Hey,
The buzz this week is Sturgis. I’ve been called on to write several articles for a new dealer mag called American Big Twin Dealer. You’ll see it lying around in shops all across the country. They want Sturgis reports.
We’ll begin posting wild Sturgis reports as of tomorrow with Johnny Humble and myself. Reports are flowing in from Glenn (Australian reporter), Crazy Horse and Rogue. We’ll have all the action, the rides out, the breakdowns, the love lost, and the new girls.
My bike is doused with 1600 miles of rain and needs work, but I’m torn between cleaning it and going to work or shooting if for a mag feature while it still looks 50 years old and worn. Whatta ya tink?
So what’s ahead? Good question, the answer includes Las Vegas Bike Week, the Saxon Motorcycles 2006 model launch in Mexico, the Lone Star Rally in Texas and a vintage car race across Mexico. Seems I’ll be in the desert through out September. Oh and there’s a bike Show in Paso Robles.
Let’s hit the news and I’ll tell you about the party this weekend.
THE DEVILS? BEEN BUSY–One of Kent?s latest project.
Metzeler Selects Rucker Performance for Collectors Poster–Fort Worth, Texas (August 5, 2005) – The 2005 Rucker Performance Assassin, a formidable American Muscle Bike, debuts as part of the 2005 Metzeler Collectors Poster series. Featured with high performance radial tires, the Assassin will be showcased and distributed on posters at Metzeler’s Sturgis V-Twin Bike Contest.”We are honored to be recognized by Metzeler and asked to participate in the Collectors Poster program,” said Bill Rucker, President of Rucker Performance. “The Metzeler technology provides stability, maneuverability and reliability – all factors that are keys to the success of our motorcycles.”
In today’s custom V-Twin market form and function must work together to provide the customer the right look with comfort and safety. The ME 880 series tires do just that.
“In order for the super clean Assassin to have the right look the rear tire and fender need to be as close as possible,” said Chris Wall, Metzeler’s Marketing Manager. “Other tire manufacturers’ tires have a tendency to give in to centrifugal growth and actually rub on the fender and damage paint. Metzeler’s ME 880 tires grow only 2 mm at 160 mph in testing due to our patented zero degree steel belt technology.”
Buyers of Rucker Performance motorcycles can select from more than 16 Weld Racing wheels to fit with Metzeler rubber. The full selection of Weld wheels includes the new Master Builders series designed by five of the country’s top custom bike builders like Eddie Trotta of Thunder Cycle Designs, Kendall Johnson of Kendall Johnson Customs, Matt Hotch of HotMatch Custom Cycles, Kim Suter of K.C. Creations and Vince Doll of Redneck Engineering.
“NHRA World Champions John Force and Kenny Bernstein win on Weld Racing wheels,” said Bill Rucker. “Their manufacturing technology gives us a lighter wheel than other wheels in the marketplace. This provides us with reduced unsprung weight and better handling when utilizing the Metzeler rubber.”
ContactsFor dealership inquires, contact Bill Rucker at (817) 838-
Thunder Mountain Custom Cycles (TMCC) held its first annual dealer meeting Friday July 22nd which was a great success not only for our dealers but also for Thunder Mountain Custom Cycles. We would like to thank the 60 plus dealers that made the trip out to see us at our home base in Loveland, Colorado! We are proud to announce that our very own Blackhawk 240’s have launched TMCC into the top 5 custom bike builders in the world, which was done with no external marketing outside of our dealerships. TMCC now has a full time marketing director dedicated to launching a national marketing campaign over the next quarter that will bring custom bike enthusiasts into our dealer network to find their perfect custom.
2006 New Model Line Up
Sterling: This back-to-the-basics bobber comes equipped with an H-D Twin Cam 88 motor and 40 spoke chrome wheels. Simple and smooth. The old-school model comes in either gloss black or matte black and soars on a 21″ front wheel and a 18″/180 mm rear wheel, made up of over 90% H-D components. Not available for sale in California.
Sterling RM: An upgraded version of the simply sleek Sterling, the Sterling RM includes six retro style custom paint options. Other options include a black or chrome springer front end, Carburated or H-D/Delphi EFI as well as your choice of black or chrome 60 spoke wheels. This retro model is shoehorned with a smooth and powerful H-D Screamin’ Eagle 103 B engine that will take you where no bobber has gone before.
Keystone: At 9’2″ long, the 300 mm rear tire custom is ready to hit the road. Using Jim’s right side drive and an H-D hydraulic clutch, this eye-catching TMC Cycle is all about balanced ride ability and ease.
Frontier: For miles of endless road, the only production 240 soft tail bagger includes the new 2006 H-D /Harmon Kardon factory stereo. The Frontier comes stock with over 90% H-D components including the Screamin’ Eagle 6-Speed Transmission, Twin Cam 103 B engine, and the H-D /Delphi EFI.
For immediate viewing of our newest line of customs, check out our website at http://www.TMCcycles.com.
TWO National Blackhawk 240 GiveawaysTMCC’s national marketing campaign is dedicated to increasing dealer market share as well as generating consumer excitement. TWO national giveaways have been put into place for TMCC’s network of dealers, the ‘TMC National Tour: Featuring the Blackhawk 240’ and the ‘Top Gun’ giveaway.
‘TMC National Tour: Featuring the Blackhawk 240’ is an enter-to-win Blackhawk 240 that will be kicked off September 1, 2005 for public entry. That giveaway bike will be traveling to TMCC dealerships across the country based on availability.
‘Top Gun’ is our second national bike giveaway! This Blackhawk 240 will be awarded to the number one salesperson of TMCC models at next year’s dealer meeting in San Diego, 2006. Sign up your salespeople and start selling!
HANK YOUNG RUNS ROADMAX–Young Choppers & Hot Rods, Inc. Builds With Roadmax TrannysHank Young, President of Young Choppers & Hot Rods, Inc. builds custom motorcycle projects in any stage, from ground up customizations to specialized adaptations and fitments. For his latest motorcycle project Young picked a Roadmax transmission to debut on his latest creation.
“I’m using a Roadmax right side drive supplied by Bob Kay of Biker Pros for a project that Micheal Lichter is putting together at the Journey Museum, It will coincide with the 2005 Black Hills Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis,” said Young. “This motorcycle has a similar look to the Bonneville Salt Flats racers of yesterday.”
Micheal Lichter, a world renowned motorcycle photographer, is creating an exhibition that is called Speed Demon. Lichter has collected a group of race-inspired motorcycles for the showcase.
The Bonneville project features a 120CI Harmon Motor manufactured by John Harmon in the 1980’s.
This motor is a prototype based on a shovel-head design with dual carburetors.The style of the bike will be long and low with an aerodynamic design.
“We are excited to be a part of this project with Hank Young,” stated Bob Kay, President, Biker Pros. “Hank (Young) is so enthusiastic about the Roadmax products that he is building two other custom motorcycles with Roadmax transmissions concurrently with his Bonneville project.”
Stopping in at American Performance Cycle (APC) requires you to pass the gauntlet of businesses from the who’s who of American racing including:Mario AndrettiCarroll ShelbyFreddie SpencerDerek DailyKing Richard Petty–You see Mike Sample, President of American Performance Cycle, and his crew at APC office at the performance warehouses next to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. On any given day you can smell race-fuel and hear the high-performance engines screaming around the track.
Given their location, it’s not a coincidence that APC builds high-performance choppers and cruisers. Mike Sample makes sure that he builds a quality product.
“We use quality products where fit, finish and performance are important,” said Sample. “At APC we use Roadmax transmissions because it is a good product that shifts nice and works well. We use the 6-speed Roadmax in all of our high-performance right-side drive models.”
Seven Models APC offers seven models including High Roller S, 240, 280, Wild Card 240, 280, Hustler 240 and the Spirit S. APC offers softail-style suspension on there chopper and cruiser lines. Since fabrication and painting is handled in-house, customers can order custom one-of-a-kind paint schemes, stretch, rake, accessories, wheels and controls.
Running Roadmax “We are excited to have American Performance Cycles as part of the Roadmax family,” explained Bob Kay, President of Biker Pros. “Mike Sample is building outstanding bikes as well as a company that has staying power.”
Business is heating up at APC since the beginning of the year. Since January dealership outlets have grown from 42 to 52. APC has also brought in General Electric to handle flooring for dealers. Later this year APC will clear CARB emissions with bikes being available in California.
High Performance “My background is equal parts businessman and motorhead,” explains Sample. “I’ve raced and wrenched off-shore boats and before APC I was the second top producing stockbroker in the firm. This provides me with the experience to build a firm that will be here tomorrow with a product that is outstanding in design and just about bulletproof in durability.”
Currently APC’s facility includes a “cell” production facility for the custom high-end manufacturing and an assembly line operation for its new entry-level motorcycle the “Spirit S”. In addition, this expanded facility includes a state of the art “Machine Shop” with CNC capabilities thus allowing APC to build many more of the parts it requires, while lowering cost.
AS A LONG TIME MEMBER OF BANDIT’S CANTINA– and a big chunk of my life a KR Ball fan, Thought I would drop you a line and let all of you there at Bikernet that I have decided to leave my home of 50 years and move to Arkansas. Selling my little house in Whittier ( that I couldn’t afford to buy) and building a big house on my 5 acres in Montgomery county .
I have listed one of my toys on your site ( 03 ultra classic gun metal blue with an inline trailer ) If you know of anyone looking for one please send them my way. I hope before I leave I can get over to Wilmington and check out the Cantina ( If I can find it ). The good thing in all of this is I will be able to ride my Softtail a lot more and go to more happenings and Abate rallies. Hope someday to meet you in person.
John (corky) Boaz
Used to stand em up and knock em pretty good when I was younger.
( I think! can’t remember )
STEALTH BIKE WORKS WEEKLY REPORT–There has not been a lot to talk about lately. Here at STEALTH BIKE WORKS, we now have a website, http://www.stealthbikeworks.com.! Check it out, it is still in the early stages but it is coming along.
We sold our first in-house hand made part this week. A diamond gas tank by Chopper John. We are working on another tank and it should be ready soon. If any of you out there need a tank or any metal work done give us a call at 704-882-0889. Chopper John also has an oil tank in the works.
You know owning your own shop opens your eyes to a lot of things you never saw before. People come in and want you to compete with e-bay prices and you cannot. Something to think about, when you buy a part on e-bay, do you get a warranty with the part? I don’t think so. I get to talk to a lot of shop owners in the area and it seems we all have the same problems. One of those problems is customers bringing in their own parts off e-bay and having us install them. Let me ask you a question. Would you go to your local grocery store and buy hamburger and then take it to Burger King and ask them to prepare it? I don’t think so! The point here is that your local shop is there foryou when you have a question concerning your bike or parts. The people on e-bay are not.
When you ask your local shop questions consider this, How long did it take those guys to gain the experience needed to answer the questions? Your local shop doesn’t charge you a dime to share their knowledge. Consider also the little things that shop does for you after the store closes. A lot of us have our cell numbers listed on their business cards in case of an emergency or breakdown, again they don’t charge you for this service. My point to all of this is Support Your Local Aftermarket Shop! Stop for a minute and think what it would be like without these shops. Yeah it would not be much fun , would it? The only place you would have to go is you local dealer and we all know they are looking out for you. Right! Or there will always be e-bay, except they don’t service bikes, they don’t customize bikes and they don’t chop bikes.
So the next time you need something for your bike, take a minute and think about your local aftermarket shop. The guy running that shop is just like you, trying to make a living and trying to do what he loves. Contrary to popular belief we are not all rich because we own our shops. Just a little something to think about.
With that being said, go out and ride to your local shop, they will be glad to see you and you will be glad you did!
Until next time, RIDE!
STEALTHMAN
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