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Vance & Hines Issues Statement on Federal Trade Commission Action

By General Posts

Vance & Hines Issues Statement on Federal Trade Commission Action Against Harley-Davidson

Background: The Federal Trade Commission announced a complaint on June 23, 2022, against Harley-Davidson, ordering the company to “fix warranties by removing illegal terms and recognizing the right to repair, come clean with customers, and ensure that dealers compete fairly with independent third-parties.”

Link to Federal Trade Commission Press Release: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/06/ftc-takes-action-against-harley-davidson-westinghouse-illegally-restricting-customers-right-repair-0

Statement from Mike Kennedy, President & CEO of Vance & Hines:

“This action taken by the FTC is a huge win for motorcycle riders. While we still need to see how this plays out, we anticipate that riders will have more choices in how they repair and update their motorcycles during the warranty period, which is clearly a big deal for companies in the motorcycle aftermarket, too. I hope that the “it will void your warranty” threat for someone who just wants a better sounding or smoother running Harley is a thing of the past.”

* * *

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Ultimate Motorcycle Road Trip Packing List

By General Posts

Road tripping on your bike is an excellent way for celebrating your love of riding

Are you planning a motorcycle road trip? Then you’re in for an enjoyable time. Road tripping on your bike is an excellent way to visit scenic locations while celebrating your love for riding.

However, bringing all the necessary supplies on your trip is essential to having the best experience. To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of all of the most critical items you’ll need for your trip. Read on to learn our ultimate motorcycle road trip packing list.

Click Here to Read this short, simple guide on Bikernet.com

Ride Free, Ride Safe ….

If unfortunately, you ever find yourself a motorcycle accident victim, you can call Law Tigers team at 1-888-863-7216 for assistance. Tell them Bikernet.com sent ya.

Twin Power Launches Expanded Line of Crankshaft Position Sensors

By General Posts

Twin Power Launches Expanded Line of Crankshaft Position Sensors for Harley-Davidson Motorcycles

Fort Worth TX — May 17, 2022 – TwinPower today announced a new line of Crankshaft Position Sensors (CPS) including seven-part numbers with fitments for Harley-Davidson models dating from the 1999 model year through current models using the Milwaukee 8 engine. TwinPower was the first aftermarket company to create a line of these OEM-quality sensors and today’s launch is a significant expansion of the company’s CPS offering.

The Crankshaft Position Sensor is a critical part of a Harley’s engine management system. It delivers crankshaft position data to the bike’s electronic control module, which in turn determines engine timing and fuel delivery. A motorcycle with a faulty Crankshaft Position Sensor will typically have inconsistent performance and difficulty starting.

“When a crankshaft position sensor goes bad, your bike isn’t going anywhere,” said James Simonelli, Brand Manager for Twin Power. “We’ve created these products to be an affordable solution to a common problem. That’s why they are in such high demand from DIY motorcycle owners and motorcycle repair shops seeking a replacement part that will generate profits for their business.”

Twin Power’s new lineup is 100% tested in the U.S. to meet OEM specifications and has been endurance tested to 60,000 miles to ensure sensor longevity. The units use OEM-style connectors for an exact fit and are designed using encapsulated circuitry, along with vibration and heat resistant polymers to stand up to the harsh operating environment of a motorcycle’s engine.

The line includes nine-part numbers, each with a different fitment covering the million+ Harley-Davidson motorcycles made between 1999 and today.

Part number and fitment information is available at TwinPower-USA.com. All of the TwinPower CPS models retail for $52.95.

About Twin Power: Since 1982, Twin Power has been designing and producing quality parts and accessories for the American V-Twin enthusiast. Driven by the same passion that fuels the American V-Twin scene, Twin Power is relentless in its pursuit of quality, functionality, and value. The Twin Power team will not offer a Twin Power product to its customers unless they are proud to sport it on one of their own rides. More information can be found at twinpower-usa.com.

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Ride to the Moon: Motorcycle Adventures in Argentina

By General Posts

Behind the scenes in Argentina: Ride to the Moon

Argentina: vast open spaces, salt flats, lunar landscapes and Andean peaks towering over 4,500 m altitude. You’ve been asking us about it since our very first tour across the Himalayas back in 2006: “Since the Himalayas, I can’t stop thinking about Argentina. When will you take us there, Vintage Rides?”

Expectations are running high for this legendary destination. So, challenge accepted! 😉

Alexane and Simon: the dream team

During the summer of 2021, Simon suggested entering into partnership and opening a Vintage Rides office in the heart of the Andes. “I have been riding here for more than 10 years and know the region like the back of my hand. I have hundreds of unexplored tracks under my belt, ready to design new tours. I knew it was time for me to set something up”. A friendly, enthusiastic biker, he is smitten with his adoptive country and its culture and shares many common values with us. We speak the same language. So we decided to take him up on his offer and set up Vintage Rides Argentina together with the headquarters in Salta, in the north of the country.

At the mercy of nature, which reigns supreme, the tracks are constantly changing. While the borders were closed, Simon had all the time in the world to do what he loves most: criss-cross the tracks, try out all the roads and uncover the best places, which you won’t find on Google maps – believe us, we’ve tried!

From the Lyon office, Alexane is on hand to help get the joint venture up and running. She’s been thrown in at the deep end: she’s only just joined us at Vintage Rides and she’s opening a new office in Argentina! That’s a big adventure in itself. ¡Bienvenida, Alexane!

Spring 2022. The routes are ready, the tracks tested and the restaurants and hotels selected. We are raring to go and can’t wait for you to come and join us.✌

The bikes are set for adventure

“And what about the bikes?” we hear you cry! Simon isn’t just an adventurer, he’s also a motorbike mechanic and a fan of Royal Enfields. We asked him to work on the Himalayans, which are ideal for tours that alternate between small roads and winding tracks through the Andes. Simon came up with a series of improvements to make them unique, robust and ready for adventure without scrimping on comfort: reinforced sump guards, side saddlebags and tanks. You won’t have seen anything like them!

So far, we are the proud owners of 10 Royal Enfield Himalayans, fresh from the factories in Buenos Aires. Simon has fine-tuned them in our Argentinian workshop and they’re dying to be ridden under the Andean sunshine.

Ride to the Moon

As you can see, Argentina makes us dream as much as you do and we are so happy to set our wheels in motion there. And we are not the only ones. Thanks to support from our partners, Mutuelle des Motards, Bell and In&Motion, the film-maker, Florian Moscat, will follow our first group of Vintage Riders this spring and capture their adventure. We’ll tell you more about it in the coming months, but for now, we can give you a sneak peek at its name: RIDE TO THE MOON. Try as you might, the landscapes will be even more impressive than you could ever imagine.

Today, we couldn’t be prouder of the local knowledge we have on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. We can’t wait to share all the emotions that have kept us going these past few months with you.

Do you want to help us write the rest of our adventure story?

Argentina : Next departures

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THE MYTHICAL LAND OF THE GAUCHOS

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CANCELLATION INSURANCE: Book with complete peace of mind

CONTACT: Vintage Rides

teamvr@vintagerides.com

+442070316050

https://www.vintagerides.com/

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Clay’s Christmas – Blessings Come in Strange Packages

By General Posts

New Episode 97 in Bandit’s Cantina – The Series

by K.Randall Ball with illustrations by Jon Towle and George Fleming

The Cantina bustled and Bandit kept the holiday tunes blasting while he stared at his budget sheet. It didn’t look good. The positive cash flow from the Sturgis Rally dwindled. He knew his time in Los Angeles waned and 2022 would be a turning point.

He put on a smiling Xmas face and walked down the stairs to the dining room. Most huddled together over their presents. Brothers discussed bike modifications and upcoming projects.

Marko came out from behind bar and nudged Bandit. “Looking good?” Marko said and then steered Bandit’s gaze to Clay, his thinning head of sandy-blonde hair resting against the polish bar top.

Clay was a too-regular. He started drinking early and didn’t stop. His poison Corona beers held him in place between piss and smoke breaks.

A friendly, helpful sort he wanted to assist folks and started to rebuild outboard motors and handled dinghy repairs. Never said a bad thing about anyone.

CLICK HERE To Read the Follow-up to the 2021 XMas Story

Join the Cantina for more – including all of Bandit’s novels and Exclusive Features

If you sign up for a two-year Cantina Membership, you will receive a signed book and lotsa swag from the crew.

Click Here to Subscribe Today !!!

Battery Maintenance 101

By General Posts

This is a 6-Volt Battery Tender for Vintage batteries.

And How to Use Tenders
By Bandit, Jason Mook, Battery Tender Crew, and Jeff Holt

How to use battery tenders? We are on the hunt.

A friend kept his bike on a tender 24/7. But when he rode to his girl’s house and spent the night, the bike was dead in the morning.

Jason Mook, the owner of Deadwood Custom Cycles recommends putting your bike on a charger or tender once a week, charge it and then unplug it.

CLICK HERE To Read this Tech Article only on Bikernet.com

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What is Hub-center Steering Motorcycle & Why it is Better

By General Posts

by Todd Halterman from https://www.autoevolution.com

Hub-center steering is one of several different types of front-end suspension and steering mechanisms used in motorcycles and cargo bicycles. It is essentially a mechanism that uses steering pivot points inside the wheel hub rather than a geometry that places the wheel in a headstock like the traditional motorcycle layout.

Perhaps the most venerable example of the idea came in the form of the 1930 Majestic. This Georges Roy design used a novel pressed-steel monocoque chassis, and it incorporated an automotive-type chassis with hub-center steering. Other bikes had already used the configuration in such machines as the Ner-A-Car and the Zenith Auto-Bi, but the Majestic made it lovely to behold.

Another bike, the Vyrus 984 C3 2V Razzetto, was one such motorcycle that used hub-center geometry.

Vyrus is a small Italian motorcycle manufacturer based in Coriano, Italy, and their bikes such as the “Tesi” – Thesis in Italian – had their designs originate from a university engineering project linked to the motorcycle legend Massimo Tamburini. The Tesi, and the Vyrus 984, were instantly identifiable by their use of their hub-center steering front suspension and steering arrangement.

Those fabulously expensive bespoke motorcycles have been called “functional works of art,” and they look a bit like something you might see in a video game.

In hub-centered bikes, the front wheel is attached to a swingarm with a shock and an internal pivot point. Steering is achieved using those linkages to turn the wheel on a pivot point. Hub-center steering has been employed on motorcycles for more than a century, but the design, despite what some engineers say offers a distinct advantage, never took hold.

But the founder of Vyrus, Ascanio Rodorigo, once worked for Bimota as a race mechanic and engineer during the 1970s and his tenure there lasted until 1985. When Rodorigo finally left Bimota, he started his own company but partnered with Bimota on the hub-center-steered Tesi. He then went on to take the steering concept deeper and refined it for his own company’s motorcycles.

A Ducati dual spark bored out to 1,079cc and making 100hp L-twin provides the power for the 319 lbs (145 kg) Vyrus 984 bike, and it’s delivered to the road for via a six-speed transmission.

Now builders like Bryan Fuller of Fuller Moto, Revival Cycles, and others have built beautiful machines which harken back to the hub-centered glory days of the Majestic. Builders such as Stellan Egeland used a hopped-up 1200 boxer engine from a BMW HP2 Sport. He also added his own hub-center steering setup from ISR to a frame he made from a 2391 steel tube. The ISR kit is a thing to behold.

Revival’s ‘The Six,’ which features a ballsy Honda CBX motor, is another take on the hub-steer geometry. It was commissioned by museum owner and bike collector Bobby Haas for his Haas Moto Museum in Dallas and made by Revival’s Alan Stulberg and his crew.

Stulberg said the commission was aimed at paying homage to the Art Deco classic Majestic and added that he and the team became “obsessed with its design language and flow” since they first saw the bike at the Barber Museum.

Hub steering systems don’t dive as much under braking and hard cornering as do conventional telescopic fork setups. They push braking forces back into the chassis more efficiently rather than transferring immense bending forces to a pair of upright forks. The ride experience is exceptional as braking performance throughout corners is greatly enhanced.

It works like this: A wheel hub pitches back and forth on a central pivot and is supported by two large steering arms actuated by handlebars. The handlebars connect to the front steering and swingarm using complex linkages. A fixed arm connects a pull-and-push rod on either side of the hub-center to help steer the bike. The geometry also includes a second pair of static rods to ensure the axle stays level with the bike’s mass.

While hub steering has a number of clear advantages, its downfall is that it is considerably more expensive to manufacture and maintain and requires exceptionally experienced mechanics to tune and repair.

But it does look good, works more efficiently from an engineering standpoint, and directly addresses the most important factor in the motorcycling experience: braking.

The Majestic – Artistic Design from the 1920s
from https://www.odd-bike.com

While the engineering of the Majestic might have been relatively conventional, what was unprecedented was the styling, the hallmark of the Majestic to this day.

All the oily bits were fully enclosed under louvered panels, with partially enclosed fenders covering the wheels at both ends. The rider was completely isolated from the grime and muck of the running gear and powertrain, perched upon a sprung saddle and controlling the machine via levers and bars that poke through the all-encompassing body.

Presented in 1929, the prototype Majestic (which was reported as Roy’s personal machine) featured an air-cooled 1000cc longitudinal four-cylinder engine from a 1927-28 Cleveland 4-61. This would not remain for production, however.

While at least two Majestics were built with a 750cc JAP V-twin (arranged, like a much later Moto-Guzzi , with the Vee transverse and the heads poking through the bodywork) and records note that JAP singles, a Chaise Four, and at least one Gnome et Rhone flat twin were also employed, the majority of production machines coming out of Chartenay featured air-cooled Chaise engines.

These were overhead valve singles featuring unit two or three-speed gearboxes operated by hand-shift, available in 350cc and 500cc displacements. Distinctive for their single pushrod tube that resembles a bevel tower (but contains a pair of tightly-spaced parallel pushrods) and external bacon-slicer flywheel, these powerplants were a favourite of French manufacturers during the interwar period and were used by a variety of marques in lieu of producing their own engines.

The base price of the Majestic was 5200 Francs for a 350 with chain final drive; an extra 500 Francs netted you optional shaft drive.

An additional option that is rarely seen on surviving examples was a fine “craquelure” paint option that was applied by skilled artisans. It involves a process of deliberately screwing up the paint job in the most controlled and flawless way possible, applying a contrasting top coat over a base using incompatible paints that will cause the top coat to crack in a uniform fashion, something like a well-aged oil painting or antique piece of furniture.

The result is spectacular – and perhaps a bit tacky, giving the machine the appearance of a lizard skin handbag. (Maybe a later Rock Star would have loved to ride it as the “The Lizard King” ? )

The Majestic was impeccably stable at higher speeds compared to the other motorcycles of that era.

It was also agile and light footed in a way that similar machines, like the Ner-A-Car, were not.

The relatively low weight, around 350 pounds, carried with a very low centre of gravity made for tidy handling that was more than up to the meagre output offered by the powerplants.

Majestic was targeting a clientele that didn’t really exist: the gentlemanly rider who might desire a superior (read: expensive) machine as a stablemate to their elegant automobiles.

Georges Roy’s previous design produced under the name “New Motorcycle”

Georges Roy’s earlier 1927 brand called New Motorcycle was a far better barometer of things to come, predicting the style and design of machines that would emerge during the 1930s and beyond. The Majestic has far less impact and was more of a curiosity than predictor of trends to come.

Georges Roy’s brilliance as a designer is unquestionable, and deserves more praise than he ever earned during his lifetime.

Majestic is a little bit of elegance floating on the sea of staid machines that clutter up the history books.

Georges Roy was a French industrialist and engineer born in 1888 who achieved success in the textile business – specifically in knitting and sewing equipment. He was, however, an early adopter of motorcycling at the turn of the 20th Century – reportedly his first machine was a Werner, a Parisian machine that introduced the term “Motocyclette” in 1897.

Motorcycle dealers in Canada blame rising insurance for drop in sales

By General Posts

Robb Hertzog, owner of Prairie Harley Davidson in Regina, inside their showroom.

by Gillian Francis from https://leaderpost.com

“I’m not going to say it’s all because of SGI, but I’d say three-quarters of it is.”

In just over three years, Robb Hertzog, owner of the Regina motorcycle dealership Prairie Harley Davidson (click here), estimates he’s lost well over $1 million worth of sales.

“I’m not going to say it’s all because of SGI, but I’d say three-quarters of it is,” he said in an interview Thursday, adding that skyrocketing insurance rates for motorcycles are leading to a decline in the amount of customers he receives.

Hertzog is one of many business owners in the motorcycle industry who have voiced concerns about the increasing expenses for bike owners. SGI is considering upping insurance rates again, by 15 per cent for insurance premiums greater than $1,000 and by $25 to $150, for those that total $1,000 or less, leaving businesses with increasingly dire prospects.

“They just can’t afford to ride anymore,” Hertzog said. “My younger clients are just not getting into it because when your monthly rate is as much or more than your loan payments, it makes it very, very difficult.”

Earlier this week, an SGI spokesperson told the Leader-Post that increasing fees are part of a plan to rebalance insurance rates. This would lead to an annual rate decrease for some types of vehicles and in an increase for vehicles like motorcycles that are perceived to have higher accident risk. A latest proposed rate increase is being reviewed by The Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel.

Insurance rates for new models with large engines, like Harley cruisers, can range from $2,000 to $3,000 per year. While this is enough to dissuade individual motorists from buying, there is also a chain reaction that extends to other parts of the industry as well.

Hertzog explained the number of motorcyclists attending their community events and fundraisers is down by half, leading to a decrease in charity funding of a few thousand dollars, and his bike repair team is getting fewer clients now that people are riding less frequently.

Collin Cossette, owner of Action Cycle in Moose Jaw, switched from selling street models to off-road bikes, a decision motivated by a variety of factors unrelated to insurance, including losing a franchise. He said the demand for street models is not strong enough for him to want to go back.

The few street bikes he continues to carry, have remained untouched for years, brands that would have sold in the hundreds a decade ago. Most dealerships in his area, he said, have lost around 80 per cent of their sales now that more expensive models come with high insurance.

Rick Bradshaw, owner of Schrader’s Motors in Yorkton, estimated insurance rates have increased around 67 per cent in the past decade, causing their street bike sales to decrease from 50 per year to 20.

Most of the clients who visit Schrader’s are older adults who have more disposable income, while younger cohorts are dissuaded by the expense. Prior to the insurance hike, he said more young women were taking an interest in the sport than ever before, but he believes expense has since reduced this trend.

“You can be a high performance car enthusiast and buy a $100,000, loaded-up, 600 horsepower BMW car and you don’t pay any more for that car based on value … But for motorcyclists with the same zero clean record and no accidents, if that bike happens to have a bigger engine or more horsepower all of a sudden you’re penalized dramatically,” he said.

As for Hertzog, he thinks raising awareness of the issue is key to creating change.

“We’ve got to find a way to get people out riding and enjoy life, but it will be a bit of a cost on SGI,” he said. “But the cost of that is worth a lot because I think the industry and the sales and the amount of jobs that were lost are way more money than SGI will ever have lost.”