IT?S BEEN AN INTERESTING WEEK HERE AT THE HEADQUARTERS– Bandit tore down the Sturgis Chop in preparation of powder coating. Joe from Crime Scene is sending him that cool gas cap we featured in last week?s news, one of the last items Bandit needed for the final touches. We?re looking for a powder coater hopefully close to us so we don?t have to ship the frame. So if anyone knows of any in the Los Angeles area, let us know.
I was told that if you try to handle too many tasks at once, you?re brain won?t work. You forget things, and I think that?s what happened to me. Commercial property insurance, teenagers smoking pot, grown sons without jobs, painting fences, leaks under the building, website content, book orders, divorce, curtains, closets ? I?m fried. I would say it?s been one of those weeks but it?s more like one of those years.
Brain is not working so on to the news?
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EXPANDS TO LA CALENDAR SHOW– Los Angeles, CA, April 11th – The Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show, America’s premier custom and performance street bike event is excited to announce its affiliation with American Motorcycle Dealer magazine, the world’s leading dealer trade magazine for the American V-Twin market, as an official Affiliate Sponsor and Qualifying Round of the AMD Pro Show World Championship of Custom Bike Building sponsored by Custom Chrome.
The Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show is produced by Gianatsis Design Associates, a well-known and respected advertising design agency in the motorsports market, and producer of the world famous FastDates.com Motorcycle Calendars and Website. Agency Director Jim Gianatsis had this to say about the Show’s new affiliation with the AMD Pro Show series of events:
“We have been a strong supporter and friends with publisher Robin Bradley and his American Motorcycle Dealer magazine since he first began publishing it some 10 years ago. For our own advertising clients like Mikuni American and STD Performance, Robin’s AMD magazine is the most effective, affordable and attractive way of reaching dealers and distributors world-wide in the American V-Twin market.
Our affiliation as a Qualifying Round for AMD Pro Show’s World Championship of Custom Bike Building sponsored by Custom Chrome is a natural pairing. It brings together our LA Calendar Show, America’s premier custom and performance consumer street motorcycle event with its key industry manufacturers and retailers exhibiting their products here to the public, our international media attention from all the world’s top motorcycle magazines and TV shows, along with many of the world’s top custom bike builders showcasing their hottest newest machinery here, now joining together with AMD’s recently established World Championship of Custom Bike Building which will is poised to become the crown jewel in the professional bike building world.
The LA Calendar Motorcycle Show AMC Pro Show Qualifier with its own huge $70,000 Cash and Awards Purse, will be taking place again this year at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA, the 3rd weekend of July on the 16-17th this year, will give our $5,000 Performance Machine Best of Show winner, our $5,000 Best Performance Machine Equipped Bike winner, and the top 3 winners in our Pro Builders Class a guaranted invitation to the AMD World Championship Final in Las Vegas on November 15-16th 2005 with its own huge $50,000 cash purse posted by sponsor Custom Chrome.
The tie-in is even more significant because Custom Chrome and Motorcycle Stuff under the Global Motorsports Group are two major distributors of our very popular FastDates.com Calendars. Even more exciting is the fact that last year’s AMD World Championship winner, Roger Goldammer of GoldammerCycle.com out of Canada, his incredible winning retro Board Track racer is featured on the cover and inside the upcoming of our new FastDates.com 2006 Iron & Lace Custom Motorcycle Pinup Calendar which will premier at our LA Calendar Motorcycle Show in July.”
BLOND NUN–MOTHER SUPERIOR CALLS ALL THE NUNS TOGETHER AND SAYS TO THEM, “I MUST TELL YOU ALL SOMETHING…. WE HAVE A CASE OF GONORRHEA IN THE CONVENT.”
“PRAISE THE LORD” SAYS A BLONDE NUN AT THE BACK. ” I’M SO TIRED OF CHARDONNAY.”
Chris T.
GUN-FREE AUSTRALIA–Here’s a thought to warm some of your hearts…From: Ed Chenel, A police officer in Australia
Hi Yanks, I thought you all would like to see the real figures from Down Under. It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by a new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by our own government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars.
The first year results are now in: Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent, Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent; Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)! In the state of Victoria alone,homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent. (Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not! and criminals still possess their guns!)
While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since the criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed. There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the elderly.
Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in “successfully ridding Australian society of guns.” You won’t see this on the American evening news or hear your governor or members of the State Assembly disseminating this information.
The Australian experience proves it. Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws affect only the law-abiding citizens.
Take note Americans, before it’s too late!
MAIN STREET BECOMES THUNDER ROAD ? LITERALY– LEESBURG ? Thousands of people lined the sidewalks of downtown Leesburg Saturday, watching a sea of shiny motorcycles on the street, glistening in the rain. Steven Trapp of Fellsmere joked that he and his wife India rode their motorcycle to Leesburg?s Ninth Annual Bikefest Saturday ?because we wanted to get wet.? Decked out in rain gear and sheltered by an overhang as the rain came down Saturday afternoon, Indian River County sheriff?s deputy Steven Trapp said it was the first time they had attended Leesburg?s Bikefest, but could only stay for the day due to work commitments. They planned to return and stay overnight next year, however. ?We came to get rid of some stress,? Trapp said. ?We?ve already ran out of cash, so we?re doing our part for the City of Leesburg.? The Trapps had visited the hundreds of vendors, and picked up some souvenir T-shirts and collectible pins along the way. Cloth patches, food vendors, clothing vendors, tattoo parlors and even a Biker Beauty Bar ? where festivalgoers could get haircuts ? were a few of the hundreds of stalls set up for the event. Three stages also offered a variety of live music throughout the day and night.
Richard and Alma Bierlair of Fort Lauderdale also rode to Leesburg with 10 members of the Wings of Gold Motorcycle Club. It was the Bierlairs? first time attending the Leesburg Bikefest too. ?It?s small compared to the Daytona Beach one,? Richard Bierlair, a former Leesburg resident, said. ?But I?m loving it. It?s all good and is well designed. The rain ain?t doing much to slow it down, but it?s good for the rain gear guy,? he said, pointing to a vendor selling waterproof wear.
Jeff and Lori Moser of Homassasa brought their 8-year-old daughter Lindsey to the event for the day. Jeff Moser purchased a motorcycle a little more than a year ago. ?Everybody I had talked to have raved about Leesburg being a nice festival,? Jeff Moser said. As they sat on a bench waiting for the rain to ease up, the Mosers said they had arrived early Saturday and enjoyed the sunny weather in the morning as they shopped, watched the bike games and the bands. ?It?s nice. It?s small enough you can walk and see the whole thing, and a lot of kids are here,? Jeff Moser said. Lori and Lindsey had followed Jeff to Leesburg in the car. ?Although I don?t ride, I love going to the different events and looking at all the different motorcycles,? Lori Moser said. The roar of motorcycle engines throughout Lake County will continue today, until Bikefest wraps up this evening. Leesburg Downtown Partnership officials anticipated about 130,000 people would attend the event over the course of the weekend. There were only a few rules in downtown Leesburg for the event, including no alcohol outside designated areas.
Jennifer Hopkins, 18, a volunteer helping with Bikefest, said although the organizers loved all types of motorcycles, trikes were not permitted on Main Street, where thousands of motorcycles of all shapes, designs and colors were lined up all for blocks. ?There?s not enough room, but we love trikes. We love all types of bikers, trikes just may not fit through the aisles,? Hopkins said.
JODIE MUNRO O?BRIEN
The Daily Commercial
Rogue
BIKERNET WEBSITE OF THE WEEK–The site Travmatix.com was reviewed today in the local newspaper. It is a free service that maps along interstate highways as well as showing every motel, gas station and restaurant at each exit. I did a search from Louisville to Tucumcari NM and based on what I can recall from my ride out there last month it is pretty darn accurate.
It even shows where the rest stops are and uses the highway exit numbers as the point of reference. I plan to use it whenever I travel, if for no other reason than to locate fuel and lodging. I prefer traveling along US Highways but armed with this info and a road map it wouldn’t be hard to get back to an Interstate ramp if the need arose.
Here’s the link:
http://www.travmatix.com/travmatix/index.cfm
If it doesn’t open when you click on it then just copy and paste it into your browser to get there.
Later
Nick
MIKE ROMINE TAKES SCREAMIN’ EAGLE NITRO HARLEY EXHIBITION VICTORY AT BRISTOL DRAGWAY– BRISTOL, Tenn. ? Mike Romine has a nice streak going and a little rain wasn’t any reason to keep him extending it another year. What’s the streak? He’s won at least one Screamin’ Eagle Nitro Harley Exhibition Tour event at an NHRA POWERade event for the last three years.
Romine took the victory Sunday at the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, beating Larry Brancaccio in the final round. It’s the third time Romine’s Top Fuel motorcycle has won an NHRA exhibition event.
“It’s the second win with me on the bike but the third for the bike,” Romine said. “In 2003 I hurt my back just before the race at Joliet (Route 66 Raceway) and we had Mark Conner ride the bike and he won. Then we won the same race last year. It’s great we have a win before we even get to Joliet this season.”
Romine’s bike broke near half-track, slowing to a 10.536-second pass at 76.75 mph, beating Brancaccio, who broke at the 100-foot mark. It was the worst run of the day for Romine, but he was still the best in the final.
“There is a lot of luck involved with this sport,” Romine said. “You have to run well but a little luck every now and then helps get you the win. On a day like today when they were rushing us through the rounds, we were consistent and we didn’t have any major problems until the finals and even then, we had that race covered.”
The rounds were raced on a quicker pace than usual because of the rain that turned the Thunder Valley Nationals upside down. Rain forced NHRA officials to cancel all qualifying runs on Friday and most of them on Saturday. The Nitro Harley competitors had just one round of qualifying, held Sunday afternoon.
“We sat around for two days because of the rain and we didn’t have a great run during the qualifying pass because we had a problem.” Romine said. “We fixed that and went out and ran a great pass and won first round and kept going from there.
“We started to get a little anxious about racing because every time they got the track dried and ready to go, and we started getting ready for a run, the rain started again. The great thing is that we got the race in and we don’t have to come back and finish it later. Even better, we won the event.”
Romine beat Doug Vancil in the first round. Vancil went 6.851 at 207.37 and Romine was the clear winner, but no time or speed was recorded for Romine. Romine went on to beat Mike Lehman with a 6.612 at 210.87 to Lehman’s 6.709 at 206.45 in the semifinal.
ANNOUNCING THE SECOND ANNUAL NORTH TEXAS ROCK RALLY–
Rock & Roll Biker Party To Feature Headliner Ted Nugent and Custom Bike Builders,
Guitar wildman Ted Nugent and rock’n’roll outlaw David Allan Coe will share top billing with Rick Fairless, Kendall Johnson, and other top custom bike builders at the second annual North Texas Rock Rally, a three-day blow-out featuring 150 acres of music, motorcycles, and related madness at Coyote Texas July 15-17. The event is presented by RJ’s Roadhouse and Hooters.
“We had about 18,000 people last year at our kick off, and I expect we’ll more than double that number this year,” said Gary Littlefield, the event’s founder and CEO of The Pegasus Agency. “We have 60 bands coming from all over, we have the top builders, it’s a national event and the only one of its kind in North Texas, so I’m really expecting great things this year.”
A portion of the event proceeds benefit Texas Confederation of Clubs (DFW Chapter), J.W. Rock Foundation, B.A.C.A. (Bikers Against Child Abuse) and The Tom Hanley Memorial Fund benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.
In addition to Fairless and Johnson, bike builders Kim Suter, Jeff Nicklus, and Jeff Long, lead designer for American IronHorse Motorcycle Co.-who also plans to conduct a search with Hooters for AIH’s 2006 calendar girls at the rally-will be on hand. An Indian Larry Tribute with Paul Cox and Keino also is scheduled to honor the late, great builder, and organizers are negotiating with a half-dozen other top designers to attend.
Mark Farner, formerly of Grand Funk Railroad, will heat it up with Nugent and Coe on the entertainment stages, which also will feature A-List acts like Blackfoot, Warrant, Jackyl, Blackberry Smoke, Maylee Thomas, and Back in Black.
In total, 60 bands from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean will rock North Texas ’round the clock on three stages over three days, come rain or shine. Other action planned for the bash includes a custom bike contest with celebrity biker judges, motorcycle stunt show, car show, rodeo with biker bull riding, chili and BBQ cook-off and an opening day motorcycle parade that drew nearly 1,000 bikes last year.
No one will be admitted to Coyote Texas without a ticket. Tickets prices begin at $45 per person for a three-day general admission pass. Advance tickets can be purchased online at www.NorthTexasRockRally.com until July 1or at RJ’s Roadhouse or any DFW Hooters location.
Lead sponsors of the 2005 North Texas Rock Rally include RJ’s Roadhouse, Hooters, American IronHorse Motorcycle Co., Rick Fairless’ Strokers Dallas, Shark Performance Art, Weld Racing, Wells Cargo, Skinz Wraps, Comfort Suites and Interior Supply Services.
Rally online at http://www.NorthTexasRockRally.com.
DEVELOPMENT IN DAYTONA ? A NEW DRAW FOR BIKERS–
New York Times
Daytona Beach, Fla., is about to get even friendlier to two-wheeled tourists.One of the motorcycling world’s magnet cities and the host of the Bike Week rally every March, Daytona will gain another attraction this summer with Destination Daytona. The 150-acre site will have what is called the world’s largest Harley-Davidson dealership — 109,000 square feet that will include a motorcycle museum — as well as a hotel and condominiums, two restaurants, two bars and more than 30,000 square feet of retail space.
Project creator Bruce Rossmeyer owns 10 Harley-Davidson dealerships, including the one at Destination Daytona. The roughly 500,000 bikers who visit during Bike Week spend about $400 million, said Kevin Kilian, a spokesman for the local Chamber of Commerce. “People who can afford $20,000 toys,” he said, “are people you want visiting you.”
Rogue
SOLO SEAT RETURNS WITH COLOR–Flyrite Choppers Solo Seat is back and in color. Still available in black vinyl at the original $110 price, the seat consists of a custom steel seat pan formed in-house then powder coated semi-gloss black with standard mounting hardware/springs. Due to a high demand, we have added custom upholstery ranging from metal flake vinyl to pinstripe stitching, starting at $200. Personalized seats are available, from copies of your tattoo to a company logo to matching a paint scheme, but you will have to call us for a quote. Watch our website, http://www.flyritechoppers.com, for pre-made colored and stitched seats, offered as available, and ready to ship. Call the shop, (512) 918-2467, or email us, flyrite@flyritechoppers.com to order and get quotes.
THE BIG, BAD DAUGHTER OF TIM AND ALYSSA–That’s right! If you haven’t heard already, Alyssa gave birth to Audrey Odalene Conder at quarter to midnight on April 25th. Audrey Odalene, a.k.a. “Audrey O”, “Odie” or “Little Tex” was 8 pounds 8.8 ounces and was 22 and a half inches tall.
She’s pink, with a happy, all knowing demeanor. We have taken to consulting her on all manner of family business…A smile means “yes”, a grimace means “no”. The doctors say she’s just gassy, but I’ll never believe it.
We seem to have grown some sort of SUPERBABY who’s beauty is only rivaled by her lightning fast (almost catlike) reflexes. We’re very proud to say the least. My wife Alyssa showed poise, bravery and a threshold for pain that defies description.
Our family and friends sprung (have sprang?) into action, cutting a smooth velvety swath through the jungle that is our lives so Audrey and Alyssa could land safely. How a guy like me wound up with this unbelievable family is a mystery, obviously there are powers at work here that can’t be explained.
This world is a superbad, chopped, chromed, candycoated metalflake sled and I’d like to thank everyone who’s in it with us.
– Merry Christmas,
Tim, Alyssa and Audrey
The Conderosahttp://www.armageddontopfuel.com
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