by Felicity Donohoe from https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk UK motorcycle sales have shown a healthy post-pandemic recovery with figures revealing a fresh enthusiasm for purchasing new machines – including EVs. Recent data from the Motor Cycle Industry Association shows that 13,398 units were sold in May 2021, an increase of 148.4% compared with May 2020, with sales topping 43,242 for the first five months of this year and across all segments. Adventure Sport and Naked categories were up 242% and 197% in sales (2,449 and 4,567 respectively) in May but EVs have found a place in the revived market, seeing 509 sales in May 2021 compared to 119 sales last May. The sales reflect the interest in alternatives to cars and public transport solutions, along with the financial, environmental and practical benefits that riding offers. Tony Campbell, CEO of MCIA said: “May’s figures are against a time in 2020 when the first wave of the pandemic had hit. We forecast a positive summer for the sale of PTWs (powered two wheelers) and associated products as restrictions ease, and the backlog of those awaiting CBT and testing reduces. “As life returns to normal and people return to their leisure pursuits we’ll be ensuring our close links with Government consider PTWs at every opportunity.” Top 10 motorcycle sales May 2021

1. Honda: 2,392
2. Yamaha: 1,717
3. Triumph: 1,133
4. BMW: 1,009
5. Kawasaki: 810
6. KTM: 652
7. Lexmoto: 418
8. Harley-Davidson: 404
9. Royal Enfield: 397
10. Ducati: 388

by Michael Mortensen from https://www.concordmonitor.com

With the cloud of COVID largely lifted, motorcyclists returned in droves over the weekend to mark the start of Laconia Motorcycle Week.

Weirs Beach, the traditional epicenter of the event, was bustling by mid-morning Saturday.

“I think it’s going to be a banner week,” predicted Mayor Andrew Hosmer, who did walkabouts in The Weirs with City Manager Scott Myers on Saturday and Sunday.

Public safety officials reported the kick-off to the event, which wraps up this coming weekend, was largely trouble-free.

“There were large crowds, but very few police events,” Police Chief Matt Canfield said during a news conference Monday morning at the Naswa Resort.

Hosmer agreed that things have been going smoothly.

“It’s a good atmosphere,” he said during a telephone interview Monday.

The weather – with temperatures in the mid-to-upper 70s, coupled with low humidity – helped bring out the crowds.

Motorcyclists began pouring into the area on Saturday. Parking spaces on Lakeside Avenue in Weirs Beach, which during the nine-day event are for motorcycles only, were mostly taken by mid-morning Saturday.

Bikers strolled up and down the street browsing and buying from vendors who were hawking all sorts of biker paraphernalia, as well as from local nonprofits like the Laconia Kiwanis Club, whose members were selling cold bottled water and soda.

Members of the National Guard were stationed at a tent next to Rally Headquarters on the boardwalk offering COVID vaccinations. About three dozen people were vaccinated over the weekend, according to Charlie St. Clair, executive director of the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association. The clinic will continue for the rest of the week.

“The state is trying to get out to events like this (to set up vaccination clinics), ” Laconia Fire Chief Kirk Beattie explained.

The fire chief told the news conference that his department handled six motorcycle-related accidents over the weekend, including crashes on Roller Coaster Road, and on Weirs Boulevard. Some involved serious injuries, he said, but none of the injuries were life-threatening.

A traffic accident shortly after midnight Saturday at the intersection of Endicott Street North (Route 3) and Watson Road resulted in one person being arrested for DWI, according to the Laconia Police Department activity log.

Police investigated 17 accidents, of which seven resulted in injuries, Canfield said. Four people were arrested for simple assault, including two for assaulting an officer, the chief said. All told, police handled 341 service calls citywide over the weekend, Canfield said.

Beattie said firefighters/EMTs responded to 31 calls Saturday, 2½ times the 13-call average of a typical Saturday. On Sunday, the volume of calls was about that for a normal Sunday during the summer, he said.

Canfield said officers reported few problems in and around The Weirs.

“We were busier downtown,” he said.

In a departure from past years, police presence in The Weirs is being handled largely by Laconia officers. State Police and officers from other agencies are largely handling traffic enforcement in surrounding communities, he explained.

Motorcycle Week features a number of special events, kicking off with the Peter Makris Memorial Run on Saturday which attracted 250 riders, including about 40 members of the Leathernecks Motorcycle Club. The turnout was one of the largest ever for the event, which began 15 years ago, The ride helps raise money for various veterans charities, the Belknap House homeless shelter and the Laconia Fire Department’s water rescue lifesaving fund. Last year’s run was limited to just 100 riders because of COVID.

With rain in the forecast for Monday, the Mae West Memorial Ride to benefit local animal shelters was postponed until Thursday

A fictional account of leadership and vision by the one and only J J Solari.

Oh yes, we were talking about me and my vision for Harley-Davidson and whatever it is they do. While I am depicted here with my two-wheeled cycle of manly mayhem, you will notice I am not actually riding it. And the animals and the birds have come to me to ask ‘Good sir, canst thou not defile our sacred home with thine fumes?’ And to this I say ‘consider it done!

I shall merely pose with this monster of manliness: I shall not actually start it up! The forest shall be safe!’ And speaking of not starting things up, this accoutrement to my portrait does not actually have an engine. It is a prototype of what I hope will become the future of Harley- Davidson: engine-free coasting cycles. Noise, smoke, gasoline, decimated rubber forests, asphalt, bugs in the face……these nightmares, under my leadership and guidance, shall be eliminated, to be replaced by happy animals safely crossing non existing roads, bluebirds chirping happily on the ends of our outstretched index fingers, green grass and pine trees reclaiming once again their rightful ownership of the planet.

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J.J. Solari Note: What follows is a lampoon, a comedy, a sketch, a humor entity, a satire, a witty diversion, a parody, a spoof, a jocular moment, an amusement, a brief frolic in fiction, a delightful playtime vocabularic rondelay so to speak if I may? No one other than the composer of this whatever-it-even-is actually said any of this. Thank you.___jjs

“Hi! I’m Jochen Zeitz, the CEO, or as I like to say the Creative Energy Originator, of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company or as I like to call it New Sustainopolis. Ha ha,

I know what you’re saying, ‘Are you not actually Matthew McCaughnahey or most certainly Tom Cruise?’ Ha ha, thank you, you’re very kind. IF ONLY!! Can you imagine me as Tom Cruise? I certainly can! Oh my God. Is he something or what!! Whew!

WHERE THE HECK WAS I?? Oh yes, we were talking about me and my vision for Harley-Davidson and whatever it is they do. While I am depicted here with my two-wheeled cycle of manly mayhem, you will notice I am not actually riding it. And the animals and the birds have come to me to ask ‘Good sir, canst thou not defile our sacred home with thine fumes?’ And to this I say ‘consider it done!

I shall merely pose with this monster of manliness: I shall not actually start it up! The forest shall be safe!’ And speaking of not starting things up, this accoutrement to my portrait does not actually have an engine. It is a prototype of what I hope will become the future of Harley- Davidson: engine-free coasting cycles. Noise, smoke, gasoline, decimated rubber forests, asphalt, bugs in the face……these nightmares, under my leadership and guidance, shall be eliminated, to be replaced by happy animals safely crossing non existing roads, bluebirds chirping happily on the ends of our outstretched index fingers, green grass and pine trees reclaiming once again their rightful ownership of the planet.

I believe it was Agent Smith of The Matrix who said something like, or close to it, “Humanity is an unnatural aberration, a foul virus that eats its way through everything in its path, leaves a wasteland and moves on, a parasitical infection that excels in corpse creation.’

He said something like that. I had Agent Smith’s little speech to Morpheus memorized once, I found it to be a poetic source of personal internal energy, my own internal combustion engine, if you will, if I might make that analogy if I may. I found his merry and whimsically potent expository on the voracious nature of homo sapiens to be a kind of spiritual tonic. A relaxing spiritual massage in an aromatic setting of candles, verandas, greek pillars, meandering entities in translucent tunics, lyre music, bowls of fruit, and windowless overlooks of gardens stretching to the early-evening horizon.

I feel Agent Smith is the central focus, the overarching impetus to my fixation on the stench of engine exhaust. Do you see the bluebird in this picture? You will sniff that gentle rascal for a very long time, my friend, before you will detect anything even close to resembling a stench emanating from off its skin. Or layering. Or whatever it is birds have.

In addition to Agent Smith, I have one other icon of attitude and behavior that I use as a guidepost, a kind of Virgil to my Dante, if you will, guiding me through the murky underworld of industrial pollution: Robert California of The Office. Now you may say that James Spader is pretending to be Robert California, but I would counter that, no, Robert California is pretending to be James Spader.

Robert California sees the larger view: he is not the head of an organization, he is part of a communal amalgam, part of an algae-bloom, if you will, if I may, whose destination and endpoint is not only not in sight, it is not even defined. Will not Nature decide the final outcome of Dunder-Mifflin? Rather than its staff and operating officers?

Robert California sees this. And I see the endpoint of Harley-Davidson. It is depicted here in this photographic tableau: a man – a smashingly dashing one at that…smashingly dashing, I kind of like that……and his product, an emasculated mantlepiece decoration for a large mantle that reflects in the manner of all government entities, the ‘governmentising of humanity” via this motorcycle: two wheels that don’t turn powered by an engine that it does not have. I see greatness there.

Do you like my outfit? I got it a Bros R Us. Thank you. Gaia bless you. Canape’?”

–J.J. Solari

by Dennis Chung from https://www.motorcycle.com

Motorcycle.com can confirm that the first LiveWire-branded electric motorcycle from Harley-Davidson will be called the LiveWire One. The information comes to us via Vehicle Identification Number deciphering information Harley-Davidson submitted to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. We expect the 2021 LiveWire One will be revealed on July 8. [Updated with some clarity about the claimed horsepower output]

The VIN filing confirms that the LiveWire One will claim a peak output of 101 bhp (that’s brake horsepower). By comparison, the 2020 Harley-Davidson LiveWire (which we’ll henceforth call by its model code, “ELW”, to avoid confusion) was previously listed in VIN filings at 70 bhp. We believe this was the measured continuous output rather than a peak output, which Harley-Davidson has claimed to be 105 hp. As we previously reported, Australian certification documents suggest the 2021 ELW will see its peak power drop from 105 hp to 101 hp, matching what the VIN filing indicates.

The LiveWire One will go by the model code LW1, and the internal vehicle code “XB”, making it distinct from the ELW and its internal vehicle code “XA”, and further confirming its status as Harley-Davidson’s second electric motorcycle. The VIN information also confirms the LiveWire One will be considered a 2021 model.

In retrospect, the LiveWire One name doesn’t come as a real surprise. The company’s first ever motorcycle was called the Model 1, and Harley-Davidson went back to that theme for its Serial 1 electric bicycle brand. Interestingly, “One” is spelled out for the LiveWire instead of being a number.

Apart from the name and its claimed brake horsepower output, we don’t know very much about the LiveWire One. The name may suggest something more classically styled, but on the other hand, one of the reasons for spinning off LiveWire into its own brand is to create some separation from Harley-Davidson’s heritage.

Harley-Davidson previously stated it would reveal the first LiveWire-branded model on July 8. The bike was supposed to make its first public debut on July 9 at the International Motorcycle Show at FivePoint Amphitheater Irvine, Calif., but the venue has since pulled out, deciding to only host musical concerts through 2021. Harley-Davidson hasn’t announced an alternate date, but we suspect the LiveWire One will be at the next IMS stop, July 16-18 in Sonoma, Calif.

Tools For The Exceptional: Situation, Adventure, Person, Life.

Greetings! Summer Warhammers, what’s more heartwarming than that?

To keep it fair, all of the Snuggles will be sold first come first serve on the website today at 2:00, No Phone Orders. We do not take pre-orders, or special request orders.

Affectionately named Snuggles, this is the modern War Hammer Breaching Tool and closely follows our mantra, one tool, many tasks. Snuggles combines bad ass looks with formidable capability in one package. Designed with a close-quarters battle (CQB) length of 18″ it can be used in tight areas where traditional longer tools may be less effective. It is a tool ideally suited for a patrol car or emergency vehicle, providing a quick action tool for breaching a door or window. The large 8 5/8″ head features a meat tenderizer style end with a tapered beard, and the tail end features a 3 13/16″ distal taper spike for puncturing.

Snuggles head end is assembled with two cheeks, bolted on with three hardened 4140 chrome moly bolts with a tensile strength of 120,000-pounds per square inch each. The pieces are mounted in double shear and the bolts would be acted on together. A 50-ton press would be required to shear it. Repeated impact doesn’t change the situation, Snuggles is extremely overbuilt for a handheld tool.

Specification
· Overall Length: 18″
· Head Length: 8 5/8 in
· Hammer Face: 2″ H x 1 1/8″ W
· Head Height: 2.5″
· Blade Thickness: 3/8 in
· Weight: 3 pounds 10 ounces
· Material: 80CRV2 Carbon Steel
· Handles: 3 Colors of G10, Black, Black Widow, Dirty Olive
· Coating: Black Cerakote

CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS – BUY ONLINE

Share Your RMJ Adventure

We would love to see your hard use RMJ tools! Please take a few moments to answer a couple of questions and up load some pictures or video content highlighting your adventure and RMJ gear!

Go to our website and click on Share Your Adventure on the front page. We hope to share your content on our site for everyone to check out! If we do share it, we will see that you get 5% off your next order and you’ll be entered into our quarterly give-away for your choice of a Mini Jenny Spike or Mini Jenny Hammer Poll Tomahawk!

by Stephanie Coueignoux from https://www.mynews13.com

ORLANDO, Fla. — About 200 people’s lives are now literally stalled after the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles suspended their driver’s licenses.

Each of these individuals took a motorcycle endorsement training course two years ago so they could ride, but there’s now an issue.

What You Need To Know

• About 200 Floridians had their driver’s licenses suspended over an illegitimate motorcycle endorsement
• State officials say the company in question was not a legitimate business
• Some of the drivers affected say the suspensions are not fair, because the state initially accepted the endorsements

The state sent these people letters suspending their driver’s licenses, after it discovered the course wasn’t legitimate. But many of these drivers are upset, pointing out it was the state that accepted the certifications in the first place.

Francisco Perez Velez is one of the drivers who received one of the letters. As the owners of an electric service company, Velez responds to power outages around the clock. His nephew, Evelio Perez, works with him.

“We need to be there as soon as possible,” explains Perez.

It’s part of the job made more difficult when the state suspended their licenses.

“It’s going to be sad — you’re driving without a license and stopped by a police and you’re heading to your job and heading to the jail? It’s not fair,” said Perez.

Perez and his uncle received separate letters from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which claim they committed fraud.

“We were in a nervous breakdown because we saw the cancellation of the license and assuming the state we did fraud, we were all in shock,” said Velez.

This all started back in 2019, when nearly 200 people — including Perez and Velez — took a motorcycle course with the Pasco Motorcycle Training Institute. They took their certification to the DMV, which updated their driver’s licenses.

“They gave us a certification. This certification on our license, they just do an endorsement that says also motorcycle,” said Velez.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles emailed Spectrum News saying “the individuals … knowingly accepted the endorsements without having gone through the necessary training.”

Both Velez and Perez say they didn’t realize the course wasn’t legitimate, especially since the DMV accepted their credentials. They feel the state should review these training companies regularly instead of punishing clients two years later.

“Why then would I risk everything for just a simple endorsement?” Velez asked when asked if he knew the training course wasn’t legitimate.

“You don’t know how many other companies have been doing this as well,” said state Sen. Victor Torres. “You’ve opened up Pandora’s box and all of a sudden, you’ve found more violations are occurring.”

Torres believes this is a major public safety issue — since people are riding motorcycles without the proper training — and is now looking to craft a bill to create tougher regulations.

“I think for the companies who do issue these licenses — there should be a review every year by the state to make sure they are following the guidelines, they’re following the rules, and they’re not cutting any corners,” said Torres. “I think we will look into legislation for next year and see what can be added, with the work of the department as well.”

We asked the state why it took two years before it discovered the Pasco Motorcycle Training Institute wasn’t legitimate and why the DMV accepted the endorsements in the first place.

A spokesperson responded by email, saying “the department acted as soon as we were made aware of the issue.” The email went on to say “individuals who had their license suspended may appeal.”

In a later email, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Jessica Kelleher expanded on the reason the issue with the Pasco Motorcycle Training Institute wasn’t discovered earlier.

“Once we were made aware that the Pasco Motorcycle Training Institute — a provider entrusted by the state and the public to provide training and evaluate an individual’s ability to safely and lawfully operate a motorcycle on Florida’s roadways — was issuing these fraudulent endorsements, we immediately began investigating; ultimately suspending the nearly 200 individuals’ licenses who fraudulently obtained them as well as PMTI’s certification and program,” Kelleher wrote. “Because PMTI was a trusted state provider, and sent these documents to us claiming them to be accurate and legitimate, we had no reason at the time to believe there was any malfeasance until we received a tip that led to a lengthy and thorough investigation.”​

Velez and Perez are in the process of appealing their license suspensions. In the meantime, they’ve received a hardship license- which allows them to drive for professional, but not personal, reasons.

“(It’s been) very stressful — we’ve been back and forth,” said Velez. “I have to go to the doctor and take some medication because it’s stressful. Family involved. Employees.”

The state has suspended the motorcycle certification program pending their open investigation.

Spectrum News tried to contact the Pasco Motorcycle Training Institute, but never received a response. The company’s website is also now suspended.

by Rich Kirchen from https://www.bizjournals.com

With Harley-Davidson Inc. chairman, president and CEO Jochen Zeitz repeating that the company’s electric LiveWire is “an extraordinary product,” details are emerging on a new model that will be called the LiveWire One.

Motorcycle.com reported the name of the first LiveWire-branded electric motorcycle since Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson announced establishing LiveWire as a stand-alone entity. The website said it deciphered the information from a Harley-Davidson filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The new LiveWire One will be revealed in July and will be considered a 2021 model, motorcycle.com said.

The Harley-Davidson filing shows the LiveWire One will claim a peak output of 101 brake horsepower (bhp), which is more than the 70 bhp existing LiveWire model, motorcycle.com said.

A Harley-Davidson spokesman did not immediately respond Thursday to a Milwaukee Business Journal request for comment.

Harley-Davidson delivered the original LiveWire to dealers in fall 2019. The company announced in May that LiveWire will get an official launch in July as a brand in its own right with its own laboratory and showrooms.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) initially planned to debut the new LiveWire at the International Motorcycle Show in Irvine, California. However, motorcycle.com reported that the show won’t be held there and Harley is looking to arrange an alternate date and site.

Zeitz, appearing on CNBC Wednesday, discussed the LiveWire strategy but not the specifics of the next phase. He said electrified motorcycles are the future for the industry.

“It might take longer in certain segments such as the traditional Harley-Davidson segment, simply because the technology is not there in terms of range and longevity of a ride that our touring customer wants,” Zeitz said.

The LiveWire product that Harley-Davidson launched in 2019 under the Harley-Davidson brand “was really a product that was more focused and geared towards the urban consumer,” Zeitz said.

“So I felt there was a huge opportunity as we are bridging into electric long term to use the LiveWire — which is the best product out there, the best electric product — but focusing more on an urban customer to actually segment that out and stand it up as its own brand.’’

Harley-Davidson announced in March hiring Ryan Morrissey as chief electric vehicle officer to lead the new electric-vehicle unit. Morrissey previously worked at consulting giant Bain & Company.

July 4th weekend we’re celebrating our 19th Anniversary. Celebrate With Us.

Join Us in Celebrating 19 Years.

This July 4th weekend, we’re celebrating our 19th Anniversary! Join us as we fire up some of the rarest motorcycles and machines in the world, including the newest additions to Wheels Through Time, the 1912 Harley-Davidson Twin, the 1922 Harley-powered cyclecar, and the world’s fastest Model A, all while continuing to share the history of the American Motorcycle.

We’re also proud to announce the American Motor Drome Company: Wall of Death Thrillshow will be joining us all weekend long. The Wall of Death is a vintage live-action thrill show featuring a motor drome, a silo-shaped wooden cylinder 30 feet in diameter. Inside the drome, motorcycle daredevils travel along the vertical wall performing trick, fancy, and acrobatic riding.

Our anniversary weekend will be July 1st- July 5th, 10 am – 5 pm

Visit https://wheelsthroughtime.com/

Hey,

I’m catching on, catching up and catching the Rally vibe. If you live in these regions, it’s like living with a mercurial girlfriend. If she’s in a bad mood you can’t get shit done. That’s the weather around here, and I think it’s cool.

During the summer, you plan and hope to get as much shit done as possible. The other driving force for some is the rally. That’s our driving force this year. I decided to keep the Deadwood digs so bros could hang out here during the rally including my grandson and his pals.

We are trying like hell not to burn any daylight.

We have content headed your way from Dmac. I hope to get started on Dan’s feature next week, and I hope you enjoy chapter 94 of the Bandit’s Cantina series. Let me know what you think.

In the meantime, Ride Fast and Free Forever.

– Bandit

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