by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com In the world of Harley-Davidson, CVO stands for Custom Vehicle Operations. Going further, that means motorcycles specifically created by the American bike builder with the custom industry in mind, for garages all across the world to tweak even further. The program was born at Harley in 1999 and each year a small batch of bikes was chosen and gifted with limited edition runs that were all about customization: bigger engines, crazy paints, and a wealth of accessories one usually didn’t get with the road-going versions. Among the motorcycles chosen by Harley to go down the CVO path in 2014 was the Breakout (it was offered alongside the Ultra Limited Electra Glide, Softail Deluxe, and Road King). And since this model is a favorite of a German custom shop that goes by the name Thunderbike, it of course didn’t escape some further upgrades. Thunderbike’s interpretation of the CVO Breakout comes with a more radical look, achieved especially because of the deployment of bigger wheels, a new exhaust system, and a polished paint over the bike’s main parts. The motorcycle rides on Harley Turbine wheels (sized 21 and 18 inches), but with the rear one wrapped in a Metzeler tire that is 20 mm wider than what came standard. Additionally, a pulley brake kit was deployed on the rear wheel to allow a clear view from one side at the design. The engine, which was lest pretty much stock, breathes through an electronically adjustable exhaust system from Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde. A wealth of other parts, smaller in size and impact, are also custom: the rocker boxes, oil tank, turn signals, mirrors, and even the license plate bracket and frame. We are not being told how much it cost the Germans to put the entire build together, but you can learn more about it by hitting this link.  

FREEDOM OF CHOICE passed in Missouri!

Governor Parsons has signed H.B. 1963. Which gives motorcyclists over the age of 26, with proof of health insurance, and operator having “M” endorsement on their driver’s license the freedom of choice as to whether or not they wear a helmet. Any passenger must also be 26 with health insurance. This has been 39 years in the making. It will take effect on August 28th.

Please join our victory celebration August 21-23 in Urich. MO which is about an hour south of Kansas City. This is our State rally and would love to share our success with all our brothers and sisters. I know the law will not go into effect yet but the anticipation will make it much sweeter.

 

We as members of Freedom of Road Riders celebrate this victory  today and want to take a moment to remember and thank all who came before us and are still with us that have been fighting this battle for freedom for 39 years. Those who put in the countless hours, blood, sweat, tears, miles, and money bringing us to this moment in our history. Thank you to each and every person who has made the ride on this freedom train.

 

Missouri Freedom of Road Riders

Amy Allmon

 

The Day Organized Drag Racing Was Born
–by Tim Bernsau, HotRod.com

Organized drag racing celebrates its 70th birthday on July 2, 2020. On that day in 1950 the first “official” drag race took place at an out-of-commission Army airbase in Santa Ana, California. Soon that airbase was established as Santa Ana Drags, the world’s first commercial dragstrip. When it closed nine years later, drag racing had become a nationwide sport with established rules and classes, national championships, and a major sanctioning body.

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by Sabrina Giacomini from https://www.rideapart.com

A little for the InstaFame, a lot for the World Record.

We hear of people dropping their old, boring “eat, work, sleep” life to answer the call of motorcycle adventure almost every week. Chances are you probably know someone who’s made the jump. Whether it’s for personal motives or to seek a bit of online recognition, the nomadic lifestyle on two wheels is a surging trend that shows no signs of slowing down.

For Portuguese rider André Sousa, the purpose of his ride around the world is to set a world record. Another one. See, the 24-year-old set the 2018 World Record for the fastest trip around South America on a small bike, according to the International Book of Records. This time around, Sousa’s ambitions have gone from continental to global.

On July 12, 2020, Sousa set off on yet another adventure in the hopes of adding another world record to his collection by becoming the first rider to circumvent the world on a small bike. This time, the trip will take two years and take him on a 37,000-mile journey across 50 countries. What about the small bike? Sousa opted for one of the smallest, more reliable, and rugged models available on the market: the Honda Monkey.

His mini moto was slightly supped up for the occasion to increase its capability thanks to a new exhaust, and additional lighting pods that come in handy when he’s stuck navigating unfamiliar terrains in the dark. In addition to a few minor tweaks, the bike is also fully-loaded with all the gear, bells, and whistles such a trip requires. This isn’t a glamorous gourmet Instagram trip and Sousa doesn’t plan to stop at fancy restaurants and hotels along the way so he needs a fair bit of gear.

Thankfully, it looks like he’s taken advantage of every motorcycle packing solution in the book and then some. The bags are comically almost as big as the bike itself. You can follow his adventure on the Ride That Monkey website and social media accounts if you’re curious to know how the Monkey holds up. God speed, André, make us proud.

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

As part of autoevolution’s Custom Builds Month, we talked aplenty about a number of customized Harley-Davidson motorcycles handled all the way in Germany. The country is home to a very active shop called Thunderbike, who over the past 25 years has made a name for itself in the industry with literally hundreds of projects.

On Monday, July 13, we talked about the TB-1 Superbike, a conversion of a Low Rider S the likes of which we don’t get to see that often. As it usually happens with Thunderbike ideas, the TB-1 has a sequel of sorts.

It is called TB-2, naturally, and is, at least as far as the paint goes, a more conservative approach than it’s older sibling.
Most of the changes designed for the TB-1 have been kept on this one. The bike’s stock wheels (19-inch front and 17-inch rear) have been replaced with bigger hardware, namely 21-inch front and 18-inch rear, to give the machine a “slimmer” look.

Turning the Low Rider into a racer-style bike was achieved through the fitting of a lowering kit for the telescopic fork, Hyperpro shock absorbers with height adjustment, and of course a custom new front fairing.

The listed of custom parts fitted on the motorcycle comprises around 20 elements, and even if we are not told how much the conversion cost, simple math (that is adding the prices of each of those parts) points to it being worth a little over 5,000 euros (roughly $5,600). That does not including the bike itself, the man hours spent on assembling it, and of course the base Low Rider.

The thing that sets TB-2 apart the most from its earlier incarnation is of course the paint job. Whereas on the first iteration the shop went for a dark look offset by yellow lettering spelling the names Harley-Davidson, Thunderbike and TB-1, this time around we are presented with an anthracite grey look all around, dotted by white lettering.

by Elena Gorgan from https://www.autoevolution.com

As much as you appreciate a good – and good-looking – motorcycle from any manufacturer out there, there is no denying there is but one way you’re guaranteed to stand out: with a custom build.

That’s what Tedja Wijaya was also thinking when he approached his friend Andi from the custom shop Kromworks in Indonesia, with the request that he build him a bike that would truly be one of a kind. Andi and the team build for him the Harley-Davidson-based sportster known as Sultans of Steel.

Sultans of Steel was completed and delivered at the beginning of the year but, given the location of the custom shop and the fact that 2020 has proved to be, generally speaking, the absolute worst, news failed to register on the international radar. The bike is so beautiful and beautifully executed that we couldn’t have overlooked it and not included it with similar pieces of art, detailed as part of our Custom Builds Month theme.

The Sultans of Steel rolls on 23-inch (58.4-cm) rims with Avon rubber, and features an exposed Sportster 883 engine, H-D Softail rear shocks and catalog brakes, but otherwise it’s Andi’s work of art. It’s a superbly crafted piece of jewelry that stands as tribute to raw metal, and simplicity as the ideal means for said tribute.

Crafted from stainless steel, with the occasional brass inlays for necessary contrast, the detailing on this bike is astounding. With curves and aggressiveness overload, it stands out for stark minimalism in the design, as well as the refusal to use any other material than those mentioned.

There is a single downtube and a single backbone, while the double cradle design stands out for extreme curvaceousness. Both the vintage leather seat and the rear fender seem to float in mid-air, but there is no break in the flow; this doesn’t do away with the impression that this bike was molded out of molten metal.

by Christiana Sciaudone from https://www.investing.com

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) shares rose 5% after an upgrade by BMO Capital.

HOG was raised to outperform from market perform by analyst Gerrick Johnson, who also boosted his price target to $33 from $23, MarketWatch reported. The average price target is $26.75, while the highest is $34, according to data compiled by Investing.com. The stock was trading around $27.28 on Tuesday.

Johnson is more positive on the motorcycle maker thanks to management changes and the “high level of credibility” that Chief Executive Officer Jochen Zeitz has brought to the company.

While retail sales may not recover quickly, key metrics like used bike prices and dealer inventory levels should improve, showing proof of a turnaround, MarketWatch quoted Johnson as saying.

Last week, Harley-Davidson said it would cut 700 positions across global operations, with about 500 expected to exit in 2020. The company said it is overhauling its global operating model to become a “leaner, more nimble” organization.

HOG has seven buy ratings, 10 holds and one sell, according to data compiled by Investing.com.

Harley-Davidson’s stock surges after BMO Capital upgrades, raises price target to highest in the Street

by Tomi Kilgore from https://www.marketwatch.com

Shares of Harley-Davidson Inc. HOG, +5.55% hiked up 3.4% in premarket trading Tuesday, after BMO Capital’s Gerrick Johnson became the most bullish analyst covering the motorcycle maker following an upgrade and price target boost. Johnson raised his rating to outperform from market perform and lifted his stock price target to $33, which is 27% above Monday’s closing price of $25.92, from $23. His target is now the highest of the 19 analysts surveyed by FactSet. Johnson said he’s more positive on the company after recent management changes, as new Chief Executive Jochen Zeitz has brought in “a high level of credibility” that investors have embraced. “As strategic changes are implemented over the next several quarters retail sales may struggle, but other key metrics, such as used bike prices and dealer inventory levels, should improve, providing ‘evidence’ the turnaround is taking hold,” Johnson wrote in a note to clients. The stock has run up 34.0% over the past three months through Monday, while the S&P 500 SPX, +1.34% has gained 10.9%.

What Happened In Santa Ana On July 2, 1950?

Organized drag racing celebrates its 70th birthday on July 2, 2020. On that day in 1950 the first “official” drag race took place at an out-of-commission Army airbase in Santa Ana, California. Soon that airbase was established as Santa Ana Drags, the world’s first commercial dragstrip. When it closed nine years later, drag racing had become a nationwide sport with established rules and classes, national championships, and a major sanctioning body.

Today, drag racing has evolved into a huge worldwide motorsport—and it also still exists at a smaller grassroots level not much different from what those guys in Santa Ana were doing 70 years ago.

When Did Drag Racing Really Start?

To say when drag racing began involves a lot of speculation about an activity that, in all likelihood, has been around since the creation of the second automobile. In the April 1950 issue of HOT ROD magazine, editor Wally Parks (one year before establishing the NHRA) wrote an article describing “controlled drag races” as an alternative to the type of racing that hot rodders had been doing on the dry lakes of Southern California since the ’30s. Parks’ description might seem foreign to today’s drag racing fans, such as his explanation that the “number of entrants in each heat race depends on the width of the course.”

I figured that the best way to find out some facts about the birth of drag racing was to talk to people who were actually there. About 12 years ago, I got in touch with Leslie Long, one of Southern California’s early hot rodders. Leslie was on a personal mission to chronicle the history of drag racing at Santa Ana, collecting race results and photos from the strip’s short run from 1950 to 1959. He said if I met him at his favorite diner in Santa Ana and bought him a cup of coffee, he’d tell me all about it.

We ended up having several meetings. Our conversation at the first one was the basis for a May 2009 Rod & Custom magazine article called “The Guys Who Invented Hot Rods,” about dry lakes racing before World War II. At later meetings, Leslie talked about drag racing at Santa Ana, sharing stories as well as the photos you’re seeing here. These pictures, and the following information, originally appeared in the November 2009 issue of R&C.

Clues

Was Santa Ana really the first official drag race? In the spring of 1949, a year before Parks wrote that article for HOT ROD, rodders had gathered in Goleta, California, for a match race that some people call the first official drag race. And Parks’ story refers to another location in Santa Ana where they were running two abreast, with one flagman at the starting line and another at the finish line a quarter mile away.

Since that article predates the July 2nd races at the Santa Ana airport, Wally might be referring to a different military airfield called Mile Square. According to Leslie, that location was a practice air strip where pilots were trained to land on aircraft carriers—and where hot rodders raced until armed Marines ordered them out.

Soon after, the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), which had organized racing on the dry lakes, held a drag race at a nearby blimp base. Chuck Potvin (the racer and speed equipment manufacturer) tried, unsuccessfully, to convince the SCTA to continue with drag racing. “Nobody’s interested in drag racing,” they told him.

In 1950, CJ Hart, Creighton Hunter, and Frank Stillwell met with Santa Ana city officials to get permission to use that Santa Ana airfield for organized drag racing. On July 2, the first races were held there.

Were They Really The First?

Leslie claimed that the first Santa Ana drags actually took place a month earlier. “CJ Hart ran two races that nobody knows about,” he told me. “People have told me they didn’t happen. Creighton Hunter told me I was crazy. But I was there. Word got out among the racers that they were taking place—they were only for the racers.”

Those two June races, like the races in Goleta, at Mile Square, and other locations (including the streets) were grassroots activities. What was different about July 2 in Santa Ana was that the races were scheduled, organized, and official. And they were publicized.

“There were hundreds of spectators at those races,” Leslie said. “In later days there was a small grandstand, but in the early days, spectators lined up along the strip, sitting on the front of their cars or standing. Telephone poles on the ground along the strip kept the spectator cars away from the racing. People were supposed to stand behind the poles, but they would sit on them. A lot of people would just sit in their cars.”

Rolling Starts And Perilous Stops

“For at least the first three years it was all rolling starts—and it was more than a quarter mile. The racers started back against the fence, and it was actually even a little bit downhill back there. CJ would stand out in front. The cars would accelerate together, CJ would drop the flag, and they’d have a race.

“The strip was wide—200, maybe 300 feet. It looked great to the spectators, but once you crossed the finish line, you’d better be ready to slow down. It turned into a very narrow road that only went for about 500 feet and curved to the right, with a drop-off on the left. If you couldn’t get stopped, you dropped off the end of the curve, and you were in the tall weeds waiting for somebody to come get you. I plowed through them a lot of times.”

Elapsed Time Vs. Top Speed

“In the early days, it was all about top speed. They didn’t have e.t. lights. They had electronic timers at the finish line—with a photocell on each side to time miles per hour. Some racers didn’t understand how they could lose a race even though they had a faster car.

“I was ‘the college student,’ so guys would come up to me and ask me, ‘Look, I just went 2 miles an hour faster than that guy, and he beat me. How could that be?’ I’d explain that it’s not about top speed, it’s about elapsed time. The race is won or lost right off the line. Later on, they put in e.t. lights.”

The Beginning Comes To An End

By the mid-’50s, Hunter and Stillwell were no longer involved at Santa Ana, but Hart continued until the last race on June 21, 1959. By that time, drag racing had spread across the United States. Today, at age 70, drag racing is bigger, quicker, faster, more expensive, more commercial, and more popular than anybody could have imagined.

Computer-equipped Top Fuel dragsters running at multi-million-dollar arenas are clocking mind-blowing elapsed times in the mid-3-second range at top speeds way beyond 300 miles per hour. It all started with a bunch of hot rodders trying to beat each other to the finish line at an out-of-commission airfield in Santa Ana.

How Did Drag Racing Become A Quarter Mile?

We’ve always heard it had something to do with horse racing—or the distance of city blocks. Could it be that 1,320 feet became the first official distance of a drag race by accident?

In defense of the horse racing theory, we can point to Gray Baskerville’s 2001 Rod & Custom story, “The Legend of the Car That Raced the Horse.” According to that story, the standing quarter mile became the original dragstrip length because of an unusual race in 1944 between Pete Henderson’s 1932 Ford highboy and a quarter-horse (the car won).

Leslie Long’s recollection from Santa Ana suggested a more random reason. “When they finally started to have standing starts at Santa Ana, the cars had to move away from the fence (where they had previously lined up for rolling starts). The distance that was left was a quarter mile. So, it was really an accident. It just happened to be the length of the runway.”

Leslie’s explanation is confirmed by a Wally Parks interview in the Southern California Auto Club’s Westways magazine. In that interview, Parks claimed that the quarter-mile dragstrip distance was not from horse racing, but from test runs and races at airport runways. Publicity in HOT ROD magazine (edited by Parks) and other magazines helped establish the quarter mile as the drag racing standard.

–Tim Bernsau
www.HotRod.com

Editor’s Note: There’s also an amazing book about the history of motorcycle drag racing by a good friend of mine, John S. Stein. It’s a large black and white photo album of all the greats. It’s still for sale on Amazon.–Bandit

Motorcycle Drag Racing: A History Hardcover – January 1, 2011
by John S. Stein

There is a line in a Lovin’ Spoonful song that says, “It’s like trying to tell a stranger about rock ‘n roll.” Motorcycle drag racing is a bit like that. To those who follow it, the sport makes perfect sense. To those who don’t, it makes none at all. This book is for both.

At 244 pages and nearly 3 pounds, this book is quite large. With so much to explore, it had to be. Organized motorcycle drag racing began nearly 60 years ago, and an incredible amount has happened since then. While much of the change has involved the machinery—and the book discusses it in great detail – it is the people that make the sport so fascinating. And in the book, more than 500 of them are discussed.

Council unanimously voted to work to keep event running with restrictions

MANCHESTER, N.H. —

In a unanimous vote on Monday, Laconia city councilors gave approval to work with the Motorcycle Week association to make the event happen during the last week in August.

The event will look different and come with restrictions. The city council voted to prohibit permits for vendors this year. That means the popular Lakeside Avenue beer tents in Weirs Beach will not be part of the 2020 event.

Before their decision the council listened to comments from the public, including workers from local taverns and bars.

Most encouraged the council to work with the association that hosts Laconia motorcycle week, but some asked them to pull the plug amid the uncertainty of COVID-19.

“Canceling motorcycle week this year is not saying we don’t like the event and we don’t want it in our city,” one commenter said. “It is saying that maybe, in a year of a global pandemic, we are willing to do everything in our power to ensure the best outcome for educating our young people.”

Nonprofit organizations are the one exception and will still be able to get vendor permits after one councilor suggested it would be a massive missed fundraising opportunity.

Motorcycle week usually happens in mid-June but was postponed back in the spring and pushed back until the last week of August. Typically, tens-of-thousands of bike enthusiasts travel to the Lakes Region for it. It is unclear how many will attend amid the pandemic.

–Tyler Dumont

WMUR.com

Worldwide circumstances have conspired to ensure that this year’s 80th anniversary Sturgis Rally won’t be the stellar celebration once planned

By Marilyn Stemp

That said, once August 7th rolls around, the eight-decade occasion will most certainly be marked, if with less fanfare.

As bike riders, we appreciate the significance of an 80-year milestone in motorcycling, especially one celebrated in western South Dakota where the aura of wild west rebellion and revelry so synergistically dovetails with biking.

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