by Elena Gorgan from https://www.autoevolution.com Imagine a situation in which you can customize your dream vehicle based on your preferred position of riding. Then, imagine being able to further customize that vehicle and have it easily managed, carried and stored, without having to worry about storage or whether you’re strong enough to carry it. A POIMO would be just right for what you’re looking. POIMO stands for “POrtable and Inflatable MObility,” a concept by Mercari R4D. The first iteration of the POIMO was unveiled earlier this year and now designers, in collaboration with the Kawahara and Niiyama labs from the University of Tokyo, have come up with the second model. It’s the customizable inflatable vehicle mentioned above, and it could be either an electric motorcycle or a manual wheelchair. The idea is to create a means of transportation that would be easy to carry and put together, offer none of the downsides of having a solid frame related to parking or storage, and still be as efficient. Being customizable from a single picture of the rider’s posture would also be a plus, one that fixed-framed vehicles won’t have. Designers say that everything on the bike would be made of the same inflatable material, even the wheels. That may be the case with the manual wheelchair, but we assume an electric motorcycle would require at least some components not made from fabric, no matter how durable it was. Riding on inflatable wheels also seems a strange proposition for a motorcycle, but the designers promise you won’t feel the difference between this one and the real thing. In theory. Let’s not even get into how safe this would be in traffic. That balloon material will absorb shocks and bumps alright, but it will still be like sailing on an inflatable swan into a speedboat convention. In case you’re wondering how this would work, the theory is this: “For example, when designing an electric motorcycle type POIMO, the user first imagines the motorcycle he wants to make and then poses to ride it using a chair or the like,” the designers explain. “The software extracts 3D information of posture from it, automatically designs a vehicle of shape and size according to the user’s pose, and displays it on the screen as a 3D model. Based on the proposed design, users can further customize the steering wheel, seat position, etc. at this time, the design parameters are automatically adjusted by the software so that the strength, stability, and operability are not impaired. The final design that has been adjusted is output as data that can be ordered as it is.” One could argue that sitting on a motorcycle (or a bicycle, for that matter) has little to do with sitting on a chair as regards body posture, so even if you were to design an inflatable two-wheeler using this customizable method, you have no guarantee for a comfortable ride. But the idea behind the project is to try and offer customizable vehicles – and it stops at that. “Even if you are not an expert, you can easily design personal mobility,” the designers say. An inflatable vehicle would also come with considerable advantages in terms of convenience. In crowded urban areas where it would be used, like Tokyo, people live in small apartments where they don’t have space to store a bicycle, or they can’t afford risk having their motorcycle stolen from the parking lot. Neatly packing your ride into your backpack after you get to your destination would surely do away with this issue. Available at the bottom of the page is a video demonstration of the new POIMO iteration, the electric motorcycle and the wheelchair. They both look ridiculous, to be sure. But it’s important to stress – and remember – that this is research into a concept that serves as possible learning experience, and not an actual product that will be sold as such. The research will be presented at UIST 2020.  

Women’s Racy Leather Hoodie Jacket

by Silvian Secara from https://www.autoevolution.com

Are you ready to meet the grooviest Sportster Forty-Eight that’s ever roamed our roads?

As of 2010, a gifted aftermarket wizard named Winston Yeh founded Rough Crafts in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei. His enterprise specializes in developing an extensive selection of aftermarket items, as well as creating some of the raddest custom two-wheeled masterpieces you’ll ever have the honor to encounter.

Generally speaking, the workshop’s range tends to revolve around Harley-Davidson’s creations, but the RC team will gladly tackle just about any motorcycle brand on their magnificent bespoke exploits. As I was navigating through the firm’s portfolio, I stumbled upon a glorious creature based on a 2012 Sportster Forty-Eight.

This build was completed back in 2015 and served to let everyone know these folks aren’t playing around. It features an intricate display of meticulous craftmanship that’ll leave you genuinely speechless. In fact, let’s take a minute to examine what’s at hand here.

The donor is put in motion by a malicious Evolution V-twin behemoth, with an astronomical displacement of 1,199cc. At approximately 4,000 rpm, this nasty piece of air-cooled machinery will generate up to 79 pound-feet (107 Nm) of ruthless twisting force. A five-speed transmission channels the engine’s unholy power to a belt final drive.

Rough Crafts kicked things off by outsourcing a retro Dunstall GT front fairing replica and reshaping its windshield to fit the desired aesthetic. Instead of discarding its factory gas tank, the crew went about sculpting a pair of knee dents that complement the lines of the aftermarket front fairing.

Ultimately, these refinements add up to a stunningly fluid design language. At the rear, we notice a single-seater quilted leather saddle and one handsome cafe racer-style tail section, which houses the bike’s relocated oil tank.

Next, RC browsed The Speed Merchant’s inventory to obtain a custom triple clamp. You will find that it grips a Sportster 883R’s forks, offering a considerable suspension upgrade. Additionally, the brakes were also treated to a comprehensive makeover, receiving a blend of top-shelf Lyndall Racing Brakes units.

Forty-Eight’s Evolution V-twin is allowed to breathe with ease thanks to a Super E S&S carburetor and a fresh two-into-one exhaust system that manages to look the business. The latter wears a stainless-steel reverse megaphone muffler fabricated in-house.

Lastly, the finishing touches consisted of equipping clip-on handlebars, a grille headlight and rear-mounted foot pegs, besides a new filler cap and a set of sinister levers that round out the updated appearance.

If you’re digging this XL1200X Sportster Forty-Eight as much as I am, then I’d strongly encourage that you head over to Rough Crafts’ Instagram and Facebook pages. Their remarkable works of moto art will have you drooling!

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

It was only at the end of August that Harley-Davidson announced the availability of “the biggest, most powerful street-compliant engine Harley-Davidson has ever created,” the crate Screamin’ Eagle 131. But since a complete engine swap might seem a bit extreme for some, here come some upgrade kits for a slightly smaller tuning job.

There are a number of them made available this week by the Milwaukee bike maker, dedicated to Softail bikes manufactured from 2018 and Touring motorcycles made from 2017.

The biggest and most extreme is the 114ci to 131ci upgrade, one that is described by the company as “the largest Harley-Davidson bolt-on engine upgrade to any Milwaukee-Eight motor.” Sporting things like CNC-ported heads with 1 mm bigger valves, high-lift SE8-517 cam, high compression pistons and a 64 mm throttle body and intake manifold, the kit gets the engine’s power all the way up to 124 hp and 135 ft-lb of torque – these levels are achieved when the upgrade kit is backed by the Screamin’ Eagle Street Cannon Mufflers.

Next up is the 107ci to 128ci upgrade, featuring, naturally, about the same changes. In this case, the output levels go to the same horsepower rating as with the larger kit, 124 hp, but torque output is somewhat lower, at 127 ft-lb of torque – Screamin’ Eagle Street Cannon Mufflers are needed here as well.

The 114ci/117ci to 122ci upgrade also brings increased power. Depending on the bike it is used on, there are up to 15 percent more horsepower and 13 percent more torque squeezed out of the engine. Last but not least is the 107ci to 119ci upgrade that adds 23 percent more horsepower and 17 percent more torque.

The new kits are already out, and you can find more information about them on the bike maker’s website. You should note that Harley offers 24-month vehicle limited warranty when the kits are dealer-installed within 60 days of vehicle purchase, or 12 month otherwise.

by Morgan Gales from https://www.cycleworld.com

Hiding from the rain, smoking a cigarette outside a bar in Milwaukee, J. Shia’s eyes flicker and dart as she talks about the pull-start BSA she had brought to the Mama Tried Show that year. The passion in her words is curling her shoulders forward and bursting from her fingertips as she speaks.

“This bike reminds me of Brad Pitt from Fight Club,” Shia says of her BSA custom—the first member of the dysfunctional motor­cycle family she is building. “This little, scrappy street-fighter kid, soccer-player kid. The pull-start is so aggressive. I was like, I wonder what his mom would be like…”

Shia continues, half remembering her concept and half creating it as she goes: “He’s an assh—e, but his mom would be this mean, old, chain-smoking, back-alley, ­London cobblestone b—h. I’m like, I need to build his mom. So the bike I built is his mother.” And so, Devil’s Advocate, bad mother to a street-fighting kid, was built.

It’s not your average custom-build backstory, but Shia is not your average custom builder. Her heritage is Lebanese and Syrian, and she is descended from tinsmiths. Devil’s Advocate is a 1957 Royal Enfield Indian that’s been cut, stretched, lowered, and reworked in a way that truly justifies the name of Shia’s Boston workshop: Madhouse Motors. It’s a bike that lies somewhere between sculptural artwork, historical significance, and a functional machine. It’s self-expression on two wheels in a way that only Shia does. It doesn’t look like other motorcycles, and with a foot throttle and tank shift, it doesn’t work like other motorcycles.

So, how is this bike both a Royal Enfield and an Indian? When Indian Motorcycle declared bankruptcy in 1953, the company was liquidated, but the brand name was sold to a British company called Brockhouse Engineering. For years it continued to export Royal Enfields to the US, lightly customize them, and rebrand them as Indians, with names like Apache and Tomahawk. The largest of the imported models were 700cc parallel twins like the bike that became Devil’s Advocate.

As the owner and builder at Madhouse, whose bread-and-butter business is the restoration, repair, and main­tenance of classic motorcycles, Shia is an enigmatic creative with broad interests. From hands-on welding and fabrication, to maintenance and delivery, to her other passions like photography and raising her son, she is a storyteller above all else. Tattoos adorn her body from neck to knuckles, showing her cultural heritage, her past, or just serving to help define her through decoration. As you study any of her custom bikes, you’ll find obscure, even weird details—each inevitably with a story of its own. Like the egg slicer she stole from her grandmother’s kitchen to make into a taillight, or the old foot-sizing device that was sawed in half to make a kind of footpeg.

Shia continues to describe Devil’s Advocate and the reasoning behind the foot throttle: “She’s too dominant to even function the way other bikes function. She’s lazy. That’s why she uses her foot.”

Other details include handlebar risers adapted to lower frame tubes that function as rearward-facing mounts for the footpegs and handmade throttle pedal. The original swingarm was extended, and two tall shocks were installed beneath the seat, both lowering and lengthening the bike. The front end was dropped and resprung to suit the new stance. The headlight is a repurposed spotlight from a police vehicle that retains its handle, allowing manual adjustment of the beam. Spring-wrapped handlebars and spring-filled exhaust pipes were fabricated in-house by Shia, with open windows in the latter to show off the springs. A manual gearshift lever extends through a slot in the tank.

The bike wasn’t meant to be pretty or fast, it was meant to upset the status quo. To be different. To push the envelope and do something new, and just like Shia, it does all of that in a uniquely elegant fashion. And she’s only just begun: “Next, I’m going to build the twin brother, the little sister, this whole dysfunctional family.”

The passion in her words means you know this story is going to be good and completely unexpected.

 

 

 

 

 

BE THERE BE THERE BE THERE.

–BANDIT

It was Sonny Barger’s birthday yesterday. He’s the icon of the Hells Angels and has lived an amazing life. He’s been is prison, written books and produced a movie. He’s stayed true to the code and remained a member all these years. He’s still considered the Boss.

Happy Birthday Boss!

–Bandit

It can happen within two minutes — first a lick of flame, then it spreads as it searches for fuel. The next thing you know, you could have a life-threatening fire on your hands. But fires can be prevented with a few very simple precautions.

The All-Important Smoke Alarm

Smoke alarms double the chance of your family surviving a fire, so it goes without saying that you should have several.

• Don’t neglect to test them and change the batteries regularly.
• You should test them once a month and change the batteries every 6 months (if your smoke alarms use replaceable batteries) regardless of whether they seem to need it, just to be on the safe side (some alarms are 10-year tamper resistant and don’t have replaceable batteries).
• You know the drill — make it a habit to change batteries twice a year when you turn your clocks.
• Purchase smoke alarms and other fire safety products at the American Red Cross store.

 

Kitchen Fires Are Most Common

Most home fires start in the kitchen during cooking — usually on stovetops —not in the oven. Be sure to stay in the kitchen when cooking, frying, or grilling on your stove top.

• Check for curtains, towel racks or even paper towel dispensers sitting too close to the burners.
• If your microwave isn’t built in, make sure it’s clear of surrounding clutter and its vents aren’t obstructed.
• If you don’t already have one, buy a fire extinguisher to keep within easy reach should something ignite while you’re cooking.
• Remember, don’t toss water on a grease fire if you’re caught without an extinguisher. If a fire starts in a pan — and many do — put a lid on it to suffocate the flames.

Keep Your Home Safe While Keeping It Warm

Heating equipment, like space heaters, are involved in 1 of every 6 home fires. Furthermore, 1 in every 5 home fire deaths and half of all fires caused by home heating occur between December and February.

• Make sure to always keep anything that gives off heat at least 3 feet away from flammable materials or items.
• Never plug more than one heating appliance into an outlet.
• Keep portable gas generators outside and away from windows to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
• If you have a fireplace, make sure your chimney is checked and cleaned by a professional once a year. Use a metal or glass screen that is large enough to prevent escaping embers.
• Never leave fires (or candles) burning, or heating appliances plugged in, while asleep, in another room, or when you leave your home.

Check Your Appliances

Dryers are responsible for about 9 out of 10 appliance fires.

• Check yours — in fact, check all your appliances — for testing labels that indicate you purchased them in safe working order. You may not find them on some older appliances, so consider whether it’s time to replace them or have them checked by a professional.
• Make it a habit to clean out the lint screen every time you use your dryer. It may be an annoyance, but this simple action can save you a lot more pain and aggravation later.

Don’t Forget Electronics and Outlets

All those appliance and electronic cords have to plug in somewhere, so your electrical outlets should be next on your home inspection list.

• Are any overloaded or showing signs of wear?
• Rearrange things so as many appliances as possible have their own outlets, and use extension cords to reach more distant outlets.
• This option may be a bit unsightly, but avoid running extension cords under rugs.
• Make sure your lamps are all using bulbs with wattage equal to or less than what the manufacturer recommends as well.
• When it comes to electronics, unplug them when they’re not in use whenever possible.
• Lastly, keep in mind that items like televisions and computers need space from anything flammable because they can overheat!

Inspect Storage Areas

Your garage, basement and yard can present hazards as well — in fact, they have the potential to be even more dangerous.

• Avoid cluttering debris or junk near your furnace or heater.
• Old newspapers piled in damp, warm places can actually self-combust — they don’t even have to be close to a heat source.
• If you have gasoline or other flammable liquids at home, keep them tightly sealed in metal containers and make sure they’re far away from heat sources, including the gas or charcoal grill you love to use in the summer.
• The grill itself should be at least 10 feet from your home and placed away from any overhead branches or structures.

 

Practice Your Escape Plan

Despite your best efforts, something may go unexpectedly wrong, so you and your family should have a plan for what to do in case of emergency.

• Create an escape route that provides two possible exits from each room, such as a window and a door.
• Avoid using any windowless rooms as bedrooms.
• Keep escape routes as clutter-free as possible so no one trips and falls on the way out during an emergency.
• Practice your plan at least twice a year and make sure everyone can safely escape in less than 2 minutes.
• Keep in mind that members of your household may need extra assistance — have a plan for who will help them and practice!

Hey,

This is tough. I’m lying in a VA hospital bed in Santa Monica. A doctor called me and told me of urgent concerns about my heart monitor results. “Your heart could blow up at any time.”

But first, I needed to ride over the new Darrel Desmond bridge out of long Beach, into the center of the Terminal Island, where it meets up with the unfinished Henry Ford Bridge from Wilmington and the Terminal Island suspension bridge into San Pedro. Zack and I rode choppers, his Root Beer Float built by Kent Weeks of Lucky Devil Metal works in Houston and I rode the Mudflap girl FXR.

False alarm at the hospital! I’m escaping the hospital and their miss-diagnosis tomorrow about noon and flying back to Wilmington to finish the news. So, it might be late.

Let’s ride, create cool shit and be free!

–Bandit

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