshua Tree National Park and 29 Palms, on our way to the AZ border. It was downright hot out, but the roads were smooth and endless. I was still following the shop truck, but couldn’t stand the sight of these 2 beautiful choppers in the back of a pickup anymore. I had to twist the wick, pass the boys, so as to have the whole desert to myself, or so it seemed.

I love blasting through the desert on a bike, and this road is one of the most beautiful stretches I had ever seen. I know it was killing Bandit and Jeremiah to have those things in the truck, but we were just about at the unload point, in Parker AZ.

We crossed the border around dinner time, and I threw my helmet in the back of the shop truck at around 60 mph. Wouldn’t be needing that for a few days. We checked our room and went down the road to the local steak house. Several people had given us different directions but we managed to find it anyway. Had a great dinner, and then hit the nearest Casino for a few drinks and a bit of fun. Turns out Jeremiah is a master at the slots. He was winning small jackpots all over the place, but then started really searching for that one machine that would pay off. He found it.

He plugs a $5 bill in to his machine of choice, gives the side a gentle rub, like you would if you were trying to talk your old lady in to a night of passion, and then pulls the one arm bandit. Bells, lights and whistles fill the room…On his $5 bet, he wins $764.00…. Drinks are on Jeremiah tonight

We headed for one of the local taverns, had a couple of cool ones courtesy of Jeremiah, and shot the shit. We looked at the Thursday news on my little pocket PC so Bandit can make sure Sinwu is on the ball while he is away. After a few nightcaps, we headed back to our rooms. Glenn P and I shared a room and a late night bullshit session before we drifted off; another very good day. Tomorrow, we ride……

Friday

The next morning, Glenn and I were up early. We grabbed a free cup of luke-warm, stale coffee from the motel office. Bandit and Jeremiah are late sleepers from the look of it, so we shot the breeze in the morning sunlight, outside our room, admiring the two custom built bikes in the back of the shop truck. Finally, around 7:30, the boys are up. We unloaded the bikes and got ready to hit the road.I offer my ride up to Glenn, who is a long way from home and probably itching to ride. I had been on the road for 4 weeks already doing various trips, so a morning in the truck wouldn’t be so bad. Glenn accepted the offer, getting his gear on for a brisk morning ride through the Arizona desert. We decided to put on a few miles before stopping for something to eat. This was great, as it’s the way I usually roll, so for all of us to agree on this was unusual.

We stopped in a small town called “Hope” for fuel. After leaving town I see a sign on the side of the road “You are now beyond Hope”. I didn’t have a camera ready, so I missed the opportunity for a picture. After a few hours, we stopped for breakfast in a small, nameless, ghost town. There were 4 other choppers in the parking lot of this disheveled restaurant, and from the looks of them, they were headed to the Smokeout. 2 were highbar, springer, rigid choppers that looked like they were just completed the day before. No paint to speak of and a plethora of bungee cords holding belongings to whatever they could strap on to. One was a new triumph ridden by the only woman in the group. They were from San Diego, and were in fact on their way to Cottonwood.

We talked for a while when we entered the restaurant, and then followed them outside to see them off. One of them was having trouble with his charging system, so they had to keep swapping batteries back and forth between one of the other bikes. The lone woman was telling us what a long trip it had been from San Diego because of all the breakdowns they were experiencing, but nobody seemed the worse for wear. They were all in good spirits, and this was no big deal. Just what it takes to ride a home built, back-street chopper to the Smokeout.

Once they were underway, we went back inside for a great breakfast and then hit the road ourselves. Glenn rode my E Glide for a couple more hours, then I took over at the next fuel stop. It was sunny and warm day, and it was killing me to be sitting in the pickup truck. Bandit was the next to offer up his ride to Glenn, which he accepted gracefully, so Bandit jumped on the “Hard Way” and Jeremiah drove the chase truck. We were jamming through the desert, and it was perfect. I will remember that stretch of highway for ever.

I pulled out my camera and snapped a few shots as we cruised the barren desert. A couple of the shots I took that day are among my favorite pictures of all time. You know the ones; you take hundreds, and you get a few that really turn out. Thank God for digital cameras. I cant tell you which highways we were on, as I don’t have my map in front of me as I write this, and to be honest, the number of turnoffs, and changes we took after the directions Bandit got from one of his friends, still has me baffled. I just followed along.

We stopped for lunch a few hours later, and Jeremiah was ready to ride, so Glenn took over in the truck, and we hit it hard. Maybe it was just me, but I noticed the pace picked up considerably. I think it was probably the younger Jeremiah pushing us a little harder, taunting us to twist the wick just a bit more, so we did.

Approaching the town of Jerome in the late afternoon, there is a stretch of highway that is all twisties climbing up in to the mountains, and then descending again into town, which is about midway up the hills on the east facing slope. What a ride! We got lucky as far as traffic was concerned. There wasn’t any, so we rode hard up the mountain. My Glide was starving for power going up, and looking for breaks going down, but I wasn’t going to lose pace to Bandit and Jeremiah who were up front. These cats can ride!!! You would swear they were on a couple of sport bikes the way they attacked the corners, not a pair of rigid frame hand shifting stroked shovelhead choppers.

My twin cam was groaning under the pressure to keep up, but it did. Coming down the other side was a trip to remember. Hitting the stretches with way too much throttle, and then diving on the breaks for the hair pin mountain road turns to avoid the drop from the precipice at every turn. I know that if some of my riding buddies from home were with us, we would have been waiting at the bottom for them for a while. It was hairy, but exhilarating. When we reached the town of Jerome, I pulled up to Bandit, and yelled above the open pipes of his chopper, “What a fuckin hoot, lets go do that again!” He just laughed, and grinned a grin that told you he had done it a thousand times.

If you look on a map, Jerome is shown as a ghost town, and when you roll through it, you can see why. The streets are lined with houses that literally butt right up to the sides of the roadways. They wind their way through this hillside town like a snake. There are taverns on every corner it seems, and no particular rhyme or reason for any of the criss-crossing streets. I would guess they were laid out before the turn of the century, and haven’t changed much since. We didn’t stop here on our way through, but I did go back there in the next day or so, and it is a town I would like to visit again, when I have more time.

We carried on as we were only a few miles from our destination, Cottonwood Arizona, home of the “Smokeout West 2”, put on by Colonel Edge.

We went straight to our hotel to check in and get cleaned up. Bandit informed us we were invited to a luncheon put on by the Horse to welcome all staff and press to the event. The luncheon was put on in the Legion in Cottonwood, and they had a great spread of all kinds of food and deserts. It was around dinner time actually, so this was a welcome treat after another long day on the road.

We were introduced to Hammer from the Horse, and Edge, the event promoter, and quite a few other staff members from the magazine. It was great to meet all these people that I have been seeing in the magazine for years.

Now here I was sitting down to a meal with them. After a great dinner, and good company, we went back to our room, and got a few things ready before descending on the fairgrounds for the kickoff to the event at 5:30. The Smokeout was on!

We rolled in on our bikes, and found a place to park near one of the many buildings filled with cool bikes and chopper part vendors. Glenn and I hooked up and went for a walk around the site while Bandit was yakking with one of his many friends there.

You can’t walk 50 feet with Bandit at one of these events without him bumping in to somebody he knows, or someone who knows him. One of the vendors I saw there was a guy who could take any digital image, and transfer it on to a mug, or T-shirt, or anything you could think of.

It hit me right away. I went and took him my memory card, and had him make up 3 T shirts with one of the pictures I took earlier that day of Bandit and Glenn P jamming through the desert. One for each of them, and one for me to keep. It is now one of my favorite shirts.

I had to put the stall on Glenn as he kept hanging around the booth where the guy was making the shirts, so I gave him some bullshit excuse about not being able to find the bathrooms. I got him away from there and, anyway, long story short, I gave the boys the shirts later that evening. They were blown away.. gotta love modern technology.

We toured around the fair grounds, trying to take in all there was to see before things got crowded, but it was getting busier by the minute, and there was still tons of stuff to check out.

One of the highlights for me was seeing the Suckerpunch Sally’s booth there. I have been a HUGE fan of their bikes for years, and seeing them up close was the best. I got to meet Jeff briefly, and Donny, and got to tell them what a fan I was of their work. They both seemed like good guys.

Down to earth, the kind of guys you would want to hang out with and shoot the breeze over a cold one. Unfortunately, they were both pretty busy, understandably. I did get to spend way too much time scrutinizing their bikes though, and I can tell you first hand, these things are built tough. They have the appearance of a bike you could ride the shit out of, and then park it for the night, not ever having to give a second thought before getting up and riding the shit out of it again. I WANT ONE!!!! There was a ton of builders on hand there, but these bikes really stood out.

Another one of the builders that really caught my eye was Route 66 choppers.They had a board track racer style bobber there that I just fell in love with.As I was drooling over this bike and all the super clean details of it, I was pondering on how much a machine like this would be worth, when out of the blue, the owner, tells me it’s for sale. I was afraid to ask, when he volunteered the price anyway, $17000.00!! Are you freaking kidding me? This was sure to be one of those high dollar customs I could never afford, and could only dream about. Unreal!! As much as I would have loved to sign on the dotted line right there and then, it wouldn’t have been mine. I plan on building my next scoot, but I did get a bunch of ideas that would lend themselves well to my Suckerpunch bike that I plan on buying one of these days.

I went to tell Bandit about this board track racer in the show barn, and he was interested in taking a look, so when I took him back to the barn to introduce him to the owner, wouldn’t you know it, he knows the dude already. Go figure. “Hey, how ya doin man””My buddy says you got a bitchin bike on display?”So he takes us back to where his bike was, and Bandit was impressed. So much so, that this bike was one of his 3 choices for “Bandits Choice award” at the Smokeout. When I win the lotto, I will be calling Route 66 very soon.

There were so many stand out bikes there, I couldn’t possibly talk about them all here, but I will try to mention a few more. Another was the “Cadillac Gangster”, a chopped, FLH type, shovelhead that was clean beyond words. It had just the right mix of chrome and black accents with whitewalls and gloss black paint. Hand-formed copper hard lines were very tidy and discreet, from the rockerbox crossover tube to the copper spun oil tank; just a very nice job.

The “Dublin Mob” put together some very kool chops as well with details like revolver tail lights, black powder gun shifters, and heavy patina type finishes on their frames. These were tough looking bikes, like the kind, you don’t wanna fuck with whoever rides it, even if it’s a chick !!

Some of the coolest bikes there were not even in the show, but out in the parking lot, as usual. I tried to take pictures of as many of them as I could, but when I reached close to 300 pics, I thought, I had better slow down.

Friday night we decided to hit one of the local bars for a few drinks. We went back to the hotel and dropped off the bikes, flipped a coin to see who the designated driver was going to be and started for the bar. I don’t remember who lost the coin toss, but I hope it wasn’t me. It was a hoot. We ran in to the same group from the breakfast restaurant the day before with the lone chick rider, and had a good BS.

There was just as much going on outside the bar as there was inside, especially with all the bikes coming and going. There was a pretty strong police presence there, but they were not screwing around much with bullshit infractions. Seemed to me they were just looking for serious shit, like DUI and the like. They were everywhere, so I’m glad I wasn’t driving. At least I don’t think I was.

After returning to our hotel later that night, Bandit suggested we walk down to the lounge right in the hotel we were staying in. It was a quiet place, yet a good spot to sit and talk over a Jack on the rocks. Bandit, Glenn P, Jeremiah, and myself hit the lounge and had a great time just gabbin about all the shit we had seen as well as coaxing a few stories out of Bandit.

I have been reading his stuff for years, but let me tell you, it is nothing like sitting in a bar over a few drinks and listening to him tell you stories about back in the day. Some of them I had read here or there before, but listening to him tell them in person, you can’t help but feel you are in the presence of a motorcycle legend. This was one of the other highlights of my trip. Just sitting at the bar, bullshitting with the man.. What a night…

Saturday morning.

Glenn and I are up early again, and decided to jump in the truck and take the 20 minute drive to Sedona for breakfast. We knew it could be a few hours before Bandit and Jeremiah roll out of the rack..

Glenn had been to Sedona before, so he knew the best spots for scenery and good food. Unfortunately, we were there before most places were open, but we did find one spot that served up great food. After a quick bite, we went for a walk around town. This place looks like it just jumped off a post card. I can’t wait to go back again with the wife on the back of the bike. A quick walk around town to some of the local shops, and Glenn found a small touristy shop that had everything you could think of including some very cool leather works which, if you haven’t read any of Glenn’s pieces, is right up his ally. We took a few photos that he would use when he got home as patterns for making his own stuff. Glenn has made a few pieces that have been featured on this site, and most recently, the seat for Johnny Humbles’ brothers’ bike, that he is presenting to him on his return from Iraq. (You can check the coverage of the build here on bikernet in the garage section)

I buttered up Glenn to make a sheath for my switch blade that I carry on the bike with me. I will post some photos when he is done, although after hearing what his schedule is like, it could be some time before I actually see it.

We headed back to Cottonwood around 10:00 in the morning hoping that Bandit and his sidekick would be out of the sack. Glenn saw the bikes in a parking lot of a local eatery, so we stopped and joined them for coffee, and made a plan for the day. We headed back down to the Smokeout for the day, and took in some more of the activities to be had. Edge told Bandit that he was going to be presenting the “Bandit’s choice” award at 8:00 that night, so he had to get busy and check out all the bikes, a daunting task at an event this big.

Every time he turned around there was either some celebrity trying to get his attention, or some hottie who wanted her picture taken with him. I stuck to him like glue. We hooked up with Paul Yaffe, Myron Larrabe and Doug, the Cottonwood Police Cheif, for a visit, then Jeff and Donny from Suckerpunch. I hooked up again with Glenn, and we took in the wet T shirt contest, and the bikini bike wash. The girls were very busy, as the whole event was held in a gravel parking lot, and it was very windy most of the time, so every bike outside was covered in dust.

There was the roller derby girls, who put on a great show. We hooked up with Bandit again, and we got to meet Goth Girl from the Devil Dolls. What a hoot. A bit later in the day, we went for dinner at one of the local taverns, and then back to the bar from the night before, for a couple of drinks, then we had to high tail it back to the fairgrounds for the “Bandits Choice” awards. We hung out for a couple of the live bands that were playing there, who put on a wicked show. There was a great turn out for the shows and everybody was having a blast. Later on, we headed back to the hotel to take in the impromptu mini-bike races that were taking place that night at midnight.

George the Painter, and Gothgirl were there as well as a bunch of Horse staffers. The races were a hoot, but it was pitch black so getting pictures was tough, although one of the girls there was a professional photographer, and tried to give me a few tips. I think I will just wait to see her pictures show up in the horse.It was the small hours of the morning when we finally shut it down for the night, but we weren’t the last ones to call it a night. You could hear burn outs going until almost daybreak, and a party in every other room. The Horse staff knows how to party.

Sunday Morning

We were all up a bit later than usual, but not too late. We fired up the bikes and headed to Sedona for breakfast. It was packed and we had to wait about a half hour to be seated, but it was worth it, as the food was great. After Breakfast we went to Chris Kallas’s new house in Sedona for a visit. What a place. It was beautiful and he and his wife are very lucky. I am very envious. We hung out there for an hour or so, and then started getting ready to hit the road. Bandit, Jeremiah, and Glenn were getting ready to head back to LA via 29 palms for the night, but I decided to head north out of Sedona, and head for home.

The author with one of our banners.

We said our goodbyes, and went our separate ways. My weekend with Bandit and crew was one to remember. I had an absolute blast, but this was about week 5 away from home, so I was on a mission. I rode as far as Zion National Park on Sunday, and got a room just outside the park, as I wanted to check it out in the morning.

Leave it to a convict to cover his face during a photo shoot. No evidence I guess…

At first light, I was on the road in nippy Utah, and rode through the parks’ many tunnels, and winding mountain roads. This is now my new favorite place to ride. If you have never been there, I highly recommend it. I rode through Zion, then back on to the freeway heading north, and on to Salt Lake City and beyond.I rode in to Idaho and as far as Boise on Monday, where I shut her down for the night. Tuesday was going to be a ball buster.

I woke early and left Boise at first light headed for home. I wanted to make it to the ferry in Vancouver before the last sailing at 9:00 pm. I crossed over in to Oregon early in the day, and stopped only for fuel, and a quick bite to eat once in a while. The weather held out for me the whole way, right in to Washington state, but as soon as I crawled down the western slopes of the cascades, in to the Seattle area, it started to rain again. Welcome home.

I rode in the rain for a couple more hours before arriving at the ferry terminal around 6:00 at night. I loaded on to the 7:00 pm ferry, and treated myself to the buffet dinner they serve on this particular sailing. Upon hitting the Island, I cruised the last half hour in the rain to my folks place in Victoria. A little over 750 miles making it extra nice to be home.

As I drifted off to sleep, I wondered how I was going to break it to the Old Lady, that I was going on another trip in a week or so… I will let you know how that goes after I tell her.

Sunday mornin’ finds me sittin, drinkin coffee with mild apprehension about the longest ride to date on my ‘05 Shovelhead. There is a serious electrical issue that needs to be dealt with before I even consider this ride. Slowly a plan starts to materialize after runnin’ the electrical schematics through my head. I have already purchased a new coil, after experiencing a phantom ignition failure while riding last Monday. I was riding a large loop around the area, which took several hours. The bike died, then after sitting for ten or so minutes fired right up?

I walked out the house an sized my bike up, walked back inside an started grabbing tools. This was going to be a major once over for my skimpy assed aftermarket electrical system. Off with the gas tanks, battery and solenoid. I dug up three different solenoids the night before and came up with, what I believed was a good one, after looking the old unit over I came to the conclusion that it was fine.

The cap was solid an the plunger seemed to work fine. I took a deep breath and reinstalled it after cleaning the lugs. While I was in the neighborhood I swapped out my coil and shifted my attention to what I perceived as the scariest part of my sled, the circuit board. I purchased this set up, and I’m running it because I ain’t safe around anything electrical. I personally have watched many different wiring harnesses go up in smoke after I laid my greasy little fingers on them.

Well shit, it’s either me riding down the road or this thing shipped to the shop for the third time. This gaggle of wires has fended-off some of the best attempts, from semi-trained professionals. After pickin’ around at things for an hour or so the whole thing looked good, except for some very cheesy terminal disconnects made outta melted down beer cans. Off to my local Ace hardware store for two packs of 22-18 AWG disconnects, a very good set of adjustable wire strippers and a solid crimp tool. I know all you solder freaks are cleanin your coke bottle glasses an shakin your peanut heads at Mr. Crimp Man, but soldering has still eluded me even with Bandit’s double roach clip soldering tool that now sits with both roach clips soldered together.

After sorting out all my wires, crimpin’ new ends on them an hopefully putting them back in the correct terminals, it was time to throw the tanks an dash panel back on my ride. I reinstalled the battery, after I put new isolators on the battery box and last but not least, the seat. Everything went as smoothly as a stock 1980 FX could go. Wednesday night, it was make-or-break time.

I filled the tanks and primed the carb, held my breath and hit the button. Ah the sweet sound of an out-dated starter pushin’ all 88 inches over. I checked my watch and figured I had time for a test ride before catchin an AA meeting at the National Cathedral.

The ride ran well an the button was working fine. Got to the meeting and was getting some hairy looks from some of the upper crust, but what the hell. I just got paid, wasn’t drunk and was headed to the Smoke Out. A friend walked up and told me his Road King would shut of after it got hot. We walked over to my bike, and I showed him what I did recently. The last thing I did was grabbed the circuit breaker the attach it to my battery. I told him how they worked. After the meeting I walked over to my bike, Mr. Button start, hit the button an nadda? WTF? Back to the kicker dim-whit.

I lay in bed that night for a while running everything through my head when it hit me. The hot wire to the solenoid comes off of that breaker. Bingo, Crimp Man to the Rescue.

Thursday morning broke clean an clear. Packed what little shit I was bringin’. Strange thing about ownin’ an older obsolete motorcycle, you have the tendency to empty your whole toolbox into the soft bags? The funny thing is, you ain’t goin to find a shop around with the parts you need to make use of the tools. More on that topic later. After figurin out I needed more bungy straps and a last stop at the local Ace, I loaded up. Almost 10:30, rush hour in the city was over and I had double-checked everything four times. I was eager to head out, so it was time to roll. Hit the button, and the Shovel fired into a steady idle. Nice, looked up and down the street, all clear, clunked into first, eased out the clutch an I was gone.

Motorin through the city felt good, bike packed an gassed up, three quarts of 70wt. in the soft bags. As I eased through town I was getting the looks from the sorry assed stiffs in their imports, as they went about what the fuck ever they had to do. Yep, later assholes just don’t run me over today. I made my way down 35th St. to M St. an got the hell outta town via the Francis Scott Key bridge which will take me to Interstate 66 an straight to Front Royal Va.

Once on 66 I tried to just take it easy in the slow lane but the folks in their cages were shuffling all around me. I know the answer to this situation, and I pulled it off often, without the law hammering me, 85 in a 65. Out in the fast lane, blowin’ ‘em off. The bike seemed well balanced. No hi-speed wobbles just smooth Shovel power in the fast lane, where it needed to be. The added weight of my toolbox seemed to help sittin’ low. Just another long boring concrete slab ahead of me.

The famous ’05 (by the DMV) Shovelhead.

Front Royal was on me in no time, as I carved through around 75 miles, might as well gas up, due to the fact that this is were I picked up Skyline Drive. I pull into an Exxon an stopped away from the pumps. I’m in no hurry to get any where, so I figured I would knock off a soda and a smoke. I walked around my bike and notice that it’s leaving a very large puddle of some type of oil? Fuck me, 75 miles an this shit, down on all fours I try to determine if it’s trans fluid or motor oil? I look up at the “dip” stick and pull it. Sure enough down two quarts. Fuck now what? I push my sled over to the pumps and walked into the station, ask for a fill up and a paper funnel.

The lady at the counter tells me how nice my bike is and ask me where I’m goin? I tell here N.C. she gives me that look, and I walk out. I filled up the gas tanks an say fuck it as I pull two quarts of liquid gold outta the saddle bags. I figure that I ran 75 miles at 85 mph, so I’ll just ease up on the Ol’boy the rest of the way. I walk in to the station for my change and grabbed a soda, push the bike outta the way of the pumps an took five, while looking over the beast.

I purchased a Harley- Davidson Ride Atlas of North America. This guide has the best riding roads highlighted, and the route I planned to take happened to be one. It is listed by state alphabetically, so if you are riding through several states like myself, it was a little tricky at first. I found a rural route rolling me to the entrance of Sky Line Drive in Shenandoah National Park. The ride winds through the smallish town of Front Royal is easy an punctuated by traffic lights. I saw no lawmen as I rode through town. Three miles out of town I found my first destination, the entrance to Skyline Drive. I paid ten bucks to enter which is a seven-day pass, so it covered my return trip.

As soon as I entered the Park I ran into another world. I noticed the speed limit was 35mph, which started my brain calculating miles. After a while I just said fuck it, I was overwhelmed by the view. Fuck, who cares was my new out look.

The sights were simply mind blowin’ an after awhile you could care less, if all you had to do was ride along this road the rest of your life. I just settle into one turn after another, up hill, down hill, banked, off camber, it don’t matter any more. All that matters is settin’ up for the next curve an seein’ what was waitin’ around it.

I found myself tryin’ to look around and ride at 50 mph in a 35. I pushed the Super Glide to the edge, and I loved every second of it. As I motored along, I realized that I was spotting about ten bikes to every cage?

I believed I have found the motorcycle interstate of the east. This road was truly a biker’s playground, to think that it was built in the ‘30s under the guidance of President Roosevelt, freaks me out. The surface was well maintained an safe. There were plenty of places for cages to pull over an get outta the way, which is just what they do, to my amazement.

After awhile I just got into the ride and motor. The pics I have really don’t do this ride any justice. If you ever do anything on two wheels in your life do this stretch of roadway.

After two gas stops an payin 2.79 a gallon for Hi-Test, I rolled outta the Shenandoah just past Rockfish Gap elev. 1,900 ft. The elevation changes throughout this ride and will keep your ears poppin.

I gassed up again before enterin’ the George Washington National Forest an the Blue Ridge Parkway. I’m just pushin to Roanoke today so I pull out the map an figure that I am about half way there.

Shit I got time to burn. As I’m sittin’ looking at the map in the grass by a guard rail two dressers pull up and two road weary riders pile off of their bikes. We shot the shit, as I burn one; they sure have some strange accents? I ask ’em where their from and they said Ontario. “Far-out,” I replied. “Where ya’all headed?” The Dragon’s Tail was the response. I smiled, fire my bike up and they kinda look at me funny?

“What year is that? One asked me. I tell ’em it’s an ‘05 Shovelhead an pull off.

We play cat an mouse down the road. I was sleepin on the shoulder in the grass when they caught me again. Just eased up on me and kicked me in the foot. They had killed their motors and coasted down hill on me. Guess they figured I was broke down or dead.

I caught them at an overlook and buzzed ’em at about 60 mph. Good laugh for all, and that was the last I saw of ’em.

The elevations on this stretch ran from 649feet, at the James River, to 3950 feet at Terrapin Mt. The run to Roanoke was about 120 miles and was kickass. The speed limits on the BRP were 45mph, so the miles clicked-off somewhat slow. I rolled into town around 6 p.m. and snagged a room that sucked, but what the hell I’m on the road. I checked the oil and it was fine. A steak dinner at Applebee’s and I was done. Day one was sweet. Skyline Dr. was about 106-112 miles and the run down the Blue Ridge Parkway to Roanoke was another 120. Put on about 300 easy miles.

Friday arrived the same as Thursday, clean an clear. I ain’t big on eatin’ in the morning, but as bad as my room was, I cleaned out the Frosted Flakes at the continental breakfast. I drank about a gallon of coffee while waitin’ out the local rush hour. I headed back to my room and packed up, after checkin’ out various nuts an bolts on the sled. I was on the road by 10 a.m. I was headed to the Smoke Out– Fuckin-A, some times life is good.

I was going to ride to highway 321 an get off at Blowing Rock, but I cut the planned route short, due to the fact that I had never ridden this route before. I ended up getting of at RT. 77, which is a trip to ride comin’ outta the mountains

The sights on the Parkway were spectacular as always an the day’s ride was a sad 90 miles to Rt. 77, which resembles Rt. 66. It is just another super slab that runs down hill with a posted 75 mph speed limit. I wasn’t happy to see the limit, with my case pressure acting up, an pushin’ oil outta the breather. After tryin to run 60-65 and getting passed by everything in sight, I said fuck to the wind, and let the big dog eat. The Shovel strolled at 90 and nobody slipped up behind me, ‘cause my breather dumped directly onto my final drive chain. This has a way of creating a 70 wt. rooster tail.

I rode to the magic 100 mile number and looked for a fuel stop. I found one and pulled off at the ramp. I eased up to the pumps an two folks were messin’ with an Ol’ ‘76 FLH. One of them was on a dual plugged 1200 Sportster that looked like a bad piece of equipment. No time for photo opps.. here. I had one hot motor that was down on oil. First thing I said was hey ya’all must be goin to the Smoke Out. It was happening; the closer I got to the event the more I ran into folks on the road to it. I offered help, and my traveling toolbox but was declined, so back to my own situation, gas an oil. I had one qt. of 70 wt. left an poured it in along with a fill-up of Hi-Test. I wiped the oil off the back of my bike and helmet, made a remark about sunscreen, hit the road.

We caught this girl trying to steal a motorcycle from Tilley’s. She’s in custody.

The last leg in, I needed to find a bike shop, which is what I had in mind when I cut the trip short for the day. I was cash heavy. I made it to my exit, which was Statesville, and started looking for Tilley’s Harley-Davidson. It wasn’t hard to find. They scored a giant billboard offering directions. I was in need of a one way breather badly, as I motored down Tilley’s road. I saw a Super Eight Hotel that looked way cleaner than the Days Inn room in Roanoke.

I found Tilley’s, no problem, and the parts guy was as helpful as he could be, to a guy on a Shovel. The Tilley’s in Salisbury was getting raves from the folks I met at the Smoke Out. They directed me to the Nitro Shack in Statesville, and I spent quite a while shooting the shit with the Owner [sorry I can’t remember your name I gave your card away at the S.O.]. The owner has campaigned several drag bikes nationwide and was building several very clean Bobbers and big inch bikes. In the end he called a Auto Parts store, hopin’ what they had would work.

Call the Smoke Out reception desk anytime to reserve your space at the next event.

After ridin around town for a bit I found the place, but their breathers had the wrong size nipple for my breather hose. I headed back to the Super Eight an scored a room for $50.00 a night, king sized bed, ect. Once I found my room, I pulled the bags offa the bike, caught a shower an headed to the Smoke Out. I wanted to put faces to names on the web site.

The ride from Statesville was comfortable, and I passed a place called Hendrix Barbeque. The lot was full an that’s all I needed to see. I found the fairgrounds. The place was a little subdued for me, a lot of bikes that were very cool. I had my camera in tow and pulled up, paid my thirty-five dollars, so into the show I went.

I parked in the grass out back an started wanderin’ around takin’ pics for all of ya. After shootin’ for a while, I figured I would find the Stealth an Meanest. Being as how I was worn out. I walked to my bike and used it as my mode of transportation. I found the Bikernet booth, but it was not manned, so I headed back to my bike to find Stealth. It seemed every time I moved, I stop and looked at another bike, shot the shit then moved on. I went by the Indian Larry booth and Paul was there. Got some shots of his stuff but didn’t try to talk. They were swarmed. Eventually I gave up on finding Stealth, and the crew till Saturday. My stomach was sendin’ me distress signals. I cashed in and headed to Hendrix then back to my room.

Once at the hotel the lot was full of bikes an bikers. We all sat around shootin’ the shit till midnight, just talking bikes and where we were from, the ride down ect… a good time and a good end to another good day.

Saturday morning broke on me with the sound of motors comin’ to life an sunshine on my window. I rolled outta bed at seven and walked out to take in a new day. Most of the bikes were gone already, but I did get some shots of this nice little Triumph chop from Colorado. Shot the shit with the owner for a few, as I slugged coffee that was way too weak for my taste. I’m building a ’67, so I had a lot of interest in where he located certain parts. He fired it up and several more folks made their way outta their rooms as we parted ways.

I made my way back to my room to catch a shower an grab film. After more weak coffee, I made my way to the bike an fired it to life. The motor sounded fine, but my inner primary was makin’ one hell of a racket. Figured it was just in need of adjustment, said fuck it and rolled out. I made my way to Salisbury with out seein’ the law, which was a surprise.

When I rolled into the Smoke Out, I knew that today was going to be interesting. There were new faces to put with names and bikes to be photographed.

First thing to do was park in a central location. I was way early and the sun was right for pics, so that was the first thing on the list. I headed to the Indian Larry Legacy booth to shoot a bike I had eyed the day before. I had a half-a-roll of 800 in the camera, but the Indian Larry folks must partied hard the night before

Plan “B” arrived in the form of Stevenson’s Cycle. They had a kick-ass shovel or two there. As I shot their bikes we all shot the shit, and they are good down to earth folks that build some kick-ass shit. I gazed over and a green Shovel caught my eye. I believe it was a Sucker Punch bike, got that one to.

I started to wander around looking for more bikes an actin’ the pro. I knew that soon I would lose the early morning light so I started to make tracks.

I found Departure Bike Works rollin’ there stuff out. Told ’em I was from Bikernet and Bandit had sent me. That got a large laugh outta everyone. We shot the shit, and I asked about the Bonne Belle, which entered me into a conversation about 45 in. flywheels. It was way over my head.

The Virginian Build-Off bike from Departure bike works.

Those guys got there shit together, when it comes to the old iron. Got a shot or two of the Virginian Gentleman. For those of you that don’t know that is some kick-ass bourbon.

Famous Stealth builder bobber.

I asked the folks at Departure where Stealth Bike works was an they pointed to a booth about twenty feet away. Shit, I’ll be damned, went by it twice yesterday. I walked over and there sat Chopper John, a great guy. I introduced myself and we shot the shit for a bit. The Stealth man and the Meanest weren’t on site yet, so I walked around shootin more bikes. Breezed by the B.N. booth but no one was home.

Art was able to slip past security into the Smoke Out Vault.

I ran outta film, so I dumped a roll of 400 professional in the Ol’ Nikon and went to work. I hate to say it, but this whole roll of film disappeared in processing. Sorry folks, a lot of good shots on that roll. I made the rounds and the band started up. Got some shots of the band when I spied a fine thing in a Five Ball Racing shirt doing the same. I got one more shot and turned to walk over an say hello but she was gone. What the hell, I thought? About that time the Burn out pit fired to life and the smell of burnnin rubber descended on the crowd drivin’ it into a two wheeled frenzy.

I looked around the area an realized what all the talk about this get together was about. There was every kind of bike you could think of here, bare bones chops to Dressers, cut down Buells, Triumphs, Hondas an Kaws, all hacked to no frills perfection. I headed back to the S.B.W both and was told where to locate the Stealth and his better half. We finally met and shot the shit for a while. Stealth pointed me to Fritz, Fritz pointed me to Parts man, and we walked over to compare notes on our Shovels.

Then One Eye arrived who introduced me to Jackrocks. We took a group photo, which hasn’t surfaced yet, but we all had a great time, and I truly felt a feeling of brotherhood from all of these guys. All of ya’all are a freakin’ okay in my book, and I’m looking forward to meetin’ ya next year. Jackrocks, myself and One Eye wandered the area shootin’ the shit with some cool folks and just takin’ in the whole scene. The sun lowered and we talked about next year’s location and what that ride may bring. We parted ways, and I headed out. As I left I followed a Pan outta the fairgrounds that was runnin on racin’ fuel. Sweet smellin’ an a fitting end to a great day.

Sunday morning found me packin’ the bike again for two more days on the road. I started my Shovel after turning in my room key an headed out. The weather was perfect and the traffic was light. The Smoke Out was great, but for me it was all about the ride.

I stopped an gassed up before hittin’ the Parkway. While there I noticed that my inner primary was makin’ a racket, but it was Sunday so I just moved on. I made it to my first stop which was Vesta. I stopped there on the way down and liked the place, so I figured I would gas up an get a cup of coffee there. When I pulled into the lot I noticed that the primary chain was makin a hell of a racket. I shut the bike down and started for the tools. I parked next to a Ural three wheeler and soon the owner was givin’ me a hand.

My primary Teflon adjusting shoe was in a melted puddle sittin’ on the bottom of the inner primary. Well, I figured I was fucked, but the Ural rider was a local, and he took me inside to meet one of the waitresses. So happened she rode a Shovel and happened to have an old adjustin’ shoe at her place. I just had to wait for her shift to end and head to her place. I got the bike fixed and was back on the road the next day. I’ll be headed down that way, on the weekends, but that’s another story for another day.

— LTR

The 2007 Bikernet Bonneville Assalt Weapon is in production. We are shooting for the World's Fastest Panhead record. And we need your help to make our dream come alive.

Last year we took the record by storm. We learned a number of lessons and have developed an entirely new program to cheat the wind and make it hard for anyone to take the record away from the 5-Ball Racing Team.

We have received help from the industry – Our team from last year came together again for 2007 and provided an Accurate Engineering 120-inch Panhead engine and a custom U.S. Choppers, semi-board-track frame. D&D Performance Enterprises is helping with our pipes.

This support got us cooking but we still are behind in getting the program together. So we are asking the Bikernet community to come in and become part of the team and make a donation.

We have the throttle pinned in development but are running short of funds to complete the program. We still need:

• Paint – $1,500
• Powder coating – $1,500
• Bonneville Transportation – $2000
• Horsepower Tuning – $1,800

The sponsorship dollars go directly to the race program and to the trip to the International Motorcycle Speed Trials by BUB from September 2 -6.

Valerie Thompson, a professional Harley-Davidson V-Rod Destroyer class drag racer, is our salt pilot. We are modifying the frame and tins to conform to her physic and delivering an aerodynamic platform.

Your support will go directly to build and the team. Select one of the following sponsor levels to support the 2007 Bikernet Bonneville Assalt Weapon project.

We need your help to get us to Bonneville in 2007. By joining the team you will become part of an elite group that broke records last year and is aiming to get it done this year. Your help is much appreciated!

• $50 Bikernet 2007 Bonneville Rider Sponsor
• Name in the racing department
• Bikernet Bonneville certificate for framing
• Signed photo of Valerie
• Name posted on Banner at Bonneville
• Team patch
• Rider Sponsor
  
  

• $100 Bikernet 2007 Bonneville Bronze Sponsor
• Name in the Bikernet racing department
• Bikernet 2006 Bonneville certificate for framing
• Patch and t-shirt,
• Autographed picture of Valerie.
• Name posted on Banner in Bonneville
• Bronze Sponsor
  
  

• $500 Bikernet 2007 Bonneville Silver Sponsor
• Mention and Logo in the Bikernet racing department
• Bikernet Bonneville certificate for framing
• T-shirt and patch
• Autograph picture of Valerie
• Logo Posted on Banner at Bonneville
• Silver Sponsor
  
  

• $1000 Bikernet 2007 Bonneville Gold Sponsor
• Bikernet Bonneville mention and logo in the racing department
• Bikernet Bonneville certificate for framing
• Patches, T-shirts and Ball caps
• Autographed picture of Valerie
• Logos on Banner at Bonneville
• Logo on Bikernet Race truck
• Gold Sponsor
  
  

• $5000 Bikernet 2007 Bonneville Platinum Sponsor
• Mention and logos in the Bikernet Bonneville racing department
• Bikernet Bonneville certificate for framing
• Patches, T-shirts and Ball caps
• Autographed picture of Valerie
• Logo on banner at Bonneville
• Large Logo on Bikernet Race truck
• Small logo on bike
• Platinum Sponsor
  
  

The 2007 Bikernet Bonneville Assalt Weapon is in production and you can follow along with our work at The Bikernet Bonneville 2007 Effort page.

The lovely Nyla posing in place of Valerie Thompson.

Chain guards are still a mystery to me and there are some LSR (Land Speed Record) rules regarding their length and coverage. By the SCTA rules, the guard must be steel, not fiberglass or even carbon fiber. Plus it must extend beyond the rear of the sprocket. So I went to work building a guard from scratch.

I grabbed some lightweight stainless and had grandiose notions of shapes and spacing, until I spoke to Rick Krost from U.S. Choppers, a 5-Ball sponsor, and the man behind TIG welding our oil bag. He looked at my notion and picked up a used H-D chain guard and said, “How about this. Might save some time.”

Of course it would save time. I stole one from his stash of old parts and went to work. I needed to extend it so that I could run Teflon pads, since the Paughco frame was stretched 6 inches in the rear. An old racer cat told me not to run a chain tensioning wheel, “It eats horsepower,” he said.

My old funky milling machine loves to cut this soft Teflon chunks.

This is the bottom guide that might need to be raised up.

So I re-shaped some 16-guage sheet metal, made a mounting tab and machined chunks of Teflon for the bottom and top. Recently Rodan, an SCTA official of the highest order, came to the Bikernet shop and inspected our beast. He told me to raise the bottom Teflon guide. “Mount it very close to the chain,” Rodan said. He also instructed me to extend my chain guard forward.

We taped it in place first.

This would become the cup for the bottom of the NOS Nitrous bottle.

Next, I needed to mount our new 5-pound Nitrous bottle. I wanted to mount it as close to the oil bag as possible, buffeting the air out and around the front of the frame. Again I used 16-guage sheet metal straps, welded a bottom in place and grappled with the position. I wanted it close without banging on the oil bag. It’s always a guessing game.

We needed to consider reaching the oil bag cap. I wonder if we can?

Note from reader: Since you already spoke with Keith Turk he may have already told you about Guy Caputo. Guy runs a nitrous Busa at Maxton and has set all the fast nitrous records at Maxton, running a best over 228 MPH, so he knows his stuff when it comes to motorcycle nitrous systems. He owns Tiger Racing and can be reached through his web site at www.tigerracingproducts.com. Probably old news since you already talked with Keith Turk but I thought I would pass it along just in case.

–Pablo

Our Assalt Weapan Nose Art by Chris Kallas.

Jeremiah came up with a plan for the top of the nitrous bottle strap. It was good, but involved some machining and welding. The good Dr. Hamster showed up at the shop and came up with a different notion. When the Doctor makes a suggestion, you follow it to the T. Not sure if we’re not going to tear it off and go back to Jeremiah’s thoughts. Anything we use to strap this Nitrous bottle in place, with the Doctor’s system, will tear the hell out of the paint. Not sure that will fly. The cool factor is only superceded by aerodynamics.

Next, we jumped into modifying the tank and making the initial dash. We drew several patterns, but first we moved the gas cap back about 4 inches and rewelded it in place.

Then we went to work figuring out the AIM Sports data system speedo placement. This puppy will not only monitor our progress on the salt but display, for Valerie, the speed, RPMs, oil pressure, exhaust temps and something else. Alongside this 3.5 by 5-inch module, will be two oil-filled pressure gauges, one for fuel and the other for nitrous.

Here’s the AIM sports template for the Micron 3 plus unit. At first I used it as if it was meant for the back of the dash. The tech guy corrected me. As it turned out, he was wrong.

I went to work with a shitty hole-saw and lots of tapping fluid assisting the procedure and failing miserably. Finally I cut all the holes and used a template to figure the dash placement, since the AIM staff kept giving me varied measurements. Wish I had one in hand.

I felt lame, but I had to ask someone. How the hell do you mount these bastards? They didn’t come with anything. Berry made this suggestion. “They might vibrate and turn,”Berry warned. We’ve considered a tab to prevent that.

I spent long hours grinding and trying to fit the dash, then lean it slightly. I initially tacked it in place thinking I was going to build the cowling around it and make the cowling removable.

I was told by Bob Bennett of Bennett’s Performance to run a massive tank vent, so I machined a bung and taped it to 1/8-inch pipe threads for a 3/8-hole brass fitting.

Then I spoke to Gard Hollinger of LA ChopRods on the phone. He needed a hand spreading the word about his myriad of bitchin products including ISR controls and brakes, billet crown gas caps, builder’s helpers, Mooneyes oil bags and Hildebrand oil filters housings. We may run his ISR handlebar controls on the Assalt Weapan, and I may run a bunch of his stuff on my Mudflap Girl bobber next year.

Jeremiah quickly became the grinding master.

We were shooting the shit about his shop move and getting the word out about his products, when he asked if I needed any help. Gard’s a master fabricator, who has designed two models for Saxon Motorcycles, the Black Crown and the new Mad Jack bobber. He’s good and knows what he’s doing. So, knowing how goddamn busy he was, I mentioned the cowling and he stepped up, dropped everything and turned my bullshit endeavor into a very cool dash and shapely cowling. We’ll get to that.

Moving right along, we discussed the switch mount, and I grabbed a chunk of thin 1.5-inch angle iron and went to work mounting it to the top motor mount. I’m ignoring cooling, for the most part and focusing on the aero factor to keep the wind moving past the bike without creating turbulence. It’s a wing and a prayer without years of wind tunnel testing, but there’s the Code of the West, the notion of the wind gods and green tea. It’ll work, I swear it.

I wanted to make the switch housing accessible for Valerie and a positive aero supporter. The angle iron will hold the NOS arming switch, the ignition toggle, a starter button and the infamous kill fuse. According to Rodan I need another Kill switch on the bars that kills everything and I need a horn button on the bars for the Nitrous explosion at top speed.

Here’s the NOS solenoids.

Nitrous solenoid mounts available with the NOS kit.

The fuel pump could be mounted behind the engine. We’ll get to that.

Hooker or Holley owns NOS for more information.

As usual there’s a thousand items to consider and the NOS solenoids popped up. The instructions call for mounting them close and above the carb. Plus I wanted an aero plate to conceal the switches, protect the spark plug wires and allow the air to slip on by. We plasma cut the 16 gage material, arched the angle Iron, drilled holes and prayed for surf.

I don’t consider myself an illustrator, but when there’s no one around, and we’re burnin’ daylight, I grab the heavy construction paper and some chalk.

I tried to space the switch holes far enough apart, so as not to scramble wiring.

I wrestled with the plate and where the solenoids would mount. We’re running a wet system, feeding the nitrous and additional fuel into the intake track at full speed. I mounted the plate high, but didn’t have the tank (it was at LA Chop Rods) and worried about the plate hitting the tank or obstructing the petcock.

Pablo Checks in: On the Nitrous. Did you have a chance to check out the websites I emailed you awhile back???

Are you putting the nitrous nozzels directly in the heads or just in the manifold? I wouldn't put them in front of the carb or like a bolt on Edlebrock system.

Keeping it simple on electrical part of the system is important. Mainly because of the salt air, etc. Also being able to troubleshoot and fix it out there is something to adapt in your system. I would try to seal it up somehow as much as you can. Bring extra parts!!

–Pablo

I drilled another set of holes and shortened the plate. With it and all the switches in place, I messed with the NOS solenoids. The instructions call for the solenoids to be close and above the carb. Then the answer hit me like a ball peen to the side to my right temple. I’m left handed. I cut the supplied NOS mounting plates and mounted them to fit the bolt that holds the top motormount together. Perfect.

Then we headed over to LA Chop Rods to work with Gard Hollinger on the tank dash Cowling. Chris Kallas, the official 5-Ball Racing artist, met us and they both suggested that the cowling become a permanent part of the tank and the dash removable. Gard went to work with 18-gage aluminum killed sheet metal. That stuff is exceedingly malleable and easy to cut even with tin snips.

The master of LA Chop Rods, Gard Hollinger.

“Progress is looking good,” Chris Kallas said. “I didn't realize you were still really going to do a belly pan oil tank, I like it.And I was concerned with 3 inches of clearance.I did notice that the body, on streamliners, tend to be very low at the middle bottom point of their cigar shapes.As you know, your going to drive the tech inspectors nuts with this stuff. It will be like Burt Monroe all over again.

”Not crazy about the colors of that go daddy bike. Looks like a Kawasaki jet ski. If you use any of those colors,I'd advise sparingly, like the pin-up's dress and pin stripes and lettering.”

Chris’s scaled art for the Assalt Weapan.

Gard made a rough template out of thick paperboard, then used a table sheer to cut the basic shape. We had to also consider the routing of lines to the gauges and all the wiring out the AIM sport data acquisition system dash.

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Gard sliced the dash I spent hours struggling over. Ultimately it was shit-canned.

Gard remade our dash, cut it lower and more sleek. He has access to a computer water jet facility. They will cut the final dash. We needed to scrape together the $800 to order the data system, so we can mount the bastard and see if it fits.

Welding my modified dash back it place for a guide.

Gard bending the aluminum killed sheet metal over the tacked dash.

He started to add shape with this shrinker tool. Damn, I don't have one or an English wheel or planishing hammer. Need to work on that.

We’re headed back to Gard’s shop shortly to take more shots of the cowling. I’ll take my camera. I spoke to Berry this morning about our Accurate Engineering 120-inch monster Panhead, and it should be completed next week…

We made it back to LA Chop Rods and took some more shots. It’s beginning to look like a ‘50s sportscar dash.

Gard added more shape with a plannishing hammer.

It’s the 3rd of July and my goal was to be at paint at the end of June. I’m closing on a week behind schedule. We hope to take the parts to Powder before we make the Hollister, California Run. That’s looking iffy. Hang on for our next report.

Gard also pressure tested our tank for leaks and discovered several. “Mig welding causes more slag to build up, when you stop and start welding,” Gard said. “That often causes pin holes that are difficult to fix. I TIG weld all my tanks.”

I have torches, stick and MIG welders, but not TIG. Okay, I'm working on it.

Gard made this guide to handle all the dash wires and hoses.

The Assalt Weapan comes to life…

Here's our arch rivals, members of the Chop N Grind Racing team from 17 Palms, California, a distant desert community. They're bad mofos, sand snortin' bastards. That's Larry from Palm Springs H-D on the left and the notorious Bob T. on the right. Bob is the team enforcer. You can see a shot of him on the salt from 30 years ago on the next page.

We grappled and struggled with the oil bag system for months, going back and forth. I studied bags in dressers, the serpentine baffles and the notion that the pump would initially pull the oil up outta the bag like siphoning gas from mom’s sedan.

Additional thoughts from a reader regarding ground clearance:Depends on the track, spring set-up, suspension set-up, tire pressure, strategy, wedge and wheel jacking, blah, blah, blah. Might know you would ask your southern friend that question. If you are looking for ground clearance and ground effects and such go to: http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/bvillecar/bvillelinks.htm.

Yes, I know it's long. Whatever the ground clearance, make sure it can roll left and rIght (lean angle) without touching the ground. I'd say 1.750 inches ground clearance but if one of the tire goes down, we don't want the frame to get on the ground as it's going to be bad enough anyway.

–Pablo

Berry Wardlaw of Accurate Engineering sent me detailed engineering drawings from the biker bar down the street, Slippery Shirley's Saloon. Seems he was road testing his performance dresser, when he ran past a cop at over 100 and kept going. He stopped at this saloon and started drinking Jack Daniels and drawing oil bag interior designs. With the bar napkin blueprints in hand he walked into the sun to board his hot rod bagger. He was met with the cop who clocked him earlier. It all went downhill from there.

I went from cutting an oxygen bottle in half to studying Jap bike bellies. We fitted our nitrous bottle, the Hamster air dam and measured twice. We shit-canned the air dam, the NASCAR theme and the earlier, smaller Nitrous bottle mount. We decided to make the bottle fit as close to the top of the oil bag as possible. Then we measured twice again and rolled to the Wilmington Iron Works shop down the street.

It’s a cool old building and we told them the width needed to be 8 inches and the depth 1¾ inches, and it needed to be 26 inches long. We carefully bent a chunk of brass rod as a guide. They cut the piece out of the 14-gauge material we provided, then their brake wouldn’t bend anything over 24 inches. They hauled it down the street and called me from the shop, “Is the angle or the width critical?”

That was a damn good question.

“The width is more critical,” I responded.

The next day, the bend was available. The width was critical. If the angle had been more severe, we would've been cool, ‘cause we had some ground clearance to play with. But they went the other way flattening out our slab of sheet metal until it wouldn’t hold a half-quart of oil.

More and more I attempt to look at blunders or obstacles as benefits. They give us more time to contemplate design, refine structure or detail construction. We reviewed our concept again and decided to run a wider oil tank to the center of the bottom frame tubes on either side. I bent another chunk of 1/8-inch brass rod and rolled over to San Pedro Sheet Metal. Art could handle the task and in a couple of days I was looking at the initial shape or our baby, except he bent it out of 18-guage. That haunted me.

I tacked a piece of hanger wire to the bend to help as a guide to the angle and center.

Now came the difficult part. We had to devise the interior serpentine baffles without schooling or a map, placement for the fittings, an aerodynamic bow and stern, fill cap, drain plug and mounting. First, I contacted Darin at Bungking.com for fittings and rubber mounting brackets. They do a helluva job. One kit is designed specifically for oil tanks with a fill cap, and three 1/8-inch pipe bungs. Jeremiah stopped at an auto parts and scored a drain plug with an interior magnet and I made the drain bung with ½-20 threads.

The tough part was placement, but we started with the baffles to prevent all the oil from slogging forward or to the stern and out of reach of the feed inlet. Then I made a template of construction paper for the nose and cut out the sections with a plasma cutter.

I started with the nose and one baffle to ensure the shape of the 16-gauge sheet metal during construction. Heat can do strange things to metal. Next, I cut the rear of the oil bag to allow any low-flowing air to escape the undercarriage of the bike with ease. Hope I know what I’m doing. That’s an oxymoron!

With the stern “V” ground smooth I used the belly as a guide to scribe another panel of sheet metal to close in the stern.

The stern plate was easy with a very specific, precise guide. Construction chalk works best for indicating cuts. Felt pens are all over the place.

Here are our baffles and nose plates cut and ready for action.

I tested capacity, initially holding my hands over each end and Nyla poured pint measuring cups of water into the breach and we counted. We were confident that our crazed design would contain at least 2.5 quarts. We were cool. Then I added more capacity with the bow and less cutting the stern.

Taking shape.

We positioned the bag so it would meet with the nitrous bottle. “Nitrous bottle is 17.64″ tall and 5.25″ in diameter,” Colonel Wardlaw informed me before the bottle arrived.

So the oil bag stuck out in front of the frame by about 4 inches. We rolled the dice on this design element several times. We questioned whether we should form a scoop or air dam to shove the nose down. That could become an immediate air resistor and slow the vehicle, so we went for the slippery notion. Get the air through and around the bike as comfortably as possible, and we’re hoping our design plus the shape of the nitrous bottle will accomplish just that.

That point will run less than ¾-inch off the salt.

Next, we wrestled with the fittings and I fucked up. There’s that adage: Measure twice cut once.

I found a perfect bung for the drain and the perfect spot. I started to weld the bung on the outside and then inspiration struck like a Corona bottle to the back of the head. I could make the overall shape even more air user-friendly by placing the bung on the inside. I did and welded it permanently, only to realize five minutes later that I was preventing all the oil from being able to drain with my ¼-inch lip on the inside. Done deal, move on.

Not a precise measurement, just a general mark for us to ponder.

Already making changes.

That error was a quick reminder of the “measure twice” adage and I slowed my movements—always a good thing. Then I struggled with the feed, return and vent. I discovered that if I ran an external feed, I would be forced to run an oil line from the distant stern over the top or through my ¼-inch belly pan up around the transmission to the oil pump. Or I could run it up over the side of the oil bag on the outside, which seemed critically dangerous to have our feed line hanging out in the wind before it reached the oil pump.

There's Bob T. from the previous page standing in the foreground. He was tough in those days.

Then it dawned on us that we had a very large surface on the top, free and clear of obstacles, directly below the oil pump and between the engine and the transmission. We had to make a steel tube extending from the BungKing bung to near the bottom of the oil tank for pickup. I fought with that notion, guessed and second-guessed my design. It’s like the major artery to the heart of the motorcycle. It had to be perfect. We made the steel tube extension then ground it several times and finally extended it some more. We were grappling with molding the line close to the bed but not against the sides or on the floor to pick up grit during a record breaking run on the salt.

Here’s the carefully designed feed tube and vent bung.

Next, we decided to weld the return bung comfortably in front of the front motor mount just below the oil filter mount on the Accurate Engineering Panhead engine. Actually, all the mounts and bungs were perfectly accessible and convenient. Sometimes that’s a bad omen. We also mounted the fill cap right in the front, again extremely accessible—amazing. Many of these efforts were part guesswork since I didn't have my Accurate engine for oil fittings, oil pump or oil filter return line placement.

Fill cap bung in place on the bow of the ship.

It was time to mount the beast under the frame, and again I needed four hands. I looked for possible mounting locations. Scary again. I didn’t want them too close to anything, extremely secure and so they wouldn’t interfere with the engine or tranny, terrifying. Jeremiah and I messed with this for hours. We encountered a couple of problems. The top wasn’t flat for some reason. We suspected warping and ignored it and kept moving forward. The more we worked, the more bothersome it became. Also, the frame tubes weren’t parallel, which fucked with our measurements.

This tweaked my soul. The inside of the oil bag must be absolutely sterile, yet we were welding, grinding and dust was flying. Jeremiah smoothed all the internal welds and cleaned the interior with solvent. Still bothers me. We will flush it several times before operating.

Some of the distortion was caused by welding the bungs into the center of the top plate after drilling it. Then I stamped “IN” next to the feed bung so we wouldn’t fuck up the lines. That dented the top plate. There was our glitch. We removed all the tacks, detached the lid and hammered the bastard straight again—sort of against my bad, black dot code. We all try to do something right the first time and call it, done, right? Wrong.

I hated grinding the tack away and taking the top off, but I was learning. Ultimately it made all the difference.

Jeremiah holding the hull for the model of a Civil War Ship. Was it called the Monitor or the Assalt Weapan?

I learned a valuable lesson from John Reed, the retired CCI master designer. He said something to me one day, while we were discussing Bonneville last year.

“I need lots of fasteners,” John said, “since I often install and remove a component hundreds of time.”

That hit me like a bolt of lightening. In other words, John tried any new component hundreds of times, before he called it finished. Now, instead of trying to plan, make and install something once or twice, I know to take long moments of reflection and do it over and over until I’m sure it’s right. Thanks, John.

This right front bung looks terribly close to the engine case, but it’s not. It was still nerve-racking trying to locate them for strength, yet out of the way for removing or installing the engine or transmission.

This time, the top plate fit and it was flat. The bungs reached and were cool. We tacked them. The oil tank came together, and then we delivered it to Rick Krost from U.S. Choppers for final TIG welding.

In the meantime we needed Nyla back on the bike to work on the peg mounting. I needed to work on the drive chain guard and make sure Valerie’s feet would be completely clear of the chain. I used stock H-D rubber pegs and some two-inch tabs, supported by 45-degree chunks of steel I bagged from the metal fab shop next door.

I used spacers because our fasteners were too long. They had to go.

I tacked the tabs then Jim Waggaman rolled into the Bikernet Headquarters to steal a ’53 Lincoln bench seat I’ve been trying to unload since our La Carrera race across Mexico. He carefully lined up both peg mounts perfectly, and then I welded them into place.

That’s better.

Hang on! Next, we need to make the chain guard and start to work on modifications to the gas tank. We’re burnin’ daylight!

Here’s the desired, determined schedule: We’re shooting for being ready to go to paint at the end of June, just two weeks away. I’ll be a nervous wreck until then. Then I’ll go find a white, soft sandy beach to lay on for a couple of weeks with a case of Coronas. Our goal is to be up and running by the end of July. That gives us August for tuning at Gene’s speed shop, and then we’re off to Bubs Motorcycle Speed Trials in Bonneville. Gulp!

Grab the whole rewritten story in this fantastic book. Just click on the image.

BIKERNET NEWS FLASH – FRIDAY REPORT FROM AUSTRALIA

The News Is Brought To You This Week From Noosa Heads, Queensland Australia–Bandit and I left Tuesday night for a ten-hour flight to Nadi, Fiji – then another 3 ? hours to Brisbane. Another two hours on the wrong side of the road to Glenn & Kerry?s place at No. 1 Hastings Street. Every minute of this trip was worth it; it is absolutely gorgeous here.

As I am moving about this luxury condo, sipping a Vodka Cranberry and trying to capture the beauty of this place on my cheapo camera, Bandit and Glenn, have a more challenging schedule. Glenn and Kerry picked us up at the International portion of the airport then straight over to domestic we went so Bandit and Glenn could make the day and a half trip by plane and car to Millicent, for the Millicent Sand Drags. They finally arrived tonight and they?re getting some well deserved rest in preparation for the event tomorrow.

We?ll still do the news and Sunday Post along with a few articles and updates of wonderful Australia, so hang with us. It?s business as usual while we holiday down under?

CHECK OUT THIS BIKE–Enclosed are some shots from Bike week 07 of my firstchop and one of the girls treating me well downtown.If you would like to know more just ask.

Take it easy
Ethan “creep” Dean
Creep Cycle Works

the specs are

127″ el bruto evo

roadmax 6 speed

bdl 3″ open

donnie smith girder

hush boys rigid frame

Jolly roger customs Fuel tank

jrc oil tank

jrc custom bent bars (stainless)

Jrc sissy bar (stainless)

Jrc licencse plate bracket (stainless)
modified D&D fatcat
gma brakes
bdl hand and foot controls
dakota digital speedo/tach

SHIT HAPPENS–Shit may just be the most functional word in the English language.

Consider:
You can get shit-faced, Be shit-out-of-luck, Or have shit for brains.
With a little effort, you can get your shit together, find a place for your shit, or be asked to shit or get off the pot.
You can smoke shit, buy shit, sell shit, lose shit, find shit, forget shit, and tell others to eat shit.
Some people know their shit, while others can’t tell the difference between shit and shineola.
There are lucky shits, dumb shits, and crazy shits.
There is bull shit, horse shit, and chicken shit.
You can throw shit, sling shit, catch shit, shoot the shit, or duck when the shit hits the fan.
You can give a shit or serve shit on a shingle.
You can find yourself in deep shit or be happier than a pig in shit.
Some days are colder than shit, some days are hotter than shit, and some days are just plain shitty.
Some music sounds like shit, things can look like shit, and there are times when you feel like shit.
You can have too much shit, not enough shit, the right shit, the wrong shit or a lot of weird shit.
You can carry shit, have a mountain of shit, or find yourself up shit creek without a paddle.
Sometimes everything you touch turns to shit and other times you fall in a bucket.Of shit and come out smelling like a rose.
When you stop to consider all the facts, it’s the basic building block of the English language.
And remember, once you know your shit, you don’t need to know anything else!!
You could pass this along, if you give a shit; or not do so if you don’t give a shit!
Well, Shit, it’s time for me to go.
I just wanted you to know that I do give a shit and hope you had a nice day, without a bunch of shit.
But, if you happened to catch a load of shit from some shit-head………..

Well, Shit Happens!!

Absolutely the best picture EVER! —Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has already started her 2008 presidential campaign by aligning herself with the military and pretending to be tough on terror. Fortunately, the ultra-liberal Hillary has yet to brainwash all of the voting public in to believing that her symbolism is really substance. Many have never forgotten that when she was co-president for eight years she was quoted as saying : ” I loathe the military.”

The picture shows that this soldier has been thru Survival School and learned his lessons well. He’s giving the sign of “coercion” with his left hand. These hand signs are taught in survival school to be used by POW’s as a method of posing messages back to our intelligence services who may view the photo or video. This guy was obviously being coerced into shaking hands with Hillary Clinton. It’s ironic how little she knew that he would so inform us about the photo—perhaps because she’s never understood our military to begin with.

THE NEXT GOB FROM RFR–A good tease shot for a GOB? Does she meet the Bikernet Standards ofHot/Cuteness? I vote Hell Yeah and besides you know you want to see more!

It will still be a couple of days before I do much with them as I have tocomplete my stuff for the hottie on the pink BG Krystal first. Then weshould complete another GOB with the Victory Vampire soon too.

Later, RFR

Lane avoids suit questions–
BY KEYONNA SUMMERS
FLORIDA TODAY

VIERA – A Brevard Circuit judge Monday upheld motorcycle builder Billy Lane’s refusal to answer questions in a civil case filed by the family of his alleged drunk driving victim because those answers could influence the criminal case against him.

“Our thought was that he very well could have not invoked the Fifth (Amendment) and made things easier,” said S. Sammy Cacciatore, attorney for victim Gerald Morelock’s family. “We were trying shortcut things (and) get some basic things admitted from him. But if he won’t, we’ll call witnesses and prove it up and show how bad his conduct was.”

Lane, 37, faces 15 years in prison if convicted of DUI manslaughter in connection with the Labor Day crash, in which, police said, Lane crossed a double-yellow line and hit Morelock’s mini-Yamaha motorcycle.

In the civil suit, Lane has refused to say whether the accident took place or whether anyone died as a result because those are elements that prosecutors must prove in the criminal case. He also refused to say when or where he met Erin Derrick, the 22-year-old passenger in his Dodge pickup the night of the crash, or what they were doing immediately before the crash.

“The circumstances under which they met could definitely be a link in the chain of evidence,” said Gregory Eisenmenger, Lane’s criminal lawyer.

Judge John Dean Moxley Jr. agreed, saying the state must prove any negligence by Lane in court.

Lane’s attorneys said they will disclose Lane’s prior driving citations — including one in which North Carolina authorities in June charged Lane with driving a motorcycle while intoxicated and revoked his license after he refused to take a breathalyzer test — because Lane no longer faces a revoked license charge in Florida.

Lane was cleared of the North Carolina charges in October.

Brevard prosecutors could not pursue the suspended license charge, initially filed by the Florida Highway Patrol, because North Carolina authorities never reported Lane’s refusal to take a breath test to Florida, which would have suspended his Florida license for a year, said State Attorney’s spokeswoman Lynne Bumpus-Hooper.

The FHP also charged Lane with a DUI causing serious bodily injury charge, but Bumpus-Hooper said Derrick, the passenger, declined to pursue charges against Lane for her injuries.

Florida law allows prosecutors to proceed without the woman’s consent, though it is unlikely they will do so, she said.Contact Summers at 242-3642 or ksummers@floridatoday.com .

Rogue
Sturgis Freedom Fighters
Motorcycle Hall Of Fame Member 2005
www.bikerrogue.com

HEY BANDIT, NEED SOME SOAP–Boston SoapWorks is manufacturing the Perewitz line of bike care products and they are looking for some exposure. Told Glen, their PR guy, you might be interested. Glen said he would even fly out for a presentation, which you don’t need, but if he’s willing to do that he might be up for a site sponsorship. He will certainly provide items for evaluation!

Boston SoapWorks
Glen ILacqua
888-858-0845

Two Trends For Magazines, — Show Any Weakness And The Publication Is Consigned To The Internet–
Only Or Worse, And The New Buzz Word is VideoBY Philip M. Stone

With all the bad news about magazines closing, or being consigned just to the Internet, the surprising news from the Magazine Publishers of America is that in 2006 some 262 magazines were actually launched ? that?s a 2% increase over the year before. But what the figures don?t say is how really tough it is out there these days.

No need to dwell on all the happenings at Time, Inc, that has had a couple of years of downsizing staff and also sold18 magazines to Bonnier; no need to dwell on the fact that according to some reports General Motors spent $600 million less on traditional media advertising last year and magazines would have felt a whole lot of that pain including Time Magazine itself; no need to dwell on magazines either being shuttered or put up for sale ? the Dennis Publishing stable that includes Maxim and Stuff ? or magazine consigned just to the Internet ? Elle Girl ,Shock and Premiere.

The question these days is what is it that magazines need to do to survive? There?s the new-look Time Magazine that now publishes. on Fridays rather than Mondays so Mr. and Mrs. Public will have the opportunity to read its redesigned pages over the weekend and if you look closely enough you?ll see the news emphasis has shifted ? the breaking news and all that is now on Time?s web site and the magazine is now mostly analytical and featurish in nature.

There?s no question that the Internet now plays a very large part in a magazine?s life. Magazine publishers, perhaps even more so than newspaper publishers, have come to the realization that for those magazines kept in print there has to be a true convergence on the multiplatform of print and the Internet. Others have already given up the ghost of print, and even though their circulation numbers sound fine, to the ?suits? it?s not good enough and magazines are being dropped from print and left with just an Internet presence, if they show almost any sign of weakness.

Foremost among those ditching the print side is Hachette Filipacchi Media US, part of France?s Lagardere. Just last week it announced that the US version of Premiere, with a circulation of 492,498 would be consigned to just the Internet starting with the April issue. Premiere has shown some weakness of late and that is just not on these days ? ad pages are down 3.2% year-to-date with total paid circulation down 2%. There are a lot of magazines out there that actually would be happy with those kinds of numbers but that doesn?t do it at Hachette Filipacchi any more.

It has already consigned Elle Girl and the US version of Shock to the Internet, and it must like the result for that is where the real investment seems to be made these days and not in print itself.

A further sign of the importance of video are the separate deals made by Hachette Filipacchi, Hearst and Rodale, Inc., for video services from privately- owned Brightcove Inc.

Rodale, for instance, plans to bring Brightcove?s video to its flagship Men?s Health and its other health and fitness titles. The Men?s Health online video channel will contain instructional videos for the magazine?s recommended health workouts, there will be celebrity interviews, relationship advice, and the like.

And why do this? Ken Citron, Rodale?s senior vice president and chief technology officer, explained in a company statement, ?We are focused on inspiring our users to leverage all media formats in their quest to achieve their health and fitness goals. Video gives our editors a way to connect more directly with consumers.? Rodale?s various titles now reaches some 40 million people every month, the company says, which in turns gives it a very good audience for new revenue opportunities via video advertising.

Brightcove seems to be the name these days in providing such services, having already contracted with the likes of Dow Jones, Reuters, SonyBMG, Time Life, MTV Networks and British Sky Broadcasting.

Hachette Filipacchi has its own dedicated video studio for which it is already providing material for such magazine web sites as Elle, Car & Driver, and Woman?s Day. The next step with the Brightcove deal is to expand upon that and also take advantage of the video advertising revolution.

But for all of the Internet activity, reality was brought o earth last week in Hanover, Germany, at the Magazine Media 2.0 conference that included executives from more than 25 countries. Just a very few of the 350 companies represented said they made more than 3% of their sales online. Only Meredith of the US (Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal) said it was actually making a profit online.

The real question facing magazine publishers, as it does newspapers, is how do you sell a product online that most people will expect for free? Perhaps the future is what Hachette is trying in Europe ? selling digital facsimiles that also contain embedded audio and video, for E9.90 a month, but will people pay that kind of money on the web? The first results are so- so.

More important perhaps is that advertisers are spending more and more of their money online, so a magazine that does have a web presence to go with its print presence is probably in the best position to make use of that, and video features heavily in that.. For instance some of that General Motors $600 million found its way to the Internet ? would not magazine sites have been a logical convergement placement?

Yet more proof, in a different way, that the advertising model is probably the one that works best, even for magazines.

background

Time Magazine To Switch Publication Date to Fridays But In These Days of Breaking News On The Internet Do We Have Time To Spare Reading A Print News Weekly Any More?

The magazine industry is in the dumps ? few new launches, some famous titles are experiencing falling circulation ? and they?re trying anything they can to buck the bad tidings from changing publication dates to spending more on their online sites.

Faster Than You Can Say ElleGirl, Cargo, or Celebrity Living, Magazines Are Killed; Quicker Than You Can Say Time Inc. and Staff Are Fired And Now The Final Indignity ? Internet Advertising Will Surpass Magazine Advertising This Year.The US magazine industry went into shock earlier this month when Hachette Filipacchi Media killed ElleGirl. Paid circulation was up 20% over 12 months, ad pages were up 50%, but this was a magazine targeted at teen girls. And teen girls look more at the Internet than they do glossy paper, so after its May issue ElleGirl , with its 500,000 paid circulation, becomes only ElleGirl.com for free.

With Major US Magazine Publishers Time Inc. and McGraw-Hill Making Savage Job Cuts The Signals Are Clear ? The Difficulties Magazines Faced in 2005 Are Just a Taste of What to Expect in 2006 So much attention has been focused on newspaper circulation and advertisement woes that magazines seemed to have slipped under the radar, but with advertisers forecasting they will cut back on magazine advertising more than newspapers, and circulation at a basic standstill for most subject matter, the largest US magazine publishers have started to cutback.

Gruner + Jahr May be Europe?s Largest and Most Successful Magazine Publisher, But Its US Operation Was An Absolute Disaster That Severely Tarnished the Brand. Its Solution — Hold A Fire Sale and Then Get the Hell Out of Dodge City In announcing its sale of Family Circle, Parents, Fitness, and Child to Meredith Corporation for $350 million ? about half of what they should have gotten if the magazines had been well looked after — Gruner +Jarhr has finally given up the ghost of its US magazine operation. If it can?t sell its two remaining properties, Inc. and Fast Company, by June 30 then Meredith will take them on and sell them probably in an auction.

“Heard on the Web” Media Intelligence: Courtesy of The Precision Media Group.Print, Publishing and Media Consultants Contact – Robert M. Sacks 518-329-7994 PO Box 53, Copake NY 12516

email: bosacks@aol.com
phone: 518-329-7994
web: http://www.bosacks.com

Congratulations to Ann E. Biglin, she is 2007’s first candidate for village-idiot of the year!–Biglin lost control of her Fire-Engine red 2000 Ford Focus and careened into a Ford Explorer, after jumping a curb and bouncing off a lightpost. According to Biglin, “several old coffee cups as well as assorted pieces of trash” fell onto the drivers’ side floor obstructing her access to the brake pedal, while she was backing out of a parking spot.

And yes, that is a real life shot of the inside of her car.

American Performance Cycle/APC Introduces the Wild Card–Las Vegas, NV – American Performance Cycle, a market leading world class custom production bike manufacturer located in Las Vegas, NV introduces their Wild Card?a drop seat pro-street style bike packed full of features found on bikes costing ten?s of thousands of dollars more. It specs out with a 5? stretch and 93? wheelbase which provides great tracking and a superb ride. It also features a blind side swing arm, tons of billet and chrome and a 44 degree rake and start at just $26,995. Perfect for those that want both ?show? and ?go!?

The Wild Card is right side drive and comes complete with an S&S engine, Baker 6-speed, billet closed primary, forged one-piece Forge-Tec or 80 spoke wheels and way too much chrome and billet to list. APC currently has 4 distinct models with various versions of each one (chopper, drop seat, FLH style and pro-street) that are all reasonably priced, but can be custom built with a variety of options to suit the most discriminating buyer. Three out of 4 of their models are available in 3 different packages, ranging from a 96? S&S motor all the way to a show quality polished 124? S&S engine. APC will soon be introducing a low, long and mean bagger which will be rubber mounted and have either a 280 or 300 mounted on it.

All APC models are CARB and DOT approved. For dealers interested in adding APC bikes to their current product line up and getting up to 12 months of free flooring, please call (702) 314-5272 or check out their website at www.apccycles.com.

Continued On Page 2

BIKERNET NEWS TOPS–RUSSELL MITCHELL AT THE ROT, JOHNNY PAG NEW SPYDER 300, STRIPCLUB CHOPPERS LOOKING FOR SPONSORS, BUNGKING SPONSORS 5-BALL RACING, SOMERS POINT MEMORIAL DAY PARADE, BASSANI PRO STREET PIPES, NEW ART FROM SCOTT JACOBS, ASSALT WEAPAN UPDATE, STROKERS DALLAS SERVING BREAKFAST AND MORE…

Continued From Page 3

HEALTH CARE DISCRIMINATION– US Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) recently introduced S. 616, “The HIPAA Recreational Injury Technical Correction Act.” Identical legislation passed the full Senate in the 109th Congress and obtained 177 bipartisan cosponsors in the House.

S. 616 aims at ending health care discrimination for individuals participating in legal transportation and recreational activities-activities like motorcycling, snowmobiling, skiing, horseback riding, and all-terrain vehicle riding.

This legislation addresses a loophole caused by a Department of Health and Human Services’ rule making it possible for health care benefits to be denied to those who are injured while participating in these activities.On August 21, 1996 an important opportunity arose when President Clinton signed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), prohibiting employers from denying health care coverage based on a worker’s pre-existing medical conditions or participation in legal activities, such as motorcycling.

In 2001, the Department of Health and Human Services released the final rules that would govern the HIPAA law. The rules recognize that employers cannot refuse health care coverage to an employee on the basis of their participation in a recognized legal activity. However, the benefits can be denied for injuries sustained in connection with those activities. Therefore, you were guaranteed the right to health care coverage but not guaranteed any benefits in return for your monthly payments.

The AMA is urging all motorcyclists to notify their Senators and tell them to co-sponsor and support S. 616, “The HIPAA Recreational Injury Technical Correction Act.”

TENNESEE MAY BECOME A FREE STATE– Tennessee Senate Bill 1511 has passed the Tennessee Senate. SB 1511 would further modify the states helmet laws for adults. Senator Tim Burchett has once again championed “Freedom of Choice” for Tennessee motorcyclists. The bill now goes to a House Transportation subcommittee for a hearing.

PENNSYLVANIA MAY GO THE OTHER DIRECTION IF WE DON’T FIGHT BACK– A Pennsylvania lawmaker has introduced a bill to make helmets mandatory for motorcycle riders again. Since 2003, helmet use has been optional for those who are at least 21 and have been licensed to ride for two years or who have finished a state-approved safety course.

State Rep. Dan Frankel of Allegheny County said there are too many deaths and injuries because of the no helmet option and said the associated medial costs are driving up costs to the public.

MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY COUNCIL PROMOTES HELMET USE (MIC)– The first United Nations World Youth Assembly for Road Safety was held in Geneva, Switzerland, in April 2007, with the aim of engaging young people in the issue of road safety. The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) was asked to provide information on the benefits of helmet use, and, in consultation with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, produced a video for the Assembly.

The Assembly was a key event in the First United Nations Global Road Safety Week (April 23-29), which was jointly organized by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Regional Commissions. Young people from more than 100 countries attended the Assembly; 400 signed a Youth Declaration for Road Safety, in which they committed to taking practical measures to improve road safety and calling on other young people to do the same.

The MIC video, called “Helmets: Get Your Head Into It,” was presented during the conference. It highlighted a number of benefits of helmet use, focusing primarily on rider protection and comfort; showed how to properly fit a motorcycle helmet; discussed key safety and comfort features; and encouraged riders to wear full protective gear.

In addition to wearing all the gear, all the time, including a quality helmet, the video recommends that riders get trained and licensed, ride unimpaired, ride within their own skill limits and become lifelong learners by taking refresher courses. The video is available for download at www.mic.org and has also been posted on YouTube and Break.com.

MIC is located in Irvine, California, is a not-for-profit, national trade association representing manufacturers and distributors of motorcycles, scooters, motorcycle/ATV parts and accessories and members of allied trades.

STROKERS DALLAS SERVES CHARITY RIDE BREAKFAST–We will be serving breakfast starting at 6:00amwith all breakfast donations benefitingThe Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Childrenand the ride will leave Strokers at 10:00am to head down to Austin.

This is your last chance to buy your ROT Rally ticketsbefore you have to wait in the long Austin lines!Tickets will only be sold before the ride from 6:00am- 10:00am on Thursday morningCASH SALES ONLY

This is the last call for Volunteer Road Captains!We need experienced riders to help us get safely from Dallas to Austin during our ride.If you would like to volunteer, please call Meghan at 214-357-0707.

All Road Captains will receive complimentary rally admission.

As always, for the most up to date information about Strokers Dallas and Strokers Ice House, please visit www.strokersdallas.com or call 214-357-0707.
Strokers Dallas
9304 Harry Hines Blvd
Dallas , TX 75235
USA

ASSALT WEAPON WEEKLY UPDATE–We’re making progress. This just in from Berry Wardlaw of Accurate Engineering, the 5-Ball Racing Official Tuner and Engine Builder:

The new NOS stuff went out today, don’t let it scare you. The mini progressive unit, one five pound bottle, complete kit and 1 nitrous and 1 fuel pressure gauge. These should be remotely mounted on the dash and above the EGT gauges. I’ve got two more 5 lb. bottles here, I just hadn’t finished huffing them or I would have sent them also.

You do need to fill the bottle. Any welding supply can hook you up but California might be different.

I wish I was there to help. The Outlaw 120-inch Panhead engine is looking better day by day.

THE DRINK’S ON SCOTT JACOBS–Feast your eyes on the latest offering from Scott Jacobs’ Studios: PARADISE. This beautiful work of art is the fourth painting in the MARILYN series following Roses or Red, Summer Red and Some Like it Hot.

Scott is particularly pleased with the three-dimensional brick work in the foreground and the reflections on the bottle above the label.

We will begin shipping around the middle of June and keep in mind that only 60 artist proofs on canvas exist of this image so don’t delay in contacting me if you like it.

— Ron
303-431-4453
image size: 22 x 38 opening
price: $1550 framing optional
www.scottjacobsstudio.com

MILWAUKEE IRON BIKE BUILD ON TELEVISION–Take a look at the Milwaukee iron build we put up at the bottom of the page.we can put up a bunch of clip of all the stuff for the chip a else way for our site.

–Charlie
http://www.big7productions.com/

BASSANI PIPES – PRO STREET IN BLACK CERAMIC– Chopper, Bobber and Hot Rod freaks are really going to get off on these new PRO-STREET pipes finished in BLACK CERAMIC. Aggressive styling combined with superior exhaust flow characteristics and imposing BLACK CERAMIC finish put the latest from Bassani in a class all their own. Offered for Softail, Dyna and Sportster applications, Bassani PRO STREET pipes feature 16-gauge steel construction with stepped head pipes, slant or straight cut tips and Bassani’s unique tunable/replaceable flow-through baffle system.

If you don’t have one of the bikes above, Bassani is now offering all of their pipes with this power enhancing, distinctive finish. PRO-STREET PIPES finished in this state-of-the-art finish.

For complete details call 866-439-4287 or catch them on the Web at www.bassanipipes.com

SOMERS POINTMEMORIAL DAY PARADEMAY 28 th 11:00 AMYOU’RE INVITED TO RIDE IN THE PARADE– Guest of HonorThe Rivera Family, whose son was killed in Iraq. Please join us in showing that the motorcycle community cares for their Fallen Warriors from all Wars After the parade an open house will be held at the American Legion on Penna ave in Somers Point, food and beverage will be served.

Line up at 10:30 am Dawes Ave School. Located on the corner of Shore Road and Dawes Ave. Parade Starts at 11:00 am.

FOR MORE INFO CALL BILL BUTLER 609-839-4992

BUNGKING.COM SPONSORS 5-BALL RACING–We are building an oil bag under the bike, for a sleek underbelly, but we needed all the fittings and bungs. There’s one site focused solely on bungs and fittings for custom builders, BungKing.com. Check it out.

“I can send you an oil bag kit which is the filler cap and bung and three 1/8npt bungs,” said Darin from BungKing. “I’ll get them out in the next few days.”

–Darin

STRIPCLUB CHOPPERS LOOKING FOR STURGIS SPONSORS–We are looking for Sponsors for the 2007 Sturgis Rally event, August 6 -12. Location will be at Custom Corners and this is the best spot in Sturgis, here’s why:

Frontage: The Custom Corners commercial property has over 90,000 total sq. ft. of paved and lighted wide-open space and includes two complete blocks of Lazelle Street; that’s four corners and 300 ft. of premium frontage for maximum visibility.

Central Location: Its central location downtown just West of the Sturgis Community Center establishes your company at the heart of the Sturgis Rally event with the highest exposure.

Motorcycle Exhibit: Custom Corners features the largest motorcycle exhibit area for custom bike builders and corporate aftermarket vendors and is next to other successful neighbors such as Corbin and J & P Cycle. Overall, this generates the highest traffic count on Lazelle Street.

Booth Size: We will have a 20×40 Booth and the Diva Biker Girls will be there to sign calendars and take pictures. Strip Club Choppers will have each sponsors information placed in all sold items. We sell over 3000 calendars and 1000s of Tee Shirts. Your company information will be placed in all sales bags, and calendars. The Stage will be open for the sponsor to promote there products, or have our Diva Biker Girls to hand out at the stage and clubs at night. Also we will have a Large Banner over the Stage with your logo and with over 600,000 people that will pass this area your logo will be NOTICE!

We will be producing a 2008 Sturgis Calendar, Video for PPV and more! All Sponsors logos will be listed in the calendar and videos, tee shirts and banners. We are looking for giveaways, and products for this event. Limited time and space, so call soon!

NEW SPYDER 300 CC CRUISERS BY JOHNNY PAG REPORT–The new spyder 300 is selling as quick as the dealers can get them. Police bike project doing very also. Go to my web www.johnnypag.comand click on side bar that says, police review.

–Pag

WALDO PASSED AWAY–Hey Bandit, this is charity, Waldo’s daughter. We met in Ignacio many years ago… but dad passed away may 4th and wanted to let the folks in his life know. Sorry about the bad news. Hope to see you again soon.

–Charity

RUSSELL MITCHELL EMCEE’S ROT TATTOO CONTEST–Splash on the sunscreen, polish that motorcycle, and drop the kids off at grandma’s because it’s time to PAAARTY! With ROT only days away, biker fever is taking Austin by storm. This year’s rally is going to bigger, better, and more badass than ever before, and we’ve got the pre-parties to prove it. We’re not just bringing you folks the main event anymore; we’re helping you get your party on all month long with Official ROT Pre-Rallies.

Grab a bike, grab a friend, and come grab a beer as we count down to the 2007 ROT Rally?

Central Texas Harley-Davidson, May 23, Wednesday, 6pm

This week ROT fans can catch ladies, live entertainment, and lots more wild fun at Central Texas Harley-Davidson. Enjoy live music by Pride and Joy (one of Central Texas’ most popular rock and blues bands) and catch a smokin’ hot performance by the dancers from Coyote Ugly. Puff on a stogie from Heroes and Legacies, and check out giveaways and special door prizes from ROT sponsors Army, Farmers Insurance, and more.

This party will last ’til the bikes go home, and we want to see YOU there! Don’t forget to bring cash in hand for your last minute ROT tickets!!!

FL POWER TRAIN ALIGNMENT TOOL– This tool easily and safely aligns the Power Train, (rubber mounted engine,transmission and the swingarm assembly) to the correct position as found onmost touring models.

Alignment service must be performed when the engine,transmission, or swingarm has either been removed or repaired. The safety inhandling and performance of the motorcycle could be greatly effected withoutthe accurate alignment this tool provides.

Use on 1993 to present FLHT models. Suggested Retail $602.35

AH, FRIDAY IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER–This is a big party weekend, but we?ll will clamor all over our lift and the Assalt Weapan all weekend long. But Friday is errand runnin? day. We?re headed to Tay Herrara?s shop to drop off some brass pieces to be engraved for Jeremiah?s bobber, then over to Todd?s Cycles to check on some bars. Jeremiah is having Todd make a set for his bike and I?m picking up a set for my Mud flap Girl project next year. Most of the elements are worked out.

I?m running a U.S. Choppers Board Track frame by Paughco, an S&S engine, JIMS transmission, narrow 23-inch spoked wheels, Avon Tyres and Mud Flap Girl inspiration by 2Wheelers in Denver. I have a New York City Mud Flap girl oil bag and I?m searching for a wild vintage styled front end.

Assalt Weapan seat back.

Okay, so we?re headed out on missions like picking up our Assalt Weapan oil bag bent sheet metal tomorrow. But the content will be flying into Bikernet even over the weekend. We have a new Softail Custom road test, new models from Big Mike?s choppers, another Independent kit and frame called the LowLife, Santa Maria show coverage, a story about a SPS tribute to soldiers out at 29 Palms, A feature on a stunt rider Brian Hatano and two stories for the Cantina. Gonna be a busy weekend.

The new Softail Custom.

I just read another piece about motorcycle noise gripes. If you run across this problem, use our motorcycle noise study to level the playing field some. I find if the community recognizes the other side of the noise issue they back off bikes. Bikernet Independent Noise Study

It?s one thing to be aggravated by straight pipes, but it?s another thing to be maimed by a motorist talking on a cell phone. Besides, to me, bikes and the noise they make represent American Freedom and never forget Loud Pipes Save Lives.

How’s this for a riding shot?

Ride Forever,

–Bandit

BIKERNET NEWS ALERTS–UPDATE ON MULLER FROM GERMANY, STEALTH REPORT, MOONLIGHT DIVE CHARITY RUN AND KLOCK PARTY, NEW GOB, MONSTER SEMA SHOW COMING, CHOPPERS INC SIX GUN GRIPS, PRIMEDIA SHAKE-UP AND METRIC THUNDER JUG HUGGERS.

Continued From Page 2

2 into 2 JUG HUGGERS– Jug Huggers are performance pipes with a twist and have the right mix of air flow and back pressure to make for increased performance and incredible sound. The oversized removable heat shield gives the Jug Huggers a 2 1/2″ fat look. Max-Flow performance baffles and chrome billet aluminum end caps are standard.

Optional stealth baffles or torque chambers give you the option of getting the right performance from your motorcycle.

For: Bub Jug Huggers for ’01-’05 DynaGlide
From: Metric Thunder
Who: Thunder Bob
Details: Click Here for 2 into 2 Jug Huggers
Pricing: Thunder Bob is dealing! Taking $80 off retail.

THE PRIMEDIA MAGAZINE SHAKE-UP BEGINS– Here is an interesting item about how the new owners of the Primedia Enthusiast Group (Motorcyclist, Hot Bike, BikeWorks, Street Chopper, Motorcycle Cruiser and others) is cutting expenses. Now that they are burdened with all the problems they did have, they now need to make over $110 million in annual interest payments to make for the loan needed to buy these magazines.

According to this news item, they had decided to lay off their entire LA-based circulation department. Not a good idea, especially as their circulation has been on a steady decline for almost two years.

More problems, short and long term, for the ex-Primedia empire? Sure looks like it.

Buzz Kantor
American Iron Magazine

The former Primedia Enthusiast Media, acquired last week by magazine distributor Source Interlink, is shutting down its circulation department in Los Angeles and laying off the 30 employees who work there, The Circulator has learned.

The move comes because the company is consolidating circulation efforts in New York City, according to Steve Aster, SVP, consumer marketing, at the company, now renamed Enthusiast Media.

The move is effective July 27, and was planned prior to the acquisition, Aster said. “We had this new organization idea in place for a while with the goal of consolidating what were two subscription departments into one group to better execute new-program development,” says Aster. “That’s it, plain and simple.”

It is unclear whether other consolidations may be under consideration by Source Interlink. “During its investor call last week, company management noted that it would be premature to speculate about or discuss integration of the companies at this early juncture,” according to a company spokesperson.

Source Interlink announced last week that it had acquired Enthusiast Media, which includes 70 special interest magazines and 90 associated Web sites, for $1.2 billion in cash, sparking concern among circulators about the company owning magazines and controlling the newsstand supply chain simultaneously.

Source also announced an agreement earlier this month to be the exclusive distributor to the Borders Book store chain.

CHOPPERS INC SIX GUN LINE-UP GOES SOFT– Melbourne, FL – Billy Lane of Choppers Inc continues to reinvent his Six Gun line of parts and accessories by introducing the all new Six Gun Rubber Grips.

As always, Billy makes everything here in the USA by hand, using the best materials available. The Six Gun Rubber Grips are one of many new products launched since the V-Twin Expo in Cincinnati. Rounding out the list of new products from Choppers Inc Six Gun Rubber Grips are yet another example of what Choppers Inc has created to meet the demand of new product requests for stock Harley models, especially Twin Cam powered models. Joining the Six Gun Rubber Grips, Choppers Inc recently released the following all new parts line up designed to fit stock HD models:

Six Gun Heel/Toe Shifter set
Six Gun Shifter Peg
Six Gun Fold-Up Passenger Foot Peg
Six Gun Gas Cap
Ball Milled Dash Bezels for Baggers
Ball Milled Antenna Base Cover for short, whip antenna’s
.50 Caliber Touring Gas Cap Cover
Knurled Series including; Shifter Peg, Kickstand grip plate, brake pedal and caliper inserts
Torpedo Finned Lights
Twin Cam Derby Cover
Shift Linkage Bar
More scheduled to release at Sturgis

SIX GUN RUBBER GRIPS– Six Gun Grips with a new, softer twist- Rubber. Rubber grips relieve hand fatigue on the long rides and offer a cool look when finished off with Choppers Inc signature Six Gun end cap. In stock and ready to ship.

Part Number: CH176
Retail Price: $225 set
www.choppersinc.com
To learn more about the all new parts line now available from Choppers Inc visit: www.choppersinc.com

MONSTER SEMA SHOW COMING–Hop aboard for an inside look at SEMA, the monster of aftermarket trade shows. Las Vegas is the address, the Convention Center the venue. Be sure and pack comfortable shoes for this multi-channel peek at trends, standards and what’s new in the way of exhibit staging. Coming next, the 2007 Dealer Expo. Bigger, with a few surprises from the usual sources. If that vintage Magic 8 Ball marketing solution’s getting a little tired,

download our latest case study for a quick overview of creative problem solving.

–siebenthalercreative.com

HOLLYWOOD POLICE CHIEF BLASTS OFFICER ACCUSED IN SCANDAL–South Florida Sun-SentinelMarch 24, 2007HOLLYWOOD Police Officer Kevin Companion discussed a string of crimes with an undercover FBI agent and bragged that he had friends high up in the department who would help him quietly retire if caught, Chief James Scarberry said.Companion, accused with three other officers of running heroin, protecting gambling operations and smuggling stolen diamonds, named Major Louis Granteed and Capt. Tony Rode as the officers who would persuade Scarberry to let him resign without further investigation, the chief said.In a lengthy, wide-ranging interview last week, Scarberry called the comments, captured by FBI surveillance tape, ‘unbelievably stupid,” adding that both men were disgusted by Companion’s alleged crimes.

‘Those comments just show the mentality of Kevin Companion. It doesn’t reflect at all on Louie or Tony, because they would never have tolerated this if they knew what was going on. I trust both of them completely,” Scarberry said.

— By John Holland Flotida Sun Sentinal

–from Rogue

BIKERNET HISTORY DEPARTMENT,SECRET SERVICE HISTORY–150 years ago, President Lincoln found it necessary to hire a privateinvestigator — Alan Pinkerton for protection. That was the beginningof the Secret Service.

Since that time, the federal government has produced a large number ofmulti-letter agencies such as: FBI, CIA, INS, IRS, DEA, BATF, etc.

Now we have the ” Federal Air Transportation Airport Security Service”.Can’t you see them now, these ‘highly trained’ men and women in theirblack outfits with jackets saying across their backs: F.A.T.A.S.S.

The FATASS’s are of course supervised by a special section of the HomeLand Security Section known as: Airport Security Service Home OfficeLogistics Enhancement Section or the A.S.S.H.O.L.E.S.

I feel safer already.

–from Rogue

NEW GIRL OF BIKERNET COMING–This is my new model I am shooting with Tom Fosters bike for you on Thursday..

–Peter Linney

O.C. FREEWAY FATALITY AN INTERNATIONAL CASE, HYUNDAI EXECUTIVE LEFT FOR KOREA AFTER A MOTORCYCLIST WHO HIT HIS DISABLED SUV WAS KILLED–Motorcyclist Ryan Dallas Cook was taking the 55 Freeway home after practicing with his band, but he didn’t know a disabled SUV loomed ahead of him in the carpool lane. Within moments, he was dead.

About 24 hours later, the Hyundai executive who was driving the SUV had left for his native South Korea, according to investigators.

Now, 1 1/2 years later, an arrest warrant has been issued for Youn Bum Lee, and the victim’s family told prosecutors that they want other Hyundai executives held liable, believing they helped him leave the country before police could track him down.

Orange County prosecutors last month charged Lee in absentia with three felonies in the death of 23-year-old Cook: gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated; driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs with injury; and hit-and-run with injury or death.

Officials at the California Highway Patrol, who are leading the investigation, said Tuesday that the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Orange County district attorney’s office were working to find Lee. His wife, who moved out of the couple’s Irvine home with their son days after the accident, is believed to be with him.

Cook’s relatives, on the other hand, say they are convinced there was a cover-up at Hyundai. They said they plan to file a wrongful-death lawsuit today against the corporation and several employees, including Lee, alleging they helped thwart the investigation.

MOONLIGHT DIVE CHARITY RUN AND KLOCK PARTY–You are invited to attendEl GrandeMargarita MadnessPre Moonlight Fiesta !! It’s Friday, May 25, 2007At Klock Werks Kustom Cycles, 5:00-10:00 pm.Enjoy especial Margaritas by Barry Arenson, all the way from Kansas City, MO!Build your own taco bar, nachos, and more! 10:30 on = Moonlight poste partido (head downtown to the Moonlight!)

BYOB (bring your own beverages, baggers and babes) _JBYOS (bring your own sombraros)_J

Veale alli!(I think)(See you there!)

And remember the Moonlight Dive Bar Charity Run (to raise $$ for Cystic Fibrosis) is Saturday, May 26, 2007Registration 11:30-12:30. Visit www.myspace.com/divebarcharityrun for more info!

Laura
Klock Werks
915 S Kimball, Mitchell, SD 57301
605.996.3700 shop
605.996.9900 fax
www.kustomcycles.com
www.kustombaggers.com
laura@kustomcycles.com

STEALTH SHOP REPORT FROM CHARLOTTE–We have been busy at STEALTH BIKE WORKS. Our bike we are entering in the Smoke-Out Bike Show is coming together. We got our parts back from the chromer and our painted parts should be back by the end of the week. We have four weeks to finish the bike, so we should be in good shape?

You know when you are working on a deadline at the shop, sometimes things get lost in shuffle and you become so focused on the work at hand, you may lose sight of what is really important. What I am talking about is the crew I have at SBW. I really could not ask for more. These guys make SBW go, without each one of them I would be lost. I am going to use this space to introduce you to each one of them. They deserve the space this week.

First there is Mr. Max Brown. Max and I are there everyday. We work real well together. Max has 30+ years turning wrenches. He knows engines and trannys inside and out. I am always amazed at how fast Max can tear an engine or trans down. I have learned a lot from Max and I am very grateful to have him at SBW. Max is a real down to earth kinda guy. He will tell you how it is and won’t beat around the bush. I like that. Max, Thanks for all you do and for putting up with me. You see I am a detail freak when it comes to bikes and I know sometimes I get on Max’s nerves. Max I am proud to call you my friend.

Next we have Chopper John Norris. Chopper John is like a son or brother to me. There is nothing I would not do to help him, and I know he has my back. Chopper John handles all of our fab work and welding. He is always there to help at events we attend. Chopper John and I work well together because he likes to try new things and I give him free reign to do this. I trust him. He always get my opinion and more times than not he gets the “thumbs up!” Chopper John has been there from day one, really before day one, he helped set the shop up. You know I can always count on Chopper John to help us with whatever needs to be done. Chopper John, I am proud to call you my friend.

Next we have Bob Engels. He is the newest guy at SBW. Bob is kind of a utility infielder in baseball. He can play more than one position. Bob has been helping out on our Smoke-Out project. Bob can turn a good wrench, he can weld and he can paint. Bob has been a regular customer at SBW since we opened and we are glad to have him around the shop. Thanks Bob, for all your help and friendship!

Next we have Rusty Nash. We met Rusty when we opened STEALTH BIKE WORKS. Our relationship has grown. Rusty is our painter. He lays down some really cool paint at affordable prices. He is bringing some samples of his work to the Smoke-Out and will have them on display at the SBW booth. Rusty and I are on the same page most of the time on color selection. Rusty and myself came up with the paint scheme for our Smoke-Out project. This paint job is really going to POP! Thanks Rusty, for all your help and frienship.

Next, last but not least, “THE MEANEST.” You see she has to put up with all of us, and that is a BIG job. She keeps the books in tip-top shape. She gives me a kick in the ass when I need it, as I do need it from time to time. She is my wife and my best friend. She keeps things at the shop in order. Without her we would all be in BIG trouble with the law, the IRS, the state of North Carolina and probably a lot more people I can’t think of? Thanks Meanest, for all you do and for putting up with all of us, especially me.

I almost forgot one member of the SBW team. Our pit bull J.C. J.C. is the chief of security at SBW. He may lick you to death if you are not careful. He is my buddy and he is a GREAT dog! I know the Meanest would agree with that?

But each shop has a problem child. That’s Bandit. In the last year he showed up to work once. Once, and he didn’t do anything but stand around and critique our welds. He had meanest eating out of his hands, running errands and doing his paperwork. He tried to pick up on her daughter and borrowed my truck. He still hasn’t returned it.

The reason I wanted to mention most all of these people is that you never know when your last chance to do this will be. I learned this lesson the hard way when my son Justin passed away. So now I have told you all how I feel about you. I know I will catch it this week.

We are closing down Saturday. We are heading to Washington D.C. for the Run To The Wall. The Meanest and I are going to enjoy the ride and relax a little because when we get back, we have only three weeks until the Smoke-out!

So there you have it, a small look at the SBW crew. They are almost all stand up people and I appreciate what most of them do and bring to STEALTH BIKE WORKS.

Hey Hiway, I am leaving the watch at home, you know what I mean?

Until next week, RIDE
–STEALTHMAN

Click To Check It Out

REMEMBER MULLER MOTORCYCLE AG FROM GERMANY–We had a rough time here, but we are almost thru it. First there was an awfuldelay for our catalog. It will take another 3-4 weeks. Then our millingmachine broke and we had to invest some $300,000 dollars and a productiondelay of minimum 4 weeks. Therefore, we are late with ourbrake comparison.

The milling machine now works. We start producing the brakes in 10 days.The final version of our brake comparison will be out in two weeks and you are thefirst to get it.

Thanks,
–Pete
M?ller Motorcycle AG
pete@m-motorcycle.de>

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