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BROTHER ATTENDED MEMORIAL DAY CELEBRATION IN ARLINGTON– I was fortunate enough to be able to observe the laying of the wreath at the National Memorial Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Memorial Day, and I’ll tell all of you that there were not too many dry eyes in the crowd (including mine). It was a great day for me. After coming home and reading this, I knew I had to share it with all my friends.
Friend and Shipmate,
Dan
TAPS– We have all heard the haunting song, “Taps.” It’s the song that gives us that lump in our throats and usually creates tears in our eyes. But, do you know the story behind the song? If not, I think you will be pleased to find out about its humble beginnings.
Reportedly, it all began in 1862 during the Civil War, when Union Army Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his men near Harrison’s Landing in Virginia. The Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land. During the night, Capt. Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who lay severely wounded on the field. Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate soldier, the captain decided to risk his life and bring the stricken man back for medical attention. Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment. When the captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead. The captain lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock. In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out. Without telling his father, the boy enlisted in the Confederate Army. The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial despite his enemy status.
His request was only partially granted. The captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral. The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate. But, out of respect for the father, they did say they could give him only one musician. The captain chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of the dead youth’s uniform. This wish was granted. The haunting melody we now know as “Taps”, used at military funerals, wasborn.
BROS CLUBS JOINS BIKERNET– We now have roadside service and insurance programs at your fingertips on Bikernet. I’m in the process of having all my insurance re-quoted from Bros Club. If they do a better job, they’ll have all my business.
Regarding the roadside service, check it out. We all break down from time to time or need some help. AAA will not pick up bikes and I’ve been a member for 20 years, so fuck them.
HARLEY-DAVIDSON SUPPORTS VIETNAM VETERAN INITIATIVES WITH $100,000 DONATION–Harley-Davidson Motor Co. announced support of two Vietnam veteran initiatives with a $100,000 donation made at the culmination of the Rolling Thunder XIV motorcycle rally in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.
A $50,000 contribution was made to the American Battle Monuments Commission to help fund a congressionally authorized memorial plaque at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring veterans who died after their service in the Vietnam War, but as a direct result of that service.
Another $50,000 contribution was made to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund to help support the Traveling Wall, a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and The Wall That Heals, Traveling Museum and Information Center, which visits communities throughout the U.S.
“On behalf of Harley-Davidson and our many employees, dealers and customers, we are proud to support these noble efforts honoring the service of Vietnam veterans,” said Jim McCaslin, president of Harley-Davidson Motor Co.
Harley-Davidson has a long history as a U.S. military supplier. The company’s motorcycles were first used for dispatching and scouting during border skirmishes on the Mexican frontier in 1916. During the first year of U.S. military involvement in World War I, approximately half of all the company’s motorcycle production went to the military. During World War II, Harley-Davidson produced approximately 90,000 military motorcycles.
More than 14 percent of Harley-Davidson’s U.S. employees are veterans of the U.S. military, and many of Harley-Davidson’s dealers and customers have also served.
Harley-Davidson salutes the nation’s veterans every year on Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11, by hosting special events at its Kansas City, Milwaukee, and York, Pa., facilities.
HORSEPOWER REPORT FROM AUSTRALIA–Sent you a couple of e-mails in the past. Heaven sent ’47 Knuckle, 200 tyrein a stock Twin Cam swingarm, 12.9s from an ’88 Twin Cam for $1,000, etc.Live in a place called Alligator Creek, Queensland, Australia. It is around15 miles from Mackay, Queensland. This district has the largest number ofHarleys per capita. Only 100,000 people in the district and the localHarley shop, Mackay Motorcycles, has sold over 500 Harleys.
The dyno belongs to Steve Gay, Cylinder Head Development, phone 0749521611. It is a 1200 hp 1200lb ft Baker Bros engine dyno with D Pak dataaquisition gear. The shop normally does drag race engines for cars andoffshore marine racing engines. The bike owner had his car engine built atthe shop and was so impressed he asked them to do his new twin cam heads.The story was published in issue 224 of Oz Bike. Second part of the storywas never published when the bike went 12.0’s with a 95 kit, ported stockvalve original TC heads, Zippers red shift cam but still with the standardCV carb. For Stage 3, the twin cam has since been fitted with big Manleyintake valves, ported extensively, fitted with a home made webber set upand is now making 133 hp at 6300 rpm and 125 lb ft at 4800 rpm. Beforebeing dynoed it ran 11.66 at 114.5 mph with the webber so far out of tunethat it turned a brand new set of plugs dark brown in one run and cut outcoming down the return road. It was making around 110 hp at the back wheel.
The twin cam owner, Gavin Cass, was aware of my computer modellingprograms. He asked what I could do regarding the Harley. Gave him a recipefor 137 hp at 6500 rpm. Told him the size of the valves needed, the airflowat .500″ lift, the cam specs, the compression, etc. required. To dyno theengine, Gavin used a chev bellhousing and adaptor plate to mount to Steve’sstrainer. Inside the bellhousing is a custom made flywheel with a clutchplate and ring gear.
In nearly all cases where one of my computer matched combos is duplicatedmore horsepower than predicted is found. Eg a 480 hp recipe makes 505hp.By rights if the program predicts 137 hp, would expect 140 hp to beachievable. The computer doesn’t know what brand is on the tappet cover orif the motors a single cylinder or V12. If you put accurate info in, itspits out reliable details to build by. Let me know when you want a choosea cam that’s perfect for your bike?
–Bob “Secret Squirrel” Kotmel
Biker horseshoes–must piss off the ladies
HOLLISTER REPORT– More than just the weekend! Bolado Park will be open Fourthof July. Go to
FACTS FROM THE BIKERNET ARCHIVES OF HIGHER LEARNING– Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had awhistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When theyneeded a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. “Wet your whistle,” is the phraseinspired by this practice.
–Jerry Heller
SHOVELHEAD SAVES MAN’S LIFE–Read the story “Return” by Jim Hubbard and find out how one motorcycle pulled this brother back together.
ULTRA MOTORCYCLE COMPANY FILES CHAPTER 11– Ultra filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 bankruptcyon May 21, 2001. The filing was necessitated by the threat of a foreclosuresale scheduled later that day by the company’s secured creditor. UMC statesit is continuing all normal business operations and will continueuninterrupted services to its dealers and customers….
JULY 9 IS GUN BURNING DAY AT UN–It is “Small Arms Destruction Day” on July 9, 2001. Plans are underway for government agents to ignite huge bonfires of handguns, rifles and other firearms in major population centers worldwide.
No joke. The United Nations Conference on Small Weapons is sponsoring massive gun burnings on July 9 to mark the openingin New York of the UN Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons. Organizers of the conference say “thepublic destruction of weapons” is good because it “is one of the best ways to attract attention” to global civilian disarmament.
Whose guns will be burned? Privately held weapons that have been captured or confiscated by governments, of course. But certainly not the guns held by governments and their armies, police forces and death squads.
BIKERNET CARIBBEAN REPORT–Hey, another week goes by and it’s still raining down in the Caribbean. Summershowers are a bitch, but they will plenish our water supply for thecoming months.Funny how things are, I’m reading the 30th anniversary EasyRiders and happento see a photo of a chopper, so happens we own that litlle chopper, with afew changes that we have done in the past years, but the same bike. Webought it from a trade in that Bourget’s got a few years ago. Nice oldschool chopper, in the magazine it was called Fatal Attraction. I checkedmy old magazines and found the whole shoot for it, so I went and took somephotos, here they are.
The annual Jack Daniels BBQ competition will take place the 24th of June,in Parque Luis Mu?oz Marin, as for the past six years this will be an eventthat all bike riders participate in. Give us a call at the shop if youhappen to be arounf PR or just for info.
Next weekend the HOG South ride will take place. It’s an overnight rideinto the mountains and then to the southern town of Ponce for the party. Sunday we ride back to San Juan.
Talked to my buddy, Mike Maldonado, he’s back and stronger than ever, evenhas his own Web site www.heavycyclecustoms.com, its still under constructionbut some photos of his super cool bikes are already there.
Plans are already rolling for the next Caribbean Rally, in November. Therally starts on a Thursday and it’s over by Saturday night. Caribbean CustomCycles and Harley-Davidson of San Juan (Motorsport) are planning to do theFirst Caribbean Bike Show Sunday, all day…. Any info e-mail us.
Oh well,,,,,, back to work, get some progress on the choppers and get thattrailer ready for Sturgis……Take care.
–Jose
A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley when hespotted a world-famous heart surgeon in his shop.The heart surgeon was waiting for the service manager to come take a lookat his bike.The mechanic shouted across the garage, “Hey doc, can I ask you a question?”
The famous surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to the mechanicworking on the motorcycle.The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, “So doc,look at this engine. I also can open hearts, take valves out, fix ’em, putin new parts and when I finish this will work just like a new one.So how come I get a pittance and you get the really big money, when you andI are doing basically the same work?”
The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over, and whispered to themechanic….. “Try doing it with the engine running!”
MIKE LICHTER PHOTO EXHIBITION IN STURGIS–The Journey Museum in Rapid City, S.D., will host a photography exhibition by Michael Lichter titled “Biker Generation.” The images, which include many of Michael’s best-known works from 20 years of photographing the biker lifestyle, will be on display from Aug. 4 through Sept. 3, 2001. Thirteen of the finest custom motorcycles by some of the most famous bike builders in the world will be on display with the photographs in the gallery as well as in the museum atrium from Aug. 4-11, 2001.
An opening reception with Michael Lichter and most of the participating builders is scheduled for Aug. 7 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The builders include Mitch Bergeron, Jesse James, Fred Kodlin, Billy Lane, Bob McKay, Jim Nasi, Arlen Ness, Cory Ness, Ron Simms, Donnie Smith, Russ Tom, Eddie Trotta and Paul Yaffe. This reception will be free and open to the public.”Biker Generation” is timed to coincide with the 61st annual Bike Week in Sturgis during which more than 500,000 bikers congregate in the Black Hills. This is The Journey Museum’s first exhibition with a motorcycle theme. Given that motorcycling is integrally tied with the history of the Black Hills and that the Journey’s mission states that the museum will “serve as a forum to preserve and explore the heritage of the cultures of the Black Hills region,” the show was considered a perfect fit.
The Journey Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; Aug. 4-11, the museum will remain open until 6 p.m. The museum is located at 222 New York St., two blocks east of the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn and the Civic Center where Harley-Davidson is headquartered. The normal museum admission of $6 has been reduced to $5 (kids 10 and under are free) during Bike Week; it includes admission to the entire museum and this special exhibition.
A WIFE AND HER HUSBAND– were having a dinner party for all the highsociety people in town. To show how classy they were, she decided atthe very last minute that snails should be served, but all the storeswere closed. So, she asked her husband to run down to the beach withthe bucket she was handing him to gather some snails. Very grudginglyhe agreed. He took the bucket, walked out the door, down the steps,and out to the beach. As he was collecting the snails, he noticed abeautiful woman strolling alongside the water just a little furtherdown the beach. He kept thinking to himself, “Wouldn’t it be great ifshe would come down and talk to me.”
He went back to gathering the snails. All of a sudden he looked up,and the beautiful woman was standing right over him. They got totalking, and she invited him back to her apartment a little ways downthe beach. When they got there, they started fooling around. It gotso hot and heavy that he was exhausted afterwards and passed out.
At 6:30 the next morning, he woke up and yelled, “Oh my gosh! Mywife’s dinner party! She’ll kill me!!” He gathered all his clothes,put them on real fast, grabbed his bucket of snails and ran out thedoor.
He ran down the beach all the way to his apartment. As he startedrunning up the stairs, he dropped the bucket of snails. Snails wentflying and were all over the stairs. Just then the door opened andhis angry wife was standing there wondering where he’d been allthis time.
He looked at the snails scattered on the steps, then looked at her,then back at the snails and said, “Come on little guys, we’re almostthere!”Las Vegas sign
JIMS NATIONAL DUE TO ROCK LAS VEGAS–The dates for the races are Oct. 19-21. Hordes of bikers will be riding out from Los Angeles to the meet. Racers from all over the country will be competing. From all accounts, it’s a first class event. We’ll keep you posted as we get closer.
THE SMOKEY MOUNTAIN SMOKE-OUT– is planned for July 13-15 inCherokee, N.C. Yes, that is Friday the 13th – so break out the green Krylonpaint, spray your choppa and head out.
The Horse staff will be having dinner at the Harrah’s Cherokee Casinoall-you-eat buffet at 7 p.m. Friday. There is special “motorcycleonly” parking in front of the casino so that we don’t have to walk a longway, like the less fortunate, little people who don’t ride a chopper. GOTO THE BUS ENTRANCE where THE HORSE will have a table set up to give HORSEreaders a break on dinner and some gambling tokens. Check –Edge I’M OUTTA HERE–The Buell is in pieces in preparation for the run to Sturgis. We’ve stripped off some of the linkage and headlight brackets for chroming. We may end up taking the tripe-trees off for plating or powder. We have an assortment of Joker Machine accessories ready to install. Phil Stadden is already working on the plastic-metal paint and we’re arguing over the color scheme. The Buell makes it easy to look forward to the ride. Goddamnit, it’s already June and half the year is gone. Hang on, it only speeds up from here.As of tomorrow, some time everyday will be dedicated to writing my next book, that is, unless a woman gets in the way. Let’s ride–Bandit
