So, no sooner does the question get asked here on this channel you are reading, “Just how stupid IS Ocasio?” Bless her goddamn heart she ups and gets right to work to provide some more fodder for perusal of her potential stupidity levels. Perusal means to look-over and maybe use this perusingness to help get closer to an answer. The answer being the one to the question, “Just how stupid IS Ocasio?”

It turns out there’s a video backing-this-up, this further enquiry I am making into discovering the answer to, “Just how stupid IS Ocasio” and whether or not it is included in this report is anyone’s guess. I have provided it, but remember, this is Bikernet. It’s not NASA. It’s Bikernet.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epwUTVUwB7A

She apparently does not want this to happen. Judging from her tone of mild-but-increasing hysteria.

Ocasio is demurely, which means very ladylike and a bit fetching, which means hot, she’s standing calmly there but you can tell she has been down this road before with such people at her rallies and you can see her thinking, “This raving nightmare is one of my own creations. I had better be nice and maybe even parental.”

Meanwhile Olga from Kiev is removing her outer shroud to reveal an expertly created message on a t-shirt that says in very readable lettering “Save The Planet. Eat the Children.”

I am not making this up.

This is when Ocasio’s Stupid Circuit gets ignited. You can see the subtle movement of micro muscles in her very attractive face make new connections with nerve endings beneath the skin and Ocasio’s expression turns from one of polite boredom to one of “concerning” as the hacks at the New York Times might say. They may have even invented this word as a condition or entity or state of being rather than what it used to be, namely a “bridge” word connecting two aspects of one sentence, unlike how it is now used, which is as a warning that all of the universe is in immediate danger. So, in other words Ocasio’s expression and hot-body language took on the aspect of Concerning. The situation was now Concerning.

Olga has by now made it clear to everyone in the room, all five people who turned out to see Ocasio in person and from two feet away – Olga has made it clear that she is advocating cannibalism. Not just on embryos and fetuses, no, but on full-on kids in the first and second grades. Ones with bicycles and their own cell phones. She wants to eat them. As plates of food. Because, “We are not doing enough.” “We only have two months!” And her solution to enabling mankind to survive…is to – basically – eradicate mankind. I mean let’s face it, if you eat all the children…who are THEY gonna eat when they reach adulthood? There won’t BE anybody to eat. In fact, they won’t be here either. They will have been eaten by us. In these next two months.

Ocasio however was manifesting something akin to thought. She almost went into a state of quiet paralysis. Because if it WAS actually thought….this would have been her first experience at it. Her body and nervous system would have shifted into their first experience of thought-mode. They would have been not just rusty but totally inexperienced. You could see her tinkering with her first infantile experience with Wonder and Curiosity and thinking….”Would this actually work? Would devouring the young actually work to bring to a halt to whatever it is I think is going on? Is it possible this is a good idea?”

Meanwhile Moldavia Yovayetski is getting some traction with her plan to save the earth by killing its inhabitants. She’s upping her hysteria level to approaching-asteroid level and she is making it very clear that there is only one solution that will save the only people worth saving – the people already a lot closer to death than the children are – and that is, not just killing the children but putting them in our mouth, chewing them up, swallowing them, and shitting them out our bungholes. THIS will alter global annual average temperatures.

Meanwhile Ocasio is now almost rendered into time-stop mode. Her hybridized brain, half moron, half supermoron, is quietly vibrating inside her head while outside Ocasio is standing quietly and listening to a crazed potential mass murderer of an entire global generation insist that butchering and then shaking and baking earth’s children is not only a good idea, it’s behind schedule.


You are SO far from realizing what was actually going on in Ocasio’s head at this juncture. And, excuse me, I didn’t mean to suggest that something was actually going on in her head. There wasn’t. But outside her head, on her face, there was a conversation going on to anyone paying attention to her and not to the lunatic opting for changing the definition of “childrens’ lunches” from one FOR children to one consisting OF children, and that conversation was Ocasio wondering with whatever serves her for contemplation….. “Is this a good idea?”

“She’s here, at my rally, so that means of course she’s super intelligent….and everyone in the room is looking at her quietly as though she is a spokesman for this notion. Is it possible I am the only one here out of the loop? I must listen some more. I must remain silent and focused on her words. Perhaps this woman is a rising star in the Democratic Party. Perhaps I could put her on my staff. When I am President, I can perhaps make her vice president. I must listen. This is a new idea. It could have merit. If nothing else eating children would get us closer to net zero, whatever that even means, than not eating them because they would never be driving a car or turning on an air conditioner. They would be fertilizing plants: making oxygen. For the next generation of children. That we would eat. I must listen.”

Meanwhile one of the staffers of the near-empty assembly closet approached the now-in-high-gear serial killer and wanted to pull her away from everyone but Alexia Dyslexia Illich Tonsillik was having none of it. A guard was also closing in. Her mike was taken from her and Ocasio then proceeded to explain calmly and measuredly that for one thing, relax everyone, we have more than two months….

“….We have more than two months,” Ocasio then reiterated to her audience who I am sure she was convinced was now wondering if it was true that they only had two months to live unless they ate the children. Ocasio calmly and repeatedly reassured all 50 overweight and mostly female people that the two-month prognosis was in fact inaccurate and off by several years. The implication being that only the lunatic’s calendar was wrong. Not the calamity caused by not obeying Ocasio’s list of edicts. THAT was accurate.

Is there a lesson to be learned here? Yes. That no matter how stupid you might think Ocasio is….you are wrong. She is stupider.

Greg “Edge” Scheuer delivers for world-famous Flying Piston Builder’s Breakfast

“The entire take on my build was to recreate the famous picture of Marlin Brando from the 1953 film, “The Wild One.” Using one of my grandchildren as a stand in for Brando. I have two grandkids that are both about three so the timing was good.

Luckily, I had a build team which is the only reason the bike is finished.

The photo shoot with my two grandsons’, Wilder and Finn, was a hoot but eventually we got there. Special thanks to Prince Jeff Najar for the opportunity to work with the Flying Piston Benefit.

See you in Sturgis!”
— Edge

CLICK Here to Read this Photo Feature & what makes this entry so wonderful!

About: Strider Bike & Flying Piston Benefit Breakfast
Visit: https://flyingpistonbenefit.com/

DON’T MISS THE BUILDER BREAKFAST
Join us Sunday, August 7th: 8:30 – 11AM at Buffalo Chip
Get to Meet Billy Lane & Darren Mckeag

* * * *

Many more great custom builds – and not just for cheering kids. Let’s put a smile on your face this weekend !!!

Have a look at the Free Extensive “Bike Features Section” on Bikernet.com by visiting (click here / see URL):
https://www.bikernet.com/pages/bike_features.aspx

This area won’t feature the same bikes that magazines do. This will cover bikes with style and class, a few nicks, some for sale, others because of what they do, not how they look.

Always Hope for the Best !

Hey,

We are flying through this year. Every Monday, I tell the redhead, “Hang on. This week will be exciting, and it is.”

I’m working with a book designer in Rapid City to convert the Terry the Tramp book onto Amazon books files.

Already started making shit in the garage. This is an effort to organize and find spots for all my shit. It is going to be a test in patience and organization.

We are grappling with positioning and bolting down our new Smithy Lathe. We put it in on the counter with skidster forks, but it needs positioning.

I’m working with Atomic Bob and Andy, of Crank and Stroker apparel for our Bonneville T-shirts.

Hang on for more reports, but in the meantime ride fast and free, goddammit.

–Bandit

CLICK Here to Read the Latest Weekly News only on Bikernet.com

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Hey,

We are flying through this year. Every Monday, I tell the redhead, “Hang on. This week will be exciting, and it is.”

The Bikernet Weekly News is sponsored in part by companies who also dig Freedom including: Cycle Source Magazine, the MRF, Las Vegas Bikefest, Iron Trader News, ChopperTown, BorntoRide.com and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.

Wall Street Journal reporter Jim Carlton says Lake Mead is shrinking because of climate change. Is it? We report. You decide.

First, the history of Lake Mead’s elevation is actually quite volatile.

And the elevation is relatively low now — about 1,070 feet.

But today’s elevation is not all that different from the low points of 1956 and 1965 (about 1,090 feet, shown in first graph), especially when you consider the increases in water use and human management of reservoir levels over time.

No doubt that drought is affecting Lake Mead. But Western drought is natural (the region is a desert, after all), and Lake Mead was comparably low more than 100 ppm CO2 ago.

—Junk Science.com

This one will be a tribute to Arlen Ness style by a fellow Hamster, Cabana Dan. It’s about to go to paint and check that seat.

“No gel,” Dan said of his custom seat. “I work exclusively with Adam at Pierce Street Seats in Wisconsin.”

–Bandit

BRAND New Bikernet Reader Comment!—

IT’S A WONDERFUL PLACE BIKERNET WEEKLY NEWS for June 30, 2022

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/ITS_A_WONDERFUL_PLACE_BIKERNET_WEEKLY_NEWS_for_June_30_2022.aspx

Too bad about Sonny, my wife had a picture of Sonny taken with her in Laconia. It was in her classroom when she was still teaching.

–Alex Jemery
Deland, FL

Ralph “Sonny” Barger, one of the founding members who helped grow and popularize the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, passed away last week at the age of 83. A representative for Barger, who revealed the news, indicated the cause as liver cancer.

Barger himself was investigated or arrested on charges ranging from drug trafficking to murder, though he later helped repopularize the subculture as an actor on the show “Sons of Anarchy.”

LOWBROW CONFESSION— We have more than 7,000 parts and gear on our site and all are Made in the USA

We are proud to make and stock thousands of motorcycle parts, accessories and riding gear that are Made in the USA.

When you take a break from riding, fireworks, camping, or whatever it is you are up to this month, come give us a visit…

We have you what you need for the road ahead!

PLANO, TX July 6th, 2022 – Cardo Systems, world leader in communication and connectivity devices for the Powersports industry, has opened the ‘Cardo Sound Labs’, a full-scale research and development facility in Straubing, Germany.

The new facility will focus on developing Cardo’s future generation of acoustics, speech processing, and sound solutions for its wide array of powersports, outdoor and professional communication devices. The Straubing facility positions Cardo as the only player in the industry with a dedicated, fully owned audio development capabilities.

With the opening, Cardo is bringing onboard a veteran team of scientists with 150 years of cumulative experience in automotive and consumer audio. The team has specialists in sound, physics, electronics, speech processing, and mechanical engineers and PHDs, and is responsible for more than 1550 patents gained through their previous work experience at Harman, Samsung, Nokia, NXP, and DSPG.

The 6458 sqft facility will lead Cardo’s future sound developments to maintain and increase the company’s edge and bring new generations of sound solutions to its riders, worldwide. To achieve this and support the team’s developments going forward, the new Straubing facility contains fully-furbished sound labs complete with anechoic chamber, ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) room, rapid prototyping lab, Automotive lab, NVH (noise vibration harshness) automotive lab, and office space.

It took more than 16 hours of negotiation to reach an agreement at the meeting in Luxembourg, but the result is crystal clear.

“The Council… agreed to introduce a 100% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2035 for new cars and vans.” The European Parliament also wants to outlaw sales of used ICE-powered vehicles, but that has not been decided on. Not that the idea is dead; further negotiations will take place, but the new vehicle sales ban is now written in stone.

Given the size of the European vehicle market, the ban on ICEs there means their eventual disappearance in all developed countries. The ramifications will go way beyond the borders of the European Union since it won’t be feasible for the likes of Volkswagen or BMW to develop ICE cars they won’t be able to sell in the EU. Internal combustion engined vehicles may, and probably will, continue to be manufactured and sold in developing countries after 2035 but even so, the end is inevitable.

Technically speaking, the 2035 ban calls for a complete reduction of emissions, without mentioning the combustion engine. This leaves the door open for ICEs running on alternative fuels such as the synthetic fuel being developed by Porsche, but it is interesting to note that most of the research and proposed manufacturing for that will take place away from the First World. And good luck affording a tank full of the synthetic stuff.

This decision will have huge consequences across the vehicle industry as manufacturers accelerate the switch to EVs even further. Serious as this is for automakers, motorcycle manufacturers will be affected even more because major companies’ shift to electric power is not as advanced.

There are also staged targets in 2025 and 2030 that will be difficult for motorcycle manufacturers to reach; once again there is no mention of bikes in the legislation, but automakers will have to slash CO2 emissions by 55 percent for new cars and 50 percent for vans by the end of the ‘20s.

Negotiations between the Parliament and EU member states later this year will determine the final shape of the law, but let’s not beat about the bush: with no more than a couple of exceptions, all motorcycles currently built by major manufacturers will gradually disappear from the market until they’re all gone by 2035.

German industry groups and other car lobby organizations have said the European Parliament’s decision is a blow to climate protection and consumer choice. Germany wavered on banning the combustion engine in 2035, threatening to derail the talks until it was placated with a vague promise from the Commission to look into future options for e-fuels.

Italy would also like to see changes, particularly concerning small-scale production vehicles from manufacturers like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pagani, Ducati, MV Agusta and Aprilia all contribute not only to the financial economy of Italy, but also its cultural presence.

Despite that, Italy has also signed the death warrant.

—Advrider.com

–from Geno
Undercover investigator

Maybe they didn’t mention motorcycles for fear of the strength of motorcycle rights organizations. Maybe, someday the motorcycle rights community will demand Scientific Transparency and the planet will smile again. We will go back to living in the best of times and not doomsday. Maybe! –Bandit

Custom Indian Chief ‘GRIND Machine’ Revealed at Wheels and Waves Artride

Public debut of the custom Indian Chief by Tank Machine x Rise Designs
Awarded to the lucky winner of the prize draw on the main event stage

Indian Motorcycle, in collaboration with Wheels & Waves, commissioned four European builders in December 2021 to design their vision of an Indian Chief for the resurgent Wheels and Waves festival. More than 35 000 people voted for their favorite design and, in combination with a panel of Super-Voters, ‘GRIND Machine’ by Tank Machine x Rise Designs was announced as the top-ranked entry. Completed in just three months, ‘GRIND Machine’ made its public debut at the opening of the Artride exhibition during Wheels and Waves on Thursday, June 30 and was awarded to prize draw winner Fabien Orquin on the festival’s main stage on Saturday, July 2.

“I was honored to be chosen as one of four custom builders to submit designs for the Indian Chief,” said Molina. “As a specialist that loves working on bikes from Indian Motorcycle, I was really enthusiastic about the opportunity, only heightened by the partnership with Wheels and Waves, an event that I enjoy so much.”

Working from the brief to create a vision of an Indian Chief inspired by the past, anchored in the present, and looking towards the future, Molina teamed up with Antonin Bazin from Rise Designs to merge their “Board Culture” into the project and reflect the skate element of Wheels & Waves.

“We were really happy to win and have the opportunity to realize the design, even though it was a big challenge to complete the project in just three months for the Artride exhibition,” Molina continued. “But the process was so enjoyable, thinking about the bike, the details, working with different materials like skateboard decks, fabricating new parts and then fine-tuning everything. It’s a pleasure to reveal the completed bike at Wheels and Waves and to then hand it over to Fabien. It’s great to know he truly understands and appreciates the time and effort that has gone into the build. He is the perfect new owner for me – an engineer, an engine technician, and a really good guy.”

Randomly selected from the thousands of public voters, Fabien Orquin, an automotive engineer from the French city of Rouen, won a VIP trip to the 2022 Wheels & Waves festival to enjoy the event and be presented with his customized Indian Chief.

The Design and Engineering teams at Indian Motorcycle always had customizers in mind when bringing the Indian Chief to life. A key tagline being ‘Keep it simple so you can easily work on it and customize it’ and a feature of the Chief that Tank Machine took advantage of.

GRIND Machine’s unique look begins with the big block Continental TKC enduro tires wrapped around black Excel spoked rims that work with new bars, new rear suspension, and a one-off seat unit to change the stance and overall lines of the bike.

Tank Machine created new wider handlebars and lower risers for a vintage style that is echoed by the gaiters applied to the forks and rolled up poncho attached to a custom bracket by webbing straps. At the rear, Öhlins piggyback shocks with longer top mounts lift the bike slightly and add a color accent as well as providing a high-quality ride.

The one-off seat unit, all designed in house, features the names of the project’s partners discretely machined into the base and the seat pad enhances the retro bobber look with a brown leather top with waxed material sides. A bottle opener hanging from the right of the seat is a nod to the after-ride party atmosphere of Wheels & Waves and a detail that really connected with the new owner. “My hobby is brewing my own beer, and when I saw the bottle opener, it really made me smile,” said Orquin.

Keeping the stripped-back bobber look clean are hand-fabricated minimalist fenders, mini-indicators on the forks and seat unit, mini taillight and a LED headlight with ring running light. A secondary guarded PIAA yellow light adds a cool retro touch.

The ‘Board Culture’ of Ride Designs is reflected in the use of skateboard deck wood and grip tape adorning the center of the fuel tank and either side of the seat unit, which are mounted with metal brackets inspired by skateboard trucks. The influences of Wheels and Waves are further heightened with Vans waffle handlebar grips and custom-made foot pegs that take inspiration from BMX grind pegs.

Also designed in conjunction with Rise Design is the aluminium engine protection plate behind the front wheel in a brushed metal finish that is also applied to the exhaust heat shield, CNC machined fuel cap and engine parts to give an old bike look on a modern machine. Textured and matte finishes have also been applied to various covers and particularly the frame where the matte finish reveals the beauty of the shape and welds of the classic-style steel frame. Adding to the retro race look, the standard headers were wrapped and mated to shorter SuperTrapp silencers.

With a paint scheme from Rise Designs that features a brushed metal base and weathered green stripes with red accents, the finishing touches to any custom are the interesting details that are only noticed on a second or third close look. For GRIND Machine, these include the decorated red throttle valve inside the custom bell housing, the cut back primary drive cover, and the creator’s logos machined into the black pulley cover and engine covers.

To learn more, please visit www.indianmotorcycle.eu

–Adam Croft
Supreme Leader
Dime Bag Leather Company

My neighbor got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

CEOs are now playing miniature golf.

Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.

I saw a Mormon with only one wife.

McDonald’s is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America.

Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children’s names.

A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico.

A picture is now only worth 200 words.

When Bill and Hillary travel together, they now have to share a room.

Called to get Blue Book Value on my car. They asked if the gas tank was full or empty.

And finally…
I was so depressed last night thinking about the economy, wars, jobs, my savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc., that I called the Suicide Hotline.

I got a call center in Afghanistan, and when I told them I was suicidal, they got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck.

–Sam Burns
Certified Librarian

[page break]

This July 4th, as you fill up your car or truck, you might be tempted to blame President Joe Biden for high gasoline prices.

You shouldn’t, say some experts. It’s Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fault, they say. The US had to cut off Russian oil imports to punish Putin for invading Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Biden himself has blamed the American energy industry.

“At a time of war,” Biden wrote in an open letter to the industry on June 15, “high refinery profit margins being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable… companies must take immediate actions to increase the supply of gasoline, diesel, and other refined product.”

But US refineries are already operating at 94 percent of their capacity, with US refineries in the Gulf of Mexico running at 98 percent, which is the highest rate in 30 years. Running refineries at a higher capacity than that risks damaging the equipment. As such, Biden isn’t just wrong, he insulted some of the hardest working people operating in one of the most dangerous industries in America.

But, on May 12, Biden’s Interior Department blocked a proposal to open up more than one million acres of land in Alaska for oil and gas drilling. Two days later, Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency blocked plans to expand an oil refinery in the US Virgin Islands.

Biden and his defenders said he had to block the expansion of the Virgin Islands refinery, given how polluting it was.

But had Biden’s EPA allowed the Virgin Island refinery to expand, the owners would have poured nearly $3 billion into retrofitting the plant so it produced gasoline and other products more cleanly, while significantly increasing production at the same time.

Furthermore, anybody who cares about air pollution and climate change should want more oil and gas drilling, not less. US emissions declined 22% between 2005 and 2020, mostly because cheap natural gas has replaced coal.

In truth, there are many things Biden could have done, and still should do, to lower energy prices. He could invoke the National Defense Act to accelerate the rate of oil and gas permits. He could set a floor of $80/barrel for re-filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which would be a powerful incentive for the industry, because it would prevent prices from falling to unprofitable levels. Biden could announce trade agreements with American allies to supply them with liquified natural gas, which would incentivize more natural gas production and lower prices.

If Biden got America on a wartime footing, as he should be given Russia’s aggression in Europe, we would see the lowering of oil, gas and petroleum prices in less than one year.

Why won’t Biden do it? Because he has declared war on fossil fuels. “I guarantee you, we’re going to end fossil fuel,” Biden promised a student climate activist in 2019. “I am not going to cooperate with them,” he said, referring to the oil and gas industry.

And indeed, he hasn’t. When oil and gas executives visited the White House in June, Biden snubbed them by refusing to attend the meeting. Instead, at the very same moment, he met with wind industry executives. A few days earlier, Biden administration officials signaled they may support a large new tax on the oil industry proposed by a Senator from Oregon.

All of this has soured the oil and gas industry on investing in production. “If you were an oil company,” a senior executive at a major US bank told me, why would you invest hundreds of millions of dollars into expanding refining capacity if you thought the federal government or investors would shut you down in the next few years? The narrative coming from the administration is absolutely insane.”

And it’s about to get more insane. At the G-7 meeting in Germany earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron was overheard telling Biden that he couldn’t count on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to produce much more oil. Implicit in Macron’s remarks was that the US needs to produce far more than Biden has been willing to allow.

The problem is that Biden is in the grip of a pro-scarcity ideology that demands humankind return to relying 100 percent on renewables, like we did before the industrial revolution. But that’s a delusion. Solar panels and electric cars, which rely on lithium battery power, have indeed become cheaper in recent years, but that’s mostly because China uses coerced Uyghur Muslim labor to produce those batteries. If those technologies were made in the US by workers paid a living wage, they would never be affordable.

On energy, as with so many other issues in recent years, you can’t believe the experts. They, too, are motivated by the pro-scarcity, romantic delusions that animate Biden’s energy agenda.

And so, when you fill up your car or truck, and you feel tempted to blame President Biden for high gasoline prices, go right ahead. Because it really is his fault.

–Michael Shellenberger

DATE: August 6, 2022 – Saturday
TIME: 12:00PM – Noon
PLACE: Prescott Fair Grounds – 531 Fairgrounds Ave, Prescott, AZ 86305

Deborah was committed to serving and protecting motorcyclists’ rights at the state, federal and international levels during the last four decades. She was a sustaining & life member of ABATE of Arizona, 17-year ABATE Yavapai Chapter Board Rep., and simultaneously held many other chapter positions throughout the years. Deborah maintained memberships in numerous other state motorcycle rights organizations too, like the MMA of AZ.

In 2001, she was selected as the first designated lobbyist for the Arizona Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (AZCMC). She also served on the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) Board of Directors for many years and was instrumental in the formation of the MRF A&E (Awareness and Education), a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization created to assist the MRF in providing resources to promote motorcycle awareness and “share the road” programs, along with all aspects of motorcycle safety education, including rider training.

A highly successful businesswoman in her own right, Deb was extremely well connected, not only in the motorcycling community and industry, but legislatively and in some very influential social circles as well. These relationships were of incredible value to the bikers of AZ, and the entire country.

Deb’s accolades and awards are many, including being inducted into the MRF Hall of Fame in 2020 and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame as 2021 Freedom Fighter of the year. Deb is a past winner of the MRF Presidents’ Cup (2003), the MRF Founder’s Award (2017), and the MRF Lifetime Achievement Award (2020). Among her many other duties, Deb served 14 years as the MRF State Representative for Arizona. For several years now, the MRF has given the ‘Deborah Butitta Award’ to its’ highest performing State Representative in her honor.

A true leader, Deborah had a profound influence on many of her fellow activists. Few people have dedicated so much of their life or contributed as much to motorcycling as Deborah Butitta. Personally and professionally, her passing leaves a tremendous void in our “family”.

REST IN PEACE Freedom Fighter!

—Judi Miller,
ABATE of Arizona Communications Officer

–Frank Ball Jr.

–Bandit

–Bandit

First 50 General Admission orders will get special pre-staging and a free 2022 Easyriders Rodeo patch!

FOWLERVILLE, MI
AUGUST 19-21

BLOOMVILLE, OH
SEPTEMBER 1-5
Purchase Bloomville Tickets

We received more of our 4-Ton Clicker Presses in this month. If you have been thinking of getting one, now you can!

BG Manual Clicker Press with Swing head, 4-Ton

Tonnage: 4 tons
Working area: 9″ x 12″ (inches) – The white plastic pad is replaceable.
Replacement Pad: Replacement pad sold here.

Die heights:
Accepts 1/2″, 3/4″, 1″, 1 1/4″, 1 1/2″ (inches)

Cycle Time: 2-3 second average

• Cutting leather, vinyl, rubber, and other soft materials.Cutting small items such as wallet pockets, bracelets, watch straps, small gun holsters, keychains, purses, panels, coasters, and countless other small accessories.
• Embossing logos, monogramming.
• Portable, so you can bring to fairs and shows. Great for monogramming with letters at fairs for customers.
• One of the biggest benefits to this press is its swing head. Fully rotational so you can place your cutting dies in optimal locations.

There are 4 holes in the base in order to bolt the clicker to a table.

—Buckleguy.com

1913 Spacke Cycle Car

England, many European countries and in America, motorcycle engine-powered three and four wheeled vehicles had a period of promoted popularity. In some places three-wheeler road tax was less than for four wheeled vehicles and that economy drove sales.

But in a time when horse and buggy transportation was still strong, cycle cars with three and four wheels were also minimalist transportation, a first step into mechanized transportation. Even the four wheeled versions were lightweight, mostly narrow track machines with tandem rather than side by side seating.

Though starting around 1909, by 1914 cycle car popularity had peaked then soon declined, likely due to the advent of Henry Ford’s very affordable Model T. By this time about 75 American cycle car manufacturers advertised their product. Using sourced drive line components and fabricating other pieces as needed, they were not always very sophisticated or mechanically sound.

Looking at this machine, the tall lever to the left of the driver’s seat changes the drive ratio of what we might call a “planetary transmission” system. A friction disk wheel runs at right angles to the external flywheel on the engine. As the friction wheel is moved across the flywheel, the drive ratio changes, even moves to reverse; an early version of the CVT used by today’s auto makers. This system was also employed by makers of machine tools like drill presses.

Operation of this Spacke cycle car called for both hands and both feet. The ignition is battery and coil through a distributor with the switch on the dashboard. One lever on the steering wheel sets the throttle, the other the spark advance. Battery and oil tank are on the dash, fuel tank behind the engine, gravity feeding the carburetor.

As you can see the open, fan cooled engine is started by a hand crank down low in front. The left pedal is the rear wheel brake, the right pedal engages the transmission. The other tall lever, a bit forward of the transmission speed selector, is a hand brake/parking brake. (A version of this engine powers the Sears DeLuxe Dreadnaught Twin displayed in the Early American Transportation INNOVATION exhibition.)

While many cycle cars including the Steco and Merz here at the Museum used belt final drive, this machine employs a massive, for about 9 horsepower, sprockets and drive chain. Rear suspension is by swingarm controlled by dual leaf springs. The front axle is a handsome casting again hung on a pair of leaf springs. Steering is pretty typical with a tie rod and drag link. Frame rails are channels with cast lugs on each end to accept suspension components.

The cycle car, being of light construction and low to the road worked well in urban settings. But in this era most rural roads were rough and rutted. Cars and horse drawn conveyances had about a 56 inch track, but cycle cars at about 36 inches had a tough time of it.

This Spacke Cycle Car from the Jill & John Parham Collection is displayed in the Hagerty Motorcycle Insurance Best of the Best Gallery. When you visit the National Motorcycle Museum you can look at it in detail, but also view the four-wheeled Merz and STECO cycle cars displayed in the Early American Transportation INNOVATION exhibit area.

Specifications:

• Engine: Air-Cooled V-Twin
• Type: Inlet Over Exhaust
• Displacement: 70.62 Cubic Inches
• Horsepower: 9HP, Rated
• Bore & Stroke: 3.50” x 3.67”
• Carburetor: Schebler
• Ignition: Battery, Distributor
• Transmission: Planetary
• Final Drive: Chain
• Starting: Hand Crank
• Brake: Band and Internal Expanding, Rear
• Wheels: 3.00 x 28 Inches
• Suspension: Leaf Springs
• Frame: Steel Channel, Cast Lugs
• Wheelbase: 68 Inches
• Track: 42

A MAN CALLED SONNY—
A MAN OF PRIDE,
WITH A WILL AS STRONG
AS THE STEEL HE RIDES.
WHO GAVE HIS FREEDOM
FOR WHAT IS RIGHT,
WHO’D GIVE HIS ALL
FOR THE RED AND WHITE.

WHO LAUGHS WITH BROTHERS
AT A PARTY OR RUN,
OR TAKES CARE OF BUSINESS
WHEN IT NEEDS TO BE DONE,
AND EVEN THOSE
WHO CURSE HIS NAME,
ADMIRE HIS COURAGE
JUST THE SAME.

THERE ARE BUT FEW
WHO HAVE THE SOUL
TO WEAR THE SKULL
WITH WINGS OF GOLD,
SEEN BY THE MAN
WITH HATE AND FEAR,
FOR THE FREEDOM AND BROTHERHOOD
THEY HOLD DEAR.

THROUGH IT ALL HE’S STOOD
WITH HEAD HELD HIGH,
AND THE LEGEND OF SONNY
WILL NEVER DIE.

HE’LL ALWAYS LIVE ON,
FOREVER A PART
OF HIS BROTHERS’ LIVES,
OF HIS BROTHERS’ HEARTS.

Ride long and free, Sonny,

“What historians will definitely wonder about in future centuries is how deeply flawed logic, obscured by shrewd and unrelenting propaganda, actually enabled a coalition of powerful special interests to convince nearly everyone in the world that carbon dioxide from human industry was a dangerous, planet-destroying toxin.

“It will be remembered as the greatest mass delusion in the history of the world – that carbon dioxide, the life of plants, was considered for a time to be a deadly poison.”

QUICK, New Bikernet Reader Comment!

IT’S A WONDERFUL PLACE BIKERNET WEEKLY NEWS for June 30, 2022

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/ITS_A_WONDERFUL_PLACE_BIKERNET_WEEKLY_NEWS_for_June_30_2022.aspx

Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill that says South Dakota will pay for your concealed carry permit including paying for federal background check, starts 1 July 2022.

Let freedom ring loud in Sodak. Fight for our constitutional rights. Have a happy 4th and file for your cc permit asap. Show her our appreciation.

–Mike Kelly
Sturgis, SD

This Telly is for the “Walter” documentary itself and will complement the Telly that the “Walter” trailer won in 2021. Executive Producer, James Cutting, wishes to thank all the sponsors and supporters of the “Walter” documentary that helped in its success and accomplishments.

“Walter” is the story of the last-known Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Truck in existence, affectionately known as Walter. The documentary chronicles the life and times of Walter the 1913 forecar from its early days of service on the streets of Old Milwaukee, through many decades of desolation stored in a horse barn hayloft, and then decades of restoration to eventually become the most valuable service motorcycle in the world.

Along the way, the producer explores the history of three-wheeled motorcycles, the Harley-Davidson Motor Company’s development of commercial service and delivery motorcycles, and most importantly, documents one man’s adventure in restoring a motorcycle that had been in his family for nearly a century.

This accomplishment now matches the two Tellys that the “Walter” documentary’s predecessor, the “Hogslayer” documentary won for its trailer in 2011 and the documentary itself in 2012. “Hogslayer,” the story of the multi-world champion Norton dual-engine motorcycle dragster, has just been re-released in a 10th-anniversary edition with additional archival footage and a fresh update to the celebrated motorcycle documentary.

For more information on the award-winning “Walter” and “Hogslayer” documentaries celebrating the legacy of these two iconic motorcycles, please visit www.edgeltdproducts.com.

LIFESTYLE CYCLES DEAL OF THE WEEK— 2017 Harley-Davidson FLHRXS – Road King Special

FOR $20,995.00

SEE IT HERE: https://www.lifestylecycles.com/default.asp?page=xPreOwnedInventoryDetail&id=6079665

2017 Harley-Davidson FLHR – Road King Special

The Road King has long been an alternative for Harley-Davidson riders who want a tour-capable bike sans barn-door fairing.

It keeps getting better in the 2017 model year with the new Milwaukee-Eight engine and a special trim package called — wait for it — the Road King Special.

Updated looks and performance are the main selling points here.

Blackout treatment replaces the chrome on the custom-looking Special, and the front end leaves the extra lighting on the shelf while moving the turn signals to the handlebars for a cleaner look. Additionally, the Special does without the classic chrome trim and fender skirt that dresses up the base model for more of that homejob-custom appeal.

ABOUT THIS BIKE….

Milwaukee-eight 107 V-Twin engine, more responsive suspension with hand adjustable rear shocks. 18-inch black Curley apes, black tomahawk mirrors, performance machined grips, spiked axel caps, HD floating rotor, and engine guard in black with freeway pegs. The Special has the complete “Black Out” package a 107-air cover, passenger pegs, rims, 6 speed, cam covers, horn, trans case, derby cover, shifter linkage and brake, shocks, complete fork, headlamp case, blinkers with smoked lens rears…JUST TO NAME A FEW! TBR 2 into 1 exhaust. Come get this one before it’s GONE!

*It’s only got 22,219 miles on it* and comes with Lifestyles 90 day / 1,000 mile limited warranty!

**Open 7 days a week**

EZ FINANCING-SHIPPING AVAILABLE!!! Fill out an online application and ride today!!!

Only $20,995 at Lifestyle Cycles (714) 490-0155
Looking forward!

Dan Leadbetter
Director of Marketing
Lifestyle Cycles
(714) 490-0155

Invoicing and Payment Process
Invitation to Participate

The California Air Resources Board (the Board or CARB) adopted new mobile source certification and compliance fees at the April 22, 2021 public Board hearing. The regulations were finalized by the Office of Administrative Law on January 18, 2022 with an effective date of April 1, 2022.

On April 1st, CARB staff launched the implementation of the invoicing and payment process for manufacturers to correctly determine and submit certification fees at the time of application for mobile source certifications.

Since April, CARB staff created a new software program to generate and store invoices. This process will be implemented starting August 1, 2022 and will replace the current draft email invoice process.

CARB invites you to participate in a training session on July 28, 2022, to discuss and demonstrate the new invoicing process for submitting certification fees for on-road vehicles, on-road engines, trailers, aerodynamic components, aftermarket parts, retrofits, at-berth technologies, off-road vehicles/engines and equipment, and evaporative components.

All manufacturers subject to MS Fees should attend the July 28th training; however a recording of the training will be available on our website for those unable to attend. The session will provide manufacturers with lessons learned from the current implementation process and new information on how to create new MS Fees Invoice accounts, and to create, track and submit invoices within the new software process.

The training will be conducted through Microsoft Teams with a call-in option. Please attend the training and review the training materials and previous workshops before submitting invoices and paying fees to avoid delays in payment processing and application review.

Training Session
MS Fees Invoicing and Payment Process

Date: Thursday, July 28, 2022
Time: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM, Pacific Daylight Time
Location: Microsoft Teams Meeting
Or call in (audio only) +1 916-538-5111
Phone Conference ID: 472 707 992#

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

Dozens of manufacturers and business organizations across many industries, including the MIC, are requesting that the State of Maine extend its deadline for reporting products that contain PFAS substances.

The reporting deadline begins the first day of 2023, giving companies little time for compliance, especially because Maine has offered few details about what information is needed and the process for submitting it. Staff from the MIC Government Relations Office participated in a briefing on June 30 regarding implementation of the new law.

“Powersports companies should check with their legal counsel to determine how the Maine law may impact their lines of business,” said Scott Schloegel, senior vice president at the MIC GRO. “Our team is tracking and responding to PFAS bills in several other states including California, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, and North Carolina.”

A July 1 request letter to Maine Governor Janet Mills and Maine Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Melanie Loyzim states: “Companies that are aware of the deadline and are preparing to provide information are having difficulty obtaining information from their suppliers for a number of reasons – (1) A disrupted global supply chain continues to create complexities at every level in the marketplace; (2) Suppliers will not provide protected intellectual property information to the public domain for competitors to potentially access unless they have legal assurance that their intellectual property is protected.”

The MIC Responds to PFAS Laws – Visit Website to Read More

Thought I would do an interview and get some pics of this overhead valve conversion for flatheads he is building. If I tell him I’m working for Bikernet.com, he might open up a bit or he might run me off.

I was going to leave for the street rod SW Nationals in OKC this weekend. Going to drive my ‘34 700 miles but I had a scratchy throat so I did one of those home Covid tests, and damn, I got it. So got to quarantine for a week. I had shots so it doesn’t seem very bad.

Guess I’ll go a little later. May turn north from there a drive it to Deadwood. It is a great road car now that I have overdrive.

–Bill May

A motorcycle major launched a new model to compete with Enfield and Honda 350 bikes.

How & why global net zero emissions and electrified vehicles cannot be achieved as simply as signing international agreements? Apart from few options to generate electricity, its not really developing nations’ vehicles that consume most fuel.

There is more to consider and ‘roads’ ahead may not be as smooth; at least for all (considering the other demand of equality).

Read the whole story at:
https://www.bikernet.com/pages/New_Petrol_Motorcycles_still_getting_launched_in_India.aspx

–Fella
Undercover Reporter
Bikernet International News Desk

FEATURE BIKE OF THE WEEK—This tight little chop was built by TE Customs.

TE Customs. 6112 Brownsville Rd Ext, Finleyville (PA), 15332, United States. (724) 348-6703 · www.tecustoms.com …

–from Sam Burns
Feature Bike Editor
Bikernet.com™

NHTSA Report–Connects Hundreds of Crashes with Driver-Assistance Tech

Conducted over 10 months, NHTSA’s initial report shows 392 crashes in vehicles equipped with Level 2 driver-assistance technology.

NHTSA started requiring automakers to submit the information in June of last year, and its initial findings are based on about 10 months of data.

Over the past 10 months, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has collected data reported by automakers on crashes involving vehicles equipped with driver-assist features. The U.S. agency today published the initial results of that data collection, which reveals hundreds of crashes with vehicles using SAE Level 2 driver-assistance technology.

Based on a new requirement called a “Standing General Order on Crash Reporting for Level 2 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems,” NHTSA has required automakers to report an accident if “Level 2 ADAS was in use at any time within 30 seconds of the crash and the crash involved a vulnerable road user or resulted in a fatality, a vehicle tow-away, an airbag deployment, or any individual being transported to a hospital for medical treatment.” Of course, these reports are likely imperfect because there may be issues such as access to the crash data or incomplete data from the incident report, among other issues.

Of crashes reported by manufacturers, Tesla had the most with 272 reports. Honda (90 incidents) and Subaru (10 incidents) reported the second and third most crashes involving a Level 2 system. NHTSA also revealed that among the 98 crashes where an injury was reported, five were serious and six involved fatalities.

NHTSA said that prior to issuing its order in June 2021, it had relied on vehicle owner questionnaires, media reports, and direct outreach from automakers to get this kind of data and called that process “generally inconsistent.” Now that the agency has better standards in place to collect the data, it can better respond and raise awareness regarding accidents that involve driver-assistance technology.

Still, as NHTSA administrator Steven Cliff told the New York Times before today’s announcement, it’s too early to draw conclusions from these initial findings. Cliff said that NHTSA will continue collecting data on driver-assistance-related crashes to help guide requirements around how the technology is designed and functions, according to the article in the New York Times.

–BY ERIC STAFFORD
Car and Driver

MORE FROM SONNY BARGER— Famous Sonny Barger quotes–

“Treat me good, I’ll treat you better; treat me bad, I’ll treat you worse.”

“The greatest thing that I have learned is probably the simplest thing any of us can learn: I am who I am.”

“My most basic credo is: I never said freedom was cheap. And it ain’t. Never will be. It’s been the highest priced and most precious commodity in my life.”

(Referring to Keith Richards during the Altamont Concert in December 1969.) “I stood next to him and stuck my Pistol into his side and told him to start playing his guitar or he was dead.”

“If I ever get too old to ride my motorcycle, and have pretty girls, I’d rather just rob a bank and go back to prison.”

–Sonny Barger

RIP, Ride Free Dave Condon–To all our members, supporters, riders, and friends.

With permission from the family, it is with a heavy heart and deep sadness that your Massachusetts Motorcycle Association (MMA) announces the passing of our Ex-officio and Past-Chairman Dave Condon. Many of Dave’s friends knew that Dave had been fighting a courageous medical battle mixed with cancer and scleroderma over the past several years. Dave passed away in his sleep on the morning of July 5, 2022.

Dave was a MRF board member serving as the State Reps Program director, and in more recent years assistant to the Reps program. Please keep Dave, Kelly, and their blended families in your thoughts during this difficult time and afford them the privacy needed.

Arrangements will follow and be published on the MMA’s Facebook page as the family announces them.

Please send your condolences and support to: Kelly Ferguson, c/o MMA – Laurie Horn, 1-b Governors Way, Milford, MA 01757

Ride Free Dave – You will be missed by many.

About Motorcycle Riders Foundation
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) provides leadership at the federal level for states’ motorcyclists’ rights organizations as well as motorcycle clubs and individual riders. The MRF is chiefly concerned with issues at the national and international levels that impact the freedom and safety of American street motorcyclists. The MRF is committed to being a national advocate for the advancement of motorcycling and its associated lifestyle and works in conjunction with its partners to help educate elected officials and policymakers in Washington and beyond.

EU is proposing to list certain lithium chemicals as toxic. Plan could crimp investment in battery industry, groups say Lithium ore.

Lithium and battery producers warned the European Union that a proposal to classify the metal as a reproductive toxin could severely hurt Europe’s burgeoning electric-vehicle industry.

The material is a key part of EV batteries and widely used in pharmaceuticals, industrial lubricants and specialty glasses. A proposal being considered by the European Commission this month would put some lithium chemicals in the highest category of reproductive and developmental toxins, based partly on human studies carried out in the 1980s and 1990s.

That may stigmatize use of the materials and cut investment in the EV sector, lobby groups including Eurobat, the International Lithium Association and Eurometaux said in an open letter to politicians. EVs play a crucial role in green efforts and automakers such as Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. have warned that soaring materials prices and supply-chain bottlenecks threaten their rollout.

In the letter, the lobby groups raised concerns about the scientific rationale for the classification, which could lead to the chemicals being established as a “substance of very high concern” alongside severely carcinogenic and mutagenic toxins that the EU wants to gradually phase out by restricting usage.

–By Mark Burton
Climate Depot

BIKERNET GUN NUT REPORT— Profiling and Red Flag Laws

The recent uprise in mass shootings in America has a lot of people calling for ‘Red Flag Laws’… now, I don’t want to see anyone getting shot up, none of us do. But are Red Flag Laws really the answer? As they appear on the surface, Red Flag Laws SEEM like a good idea. See something, say something, right? The problem is, these laws not only turn a blind eye to some rather obvious red flags, due to it being politically incorrect to mention them, but they also are ripe for abuse in stereotyping and profiling bikers and people of a different race or political belief than you.

Nobody is saying much about the Highland shooter being a crossdresser. Even the cops in the press conference said he dressed up in female clothes as a disguise; but the photos he shared on social media showed he wore female hairstyles and clothing pretty often.

God forbid anyone suggest he was perhaps mentally struggling with his gender, though. They are too busy discussing him attending a Trump rally. Likewise, they are pretty hushed about the classmates of the Uvalde shooter saying he was bullied for wearing makeup.

Politically correct Red Flag laws set a dangerous precedence for everyone. It’s close to mirroring the Third Reich and their propaganda campaigns that turned neighbors into snitches but especially for bikers, as well as people who lean toward the 2nd Amendment loving side of the aisle. It’s terrifying how they could be used to control us.

One has to look no farther than the Waco Biker Tragedy in 2015, or the Jan 6th political prisoners, to see just how easily these types of nanny laws can be used to persecute people through stereotyping and profiling.

At least twice in America, mass arrests have been made without any individual consideration or probable cause, and no accountability as of yet in either situation for the people who are violating the Constitutional rights of American citizens.

Both situations set a precedence of mass arrest at a political event due to the actions of a few in attendance, followed by a one sided roast from the media about the terrible people who are now deservedly in jail. Both situations also involve blood spilled and loss of life. In this day and age of lives mattering when a cop pulls a trigger, both Jan 6th and the Waco bikers have been filed away as handled without a single officer being put on trial. Any time a cop pulls a trigger on an American citizen, there needs to be investigation and perhaps accountability, be it George Floyd or Ashli Babbitt or a restaurant full of bikers.

Whether you are Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian, you should balk at the violation of the basic rights and civil liberties of American citizens.

Right now, in America, people who wear red hats, are already Red Flagged as terrorists, supremacists, racists, bigots and zealots. Bikers who wear patches or support gear are already a target for law enforcement and media to point a finger at them and claim they are guilty until proven innocent.

Red Flag laws make it legal for them to take your guns, or even your freedom, just because someone declared you to be dangerous. Well, we all know some cops will pull over a biker and detain him and needle him and search him.. until they can find something to claim he is a danger to society. Do we really want to hand them free reign over our Second Amendment, too?

The fight against profiling bikers needs to pay close attention to Red Flag Laws because they are the embodiment of the stereotypical mindset that has plagued and harassed us for decades. Your hat, your cut, your motorcycle may already be, somebody’s red flag.

–AIW, The Wicked Bitch

–from Sam Burns

RALLY IS COMING FAST—The redhead is working on one Deadwood deck and I’m working on the other one.

“Paint isn’t dry in photos,” said the esteemed Redhead. “Color is close it seems a bit more gray than gray brown. Hope to complete one full coat before the weekend and then a second coat Saturday.”

Holy shit, my son, Frank is coming to the Black hills on Monday with his lovely wife Erika. We better be ready.

I’m working with a book designer in Rapid City to convert the Terry the Tramp book onto Amazon books files. It’s been a chore ever since buying the rights from Motorbooks, but we seem to be getting there.

Here is a shot of the shop before and some from today. We busted our butts to load in all the equipment. My guys dropped one tool box and jammed a couple of drawers. I need to spend a couple of hours just organizing and cleaning a few drawers.

Already started making shit. This is an effort to organize and find spots for all my shit. It is going to be a test in patience and organization.

Gantry is due to arrive today. Then we need to lift and remove the Salt Torpedo rear wheel and take it to Deadwood Custom Cycles for a new tire, and preparations for Bonneville begin.

We are grappling with positioning and bolting down our new Smithy Lathe. We put it in on the counter with skidster forks, but it needs positioning.

We’ve had some threats of hail and needed to cover the bikes while outside. You never know. Buck Lovell is headed over tomorrow to finish shooting our Pan clutch tech.

I repaired and got one of the lifts operational.

I’m working with Atomic Bob and Andy, of Crank and Stroker apparel for our Bonneville T-shirts.

Due to covid we didn’t go to Bonneville last year, and now we need to re-certify our harness system and extinguishers. Fortunately, Irish Rich’s neighbors are racers and fire extinguisher specialists. We should be covered shortly.

Hang on for more reports, but in the meantime ride fast and free, goddammit.

–Bandit

Despite India having to import 86% of its crude oil, a new petrol engine motorcycle has been launched by TVS Motor.

It may not be as simple as it may appear. Most fuel serves transport, such as commercial vehicles and the popular commuter buses in cities (municipal & State transport).

TVS Ronin Features:
https://www.rushlane.com/tvs-ronin-225cc-launched-3-variants-20-ps-20-nm-120-kmph-top-speed-12441985.html

TVS owns the legendary British brand Norton motorcycles. They set up a Research (R&D) and Manufacturing unit in England itself with HQ of Norton set up in England. Norton is best associated with the legendary Isle of Man races.

The boss of Jaguar-LandRover, Sir Ralf Speth, left that role and as chosen by TVS, was appointed Chairman of the new Norton motorcycle company.

Other References:
BMW G310 production milestone (click here)

Major automotive brands may not entirely believe all-electric will be a reality in a couple of years as demanded as an “Emergency” of Climate mandates.

This week, CTO of India’s Tata Motors (of MNC Tata Group) stated: “Net zero emission for CVs is at a nascent stage, says Rajendra Petkar.”

Refer at Economic Times link (click here)

They are a few norm numbers behind so that all companies here, including foreign ones, don’t get stuck. It would set back the industry and employment dependent on manufacturing, selling and commuting on two & four wheelers. Not to mention large commercial vehicles for essential goods & passenger transport, including within the city.

It is not really developing nations’ vehicles that consume most fuel on a monthly or annual basis. Sales figures also dependent on enforcing new Emission Norms matching the EU norms. Each State has autonomy (similar to USA) to decide their administration and efficiency apart from local infrastructure. These cannot be enforced pan-nation (unless you want the authoritative governments globally, about whom you may or may not be aware of).

Another good rule to measure is: How many miles / Kms is an average citizen going to travel / commute in a developing nation in a year ?

It is used to push EVs into cities (Tier-I, Tier-II & even Tier-III cities and some towns).

That’s just the 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler makers.

Would you really want competent students to quit their ambition to pursue more challenging medical exams & Medical Degrees, and aim for high-paying any-all Engineering jobs after all of us enduring this pandemic? (not to mention any possible w-r)

Then there is financing such education as new Engineering Colleges cannot grow overnight with qualified Professors, etc. Hike in fees is inveitable with such a surge in demand. Only losers are entire families & future generations.

As per investigations, most fires in electric scooters are due to customers not following manufacturer’s / seller’s guidelines on charging and plugging sockets. These may include: bad quality electricity connections or poor wiring at owner’s end or unsuitable voltage boards the consumer has used.

Reliable sources said that the EV makers have been given time till July end to respond in detail to the notices.”

Refer Economic Times News Source by clicking here.

Personal Views:
I believe, the more balanced progress in clearly improving Democracy in defined Constitutional Democratic nations is good for developed Western nations as well. The boom in entrepreneurship in India through new companies providing services & products for the local market is what is creating wealth. Not some outsourced work.

E.g.Many years ago, two employees of Amazon in USA quit their jobs there to start Flipkart.com in India. Amazon India only arrived in 2014 and when they became popular, Walmart USA bought out Flipkart.com to compete in India.

Uber was popular in India until Covid, when people decided to switch to buying affordable 2 or 4 wheelers for avoiding public transport. This created unexpected surge in demand from the industry who never saw that coming. It also more than doubled the prices of used vehicles.

Online purchase of groceries was never popular due to the popular local “Bazaar” system of buying them. Amazon India struggled to launch & supply their “Amazon Fresh” during Covid restrictions. Existing grocery websites and many food-delivery startups became huge – offering door-to-door delivery employment to adults who are less-qualified for office jobs.

A motorcycle major has launched a new model to compete in mid-segment motorcycles below 750cc.

Even as Electric two-wheeler and four-wheeler demands keep increasing, why would people still want some ICE engines?

How & why global net zero emissions and electrified vehicles cannot be achieved as simply as signing international agreements? Apart from few options to generate electricity, its not really developing nations’ vehicles that consume most fuel.

READ the full Article with examples at Bikernet.com – Click Here

Editor’s Note: Views expressed or reported in the Article are those of the author alone.

* * * *

Happy Birthday America – Celebrate Independence Day

This fourth of July we celebrate the birth of American independence. We at the Motorcycle Riders Foundation would like to recognize that freedom is not free and thank those in our armed forces for defending all of our freedoms. Perhaps Patrick Henry said it best back in 1775 when he declared “Give me liberty or give me death!”

Why we celebrate: In June 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies then fighting in the revolutionary struggle weighed a resolution that would declare their independence from Great Britain. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later its delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence.

AboutMotorcycle Riders Foundation: The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) provides leadership at the federal level for states’ motorcyclists’ rights organizations as well as motorcycle clubs and individual riders.
Visit: www.mrf.org

Monster Energy®/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Jo Shimoda Makes History with First Pro Motocross Overall Win at RedBud

July 2, 2022 | RedBud MX | Buchanan, Mich.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. (July 3, 2022) – The AMA Pro Motocross Championship headed north to Buchanan, Michigan for Round 5, ‘America’s National’ at the iconic RedBud MX. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Jo Shimoda proved himself to be a fan favorite by animating the notoriously lively crowd with 1-3 moto scores en route to carving his name in the history books as the first Japanese rider to earn an AMA Pro Motocross overall win. Fellow Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Seth Hammaker overcame second moto adversity for 11th overall (5-15), while Ryder DiFrancesco scored 14-12 for 13th overall in his Pro Motocross debut. In the 450 Class, Jason Anderson secured fourth overall (7-4) and Joey Savatgy finished sixth overall after a personal best third place in Moto 1 (3-9).

The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team quickly set the tone for the day as all three riders charged through the opening qualification sessions. Shimoda was clearly in tune with both track and machine as he logged the fastest lap (2:03.742) of the 250 Class to claim his first pole qualification. Meanwhile, Hammaker ranked ninth with a 2:06.226 and DiFrancesco showed his readiness to compete with the Pro Motocross elite by qualifying 11th (2:06.297).

At the start of 250 Moto 1, the rising Team Green star DiFrancesco was narrowly edged out for the holeshot with both of his teammates close in flank. A push of the front end in Turn 2, however, placed DiFrancesco on the ground and shuffled him to the bottom of the running order; the young rider had his work cut out for him in the race ahead. Meanwhile, Shimoda and Hammaker established themselves inside the top five with decisive moves on the opening lap. Shimoda raised the intensity to a fever pitch as he swiftly became the driving force in a three-way battle for the lead position. The No.30 KX™250 rider kept his main championship rivals under heavy pressure for the lion’s share of the race until he finally took command of the top spot with six laps remaining. Shimoda held true to form by maintaining his pace through the finish to claim his first moto win with more than a 20-second margin over second place. Hammaker logged consistent laps to hold onto a fifth-place finish while DiFrancesco turned heads with an impressive race from 32nd on the opening lap to 14th at the checkered flag.

The second 250 Class moto hosted green at the front again when DiFrancesco grabbed his first Pro Motocross holeshot in just his second start. A quick pass by Hammaker in the opening section of Lap 1 allowed the No.47 rider to take control of the lead from DiFrancesco before he lost traction accelerating out of Turn 4 and crashed. Further back, Shimoda found himself in 25th at the end of the first lap after a non-optimal start was worsened by a collision with another rider. DiFrancesco persisted with his sights on the leaders as the rookie held his own in the top five for more than half the race. While DiFrancesco gained vital experience at the front of the field, the crowd’s attention turned to Shimoda who was racing his way back into overall contention. The roars of the crowd followed Shimoda around the track while he passed multiple riders per lap, using creative line selection and relentlessly carrying his momentum through the pack. Despite his early race adversity, Shimoda clawed his way up to a heroic third place position to secure his first career overall win and made his mark in the history books as the first Japanese rider to grace the top step of the AMA Pro Motocross podium. After visiting the mechanic’s area to regroup from his crash, Hammaker made his way to 15th to salvage 11th overall (5-15) on the day and DiFrancesco finished the race with a respectable 12th place finish for 13th overall (14-12).

“In the first moto, I started up front and had a fast pace going as I pressured the Lawrence brothers for the top-two positions. I was able to make a good pass into the lead and finished strong for the moto win. In Moto 2, my start wasn’t great and then I got caught up with some riders on the first lap which put me outside the top 20. I pushed hard the whole race to fight my way to third and earned my first overall victory. I had to race really hard in both motos, and it paid off for a great day.”
– Jo Shimoda

“I made it a little tougher on myself than I needed to today but, my starts are improving and I just need to clean up a few things. In Moto 1, I had a pretty steady race all the way through to come away with a fifth but, I was looking to better that and get into the podium battle in Moto 2. Unfortunately, I lost traction at the bottom of the hill and fell just after passing into the lead so, I had to race forward from the back of the pack. It’s frustrating of course but, I will keep putting myself up there in the mix and keep improving to iron out those small mistakes.”
– Seth Hammaker

“I had a great start in the first moto but, a crash in the second corner put me way down the running order. I raced forward and made a bunch of passes to finish 14th. In Moto 2, I grabbed the holeshot which felt awesome, and I did my best to keep pace with the leaders for as long as I could. My goal for the day was to do exactly what I did for the first half of that second moto, I matched the speed of the guys at the front for as long as I could before getting tight and settling back a bit. I’m looking forward to Millville where I’ll try my best to stay up there even longer.”
– Ryder DiFrancesco

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The RedBud National featured the second reverse moto schedule of the season which meant a smoother track and higher speeds for the 450 Class qualifying sessions as they took to the course first. Never shying away from a high speeds, the Monster Energy Kawasaki duo of Anderson and Savatgy put the power of their KX™450SR machines on display by qualifying at the front in both timed sessions. When qualification concluded, Anderson had the second-fastest lap of the morning (2:03.505) and Savatgy was hot on his tail with the third-best lap time (2:03.698).

In 450 Class Moto 1, Savatgy was narrowly beaten out for the holeshot as he jockeyed for position with several of the top championship contenders. At the completion of Lap 1, Savatgy had taken a firm hold on second place with his pace in lockstep with the race leader. Unfortunately, Anderson was collected in a first turn crash and the No.21 KX™450SR rider crossed the green flag in 31st position. As the race progressed, Savatgy fortified his spot at the front by extending a gap over the riders behind and keeping in close tow of the rider out front. Unphased by the pressure of battling among several premier class champions while maintaining a smooth intensity to his speed, Savatgy held onto second place until Lap 14 when he was overtaken. A brief battle ensued when Savatgy launched himself back into second by skying out Larocco’s Leap but, he soon settled into third for the final laps of the moto. Savatgy crossed the checkered in third to secure his first 450 Class podium result and proved his recent progress with the Monster Energy Kawasaki team is affirming his place among the best in the world. Not to be overshadowed, Anderson thrilled fans as he charged through the field for the full 30-minute plus two lap race, passing over 25 riders, to secure eighth place at the finish.

The second 450 Class moto saw both Monster Energy Kawasaki KX™450SR riders emerge from Turn 1 inside the top-10. Anderson looked to fight toward a podium position as he moved forward from fifth on the opening lap to take control of fourth on Lap 4. A brief crash in the turn prior to the mechanic’s area, however, set the New Mexican back to eighth place and forced him to race his way up the running order again. A benefactor of Anderson’s crash, Savatgy moved into contention for the overall podium as he pressed forward to sixth by Lap 5. Savatgy continued to push himself forward until a swap through the sand turn after Larocco’s Leap caused him to crash and drop to ninth place on Lap 6. Anderson quickly found his form again as he maneuvered through the competition to reach fifth place by the checkered flag; his 7-5 moto scores earned him fourth overall. Savatgy finished out Moto 2 in ninth to earn sixth overall (3-9) and, more importantly, proved himself as a legitimate podium contender.

“Minor crashes in each moto cost me valuable time and positions early so, I felt like I was playing catch up all day. My speed was solid, and the bike felt great but, a couple of miscues are all it takes to put the podium out of reach. Overall, I made a lot of passes out there and managed to salvage a fourth overall so, we’ll just keep moving forward with the goal of getting another win here soon.”
– Jason Anderson

“It’s been almost four years since the last time I was on the podium and there have been plenty of highs and lows along the way. Finally getting myself back up on the box in the first moto felt amazing. Thank you to the Monster Energy Kawasaki team for this opportunity to be racing and improving each weekend. I was set back a bit overall by the crash in Moto 2 but, we took major steps in the right direction today and look forward to more progress ahead.”
– Joey Savatgy

By Andy May from https://clintel.org/

The U.S. Constitution was finally approved in 1787, after much debate. It reserved a specific list of powers for the federal government and the first ten amendments, or the “Bill of Rights,” reserved many powers for the citizens and states. The Bill of Rights imposed clear limitations on the federal government and explicitly stated that all powers not specifically granted to the federal government were reserved for the states or the people.

In its original form the federal government could not do very much beyond regulating interstate commerce, foreign affairs, and “provide for the common defense.” To restrict the federal government even more, the Constitution made sure each branch of government, the executive, the legislative, and the judicial, each had powers that restricted the other branches.

Thus, for the country’s first 120-140 years, the federal government was a sideshow, the heart of the United States was the center of business and commerce, the cities of New York and Chicago. The businesses did well, so well that the government began to issue itself powers to control businesses and their transactions. One of these controlling bodies is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Its mission is to:

“… protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation. The SEC strives to promote a market environment that is worthy of the public’s trust.”

Recently, the Biden administration has tried to use the powers of the SEC to force companies to disclose information on their supposed climate-related business risks through a proposed SEC rule. Two esteemed members of the CO2 Coalition, Princeton Professor, emeritus, William Happer and MIT Professor, emeritus, Richard Lindzen have reviewed the proposed rule and filed a critical comment on the rule with the SEC. In addition, they have filed an amicus curiae court brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stating that they do not believe there is a climate-related risk related to burning fossil fuels, and the resulting CO2 and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This post discusses both filings made by Happer and Lindzen.

“It is utter nonsense”
The proposed SEC rule does not establish that there is a climate risk, they simply assume there is, based upon President Biden’s Executive Order 13990 and the various IPCC Reports. The amicus curiae brief deals with the executive order and its underlying technical support document’s (TDS) social cost of carbon (SCC) calculations.

Happer, who has studied possible CO2 related climate change for over 40 years, succinctly states his opinion:

“There isn’t a climate crisis. There will not be a climate crisis. It is utter nonsense.”

Lindzen has studied climate even longer than Happer, his comment:

“What historians will definitely wonder about in future centuries is how deeply flawed logic, obscured by shrewd and unrelenting propaganda, actually enabled a coalition of powerful special interests to convince nearly everyone in the world that carbon dioxide from human industry was a dangerous, planet-destroying toxin.

“It will be remembered as the greatest mass delusion in the history of the world – that carbon dioxide, the life of plants, was considered for a time to be a deadly poison.”

Happer and Lindzen point out that these proposed reporting requirements will cost U.S. businesses more than $6.4 billion and might interfere with their ability to raise the capital they need to expand production of oil, gas, and coal. This latter problem is expressly opposite of the SEC mandate from Congress. The rules will increase the cost of fossil fuels, provide no benefits, and expressly harm the poor, who pay a larger percentage of their income for fuel. Happer and Lindzen believe there are no climate risks related to burning fossil fuels; thus, estimating and reporting these imaginary costs will unnecessarily and unfairly restrict the companies’ ability to borrow money because the additional risk reduces their value.

The SEC assumption is made because many prominent climate scientists share an opinion (the so-called “consensus”) that humans are affecting the world’s climate by burning fossil fuels and emitting large amounts of CO2. They also share an opinion that this is a bad thing. However, in the scientific world, the opinions of scientists and politicians are not relevant. This is not to say that anthropogenic climate change or the possibility of an anthropogenic climate change disaster are disproven, it is just to say that no valid evidence exists to support these hypotheses. This concept is examined in more detail here.

The SEC rule requires disclosure of each company’s GHG emissions to the SEC and in their annual reports. The purpose of these disclosures is to provide “decision-useful information to investors.” Obviously, the usefulness of this information hinges on the assumption that GHG emissions are a significant influence on climate and somehow harmful to the company’s future viability. These assumptions are disputed by Happer and Lindzen.

Richard Feynman
Neither Happer nor Lindzen believe the SEC and TDS arguments are scientifically valid. They state that reliable scientific theories make predictions that are later validated by observations. They are not from a scientific consensus, government opinion, peer review, or manipulated data. In the words of Professor Richard Feynman, as quoted by Happer and Lindzen:

“[W]e compare the result of [a theory’s] computation to nature, … compare it directly with observations, to see if it works. If it disagrees with experiment, it is wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science.” Richard Feynman, The Character of Physical Law (1965), p. 150.”

Models have been created to show the hypothetical human-caused changes to climate and the supposed damage these changes might cause. Unfortunately, or fortunately, perhaps, the models do not compare well to observations. Using Feynman’s rule, this invalidates the catastrophic climate change hypothesis. See here for more on the model/observations mismatch.

While the SEC can make rules mandating disclosure of valid risks to a business, it should not mandate disclosure of imagined risks that are not scientifically established.

The underpinnings of the SEC proposed rule are from President Biden’s Executive Order 13990, and the so-called TDS. These documents compute the total cost of burning fossil fuels, including the imagined cost of GHG-caused climate change or SCC. The dollar value assigned to the GHG emissions is computed by bureaucrats in the executive branch, essentially giving them the authority to tax any business that produces or uses fossil fuels (essentially every business), without authorization from Congress.

Happer and Lindzen also show that President Biden’s executive order, which mandates agencies determine the social benefits of reducing GHG emissions, is seriously flawed. The executive order ignores the benefits of additional CO2 and other GHGs, aka the negative costs.

Biden ignores evidence
Biden’s executive order relies very heavily on the famous IPCC climate change reports of the past thirty years, but as Happer and Lindzen make clear the IPCC rules state that all governments approve the IPCC summaries for policymakers (SPMs) at the head of each IPCC report. The SPMs are government opinions, not scientific documents. Everything in the IPCC report must conform to the SPM, thus the scientific content must be adjusted to match the government opinions, a clear violation of the scientific principle that only a comparison to real-world observations can validate a theory. Even after a theory successfully predicts specific observations, the theory can still be challenged with additional observations, a theory is never proven, it only survives challenges. Government dictates are not validation.

Both the IPCC and Biden’s executive order ignore the abundant evidence that additional CO2 is beneficial. Happer and Lindzen remind us that nearly all the food we eat and all the oxygen we breathe comes from the photosynthesis of CO2 and water. Plants evolved when atmospheric CO2 concentrations were several thousand parts per million (PPM), compared to the paltry 400 PPM in the atmosphere today. All plants grow faster with more CO2, and they use less water per pound of growth, which is why modern greenhouses add CO2 to their air.

Happer and Lindzen emphasize that agricultural crop yields have benefited from the addition of fossil fuel generated CO2 in the atmosphere. Global agricultural output has increased almost 300% since 1961 due to additional CO2, better seeds, more and better fertilizer (from fossil fuels), and better water management, more details can be seen here.

In summary, Happer and Lindzen write that the SEC and Executive Order 13990 section 5 are based on multiple violations of the scientific method and will be disastrous for poor people worldwide, future generations, and the United States. They note that both the executive order and the SCC rule violate the 1993 Supreme Court definition of “scientific knowledge,” the Daubert decision reads:

“[I]n order to qualify as ‘scientific knowledge,’ an inference or assertion must be derived by the scientific method, any and all scientific testimony or evidence admitted [must be] …reliable,” “tested,” and “supported by appropriate validation.” Daubert v. Merrell Pharmaceutical, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993) (emphasis added)”

Federal law requires all government agencies to weigh costs and benefits of a project or rule. However, Executive Order 13990 directs agencies only to weigh the purported costs, this clearly violates the Congressional mandate. The brief concludes that the President has improperly exercised executive power by using the device of a so-called interagency work group to create a law, which is beyond his Presidential authority under the U.S. Constitution. In the words of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brandeis (1926):

“The doctrine of the separation of powers was adopted by the convention of 1787 not to promote efficiency but to preclude the exercise of arbitrary power. The purpose was not to avoid friction, but by means of the inevitable friction incident to the distribution of governmental powers among three departments, to save the people from autocracy.”

The arbitrary SEC rule and President Biden’s Executive Order 13990 are exactly what the U.S. Constitution was designed to prevent.

Special thanks to Gregory Wrightstone and Dr. Richard Lindzen of the CO2 Coalition for their helpful suggestions and encouragement.

A review by Amy Irene White

Here is Amy’s views on a documentary on the subject of “Ride Free or Die”

Click Here to have a look.

This documentary covers biker and specifically motorcycle club profiling, which is a major issue followed by the Confederation of Clubs and Motorcycle Riders Foundation. Check it out and her compelling report on the Waco shooting.

Click to View other movie and documentary reviews in the ‘Books, Movies & Music Reviews’ Section on Bikernet.com