Biker Babe Bra designed by Ray Russell.
It was scheduled to be a mellow week until she answered the phone. We were forced to put our clothes on and go to work. In an hour I’ll pull the touring chopper out of the garage and head to Joker machine for a dyno testing fuel injection study with Kip and some of his brothers from Custom Chrome. I’ll try to learn something about fuel injected bikes in the process. But let’s see what I can hammer out in the meantime.
JOKER MACHINE SPONSORS BIKE SHOW–If you live in the Duarte area, Los Angeles County or Orange County come on down to the Grand Opening of Route 66 Roadhouse & Tavern, 1846 E. Huntington Drive, Duarte, CA 91010, (626) 357-4210. The show begins at 4:00 and I saw the billet trophies Richard of Joker Machine designed while I was at their facility today–Killer. The Classes available are Vintage, Xl/Buell, Dresser and Metric Cruiser in addition to Best Production Based Custom and Best Pro-Built Custom.
DEER ATTACKS MOTORCYCLISTS– Memorial weekend in Minnesota. The day started out cloudy with a chance of showers, I kept my ear to the radio and even called KSTP radiostation to get a current update on the weather for the rest of the day. At about 1PM the clouds blew out and Lori and I mounted the Harley for a fun filledand hopefully event free tour of the tree greening on both the Minnesota and Wisconsin borders.
We cruised down Hwy 61 and crossed into Wisc. atLacrosse and continued on Wisc. Hwy 35. We stopped for a burger and both commented that we hoped the temp would get over the 65 degree mark andthat the sun would continue to shine. It felt a little cool when the big glow went behind a cloud.
We were heading northon Wisc 35. I stopped at a stop sign In Alma , and, was just taching up, running up the gears, about 50 MPH when Lori yelled in my ear…DEER, DEER… I caught the sight of three deer immediately to my right..I saw the head of one doe almost to the right foot hwy peg. I throttled that Ultra withall it had…I knew that If I T- boned that piece of shit, we would both be a memory for the kids. Then the whack. The doe had hit the right side of the bike and Lor’s right leg. The next second or two is still very unclear. All I know is that Igrabbed and pulled in the clutch, let go of the throttle, threw my legs out for balance, straightened my arms on the bar and held on for dear (?) life.
The bigcruiser swerved hard to the left then hard to the right with a force I never want to feel again. It hit with such velocity that it pushed us into the on cominglane. Lori, was holding me tight around the waist…Yelling, “it?s broken….my leg is broken”. Some way, somehow, with a higher power, divineintervention and a guardian angel on my shoulder, I kept that Ultra Classic on its wheels. As I pulled the Harley to the side ofthe road, Lori was screaming, “my leg is broken. “I can hear it clicking”.
I Got off and one armed this petite 130 pound woman off the bike…and laid her flaton the ground. I knew that If I raised her legs the pain would be intense, and might cause further damage…even though she was going into shock.
I covered her with my leathers and grabbed the cell phone from the bike, punched in 911. When the dispatcher answered it was the MN.State patrol. (These towns are right on the MN/Wisc border). He tried twice to switch me to the Wisc side without success. Appreciated the effort.
Within the next few seconds, car drivers immediately behind us stopped. One happened to be a off duty para-medic. The drivers whowitnessed the hit immediately turned around and got the Deputy Sheriff in town. The following few minutes were NOT TV. Additional fire Dept. personnel,Volunteers, caring concerned drivers were stopping to assist. All I could hear and feel was Lori?s pain and the radios crackling, ?Biker down, Hwy 35 and25?. ?When will the ambulance arrive?. I was nuts not being able to do something for Lori?s pain except hold her hand. These people were and are the pros. She was loaded on the gurney and slid into the ambulance. I got on the damaged yet driveable Harley and followed it to the nearby Hospital In Wabasha, MN.
As I was turning the bike around the dead doe was lying in the ditch…. R. I. P.
Again, at the hospital , the professionalism showed through. I was assured by all that she will be in good hands. I had no doubt. I told her Iloved her and, that I would be back in a few hours to get her. I drove that bike hard for that two hour ride to St. Paul. All I could hear over those loudHarley pipes were her cries of pain. All I could see was the head of that deer going hell bent right for me to my right. One damn long ride. Grabbed the car to return to Wabasha.
On the insurance check sheet it asks in a Bike Incident if helmets were worn. No one asks or cares if fencing was in place to prevent animals from wandering into the street. The lord knows we have more laws than we need. I sure as hell don’t want any more, but fencing or some means of keeping these idiots from causinghuman bodily harm should be closely looked at….NOW.
Legislation requiring fencing, barbed wire, whatever, not a silly little yellow sign in the higherdeer areas has got to be inacted now before another human is needlessly killed to the tune of a brainless animal. Bikers have enough to watch out for.Drivers concentrating on there tunes, talking on there cell phones and paying attention to there kids or eating. NOT paying attention to cycles or othervehicles on either side or behind. Loud pipes do save lives.?
–Bob Powell
612.719.0571 Cell
BETSY SUE– Betsy Sue, Jim Bob’s cousin Bubba died in a fire and was burnt pretty bad and the morgue needed someone to identify the body. So his two best friends, Daryl and Gomer, were sent for. Daryl went in and the mortician pulled back the sheet.
Daryl said, ‘Yup, he’s burnt pretty bad, but lemme check somethin’. Roll him over.’
So the mortician rolled him over, and Daryl looked and said, ‘Nope it ain’t Bubba.’ The mortician thought that was rather strange.
Then he brought Gomer in to identify the body. Gomer took a look at him and said, ‘Yup, he’s burnt real bad. Roll him over’. The mortician rolled him over and Gomer looked down and said, ‘No, it ain’t Bubba.’
The mortician asked, ‘How can you be so sure?’ Gomer said, ‘Well, Bubba had two assholes.’
‘What?? He had two assholes?’ said the mortician.
‘Yup, everyone in town knew he had ’em. Why, every time WE went to town, folks would say, ‘Here comes Bubba with them two assholes…..’
–from Nuttboy
WELCOME GLEN GRIFFIN ? “NEW” PRESIDENT AT PURE STEEL–Glen Griffin is President, Chair, and Chief Executive Officer of Pure Steel Custom Cycles Inc. ? ?Glen was elected CEO in 1999 and became President in April 2002. ? ?A supporter of Pure Steel since 1995, Glen has a long history in high quality manufacturing.
Glen has over 30 years experience in senior executive assignments, creating, developing, and manufacturing superior products. ? ?Prior to joining Pure Steel, Glen was president of Consolidated Electronics, Darius Technology, Retail Automation, 3i Internet, and Traditional Clothing Manufacturers. ? ?Glen also served as Chief Marketing Officer of Key Tronic, Serenity Group, Cascade Medical, Syntel Communications (AT&T), Oregon Biotechnology, Gascard, Manta Systems, Remanco, and Rapid American (Sara Lee).
Glen is a visiting university instructor on marketing communications, ethics, business development, and quality. ? ?He is on the board of many companies and a frequent speaker and guest on television and radio shows discussing economic development, consumer behavior, corporate culture, and emerging technologies.
Glen is a lousy rider? and driver, though. ? ?We have to chauffer him everywhere. ? ?But he does a good job standing in the shop and sitting at his desk. ? ?When you are in Phoenix, feel free to stop by and meet the old man.
NIGHTRAIN TECH COMING, NEW TECH COMING–I talked to Jim. I am going to be taking digital pictures of the Nightrain I am going to start working on late this week. Before/during and after.
Also, as a result of necessity, I created a new product yesterday. We’ve been swapping parts around to see what looks the best and I installed a set of Deuce risers on Jim’s Softail standard which has narrow drag bars. It really brings the bars back so you don’t have to reach (all 3 of us are tall), but not to far back. Just before the speedo and and the controls run about 3/8″ above the gas caps.
It looks sweet. I’ll e-mail you a picture. They are polished billet adapters. I’ll get the next batch chromed. I think I am going to be running Deuce risers anytime that a customer wants drag bars. They just have a certain look.
–Bret
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