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I was hammering around town when the hail hit. Nobody can ridethrough hail. At least nobody who buys their own paint jobs. Stopping on the shoulder, I pulled out my rain gear and tried tolean over the tank, to keep the hail from ruining the $1,000 color thatEddie Meeks from Hardly Civilized in the Carolinas […]

STURGIS 2000, THE LONG WAY HOME SOUTH DAKOTA As I rolled out of South Dakota, I day dreamed about what it wouldbe like to own a rubber mount with a windshield, a cushioned seat and a frontbrake. We all fantasize from time to time and this was my fantasy. Suddenly Icould see red and blue

KENTUCKY Tobacco. Brown, rolling tobacco. Potholes, cops, tobacco. Thesplit in the fuel tank is significant now and my long-range bomber’s distance has been curbed from a solid 220 miles per tank to 190. I am leaking fuelnon-stop as I sweep down the highways, running 100, letting the semis fardown the road break the radar waves.

  Remember to remove the spacers at the rear of the clutch basket before installing the new clutch.   Always lube the plates and friction disks with Primary oil before inserting them into the clutch hub.Finish up with the rest of the drive, according to the manual.   Bolt the outer primary in place, also

There we were, enjoying the completed restoration of a 1948 61-inch Panhead when Jesse James said, “Why don’t you run these?” “Run what?” I asked. “These cobbled-together, dual-carbed heads,” he muttered, setting them on the bench. I looked at them with the intrigue of a man who can’t ever leave anything alone. They were 40

This is a quirky series based on no facts or guidlines besides, “some filtration is better than nothin’.” When we rebuilt the top end of this 61-inch ’48 EL, we added two beautifully finished, hand built/altered Panheads that accept two polished 42 mm Mikuni carburetors. We didn’t know what the hell we were going to

Options in Harley exhaust pipes are as great as the chest of Anna Nicole Smith. You can buy and bolt-on. Years of stock layouts from Harley — plus a rich aftermarket — let you adapt and adopt styles ranging from ol’ time upsweep to drag to collector to shotgun. If you are stubborn like me

OK, you’ve definitely got some choices ahead of you when it comes to hopping-up your engine. And since the most popular and cost-effective plan is to swap the stock cam, carb, ignition, and exhaust components with high-performance aftermarket items, the combinations seem endless. Well, aside from the business of choosing the right setup, there is

We are often asked to manufacture raked triple trees. Our decisionNOT TO RAKE TRIPLE TREES revolvesaround the stability and handling of the bike, and the safety of you,the rider. Raked triple trees are scientificallyunsound, as explained below. As trail is REDUCED, instability results, producing a naturaltendency towards deflection or speed wobble. As trail is INCREASED,

Sponsored By: Cycle ExchangePO Box 275 – Hwy 51 South – Minocqua, WI 54548Phone: (715) 356-7346    FAX: (715) 356-5896     Toll Free (877) 707-BIKE© 2002 Cycle Exchange – All rights reserved One item of widespread confusion between the custom buyer andbuilder is an uncertainty as to exactly how long his extended fork will be. Itmay be close to

The Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame is very excited to be celebrating its 10th Anniversary on June 1, 2011. In its relatively short history, the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum has grown to be a world-class museum with a collection of nearly 100 motorcycles and an impressive array of memorabilia associated with motorcycling and with

    The Harley Softail ® debuted in 1984… and seemed destined for a historic run. For the first time, H-D aficionados could have the rigid look without the rigid feel…or so it was advertised. As we all know, Harley has built countless models off of this product line and has made as much money

“When I die I want to meet God and say, what the hell were you thinking, like what were you thinking?”—Indian Larry “Hold on to yourself Bartlett, you’re twenty feet short.”—Steve McQueen …from the movie THE GREAT ESCAPE “…I’ll be right out…Nice coat…”—Marv…a.k.a. Mickey Rourke…from the movie SIN CITY “If I had to describe him,

Click here for: Mudflap Girl Part 2, the Bandit Engine and Spitfire update   It’s May 23, 2011, about two months before we roll out to the Badlands. Every year takes on a different character. It’s sorta like the new kid on the block. We never know exactly the direction this kid it going to

Sponsored By: Cycle ExchangePO Box 275 – Hwy 51 South – Minocqua, WI 54548Phone: (715) 356-7346    FAX: (715) 356-5896     Toll Free (877) 707-BIKE© 2002 Cycle Exchange – All rights reserved One item of widespread confusion between the custom buyer andbuilder is an uncertainty as to exactly how long his extended fork will be. Itmay be close to

With the complexity of factory OEM fuel injection systems, Custom Chrome in partnership with Techlusion felt it was important to provide owners with a product that is easy to operate, install and understand while not upsetting the stock fuel curve, or timing. This new DFO Box (Digital Fuel Optimizer) is just that animal. By attaching

Bandit uses only one type of risers on his bikes. At least that’s been his M.O. for the last 15 years. “I like the kick back to the bars without a pullback and the vibration isolation.” he said recently. Ya see, Custom Cycle Engineering has been building old-style dogbone risers for glides for some twenty

Let me lay out the background for this project. Scooter is anattorney. Maybe that makes him a yuppie, who the fuck cares? He’s acriminal attorney of the highest order, in fact recently herepresented a prostitute and we will have a full report on thatepisode. In this case, he was representing a jealous Bouncer from a

Deacon, the master, taking a break. Photo by Chris T. I ran across a master mechanic, in Oahu, Hawaii, at ProStreet, who recently produced the first Choppers Only Show in Wakiki.He explained the differences between the Evolution configuration andthe Shovelhead and how you can alter your Shovel for reliability andbetter performance. I was intrigued, grabbed

Wheel spacing is an important part of any ground-up bike building project.It also must be addressed when customizing an existing bike.With the vast selection of frames and wheels available today, there is noway any manufacturer can fit every different wheel combo to their frame andprovide exact fitting wheel spacers. Some frame manufacturers provide a wheel

The bike started out as a Sumax frame that was sitting around for years. I found an H-D Evo motor and tranny, fresh out of the box a few years back. We used Boyd’s Mid-Glide 41mm trees and fat boy lower legs turned down on the lathe. Top caps were made to match. A swap

Many of us madmen started with Sportsters. Not long ago, there wasn’t much a guy could do with his Sportster to make it sing, but now there is. So we went after a complete list of parts and recommendations for a strong, better handling Sportster. We started with Bartels’ Harley-Davidson. Bartels’ is a family organization

I was sitting at my desk the other day pondering the woes of the world and, at the same time, wondering just how much crap I could stuff into my garbage can before the trash company would refuse to empty it when the phone rang. It was George Smith from S&S Cycle calling in the