From Australia To The New Zippers Kit, THE NEWS Covers It All

Hey, It’s all non-stop. We just wrapped Sturgis and Bonneville, and we are headed directly at the Love Ride, Biketoberfest, the Ultimate Builder Shows all over the country, the Cincy Dealer Show and it will be Valentines Day and we will be looking down the barrel of Daytona Bike Week. Holy shit. I’m slammed with projects for next year, so I need to take advantage of the last couple of months of this year, so I’ve got a head start on next year. Can I do it and find a redhead born in the year of the Dragon or Monkey to share the adventure. Who the fuck knows? This is a killer news, so let’s get started. CLICK TO READ NEWS  

I think that its been about 10 years now that I have been shooting the Las Vegas Bikefest. I still remember the day when I received a message to call Pam Schwartz about the event. Me sitting in Philly & her in San Diego… could we be further apart? I deal with so so many promoters, and most, and I mean 98% of them are full of their own crap, so before I ever call anyone back, I do my homework.

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The new 2014 FastDates.com Calendars, returns for its 24th year with the world’s top roadracing bikes, custom bikes, and the most beautiful centerfold and celebrity models. Fast Dates World Superbike Calendar features all the top factory race bikes of the SBK World Superbike Championship including Max Biaggi’s’ 2012 Championship winning Aprilia RSV4, some cool Cafe Bikes, all photographed together with the official SBK Umbrella Girls.  Iron & Lace Custom Bike Calendar showcases the world’s top custom bikes from the annual LA Calendar Motorcycle Show with Playboy centerfolds and supermodels. While the Garage Girls Calendar features the hottest, sexiest Calendar Kittens including the beautiful blond haired 6-foot 2-inch tall SBK Grid girls Jituka and Petra from the Czech Republic. If you appreciate the world’s best motorcycles and beautiful girls, you need to have all three FastDates.com Calendars, one for the house, one for work and one for the garage!

The 2014 FastDates.com Calendars reveal a full 16 months beginning with September 2013 preceding the cover year. These are premium quality printed in full color on 15×15-inch dull coated heavy art board and wire spiral bound with a hang clip for easy wall display and page turning, sealed in a clear plastic envelope with cardboard stiffer for protection.

FastDates.com Calendars are available online at FastDates.com, Amazon.com, Calendars.com, at you favorite motorcycle dealer from leading parts distributors worldwide, and in the USA phone toll-free weekdays from Van Leeuwen 1-800-461-1226.  Suggested USA Retail $17.95 ea.

 

The Art of Making Biker Jewelry

A specialty store in Athens, Greece produces handmade Biker jewelry.
Geo Art Shop is a jewelry store located in the city of Athens, Greece. Except from traditional Greek silver art, its specialty is jewelry related to the biker’s culture and philosophy, all handmade in both silver and gold.

This Article shows us how the jewelry is made!

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If people were logical, Honda Shadows would outsell Harley-Davidson Softails by a large margin. A really large margin.

The Softail, which costs about three times more, outsells the $8,000 Shadow by 13-1 in the United States and 10-1 in Japan, home of Honda. Not because the Softail is an inherently superior bike, but because people like Harley-Davidson better, and spending that extra money makes them feel good.

“If we were a rational species, (the Shadow) would be the bike everyone would be riding,” said Ken Schmidt, former director of communications for Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson Motor Co.

Schmidt, guest speaker for the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce’s 131st annual dinner, was one of the people responsible for Harley-Davidson’s recovery from near extinction in the 1980s to worldwide success. He disdains “marketing,” reliance on social media and the selling of products as foolish corporate suicide.

“Because the world has gotten so good at technology, there has been a really ugly dividend,” Schmidt said. “Lowered expectations across the board because we know whatever we buy is going to be good.”

That is as true of motorcycles — “All motorcycles in the world do the same thing. They go forward on two wheels under power.” — as flat-screen televisions. He said marketing tends to appeal to people “who already swallowed the pill. It doesn’t get you off the couch.”

And retailers selling products make the gears in your brain grind out of synch. “All your thoughts are negative.”

What sells is having a good story and getting other people to tell it. The greatest tagline he’s ever heard is “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” because everyone knows it and it is so clearly a lie.

“If what happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas, you wouldn’t go,” he said.

He talked of meeting a man from India while on vacation on one of the tiny islands in The Maldives in the Indian Ocean. The man had a turban, a beard and a black t-shirt that said “Harley-Davidson, Sturgis, 2012.”

“I said no way you were in Sturgis. He pulled out a cellphone. ‘Here’s a picture of eight of us.’ He said the coolest thing was getting to hear Lynyrd Skynyrd sing ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and be invited backstage. I said no way you got invited back stage. He pulled out his cellphone.”

Schmidt said the man never once talked about the product. That was a given. He talked about the experience, about how it made him feel.

“What do you suppose he’s worth as a story teller?”

Schmidt said the annual rally in Sturgis, S.D., draws 400,000 to 500,000 Harley riders. Disciples, he calls them, because they feel so good about something they want to tell others about it.

“All we want to do is get people to like us. Period,” he said. “In a world where all things are equal, who do people chose to do business with? Someone we like. Period. They like us, they will tell stories about us.

“This isn’t the result of marketing. This is the result of human engagement. Maybe what we need to do is focus our efforts on human beings.”

Schmidt said Harley deliberately choose to swim against the tide. When others were pushing modern, Harley pushed retro. They always did the opposite.

“If what you do feels like the people you are competing against, all you are doing is lifting them up and pushing yourself down,” he said. “What’s your story? What do you want people to say about you and what are you willing to do to get them to say it?”

By Richard Ryman, Greenbay Press Gazette

 

“When death throws you back”, her strong, vibrant words echo around the room as she addresses veterans and others in hopes of inspiring them to live each moment, as she shares her own story of fighting back from the depths of despair after a devastating motorcycle accident.

“Life is about choices.  Everyday we get the option to make a positive influence in the life that’s been put in our path.  Will yours be a positive influence or negative influence?  Remember not making a decision is a decision.  Make a difference in someone’s life; it might just be your own.” 

CLICK TO READ ABOUT CAT

 

 

“AirPlay Direct is excited to bring the new radio special featuring Willie Nelson to our radio station members. The 80th birthday celebration continues with this great radio special”.   Michael Harnett, President / AirPlay Direct

This brand-new free radio special presents Willie Nelson, as told by the women who love him and join him for duets on his new album, To All the Girls…

Dolly Parton, Norah Jones, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, The Secret Sisters, Emmylou Harris and more great female singers share their insightful, deeply personal stories about Willie Nelson, and their experiences  working with him on these new tracks.

While their interviews conclude with their new duet recordings, the songs heard throughout the show are not the end of their stories. It’s clear that Willie’s role in their lives will continue long after this program is over.

The host is Tony Lawson (WDVX – Knoxville) and producer is Paul Chuffo (Joyride Media).

SONGS FROM WILLIE NELSON – TO ALL THE GIRLS…
Album in stores 10/15 from Sony Legacy

For more information on AirPlay Direct, please contact Lynda Weingartz at: lynda@AirPlayDirect.com

 long time TV  series Stacey David’s GearZ  comes to MAVTV. Each Friday at 9:00pm (ET/PT), the network is airing favorite episodes from past years with a new season currently in production and is slated to air in March 2014.

Stacey David’s GearZ is an automotive program that covers all things mechanical and is designed to appeal to the gearhead in everybody. The show includes vehicle make-overs and transformations, builds of trend-setting custom vehicles and even simple tips and tricks to help the viewer squeeze a little more power and performance out of their daily drive. The camera captures all the glorious details as vehicles are put through their paces on the road, off the road or in the sky. If it’s mechanical, it’s fair game and you’ll probably see it on the show. But that’s not all, Stacey David’s GearZ®also features historical and insightful stories on iconic people, vehicles, and companies that will inspire and entertain you.

Owned and operated by Lucas Oil Products, MAVTV is a television network with its roots deep in the automotive world. With an unparalleled line-up of motorsports events and exclusive automotive reality shows, MAVTV is the answer for motorheads from all walks of life. But MAVTV is much more than a motorsports destination, with original action/adventure programming, live MMA and an unbelievable library of blockbuster movies, MAVTV is a network the whole family can enjoy. A network by the people and for the people, made in in America and American Real.

 

A Meeting of the Real Movers and Shakers

This is a new bike film, just premiered, which may be added to that A-List. It’s already won Best Feature Documentary at the First Annual Motorcycle Film Festival recently in Brooklynn.
During the onstage introduction of the independently financed film under the aegis of WalkingWest Entertainment and gnarlyow entertainment, its Director/co-Producer Bryan H.Carroll commented that as the project developed the “We” part became the major factor, that being the people involved in the sport, each with a unique story but all with a common connection, the intense passion for riding and the physical, mental and yes, spiritual, elements that come with the territory.

CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE

 

A selection of unrivalled motorcycles, including a wonderful single owner collection of almost 100 classic Japanese bikes, will be on offer at Bonhams’ annual autumn sale at the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show at Stafford County Showground on 20th October 2013.

Assembled by Dutch entrepreneur Michael Buttinger, the collection comprises almost 100 machines, the majority of which are Hondas ranging from the humble but design-classic 50cc Super Cub to the technological tour-de-force NR750. The NR75O is estimated at a value of £50,000-70,000. It was designed with no expense spared by Mitsuyoshi Kohama, and intended to showcase Honda’s advanced technology.

Also on offer are a selection of early Suzukis, Kawasakis and Yamahas, a variety of later 1970s and 1980s classics, and two prototype engines—a sand cast CBX1000 and a CX500. Many of the motorcycles are effectively new or unused, and many have only a handful of ‘push’ miles recorded.

Outside The Buttinger Collection, the 1974 Kawasaki 500cc H1-RW 500cc triple is estimated to sell for a value between £60,000 and £70,000. Japanese works Grand Prix motorcycles from the 1970s are exceptionally rare and even rarer in private hands, most having been either scrapped or consigned to museums. So the Kawasaki is sure to attract attention from collectors. It is one of only two machines built by the factory for the French Kawasaki importer SIDEMM for use in the 500cc World Championship. The bikes were ridden during the 1974 season by the French endurance racing specialist Christian Léon and French-Canadian Formula 750 star Yvon Duhamel.

The 250cc Moto Morini Grand Prix racer will be of particular interest to collectors of European racing motorcycles. Until the recent arrival of the Moto 3 class in Grand Prix racing, the 250cc Moto Morini was the fastest single-cylinder four-stroke of its capacity ever made. Despite missing two rounds of the 1963 World Championship, works rider Tarquinio Provini lost out on the title by only two points. The bike is from an Italian private collection, and estimated to fetch between £75,000 and £85,000.

The sale also includes two unique Royal Enfield racers, built by former World Champion, the late Bill Lomas, and offered for sale by the Lomas family. The first is a c.1946 350/500cc JAP-engined ‘special’, estimated at a value of £10,000-14,000, and the second is his famous twin-cam ‘250’, estimated at £10,000-14,000. Built in 1949, the ‘cammy’ motor went into Bill’s successful 250cc Enfield racer, and his excellent results on this machine led to offers of rides in Grands Prix and at the Isle of Man TT. He went on to win the 350cc World Championship for Moto Guzzi in 1955 and 1956 before retiring to run the family motorcycle business.

Other desirable British classics include a 1938 Vincent-HRD 500cc Meteor ‘barn find’, acquired by its recently deceased owner in the late 1940s and laid up since 1957, estimated to fetch bewteen £22,000 and £26,000, and an incomplete 1939 Brough Superior 980cc SS80 restoration project, estimated at £10,000-15,000.