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Historic Off-Road Show at the Harley-Davidson Museum

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by Skyler Chun from https://www.milwaukeemag.com Preview: A Historic Show at the Harley-Davidson Museum. Learn all about the history of off-road motorcycling at the Harley-Davidson Museum. A new exhibit – about the storied past of off-road motorcycles and the people who rode them – has rolled into the Harley-Davidson Museum. “There’s a deep history here with this type of riding,” exhibits curator David Kreidler says, adding that the company has long made special motorcycles designed to be ridden across difficult terrain. After all, when the company was founded in 1903, roads weren’t widely paved, and riders needed to be able to maneuver their bikes across rutted earth, or dodge fallen logs and debris. The “Off-Road Harley-Davidson” exhibit was created to coincide with the introduction of the Pan America adventure-touring motorcycle. One of the highlights of the exhibit, “Off-Road Harley-Davidson,” is the LiveWire, the company’s first all-electric motorcycle. The bike was featured prominently in the Apple TV+ show “Long Way Up,” which followed Ewan McGregor and his friend motorbiking from South America to Los Angeles. Older bikes are also on display. While the museum is open to the public, it’s planning virtual events as well. To replicate the experience of walking through the galleries, Kridler will lead tours of the exhibit space that viewers can access online if they’d rather not visit in person. “Off-Road Harley-Davidson” looks back at Harley’s history of all-terrain motorcycles. Visit the Harley-Davidson webpage for more information. “Off-Road Harley-Davidson” exhibit celebrates the company’s past by Mark Gardiner from https://www.revzilla.com To celebrate the launch of its Pan America adventure bike, The Motor Company recently mounted a lovely exhibit called “Off-Road Harley-Davidson” at its museum in Milwaukee. Unfortunately, just as the exhibit was due to open to the public, a surge in COVID cases forced Milwaukee County to close museums! […]

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Fritchie Classic motorcycle race to return to fairgrounds July 4

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by Mary Grace Keller from https://www.fredericknewspost.com The 100th Anniversary of Barbara Fritchie Classic There’s a short list of factors that can prevent the country’s oldest continuous dirt track motorcycle race — the Great Depression, World War II, rain and most recently, COVID-19. But not this year. The Barbara Fritchie Classic will return to the Frederick Fairgrounds July 4 after the pandemic led to its cancellation in 2020. This year will mark 100 years of tradition at the location since the series started in 1922, according to race organizer Richard Riley. “The race is on,” he said. The event will look a little different from years past. The plan is to limit the grandstands to 1,500 spectators (half capacity), COVID-19 safety protocols will be in place, visitors will notice extra cleaning throughout the event, and hand sanitizer will abound. Riley isn’t worried about reducing the capacity in the grandstands, since they usually see 1,500 to 1,800 spectators, and many of them stand around the racetrack’s fence. “It’s just good dusty fun,” Riley said. New this year, the event will offer a STACYC exhibition for youngsters competing on electric bikes. More details are to come, but Riley said the event will probably be geared toward kids ages 4 to 6. “The kids got to get out,” he said. “They can’t stay in the house all day.” He also hopes to display restored vintage racing bikes from the era of the first race. Riley’s been involved in the race in some way since 1977 and first attended in 1968. For decades of his life, the Fritchie Classic has been synonymous with celebrating Independence Day. Last Fourth of July, Riley found himself staring at the empty fairgrounds. He nearly cried when he had to cancel the event. “I just looked in there. Everything was

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British bike show is a triumph for organisers

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by Nigel Baudains from https://guernseypress.com The heyday of the British motorcycle industry was on display at St James yesterday. People were queuing by the 10am opening to see about 90 machines spanning the period from 1911 to the present day. Alan Richmond, who organised the show on behalf of the St James Trust, is also chairman of The British Motor Cycle Club Guernsey. ‘I think British motorcycles appeal to the older man who probably had one in his youth,’ he said. ‘Naturally he will say that it was the best and there is a huge brand loyalty. ‘For the practical, you can strip them down to the last nut and bolt, whereas motorcycles today are computer-controlled and you dare not change a spark plug.’ Some of the bikes – nicknamed trailer queens – belonged to people who did not want to get them wet. Half an hour of riding and four hours of cleaning was no fun, he said. Vaccine centre volunteer Alan Boyd, 66, said visiting the show had reactivated his interest in motorcycles. ‘I had bikes from the age of 15 and I even managed to persuade my wife, Jo, to tour Europe with me on a [Honda] Goldwing,’ he said. ‘I sold it because I thought I was getting too old. I’m a Triumph fan. The early ones leaked oil and the electrics were always packing up. Every time you went out it was an adventure as you never knew whether you’d get back or not.’ Within a few minutes of the show opening, the hall was packed with motorcycle enthusiasts. Jackson Garage technician Wojtek Krzemien, 39, who came to Guernsey from Poland 13 years ago, was among them. ‘I just love motorbikes and I wanted to bring the boys to show them the story of motorcycling,’

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Sam Lowes wins double in Doha

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Lowes holds nerve for brilliant Doha double! Sam Lowes emerged victorious in a thrilling late duel to win his second Moto2 race in succession while Augusto Fernandez made big strides to score an excellent sixth. The Losail International Circuit was the scene of a second Moto2 race in as many weeks, and was one where Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Sam Lowes and Augusto Fernandez both finished in the top six. Despite the strong wind, Lowes’ race winning pace was incredible. The Englishman posted a new race record time for the Moto2 class – 39’52.702 – and was over 10 seconds quicker than the race here one week ago. After making drastic changes to his set-up on Friday, Augusto felt more comfortable in race two. Starting from tenth on the grid, the 23-year old was in the midst of an eight-rider fight for fifth place for the entire race. He finished the race strongly, and climbed one place on the last lap to finish sixth. To show his improvement over the second weekend of the year, Fernandez’s race time was 11 seconds faster than he managed one week ago. “I’m getting my confidence back” “I’m very happy! It seems this set-up direction is the correct one. It has been a really hard two weeks here. We were a bit lost in the test and the first race, changing parts. And we didn’t have so much time to test for the races because of the times of the sessions. It was difficult to turn around the situation. But after a tough start, we got sixth position and sit seventh in the championship. Also, I’m getting my confidence back. The end of the race was so strong. I had good pace and was making 1’59s. I was strong on the brakes

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Evel Empire: Knievel’s Stranglehold on the Seventies

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Evel Knievel had a stock answer for reporters when they asked him: Well … why? “There’s three mysteries to life,” he said, with practiced conviction. “Where we came from, why we do what we do, and where we’re going to go. You don’t know the answer to any of those three, and neither do I.” Standing next to the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in 1974, as crew members prepped his water-powered rocket cycle to fly the chasm in what would be his ballsiest cheat of death yet, he added: “I’m going to jump it to get to the other side, and I don’t want to drive across that damn bridge.” Click Here to Read this Article on Bikernet. Join the Cantina – Subscribe Today. https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

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Discovery of a Centennial Motorcycle Documentary

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“Walter: The Missing Link – Discovery of a Centennial Motorcycle” Documentary – Coming Soon Slinger, Wisconsin – March 8, 2021 – The Edge Ltd., producer of “Hogslayer: The Unapproachable Legend,” announces the release of “Walter: The Missing Link – Discovery of a Centennial Motorcycle” documentary. Walter is a feature-length narrative documentary featuring Walter, a 1913 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Truck, and his former caretaker Michael W. Schuster. A meticulous restoration by Ally Schuster and his grandson Michael, Walter ultimately became an acknowledged motorcycle artifact recognized as the last-known Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Truck in existence. In 1913 an unusual motorcycle negotiates through the mud-rutted streets of old Milwaukee. This is one of the first Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Truck forecars and represents a unique early venture in commercial service delivery motorcycles for the Motor Company. Fast-forward to the present-day as that very same motorcycle truck negotiates through the world of motorcycle collectible artifacts. This is the last-known Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Truck in existence, a remarkable motorcycle affectionately known as Walter. This documentary chronicles the life and times of Walter the forecar from its early days of service, through many decades of desolation stored in a horse barn, and then many years of restoration to eventually become the most valuable service motorcycle in the world. Along the way, the producer explores the history of three-wheeled vehicles; the Harley-Davidson Motor Company’s development of commercial service motorcycles, and most importantly documents one man’s adventure in restoring a motorcycle that has been in his family for a century. Independent producer James Cutting considers the discovery of Walter to be the most extraordinary barn-find of our times. In the end, Walter delivers a lesson to embrace our past and forge relationships for our future. “Walter: The Missing Link – Discovery of a Centennial Motorcycle” documentary will be released in 2021. A late-summer

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Car and Motorcycle Companies Now Making Electric Bikes

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by Roy Furchgott from https://www.nytimes.com They see branding opportunities as the pandemic and a desire by cities to curb traffic propel e-bike sales to new heights. The transportation industry has seen the future, and the future is 1895. That was the year Ogden Bolton Jr. of Canton, Ohio, was awarded U.S. Patent 552,271 for an “electrical bicycle.” A century and change later, electric bikes have gained new currency as car and motorcycle companies like Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Yamaha have horned into the market with their own designs. While the pandemic has accelerated bike sales, the overriding attraction is that cities worldwide are beginning to restrict motor traffic. These companies are betting that e-bikes are the urban vehicles of tomorrow — or at least vehicles for good publicity today. “In the past 12 to 18 months, you have seen a lot of new brands come into the market,” said Andrew Engelmann, an e-bike sales and marketing manager at Yamaha, which has been in the electric bike business since 1993 and claims sales of two million worldwide. “We in the U.S. have not seen this new energy toward cycling since Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France.” Credit the coronavirus pandemic, which has ignited bike sales of all stripes, but none so much as e-bikes. While retail unit sales of bicycles from January to October last year were up 46 percent from a year earlier, electric bikes were up 140 percent. Measured in dollars, regular bikes were up 67 percent and e-bikes 158 percent — so don’t expect a discount. Those numbers, from the market researchers at NPD, do not include online-only retailers such as Rad Power Bikes, so sales may actually be higher still. Ogden Bolton aside, there is a historical connection between bicycles and motorcycles. Many early

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115-year-old Motorcycle dealer to ride into the sunset

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by Warren Scott from https://www.heraldstaronline.com WINTERSVILLE — John and Kim Neidengard said preparing for the Feb. 27 closing of their 115-year-old family business is a bittersweet experience. After selling Harley-Davidson motorcycles and related gear to hundreds of area residents, they are looking forward to spending more time riding together on the road and visiting their adult children and grandchildren. But the couple of 23 years said they will miss seeing their regular customers, working with others to organize poker runs that have raised thousands for charity and carrying on a legacy culminating in the state’s oldest family-owned Harley-Davidson dealership. Kim admitted she became a motorcycle fan after meeting John 28 years ago, noting his love of cycling started at an early age. “I worked here probably since I was 12,” said John, who noted it was common for children in family-run businesses to help out “as soon as you were old enough.” “As soon as I graduated from high school, I went to full time,” he said, adding he never thought of doing anything else. John said in that regard, he was much like his father, John F., who had worked for his father, G.H. Neidengard, a machinist who opened the family’s first motorcycle shop at 137 South Third, Steubenville. John said G.H. was a friend of the first Steubenville man to own a motorcycle and quickly fell in love with them. Early motorcycles were little more than bicycles with motors, noted John, but they offered low-cost transportation at a time before Henry Ford’s Model T made automobiles affordable to most people. They also were a form of entertainment, as motorcycle enthusiasts participated in hillclimbs and races that, in the days before radio and television, drew many spectators. John said the first shop was quite large, with second story apartments

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Sam’s Pick of the Week January 11, 2021

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From Discipline to Wild Custom Choppers By Bandit with photos from Sam It better be a good one, goddammit. About 1970 I completed another sweat-soaked tour off the coast of Vietnam, my last one. The winding down war took on a pot-smoking air of wonderful R&B tunes, loose broads, long hair and a constant party. Click Here to read this Photo Feature on Bikernet. Join the Cantina – Subscribe Today. https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

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A Taste of the Motordrome Era

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by Bandit and Sam Burns Recently one of our esteemed Bikernet™ contributors sent me a batch of historic Motordrome shots, then a pile of great shots of classic racing bikes from that era. I recently wrote a screenplay, called Splintered Road, about this era around WWI and it’s being looked at in Hollywood. This year one of the racing heavyweights, and a man who has been involved in the industry all his life, Don Emde, published a magnificent book on the sport of board track racing. – Bandit The Board Track Era ran from 1908 to approximately 1929. There were dozens of tracks across America that touted high banks and were up to two and one-half miles around. The term “Board Track Racer” also referred to the similar version that was raced on dirt tracks. Originally, turns were banked at about 15°. But while this curvature may have been well-suited to the slower speeds of bicycling, it soon became obvious that banks could be steeper for motorcycles. Motordrome designers kept pushing the envelope, eventually reaching banks as steep as 60°. Speeds kept getting faster, reaching and then surpassing 100 mph. Click Here to read this Photo Feature on Bikernet Join the Cantina – Subscribe Here https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

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