HERSHEY, Pa. (September 11, 2006) – Hundreds of Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) members spent their Labor Day week on the sweet roads between Hershey, Pa., and Huntington, W. Va., while on the H.O.G. Road Candy Tour Sept. 5 through 8.

H.O.G. members started the week off in Hershey with a party on Tuesday, Sept. 5, at Susquehanna Valley Harley-Davidson.

Riders made their way to York, Pa., taking in a tour of Harley-Davidson’s York Vehicle Operations facility on Wednesday, Sept. 6.

In nearby Gettysburg, Pa., H.O.G. members visited the monumental sites of the Civil War followed by a dealer party at Battlefield Harley-Davidson.

On Thursday, Sept. 7, H.O.G. members finished off the week with 225 miles of magnificent riding to Huntington, W. Va. On Friday, Sept. 8, rally attendees rode the Skyline Drive from Front Royal until it turns into the Blue Ridge Parkway near Lexington, Va. Followed by the final host party at Benjy’s Harley-Davidson in Huntington.

Founded in 1983, the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) is the official riding club of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. H.O.G. currently has more than one million members and more than 1,400 chapters worldwide, making it the largest factory-sponsored motorcycle organization in the world. H.O.G. rallies are held around the globe to celebrate Harley-Davidson motorcycle riding.

Harley-Davidson Motor Company, the largest U.S.-based motorcycle manufacturer, produces heavyweight motorcycles and a complete line of motorcycle parts, accessories and general merchandise. For more information, visit Harley-Davidson's Web site at www.harley-davidson.com.

I don’t know about any of you, but I have attended a few HOG gatherings in the past and they are always top notch. If any are looking for a group to ride with in there are, you can check out your local Harley-Davidson dealer for more info. My wife and I have been members of HOG and we both look forward to the yearly road atlas (which I have used several times) and the magazine Hog Tales. Check them out, you’ll be glad you did.

A shot of our first run to Sturgis.

This year has been nuts. I don’t know what got into me. At the first of the year we set a code to cut down on events and projects and take it easy. Here’s the glitch. We thought, mistakenly, we’d just build a bike to ride to Sturgis then take it to Bonneville. That V-Bike, the first Sportbike Panhead turned into two bikes, then three with a V-rod from Phoenix.

The plan seemed simple enough in the beginning. I caught the glitch in my prognosis and fortunately ducked out on the V-rod. I was down to building two bikes by myself, riding to Sturgis, joining the Hamsters again and riding home. Then three weeks later we would ride to Bonneville and get our salt feet wet at the Bubs International Speed Trials. Hell, I thought this was a breeze, just hit the salt once a year.

I’m not complaining. It’s all fun. I looked forward to the 2000 mile Hamster ride into the Badlands. They know how to do it, and have a blast along the way. The Hamsters take a lot of yuppie heat, but a great number of the 270-strong, group of custom bike enthusiast, ride. They ride a lot. I’ve known the core of the group over 25 years. In most cases many of the members are apart of this industry. Okay, so with a week to go before riding out, my V-Bike Panhead engine hadn’t arrived and it looked like a no-show.

Death was at our door. We had to ride. Photo by the Duck and the Chief.

Berry Wardlaw of Accurate Engineering recently completed a Biker Build-off with a fellow Hamster, Kim Suter, of KC Creations and Gypsy. His order desk was piled too high. A brother Hamster was due to arrive in a day or two to straddle my King and head out. The King was ready, but what the hell was I going to ride. I could jump aboard the Shovelhead from last year, but the aluminum tank started leaking again. I have a 1948 Panhead with dual carbs… Sin Wu suggested I contact Harley and see if they would like a long distance article on a new 96-inch 2007 King with a six-speed.

The Sturgis parties were calling. Photo by the Duck and the Chief.

Give her a couple of margaritas and she sprouts her finest thinking. I contacted H-D and within an hour arrangements were made to compare two Kings while blasting to the Sturgis and back. Dale Gorman arrived in LA from Cape Cod and threw his duffle bag in the Bikernet Barracks. So there you have it, two 230 pound, plus, men heading out of town on two Kings. One a bone stock 2007 King, sporting a radio with XM hook-up, windshield and hard bags.

My King is a blacked out 2003 classic, 100th anniversary, with soft leather bags, Screamin’ Eagle heads, Screamin’ Eagle mid-range cams, a Screamin’ Eagle air cleaner, an H-D tear-drop air cleaner cover, Screamin’ Eagle, two-into-one exhaust, H-D blacked mag wheels, a Street Stalker front fender, highbars, no windshield, and one more, non-Harley performance accessory, a Keith Terry closed-loop fuel injection tuner. It’s still a pure 88-incher.

We packed light, no tour-packs, just what we could squeeze in our bags and in one Bandit’s bedroll apiece. I planted mine on the glide front-end nacelle as a windbreak and strapped it to the 16-inch highbars. Dale attached his behind him on the seat with crossed bungies and we rolled into grizzly Los Angeles traffic.

It's been five years since I rode with the Hamsters to Sturgis. Seemed like a lifetime. Dale and I rode to Sturgis at least three times. I was looking forward to a comfortable, weeklong run with some old bros, partying all across the west. Dale and I would shift from King to King noting our impressions. Our first stretch was the Mad Escape from Los Angeles to the home of Daytec and Atlas frames in Hesperia, California, some 98 miles into the Devor pass leading most weekenders towards Vegas.

Dale rode the ’07 King first and noted the 80-90 mph chassis walk on the interstate. Rubber-mounted dresses seem to flex at speeds and it’s generally due to the lack of rake and the driveline movement, with the swingarm attached to the transmission between two rubber biscuits. There’s a solution, the True-Track system designed be Wil Phillips.

This system adds another Heim joint under the transmission preventing driveline side-to-side motion. It takes a measly 10 minutes to install, and adds 80 percent more confidence to the ride. I installed one on the ’03 a couple of months prior and it dialed handling completely.

Everywhere we turned was a sign. Keep rolling to the Badlands. Photo by the Duck and the Chief.

Dale also commented on the gearing. “It was hard to know what gear I was in,” He said. “All the gears seemed taller and I didn’t hit sixth until I was rolling along at 90 mph, but it’s cool.”

These highway pegs could be adjust into several positions.

The ’07 appeared to be the virtually the same as the ’03 from a structural standpoint. Except for the 96-inch mill and the 6-speed transmission, they were the same bikes. The all black ’03 rumbled up the highway feeling fine except for the Aeromach highway pegs I installed. They were too close to my foot controls and I caught my boots between them. I need to adjust those suckers.

We tested the Aeromach Dresser cruiser pegs with the peg on the outside of the bar and on the inside.

Here’s my thing about Kings. I tried to ride a customized dresser a few years back. The bike was killer, but it was a dresser. I grew up on choppers. I couldn’t handle it, but I can a King. Let me try to explain. It’s like a ’36 coupe guy driving a bus. A King works, like a hot rod aficionado in the seat of a ’59 Cadillac. It’s still cool. You can still pack your shit, and rock n roll, especially with apes. I actually think the factory could take Kings a step further and offer apes, a slightly stretched frame for bigger guys and stretched tanks for lowered ’59 Impala class. Something like Lake pipes slipping through traffic or across the country in style.Shot of Kings

So Dale and I slipped through traffic splitting lanes into the desert under a partially cloudy sky. The radio with the XM Satellite connection was a rush and a safety factor. Since no matter where that bike was the reception was as clear as a bell, so Dale wasn’t forced to precariously tune channels and volume surrounded by thundering 18-wheelers.

Dipstick temp gauge worked terrific until it rained.

For some reason I haven’t been able to pump 13 psi of pressure into my H-D air adjustable shock for a while and we threatened to fix it on the road. No chance. We started checking fuel consumption at every gas stop as another comparison. In Hesperia after a tour of the Daytec plant and dinner at Phil Day’s estate we gassed up. We covered 117 miles with 3.1 gallons for 38 mpg. I was expecting more. I checked the oil temp with my digital dipstick gauge and came up with 221 degrees, which is bitchin’ for my twin cam. They run hotter than Evos and it’s a good notion to run an oil cooler. I wanted to compare it with the ’07 but the dipstick wouldn’t fit into the 6-speed case. I’ll bet he was running 20 degrees hotter.

Wild new product frame at the Daytec Facility.

Daytec produces 7,200 frames a year, with 200 employees, in their 50,000 square foot facility on the edge of the Mojave Desert. As we drank whiskey in Green Valley Bar with Clyde Fessler, an ex H-D VP, we watched the weather report, pointing out the ensuing heat wave and warning to avoid heat stroke by curbing alcohol intake or coffee. We ordered another round, and coffee was our first morning beverage, then more whiskey.

One of the original Hamsters. He still knows how to run outta gas.

Let’s ride. We jumped up in the morning, grabbed a pot of steaming coffee, plus breakfast and lined up for the “Wind ‘em up,” call. We rolled from Hesperia behind Phil Day the back way, 70 miles into Yucca Valley, where the notorious Bob T. lives with the Chop N Grind racing team, in a tin shed. They were the sister team to our 5-Ball Racing crew. Dale and I gassed up. The girls with the rest of the Hamsters demanded breakfast, so we peeled out toward the Joshua Tree National Park, to avoid those sand snortin’ bastards in the Chop N Grind team. We had covered a brief 70 miles and both the ’07 and the ’03 took exactly 1.6 gallons for 43.7 mpg. That’s more like it.

Notorious Chop N Grind Brothers.

We slipped through the outlaw territory of Joshua National Forrest, past massive and smooth Skull Rock and Fried Liver Wash. It was my turn on the ’07 and that baby was a gearing delight. I found 5th gear to be perfect through the general desert curves, and 4th fit the bill through a more curvaceous mountain pass. I could buzz along until I hit 80 before I shifted into 4th and 90 mph before 5th. The new King ran smooth as glass.Shot of babe on keys

At General Payton’s Museum at the Chiraco Summit, Dale pulled my King keys out of his pocket. A super hot babe resides on one side of the key bound thermometer. The mercury ran damn close to 120 degree. I told the ex-arm wrestling champion, to keep his big fingers off the girl. We had another 70 miles before we could hit the helmet free Arizona state line.

In the grizzly town of Blythe on the Arizona border we accumulated 141 miles and our gas intake was virtually the same for 37.6 mpg. The 96-inch ’07 was running along at the same gas mileage as the slightly modified ’03. Generally stock bikes are tuned to the lean side, so it made sense that the bigger engine was pulling the same mileage. Rolling into Phoenix we experienced a mpg drop to 30, the lowest of the trip. We musta fucked up our calculations.

Valerie Thompson, champion 5-Ball Racing team rider for Bikernet.com.

Dale and I started a maneuver to avoid the morning pack and the afternoon thunderstorms. We pulled out about an hour before the scheduled departure time. In Scottsdale, we partied at Myron Larrabee’s Billet Bar and I hooked up with my lovely Bonneville racer, Valerie Thompson, who ran 2nd in her class in the Destroyer drag racing class. The slight girl, sponsored by Monster Energy Drinks, would ride our 120-inch Panhead on the Salt, in another month, and set a world record. Hang on for that story. ( Bedroll shot on the front of the king)

The next morning we loaded up to cut a dusty trail to Payson in the Tonto Apache Indian Reservation. We sliced through our second day and this was the best ride yet, with mild smokin’ curves through picturesque hills, Joshua trees and Yuccas. I also noted a trend. We were both packin’ Bandit’s Bedrolls. Mine worked perfect as a wind brake and Dale’s gave him some back support. His was bungied just behind his lower back across the seat and mine we tie-wrapped to the bars with heavy reusable ties. They are tough, strong and durable. I found that I could snap them in place easily each morning and they never budged.

The Famous Helmet Hogs.

Sin Wu ran out to the Kings just before we left and handed each one of us a Helmet Hog. They easily slipped into our small bag pockets for use with packing Helmets through free states. They worked like double DD bras over beautiful boobs, holding them comfortable and secure. Kinda gets me going. If you want one, try Helmet-Hog.com.

Visibility slipped away as we rode into the cloud.

From Payson we ran into rain heading to Holbrook. Out of 99 miles we thundered through 50 miles of rain. Another trend was emerging. Again we used the same amount of gas, 2.3 gallons for 100 miles for 43 mpg. That number was more in keeping with what I believed a big twin was capable of. I owned several old Shovelheads that did 48 mpg on a regular basis. These were much larger displacement bikes, but also more efficient.

We peeled along the 260 toward highway 377 onto Interstate 40, then through thunderstorms, lightening and blinding road construction into Gallop. It was a grizzly ride demanding all our attention to narrowing road conditions, gravel, beveled lanes, fluorescent cones and thundering 18-wheeler pounding us with spray. In a sense the danger heightens the excitement of the ride. We dug around town peering through wet glasses trying, in vein, to find the correct Best Western Motel. We found it and scrambled to the bar where I noted Dale’s impressions of the ’07 King. I also checked the oil temp gauge on the ’03, but condensation attacked the lens and for three days it was useless.

Just after we rolled onto interstate 40 we were able to open both bikes up and the ’03 reached over 117, but the ’07 couldn’t cross the 100-mile mark on the easy-to-read speedo. “You killed me in every gear,” Dale said after we performed a series or roll on tests in 4th, 5th, and 6th gear. Stock bikes are so restricted out of the box that the 96-incher couldn’t keep up with my slightly modified ’03 88-incher.

Dale enjoyed the mountain handling after he put 15 pounds air pressure in the rear shocks. “The tires are shaky and I could lock the front dual discs too easily on the wet pavement,” Dale explained. “These bikes are not designed for tall guys, although it handled well in the rain.” Over the last couple of years they have added 1-inch axles front and rear for more stability and a tougher front motor mount. Although I beat him in the roll-on test, it wouldn’t take much to wake up the thunder in that 96-inch engine. “Hey,” Dale added, “I hit 103 mph going down hill.”

Photo by the Duck and the Chief.

As we bellied up to the bar my cell phone rattled across the hard surface. It was Mike Lichter asking me to write a brief description of Old School and New School for his Journey Museum display. I ordered my first Jack on the rocks, while Dale and I discussed the ride, the weather, the blinding semis and made notes for Mike’s article. Maybe some of you read my blither about Old School and New. It’s all a bullshit way to describe one style or another. We had fun with the article. I dictated it to the lovely Sin Wu back in California and she sent it to Mike via e-mail. When I ride I leave the Internet connections at home.

The next morning we headed straight into Albuquerque for 150-mile blast to beat the storms. We were determined to make Sante Fe before the thunderclouds bunched against the hills and poured on our parade. Again we left earlier than the pack. Chaz, a Hamster prospect pointed out that my rear turn-signal bar was coming loose and I crawled around under the ’03 King with a new fastener to reposition the bracket and tighten her down.

Photos by the Chief and the Duck.

We took the straight shot, whereas Corporal Hamster scheduled trails meandering into beautiful, off-highway passes and valleys. We had no intention of trying to peer through soaked lenses at picturesque, pine-covered mountains, in a driving rainstorm. As we rambled toward Albuquerque I had various thoughts of past Hamster runs. I could imagine Arlen, who has ridden to Sturgis, 30 years in a row, Barry Cooney or some of the guys who rode out first on Shovelheads and stretched Sportsters, breaking down from town to town. It was a still blast, an adventure at every curve, in every town and running from every cop.

I thought about the times when we searched each town for a girl or a party. I thought about racing from town to town. I liked the reduced speed signs. I always sped up. Times have changed, or I have, as we peeled across New Mexico heading for Sante Fe.

Meet some strange riders in small towns.

We arrived in the early afternoon, way ahead of the pack, and fought mountains of traffic to our motel. We checked in and found a Sushi bar. By the time we finished a luscious lunch it was pouring and we darted across the crowded boulevard to the Harley shop. They knew customer service and offered to ship Dale’s bling for free, so he wasn’t forced to pack it on the King. I also noticed that Dale’s turn-signals quit, then his horn failed. We check fuses and discovered the culprit. Evidently turn-signals and the horn circuit shared the same fuse.

Photos by the Duck and the Chief.

Everything in Sante Fe changed from the last time I roamed through the seemingly southwestern artsy haven ten years prior. It went from a small town to a bustling tourists Mecca surrounded by 4-lane boulevards, new buildings, upscale restaurants, shopping centers and slick motels. Everything was crowded, congested and plastic. It set me in a mood of deep thinking that carried over to our dinner conversation. We discussed the stages of life for men and how women torture us and we torture them, with little understanding in between. We pondered how families work, how they don’t and how there are no generalizations about anyone. We all struggle, learn, succeed, fail and survive, or not.

Photo by the Duck and the Chief.

We decided a plethora of books exist for women but few for men, and we should write one. On our way to Sturgis we ran into two major industry marriages unglued, the Daytec family and the Bourgets. It disturbed my heart, because I’ve been through it many times and know the pain, the rush, the desire and passion that shifts gears through life and often takes whole families and businesses down the tubes. Watch out! I ordered another Jack on the Rocks and voted for legalized prostitution. I believe, in my slanted thinking, it would save families from breaking up over fresh sex, but what the hell do I know? I just don’t believe that tying anyone, men or women, down with rules and restrictions stops the libido from functioning as nature designed.

Photo by Duck and the Chief.

Like Sedona, Arizona, maybe there’s a collision of creative stars over Santa Fe. An emotional Bermuda triangle vortex hanging over the clear starlit skies of Sante Fe, snagged my tired senses, or maybe I was just horny.

After a day’s rest in Sante Fe, checkin’ the jewelry selection for the girls and working out for the first time in a week, we were up at the crack of dawn and motored out of town with full tanks of gas. As we rolled away from the lobby, we noticed the bearer of bad weather, Harlan, out front polishing his dresser. Either he drank a dose of over-confidence or he was nuts. According to Dawson the storm clouds were bunching up against the mountains already.

We rolled out of Sante Fe away from the interstate onto 285. Somehow when we drifted into Antonito, Colorado, where we jiggled our empty tanks, on fumes. We tested the maximum mileage capacity of the two Kings. We scraped through 182 miles before we were bone dry and shaking the tanks for enough drops to whisk us into any gas station. We both took 4.5 gallons for 40.4 mpg.

When we arrived in the mighty upscale ski haven, the weather cleared and we dried out at a terrific Barbecue Rib joint, south of our Hotel and just north of downtown. Dale and I stumbled into Arlen Ness several nights in a row and had dinner with the Chopper Doctor and a couple of his customers. Arlen has always been Mr. Mellow, but one of his buddies had a fascinating story. From a kid, Mike Avila raced speedboats and became a 7-time world champion water skier. Ten years ago he was in a terrible, high-speed skiing accident and was listed as DEA a couple of times. He didn’t give up, and although he’s still somewhat handicapped, he’s at the brink of another World Championship, as the boat driver and team leader. He rode with Arlen and the Hamsters to Sturgis this year and fell in love with the area. “He bought a condo in Spearfish,” Arlen said, “and he’ll ride every year.”

We wanted to hang out with the smiling New Zealand babe in the barbecue joint, but the next morning, headed the other direction down the 82 toward Glenwood springs on Interstate 70 that curves through the White River National Forest toward another skiing Mecca of Vail through Frisco, Colorado and dropped us into Denver. Again, we hit the road early and prayed for a highway that slithered around the city, onto the 25 north to Cheyenne.

Riding through Denver is much like LA, in its level of congestion. Interstate 70 is a fantastic roaming highway bordered by rivers, sharp mountain passes, and greenery. On an open day, you could fly through this pass, as if it was cut from the mountain just for choppers. Roaming down the Loveland pass at 11992 feet, we came face to face with the city of Denver, increased traffic, trucks and construction equipment. I remembered breaking a primary belt 10 years ago on that pass.

Suddenly the highway peppered us with gravel and dust as we looked for the bypass to avoid as much city congestion as possible, and we found it. Less than ten miles up the road we slipped onto 25 North and pulled off for Gas. Jeff Levy tagged along with us, on his bright orange ’04 Electra, in the morning, and we hooked up with a couple of other fast-riding Hamsters.

Highway 25 is another interesting ride. It’s the yellow brick road out of Denver, a vast expanse of golden fields, and nothing much else surrounds an almost straight asphalt ribbon leading us north, past one of the largest H-D dealers I’ve ever scene. H-D of Longmont or Loveland is across the freeway from a massive Budweiser plant in the middle of no-place. Like the 15 out of LA heading toward Vegas, the nature of suburban sprawl may gradually connect small bergs together until Denver reaches the Wyoming border, just like Los Angeles spreads toward Vegas daily. Denver was hot as hell as we sped toward Wyoming and Cheyenne. We figured 260 miles for the day. It actually trip- gauged at 298 miles. We started at 8:00 a.m. and rolled into dusty Cheyenne at 3:00 p.m.

It was Saturday morning as we were headed home (our Biker Home of Sturgis), along 25 north from the bottom of Wyoming to almost the top, virtually on one highway, 85 roaming into the Badlands. Ten miles out of Cheyenne we rolled off 25 onto two lanes of 85 and zagged north to Torrington for one quick left on 26 then a right back onto 85 where we remained true into Lusk, then New Castle, 4-Corners and Lead, passed the outskirts of Deadwood into Sturgis 16 miles away.

Most of the Hamsters, at that point leaned west toward Spearfish along the same 90 freeway. In Deadwood we gassed up on a back street and I was already shouting to brothers I knew, who rode past. We were almost home.

We snuck in the back part of town to avoid the traffic and found our Sturgis abode at 1147 4th street. We parked, but couldn’t get in. We locked up the two Kings, strolled into downtown and visited Arlin Fatland at Two Wheelers, then Pepper at the Sturgis Museum. The town was bustling and we were trying to call for lodging assistance to our Sucker Punch Sally and Saxon connection, Ken Conte. We reached him and discovered we were parked at the wrong location. Our home was a Day Care Center for kids a block up on the corner of Willard and 4th. Whatta trip, sand boxes, miniature furniture, dinky lockers and toys scattered around the yard. We were home.

It was damn good to kick back, have a beer and relax, we arrived—Sturgis 2006. I’m not going to blither through every move on the Streets of Sturgis. We always seemed to have a mission or a goal. Bikernet supplied the Girls of Bikernet to the Hardbike Booth on Lazelle. We had to check it out.

I would like to personally thank these two girls for entertaining on Lazelle, with the Hardbikes crew, for the entire week, solid. I wanted them to wear something that touted Bikernet, but where the hell would they put it?

We sponsored the Thunder Road location on the outside of town, and Sam Dixon and Livia took over our booth in the Thunderdome, so we investigated and I became a celebrity judge for the AMD Championship of Bike Building.

We wandered through Michael Lichter's Journey Museum display of bikes, checked-out my writings, words from other authors and his photography. We visited friends from far and wide, industry guys, builders, broads and whiskey drinking partners.

Since I sponsored Billy Lane’s Blood Sweat and Gears program and the Kids And Chrome charity banquet to support the Kids Rapid City Hospital and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum we got up early to attend the builders breakfast at the Broken Spoke, then we snuck out the back door and headed for home. We had a Bonneville bike to build and hit the salt with.

Sturgis was cool, crowded, yet the official numbers indicated attendance dropped a severe 40 percent. Was it gas prices, Middle East war, economy? Everywhere we turned new facilities were being built for the future.

Jay Allen from the Broken Spoke plans a new camping facility and concert center. Samson Exhaust, Kenny Price, bought a massive lot in Spearfish, brothers are moving to the region to support the growth. Confidence is high that Sturgis will continue to grow and draw 400,000 plus numbers annually.

It’s a blast, from the girls, the bikes, the shows, the concerts, the food and bars. The entire chopper industry is there, as if the sign at the beginning of town said DisneyChopperWorld. If you want to see it, it’s there. Did I mention the Lemonade girls?

I have one major regret. I was inducted into the Sturgis Hall of Fame last year. This year I recommended John Reed, for an appointment into the Hall of Fame. He didn’t plan on attending the Black Hills Rally but I forced the issue, when the appointment was confirmed. He jumped on one of his wild motorcycles and rode to Sturgis in just over 24 hours. John’s an English madman who has designed new products for Custom Chrome for 25 years. I discussed the induction breakfast with Pepper and she told me the format was changed to speed up the process, and I didn’t need to attend.

I will always regret peeling for the border Tuesday morning, instead of staying for the Wednesday breakfast. My apologies, John.

Instead of blithering on about Sturgis, I’m going to run a couple of sidebars about the rally from other industry individuals. Below is Hardbikes, Bob Kay’s report and a report from S&S on their activities. Ah, but keep going, there’s always an adventure tagged onto any Black Hills Rally and this one will snap your head back, so keep reading.

Bob Kay on SturgisHardbikes Working Sturgis 2006

Back from Sturgis and I’m just now getting back hitting on both cylinders. I know what you’re thinking, Babes, Bikes and Booze, right? Well that has changed if you are working the Sturgis show and we were w-o-r-k-i-n-g it! I had a drink at the start and end of the show and worked the entire week straight through.

In order to be successful you have to work the crowd and make sure you have a reason for the crowd to stop in at your booth. We brought in the Girls of Bikernet. Bandit knows his ladies and the Girls of Bikernet were very frisky. You can see them doing their thing right here.

HardBike contest winner.

The Biker and Rat's Hole Show crew came by and asked us to enter a bike. We rode our fat-ass drag race-style 330 Pro Street Tattoo Bike. Our production bike was placed in the ultra-custom class. Now only radical bikes end up in this class and in Sturgis you see the best bikes from the most renowned builders. So it was a big honor to participate.

It was even a bigger honor to take the 2nd place trophy away from some big name customizers. You just don’t see production bikes performing in this class. It’s truly a reflection of our engineering, design and paint team to make this happen. It also shows what Hardbikes is able to produce. It’s our goal to deliver a custom bike at production prices and the marketplace is sitting up and applauding.

We had daily Girls of Bikernet/Hardbikes fashion shows, gave out water, free t-shirts and of course the Girls of Bikernet were on hand posing for free pictures.

A new design trend in the industry is a jewel-like vintage look. The winner of the AMD bike show was a combination of bobber and board track racer with each component part a work of art. The time and energy put into the components is really taking the design to the next level.

Our two GOB girls were always happy to each other.

The 2006 edition of Sturgis seemed to be a little less well attended. Usually we see the rally building throughout the week. This year it hit the high level mark the first few days and by the last concert of the week everyone was gone.

What I came away with this year is that competition is up. And that means enthusiasts have more to choose from than ever before. At Hardbikes we are ready for the challenge. We offer what no one else can offer. An ability to custom fit a bike to your exact specifications and allow the owner to build their own custom motorcycle with custom parts just like you see on TV. The difference is, owners build it at the Hardbikes website instead of the OCC garage.

Hope you all had a good Sturgis. Keep the rubber side down!

-Bob Kay, Hardbikes

Eric Herrmann’s Sturgis Report

Hope to see you at Bonneville. Here’s some Sturgis info if you’d like. Dustin Herrmann (age 15) on his first trip to Sturgis with his father Eric Herrmann, took 2nd place in the amateur hill climb. Dustin’s 1st two attempts were on a muddy hill shortly after a rainstorm. With no extended swing arm, Dustin came within 9’ of the first place finish in his category.

With help from industry friends Metzler / Pirelli Tires and tools borrowed from Bikers Choice / Tucker-Rocky, Dustin’s wide-open throttle clearly made him the crowd favorite. With a second place trophy, the 6:00 news, and a place in the record books, Dustin is already planning for Sturgis 2007. Father Eric Herrmann also challenged the hill and was victorious only by not ending up in the hospital. And I taught him how to ride.

The Proud Parent.
–Eric Herrmann
www.EricHerrmannStudios.com

S&S Sturgis Report

Sturgis 2006 was a busy time for the S&S crew. After successful appearances in Daytona, Laughlin, Myrtle Beach, and Laconia, the World Builders Showcase once again wowed the huge crowds. The Big Twin West Show (December 1–3, 2006 in Las Vegas) will be the last chance to catch this prestigious showcase of international talent.

Other S&S supported events included The AMD Pro Show, featuring the most talented and innovative builders from around the globe and the Kids and Chrome Benefit for Children’s Care Hospital & School, which generated over $8,000 through the auction of an S&S donated SH93 engine.

“What is the best way to promote our product? It is by letting the customers experience it for themselves,” stated S&S president, Brett Smith. Given this directive, the crew put together S&S’ first demo ride program at Sturgis Dragway. Carefully screened customers were given the chance to ride a test bike equipped with an S&S T124 Hot Set Up Kit, 6 Speed All Helical Gear Transmission, S&S High Performance Clutch Assembly, and S&S Slip-On mufflers. “Judging by their ear to ear grins and colorful comments, I think that they were thoroughly impressed with the brute power and tractability of the 124,” said S&S Events Manager, James Simonelli.

Hamster 2006 Pack riding into Sturgis.

S&S collaborated with Rick Luebeck, of Luebeck’s Customs, and introduced a custom 106” Victory® at Sturgis’ popular Broken Spoke Saloon. This bike featured the new S&S 106” Hot Set Up Kit®, available exclusively through Victory dealers. Justin Bramstedt, S&S Testing and Development Engineer, put the 110+ horsepower to work, smoking the tire to the delight of the cheering crowd. “Based on the crowd’s reaction and the number of people who hung around to check out this custom Victory up close and personal, this Hot Setup Kit will be a very popular product line for us and an exciting new option for Victory riders,” said S&S’ new Director of Sales and Marketing, Timm Fields.

For more information about S&S Cycle, visit www.sscycle.com.

Are you ready for the wrap up? We blasted back into Southern California ready to work toward our first attempt to go fast on the Bonneville Salt Flats since 1990, and I was on the ER Streamliner team. We set the World Land Speed Record for Motorcycles, 321 mph.

The run home wasn’t without a Wyoming ticket for highbars, and meeting old Stage Coach Bob in a bar on the edge of Utah.

We rolled into LA and jumped off the freeway in Compton, Califa, a strange industrial ghetto next to downtown Los Angeles. At a stoplight a naked young black man stepped into the street wearing only tennis shoes and socks. He walked across the street as if he was walking from his home to the corner to buy a pack of gum. Dale looked at me as if he expected abhorrent behavior from LA, and he finally found it. He’s from Cape Cod, Mass, way back east.

We had less than ten miles to rumble through before our journey was over, but Nyla met us with her son who was anxious to ride the ’07 King. Kyle jumped aboard the King and sped off. We arrived home safely and unloaded, but Kyle didn’t show. He decided to show off the flashy King to his uncle in San Pedro.

On the way up a winding accent into a residential community a woman in a van slowed in front of Kyle and swung to the right as if to park. Then she abruptly turned left into Kyle’s path. He slammed into her front fender and flew over the hood onto the pavement. The King was severely damaged and Kyle met with his first case of road rash.

So ended Sturgis 2006. Helluva ride on two Kings, with a good brother and the Hamsters. Sturgis rocked and Bikernet was everywhere. Unfortunately the San Pedro PD found Kyle at fault. Michael Hupy is investigating the accident, and goddamnit, we’re going to appeal the ruling.

This year marked the entry of Canada into the ranks of nations participating in the affiliate program of AMD’s World Championship of Custom Bike Building. The event was sponsored Belt Drive Betty, the driving force behind Canada’s “The Busted Knuckle Chronicles”, parts supplier Mid-USA Canada and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Fairview Campus.

The event was held the 2nd and 3rd of September during Canada’s long Labour Day Weekend. Thousands of Canadian bikers rode across the length and breath of the vast land to the sleepy, small prairie town of Wembley, Alberta. Bikers from as far away as Vancouver to the West and Nova Scotia to the East traveled to Wenbley to see what their countries builders had to offer.

The judging was first done as a builder to builder list. Each builder was asked to rate each entry, leaving out their own bike, and a list of the top rated 6 bikes was presented to the celebrity judging panel for a final review.

The final judging was left to a panel of four industry celebrity judges including Canadian Master Builder Tom Langton from British Columbia, Discovery Channel bike builder Chica from California, Peter Jonsson from Sweden’s MCM Magazine and International Biker Photojournalist TBear representing Bikernet.com and the Horse/Backstreet Choppers Magazine and American Iron Magazine from New York.

In the end, the judges unanimously chose the first place winner to be a cool old skool bobber built by Brent Law and his talented crew from CycleBoyz from Brandon, Manitoba. This bike blew the judges away with its clean lines and it’s abundant attention to detail.

Second place went to Unlimited Choppers Jeff Kazakoff of Beaverlodge, Alberta for their adaptation of an extended Softail featuring a 1965 Panhead engine.

Third place was taken away by Tim Lajambe of Trick Factory from New Westminster, British Columbia for their sweet rendition of a California Bar Hopper done in bright orange with ghosted yellow flames.

As the first place winners, CycleBoyz will be invited to attend the AMD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF CUSTOM BIKE BUILDING to be held at the THUNDERDOME in Sturgis, South Dakota during Bike Week 2007 next August.

1st Place:
Cycle Boyz ˆ Brent Law
365 Pacific Avenue
Brandon Manitoba Canada
204-726-4641

Chica a guest, pro judge.

Well, Sturgis 2006 is behind us! I had an awesome adventure that started with a marathon iron-butt trip into Sturgis. My partner and I spent the next 4 days living a groundhog-day existence of virtually the same thing over and over. We capped the trip off with a shot into the Midwest to visit my baby brother and to see my new nephew. Our trip home included a brush with the Amish, a roadside detainment from the authorities, a deluge in Missouri/Arkansas, and the final oven-hot ride into Texas that baked our skin off our faces. This was the best trip I’ve taken in my entire life. Let’s get after it.

Me parked after riding through Custer State park! It was beautiful!

I had planned the trip with my buddy Mike for the past two months. We have been friends for over ten years and our wives have known each other their whole lives. After the initial battles with our wives about going on the trip, our only other obstacle was getting the time off of work. We both said the same thing, “Fuck it! We’re going whether they like it or not. We can get new jobs when we come home.”

We decided to leave on Monday night at 11:30 pm. We figured to ride straight through the night so we could escape the agony of the Texas heat. We figured we would sleep in Oklahoma or Kansas for a few hours and then continue with the trip. By our calculations, we planned on being in Sturgis by dawn Wednesday, August 9th.

I left Humble, Texas at the allotted 11:30 departure time with butterflies in my stomach and dreams in my head. Here it was already 1 year since my last journey to the Badlands, and I was even more excited this year than last year. Between working, being a father and husband, and writing for Bikernet, I have had little “me-time”. I headed to our appointed rendezvous point at a Shell station in New Waverley.

At 12:30 am I pulled into the Shell to no sign of Mike. I figured he would be along shortly so I filled up and decided to down a Red Bull. He came barreling into the driveway about fifteen minutes later with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. I could tell he was as anxious about this trip as I was. We started on our journey.

“Hey, you look like you have LED lights under your tank. I have never seen a pipe glow like that,” he told me with a grin.

“Great. I guess it’s running lean. Oh well, its stock, so I’ll run it till it blows up. That’s why I bought the warranty.” I was wrong. Once back home, they wouldn’t take care of it without me paying to have the EFI re-mapped. But that’s another story.

We drove through the night through Texas using I-45 to I-35 into Oklahoma. We were in Wichita, Kansas exactly 11 hours after we had taken off. We decided to stop and have breakfast before bedding down for most of the day…or so we thought. After breakfast we high-tailed it up I-35 to 135 where we headed into Salina, Kansas. Miles were coming slower now as we were traveling in the heat of the day and I was ready to pass out. We stopped at a Sonic and ate a burger. Sometimes that’s all the body needs is more junk to push itself past the exhaustion barrier we were experiencing. We decided to trudge on. Coming out of Salina, we caught 81N and headed into Nebraska. We had started to bust through our fatigue and began getting energy.

In Nebraska we headed off the main interstate by catching highway 2 and traveling Northwest. Although it doesn’t look pretty on a map, this is one hell of a road to travel on. I enjoyed flying by the mini-badlands on the right while looking over a nice ravine on the left. We changed routes again in Thedford, Nebraska and hopped onto Highway 83N. By now we could smell the beer and hear the thunder. We had little knowledge of what was on the horizon.

Once we hit Murdo, SD, we stopped for a bite to eat. It was 5 minutes to 9pm and the diner was about to close. They were kind enough to fry a couple of burgers for a few very road weary scooter tramps. After we had eaten, we decided to get back on the road. I figured we were about 4 hours from Sturgis at that point, so we might as well head in.

We learned of the terrible weather the Sturgis crowd had been fighting as we filled our tanks with gas. According to one observer, there was hail, rain, and mudslides. We were beginning to wonder if this was a bad idea. We decided to get into our rain gear. The sky looked ugly and it’s always better to put some gear on before it’s too late.

As we passed along the tarmac with visions fueling our wrists, I began to steadily doze off. I remember my shadow slapping the road in front of me due to the full moon to our backs. My shadow danced across the highway forming shapes and scenes from my past. I was scared shitless when the shadow formed into the grim reaper onto the road in front of me. I woke up when the shadow smiled as he swung the evil death scythe at my head. When I finally snapped to, I was heading straight into the high side of a curve that would have meant certain death had I not recovered. Needless to say, I stayed awake the rest of the trip.

I don’t remember the final push into Sturgis, but we were in The Dungeon at 1 am having a beer. I never tasted a colder Bud Light than that first one! When we went to leave The Dungeon, rain was pouring down on all our stuff. It wouldn’t have been so bad if we hadn’t taken off our rain suits and leathers and just hung them over the bikes. Needless to say, everything was soaked.

We hung at the dungeon for a few minutes and headed out to our campsite located off Junction. We were staying in the yard of a couple who rented tent spaces for $15 a night. They have toilet and shower facilities available, so it was a bargain for us. I never even put up my tent. I just rolled out the bedroll and crawled into my sleeping bag. 25 ½ hours after walking out of my front door, I was lying down in my bag and going to sleep. I remember thinking the ground had felt softer than my bed when I laid my head down and tried to erase the memory of the past 1400 miles.

We woke the next morning and rode the VFW hall for an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. For $7, it’s really a good deal. We decided to ride out to Needles highway and see the sights. Man, what a road! We rode 180 miles and headed back into Sturgis ready to let our hair down. Unlike last year, the attendance was very manageable this year. Traffic throughout all the attractions flowed freely with zero bottleneck situations. We were able to travel easily wherever we went.

We had taken lots of pictures of the ride and I was very pleased with the quality of the shots we were able to capture. Unfortunately, later I became drunk and erased every picture I had taken thus far into the trip. The reality of all this sucks, but it is not the worst part of the camera situation. It would seem I have a serious problem erasing the pictures every night before I went to bed in an elaborate plan to hide evidence of nightly adventures from my records. You see, if there are no pictures, there is no proof.

We ate our lunch at a small diner located off Needles highway somewhere and learned of a rumor about Hell’s Angels and Outlaws. I am not sure how much of it was true, so I won’t divulge what I heard, but it was all anyone seemed to talk about the rest of our stops during the week. The last night of the rally, Main Street was flooded with U.S. Marshals, Police, and even the National Guard. Nothing happened, but it all made for good conversation due to frightened anticipation.

That night we would attend The Knuckle Saloon. If you have never attended the Knuckle, this is the place to go. From 5-9 pm, they have amateur fighting. Anyone can sign up for a fight as long as they have an opponent within your weight class (usually 5-10 lbs.)

My buddy Mike signed up to fight as he had talked of it all year long. He assumed because of my Army boxing past, I would also sign up. He was wrong.

Mike getting ready for his big MMA debut. It was great!

Last year they used 16 oz. gloves and headgear. The guys would keep the gloves on until they started to grapple, and then the gloves came off. This also negated hitting to the face. I am not a big wrestler, so I didn’t see this as much of an opportunity for victory on my part. Mike said he didn’t care, he just wanted to hit someone. I wished him good luck as we watched the start of the fights. Well, this year they changed the format. Now there was no headgear, and they are using the little sparring gloves that are so popular on the UFC. The fighting seemed very brutal as these guys and girls usually just waded into each other hell bent on destruction. It was easily the most intense adrenaline producing “amateur” fighting I had ever seen. Then it was Mike’s turn.

He did ok, and I think he landed the harder shots. The truth is, he just wasn’t experienced enough to fight with these boys. I believe there are a group of local boys who just wait all year and train to kick the shit out of us dumb ass bikers who think we are bad. Well, this guy was definitely one of the local boys. Right after taking Mike’s best right hand, he promptly choked him out. Hey Mike, better you than me buddy. We so thoroughly enjoyed the fights, we attended every night for the rest of the week. I even saw Michael Lichter there taking shots one night. This was definitely the happening place for us every night from 5-9 pm.

That first night we went to The Broken Spoke around 10 pm. It was pretty wild as Jay Allen taught the audience the rights we have as bikers and how the police have no legal right to search our property without our permission. He seemed to make a lot of sense that night, but I don’t remember much after that as I was getting hammered on Bull Blasters with Bud Light chasers. Russell Mitchell, of Exile Cycles, and Roland Sands, of Performance Machine and RSD, were there serving drinks.They were very approachable and seemed to revel in the attention. Good for you guys, you deserve it.

We left there and went to the Full Throttle. I saw Angieland firsthand and hung at the burnout pit for most of the night. It was funny watching a couple of drunks actually throw down over an argument because one guy burned out longer than the other. It was great! They beat the tar out of each other. Meanwhile, my buddy Mike and his wife had a horrific argument due to Mike’s dumb ass calling his wife while there was an orgasm contest on the stage. She assumed we were at a strip club or massage parlor. Truth be known, you don’t need any of that when you are at Sturgis. If you are searching for female attention, it is everywhere you look.

Then again, maybe it was just my dashing good looks and charming personality, but I’m not banking on that. I don’t remember much more of that night other than a “muscley” Russian girl named Mysha. She had the hammer and sickle tattooed inside of her lip and had some of the strangest stories I had ever heard.

The next day we woke up and once again did the same thing. Fought our hangover to force ourselves to shower and shave. We would then go to the VFW for breakfast and recharge our batteries before Mike would once again have to “see a man about a horse”. We decided to walk around Main Street and see the sights. One of the best times we had was just sitting on the corner and watching the world go by. It was cool to see celebrities and regular people mixed together just riding our bikes.

One of the cool places to see was the Hard Bikes area on Lazelle and 7th. Craig did a spectacular job watching the girls and fending off the guys. We only stayed for a minute because I didn’t want to seem like a hanger on. My introduction always sounded so made up, like a pervert just trying to get close.

“Hi, I’m Johnny. I do some of the writing for Bikernet.”

I was always greeted with the same, “yeah, right” look. We decided to head over to The Thunder Road area and check out the Lichter show and Livia, the lovely seductress we attached to Sam Dixon.

On the way I ran into Jeff from Sucker Punch Sally’s. I marveled at his bikes and tried to get as many mental pictures as I could for my brother’s bike. The build will be getting started soon, we are still collecting parts. He made sure to tell me to have Bandit install the neck plate on his Bonneville racer. He was entering his bike into a show there at Sturgis, so he was busy.

I also talked with Redhill Motorcycle Werx’s co-owner Mercedes Ross. We talked of a future feature on Bikernet, so stay tuned. They have one of their bikes, Bitchcraft, featured in the Girls of Bikernet section.

Once we entered the Thunder Road arena, we were welcomed with more sights than the brain could endure. The place was saturated with show bikes, art, beer, and lots of girls. I immediately searched out the Bikernet booth to find Sam Dixon and Livia fending off a long line of people wanting to take pictures of Livia and to find out more about Bikernet. Sam said they were doing well and by the looks of the numbers, he was right.

I only hung out with them for a short time as I was too busy marveling at the art show and bike display by Michael Lichter. He had some incredible bikes in his “School’s Out” show. I especially liked the bobber Billy Lane had built for Lichter.

We then were gathered around the center stage for the lingerie show with the three Penthouse models. Each had posed for Biker Magazine with one of the three show bikes that were competing for the Thunder Road/ Biker/ Penthouse trophy. Let’s just say the show was incredible. The girls were gorgeous and very, very friendly.

Steve Broyles and son Steve II won the show with their mean little bobber. If you want to check out what these guys are doing, check out www.stevensonscycle.com. They are building some very clean, hardcore bikes that will run with the big dogs.

I ran into Rogue at the show and finally introduced myself. I once again used my “writing for Bikernet” line. It doesn’t work as well as one might expect. Oh well, I will continue to wander through the mirrored life of obscurity. I wish Bandit would have been there. At least that way people would have believed me when I said who I was with. Otherwise I just felt like a moron.

We left the show and headed over to the Knuckle once again. At this point, our lives continued to proceed in a Groundhog Day existence. We would go to the Knuckle and watch the fights while slamming beer after beer. Then we would head to One Eyed jacks and continue slamming beer and Bull Blasters. The night would usually end with a chubby bastard yelling at us to leave because the bar was closing. I don’t know why, but he always included a, “Yeah, you too, smiley!” while pushing me out the door.

We would then spend the next 20-30 minutes trying to mask the fact we were as drunk as we were while trying to start our bikes. Did you know a 2005 Springer may look like a 1948 Panhead, but it doesn’t have a kickstart. I searched for ten minutes trying to find the kick lever.We would then gingerly try to make it back to camp without: 1) wrecking, or 2) getting arrested. I am glad to say we were successful on both counts.

Every morning thereafter we would wake up feeling the same way, like shit, swearing we would drink only water for the entire day and agreeing not to going out at night. Every night we were at the bar toasting all our brethren and the hotties causing us to wake up every morning the same as the day before. It was great!

The scenery at Sturgis is second to none and there were many natural marvels at the distant horizon. From Custer State Park and Mt. Rushmore, to Devils Tower, and The Crazy Horse monument, we took it all in. I swear to God this was the best trip I have ever taken in my life. All we did was ride, eat, drink, sleep, shower, and start over again. If this is what heaven is like, take me tomorrow, because I would never get tired of this life. Unfortunately, every good thing must come to an end, and Sturgis 2006 was no different. Before I knew it, Sunday morning was there and we were leaving camp to head east to see my little brother, Richie in Minnesota. 10:30 that night we were in Cologne Minnesota shooting the shit with my brother.

9:30 Monday morning we were off for Houston, Texas. 33 hours later I pulled into the driveway. 8 days, 3810 miles, and more stories than I can remember. Sturgis 2006 was a blast. While I did hit some inclement weather on the way home, it still didn’t take away from the time we had. I will remember this trip always, and I just hope next year is as good. Take care everyone, and ride hard. We only live once, so enjoy life while we can.

Enjoy the rest of the pics which are attached. They were my leftovers after this piece. Enjoy and hopefully you have a little taste of what I experienced this year at the rally.

August 3, 2006:
The day has finally arrived to head out to Sturgis. I'm not really looking forward to the next 2 days however. We've got 1,879 miles of driving to do before we'll see Main Street in Sturgis. Sam rented a Dodge Magnum so we'd have room for all my posters I'm taking out. We've never taken this many to a show before and I think we'll probably just end up bringing alot of them back with us.

We pack up the car at noon and head north up Interstate 81 in Virginia to meet up with Beki and Kimberly in Hagerstown, MD. They are being dropped off there and riding out the remaining 1,574 miles.

August 4, 2006:
At some point in the night Sam and I switch and I drive for awhile. All I have to say about today and the drive up is anyone can get lost in Chicago if they get off the Interstate looking for a gas station at 4a.m. It's not my fault. 🙂

It seems like it takes forever to drive through Minnesota and South Dakota but we finally are getting close to Sturgis. We're starting to see some bikers now on the highway.

Kimberly wants to see Buffalo. She's mentioned it several times on the trip so about 200 miles into South Dakota we get off the interstate when we see a sign saying “See the Buffalo”. What we ended up seeing is 3 or 4 buffalo in a fenced in space smaller than my back yard. They must be young because they are smaller than we expected them to be. Before leaving we stop in the store next to the Buffalo and get drinks. Sam buys some smoked buffalo and we all try it in the car. Everyone hates it but me so I end up eating it all. :0

It's about 7p.m. local time when we arrive in Rapid City, SD. We're about an hour out of Sturgis and our beds waiting for us in Deadwood. We get off the Interstate at Rapid City to go see Mt. Rushmore. We're not sure what the rest of the week will be like so this might be the only chance we get to stop and see it.

We were all so exhausted from the drive we only spent about 15 minutes at Mt. Rushmore. We all shot some photos of the mountain but it wasn't until several days later that we realized of all the photos we shot we didn't shoot any of us at Mt. Rushmore.

We arrive in Deadwood around 9p.m. and find our way to Danny Gray's Roadhouse. We'll be staying there for the week as guests of Hard Bikes.

August 5, 2006:
We're all up early today. Beki and Kimberly are working in the Hard Bikes booth on 7th and Lazalle St. from 9a.m. til 6p.m. everyday and Sam and I are in the Bikernet booth in the Thunderdome from 11a.m. til 7p.m. each day. Today however we can't sleep in because our booth hasn't been setup yet and we need to get down to the Thunderdome and make sure everything is ready before the gates open.

We arrive at the Thunderdome and get set up. In the booth next to us is Debbi Davids. Debbi is Miss Sturgis 2006 and will be next to us all week signing posters. Debbi is a local girl living in Rapid City, SD and was also Miss Sturgis 2005.

The Thunderdome is a great place to be set up. Working at Myrtle Beach or Daytona I would be out in the sun for 8 hours a day all week long. The Thunderdome tent is hot but no hotter than it would be out in the direct sun.

The AMD World Championship is being held in the Thunderdome til Monday. Some of the nicest custom bikes I have ever seen fill the room. Directly in front of our booth is Dave Welch from Chopper City USA and his two custom harleys that are entered in the competition. We'll see more of them later in the week.

August 6, 2006:
The AMD World Championship is still going on at the Thunderdome.

It's raining this evening and that totally kills any hopes of going to the Big and Rich Concert being held at Rockn' the Rally. Sam and I have media passes for the event so we would have had great access to the show. Stupid rain.

So tonight Sam and I are hanging out with Bandit since my concert hopes got washed out. It's been just over a year since I last saw Bandit and I'm looking forward to seeing him again. We meet up with Bandit late in the evening at Two Wheelers on Main Street. There I'm introduced to Alvin who owns Two Wheelers and several other Hamsters. Alvin is really great. He has a trailer and sitting area set up behind the store where alot of the Hamsters gather and he extends an invitation to me to use the spot during the week when I want to cool down and relax. I let him know we'll be back later in the week to shoot some photos and will take him up on that great offer.

After hanging out at Two Wheelers for awhile Bandit wants to get some drinks so we walk down main street and cut over to Lazalle St. to a bar one of Bandit's friends had recommended. The time and the beers fly by and soon its time to head home for the night. Bandit and I shoot some photos in the bar and a couple out on a very deserted Main Street at midnight. Only my second day in Sturgis and I'm staying out past midnight already with Bandit…

August 7, 2006:
Today is the day the awards are given out for the AMD World Championship. Dave Welch and the ChopperCity USA bikes place 2nd and 3rd in the Modified Harley class. One other builder we made friends with, Jim Giuffra from AFT Metric Customs, places 3rd in the Metric Class.

The guys from Lucky Devil Custom Cycles in Texas roll one of their choppers into the photo studio that has been set up and come ask me to shoot some photos for them. I've included a couple Sam shot below but you'll probably be seeing more on their website soon.

While the awards are being presented Jesse Rooke and Roland Sands stop by the Bikernet booth and take some photos. Also stopping by today to say hi and get a photo was Rogue.

In the evening we head out to One Eyed Jacks Saloon with the Infamous Choppers crew and a few other builders. One Eyed Jacks is huge. I've never seen a bar so big before. It must cover an entire city block. With its 2 floors of bars and sexy bartenders this is one of the hottest spots to be on Main Street. I'm told they have over 200 bartenders and beer tub girls working here all week.

August 8, 2006:
It seems like each morning I'm having to get up earlier. I thought working from 11a.m. til 7p.m. was going to mean I got to sleep in once in awhile. 🙂

Today we have to get up early and head down to The Broken Spoke Saloon in Sturgis. Billy Lane is holding his first annual Builder Breakfast to benefit the Kids and Chrome Foundation and Sam and I are headed down to meet up with Bandit and shoot photos of the event. We get there at 8a.m. and grab something to eat. All the bike builders you've seen on T.v. or in the magazines are here at this event. Russ Mitchell, Kim Suter, Rick Fairless, Randy Simpson, Chica, Arlen Ness, Paul Cox, Billy Lane and many more.

The builders are all hanging out in an open area at The Broken Spoke for a group photo before the public is let in for autographs. Hundreds of people are waiting just on the other side of the fence anxious to meet their favorite builders and get an autograph.

Sara Liberte from Pittsburgh, Pa is there too with her “Builder and Machine” series of art prints. She's such a great artist and she builds bikes too.

The Metzler show is set up at the Thunderdome today. It's a one day show and much smaller than the AMD World Championship as far as number of entries. The highlight of the day was probably getting to finally meet Danny Gray. His booth is set up on our left in the Thunderdome. We've been staying at his roadhouse with the Hard Bikes crew so I've been hearing his name all week. Now I can place a face with the name.

August 9, 2006:
Today is going to be a long day. Sam and I got up around 5a.m. to head down to Rapid City, SD. We had a shoot scheduled at Mt. Rushmore with the guys from Chopper City USA from Jacksonville, FL. We arrived at the monument at 7a.m. and the guys from Chopper City were already there waiting for us. Obviously they hadn't been up as late as me the night before.

They unloaded the first bike and we started shooting on a pull off area with Mt. Rushmore in the background. It wasn't easy. We had to put a block under the rear tire of the bike so it wouldn't go down the hill and we were constantly waiting for traffic to get out of the shot. About 10 minutes into our shoot the national park police come by and quickly make a u-turn. We're told to stop shooting immediately and ask who is incharge. We're told we must have a permit to shoot any photos so everything is put on hold as two of the guys ride up to the park office and fill out the paperwork.

It was a great shoot I thought. The guys from Chopper City got into a few photos and I shot about 3 different outfits with their 2 custom harleys.

I think they may be using one of the shots for a poster. If they do you may find me at Biketoberfest signing posters in their booth.

Today at the Thunderdome is a new event. The Discovery Channel Biker Build-off is rolling into the Thunderdome and visitors will vote on their favorite bike. The competitors are The Detroit Bros. vs. Twisted Choppers.

Hugh King, aka The Chopper King, who produces the Biker Build-off asked me to be the Trophy Girl. The show aires on Sept. 24th on the Discovery Channel. Be sure you watch and look for me. 🙂 I'll have alot more photos from this day to post after the airing but until then I'm not allowed to post them. I had to sign a paper saying I wouldn't post the winners or give away the ending of the show before it aired.

Once we wrapped up at the Thunderdome Sam and I headed down to main street to shoot some photos. Earlier in the week Bandit introduced us to Arlin Fatland, of Two Wheelers, on Main Street. I hated the idea of the crowds I'd attract walking along main street in my thong and chaps… I was so happy when Arlin told us earlier in the week we could hide out at his place in the back when we were tired. We arrived at Two Wheelers and would shoot some photos out on the street until the crowd got too big then duck in the back for awhile til people moved on.

August 10, 2006:
It's another early morning. Apparently Sam doesn't think sleeping in is good to do once in awhile. Today we're doing an early morning shoot just north of Sturgis with AFT Customs out of Martell, CA.

AFT Customs was at the AMD World Championship in the Thunderdome at the beginning of the week. That's when Sam and I met Jim Giuffra. Jim build metric bikes and has won many awards. He placed 3rd in Metric at the AMD World Championship on monday and would go on to win 1st place in the radical class at the Rat's Hole show on Friday in the Thunderdome.

Jim told us of the location he wanted to shoot and we met him there at 7a.m. Sam and I are both hoping to go out to Martell, CA and spend some more time shooting with Jim later in the year.

August 11, 2006:
The Rat's Hole show rolls into the Thunderdome today. The dome is full of bikes and we're ready for a crowd that never seems to come. The crowd today is very different from the crowds that had been coming in all week.

AFT Metric Customs and ChopperCity USA are both back with their bikes. Both guys take home yet another trophy.

After the awards are presented the bikes quickly begin disappearing from the Thunderdome as does the crowd. A builder asks to bring his bike over to the Bikernet booth for some photos and before long there is a line of trophy winners wanting to get some photos of me with their bike and trophy.

A somewhat slow day ends with a very busy couple of hours. It's now 7p.m. and Sam is packing up the booth. Nothing is going on in the Thunderdome tomorrow so we're planning to do some photoshoots in the morning then enjoy the rally for the day.

August 12, 2006:
Just our luck. There is nothing going on at the Thunderdome today so today was supposed to be the day we shot with Eddie Trotta and Infamous Choppers. We were going to shoot some video of me riding through the countryside and get lots of really cool photos.

Instead we wake up to very cold temperatures and rain. Sam and I decide to head out to some waterfalls we had heard of anyway. Maybe the weather would be nicer there or clear up by the time we got there. The waterfalls are pictured below… I held the umbrella while Sam shot the photo. It's 52 degrees according to the thermostat in the car and raining.

After shooting a couple photos of the falls we head down to the Thunderdome. Hot Leathers is one of the few vendors open for business so we buy some Rally shirts for our friends back home and head for main street. We've been working all week from 10a.m. til 7p.m. so we haven't been able to see Main Street in the daytime or shoot any photos of the crowds. The sky is clearing up and the sun is coming out but all the bikes we had planned to shoot are on their trailers ready to go home.

We walk along Main Street checking out the vendors and taking a couple photos before ending up at Grease Monkey Mayhem on Lazalle St. Paul Cox is in the Indian Larry Legacy booth and I get a photo with him. Across the aisle is Exile Cycles. Russ Mitchell and I had spoken earlier in the week about shooting something together but our schedules never quite worked out. He's going to be at DelMarVa Bike Week though so we agreed we'd shoot something together then. Look for that in a future article.

It's about 3p.m. when we pick up Kimberly and Beki from their Hard Bikes booth and head to Deadwood to pick up our stuff for the long trip home.

August 13, 2006:
Nothing eventful on the way home. Same long car ride just the exit numbers count the other way. We roll into Hagerstown, MD around 9p.m. where Beki's boyfriend is waiting to take Kimberly and Beki the rest of the way home. Sam and I make it home to southern Virginia around 2a.m. on Monday morning. Part of me is already looking forward to Sturgis 2007 but the other part of me just wants a hot shower and a couple days of sleep.

After six months of planning, Hawaiian Chopper Magazine’s Paradise Bikefest & Bike Build-Off finished with an explosion of bikers, babes, and bikes. Billed as Hawaii’s biggest motorcycle rally ever… the event lived up to all the hype with nearly 4,000 people gathering at the Kapiolani Community College campus in Honolulu over the Independence Day weekend.

Along with featured builders Nui Kauhane of Grumpy’s Customs on Oahu, and Noah O’Geen of Maui’s Hot Rod Alley and celebrities like Sugar Bear, Big Schwag, Big Mike, Jose De Miguel, Harold Pontarelli, Shannon Aikau, Roger Kuwahara and harmonica great Kevin McKay, Hawaii was treated to a motorcycle spectacle of sight & sound that will be hard to match…

Congratulations go out to Nui who was voted build-off winner for his specially built, trademark “Local Boy” creation. Nui’s hard work, and dedication to the style he helped popularize was obvious to the throngs of voters who selected his bike over O’Geen’s ’41 knucklehead, which was definitely one of the highlights of the show.

With 10 weeks to build their bikes, the two iron artisans busted their asses to unveil some of the coolest chops ever displayed at a Hawaii bike event, and both can be proud for their effort.

With 67 bikes entered into the drive-in bike show, and nearly 1000 bikes, and hundreds of cars in the parking lot of the school at the base of Diamond Head, Hawaii’s biker community and general public merged to create a synergy not experienced since the 2004 Choppers Only show when Billy Lane, Indian Larry, Peter Fonda, Mondo Porras, Paul Cox, Jose De Miguel, Bandit, and a host of other greats joined Hawaii’s Ohana for a party unmatched before this year’s rally.

Over 30 vendors, and 15 sponsors showcased their wares, and celebrated Hawaiian Chopper Magazine’s 2nd anniversary with a backdrop of heavy music courtesy of local rockers Big Dawg, and Warner Bros. Recording artist Kevin McKay of the Warren Commission.

Events like the Island Tattoo Contest, Sensually Yours Bikini Contest, and the ride in bike show kept the crowd entertained until the Big Schwag announced the winner of the BMC Rolling Chassis that was given away by BMC’s Big Mike & Hawaiian Chopper Editor-in-Chief Steve Kalnasy. Congratulations go out to Robert Williams of Ewa Beach who had the winning ticket and pushed away what will one day be one of Hawaiian Choppers featured chops. Thanks for the contribution Mike. I expect that that chassis will be something that BMC will be proud of…

I am just now beginning to get my sanity back after one fucking crazy weekend, and I want to take a moment and recognize some of those behind the scenes people who helped me create a one cool party.

My partner Wanda Shipp, Mike Caswell & Pasha Hawaii, Big Mike of BMC Choppers & his brother Jason Rouse, Todd, James & the boys at Budweiser, Mario Medri, Bill Van & the crew at Pacific Rim Cycle, Mark Eli, Dan Franco & everyone at South Seas Harley, Domenico’s Harley-Davidson, Cycle City, Mikey’s Speed Shop, Mobi Pacific, Ryan Lau & the Tattoo Krew, Bandit & Bikernet, Steve Hoppis & Nancy Carr, Big Fatt Tatts, my brother Kevin McKay, Sugar Bear, Shannon Aikau, Harold Pontarelli, Roger Kuwahara & the brothers at Kustom Fab, Nui Kauhane, Noah O’Geen, Bo Irvine, Ed Canoy, Big Schwag, Kapiolani Community College and a host of others I am sure I am forgetting (sorry bout that folks)…

Finally, I want to give some props to Deacon & Chris Tronolone for setting the stage for me. Without their hard work in the past, the Paradise Bikefest wouldn’t have been possible…

Now with that event under my belt, I hope you will all join us for the Great Hawaiian Biker Build-Off 2 being held Sunday, December 3rd following the annual Toys-for-Tots run. December in Hawaii! What could be better???

Ahui ho,

–Steven Kalnasy
Editor-in-Chief
Hawaiian Chopper

Tommy Thompson served 14 years as Wisconsin’s governor, before accepting a cabinet job as Secretary of Health and Human Services. He now works in the private sector, still involved in world health issues.

As Wisconsin’s governor, he initiated the Governor’s Tour at the urging of state senator Dave Zien. It was a way to promote Wisconsin businesses and tourism while riding the most popular Wisconsin product, Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Every year a group of devoted riders, with a special place in their hearts for Tommy Thompson, tour the asphalt ribbons of Wisconsin and neighboring states. Past tours have including the circumnavigation of Lake Superior, a visit to Washington D.C. to celebrate Wisconsin’s sesquicentennial, and the induction of head road guard, Tony “Pan” Sanfelipo into the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame, followed by his wedding to ride nurse, Vicki Roberts, on top of Crazy Horse Memorial.

2006 was another very special reunion ride from June 16th to June 23rd. The group started by taking the Lake Express Ferry across Lake Michigan, to avoid construction and everything else about Chicago. The ferry was a great, cruising at around 30 knots, with sunny skies and smooth seas. From Muskegon, Michigan, it was an easy ride to Sandusky, Ohio for registration at Roeder’s H-D. They had a band playing and a bike show, but most of us ended up at Shifter’s Bar next door for good food and drinks.

Saturday morning found us on the road to Williamsport, Pennsylvania. There was a fantastic reception at the Bullfrog Brewery, complete with complimentary samples of their brew master’s skills, and excellent food. Afterwards, we rode to Susquehanna State Park and a cruise down the Susquehanna River on a paddleboat. Locals were giving us quite a show with shoreline fireworks.

Sunday was a day that almost over heated the road guards, as they zipped in and out of towns, holding back local traffic so the group could proceed as one unit. The hills were scenic and the roads challenging as we wound into Stroudsburg and Schoch’s H-D and Deli, run by an 80-year-old dynamo. Rose Schoch made her signature chili for the group (a treat in the nearly 100 degree heat) and her H.O.G. chapter provided hamburgers, brats and lemonade for everyone. It was here that the boys from New York picked us up. This whole ride was coordinated by Vicki Roberts Sanfelipo and Stormin Norman, of Staten Island, New York. They put together a mind boggling tour that left the participants breathless.

Can you imagine bringing 100 motorcycles through New Jersey, crossing over the toll bridge into Staten Island, during rush hour? What a sight. Helping Stormin achieve this goal were New York firefighters Bill Eisengrien and Timmy Duffy, and friends Mark Ravello and Bill Roesch. They had the riders in awe. Once settled into the Staten Island Hotel, there was no time for relaxation. Everyone was hustled off in charter busses to harbor cruise, hosted by Lowriders MC. Some of the riders have visited Manhattan before, but none had ever seen it from this perspective. The cruise was from 7:00 PM until 11:00 PM, and we were joined by Tommy Thompson, who met us at the boat. Navigating under the Veranzano and Brooklyn bridges at night, seeing the city lights and pausing in front of the illuminated Statue of Liberty afforded photo opportunities that were priceless. Tommy Thompson reflected on the attack on the Twin Towers and said he was one of the first cabinet members to visit the site after the attack.

Monday was a free day for people to explore the city on their own. Many took the opportunity to visit Lombardi’s H-D on Staten Island and get some much needed attention to their bikes while buying shirts and other items. I used the time to visit Indian Larry’s Legacy bike shop and see some of his metallic-art form bike creations. We lost a legend and a genius when Larry died. Somehow, almost everyone made it to La Mela’s in Little Italy (thanks to Stormin telling them it was my favorite restaurant). At least 80 of us put on an impromptu party, which caused quite a spectacle to passersby. Afterward, we visited Ferrara’s for decadent chocolate deserts, and later partied into the night at the Red Rock Saloon, one of New York’s best biker bars.

The next morning, still weary and worn from the day before, we took the Staten Island Ferry to lower Manhattan and visited Ground Zero. Arranged by Stormin Norman again, Tribute NYC and the September 11th Families Association conducted tours for our group, led by people directly touched by the attack. My group was led by Lt. Paul McFadden, Rescue 2, F.D. N.Y. retired. He lost many friends in that attack and told us some chilling and heart wrenching stories that you never read about in the press. Acts of kindness, heroism and tragedy that left everyone with tears in their eyes. Later that evening, we recounted some of those stories during a cocktail party at the hotel.

Wednesday we were back in the saddle again, headed for Montgomery and Orange County Choppers. Their shop couldn’t accommodate our large group, so only 10 people would be able to visit the actual shop, while the others shopped at their retail store and gobbled up pizza at Cascarino’s. The Teutel’s were on vacation, but Vinny was on hand to pose for pictures in between tightening a nut here and a bolt there. We continued riding through the Catskill Mountains on the way to Rome and a party at Dick’s H-D and an official welcome from Mayor Jim Brown. The next day we stopped in Geneva for lunch, served by Geneva H-D’s H.O.G. chapter, before arriving at our destination of Niagara Falls, Ontario.

We had a breathtaking view of the Falls from the observation deck of the Minolta Tower, 525 feet above the falls. Cocktails and music lent to a beautifully relaxing social evening. Friday morning photo call at 10:00 AM, for a group picture in front of the Falls, was the only time we got wet on the whole trip. The mist rolling over our shoulders was refreshingly welcomed by the now sun burned riders. We were met by K.G. Munro of the Ontario Provincial Police at Niagara on the Lake, who escorted us to the city limits of Toronto. There, we were picked up by a cordon of motor patrol officers led by Sgt. Andy Norrie, Winged Wheels Toronto Police Service. Entering Toronto on Friday afternoon during rush hour, 100 bikes snaking through traffic past sidewalks lined with people armed with cameras and video equipment, was one of the most bizarre things I’ve witnessed. A cabby later remarked to us while riding to Toronto HD dealership that he thought somebody from the Royal Family or something must have come into town with a huge motorcycle escort. We just laughed and said he was probably right.

The finale of the trip was the famous Biker Ball, hosted by Jerry and Cathy Weiner, who have a home in Toronto, and have been riding with the Tommy Thompson Reunion Ride since Tommy met them and invited them along back in 1999. Terrific music and great food greeted the riders at the Delta Chelsea Hotel for the ending party to this year’s ride. Many friends were reacquainted while new friends were made. We watched Zach Edgerton grow up on this ride, nestled behind his father on the yearly trip up from Texas. This year Zach rode his own Sportster, a long way from the little kid we first saw in 1996. Three marriages can be attributed to this ride, and memories too numerous to mention. It is truly a magnificent, magical event.

The Republic of Texas Rally held in Austin every year has become a big hit for the riders here in the Southeastern part of Texas. Well, actually it became a major attraction for most of the South. The rally showcases many of today’s hottest builders and starts along with the vendors we have all come to know and love. We here at Bikernet sent one of our best roving reporters, RFR, to the rally to get us the best look at the rally. Here is his report:

I only have a few images to share with everyone of this years Republic of Texas Rally here in Austin, as I was only able to attend for a few hours on Saturday due to having to work the night before at the club. Who would have thought that spending 8 to 10 hours a day with half-naked sexy women could interfere with motorcycling? That and my normal party folks were nowhere to be found, one was experiencing the ROT curse that seems to follow him and/or his wife each year.

Till next time,
–RFR

Okay, we know it was very quick, but so was the rally. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life seemingly swallowing all of my free time away, I hadn’t realized it was here until the rally was upon us. It seems like just yesterday I had left for Daytona and here it is July! Just make sure to plan ahead and you will be able to attend several rallies without having to take vacation. There used to be only three major rallies a year and now there seems to be at least one a month from March through November.

Amazingly we have two of the big dogs here in Texas. The Republic of Texas is in early June and then we have The Lone Star Rally in November. Like they say, everything’s bigger in Texas! Enjoy Richard’s pictures and see if you too can get the feel of what happened at this year’s rally. Just imagine the smell of Lite beer, Hot dogs, and gasoline mixed all together with sweltering Texas heat and you will have an idea of the atmosphere. Take care everyone and ride hard!!

That’s it, see ya next year!!