MONDAY – SUNDAY LA CALENDAR SHOW POST

 

 This is going to be a nuts Sunday on Monday Post. Sunday morning we were up at the crack of dawn loading the Bikernet Hearse for the LA Calendar show.

         

 

The show was down, but the girls were up and the quality of the bikes was still top notch. Russell Mitchell was on hand and won an award, but I don’t remember seeing his bike, unless it was a massive departure from his flat black heritage. Unfortunately, the Mooneyes show hit the same day in Pomona, along with a Cook’s corner extravanganza in Orange County. The benefit the LA Calendar Show has over any other outdoor show in Los Angeles, is the waterside location. Where inland shows are blistering, we faced balmy skies in the morning and ocean breezes in the afternoon, plus visitors can walk to the Queen Mary for historic tours, bars, or terrific chow.

          Let’s hit the news, then I’ll snivel about how this week is already going to hell in a hand basket.

 

 

 

 

 MUDBUGS AND MOTORBIKES; Let the Good Times Roll!–Crawdads, Crawfish or Mudbugs. Call them what you will; these little red freshwater crustaceans have a culinary following that borders on the fanatic. 

Get the kettle on the boil, drop in the bugs, a dash of vinegar and some Old Bay Seasoning — maybe add some pieces of corn on the cob and some hot sauce– and you have instant Crawdad Festival. 

 

  

 

KICK OFF YOUR STURGIS 70TH EXPERIENCE WITH KIDS AND CHROME CHARITY EFFORT AT THE BUFFALO CHIP–If you’re looking for a great way to start your rally week, look no further. On Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 5:30PM, the Kids  Chrome Foundation will offer you the best chance to kick off the week!

 

 

 

 

BIKERNET SPORTS AUTHORITY REPORT–  “Half  this game is ninety percent mental.”
 –Philadelphia  Phillies manager, Danny Ozark
   

 

BIKERNET BRINGS YOU A MARIJUANA REPORT FROM GERMANY– Of California most important useful plant is not wine or wheat, but cannabis. The business with the green gold is billions-worth, and shortly it could be legalized even completely. From Helene summerhouse, San Francisco

 

The following article was translated from a German Newspaper:

 

The largest marijuana smuggler in the history of the west coast carries Polohemd. Gladly in Cannabisgrün, with bumped out jeans and comfort shoes to it. Bruce Perlowin is not a Scarface type – rather a Althippie, with a face like a ungemachtes bed. When “King OF Pot” it befehligte in the 70’s and 80’s-years of nearly 100 ships, with which it channeled cannabis in the value of 1 billion dollar under that golden gate Bridge through into the bay of San Francisco. With 25 he was multi-millionaire, with 32 he was arrested and to nine years prison condemned.

 “The boss of the responsible drug Taskforce said at that time, I would have operated, tell my smuggling organization like a Fortune-500-Unternehmen” Perlowin proudly and fold on an uncomfortable metal chair before a café close San Francisco in the Lotussitz. Today that rises soon 60-Jährige again largely in the Cannabisgeschäft in completely legally as an entrepreneur. Lively it schwurbelt over its Medical Marijuana Inc. and Marijuana Inc., which is to offer everything except marijuana so quite, which has to do with the drug: of tax software for Cannabis pharmacies and with liquidity problems fighting local authorities, over the sale of licenses for Cannabis fairs, to Cannabis farmsteads with free Logis for war veterans and a network marketing organization for utilizable hemp products. “We could make next year 1 billion dollar conversion”, believe it.

 Perlowin is one of countless businessmen at the west coast, who set on the marijuana industry. With a production value of estimated 14 billion dollar is to a large extent illegal narcotic the largest useful plant for the human consumption – and a giant business in golden the State. Country-wide the green gold with a value has billion dollar useful plants of 36 such as corn (23 billion dollar) and soy (18 billion dollar) overhauls. For it a California law is considerably responsible from the year 1996, which permits cultivation, sale and consumption of marijuana for medical purposes.

And could boom shortly to be still further beaconed: In November of California co-ordinate voters whether marijuana is to be legalized completely. Each adult starting from 21 years might then for cannabis on one on 2.5 square meters limited surface to cultivate, scarcely 30 gram of the drug to possess and consume. Certified dealers might value added tax the same quantity per person sell and would have pay. With the legalization the Pacific state – always trendsetters under the 50 Federal States and world-wide – would get the most tolerant marijuana laws of the world. Even in the Netherlands Cannabisanbau is officially not permitted.

Since of California were correct voters before 14 years as first in the country for a law to the legalization of medical marijuana, 13 of the 50 US Federal States followed. Eleven further consider similar laws. Many place is already the prosecution of slight Cannabis crimes the niedrigeste priority of the police and law.

 The result is a proper uncontrolled growth at breeding enterprises, marijuana pharmacies and enterprises, which with Cannabis seeds and – plants, training seminars, fairs, nutrients, lamps, earth and other products for the hydroponische Cannabiszucht act. That is because of the fact that only a fraction of the medical marijuana – according to estimations all at the most 20 per cent – goes actually to pain-troubled patients. The whole remainder walks into a kind halfofficial black market: Each Kalifornier over 18 can get a document of identification, with which he may cultivate or in relevant pharmacies buy cannabis in theoretically small quantities with medical recommendation. 203,000 recommendations for medical marijuana issued of California physicians alone last year. Payment-willing get in such a way one wipe also with belly cramps or migraine.

 The finest and most potent Cannabissorten in the Emerald is cultivated trifishes, an area of 300 kilometers north of San Francisco. Here, in the districts Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity, are the largest cultivation areas of the USA. Visitors will however hardly discover in the green hills and enormous Redwood forests of the area Hanffelder. But one must penetrate usually on untarred ways tendencies raising separated mile far or deeply into the forests, where fences and gates protect against unwanted guests. Some breeders cultivate the plants more near at the civilization, in their gardens or even in their houses, protect themselves however forwards curious views.

 From German Financial Times

 

 

MACHO MUNICIPALITIES– Think you’re a manly man? Maybe…but do you live in the manliest city? From the research experts behind the popular “Best Places to Live” studies, the Combos “America’s Manliest Cities” study ranks 50 major metropolitan areas, using manly criteria like the number of home improvement stores, steak houses, pickup trucks and motorcycles per capita.
 
Charlotte took the top spot this year, beating out Nashville as last year’s winner. Portland, Oregon ranked last in this year’s study.

AMERICA’S MANLIEST CITIES: 1. Charlotte, NC; 2. Columbus, OH; 3. Kansas City, MO; 4. Nashville, TN; 5. Baltimore, MD; 6. Milwaukee, WI; 7. Chicago, IL; 8.

 

This came from this month’s Coast-to-Coast legislative news. We will post the whole tamale shortly.

 

Motorcycle debate getting loud– Jason Baker of Harrison, left, pulls out of a gas station on Route 26 in Oxford Saturday afternoon while on a ride with his friend, Joe Chamberlain of Naples. While his bike has legal pipes on it, he believes it does not matter what kind of pipes a bike has, “it all pertains to how you ride and how responsible the rider is. The way you ride determines how loud the motorcycle is. You can take a stock bike straight out of the showroom and ride it quietly or rev it up and make a lot of noise, it’s how you ride. I believe it is a safety issue. If a driver hears you coming, they are less likley to pull out in front of you.”

– Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
 
The revised law is a week old and clearly stated. In essence, motorcycles and other vehicles must be equipped with mufflers. And those mufflers cannot be modified in a way that makes them louder.

Simple. And yet the debate over the law has become louder than the noise it was designed to prevent.

On one side of the issue are bikers. They say the law unfairly targets a lifestyle. They say being louder makes people notice them.

On Facebook, roughly 5,000 people had joined the group “Loud Pipes Save Lives” since it was created two weeks ago.

“Motorists are becoming more distracted while driving with cell phones, iPods, coffee, loud music and the rush of daily life,” it states in the group description. “Motorcycles are everywhere but hard to see. MAKE YOURSELF HEARD!”

One of the group administrators, Heaven Love, of Auburn said the idea that being loud could save a life of a motorcycle rider is not the sole focus of the group.

“My biggest thing is all the stereotypes. Anything you hear about bikers is negative, negative, negative,” Love says. “But I do believe that loud pipes save lives? Yes. I’ve seen many riders get cut off by other drivers. You hear of people who avoid hitting a deer in the roadway only because the sound of the bike scared the deer off.”

And though the revised law pertains to four-wheeled vehicles as well, it is commonly felt that it takes aims at motorcycles specifically.

“I live on a busy road,” Love said. “There are motorcycles that go by and make noise. But there are tons of other things that go by and make noise, too.”

And so Love is one of those who studies the law carefully. She stays in touch with police, lawmakers and motorcycle riders. She plans to take her arguments to Augusta when the time comes.

On the other side is a group called “Mainers Against Loud Motorcycles,” a grassroots coalition trying desperately to bring about peace and quiet. The group has been around awhile. By Friday, it’s Facebook group had a more modest 150 members. Yet, since the new law went into effect, it’s been the smaller group seeing more of the action.

Bikers with admittedly loud pipes were going in to exchange words with proponents of the law. Those exchanges are frequently heated but most participants on either side of the issue had done their homework. There is logic to be found behind just about every argument.

For Andy Ford, founder of “Mainers Against Loud Motorcycles,” all of it may be much ado about nothing at all. Laws to prevent loud exhaust systems have been around a while. Historically, they have been ineffective.

“This new law, most of it has been on the books for 16 years. There are some small revisions,” Ford said. “I don’t think the law is enforceable as soon as a biker decides to challenge it.”

And challenges are almost certain. Those found in violation face a fine of $137. It’s an amount small enough for some to keep their pipes and take their chances with the law.

“We’re telling everybody that gets ticketed to go to court and fight it,” Love said. “Because people still aren’t clear about what the revised laws mean. Everybody needs to be on the same page with it.”

By the numbers

History has been kind to bikers with loud pipes. In Lewiston, where complaints of loud motorcycles have vexed the police department for years, the numbers don’t indicate aggressive enforcement.

Between the start of 2006 and the first of summer 2010, a total of 121 motorists were ticketed or warned about loud exhaust systems. Of those, only 12 were motorcycles. Four were cited in 2006, another eight in 2007.

No motorcyclists were cited in 2008, 2009 or so far in 2010. During those same years, 26, 25 and 12 people were ticketed for driving cars or trucks with exhaust systems that made too much noise.

The conclusion some make: The new law, even if all motorcycle riders are forced to display inspection stickers on their bikes (as proposed for 2012) will not result in greater enforcement.

“All attempts that I’ve seen, using inspection stickers or muffler laws, none of them work,” Ford said. “It’s pretty dismal.”

In 2012, all motorcyclists may be required to display inspection stickers. The latest figures from the state indicate that the percentage of Maine’s approximately 50,000 registered motorcycles, 42 percent are not inspected. Even if a rider plans to get and display an inspection sticker, there are ways to get it done without sacrificing their straight pipes or short pipes. Ford said he knows of some bikers who will carefully replace a loud exhaust with a different one until the sticker is obtained. Once the bike is legal, the quiet muffler comes off and the loud one goes back on. It’s common, he says.

Police presumably know of those tricks. If they don’t, they will likely learn. State Police have convened a group to study the situation. Other departments are following suit. They have no choice, really. Training is mandatory.

“Not every officer has a great working knowledge of motorcycles,” said Auburn police Chief Phil Crowell. “We want to make sure they get the training they need.”

Crowell is already working with Ford and his group. The chief also plans to coordinate with Lewiston police and get a joint enforcement effort underway.

“We need to start an education campaign and then we’re certainly going to be stepping up enforcement,” Crowell said.

One problem with enforcement has been murkiness within the law itself. How many decibels are allowed? Which pipes are illegal and which are not?

The revisions were meant to simplify things. Crowell said in most cases, those who are violating the law are doing so in dramatic style. It will be easy for the officers to tell which bikers need to be stopped.

“When it’s rattling the windows of your car, you know that’s a loud bike,” Crowell said.

Can’t we all just get along?

Most bikers are aware of the flap over the revised laws. Businesses that sell or fix motorcycles are also in the loop. Police hope that much of the compliance will be voluntary.

“Education and voluntary compliance can go a long with this,” said Lewiston police Deputy Chief James Minkowsky. “I know the bike shops are talking about the issue. A little common sense will go a long way.”

Voluntary compliance? Most supporters of the new law scoff at the notion. They have tried to reason with people of the motorcycle world in the past, they say, with no luck at all.

“These people, for the most part, are not bad people,” Ford said. “But they have this fantasy. This is the image they want. They are totally immune to our positive suggestions.”

According to MECALM, studies have shown that any source of excessive noise in a community — loud car stereos, barking dogs, machinery included — is more than just a quality of life issue.

“Noise is a pollutant,” Ford said. “It has an effect on cardio system, the nervous system. … And they are very ill effects.”

To which those who oppose the new law will repeat that they need their bikes loud so that other drivers will notice them.

“If noise isn’t a factor,” says Love, “why do emergency vehicles have sirens?”

And the debate comes full circle again.

Unfortunately, no study has proven that loud pipes aid in the safety of a motorcycle rider. In fact, the Hurt Study of 1981 indicates that the idea that loud pipes save lives may be patently untrue.

“It’s not going to make you safer,” Crowell said.

Many motorcycle groups denounce the loud pipes philosophy, too, including the American Motorcycle Association.

“The AMA believes that few other factors contribute more to misunderstanding and prejudice against the motorcycling community than excessively loud motorcycles,” the group asserts in their official statement on the matter. “All motorcycles are manufactured to meet federally mandated sound control standards. Unfortunately, a small number of riders who install unmuffled aftermarket exhaust systems perpetuate a public myth that all motorcycles are loud.”

Some bikers agree with that. The number of troublemakers is small, they say. So why shouldn’t police just concentrate on those few rather than lumping all motorcyclists together?

“We all believe it should be a case-by-case thing,” said Josh Stone, a rider from Auburn. “Yes, some pipes, like straight pipes are louder and can be obnoxious when the rider is being obnoxious, but why make everyone pay for them?”

Like Love, Stone takes issue with the tone taken by the people of MECALM. There, anybody who rides a motorcycle is characterized as a thug or an outlaw.

“The thing that people have a problem with as far as the MECALM,” Stone says, “is some of the members seem to be just plain anti-motorcycle.”

Which is a philosophy police say they will not adopt. It is commonly known, after all, that a significant number of police officers ride motorcycles themselves.

“We are not saying motorcycles are bad,” Crowell said. “It’s really is all about noise pollution.”

“It is a balancing act,” said Minkowsky, the Lewiston deputy police chief. “Not being over aggressive with decent people riding, and not ignoring the wishes of decent people trying not have their ear drums blown out because someone is trying to ‘save their life.’”

It’s an idea Heaven Love can get behind. She thinks that riders need to be reminded to keep noise down when a situation demands it. It should be more about courtesy than anything else.

“There need to be more voices out there, reminding everyone to ride respectfully,” she said. “Just be respectful of the people around you.”

Ford believes the problem will be solved someday through that kind of philosophy more than tweaks to the law. People will evolve into a different way of thinking, he says, just like they did in the matter of second hand smoke. There was a time when a person could smoke anywhere without raising eyebrows. Today? You can’t smoke in most bars, let alone hospitals or restaurants.

“That’s where riding loud is headed,” Ford said. “It will be like lighting up a cigarette in a hospital. It will become unacceptable, and we’ll be a better society for it.”

“Mainers Against Loud Motorcycles” can be found online at www.mecalm.org

“Loud Pipes Save Lives” can be found through a search on Facebook

 I don’t agree with the smoking in a hospital analogy. I hope motorcycles will represent freedom in this country, and regular folks will learn to applaud the sound we make. I also know for a fact that Loud Pipes Save Lives, and until folks don’t drive distracted, we need every advantage we can get.–Bandit

The Buffalo Chip Gazette-Sturgis Rider News: Your Ultimate Guide to Sturgis–Sturgis Buffalo Chip (July 15, 2010) – The granddaddy of em’ all, Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Week is just around the corner. The notorious congregation of bikers created to celebrate motorcycles and motorcycle culture has become a national phenomenon drawing tens of thousands of bikers to the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. And with national television shows such as Sturgis the Great Ride, Motorcycle Mania and Sturgis Hell on Wheels, you would be hard pressed not to know about the world-famous rally held each August.

The official souvenir magazine of the Legendary Buffalo Chip, now in its 29th edition, remains one of the most popular and arguably most sought-after collectables of the Sturgis Rally.  Filled with color features, photos and profiles of the events and happenings taking place at Sturgis’ premier entertainment venue and motorcycle travel destination, the Buffalo Chip Gazette-Sturgis Rider News is your guide to all things Sturgis.

The Legendary Buffalo Chip is the largest music festival and travel destination of its kind. Providing visitors a barrage of world-class entertainment, art, vendors, food, amenities, charitable efforts and countless memories, the Legendary Buffalo Chip is the undisputed ultimate Sturgis experience.

What is a world-class motorcycle event without a world-class publication?  Over the course of its 29-year history, the Buffalo Chip Gazette-Sturgis Rider News has provided rally-goers with the information they need to create the superlative motorcycle rally trip of their dreams.

Originally created to inform and later remind rally-goers of the fun they had at the Sturgis Rally, as well as to extend a friendly and open invitation to return, the birth of the BCG-SRN was a milestone. Its publication continues to strengthen the friendships among and between the Black Hills business community and the motorcycle enthusiasts of the world.

The Buffalo Chip Gazette-Sturgis Rider News also targets local and regional concert-goers who use the publication as the go-to guide for what to see and do at the Legendary Buffalo Chip and the Sturgis Rally. On a local basis, it’s a challenge to keep the publication in stock as business owners, retail stores and tourist destinations all use the publication as a promotional tool for their rally customers.

Pick up a copy at over 75 Victory and Harley-Davidson dealerships nationwide, or log on to www.buffalochip.com and have one delivered to your door today!

Sarah Wozniak

 

 

MAKE EVERY MINUTE COUNT–That’s the motto of in the Bikernet Headquarters. Mike Pullin’s is hauling ass with the Peashooter oil bag, while we scramble to make the primary system a reality. Then I can machine transmission fixtures for frame mounting and take the parts to my master powder coater, Tony Pisano.