Factory or custom built, “High Tech Wonder Bikes” have increased displacement requiring the highest air flow possible, highly accurate fuel metering, and precision throttle response.
Following the popular HSR42 & HSR45 carburetors for stock and mildly modified Harley-Davidson and other V-Twins, Mikuni is now offering the HSR48 Flat Side Carburetor, a must have for highly tuned big American Big Twin motors. Continue reading ‘Mikuni HSR48 Performance Carburetor For Big American V-Twins’
365 days of video footage in 60 seconds. A superb video by Erik Solheim shot in the woods of Oslo, Norway. Relaxing…Via Huffington Post.
A downtown Paris dark garage, 3 friends (Fred Jourden, Hugo and Leo), the same passion for old Harley 750 XR, Yamaha 125/250, Kawasaki W650, Triumph, BMW on which they work after hours with for inspiration the restored/modified custom bikes from Japan & Australia they read about in magazines. Continue reading ‘After Dark 1963 Custom BMW. Attitude Does Matter.’
On December 9th, 2010 I revealed that Harley-Davidson would launch a factory customization program called H-D1. From paint job to accessories, this program will let buyers personalize their new bike (Sportster only?) with a selection of Harley options, and this before their bike arrives at the dealership. Some of you commented and some dealers told me that they were somewhat skeptical of this new marketing approach. I don’t have all details regarding this new customization program done at the factory, except the official launch date set at February 2, 2011. Maybe it’s a good marketing concept. What I am skeptical of is the efficiency of this just released Harley commercial. It is supposed to be a teaser campaign to get clients excited. Watch it, and tell me if you are. I am not! The concept of being prisoner of one motorcycle design and of freeing yourself is poorly executed. From my point of view, the worst Harley commercial in a long time…
Added January 3, 2011 at 6pm EST: Not surprisingly, after reading my post and your negative comments, the executives of Harley-Davidson just decided to remove the feed of their video on YouTube. It explains to black screen that you are now seeing when you try to start it. It just shows the power of your comments in my Blog…
I know that the choice of small battery chargers is very wide and most of us think that they work the same way to get the same results. False. Some are smarter at charging your batteries the correct way to optimize their charge, their performance and their life. Continue reading ‘A Smarter And Smaller Battery Charger’
Apple devices are again the most sold tech products during this holiday season. Logically, more and more will want to travel with them when riding their bikes long distance and consequently a huge market of accessories to charge them in developing.
Powerlet specializes in the business of manufacturing rugged electrical devices and cables specifically conceived for the too cold, too warm, too wet weather and high vibration we often endure on our motorcycles. Continue reading ‘Apple Power Cables For All Motorcycles’
1- Motorcycle Theft Tools. Using “pigtails”to bypass the factory-installed ignition it takes as little as 20 seconds for thieves to steal a motorcycle. Law enforcement agencies across California now have the ability to crack down on crooks who were taking advantage of a loophole in the law to steal thousands of sport motorcycles every year. Starting January 1, 2011 possession of “pigtails” and other items associated with motorcycle theft will be illegal in California. Previously, police officers and deputies could not arrest a suspect carrying those devices to steal a motorcycle because it was not against the law.
2- The Harley-Davidson annual open house at the York Vehicle Operations and Kansas City facilities is canceled. The event used to draw about 10,000 visitors, benefiting local bars and hotels. Harley-Davidson declared that “an expanded commitment of resources to other activities will preclude an open house this year” The York facility will still be the presenting sponsor of York City’s Bike Night Sept. 24, and the factory still offers free weekday factory tours at both facilities.
Added 01/03/10 at 10.55 AM. I am advised by Harley-Davidson that they are still contemplating to keep in 2011 the Annual Open House at the York Vehicle Operations and Kansas City facilities. (it was cancelled in 2010). I am told that a definitive decision will be made in the next 30 days.
While all medias are doing a retrospective of the year 2010 and try to predict what will happen in 2011, lets look at how life was in the US one century ago. It will boggle your mind.
Now, think about it. Are we better off today? Read the following statistics from the Year 1910. Should make you thankful for all what you’ve got. I let you decide…
The average life expectancy for men was 47 years. Fuel was sold in drugstores only. Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower. The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour. The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 and a mechanical engineer about $5,000. More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME. Ninety percent of all Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as ‘substandard.’Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason. The Five leading causes of death were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke. Continue reading ‘Happy New Year. Are We Better Off Today?’
Since the relaunch of Indian Motorcycle under new ownership I am waiting for the opportunity to feature a customized version of their factory Indian Chief.
This is the first one I have seen and it deserves the classification of custom because the Custom Dark model used as a platform was stripped down to the frame and completely rebuilt. Not only a new paint job but a suspension lowering job and a ton of parts have been changed from exhaust, to front and rear lighting to handlebars to seat to bags to mirrors, etc.
As a matter of fact, the owner wanted an Indian looking exactly like the custom one from actor George Clooney. Now that a dealer has shown you way the way with this mild custom (customization by Indian Motorcycle Charlotte), I expect others to go to an even more radical way. I will feature the best ones…
German Chris “CP” Pfeiffer relentlessly pushes his limits with new tricks, projects and off road races that set the pulse for Extreme Riding. In 2003, he was crowned the Stunt Riding World Champion. On his BMW G450X with studded tires he runs against Christoph Langen in his BMW designed Bobsleigh. Well produced and edited, a good promo…for the BMW brand.
Remember the matte black Ford Roadsters, Mercuries of the 50’s and 60’s? Hot Rodders on a tight budget didn’t have the money and or the time to do a full paint job. So, to avoid rust, they left their rides in black primer. Sine then, matte black “paint jobs” have always been a marginal trend popping in and out of the car and motorcycle industries, always initiated by custom builders, no more for budget reason, but to give their creations a retro or stealth look. Continue reading ‘Awesomeness In Matte Black. More Than A Fad. A Trend…’
It’s not only at the airport. Some are paid a little and others a lot to touch your junk.
What you see is called a Venn diagram, a data visualization process invented by a guy named John Venn. It’s a simple way of picturing relationships between different groups of things or people.
In this diagram, overlapping parts indicate things the subjects in the circles (prostitutes, doctors, TSA agents) have in common.
A little humor for you…and surprisingly accurate. I fear your comments. Not.
By the way, what Americans call “junk” is called “family jewels” in Europe. Go figure…
Very few women (and men) of the motorcycle industry have such a diversified and unusual background as Brenda Fox. Thanks to a gift of nature, she was a fashion model at age 18, love horses, is an accomplished equestrian and competed with bravo winning several titles, an experience she will use to do her first acrobatic stunts that she will later practice and perfect while riding motorcycles ….Her ability to ride anything in any terrain will get her full sponsorships to race several off road races like the Baja 500 and the Baja 1000.
Being more and more involved with motorcycles, her ability to road test any factory new models or customs, any size and speed, and to review them both technically and aesthetically gets her a job as Motorcycle Consultant from day one to its demise for luxury lifestyle Robb Report Motorcycle Magazine. There she has covered many of our high end custom motorcycles. Logically, Brenda was requested to become Grand Marshall of several charities to raise money for many different causes, from cure from breast cancer (she has been affected by it and fought it courageously during 3 years) to animal rescue. She was also a fitness trainer for AMA Hall Of Famers Broc Glover, Ricky Johnson and Scott Burnsworth.
She currently does a radio Fox Report which discusses current motorcycle issues, animates focus groups for Harley-Davidson dealers, manages a very busy and large audience on her Brenda Fox Facebook Forum, is involved with many activities of the Los Angeles Peterson Automotive Museum, and can be seen doing some motorcycle stunts and playing different characters in the current hit TV Series “Sons Of Anarchy”. Continue reading ‘The Secret Life Of Brenda Fox’
To help you keep your American V-Twin bike rolling in style, Drag Specialties just released the fat and heavy 2011 print editions of the FatBook and OldBook. The FatBook features 1300 pages of parts and accessories for Evo and Twin Cam motorcycles. The 600 pages OldBook is for the classic motorcycle owner and focuses on all pre 1984 models, from Panheads to Shovelhead to Sporster Ironhead. Unfortunately, their 2011 online catalog is not yet updated. Drag Specialties.
Looking for a strong solo seat bracket? Choose between the top one in fully polished stainless steel or bottom one in aircraft grade chromoly steel. Both are tig welded, offer 2 long slots for maximum adjustability. Of course, the accompanying pivot bung is sold in unfinished steel so that you can weld it to your frame backbone. An Allen cap bolt threads into the opposite side of the bracket, creating an efficient and durable hinge pin. Stainless steel hinge is $79.99. Chromoly hinge is $49.95. At Bitwell
Part of my job while writing this Blog is to observe all motorcycle events susceptible to shape the future of our custom motorcycle industry. It’s also, from time to time, to look at the distant and recent past to measure how much bike and part designs are evolving and in which direction. I was looking for a new built custom motorcycle, not necessary the best in my opinion, but kind of representative of what was built during these last 5 years. Of course, my choice is subjective, but I think that the design featured here, mixing both traditions of the long chopper and of the board tracker with some zen (or Japanese) attitude is quite representative of the years 20005-2010 where builders looked at the past for inspiration and abroad for style to create new modern bikes. Continue reading ‘Looking Back At Recent Custom Motorcycle Style’
Whining because of too many matte black bikes and parts? Harley-Davidson is launching the Rally Mirror Chrome front fender for FL models. It eliminates the front light, side medallions and fender skirt to provide an unobstructed sweep of chrome (don’t expect to reinstall all these ornaments on this chrome fender. They will not fit anymore)
Harley=Davidson press release states that it is the perfect complement to a chrome front end and chrome wheels. I tend to disagree, and think it would look better on a black front end holding a custom black front wheel…This brilliant, mirror-polished chrome-over-steel fender fits 1994-later Road King® models and 1989-later Electra Glide® and Street Glide® models. It does not fit Trike models. MSRP $449.95. For more information, visit your dealer or Harley-Davidson Website.
The new JIMS® Lift Caddy allows you to maneuver occupied bike lifts around your shop or garage effortlessly. Have you ever started repairing a motorcycle only to discover you are waiting for parts with a bike stuck on a lift and in the way?
JIMS® Lift Caddy can be installed in the time it takes to change oil and will allow you to easily roll the delayed bike out of the way. The Lift Caddy remains locked whenever the lift is on any of the locking bar positions; the heavy-duty casters spin 360 degrees and should be adjusted to engage the ground only when your bike lift is raised past the top locking bar to its highest possible position. JIMS® Lift Caddy will fit Handy® Lifts, Direct Lifts or any lift with a 2” square bottom cross member and 15” of mounting space. This tool has an MSRP of $197.50 and like hundreds of other JIMS tools is backed by a lifetime warranty. For more information visit JIMS USA or call 805-482-6913.
LC Fabrications was born as a machine shop and later evolved in a full service custom motorcycle shop with strong emphasis on parts design and fabrication. Founder Jeremy Cupp builds nice sleds (a lot of Sportsters and modern Triumphs), and when I say build, I mean not bolting on something together but really starting from scratch. His machining background and building philosophy oblige him to stay up to date with all design, manufacturing and inspection softwares to optimize the process of going from concept to reality. I found this little clip of Jeremy Cupp explaining his CAMCAD choice (from a company named Delcam Power Solutions), a good pretext to remind bikers what is involved when designing a motorcycle part, and also to see him ride one of his creations.
I can’t imagine myself with a Mohawk haircut, nor you… Much less wearing a Mohawk helmet shining like a Christmas tree! These fiber optic may be fun to use or show, but I doubt that a mature baby boomer (baby boomers are all supposed to be mature…) will buy one, even not for July the 4th.
But the main argument of Helmet Ic. is safety: no Mohwawk without a protective helmet and the fiber optic will help you being seen by all the other boneheads on the road. Choose your color to match your mood: white, blue, red, black, green, orange, pink ands multi-color. At Helmet Inc
Cobra USA is one of the industry leaders in the design, engineering and manufacturing of motorcycle custom accessories and exhaust systems for metric cruisers. And important to mention, everything is created, developed, and manufactured right here in the USA. From time to time the company builds some nice customs to experiment with new parts to completely change the look of a stock bike with minimum effort and money.
Built by Cobra’s Chief Fabricator Denny Berg, this concept RS750 Scrambler bike is very cool because it’s a creative recreation of the famous Honda CL72 and CL77 of the 60’s, down to the signature red frame, high pipes with louvered heat shields and rubber gas tank side pads. The very interesting part is that starting from a stock 2010 Honda Shadow RS750 modifications were quite minimum to arrive to such an appealing retro look. Continue reading ‘Cobra RS750 Scrambler Project.’
One of the ways to give a new gas tank the old school style, from the 50’s to 70’s, is to “Ax” and “Dish” it. Paughco offers this ready-to-install style in 4 capacities; 3.0, 3.5, 4.5 and 5 gallons with integrated mounts to install on most frame back bones.
Tank is fitted with a bung for cam-style gas cap and late model 22mm petcock. Dished side panels provide a unique canvas to apply cool art work or fill space for custom inlays. MSRP: $314.95. Visit Paughco Online Catalog or call 775-246-5738.
Named Weirdo (?), Lowbro Customs released their first in-house catalog/guide conceived for the garage builder who needs a little bit of advice to do it right the first time without destroying destroying the parts is just ordered. Of course, the boys at Lowbrow show you all the parts and accessories that they sell, and if you like them, at least you will know how to install them. You can even see the result on one of their bikes. Product lines include Biltwell., BenchMark, David Bird, Hippy Killer Garage, Fork Co., No School Choppers, Vanson Leathers and dozens more. All good stuff. Digest-sized, full-color , 48 pages, Weirdo Vol.1 is available for only $2.50 (not a typo). Call on my behalf 440-479-8129 or follow the link Lowbro Customs to order online.
1- Polaris Industries Inc. has informed state of Wisconsin officials that it will begin the layoff of nearly 500 employees from its plants in Osceola on March 1, 2011. Medina, Minn.-based Polaris announced last May that it was exiting the Polk County operations in Osceola under a realignment of manufacturing operations that includes establishing a plant in Mexico and upgrades at factories in Roseau, Minn., and Spirit Lake, Iowa.
2- Sirius Radio Offered On BMW Motorcycles. Sirius XM signed an agreement with BMW. The pact calls for SIRIUS to be standard equipment on new radio-equipped model Year 2011 R 1200 RT, K 1600 GT, and K 1600 GTL touring motorcycles. Continue reading ‘Fast Motorcycle Industry News’
Experimentation of subliminal messages started many years ago. But never heard about this technique to sell motorcycles. Does this very appealing BMW S1000R need the use of a subliminal message to convince potential buyers? You could think that showing World Superbike racer Ruben Xaus flying around a track would be enough.
In this theater commercial, BMW uses the flash of an an after image to print your retina and your brain with the brand name. Spectators see only a quick flash, but when closing their eyes they see the BMW logo. It works, but I wonder why not to show the logo during the commercial? Maybe because spectators will better remember the brand because it is asked to them to close their eyes at the end of the commercial, an unexpecte request. See the commercial after the jump.
