Hey, yesterday we worked accessorizing the rubbermounted 2004 Sportster for American Rider while throwing old parts in a box for Busters project bike. Buster is a young rider, who has a 2000 Sporty, but he’s chompin’ at the bit to build a chopper.
Irish Rich turned him onto a terrific deal on an old, but sturdy, Paughco rigid, which arrived yesterday, and he couldn’t wait for me to see and bless it. This kid works for the school district, helping with severely handicapped kids. He has two of his own and another one on the way. His wife also works, but they are obviously struggling.
After looking at the frame, I dug into my old boxes of parts and started throwing fenders, rear wheel, kickstands, pedals and shit together for his effort. Buster helps us out around the shop trying to learn and absorb any chopper shit he can. It’s that gleam in his eye as he looks at the sleek lines of that old school Paughco chopper frame that tells me he’s in it for the long run. You’ll see it come together on Bikernet. Strictly a home-built, basket case effort.
We have several features headed your way, but I’ll hold off and start the news:
VIETNAM MEMORIAL PLAQUE DEDICATED WITH THE HELP OF HARLEY-DAVIDSON–In May of 2001, Harley-Davidson Motor Company first announced plans to contribute $50,000 toward the funding of the memorial plaque at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. Three years later, the In Memory Memorial Plaque was officially unveiled in a ceremony on July 8, 2004.
The ceremony was open to the public and was attended by veterans and loved ones of veterans who have perished since the end of the Vietnam War. Remarks were made by project organizers, members of Congress, as well as Harley-Davidson Director of Government Affairs, Wayne Curtin who honored the sacrifices of the veterans on behalf of Motor Company employees, dealers and customers.
The In Memory Memorial Plaque is dedicated to those Vietnam Veterans who died after serving in the war, but whose death was a result of their service in the conflict. Many veterans died after the war from being exposed to toxins during services or from complications of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. These individuals are not listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, but are now memorialized through this plaque.
BIKERNET 13 FILE–1. Now that food has replaced sex in my life, I can’t even get into my own pants.
2. Marriage changes passion.Suddenly you’re in bed with a relative.
3. I saw a woman wearing a sweat shirt with “Guess” on it.So I said “Implants?” She hit me.
4. How come we choose from just two people to run forpresident and 50 for Miss America?
5. A good friend will come and bail you out of jail…but, a true friend willbe sitting next to you saying, “Darn…that was fun!”
6. I signed up for an exercise class and was told to wear loose-fittingclothing. If I HAD any loose-fitting clothing, I wouldn’t have signed up in thefirst place!
7. When I was young we used to go “skinny dipping,” now I just “chunky dunk.”
8. Don’t argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference.
9. Wouldn’t it be nice if whenever we messed up our life we could simply press’Ctrl Alt Delete’ and start all over? AMEN, AMEN !!
10. Why is it that our children can’t read a Bible in school, but they can in prison?
11. Wouldn’t you know it…Brain cells come and brain cells go, but FAT cells live forever.
12. Why do I have to swear on the Bible in court when the Ten Commandmentscannot be displayed in a federal building?
13. Bumper sticker of the year:”If you can read this, thank a teacher and, since it’s in English, thank asoldier !!”
–from Skooter
BIKETOBERFEST 2004– I Know, I Know we are still doing the Sturgis reports but this is HOT!Biketoberfest 2004 Daytona Beach Florida is officially October 21-24 but many places start as early as the 15th. Watch here for more reports.
Want to save some money and have a great time too? Consider staying in Cocco Beach just South of Daytona. The local news paper just published an article about the Space Coast Office of Tourism campaign to bring people to the area during September and October when hotel occupancy is at 50-55 percent compared to March which is 80 percent. To me that means you can get a good deal, especially if you shop around.
More and more people are getting upset with high prices and the way they are being treated in the Daytona area are staying further out and riding into Daytona for the events and things they want to see and do.
The Space Coast of Florida has a lot to offer. Besides lower rates there is great beaches, restaurants, cruise ships with gambling, the Space Center and the best thing of all the area is BIKER FRIENDLY. It is a short ride to Daytona and there are many places to stop on the way that are having biker events.
Hey Come On Down and Have Some Fun In The Sun.
–ROGUE
FLORIDA DUIs–The news papers and television are full of articles and ads about the You Drink, You Drive, You Lose campaign going on through out Florida. The campaign is scheduled to start August 28th and run through the Labor Day weekend and ends on September 12 2004.
There will be road blocks, checkpoints and numerous other operations to arrest people who have been drinking.
The Safety Council says that it costs the average person arrested for DUI in Florida $16,000. And that does not count all the bullshit you have to go through that goes along with it. It should be noted that more average people that have only had a few drinks are stopped and arrested for DUI that Alcoholics or people with Blood Alcohol Content of 1.2 or 1.4 which are the ones usually involved with death causing crashes.
Of course the average person is a source of large revenue to the state, courts, lawyers and other agencies so these stops will continue until people get tired of it and have the laws changed.
So have a Good Time but be careful and safe.
–ROGUE
WAY TO GO – JAY LENO–The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for JohnKerry. You can understand why – with two positions on every issue, he hastwice as many people mad at him.”
– Jay Leno
–from Rev CarlR
MOTORCYCLE LAWS IN LONDON–In London, it’s illegal to have sex on a parked motorcycle. It did not say any thing about if the motorcycle was moving.
–from Rogue
http://www.bikerrogue.com
MOTORCYCLE VS. 18-WHEELERS– Safety, common sense are the first rules of the road. If you have ever been stunned by a motorcycle that appears out of nowhere on the freeway, you know the awful feeling that comes with the realization that if you had been in the process of changing lanes As motorcycles become more powerful, and riders more brazen, and motorists more distracted by cell phone conversations, there is no end to the well justified fears of cars and trucks colliding with motorcycles. The accident Friday that resulted in the death of a motorcyclist on the 710 (Long Beach, California) Freeway is a tragic example of why motorcyclists are so vulnerable.
It’s common for a motorist to be barreling along in the carpool lane, only to be passed — in the same lane — by a motorcyclist traveling well over the speed limit. The roar of the motorcyclist’s high-revving engine can startle and confuse a motorist, with tragic consequences.
It’s common in stop-and-go traffic to be caught by surprise by a motorcyclist sharing a lane with a car as the motorcyclist tries to guide his machine through a narrow path between cars and trucks. It’s legal in California to share lanes, but the DMV manual for motorcyclists discourages the practice. We’d like to see a law that would ban it entirely.
We’ll go a step further. It’s legal for motorcyclists to use the 710 Freeway, but it’s not smart, safe or necessary. Motorcyclists who try to compete with 18-wheelers are at a fatal disadvantage.
Aside from allowing motorcycles to share lanes and use the HOV lanes on freeways, motorcyclists must obey the same rules as motorists. Laws against speeding and erratic lane changes apply to motorcycles, too. Given their vulnerability, motorcyclists would be wise to avoid lingering in motorists’ blind spots and sharing lanes at high speeds.
In a motorcycle-car accident, trying to determine who is at fault is secondary to the horrible injuries and tragic deaths that result from bad driving by inattentive drivers and motorcyclists who think they are invulnerable. As the DMV manual says, the old saying that you can’t hit what you don’t see doesn’t apply to cars and motorcycles.
This article is an indication of our general society perception of bikers. Actually it should be geared directly at the reason for motorcycle accidents in 70-80 percent of accidents–motorists. It should be slamming them for not using turn signals, for making erratic lane changes, talking on cell phones, smoking or stuffing their faces while driving.
Imagine if this article was geared at children playing in streets. A child has about the same protection from an automobile as any biker. I would love to see this reporter from the Press Telegram attempt to tell the public that kids should stay off the streets so motorists can jabber on a cell phones and not worry about running over pedistrians.–Bandit
NEW MOTORCYCLE LAND SPEED RECORD–A single enging Kawasaki designed by a man who works for JPL set a new land speed record at Bonneville this year at 332 mph. Easy-Hook, the name of the ride, broke the Easyriders 18-year record or 321 set in ’96 or ’97. I was a proud member of that team powered by two 92-inch Shovelheads and 10,000 ER readers.
This Kaw project took six years of meticulous design efforts.
THE BLONDE FILES– What did the blonde say when she found out she was pregnant?
“Are you sure it’s mine?”
LUCKY DEVIL PART II COMING TO BIKERNET–Here are some shots of the front render for Lucky Devil 001. It is a single side mount to keep the right side clean. At this point everything is out to paint and I am working on the frame and sheetmetal for the chop off. I can’t show photos of that till after the event, but I will document the construction of the frame as well as sheetmetal and final assembly and share them after the event is over.
Take care, Kent
PRICEY BIKES STOLEN DURING RAINSTORM–When Todd “Red” Laube of Madison went to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally last weekend, he never imagined he would be returning home early without his $35,000 custom bike.
Laube and his friend Wes Josephson, who own Titan Gecko RM Retro motorcycles, stopped at the Broken Spoke bar in Sturgis, along with their wives, to wait for a rainstorm to pass. When they went back outside, their bikes were gone, along with their leather jackets, chaps and other belongings.
Laube said they had been in Sturgis for only four hours when the one-of-a-kind bikes were stolen Aug. 7.
“We arrived at the Spoke around 1 p.m. and went in to have a beer and visit with people for a while,” Laube said. “By the time the rain stopped around 5 p.m., we went outside and they were gone.”
Sturgis police say about 12 to 16 motorcycles are stolen each year during the rally, and few of them are recovered.
“We’ve had five bikes stolen so far this year at the rally, and we had 12 last year,” said Sturgis Detective Gerard Brennan.
“It’s very unusual for us to recover these stolen bikes immediately. These thefts are usually done by professionals, and in many cases they get out of the area quickly.”
But Laube said he thinks the bikes still might be in the Sturgis area, and whoever stole them probably put them in a trailer.
A total of four bikes were stolen Aug. 7, Brennan said, and the others were similar to Laube’s and Josephson’s.
“I don’t want my insurance company’s check,” he said. “I just want my bike.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sturgis Police Department at 605-347-2573.
BY CRAIG HENRYArgus Leader
–from Rogue
BIG BEAR GRIZZLY RUN–Did the Big Bear Grizzly Run today…Left the desert at 6:00 AM. First time in a while to wear a leather jacket it was 40 degrees when I rolled up into the pine tree covered mountains.
It was cool after being in the desert of 100 plus degrees. It was a nice change. A good crowd showed up as the morning progressed. They had a poker run to benefit the Zoo. Good time and seeing old friends.
–Bob T
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