Damn, We just peeled through the first month of the year. Glenn, the master seat maker from Australia, said, “Yank on that parking brake, we gotta slow this shit down.” Here’s a tidbit of news from the manufacturing side. If you’ve had problems mounting PM belt drive primary systems, the problem should be fixed. BDL is currently making their belt drive systems. Over 300 units are being delivered to the PM warehouse.
If your’re wondering how Bikernet survives financially, here’s the revealing answer. At night we open the Bung Factory and go to work. Since we avoid competing with Todd’s Cycle sharp selection of fender rails and bungs and the famous BungKing.com guys, we can only make odd ball stuff. Factory orders have soared to three bungs a week.
We have also developed a high tech way of welding tabs to frames and making absolutely sure they’re level. I’m blown away by our progress.
Maybe next year we’ll be able to afford a booth in Cincy. Let’s hit the news:
QUICK 1947 KNUCKLEHEAD DEAL OF THE WEEK–You can have it both ways, either as you see it here or clean up the chassis and make it stock again. The price for the Boardtrack style is $22,500, plus $10,000 more for the stock chassis–if you want it. (949) 394-8609. For more info see the feature on the Home Page of Bikernet.com.
SIX NEW BIKER BUILD-OFF TO PREMIER ON THE LEARNING CHANNEL, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8TH AT 10 P.M.–In its fifth season Biker Build Off returns with six brand new shows which will air on TLC’s “Turbo Thursdays”. The first episode will premier on Thursday, February 8th, 2007 with five more episodes on each Thursday after. The first new BBO pits Gard Hollinger of L.A. County Choprods, Marina del Rey, CA against Jason Hart of Chop Smiths, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Each artist designs and fabricates a one-of-a-kind, street legal drag bike in just two weeks. Then they meet on Dead Horse Point in Moab, Utah to ride to Las Vegas, Nevada where they go head-to-head drag race for the Biker Build Off trophy.
The second hour which premiers February 15th will feature Chica of Chica Custom Cycles, Huntington Beach, CA going head-to-head with Michael Barragan of Evil Spirit Engineering, Glendale, CA. Chica designs and fabricates a stretched, 60’s style, laid back cruiser and Michael, a post industrial, futuristic ghetto sled. The two artists meet in Ft. Worth, Texas and ride side by side to the Lone Star Rally in Galveston where thousands vote for the custom motorcycle they like the best.
BBO show number three airing February 22nd will pit Trevelen of Super Co. Customs, Los Angeles, CA against Paul Cox and Keino of the Indian Larry Legacy, Brooklyn, N.Y. Trevelen builds an homage to the Indian Motorcycles of the 40’s and Paul and Keino fabricate an old school, totally hand built, elegantly functional, Indian Larry style bike. Trevelen meets Paul and Keino in Monument Valley, Arizona to ride 800 miles due south to the Sea of Cortez in Puerto Penasco, Mexico.
The fourth brand new BBO airing on March 1st will feature Brian Fuller of Fuller Hot Rods, Atlanta, GA. going head-to-head with Greg Westbury of Westbury Handcrafted Motorcycles, Concord, CA. Brian using mostly Buell parts in a frame of his own design fabricates a modern, high back tire racer. While Greg builds a hot rod motorcycle on a frame reminiscent of a vintage Schwinn. The two artists ride side by side ending at the Northeast Motorcycle Expo in Hartford, Connecticut where the people decide on which bike will take home the trophy.
In BBO number five airing on March 8th Dawn Norakas of Stinger Custom Cycles, Cedar City, Utah will build off against Scott Webster of Leroy Thompson Choppers, Mentor, Ohio. Dawn, who is BBO’s second female builder, designs and fabricates an elegant, gleaming, blue and silver, low slung chopper while Scott makes an industrial, hard core homage to “Road Warrior.” The two artists meet on a bluff overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and ride south through heavy rains to the Easyriders Pomona California Bike Show.
Watch for Andrew and the Departure Bike Works episode on March 15, the day before Bandit’s Birthday. Watch Andrew race a jap bike at the drags. Check the feature on the Home Page.
The sixth episode of the new BBO series airing on March 15th will feature Andrew Williams of Departure Bike Works, Richmond, VA going mano-a-mano with James Compton, Boerne, Texas. Andrew builds a Harley based, street legal dragster while James builds a four stacked, Suzuki powered, light weight drag bike dubbed”Crusher II” . The two builders meet in Louisiana bayou land to ride to the No Problems Raceway in the heart of Cajun country. There they drag race head-to-head for the BBO trophy.
For more information contact:
–Hugh “Chopper” King
Co Executive Producer
Biker Build Off
EVEREST DREAM NOT LAID TO REST– Hollywood bike customizer Tim Wayne Medvetz was recently featured in the Discovery Channels series “Everest: Beyond the Limit”. Each edge of your seat episode chronicles the journey of a group of vastly different men. Each are from different countries, and walks of lives, but share one common vision. They want to stand on top of the worlds tallest mountain. Each has their own personal obstacles to overcome, as they encounter mental and physical challenges attempting to achieve one of the most difficult measures of human endurance.
Tim Medvetz was involved in a near fatal motorcycle accident the night before one of the worst days our country has ever known, 9/11. As a result, he has metal parts throughout his body, including his skull, back, knee, and foot. Although he has spent much time rehabilitating and training, his 6’5″ frame and 250lb. body mass make him better equip for the game of golf as his doctor has strongly suggested. Against all of those odds, Tim sold everything he owned including his Harley Davidson to make that first Everest attempt. He fell just 100 meters short of the summit, and says he was so close he could have thrown a rock and hit it. But after encountering many obstacles on the way up, his oxygen level was so low that he only had enough remaining to get him back to camp. Another 100 meters may seem short in distance, but it could still mean several hours of time and oxygen. He knows in his heart he could have made the summit. But he realizes that his body would still be sitting on that summit, frozen solid, with an oxygen tank that read zero. He was forced to listen to the wisdom of his expedition leader Russell Brice, and begin his descent. Tim agreed not to give up, but to put his dream of that summit on hold.
Now one year later, and 30 lbs. lighter, Tim has not put his dream of the summit Everest, to rest. He is a man determined to finish what he has begun. The Discovery Channel is going to film another six episodes of Tim’s return and second attempt. North Face has agreed to sponsor him by providing him with his necessary gear. Russell Brice and his staff are eager and willing to give him the best chance to make his summit possible. But Tim still has to come up with the $42,000 it takes to put just one man on the top of that mountain, so he needs your help! Bikers are known for coming to the aid of another biker in need, and he needs help to make this monumental dream a reality. He needs donations, sponsors, fundraisers, advertising, or any other ideas that might help him achieve his goal.
To help or learn more about Tim’s mission, go towww.highwaytoeverest.com. And look for the journey on the Discovery Channel!
NEW CANADIAN CUSTOM BIKE RAG–There it is! The most complete V-Twin magazine in Canada.REVOLUTION MOTORCYCLE MAG
– 128 color pages
– International reports, major events reports
– Technical chronicle, painting chronicle
– Interview with Master Builder
– Each publication includes 3 featured bikes with report on the machine shop having built it with studio photographs.
– Innovations, memories, events to come, a lot of information!
Two issues; a French version and an English version, exactly the same except language.Distributed in North America and Europe.It is your chance to be seen through all America!Announce your company, your products, and your services at a keen price.
Send us your photographs! Of your bike, your trip, your parties, original and special ones. You will see them in our section reserved for YOUR photographs. One annual winner will see its photograph full page and will receive 500$ price.
For the nostalgic ones and the old Biker. Send us your photographs, old and vintage bike, a short story, unforgettable memories; good old days!You will see them in our section “Souvenir”.
SEND YOUR MATERIAL TOREVOLUTION MOTORCYCLE MAG
1302 avenue Garden, Mascouche QC J7L 0A4
Send material with pre-stamped envelope if you want us to send it back to you.
Or by email at: revolutioncustom@hotmail.comInformation: (514) 726-5742
RICH PHILLIPS OF BIKER SADDLES– known for his incredible custom leather seats and pans, built a custom, compact, board track racer style bike he will be debuting in Cincinnati. Rich designed and fabricated this cool bike, named the Early Bird, entirely himself. You may have heard of Rich Phillip’s when he did the leatherwork for the Shovelhead Kill Machine, Twisted Chopper’s winning Discovery Channel Build Off bike. The most impressive thing about this new bike is the detail. From the early style cloth-wrapped wiring harness to the copper oil lines, this bike is a hybrid of design elements from the future and past, including Rich’s new air shock seat suspension system.
He will also be debuting a number of new products, handlebars for Springer front ends, a leaf-spring front end of his own design, and a limited supply of custom frames, similar to the Early Bird frame. All the products Rich will be debuting at Cincinnati are made with the same attention to detail in the Early Bird. The handlebars are drag style bars utilizing brass or aluminum, bullet shaped caps to hide handlebar-mounting bolts and are designed specifically for Springer Front ends, particularly Harley-Davidson, Paugcho or DNA. These bars are sold ready to ship, but can be configured to custom dimensions upon request. They are sold in raw steel, or powder coated for a small up-charge.
Rich is also offering a leaf-spring front end of his own design, a nice addition to any retro-styled bobber or chopper, available in 20″or 22″. He will also custom build them up to 4-inches over in length, but only upon special request. Like the handlebars, the front ends will be sold in raw steel, or powder coated for a small up-charge.
Rich Phillips will be available for interviews in Cincinnati, in booth #4207, and the Early Bird will be present for photographs. He will also have examples of all his products. Please let me know if you have any questions about this very cool bike or any of the above products, or if you need any images.
–Ken Conte
(970) 227-3588
BIKERNET REACHES A NEW CULTURAL LEVEL–More chalk drawings from Julian Beever. Scroll down slowly and stop at each new frame. Incredible!!!!! Julian Beever is an English artist who’s famous for his art on the pavement of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium. Beever gives to his drawings an amazing 3D illusion.
THE FANTASTIC ART OF LARRY GROSSMAN– All of the elements in my art come from photos I have shot over the years. Vic’s Highway 40, featured in this picture is located in Reno on 4th St, and is actually called Abby’s ( All of the bikes in the picture are a combination of parts that I put together (I dunno, does that qualify me as a bike builder?), as is the guy in the foreground, who’s arms and legs belong to one guy, and who’s head belongs to my good friend Tony Wood, who works for George Barris. I added the tattoos, the helmet, and the vest with the “colors”, which I made myself for an x-rated film (an artful one) that I wrote, produced, and directed called “The Big Sleeze” back in 1975. On the back of the vest it reads “Krotch Kannibals” in case you can’t figure it out. The barbershop was added, as were all of the people, the wet street, and many of the neon signs in the windows. A lot of people enjoy my inside joke of having the “Very Quiet” sign in the hotel window, while next door is the “Live Bands Nightly” sign in the bar (plus of course you’ve got the choppers outside!). Above the barber shop are two women (with very short skirts) in the window involved in some kind of kinky bondage scene with each other. The shapely babe in the bar’s doorway holding the whip (which I added, along with her blond hair) is in several of my pictures, and I don’t think I have to explain why! This lithograph measures 19×25″ and is printed on heavy 80 lb. coated paper. It’s available (with a lot more of my art) for $30 ($35 signed) including shipping, on my website: www.retrovisions.com. I also do custom commissions and can put you, your car, bike, (or whatever) into most of my pictures. ROAD WEARY FILMS ANNOUNCEMENT–Well, It’s hump day today and that only means that there’s a few more days left before we all converge on Cincinnati for some hard work and some good times. Road Weary Films has just announced that it’s offering all companies registered to exhibit at the 7th Annual V-Twin Expo by Easyriders held in Cincinnati, OH. a special one time video production package to help support the motorcycle industry and the individual companies associated with it. Road Weary Films television resume includes Travel Channel, PBS, Current TV, Fuel TV, Discovery Channel’s Biker Build Off Series, and most recently a half-hour special for Paisano’s new show V-Twin TV on Speed Channel (Paul Yaffe custom build for Jeff Gordon). They bring top notch quality and talent with each project; the consumers that preview these promos have often commented “nice TV show.” While it’s too late this year to have them produce a first class video for your company for the ’07 Expo, you might want to take advantage of this one time offering from RWF for shows and rallies that you may attend throughout the rest of ’07! This offer is good only through April 30, 2007 (their television shooting schedule begins in May) and is limited only to registered exhibitors of the V-Twin Expo in Cincinnati! Manufacturers that are interested in having a first class video made at this one time offer should contact Rick Raus of V-Twin Marketing at 714-280-8537 or email him at –Rick Raus NEW MATT HOTCH TEK BATTEY WEB SITE ON LINE– THESE BATTERIES ARE AMAZING. The new website is www.TekBattery.com and is now up. It has the videoand a Matt Hotch page that gives more descriptions and pics:www.tekbattery.com There are prices and some specs, but most battery manufacturersstretch the truth about crank amps and comparing specs is misleadingas you saw in a real test. Our stated crank amps x 2 or 3 wouldprobably be more realistic to claims by others. We will put more specs and a Photo Gallery soon also. OOORAH FOR THE MARINES–A United States Marine was attending some college courses betweenAssignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. One ofthe courses had a professor who was a vowed atheist and a member of theACLU. One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked tothe ceiling and flatly stated, “God, if you are real, then I want youto knock me off this platform. I’ll give you exactly 15 minutes.” The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minuteswent by and the professor proclaimed, “Here I am God. I’m stillwaiting.” It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine gotout of his Chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him;knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold. The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The otherstudents were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence. The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at theMarine and asked, “What the hell is the matter with you? Why did you dothat?” The Marine calmly replied, “God was too busy today protectingAmerica’s soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid shit andact like an asshole. So, He sent me.” –Curt Lout BIKERNET DUNK TANK–We spoke to the former producer of Steel Dreams Television shows and apparently he’s never been paid for freelance work. Patriot is a publicly traded company that bought Surgical Steeds Motorcycles. Apparently they are not paying a lot of former employees and may be sued shortly. Watch that stock. FELLOW FREEDOM FIGHTERS, WATCH MONTANA–Montana State Representative Betsy Hands and Montana State Senator LyndaMoss are continuing to sponsor Draft Bill LC1683, a mandatory motorcyclehelmet law: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privilegesor immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state depriveany person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nordeny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of thelaws.”–U.S. Constitution, Amendment XIV, Section 1 Mandatory helmet laws like this one clearly demonstrate how good intentionsoften lead to bad legislation. ABATE of Montana has asked us to continueto flood their offices with letters, calls and emails protesting this bill,which is discriminatorily unconstitutional in that–by mandating helmets formotorcyclists as opposed to all motorists–it would violate the “equalprotection” guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the United StatesConstitution. Here is their contact information: Betsy Hands (D) Lynda Moss (D) Email addresses for them and the Montana Senate and House Leadership are asfollows: BETSYHANDS@GMAIL.COM LYNDAMOSS@IMT.NET To automatically load these email addresses into a new email window, clickhere:http://www.ldrlongdistancerider.com/KeepMontanaFree.html Remember that this issue here is NOT “helmets”, the issue is “helmet laws”.As a distance rider, I often wear a helmet. But as an American citizen, Ishould be free to choose when and where I strap one on. This is not aboutSAFETY … this is about FREEDOM. You will find more sound reasons tooppose this legislation presented here:http://tinyurl.com/2v97al Bruce Arnold Continued On Page 2
V-Twin Marketing
1014 S. Saint Tropez Ave.
Anaheim Hills, CA 92808
714-280-8537/Office
714-280-8547/Fax
www.STUDIO9000.com
303.921.4590
1337 SHERWOOD ST
MISSOULA, MT 59802-2301
Home: 406-721-3881
Email: BETSYHANDS@GMAIL.COM
Web: http://tinyurl.com/2zeb7s (with photo)
552 HIGHLAND PARK DR
BILLINGS, MT 59102-1046
Home: 406-252-7318
Email: LYNDAMOSS@IMT.NET
Web: http://tinyurl.com/26gebv (with photo)
Bruce@LdrLongDistanceRider.com
