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Granddad Breaks World Speed Record With Steam Bike

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Graham Sykes had a passion for speed for most of his life. He has been associated with motorsports since 1979 and turns 60 years old in 2023. Even his wife is involved in the engineering efforts of this engineer. Sykes has created a steam-powered monster named ‘Force of Nature’ which clocked a 3.878-second, 163.8 mph standing start run on a 1/8 mile. This was at Elvington Speed Week in May 2023. This is officially a new world record for a steam-powered motorcycle. It reached an exit speed of 163.8 miles per hour. For racing this unique creation, water is heated using hydrogenated vegetable oil, keeping the pursuit of speed as environmentally friendly as possible. The granddad rider was zooming at 180mph while doing this, but that wasn’t part of this record-breaking achievement. It may not be surprising that he was riding his own ‘force’. Certified by the UK and ITA governing body for UK and European Land Speed Records this machine was a journey that was 10 years in the making. Sykes had already set a British national speed record in 2015 for a three-wheeled vehicle. That V8-powered three-wheeler had a top speed of 180.3 mph with an average speed of 171.4 mph on quarter mile. With 9 grand-kids, Sykes wanted to aim for a ‘Force of Nature’ that was environmentally friendly. He has no intention to stop the pursuit of speed and action. His next goal is to surpass the milestone of 200 mph on a standing 1/8-mile run. * * * * * * * * Gear up to ride to your favorite Motorcycling Events – Click Here to view the all-new 5-Ball Racing Shop

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Presenting the new Harley-Davidson CVO motorcycles

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NEW HARLEY-DAVIDSON CVO MOTORCYCLES DELIVER EXTRAORDINARY DESIGN, PERFORMANCE AND TECHNOLOGY CVO Street Glide and CVO Road Glide Powered by Milwaukee-Eight VVT 121 Engine MILWAUKEE (June 7, 2023) – Harley-Davidson elevates the motorcycle riding experience with the mid-year introduction of two premium 2023 models from Custom Vehicle Operations™ (CVO™). The new CVO™ Street Glide® and CVO™ Road Glide® models showcase advanced technology, enhanced rider comfort and dynamic performance propelled by the powerful new Milwaukee-Eight® VVT 121 engine. Exclusive and dramatic new visual designs present a transformative revision of the Harley-Davidson® Grand American Touring platform. “With the all-new CVO™ Street Glide® and CVO™ Road Glide® models, our mission is to advance every aspect of the Grand American Touring motorcycling experience,” said Jochen Zeitz, Chairman, President and CEO of Harley-Davidson. “These models set a new standard for Harley-Davidson performance, technology and style, accelerating the evolution of the world’s most desirable motorcycle brand.” Iconic Design, Redefined The new CVO™ Street Glide® and CVO™ Road Glide® models feature stunning new design clearly evolved from the familiar shapes of previous Harley-Davidson® Grand American Touring motorcycles. Both models feature fairings with integrated venting and LED signature lighting with integrated turn signals. Additional design elements include a trimmed front fender, a new 6-gallon fuel tank with a distinctive side bevel, and saddlebags with a three-dimensional shape in harmony with the fairings and fuel tank. The new Combo Cast Laced wheels make a bold custom statement with a black machine-cut cast-aluminum rim and laced spokes. Each model will be offered in two highly detailed finish options. Pinnacle Performance The new 121-cubic inch V-Twin Milwaukee-Eight® VVT 121 engine establishes a new benchmark for factory-installed torque and displacement available in a Harley-Davidson® Touring motorcycle and features optimized liquid-cooled cylinder heads with a new cooling system, variable valve timing (VVT), a new

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100 WFC: A Hundred

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100 word fiction contest continues…. #100WFC A Hundred by Chris Dutcher He hadn’t felt this good in a long time. Five year sentence he’d done forty-three months, seventeen days, five hours and fifty-eight minutes. But who’s counting… The bike wanted to go a hundred, and he’d let it. The speedo had hovered right around the one-double zero for well over an hour, he must be on fumes. Backing off the throttle was almost like after-sex. The engine rapped down like the engine brake on a semi, counting through the gears. Everyone looked away when he pulled up to the pumps, which was fine with him. His face tingled. He laughed. * * * * * * * * Yup, its a weekly contest open to all. Just sign up for the free weekly newsletter by clicking here. Then email us your 100 word limit fiction to the editor wayfarer@bikernet.com

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EPA to Allow Summer Sales of E15

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Friday, the Biden Administration issued an emergency waiver allowing for the sale of E15 from June 1st to September 15th. Restrictions on fuel volatility have limited the sale of E15 to the months outside of summer. This move by the Biden Administration is an attempt to appease lawmakers from corn producing states, who for years have lobbied for year-round use of the fuel. A similar emergency waiver was issued in 2022. As always read your owner’s manual, know what you are putting in your bike, and be an educated consumer. To read more about the decision click here. About Motorcycle Riders Foundation: The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) provides leadership at the federal level for states’ motorcyclists’ rights organizations as well as motorcycle clubs and individual riders. Visit http://mrf.org * * * * * * * * * * * * Follow Bikernet Free Weekly Newsletter to get latest Motorcycling news, updates, reviews, tech, tips, & lot of fun. Click here & take a test ride.

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Another New Chinese imitation of a Sportster

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from inputs by Enrico Punsalang at https://www.msn.com/ The Xiang Shuai XN650N Is An Exact Imitation of Sportster 883 It is a Harley-Daivdson in design butt without any resemblance to its performance. Sportsters have been a bestselling brand of H-D for decades. This latest clone is offered by Chinese manufacturer Xiang Shuai, a rather obscure brand which doesn’t seem to operate anywhere other than mainland China. Branded XN650N, it is an exact replica of Harley Iron 883. They did not even bother to make tiniest of differentiation. Its fuel tank, headlight, and even the engine casing look almost exactly the same. Powered by a 650cc V-twin engine which supposedly punches 53 hp. Does that mean its more powerful that the Harley-Davidson model? We doubt it at pricing and quality factors. Refer the previous Chinese imitation we reported — the Motofino Streetboy which looks like the Sportster S model https://blog.bikernet.com/knock-off-motofino-streetboy-v-maxter-300-looks-eerily-familiar/ Anyways, can you spot any difference between the Iron 883 and the XN650N ? Let us know on our Facebook Page. Visit : https://www.facebook.com/bikernetbiker

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World War II Rider Beatrice Shilling, OBE

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by Jason Marker from https://www.rideapart.com With a simple, thimble-shaped washer, this pioneering woman gearhead saved the lives of countless RAF pilots in WWII. During the Battle of Britain, the Royal Air Force discovered a glaring problem with its Rolls-Royce Merlin-powered fighters—the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire. See, that generation of Merlin was fitted with dual-choke, updraft carburetors built by the S.U. Carburettor Company Limited. These worked just like your regular updraft carb and were great in level flight. Problem was, you see, that fighter planes don’t spend a lot of time in level flight. Any negative-G maneuvers, such as pitching the nose down sharply in a dive, would cause the carbs to flood and the engine to cut out. Not exactly what you want in your badass, high-po, Nazi-killing fighter. RAF pilots figured out pretty quickly that they could perform a quick half-roll before diving in an attempt to counteract the flooding, but this only worked so well. It also introduced a delay in the RAF boys’ maneuvers that provided ample opportunity for the fuel-injected Luftwaffe fighters—especially Willie Messerschmitt’s legendary BF109—to either blow up the RAF planes or run for it as the situation allowed. The RAF needed a solution to this problem, and fast. Enter one Beatrice Shilling. Humble Beginnings and Early Career Beatrice Shilling was born on March 8, 1909, in Hampshire, and raised in Surrey. Her parents were butcher Henry Shilling and his wife Annie (née Dulake). She was, by all accounts, a peculiar young girl for her time. She was obsessed with Meccano, a model-building system similar to an Erector Set, and even won a prize in a national Meccano-building contest. She spent her pocket money on tools, knives, and pots of glue, and, the fact that most concerns us here at RideApart, bought her

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Screamin’ Eagle 135ci Stage IV Crate Engine

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by Dustin Wheelen from https://www.rideapart.com The Milwaukee-Eight V-Twin produces 143 lb-ft of torque and 130 horsepower. Tens of millions of dollars and countless man-hours go into Harley-Davidson’s King of the Baggers operation. None of those resources go to waste, either, with the Motor Company snatching the KotB crown in 2021 and nearly repeating in 2022. The fruits of the race team’s labor go beyond the circuit as well, with H-D engineers and designers fashioning race-developed parts for brand faithful. Now, Harley brings even more KotB-proven performance to the market with its Screamin’ Eagle 135ci Stage IV crate engine. The new top-dog Milwaukee-Eight V-twin features the same 68mm throttle body and CNC-machined intake manifold originally designed for Kyle and Travis Wyman’s championship-contending Road Glide Special. Screamin’ Eagle Extreme CNC-ported cylinder heads, high-performance valve spring, and an SE8-517 high-lift camshaft take full advantage of the V-twin’s larger 2,212cc volume. Forged pistons shoot through 4.31-inch steel-sleeve cylinders with 4.625 inches of stroke. The 4 5/8-inch flywheel steadies the big-bore M8, while the Screamin’ Eagle Pro Billet Cam Plate and Oil Pump maintain optimal oil pressure. With a 10.7:1 compression ratio and high-flow fuel injectors (6.8 grams/second), the 135 crate engine lays down 143 lb-ft of torque (at 3,500 rpm) and 130 horsepower (at 5500 rpm)—all at the rear wheel. That output eclipses the Bar and Shield’s largest production engine, the Milwaukee-Eight 117, by 28 percent in the torque department and 41 percent in pony power. Harley-Davidson recommends pairing the Stage IV Milwaukee-Eight with Screamin’ Eagle Ventilator Extreme Air Cleaner and Screamin’ Eagle Street Cannon mufflers to achieve those reported power figures. Retailing for $7,999.95, the Screamin’ Eagle 135ci Stage IV Performance Crate Engine comes in a Black or Chrome finish and is compatible with 2021 and later Touring models (sans Trikes). The brand

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Moto Ouroboros: Praga ZS 800

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Moto Ouroboros: Praga ZS 800 Melds 1930s Style With 2020s Technology Just 28 of this very special machine will ever be made. by Janaki Jitchotvisut from https://www.rideapart.com In November, 2022, Czech company Praga announced its upcoming, extremely limited-edition Bohema hypercar, of which just 89 units are reportedly planned for production. For those interested in an even more exclusive motorcycle, though, there’s the Praga ZS 800. Just 28 of these bikes will ever be made, with that number’s significance harking back to the year 1928. Although this machine could only be made with 21st-century technologies, it draws influence from the 1928 Praga BD 500 for its design. The result is the seemingly timeless piece of rolling sculpture you now see before you. It’s built around a Kawasaki W800 engine, which freed Praga up to craft all the other, much more interesting bits of this bike. The forged carbon-fiber wheels, for example, feature wholly integrated hydraulic drum brakes. You’ve got five-axis-machined steel girder front forks up front for form, along with a fully adjustable Öhlins TTX suspension for function. The 18-inch, extremely special wheels come wrapped in Dunlop Roadsmart rubber—and really, just take a moment to gaze at that rather lovely titanium exhaust, as well as the exquisite rear rack with integrated taillight and indicators. The 11.5-liter fuel tank is a structural element in the frame for added weight savings. As a result, Praga says that the dry weight of this bike tips the scales at just 142 kilograms—or a hair over 313 pounds. Even once you add fuel, the resulting machine comes in at a claimed 158 kilograms, or 348 pounds—which is still pretty impressive. The W800 engine at its heart is a 773cc, air-cooled parallel twin that makes a claimed 50 horsepower and 65 newton-meters (47.9 pound-feet) of torque. It’s

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What We Know About the 2023 Harley-Davidson X350 and X350RA

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by Dennis Chung from https://www.motorcycle.com Streetbike for Asia and a Riding Academy bike for the US Harley-Davidson held its big 120th anniversary reveal last week, and for the most part, the announcement included the bikes we expected, such as the Nightster Special, and the return of the Breakout with a Milwaukee-Eight 117ci engine. What we also expected to come for 2023 but was not included in the announcement were the X350 and X350RA. Still, despite not being part of the big Jan. 18 announcement, we managed to get our hands on some information confirming more details of the Chinese-built models. The X350 is the product of Harley-Davidson’s partnership with China’s Qianjiang Motors that was first announced in 2019. After some regulatory delays, the QJ-built X350 is finally close to production as a small-displacement model for Asian markets. The X350 and an X350RA variant appeared in Vehicle Information Number data submitted by QJ to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and as we recently reported, Harley-Davidson included the X350RA in its 2023 model year VIN information. Following the Jan. 18 announcement, Motorcycle.com has secured a copy of the X350RA’s official owner’s manual, plus a single image of the model, with clear proof it is intended for use for Harley-Davidson’s Riding Academy. We’ve also briefly got a look at the official parts catalog, confirming some of the differences between X350 and X350RA. The image above briefly appeared on Harley-Davidson’s Service Information Portal, showing a roadster with neutral riding ergonomics and, tellingly, bright orange bars bolted on to either side of the radiator. The owner’s manual includes an illustration of the X350RA from the rider’s perspective, and it offers another view of the radiator guards. The added protection further confirms our suspicions that the “RA” version of the X350 is intended for

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A 1940 Indian Four sold for $89,000

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This 1940 Indian Four is said to have been restored under prior ownership and was acquired by the selling dealer in 2016. The bike is finished in dark red over a black frame and powered by a numbers-matching 77ci inline-four paired with a hand-shifted three-speed transmission. Equipment includes a sprung leather solo saddle, a chrome luggage rack, a side stand, a foot-clutch, a leaf-spring front end, a four-into-one exhaust system, a chrome engine guard, plunger shocks, 18″ wire-spoke wheels, and center and side stands. This Model Four is offered by the selling dealer in Oregon with a clean Michigan title. It was sold on popular online automotive buy-sell auction website for Vintage and Classic vehicles: https://bringatrailer.com Essentials Seller: 911r Location: Portland, Oregon 97227 Listing Details Chassis: 440413 Engine: DD0413 305 Miles Shown, TMU Numbers-Matching 77ci Inline-Four Three-Speed Hand-Shifted Transmission Dark Red Paint Skirted Fenders Cognac Leather Sprung Seat Leaf-Spring Front End Plunger Shocks 18″ Wire-Spoke Wheels Four-Into-One Exhaust System Chrome Luggage Rack Private Party or Dealer: Dealer Additional charges from this dealer: USD $0 Lot #72267 SOLD FOR USD 89,000 on May 06, 2022. The bike was restored in dark red over a black frame under previous ownership. Equipment includes a side stand, a horn, footboards, skirted fenders, and sprung cognac leather solo saddle embellished with fringe and jeweled nailhead trim as well as a chrome luggage rack, engine guard, rear fender guard, frame guards, and center and side stands. Wire-spoke 18″ wheels wear Coker blackwall tires. Suspension consists of a leaf-spring fork in addition to dual plunger shocks mounted on either side of the rear axle. Braking is from drums at both ends. A chrome steering damper knob and cross-braced handlebar sit between the aluminum dash and polished headlight bucket. Instrumentation includes a 130-mph speedometer, an ammeter, a keyed

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