Rogue rides to the Toy Run in Brevard County, Florida It is the time of year that Bikers from around the country hold Toy Runs to help out those in their community who need toys for their kids. Things have been tough for a lot of people, but you can always count on the Bikers to help where they can.

CLICK HERE To Read this Merry Report from Florida Toy Run

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War Dogs Charity Riders of Chicago Tornado Relief Caravan Leaves for Devastated Mayfield, Kentucky

Chicago December 19th 2021 –

By Gina Woods – Open Road Radio and War Dogs Charity Riders Board Member

With a six-truck and trailer load caravan of donations, the War Dogs Charity Riders leave tonight at 11:00 pm from Woodstock Harley-Davidson. The War Dogs Charity Riders and friends will gather at Woodstock Harley-Davidson with six trucks and trailers full to the brim and headed to Mayfield, Kentucky to deliver donations.

Greg Voss, a Chicago native and newly relocated Mayfield resident, says, “The past week has been terrific with the outpour of donations from around the world. We just got electricity back on and the clean-up effort has been amazing and ongoing.” Greg lives in the valley of Mayfield and was untouched by the disastrous tornado that wiped out the entire town. Greg uses his house as a headquarters for donations and coordinates with the city of Mayfield the many donations coming in.

Jessica Sheehan, the War Dogs Charity Riders board member who started the idea and organized the Kentucky Tornado Relief Caravan project, says, “My gosh, in the last five days we have collected thousands of dollars in monetary donations and water bottles, toys, clothes, tools and so many other necessary items like batteries, gloves and cleaning products for the trip to Mayfield. It’s a fine example of hope, perseverance and good will of the men and women in the community. I can’t even begin to thank all the organizations and people who have helped.”

Doug Jackson, owner of Woodstock Harley-Davidson and War Dogs president, says that the dealership has been a collection house all week and will feed the 10-plus people riding in the relief caravan to Kentucky and provided monies to help feed them while on the road. Doug comments, “It’s doing what we do in the name of mankind and bikers have always been a big part of relief efforts.”

If you’d like to donate you can contact the War Dogs Charity Riders @ 847.989.1827 or 630.833.9889

by Michael Shellenberger

A half trillion dollars to subsidize renewables would have raised energy prices, worsened inflation, and undermined decarbonization. But what do we do now?

The centerpiece of President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda is dead. Senator Joe Manchin today announced that he could not support Biden’s “Build Back Better” legislation which consisted of $1.7 trillion in new spending and would have added $158 billion to the national debt over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The largest component of spending, $570 billion, was for renewables, electric cars, and other climate change investments.

Progressives, environmentalists, and Democrats are furious with Sen. Manchin, but it was their own climate and renewables dogmatism that doomed the legislation. Democratic Senators could have written legislation that expanded nuclear energy and natural gas, the two main drivers of decarbonization, which are strongly supported by Manchin, and Republicans, but instead investments went overwhelmingly to solar panels, wind turbines, and electric cars.

It’s true that there were good things in Build Back Better, and that one of the worst climate provisions, the Clean Energy Performance Program, was already removed. Build Back Better included a tax credit for existing nuclear power plants, funding for advanced nuclear fuels, funding for fusion R&D, and financial support for communities hurt by the transition to renewables.

But the money for nuclear would not have made much if any difference to the operating of nuclear plans. Nuclear plants in California, Massachusetts and New York are being shut down, despite already being profitable, for ideological reasons. Legislatures in less anti-nuclear states like Illinois, New Jersey, and Connecticult step in to save their plants when they need to. And higher electricity prices due to natural gas shortages are making nuclear plants in other states even more profitable.

Of Build Back Better’s $550 billion for climate and energy, the vast majority of it was for weather-dependent renewables and their enabling infrastructure, including $29 billion for a “green bank” program to finance renewables and $10 billion for rural electric cooperatives to switch to renewables. Such subsidies were being offered despite years of false claims by many of the legislation’s sponsors and advocates that solar and wind were already cheaper than grid electricity.

Most dangerously, Build Back Better would have undermined electricity reliability, raised energy prices, and made the U.S. more dependent on foreign energy imports. Over-reliance on weather-dependent renewables in Texas and California, and under-investment in reliable, weather-independent nuclear and natural gas plants, led directly to deadly blackouts in those states.

I testified as much to this problem to Manchin’s Senate Commitee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Sen. Manchin made clear today that the role of renewables in making electricity expensive and unreliable was one of his top concerns. “The main thing that we need is dependability and reliability,” he said this morning. “If not, you’ll have what happened in Texas and California.” In his statement, Manchin said, “If enacted, the bill will also risk the reliability of our electric grid and increase our dependence on foreign supply chains.”

Adding weather-dependent energy sources can only make grids more resilient if significantly more money is spent maintaining reliable power sources to make up for their lost revenue and lost operation hours. That’s what Germany has done, deciding to burn more coal rather than continue operating its nuclear plants, which it’s shutting down, or rely too heavily on imported natural gas.

Manchin is also right that Build Back Better would increase dependence on energy imports. Over 80% of the world’s solar panels are made in China by incarcerated Uighyr Muslims living in concentration camps and against whom the Chinese government is committing “genocide,” according to the U.S. State Department.

Build Back Better contained incentives for the return of solar manufacturing to the U.S., but they were far too small to compete with solar panels made by incarcerated people in China’s already-built and heavily-subsidized mega-factories. Nor did they deal with the coming solar panel waste crisis.

“We have been energy independent for the first time for the first time in 60, 70 years or more,” noted Manchin, “and we should not have to depend on other parts of the world to give us the energy, or be able to hold us hostage for the energy, or the foreign supply chains that we need for the products we need every day.”

Everywhere in the world that solar and wind are deployed at scale they increase electricity prices dramatically. California increased its electricity prices seven times more than the rest of the U.S. over the last decade. Germany has the highest electricity prices in Europe, and is breaking new records with the energy shortage caused by lack of adequate natural gas supplies globally.

And now the entire world is paying the price of climate alarmism and renewables dogmatism. Climate shareholder activism and the ESG “sustainable” investment movement caused governments and private sector actors to underinvest in oil and gas production and over-invest in weather-dependent renewables. The result is historic shortages of natural gas and oil.

For the last several weeks Europen and Asian nations have been breaking records for the cost of electricity, due to shortages of natural gas supplies. Oil prices are set to rise to $125 per barrel next year and $150 in 2023, and U.S. winter natural gas prices will be 30% higher this year. Even nuclear-heavy France, which became over-invested in renewables and natural gas, and under-invested in nuclear, is seeing record electricity prices.

But what then, does it mean for climate change? And what should be done to safeguard American energy supplies going forward?

A global network of 900 scientists and professionals has prepared this urgent message. Climate science should be less political, while climate policies should be more scientific. Scientists should openly address uncertainties and exaggerations in their predictions of global warming, while politicians should dispassionately count the real costs as well as the imagined benefits of their policy measures.

Natural as well as anthropogenic factors cause warming

The geological archive reveals that Earth’s climate has varied as long as the planet has existed, with natural cold and warm phases. The Little Ice Age ended as recently as 1850. Therefore, it is no surprise that we now are experiencing a period of warming.

Warming is far slower than predicted

The world has warmed significantly less than predicted by IPCC on the basis of modeled anthropogenic forcing. The gap between the real world and the modeled world tells us that we are far from understanding climate change.

Climate policy relies on inadequate models

Climate models have many shortcomings and are not remotely plausible as global policy tools. They blow up the effect of greenhouse gases such as CO2. In addition, they ignore the fact that enriching the atmosphere with CO2 is beneficial.

CO2 is plant food, the basis of all life on Earth

CO2 is not a pollutant. It is essential to all life on Earth. Photosynthesis is a blessing. More CO2 is beneficial for nature, greening the Earth: additional CO2 in the air has promoted growth in global plant biomass. It is also good for agriculture, increasing the yields of crops worldwide.

Global warming has not increased natural disasters

There is no statistical evidence that global warming is intensifying hurricanes, floods, droughts and suchlike natural disasters, or making them more frequent. However, there is ample evidence that CO2-mitigation measures are as damaging as they are costly.

Climate policy must respect scientific and economic realities

There is no climate emergency. Therefore, there is no cause for panic and alarm. We strongly oppose the harmful and unrealistic net-zero CO2 policy proposed for 2050. If better approaches emerge, and they certainly will, we have ample time to reflect and re-adapt. The aim of global policy should be ‘prosperity for all’ by providing reliable and affordable energy at all times. In a prosperous society men and women are well educated, birthrates are low and people care about their environment.

Epilogue

The World Climate Declaration (WCD) has brought a large variety of competent scientists together from all over the world*. The considerable knowledge and experience of this group is indispensable in reaching a balanced, dispassionate and competent view of climate change.

From now onward the group is going to function as “Global Climate Intelligence Group”. The CLINTEL Group will give solicited and unsolicited advice on climate change and energy transition to governments and companies worldwide.

* It is not the number of experts but the quality of arguments that counts

https://clintel.org/world-climate-declaration/

Final show of the year TONIGHT in Philadelphia!

Nick Perri & The Underground Thieves

Feeling frisky??

Final show of the year, TONIGHT, in Philadelphia.

Join us for a night of music, food, drinks, and bowling! at the brand new Philly Brooklyn Bowl.

https://www.brooklynbowl.com/events/detail/nick-perri-11375105

7pm Doors, 8pm Show.

Thank you for a great year.
Xo
Nick

Official Website: https://www.nickperrimusic.com/

Artwork by Bob Linneman

Have a helluva holiday season.

May all your projects come to fruition, and you make progress daily.

Let’s hit the news.

–Bandit

The Bikernet Weekly News is sponsored in part by companies who also dig Freedom including: Cycle Source Magazine, the MRF, Las Vegas Bikefest, Iron Trader News, ChopperTown, BorntoRide.com and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.

CLICK HERE To Read the Weekly News on Bikernet.com

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Hey,

What’s going on? If only I knew. Each week I scramble for progress on multiple fronts. The weather cleared last week, but our contractor was detailing a spec home, so it could slip into the multiple listings book for the world to see.

Our trusses were delivered this week, but it snowed and the driver didn’t dare back his rig into our back yard to unload them. He had a notorious process. He backed up to the edge of the road and let them slide off his trailer into our yard. Crazy. He told me that when he first started delivering building supplies, one of his loads slipped off his massive trailer and slid right through a garage, oops.

He dropped them and took off. Unfortunately, the tip rested right on the edge of the road on the curve. I couldn’t sleep, if a holiday spirit-soaked neighbor took that curve wide and clipped the trusses, we were fucked. The next morning, my neighbor and I used massive straps and a come-along attached to a nearby tree to pull them at least 5 feet from the road.

I took delivery of this almost complete XA front end from Matt Olsen, the Knucklehead expert. And I’m working with Irish Rich on a single-loop VL frame. Projects and Progress are what life’s all about. A brother, Edge, the Smoke Out master called this week about riding to Sturgis, and I reached out to Rich Worley from American Biker in Charlotte about an FXDR from 2019. So a project can also be the next run to the Badlands.

Let’s hit the news. May all your projects come to fruition, and you make progress daily.

The Bikernet Weekly News is sponsored in part by companies who also dig Freedom including: Cycle Source Magazine, the MRF, Las Vegas Bikefest, Iron Trader News, ChopperTown, BorntoRide.com and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.

Meteorologist Chris Martz on tornado climate link: “This is utter bullshit.” … “Here are the facts: No overall trend in U.S. tornado activity since 1954; but EF-3+ down 50%.”

Climatologist Dr. Roy Spencer: “To claim ‘global warming’ as cause for tornadoes ‘is directly opposite to the clear observational evidence’”

Even the UN IPCC disagrees with Joe Biden – Extreme Weather Expert Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. noted: UN IPCC AR6 WG1 states: “trends in tornadoes… associated w/ severe convective storms are not robustly detected” … “attribution of certain classes of extreme weather (eg, tornadoes) is beyond current modeling & theoretical capabilities” … “how tornadoes… will change is an open question”

NAMZ NEWEST PRODUCT–Mini Mirror Mounted Turn Signals–Our BRAND NEW Mini Mirror Mounted front LED turn signals will offer you a sleek alternative to the factory turn signals and they are now available on our website (sold as a pair).

Stocked in both Black and Chrome, these lights feature WHITE SWITCHBACK running light that switches to AMBER when the turn signal is applied.

(Universal fitment, for EZ-Install, use Turn Signal Tap Harness part # LLC-FTTH-01, LLC-FTTH-02, LLC-FTTH-03 or LLC-FTTH-04)

The woman got slapped with $500 worth of damage that she and her friend caused inside a bathroom at Seminole eatery Irish 31

SEMINOLE, FLORIDA: A woman in Florida was arrested after she and her friend ended up having a bit aggressive intimate moment in a bathroom eventually breaking a pub’s sink. The woman later was charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief.

The woman has been identified as Kathryn Trammel. She got slapped with $500 worth of damage that she and her friend caused inside a bathroom at Seminole eatery Irish 31 on Tuesday, December 7, as reported by the website, Smoking Gun.

This is not the first time when sex made headlines for the wrong reasons. A Florida woman named Danielle Ferrero was caught exposing her breasts and masturbating during a visit with her inmate lover Cody Thomas.

In another incident, Tina Gonzalez, a corrections officer in a prison facility came under fire for having sex with an inmate while 11 others watched.

Similarly, a 30-year-old guard Javonte Richardson, was caught having sex with a female inmate, 15, in CCTV footage.

In another reported incident a couple of years ago, a married 27-year-old correctional officer Sinead Nichole Hagan was seen having sex with multiple male prisoners.

–By Ashish Singh
Meaww.com
–from Rogue

TEXAS WEATHER REPORT–Four Evo’s, three Shovelheads and a Twin Cam in a Peat Tree, some for sale, some not. Was frickin windy and cold Saturday, had on the 5-Ball vest, but it was really a jacket day. Sunday Sunshine and 60 degrees but needed a vest too, but back into the 80s today.

–RFR
Certified Meteorologist
Bikernet.com™

NEWS FROM ENGLAND–Brits In Trouble Over Motorcycle Transport To The European Union

British motorcyclists who have their bike transported to the European Union by truck or van, often run into trouble and are confronted with high fines and duties in EU countries.

This is an unforeseen consequence of Brexit, the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union. British and European riders’ organizations FEMA and NMC, and historic vehicles owners’ group FIVA ask the European Commission to help solve this problem.

Many British owners of motorcycles and historic vehicles like to travel to the European Union to go to events like shows, rallies, exhibitions to share their passion with others. Or they simply want their vehicle waiting for them in the country where they planned their holidays or leisure trip.

For practical purposes, the vehicles are often transported in vans, on trailers or in transporters. We are aware of situations where owners of motorcycles and historic vehicles from the United Kingdom thought, after inquiries, that they did the right thing but were confronted with problems and extremely high fines and duties in EU countries they crossed or at borders of EU countries. Similar problems have been experienced entering the UK from the EU.

It seems that EU member states have different views on the necessary papers and how to handle this kind of transport.

For clarity, the problem relates to vehicles which are road registered and legal for use on highways – not unregistered vehicles for sports purposes or exhibitions for which the ATA Carnet regime is in place as detailed in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

FIVA, NMC and FEMA have written to the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Mr. Thierry Breton, asking him to help solve this issue. We offer a number of possible solutions and we have asked the Commissioner for an opportunity to discuss the matter further.

–FEMA

BAGGER RACING NEWS–Shane Narbonne Takes Pirelli to the Top Step of the Podium and Captures Bagger Racing League Championship at Sonoma

Narbonne’s Trask Performance Harley-Davidson Relies on Pirelli’s DIABLO Superbike SC1 Front and Rear Slicks to Capture Custom Dynamics GP Bagger Victory

SONOMA, Calif. (December 15, 2021) – Pirelli Tire North America carried its momentum into the Bagger Racing League season finale at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, December 11 by once again capturing the top step of the podium thanks to an impressive performance by Trask Performance’s Shane Narbonne.

Competing aboard a Harley-Davidson equipped with Pirelli DIABLO Superbike slicks, Narbonne would prove to be the star of the weekend by capturing the Custom Dynamics GP Bagger class win, which was enough to crown him 2022 Custom Dynamics GP Bagger class champion.

Shane Narbonne captured both the event victory and championship at Sonoma.

“First off, I just want to give a huge thank you to Pirelli for coming on board with my racing program,” said Narbonne. “It’s my first year working with Pirelli and this past weekend was an incredible time working with Oscar [Solis] to get my bike working great with the sticky tire, even though we had cool temperatures. We had a great tire choice for the race and the tires worked amazing the entire time, which allowed me to take the Bagger GP victory!”

Narbonne consistently set the pace throughout the weekend by capturing pole position and the fastest lap of the weekend using a Pirelli DIABLO Superbike SC1 front slick in 120/70R17 sizing and a DIABLO Superbike SC1 rear slick in 190/60R17 sizing. He would overcome a mid-race charge from his competitors and use excellent late-race speed and grip to prevail. The race-winning performance helped clinch the class championship and prove Pirelli’s capability in bagger racing.

RESULTS

Sonoma Raceway – Sonoma, California

December 11, 2021

Custom Dynamics Bagger GP
1. Shane Narbonne
Cory West
Ben Bostrom

BRAND New Bikernet Reader Comment!–Typhoon Twist Billet Carburetor from Carl’s Speed Shop

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/Typhoon_Twist__Billet_Carburetor_from_Carls_Speed_Shop.aspx

I am looking for a repair kit fair a Carl’s speed shop carburetor I wonder if anybody knows where I can find one. If you guys can send me a phone number where I can find it, I really would appreciate it

–Cesar Rodriguez
cesaravenamet@gmail.com
Waynesboro , GA

I suggested Rivera Primo.–Bandit

EV NEWS FROM THE GOVERNMENT–Electric Vehicles were in the news a great deal recently. Last week, President Biden ordered an EV federal fleet by 2035 and he wants all of the federal government to be carbon-neutral by 2050. Vice President Harris unveiled the administration’s plan for an electric vehicle charging network across the country.

Power companies banded together for a coast-to-coast EV fast-charging network. The website Governing proposed that the US needs at least 100,000 stations by 2030 for the EV recharging network. Now, the feds need to mandate that all EVs and chargers use the same system to charge or it might be even a bigger headache for car owners.

Some Congressional news: US House Transportation Chair Peter DeFazio will retire next year. On Thursday, a Senate panel will hold its hearing to decide on Biden’s nominee to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Association. Steven Cliff formerly served as an official at the California Air Resources Board and since February has been serving as the NHTSA’s deputy administrator.

LATEST FROM THE NASH COMPANY— Our newest update to the original “NMC” hammer comes in stainless steel or bronze with our hand distressed finish! Add to your collection or start your new one now!

Weighing in at 16oz. this blunt walloper packs a heavy punch! These are 100% made in the USA, casted in stainless steel or bronze, and features a backwoods genuine Tennessee hickory wood grip!

The original Harley-Davidson LiveWire bike that morphed into the LiveWire One under H-D’s new sub-brand gave us our first look at a high-powered electric Harley, but the manufacturer’s Arrow platform for a second electric motorcycle pushes that technology further with a new middleweight design that is likely to be easier on riders’ wallets.

Harley-Davidson LiveWire Arrow platform

The major difference in the Arrow platform is that the battery pack is no longer housed inside of a frame but rather becomes the frame.

Or rather, it becomes a structural component of the bike to which the steering head tube, motor, control electronics, swingarm, and other major components simply bolt onto.

The battery pack will be comprised of 21700-sized lithium-ion cells and it will be produced in a number of voltages and capacities.

That creates a much more modular platform that can be used to create a number of different models. And that appears to be what Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire engineers are doing.

The first new model, which bears the model designation “S2” and the name “Del Mar,” bears a striking resemblance to the flat tracker electric motorcycle that Harley-Davidson revealed as a concept several years ago.

We’ve previously discussed how such a middleweight electric motorcycle could be exactly what H-D needed to revive interest among younger riders. And that’s exactly the bike that is slated to follow the LiveWire One. The S2 Del Mar will become the first production bike using the new Arrow platform.

A teaser for the new bike was included in a presentation to investors following Harley’s announcement that LiveWire would go public using a SPAC with KYMCO.

–Micah Toll

Motorcycle Industry Veteran Steve Piehl to Drive Monimoto’s Series A Funding Round in North America

Vilnius, Lithuania – December 14, 2021 – Monimoto, the producer of smart, anti-theft GPS trackers for motorcycles, has partnered with former Harley-Davidson executive Steve Piehl to drive its Series A funding round in the U.S.

Mr. Piehl, a powersports expert who spent 35 years on staff at Harley-Davidson Motor Company, was responsible for developing and launching the Harley Owners Group, one of the motorcycle industry’s biggest success stories, with nearly a million members in more than 90 countries.

He was inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame in 2012 and now acts as a consultant in communications and business development for several companies in the powersports, bioscience and industrial design industries.

“I’m delighted to partner with Monimoto to help them with this round of fundraising. I’ve been working with the company for nearly a year and I’m impressed with what they’ve already accomplished and their vision for the future. As our world moves toward more two-wheeled transportation in an increasingly urban environment, their product makes practical and emotional sense. It gives motorcycle owners a feeling of confidence that their investment, and their passion, has an extra level of protection,” says Piehl.

The Monimoto device is designed to be secured to high-value and collectible motorcycles or bicycles. When the device senses movement and the owner is not within range, it provides exact location tracking to the owner’s smartphone, allowing authorities to secure the return of the bike.

The current device, Monimoto 7, uses the latest worldwide eSIM, 4G/5G IoT technology and upcoming versions will leverage yet to be announced hardware and software improvements to further security and connectivity to owners and authorities.

Monimoto is raising US$5 million to accelerate R&D and continue its expansion in the U.S. motorcycle and e-bikes markets. The company is profitable already, but additional funding will help drive growth in this new market and segment.

“Most standard solutions, such as locks, fail to prevent theft, and just a small fraction of stolen motorcycles and bicycles are returned to their owners,” says Andrius Bruno Rimkunas, one of Monimoto founders. “Our tracker allows owners to immediately work with authorities to recover their stolen bike or motorcycle.”

“We’ve already seen the demand for this product in motorcycle applications throughout Europe. The high-end bicycle market is a huge opportunity for our growth, as the total available market in the U.S. bicycle segment is $14 billion. The market in Europe is even bigger, and we already have a strong presence there,” says Rimkunas.

The company aims to become the anti-theft solution of choice for motorcycle and bicycle owners in the U.S. and the EU and grow into a marketplace offering a wide range of services.

Chix on 66 is a cross-country ride that follows Route 66 from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California. Riveter Chapter President Karan Andrea says, “Gina Woods of Open Road Radio has been an enthusiastic supporter of this event and the Riveter Chapter from the beginning. In fact, she was so all-in with our endeavor that she joined Riveter as a charter member, and she has already given us the advantage of her experience in PR and broadcasting behind the scenes.

To have that kind of support so early in our venture was pivotal in the growth of the Chix on 66 ride from a cool idea to an event with nationwide reach. With Gina’s Open Road Radio as our premier broadcast sponsor, we will have an even more powerful presence in women’s motorcycling.”

Co-creator, president and host of Open Road Radio Gina Woods affirms, “I am thrilled to be a part of this group of women riders and to not only share the camaraderie of motorcycling but also vintage motorcycling with them. I have always been passionate about antique motorcycles and have been riding one, a 1949 Panhead “Sweet Melissa” for over 30 years and ridden it through most of the 50 United States!

“I look forward to swapping stories about motorcycling and share tips & tricks of riding and wrenching on them.” Gina has also created a team of women motorcycle mechanics, Gina Woods’ XX Chromes All Women Bike Builds, who built bikes that were raffled off with all monies going to charitable organizations.“

Gina continues, “I have been ever so fortunate to have had such a great run of ‘motorcycling to the airwaves’ for 25 years with Open Road Radio! Open Road Radio (ORR) is moto-talk radio on everything motorcycle. It combines entertainment, education and information into weekly programming.”

ORR broadcasts up-to-the-minute race results, tech tips, product reviews, road trips, rides and rallies, and motorcycle lifestyle news from around the world. Her zest for life and motorcycling has been captured in magazines and photos over the years. This lifestyle is her calling. “It’s a lifestyle, not just a weekend thing,” she exclaims.

Gina has appeared on a WGN-TV segment on women and motorcycles, and has also been the subject of a Chicago Tribune front page (Riders’ section) article. Both of these news stories followed on the wheels of Gina as a featured biker in the book Biker Chicz of North America, with her own chapter on her journey in motorcycling. ORR has been awarded a trunk load of awards over the years like the AMA MVP (Most Valued Program) Award.

While you tune up your machine, tune into 1500 AM & 92.5 FM WPJX and follow:
@roadhost @openroadradio
gina@openroadradio.com

And for more information on the Chix on 66 ride, follow:
www.chixon66.com @chixon66 @chixon66

[page break]

LEGENDS & LEGACIES MEMORIAL RUN—Rick Salisbury, owner of Legends Motorcycle Museum, has announced details for the 2022 “Legends and Legacies Memorial Run.”

Planned as a cross-country motorcycle endurance ride in memory of antique motorcycle enthusiast Lonnie Isam Jr. (Junior), the event will be held September 7 through September 25, 2022 and will feature antique motorcycles pre-dating 1922.

Junior was the visionary who led antique motorcycle riders across America four times before passing away in 2017 at age 48. Salisbury was friends with Junior and participated in all his endurance rides, with the exception of the first in 2010.

Through his continued friendship with Junior’s parents, Lonnie Sr. and Marianne Isam, Salisbury became inspired to memorialize Junior’s legacy by following Junior’s last request – for his friends to go on a motorcycle ride in his memory in lieu of funeral services.

Now, five years after Junior’s passing, his friends are doing just that.

Antique motorcycle enthusiasts from around the world will be invited to honor the individual who revitalized the sport of antique motorcycling by experiencing Junior’s first route while riding 100 year old (or older) motorcycles.

Stay tuned for more information on the 2022 Legends and Legacies Motorcycle

Endurance Memorial Run.
info@legendsandlegaciesrun.com

Apply now for the 2022 cross-country motorcycle endurance ride in memory of antique motorcycle enthusiast Lonnie Isam Jr. (Junior) starting Wednesday, September 7th in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and ending Sunday, September 25th in Santa Monica, California — A distance of approximately 3,300 miles.

Antique motorcycles pre-dating 1930 are eligible.

Official rules, map, and prize information coming soon.

Tucker Powersports to Deliver Expanded Dealer Education Programs

Tucker Powersports, is focused on its expansion of dealer education programs. Tucker currently has four courses in development.

The courses cover a variety of topics important to dealership owners and staff.

The course titles are:
Retail Sales 101 – How to get your employees out from behind the counter
Customer Loyalty – Establishing a rider community around your dealership
No Inventory, No Problem – How to get customers to buy when you don’t have items in stock
Strategic Relationships- Are you working with an order taker or a business partner?

The company is also participating in the MIC Symposium titled “Electrification of Powersports” with Tucker’s President and CEO Marc McAllister participating in a panel discussion.

Tucker will also roll out an updated and expanded version of its online training platform, known as Tucker University. The online tool allows Tucker and its distribution partners to share product information, updates and industry information with dealership staff and their entire rep force. Access is provided to all staff members working at Tucker’s dealership partners.

Tucker Team members will also help dealers succeed in the ePower segment, with an overview of Tucker’s expanding product line of e-scooters, e-bikes and accessories.

ANOTHER SAMSUNG LAWSUIT–So, what would the warning say? Don’t stick this up your ass or other places?

Woman sues Samsung for $1.8M after cell phone gets stuck inside her vagina.

An Albuquerque woman is suing Samsung for $1.8 million after she needed medical attention after inserting her cell phone inside her vagina and was unable to retrieve it for 96 hours.

Salma Briant, 39, claims her medical bills at the University of New Mexico Hospital amount to $1,168,000 and that she has suffered from severe psychological distress because of the whole ordeal.

Briant said she first inserted the cell phone inside her vagina as a dare from one of her friends, but quickly realized that the phone would not come out.

Attorney Jim McAfee’s claims his client was forced to undergo a cesarean section to remove the cell phone because of the atypical shape of her pelvis and had no insurance at the time.

A Samsung spokesman said they would not comment on this case at this moment, but explained that an out-of-court settlement was still an option on the table.

PRIZE POSSESSION REVIEW—I’ve read Prize Possession nine times. I’ve read it so many times I wake up thinking I’m one of the characters, Mick.

I can’t wait for your next book.

–Bernard
Brooklyn, NY

HOT START FROM NASH— New! “PUSH” Button!!

The “PUSH” button starter comes in bronze or stainless-steel button and is available now!

Buy just the knob itself or the whole push button plunger assembly.

The “PUSH” button threads (1/2-13) on to the 4 ¼-inch starter button shaft. The plunger comes with a black powder coated steel body, steel shaft and bushing.

Just give it a push to start your bike! Fits most all 1.4 kw and 1.6 kw starters.

AMA MAGAZINE UPDATE–American Motorcyclist, December 2021

Enjoy these stories and more in the December issue of American Motorcyclist :

“U.S. Women’s World Trophy Team triumphs at the 95th ISDE,” by Joy Burgess

“2021 AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Inductees,” by Kali Kotoski, Joy Burgess and Keaton Maisano

“Appalachian Ingenuity: Backroads of Appalachia non-profit unites America’s coal country through motorcycle tourism,” by Erin Reda

“Making History in the Age of COVID: Riding Into History concours and charity returned with a vengeance,” by William Robinson and Mitch Boehm

HARLEY TO TAKE EV UNIT PUBLIC–via SPAC deal as valuations soar. The new stock will be LVW. Apparently, 75 percent of the new company will be owned by Harley-Davidson.

Harley-Davidson Inc’s electric-motorcycle division will go public through a merger with a blank-check firm in a deal valued at $1.77 billion, the company said on Monday, as the 118-year-old brand bets on younger customers to boost volumes.

Hmmm, the three top honchos at Harley now are a German Puma sneaker pusher and two woman bean counters. Now wonder the masculine old school vibe is gone from Harleys new products.
–Geno

QUOTE OF THE WEEK, SORTA–Remember… Four boxes keep us free:
– The soap box,
– The ballot box,
– The jury box,
and…
– The cartridge box.

“I love my country. It’s the government I’m afraid of!”

–Sam Burns

LIFESTYLE CYCLES DEAL OF THE WEEK–2014 Harley-Davidson® FLHXS – Street Glide® Special for $18,995.00

See it here: https://www.lifestylecycles.com/default.asp?page=xPreOwnedInventoryDetail&id=11320284

2014 Billiard blue metallic Harley-Davidson (Model)

ONLY 28580.00 Miles !!!!!

This bike is a super clean

Some of the features/Add-ons on this bike

* 103c.i. Motor
* 6-Speed trans
* Olins shocks
* Color matched lower fairings and inner fairing
* Boom Audio with Touch Screen
* Screaming Eagle exhaust

Just $18,995.00

Plus license, and a $85.00 documentation fee and your local sales tax. NO HIDDEN FEES like dealers We have no reconditioning or prep fees.

This bike has passed Lifestyle Cycles rigorous 92-point safety and mechanical/structural inspection.

You can fill out an online application with EZ FINANCING and EXTENDED WARRANTIES available to purchase!!! and you can ride today!

Lifestyle Cycles located at 1510 State College Blvd,Anaheim,CA,92806 NOT LOCAL WE HAVE ******SHIPPING AVAILABLE!!!******

Call today (714) 490-0155. **Open 7 days a week**

THIS JUST IN FROM SWEDEN–Huey outside Finkys Daytona late ~’80s that’s when I got to know Donnie Smith Dave P, EKB, Picture Pat
Before my days 1994-2000

My ‘82 FLP bought in Glendale Nov 1982
$5600 No Harley print anywhere. I guess it was supposed to go into a Police fleet. But Gerald Foster and Tom Fairbairn of Bill Industries INVADER SFV, helped me to ship it to Sweden instead.

Foxy lady, she is Still running the show on my farm.

–Sheriff
Major Correspondent
Sweden
Bikernet.com™

OWNING A CAR IS OUTDATED— ’20th-century thinking’ and we must move to ‘shared mobility’ to cut carbon emissions, UK transport minister says

Owning a car is outdated ’20th-century thinking’, transport minister says – Trudy Harrison, 45, is also Boris Johnson’s parliamentary private secretary – She said the UK should move to ‘shared mobility’ to cut carbon emissions

Marc Morano: “You were warned! Don’t be surprised when the climate agenda is successful in taking away private car ownership and use. They have literally been talking about this since the 1970s and now with the power of COVID lockdowns, they see a real possibility of success.”

Flashback: Dem presidential candidate Andrew Yang: Climate Change May Require Elimination of Car Ownership – Suggests ‘constant roving fleet of electric cars’

– “We might not own our own cars.”

UK funded 2019 report ‘Absolute Zero’ urged climate lockdowns: ‘Stop flying…no new roads, airport closures…stop eating beef and lamb…stop doing anything that causes emissions’ – Regulate CO2 similar to ‘asbestos’

Climate lockdown: ‘It’s Time To Ban The Sale Of Pickup Trucks’ – ‘Shift away from relying on private vehicles entirely’

Business Insider mag: ‘Electric vehicles won’t save us — we need to get rid of cars completely’

–Climate Depot

There needs to be one major goal for all car and bike organizations: Eliminate Climate Doom by demanding open debate and scientific clarity. Then do the common-sense thing, a test in a community, state or country. Test all the renewable or unreliable programs and see if they work or not. –Bandit

IMPORTANT New Bikernet Reader Comment!–BIKER LIVES MATTER Story

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/BIKER_LIVES_MATTER_Story.aspx

Great article and program.
Bikers Lives Matter
Much love and respect

–Cat AKA OneLeggedBlonde Cat_health@hotmail.com
Racine , WI

Thanks Cat! Rode across the state of Florida today to attend the Celebration of Life of a club brother. It was a good celebration and I jammed exceeding the speed limit most of the way and back, how we use to ride in the club days. I like to think he somehow knows that, and it is my way of showing respect to him.

–Rogue

At least four states in recent weeks have called in members of the National Guard to deal with health care staffing issues amid COVID-19 vaccine mandates for hospital and nursing home workers.

Late last week, Indiana became the latest state to deploy the National Guard to hospitals. The Indiana Department of Health confirmed to local media that Guard members were sent to 13 facilities after officials with Indiana University Health, the state’s largest hospital system, made the request.

Indiana University officials said it’s dealing with “all-time highs” of both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. Earlier this year, about 125 Indiana University health care workers were fired for not complying with the system’s vaccine mandate, although the hospital said at the time that most fired workers were part-time.

“As COVID cases continue to increase and hospitalization of COVID and non-COVID patients reach all-time highs, the demand and strain on IU Health’s team members, nurses and providers has never been greater,” Indiana University Health said over the weekend, adding that it “will leverage all available resources and enlist members of Indiana’s National Guard, in conjunction with the Indiana Department of Health, to assist in areas of critical need.”

Six-person National Guard teams with both clinical and nonclinical members will be sent to Indiana University hospitals in two-week intervals, officials said.

In New Hampshire, authorities confirmed several days ago that about 70 Guard members would be deployed within the coming weeks to provide nonclinical support at medical care facilities.

“Primarily, we’re going to start with non-clinical care in the hospitals, and the primary reason why is—we’re a part-time force,” National Guard Maj. Gen. David Mikolaities told local media in a statement. “And for us to utilize our doctors and nurses and physician assistants, we don’t want to take away from the health care system that is already strained.”

That deployment will start on Dec. 12 or Dec. 13, he confirmed.

“If unfortunately during the winter months, the hospitalization rates continue to increase, we’ll be more than happy to provide additional resources,” Mikolaities said.

–BY JACK PHILLIPS
Epoch Times

[page break]

EUROPEAN Motorcyclists Want Dedicated Charging Infrastructure–Electric vehicles like motorcycles and mopeds offer a solution to many of the present and future challenges in urban mobility. That is why they need dedicated charging infrastructure with secure parking places.

Part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package that the European Commission launched in July 2021 is a revision of the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Directive and it will be turned into a regulation, which is a binding legislative act. In the draft regulation the Commission proposes binding targets for electric vehicle charging points and hydrogen refueling points, telling EU Member States they will have to provide for minimum coverage of publicly accessible refueling and/or charging points.

Motorcycle rider organizations and the industry noticed that, even though we earlier filed our views in the public consultations from the European Commission, the proposal from the European Commission was entirely focused on cars and trucks, so called M- and N-category vehicles.

The draft regulation does not include L-category vehicles, like motorcycles, mopeds and other small vehicles. For this reason, ACEM, FEMA and FIM Europe decided to take joint action and try to include motorcycles in the new regulation. We sent messages with proposed amendments to the draft regulation to several members of the European Parliament, members of national parliaments and attachés of Permanent Representatives (the “Embassies” of the member states at the European Union).

In our letter, we asked for:

Accelerated development of recharging infrastructure for L-category vehicles, especially in the urban and peri-urban environments.

Members States should support and engage in the roll out of DC charging infrastructure, following the requirements as specified by EN/IEC 61851-25:2021 next to AC charging infrastructure, and swappable battery infrastructure for L-category vehicles.

Member States must also ensure a minimum coverage of publicly accessible and secure recharging points dedicated to L-category vehicles in their territory. With secure, we mean that charging points should be designed in such a way as to protect vehicles while charging.

Finally, we demand targets for 31 December 2025, 2030, and 2035 for electric recharging infrastructure for L-category vehicles: number of recharging stations and power output.

Comments from FEMA General Secretary Dolf Willigers: “Electric small vehicles like motorcycles, mopeds and small three- and four-wheeled vehicles offer a solution to many of the present and future challenges in urban mobility. They need dedicated or at least suitable charging infrastructure with secure parking places. It is strange that the Commission, while promoting the transition to electric vehicles, did not include L-category vehicles in the proposed new Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation. We count on the Parliament and the Member States (the Council) to correct this omission.”

Top photograph courtesy of Roelof Veldhuis
–FEMA

NEW FROM THE LOWBROW TEAM–Nothing screams CHOPPER like a set of Invader Wheels!

No more hunting down an old crusty wheel, only to be unsure about metal fatigue or damage that could make it unsafe…
Led Sled makes Invader Wheels in a variety of sizes and applications right in Dayton, Ohio, USA.
A set of Invaders is sure to set that next custom build apart from the pack.

TATTOO OF THE WEEK–Clown girl, the ‘payasa’. Fineline single needle black Grey made at Goodtime Charlie’s Tattooland.

–Frank Ball Jr.
Grand Master
Frank Ball Tattoo
5-Ball Leathers

NEW ART FROM THE DESERT–Deal of the Day “Kings of the Corkscrew” 26 x 36 Canvas Giclee’, Signed, Numbered, Hand Painted Frame, $2000.00 Frt. Normally $2500.00.

@tylerohararacing leading the pack through the Corkscrew at the inaugural KOB race. Go get it at the #baggerracingleague race in Sonoma this weekend Tyler. I’m watching on #fitetv Saturday. The original is on display @pikespeakindianmotorcycle

Eric@EricHerrmannStudios.com
480 575 7559
www.EricHerrmannStudios.com
— at Eric Herrmann Studios.

WORDS FROM THE BASE OF PILLAR PEAK–Family of Choice

For many years I have said that blood does not make a family. I have two blood brothers who I have not talked to in years. I tried in the past to build a relationship, but it just wasn’t in the stars.

On other hand I do have my family of choice, friends who have become my family. People who have been part of my Life, some for over fifty years. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with blood relatives but if you don’t have those embrace those friends who are your family.

Fifty-three years ago, I met my best friend and Brother Dan, our bond knows no limits. Dan has been there for me and my family unconditionally since the day we met. We have built a relationship that few have ever had.

Dan and I have not lived in the same city for 33 years, yet we talk at least three to four times a week and I see Brother Dan more often than I see people in the city where I live. He has been an Uncle to my kids who Love him very much and I am one to his. He has an amazing wife Leah who we instantly fell in Love with and is another member of our family.

Over the last 50 plus years Dan and I have been on hundreds of excellent adventures, some I cannot talk about, but every one of them has been a great time. This weekend I am in Sonoma California with Brother Dan for the Harley Racing League races.

We are among other friends who make it even better I can tell you that we have never had a fight in all these years, we may have not agreed on some issues, but we agreed to disagree. There has not been a moment that we have not been there for each other. This is what family is, always there for you.

Today Know: Today I embrace my Family; I give Thanks for All those who are close to me. I Know that Family is much more than blood. I choose to call those who I Love My Family. I am Grateful to have the choice of who my Family truly is. I embrace the gifts of the people who make my world a better place, My Wife, My Children, My Grandchildren, My Sister, My Nephews, My Brother Dan, Leah and All My Family.

And so It Is

Namaste’

–Yale

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life. –Richard Bach

SOLID MOUNTS FOR RUBBERMOUNTED SPORTSTERS FROM NASH— Nash motorcycle company may have a solution with their nicely machined hardmount system. Marked for easy part location, stamped with RR, for right rear, as an example.
Going to give them a shot on my project bike.
Eric Stahl, Moto America bagger racer uses them on his xr1200 track bike…
Can’t be all bad, right?

Nash motorcycle company may have the solution with their nicely machined hard mount system.

Stamped with location… RR for right rear, for example.
Keep you posted with an update once installed and Dr Feng tested…

Wanted to give shout-out to Jake over at Motorcycle Collision Specialties regarding tires, brakes etc…

Have blown through at least 8 tires, and many sets of brake pads on the Sporty, and probably saved well over a thousand dollars over other vendors.

They do quality work as well, and Jake and his brother are old time Roady Racers, so have excellent tire knowledge, and take the time to do great tire balancing, and proper wheel alignment when reinstalling.

Dr Feng recommended.
(They also deal with Progressive shocks, and are Ohlins suspension distributors as well.)

–Dr. Feng
Road Racing Expert
Bikernet.com™

BREAKING NEWS: RPM ACT REINTRODUCED IN U.S. SENATE FOR 2021—ACT NOW!
Our voices have been heard once again! After receiving more than 1.5 million letters from enthusiasts like you, the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act (RPM Act) has been reintroduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate in the 2021-2022 session of Congress!

The RPM Act must be enacted into law to guarantee your right to modify street cars, trucks, and motorcycles into dedicated race vehicles, and ensure that industry can offer parts that enable racers to compete.

This legislation has no chance in hell until there is some true climate and C02 clarity.—Bandit

A NAME SUGGESTION FOR THE FIRST BADLANDS BIKE PROJECT—
Love the knuckle and you are right Choppers Forever !
Name suggestion:
“Bandit’s Knucklesled”
Just a thought.

–Terry Lovering

I like it. –Bandit

WE’RE BACK! HALF MOON BAY CALIFORNIA’S FESTIVAL OF MAGNIFICENT MACHINES MARKS 30TH YEAR IN 2022— Pacific Coast Dream Machines Show Returns Sunday, April 24, 2022 to Half Moon Bay Airport

World-Class Tricked-Out Cars and Trucks, Fantastic Flying Machines, Custom Motorcycles, Quirky Contraptions, Warbird Flyovers, Monster Truck Rides, Helicopter and Plane Rides, Unimotorcycle Drag Racing…

Plus Bob Senz’ Big Cacklefest, a Mass Firing-Up of the Engines

NEW, IMPROVED EVENT LAYOUT TO BRING ALL THE ATTRACTIONS CLOSER TOGETHER

HALF MOON BAY, CALIFORNIA (December 10, 2021) –– We are back! After all, a dream goes on forever.

After two consecutive COVID-created cancellations in 2020 and 2021, organizers plan to bring back Half Moon Bay California’s remarkable, one and only Pacific Coast Dream Machines Show in 2022, marking its 30th year with a massive celebration of mechanical ingenuity, power and style.

“It feels like there is a sense of renewal and optimism that live events will be back in 2022,” said Janie James, Executive Director of event beneficiary, the Coastside Adult Day Health Center. “Everyone has missed Dream Machines so much and we’re all excited and energized to bring it back to life in accordance with health and safety guidelines.”

It’s quite simply the “Coolest Show on Earth”. This year’s spectacular show will be held on Sunday, April 24, a one-day mega-show, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Half Moon Bay Airport’s Eddie Andreini Field, located in the picturesque seaside town of Half Moon Bay, CA about 20 miles south of San Francisco.

The show is a whimsical, fascinating, amusing, curious and absolutely unique show and tell spectacle featuring some 2,000 magnificent driving, flying and working machines from the 20th and 21st centuries.

The world’s coolest cars of every era and style, model-T fire engines, vintage busses, custom motorcycles, tricked out trucks, sleek streamliners, one-of-a-kind antique engines and tractors and historic military aircraft will be among the mesmerizing displays.

Additional attractions include action-packed amusements in the Kidz Super Duper Funzone, fabulous food and drink with craft beer, premium wine and custom cocktails, and stellar live music all day.

This year’s show will feature a new, improved event layout bringing all the attractions closer together and making it a more walkable, unified show with separate entrances for spectator parking (access from Capistrano Road at the south end of the airport) vs. display vehicles, vendors, sponsors and volunteers (access from the airport main entrance on Highway 1).

It all takes place at Half Moon Bay Airport, 9850 N. Cabrillo Highway, Half Moon Bay CA 94019 – located on Highway 1, about 20 miles south of San Francisco and 5 miles north of Highway 92.

For event information and registration forms, call the info-line at 650-726-2328 or visit the website https://dreammachines.miramarevents.com

Natural as well as anthropogenic factors cause warming

The geological archive reveals that Earth’s climate has varied as long as the planet has existed, with natural cold and warm phases. The Little Ice Age ended as recently as 1850. Therefore, it is no surprise that we now are experiencing a period of warming.

Warming is far slower than predicted

The world has warmed significantly less than predicted by IPCC on the basis of modeled anthropogenic forcing. The gap between the real world and the modeled world tells us that we are far from understanding climate change.

Climate policy relies on inadequate models

Climate models have many shortcomings and are not remotely plausible as global policy tools. They blow up the effect of greenhouse gases such as CO2. In addition, they ignore the fact that enriching the atmosphere with CO2 is beneficial.

CO2 is plant food, the basis of all life on Earth

CO2 is not a pollutant. It is essential to all life on Earth. Photosynthesis is a blessing. More CO2 is beneficial for nature, greening the Earth: additional CO2 in the air has promoted growth in global plant biomass. It is also good for agriculture, increasing the yields of crops worldwide.

Global warming has not increased natural disasters

There is no statistical evidence that global warming is intensifying hurricanes, floods, droughts and suchlike natural disasters, or making them more frequent. However, there is ample evidence that CO2-mitigation measures are as damaging as they are costly.

Climate policy must respect scientific and economic realities

There is no climate emergency. Therefore, there is no cause for panic and alarm. We strongly oppose the harmful and unrealistic net-zero CO2 policy proposed for 2050. If better approaches emerge, and they certainly will, we have ample time to reflect and re-adapt. The aim of global policy should be ‘prosperity for all’ by providing reliable and affordable energy at all times. In a prosperous society men and women are well educated, birthrates are low and people care about their environment.

Epilogue

The World Climate Declaration (WCD) has brought a large variety of competent scientists together from all over the world*. The considerable knowledge and experience of this group is indispensable in reaching a balanced, dispassionate and competent view of climate change.

From now onward the group is going to function as “Global Climate Intelligence Group”. The CLINTEL Group will give solicited and unsolicited advice on climate change and energy transition to governments and companies worldwide.

* It is not the number of experts but the quality of arguments that counts

https://clintel.org/world-climate-declaration/

As alumni of Bruce Brown’s legendary documentary On Any Sunday, the three of us have lived and breathed motorcycles since we were young — and we know many of you have, too.

Motorcycling has a way of becoming an important fixture in the lives of those who ride, and for that reason — and several others — we’re big supporters of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio.

We firmly believe in the Hall of Fame’s mission to preserve and promote the heritage of American motorcycling, and no wonder: The stories of our Hall of Famers — the legends of our sport — inspire current and future generations to ride and enjoy motorcycles.

To keep the achievements and memories of our legends alive, we’re asking you to join us!

Will you please make a financial contribution to the Hall of Fame?

Tax-deductible donations directly support the preservation of our history. And a well-preserved history is the foundation we need for a strong future.

We believe so much in the HOF mission that we’re offering a very special premium this season: For those making a donation of $7,500 or more, we’ll send you a restored Husqvarna fuel tank personally signed by all three of us!

Supplies are limited and will go quickly, so don’t delay. Just think how cool one would look in your garage or living room!

There are several levels of financial support for the Hall of Fame, all with interesting and compelling premiums, so please pledge your support.

Please donate now!

–David Aldana

We can’t imagine a world without motorcycles. Together let’s tell the legendary stories of motorcycling and inspire riders for generations to come.

Respectfully yours,

–Malcolm, Mert and David

BIKERNET UNIVERSITY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT WORD OF THE DAY— angst
[ ahngkst, angst ]
noun

a feeling of dread, anxiety, or anguish.

Angst “a feeling of dread, anxiety, or anguish” is a borrowing from German, in which the noun is capitalized, from Old High German angust. If you are wondering whether angst is related to anxiety and anguish, your suspicion is correct; all three words ultimately derive from a Proto-Indo-European root, angh- “tight, painful,” which is the source of numerous pain-related terms beginning with ag-, ang-, or anx-. From Old English, derivatives include hangnail (originally agnail, but altered by association with hang). Via Old Norse angr “sorrow, grief,” English has borrowed anger. Through Latin angere “to strangle” (stem anx-) and angustus “narrow,” we have anxiety and anguish. Last, from Ancient Greek anchóne “strangling,” English has inherited angina “an attack of painful spasms.” Angst was first recorded in English in the 1840s.

HOW IS ANGST USED?

It can be hard to tell the difference, in the midst of a crisis, between normal levels of angst and those that indicate we might be edging into serious psychological problems. Key signs of declining mental health include changes in appetite or sleep patterns that last more than a week …. Having more trouble concentrating than usual or being unable to enjoy things you used to enjoy may also indicate that your mental health is declining and that you need to try new coping strategies.

MELINDA WENNER MOYER, “YOU CAN GET THROUGH THIS DARK PANDEMIC WINTER USING TIPS FROM DISASTER PSYCHOLOGY,” SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, DECEMBER 21, 2020

My motherly intuition senses that my baby is an old soul, recalling many past lives and really feeling them. According to her doctor, she’s teething and has gas. This may be true on a basic level, but I am certain that she’s also a highly advanced nascent human with acute existential angst. I’ve lived long enough to know flatulence from the unbearable dread of existence.

CARLA CICCONE, “MY BABY’S EXISTENTIAL ANGST,” THE NEW YORKER, AUGUST 12, 2020

Our government is causing young and old angst constantly and needs to be honest and refocused on making folks happy and contented with life and not under constant fear of doomsday and socialism. Nuts. We just want to party and ride free.

–Bandit
Grand Emperor
Bikernet.com™

HANG ON—We are working on a wheel stained glass window with an artist who lives in a magnificent home in the hills behind Spearfish, SD. Here are some of her images.

I’m going to take pictures of the iridescent purple and let you pick the color to see, since it changes throughout the pieces of glass. I picked the most vibrant piece, but it’s up to you.

Christie Jensen
Terrapin Studio
AHRD Sec/Treas
~
“Nothing is so strong as gentleness and nothing is so gentle as real strength.” ~Ralph W. Sockman~

I spoke to Steve Massicote, at Paughco this morning about some springer rockers, an axle and a top tree.

I’m bugging my neighbor in Deadwood about some roof shingles made from chemical tanks. Have you ever seen a garage or a house with a roof make from license plates? Yep, they existed. He has a garage shingled with these large lids of heavy gauge tin. I’m going to try to find some for my shop, not for the roof, but for a waist high attraction around the exterior. Hang on.

We are working with J.J. Solari and a guy who is selling a Knucklehead with a sidecar. It looks to be the one Dave and Jacque Mann posed with during their wedding. Hang on.

Wall space is sorta limited, but I was able to create a wall of only David Mann art.

A view from the Jackson house after a snow, amazing. We needed a handful for napkin rings, so natch they are made with Buddha sitting on a chunk of exhaust pipe. Perfect.

I dug into the basement garage. It needed to be cleared out, so a slab of 4-inch concrete can be poured. It contained a small cart with two flat tires. It took a little digging to find some replacements, but mostly Chinese Harbor Freight came through.

Hang on for more reports next week. Have a helluva holiday season.

–Bandit

 

 I attended the Toy Run in Brevard County, Florida and I thought back to the mid-’80s when a group of us took toys to the local orphanage. As other riders in the area found out about that and wanted to get involved, Joe “Sarge” Franks arranged for us to ride to the Shrine Temple to drop off items.

 The Toy Run continued to grow and instead of coming from different points around the city the Bikers met in Cocoa, Florida and rode to Melbourne. It was quite a thing and people would wait along the route to wave to them as they passed by.

Of course, as the group grew in size, so did issues with traffic, upset motorist, motorcycle accidents and eventually a woman being killed by a motorcycle that got out of control.

 The run was stopped, but other smaller events were held in local cities in the county.

 In 2021 a new group came up with the idea to have an event in Melbourne at Club 52 which has very big parking lots. The Bikers would start at different times from places around the county and not have traffic issues. Groups and individual riders would come and go throughout the day.

For those who wanted to stay local, favorite Doc Holiday provided the tunes and eventually turned it over to the Twisted Minds band who performed live. 

I personally think this event was a big success, and they got the job done in a safe manner, while drawing a strong turnout.

 Thanks to all involved in putting it on and those who attended throughout the day.

ENJOY YOUR CHRISTMAS or WHATEVER HOLIDAY YOU CELEBRATE, AND HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

K.Randall Ball kicks off the first chapter of Stolen Motorcycle Files – Exclusively on Bikernet.com

READ Episode One now !!!

The Sundance Meeting
by K.Randall Ball

Three brothers rode into Sundance, Wyoming on their way to Sturgis in late July, hell bent to make their 20th run to the Badlands.

The small town, population just over a grand, was a mere 52 flying miles from the Rally. They rode long and hard for almost 400 miles, and this could be the final watering hole stop before the last blast on interstate 90 into Sturgis, South Dakota.

Sundance located in the bare open plains of Wyoming was named after the Sun Dance ceremony practiced by several American Indian tribes.

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Three brothers rode into Sundance, Wyoming on their way to Sturgis in late July, hell bent to make their 20th run to the Badlands. The small town, population just over a grand, was a mere 52 flying miles from the Rally. They rode long and hard for almost 400 miles, and this could be the final watering hole stop before the last blast on interstate 90 into Sturgis, South Dakota. Sundance located in the bare open plains of Wyoming was named after the Sun Dance ceremony practiced by several American Indian tribes.

They whipped their choppers in front of a small, wooden shingle, hole-in-the-wall bar across from the empty town square. The sun began to drift slowly in the West, as the brothers dismounted and stretched. They had no notion of what they might encounter inside the tiny saloon. Land-locked it at no place to grow.

Two brothers hailed from SoCal, but one was originally from New Zealand, Markus and the other from Germany, Karl. The final crew member hailed from Phoenix, once a leader in the Dirty Dozen MC, Bryan. Markus, the blondish tall, fit, New Zealander was once an Olympian sharp-shooter and security expert. The skinny German Chiropractor had wavy black hair and blue eyes. The intelligent one was thin and agile, not a fighter. He knocked the women over. Seasoned bikers, each one had over 20 years building and riding choppers, running the streets, dodging the Man, and enjoying the freedom to ride.

This turned into a special year for all three, one didn’t know it yet. Karl suffered severe anxiety over most of the elements he left behind in Los Angeles from his struggling business to his recent marriage. Bryan’s criminal past could bite him in the ass and Markus dodged immigration for years. He questioned his next move, but for now they were brothers on their annual pilgrimage to the Badlands.

They entered the dim, old saloon and met dark wooden walls and a ceiling scattered with dollar bills thumbtacked to the low, sagging panes. The three suddenly encountered the two most beautiful women in Wyoming, sisters. Jennifer, the taller, older sister with radiant blue eyes and flowing brown hair smiled a shimmering grin that would melt an iron heart. The Doctor immediately took to her. She didn’t look like a girl who was meant to be behind a bar in a dusty cowboy/biker saloon.

The good doctor leaned immediately on the old bar, while the other two sat just a couple of feet away around a small wooden table against the old barn wood paneled wall. Willie Nelson sounded out from the jukebox, “To all the girls I loved before.”

Her sister Randi was shorter but looked fit as if she that was her intention. Her eyes were brown and warm and her darker, and straight hair was tied in a ponytail revealing the curve of her soft neck and her muscular traps. She immediately took to the badass looking, black straight-haired brother with big arms, a man cut to the bone. While wiping down the thick, marred oak table with a clean white terrycloth towel she touched his forearm as if to judge his size and strength.

“You’re not messing around,” Randi said and smiled, a broad, sincere grin.

“Never have, never will,” Bryan said. His eyes darted as if on alert and quickly sized her up. She was just 5’5” and Bryan 5’8”.

“What can I get you guys?” Randi asked while keeping an eye on Bryan. She trained constantly, rock climbed, hike trails and rode mountain bikes.

“I’ll have Crown Royal on the rocks,” Bryan said.

“I’ll take a Jack on the rocks,” Markus barked at 6’2” and very fit. He came to the states as a marksman Olympian and never returned. His life was spent challenging himself in everything physical form from close quarters combat to rock climbing. His recent challenge was archery. Within a year he became a national champion.

Dr. Karl moved along the bar following Jennifer and ordered a Heineken which came chilled and frosty.

“Are you guys headed to the rally?” Jennifer asked.

“That’s our intention,” Dr. Karl said eyeing her rare natural beauty.

“Have you been here before?” Jennifer inquired.

“This is our 20th year,” Karl said.

“Tell me about your friends,” Jennifer continued. She was obviously searching.

Karl gave her the rundown about the gyms Bryan owned and his Scottsdale Bar and Markus’s multiple exploits.

“Do you like Wyoming?” Jennifer said and her inquisition became more direct.

“We all love it,” The good doctor said, “What gives?”

“I’m sorry,” Jennifer said. “I don’t mean to ask so many questions.” She moved down the empty bar.

The Doctor followed her along the slick heavy wooden top. It contained cigarette burns, knife marks and numerous dings dating back 50 years. “Is this all you do?”

“Not hardly,” Jennifer said. “I graduated from college three years ago.”

“What was your major,” The good doctor said, “And why are you here.”

“Computer Science with a minor in Criminology,” Jennifer said and frowned. “This is my mom’s place. She’s ill.

“So?” the doctor questioned. “What’s next?”

“I’m sorta lost,” Jennifer looked directly at Karl’s gray blue eyes searching. “I have some history here. My grandfather was sheriff and hunted horse thieves. I don’t like the current sheriff. I’m just trying to run my mom’s bar and help folks in the area.”

“How do you mean?” the Doctor quizzed, intrigued.

“For instance,” Jennifer’s demeanor brightened. “I got a call today. Someone bagged a car and used it as collateral to take a Chopper for a test ride, never to return.” She yanked a laptop from under the bar and started to type. “I immediately launched photos and notices all over social media. Haven’t heard anything yet. The owner is a young field worker with a new wife and baby. This motorcycle is his second love, but he must sell it. We’ve got to get it back.”

“Has someone scoured the area?” the doctor said. “We could quickly. You gotta map? Best hit it before dark.”

Jennifer glowed and nodded. “Let me have your cell phone numbers in case something surfaces.”

“I’ll give you all three,” the doctor said and summoned his brothers.

Jennifer laid out a tiny 8 by 10 wrinkled map of Sundance on the slick bar top and pointed out the various areas of the small town straddling interstate 90.

“Here’s sorta the bad part of town where a couple of meth heads were busted recently. Over here is the industrial complex. The three brothers carved up the map and made way to their bikes.

“What do you think?” The good doctor asked the others.

Bryan looked at Markus with a knowing stare. The Doctor liked the girls and always fell. Bryan could fuck the smaller sister and leave. Markus looked at the mountains in the distance and thought about training and hunting. “What?” Markus said. “We better move.”

The doctor straddled a café customized black and white Sportster with a 19-inch front wheel and a 19-inch rear. It was loaded with a tank bag and a bedroll for the rally.

Markus jumped on his stretched FXR and fired it to life. It was long, black with some pinstriping and performance modifications.

Bryan, short and stocky moved to his fully customized and lowered bagger, painted flashy metallic orange graphics with a gloss black base and stroked polished and chromed engine. They entered the main street of town and peeled off in three different directions.

This was going to be a breeze compared to searching the congested streets of Los Angeles, or even the sprawling Phoenix region. But the sun was quickly drifting and visibility in an unknown town would become an issue.

Bryan hung a right and rolled near the lowbrow west end of town. He encountered many nasty Arizona areas in the club. He knew the drill, the signs, the gutless and the badass. His bike would possibly stick out like a sore thumb as he meandered, his loud pipes sounded like a freight train in an alley.

The homes were small and spread out. Many were old, like coal miners’ cottages of wooden slats and small windows. The roofs were tar shingle, but hail storms broke and tore the soft material to the wood underneath leaving the home looking like it encountered bomb shrapnel. Many lodgings were motorhomes or trailer park kits, some single, others doublewide. Cars scattered the yards, some in disrepair, others rusting in the summer sun.

Some of the homes had garages, others none and all the vehicles, rusting trucks, hail dinged compacts and bicycles remained in the yards. The afternoon was hot, but very few folks remained outside. He heard the buzz of window air-conditioners.

Bryan searched every lot, home, trailer and garage for a sign, while his bagger rumbled along the roads like an angry, barking patrol dog.

Markus leaned to the left on main and headed east into the more industrial end of town where vast lots of used equipment were scattered in the weeds, large and small metal industrial buildings were adorned with shinning and some dilapidated company signs. This was a tougher area to search. Many of the roads and rutted drives were gravel and hard to navigate on a stretched FXR with a 180-rear and a 21-inch front tire.

Not afraid of anything Markus pulled into a lot containing several oil pumping units, to the terror of the area’s environmentalists. He saw an older gent heading toward a company pickup. “Excuse me sir,” Markus said.

“My name is Ron,” the narrow 6-foot gentleman in the Cowboy hat said and smiled. His shirt was crisp and plaid, tucked into denims and fastened with an elaborate leather belt and a recently polished, engraved, silver, western belt buckle. “How can I help you.”

“A friend had his motorcycle stolen earlier today,”
Markus said. “We are looking for bike shops or shady characters.”

“In Sundance?” Ron said extending his hand.

“Yes,” Markus said shaking his hand. “I’m not from here. We’re just helping the sisters at the Dime Horseshoe try to help out a local rider.”

“Those girls are the best,” Ron said. “The law around here isn’t on the ball. Did she tell you her granddad was the sheriff at one time?”?
“She told one of my partners,” Markus said. “The best time to find a stolen motorcycle is shortly after is happens, before it’s torn down or hauled away from the area.”

“You want to park your bike and I could show you around in my pickup,” Ron said.

“Don’t mean to take up your valuable time,” Markus said.

“I was about to head home,” Ron said. “Let’s go. There’s not much to see, don’t know of any bike shops, except one back in town. But let’s cruise around. Park you bike over there behind that back-hoe.”

Markus looked over at the sun drifting dangerously close to the hills in the distance. Ron backed up and aimed his pickup at the gate and Markus climbed in.

“We can cover this area in less than 20 minutes,” Ron said. He could see the concern in Markus’s eyes.

“Appreciate it,” Markus said. “He couldn’t get too far.” Markus had the confidence of a pool player who knew he couldn’t miss the next shot, or the next.

Ron rolled down the shared lane and pointed at the sparce lodgings and buildings. “That’s a cattle ranch, nothing there. Up the road a spell is a machine shop. I work with that crew every week. I think the younger one has a dirt bike.”

The good doctor rode his agile Sportster up and down the inner portion of town. The houses were well-cared-for and close together. Many lots contained small, single car garages and neatly landscaped yards, although there were a few depressed looking homes with cracked paint, chipped walls, and rusting hulks in their yards.

After each loop he encountered Main Street and a handful of historic shops, mixed with buildings built or refurbished in the ‘50s with art deco styling, and a couple of franchise tilt-up buildings looking out of place like the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts, but that was the only modern franchise joint in town. Most were antique shops, thrift stores, cafes, and a hair salon and a barber shop. One city block was devoted to municipal buildings with the post office on the corner built in the ‘40s just as WWII ended and guys needed jobs.

Karl weaved through a couple more blocks unsuccessfully until he reached the edge of town and saw Jake’s Custom Cycles. He needed a break and pulled up out front. Just two other chops were parked at the curb and both sported 1%er logos. Chris new a lot of 1%ers, but he also knew the code of the west for these guys.

He walked into the shop and up to the dusty counter. He recognized a shop that wasn’t bustling. The counters were empty and dusty, and just a few parts and containers of oil lined the shelves. He stepped around the counter and into the service area in the back, where he witnessed a bike, a Panhead chopper on the lift and a couple of guys seemingly dismantling it.

“What the fuck do you want?” One big, fat clubber leaned against a workbench in the shop scattered with tools and parts. The place was a mess as Chris ignored the question and reviewed the rest of the shop and the old linoleum lunch table in the corner. It was grimy with ashtrays, empty beer bottles, but center stage was chunk of busted mirror and a razor blade sitting center stage with a couple of un-snorted lines of coke or meth waiting.

“Sorry to bother you guys but I’m looking for a stolen motorcycle,” the doctor said and checked for weapons and a way out.

“We don’t know about any stolen motorcycles,” The big member said, but he was visibly shaken. He didn’t know who the hell Chris was or what might possibly be behind him, but the code dictated that he stayed tough.

“I think you should leave,” the other member stood. He was scrawny and angular with a long, strange goatee and dark hair pulled in a ponytail. The other guy working on the bike must have been Jake and he looked scared to the bone. Chris looked at the two standing club members and looked around the room once more. He was also disturbed by the situation.

“I’m taking off,” the doctor said and put his hands on each flap of his vest as if he was the marshal of the town. “But I’m not leaving Sundance until we return the stolen motorcycle.” He immediately stepped quickly into the showroom and outside to his waiting Sportster. No one followed, and Dr. Karl blasted back in the direction of the Dime Horseshoe Saloon. “What the fuck did I get myself into? He thought, running the bullshit through his mind.

Bryan cruised the down-and-out neighborhood thoroughly, but his flashy dresser stuck out like a sore thumb. The sun began to set, and his options declined. He turned carefully onto a gravel road, and it pissed him off. A persnickety sort, he didn’t like sand or gravel near his polished ride. He slowed and remembered riding to Sturgis a few years back with a brother, Bandit. Whipping through the mountains of Colorado, he needed to take a piss.

He pulled off the Highway, parked his bike on the gravel embankment and strolled into the shrubbery. Bandit also rolled off the highway onto the loose gravel but didn’t like it and positioned himself for the best access back onto the asphalt highway. Just as Bryan zipped up and turned toward his bike, it settled, slipped and fell over. Bandit could feel the snarling anger and knew a few minor scratches would mean another $5,000 paint job. Bryan never forgot that incident.

Bryan rolled down the gravel road looking for a turn that would take him back onto pavement. He saw something up ahead, another trailer park living situation with cheap aluminum siding and bent eves from the last hail storm. There were a half dozen pickups parked in the yard in no organized fashion. They were mostly small inexpensive used pickups and a couple of rusting older pickup from the ‘70s.

As he drew closer, he saw the owners sitting on milk crates in front of the open separate tin building garage out back. It was a bunch of young guys watching something going on in the garage, but when they heard the performance bagger and spotted Bryan heading their way they bolted. Six guys ran for six pickups.

Within 30 seconds gravel and dirt flew from the tires of six shitty, worn out trucks. Bryan tried to stay calm, but the pandemonium exploded and he didn’t know which direction they might flee. One truck nearly hit him as the scared shitless driver spun a 180 and peeled passed Bryan toward the asphalt lane behind him.

Bryan’s concern was mostly for his costly paint job and flashy chrome. He would have killed that guy for dinging his paint. Another old midsize stained white Toyota truck came at him. Pitted with rust and dented by hail, the petrified young guy gripping the wheel almost lost control trying to navigate the narrow base gravel lane shared by Bryan’s custom bagger.

He watched intently trying to sort out what the hell was going on, how to find his way away from the action and back to a safe asphalt street. Trucks came his direction, some peeled down an even narrower alleyway behind the neighboring mobile home and two headed directly away from Bryan. The dust turned into a fog, and he couldn’t make out much but ducked, held tight to his bars and kept rolling. He knew better than to roll toward the edge of the road, while attempting to turn around.

He passed the shop but couldn’t lose focus on the road to try to see what the hell all the commotion was all about. The lights were still on, but someone was desperately trying to shut the industrial roll-up door. Bryan tried to note anything about the location, the tin sign on the outside of the building, the color of the modular home or the junk in the yard.

He rode directly at the cloud of dust while trying to follow the ruts in the road. Just another short block and the dust started to clear as he came to a rugged junction where he could turn right onto an asphalt road, but the junction was peppered with nasty potholes. His bike bounced and lurched in the rugged terrain, but he managed the 90 degree and the road smoothed. He wanted to pull over and access the damaged to his pristine machine.

He sighed relieved as the air cleared, and he figured out where the hell he was, but he knew where he was headed, back to the bar and another Crown Royal on the rocks. Bryan as tough as nails, wasn’t easily startled or jarred from any eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation, but that encounter shook him. What the fuck?

Markus, the lucky one at the other end of town in the industrial side sat comfortably inside the cab of Ron, the cowboy’s truck as they traversed the 50-acre parcel devoted to industry from ranching supplies to oil well equipment, farming equipment, welding shops and machine shops. Ron pointed at corrugated steel building as they rumbled down an oiled base road. “That’s where the locals take their deer, elk, mountain goats to have them dressed, bled and prepped. He’s the best butcher in town,” Ron said.

He passed another prefab built home surrounded by lush trees. Behind it and off to the side was another bolt up tin shop with a large roll-up door and an office door to the right. Over the rusting and well-used white roll-up door was a sign for Denny’s Welding. Sparks were still flying outside in the yard as a leather clad welder was intent on his bead, welding a truck chassis.

“That’s Tim,” Ron said. “He took over the business from his dad. He’s been welding and fabricating since he was a kid.”

“Good to know,” Markus said as they rolled on past a small area café and headed deeper into the region of steel, tires, shipping containers and heavy equipment. “Can we swing around the back of the café?”

“Sure,” Ron said and drove his company truck around back. There were a couple of old compacts, a café van and a tattered Ford Ranger. Markus studied it for any signs of hauling bikes. They pulled out of the gravel parking lot and kept rolling.

Ranches were next to machine shops, separated by acres of open land. They passed an obviously new facility. “They built that metal building manufacturing shop just last year,” Ron said. “They can form all the parts for a new building in a week. Pour a foundation and in two weeks, you can have a state-of-the-art industrial building.”

Markus nodded and kept looking. The sun began to set, and he was burning daylight. They drove deeper into the area and Ron pointed out each facility and told of the history, uses and folks. As they rolled farther from town the land use spread. There were more cattle ranches and hay bale fields. They came to a massive spread scattered with cattle and a long tree-lined lane to a beautiful two-story wooden home surrounded by several large barns and equipment sheds.

“That’s the Reynold’s family spread,” Ron said. “They supply beef and milk all over the region. I think they also make cheese.”

“What are those small buildings behind the barn?” Markus asked. He grew up on a New Zealand farm. That’s where he was taught how to use weapons for killing animals.

“That’s where the hired hands are housed in small cottages or you might call them apartments, usually one bedroom,” Ron said.

“Can we drive over there and swing around them,” Markus said.

“Sure,” Ron said. “I know old man Reynolds and his son who runs the place now.” They turned right on the road as dusk settled over the lush pine strewn Bear lodge mountains in the distance. The cottonwood trees lining the lane to the home were carefully trimmed and the pristine road well kept.

The large clapboard home showed no signs of age, and the gardens were manicured. Flowers bloomed everywhere and Markus’s cell blinked. “We found something,” the good doctor wrote in the text. “Get back here.”

Markus didn’t mention it to Ron as he drove passed the carefully maintain barn into an open space, separating the barn smells from the living quarters. “I’ve never been back here,” Ron said. They came across two rows of small, built-together clapboard cottages, each one separated by a small single car garage. The cottages, four on each side faced one another with white picked fence lined steps to the small porches and wooden front doors, all painted to match the ranch scheme.

“Stop,” Markus said abruptly. He studied each unit for any informative signs. “Hang here for a minute.”

Markus climbed out of the truck and didn’t walk down the lane between the cottages. He walked past them and around back the outside line of dwellings. He studied the grounds. There were no doors out the back, just windows. He studied the mowed field grass for tracks as he listened intently for conversation, while checking the condition of every window. All of them seemed intact and unhampered with.

He moved to the end of the four-unit structure and turned left and walked to the center between the two lines of units. He studied the lawn and steps to each unit and the garage doors. Then he moved behind the first line and walked along the back. At the far end was a tampered-with window. He looked up and spotted the sun drifting over the mountains in the distance. Then he heard a scream and shouting.

He moved around to the front of the unit. It didn’t contain a solid road between the two rows of units, but two concrete strips to save money and grass in the center. The garages were used mostly for storage, not trucks. Only small compacts could maneuver the grounds to the single car garages.

Markus moved out front and studied the ground to the garage and discovered a recent narrow track to the single car garage. He knelt at the corner of the building and considered his options. He didn’t like them. This guy was a no-good thief to steal a car then use it to bag a chopper. He could break in and startle the couple and try to find out what the fuck was happening.

He texted back to Dr. Karl. “I’ll be right there.” He heard another scream and jumped. Up the stairs he ran and kicked in the door. In the living room on a tattered couch and surrounding chairs sat five dirty young Hispanic girls huddling together. He didn’t hesitate but bolted across the small room to the bedroom and threw open the door.

A big guy turned from his rape scene and pulled a pistol. Markus moved closer while raising his hands in a defense mode. Less than two feet from the assailant, the large semi-auto pistol was right in Markus’s face. He looked into the glaring shit-brown eyes of the rapist and searched for clues. How bad was this bastard? Would he end Markus’s life forever? He didn’t like what he saw.

Markus tilted his head slightly to the right, away from the semi-auto and moved his open palm-back to the left against the barrel. In less than a NY second, he turned his palm, so it was against the barrel and grabbed it twisting it out of this guy’s hand and hitting him in the neck with his right hand. The bastard gasped.

The girl on the bed reached for her clothes to cover herself and ran for the other room. Markus stepped into an attack stance. “Pull up your pants.”

The big, thick man in a plaid work shirt looked up at Markus, and Markus hit him hard enough to crack his jaw and dislodge a tooth. “Don’t look at me, pull up your pants.”

This time the man did as he was told, and Markus shoved him toward the front door. “Hablan English?” Markus said to the girls, and one said, “Yes.”

“Are there others like him?” Markus said.

“No,” the young girl said. “They just brought us across the border and dropped us here. We’ve been here two days with nothing to eat. He comes and attacks and threatens us.”

“Is there hot water?” Markus said.

“Yes,” the senorita said. “I believe so.”

“Clean up and I will send someone with food and supplies,” Markus said. “If they don’t use my name, Markus, fight back. And don’t lose my knife.”

He cut her ties and gave her his handy Beretta sharp as-a-razor folding knife to cut the tie-wraps free from their ankles and wrists.

“You can’t do that,” the big bastard said as Markus shoved him outside the front door. “I paid for them.”

Markus didn’t reply but shoved him toward the pickup. He had snatched a couple of large tie-wraps off the cottage deck. He fastened the big guy’s wrists together behind his back, opened the tailgate and shoved him into the steel bed. Ron jumped out of his truck to help.

“Do you know this guy?” Markus asked.

“No,” Ron said. “He doesn’t look familiar.”

Markus stared at Ron’s eyes looking for uncertain clues. “That unit is full of young Hispanic girls,” Markus said and pulled another tie-wrap tight around white-boy’s ankles.

“That hurts,” he said, and Markus wanted to put a round in one of his knees. He shoved the barrel of the gun against his left knee.

“I’ll show you hurt,” he said and turned to Ron. “Do you have a wife or daughters who can bring some food and clean clothes to six girls?”

“Sure do,” Ron said and made a call.

“One more favor,” Markus said.

“Anything,” Ron said looking at the gun.

“Can you take me and my new friend back to the bar?” Markus said and ejected the clip from the semi-auto, ejected the round in the chamber, shoved the gun in his waist band and replace the round in the clip. Something told him he might need this cannon in Sundance.

They hauled ass back to downtown and the Dime Horseshoe bar. His two brothers waited anxiously out front.

“This is Ron,” Markus said exiting the truck. He gave me a tour of the Sundance Industrial Park. And this is my new buddy.” He indicated the guy tied up in the bed, uncomfortable from the rough, two-mile ride back to town.

Jennifer and Randi came outside. Jennifer looked at the farm fed catch in the truck and pulled his head back by his sandy mop of hair. “Jennifer,” he said, and she dropped his head again to the metal truck bed.

“Let’s go back inside,” Jennifer said. “I have some information.”

“What’s with the guy in the truck?” Karl asked.

“Something about human trafficking,” Markus said. “Ron’s family is helping the girls.”

“We need to move fast,” Jennifer said.

“We’ve been moving fast, ever since we arrived for a quiet drink,” Bryan said in a gruff tone.

Jennifer looked at Karl with baby-help-me eyes and then at Ron.

“Let’s see what she has to say,” Ron said coming to her aid. “I’ve known these girls and their mom forever.”

“Quick,” Markus said. “What gives.”

“In less than an hour you guys have solved several problems in this town, except one,” Jennifer said. “I made a call about Jake’s shop. He’s always in a jam, this time with the wrong guys. He owes the club some funds. I think I solved that one.”

“Thanks Karl said, “I didn’t like that situation.”

Jennifer touched the doctor’s arm and the gaze between them was strong and forgiving.

“Okay,” Bryan said. “What’s next.”

“The guys on your side of town were huddled around Joey’s garage,” Jennifer continued. “He makes white lightening. The sheriff is underhanded and religious. He’s always trying to bust those guys. He rides an old dresser that belonged to my dad. You spooked them. Those guys will move their operation to another location sometime tonight.”

“What about your friend in the back of Ron’s pickup?” Markus said. “Could he know something about the missing bike? How do you know him?”

“Get him into the back room,” Jennifer said. His name is Kevin and he’s been in the bar and may have a connection to the new sheriff.”

Markus and Bryan pulled the bruised and beaten Kevin out of Ron’s Pickup. “I’m going to check on my wife and the girls,” Ron said and closed the tailgate with a bang.

“Let me give you my cell number,” Markus said.

“I’ve got the number here,” Ron said. “You be careful.” He extended his hand and Markus took it. There was pure sincerity in his gaze and handshake.

“I gave my knife to one of the girls,” Markus said.

“I’ll take care of it,” Ron said and got into his truck.

Jennifer opened the employees-only door, where their office was set up with two small old metal military desks and a couple of old steel file cabinets. It contained just two metal chairs from the ‘50s and Markus and Bryan shoved Kevin into the chair.

Jennifer stepped up and raised Kevin’s chin and he grimaced in pain. His jaw was severely bruised, but he still was a nasty sort and Markus studied him carefully.

“Here’s the deal, Kevin, we have an issue and need your help,” Jennifer started. “I suspect you stole that motorcycle to pay for those girls.”

Markus watched Kevin’s facial features closely for any sign, from knowing, to fear, to cockiness. Kevin looked in his direction in the dark room but wouldn’t make eye contact. Bryan stared at him like a hungry cat ready to pounce.

“Stealing the car and using it was a smart move,” Markus said.

Kevin smirked, “I couldn’t get close to the motorcycle without some collateral.” He knew his investment in the girls was gone. What did he have to lose?

Jennifer jumped at the new information. “That chopper means a lot to that family. They don’t want to sell it, but his wife is going to have a baby, and he was going to let it go, so they could make a down payment on their first home.”

“I know,” Kevin said and smirked some.

Bryan didn’t like that and lurched. Jennifer blocked his path. “Hold it,” she said and turned to Kevin. “Can we get it back?”

“Maybe,” Kevin said and swallowed. Bryan the ex-outlaw scared him. “But those pricks won’t like me much. Is there something you can do?”

“Yeah, bury you quietly in a shallow grave,” Bryan said and turned from the scene pissed off. “We don’t have time for this bullshit.”

“Listen,” Kevin said. “I’m fucked anyway you look at it. I need to get safely out of Sundance.”

“We can get you out of town,” Jennifer said. “But what about the bike? Where are they staying and when will they leave? If they get wind of the girls in safe hands, they will bolt.”

“You got to promise to get me out of here,” Kevin begged.

“We will,” Jennifer said. She had a commanding presence, and the good Doctor studied her features and mannerisms intrigued. He could tell her mind was spinning. “Give it up, so we can make a plan.”

“They are staying in a trailer park on the edge of town,” Kevin blithered wanting to get the info off his jagged mind. “They have it on a small motorcycle trailer connected to their motorhome. It’s right out in the open.”

“When,” Jennifer demanded.

“I don’t know,” Kevin stammered. “They don’t like to stick around.”

“What about the cops,” Dr. Karl said. “Couldn’t they just go out and handle it?”

“Yep, but if they do the bike will end up in impound forever,” Jennifer said. “It will be picked to pieces before we will ever see it again.”

“Figure it out,” Markus said. “Bryan and I will ride out there right now and let you know if it’s still there. Hold him until you hear from us.”

Markus and Bryan jammed out to their bikes as the sun dipped over the Continental Divide and disappeared. “This better be good,” Markus shouted out to Bryan as they peeled away from the curb and hung a left on main heading toward Interstate 90 freeway, a mile past the eastern edge of town. Pipes blaring, they peeled over the over-pass and spotted the trailer park next to the frontage road. It consisted of a few scatter trees, gravel roads, sewage and electrical outlets positioned next to school bus sized patches of bare land.

During Rally season, the area was packed with trailers and motorhomes of various sizes. Too many included trailers containing motorcycles. Fortunately, they had a visual of the baby blue paint job with silver flames. They jammed up and down wide rows of trailers until they spotted a faded tan non-distinct motor home with two guys loading lawn chairs in one of the lower storage compartments. The motor was running.

They stopped just up the lane and Markus texted the license plate of the motorhome. “I’ve lost my patients with this bullshit,” Bryan said and hit his throttle. “Hang back in case it all goes wrong.”

Bryan jammed forward and slid to a stop alongside the motorhome. “Hey, do you know that motorcycle is stolen?”

Two guys turned to face him. They were shabby and half-drunk white guys, but they looked tough.

“We don’t know anything about that,” the taller of the two said and looked at his partner. His mind had to be swimming with options. “We’re leaving.”

“You don’t want to leave with that wanted poster on the trailer following you,” Bryan said. “We know you didn’t steal it. Just unload it and take off.”

The other guy looked at his partner and spit on the grassy ground. He rubbed the stubble on his rough face. “Motherfucker,” he said.

Just then Markus pulled up, slid to a stop, dismounted and pulled a 9mm from inside his vest. But he didn’t say a word. The situation was suddenly tense, like the world around them disappeared. Everything in life centered on the next move.

“We are not here to cause you any issues,” Markus said calmly. “Just to take that chopper back to its owner. We know the situation. Your customer is gone and won’t be back. You have a lot more at stake than just this bike and you know it. You can be on your way in a matter of minutes.”

He watched the two guys closely for any wrong move. “How about we just unhook the trailer? One of them asked.

Bryan seethed. He wanted one of them to fuck up. Markus also wanted more retribution than just the bike, but he suspected it was coming. One item off the check list at a time.

Markus and Bryan watched as the two thugs unhooked the trailer safety chains from the back of the motorhome. They made no moves to assist.

One guy pivoted the trailer jack and rotated the lever to lower it to a level position. Markus could read his whirling thoughts about what was happening and his options. He was sorta like Bryan, looking for an excuse to jump, pull a gun or run.

These guys had it tough. Human trafficking was a major offence in Wyoming, plus rape of underage girls would get them sent away for decades, maybe the rest of their lives. On the other hand, these guys were violent outlaws of the worst sort. Considering jail times wasn’t generally in the cards. They fucked up and worried about the consequences later.

Bryan wished for such a conclusion. He also came from the streets and had the gunshot wound scars to prove it. When it came to angry, nasty sonsabitches, he was ready.

Markus reached for his cell phone and called Jennifer. “Send the bike owner with a pickup that can pull a trailer.” He quickly hung up.

In five minutes, a midsize Ford Ranger approach and unexpectantly Randi jumped out of the cab and approached Bryan. She slipped her arm around his and pulled him close. She read him like a dime store novel. The tension in his taut muscles radiated like a blast furnace against a pile of snow. He relaxed. “How about another Crown Royal on the rocks?” she said pulling his big beefy arm against her ample breasts and kissing his cheek. “Maybe you can spend the night after the rally.”

“Speaking of the Rally,” Markus said. “We’re burnin’ daylight. Let’s ride.”

The thugs sneered and got into their motorhome and lumbered toward the gate. The brothers hooked the trailer to the Ranger and mounted their bikes and rolled back into town to pick up the good Doctor.

When they pulled up in front of Dime Horse shoe it was dark, but they could make out two forms wrapped around one another on the sidewalk under a cast iron street light. “I told the girls we would help them find stolen motorcycles whenever we can,” Dr. Karl said.

Bryan kissed Randi deeply, “I’ll definitely be back to find whatever you’ve got.” He slapped her perfect bubble butt and the three brothers rolled toward the freeway and another rally week. Randi and Jennifer stood on the curb and waved, then looked at one another knowingly. The Chopper Chronicles team was formed.