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THE BEST PROTEST SIGN AT THE SEPTEMBER RALLY IN WASHINGTON–“Would someone please just give him a blow job so we can have him impeached?!”
CHARITY BIKE BUILD 2006–My name is Jason McCudden, I am the owner of South Side Kustoms. I am a new custom motorcycle shop in the Buffalo, NY area. As being a part of this community, as a business owner I would like to do my part to put something back into it. So together with Jesse, the owner of Club Diablo, we are working with the Food Bank of Western New York to make Charity Bike Build 2006 a reality.
Starting May 25th 2006 South Side Kustoms and Club Diablo will be hosting a weekly bike night. The main feature of our weekly event will be a custom motorcycle built by South Side Kustoms that will be raffled off at the end of the summer season. All proceeds are to benefit the Food Bank of Western New York and The Make A Wish Foundation.
In recent years, motorcycle events have been huge and continue to grow every year. So we feel this is a prime opportunity to reach this sector of our community with this spectacular event. Many biker events are known to sponsor charities so we know this a group of people that care about people in our community.
Tickets are going to be sold for this bike at $20.00 each. They will be available thru South Side Kustoms, Club Diablo and the Food Bank of WNY. Every measure will be taken to make sure this charity event will be a huge success. Between all parties involved we plan on taking full advantage of every media available to promote this, by means of television, radio, magazines, handing out flyers at public events. But in order to make this charitable event a reality we need help from you, our suppliers, local businesses and community supporters.
The following pages are a breakdown of parts and monies needed to make this Charity Bike Build a reality. Every and any donations are greatly appreciated. We have set up a sponsorship program to fit everyone’s bracket.
South Side Kustoms and Club Diablo would like to thank everyone in advance for your support and generous donations. We know Charity Bike Build 2006 will be a success and we look forward to working with you on this event and many more to come.
Total Build Tally = $18,494.00
Advertising = $2,000.00
Total = $20,494.00
Jason – South Side Kustoms email =
southsidekustoms@adelphia.net
Jesse – Club Diablo email = info@clubdiablo.com
Lori Stachowiak- Western New York Food Bank
email = lstachowiak@foodbankwny.org
TRIBUTE TO DAVID MANN–The Mann is on the ceiling, so every time I tip a beer I tip it to him. Built bikes with flathead Fern and Micah in the valley 25 years ago. My Pan is next.
–Cindy Keig
OPEN LETTER TO THE EPA, IF IT APPLIES–This may apply to you or some one you know. It will definitely apply to you in the future. You can change some it to apply to your situation but letters should go to legislators about this.
— ROGUE
To Whom It May Concern:
I own and manage _______________ (enter company name here), a ________________ (motorcycle dealership, motorcycle service center, motorcycle parts provider) and a member of the local business community. I want to make you aware of what is happening to one of the fastest growing industries in our region and directly impacting our business success. Motorcycle sales and registrations are reaching all time highs and the custom parts and other related businesses are growing along with this increase in sales. While revenues are up and this mode of transportation continues to provide possibly the single largest fuel conservation effort in the country and much of the world, the United States government is approaching severely deflating this source of jobs, economic revenue and fuel conservation by changing the standards under which my small business can modify or produce motorcycles.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has chosen to ignore the best interests of the motorcycle small business community in their decision making process. The EPA specifically targeted the motorcycle aftermarket business sector by limiting the number and type of motorcycles we can produce. These new standards are impossible to comply with and successfully run the type of business that I do. We hope, in our support of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, to correct this injustice before the implementation of emission standards enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which are so unreasonably strict that our small business will not be able to maintain current personnel and operate at a profitable level.
The rule they are enacting to control emissions is far too broad in its expansive restrictions, far beyond actually controlling emissions. Their proposal would:
* Restrict the manufacturing of motorcycles in volumes less than 3000/yr virtually eliminating the currently booming and very popular custom chopper industry
* Cease the modification or customization of motorcycles by their owners or local service center
*Apply these unreasonable restrictions without giving the industry the opportunity to implement it’s own emission controlling policies
* Deplete a multi-billion dollar industry and the jobs it creates and supports.
Motorcycle consumers depend on my small business to fix what they cannot on their motorcycles and/or supply parts they can install themselves. My business is an important link between keeping motorcyclist’s wheels rolling and also to provide these consumers with a choice as to what changes they want to make to personalize their motorcycles, no matter what brand they decide they feel comfortable riding. We independent shops and consumers need each other to survive the future with the freedoms we deserve. Many consumers do not wish to maintain a relationship with a franchised dealer for their repair and modification work, and undoubtedly deserve the right to other choices.
The EPA operates under its own authority, with little or no Congressional oversight which is why the motorcycle small business community desperately needs your help. Through congressional pressure we are hoping to keep the new rules from eliminating our exploding cottage industry and associated jobs. With your support and the help of other elected officials and community leaders we can stop the rash deterioration of arguably one of today’s most uniquely American industries.
The new regulations will eventually put us out of business. Only the manufacturer’s dealers, namely the industry’s largest few, will be able to work on these bikes because of the anti-tampering provisions of the Emissions Standards rule. Eventually, no one other than the dealer, not even the owner, will be able to work on these bikes. The only modification of motorcycles with the new EPA rules will be, in the EPA’s own words color and chrome. Without your help, I may be forced to close my business entirely. Please do not hesitate to contact the Motorcycle Riders Foundation in Washington D.C. should you have questions or need any additional information.
As true aficionados of clean air and the great outdoors, we riders and business persons in the motorcycle industry fully recognize and support the need to control noise and emissions and as such are willing and anxious to form a nationwide effort to develop and install self-monitoring policies and guidelines for industry improvements to protect the precious environment that we and our children live and ride in.
Thank you for your attention and prompt action toward this very important matter.
Regards,
–from Rogue
VAGABOND CHOPPER COMPANY REPORT–The shop was on Speed Tv’s Corbin’s Ride On back in August and things are going good-More guys that want a chick to build them a bike than I thought there would be. I am actually really happy about that as most women irritate me, slightly hehehe- well I am hoping that you will be here in South Florida for the Dec HR Finals. I would love to meet you after decades of reading your stuff.
I will be riding my newest build to the event and I would love to show you a simple but not so simple chopper- that you would appreciate. I thought of you today as I looked up to show someone the article you wrote about David Mann many years ago. It is on my office wall. Don Rogers said that my office looked like a David Mann museum. I liked that piece when it first came out as it allowed me to get to personally know him to through your writing. He was an incredible artist and I am sure an even more incredible human being.
I look forward to hearing from you when you get time. Hey again thank you for that spot in the magazine back in April that helped set up the things that have happened since.
Always my pleasure,
“The Vagabond Chickie”
Athena
BIKERNET STEALTH BIKE WORKS REPORT FROM NC–Last weekend STEALTH BIKE WORKS was at the annual C.B.A swap meet here in Charlotte. The swap meet is always a good time. A time to see old friends, a time to swap stories, some true, some not so true. One thing that stuck in my mind from the swap meet was how many people I saw with the “Flipped H-D patches” and even a couple of trailers were sporting “Flipped Bar+Shields.”
It looks like that “Big Business, Corporate America attitude” may be starting to catch up with old H-D? While at the swap meet, we were located across from a helmet vendor. It was amazing to watch how many people put the helmet on backwards while trying them on??????
It has been a couple of weeks since I have sent anything in. “The Meanest” and I moved in to the new house, along with our pit bull puppy J.C. Things are starting to get organized. As far as SBW goes we are chugging along. We have “dished” the sides, or ” flipped” the sides on a set of 5 gallon fat bob tanks. They are cool! There are pics of them in the Sunday post. We already have an order to do a set for a customer. If anyone else is interested give us a call at 704-882-0889. We also have in the works a rack to put your detachable tour-pak on when you are not using it. This rack is made by Alternative Machine and will be availiable at SBW.
It is amazing when you open a shop how everyone thinks you are rolling in money! This is anything but the truth. It is also amazing to hear how opening a shop is “everyone’s dream.” I guess what you see on T.V. has made it that way. For the ones who are true to themselves, I say go for it. To the ones who think they will be rich in six months, I say think again. If you are not doing it for the love of doing it, you are doing it for the wrong reasons.
This is a tough business, you earn your keep and you earn your business, it doesn’t come easy. There are a lot of risks involved with no guarantees. There are sacrifices you have to make everyday, some of which are very hard to do. The question you have to keep answering is “How bad do you want it?” Another thing is that there never is enough money to do everything all at once, so you have to pick and choose as you go. Again there are no promises or guarantees. I go with my gut a lot and some may say that is the wrong way to go, but I have never been one for reports and charts. To me this takes your heart and soul out of it and that just isn’t me. It is funny how your perspective on things change when you open your own shop. I used to think a long time ago that everything H-D was cool and I would look forward to the next “new” item they would come out with. I have lost all faith in what they are about. Those flipped patches did look cool! The really cool stuff comes from the aftermarket shops. The shops you see with the lights on late at night. They are there because they love what they do. Support your local aftermarket shop. Think about what it would be like without them!
Right now we have two ground up projects and a shop project going on, so we have surprised some people and maybe ourselves a little bit. As winter approaches we are planning on getting our name out even more. We will be at the Easyrider Bike Show here in Charlotte in February.
Yeah, so far it has been a roller coaster ride and we are still hanging on and we probably will never get rich, but I guess we are already rich in a lot of other ways. Having the chance to do what we love to do on our own terms, doing things our way, and doing what we love! Yeah, I guess you can’t buy any of that at any price!
Until next week, RIDE!
–STEALTHMAN
SUCKER PUNCH UPDATE–I have attached a few pictures of the SPS bike thatwill be in the world championship in Vegas thisweekend along with a few other pics for the Thurs.news. We look forward to a complete build-to-feature on Bikernet.
–Ken
NEW KENDON LIFT–No……………you need a new lift……………..if you have the old round tube lift. The new lift (photo enclosed) has square tubing used in the scissors (far less labor to assemble) rather than the labor intensive round tube scissors previously used.
Attached is a photo of the chopper lift latest version. Both the front and rear section can be detached to remove the front and rear wheels. We also have a “builders kit” that holds a frame securely allowing ongoing construction on the lift even when the motorcycle has no fork or rear suspension. The builder kit hold the frame suspended just above the lift surface.(The builder kit BOLTS DOWN on the lift for a secure work station).
–Buck
Kendon Lifts
“Buck”
IS THAT THE NEWS OR WHAT?–This industry in 2006 will shake like an earthquake. There’s so much going on. I’m currently working with Gard Hollinger of LA Chop Rods and Scott Long of Central Coast Customs on a movie or television show treatment. Ya never know. Motorcycles are on a upswing from so many directions, yet we’re facing restrictions like never before. We’ll keep you posted of anything that moves, good or bad.
I’m working on an article on Boss Hoss and Saxon for the next American Big Twin Dealer rag. I need to write my wild vintage car race report and there’s something I’m forgetting. Oh, two more bike features are headed to the site.One is a complete build from Departure Bike Works in Richmond, VA. You’ll love this bike.
We’re beginning to nail down our Bonneville effort. We’re running two Bikes: A turbo charged V-Rod by Custom Performance in Phoenix and a 45 Flathead we’ll build here, with Departure Bike Works and of course my Panhead sport bike with Accurate Engineering, but the competition in the Big Twin area is fierce and I don’t expect any records, just the adrenaline rush of getting down the salt. Hang on for reports.
The last chapter of the first Chance Hogan book was posted in the Cantina last week in the Books section. You can read the entire unedited book now, as a member and several other books. Next year I will edit, rewrite and publish the dam thing. Hang on.
Have a helluva weekend.
–Bandit
