Hey,

I often say, “Life is nuts and then you die.” But there’s hope, at least on one front this week. There are two efforts happening this week in Wyoming and Montana to bring truth to the Climate Doom movement. It’s covered in the news.



Regarding the border. Who the fuck knows? Let’s hit the news:



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





LET’S KICK OFF THE NEWS WITH THE LATEST 100-WORD FICTION ENTRY—

Just finished third 18-hour shift in as many days. Dog tired, I dragged myself outside, straddled the ole Shovel and fired her to life. As I sat there letting the bike warm up, I thought, “why am I doing this?” Bills, bills, bills.

Eased out of the parking lot and headed home. My mind drifted a few times, which is not a good as I navigated backs streets trying to reach home for much needed rest.

Suddenly I snapped out of it. In front of me a huge truck …too late. I applied the brakes. There was an ungodly noise then … nothing.

–Rhys
Daytona, FL





ACTION NEEDED– California Introduces Bill to Mandate Speed Limiters

California has introduced SAN-opposed legislation to require new vehicles to be equipped with speed governors starting in model-year ’27. Speed governors, also known as intelligent speed limiters, use GPS technology to limit vehicle speed. If enacted into law, new vehicles would not be able to travel more than 10 mph above the speed limit.

Currently, devices that prevent vehicles from exceeding a certain speed are not required. Among other issues, this proposal makes broad assumptions about real-world circumstances. This one-size-fits-all approach fails to recognize the diversity of driving experiences and the individual responsibility that automotive enthusiasts take seriously.

California residents: use the following link to tell lawmakers to oppose mandatory speed limiters.

West Virginia, Kansas, Illinois and Iowa introduced bills to promote vehicle choice or prevent internal combustion engine bans.

–Sema







CO2 COALITION TAKES THE SCIENCE TO WYOMING—

Wyoming has vast resources of coal, oil and natural gas. With 40% of the nation’s coal resources, the state has been the United States’ top producer since 1986, primarily from the Powder River Basin located in the northeastern part of the state. It is also a national leader in the production of oil and natural gas, ranking in the top 10 in production of both products.

Yet, even though the Wyoming economy is heavily dependent on the mining and extraction of fossil fuels, its governor, Mark Gordon, has adopted a strong “decarbonization” policy. The science tells us that this is not a winning strategy for the people of Wyoming.

The CO2 Coalition believes that public policy on such matters should be driven by scientific review and analysis, not political agendas. To provide such an analysis, we have produced this report, Wyoming and Climate Change: CO2 Should Be Celebrated, Not Captured.

We also sent a team of climate experts from the CO2 Coalition, including Dr. William Happer, Dr. Byron Soepyan and Gregory Wrightstone to Wyoming to provide the facts concerning the huge benefits of carbon dioxide. This team presented the science at a hearing of the Wyoming Senate Agriculture Committee (pictured above.)

The team also presented accurate science regarding Wyoming’s climate to students at Gillette College, Laramie County Community College, and at the University of Wyoming.

The new report, Wyoming and Climate Change: CO2 Should Be Celebrated, Not Captured can be downloaded from the CO2 Coalition web site.







MONTANA’S HELD V. MONTANA CLIMATE LAWSUIT—

This week, our lawyer, Quentin Rhoades, filed our Amicus Brief to the Montana Supreme Court.

Thank you all who signed on as parties to out Brief.

Will the court overturn Held v Montana? If so, on what basis?

Our goal is to show how the plaintiffs’ scientific claims are invalid rather than to wax poetic on everything about climate.

Our Amicus Brief is a collaboration between me and Quentin Rhoades.

The science in our Brief is purposely simple. It is also new. If you want to help stop the climate fraud, read it.

https://edberry.com/amicus-brief/

–Ed Berry phd.





THE ROYAL ENFIELD REPORT–

Here are two photos of the new speedometer. I did 100 KM on it since Sunday installation. Actually, only got to ride it longer three days later.

An old photo I had sent when I purchased the motorcycle shows the old speedometer—the petrol tank has been replaced since then.



It’s hot here and the Bullet’s iron engine works differently than the newer aluminum engines in such torrid heat. Iron engines take longer to heat up and then cool down slower. They don’t start easily on cold days but once they start, they can go longer distances.



Another aspect is that iron as a metal can expand and contract. That affects performance and power. Either ways, there are benefits of a carburetor enabled engine Vs electronic fuel injection and then there is the ordeal of cleaning spark plugs and the carburetor.



The Enfield black hole

While I want to call the sturdy iron chassis and iron engine Enfield Bullet 350 a Black Rock, it is a black hole for now, consuming my money, petrol and engine oil at rapid pace while it thumps along at 60 kmph.

The speedometer went kaput last week. The needle was dancing around like it was possessed by a B-movie ghost. Then it finally broke off within the glass enclosure after pounding itself at one end of the meter. The Eighth Amendment would call it cruel and unusual punishment but I plead not guilty and non-jurisdiction in this self-inflicted crime.

There is no genuine nor replica speedometer available here as of now. Some Brits make cool Enfield stuff and sell it to themselves, congratulating each other on how their tradition is still alive and well, thanks to themselves. My mechanic assured me the older Classic 350’s speedometer will fit this damned thing. Older Classic 350s had a carburettor and the Enfield’s UCE engine. Then Enfield introduced their J-platform engine and chassis in the Classic 350 with electronic fuel-injection and a semi-digital and a why-bother-analog tag team for the speedometer.

I said it better be a black dial because otherwise, forget the needle, the kilometers are still rolling on this half-dead speedometer. It was an undead machinery residing in a 20 year old relic, which in itself is a surviving legacy of the original 1955 design as issued to the India factory by its British parent company.

Sunday was spent hanging around waiting for them to work on my motorcycle. While I felt like being plundered (not by the Brits), I handed over money for a taillight as well to my mechanic. The previous bulb in the tail light was so old and unkempt, it had ‘fused’ itself with the holder, as if welded into its place through rust.

All done and ready, the original speedometer did not see any saving grace nor memorial service. It was cast upon the concrete floor by the mechanic, as if thrashing the devil out of it. A man who clearly does not hoard completely useless junk unless to sell it to the recycling agents, it is the mechanic’s scrap and it will earn him as much as a cup of tea in junk recycling value.

The tail light is actually a parking light. I would have to shell out a lot more if I want it to shine when I hit the brakes. So whenever I push a button for the tiger lamps, the tail light also is turned on. Tiger lamps are the two tiny beady yellow eyes you see near the top of an Enfield Bullet’s headlamp. The mechanic has already said I will need a new headlamp soon enough and these original types won’t be available. Both the tyres are worn out as well and it is a spin of the wheel choice to see which functionality dies first.



Wow! I mean, I am trying to keep this beast in original shape and form and alive and kicking. Yet, it is getting body parts from fresh meat packed in factory and aftermarket sources. What’s the point? Maybe sell it and get the Harley-Davidson X440? Test ride the J-platform engine and chassis on the Enfield Classic 350?

The choice is strange. Both companies are increasingly adding modern tech and forgetting mechanical systems. Why not just go for a Honda or Kawasaki releasing their retro-themed motorcycles? Then there is the comfort of a car to consider since I do have one other motorcycle, the off-road ready Hero XPulse 200.

–Wayfarer
Hoarder of Goodies (HoG)





INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES FOR THIS WEEK–

“There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human, are created, strengthened and maintained.”
~ Winston Churchill





THIS JUST IN FROM GREASE & GEARS TV—

We’re thrilled to announce the release of a new Superfan Exclusive, Steve Mathes From Pulp MX & The 1981 Motocross Des Nations Team! We can’t wait for you to see it.
You can watch the video now on Grease & Gears TV Grease & Gears TV.

We hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Thank you for your continued support!







GOPRO MAKES HELMETS—

While some fight helmet laws — there are others craving a helmet with this top brand camera integrated into it.

A GoPro Motorcycle Helmet Is Coming: 5 Things to know so far

1. GoPro Plans To Launch Its First Tech-Enabled Motorcycle Helmet In 2025

2. GoPro Motorcycle Helmets Will Likely Be Sold To Riders Through Existing GoPro Motorsport-Related Retailers

3. GoPro Plans To Provide Motorcycle Helmet Tech Development Assistance To Other Premium Helmet Manufacturers

4. GoPro Plans To Extend Its Existing Subscription Plan Structures To Its Future Tech-Enabled Motorcycle Helmet Line

5. GoPro’s Current Forcite Helmets Acquisition Timeline Is Q1 Of 2024. GoPro had announced plans to acquire Australian smart helmet maker Forcite Helmets in January 2024.

–Wayfarer
Product Development Reporter
Bikernet.com™




READING WILLIE G’S BOOK RIDE FREE—

I’m enjoying every page. It’s a very personal account of the history of the Motor Company, the good times and bad. You’ll be stunned by the things the company and he survived.

For several decades, Willie was the sole designer until Louie Netz came along. That meant Willis was responsible for literature design, ads, logos, paint schemes and motorcycles.

It’s an incredible story, but an inspirational one and one that any business owner can learn from.

–Bandit





REPORT FROM THE MAY SHOP—

Hope you are staying warm up there. We had about a week of below 20 degrees and some snow but it is much better now. When I get the chopper up and rolling, I’ll put together a story.





Working on a ‘67 Chevy pickup to pay for the Monte Carlo. It’s all coming together going to paint scallops on the Ford to hide the bad bodywork. It runs great. Got to finish the interior. Wish I could afford that flathead you have in Goodguys.



Got the hardtail welded on and the rake set. I don’t have a jig but everything is straight and level, I promise. Also bought a modern classic ‘06 Monte Carlo. It’s awesome may have to sell my ‘51 cadalord.

–Bill May





LONG ROAD REPORT—

Hello everyone! It’s been at least a couple of years since I partied with some of you, and 5 years or more going back to pre-covid days since I’ve seen the rest.

A job change and change of management has made it possible to once again join y’all on the Long Road. This year, both Mike Allen and I have taken on the duties of planning the ride. I’m just putting out this e-mail to get the word out for those that may not have Facebook, that there will be a LONG ROAD ride to the SmokeOut this year.

The ride will start with us meeting Sunday Sept. 1st near Darrien Lake about 30 miles east of Buffalo. NY. With this starting point, it is reasonably close to the border and it offers the chance to any of you who have never seen Niagara Falls, the opportunity to witness this magnificent wonder!

From there, we venture south into central Pennsylvania for a one night stop at a great location on Monday the 2nd.

Next, we will ride west to an area along the Ohio River straddling the Ohio West/Virginia state line to another prime camping area Tuesday Sept 3rd.

Following that, Wednesday Sept 4th will see our group travel diagonally back into the southern area of West Virginia.

Finally, we’re off to our last destination in Virginia for one last night of revelry around the campfire on Thursday Sept 5th.

Friday Sept 6th sees us depart for our The SmokeOut for the weekend debauchery!

For those of you that may not have heard, a premium custom motorcycle magazine, Cycle Source has taken over The Smoke Out and for the past two years, have taken it back to the most famous (not the first) location where it was held from the 3rd edition in 2002 to the 9th edition in 2008.

I just wanted to put the bug in everyone’s ear about the dates and give a rough idea of where the ride will take us so that anyone who has to book their holidays has the chance to do so.

Take care, and I will provide an update in the next few weeks.






TEXAS WEATHER REPORT OR NOT–

REASON: Replacement of charging system, even though that rigging is working & Inspection of shifter shaft splines as arm is very loose.



LESSON: What I’ve learned, a 4-inch PVC coupling is 5” (too large)and although Lowe’s has Veteran Parking, they do not have 7/16-20 bolts. So, on the second journey, yes Home Depot does carry 7/16-20 bolts, still had to cut threads to the end of a 3-inch bolt. Then when I went to cut down the PVC, some dumbass put a shelf right next to the vise, which does not spin to the left! So even though I marked it evenly, I was trying to cut into the shelf.



Just because it looks good on paper, the handle from your Snap On Tap & Die set cannot handle the compression task!

I was going to go with 3 compression bars for strength, but after drilling the 4 holes, pilot and main, in the 2 compression bars, I realized I need a freakin drill press! So, 2 should work, really how much pressure can it take?

Once you start compressing the diaphragm, don’t take the snap ring for the adjuster plate out dumbass! Reinsert the bent adjuster plate snap ring and continue to tighten the rigged tool, right to the edge as failure was poking its ugly head out!

Yes, I got it off for under $15 with gas, 4.5 to 5 hours labor at 175.00 an hour (I’m expensive) I’ll be ordering the frickin’ JIMS tool!! The 4 & 6-Speed are so simple! And apparently both Lowe’s & Home Depot are out of Garage Stretchers!

Screw it, I’m going for a ride!

–RFR-FXR Life







I WROTE TO THE NATIONAL MOTORISTS ASSOCIATION–

I followed the NMA for years through your weekly informative emails. Then they stopped. I published and shared those news items often. I’m very involved in motorcyclists rights and the Motorcycle Riders Foundation. I also try to work with SEMA, but in so many cases they seem lost.

I received this printed piece and read the entire booklet.

Here’s my take on your policy position. I agree with most of them, but there’s a problem. If we are doomed because of Fossil Fuel induced Climate Change, we have virtually given bureaucrats an open license to attack everything, including humans who breathe out CO2.

Until we break the doom, we don’t have a leg to stand on. I came up with a resolution for truth which I share with anyone who will listen. Until the truth shines, they’ll keep coming.

Okay, back to the policies. There should be choice and no EV mandates. Level the playing field, but we can’t we’re doomed unless we act.

Infrastructure, which includes cameras is critical. Our streets and bridges need help. This is especially important for motorcycles. There are important infrastructure efforts in Europe that save lives.

And yes, if you want to save all travel, Climate Change must be exposed.

Exposing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is critical.

Maybe, and this is just a thought, you might put your heads together and come up with a Drivers’ Bill of Rights and maybe it should contain a Right to Repair or modify segment.

Good luck this year. It will be absolutely critical.

All the best,

–Bandit
Bikernet.com™







QUICK, AN UPLIFTING PAUSE FROM THE BIKERNET THOUGHT TEMPLE–

Today I Choose to live the Fullness of Life

What the Mind can conceive and believe, the Mind will Achieve! Napoleon Hill

If you think you can or if you think you can’t, your right.
–Henry Ford

Today, I consciously choose to embrace the fullness of life. I recognize that what my mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve, as wisely stated by Napoleon Hill. I affirm that my thoughts and beliefs shape my reality, echoing the sentiment of Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

In this moment, I declare that I live expansively, free from the constraints of obstacles, challenges, doubt, or fear. I trust in the presence of Infinite Intelligence within me, guiding me effortlessly through every situation. The divine light within me illuminates any darkness, paving the way for magnificent manifestations.

Today, I am mindful of my words and thoughts, releasing anything and anyone that does not serve my highest good. I am aligned with my goals, both grand and modest, and I actively harness the power of the Universal Law for my benefit. As I express my inherent goodness, I inspire others to awaken to their own potential.

I release all false and limiting beliefs from my mind, echoing Zig Ziglar’s wisdom: “Get rid of your stinkin’ thinkin’ and have a check-up from the neck up.” Today, I embrace clarity of thought and openness to new possibilities, knowing that my mind is a powerful tool for creating the life I desire.

My Affirmation is inspired by the words of Ernest Holmes. “I now climb a ladder of thought that takes me above all confusion. Climbing joyously, I pass through the clouds of fear and doubt. I behold the light everywhere. I sense the enveloping presence of Love everywhere. The good that I desire, I now affirm and accept, knowing that my definite intention produces definite results.”

My Gratefulness to know this Truth, My Truth, is beyond words. It wells up at the core of my being, lighting up My Life.

Today I make great choices.

And So It Is

Namaste’

Every mind must make its choice between truth and repose. It cannot have both.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

–Yale







JUST WHAT YOU NEED FROM MORRIS MAGNETO–
$34.00







NEWS FROM THE CLIMATE DEPOT–

Congress and Courts enable Energy and Climate Fantasy and Tyranny
–Paul Driessen

The left end of the political spectrum is relentlessly pursuing the transformation of America’s society, history, economy, speech, borders, governing systems, healthcare, energy and living standards. What it cannot secure via the ballot box and alliances with the legacy media and academic institutions, it works to impose through rule by unelected, unaccountable Executive Branch bureaucrats, collusive sue-and-settle legal actions, and court decisions that too often rubberstamp agency rules.

Instead of three co-equal divisions of government, the powers and functions of America’s Legislative and Judicial Branches have steadily been subsumed into an ever expanding, progressive and aggressive Executive Branch. Many legislators and judges have acquiesced or actively participated.

The federal workforce has swollen to two million non-military employees, who “liberally” interpret, apply and enforce laws and policies. The Federal Register of regulations, explanations and justifications has ballooned from 50,998 pages in 1984, to a Jabba-the-Hutt 90,402 pages in 2023. Few can read, much less comprehend and comply with the intricate edicts.

Members of Congress want to be seen “doing something” to address perceived problems, often by passing new laws and spending more money. However, instead of actually tackling difficult, controversial issues, they frequently make policy declarations, enact deliberately ambiguous statutory provisions, and rely on Executive Branch cohorts to interpret, stretch or even rewrite the vague language, mostly advancing agency powers and agendas.

The US Supreme Court’s landmark 1984 decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council expanded this centralization of power even more significantly.

The “Chevron deference doctrine” holds that – when faced with regulations that are based on ambiguous, or nonexistent, statutory text – lower courts should always defer to administrative agencies’ interpretations of the text, as long as the interpretations are “reasonable.”

Chevron deference has let federal agencies expand their domain and control in hundreds of instances. Affected citizens often have little recourse, as long as the impact of an individual rule can be viewed as small and the agency interpretation as not patently unreasonable.

In those situations, the 2022 Supreme Court decision in West Virginia v. EPA is of little help, because it only addresses “major questions,” agency decisions that have “major” economic or political significance.

However, the Court recently heard oral arguments on two cases that give it an opportunity to curtail or end this wholesale deference to federal agencies. Both cases ask whether small fishing boats can be required to pay $700 per day to take observers along with them, to ensure the boats are following fisheries rules. Relevant law allows the government to require fishing boats to carry observers – but does not say the boats must pay for them, and Congress never appropriated any funds to cover observers.

So, on its own, the National Marine Fisheries Service decided it had the authority to compel boats to shoulder the cost. The case could have enormous implications for the perpetually expanding Deep State.

The Justices could rule in favor of NMFS, even though monetary impacts that are small by federal governing and budgetary standards are major, even potentially ruinous for fishing boats.

They could hold that the agency interpretation in this single instance was “unreasonable” – and overturn this single rulemaking out of thousands issued since 1984, while leaving the Chevron doctrine intact and available for future abuse.

Or they could overturn Chevron. Doing so would end the appalling deference to powerful government agencies; reduce the growing imbalance between the Executive and Legislative Branches; and make it harder for circuit and appellate courts to support activist regulators.

A reversal might even prod Congress to enact laws that tackle hard questions, use precise language, and tighten the reins on unelected regulators, especially when they serve presidents who want to “fundamentally transform” our energy use, immigration system, economy and military.

The third option would also help America curb climate and energy fantasy and tyranny.

It’s certainly true that most federal actions taken to “save our planet from the existential threat of manmade climate change” are “major” or “significant” in their societal, economic, ecological and national security impacts – and thus subject to the Supreme Court’s “major questions doctrine.”

However, that Court has not defined “major.” Moreover, even actions that most Americans would call “major” can end up being upheld, and agencies can claim significant actions are actually “minor” or can simply ignore court decisions that don’t apply explicitly to the agency or action in question.

Even in the climate and energy arena alone, hundreds of “minor” decisions can coalesce into massive disruptions and costs. It’s certainly reasonable to argue that questions of Chevron deference should examine the totality of impacts – and whether a decision can actually pass a rational, evidence-based “reasonableness” test. To cite just a few examples, is it reasonable to defer to federal agencies that:

* Impose government-wide mandates to terminate America’s coal, oil and natural gas extraction and use, based on computer models whose scary forecasts: (a) are built on the assumption that climate change and weather events are driven by fossil-fuel-related carbon dioxide and methane, which together represent barely 0.042% of Earth’s atmosphere; and (b) are not supported by actual, real-world data on temperatures, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, droughts and sea levels?

* Keep oil and gas locked in the ground before they have any workable plan for replacing feed stocks for plastics, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers and thousands of other vital products?

* Compel families and businesses to replace gasoline vehicles and gas ovens, stoves, furnaces and water heaters with electric models – while regulators replace reliable, affordable fossil fuel power with intermittent, weather-dependent wind and solar power?

* Close down coal and gas-fired generators before sufficient, reliable, affordable replacement electricity is available – and before a single project anywhere in the world has demonstrated that wind, solar and battery electricity alone can power even a small village?

* Demand that families purchase supposedly energy- or water-efficient washing machines and dishwashers, even though the new machines must run longer or even twice to get clothes or dishes clean – thereby requiring more electricity and water?

* Effectively mandate electric vehicles before there are sufficient charging stations, electricity for those stations, or even metals and minerals to manufacture all the EVs, charging stations, wind turbines, solar panels and transmission lines?

* Assert that wind, solar and battery power are clean, green, renewable and sustainable, while ignoring the monumental amounts of mining and processing – and attendant habitat and wildlife destruction, toxic air and water pollution, and child labor – involved in obtaining the nonrenewable metals and minerals for those technologies?

* Insist that the United States slash or eliminate its fossil fuel use, while China, India and 100 other countries (including Germany) are extracting and burning more oil, gas and coal every year?

Courts should not view government actions in a vacuum. Many agency decisions are reasonable only in an alternative universe where individual and cumulative economic, ecological and social realities play no role. The era of Chevron deference should be brought to a close.

Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor to the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of books and articles on energy, pollution, climate change and human rights.







[page break]



HELPING A HERO—

Charles W. Herbster and Lee Greenwood Presented with the Helping a Hero Defense of Freedom Award by Combat Wounded Heroes

On Saturday, February 3, 2024, Charles W. Herbster, President and Owner of the Conklin Company, and country music legend Lee Greenwood were awarded the Helping a Hero Defense of Freedom Award. This award recognizes great Americans who have gone the extra mile to defend freedom.

The Defense of Freedom Award is a very rare award that has only been presented three other times, with all recipients chosen by the combat-wounded heroes of Helping A Hero. Previous recipients include actor Chuck Norris, Marcus Luttrell, the Navy Seal better known as the Lone Survivor, and Joanne King Herring, who was the real-life inspiration behind the movie Charlie Wilson’s War.

Charles W. Herbster was recognized by Helping A Hero for being a consistent leader supporting our military, veterans, and first responders. He is known for his selfless dedication to those who defend our freedom and keep us safe. When Charles heard a wounded warrior in his home state of Nebraska was in need, he stepped up to the plate.

On July 31, 2006, while deployed with the Nebraska National Guard in Iraq, Army Sergeant Ben Marksmeier of Wisner, Nebraska, was gravely wounded when terrorists detonated a roadside bomb hitting his convoy. Ben was officially declared dead, and one of his dog tags was removed before an Army Specialist noticed a slight twitch from his body. Despite doubt about the report, doctors and nurses decided to try to revive him one more time, and it worked.

The Army awarded SGT Ben Marksmeier the Bronze Star for saving his fellow soldier’s life while at personal risk. Ben, who lost his leg in the explosion, thought of his fellow soldier first and threw him from the burning vehicle to safety while he was still trapped in the vehicle and critically injured.

In that attack, Ben lost his right leg and suffered extreme injuries to his left leg. Ben has undergone dozens of surgeries as doctors are still working to save his left leg, including one surgery during a month-long stay at Walter Reed in 2023.

Due to his catastrophic injuries and the ongoing battle to save his remaining leg, Ben needs an adapted home. Ben is a single dad raising his two youngest sons, Ryker, 7, and Mason, 9. He is also the proud father of 17-year-old Caiden. In addition to being an active parent, Ben started his own woodworking business. Major General Roger Lemke, the former Adjutant General of the Nebraska National Guard, and Colonel Kevin Neumann nominated Ben for an adapted home from Helping a Hero. Music legend Lee Greenwood surprised SGT Marksmeier and his three sons on national television and told them that Ben would receive an adapted home as part of the Johnny Morris 100 Homes Challenge.

Having been chosen to receive a home, one piece was missing: the land where the home would be built. After hearing of Ben’s incredible story and his need for a home in Nebraska, Charles W. Herbster agreed to donate all the funding needed to purchase the perfect piece of land for Ben near Springfield, Nebraska.

“All the pain I go through every day, there is no regret. I signed up when I was seventeen because I wanted to give back to my country what my country gave me: freedom. I am grateful beyond what my words can express to Charles W. Herbster and Johnny Morris for caring about my service,” said Marksmeier.

“When I got the news about the home, it was breathtaking. Then, Mr. Herbster wanted to give us some beautiful land, and now I can instill in my sons the work ethic of farming on this land. This has filled my heart with a little more motivation, which is hard,” Marksmeier said.

Meredith Iler, Founder of the Helping a Hero Home Program, said the home and land given by Johnny Morris and Charles W. Herbster will transform the life of Ben and his sons. “Ben wants to be an example of strength for his sons, and Johnny Morris and Charles W. Herbster are giving him that priceless gift through this adapted home custom-built just for Ben,” Iler said.

The second Defense of Freedom recipient, Lee Greenwood, is an American icon best known for his hit patriotic song God Bless The USA. Throughout his career, Lee has worked tirelessly to thank and support our military personnel, wounded warriors, and their families. Lee served as the Helping A Hero National Ambassador for 12 years. Lee is a rare celebrity who loves our heroes in and out of the spotlight. He has performed and presented the keys to adapted homes to over 30 heroes, including Specialist JP Lane, USA (Ret), a double amputee who nominated him for this award. Lee worked tirelessly for over a decade to support the Helping A Hero mission to build homes for our catastrophically wounded heroes. Helping A Hero proudly presents Lee Greenwood with the Defense of Freedom Award for his devotion and dedication to our wounded heroes.

The Defense of Freedom Awards were presented to Charles W. Herbster and Lee Greenwood by Helping A Hero Ambassadors and Purple Heart Recipients United States Army Specialist (Ret) JP Lane and United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant (Ret) Daniel Gilyeat during the 2024 Conklin National Convention. Nebraska State Senator, United States Army Colonel (Ret), and Purple Heart recipient Thomas Brewer was also recognized during the ceremony. SGT Ben Marksmeier was scheduled to be recognized but had to attend via video due to ongoing complications from his injuries.







INDEPENDENT MOTORCYCLE SHOPS UNDER ATTACK–

Proprietary tools and diagnostics are limiting what can be done by independent shops. These shops are a cornerstone of our lifestyle and the way we take care of our motorcycles. When Dealerships will no longer work on our bikes, we turn to these folks and now the Manufacturers are putting them out of business!

Do you own an independent shop or know someone who does? Do you get your work done at a favorite independent? Independent shops need to join together now and fight this with the rest of the motorcycling community.

On March 6th, 2024, at 8:00 am, there will be a gathering of shop owners at the Broken Spoke Saloon in Ormond Beach, Florida. Make sure the owners of your favorite shop are there! Especially if you own that favorite shop!



About the Independent Motorcycle Aftermarket

Founded on the principle to protect independent dealers and custom bike builders’ rights to repair and modify motorcycles. The IMA membership is determined to keep us free.

We are fortunate to be aligned with the MRF, Motorcycle Riders Foundation, which fought to protect our culture for over 40 years, has excellent lobbying efforts in D.C and is connected to state organizations all over the country.

The IMA is pro-active and working on these issues every day, but we need your support now. The attack on internal combustion engines and the free-thinking values of the biker lifestyle makes support of the IMA an urgent and critical matter.

Go to mrf.org/join and click on the search button.

https://mrf.org/join/join-mrf-imac/

STURGIS MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM NEWS—

The Museum and Hall of Fame Names New Executive Director and Board Members



The Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame recently announced the appointment of Heidi Haro as Executive Director and four new members of the museum’s board of directors.

“Heidi has tremendous energy along with expertise in delivering superb guest experiences, she’s already bringing great new ideas to her museum team,” said Board President Craig Bailey. “Heidi lives here in the Black Hills, so she knows how special this area is for motorcycle riders.”

Haro has earned bachelor’s degrees in both Business Administration and Social Sciences. She was previously an executive with Aramark, a nationwide food service and facilities administration contractor. During her 14 years with the company, she developed high performance teams focused on delivering great experiences for guests at three universities in South Dakota and Minnesota.

“We want to make sure that every motorcycle fan coming through the Black Hills to know to stop in and connect with the bikes and the stories that live here in the museum,” said Haro. “This is a special place that reflects the spirit of the riding community.”

“I grew up in a family that loved the outdoors, so outdoor recreation, like motorcycling, holds a special place for me,” she continued. Haro started spending summers in the Black Hills in 1998 and moved to the area full time 4 years ago. She has four children and seven grandchildren. In her new role, Haro has a seat on the Museum’s board.

The Sturgis Museum Board also named several new members to its board of directors.



Keith “Bandit” Ball, a military veteran, former editorial director of Easyriders Magazine and currently the owner of Bandit’s Bikernet, joined the board and has taken the position of Secretary. Ball an accomplished writer and novelist, is well known in the motorcycle industry for his stunning custom bikes and his influence on custom culture through a variety of media, including print, television and online. Ball lives in Deadwood, South Dakota.



Ari Levenbaum is co-owner and CEO of the American Association of Motorcycle Injury Lawyers (AAMIL), known as the Law Tigers. He started working part-time for the organization in 2002 while also working as a full-time middle school teacher. He ultimately purchased an interest in AAMIL in 2014 and became COO at that time. As a rider, Ari has a unique understanding of the motorcycle community, which is reflected in his role with the Law Tigers. He lives in Arcadia, Arizona.



Scott Peterson, is the founder of Scott Peterson Motors in Sturgis and Belle Fourche, SD, an auto and truck retailer in the area. Peterson operated the award-winning dealerships for three decades until selling them recently. Peterson has been a driving force in the Sturgis community and is noted for his commitment to business excellence and his dedication to uplifting the lives of those around him.



Kirk Willard has been President and Board Chairman of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, the predominant rider’s rights organization in the country, since 2006. His involvement in motorcyclists’ rights goes back further than that, as he has held membership and leadership positions in rights groups throughout the country. Willard was awarded the Freedom Fighter Award by the Sturgis Museum in 2018. He lives in Wausau, Wisconsin and has ridden to the Sturgis Rally 38 times.

The other members of the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum board of directors are:
Craig Bailey (President),
Mark Carstensen (representing the City of Sturgis),
Paul Fosdyck (Treasurer),
Darcy Harbott,
Scott Jacobs,
Chuck Potts,
Irv Stone (Vice President),
Tim Sutherland,
Vinny Terranova,
Keith Terry and
Rod Woodruff.

“Hang on for Hall of Fame announcements in the very near future. The breakfast is nearly sold out.” –Bandit







BRAND New Bikernet Reader Comment!–

John’s 1960 Panhead 4-Speed Rebuild

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/Johns_1960_Panhead_4Speed_Rebuild.aspx

Oh, that’s why the tranny I rebuilt had to be rebuilt. Thanks for all the helpful hints.

— Sam
TX







STURGIS MAYOR STEPS DOWN –

After serving the City of Sturgis for many years, Sturgis Mayor Mark Carstensen said he has decided to prioritize his life differently and will step down as mayor effective immediately.

“I need more time for family and growth in my faith,” said Carstensen who has a wife and three young boys.

Under the laws of South Dakota, when a mayor resigns, the City Council President steps into the role of mayor. In this case, the city’s Council President is Beka Zerbst. Zerbst has called a special meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14, to address the mayor’s resignation and facilitate the appointment of a new mayor.

Carstensen began his time as a public servant in Sturgis in 2009 and served one term on the city council before running for mayor.

He began his 13th year as mayor of Sturgis when he called to order the 2023-2024 session of the Sturgis City Council last May.

Carstensen said it has been a privilege to serve the community.

“We have come a long way from when I first took this seat,” Carstensen said.

From Winter Storm Atlas to the 75th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the mayor has been at the helm for some watershed moments in Sturgis during his tenure.

“I want to thank all of those who have supported me on this journey,” he said.

–Sturgis







MORRIS MAG ON SHOP TALK—

Join Eric on Shop Talk tonight! The show starts at 9 pm EST. You can tune in via Cycle Source’s Facebook page, YouTube channel, or Grease and Gears TV. Thanks to Chris and Heather for their support.







ANOTHER INSPIRING QUOTE OF THE WEEK—

“What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven’t even happened yet.”
~ Anne Frank

Epoch Times







NEW PROJECT Bikernet Reader Comment!-–

VL,XA,FL KNUCKLEHEAD BUILD, PART 5

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/VLXAFL_KNUCKLEHEAD_BUILD_PART_5.aspx

What a fantastic project. I am very impressed with your ingenuity and welding skills. This is one of the trickiest builds I have seen in decades and it does my old blood pumper good to see you are still hard at work building outta-sight creations.

–Shovelhead Dave
davidpittman@live.com
Milwaukee, WI

“Thanks brother. I’m in the throws of final assembly. I took the rear wheel off a half-dozen times yesterday. I’m thinking of John Reed’s rule of the mechanics.” –Bandit





JUST LIKE CALIFORNIA-–

A new bill recently proposed by a Californian assemblywoman would ban children under 12 from riding electric bikes. It would also require riders who are at least 12 and without a driver’s license to complete an online course, take a written test, and get a state ID to operate an e-bike.

This bill is in response to an increasing number of younger riders wanting an e-bike for an efficient way to commute to and from school and have some form of autonomy without having a driver’s license.

If you’re interested in covering this new bill, at what age it is safe for someone to ride an e-bike, and why e-bikes are so appealing to the next generation, CEO Bill Klehm of e-bike manufacturer eBliss Global is available for interview and commentary. eBliss Global is launching its Always Bike brand in auto dealerships across America.

Let me know if you’re interested in interviewing Bill Klehm on this or relating stories. Please find a short bio below.

–Adam Romero
Ericho Communications

“New York wants to Ban E-bikes due to fire hazards.” –Bandit



SPEAKING OF FIRE HAZARDS and EV Bikes—

Funny you should mention a fire hazard… I guess you heard what happened at AIM Expo on the first day: the hall was cleared because of an e-bike battery fire…

–Marilyn Stemp







PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE WEEK—Eugenio Flammini







–Sam Burns
Photo Editor
Bikernet.com™





WHAT’S NEW AT THE GREASY KULTURE— New issue 97: Todd Asin does it again

He weaves magic with his welder and definitely has the ‘eye’. Todd’s latest build, this stunning ’46 Knuck, won at Born Free last summer and wowed the crowds at the Yokohama Mooneyes show in December.

Every bike that rolls out of his Small City Cycles workshop in Boise, Idaho, is feature-worthy and in new issue 97 you can read all about this show-stopping Harley FL: who said green bikes are unlucky?







SPIED ON THE ROAD— World’s first Production Model Cargo Motorcycle

‘World’s first’ cargo Two-Wheeler aims to be a disruptor in logistics

After around six years of development work, an electric scooter designed to be a cargo carrier, is gearing up for commercial production. Customer trials of this EV, by a Pune city, India, start-up, have begun, and its market introduction is expected during the first half of this year.

Two-wheelers including scooters, motorcycles, mopeds and even bicycles are commonly seen on India’s roads, delivering everything from groceries, medicines, restaurant orders to online orders from the top ecommerce websites. Most private courier delivery companies also empoy two-wheelers. These vehicles work for B2B as well as B2C sectors.

City traffic will always spot these buzzing around trying to get ahead to make maximum deliveries per day. So it is not a rural trend at all, though that’s the fastest growing market for two-wheelers.

Fleet management concepts today already includes a fleet of two-wheelers by entrepreneurs who take up franchises for making deliveries. These are mostly e-bikes with government grants.

Refer Sources:
https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/two-wheelers/born-in-india-worlds-first-cargo-2w-aims-to-be-a-disruptor-in-logistics/107665852


–Wayfarer
International Editor
Bikernet.com™





CHOPPERS MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION SALES—

THE WAIT IS OVER US SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE BACK



New 2024 US domestic subscriptions are available now for issues 15, 16, 17, and 18. We only open up subs for a limited time, so get on it if you don’t want to miss out.

ORDER HERE







[page break]



ABATE of Illinois–Statehouse Update

Always See the latest at
abate-il.org/bills

Thank you to the members who made their voices heard about wanting to continue with email updates. Friday was bill filing deadline, and we’ll have lots to talk about in the coming weeks, but one bill already caught our attention for all the wrong reasons. – Josh “SKI” Witkowski, State Legislative Coordinator.

Want to make your voice heard? Join Us for Legislative Day – April 17th

Representative Daniel Didech proposes Mandatory Helmet Bill for Illinois Motorcyclists

State Representative Daniel Didech snuck in proposed legislation (HB5620) to force motorcyclists in Illinois to wear DOT rated helmets just before bill filing deadline on Friday. The Representative from Buffalo Grove wants to take away your fundamental right to choose what gear to wear when riding.

Legislators return to Springfield February 20th and ABATE will be there to make sure this bill doesn’t move. In the meantime, talk to your friends who live in Buffalo Grove, Deerfield, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, Vernon Hills, and Mundelin to let them know what their State Representative is up to.

Questions email: Legislative@abate-il.org







PAUGHCO AND MONDO BUILDING CAPTAIN AND BILLY BIKES—

That’s right. If you want an improved replica of the classic Easy Rider bikes they are building them. Paughco supplies the parts and Mondo handles the construction.



–Bandit







NEWS FROM THE CO2 COALITION—

This past year, the CO2 Coalition published papers, special reports, as well as filed official comments on important rules and regulations proposed by governmental agencies. Each of these publications represent hundreds of hours in research, writing and editing.

•American Midwest and Climate Change: Life in America’s Breadbasket is Good and Getting Better. This report is the third in our planned series of state and regional studies on how climate change may affect various portions of the United States and the World. We specifically addressed assertions by the 4th U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA4) that the American Midwest will suffer from climate change and found them to be scientifically invalid and contrary to reality.

•Testimony and commentary on the EPA’s Proposed Power Plant Regulations and the Department of Energy’s Proposed Gas Stove Standards helps push science back into the policy debates raging at the federal level.

•Challenging Net Zero with Science. This 55-page paper details how Net Zero Plans are dangerous and unsupported by science. Six hundred million years of geological evidence shows that CO2 levels are near a record low and that atmospheric increases of the gas follow warming periods rather than precede them. This is enough to debunk the notion that CO2 is a dominant driver of global temperatures.

But the hidden power of the CO2 Coalition resides in our large number of active members who publish, present, and speak to advance our message.

This year, our membership has increased to more than 150 distinguished colleagues. We have added 33 new members so far in 2023, including these notable individuals:

•Dr. John Clauser, Ph.D., was recently added to the CO2 Coalition’s Board of Directors. He is the recipient of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics. In a recent lecture to a Korean conference on Quantum Mechanics he stated that “the IPCC is one of the worst sources of dangerous misinformation … I believe that climate change is not a crisis.”

•Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford – Gen. Stafford is best recognized for his efforts in space, having piloted numerous missions, including Gemini 6A and 9A. He was commander of Apollo 10 and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. His proudest achievement is initiating and leading the American stealth program that culminated in development of the Advanced Tactical Fighter and the F-22A Stealth Fighter.

These and our other distinguished members provide scientific input and have proved invaluable in helping to create our commentaries, educational initiatives and publications.

Our members are like a small army of unpaid staff working tirelessly to advance our message. They are a force multiplier allowing us to punch well above our weight class.
When we receive an op-ed, we run it through our editorial process and then find a top-rated site to publish it. These online sites have included Real Clear Energy, Washington Times, American Thinker, Washington Examiner and many more. After publication, our commentaries are shared widely on websites and newsletters of our allies in the cause.



The commentaries, interviews, publications, and op-eds have put our message before more than an estimated 20 million people this past year. And with your continued support, I believe this number will grow in 2024.

–Greg Wrightstone
Executive Director







BANDIT’S CANTINA BAD JOKE LIBRARY IS NOW OPEN—

While in China, an American man is very sexually promiscuous and does not use a condom the entire time he is there.

A week after arriving back home in the States, he wakes one morning to find his penis covered with bright green and purple spots.

Horrified, he immediately goes to see a doctor. The doctor, never having seen anything like this before, orders some tests and tells the man to return in two days for the results.

The man returns a couple of days later and the doctor says, “I’ve got bad news for you, you’ve contracted Mongolian VD. It’s very rare and almost unheard of here in the US, we know very little about it.”

The man looks a little perplexed and says, “Well, give me a shot or something and fix me up, Doc.”

The doctor answers, “I’m sorry, there’s no known cure. We’re going to have to amputate your penis.”

The man screams in horror, “Absolutely not! I want a second opinion!!!”

The doctor replies, “Well, it’s your choice. Go ahead if you want, but surgery is your only option.”

The next day, the man seeks out a Chinese doctor, figuring that he’ll know more about the disease.

The Chinese doctor examines his penis and proclaims, “Ah, yes, Mongolian VD. Vewy lare disease.”

The guy says to the doctor, “Yeah, yeah, I already know that, but what can we do? My American doctor wants to cut off my penis!”

The Chinese doctor shakes his head and laughs. “Stupid American docttah, always want operlate. Make more money dat way. No need amputate!”

“Oh, thank Goodnessd!” the man exclaims.

“Yes,” says the Chinese doctor, “Wait two week. Faw off by itself!”

–Rik Savenko







MOTORCYCLE BANS–Anti-Noise Crusaders In Paris Want A Partial Motorcycle Ban

It’s just the latest battle over combustion-powered two-wheelers in the French capital.

The city council of Paris, France is reportedly considering a partial motorcycle and scooter ban inside the city limits in February 2024.

Electric motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds of all shapes and sizes would not be affected by the proposed ban.

For the many who use scooters and motorcycles for daily affordable commute, Pierre-Yves Bournazel, an official pushing this ban proposes doubling current financial assistance programs to encourage combustion bike riders to try other, quieter forms of transport.

French Federation of Angry Bikers suggests that one of leaders of Ras le Scoot, a group that campaigns against motorbikes in general, works for an e-bike and cargo bike company as his day job (as is clearly shown on the man’s LinkedIn profile). The implication (not an allegation) is corruption and profiting from public office.

Sources:
https://www.rideapart.com/news/707970/paris-motorcycle-scooter-ban-noise/

–Wayfarer
Motorcycle Investigator
Bikernet International News Bureau
Mumbai





ANOTHER QUOTE OF THE WEEK—

“A bad day on a bike always beats a good day at the office.”
–Sturgis Rally 2024





Fink Dog Couple!

Get into the Valentine’s & Black Hills Spirit with the 2024 Fink Couple Prairie Dog Shirt





Lawmakers Hit NHTSA on Fuel Economy Proposal—

Late last month, 120 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate sent a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) slamming proposed changes to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for passenger cars and light trucks.

The proposal by NHTSA would require an industry fleet-wide average for passenger cars and light trucks of roughly 58 miles per gallon by 2032.

The NHTSA proposal came soon after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced new emission standards which would effectively require 67.5% of U.S. vehicle sales to be electric by 2032. Congress has attempted legislative action to stop the EPA proposal with H.R. 4468 (Passed on 12/6/23) and S. 3094 The Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Acts. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation supports both bills and urges the Senate to follow the lead of the House and pass the bill.

This letter makes it clear that many lawmakers believe NHTSA has overstepped its authority with these proposed guidelines. Lawmakers state, “Nowhere in law did Congress authorize NHTSA to set fuel economy standards that effectively mandate electric vehicles, while at the same time force the internal combustion engine out of the market.”

The letter outlines numerous concerns regarding the quick shift away from internal combustion engines, saying these proposals act as a “De facto mandate for electric vehicles that threatens to raise costs and restrict consumer choice, harm U.S. businesses, degrade our energy and national security and hand the keys of our automotive industry over to our adversaries, especially China.”

The MRF thanks the lawmakers who have pushed back against NHTSA’s attempt to eliminate the internal combustion engine. The MRF also sent a letter to NHTS on this topic back in October, so we are grateful to see legislators addressing this issue.

–MRF







HOLD ON, J.J. HAS A RECOMMENDATION—

Overland letter I just mailed to my so-called “representative” in Congress. THIS is how you write to your Congressman.

Dear Judy Chu; I got your laminated foot-long campaign cardboard sheet placard in the mail a day or two ago. I actually read it. Apparently you are running for Congress and, apparently you having managed to persuade DC to ruin the only drivable corridor in Arcadia….is something you are not only proud of…..you apparently think – or assumed – I would be just as delighted as you at the idea of a 3 million dollar government squander being used to ….make things worse than they already are.

You sent this to me: this notion, this revelation, this plan, this Good Idea you have set into motion….so that I would be all excited and thank you by keeping you on the job via my magical vote. Actually this was mailed to Cecily, but she doesn’t do politics, but let’s say you sent it to me, I’m the one who gets the mail, and I suppose you assumed, since you are sending these to likely every household in Arcadia, I suppose you assumed that the reader would be as entranced by this proposed ruination of the only drivable corridor in Arcadia…..as you are in fact apparently entranced by ruining it.

Let me see if I can guess: you are going to cut it down from four lanes to two. This way when people use it to escape the relentless tie-ups on the freeway right next to it….they can enter an even bigger tie-up on the Co. Blvd corridor that begins at Michellinda. Whereas at the moment they can proceed at an almost normal pace when the 210 turns into long piece of motional statuary. Which it does a hundred times a day.

And let me guess that you’re going to install bike lanes as a courtesy to people who do not have to get a license and an annual registration to have their own lanes in the automobile roadway. You know where they’re going to ride their little bikes? On the sidewalks you are going to install.

They have learned that bike-riders in bike lanes are looked upon as targets of opportunity by the people paying license and registration fees. The sidewalks will also be good for another use: bum, vagrant, illegal, deranged, diseased, violent, crazed, often naked, squatters in blue tents since they are routinely chased off the properties of the “homed” and out of the stores from which they are stealing liquor and cannot be apprehended because THAT’S illegal.

And then there will be the delays due to what will likely be a ten year “improvement schedule” which will entail a multi million dollar cost overrun due to probably a decision to “beautify” an already perfect corridor with “climate-friendly” stonework and cactus down the center of the road.

And you’re actually excited about all this chaos you are creating, just, bam, out of the blue in what you likely consider to be your own personal eureka-moment. I’m supposed to vote for you because of this. Do I have that right?

–J.J. Solari

endo





MRF ROADSHOW STOPS–ABATE of Wisconsin and National Council of Clubs

This past weekend was the annual Officer’s Training for ABATE of Wisconsin. The MRF was well represented at the event. Present were MRF President Kirk “Hardtail” Willard, Board Member Dave Dwyer, WI State MRF Representative Jen Abraham, Assistant State Reps Cathy Dial, Becky “Quiver” Zarling and Bob “Rooster” Christopherson.

Hardtail presented Wisconsin’s contributions to the MRF and the future of motorcycling. MRF Lobbyist, Rocky Fox was able to give an online presentation regarding the MRF Legislative Agenda via Zoom. This year is ABATE of Wisconsin’s 50th Anniversary and the MRF is proud of our strong relationship.



The annual Winter Meeting for the National Council of Clubs (NCOC) was held in Myrtle Beach, SC this past weekend. Each Winter Meeting the NCOC invites the MRF to join the meeting to renew their commitment to “Bridging the Gap” between Motorcycle Clubs and Motorcycle Rights Organizations.

Present at this year’s meeting were MRF Board Members Russell Radke, Patrick “Chappy” Carver and Seven. Also present was MRF Lobbyist Rocky Fox, who presented with Russell Radke on the MRF Legislative Agenda and the importance of Motorcycle Clubs staying involved with State Motorcycle Rights Organizations (SMRO) as we work toward our common goals.







LE PERA SEAT OF THE WEEK—SPORTSTER ’10-’22 Streaker-Solo

Low-profile, low-key. The new Streaker seat is a stripped-down solo seat that forgoes any frills for Harley-Davidson riders who prefer an understated look.

The simple, clean lines of the Streaker make it a versatile seat option that looks great on both stock and customized motorcycles.

The finishes are available in Smooth, Diamond or Pleated stitching choices, with the option of contrast stitching for an extra pop of color. The Streaker solo seat also makes a killer canvas for any one of Le Pera’s badass custom options, so let your creativity loose! Underneath, Le Pera’s signature handcrafted, powder-coated 16-gauge steel base plate ensures a perfect fit, while the carpeted bottom protects your motorcycle.

Many other custom materials and stitch graphics are available as well!

No pillion available.

Specs

Driver Seating:
10.5″ Wide
Passenger Seating:
N/A

MSRP:
$307.00

Part Number:
LK-356 [’10-’22] 3.3 Gal Tank
LK-356 [’10-’22] 4.5 Gal Tank







A FINAL QUOTE OF THE WEEK—

“To love what you do and feel that it matters – how could anything be more fun?”
~ Katharine Graham





HERO MOTOCORP– finally gets a podium finish at Dakar Rally

Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters – Hero MotoCorp, has created history becoming the first ever Indian manufacturer team to finish on the podium of the legendary Dakar Rally.

Hero MotoSports Team Rally was formed in 2016 and it participated in its first Dakar Rally in 2017. Over the years, the team has achieved multiple podiums, wins and stage wins at top rally-raids across the world.

In its fifth year at Saudi Arabia, the 2024 edition of Dakar Rally was undoubtedly the toughest so far – longer stages, extreme terrains, and confusing navigation right from the start. Two new formats of racing were also introduced by the organizers to add more spice – a marathon stage early on in the race, and a 48H chrono stage during which the competitors were split across several bivouacs – away from their teams, and surviving on bare minimum essentials. As many as one-third of the competitors who started the race retired from the rally across the 14 days of grind.



To get to a Dakar podium is no small feat – a thousand things need to be right, and yet, each kilometer of these many thousands can destroy a result with a tiny mistake. 8,000 kilometers at the world’s toughest rally conquered with a top-2 result – Hero has made it clear they’re here to stay.

Ross Branch finished the Rally at the second place for the Hero Factory Team. His consistent performance over the 12 stages saw him at the first and second spots in the overall rankings throughout the Rally.

–Wayfarer
Motorcycle Sports Authority
Bikernet.com





THAT’S NOT ALL—But I will keep it short.



I’m just about to wrap up Chapter 7 of my VLXAFL5 build series. I thought for sure my sprotor bolts were 3/8 until… I ordered new ones from McMaster Carr and they were here in two days. I had to machine the heads to fit the indent in the rotor. Hang On.



More machining and the primary drive is in alignment. My issue now is the rear chain. I need more slack.



I walked into an antique store and there was a Rochester Carb. I thought it might act to fill the core requirement for my ’58 Chevy. We have a restored carb on order.



Keith Terry’s new shop coming together in Sturgis.



We rethought the Smith & Wesson pistol purchase and got one with a slightly exposed hammer.



It’s coming down today, like it did all winter last year. We’re supposed to go to a party this evening. It’s looking sketchy…

In the meantime, get involved with your local motorcycle rights organization, so we can ride free next year.

–Bandit

1. GoPro Plans To Launch Its First Tech-Enabled Motorcycle Helmet In 2025

2. GoPro Motorcycle Helmets Will Likely Be Sold To Riders Through Existing GoPro Motorsport-Related Retailers

3. GoPro Plans To Provide Motorcycle Helmet Tech Development Assistance To Other Premium Helmet Manufacturers

4. GoPro Plans To Extend Its Existing Subscription Plan Structures To Its Future Tech-Enabled Motorcycle Helmet Line

5. GoPro’s Current Forcite Helmets Acquisition Timeline Is Q1 Of 2024. GoPro had announced plans to acquire Australian smart helmet maker Forcite Helmets in January 2024.

‘World’s first’ cargo Two-Wheeler aims to be a disruptor in logistics

After around 6 years of development work, an electric scooter designed to be a cargo carrier, is gearing up for commercial production. Customer trials of this EV, by a Pune city, India, start-up, have begun, and its market introduction is expected during the first half of this year.

Two-wheelers including scooters, motorcycles, mopeds and even bicycles are commonly seen on India’s roads, delivering everything from groceries, medicines, restaurant orders to online orders from the top ecommerce websites. Most private courier delivery companies also empoy two-wheelers. These vehicles work for B2B as well as B2C sectors.

City traffic will always spot these buzzing around trying to get ahead to make maximum deliveries per day. So it is not a rural trend at all, though that’s the fastest growing market for two-wheelers.

Fleet management concept includes a fleet of two-wheelers by entrepreneurs who take up franchises for making deliveries.

Popular motorcycle racing series, MotoAmerica, has expanded its 2024 Mission King of the Baggers Championship by adding a new round at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. Scheduled for April 12-13, it will coincide with the third round of the FIM MotoGP World Championship.

This is the first instance where the King of the Baggers event will be showcased to an international audience. This occasion is set against the backdrop of the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas, an event that attracts global attention.

The latest battle over combustion-powered two-wheelers in the French capital.

The city council of Paris, France is reportedly considering a partial motorcycle and scooter ban inside the city limits in February 2024.

Electric motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds of all shapes and sizes would not be affected by the proposed ban.

For the many who use scooters and motorcycles to commute, Pierre-Yves Bournazel, an official pushing this ban proposes doubling current financial assistance programs to encourage combustion bike riders to try other, quieter forms of transport.

French Federation of Angry Bikers suggests that one of leaders of Ras le Scoot, a group that campaigns against motorbikes in general, works for an e-bike and cargo bike company as his day job (as is clearly shown on the man’s LinkedIn profile). The implication (not an allegation) is corruption and profiting from public office.

Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame Names New Executive Director and Board Members

Sturgis, SD – February 13, 2024 – The Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame recently announced the appointment of Heidi Haro as Executive Director and four new members of the museum’s board of directors.

“Heidi has tremendous energy along with expertise in delivering superb guest experiences, she’s already bringing great new ideas to her museum team,” said Board President Craig Bailey. “Heidi lives here in the Black Hills, so she knows how special this area is for motorcycle riders.”

Haro has earned bachelor’s degrees in both Business Administration and Social Sciences. She was previously an executive with Aramark, a nationwide food service and facilities administration contractor. During her 14 years with the company, she developed high performance teams focused on delivering great experiences for guests at three universities in South Dakota and Minnesota.

“We want to make sure that every motorcycle fan coming through the Black Hills to know to stop in and connect with the bikes and the stories that live here in the museum,” said Haro. “This is a special place that reflects the spirit of the riding community.”

“I grew up in a family that loved the outdoors, so outdoor recreation, like motorcycling, holds a special place for me,” she continued. Haro started spending summers in the Black Hills in 1998 and moved to the area full time 4 years ago. She has four children and seven grandchildren. In her new role, Haro has a seat on the Museum’s board.

The Sturgis Museum Board also named several new members to its board of directors.

Keith Ball, a military veteran, former editorial director of Easyrider’s Magazine and currently the owner of Bandit’s Bikernet, joined the board and has taken the position of Secretary. Ball an accomplished writer and novelist, is well known in the motorcycle industry for his stunning custom bikes and his influence on custom culture through a variety of media, including print, television and online. Ball lives in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Ari Levenbaum is co-owner and CEO of the American Association of Motorcycle Injury Lawyers (AAMIL), known as the Law Tigers. He started working part-time for the organization in 2002 while also working as a full-time middle school teacher. He ultimately purchased an interest in AAMIL in 2014 and became COO at that time. As a rider, Ari has a unique understanding of the motorcycle community, which is reflected in his role with the Law Tigers. He lives in Arcadia, Arizona.

Scott Peterson, is the founder of Scott Peterson Motors in Sturgis and Belle Fourche, SD, an auto and truck retailer in the area. Peterson operated the award-winning dealerships for three decades until selling them recently. Peterson has been a driving force in the Sturgis community and is noted for his commitment to business excellence and his dedication to uplifting the lives of those around him.

Kirk Willard has been President and Board Chairman of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, the predominant rider’s rights organization in the country, since 2006. His involvement in motorcyclists’ rights goes back further than that, as he has held membership and leadership positions in rights groups throughout the country. Willard was awarded the Freedom Fighter Award by the Sturgis Museum in 2018. He lives in Wausau, Wisconsin and has ridden to the Sturgis Rally 38 times.

The other members of the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum board of directors are Craig Bailey (President), Mark Carstensen (representing the City of Sturgis), Paul Fosdyck (Treasurer), Darcy Harbott, Scott Jacobs, Chuck Potts, Irv Stone (Vice President), Tim Sutherland, Vinny Terranova, Keith Terry and Rod Woodruff.

###

Hey,

This has been a wild week and it’s not over. You’ll be blown away by the news. I’m now on the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Board of Directors, and we have our work cut out for us. You’ll see in the news.

I feel like I should write a story about learning stages in life for younger folks. I’m still learning and seem even more focused now, but maybe I’m fulla shit. I’m looking at this country and the myriad of struggles and evil shit going on, and then I think about our short history and the weird shit we’ve been through.

It just pisses me off that we can’t respond to negative issues quicker. Billy Lane said the other day, “I often use your quote, ‘We’re burnin’ daylight’.”

Yep, so it took them 20 years to put us in this bad spot. Will it take us another 20 years to straighten shit out and get our freedoms back? Hang on!

Let’s hit the news:

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

MRF ROADSHOW STOPS–Posse ~ Chicago

The Chicago Area Posse is an organization that gathers riding groups and clubs from around the Chicago area. The Posse consists of ABATE Chapters, HOG Chapters, Law Enforcement Clubs, Firefighter Clubs, Rolling Thunder, and many other riding groups.

Their purpose is to share information on Education, Legislation and Charity Rides. They met this past weekend in Wauconda, Illinois, where MRF Board Members Eric Ross and Seven, along with MRF Reps Dennis Yeager, Robert Carroll, Cathy Dial and Christy Gunderson were in attendance.

The Posse also received a presentation from MRF Assistant Executive Director Ryan Hubbard on MRF Priority issues and the importance of membership.

THE BANDIT’S CANTINA BAD JOKE LIBRARIAN SPEAKS OUT–How to ruin a good laugh

Here is overthinking and ruining of a good joke by yours truly…

Looking closely, I think the motorcycle is on a side-stand and the father is just pretending to race the motorcycle for the camera. The child may be high on sugar or actually just truly, deeply, excited to be on a motorcycle. The dirt is there near the tires but it’s not flying—and of course rotating wheels can’t show spokes so easily in a photo I believe.

What do you think? Should I drink a whole bottle of whisky or binge-eat twenty apple pies to stop with the thinking?

–Wayfarer
Certified Librarian
Bandit’s Cantina

BUFFALO CHIP BAND CANCELS—But the Bad Wolves step up.

We intended to announce a band today that would’ve been the headliner on Friday, Aug. 9, but THEY CANCELED ON US. Yesterday.

Luckily, we got last-minute approval last night to announce the band that will be kicking off The Best Party Anywhere…

BAD WOLVES
Friday, Aug. 2

Thank you, guys.

Get ready to tilt your head back and howl into the South Dakota sky as this platinum-certified outfit delivers an evening of unapologetic hard rock during the Buffalo Chip’s Official Sturgis Rally Kickoff party!

The fun doesn’t stop there…

THE 100-WORD FICTION SHOOT-OUT CONTINUES–Here is a short for you.

Blow Up a Sportster

Nicko worked at the garage down the block when his Mom called in a panic. Nicko hauled ass in his hopped up ‘67 Cougar. The alley gate lock to the storage yard swung open. Where is Dad’s Tahiti blown race boat?

“Which way did they go,” Nicko yelled. “Did they steal anything else?”

“I don’t think so,” Mom said.

Nicko ran into the garage and still under the tarp was his turbo-charged Sportster street racer. Nicko flew from the garage in a wheel stand heading West down the alley. When his front 21 touched down, he rolled into the gas station where the thieves stopped to refuel.

–Gearhead

THE LATEST FROM GREASE & GEARS TV— The moment has arrived!

ShopTalk Featuring Warren Heir, Jr from Mama Tried is starting right now, and we wanted to ensure you don’t miss out on the action. We have a front-row seat waiting for you!

Thank you for your continued support!

BRAND New Bikernet Reader Comment!–Photo Gallery from Sturgis 2000

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/Photo_Gallery_from_Sturgis_2000.aspx

Like to see photos from 2001-2002

–Thomas
Belmont, NH

“Wow, those brought back memories. I built and rode that Evo-chop to Sturgis. What a great ride. The paint was handled by the talented Harold Ponterilli.

I believe I hit a deer in 2001 in Wyoming on a Buell. Also, a great ride until I smacked the deer and ended up in a hospital in Casper. I survived to ride to Sturgis again.”

–Bandit

LATEST FROM THE NASH MOTORCYCLE USA FACTORY–100% U.S.A. made Motorcycle Handlebars

Handlebar customers please note – We build ALL handlebars to order. Handlebar orders will take a MINIMUM OF 3 BUSINESS WEEKS to complete from fabrication, to coating or chrome, and then to packing and shipping.

Our bars are 100% U.S. made by us and only U.S. made materials. No China or overseas stuff here!! It’s well worth the wait!!! We do custom work and can address any needs you may have on your handlebar order, gives us a call, text, or email for questions.

THERE ARE NO REFUNDS ONCE ORDER HAS BEEN PLACED! WE WILL ALLOW RETURNS TO EXCHANGE FOR A DIFFERENT PAIR OF BARS IF NECESSARY!

DICK ALLEN SPRINGERS COMING FROM IRISH RICH—

Rich from Shamrocks Fabrication in Sturgis South Dakota is hand fabricating the first round of Dick Allen springers using some historic DA parts and some stock Harley springer components modified to fit.

“Got the spring perch filled and finished,” said Rich. Gotta order the spring rods, spring cips and washers for the top stem nut.”

Each step will take a lot of time, figuring, welding and filing, then he will have parts scanned and mass fabricated. Some element are available from Paughco.

We will bring you reports as they come together.

–Bandit

NEW INDIAN MOTORCYCLE’S ROADMASTER ELITE— COMBINES HIGH
-END SOPHISTICATION WITH MENACING BLACKED-OUT STYLING

2024 Roadmaster Elite Delivers Custom-Inspired Indian Motorcycle Red Paint Scheme

Indian Motorcycle, America’s First Motorcycle Company, day before yesterday unveiled its latest Elite model–a showstopping Roadmaster combining high-end sophistication, upscale fit-and-finish, and world-class touring capabilities.

Indian Motorcycle designed the 2024 Roadmaster Elite to deliver an authentic, custom-inspired paint scheme for riders looking to turn heads and stand out from the crowd.

In 1904 Indian Motorcycle first debuted the brand’s iconic Indian Motorcycle Red paint scheme. Today,the brand is excited to honor its iconic color with an all-new Indian Motorcycle Red tri-tone paint scheme with a premium candy finish, which delivers a vibrant and eye-catching look.

THE DICEY KNUCKLE GETS AN OFFER FROM THE TEXAS WEATHERMAN–

Dude that Knuckle is looking good! And since you’re building that new one, you really don’t need two, so you might as well sell me the Dicey Knuckle.

I mean there is already a picture of it in my garage, you don’t want to be like Bandido Jimmie Dee, who had a complete bike, along with another engine and transmission. And when I said if he sold me the engine and transmission, we’d both have Knuckleheads!

“No, I have two and you have none,” he replied. Wait, I have cash too! Probably a million dollars in Bandit Bucks!

I wonder where Jimmie’s stuff all ended up after he passed? His boys weren’t old enough, nor cared. Probably like me, who knows where it will go? I hoped to teach my grandson, but don’t get to see him anymore.

Anyway, while you’re considering my proposal, do you know anyone with turn signals for my fairing? They seem to be hard to find. Gonna just make my own. My girls pointed it out to me. They’re smarter and better mechanics than me. They weren’t onboard with my aluminum foil rigging!

–RFR

“How’s the weather in Texas. It’s snowing in the Black Hills of South Dakota but just slightly. Hell, the sun came out awhile ago.

You can get LED inserts for anything now.”

–Bandit

BRAND New Bikernet Reader Comment!—Deadwood John’s 1960 Panhead 4-Speed Rebuild

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/Johns_1960_Panhead_4Speed_Rebuild.aspx

Nice work, good to see the trial and error honesty involved, without a lifetime stash of OEM parts a guy would be hard pressed to do the same. That’s what brotherhood is all about.

— Anson Alexander
Long Creek, SC

AMERICAN PRIME TO THE RESCUE–The Big Fix Kit

Back in 1937 when H-D came out with their stud & coil spring clutch. H-D thought it was state-of-the-art, but the problem was it had so many deficiencies. For the next almost 4 decades the riders had to deal with all those problems.

One of the biggest was the small needle bearings encapsulated in the stamped tin cover. They just didn’t hold the hub well adding to the instability of the whole damn clutch.

So, back in the late ‘70s, a couple of clever guys (John & Mel) introduced The Big Fix Kit which used longer needle bearings to keep the hub steady. It worked so well, we decided to re-introduce them to the market for all those guys stuck in the past who refuse to upgrade their clutch for something immeasurably better (like our Comp Master™ clutch)!

–Ben Kudon
Mastermind
American Prime

PRO FREEDOM FLIER—

Becky, from ABATE of Wisconsin inspired me. ABATE of Wisconsin attends every motorcycle event in their state. They set up booths, try to inform riders and build membership for themselves and the MRF.

I was inspired to create a flier for Freedom and the shop organization Independent Motorcycle Aftermarket IMA, so I went to work.

With the help of the CO2 Coalition and Kirk Willard, the president of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation we received the approved text. Chris Callen made it come to life on paper and Becky’s team will print it.

Through Eric at the MRF we will try to make these available to State Motorcycle Rights Organizations all over the country. Let me know if you need any.

–Bandit
Bandit@bikernet.com

JOIN US FOR WHEELS THROUGH TIME OPENING DAY!–

We’re excited to announce an opportunity for you to join us for a VIP experience on opening weekend in April 2024!

This month, with your purchase of the “Greater Deal” package or higher, you will be entered to win a 3-day 2-night expense paid trip to Wheels Through Time’s 2024 opening day.

Be our guest as we unveil new exhibits, introduce a whole host of new machines, and fire some of the rarest machines as we celebrate our 2023 season opening!

THIS PACKAGE INCLUDES

-3 days free admission to Dale’s Wheels Through Time
-A 3-day 2-night hotel stay (on us)
-Travel expenses up to $300

THE 1936 HARLEY-DAVIDSON KNUCKLEHEAD

This year’s Raffle Bike is the stunning 1936 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead. Finished in H-D Factory Custom Gold, trimmed in Brillant Black, and hand-striped with chrome accents.

This 61c.i. OHV Knucklehead powerhouse sports a 4-speed transmission, art deco styling with full fenders, iconic “skull” dash, and 100-mph speedo. Plus, a list of one-year-only parts too numerous to mention.

The machine was meticulously restored to showroom condition in the WTT Restoration shop, and it is ready to GO home with one lucky winner this 2024!

New TECHNICAL Bikernet Reader Comment!—

Bikernet Investigates the State of TP Engineering (click here to read)

Hi. I just recently acquired a TP Engineering engine and are trying to find out the displacement etc. for it. The Vin # on right side front of lifter block is N02007. I can’t seem to access their web site with my Desk top …”word press error” whatever that means?

Are they still around, still building engines? It’s a beautiful looking v-twin for sure. Thank you for any info you might have.

“I hooked him up with TP Engineering and I believe the bike might be a Big Bear Chopper.” –Bandit

Much appreciated! I was up in a little town in northern B.C. Canada visiting a Buddy who runs a towing business/wrecking yard and saw the complete chopper wrecked…just sitting there, all beat up. It was tied up with the insurance company. I went back home to Prince George but I couldn’t get this bike outta my mind…hahaha it had a hold of me, big time. As it turned out my Buddy put a bid on it and ended up with it. The law says it can’t be repaired but can be disassembled and sold for parts…anyhow to make a long story short…I managed to get the engine and the gas tank …so far. Anyhow ….thanks again!!

— Dennis Kuharchuk
Prince George, BC, Canada

MORRIS MAGNETO GOES REALLY OLD SCHOOL—

Join us for an adrenaline-fueled day of vintage outlaw motorcycle racing on March 2nd, 2024!

Get ready to witness the roar of powerful engines and the thrill of high-speed action. This in-person event will take place at New Smyrna Speedway, where racing enthusiasts from all over will gather to experience the excitement firsthand.

From the moment the flag drops, you’ll be captivated by the daring maneuvers and heart-pounding moments as these legendary machines tear up the track. Feel the nostalgia as classic motorcycles from a bygone era compete for victory, showcasing their timeless beauty and raw power.

Whether you’re a die-hard fan, a casual observer, or simply curious about the world of vintage outlaw racing, this event promises to be an unforgettable experience. So, mark your calendars for March 2nd, 2024, and join for a day filled with thrills, camaraderie, and the spirit of speed. Click here to purchase your advanced tickets.

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with us and discover what we have to offer. We’re looking forward to meeting you!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK–

“Success can make you go one of two ways. It can make you a prima donna – or it can smooth the edges, take away the insecurities, let the nice things come out.” –Barbara Walters

 Epoch Times

FIVE-BALL LEATHER REPORT—

 Hang on for more reports.

–Bandit

A MEMO DIRECT FROM THE MAYOR OF BUFFALO CHIP—

COMING THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8

– SAVE BIG NOW–

Special Prices End

 Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. MST

-PLUS-
For Three Days Only
GET 50% OFF VIP for Aug. 7th
(Theory of a Deadman & Hinder)
Get VIP

ARTIST OF THE WEEK—Joe Slack

–Sam Burns
Official Art Curator
Bikernet.com™

ECONOMIC QUOTE OF THE WEEK–

“I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. ” –Calvin Coolidge

Epoch Times

BABE OF THE WEEK—Olivia Casta

–Sam Burns
Official Talent Scout
Bikernet.com™

INSPIRATIONAL NOTES FROM THE BIKERNET THOUGHT TEMPLE HIGH ON A MOUNTAIN TOP IN THE BLACK HILLS–

Impossible
I M POSSIBLE

Success comes from taking the initiative and following up… persisting… eloquently expressing the depth of your love. What simple action could you take today to produce a new momentum toward success in your life?

–Tony Robbins

I embrace the power within me to transform ‘impossible’ into ‘I’m possible.’ With determination, creativity, and perseverance, I can overcome any challenge that comes my way.

Last night I was watching America’s Got Talent and was overwhelmed by the amazing talent of the contestants. The talent included a woman who drew stories with sand to a one-legged fellow dancing so creatively that I forgot that he was dancing with one leg, to a dance and acrobat team from the slums of India, that define the limitations of the human body in their act. Each and every act was absolutely amazing.

As I watched these artists, I became aware that the word impossible was not in their vocabulary. They took the word Impossible and made it I M POSSIBLE. They were able to take even impossible challenges and make them possible through non-stop determination to one of the greatest stages in the world.

As I witnessed these artists shine, I realized that each of us holds untapped gifts and talents waiting to be expressed. Today, let’s shift our mindset from seeing obstacles as impossible to embracing the belief that we are capable of achieving anything we set our minds to. Let’s make ‘I M POSSIBLE’ our mantra and unleash our full potential.”

Today’s Affirmation: I embrace the belief that I am possible, and I am ready to take on a challenge I’ve always dreamt of pursuing.

I M POSSIBLE.
And so It Is!
Namaste

–Yale

Whatever it is, do it, do it ‘till you’re satisfied.

–B.T. Express
Smokey Robinson’s Soultown

[page break]

LATEST FROM WANA-RYD– Exclusive Offer.

Free RWD Fender with Purchase of
21-inch Wheel & Rotors!
$350 Value

CALL ONLY
TO GET DEAL
888-926-2793

Get a free fender with any 21×3.25-inch Wheel and Rotors Package purchase. Our USA-made 14-gauge steel fenders undergo meticulous inspection for straightness, consistency, and flawless finish by our master builder.

Please note: predrilled fenders don’t include spacers, so have them ready. All fenders must be pre-fitted before painting. Elevate your bike’s style and performance with this exclusive deal.

Act now!

New EVENT Bikernet Reader Comment!–TROPICAL TATTOO BIKE WEEK 2023

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/TROPICAL_TATTOO_BIKE_WEEK_2023.aspx

I have old bike what is you date this year for the antique show at the bike week and the time for incription i want bring some bike

— Roberto Marin
Lanoraie, QC, Canada

EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE NEWS–

Rights and Freedom Quotes

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”
~ Nelson Mandela

“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.”
~ Ronald Reagan

—Wayfarer
International Philosophy student
Bikernet University
West LA

VLXAFL5 SEAT COMING—

Your seat was supposed to arrive yesterday. I just checked the tracking number, it shows it’s out for delivery. Thank you for your patience. I appreciate the business.

–Howard Knight

“It arrived!”
–Bandit

WAIT, THERE’S MORE FROM THE TOWN OF BUFFALO CHIP—

Sink your teeth into a sizzlin’ good time at the first-ever Buffalo Chip Ribfest on July 27, 2024! The grills will be fired up, and we’re bringing the heat with a smokin’ lineup of events that’ll have you asking for seconds.

Bring the whole family and take in the ultimate BBQ experience served up with a heaping side of vendor shopping & foods, live entertainment, a cornhole tournament, Bloody Mary challenge and the famous Raising of the Flags. It’s free to the public. Come for a day or stay for the weekend and camp under the stars at the Buffalo Chip Campground.

HOUSE OF CHOPPERS LIVES—

Posted by Jack McIntyre,
Images by Chopper Dave

The 26th Annual Thunder By The Bay Music & Motorcycle Festival is a three-day event held Feb. 16-18, 2024 at the Sarasota Fairgrounds. It benefits Suncoast Charities for Children.

Headline acts performing include Molly Hatchet (Friday – February 16), Grand Funk Railroad (Saturday – February 17), and […]

–Jack

NEWS FROM THE MASTER OF LIGHT–Artist David Uhl

From time to time, we release a print edition via “Flash Sale”. Reservations are taken for 24 hours only, then we close the edition.

The clock is officially ticking on this beautiful new piece, titled “Down on the Farm”. These watercolor prints will all come hand-signed by David and numbered with Certificate of Authenticity. These will be offered framed and matted at $895 or unframed at $595. Shipping is additional.

“Down on the Farm”
David Uhl 2024

The image size is approximately 16″ x 22″ and the framed dimensions are 26″ x 32″.

The edition will close tomorrow at 11:00 am Mountain time.

Please let me know if you’d like to add this new piece to collection.

–Greg Rhodes
International Sales Director
David Uhl Fine Art
Uhl Studios
303-913-4840

STURGIS MUSEUM NEWS—

Hang on for the action to be hot and heavy around the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum. The curation committee is adding more historic bikes including Truett and Osborn record breaking drag racing motorcycles and maybe the Easyriders Worlds Fastest Motorcycle Streamliner from 1990 to 2006 at 321 mph.

The staff is refining the inventory and upgrading insurance on every bike or collectors’ items.

Improvements are happening to the website daily with new videos and photography.

First of next week Steve Piehl will release the first of two press releases. The first one will cover new board members and our new Executive Director, Heidi Haro.

A week or so later the next release will cover the 2024 Hall of Fame inductees and news about the Hall of Fame breakfast.

Stay in touch with the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame as we hit a growth spurt. This museum is way more than an old post office building in downtown Sturgis. It’s the centerpiece of the custom motorcycle world. Hang on as it becomes world class and world renowned, for you and every rider in the world.

–Bandit

New PANHEAD Bikernet Reader Comment!–

John’s 1960 Panhead 4-Speed Rebuild

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/Johns_1960_Panhead_4Speed_Rebuild.aspx

Good job. You must have been taking notes during the process.

–John Martinisko
Deadwood, SD

“I use the photos to take my notes and remind me of what the hell I did, or didn’t do…”

–Bandit

NEWS FROM THE DIME BAG EMPIRE—

Started a new custom leather seat for Folds of Honor charity bike build made by Johnnie Mac Choppers in Philly. Happy and grateful to be a part of this custom build.

Made some updates to shop on Route 66 including merch displays, shelving and more.

Thanks for the support

 –Adam Croft

QUICK, New Bikernet Reader Comment!—

The David Mann Chopper

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

My boyfriend Shawn and I now own this bike after Tom passed away. We are really excited to say that we will have it on display at Chopperfest this coming weekend!

I’m very excited that Micah will be there, and I finally get to meet him. Who knows, maybe it will win the David Mann Memorial Award again.

— Christine
Newbury Park, CA

CUSTOM BIKE BUILDER OF THE WEEK—Paul Capodanno

–Sam Burns
Certified Bike Show Judge
Bikernet.com™

MORE FROM OUR TEXAS WEATHERMAN—

So, I finally stumbled on the Wheels Through Time videos on YouTube, although I still want a Knucklehead. My dad had a Panhead and now I want a ‘52 or ‘53. I’ll have to dig the pictures out tomorrow but my Harley book say the oil filter wasn’t standard until ‘53. They get blurry and are angle shots but I don’t see one, no mention of black lower legs that I saw either.

I’m almost positive my grandmother showed me a color picture of it when I was younger and I think it was blue? Which was available in ‘52 & ‘53. If the small one was his first motorcycle in March of ‘52 and the first picture of the Panhead came February of 53, he transitioned fairly quickly. I don’t imagine there were too many mini bikes or 70-125cc Honda & Yamahas around then.

So, I’m thinking green would be a darker shade in B&W. Figure you’ve seen more B&W motorcycle pics than I have. Maybe I’ll start a Go Fund Me, “ Won’t you please help a young lad’s dream of having a motorcycle like his dad’s?”

–RFR

15th ANNUAL MICHAEL “BOZ” Kerr–

Bikers Inside the Beltway
May 20 & 21, 2024

The 15th Annual Michael “Boz” Kerr Bikers Inside the Beltway is the ONLY National Motorcycle Lobby Day held in our nation’s capital. Motorcyclists from around the country ride to Washington D.C., to help educate Members of Congress regarding the issues facing motorcyclists today. This event will be held Monday, May 20th and Tuesday, May 21st, 2024.

All online registration and attendance confirmation need to be completed by May 15, 2024.

MAKE YOUR CONGRESSONAL APPOINTMENTS NOW!
ALL ROOMS NEED TO BE BOOKED BY APRIL 22, 2024.
ROOMS ARE LIMITED

SCHEDULE

Monday, May 20th
MRF Board Meeting @ Embassy Suites – start 8am
Lobbying Prep. Session @ Embassy Suites 6-8 pm

Tuesday, May 21st
Lobby Day @ Congressional Offices (KSU: TBD)
Post Debrief Session @ Embassy Suites 6-8pm

HOTEL

EMBASSY SUITES
1900 Diagonal Rd
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-684-5900

Reservation Code: MRF
$260 Base Rate
Rooms Are Limited!

REGISTER FOR BIKERS INSIDE THE BELTWAY 2024
Click to Register
JOIN THE MRF TODAY!

A LANDMARK ENERGY FREEDOM RESOLUTION FROM THE RNC—

The Republican National Committee has passed an unprecedented resolution that powerfully advocates for energy freedom in America.

I don’t identify as a Republican or a Democrat, and since 2022 I’ve made it a policy not to support any political party nor anyone’s candidacy for elected office.

However, I am always happy to give praise when anyone from any political party says or does something good in the realm of energy.

And the Republican National Committee (RNC) has just done something great in the realm of energy. It has passed a landmark resolution that powerfully supports the kind of transformative energy freedom platform I have been advocating.

I say “powerfully supports,” because instead of containing empty or least-common-denominator language, it instead contains specific, meaningful language in favor of principled policies and even-handed thinking on climate issues.

Here’s an excerpt my readers might find familiar:

WHEREAS, Fossil fuel energy gives us an unprecedented ability to protect ourselves from the climate, driving down climate disaster deaths by 98% over the last century by powering the technology that protects us against storms, extreme temperatures, and drought;

The official resolution is available here, and I’ve also copied the text below in full.

RESOLUTION SUPPORTING A TRANSFORMATIVE ENERGY FREEDOM POLICY FOR AMERICA

WHEREAS, Affordable, reliable energy is essential to American and human prosperity because it gives us the ability to use machines to become productive and prosperous; and more affordable and reliable American energy leads to a better economy, a lower cost of living, more well-paid job opportunities, a smaller deficit, and greater national security;

WHEREAS, Fossil fuels are and for the foreseeable future will remain a uniquely affordable, reliable, scalable, and secure source of energy—the only source that can provide plentiful energy to billions of people in thousands of places;

WHEREAS, Energy poverty is a crucial problem at home and abroad, affecting tens of millions of Americans and billions worldwide, including the three billion individuals who survive daily on less electricity than a household refrigerator;

WHEREAS, Fossil fuel energy gives us an unprecedented ability to protect ourselves from the climate, driving down climate disaster deaths by 98% over the last century by powering the technology that protects us against storms, extreme temperatures, and drought;

WHEREAS, America and the world need an energy policy that ensures plenty of fossil fuel energy and fosters promising cost-competitive alternatives like nuclear energy;

WHEREAS, America can enrich itself and empower billions with policies that free human ingenuity to produce energy in as low-cost, reliable, plentiful, and clean a way as possible—while protecting us against harmful emissions and dangerous practices;

WHEREAS, The Biden administration has restricted investment, production, and transport of American fossil fuels on the false promise that they can be rapidly replaced by solar and wind; has shut down reliable power plants and created unprecedented electricity shortages; has sought to excuse their policies from fault by blaming price spikes on “Putin’s price hike,” post-COVID demand, or the supposed greed of oil companies; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That America should take the following steps to promote American prosperity, increase energy security, improve our environment, and enhance the well-being of billions around the world through energy freedom: (1) Liberate responsible development of domestic energy resources; (2) End preferences for unreliable electricity; (3) Reform air and water emissions standards to incorporate realistic cost-benefit analysis; (4) Withdraw from climate agreements that punish America instead of fostering innovation; and (5) Unleash nuclear energy; and

RESOLVED, That the Republican National Committee urges the United States Congress and the White House to advance energy freedom policies that liberate American energy for the benefit of all.

–Alex Epstein
Energy Talking Points

CAKE MOTORCYCLES– Files For Bankruptcy In Sweden

Multiple factors are reportedly to blame, including the failure of the firm’s most recent funding round.

NHTSA made a safety recall on Cake Kalk dual sport motorcycles in January 2024 for battery cells that could potentially catch fire.

“Climate issues are no longer in focus; we are in a recession.” Cake CEO Stefan Ytterborn told a Swedish newspaper.

There was also the realization that you can’t expect people to pay 40,000 Swedish Krona (that’s about $3,811 USD at current conversion rates) for something online that they haven’t ridden. Company was selling direct-to-consumer on their website as a sales plan initially.

An official statement on bankruptcy filing is awaited from Cake and the most recent statement is shown on their website referring to a distribution network for their bikes.

Cake website: https://ridecake.com/en

This shows what happens when governments and greedy investors force a product down customers throats. Imagine your vehicle no longer existing, no parts nor service after a few months since purchase because the Tech Startup folded. What about the dealerships and recharge infrastructure that invested in this short-sighted corporate plan of EV urban mobility? A motorcycle company with retail products launched and sold because EV was trending on social media?

Automotive business and industry is clearly not as easy as eating a piece of cake! Started in 2016, their first product appeared in 2018 and presently they offer only three models of their electric bikes.

As ridiculous as their product and design was, this shows that worse things about EV are yet to arrive and all the eager environment empathizing customers who believed in the fables sold by Wall Street con men will be wondering how to recycle their toxic trash which is what will be their vehicle soon.

–Wayfarer
International Editor
Bikernet.com™

NEW FROM THE COMPETITION DISTRIBUTING FACTORY-–

**PRE ORDER** PERFORMANCE ALUMINUM 7 BOLT VL HEADS 1930-1935 BIG TWIN

THIS IS A PRE ORDER FOR THE HIGH COMPRESSION 7 BOLT VL HEADS
(DIRECT REPLICA OF THE PERIOD CORRECT WN SMITH PERFORMANCE HEADS)

COST OF HEADS $2075.00

TO RESERVE A SET OF HEADS IS $1.00 USD. WHEN THEY ARE FINISHED BEING MADE WE WILL SEND YOU AN INVOICE FOR THE REMAINING BALANCE. (LEAD TIME 3 TO 4 WEEKS)

THIS WILL BE A VERY LIMITED RUN SO GET THEM BEFORE THEY ARE GONE!

We Strongly recommend copper gaskets and larger washers with new hardware when installing these.

–Competition Distributing

THAT CAN’T BE THE END—Believe me it isn’t.

Karley is testing her Sportster metal on the streets of the LA Harbor. She does more mechanical stuff every week.

I’m damn proud of my involvement, pushing the city of LA to give the folks of Wilmington access to the water. It’s almost completed.

I’m working with Tracy, Buck’s wife to find the photos Buck shot of Charlie’s dual carb Knuckle last year. It’s about to be featured in Cycle Source Magazine, but we need the shots. I turned in the feature story a while ago.

Our next tech will cover part 7 of the VLXAFL5 bike build, final assembly. The driveline has been the toughest challenge. Got the Paul Cox primary chain in place and aligned. The rear chain is also aligned, but I’m not sure it’s just right yet.

Cabana Dan is on his way to Mama Tried with this 1914 Harley re-pop restoration. The engine is real, most of the rest is re-pop. Beautiful job! He’s one of the few who have been invited to Mama Tried every year.

I just received this print of the Ball/Chamberlain clan from England in 1913. Need to have it framed and protected immediately. Good looking bunch.

The Redhead is still working in the Chocolate Mines on the outskirts of Deadwood. Believe it or not, she works for Chubby Chipmunks. These are some of their chocolate bars, amazing stuff. She is now, officially a chubby chipmunk, and I’m still a Hamster…

Every week, every day this year will be significant. It better be.

Ride free forever,

–Bandit

Now, if you’re a commie hippie douchey-douched douchery of doucheness type you might think that the American CEO is public enemy number 1. Not number 13. But no. He’s number 13. He’s preceded by some real experts in fuckery: the IRS, the WHO, the CDC, the FBI, the CIA, the BLM, the ATF, the DMV, the WEF, the DEI. the EPA and the ESG.

You might also probly think than an American CEO – or any CEO for that matter – if he has risen up the ranks to the level of being the boss of a multi billion dollar a year operation…..you might think that he might ON SOME LEVEL actually know what the fuck he’s doing. Well, if you think helping the IRS and the WHO and the CDC and the FBI and the CIA and the BLM and the ATF and the DMV and the WEF and the DEI and the EPA and the ESG destroy what’s left of America is “knowing what the fuck you’re doing,” then, yeah, they know what the fuck they’re doing.

Now, some alert person might ask “Why are CEO’s even involved with all that other crap anyway? They can actually DO things.” Actually, no. No they can’t actually do things. CEO’S are the reason all the other Letter Triads in that list exist: CEO’s could command all those bureaucrats out of existence tomorrow. There’s a hell of a lot more CEO’s than there are bureaucrats. With a lot more potential clout. But they’re too afraid. They’re so doucheried up the ass by now they make Adam Schiff look like Brock Lesnar. Now, you might say “What are you, a Commie Fuck? CEO’s are the backbone of American Free Enterprise! You must be a Commie Fuck!!”

No. I am not a Commie Fuck. I was born in Boston, the cradle of Liberty. I am a diehard pro-colonialist “to the victor go the spoils” war monger. Jesus the Jew is my deity. John Wayne is my guidance counsellor. Paris Hilton is my notion of the perfect woman. I think illegals and “the homeless” should be marooned on the Channel Islands in a Lord of the Flies scenario. And I think Israel and the United States both need to learn lessons from Alexander the Great on how to fight wars, which if Israel and the United States are listening right now here’s a hint: you fight wars in order to conquer. Not just to get your own guys killed for no reason or to rescue some asshole nation who likely hates us.

Now then: American CEO’s are not paragons of United States Might and Industrial Supremacy. They’re amateur politicians ordered-around like little bitches by PROFESSIONAL politicians and whose allegiances are to the gambling halls of the various global stock exchanges and who give as much a fuck about their own products and the satisfaction of their customers ABOUT as much as I give a fuck about the fate of the Kaaba and the Dome of the Rock: pending the day America decides the World Trade Center buildings need to be avenged. Which day is apparently Neverday.

Returning now to the imbecility of CEO’s, a CEO is not an owner. Unlike what you have been taught to call “the robber barrons.” Who were owners. Not robber barrons – as the press and the government and your school books as a child in mandatory de-education centers in the USA refer to the industrial tycoons who had a flair for making and selling products and services – like, ya know, cars, trains, planes, cameras, etc. that made lives easier. As opposed to the makers and sellers of bullshit who are called “American Office Holders” who are dedicated to fucking with anyone doing anything and outlawing whatever it is they’re doing as “being a threat to the public health and safety.”

The “robber barrons,” as our Marxist government and Marxist “news” shitfucks call them, were actually what is called OWNERS. Not fucking CEO’s. “Ownership” is very important to God, and USED to be important to Americans before the “everything is everything” hippie intellectual wasteland became the governing philosophy of America.

The Ten Commandments, with the possible exception of the one about lying, are basically a list of property rights. You don’t hear this preached in school or in church because teachers and preachers are all either fucking stupid or are so busy having their cocks sucked and their twats licked by demons from hell that they just don’t have time for learning anything that happens outside their scrotums and slits.

A CEO is a tip-toeing smiling, basically show-dog ass sniffer who’s MAIN function is to never say anything politically incorrect or in other words, never say anything that is remotely connected to actual physical reality anywhere in this galaxy. He can rise up through the company ranks OR he can be hired from the fucking moon. He can be appointed from off the streets. Just like the Pope can.

Only “corporations” have CEO’s and a corporation is a mini government created by the ruling government, that, like the ruling government, becomes in essence a mystical entity. It becomes a “person” but with no physical attributes, yet is regarded as an “entity.” Like an angel or a ghost. Just like the government is regarded as.

Corporations are LEGAL creations created by the lawyers in government – which is damn near everyone in office – in order to dilute the capitalistic production-pool of its owner-operators – or in other words the people with the ambition to provide a product or a service who can actually DO something. Unlike anyone in government OR in a legally-created-out-of-smoke, office-post that the government obeys. This week it’s health advisors. Soon government-licensed “weather experts” will be running things into oblivion.

Having a private ANYTHING is now considered a health threat to society since we are all in this together. You don’t even have the right to be healthy anymore since the Covid con. You are a threat to the group of people who are not healthy: you might survive while they die. You are therefore immoral. You are a threat because of success at not being a threat. That’s what I said. That’s what’s now in play.

Since the American “robber barrons” were barreling-ahead of DC in making life better for everyone, the lawyers running the government, lawyers being very cunning, realized that if private American empires of productivity and increased standards of living weren’t reined-in that federal, state, country and city governments would become obsolete. Which would upend the entire course of human history.

No one wants to do that. No one wants to move fucking forward, all our sacred traditions of war and taxes and jail and mandatory service and mandatory obligations to neighbors we would just as soon kill as assist – would evaporate. Who would want to bring an end to that?

Since personal computing and wide-spread global communication between individuals is, on a small scale, reproducing the same effects among the populace as the robber barrons created – namely, things being more bitchin’…..this governmental panic is again on the rise and all the worthless shitheads ordering people they never met around and tossing them into jail and taking their stuff and their licenses and their cars and boats and guns are huffing and puffing that all this free exchange between normal people is mostly “false information.”

Trust me, the only false information is coming from every fucking mayor, governor, senator, congressman, assemblyman, councilman, cop, sheriff, marshal, park ranger, license-inspector, health advisor grotesquerie in existence. Not from us. We don’t have a MOTIVE for spreading false information. And government has no motive for spreading TRUE information.

Which brings us to CEO’s and global warming.

The CEO’s of America – not the business owners but the business douchebags with keys to the executive toilets because the underlings must never realize that the executives’ shit actually does stink – the CEO’s of America are in a race to 1: proclaim their dedication and devotion to the preposterous fables that the earth is a greenhouse, that methane from cows is the only methane source that is actually dangerous, that carbon – which is what we’re fucking made of – is a threat to human existence, that “the damage from capitalism and industry the past 200 years” is “locked-in atmospherically” – as they are now proclaiming – such that even with universal compliance with all the trillion climate edicts, even if that happened right now overnight…..it would take hundreds of years for the earth to “get back to normal.”

In other words, it’s already irreversible even with full cooperation and all of us living like Bangladesh beanpoles sitting in the dirt. You might think “then why even bother. Let’s just go balls-out pollution.” Yeah, well you think like that because you have a fucking brain. Climate Gurus don’t have brains. They have cocks up their asses.

Since CEO’s are agreeing to basically go out of business, as a last ditch effort to stay afloat a little longer, they are kissing government ass. This is not hard for a CEO to do because corporate management, as opposed to private ownership management, is all about kissing ass. Private ownership management is all about doing a fucking job so good the boss has no choice but to promote you since you are actually valuable.

Ceo’s are not only not valuable, they are SO not-valuable they are basically interchangeable. A CEO from Fukme Beer can move on over to being a CEO of Yormom’sawhore Bedding and Bathmats Corporation overnight with no disruption in either company as a result: the downslide will continue both places uninterrupted.

Since kissing ass is all CEO’s actually DO, the pressure from the climate con via the government is causing the small and ineffective corporate brains which only understand kissing ass and lying about other employees….this pressure is causing CEO’s to come to the moronic conclusion that maybe government will allow them to exist a little longer if they become HOLY!!!! Government is all about holiness, after all.

Having a “proper moral compass” is almost like a sacred runic mantra to bureaucrats. Bureaucrats are high priests of global humanity and non bureaucrats – who outnumber the bureaucrats basically 6.9999 billion to one – non bureaucrats are gentle Eloi who look to the sacred morally-compassed bureaucrats for truth and guidance and safety.

CEO’s, noticing this, being politically cunning but naive when dealing with actual politicians, have assumed that by touting their companies’ SANCTITY rather than their companies’ PRODUCTS this will buy them an extra year or two of whopping salaries before they are shut down forever as being a threat to the atmosphere, the public health and “the moral compass” of the citizenry and Gaia.

Hence you have car manufacturers saying their cars are built with love, not competence. Other car makers are going around giving Cute Little Consuelo guitar lessons and buying a new RV for Hammadi Dudi; drug makers of compounds with three-syllable names and a litany of possible if not likely fatal side effects are displaying people either happy beyond description taking these drugs despite these nightmare-level risks while living vivacious lives, judging from all the smiles and happy greetings and chowing-down ice cream.

OR, if it’s an anti-depressant with a thousand warnings, they are depicted living slow-motion, trance-like lives but still smiling with a kind of transcendent calmness, like the spirit of the Dali Lama has infused their entire being. You have stores posting banners inside declaring how much of a percentage of everything you buy will be given by the store to the maimed burn victims from meteorite strikes in Bangladesh and how a percentage of the profits from Fukmehighly Brand Asswipes will be devoted to providing “affordable housing” for crackheads….in your very own home. What? You don’t like that idea? You are so immoral!!!

In other words….CEO’s are useless assholes trying to win bureaucrats, not customers.

In an effort to prove this, here is an interview of the former marketing something or other for Bud Lite being interviewed by someone every bit as dim as the marketing director and not even close to the marketing director’s pay rate, and this upper level management CEO-in-training gives a very clear and concise picture for one unrelenting hour on the depth and degree possible for sheer blather calmative word-salad brain-obliviating emptyness that is actually possible within a corporate executive washroom member’s airhead head when the air in the head is filled with metallic skull-dust blowing at a hundred miles an hour against whatever stray braincells it may encounter on it’s way to exiting the ears.

The average serial killer is more focused and coherent than this broad.

This imbecile….THAT SOMEONE HIRED AND PROMOTED!!….is trying to sell beers to queers. In fact if she had had that as a slogan instead of installing a wrongly-wired aberration of the terrestrial reproductive mandate for life on earth to try and sell sell product to actual men rather than to deranged crossdressers……she might still have a job.

She has NO idea of “make a product…..sell a product.” She doesn’t get that. What she DOES get is bunnies and “what is home” and women are special and that a cock-sporting pinwheel in a dress is a good way to sell beer to drunken men who boast about the foulness of their farts and like to kill handsome noble deer for fun and put their severed heads on the living room walls.

No: she thought Bud LIte meant light in the loafers. Or who the fuck even knows what she thought. Her CEO certainly had no clue. And he’s really the one with the problem. He ok’d all this shit. God only knows where she is now, but her boss? The Ceo? He’s right there firmly in place planning his new scapegoat. As for the product? Oh, well, who gives a shit about the product, we can always get more product. In fact, it’s still in the warehouse, exploding one can at a time. Walk in with your mouth open, sparky, have a drink.

Why are CEO’s all idiots? Because idiots are what the Feds – the creators of corporations – are rewarding with trips to the little girls’ bathrooms underneath the Capitol building, and with looking the other way regarding corporate violations of one or more of the ten trillion anti-corporation laws in exchange for a little more emphasis on the need for Climate Awareness in your ads and a little less emphasis on your product.

Shell Oil is actually running ads declaring their commitment to achieving a “fossil-fuel free” planet. Shell Oil is running ads saying oil is bad. Only a CEO would agree to this. An owner would blow the brains and butthole out of anyone who ordered him to run self-destructive ads. But then owners weren’t created by government lawyers. Ceo’s were.

CEO’s in interviews, the few CEO’s that give them, never talk about their product. They talk about their Quest For Universal Love. “Don’t hate us because we are trying to provide you with something to make your life better, why should YOUR life be better when other people cannot afford our product? No, rather let us not focus on crass materialism which Karl Marx has proclaimed immoral, let us focus instead on how virtuous I, as CEO of Shitstain Industries….am.”

You ever hear Elon Musk talk crap like that? You ever see him trying to get an interviewer to like him? No. He in fact goes out of his way to piss interviewers off because he doesn’t need their fucking approval: he’s selling product. Who care’s if it bursts into a fire even Superman couldn’t put out by flinging it into empty space. Let the buyer beware, it’s not as though its a fucking SECRET lithium batteries are unexploded bombs.

If his company was turned over to a CEO? Holy shit, Tesla factories would start producing party clothes for the starving children in Padook Pradash India and the Tesla name would become a Fashion & Designer brand on Project Runway.?
–J.J. Solari

Images from Mr. Way and Sam Burns

endo

by Bandit, John, Frank R.I.P. and Lee Clemens with photos by Weed

We Started with Box of Parts and Pieces

A friend, the notorious Deadwood John, called recently about his 1960 Panhead roller project, sort of a basket case on wheels. The engine still remained in the frame and a glide front end was in place, but not much else.

He wrote to Ron the shop owner in Alaska and said, “What about the transmission?” Ron who ran this shop for 40 years was an old friend. Semi-retired he was willing to help with all aspects of the build, so he sent John a box of transmission parts.

John tried to hand it to his engine rebuilder who rightfully turned him down. I’ve been around 4-speed transmissions for 50 years and rebuilt one in 1971. Kinda fucked it up but made it right.

Click here to read this photo feature Tech only on Bikernet.com

* * * *

See more Tech and Tricks at our dedicated Tech Department with feature articles and photos. Click here and start rebuilding.

A friend, the notorious Deadwood John, called recently about his 1960 Panhead roller project, sort of a basket case on wheels. The engine still remained in the frame and a glide front end was in place, but not much else.

He wrote to Ron the shop owner in Alaska and said, “What about the transmission?” Ron who ran this shop for 40 years was an old friend. Semi-retired he was willing to help with all aspects of the build, so he sent John a box of transmission parts.

John tried to hand it to his engine rebuilder who rightfully turned him down. I’ve been around 4-speed transmissions for 50 years and rebuilt one in 1971. Kinda fucked it up but made it right.

“I’ll give it a shot,” I said to John and went to work with a manual, a parts manual from the era, a Lowbrow, Frank Kaisler video and any other resource I could find. I worked with Frank for years at Easyriders and he was a Hamster until his passing a few years back. I also dug out every 4-speed transmission part I could find, which took serious sorting from all the 5-speed stuff.

So, if you’re in the mood to rebuild an early, greasy 4-speed transmission I’m going to share my notes and suggestions from the bros. I will also share product warnings, tools, etc.

Watching Frank’s video with the Lowbrow crew covers the entire process, but I find videos cumbersome. I want to turn the page and see what I need. Can’t do that with videos without getting grease all over the screen.

Still, if you watched the entire video before you started the process, you would know what you’re up against and what you need.

My notes here will help with the sloppy effort and inform you of the blunders I encountered.

First, I inspected all the shit in the box. Much of it was junk and needed to be replaced. I soaked the trans case and the partially completed kicker cover. I studied all the threaded holes and the stud threads.

Ron sent a case which was approximately a 1965 electric-start version with the wings cut off. The corner of the case was also damaged where the mounting stud rested. It had been welded and later in the game the stud came loose. I re-installed it with red Loctite. I also coated the inside of the case where you can see the studs, with Permatex to prevent leaking.

Otherwise, the case seemed fine, but then I noticed the counter-shaft steel sleeves were missing and we ordered some. Here’s a major point. There are good parts out there and there are shit parts. You can go to a distributor and find good shit and shit, so it’s on you to determine what’s good quality, and stick with it. I won’t mention names.

We ordered a new set of counter-shaft mounting sleeves, and I heated the case using a portable room heater. You can use an oven, which might stink up the house. I coated the sleeves with never-cease and found some appropriate punches to do the job, including one JIMS tool. In the process I annihilated my right thumb with my JIMS brass hammer, but after a few tender weeks survived. Regarding these sleeves be careful. One is specifically designed for the kicker side and one for the sprocket side.

Before I started final assembly. I heated the case and tapped them a few more times. Under ideal conditions you can feel when the sleeve bottoms.

With the sleeves in place, I studied the case for other missing elements. We didn’t have a drain plug or the fifth mounting stud. I checked the threads and took care of those from the tranny stash.

The next move included securing all the pieces for the main-shaft and John reached out to Ron, who sent us another box of goodies. The shaft he sent was over-heated and damaged. I had a shaft with a slight ding to some of the mounting threads, otherwise it was golden. I also had other shafts. They were longer, so I researched early 4-speed shafts. There are three or four leading from about 1962 to 1971. They started to get longer as soon as the first electric-start was introduced and a ring-gear added to the clutch basket.

1936-1965 Knuckle and Pan era. Kicker only: 11.750 inches

1965-1969 Pan to kidney Shovelhead with electric start: 12 inches

1970-1984 Cone motor Shovelhead to Evo with alternators and electric start: 12.5 inches

1985- Belt rear drive Evos: 13.750 inches

Some of Ron’s gears were dinged and I discovered I had some good replacements. My mainshaft could not be corrected, so I reached out to Lee Clemens, who operated Departure Bike Works for over 40 years. He scored me another mainshaft and started to coach me on the rebuild. Lee is also a Hamster. Neither of them were rich guys, but they were a part of the industry since the beginning.

Ron sent us used main bearings, but not the sleeve. We ordered one and Frank recommended ordering a new main bearing, since they are cheap. It came as a sealed bearing, which I question.

We also ordered a new set of thin, long roller bearings. There are 88 bearings in total and the batch came with extras. Here’s where the quality issue came into play. Just because one distributor sells the bastards for half the price of another, doesn’t mean you want them.

Out of all the 4th gear choices we had, we picked the best one, cleaned it, cleaned and checked the case race, checked the thrust washer that goes on the inside, greased the bearings and stuck 44 around the gear race.

Frank slipped the gear, bearings and thrust washer up from the inside of the case through the case race and added the sleeve and the massive left-handed nut to hold everything in place and then he moved on.

I watched another film about tranny rebuilds and they installed the fourth gear, the sleeve, the cork washer and the seal. They checked for a .003 to .013-inch end play, and then they started to install the other gears and main-shaft.

I watched both films a couple of times and moved along with Frank’s process. He slipped his 4th gear with the thrust washer and bearings stuck with grease right into place, bada bing.

I wasn’t so lucky. They wouldn’t go. I could get them started from the outside of the case, but not from the inside. I struggled with it a few times and then took three bearings out and was able to install it. I added the three back in from the outside, no sweat. Then I added the sleeve, a couple of Shovelhead intake manifold O-rings and the left-handed nut to hold everything in place as Frank did.

Installing the mainshaft is a puzzle. Just slip the shaft through from the kicker side. About 2/3s the way in, you will add the third gear, thrust washer, keeper snap-ring, which needs to be worked up over the shaft teeth carefully and then the shift dog. The shift dog will have “High” stamped on one side. It goes towards the 4-speed gear. The dog will also help in pushing the snap ring into place evenly once you get it started.

When I first started this process, I had a snap-ring, but once in place, it seemed loose so we ordered a new one. I’m glad, but the new one was a chore to slide up over the teeth on the shaft and it’s critical not to stretch it. I joke that being a good mechanic is similar to being a surgeon. Sure, we’re grubby and covered in grease, but the operations are just as critical and delicate as surgery. I think sharp mechanics deserve way more respect.

With the snap-ring in place, you want to spin the shaft and with a punch, tap the snap-ring to insure it’s properly seated. Oh, and make sure you grease all the pieces as they slip together. I used assembly lube.

The shaft slipped into place. This is the stage where we needed a main-shaft bearing housing. We had a new one, but it was larger, most likely for a 5-speed. We ordered another one quick. We also considered Frank’s recommendation and purchased a new main-shaft sealed bearing. Ron sent a retaining plate. But it was dinged. I had another one in my stash.

Between Ron and I, we had enough pieces to finish off the main-shaft assembly after the ordered pieces arrived. Throughout this process, I checked every pressed in bushing for fitment.

I shifted to the countershaft and started to research all the parts. Once all the parts were located and sourced, some from Ron and some from my stash, we ordered a set of various sized thrust washers. I sensed an issue. That’s why I heated the case and punched the sleeves again using the JIMS tool.

I took care with checking this assembly several times without the new bearings in place, 22 in each end of the countershaft gear. Once I had all the pieces, I took it apart and added the grease to help the roller bearings remain in place during assembly.

This was an early case, but not super early, still it didn’t hold an electric start countershaft, or the oil cap on the end. All the necessary pieces came in the James gaskets seal kit. So, with the countershaft assembled with the roller bearings, lock rings, thrust washers, second gear and low gear in place with bushings, the entire assembly slipped into place, but there didn’t seem to be room for even the smallest thrust washer. With the additional sleeve taping I was able to install a small thrust washer and check for end-play .008 to .012 inch.

When I slipped the countershaft into place, I had to take notice of the slotted end on the kicker side. It had to line up with the thick steel washer shape.

Throughout the video Frank struggled with the transmission on a bench. Part of his problem included filming and access to what he did. I didn’t have that issue, so I took a long chunk of angle Iron, drilled a couple of holes and bada-bing, I had a transmission rebuild tool. It was long enough to allow several mounting positions in a vice.

With the shafts in place, I moved onto the mainshaft retaining plate. It’s a trick like a puzzle to fit with an oil guide tin piece. I cleaned and wire brushed the retaining screws. The plate goes into place against the bearing housing. I used blue Loctite and tightened the screws several times carefully. Then I installed the large coil spring and the mainshaft kicker gears.

There’s a ball bearing in one gear. I made sure it was free. Most of the shafts are held in place with flat washers with tabs to bend up to prevent the nuts from loosening. I bent the tabs slightly to make picking a tab and punching it into place easier. I torqued all the nuts before bending the shafts.

I found a clean kicker shaft and I had a good kicker gear with the plate riveted to it. Keep in mind that over the years there were different kick gear ratios. Make sure you have the right shit. You’ll know as soon as you try to install the kicker cover.

I checked the kicker shaft through the kicker cover for fitment. Ron sent a new set of brass bushings, but I only replaced the O-ring seal in the center. Keep in mind the large generally chromed return spring on the outside of the kicker cover must be positioned properly. Some of the shafts come with one notch for the kicker arm bolt. This shaft had four notches. At first, I thought I was golden, but not-so Kemosabe.

With everything in place, the spring wound way too tight. I needed to take it apart and shift the gear on the shaft 90 degrees.

Next, I installed the shifter forks after hunting down the dinky shaft retaining screw. The forks only go into the shift dogs one way, when shift drum pins and sleeves face the same direction toward the front of the motorcycle. With everything in place, I dropped the ratchet top, which was in Neutral into place and carefully removed it, several times. The shift forks should be in the center between gears.

I removed the shaft and carefully straightened the tabs and shifted the shims until both shift forks were close to center. Lee Clemens said, “It’s okay to set the tranny up so that the forks lean one thin shim to 2nd and 4th gears.”

With the shift forks adjusted and the kicker cover in place, I could lock the shafts from moving with both shift folks in gear. I went digging for the JIMS tool to replace the mainshaft seal. I couldn’t find it and called Kit Maira a longtime Easyriders staff member. At one time he borrowed some of my JIMS tools, and I couldn’t find the puller/installer.

I looked in my special tools drawer, but not the puller drawer. There it was. Here’s the issue. While trying to find the proper tool I attempted to install the mainshaft seal with another JIMS tool and it worked, but I looked up from my successful operation and discovered I had not installed the cork under it.

At the time, I was consulting with Lee Clemens and he recommended I Permatex the area before installing the cork and then the seal. In order to remove the seal, I had to knock holes in it and use sheet metal screws to pull it out. Frank also recommended wiping the outside of the seal with Permatex to prevent leaking around the seal.

I found the JIMS tool, installed the screws, pulled the old seal, Permatexed the inside of the area around the sleeve, installed the cork, which was also coated with Permatex and used the JIMS tool to install the seal after I added a coat of Permatex coating the outside.

That left the ratchet top. I didn’t completely disassemble it. I took out the spring-loaded shifter paul, checked it, regreased it and replaced it. I took the cover off the ratchet case and inspected the springs, which are generally the issue with shifting. If a spring breaks, shifting goes to hell. I checked the alignment and greased everything.

I noticed a stud bolted into the ratchet top and wondered WTF? It must have been a neutral indicator for cop bikes at one time or electric-start bikes. I tried like hell to find another alternative but could not find a matching fine thread, short bolt.

I cleaned the gasket surface, found a set of fasteners. Note, that one is a vent hole. Make sure it aligns with a threaded hole through the case to the interior for proper venting.

I installed a greased gasket and the ratchet top. It shifted like a dream. I dug around for a kicker arm and found one offset and one straight, John went for the offset one, but we might reconsider. Also, I noticed the sleeve for the clutch arm, which was cast into the case was loose.

I tested green Loctite in this situation. I was told green was for studs and permanent stuff. John researched and discovered green is for situations when you can’t reach the threads. You can drip this around the opening and It will seep into the threads tighten and seal. Ya got me.

During final assembly I studied his clutch actuating system. This was a mousetrap bike with the clutch rod that extends past the trans. I knew we would incorporate and clutch eliminator bracket, which would eliminate the use of at mousetrap. We needed a shorter clutch rod and it had to be short for clearance under the oil tank. I had one.

One final note, the chain sprocket. John wanted to go with a stock 22-tooth configuration. I had a bunch of them. Some were offset for wider tires. Some were flat and seemed to rub against the case and some were just slightly dished on the inside to clear the case but run the sprocket tight to the transmission. I had a 24-tooth and discovered I also had and 22.

The trans was rebuilt and complete when I returned it to John’s Deadwood Garage. Bada-bing

–Bandit, John, Frank R.I.P. and Lee Clemens with photos by Weed

Sources:

JIMS Machine

Ron Harvey’s Classic Motorcycles
Alaska

Lowbrow

5-Ball Racing

Baker