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Cool Choppers by South Side MC member Patrick

By General Posts

Chopper builder Patrick, a Member of South Side MC.

A follow-up to our article on Long Fork Run. Southside MC Est 88 Sweden member Patrick’s cool choppers are featured here.

Patrick: “When I built Suicide Machine, I was introduced to stainless which has become a material that I prefer to build my parts as much as possible. So on the white chopper I have made oil tank, flatfender, tripple Trees, barney legs, sissybar, controls, exhaust and lots of smaller details in stainless steel.”

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Long Fork Run at Sweden

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Second summer with Corona, Southside MC Est 88 Sweden had to be flexible once more with their gathering of long forks. Instead of a hotspot for the show, they made it mobile.

Saturday 21st of Aug, 100+ bikes, choppers and pre 84 were welcomed for the ride. However anyone was invited at the clubhouse noon to 3PM, for burgers and a beer.

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Sturgis Rally Bikernet Weekly News for August 12, 2021

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It’s All Happening Now!

Hey,

It’s wild and the truth is still pending. Some brothers are excited about the super-strong rally. Others think the numbers are down.

Let us know how your rally week went. And keep riding fast and free until the end.

–Bandit

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What we know for certain about COVID-19 so far

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by J.J. Solari

1: The pandemic reached immediate-global-emergency-level one day after the impeachment effort was killed in the Senate. Suggesting Donald Trump’s Presidency is the actual cause of the virus. His orange skin dye may have been the incubating agent.

2: Covid-19 started in a bat and also in a clandestine biological warfare lab in China run by The Weekly World News and MI-6 and also in a “wet-market” which is journalese horror-vocabulary for butcher shop, and also in a Vietnamese dog-eating contest vomitorium and from a leaky freezer used by Dracula for unspecified purposes.

3: Covid-19 is so deadly that the only way to fight it successfully until the time comes that we can fight it more successfully is by lowering the body count of deceased victims, which now is everyone’s responsibility.

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Cantina Episode 90: Covid Threat

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Bandit awoke with a start to a blistering Monday morning in the middle of July, Wuhan Covid 2020. He couldn’t turn on the air-conditioning. Hell, he couldn’t pay his bills. The formidable stack of requests for funds grew like mold on a neglected peach. He wanted to reach for a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels. Times were tough on restaurants. He wasn’t alone.

The mayor of LA punked out to the forces supporting the homeless and raised all the taxes on LA homeowners and businesses. According to him and his group of socialists, homeownership was at the root of the problem. Just take the homes from the hard-working middle class and give them to the addicted homeless. Bandit rolled violently in his large round bed surrounded by brass framed, large ship portholes allowing the fog on the water to shroud his dire day.

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NH officials remind Laconia Motorcycle Week attendees of COVID-19 safety rules

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by Jean Mackin from https://www.wmur.com

In 2020 style, Laconia Motorcycle Week is taking a major detour this year — scaled down with no vendor tents or big scheduled events .

The state will post signs and even do flyovers featuring the rules of the road in New Hampshire.

“We want to remind folks that might be coming from out state to review our travel provisions, our quarantine protocols, and recommendations that we have within the state,” Gov. Chris Sununu said Friday. “Remind them that we do encourage folks to wear masks whenever they cannot social distance. If they are going to be at any large scheduled gathering, there actually is a mask requirement for those over 100.”

State health officials say they’re working with businesses to try to cut down on potential spread.

“In a large event like that, especially if it’s outdoor … and there’s hundreds of people, regardless of whether you’re wearing a mask or not there’s that risk of transmission is there,” said Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette.

If someone tests positive, contact tracing could be difficult.

“It would be hard to do full contact tracing if they attended a large events at Bike Week, so I would say that a public notification is likely unless it was a very isolated incident,” Shibinette said.

And if a someone tests positive after leaving the state, New Hampshire officials would be notified.

Sturgis sponsor Harley-Davidson refused to send employees to annual rally over COVID-19 fears

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by Matthew Chapman from https://www.rawstory.com

The ten-day Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is moving forward in South Dakota despite fears from health experts that it will be a superspreader event for COVID-19.

According to The Daily Beast, even Harley-Davidson, the official motorcycle manufacturer of the Sturgis rally, is cautious about scaling up its operations at the event.

“The dangers gave pause even to a company that counts on people’s willingness to risk being pinballed around without the protection of seat belts or air bags,” reported special correspondent Michael Daly. “To have participated in the rally as it had in past years would have meant being party to recklessness of a different order even than riding a motorcycle without a helmet. If you hop on a hog without a helmet, you are endangering only yourself. But if you go about without a mask you are endangering others.”

According to the report, Harley-Davidson has declined to send any staff to the event, and is not directly vending products or holding demos as it has in previous years. “Usually, we have trucks and staff and products and demos and everything,” said a spokesperson. “This year, we aren’t doing that.”

The spokesperson added, “We made the decision to kind of support it in a different way. This year, we’re doing it in a way that supports social distancing.”

This is not the first time Harley-Davidson has been at odds with many of its customers. Two years ago, President Donald Trump picked a fight with the motorcycle brand over its decision to shift some production to Europe to avoid the trade war, and at that year’s Sturgis rally, many bikers said they were backing the president over the manufacturer of their rides.

Motorcycles Sales Bounce Back Post Pandemic Slump

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by Sabrina Giacomini from https://www.rideapart.com

Rising from the ashes.

To say that 2020 has been an eventful year so far is an understatement. “2020, written by Stephen King” is probably the best description of this year’s events we found so far. Of course, with a pandemic forcing most of the global population into lockdown, the health crisis was bound to have an impact on the motorcycle industry.

For several manufacturers, between suspended production and customers shying away from the dealers, the months of April and May 2020 have been challenging to say the least. Thankfully, with life gradually resuming, so are sales, and the numbers are bouncing back.

Things Are Going Better Than Expected:

An increasing number of people and publications suggest that the pandemic will encourage more people to turn to motorcycles and scooters for transportation—the perfect type of commuter for social distancing.

In the U.S., buyers didn’t waste any time running for the hills—literally—as soon as COVID-19 poked its ugly head. Honda, BMW, Suzuki, and Yamaha’s North American branches reported that sales are thriving since the beginning of the year, particularly in the off-road segment. For instance, American Honda Motor Co. confirmed that motorcycle sales for May 2020 have more than doubled over May 2019—both in the road and off-road segments (+103% and +172% respectively). For BMW North America, while official sales numbers were not disclosed, the spokesperson did say that May 2020 sales were far exceeding last year’s.

The European market is showing a similar, positive trend. Italian sales numbers for June 2020 show a 37-percent increase over June 2019—not even over the catastrophic month of May 2020. More bikes and scooters sold in Italy post-pandemic than last year, back when nobody had even heard of a coronavirus. A total of 39,085 motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds have been registered in Italy in June.

The market is also on the mend in India where local branches are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Though the June sales numbers remain significantly below the 2019 numbers, they are on the rise after the May 2020 slump. For Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, the 210,879 units moved in June represent a 153 percent increase in sales over May. For Hero, sales increased by a staggering 300 percent between the two months. Royal Enfield is also back in the green with a total of 38,065 motorcycles sold in June versus 18,429 in May.

Despite a rocky start to 2020, it looks like the motorcycle industry is faring far better than we initially anticipated.

Health officials concerned about Iowa motorcycle rally: ‘We don’t want to be another Florida’

By General Posts

by Chris Gothner from https://www.kcci.com/

ALGONA, Iowa (AP) —

A group still plans to hold a three-day motorcycle rally in northern Iowa that’s expected to attract thousands of bikers despite the concerns of local officials that the event could spread the coronavirus.

Local officials usually welcome the annual Freedom Rally held on a farm northeast of Algona, but this year’s event planned for Thursday to Saturday has officials worried.

“We have a good relationship with them,” Algona Mayor Rick Murphy told the Des Moines Register. “The bikers are friendly. They’re fun to visit with. … But this year, everyone is a little more on edge.”

Algona is in Kossuth County, which has had 32 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and no reported deaths, but officials think that could change because of the motorcycle rally, which typically draws 10,000 bikers.

The rally is organized by ABATE of Iowa as a fundraiser for the nonprofit group, which supports motorcycle safety and training. The annual rally was long held in Humboldt before moving in 2002 just north to Algona, a city of 5,400 about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Mason City.

David Duffy, the ABATE state coordinator, said the group is encouraging social distancing and is calling for riders to limit trips into Algona.

“We’re taking all the precautions necessary to make this safe,” Duffy said.

The group’s website states that participants will have to sign a form that seeks to identify anyone who has been to a coronavirus hot spot and could exclude them from the event.

The website also notes Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations but adds, “social distancing is a suggestion by the CDC, not a law. This rally was created and called the Freedom Rally to promote freedom of choice. Attending is just that, freedom of choice.”

Large gatherings were banned earlier in the year but Gov. Kim Reynolds has allowed them to resume.

Murphy said he and other officials emailed the governor’s office to suggest she reconsider allowing large gatherings but didn’t hear back.

Asked about the message, Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett said in a text message, “We are not aware of this request.”

David Penton, the Kossuth County Emergency Management coordinator, said local officials are especially worried that after keeping cases low for months, the rally could lead to the disease spreading at a time when cases are rising in other states, such as Florida.

“People are a little discouraged that that could all be thrown into the wind,” Penton said. “We don’t want to be another Florida.”

Large motorcycle rally in N. Iowa worries local officials

from https://www.washingtontimes.com

ALGONA, Iowa (AP) – A group still plans to hold a three-day motorcycle rally in northern Iowa that’s expected to attract thousands of bikers despite the concerns of local officials that the event could spread the coronavirus.

Local officials usually welcome the annual Freedom Rally held on a farm northeast of Algona, but this year’s event planned for Thursday to Saturday has officials worried.

“We have a good relationship with them,” Algona Mayor Rick Murphy told the Des Moines Register. “The bikers are friendly. They’re fun to visit with. … But this year, everyone is a little more on edge.”

Algona is in Kossuth County, which has had 32 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and no reported deaths, but officials think that could change because of the motorcycle rally, which typically draws 10,000 bikers.

The rally is organized by ABATE of Iowa as a fundraiser for the nonprofit group, which supports motorcycle safety and training. The annual rally was long held in Humboldt before moving in 2002 just north to Algona, a city of 5,400 about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Mason City.

David Duffy, the ABATE state coordinator, said the group is encouraging social distancing and is calling for riders to limit trips into Algona.

“We’re taking all the precautions necessary to make this safe,” Duffy said.

The group’s website states that participants will have to sign a form that seeks to identify anyone who has been to a coronavirus hot spot and could exclude them from the event.

The website also notes Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations but adds, “social distancing is a suggestion by the CDC, not a law. This rally was created and called the Freedom Rally to promote freedom of choice. Attending is just that, freedom of choice.”

Large gatherings were banned earlier in the year but Gov. Kim Reynolds has allowed them to resume.

Murphy said he and other officials emailed the governor’s office to suggest she reconsider allowing large gatherings but didn’t hear back.

Asked about the message, Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett said in a text message, “We are not aware of this request.”

David Penton, the Kossuth County Emergency Management coordinator, said local officials are especially worried that after keeping cases low for months, the rally could lead to the disease spreading at a time when cases are rising in other states, such as Florida.

“People are a little discouraged that that could all be thrown into the wind,” Penton said. “We don’t want to be another Florida.”

Coronavirus: Triumph Motorcycles to cut 400 jobs

By General Posts

from https://www.bbc.com

The largest British motorcycle manufacturer is to cut 400 jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Triumph Motorcycles, based in Hinckley, Leicestershire, which employs 2,500 people worldwide, said 240 of those redundancies would in the UK.

It said sales in some countries have fallen up to 65% in the last three months.

Chief Executive Nick Bloor said the crisis has caused “significant damage” to the global motorcycle market.

The company said sales in the 500cc plus motorcycle segment in France, Italy, Germany, USA and UK have fallen between 40% and 65% during the peak season.

Mr Bloor, said it was a “challenging time” for the company.

“These are not easy decisions to make, especially when individuals’ livelihoods are affected.

“However, regrettably the scale of impact of Covid-19 necessitates us to restructure now in order to protect the long term health and success of the Triumph brand and business.”

The firm said a consultation period would begin with employees.

Triumph, which was established in 1902, produces about 60,000 bikes every year.

Its motorcycles have featured in movies including Jurassic World, The Great Escape and Mission Impossible II.