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GET READY HOUSTON–Saturday Nite July 12th – It’s ALL HARLEY RACIN’ – – AT IT’S BEST !!WILD – Tire Smokin’ – Gear Bangin’ – Hard Ridin’ – Nitro Powered Action & Partee!!As the Texas Scooter Times “Texas Style Party Drags” RUNS – The 2nd Annual HOUSTON CHAMPIONSHIPS “UNDER THE LIGHTS” – At HOUSTON RACEWAY PARK.Featuring – Top Fuel Harleys – Top Gas Harleys – Nostalgia Fuel Harleys – & 30 Sportsman Trophy Classes for any type of Harley Davidson Motorcycle From Stock to Drag Modified!! Live Rock & Blues Band – Albert Storo & The Soul Searchers LARGE VENDORS MIDWAY – With Everything from Charity Bike Raffles, To Biker Lifestyle & Motorcycle Accessories – Leathers – & New & Used Parts.
Gates open 3 pm – Time Trials and Pro Qualifying 4pm – First Round of Eliminations 8pm. Adults $20 (includes pit access) – 5 thru 12 $5 – Under 5 no charge
Houston Raceway Park is located East of Houston. Take I-10 to exit 798, then south 3 miles on Highway 146, then 0.8 miles southeast on FM 1405, then 1.5 miles northeast on FM 565
CHECK OUT THE VIEW FROM THE HOUSTON RACEWAY PARK GRANDSTANDS ON STREAMING VIDEO AT WWW.TEXASSCOOTER.COM & MORE HOUSTON CHAMPIONSHIPS INFORMATION TOO –ALSO – CURRENT “TEXAS STYLE PARTY DRAGS” INFO & PICTURES AND STREAMING VIDEOS FROM OUR LAST RACE – CHECK OUT OUR UPDATED SITE !!!
PRE RACE PARTY AT KT’S Cycle Service – Baytown – Details www.texasscooter.com or 281-576-4662
RACE INFORMATION – 254-687-9066, Texas Scooter Times, 124 W. Main St. Itasca Texas,76055
–TST
BEACH RIDE BIKERNET PROJECT BIKE TOUR–We have identified the following dates and sites for the Beach Ride Bike Tour. We can make some dealer stops to promote ride originations and other stops you might like us to cover. Another idea is to visit existing ride originations to promote the event, especially if a dealer is already having a promotion. We can review this schedule and finalize dates and locations on Monday:
Blues Cafe, Long Beach
Blue Moon Cafe, San Pedro
Cooks Corners, Irvine
Route 66 Rendezvous, Lytle Creek, 7/12, Saturday
Walteria Benefit M/C Show, Torrance, 7/13 Sunday
LA Calendar M/C Show, Long Beach, 7/19, Saturday
Irvine Lake Harley Fest, Irvine, 7/20, Sunday 7/26 Saturday
Long Beach Cycle Swap, Long Beach,7/27 Sunday
John Force Cruise Night, Yorba Linda 7/30, *Wednesday 8/2 *Saturday
LAPD Charity M/C Ride, LA 8/3 *Sunday
NHRA Museum Cruise, Pomona 8/6 *Wednesday
Giovanni’s Pizza cruise, Fullerton 8/7 Thursday
Biker Beach Party, Harbor City 8/9 Saturday 8/10 Sunday
Famdamily 12th Ann., Signal Hill 8/12 Tuesday
100th Anniversary Party,Las Vegas 8/16 Saturday
100th Anniversary Party, Las Vegas 8/17 Sunday
13th Annual Viet Vets, Pala 8/23 Saturday
Toys N’ Tots, Ventura` ` `8/24 Sunday 8/30 Saturday
Long Beach Cycle Swap, long Beach 8/31 Sunday
HEY BANDIT–I was looking in the Cantina, and checked out the Antiques.Thought these two Vincents might be of interest, they were photographed at Motorcycle World 2003.
I also included another pic of the Harley.
–The Ferryman
HARLEY HISTORY, A TRIBUTE FOR THE 100TH–In 1903, the same year Henry Ford incorporated the Ford Motor Company and the Wright brothers first flew, William Harley and his friends Arthur and Walter Davidson launched the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. They gave their bike a quality engine, so it could prove itself in races, but planned to manufacture it as a transport vehicle.
That same year the merchant, C. H. Lange, sold the first officially distributed Harley-Davidson in Chicago, a city given to “motoracing” and auto-touring. Another of the Davidson brothers, William, joined the company, which soon burst the seams of its first manufacturing center and, by 1906, had to move to larger quarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
From the beginning the Harley-Davidson motorcycle began to set records. In 1908, for example, the Harley achieved a record 188.234 miles per gallon. It captured seven first place finishes in 1910 motorcycle racing, and, by 1912 claimed 200 U.S. distributors. A sturdy Harley-Davidson Sidecar won the first annual Pike’s Peak race in 1916, and another bike claimed first in the 1922 Adelaide to Melbourne South Australia race.
By the 1960s “the hog,” as it affectionately came to be called, scored seven consecutive victories at the Daytona 200. During the next decade the Harley took four consecutive wins at the AMA Grand National Championships and broke the world motorcycle record for land speed.
The Harley-Davidson came to be America’s most recognized motorcycle, but it was not the first. Howard Roper developed a coal powered steam-engine motorcycle in 1867 and Gottlieb Daimler, a German, developed a gas-powered motorcycle in 1885, which he attached to a wooden bike. That marked the moment in history when the dual development of a viable gas-powered engine and the modern bicycle collided.
Turn of the nineteenth century inventors who worked with both the engine and the bicycle chose to follow one of three paths. Daimler, for example, went on to develop automobiles, the Wright brothers left their bike shop to fly airplanes, and men like Harley and the Davidsons developed motorcycles. Their business competitors were other new start-up companies such as Excelsior, Indian, Pierce, Merkel, Schickel and Thor.
From the beginning a unique and characteristic sound endeared the Harley-Davidson to its owners. The Harley’s pistons connected to its crankshaft in a way that caused the motor to give two “pops” then a quiet pause as it hummed along the road. Yet around that constant sound, other things evolved and changed: a 45 degree V-twin motor was introduced in 1909, the “Bar and Shield” logo in 1910, and the teardrop-shaped gas tank in the 1920s. In the 1930’s an “eagle” design was placed on those tanks and the famous “Knucklehead” engine was introduced. At a time the Harley became widely used as both a police and a commercial vehicle, the company even manufactured sidecars and sported motorbikes built for two.
During World War I Harley-Davidson manufactured nearly 20,000 motorcycles for the U.S. government. And during World War II virtually all of the Harleys produced went towards the war effort. As nations such as England were forced to give up motorcycle production to favor production of tanks and planes, Harley’s motorcycles were also shipped overseas to U.S. allies.
Following WWII the Harley’s market share, as well as its myth, continued to grow. Its main U.S. competitor, Indian Motorcycle, ceased production in the 1950s. And veteran owners, new bikers, and even movies such as Easy Rider raised the Harley Davidson to the status of American icon. Glamorous stars pictured with Harleys, from the early Mack Sennett Studio, to Jayne Mansfield, Elvis Presley, and Peter Fonda, certainly enhanced the company’s image.
For the most part, however, Harley-Davidsons, like all motorcycles, are enjoyed by individuals and groups who find biking a wonderful way to get where they are going. Who in on-the-road-America has not seen bikers tooling along the highway whether on a Fall outing, in a parade, making a statement, or raising money for charity? Indeed, the Harley-Davidson company prides itself on the money it has raised for charity during the last quarter century, with the help of its customers and dealers.
–from Rogue and Library of Congress
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