from https://www.sfgate.com Not every teen wants to drive a car; some would rather ride motorcycles, dirt bikes, or even scooters and mopeds. Parents can, understandably, be hesitant to allow their teen to ride and Cary Runnells, State Farm Insurance Agent in Thousand Oaks, CA has prepared a report to help parents understand the licensing, safety and insurance options available for teen riders. Not every teen wants to drive a car; some would rather ride motorcycles, dirt bikes, or even scooters and mopeds. Parents can, understandably, be hesitant to allow their teen to ride and Cary Runnells, State Farm Insurance Agent in Thousand Oaks, CA has prepared a report to help parents understand the licensing, safety and insurance options available for teen riders. First on the list is to prepare the teen rider. The State of California requires a Class M1 or Class M2 driver license to operate a motorcycle or a “Motor Driven Cycle.” The California Department of Motor Vehicles motorcycle handbook describes these vehicles as:

• Motorcycle having only two wheels and an engine that is over 150cc
• Motor Driven Cycles have engines that are 149cc or less
• Vehicles must be registered
• Driver must be licensed

Before getting his or her license, your teen needs a motorcycle permit. Teen drivers need to be at least 15 ½ years old to get a permit and must complete a motorcycle rider training course that is given by the California Highway Patrol. Other requirements include passing knowledge and skill tests and obtain the Certificate of Completion for the motorcycle training course. “Shortly before your teen is ready to apply for the permit is the time to meet with your insurance agent about insurance,” said Runnells of the Thousand Oaks State Farm Insurance Agency. State Farm offers motorcycle insurance for multiple bike types:

• Factory-built motorcycles
• Motor scooters, minibikes and trail bikes (OHV)
• Classic motorcycles
• Custom motorcycles in some cases

Your insurance agent will help you determine the best levels of coverage you need to cover:

• Bodily injury to someone else or to the insured driver in the event of an accident, including uninsured motorist coverage
• Damage caused to someone else’s property while your teen is riding
• Damage to the motorcycle caused by an accident and theft, fire, vandalism, and other losses — even while your motorcycle is in storage for the winter
• Attached side cars
• Emergency roadside expenses
• Damage to protective gear

“Another excellent benefit that we offer,” said Runnells, “is discounts on insurance when policies are bundled and when the teen driver takes advantage of State Farm’s many teen driving programs. We help you choose the best programs for your teen. Safe driving programs cover all aspects of driving any kind of vehicle safely and help instill safe driving habits.”

Check out these Beauties and the Price Tags

Just like cars, motorcycles are treasured collectibles. Despite their desirability, however, they trade hands on average at far lower values than cars. The car auction record, too, is nearly 50 times that of the motorcycle auction record. Generally, the lower end of the bike market is full of nostalgia-driven purchases; the top is littered with historical significance and racing pedigree.

Based on digital views of our newly-released Hagerty Motorcycle Price Guide, here are the 10 bikes in which Hagerty is seeing the most interest, arranged by price from low to high.

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“When I got my first AHDRA license in 1992, I never dreamed I would be Top Fuel champion 28 years later!” said Pennsylvania Harley-Davidson dealer and Top Fuel Motorcycle pilot, Rich Vreeland.

At that time, Vreeland and his brother Ray were fresh from opening Vreeland’s H-D in 1990 as The Motor Company’s youngest dealers ever. Rich was a sportsman gasoline racer and didn’t necessarily have the brutal Top Fuel bikes in his plans, let alone dreams of a championship. And if he was dreaming of a nitro TF championship, then 28 years later?

To be fair, there was no AHDRA All-American motorcycle drag racing series for a good chunk of that time, and Vreeland was busy winning two AMRA Nitro Funnybike championships in the meantime.

But when Bill Rowe plugged the starter cart back into AHDRA for the 2020 season, Vreeland was quick to jump on board as both racer and sponsor.

He bookended this first new-AHDRA season, winning the Cordova opener and then again at the finals in Gainesville.

While Rich has always had his brother Ray’s help when it comes to running the Bloomsburg dealership, 2020 was first season with Ray as full-time crew chief on the race team.

And clearly, the results were there. Vreeland’s steady A-B performances qualified no worse than third and made it to the semis at every race he attended. He won two races and was undefeated in final round appearances.

“I’m honored to be the inaugural Top Fuel champion under the new AHDRA ownership of Bill Rowe,” said Vreeland. “I am humbled to have my name added to the list of AHDRA Top Fuel champions like Ray Price, Jim McClure, Jay Turner, and Tommy Grimes.”

Vreeland was runner-up for the 2010 and 2012 V-Rod championships in the “old” AHDRA, and was the 2011 Pro Rookie of the year while competing in Pro Fuel/Pro Dragster.

“It’s been a long haul since that 1992 license for sure, and I’m not sure that younger, slimmer Rich ever seriously dreamed of being Top Fuel champion. But it’s a great feeling, a great accomplishment for my team, and a great responsibility heading into the new year.”

It’s not just motorcycles that gets Rich’s heart racing. He also serves as chaplain at all-Harley drag races all over the country, and is an accomplished Christian motivational speaker.

In addition to AHDRA, Rich and his team also run the high-exposure, nationally televised, internationally followed, NHRA Camping World series. So if big exposure, a piece of the action, and an extraordinarily positive and successful representative are important to your brand, then Rich and his Top Fuel Harley are the vehicle you’ve been looking for.

“I just what to thank my girlfriend and my team for giving me a consistent bike all year, I also want to thank all my sponsors—especially Advanced Sleeve https://advancedsleeve.com/ and Worldwide Bearings http://www.worldwidebearings.com/ . But also Christ in Action http://www.christinaction.com/content/Home.aspx , CP-Carrillo https://www.cp-carrillo.com/ , Sam the Spark Plug Man, Just Batteries, and Vreeland’s Harley-Davidson https://vreelandsharley.com/ .”

See the 2021 AHDRA schedule posted and updated at https://www.facebook.com/groups/AHDRA

See the 2021 NHRA Camping World schedule at https://www.nhra.com/schedule/2021

This report was prepared by Tim Hailey. Enjoy everything there is to read, see and watch about motorcycle drag racing and more at https://www.eatmyink.com

Got my first 65 miles of 2021 in, I always try to ride on New Years Day start my year off right, while it said 35 degrees at my 6:40 am departure, that was not the temperature on the backroads I took this morning. Not as cold as the 29/30 degrees of 2018, but still got mild frostbite in my fingers & that’s was with the last Christmas HD gloves and Gator Skin inserts. The Roadglide blocked those 2018 temps, time for some heated gloves I guess? And another Roadglide, keeping the Dyna, we bonded laying there in the mud a couple days ago.

Happy New Year!

RFR

The Brit-Bike That Earl Bowlby Raced

You won’t find a longer unfaired race bike in the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame museum than the BSA that carried Earl Bowlby to national hillclimb fame.

When he retired from competition after the 1990 season, Bowlby had captured 10 AMA Hillclimb national championships, plus six Canadian titles. He was inducted to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.

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Hey ,

From our team, we wish you a happy new year, may this year be graceful upon all.

Bikerlid offering 20% OFF discount on motorcycle helmets & gear,

We encourage our customers to have a look at our “Low-Profile Beanie Motorcycle Helmet” It’s world lightweight helmet.

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You won’t find a longer unfaired race bike in the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame museum than the BSA that carried Earl Bowlby to national hillclimb fame.

When he retired from competition after the 1990 season, Bowlby had captured 10 AMA Hillclimb national championships, plus six Canadian titles. He was inducted to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.

Bowlby was an unlikely champion. In 1972, tasked with explaining the sport of hillclimb to Cycle magazine readers, journalist Frank Conner traveled to Bowlby’s home state of Ohio.

He reported that professional hillclimbers come in many shapes and sizes and range in age from early 20s to late 40s.

But Bowlby, wearing his traditional BSA windbreaker, stood out. One of his competitors described the seemingly low-key 37-year-old.

“He looks like a school teacher, but he rides like a maniac,” he said. “He never lets on what he’s thinking or how determined he really is, but he’ll try some stuff that nobody else will try, and somehow he gets away with it.”

In those days, pro hillclimbers were divided into two engine classes: Formula B, for 500cc overhead-valve engines or 750cc side-valve engines; and Formula A, for 750cc overhead-valve or 1,100cc side-valve engines.

Photos from the AMA Archives

Bowlby’s nitromethane-burning A65 twin, with its punched-out cylinders and stroker crank, displaced 782cc. The bike developed around 150 horsepower and weighed about 250 pounds.

What appears to be an oversized hub is actually a front brake.

“Well, it’s a front brake, and it works,” Bowlby said. “That’s all that’s required.”

Conner described Bowlby’s winning technique.

“Bowlby studies The Hill, grabs the clutch and punches the shift lever into gear. He revs the throttle with slow, steady motions of his wrist, building up a rhythm.

“The throttle hits the stop one last time, and he eases out the clutch for an unimpressive start. But the bike gains speed, and it thunders on a slanting course across the steep shale.

“Then, it reaches the ledges. The rear end lifts, starts to slide sideways—as so many of the other bikes have done this afternoon.

“The throttle pitch changes slightly, and the bike straightens up again, gaining speed on a straight course through the nightmarish ruts, finally disappearing ahead of billowing clouds of dust.

“The engine runs strong—and it keeps running long enough to reach the top of the hill. A moment later, the announcer reports, ‘The time: 8.72 seconds.’”

On that day—and so many others—no one was quicker up the hill than Earl Bowlby.

The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame museum is on the AMA campus in Pickerington, Ohio, and is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. Admission for AMA members is free.

 

Well as I age my hearing is not as good as it once was and rolling down the highway does not help the sounds coming from my stereo making it to my ears.

 Okay, I may be a little spoiled but I do like music and I like to listen to it while riding.

I just got a real cool new helmet and you can see the article on it at: https://www.bikernet.com/pages/HARLEY_VANOCKER_SO8_FULL_FACE_HELMET.aspx

 To make things even better I got a H-D 30 K Boom Audio System to go with it.

 The Boom! Audio 30K Bluetooth Headset is Harley-Davidson’s flagship wireless headset engineered to simplify and extend wireless communication. The 30K Headset comes with two modules (1 Bluetooth and 1 Mesh) and offers an exceptional integrated experience when paired to the new Boom Box Radio

 My motorcycle is a 2009 FLHTC and has been modified to use Bluetooth but does not have a Boom Radio, so not all of the features work with my system. I did get to ride a motorcycle with the Boom Radio and try out those features as well and this is definitely the way to go if you like music, have a GPS, want to use your phone, talk to other riders etc.

If you have a motorcycle with a Boom Box infotainment system you can also add a Wireless Headset Interface Module (WHIM) which is sold separately to configure your headset through the motorcycles screen.

 Without the WHIM, you can control your 30K through available hands-free voice commands or the glove friendly jog dial menu navigation.

 If you prefer to use earbuds, there is an available earbud port in the base.

 The kit includes headset, additional earpads, microphones and all installation hardware.

 My son Dale has one on his helmet and agreed to help install this one on mine.

Because I was using the Boom Audio on a full-face helmet, Dale removed the back plate of the clamp unit, removed the boom microphone, installed the wired microphone making sure to Lock the microphone to the clamp, reattached the back plate to cover the microphone and the speaker port.

 

Being careful he inserted the back plate of the clamp unit between the internal padding and the external shell of the helmet, and tightened the two screws. Note: Depending on the size and shape of your helmet, you may need to change the thickness of the rubber pad between the clamp plates using the two extra rubber pads in the box. To increase the overall thickness, attach the thinner one to the original rubber pad or replace the original

 

The Vanocker helmet has a removable foam insert and was unsnapped to place the helmet speakers along with the hook and loop fasteners, centered to my ear, in the ear pockets of the helmet. If the helmet has deep ear pockets, you can use the speaker pads to place the speakers closer to your ears. Note: Hook Fastener • The speaker with the shorter wire is for the left ear and the speaker with the longer one is for the right ear. • To enhance the audio quality, you can make use of the foam speaker covers. Cover each speaker with the foam and attach the hook fastener at the back of the speaker. Then place the speakers in the helmet as described above. Foam covered speakers work most effectively when they are slightly touching your ears.

 

Hook and loop fasteners that come with the unit are used to route and keep the wiring in place. Dale used an ice cream stick to push the extra wiring into the helmet between the padding and the shell.

Though the headset comes with a charge in it, it had been charging while the helmet was being worked on. Depending on how much charge is the unit it can be fully charged in about 1.5 hours and give 13 hours of service or more. Note: • The headset includes a Fast Charging feature which allows it to charge quickly over a short period of time. For example, a user can get 5 hours of talk time after charging the headset for 20 minutes. • Any 3rd party USB charger can be used with Harley-Davidson products if the charger is approved by either the FCC, CE, IC or other locally approved agencies that Harley Davidson accepts.

 Checking the Battery Level There are two ways to check battery level, visually, with LEDs when powering on and audible method: press and hold the Phone Button and Jog Dial for more than 5 seconds as the headset powers on. A prompt will announce the remaining battery level. Note: When the battery is low while in use, you will hear a voice prompt saying “Low battery”.

 The Boom Bluetooth System comes with instructions, a Quick Start Guide, links to users guides and even a way to update it should you ever need to do that.

 I have had the opportunity to put some miles on wearing this helmet with the Boom Audio and I am Very Happy With It and I think you will as well.

 If you are interested you can get one at https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/shop/Boom-Audio-30K-Bluetooth-Helmet-Single-Headset/p/76000838

The link above also has more information about all the systems that can be used depending on what year and model motorcycle you have or will be riding.

 

 

Rights News

Meet LaCheryl Jones , the motorcyclist who is working at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And get the latest information about E15 fuels , a new bill to reduce distracted driving and the FCC decision on spectrum bandwidth, along with the State and Local Updates .

–AMA

It Better Be and Sunny and Bright 2021

Happy New Year!

It better be a good one! I hope everyone is staying safe and that by the middle of the year vaccines will have spread and the world can open up once more. I hope that Sturgis will be in full swing

And I hope the Bonneville International Speed Trials will be open and we can take our 45 flathead, Bonne Belle and the JIMS 135-inch powered Salt Torpedo to Bonneville for its first speed runs.

Let’s make the next year kick some ass and prove that freedom works.

Ride fast and free forever,

–Bandit

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