Alright. Maybe she wasn’t a great business leader—who saw that coming?—but the slightly ridiculous 1800cc, two-cylinder, leather-saddlebag, CHiPs-windshielded cruiser I’m trying to force through six stopped lanes of Los Angeles traffic can’t be taken as anything but an admission on the part of the Bayerische Motoren Werke that Harley-Davidson knows

a) what boys like;
b) what guys want …

… here in America, anyway. The press release says that the BMW R18 is a throwback/retro take on the company’s pre-WWII R5, and if you just look at the photos it almost seems plausible, but five minutes behind the bars of the new one will put the lie to any claims about mining BMW’s own past for inspiration. This massive motorcycle channels Milwaukee the same way the last few steroidal and ridiculous generations of BMW’s M3 resemble a Pontiac Trans Am far more than they do any svelte four-cylinder touring-sedan racer of the Eighties.

Now here’s the problem: Germans love Harley-Davidson, to the point that the “Eaglerider” bike-rental operations in Las Vegas and elsewhere often have bilingual employees whose second tongue is Deutsch, not Spanish. Formula One champion Michael Schumacher spent a dozen summers riding the American West on Harleys, owned a vintage Indian Chief, and even designed his own “bobber” around a Harley-Davidson engine. Every year more than thirty thousand bar-and-shield bikes are sold in Europe, the vast majority of those to Germany. BMW’s last attempt at building a “cruiser”-style bike, the funky R1200C seen beneath Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies, was a flop both here and and in Europe. So what makes BMW think that American buyers will ride a Bavarian pretzel, when even the German riders clearly prefer the real deal from Wisconsin?


The market for American-style cruisers is so massive nowadays that it supports a second large-scale American manufacturer. After years of trying to make their house-brand bikes resonate with customers, Polaris has finally decided to go all-in on the Indian marque, and the results have been impressive. Not only are the modern Indians very good, they’ve also forced Harley to drastically accelerate the pace of innovation in their own lineup.

“Serious” motorcyclists laughed at the cruiser market for a solid four decades, but in the end Harley and the potato-potato won, just like Elizabeth Holmes predicted. (I think.) If you want to make money in the American motorcycle game, you need something that competes directly with Harley. But it can’t be just a metric-scale copy of a Harley; the Japanese tried that and failed. Your Harley competitor needs to have some kind of independent “hook” on which to hang its raison-d’etre hat.


Owning an R18 will let him do all the cruiser stuff while still feeling superior to his Harley buddies. And here’s the best part: the BMW is actually cheaper than its American equivalent. (Nobody has to know that.) It’s hard to option an R18 up to $20,000. And it’s ten grand cheaper to start than the $28,499 Indian Challenger Dark Horse that we’ve also taken on this Palm Desert motorcycle adventure, another alt-universe cruiser that uses an oddly-shaped fairing and a truly magnificent powertrain to stake out a different kind of difference from the Harleys, so to speak.

Since it would be a bit churlish to ride a couple of Harley substitutes without including the real thing, we’ve brought The Motor Company’s own alt-Harley along. The Heritage Classic splits the price difference between the Beemer and Indian, at just under twenty-three grand plus accessories, and it’s powered by a slightly heretical Harley engine: the 114-ci “Milwaukee-Eight” V-Twin, which drives four valves per cylinder with a single cam and pushrod valvetrain.


BMW R18
“This thing rides like fake patina looks.” Leave it to young Kyle Smith to sum up the R18 in a single cutting simile. He’s not wrong; although our test took place in the mountains above Palm Desert, CA, it was my job to shuttle the big Beemer to and from Los Angeles for said test and I never warmed up to it. Not even a little bit. There was never a moment of the ride when I would not have rather been on the Indian, or possibly on my old 2014 Honda CB1100. Our other Smith, yclept Sam, is similarly unsympathetic: “Reminds me of the McDonald’s in the Frankfurt airport.”

Alright, so the R18 isn’t charming, and there’s a slightly unpleasant air of what pro wrestlers call “kayfabe,” meaning fake, about the whole thing. Even the real-deal mechanical aspects of the motorcycle, such as the violent right-side rock that accompanies every start and every quick rev of the massive Boxer twin, feel contrived somehow. But it’s not a bad bike. Some parts of it are very well thought out. “The gearbox is a brainless delight,” Sam noted, dialing back the snark a little. “Fit and finish put the other bikes on the trailer, especially in plating and plastics/switchgear. Handling and damping easily outclass the others; it’s far more adjustable in the midcorner, and far more confidence-inspiring over lumpy stuff. Also far more fun to ride fast, if you give it the right ingredients. But you have to work at it. It rewards and seems to want a trained rider, where the other two make you feel good no matter what you do.”


As the slowest and least graceful rider of our trio, I was always trailing Kyle and Sam by some distance in the mountains, but the R18 extended that gap significantly. Bereft of both the Indian’s massive power and the Harley’s comfortingly flexible chassis, I always felt that I was about to drag the cylinder heads on the ground in the corners, and when the road straightened out I had no ability to catch back up. The ride back to Los Angeles was miserable, with freezing rain and vicious crosswinds as we passed the famous Cabazon Dinosaurs, and I found myself unable to maintain highway speed in the worst of it. More than four hours’ worth of lane-splitting on the approach to LA pointed out another R18 drawback: that wide engine is a nightmare for getting between Cayennes and Suburbans on the 405. Time and time again I would make a move that felt absolutely death-defying, watching the running boards of a pickup truck pass the cylinder heads with a Bible-page’s worth of gap, only to look up and see Kyle impatiently tailgating me on the far narrower, and much more traffic-adept, Harley.

Let’s be cynical for a moment: if you want to attend cruiser-bike events in your neighborhood but despise the idea of riding an American anything, the R18 is just the ticket. It’s not expensive, it’s built well, and it looks the part. But there’s a sad irony in the way BMW imitates Harley-Davidson here. They started with their existing boxer-twin product, the world’s most comfortable and competent bike for Aerostitch-wearing grownups, then punished the thing until it felt crude and dopey enough to match their idea of what a cruiser was. Harley-Davidson, meanwhile, entered the modern bike market with a swap-meet budget and technology from the Twenties but have busted their humps since then to improve their products in every aspect from peak horsepower to iPhone connectivity.


Indian Challenger Dark Horse
“So well-sorted, it makes the other two look and feel like comic-book answers.” Hard to disagree with Sam Smith here. If the R18 is defined by what it subtracts from the experience, the Challenger is a creature of addition. Take the stereotypical cruiser—and add:

• An astoundingly stout-hearted engine that can summon warp speed at any place on the tach or speedo;
• A goofy space-age fairing that nevertheless works perfectly at isolating the rider from the unpleasantries of the open road while effortlessly allowing the joy of it;
• Good-enough brakes;
• All the technology/nav/phone-integration you could want;
• An ethereal combination of soft springs and road grip, kind of like the best Caterham road cars;
• Good, solid luggage that is just a missing quick-release feature away from perfection.
  

Indian has a particular control language, for lack of a better phrase; everything you touch is big, sturdy, high-effort, unbreakable-feeling. For short rides, it’s an annoyance. After five hundred tired miles, you appreciate being able to stomp and punch the bike along like a strong-willed but eventually-obedient mule. Like its Roadmaster and Chieftain stablemates, this is a massive and unconscionably heavy motorcycle, and feels far more droppable than either the Beemer or the Harley, but that same unapologetic mass lets it run at triple digits on the cruise control in absolute S-Class-on-the-Autobahn confidence.

This is the most expensive bike in our test, and you never forget that, not for a single moment. Because it’s worth it. The most fascinating part of the new-generation Indians, for your humble author at least, is how fragile and insubstantial a Harley feels in comparison. Like BMW, the nice people at Polaris have leaned-in on an interpretation of “cruiser” that isn’t strictly drawn from reality. The difference is that the Challenger feels designed to exceed the Harley, not dumb down to it.


Harley Heritage Classic
Could this be the worst gearbox in modern motorcycling? If it isn’t, I can’t imagine what could beat it for the title. Sam Smith: “Neutral is nonexistent. Next to impossible to find when hot, and simply not in the gearbox when cold. Every one of us sat there going 2-1-2-1-2-1 over and over again, trying to find it.”

Kyle Smith: “The throw of the shifter is long even into first, and the thwack of the gears gnashing together … cracks. It’s not the sound of cracking off a home run, or even line drive. It’s not an intentional sound. It’s … haphazard.” Our experience with the Harley’s transmission was so bad that I’m going to find another Heritage Classic as soon as I can, just to see if “they all do that.” Regardless, this is one motorcycle that requires a test ride before purchase, just to see if you can live with the powertrain.

The rest of it, happily, requires no such resigned accommodation. The Milwaukee-Eight didn’t impress my young Smiths very much but as a veteran of many long miles on previous-generation Harley engines I found it charming, particularly in its eagerness to rev. There’s no engineered-in drama like you have with the R18 or Challenger, both of which have pixelated “character” added by some multi-million-dollar CAD-aided crankshaft calculations. This is just a classic V-twin doing its best to offer adequate power down low and an extended redline up top. It’s not the Honda S2000 of cruisers; that was probably the old Harley V-Rod. It’s like the Integra GS-R of cruisers. More space at the top of the tach than you’d expect, and cheerful about getting there.


Sam notes that “It somehow manages to feel more calculated than the Indian and less cynical than the BMW. It’s just a company doing one thing, the way it has always done it, and trying to maintain that idea against the winds of progress.” I disagree; to me this is an ambitious effort, from the powertrain to the electronics. But if you’re not in the culture, I can see how it doesn’t look particularly progressive.

Where Sam and I agree, however, is regarding the friendly and (literally) flexible road demeanor of the thing. “The bars are awfully flexible—they visibly bend without a lot of effort. It’s noticeable while pushing the bike around in a lot, or lifting yourself out of the seat at speed for a moment to relieve spine pain. Have to assume this impacts how the steering feels and reacts, and yet the thing tracks arrow-straight under most conditions, and bends into a corner consistently.” I personally felt most comfortable in the mountains on the Harley. It reminded me of a titanium-framed road bicycle; you see a fast bend, you start pressing down on the bars, and the frame conforms to the maximum safe speed. How odd, for a Harley to be the corner-carver of the group!

Some of the traditional Harley aesthetics rubbed all of us the wrong way; in particular, the turn signals and instrumentation seem designed for nothing more serious than a cruise-in at the local Sonic. This is so clearly a modern engineering effort that it seems incongruous to have it behave like a 1995 Softail in this regard. Oh well. If you want something that wears its modernity on its sleeve, try the Indian Challenger.


The conclusion, in which nothing is concluded

Have you ever wondered what the difference between motorcycle and car tires is and why you can’t just use them interchangeably? Do you want to know more about them?

When most people think about tires, they think about the rubber that sits underneath their car or motorcycle. They might not give a lot of thought to the different types of tires available on the market, but there are a lot of options out there for both cars and motorcycles.

In this post, we’re going to take a look at some of the differences between motorcycle and car tires. Stay tuned!

Design

Researchers say that by far the most important difference between a motorcycle tire and a car tire is the design. There are distinct differences between the two different types of tires that are suited to each type of vehicle and mode of transportation to make it as safe but also as efficient as possible.

Cars and motorcycles handle tires differently and therefore need to have different tires in place. There is a big difference in the suspension and the handling for each tire and it must be designed to work with the vehicle not just to be a part of it.

Additionally, motorcycle rims have less tread on them than car rims, since motorcycles don’t need as much traction in wet conditions.

Motorcycle tires are designed with riding motorcycles kept in mind and the fact that they will need to learn when going around corners stops completely opposing this car tires are considered to have a square profile and will not be able to lean like motorcycle tires.

Traction

Next up on our list, we have traction. traction is another very important part when it comes to looking at tires and choosing the right one for your vehicle. When it comes to comparing motorcycle tires to car tires something you will notice is that they both provide a very different kind of traction to each other motorcycles typically go at much higher speeds than cars do and therefore need to have more traction, especially when it comes to starting or stopping. They are also lighter vehicles and don’t have as much weight on them.

Cars are much heavier than motorcycles and therefore don’t need as much traction on their tires to get going or to move fast as the weight helps with this.

Tread Life

Tread is one of the most important aspects of any tire and something that you need to keep an eye on when you have a call or a motorcycle. When it comes to comparing motorcycle tires to car tires while looking at the trade you will notice that car tires typically have a much more resistance and a much deeper trade which makes them far more durable than that motorcycle tires which are not as resistant and are a bit shallower.

Price

Looking at the price of a motorcycle versus car tires you would think that car tires would be more expensive because they are typically much bulkier and more durable however this is not the case.

When looking at the tires you will notice that motorcycle tires are a little bit more expensive, and this is because of supply and demand. There are fewer motorcycles on the road than they are cause meaning that motorcycle tires are more expensive since they make fewer of them.

Maintenance

Last but not least we have the maintenance of cars versus motorcycles. This one is something that may seem obvious and it is a lot easier to keep up with the maintenance of a motorcycle as opposed to a car because it is much smaller and requires a lot less maintenance due to having fewer parts.

Maintaining a car can be more difficult and often you have to take it into a shop to get fixed or even wait for ordered parts from overseas which can make it more expensive and just overall more tricky

At the same time, you’ll want to move everything into one place—ideally your garage or storage unit. The fewer places you keep your collection, the easier the process becomes. And be prepared for the entire process to take far longer than you imagined. Considering the obscurity of certain motorcycles as well as the small pool of potential buyers for some of the more expensive ones and unpredictability of the market, it can easily take years.

Likely, selling off the parts will prove most challenging and time-consuming. You can’t donate them to charity or sell them at a Mecom’s-type auction as you can with a complete motorcycle. Your best bet then will be to sell them to another collector and EBay is an obvious way to do so. Museums might want them, but generally only if they’re free.

Finding that person can take time as well. We all know people who know motorcycles just as we know people who know money. But it’s essential that whomever you choose has your best interests in mind rather than their own. For that reason, you’ll want to involve an estate attorney or estate planner to create a Directive to Heirs or Beneficiaries which lays out how you want your collection handled as part of your Estate.
Once you’ve created an estate plan, make sure that you assign or title each motorcycle to your Trust so as not to get tangled up in probate.

Deadwood, South Dakota, March 8, 2022—Bikernet Blog Hits the Top 25 of motorcycle websites ranking. FeedSpot.com investigates the best Motorcycle blogs from thousands of blogs on the web ranked by traffic, social media followers, domain authority and freshness.

Bikernet is consistently rated in the Top 100 Motorcycle Blogs on the internet, but in the February 2022 ranking it hit the Top 25. Feedspot media database has over 100,000 Influential Bloggers in 1500 niche categories.

SEE LATEST RANKING at:
https://blog.feedspot.com/motorcycle_blogs/

Last year Bikernet.com hit the 25-year marker in the business, which was a major milestone after starting in 1996, when the web was super-young. The staff survived the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009, when motorcycling and the custom market was hard hit. “Choppers are dead,” many media sources reported. “But we kept going,” said Keith Ball, the Grand Emperor of the 5-Ball Inc. Empire. “We even expanded with Bikernet Baggers, Bikernet Trikes, the Bikernet Blog and 5-Ball Racing Leathers. Some made it during tough times, some didn’t.”

FeedSpot has over a million users and searches Blogs on the world wide web for motorcycle enthusiasts as well as professionals. What sets the Bikernet Blog aside from other blogs is their ability and balls to deliver comprehensive coverage on all aspects of motorcycling – including customers, custom builders, legislative, dealerships, aftermarket parts, corporate news, industry, outlaws and market news, motorsports, freedom fights, off-road, tech & tips, infrastructure threats, sex, events, reviews, accessories, changes in laws, travel tips and most importantly the fun & joy of bikerdom.

“What sets us aside is our desire to keep the industry alive, thriving and free,” said Ball. “Being a biker is not about getting rich or towing any line. Bikers have always been outlaws. We fight helmet laws, and anything that might restrict building choppers. We also fight the lack of transparency behind climate doom. Science will never be settled, and it may be that CO2 is saving life on earth. We need to keep our minds absolutely open and receptive to new data.”

Bikernet solicits content from all over the world with contributors in the UK, South Africa, Australia, Sweden, India, New Zealand, Europe and all over the USA. Wayfarer is our Main Blog Editor, a biker who rides his motorcycle daily, in all weather conditions. “Without the input, editorial advice and desire of Wayfarer, we wouldn’t be as diverse with our coverage as we are,” said Ball. “The Wayfarer also handles much of our Social Media, while my son, Frank Ball Sr. oversees our Instagram page and my grandson, Frank Ball Jr. is helping us move 5-Ball Garage mail order to a Shopify platform. It’s an ever-changing portfolio of infrastructure projects.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to us regarding advertising which supports our platforms and contributors. Advertising is a simple $167.00 a month for reach on Bikernet.com, the Bikernet Blog and Bikernet email blasts.

Drop a line to KRB@Bikernet.com or call 310-528 9258 for more information.

C. A. Bridges is a Digital Producer for the USA TODAY Network.
Additional information from bikeweek.com

DAYTONA BEACH — Bike Week, now marking its 81st year, may not be your grandfather’s — or even your great-grandfather’s — bike rally. A gathering for motorcycle race fans, a drunken party, a biker brawl or a family vacation destination, Bike Week has been a lot of things over the years.

It’s our Mardi Gras, our Fantasy Fest, our Carnival. It’s a portable, 10-day street party of motorcycles of all kinds, eye-popping costumes, bikini-clad women, sidewalk vendors, parades, Clydesdales, beards, tattoos and alcohol. Bikers and locals alike go to nonstop concerts and bike shows, go on long rides or just stay on Main Street for days watching it all go by.

It all began in 1937 when almost a hundred daredevils on motorcycles raced each other on the road and packed sand of Daytona Beach in the first Daytona 200, launched by a group that included not-yet-NASCAR-president Bill France. About 15,000 fans watched Ed “Iron Man” Kretz ride his No. 38 Indian Motorcycle to the win before heading to Main Street to celebrate.

In the next four years crowds and entries doubled and things at the “Handlebar Derby” got a bit wilder. In 1939 a News-Journal article reported that “the party got so rough that city firemen had to be called to dampen the crowd’s spirits with a little cold water” and the National Guard had to be summoned.

City leaders attempted in 1941 “to limit, if not eliminate the rowdyism” by organizing activities for fans, including field events, a 100-mile race for novices, a parade of motorcycle clubs, and “the presentation of trophies to the best-dressed woman motorcyclist.”

In 1942 the race was put on hold for five years while the country fought in and recovered from World War II, which is why we’re celebrating the 81st anniversary this year instead of the 85th. But some locals and visitors continued to show up for the party every year anyway, race or no race, for an unofficial event that became known as Bike Week.

France kicked things off again in 1947 and Daytona Beach was “jammed to the rafters,” according to a Feb. 21 story that reported every available hotel room and apartment was rented. Most places were “only charging moderate rents,” an average of $4 or $5 for a double room without a private bath.

But things reportedly got so out of control that a Chamber of Commerce committee was formed to come up with a plan in 1948, endorsed by the American Motorcycle Association, for “preventing unbridled rowdyism.” The plan included checking mufflers at all approaches to the city and handing out lists of rules for behavior to all visitors to help limit the influx of what the AMA referred to as “one-percenters,” as compared to the “99% of the motorcycling public” who are “law-abiding.”

Did it work? Not right away. A tear gas grenade was used to quiet the crowd in 1949 when some motorcyclists insisted on racing on Main Street, which had been blocked off for a street dance.

“We have plenty more grenades if we need them,” the sheriff was quoted as saying.

Bike Weeks in the ’50s were, comparatively, sedate. The 1950 event was described as quiet, orderly and “the most successful racing weekend in Daytona Beach history.” And by 1951, the “Wild West” atmosphere was deemed a thing of the past.

This was likely helped along by the officers from 70 out-of-town police forces brought in by city leaders to help control the crowd and lay down the law that year. But wholesome fun was still encouraged: An “entertainment program for the diversion of motorcycle enthusiasts” was slated that included a “contest for the best uniformed police squad.”

It also didn’t hurt that Marlon Brando and James Dean were on the big screen a few years later making bikes, white T-shirts and leather jackets look cool.

By 1961, France moved the motorcycle races to his newly-built Daytona International Speedway but the party stayed largely on the beach. Gradually, the “Wild West” returned.

 

Bike Week expands to more cities
It also started spreading. Over in Samsula in 1967 Olga “Aunt Ollie” Weber, daughter of the town’s co-founder Joe Sopotnick, took over the neighborhood gas station and general store he’d built in the mid-’20s and gradually turned it into a bar and, twice a year for Bike Week and Biketoberfest, a biker haven where visitors could hang out, bet on illegal drag racing and camp in the old cabbage field next door.

Years later, in the late ’80s, it became even more of a must-see destination when Ron Luznar, Weber’s nephew and the bar’s new owner, noticed that “wrestling” events involving bikinis and gooey ingredients were becoming popular. Rather than having women grapple in mud or whipped cream, Luznar stayed on-brand and coleslaw wrestling quickly became a notorious, world-famous attraction at Sopotnick’s Cabbage Patch.

Meanwhile, a smaller Bike Week was forming. Tommy Asberry, a Black biker from Atlanta, was ticketed in 1971 for parking his Harley-Davidson on Main Street and found a more hospitable welcome, along with many other shunned Black motorcyclists, in Daytona’s Second Avenue area (since renamed Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard) to enjoy Black Bike Week, a major event in the local Black community to this day.

Over in New Smyrna Beach in 1981, Gilly Aguiar, owner of Gilly’s Pub 44, took a stand against the trade deficit of the day by inviting everyone to bash a Japanese bike for charity, and that immediately became a popular annual event.

Depending on what you thought Bike Week should be, the 1970s and ’80s were either the event’s Golden Age or a decidedly unfriendly, uncontrollable invasion. A popular motorcycle magazine suggested there shouldn’t even be a 1981 event.

Newspapers reported disorderly conduct and women exposing their breasts. Trouble with rival motorcycle gangs began to get the attention of the law enforcement community. Daytona Beach police were on overtime to assure crowd control. A former Orlando motorcycle gang leader was sent to prison for murdering a Daytona Beach biker.

Even the Boot Hill Saloon — long since a world-renowned biker bar icon — famously stayed closed during its first Bike Week in 1974 because new owner Dennis Maguire “didn’t want any problems with bikers,” as he told the Sun-Sentinel years later.

 

On Main Street, no colors allowed
Locals feared that tourists were starting to stay away and law enforcement and city officials were unhappy. The Bike Week Festival Task Force was formed in 1988 to bring some formal organization to the event. Alan Robertson, the original owner of Main Street’s Beach Photo & Video, served as chairman and relentless Bike Week supporter.

Karl Smith, a.k.a. Big Daddy Rat, long one of the forces of nature of Bike Week, was one of the first to see the commercial potential. Big and burly (but with a degree in fine arts), he sold airbrushed shirts from The Rat’s Hole and his other shops, organized motorcycle shows in Daytona and around the world, and helped spread the message that Bike Week didn’t have to be a slugfest.

 

Not everyone was happy with a softer Bike Week. In the late 80s the Iron Horse Saloon, a rough and tumble Main Street staple, moved to U.S. 1 on the north end of Ormond Beach to avoid Daytona’s planned decorative renovations.

Throughout the ’90s and into the 21st century, police and bikers got friendlier and local tourism agencies began marketing family activities to draw in vacationers.

Bike Week attractions continued to spread out from the beach. A welcome center with vendors across the Halifax River on Beach Street drew off some of the Main Street crowds. Auto dealer Bruce Rossmeyer, who opened a successful Harley-Davidson dealership on Main Street in 1994 that kicked off his chain of Harley locations, moved it 20 years later to the new 150-acre Destination Daytona complex he built along Interstate 95 near Ormond Beach to give bikers more restaurants, bars, shops, a hotel and condos to go to.

 

Revving up during COVID-19
Even during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 when major sporting events and public gatherings of all times were being canceled, the motorcycles rolled on in Daytona Beach despite growing concern from health officials and warnings from city officials and the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“We can’t cancel it. The people are already here. You can’t put gates around the city,” said Nancy Keefer, the chamber’s CEO. “We help with the permitting, master-planning and marketing of the event, but we don’t control the businesses (that put on the events).”

There was a brief outcry when initial media reports stated that a New York resident who traveled to Daytona Beach for Bike Week was among three new presumptive coronavirus cases, back when three new cases were a big deal.

It was later learned that the 63-year-old man never made it to Daytona Beach. However, a 59-year-old man from St Lucie County who attended Bike Week became the first COVID-related death on the Treasure Coast a few weeks later.

While hand sanitizer was visible at most bars and venues, few masks were in evidence on Main Street. At the last minute city and county officials announced they were revoking permits for any gatherings of 100 people or more, which meant that vendors would have to pack up.

But while white-topped tents over T-shirts, food and other wares were missing and outside bars were shut down, the crowds still came. An estimated 500,000 people attended the 2020 event.

 

Riding into the future: only motorcycles allowed
After weathering heightened health concerns during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Bike Week marks a return to normal, albeit with general health guidelines that have remained in place at many businesses, said Janet Kersey, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce.

 

There will be activities, concerts and attractions all over the area for visiting bikers. Biker-friendly bars are scattered up and down U.S. 1. The bucolic city of DeLand holds a bike parade every year. Bikers looking for a quieter (if still raucous) place to go head to Flagler Beach. Destination Daytona will have vendors, motorcycle demonstrations and music on outdoor stages. Many visitors come down just to ride the Loop in Ormond Beach, a scenic, 34-mile ride through twisting, tree-lined roads in largely undeveloped Florida.

Black Bike Week, traditionally held the second weekend of the larger 10-day event, brings thousands of people of all ethnicities to enjoy the street-party festivities at Joe Harris Park in Daytona Beach.

And, of course, at the Speedway across the street from the Official Bike Week Welcome Center at OneDaytona there’s the Daytona Supercross, and the Daytona 200 that started it all.

 

 

Organization

Lights

A torch setup

Digital calipers

A high-quality tap set
The ability to create an accurate threaded hole is key to just about any fabrication project. It’s also important to be able to clean out or restore threads on vintage parts to ensure proper fit. Not all taps fit the bill, however. This is the first entry that includes a disclaimer: high quality. Taps are made from very hard material and the thing about that is if they break off in a hole you are in for a world of frustration. I personally think you have two options for acquiring taps: Buy the big set and cry once at the check you just wrote, or buy what you need as you need it. This all comes down to what kind of cash you have on hand at the time. I came into ownership of a cheap tap set and it just sits in the back of the toolbox these days as anytime I need to cut threads I will purchase a high-quality piece of tooling in the appropriate size for the project and then index it in the toolbox for the future.

Welder
Left for last because it’s the most obvious. Just about any DIY enthusiasts without a welder lusts after one, and for good reason. A welder can be a great problem solver and there is no reason not to have one these days with 110v models being more powerful, smaller, and more affordable than ever. Plan on burning a small spool or two or wire on scrap metal before joining any projects you care about. Best to make friends with your local metals or welding shop to see if you can pick their scrap bin once a week to get material to practice on.

Adding these eight tools and disciplines to a basic tool kit makes you more than prepared for any home DIY project. Have a recommendation you think should be added to the list? Post it in the Comments Section below.

1. Comment from a Hagerty reader pointed out an important “tool” – the “Fire Extinguisher”. The author has acknowledged this critical element which should be included no matter the size and capabilities of any garage. We will publish a story on types and applications of Fire Extinguishers shortly.

If you work with metals only, you are still of course using electrical lighting and electrical tools. Maybe even printed manuals!

Class A

Class A fire extinguishers will put out basic fires: wood, paper and other typical material. In an auto shop, this fire extinguisher is best placed in the office area to put out simple fires. It is never to be used on gasoline, oil or electrical fires because it contains water.

Class B

Class B extinguishers are a must in a garage due to all the flammable liquids that mechanics deal with on a day-to-day basis. Class B extinguishers put out gasoline, oil and other fires from flammable liquids. Depending on how big the garage is, you might need to place several of these throughout the shop.

Class C

Class C extinguishers are meant for electrical fires from wiring or equipment that is run off of electricity. Even if all the motorized tools in the shop ran off of hydraulics or some other power, a class C extinguisher is necessary for fires that start in electrical outlets in office areas, lighting or other electric sources.

Class D

Combinations

A refreshing article in the Washington Examiner demonstrates what I have repeatedly said for more than a decade: climate change does not pose an “existential threat.” In fact, that’s the title of the article: “Climate change is not an ‘existential threat.’” In discussing the energy crisis that has arisen during Joe Biden’s brief tenure as president of the United States—primarily because of Biden’s climate policies—David Simon writes,

The Biden administration’s climate change policies have sharply increased oil prices, damaging the domestic economy and increasing the cost of nearly everything consumers buy. By increasing revenues for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime, they also made Russia stronger and more dangerous at a critical time, thus damaging national security. …

But worst of all, the Biden administration’s basis for these policies, the claim that global warming presents an “existential threat,” is fraudulent. It is not based on any scientific consensus, and in fact, it ignores evidence of environmental benefits of global warming that offset its harm.

In this article, chock full of data, Simon schools so-called journalists in the corporate media on how to examine claims that humans are causing a climate catastrophe. Simon presents data and research that conclusively demonstrate temperature and climate-related deaths have significantly declined during the period of modern warming. Climate Realism has also pointed this out on numerous occasions, refuting alarmists’ claims to the contrary.

For example, arguably the largest study ever to examine excess mortality associated with temperature was published in the July 1 edition of The Lancet, one of the world’s most prominent health journals. The study’s authors, 68 scientists representing universities and research institutes in 33 countries spanning all regions of the world, came to two clear conclusions: cold temperatures contribute to far more deaths each year than warmer temperatures, and deaths associated with extreme temperatures, hot or cold, are declining. The researchers found nearly 10 times more people die due to cold temperatures than hot temperatures. Moreover, as global temperatures modestly increase, the number of people dying because of suboptimal temperatures is decreasing.

“Importantly, cold-related death decreased 0.51 per cent from 2000 to 2019, while heat-related death increased 0.21 per cent, leading to a reduction in net mortality due to cold and hot temperatures,” the study reports.

Considering that 10 times more people were dying from cold than from heat, the study indicates the warming between 2000 and 2019 saved 3.1 million lives from cold-related deaths, at the expense of just 130,000 extra deaths caused by heat. As a result, global warming saved a net of nearly three million lives during the past 20 years.

This study confirms what previous research has consistently shown. In 2015, for example, The Lancet published the results of another large-scale temperature/mortality study, in which the researchers found cold weather directly or indirectly killed 1,700 percent more people than warm or hot weather. The scientists examined health data from 384 locations in 13 countries, accounting for more than 74 million deaths. The authors of this study wrote,

[N]on-optimum ambient temperature is responsible for substantial excess in mortality, with important differences between countries. Although most previous research has focused on heat-related effects, most of the attributable deaths were caused by cold temperatures. Despite the attention given to extreme weather events, most of the effect happened on moderately hot and moderately cold days, especially moderately cold days.

Even The New York Times acknowledged the importance of that study, with Jane Brody writing, “Over time, as global temperatures rise, milder winter temperatures are likely to result in fewer cold-related deaths, a benefit that could outweigh a smaller rise in heat-caused mortality.”

In addition to correcting the record on heat-related deaths, Simon dismantles various climate fictions about worsening natural disasters, using readily available data:

The facts regarding natural disasters also do not support the “existential threat” claim. The number of hurricanes per year, a 2021 EPA report shows, has not increased since the late 19th century. Moreover, although you wouldn’t know it from the panicky, sensationalized news coverage, the total acreage burnt by forest fires annually has decreased, and most rivers flood less today than they used to.

Since 1920, Earth’s average temperature has risen by 1.12 degrees and the world population has quadrupled from less than two billion to almost eight billion. Even so, the number of people killed each year by natural disasters has declined by about 90 percent. That statistic, more than any other, puts the lie to claims of an existential crisis due to climate.

There is also the global air pollution death rate, which has declined by about 45 percent over the last three decades. Again, no “existential threat” here.

Simon is correct. Research published at Climate Realism has refuted assertions about worsening wildfires and hurricanes on multiple occasions.

Simon also discusses research showing the positive side of climate change: “global warming has increased both agricultural yields and growth of forests, grasslands, and tree leaves.”

Climate Change Weekly and Climate Realism have refuted claims climate change is a threat to crop production more than 100 times. We have cited research and hard data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization showing regional and global crop production and crop yields have regularly, almost yearly, set new records during the recent period of modern warming.

Basic agronomy explains why crop production is booming under current climate conditions. As detailed by the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change in Climate Change Reconsidered: Biological Impacts and Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels, the carbon dioxide humans have been pumping into the air since the middle of the twentieth century has enriched plant growth and improved plants’ water-use efficiency, thereby contributing to record crop yields.

Laboratory experiments and real-world field research show as carbon dioxide increases, plant fitness and flower pollination improve, plants develop more-extensive root systems to extract greater amounts of nutrients from even poor-quality soil, plants use water more efficiently by reducing the number and openness of stomata through which they lose moisture during transpiration, and plants produce greater amounts of natural substances that repel insects and fight off competing weeds.

All of this has helped bring about the largest decline in hunger, malnutrition, and starvation in human history.

Simon’s conclusion is spot-on and speaks for itself:

Biden administration climate change policies are sensationalizing the threats while ignoring all the benefits. They rely on speculative “models” that supposedly project global temperatures and predict disasters. But these models are highly unreliable, … unable even to reproduce the temperature changes of the 20th century.

The Biden administration’s campaign against U.S. oil production and pipelines is not just harmful—it is an environmental fraud.

To quote longtime radio host Paul Harvey, that’s “the rest of the story”: the very good news the mainstream media and various scientific and political shills aren’t telling you about climate change.

SOURCES: Washington Examiner, Climate Realism; Climate Change Weekly

Motorcycle brands across the spectrum of biking are coming together to assist people affected by the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine, while multiple manufacturers have announced they will no longer sell bikes or supply parts to people in Russia, including Harley-Davidson, Suzuki and Honda, which is donating one million Euros to the Japanese Red Cross as humanitarian support for Ukrainians suffering through the enemy occupation.

Joining in on a growing list of economic sanctions, Yamaha, BMW, and Polaris have also halted exports to Russia in the wake of the ongoing crisis.

Ural publicly called for an end to the hostilities, while Timur Sardarov, the Russian CEO of MV Agusta, described the “horrific atrocities… conducted by the Russian regime” as the “biggest tragedy in his 40 years of existence” in an open letter. Both incredibly brave moves by Russian owned businesses.

There have also been moves from motorcycling groups from around the world to condemn Russia’s militaristic actions. Europe’s FIM (The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) has suspended all Russian and Belrusian riders’ licenses, with the British ACU (Auto Cycle Union) joining them in applying the same suspension for the UK. The FIM have also cancelled three MXGP rounds of racing that were due to take place in Russia.

E.U. BANS MOTORCYCLE EXPORTS TO RUSSIA
The European Union officially enacted additional trade restrictions on exports to Russia, in light of the latter nation’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including a ban on the export of European motorcycles and/or parts with values over 5,000 Euros. The measure comes as part of a list of additional prohibitions and restrictions on Russia as it continues this assault.

The motorcycle pronouncement, along with other decisions, were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on March 15, 2022 and, in accordance with the E.U.’s rules of governance, these rules immediately went into effect as of that publication date.

 

U.S. TRAFFIC FATALITIES / FATALITY RATE HIGHEST IN A DECADE
On March 2, 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its 2020 Annual Traffic Crash Data, revealing the highest number of lives lost on U.S. roadways since 2007, despite fewer miles traveled.

While the number of crashes and traffic injuries declined overall, fatal crashes increased by 6.8%, with 38,824 fatalities nationwide. The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled increased to 1.34, a 21% increase from 2019 and again the highest rate since 2007.

In some good news, the estimated number of police-reported crashes in 2020 decreased by 22% as compared to 2019, and the estimated number of people injured declined by 17%.

In 45% of fatal crashes, the drivers of passenger vehicles were engaged in at least one of the following risky behaviors: speeding (up 17%), alcohol impairment (up 14%), or not wearing a seat belt (up 14%).

Fatalities amongst all vulnerable road users was up across the board; Motorcyclist fatalities up 11% (highest number since first data collection in 1975), Bicyclist fatalities up 9.2% (highest number since 1987), and Pedestrian fatalities up 3.9% (highest number since 1989).

Obviously 2020 was a uniquely anomalous year, with a global pandemic affecting every facet of everyday life, but it’s troubling to see such increased carnage even with less travel.

Total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) decreased by 11% in 2020, from 3,261,772 million to 2,903,622 million.

ARIZONA LEGISLATURE APPROVES LANE FILTERING
Lane Splitting and Lane Filtering bills are popping up more frequently, and if Senate Bill 1273 is signed into law by Arizona’s Governor Doug Ducey (R), it would be a welcome relief for riders stuck in Phoenix traffic on a 110-degree day.

While “Lane Splitting” allows motorcyclists to ride between moving lanes of traffic, like California has allowed for many years, the term “Lane Filtering” allows riders to move between stopped traffic such as riding to the front of traffic at a stop light.

Arizona’s neighbor, Utah, made headlines in 2019 when it adopted lane filtering, and Montana legalized filtering in March of last year. Oregon came close to legalizing filtering last year, but the bill was stopped by the governor’s veto.

The allowed filtering described in Arizona SB 1273 is similar to Utah’s, with riders able to filter to the front on multi-lane roads, between two lanes going in the same direction, where the speed limit is 45 mph or less and surrounding traffic is stopped, and riding no faster than 15 mph.

 

NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGISLATOR CLAIMS BEING PROFILED FOR RIDING A MOTORCYCLE
While testifying in support of House Bill 1000, which would prohibit profiling of motorcycle riders by law enforcement, House Speaker Sherman Packard suggested he was profiled during a traffic stop several years ago in New Hampshire.

Packard (R-Londonderry), who is the highest-ranking member of the Republican majority, testified in the Public Hearing that he was stopped on Route 1A in Rye, N.H. about nine years ago. “I was in a pack of motorcycles and was the only one stopped by an officer,” he testified.

Packard said he was told by the officer he had passed a car on a double yellow line. He said he denied it, and the officer then told Packard he was riding on the double yellow line, which he again denied doing. He said he was detained for about 20 minutes, indicating he felt it was a case of profiling because he was a motorcycle rider. He also said he did not know why the other motorcycle riders he was with were not stopped.

Sherm Packard, a longtime motorcycle rider and champion of bikers’ rights, was a founding member of the NCOM Legislative Task Force and developed the National Coalition of Motorcyclists’ informational brochure “A Biker’s Guide to Getting Elected to Public Office”.

Packard is also a cosponsor of HB 1000, which was voted out of the House on March 11 with an “Ought to Pass” recommendation.

MOTORCYCLES ARE GOOD FOR YOUR BRAIN AND BODY
A new study shows that motorcyclists are less stressed and more fulfilled than car drivers.

The scientific study originally set about trying to find out if bikers were constantly riding in fear of being involved in an accident, but inadvertently proved the opposite! The results center around a certain hormone called Cortisol that is released in the brain when we become anxious, finding that bikers produce 28% less Cortisol during testing than drivers on the same course.

The study was conducted by The Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behaviour (INHB) in a controlled manner, with 50 motorcyclists and 50 car drivers making their way around a closed course for 20-minutes. During this time, the team measured the user’s heart rate, Cortisol, and adrenaline levels, and monitored brain activity.

Results indicated that when riding, the subjects experienced increased sensory focus and resilience to distraction. Riding also produced an increase in adrenaline levels and heart rate, and a decrease in Cortisol levels — the kind of results you often get after a light exercise session, which also is a stress reducer.

 

SMART MOTORWAY FAILS
Within days after the Stopped Vehicle Detection system (SVD) failed to prevent a fatal crash on England’s M25 smart motorway, a series of internal emails from Highways England paint a horrifying picture, with sections of the road described as effectively blind to stopped vehicles.

The problem stems from the SVD system that should detect a stopped vehicle in a live lane, alerting the control room to close the lane with red ‘X’.

The Daily Mail reports that transportation staff are plagued with similar outages on the smart motorway network, with staff seeing errors and outages so much, they don’t actually have the time to report the error. Indeed, at the time of the M25 outage, a bug prevented an alert from being broadcast to the staff, meaning they had no warning of an incident they could react to.

As the catalogue of failings grows and the death toll mounts, the cry for smart motorways to be scrapped altogether grows louder and louder. And it isn’t just the public that is outraged, as politicians on all sides have called for the ‘fatal’ scheme to be axed, once and for all.

2022 NCOM CONVENTION – NEW DATES & LOCATION ANNOUNCED
Mark your Ride Calendar NOW for the upcoming 37th annual NCOM Convention to be held June 17-19, 2022 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton, located at 10 Century Blvd.in Nashville, Tennessee (615/871-0033 for room reservations).

Concerned riders from across the nation will attend, to learn and share information and experiences regarding mutual topics of concern. All motorcyclists are welcomed and encouraged to participate in the many meetings, seminars and group discussions that focus on legislative efforts and litigation techniques to preserve Freedom of the Road.

Agenda items will cover legal and legislative issues, with Special Meetings for Veterans Affairs, Women in Motorcycling, Clean & Sober Roundtable and World of Sport Bikes, as well as the Christian Unity Conference and Confederation of Clubs Patch Holders Meeting.

 

H-DAY FOR EUROPEAN TRAFFIC PATTERNS
In a stunning joint international transportation announcement, all countries in Europe will begin switching over from left-sided driving to the right.

Per the cooperative trade agreement, effective midnight April 1st, on H-Day (for Högertrafikomläggningen, Swedish meaning “right-hand traffic”), all Cars and Trucks in every European foreign country will immediately pull to their right and henceforth drive on the right-hand side of the road like we do here in America.

If successful, in a carefully orchestrated 2-step governmental roll out period, the following April First all buses and motorcycles will switch sides too. =))

Hey, don’t get FOOLED by Fake News, on April Fool’s Day or anytime; enroll to receive timely and factual NCOM Biker Newsbytes monthly in your In Box for free by e-mailing “Subscribe” to the editor at NCOMBish@aol.com.

QUOTABLE QUOTE:

“Have an open mind, but don’t let your brain fall out.”
~ Bazooka Joe (1952-2012), Topps Candy Co.

 

ABOUT AIM / NCOM: The National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) is a nationwide motorcyclists rights organization serving over 2,000 NCOM Member Groups throughout the United States, with all services fully-funded through Aid to Injured Motorcyclist (AIM) Attorneys available in each state who donate a portion of their legal fees from motorcycle accidents back into the NCOM Network of Biker Services (www.ON-A-BIKE.com / 800-ON-A-BIKE).

THE AIM / NCOM MOTORCYCLE E-NEWS SERVICE is brought to you by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM), and is sponsored by the Law Offices of Richard M. Lester. If you’ve been involved in any kind of accident, call us at 1-(800) ON-A-BIKE or visit www.ON-A-BIKE.com.

 

 Sons of Speed is a motorcycle race inspired by early 20th-century board-track racing, featuring stripped-down bikes with pre-1925 American V-Twin engines. Numerous modifications are done to handlebars, exhaust, fenders, fuel and oil tanks etc. OH, did I mention NO BRAKES!

 They were back at the steeply banked New Smyrna Speedway for the start of the 2022 Daytona Bike Week. This track is a favorite because it allows wide open, full throttle racing.

 Inspired by Billy Lane this event continues to grow. It has different classes so that the motorcycles will be evenly matched by engine size.

 A series of what is called heats has the riders competing and the winners of the heats eventually race each other.

 Dale, Dmac and myself covered the event and have a lot of great photos.

 

 There were many of the racers we knew from covering this event since the beginning as well as many new ones which goes to show the growing popularity.

I had a whole different story I had planned to write, but I ended up in the hospital. Getting old is a drag. 

 

I am going to post what I can now before it is too outdated. Hang on for future reports.

 Always a favorite is Ebay Jake who won the Hot 61 Class again this year.

Ebay Jacob is at Daytona Bike Week.

Daytona Bike Week 2022, Hot 61, Sons Of Speed Championship Race. Final lap it was wreckers or checkers, went in to turn 3 wide opened, never let off and was able to pull off one of the gnarliest motorcycle moments of my life and grab another @curtis.venable #teamwearcrete championship @hoboracing is always a bad ass fast racer and on the superfast “Maggie” from @wheelsthroughtime it took everything I had + a prayer.

Thanks to @departurebikeworks for getting that 1921 running, Jon E. Neuman for the #fhead power, and everyone else that helped make it happen. #9peat #merica @wreckingcrewhd

@palletone fastest pallet act. Manager in in the U.S.

Bo Shankle Ball he’s pretty comfortable on it,,, Curtis Venable is the owner of the bike and Ebay Jacob rides that bike for the WearCrete Racing Team 

 

Rodney Rankins won the 45 Class

Tom Banks won the 30 Singles Class

A plus to some great racing is getting to see friends that I do not see that often.

If you ever get a chance to attend one of these events, don’t miss it.

You can stay informed on their Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/thesonsofspeed/