It’s my Blog, and I write what I want about motorcycles or anything else. The presidential election campaign just got started and political crap is already everywhere. Right leaning bikers go to Fox (Faux) News to listen to Bill O’Reilly propaganda. Like this network commercial telling you that you can’t trust a candidate who is […]
Archive for the 'Editorial' Category
Harley-Davidson announced that strong international sales of its motorcycles helped drive its fourth-quarter profit up 9.7 percent. Just above Wall Street expected . But U.S. sales were flat. Worldwide retail sales of Harley-Davidson motorcycles grew 6.4 percent for the quarter. Over the past few years, Harley has improved overseas dealer networks and marketing programs, which in […]
I am not going to explain again the techniques of powder coating & its advantages. I am sure you already know. Instead I will focus on the company I use for many fancy projects. Since 1987, date at which Sumax founder Kirk Van Scoten bought his first powder gun, the company is not only still […]
The new Viper-brand motorcycles that will start rolling out to dealers later this month are going to be very fast. The company is reasoning that in the crowded custom cruiser market people want more power. Four years after its discreet launch in 2002, Viper’s production lines started up at the Big Lake plant in Minnesota. The models […]
After publication of the Bobber “Bombshell” in the January issue of American Iron magazine, I received a lot of emails and calls about where was the battery installed, and from those who guessed right, how was it done?. The desire to hide what is not of visual interest or at the opposite to show what […]
Harley-Davidson Manufacturing Tours Win Best Tours Award
Published by January 16th, 2007 in Editorial.The Harley-Davidson Factory Tours of the Kansas City, Capitol Drive and York manufacturing plants were honored with the 2006 Best in Class Public Tours award for a mid-size tour program at the Guest Relations Association annual conference in Illinois. The Guest Relations Association consists of companies across all industries who host customers and visitors through […]
There are about 100 Harley-Davidson motorcycles still running on the communist island of Cuba. Mainly Knuckelheads & Panheads, the most recent being a 1962 Duo Glide. Since the 1962 embargo (el bloqueo) on Cuba it is impossible for Cubans to import American products. Without American spare part, but with sweat, improvisation and imagination, they give us lessons of […]
Throw Away Your Disc Lock To Secure Your Bike
Published by January 15th, 2007 in Brakes and Editorial.If you secure your bike using a disc lock (or pad lock), I bet it’s going to happen to you. And if it didn’t happened to you, it happened to one of your friends, or at least you heard this story. Because a disc lock is clamped to the motorcycle’s brake rotor, this allows the […]
I didn’t know. Nor you According to the Organic Trade Association, roughly one third of a pound of environmentally harmful chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers are typically used to grow enough cotton to produce one of your t-shirts. Wow! Cotton is one of the most chemically treated crops on the planet! Instead, Bamboo holds the promise […]
Harley-Davidson Launches New Mobile Store
Published by January 13th, 2007 in Accessories and Editorial.Harley-Davidson is entering the digital world and is now offering six types of wallpaper and two different ringtones for your mobile phone. The ringtones feature the sounds of Harley-Davidson engines revving up or accelerating down the road (personally I think it’s ridiculous and there are 1000’s of more appealing sounds). Various types of wallpaper allow […]
Rats Hole Custom Show 35th Anniversary
Published by January 12th, 2007 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Events.I started my professional career in 1992 by showing my 1st custom in the Rats Hole Custom Bike Show, the only one I knew at this time. Guess what? At 1st appearance, I won my class. As a matter of fact several times in a row, both in Daytona & Sturgis. It’s the way I […]
Split Your Shovel Engine Rocker Boxes.
Published by January 11th, 2007 in Builders, Editorial and Engines.In my business, I know pretty well 2 “father & son” teams. The 1st team is arguing all the time front of the cameras of the TV show “American Chopper”. No introduction necessary. The second one is discreet, hard working, and producing very cool Bobbers. And they deserve […]
It surprises me that people ask me all the time what is my best selling custom part. Probably because I think you should not buy a part because of its marketing success but because it’s the right one for the look you are after for your own bike.. Anyway, my 2006 most selling item, in number of units, is […]
We all know that cars are at fault in most motorcycle accidents. But bikers can be responsible too . Motorcycle deaths increased in almost all states during this last year and state officials wonder if the reason why it is happening could be related to the age of the riders. For now, it is just a guess, but they […]
New Old School Idea: Coke Bottle Shaped Grips.
Published by January 9th, 2007 in Controls and Editorial.To all those in love, as I am, with the new bikes built with the look of the past, here a great idea to finish off your handlebars. How I didn’t think about this? Tired of flames, of skulls, of iron cross designs? Refresh your style with these Coke shaped grips coming in 3 colors: […]
In our V-Twin industry, reaching your 10th year anniversary is quite an achievement. Especially when you are a “grass roots” motorcycle magazine. Even more when you start as the local level (Tri-State around Pittsburg), and end up a decade later by being a national publication sold in all Barnes & Noble bookstores in the US […]
I often joke that my laptop computer is my other tool box. I carry it everywhere I go, except while riding of course. At lunch, on the road, in a show, in my hotel room etc. How would I check your emails and the ones of my collaborators (and reply very fast), upload new posts […]
You install an after market air cleaner or velocity stack and want to get rid of the ugly stock engine breather crossover tubes. What do you use to make your engine breathe correctly without having engine oil mist ending up on your exhaust or on your right leg or, most of the time, both? It’s the […]
You should start out dead and get it out of the way. Then, you wake up in a retirement home feeling better every day. You get kicked out for being too healthy. You go collect your pension, then when you start work you get a gold watch on your first day. You work 40 years until you’re young […]
Thanks to the retro trend, pinstriping is back in a big way. From Bobbers to tee-shirts, everything is getting pinstriped. I was even thinking asking my painter to do it on the covers of my laptop and iPod. Artwork in its own right, or as a complement of flames or of any graphics, pinstriping will […]
Me, of course!?!? But I am not in the competition. For the cameras of the TV show American Chopper, Paul Senior competes with Paul Junior and you can vote to decide the winner of this new family feud. But you will have to travel to Fort-Lauderdale, Florida where both bikes & both Teutuls will be present, waiting […]
Kevin is a great fabricator with a simple philosophy. “If it ain’t steel, it ain’t real”. Where most well known bike builders (including myself) will refuse (by lack of time) to do a one-off part for your bike if they don’t build the full bike, Kevin is the specialist in custom made to order steel […]
Best American Motorcycle Brand. And The Winner Is….
Published by January 3rd, 2007 in Builders and Editorial.For the first time ever, J.D. Power and Associates has publicly released brand-performance results from their annual Motorcycle Competitive Information Study. Over the past years, the firm has conducted this research to help the industry’s major motorcycle manufacturers improve. Now, portions of their recent 2006 study have been made. The study, now in its 9th […]
Spider designs have replaced the Maltese Cross emblem has a theme developped on many of today’s choppers & bobbers. Spider frame gussets, spider covers (for open and enclosed belt systems), spider risers, spider rotors are already available from several manufacturers. But if you want to extend this theme up to your mirrors (in case you need 1 or 2), there […]
I didn’t try this one, but the company manufacturing the TCB system (Traction Control Braking) markets it as a lifesaving device for all motorcycles, even ATV’s and snowmobiles. It’s not an ABS unit as found factory installed on a few motorcycles. The TCB uses its Patented "Gas Charged Accumulator Action" to help prevent wheel lock […]
Year after year you make the same resolutions. And of course, you never keep them. Here are some resolutions that you can actually accomplish very easily. 10- When you have to take an urgent decision, procrastinate. Urgent decisions may not be as urgent as you think now. To know for sure, just wait a little […]
