I don’t know where to start. The Cantina is cool and growing daily. We’re considering the launch of a drag racing section in the free area, with weekly coverage from Mary Lou and photos from the talented Helen Wolfe. We’re working on the marketing side of Laughlin and made a deal with Joe O’Day to promote the event on Bikernet. The desk is virtually finished. NuttBoy and I picked up the glass yesterday and if the chromer didn’t fib to me, I’ll have the rest of the shiny stuff today. We’ll present the desk to Little John Buttera on Tuesday with great fanfare.
Next we’ll clean up the Blue Flame and put NuttBoy’s ProStreet chassis on the lift and make a list of parts we need. The Dragonfly line is up on the site with the coolest Hawaiian-style shirts known to man. We’ve kicked off an intriguing area in the Cantina where we will feature people and things that are one-of-a-kind. It’s called the Digital Treasure Chest, and you won’t believe some of the shit you’ll see there.
On a personal front, the women are pissed over a girl named Charlee, and I can’t wait until the fog burns off the gray blues hanging over the harbor long enough to blast my ass to Laughlin. Next week we’ll feature the mods to the Buell. We better get to the news before I get in any more trouble.
MIGHTY JOHN SIEBENTHALER–created this poster to promote the site in Laughlin. Let me know if you see it on Casino Drive, I’ll be too drunk to see 2 feet in front of me.
END DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH CARE!–SIGN THE GREEN LETTER!Washington, D.C. — March 26. You can safeguard your right to health care in case of accidental injury by calling your congressman today!
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation encourages you to urge your U.S. representative to sign a letter that encourages Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to safeguard motorcyclists from being discriminated against by employer health care plans.?
U.S. Rep. Mark Green of Wisconsin authored and is circulating the letter at the urging of the American Motorcyclist Association. With enough co-signers, the letter will convey to Secretary Thompson that he has the strong backing of Congress to work to reverse the interim final rule, promulgated by the Clinton administration, for the ?non-discrimination? provisions of the Health Care Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).?
Thus far, these champions of your rights and safety have signed the letter by Rep. Mark Green: U.S. Reps. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), Thomas Barrett (D-Wis.), John Shimkus (R-Ill.), Don Manzullo (R-Ill.), Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.), Timothy Johnson (R-Ill.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Thomas Petri (R-Wis.) and Mike Rogers (R-Mich.).?
If your congressman appears on this list, call him to thank him at (202) 224-3121.If not, call today, as your congressman?s name belongs on the Green letter.
Here are the facts:
?HIPAA contains language that prohibits health care benefit discrimination against employees who happen to own and use motorcycles.
?Senate floor exchange between Senators Moseley-Braun and Kassebaum on April 18, 1996, confirmed that this language was ?intended to ensure that, among other things, participants and beneficiaries are not excluded from health care coverage because they participate in activities such as motorcycling??
?That language and that understanding became law in 1996 when 421 congressmen and 98 U.S. senators voted to pass HIPAA.
?The regulators who wrote the rule on HIPAA, however, narrowly interpreted the word ?participation? in a way that legalizes the denial of health benefits to motorcyclists who sustain an injury while riding. That narrow interpretation is wrong and directly contrary to congressional intent.
Here?s what to do:
1.Telephone your U.S. representative at (202) 224-3121 now (or reach your congressman via e-mail. See thomas.gov for a directory of addresses.)
2.Explain the situation and urge your representative to sign the ?Dear Colleague? letter authored by Rep. Green.
3.Pass this alert along to three other riders and encourage them to do the same.
DEAL OF THE WEEK–This deal was posted in the Cantina last week–we try to give the members a deal a week, so they had first crack at it. The sled belongs to the wild and woolly art director of HORSE MAGAZINE, Geno. It was built by the guys at Choppers Inc. as a magazine project bike, so it’s cool, with the tightest parts available. The rear tire is the biggest baddest puppy alive, and the engine is pure S&S technology. He’s asking $16,500. If you want to know more, call Geno at (561) 394-5353. If you want to steal it, he resides in Boca Raton, but I ain’t givin’ up the address.
BITCH IN THE KITCHEN–A mother was working in the kitchen listening to her son playing withhisnew electric train in the living room. She heard the train stop and herson saying, “All of you sons of bitches who want off,get the hell off now, cause this is the last stop! And all of you sonsof bitches who aregetting on, get your asses in the train, cause we’re going down thetracks.”
The horrified mother went in and told her son, “We don’t use that kind oflanguage in this house! Now I want you to go toyour room and you areto stay there for TWO HOURS. When you come out, you may play with yourtrain, but I want you to use nice language.”
Twohours later, the son came out of the bedroom and resumed playing withhis train. Soon the train stopped and the motherheard her son say, “All passengers who are disembarking the train,please remember to take all of your belongings with you.We thank you for riding with us today and hope your trip was a pleasantone. We hope you will ride with us again soon.” Sheheard the little boy continue, “For those of you just boarding, we askyou to stow all of your hand luggage under your seat.Remember, there is no smoking on the train. We hope you will have apleasant and relaxing journey with us today.”
As themother began to smile, the child added, “For those of you who arepissed off about the TWO HOUR delay, please see thebitch in the kitchen.”
BIKERNET SCORES AWARD–Last week the entire Bikernet staff was honored with the above award at a gala Beverly Hills banquet. From the podium, Jon “The Artist” Towle said, “I coulda drawn a better set of tanks!” Renegade said, “It’s fixed.” And Snake stumbled drunk and busted his lip on the stage. We are most honored.
TWIN CAM TIP– I got some info I thought you might be interested in: Do you have a lot?of takeoff ?Twin Cam 88 cylinders lying around from doing the H-D 95-inch?big bore kits? Well I just found out that STD is making a?single cam (EVO) engine case that has the bolt pattern?for Twin Cam 88 cylinders!?This will?also allow you to use the T.C. heads with these cases.
Some H-D dealers?will take the stock T.C.?cylinders,?bore and hone them to fit the big bore pistons. Most use the 3 7/8-inch big bore cylinders that come in a kit with the pistons. So there are?a fair amount?of these cylinders out there to be used.
You can?open?the stock T.C. cylinders?to 3 7/8-inch bore. This with the EVO stroke of 4 1/4-inches will yield an engine size of 100 inches. The engine will?now?take on a new “Fat” look. You have to get some adapter plates for the heads to accommodate the different pushrod angles, kinda like the old “Shovester” engine conversion done by Trock Cycle a few years back. Contact STD for further info and?for lead time and cost.
Now on to H-D fuel injection: BC Gerolamy is offering a service?for the stock H-D throttle body. What they are doing is boring the two throttle body?ports to 42mm and fittng new throttle plates to them. They alsoredo the port shape for more air flow. Doing this and using the Dyno-jet Power Commander will allow you to use more cam and get much better air flow into that big bore engine!
They also offer a service for the Buell throttle body. Their Web site is: www.bcheads.com. Check em out. Speaking of Buells. Do you have an X1 and want more HP? Well so far about all you can do is put on the Buell race kit. The maps in the Buell race kit ECM right now don’t allow for too much modification. Well the high-performance Screamin’ Eagle cams have a total lift of .536.?The stock Buell X1 cams are in the .495?range. To use the large cam set for more air/power, you can use the Dyno Jet Power Commander to give that extra fuel?the engine will require. Also the throttle body will have to be bored by Gerolamy. The Buell throttle body uses an automotive-type fuel injector.
People are starting to use the Buell fuel injection for road racing this year. So there will be a lot more info on this fuel injection system?in the near future. That’s all for now.–Paul
FREE BIKE SHOW ENTRIES–Our Cyber Bike Show is heating up and it’s absolutely free. Here’s Dennis’ entry for the month of March. Check out the bikes, the winners and the sponsors. Crazy Horse now manages the show, and Oz is the judge, so don’t blame me. We’ll post the March winners next week.
LAUGHLIN’S COMIN’–It’s headed this way like a sand storm. For room availability, call Dal-Con Productions at (909) 340-0096. I mention the room thing because the following reader is looking for a room: tbourne@tagitpacific.comGot rooms for Laughlin anyone?And how much please?thanks–T. See you there April 26-29. Be there, be there, be there.
CANTINA FEATURES FAMOUS IRON AND LACE CALENDAR GIRLS– How come there’s no mention of it (Iron & Lace Calendar pictorial by Jim Gianatsis/FastDates.com -the top custom bikes in America with beautiful centerfolds from Penthouse and Playboy) outside the Cantina?
There ya go, Jim. So where’s my image to post with this stunning news?–Bandit
INNOVATION STRIKES AT BIKERNET–Phoenix correspondent at AMI school for accredited H-D mechanics reports the following: I have an idea about a new type of braking system and wondered if you or Wrench would have any ideas:
Instead of using conventional rotors, one could use a rubber belt (similar to that of a battle-tank), spinning at an equal rate as the rotor, but in the opposite direction. Obviously this would require the use of an additional driveshaft (or similar means of transfering the spin from the rear axle, or other source, to the brake pad), and would probably require additional maintenance. This would however, greatly reduce the time and distance required to stop a moving wheel.
Side note: one could also use spinning cylinders of equal width to the rotor surface that traverse up and down (parallel to the rotor surface) and are applied to the rotor surface utilizing the brake lever and master cylinder. I can only forsee one possible disadvantage: The movement of the rotor against the pad would efectively be increased to double the speed of the wheel. This may cause problems with the reliablity of the system, as, at such a high rate of speed, the pad may hydroplane and lose traction. (possible workaround?)
Additional side-note: The entire system may need to be completely enclosed (rotor and pad system). This would provide two advantages: 1. The cosmetic aspect of black rubber residue on a rotor aren’t exactly eye-pleasing. 2. This would allow the protection of the entire system from debris and foreign objects, and allow the entire surface of the rotor to be utilized for friction (possibly using a system of miniature axles similar to a snake drive).
Second additional side-note: I have been thinking about using either a drum-type braking surface or disc-type braking surface, but I’m waiting for additional comments before deciding which.
–Torch
Wrench thinks you’re fuckin’ nuts.
YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN CALIFORNIA IF–You have a very strong opinion about where yourcoffee beans are grown, and can taste the difference between Sumatran andEthiopian.
You know which restaurant serves the freshest arugula.
You can’t remember… is pot legal?
A really great parking space can move you totears.
DRAG RACING NOTES–Doug Vancil, Top Fuel 40 from Albuquerque, N.M., is the current AHDRA national points leader with a score of 138 after the Orlando H-D Bike Week Nationals, where he set a new ET?record of 6.616 seconds. He held the No. 2 plate during last year’s competition.
The next closest scorer is Tony Mattioli, Top Fuel 9 (and 27) of Middlegrove, N.Y., with 97 points. Mattioli also runs a Pro Fuel bike No. 20 and?holds the MPH record of 199.21, set on it in?October ’98 at Las Vegas.
Johnny Mancuso, Top Fuel 535 of Houston, Texas, holds the Top Fuel?record of 210.18 MPH set at Las Vegas Dragstrip last October.
–Helen Wolfe
TATTOO VOTING–Now is your chance to vote for the ‘Best Tattoo Artist in the World’ to achieve *** The Golden Star Award ***! Click here to vote: http://goldenstarawards.com
Each of the 10 categories has five nominees who have been carefully selected for their extraordinary artwork on skin over the past decade.
Winners will be presented at the Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth Sept. 28 – 30 2001 in New Jersey: http://starlighttattoo.com/news.shtml#biggest
BUBBA IS LIVE– Wanted to let you know: www.bubbablackwell.com is online. Bubba Blackwell, the daredevil who is breaking every record Evel ever set and doing it without breaking every bone in his body, will have BIG news for us real soon….. “I am about to chew a hole in mytongue from not telling anyone yet….” Bubba told Bandit.
PARTS ON LINE–Need parts? The Chrome Specialties catalog is right here for you.
MOTARTCYCLE, STURGIS 2001–July 30-Sept. 7An exhibition of motorcycle related artwork, juried by internationally knownphotographer Michael Lichter, painter David Uhl, and Ron Segal of SegalFine Art.MotARTcycle! will take place during the 2001 Sturgis Rally at the ApexGallery on the campus of South Dakota Tech.
Calendar:
May 7: Postmark deadline for slides.
June 8: Juror?s notification mailed.
July 13: Deadline for receipt of work.
July 27: MotARTcycle! opens.
Aug: Reception date to be scheduled, during Sturgis Rally.
Sept. 7: Last day to view
MotARTcycle!
Sept. 21: Artwork returned, pick up of hand delivered work.
Entry Fee:A non-refundable entry fee of $10 for the first slide and $5for each additional slide. Limit four.
HANNON RACING SAYS–“Bring ’em on— BIG NITRO BOYS-April 8- ?BradentonMotor Sports Park”
Bill Hannon of Hannon Racing says, “We are lookingforward to racing against the BIG NITRO BOYS of FLORIDA, in the spirit ofgood fun and showmanship, all in the name of the UNITED WAY. We are going todo our best to show the crowd that gas isn’t just for washing parts.” Theevent will be held at Bradenton Motor Sports Park in Bradenton, Fla., on April 8.
Hannon, owner of the quickest and fastest Pro Stock Harley-Davidson in theworld, challenges all Florida teams to compete in the event presented by RickRossiter of Rossiter’s Harley-Davidson, Sarasota, Fla. and the FloridaHarley-Davidson Dealer’s Assoc.
Bradenton Motor Sports Park is located on Hwy. 64 east of Bradenton. Gateswill open at 9 a.m.; competition begins at 1 p.m.
Teams wishing to pre-register should call:Rick Rossiter’s at (941) 342-0040Bradenton Motor Sports Park at (941) 748-1320 ??????????Hannon at (941) 463-2778,?or check out www.hannonracing.com
MODERN TERMS–IRRITAINMENT: Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The O.J. trials were a prime example. Bill Clinton’s video grand jury testimony is another.PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE: The fine art of whacking the heck out of an electronic device to get it to work again.YUPPIE FOOD STAMPS: The ubiquitous $20 bills spewed out of ATMs everywhere. Often used when trying to split the bill after a meal, “We each owe $8, but all anybody’s got are yuppie food stamps.”SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.
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