Bad Shit Happens–when Bandit travels, or maybe I just have a harder time dealing with normal shit, so it seems like bad shit. I dunno, but yesterday I was feeling like a rain cloud was hanging over me. Sitting in my daughters school office with a sour face like I?m the only one in the world with problems; kid and otherwise, when in walks a friend I haven?t seen in months. She had an emergency C-section 8 days ago, the baby is still in the hospital and she had to go to the school because of two troublesome teenagers. She and her husband run their own business, so she can?t even take any time off. By the time I was finished talking to her, I felt like a real dipshit for ever feeling sorry for myself, for my so called problems. I do not have problems. I told myself, ?I?ll never complain again?.
So, today is a new day and I?ve faced it with patience and strength. Speaking of patience and strength, Bandit is at the end of the La Carrera Panamericana and has endured almost two-weeks of challenges. Cars burning and crashing around them, but every night I get a call that they made it safely. Last night he said they came in third in their class for the fourth day in a row. Quite an accomplishment you would think, but I should mention there are only three cars left in his class?
Regardless, he?s a winner in my book, and I can?t wait for that winner to get his ass home. Like you can?t wait for me to get my ass in gear and do the news? here you go.
Chris Rock’s Quote of the Year: “You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America’s Cup, France is accusing the U. S. of arrogance, Germany doesn’t want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named ‘Bush’, ‘Dick’, and ‘Colon’
The Devil
New T-Shirt Site–Hello, My name is Justin Johnson and I’m starting a t shirt business and I was wondering if you take on new links to your site? the website is www.rattlecaninc.com if you would like to check it out we should all our new stuff on the site tonight or tomorrow night,
Thanks for your time.
Motorcycle Photography exhibit and ride-in show Love Ride Weekend–For something great to do on the Saturday before the Love Ride, ride out to Old Pasadena to the Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery for a motorcycle Kulture photography exhibition, celebrity bikes from the likes of Chica, Matt Hotch, Russell Mitchell, Roland Sands and Paul Yaffe in the gallery and a ride-in bike show outside. For the occasion, photographer Michael Lichter will be displaying limited edition black and white and color photographs from his25+ years of shooting the biker lifestyle all across America. His workchronicles events dating back to the 1970’s as well as smaller gatherings right to the present. While Michael has exhibited in many museums, this will be his inaugural show with the Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery, which represents his limited edition photographic prints. A portion of the proceeds from sales will go to the Love Ride for their charities.
The show will be open November 2 through November 13 with an artist reception Saturday November 12 (Love-Ride weekend) from 5pm – 7:30 pm. Also on November 12, there will be a ride-in bike show in the alleyways around the gallery from Noon – 4pm with celebrity trophies and cash prizes awarded at 4pm.
The Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery is located at 40 Mills Place, Pasadena. For more information on the exhibit, the ride-in show and directions, you can call the gallery at (626) 535-9757 or visit their web site atwww.mendenhallsobieskigallery.com. Information is also available at www.lichterphoto.com.
What The Heck–Don’t know if I got these to you or not, so far I still can’t find any damn info on the set. I’m a fire fighter and we work kind of a weird schedule. Any way, if ya can come up with ANY ideas or info I’d sure appreciate it.
Thanks dudes, Kevin
I think Kevin wants to know something about this paint job? If anyone is familiar with it, let us know here at Bikernet.
Layla
The Bikers Were In Florida Just not in Daytona and especially Main Street– FLORIDA:Low turnout marks bike festivalOrlando Sentinel, FL – DAYTONA BEACH — Under a red-and-white tent, one stall over from the beer-tub girls hawking cans of Bud Light, street vendors were still hollering for bikers to stop and eat Sunday along Main Street.”A pound of beef! A lump of bread! And all the mustard you can eat!” a cook at Big Ed’s grill shouted against the rumble of passing bikes. “Dig in! Dig in!”Like most merchants selling to the leather-happy crowd during this fall’s annual rite of Biketoberfest, which ended Sunday, cook Tom Barry said business was off.”Yeah, they’ve been eating. But not enough,” Barry said, hoarse and slightly sleep-deprived.Hoteliers, patch-makers, leather vendors, police — most agreed that the four-day event, which normally packs an estimated 100,000 bikers handlebar-to-handlebar along its main drag, ran thin this year. They blamed the specter of Hurricane Wilma for last-minute room cancellations, and they blamed the tighter wallets on the fallout from hurricanes Rita and Katrina, the economy, the war and high gas prices.
Optimism for a strong turnout ran high leading up the event because Biketoberfest has fared well in past years despite whatever else was going on — even after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.”Usually on Saturday, you can’t see the sidewalk,” said Tammy Harbstreit, owner of Tammy’s Stitchin Hole. “This year there were lulls, and no one was carrying shopping bags. It’s been a rough year.”Plenty of bikers come from the Midwest and New England to get a last breath of summer before returning to a winter of sub-freezing weather, but some merchants even blamed what they called unseasonably balmy weather for slow sales.”It was so warm people didn’t even want to try the leather on,” said Jack Schutte, owner of Divine Leather, which has three locations on Main and Beach streets. “We’ll be lucky to cover expenses.”
Cruising the back roads with his girlfriend, hitting hangouts from the Cabbage Patch to the Broken Spoke to the newly opened Destination Daytona, biker Tom Probst of Youngstown, Ohio, said there just weren’t as many people as in previous years.”It was light everywhere,” the 49-year-old maintenance man said. “Even traffic wasn’t too bad.”Daytona police also said there were fewer bikers and little congestion on area roads. Officers handled just two motorcycle accidents with severe injuries and no fatalities, said Daytona Beach police spokesman Al Tolley.But in Osteen, on the first morning of Biketoberfest, four bikers died in a crash on State Road 415, a rural two-lane road.
And in Port Orange on Saturday night, a man driving a sport utility vehicle veered off southbound U.S. 1, crashing into 17 parked motorcycles and a small crowd of bikers talking in front of the Last Resort bar. Five people were hurt, with injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to broken arms and legs. Three people were transported to hospitals.Cmdr. Bill Schulz, a Port Orange police spokesman who responded to the accident around 10:40 p.m., said, “Everyone was keeping it together. They were pretty calm. I was surprised because there were some pretty beautiful bikes that were probably totaled.”Brandon Crotts, 28, of Sophia, N.C., the driver of the white Ford Bronco, was charged with driving under the influence, property damage and possession of cocaine and marijuana, police said.Despite the death toll and the thinner crowds, bikers and merchants were mostly upbeat about the event and said they would be back next year.Ralph Banzhof, a 40-year-old cabinet maker from Daytona Beach, was sitting on his 2003 Harley-Davidson on Main Street, putting off leaving.”I should be home working on my bike, but I’m parked here hanging out,” he said. “Didn’t want to go home yet.”
At the Shoreline Inn over on South Atlantic Avenue, hotel staff was already preparing for the next crowd coming into town. As bikers checked out, staff was readying rooms for evacuees of Hurricane Wilma heading north.”We already have some on their way up from Melbourne,” said Suzy Cohen, the evening front-desk clerk.—-
Rogue
Looking For Some Babes–Looking for contestants to compete in the Ms. Texas National Bike Show bikini contest sponsored by Texas refrigeration and Bikernet.com, being held during the Lone Star Rally in Galveston, Texas the weekend on November 4th, 2005. The competition will be held at the San Luis Convention Center, Saturday November 5th.
First place winner will receive $500.00 as well as being next years feature model. Not only will you get the chance hang out and have a great time, but each of the top 3 contestants will also receive a photo shoot in one of 3 Primedia publications
For more information you can contact Holly aka Mrs. Devil at (281) 477-3738 or by e-mail at mrsdevil@luckydevilcustomcycles.com for more information. We look forward to seeing you in Galveston.
LOW CURRENT DRAW/HIGH CURRENT OUTPUT–Large displacement V-Twin engines, Fuel Injection, and Overdrive Transmissions all create problems in engine starting and battery charging. The Compu-Fire 3+3 program has the solution with the Gen 3 Starter and 3Phase Charging Systems. The Gen 3 Starter cranks at 2KW while only consuming 175 Amps from the battery. The 6:1 ratio planetary gear reduction and permanent magnet field design cranks big engines even without compression releases. The 40 Amp 3Phase Charging System produces 25 Amps at an idle and 40 Amps at 2800 RPM. The vented rotor and series voltage regulator keep the battery fully charged even on short rides or cruising at low engine RPM.
Suggested retail price:
Gen 3 Starter is $599.95
3Phase Charging $399.95
For more information contact:
Engine Electronics Inc,
196 University Pkwy.
Pomona, Ca 91768
909-598-5485
909-598-5695 (fax)
Crime Scene Choppers? new ?Speedlines? Air Filter–Crime Scene Choppers now has an air filter in its line of Radical Retro? parts!Joe McGlynn?s newest product, the Speedlines air filter, is designed to compliment the other parts he already offers like the Hard Time finned oil tank and Bad Attitude finned belt drive cover. The new air cleaner is supplied with a fine satin finish, and a stainless steel backing plate. Fitment is currently for the S&S Super E and G carbs, but additional carbs like the Mikuni and CV will be available soon. A Uni-Filter foam element is in the works.
Radical Retro
?I?ve had this air filter in mind for a while? said Joe McGlynn, owner of Crime Scene Choppers, ?I wanted to have the visual effect of motion in a tight, sleek package. I wanted a lot of details, but I wanted to keep the size small and petite. We?ve been working hard on a bunch of new products for Big Twin West; we have a few more to finish up before we leave for Vegas!?
Buy It Now!
You can order the Speedlines air cleaner now throughhttp://www.CrimeSceneChoppers.com, at an introductory price of $250. Or call Joe at 831.406.0126 and he can hook you up. Crime Scene Choppers has several new products in the pipeline, so check the website for the latest news.
STEEL PONY EXPRESS VIII RESCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 26-29, 2006–We would like to reiterate what we posted on this website on Tuesday, October 4, as we have received some questions about the Rally. Due to the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the Gulf Coast Area, we have rescheduled Steel Pony Express VIII for October 26-29, 2006. There has been some confusion regarding conflicting print advertisements for the dates of Steel Pony Express VIII. Print ads are created 6-8 weeks prior to publication and this forces us to submit information to these publications months in advance. At the time these ads were submitted, we thought we were going ahead with Steel Pony Express VIII for October of 2005. We apologize for the confusion generated by these ads and strive to give our attendees the most up to date information about the Rally and other Scooter Promotions Events.
We are back in the office working reduced hours due to the lack of internet and normal business services in the city. Our office did sustain some water damage and we are still attempting to clean and put it back to normal after our hurried evacuation. We are also planning some new and exciting events for 2006 in addition to Steel Pony Express VIII. Check this website for updates and information about these new events!
Hey……..Got my Goodson Aircleaner on today, Way Cool..Not bad for an Old Guy……..
Bob T
BE CAREFUL WHO YOU DO BUSINESS WITH–GALESBURG – A meeting between police and the Knox County state’s attorney will determine if motorcycle builder Chip Miyler will face criminal charges for allegedly collecting money from customers just before going bankrupt.
Galesburg Police Department Investigator Thomas LaFollette said Friday he will meet with State’s Attorney Paul Mangieri on Tuesday to discuss the 18 complaints he has received from customers of the now bankrupt Mid-West Choppers, which Miyler owned with his wife, Chrissy.
Customers have told police Miyler asked for large sums of money to finish their $25,000 to $60,000 motorcycles just before filing bankruptcy.
The couple filed bankruptcy on the 5-year-old business Oct. 14 then filed for personal bankruptcy the next day.
LaFollette said he expects to get at least eight more complaints from customers who paid for the custom motorcycles, which recently brought Miyler’s shop national attention.
Ted Sjurseth, founder of America’s 9-11 Foundation, based in Virginia, visited Galesburg on Friday to find out if he will ever see the $30,000 he said he paid Miyler to build a Sept. 11-themed motorcycle the charity planned to auction next year.
“We think we lost it,” Sjurseth said of the money. “We’re an unsecured creditor.”
Miyler built Sjurseth a Sept. 11-themed motorcycle that was auctioned off in August. After seeing the success of the last one, Sjurseth commissioned another that was scheduled to be done by Thanksgiving, he said.
The $30,000 check was given to Miyler on Sept. 13 and was deposited two days later, said Sjurseth, who feels Miyler had no intention of ever building the bike because parts hadn’t been ordered.
But three former Mid-West employees plan to build the motorcycle themselves and start their own custom motorcycle shop by the spring.
Doug Niles, former Mid-West Choppers sales associate, has decided to go into the custom motorcycle business with two other former employees.
Speed Street Custom Cycles will be located at Tompkins and Kellogg streets, where the three plan to build choppers and pro-street motorcycles.
“At this point, our main concern is to get (the 9-11 bike) done,” said Niles, who wants to distance himself from the controversy surrounding Mid-West Choppers.
Sjurseth met Friday with Niles in Galesburg to discuss the new Dec. 15 deadline for the bike and then met with an attorney in Monmouth hired by the foundation.
And while it’s still unclear if Sjurseth will recoup his $30,000, he said he is confident in the new team of builders.
“These guys wanted to turn a wrong into a right,” he said.
BY KEVIN SAMPIER OF THE JOURNAL STAR
Rogue
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