Valerie Thompson, owner/driver of Valerie Thompson Racing (VTR), is hoping to set new land speed records during her first appearance at the Texas Mile race March 22-24 at Chase Field Industrial Complex in Beeville Texas. Thompson hopes to become a member of “200 MPH Club of Texas,” with her Martech Services Company sponsored BMW S1000 RR Superbike.

 Popularity of the Texas Mile has grown rapidly since its inaugural event in October 2003, with participants from the US, Canada and Mexico testing themselves on one of the fastest and most challenging 1-mile tracks in the world. This bi-annual Motorsports Festival is welcomes racers in several categories, including motorcycles, high-performance street machines, race cars and land speed racers.

 “I can’t wait to kick off our 2013 racing season at the legendary Texas Mile,” said Thompson. “We have been busy preparing our Superbike with new BMW Motorrad HP4 Race Parts, MS Production supplied carbon fiber race parts and new paint job by Orlando Autobody of Mesa Arizona.  Even out tow vehicle has been improved with new Vision Wheels from our newest sponsor,” added Thompson.

Breakout Detachable Leather Saddlebags (P/N 90200816, $829.95) offer 2,100 cubic inches of handy capacity and detach with the pull of an internal handle, leaving behind two inconspicuous docking points. A rigid plastic tub, wrapped in genuine leather, offers long-term durability. Leather straps with magnetic tips hide quick-disconnect closures for packing convenience. Installation requires the separate purchase of an appropriate Docking Hardware Kit.  

You may have seen this funny but polarizing video everywhere this week, unless you were too busy doing actual work. So here it is, for your viewing pleasure on this Friday. It resonates particularly with some of us in the Bikernet staff, those who have a combined magazine experience nearing a century. This hits close to home for us, even though we're now part of the problem…

Remember how cool it was to buy Easyriders each month or to wait for your favorite subscription in the mailbox? Well, here's a suggestion for you. Skidaddle over to your newsstand and pick up the latest copy of our partner magazine, IronWorks. Hit the banner below for a look at IronWorks' current issue.

I just rolled back from the Iron City Tavern in San Pedro. The discussion around the bar centered on the news from Arizona. It just doesn't make any sense. More than ever we need to understand and cherish freedom in this country. Check the news.

Don't miss it!

Car and motorcycle buffs who love metal have an opportunity June 8-9 on Detroit's Belle Isle to show what they got two months before the Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise.

Metallica's Orion Music + More Festival, to be held those dates, seeks applications from vehicle owners for a show that will be held on the island during the event.

Details on how to apply for the show are expected to be announced "soon," according to the event's website. The show's organizers appear to be willing to accept all sorts of vehicles from hot rods and muscle cars to custom cycles.

Tickets for the Orion Music + More Festival started going on sale last month on the event's website.

This year's lineup includes not only Metallica, but the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Deftones, Dropkick Murphys and several other acts.

It was a long journey home for 21-year-old Cpl. Matthew Hanes. While serving in Afghanistan over the summer, he was shot in the shoulder, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

His sacrifice earned him miles and miles of gratitude.

abc27 was at the Pennsylvania state line where an expansive motorcade of over 100 motorcycles from the Patriot Guard Riders, Warrior Brotherhood Veterans, and the Guardian Knights joined to escort their "brother" home safely.

The 2010 Northeastern High School graduate was welcomed all the way to his home in East Manchester Township by friends and neighbors. Once there, Hanes was greeted by an emotional crowd and introduced to a large new addition to his family's home. The construction will soon provide for a wheelchair lift and space for physical therapy.

Continue reading

Having opened his US based parts and accessories operation four years ago, Rikki Battistini is 'bringing it home' by choosing the upcoming BIG BIKE EUROPE expo as the platform to increase exposure for his popular parts and accessories designs in Europe.

Noted for his 'C-Thru' accessory programme, the Battistinis range offers contemporary designs of accessories for all areas of the bike from air filter kits, covers and forward controls through to floorboards, handlebar controls and bagger detailing touches.

A 'non-selling ProGrade' expo, BIG BIKE EUROPE is also the new, permanent host event for the acclaimed AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building (2013 will see the World Championship mark its 10th anniversary and first ever appearance in Europe).

BIG BIKE EUROPE is the all-new custom and performance industry expo concept catering exclusively to the international parts, accessories, custom, performance, service, workshop and tuning vendor community.

BIG BIKE EUROPE is a three day expo offering exhibitors an innovative and unique new Invitational/Open-admittance attendance strategy.

The defending national champion Harley-Davidson® Screamin’ Eagle®/Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racing team will open a season celebrating the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary at the 44th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, Fla., March 14-17. The event is the first for Pro Stock Motorcycles on the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.
 
Both of the team’s Harley-Davidson® V-Rod® motorcycles will wear special livery inspired by the Limited Edition 110th Anniversary Harley-Davidson motorcycles through the end of the anniversary in September. The #1 V-Rod of defending Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Ed Krawiec will have the Vintage Bronze and Vintage Black anniversary paint scheme and medallions available on many standard production Harley-Davidson models. Andrew Hines will race the #2 V-Rod in the Diamond Dust and Obsidian anniversary colors offered on 2013 Harley-Davidson Custom Vehicle Operations models.
 
“Racing has always been part of the Harley-Davidson DNA,” said Harley-Davidson Racing Manager Kris Schoonover. “The Harley-Davidson racing department was established in 1914, and the company founders were engaged in competition even earlier than that. We’re still racing hard, and this year to celebrate the 110th milestone the Screamin’ Eagle drag bikes will be wearing the same anniversary paint as our production motorcycles.”

 
New Rules, New Engines
The Harley-Davidson V-Rod drag bikes that roll off the Vance & Hines trailer in Gainesville will be significantly different from the bikes that dominated the Pro Stock Motorcycle class in 2012, winning 15 of 16 events and taking Krawiec to a second consecutive title, with Hines placing second in the points. An NHRA rule change for V-Twin engines mandating two-valve cylinder heads and minimum pushrod length of eight inches was announced in November 2012, immediately after the final race of the season. To comply with the new rules, the Screamin’ Eagle team had to abandon its successful four-valve/overhead cam engine and design a new power plant in time for the 2013 season.
 
“I think we got NHRA approval of the new design on December 21, and it’s been full steam ahead in the shop since then,” said Krawiec. “We’ve had eleven weeks to do the work we’d like to do in six months. We have an experienced team and resources at Vance & Hines, and there has been valuable input from the Harley-Davidson engineering staff at the Willie G. Davidson Product Development Center and great support from our vendors. Our first goal is to make it to Gainesville, do a burnout, and get both motorcycles qualified. I think for the first half of the season we’ll be doing a lot of development work, but that should be an exciting process.”
 
The new engine necessitated a redesign of the front end of the V-Rod motorcycles, including new bodywork, plus new airboxes, exhaust, and a new wiring harness, according to Andrew Hines.
 
“This has probably been the most challenging off-season ever for Vance & Hines,” said Hines, who is the son of team owner Byron Hines and the brother of crew chief Matt Hines. “The new bike will be a little lighter but will also make less power, so we are not going to be as strong as we were last year. But we still go into the season with the goal of winning the championship, and I think if we can stay in the top ten until the Countdown playoffs start in September we have a good chance because we’ve got a great team. The schedule this year is in our favor, because we’ve got a month off after Gainesville, and then another four-week break in May, which will give us some time to test and further develop the new engines.”
 
In 2012 the Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines team dominated the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, winning 15 of 16 events. Krawiec won his third championship and second in a row, with nine wins in 11 final-round appearances. Hines scored a career-best six event wins in 11 final-round appearances, and set a new Pro Stock Motorcycle national Elapsed Time (ET) record of 6.728 seconds at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pa.

Talk about clean as a whistle. This bike built by the magnificent Shadley Brothers, around an Arlen Ness Chassis, was never featured in a magazine. We're glad to have this exclusive opportunity to feature this puppy. Just the paint won the House of Kolors prestigious paint award last year.

Clean as a whistle: 

(From Asphalt & Rubber)

When we last caught up with Pierre Terblanche, the he had left a frustrating position with the Piaggio Group, that saw the South-African creating several intriguing concepts for the Moto Guzzi brand that never saw the light of day, and he was thus headed to work for Norton.

With work there being a non-starter, rumors pegged Terblanche coming stateside to work for Confederate Motorcycless, but with those rumors over a year old now, we assumed the thought to collaborate with the Southern marques had passed. However, our inbox today tells us that seems not to be the case, as Confederate Motorcycles has announced that Pierre Terblanche is the company’s new head of product development.

Noted for his work with some of Ducati’s most iconic v-twin motorcycles, many may remember Terblanche as the man responsible for the first-generation Ducati Multistrada & Ducati Hypermotard motorcycles, along with the iconic Supermono, MH900e, and Sport Classic. However, it goes without saying Terblanche is best remembered (for better or worse) for the Ducati Superbike 999, a highly polarizing street bike model that followed Massimo Tamburini’s superbike classic, the Ducati Superbike 916, and its progeny.

Continue reading