Harley-Davidson Declares Dividend. Yesterday September 8, 2011, Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) announced that its Board of Directors approved a cash dividend of $0.125 per share for the third quarter of 2011. The dividend is payable October 14, 2011 to the holders of record of the Company’s common stock on September 30, 2011. Harley-Davidson, Inc. is the parent company of Harley-Davidson Motor Company and Harley-Davidson Financial Services.
Motorcycles Head to Ground Zero for 9/11 Anniversary. One hundred and ninety motorcycles, driven mostly by Chicago firefighters, took off from U.S. Cellular Field Tuesday morning and are on their way to New York for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The motorcycles left on Tuesday morning from US Cellular Field and will make stops at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where flight 93 went down, and at the Pentagon, before reaching Ground Zero on September 11th. Tom Maloney, a Lieutenant for the Chicago Fire Department, started the Chicago to New York motorcycle ride after the 9/11 attacks. In 2001, Maloney, along with many other Chicago firefighters, spent 11 days digging through the rubble at Ground Zero. Continue reading ‘Fast Motorcycle Industry News.’
Last year, Harley-Davidson adopted with its new partner in communication “Victors & Spoils” a marketing technique known as “Crowd Sourcing.” Under the principle that collaboration brings creation, Harley-davidson is sourcing new concepts of communication from its customer base. The first commercial produced was named “Cages”. Here is the second one of the series called “Liberation.” The ad storyboard comes from 30-year old Benjamin Swan of Sioux Falls. In this new commercial, the owner of a 2012 Harley FXDW wide Glide 103″ hooks up a bunch of leashes to dog cages and rides off… Dog lovers are going to like it. And you, Harley riders, what do you think?
Like many young custom shop, Mad Jap Kustoms is a small one man operation with no big fancy equipment in his shop, no CNC machines, no show room, just a nice place to work with one bike lift and a sweet ass heater because man it gets extremely cold up there in beautiful Calgary, Canada. I met for the first time builder Dale Yamada & a couple of his traveling helpers during the 2010 Sturgis edition. At the time quite depressed because he was participating to is first Black Hills Rally and didn’t know he need a vendor permit sell his bikes bikes, parts and even tee shirts. A round trip to South Dakota without making one dollar and spending a bunch can easily mean professional death for a young builder… Well, this year things went much, much better for Dale the MAD Boy. Back this year in Sturgis, he had 2 locations, one on Lazelle Street where he could do business and one with the Limpnickie lot, a cooperative of “tomorrow’s builders” that he recently joined. And between both locations he was riding this “Knuckle”, a bike that you will probably never find displayed in a Vintage Meet. Continue reading ‘Mad Knucklehead’
After 35 years of marriage, a husband and wife came for counseling. When asked what the problem was, the wife went into a passionate, painful tirade listing every problem they had ever had in the years they had been married. On and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness, loneliness, feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry list of unmet needs she had endured.
Finally, after allowing this for a sufficient length of time, the therapist got up, walked around the desk and after asking the wife to stand, he embraced and kissed her long and passionately as her husband watched with a raised eyebrow. The woman shut up and quietly sat down as though in a daze.
The therapist turned to the husband and said, ‘this is what your wife needs at least 3 times a week. Can you do this?’ ‘Well, I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on Fridays, I golf.’
Cafe Racer motorcycles were modified for speed and good handling rather than comfort. A signature trait were low, narrow handlebars that allowed the rider to “tuck in” to reduce wind resistance and offered better control when in that posture. Referred to as “clip-ons” they are a must accessory for all bikes mimicking the ergonomics of the raw, utilitarian and stripped-down appearance of the original Cafe Racers of the 60’s and 70.’
The RSD Clip-Ons mount to the front forks, below the top triple clamp and utilize all stock wiring, so there is no cutting or soldering. The aluminum bars are dimple milled to allow for stock wiring to cleanly exit your stock switch housings. • Adjustable to any pullback and any height between top and bottom triple clamps with a fixed 5 degree down angle. • Bars are 1″ diameter to accept stock or aftermarket hand controls and slotted for external wiring. Chrome or black anodized clamps with RSD Logo (interchangeable black or brass) on black bars. MSRP $214.95. At Drag Specialties or Roland Sands Design
Motorcycling, one of the most efficient ways to travel. But how frugal is your motorcycle? Do you know? And did you compare to other models or brands?
With the 3rd version of the Total Motorcycle’s Comprehensive Fuel Economy Guide you can check the fuel economy of 5500 motorcycles all the way back to 1934, both in miles per gallon and number of liters per 100 kilometers.
If your motorcycle fuel economy is not listed (many models still not mentioned), you can take your manufacturer manual and enter your yourself the data to continue to update this guide. Would be nice if this very interesting guide would also show what was the price,of a gallon of gas at the pump for each and every listed year. Total Motorcycle’s Comprehensive Fuel Economy Guide.
As much as possible, from time to time, I visit the website of those commenting under my posts. It’s the way I discovered Italian based Luca from LuSca Custom Design and his work as an interior and furniture designer. He also collaborates with some Italian Custom Builders and does some computer sketches for them. Like this “Ca2fé”, a very nice interpretation of a Ducati turned into a Cafe Racer. You can restore or be inspired by the past. You decide. Anyway, “Bella Macchina!” Other cool sketches in his Blog at LuSca Custom design.
If you want to mean Kustom up to your business cards you may be interested to know that you can order thin, lightweight real carbon fiber that provides a depth not seen with traditional paper cards, and imbed your graphics under a layer of epoxy coating, keeping them from scratching or wearing off, and thus extending the lifetime of your business investment.
But who keeps a business card after info has been entered in one’s preferred computer device address book? Call or email with your requirements. Carbon fiber Designs.
To complete the retro look of your bike, details count. Like these stylish head bolt covers slipping above your existing engine head bolts, and being secured with a set screw which can be positioned to the side and accessed between the fins.
They are CNC machined by CSC with a fine machined finish. Sold by set of 4 including set screws. In stock again. Brass Head Bolt Covers.
The entertainment capital of the world is going to welcome again Las Vegas BikeFest from September 29 to October 2, 2011. Of course the Cashman Vendor Village, entertainment during the day, the casinos, the restaurants, the clubs and the cruising on the 4.2 mile stretch known as the Strip. Plus a full schedule of activities to keep you busy. But first you need to book your hotel room and fill up your rally registration before September 20 or it’s going to cost you more.
Once again Las Vegas BikeFest® has attained affordable rooms for you. Official Las Vegas BikeFest® hotels are selling out very fast, faster than last year. So, make your reservations right now. Just go to BikeFest Hotels and make sure to ask for the Las Vegas BikeFest® room block to guarantee the rally negotiated low rates. Then buy one of the 2 registration packages. The Party Pass is $25. The Ultimate Pass is $50 with limited avaibility (see details below article) All passes include: Vendor Village Admission • Event T-Shirt • Rally Pin • Grand Prize entries • Commemorative Gift (first 7,500 to pick up their registration packages at the event) • Welcome Party • Shuttle to Vendor Village • Discount on food and beverage in the Vendor Village • Entrance and eligibility for events and competitions, excluding Friday and Saturday Poker Runs, Poker Walk and Custom Bike Show bike entry (register for Ultimate Pass to be eligible for these activities.) Register online at BikeFest Rally Registration. Continue reading ‘Next Big Rally. Las Vegas BikeFest Sept. 29, Oct. 2, 2011’
Before last week Bonneville BUB’s Speed Trials this bike was legally ridden on the street and now it is claimed by Hiro Koiso Racing as “the World’s Fastest Street Legal Harley-Davidson”. Hiro is the engine builder/tuner at Red Rock Harley-Davidson in Las Vegas NV. After one year of recovery (both bike and him) following an accident on during the 2010 edition, Hiro was back on The salts, managing to make 15 passes during the week, srtting 2 new FIM World Records and 4 AMA National Records in the 3000 Blown Class, including a run at 193.596 mph without fairing! Continue reading ‘World’s Fastest Street Legal Harley-Davidson’
Another beautiful interpretation of the Cafe Racer style, this one from a 1978 Yamaha 500 by builder Jay Lossa from Lossa Engineering. Those in hot rods and on the trucks business know him well because he worked for some of the best in the business. Born in a family where both sides owned motorcycle dealerships , of course he was also aching for new bikes for himself. Digging Cafe and vintage racing bikes he already built a collection of a dozen vintage Honda’s from the 60’s and 70’s before starting this Yamaha project, probably the best creation he has turned out. After the jump, the tech list and a splendid video to make you want to wrench then ride fast. Continue reading ‘Free Style Cafe Racer. Jay Lossa Custom Yamaha SR 500.’
A light weight battery with massive power able to start over and over bikes up to 135′ motors and that you can easily hide is the dream of all custom builders. A company called Antigravity Batteries makes such a claim for street motorcycles up to 1800 cc, all this in a very light package of 3.1 pounds package measuring only 4.25″ Long x 3.0″ Wide x 5.0″ Tall.
This company designs and builds in the USA a full line of motorsports batteries using the best Power Cells and material available manufactured by the American based company who provides lithium batteries for Ford, GM, Toyota, Tesla just to name a few. Continue reading ‘The Lightest, Most Compact, Most Powerful Battery For Your V-Twin’
These new Chrome Tie-Down Brackets (P/N 93500006, $59.95) from Harley-Davidson Genuine Motor Accessories simplify the process of securing a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to a trailer or bike lift. The brackets mount to the front fork cover and offer secure and convenient attachment points for tie-down straps. Moving the tie-down point from the handlebar to the triple-tree area reduces wear on the handlebar bushings. The brackets may be installed on 2000-later Heritage Softail Classic, Fat Boy and Fat Boy Lo models, and on many Touring models. See an authorized Harley-Davidson dealer for fitment details. Harley-Davidson.
Minneapolis Ad Agency Wins Indian Motorcycle Account. Twin Cities Ad agency Colle+McVoy has been named agency of record for Indian Motorcycle, which was bought earlier this year in April by Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) The Ad Agency will lead Indian’s international branding, advertising, creative, design, retail and interactive marketing strategy.
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally traffic Count (Again) So, Sturgis Officials use the vehicles traffic count going through the 2 exits to Sturgis from the I-90 to determine the official rally attendance? All those going every year to the Sturgis Rally are quite surprised by the “official” numbers thrown at us 2 to 3 weeks after each rally ends. Of course, Sturgis Officials want to show success and are probably not too inclined to show a declining number of participants. South Dakota Transportation officials say they counted about 10 percent fewer vehicles during this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The Transportation Department says that their count was about 415,000 vehicles in and around Sturgis from Aug. 8-14, down from about 460,000 last year. Pros of the industry will agree that to announce a 10% decline is an over optimistic count. They estimate attendance to be down from 30% to 40%… Continue reading ‘Fast Motorcycle Industry News’
New from Harley-Davidson, a complete audio system engineered to deliver unsurpassed audio performance in an outdoor environment. The new Boom!™ Audio Custom Touring System (P/N 76000209 $1,895.95) from The Boom!™ Audio Custom Touring System combines fairing, fairing lower and saddlebag-mounted speakers to envelop the rider and passenger in music. Dual Amps and 8 Speakers deliver exceptional sound clarity. System-matched to the original-equipment Advanced Audio Radio on many Harley-Davidson Touring models, this kit includes: (2) Two-channel, 100 watts/channel amplifiers (fairing and saddlebag); (2) 5.25-inch fairing speakers; (2) 2-inch tweeter pods; (2) 6.5-inch mid-range fairing lower speakers; and (2) 5×7-inch full-range saddlebag lid speakers, plus all required wiring and mounting hardware. Continue reading ‘New Harley-Davidson Boom! Audio Custom Touring System’
From 1894 when it became a federal holiday with a street parade to exhibit to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” followed by a festival for the workers and their families, to today in year 2011, the meaning of Labor Day has changed a lot for most Americans.
Depending on who you are, the celebration became many other things 1- a symbolic celebration of the end of summer. 2- the beginning of the NFL and college football seasons. 3- school sessions resuming in many school districts across the USA. 4- Riding with your buddies during an extra long weekend, etc. Myself? Just wishing that Labor Day comes back to a celebration of All Americans having a job… Whatever it means to you, have a very Safe and Happy Labor Day Weekend.
Lehman Trikes owns a new Land Speed Record with a required two-pass certified average speed of 121.672 mph. Top speed reached on one pass was 123.404 mph. It was piloted by racer Bill Chambers who declared being amazed by the trike chassis stability during his 2 runs. “I think it is important to note that this speed record was attained using an unmodified Renegade conversion kit,” stated Ken Hines, President / CEO of Lehman Trikes. “This product is exactly what our customers purchase from their Lehman Trikes Dealer. As a matter of fact, although mostly unmodified, Lehman’s engine was “massaged” by Eights Racing from Deadwood, South Dakota,
Raking a Bagger for looks or necessity (when installing a tall front wheel) has unintended consequences. One of them being that you will end up having nacelle headlight ligthing up the sky instead of the road… Welll, there was a couple solutions to fix this, but none as fast and cheaper than the one now offered by Joel at Headwinds. A replacement headlight bezel for Mariah Extended Nacelle with built-in rake proposed in 6º, 8º or 10º angles (other rakes possible). It will fit Harley-Davidson FLH and most after market fairings and nacelles. The 10º measures 5” long. Hardware supplied. Available in a variety of finishes. Call 626-359-8044 or visit Headwinds® Lighting Products
Few were manufactured at the Indian Kings Mountain plant. A handful remain available. Since Polaris acknowledges they are well made Chiefs and because they feature a custom art-deco inspired theme that I like very much, I feel that some of you may be interested by this Blackhawk model. I don’t have an inventory available per Indian dealer (only know for sure that the Charlotte Dealer has 4 in stock), but for sure they are now the rarest new Indians. If interested, it’s time to call your dealer. MSRP is (was?) $29,900.
A biker is headed home around 2 in the morning when he is pulled over by the local cops whereby he is asked where he is going at this hour.
“I’m on my way to a lecture on alcohol abuse and the effects it has on the human body as well as the dangers of smoking and staying out late.” he answers.
The officer is skeptical, “Who is giving a lecture at this hour?” “That would be my wife,” replies the biker…
Every year photographer Jim Gianatsis shoot pictures of the best bikes and most beautiful models of the year and publish them in several theme calendars. Iron & Lace Custom Bikes, World Superbikes& Moto GP and Garage Girls calendars. And in 2 of these 2012 editions Tiffany Toth appears with some pretty cool bikes including the limited-edition Ducati Testastretta Tri-Colore and with some cool retro style customs from custom builder Shinya Kimura.
Calendar Kitten Tiffany Toth is also Playboy magazine’s newest Playmate in the September 2011 issue. The 25 years old has been modeling professionally since leaving high school, and now also works as a professional makeup artist and stylist. All calendars are full color art board quality printed 15 x 15″ spiral bound wall calendars revealing 16 months beginning with September. to order, go to Iron & Lace Wall Calendar ($12), Garage Girls Calendar ($12) and World Superbike & Moto GP Swimsuit Model Calendar ($16)
In their small shop of DP Custom Cycles in New River, Arizona, the Del Prado bothers (Jarred and Justin) build bikes for for the working’ man. What they love to build usually doesn’t start from the ground up but as stock motorcycles that they love to turn into practical old school hot rods. Forget about chrome, billet wheels and anything bling. Their customs are titled donors, mostly Harley Ironheads & Evo’s, so all are easy to register and ride. Customization process is always a mix of restoring some original parts while adding their own one-off pieces and original designs. Continue reading ‘DP Customs Naked Cafe Racer’
In this economy, diversification is king. In January 2005 Revolution Manufacturing stunned the V-Twin market with the release of the only carbon fiber frame for the v-twin followed by the highly successful carbon fiber wheels for v-twins in 2006 for which the company got many professional awards. But even a leader in Carbon Fiber for the V-Twin industry realizes that it’s still a quite narrow niche market. Continue reading ‘King Knurl Billet Series. From Harleys To Kawasakis…’
A pro of the custom v-twin industry going into the coffee business? Unusual enough to be mentioned. Rob is the man designing and manufacturing leather solo bags for Harleys under the brand name Garage Leathers and whose different models have been featured in the past here in my Blog. I asked him how did you go from designing cool motorcycle bags to selling coffee bags.
“I started Garage Leathers purely out of the need for a cool bag for my rigid Shovelhead…. Garage Coffee Co. got its start more or less the same way. My buddy Rich and I have gone out of our way to find the best coffee possible, searching out small shops and ordering from roasters all over the country. Continue reading ‘Garage Coffee Company.’
Rubber grips are extremely popular because comfortable and aesthetically working well on today’s bike styles. These new handlebar Kustom Grips are made in soft and durable rubber, with a removable white plastic end flange.
Available in 3 different colors, blue, red and a very nice grey, a color missing with other brands. No black? The left side grip fits all 1″ (25,4mm) handlebars, the right side grip fits stock HD or similar 1-1/8″ (28,6mm) outside diameter handlebar controls. Sold in pairs. They will cost you some more because they come from Italy and our US dollar is so devaluated. € 38.00 x 1.42 = 54 US dollars + shipping. At Kustom Tech Europe.
Lehman Trikes 
