Hawaiian Chopper Winterfest and Biker Build-Off
By Bandit |
It’s been three weeks since my latest show and I’ve finally gained back the energy and train of thought to tell you all about the Hawaiian Chopper Winterfest & Biker Build-Off.
After months of hard work putting together Hawaii’s most kick ass bike show, we here at Hawaiian Chopper Magazine are enjoying the fruits of our labor (not much coin, but lots of gratitude for all those who came out to party with us).
The weather was perfect, the beer was cold, the women were beautiful, and the bikes were cool! Plus …music, hula dancers, bikini clad women, Big Mike, Chica, Cole Foster, El Pitts, Todd Silicato, Shannon Aikau, Greg Friend, Norio Akai…
The biker build-off was won by Japan’s Norio Akai for his Ninja bike. Deemed the “Ninja Bike”, Norio Akai's bike embodies Japan's warrior spirit. Samurai sword jockey shift, jet black paint with a ninja emerging from the tank, and throwing stars strategically placed, this chop from Kyoto won the popular vote (this time…).
Big Mike won the hearts of Hawaii’s bikers not only his skill at building one of the most insane bikes ever built for a biker build-off, but also for his commitment to providing them with a choice at the dealership.
I could go on-and-on, but as they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, so I won’t bore you with my own description of the show, except to say that, it was a great time…
For complete coverage of the Hawaiian Chopper Winterfest & Biker Build-Off, check out www.hawaiianchops.com and look for the next issue of Hawaiian Chopper magazine (subscriptions are available through the website or by emailing steve@hawaiianchops.com
Aloha,
Steve Kalnasy
Editor-in-Chief
Hawaiian Chopper
Love Ride 06
By Bandit |
The annual Love Ride celebrated its 23rd year of fund raising, which benefits 30 various charities. This year was no exception, with a record breaking $1.56 million raised. The most noticeable changes this year were the lack of attendance, a higher entrance donation and a change in the food vendor. We overheard slight grumblings throughout the day about long beer lines, the cost and how the food was just plain cold.
Walking through the vendor area (located on the grassy slopes, surrounding the traditional stage at the lakes edge) used to take the remainder of the morning and well into the afternoon-this was no longer the case. There were noticeable absentees from the vendor area and what once was rig after rig parked nose-to-tail, was now serving as a close-in motorcycle parking lot (where we parked). As we wandered around during the different activities, we wondered what had reduced one of our favorite fall events into just a mere afternoon's adventure?
Most of the vendors we spoke to expressed the same feelings regarding excessive costs of parking and displaying at the lake. It was getting to be too much. Sales are not allowed. It’s difficult to recoup expenses for setting up, salaries, food and lodging. The majority of the vendors also complained about set-up time. The organizers decided that it was necessary for vendors to arrive days early in order to facilitate setting up, which also added to their overall costs. The only products allowed to be sold at the lake are food, drink and Love Ride t-shirts.
But the weather was exceptionally kind, with highs in the 70s and sunshine right up until dusk. Traffic on the way out to Castaic from Glendale was cool and we made good time, but coming back into the San Fernando Valley was a whole other story. Even though the headliner band The Black Crows set was done in the early afternoon, there was still a race to hurry up and head south on the 5 Freeway.
Unfortunately, we were all racing to inevitably share crowdedf lanes with the traffic returning from the holiday weekend. Some cagers were even more annoyed than we were at the anticipated, unpleasant experience. But as fate would have it we arrived home with no dings or dents.
Hopefully there will be some major improvements next fall.
–Frank Kaisler
Daytona 2008 Run
By Bandit |
The end of February found me in the winter humdrums. My bike had been down since I got hassled in December at the local DMV for having my VIN numbers obscured by the lock tab on my 1978 Narrow Glide frontend. The DMV gave me the option of taking the bike to Auto Squad so they could verify the numbers. That wans’t going to happen, and I ordered a 2-inch under Springer without anything on it that would obscure the numbers. Such are the trials and tribulations of a biker tramp with his home-built special construction. As of this writing, I’m still waiting on parts that will allow me to run the 1978 dual-disk setup on the Springer. I’m getting close and am considering a fresh backyard paint job this year.
Friday night, March 1st, found me hanging out in front of the local A.A. club talking cams with Joe, an old friend. The conversation revolved around lift and duration for a twin cam motor Joe was hoping up. Another friend of mine, Bruce, showed up and entered into the conversation. I met Bruce in rehab when I was on spin-dry and his story struck close to home with me. Turns out Bruce ran with a club down south in the '70s and still rode. I backed him into a corner and wanted to know how he made it out of the cycle of substance abuse.
Bruce patted me on the shoulder and told me it was simple: “Just don’t use.”
I was brutally spaced out at that point in my life and resembled a cartoon caricature more than a human being. I wandered back to my room in the hospital with the hope that one day, I would be back in the breeze again.
As time rolled by and I racked up a few 24 hours, our paths crossed on a weekly basis. We became friends and put some miles under our wheels. The conversations drifted to Daytona and who was riding down this year. I was out, due to my current two-wheeled dilemma. Bruce said that he was going, but the guy that was to ride down with him was out because of problems with his old lady. And Joe just started a new job and couldn’t go. Plans looked bleak, as is the norm for this time of the year in the semi-northeast.
Our conversations trailed off and we were all left with our own lingering depressed thoughts, when Bruce came up with a solution. He asked me if I would like to ride his 2003 Low Rider to Bike Week? Turns out his missus didn’t want him riding down alone. Shit, this was a big deal for me; ride someone else’s bike from Washington, D.C. to Daytona, some 976 miles? I thought about the responsibility for about one second and gave him a vigorous thumbs-up.
During the preceding week, I was like a kid waiting' on Santa to arrive. I spent anxious time at work and at home preparing road gear, while looking at the extended forecast for the east coast. Sunday, March 9th, arrived clear and cold. The temp when we rolled out was 27 degrees. I traveled extensively on my 1980 Super Glide up and down the east coast some 28 years ago, so I knew how to dress for the road and the weather. The Low Rider I was on had a clip-on windshield and bags, so I traveled in relative comfort out on interstate 95. Bruce was on a 2005 Road Glide with a cup holder, GPS, CD player, XM radio, and cruise control. The latter was a real blessing and I would recommend this to anyone. The cruise control was set to the GPS, and we motored fill up to reserve non-stop.
We left DC around 9:00 a.m. and rode through Virginia, North Carolina, and into South Carolina before a layover in Florence. While covering the miles at every stop, we peeled off a layer of clothes and our big shit-eating grins expanded. It was damn cool to ride with someone who liked to cover miles. Bruce rode out front and I rode right off of his right shoulder. At first, I laid back and watched his riding style. I soon realized that Bruce wasn’t telling any bullshit stories about his younger days.
During lane changes, he set me up so I could cover his back. All of his moves were well-telegraphed, so I knew what was going on well before it happened. As we logged miles, our styles integrated and started to flow, and we rode as one blasting down the interstate. This is one of the simple pleasures of riding with another experienced rider. Most of the other riders we ran across were on baggers and seemed to be in no hurry to get anywhere. I couldn’t understand the number of folks we passed who were trailering full-dressed Harleys to Daytona. What’s the point?
Day two (Monday) was more of the same. We made Jacksonville around rush hour wearing tee shirts. The crowds of bikers out on the road grew with each exit ramp. We both have a friend, Slim, who runs a sober house in Daytona; that was our destination for the day and our free crash pad for the week (Thanks, Slim). I ended up buying Slim and Bruce dinner every night while we were there as a sorta “thank you.”
While in town, our days were a no hurry, no worry life style. Up at 7 a.m. and about a gallon of coffee for me, along with a strong dose of rock-n-roll from a local FM station. We checked the bikes over while discussing destinations for the day. There is so much shit you can do in Daytona that you would really have to haul ass from one destination to another to cover it all. And don't spend too much time lingering at any one spot.
Tuesday, we peeled down to Main Street to check out the convention center and tried to locate Bandit, but he was out and about like the rest of us. I picked up a shit-kicking leather at a vendor stand, because folks were talking rain. We grabbed lunch, took pictures for ya’ll, and just plain fucked off.
Damn, we missed the coleslaw wrestling on Wednesday because we spent too much time at destination Harley-Davidson. While there, I ran into Rollin Sands just wandering around unnoticed. We talked for about five minutes and Rollin seems like a down-to-earth person. The crowds were down this year by a third, the vendors said. They attributed most of it to the gas prices, which I didn’t understand at first, because bikes get good gas mileage. Then a vendor informed me: The cost of pulling a trailer loaded with an 800 pound motorcycle is exorbitant. So the trailer trash was down this year. I guess that would explain why I didn’t hear all the folks revving their motors at stoplights.
We made it to Carl's Speed Shop after we left Destination Daytona. Carl's place always pumps us with a performance buzz.
Thursday was swap meet day and we rode out by the racetrack. Swap meets are the shit. I can spend hours picking up parts and trying to figure out what model and model year bike it works on. I saw a lot of good used stuff and a lot of bad used stuff. I also saw a lot of German, French and Danish folks buying early stock Springers and early (pre-1967) parts. I asked a few vendors what was up with that, and was told that because of the weak dollar, these folks were buying' shit and shipping it back home to build some kick-ass rides. I got a clutch cable clamp, set of ace of spade license plate bolts, and a $14.00 biker ring made out of something that will not turn my finger green, guaranteed.
Friday was supposed to be a ride day, so Thursday night, we laid out a route from Daytona up A-1-A north to St. Augustine. Then we would hang a left on 207 west to Palatka. From there, we would take 100 back to Flagler Beach, then south back to Daytona on A-1-A.
We made St. Augustine and the skies let go heavy. Rode for a piece but the stuff wasn’t letting up. We made a break back south on A-1-A along the coast and escaped the downpour. Stopped at a little roadside joint and had lunch. We ate long enough for the storm to catch us again, so we hung out and shot the shit with our waitress and two guys who rode in from Tenn. After a bit, the storm passed and we hauled ass back to our Daytona digs. Spent the rest of the day cooling out and taking it easy.
Saturday was our getaway day, but the winds were extreme (40-60 mph gusts), so we laid over and checked out the action close to home. Tropical Tattoo first, then we slipped down the street to check out Sucker Punch Sally stuff. Met Keino while I was there and congratulated him on his break from Indian Larry Legacy. We talked for a bit and in the end agreed to see each other at the Smoke Out.
After we left there, Bruce had a notion to ride. Shit, man; what a trip. We leaned into the wind, riding past Daytona International Airport into an industrial wasteland headed to Port Orange. The Law was out hot and heavy, and the wind blew shit out of the gutters and across the roadway.
At a traffic light, I asked him where the fuck we were heading? He was looking for a rib shack. We pulled a U-turn and found a good place to eat on Nova Road. We ducked inside and watched the Honda 200 on the tube.
Our time in Daytona '08 wound down and I contemplated the ride home with anticipation. The trek home was about the ride down in reverse. Both of us had that sinking feeling. We would rather spend the rest of our lives riding the interstate than going' back to what modern society had waiting for us. Fuck being politically correct.
In closing these are my thoughts: All you folks that down the factory should step back and take a ride across country on my bike. It is a replica of a 1980 Super Glide and will beat you up. I have never ridden anything other than a Shovel with a four-speed transmission. The 2003 Low Rider I rode was a dream, no vibration in the mirrors or my ass. Five speed that I cruised at 80 mph while taching 3400 rpm. A great ride. The run consisted of 976 miles down and 976 back. We covered a total of 2,800 total for the week.
The 2005 Road Glide, which I tried on twice, wasn’t my style but was a class act and cruised down the road sweet. All the luxuries and comfort an old fart could want in a bike.
The folks that trailer their stuff to events should allow bikers to pass them in the fast lane, not the slow lane. When you get in the fast lane, get the fuck out of the way after you get around your fellow trailer trash. You, my friends, are a road hazard and are the topic of many a two-wheeled gas pump conversations.
Saw two bad trailer accidents on the way home. Folks dropping the trailer wheels off the shoulder in the fast lane then the big roll over. The folks that stopped to help both times were on two wheels while the rest of the traffic just went by gawking.
–LTR
Swiss Performance 2008
By Bandit |
Everything in Switzerland is a tad different. An extraordinary lively biker-community faces a government that is about to discipline bike-riding much more than neccessary and almost to a total end. This is the feeling you get when you look at all the rules that are officially meant to make biking safe and protect the biker from himself. During the Show of Swiss Moto and Swiss Performance that topic was really the emphasis. And to make it worse the rules of the motorcycle emissions, called Euro 3, are going to become tighter.
But there also were innovations to entertain the visitors, especially the riders of the Indoor-Stunt-Worldchampionship.
Christian Pfeiffer, one of the best known riders among the stunters, knew it would be hard to repeat his success. Last year 16 builders initiated the Swiss contest from null. Because of its success in 2008, there were a couple of the best builders worldwide to be welcomed. They all wanted to take part in it and pulled the throttle. Humberto Ribeiro, Narcis Roca, AC Farias and the Hungarian “Helldriver Mokus” Balázs Herczeg showed their best. The Irish stuntman, Mattie Griffin, stunned the viewers with his backflip off the driving motorcycle and his frontal downswing over the frontend. Mokus flipped his whole bike while sitting on it. They all came up with perfect shows and exciting tricks.
The jury’s task was hard to handle. The very last round made the difference. Again Chris Pfeiffer was able to beat them all with his program on his BMW. The party after that was hot. Chris celebrated in a stunter’s way. He rode several laps with the flag-presenting-cheergirl sitting on his shoulder, doing wheelies and stoppies.
The area of the stunt-contest and the Swiss Performance was huge, spreading over a whole exhibit-hall. Packed with a lot of hot steel and cool designed bikes. The Swiss Performance is the most important show for the Swiss tuners and according to that it was our duty to show up.
Show-coordinator and mastermind, Ruedi Steck, brought the Saltlake-speedweek-flair to Switzerland. He presented his 2 x 8 records from Bonneville. In the focus of the exhibition was the fastest bike of the world, California’s Sam Wheeler took his record-bike “Streamliner“ to Zürich, which ran a speed of 355.303 mph on the Bonneville-flats. Even famous Fritz Egli was caught saying, “Nice bike. I’m always thinking that I never took part in Bonneville…“ Something to expect in the future?
Sam didn’t make it to the record in 2006, because his front tire blasted at the speed of about 300 mph. But this run was duly noted as the fastest speed ever ridden on a motorbike. Sam now breathed clean Swiss air for three days and was excited about the designs and quality that were shown at the show.
Sam watched the bike-buildoff between “Streetfighter Team” and “Seven Cycles.” Seven Cycles stripped a new Softail to the parts and started rebuilding a complete custombike from that, in three days! The “Streefighters“ guys, from Interlaken, brought a well prepared GSX-R to the show and ended up completing this bike at the end of the build-off. That don’t mean it was easy to handle building a working cable-tree for a 4-cylinder speedbike.
Heavy work also for Markus Pfeil whose task it was to paint and design both of the bikes. One handed gold-plating while pinstriping the matte black custom-HD with the other hand means skills and talent. And coolness!What a man!
The bikeshow was designed in the spirit of the upcoming soccer-european championship and took place on a stylized soocerfield. There the bikes of show courted for attention. Germany vs Swiss is a final classic in soccer – and before it took place at Zürich, the victory going to Germany, back in '54.
Now the result read 2:1:1. In the list of winners a well known Austrian customizer had two runners up. Penz Custombikes won first prize with their “Erebus“ for Airbrush-design, well done by artist Marcus Pfeil. Far in front also was the “Passion of Christ“ in this category, covered with christian motives from the so titled film on each and every part of the bike, even the motor.
In the field of the Feestyle-Bikes nobody could reach the class of the show’s posterbike “Twintrax“ of Christoph Madaus. His double-twin-engine-monster caught the masses.Also a class of its own was the “Precious“ by Ronny Stöcklin from Swiss. He built this modern boardtracker together with Bela Börden from Classic Bikes at Oberwil: more than 3.000 blinging gemstones had been attached to this bike, all mounted in tiny sockets each!
The shining jewel-bike is not planned to be driven. It is thought to be the promotionbike for a factory that builds jewelry, though it could be taken out for a ride with its powerful RevTech and the well produced suspension.
Like a bunch of other bikes from the Swiss Performance, it will also be seen at the European Championship of Custombike Building during the Custom Chrome Europe Dealershow at Mainz in Germany. Right after it was taken to the Belgian Bike Weekend at Antwerp before Easter. Off to the next round. A hot 2008 for custombike-fans was just fired up!
Text & Fotos: Horst Rösler, Motographer.de, translation Andreas Kirsch, wikinger.com
Special thanks to www.SarahZoellner.de and Jürg Schäffli /www.indi300.ch
Italian Motorcycle Megashow A BIGGER BANG:
By Bandit |
Running into its 14th year, the annual BIKE EXPO at Padua has established itself already as THE season opener, not only south-side of the alps: With lots of visitors passing the gates already on Friday, both Saturday and Sunday. Again the show was crowded beyond belief! There were times when you thought that this exhibition could hardly get any bigger – but every year, the BIKE EXPO – formerly established as Chopper & Custom Show – extended it’s grip on hall after hall!
The empty room between Halls 7 and 8 was bridged with a roof, thus creating another hall for Honda. As in 2007, all available halls were full to the max with motorcycles and custombikes. The big Motorcycle Manufacturers are out in force – and so is the italian Custombike Scene: Two Bikeshows by the main Custombike-Magazines PLUS the selection of the Top-3 Customs for the World and European Championship of Customizing 2008 added a lot to the popularity of this event! More trophys to win – and BIKE EXPO organisers again dug deep into their pockets: The “Best of Show” Winner got a € 5.000,– cheque for transport to the World Championship in the USA, 2nd and 3rd are invited to the European championship at Mainz/Germany in March!
Bertrand Dubet has come quite a long way to show his extraordinary bike project named “V-Rage”: Based in Toulouse, not too far from the hi-tech Airbus aircraft manufacturing plant, the creator of Odyssey Motorcycles has already a reputation for building one-off show-winning custombikes which are ahead of their time and spearheading new technology. Having introduced the rolling chassis already at the KUSTOM SHOW in Paris in spring 2007, the BIKE EXPO saw the roll-out into the show circuit for a view dates, before the bike is delivered to the customer, a closely guarded name in international ball-sport business. The 1.600 km trip paid off with two huge trophies of both “Best of Show” of the Freeway Bikeshow and the BIKE EXPO’s own show judgment, performed to the rules of the AMD World Championship of Custombike Building. Not to forget a 5.000,– € boost for the trip to the World Championship at Sturgis/South Dakota, sponsored by BIKE EXPO!
Italy is motorcycle crazy: No matter how often those manufactures ride on the edge of bankcrupcy or are taken over. Those classic names seemingly can’t be ereased: Benelli, Moto Morini, Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta, Bimota and the greatest of this year: Ducati! Thank god for that! After winning the MOTO-GP for the first time, the Ducatisti are certainly goin berserk. And the Enduro World Championship went to Italy too. The best receipe for a successful BIKE EXPO 2008 – and a start into the 2008 season: Sportbike, Streetfighter, Chopper or Custom – not the question at Padua.
Once again bigger than in previous years, the season-starter south of the alps attracted huge numbers of visitors. Estaimated at somewhat around 100.000 local and international visitors squeezed through the halls in three days, confirming that motorcycles are still a hot toppic in Italy. The sheer numbers of visitors is thanks to the fact that the BIKE EXPO has become a family event – with something to see for everybody: Trial demos with bikes and bicycles, demorides by Yamaha and Triumph and the first testrides on experimental Hydrogen-powered Motorcycles! Not to forget the national Enduro-Team that made a demo run and race at their trophy receiption on Sunday afternoon.
Padua BIKE EXPO is gearing up for the 15th anniversary edition in 2009: The big halls are showground for the big motorcycle brands, while the custom shops, distributors and dealers remained in their traditional locations, teh size of the booths changing to the tidal currents of their business. Beside the big manufacturers – and there were a lot of classic italien names back on the catalogue – and distributors, it’s always the small shops and customizers that make the BIKE EXPO at Padua worth the visit.
The quality of italian customizing can keep up with the rest of the world – both in terms of style and quality. The special exhibition of “Italian Design”, which presented some of the highlights in clothing, parts, accessories and motorcycles has become a permanent part of the show and those weird looking scooter-type Hydrogen-Bikes were not only on static display! The research team of Enviroment Park offered short testrides on these extraordinary rides in which Hydrogen is directly converted into electrical energy.
In the 2008 bikeshow circuit, no less than 3 bikeshows competed for winners. “Biker’s Life” magazine set up the Custombike- & Car-Show at the pavillion – and a Fotostudio to catch the latest bikes of the italian customizers. Taking a complete hall, the hi-class custombike show attracted international entries from as far as Germany and Slovenia! Competing “Freeway” Magazine came back in force with their own 90+ Bike Show for Freeway, Kustom and racer, with a considerable number of creative “Old School” motorcyles, powered both by the classic Pan’s and Knuckles as well as more modern power-sources. Both Biker’s Life and Freeway’s “Best of Show” made it into the Top-3 of the BIKE EXPO’s traditional own Bikeshow-Judgement: The ultimate “Best of Show” is selected from all the bikes exhibited – no matter if bikeshow or booths. A monumentous task for the jurors selected by the AMD World Championship of Custombike Building Team – but one they got used to in the last few years.
Last years winner Luciano Andreoli returned from the World Championship 2007 with a lot of new ideas and his “Project count” – last year's winner was “Project 8” was now up to “17”. Nevertheless, the bike had been put to 3rd place by the stunning displays of Fred Kodlins new “JFK” Bike and the show sweeping “V-Rage” described above. Just to add another cool detail of the reverse tuning, automatic transmission Engenuity engine: Instead of a simple key, the bike is activated by fingerprint-identification!
Fred Kodlin built another bike for a German businessman Michael Lorum and won the “Best of Show” at the Bikers Life show for the second year in row. Rather than taking his “Best of Show” Daytona Trip win, he donated the Daytona Flight back to the “Task Force Italia in Motor” who will auction it off for road security for italian motorcyclists – a generous move by the well known german custom pro and his cool modern Old-school Lowrider, dedicated to John F. Kennedy. Luciano Andreoli will enjoy another chance at Mainz/Germany, where the European Championship will give away another 3 tickets to Sturgis 2008 during the Custom Chrome Dealershow on March 30th.
2008 V-Twin Dealer Show In Cincy
By Bandit |
Cincy is a dealer show. That means guys from the industry set up booths and attempt to sell shit to dealers, shop owners, you name it. The press is usually on hand, so the manufacturers attempt to impress them enough to foster stories, while the sales end of the magazine world endeavor ardently to expand advertising budgets. That's not all. It's an opportunity for a manufacturer to cajole a distributor into handling his part, make a better deal with another distributor, expand orders and sometime find a source to build a bike. You name it, it's happening on the concrete floor of the convention center.
The Cincy V-Twin Expo has expanded to house virtually anyone who wants to reach into the American custom motorcycle market and take care of biz. There are other shows, like the general motorcycle and even quad show in Indy two weekends later, but Cincy is fervently focused on only the American Custom Motorcycle scene. It's a candy store of anything and everything new in the industry from cams to metal flake paint. News in the industry is at a full throttle buzz for the entire weekend. Guys are making deals, buying shit for their shops, scoring leads, scribbling notes and partying with their brothers.
More than anything this industry, except for a handful of rip-offs, sleaze bags and fly-by-nights, is a brotherhood. We make up a small, dinky percentage of the overall motorcycle market in America and the world. We're not manufacturing high-tech toasters. A major wheel manufacturer once told me that they sell less than one thousand of their most popular wheels each year. That's not exactly a major run of components.
So what happened this year in the hallowed halls of the Cincinnati Convention Center, smack in the middle of downtown, usually coated with a layer of snow in January? I don't know, I wasn't there for the first time in several years.
Sin Wu said, “Don't go baby, I'll take real good care of you here.”
I sent a few feeler spies and they came back with the following. The industry was high with optimism, but the MAG Group closed White Bros down after a 20-year history. American Iron Horse has just about shut its doors, but there's always one company coming on strong and another fading away. The crew from Miami Ink is launching a line of motorcycles. The OCC mechanics have hit the entrepreneurial road on their own and kicked-off a shop in Florida called V-Thunder.
There's more. Baker Transmission announced a heavy touring bike seven-speed tranny. Accurate Engineering unveiled Barry's new aluminum-head performance Knucklehead engine and shared a booth with Bikernet.com and 5-Ball Racing, builder of the World's Fastest Panhead. Accurate Engineering built the engine. Bikernet was celebrating their largest month in its 11-year history (340,000 unique visitors) and 70 percent growth in 2007. We also unleashed our new web site Bikernetmetric.com and will share that news with the metric crowd in Indy this coming weekend.
The list goes on. S&S promoted its new CARB-approved engine line and the fact that they bought Flathead Power, so they'll offer improved Flathead components and Knucklehead parts in the near future. You can imagine what a rush it is to walk up and down the aisles and check all the new shit, including Paughco's new board track chassis based on a design by Rick Krost of U.S. Choppers. It's killer to see all the new shit and ponder your next build.
Plus every night there's a party. Here's Rogue's report on the Sucker Punch Sally's Jam:
Attending the V-Twin Expo the beginning of February every year in Cincinnati Ohio is something that everyone in the motorcycle business should attend if they possibly can. During the day it is all business and that varies depending on whether you are an exhibitor, shop owner, or even media. Everyone is there for something.
After the Duke Energy Center closes for the evening it is time to party. There are plenty of parties going on all over the city, but some are more special than others. One of the best is the one hosted by Sucker Punch Sally’s at the Poison Room on 301 W. 5th Street.
It is by invitation only and always on Saturday Evening from 9:00 P.M. to 1:00 A. M. I make sure it is one of the events I attend every year. If you attended there is a good chance we got to spend some time together. If we didn’t I hope in the future we will be able to.
Thanks, to all those responsible for making this such a good party!!!!!!
–ROGUE
There you have it, Rogue's sober, politically correct version of the party coverage. Let's get to the dirt:
Hey it was a party. Not a whole lot to write about except people having a good time. Well, except for one asshole.
You might want Chris Callen to give you a comment. He was right there, Foy from Accurate Engineering as well,Rico was sitting next to me.
Probably not cool pumping it up. It happened and can be reported but I would prefer it did not get too far from the truth.
I wouldn't call it a fight.Some drunken asshole at the Sucker Punch Sally Party was bumping into me and putting his hands on me. I asked him to stop. I told him to stop. He gave Chris Callen some shit and then called the barmaid a bitch.
For that he got my fist in his mouth! I asked him if he wanted more and a trip to the hospital and he decided he didn’t and left.
The barmaid was a nice person working hard and did not deserve to be called names. Besides that she was making me good Jack and Cokes! I had only had a few when the incident happened, but she sure kept them coming after it.
End of Story!
–Rogue
Rogue kindly offered witness contacts for confirmation, so I reached out to Chris Callen, the big editor of Cycle Source Magazine:
Dude, it was no question the coolest shit I've seen in a long, long time. I've been telling these young bucks for a while about comin' up right, showing respect and the whole deal…. Not being a punk ya' know. Well, on that night Rogue took 'em all to school.
Started out this young buck (maybe 24 and big) was shootin' his mouth off at the bar. Rogue looked at me three or four times like, man is this cat gettin' on my nerves, and then finally asked me, “Is he with your crew?”
I said, “No why?”
“Someone should get him the fuck away from me,” Rogue said.
Being the mediator that I am I slid between Rogue and the kid trying to provide a buffer but as I did I stepped on his toe. He turned to me and said, “Hey you fuckin' cunt, don't step on my toe.”
Well, I'd already had a fewsips of whiskey and I looked at him eyeball-to-eyeball, leaned in and said, “What did ya say to me mutha fuck?
He laughed and said, “I'm just kidding I like you… Ha,ha,ha.”
I grabbed my drink from the bar and turned away, just for a second, and when Ilooked back the kid threw something at the barmaid and told her, “Hey, bitch, I'm talkin' to you….”
Rogue went into action faster than I've ever seen him move. He came off his stool in one motion and cracked that young kid right in the chops, man. The kid's face swelled up and Rogue told him, “I will put you into the fuckin' ground.”
As the kid held his face and shook his hand as if to say, no man, I'm done, I turned to the young dudes that I knew and said, “See, don't be a punk.”
With that Rogue sat back down and went back to his drink, bloody hand and all, like it never happened. I talked to him the next day and thanked him for being the man he is, for not letting the core of who we are go silently into the night.
He said simply, “Well someone had to do it.”
I swear to God, you couldn't make this shit up!
Rogue has always been a legendary Bikernet correspondent, and we're glad to have him in our camp. Seems he's also 70 years old. What's that about old Bikers Never Die?
So there you have it, the party sidebar. Then back to the showroom floor where Big Dog received the V-Twin Bike of the Year award for their new model the vintage styled Pitbull. I'll deliver more reports as our vast Bikernet correspondent wrecking crew are released from Cincinnati holding tanks.
Easyriders 2008 Pomona Launch
By Bandit |
It was about to be one of those dark and stormy nights mystery writers enjoy, except it was going to include the daytime as well, not much fun when you’re planning to putt to the Pomona County Fairgrounds/L.A. Fairplex to ogle the forest of chrome and billet that sprouts annually around January, better known as the Easyriders V-Twin Bike Show Tour 2008.
An Arctic storm of semi-mythic proportions was hammering Northern California, we SoCalers battening down the hatches and rummaged for rain gear as the dark clouds foamed on the horizon. While we all nod our heads and say, great, we need the rain for our parched soil and the ski resorts in the mountains need the snow, but why this weekend? Well, like the mailman who crams my copy of Home Quilting and Ammo Magazine into my tiny mailbox, neither rain, nor sleet nor snow will keep me from my appointed rounds of bike shows for Bikernet.com, the Pomona ER show included.
As Thor would have it, not one single raindrop blanched my camera lens, albeit the skies portended havoc, at least not until the very last ten minutes before I reached home after attending the show during which time the heavens belched fully upon me and my bike. In any case, what’s really important to Bandit and you readers are that my photos went unscathed. Even now as I squat naked in front of my ten-inch square floor heater trying to prevent hypothermia, my rain soaked gear steaming nearby, I pen this hot off the press report. Yes, the show must go on.
As you may or may not know, or even care for that matter, every year Easyriders launches a multi-city series of bike shows, this go around including the lead off event held in Pomona, CA and then moving on to Vancouver, WA (near Portland), Sacramento, CA, Charlotte, NC, Memphis, TN, Dallas, TX and finishing up in Columbus, OH for the end of the series invitational where the winners of the previous shows face off in the final competition to name the top dogs in the industry.
The show bike competition is divided into two categories, The Judged Class and Spectator Class (aka People’s Choice), the ballots scored by scions of the industry and the public respectively. In addition there’s the Pro Class Division, the winners then going on to have a chance of being selected as one of the six 2009 Centerfold Tour Master Builders, an Easyriders production. At this Pomona shindig, celeb bike builders and winners of last year’s Pro Class Division included Jerry Burrows of Roadhawgs, Shannon Davidson of the The Chopp Shop, The Detroit Bros., Christian Dotson of Dotson Designs, Jaxon Fyffe of Wild Card Customs and Tevelen Rabanal of Super Company Customs.
Up on stage spectators were distracted from the acres of bikes and vendors by the choreographed musical performances of the Purrfect Angelz as well as a fashion show and live bands. Meanwhile I was making my own music trolling through the cavernous Fairplex building where as usual the level of design, creativity and craftsmanship poured into the wild spectrum custom bikes left indelible images and no small measure of wonderment at what for my money is the most dynamic artform going. Bottom line all the bikes were winners. With “Spectator Class” ballot in hand, I went about picking my personal favorite, bikes and vendors, as follows. And that would include big jugs, six guns and a Bentley.
Despite the cold and rainy weather outside, inside the LA Fairplex the bikes were flaming hot.
Speaking of flames, as seen in the Spectator Class was one of the most rad customs of the event, a bike built by Nakama Customs and called “El Clasico Loco” obviously with good reason.
The trophy stand took a whole display unto itself.Winners also got major gift certificates not to mentionplenty of promotional magazine coverage.
Eric Beck of 50’s Boy, Inc., located in Simi Valley got my vote for best Vendor Display. (www.50sBoy.com)
Kevin Alsop’s crew from Big Bear Choppers takesup position behind one of BBC’s new production custom baggers.
Christian Dotson’s work of art featured radical “forkless” leafspring front suspension and a mouthwatering engine displayed as part of the Easyriders Centerfold Tour Master Builders 2008. The bike previously won the America’s Most Beautiful Motorcycle award at the Grand National Roadster Show and top honors at the San Francisco Rod, Custom and Motorcycle Show.
Tom Hicks of world’s largest Triumph and Ducati (and Victory) dealership poses with a friend of his three Brea, CA shops. Several custom Triumphs appeared in the show including….
Jamie Noteboom’s Triumph is called “Rose” and it is a bouquet of custom parts built by her husband Kutty at his shop Hippy Killer Garage where he builds cars and bikes. More info at kutty@hippykiller.com.
Juan Salcedo of JS Custom Choppers built “El Bandido” with lots of sumptuous hand-tooled leather and plenty of ammo for his Colt six-guns.
Some serious jugs were found on “The Secret Weapon” built by Chopperdaves Casting Co. located in Long Beach, CA and featuring a BYC frame stuffed with the new S&S X-Wedge engine. Chopperdaves also makes a line of way cool original Old School bike parts. More info at www.chopperdaves.com.
Got Bentley? Vic fell in love with the Bentley GT when it first appeared and decided he’d have a two-wheeled version including Bentley “Cypress” paint and correct leather upholstery and “grill’ set between the front downtubes. The Bentley tank badges were $400 a pop.
Jack Daniels officially commissioned the Las Vegas-based Alley Rat Custom Cycles to “distill” this 100-proof theme bike complete with Jack Daniel shotglasses as velocity stacks. Details include a “cork” gas cap. More info at www.alleyratcustomcycles.com.
Well, a shot of Jack would be appropriate at this time. Til the next go around with more of my picks and pix, here’s a toast and Best Regards for a Great 2008.
J&P Streamliner Faces The Great White Dyno
By Bandit |
After last years successful trip to Bonneville, we had high expectations for this year. We reworked and strengthened last year's record-setting 79-inch motor, and completed a second 1650 CC motor to try. Like most going racing, things ended up getting thrashed right down to the wire. Anyway, here's the account of this years trip…
See the first report, click here:
Our vehicle is the J&P Cycles streamliner, the sister bike to the Easyriders streamliner that held the outright world record of 322 MPH until last year. Our body was laid-up by the same fiberglass master, Kent Riches from Air Tech. We currently compete in the S/PG 1350 class (Streamlined/Pushrod Gas with a max displacement of 1350 CC’s). We set a class record of 178.948 last year.
Check The Water-Pump Dyno Tech: Click Here.
We where originally scheduled to leave Thursday August 30th. However, the fellow making the exhaust for our second motor didn't completed his task and was not finished until late in the afternoon. As we didn't have exhaust till then, the first time this motor was started was that afternoon. Seemed like we where behind the 8- ball already. After starting the motor and making sure there were no big noises, we pulled it, and put the 79 inch motor in. (bosses orders). Couple hours later they where changed. We decided to leave Friday and headed home for a good nights rest.
Friday we loaded and left near noon. After an uneventful 12-hr drive we stopped for the night. Saturday, we where off before 10:00 and arrived at Bonneville about 9:00 our time (central). We stayed at the Montego Bay. Still no 'puter hookup. Sunday we rolled out on the track and boy, there where a lot of bikes there. Last year there where about 200 entries. This year there where closer to 350 entries!
After setting up our pits, we presented our streamliner for “Scrutineering” (a fancy word for inspection). We passed with flying colors. By the time this ordeal transpired the day was shot and back to town we went.
We got up Monday and back to the track in time to see the Twin Hayabusa engined (turbocharged) streamliner, the Ack Attack lay down a quick 299.77 down run. A masterful engineering job makes this hot rod a contender for top speed of the meet anywhere it goes. After service, the return run was on tap. This time, unfortunately, going though the measured mile the bike got away from Rocky Robinson (the pilot) and he rolled. His measured time at the Kilo was 278 mph and the crash occurred before the clocks at the mile. Can you imagine getting on your head at almost 300 MPH? Take big brass ones to strap one of these babies on… With all the safety features built in streamliners, Rocky was able to walk away unharmed.
Meanwhile back in our camp we are waiting for our rider, Leo Hess to arrive with another streamliner that he's been constructing. Noon came and went, and finally between 3:00 and 4:00 he showed up. I got him through tech for his rider suit and we got in line. Standing on the Salt in the hot sun is not the most pleasant thing to experience. While we were in line we saw temperatures up to 108 degrees with no shade. Finally it was our turn and we were the last run of the day. We strapped him down, latch the canopy, and hooked up the towrope…. The Starter waves, and we started pulling the liner up to launching speed. 20..30…40…50…60…I gave the signal to release and Leo cuts loose.
The bike didn't sound good as it blasted by… we went back and collected our trailer and battery box, then headed for the end 11 miles away.
We arrived at the other end and saw the liner up on its skids (as it should be) and our recovery crew had the canopy off and Leo stepped out. The speed for this run, a disappointing 151 MPH, slower than the partially streamlined Assalt Weapan by Bikernet's 5-Ball racing team.
Leo described how and what he felt through the run. We loaded the bike up and head for the pits. At this point, we pulled the body and looked for problems. One of Leo’s comments was, “It shook like crazy. The motor was peppy down low, but didn’t want to rev.”
We immediately checked every motor-mount bolt. We found nothing loose and decided to call it a night.
The next morning (Tuesday) we checked compression and found our ft. cylinder with 200 PSI and the rear with 250 PSI. WTF? The front cylinder head was removed, and we check for a leaking valve. Nope, they were sealing fine. We looked at the bores. There were minor scratches on the cylinder walls, but they didn’t look horrible. Believe me, we went over these with a fine tooth comb. Nothing, we found nothing wrong…
Thinking about things, a difference in compression could cause lot of vibration. We went over the rest of the bike, but could find no reason for this discrepancy. We had another bullet (untested engine) on the trailer. The decision was made, change motors.
Along about this time, the weather took a turn for the worse. Winds picked up and faced rain showers. We had two shade canopies covering the majority of the 22 ft long bike. We lifted the bike onto our work stands and went to work. As we pulled the motor the winds howled! A team member hung on every corner for dear life.
In the center, John (the boss) was trying to keep the canopies from flapping and ripping. Every time a gust occured, it looked like the wind would pick everyone up and fling them across the wet salt. We got the one motor out and the other in…. We took advantage of a lull in the weather to strike camp and run for town.
The memory of those guys wrestling with the canopies will be something I’ll remember to the day I die. Isn’t racing fun? As we left the track, we were fearful that the additional rain would ruin the track and make it unusable. At dinner that night, we decide to be on the track before dawn.
We were up and hauling ass early Wednesday. Fortunately the salt was not damaged by the elements. During a meeting of the whole crew we decided which of the three carbs we had to use, and I set up the linkage. We finished hooking up the bigger motor and light things up. Quick startup, Yeah!!! Wait! Oh no, we had lots of oil coming from the pushrod tubes.
We investigated this and determined we were delivering too much oil. We decided to remove the oil pressure switch and setup a metered bypass to remove the excess. An A-N6 fitting was tapped for an S Main jet, and the bypass established. We put things back together and fired it up, much less oil, but not dry. Changed to a bigger jet. Once again, less oil, not dry. Another change. To make a long story short, a total of 5 jet changes had to happen before it met our satisfaction. Tuning, timing, adjustments here and there consumed the rest of the day.
One day left (no pressure).
Up early on Thursday, out to the salt and we warmed up our toy. Things sounded good… We got in line. Down at the Zero mile mark all the Streamliners were gathered. We were 4th or 6th depending on if The Worlds Fastest Motorcycle (the BUB #7) or Max Lamkeys twin-engined Vincent elected to run. The first liner left…about a ½ mile down course we see it wobble violently back and forth and fall to its side.
Tension mounted as we waited for the track for a clear track. We got the starters OK, and the next liner left. Clean pass. Eventually it was our turn. Got Leo suited up, tied in and ready to go. We got the wave and off we go. 20…40…60…RELEASE! Our mighty liner accelerates by…Time to get the trailer and battery cart.
These items collected and off to the other end we screamed. As we arrived, everything seemed in good order, but then we heard the speed, 145 mph… WTF?
We loaded up; headed back to the pits and regrouped. Everyone had an idea (or thought he did). I thought the air duct on the side of the bike was directing air right across the carb throat and disturbing the carb signal. Others believed we didn’t have enough air to the carb. Despite my arguments, another duct was cut in the Carbon Fiber body to enhance air distribution. Button things up again and back to the line. We got the very last run of the meet.
This time we had to start at the 2-mile mark with a stern warning from the tower that they didn’t want a 250 mph run because the long course personnel had left their stations. We made our run and this time it rumbled past the timing gate at 125 mph.
We tore down our pits and loaded up. The banquet was this evening. Track conditions where not great. The Monday run of 299 by the Ack Attack was the top speed of the meet. I’m sure the penny’s he won would go back into his liner, as it was damaged to the point it was unable to make another pass. While disappointing, the worst day racing beats the best day working.
Pro Street Grand Opening
By Bandit |
A call came into the Bikernet Intergalactic Headquarters in October 2007, a month after Bonneville, and we welcomed a needed break. We were told: “Take a Delta flight to Hawaii and cover the grand opening of Deacon's new shop, Pro Street Custom Cycles, and don't be late.”
We scrambled aboard the five-hour L.A.-to-Honolulu grind, where we discovered we were not allowed reading lights or pillows, and the movie sucked. Remind me to write the Delta team. We landed in Honolulu in the middle of the night, and a large, round local bumped into me, slipped me a note, and ran off barefooted. The note read: Go to the North Shore where some of the biggest waves in the world are swelling to pound the shore. Check in with the treasurer of the mighty Kanaka Hekili Motorcycle Club. He'll take care of you.
A rusting 1977 Toyota waited at the curb. We strapped our luggage on the roof and rolled from the city, over the hills, past the Sheffield Army Base and the Dole Pineapple Plantation through fields of cane and onto the curvy, coastal North Shore to the treasurer's garage. We made our home for the next week in his garage, next to his blacked-out FLH guarded by his wild, untrained, anti-house brindle cat. While it hissed and lashed out at our sea bags, we tried to find a match to light the candle above the next soiled note that said: Don't fuck with the cat.
The next morning, we crawled out of the sack to eat an oat-raisin muffin, which looked like a chunk of old road asphalt, and drink green tea on the edge of this tropical paradise while an orange tabby attacked roaches at our feet. In the bottom of my cup of tea was another fragrantly soaked note: Check in with Deacon, and don't be late.
I called for instructions from the master of performance Harleys on Oahu, Deacon. “Thanks for inviting me and the lovely Layla to your grand opening,” I said, and there was a pause on the line.
“Get down here,” Deacon's son, Ben, hollered into the receiver. “We've got to clean the shop, set up for the opening, paint the head, sort all the nuts and bolts [that have been] building in drawers for the last ten years, and finish a complete restoration of a 1968 Shovelhead for an Iraqi veteran who is returning the day of the event. We're behind.”
I hung up. I couldn't handle the pressure; besides, we were floating on island time. I thought about Johnny Humble, working with Kent Weeks in Houston to deliver a ground-up build with a Sucker Punch Roller to his Iraqi-vet brother, the same weekend at Biketoberfest in Daytona. A brisk knock on the garage door caught my attention. A crumbled note in the shape of a surfboard sticker was slipped under the treasurer's door. It read: The next time you find a centipede, kill it! Go to Kustom Fab and sell them on a new order of stickers. The treasurer is also the sticker magnet for all the islands of Hawaii, making surfboard rice-paper stickers for 30 years (until the Chinese stole all the surfboard manufacturing); plus, he fabricates vinyl stickers for Bikernet, West Coast Choppers, and Kustom Fab Motorcycles, Roger and Darren's shop in the city.
Our mission was clear. We rolled back toward the city to find Kustom Fab beneath the Honolulu Airport flight pattern in the only steel, two-story industrial complex on the island. It was crammed into a corner unit. I discovered that island shops have distinct setbacks from stateside businesses. The rent is astronomical, shipping costs are high, resources are limited, the customer base is small, and bike sales are down. “It's the drought, energy crisis, Iraq, recession, global warming, porno in the Vatican, and pregnant women that are bringing the industry down,” Darren said, as we stepped over projects and piles of Best-of-Show trophies so he could show me around the shop. I had to agree with him, especially his comment about pregnant women. Nothing slows a bike project like; (Layla slugged me.) Ever since she started training in Philippino kickboxing, I've had a recurring problem. “I can kick you in the head from here,” she snapped.
We convinced Roger and Darren to order a new batch of stickers from the club's treasurer, Chris, at Expressive Designs, and to discuss my mudflap-girl project. The hunt was growing for a frame configuration that gave old farts like myself a tad more suspension but all the light, agile, styling benefits of a rigid. Roger looked at my sketches in dismay, then offered to buy me a drink at La Marina, the only original Tiki bar remaining next to a sinking maze of yacht docks.
We peeled to the other side of the island and Deacon's new 2000-square-foot headquarters in a brand-new industrial park in Kailua, on the south side, next to the city dump. We crossed through a mountain range via tunnels that access the other side of the island without following the coastal road around the curvaceous perimeter lined with coastal communities. This 20-mile freeway stretch took us directly past the Stairway to Heaven, a man-made stairway, to the top of the shear cliffs.
Deacon's new facility has an edge on the bike business with a narrow but three-story-tall facility. “I'm able to store bikes for soldiers while they're overseas,” Deacon said. “Sweep the shop. We gotta straighten this place up.”
“Yes sir,” I said, and handed Layla the broom. We sorted nuts and bolts; I helped make a bracket to hold the stock Linkert Air Cleaner cover over the new S&S carburetor on the '68. Deacon was scrambling with his son Ben. Chase, his older son, who works at South Seas Harley-Davidson, roamed in and out of the shop doing odds and ends and helping Ben with projects.
“The old man's gonna flip,” Chase said, heading toward the big roll-up door. He wants to hang that massive flag from the ceiling. I'm outta here.” Chase slipped out the back while we unfurled the immense, historic flag and made preparations to hang it from the rafters at the back of the shop.
Like any shop owner taking on the costs and responsibilities of moving into a new facility, the projects, deadlines, and finances are generally out of control. Deacon recently moved the shop and all his equipment. He needed to rearrange all his tools and machine-shop tackle; sort and inventory parts; run electrical and storage scaffolding; hook up phones and computers; make arrangements for address changes; reprint shop brochures and business cards; change advertising; make grand-opening plans; hire bands; order food, kegs, tents, and plastic forks; make absolutely sure an old Toyota was ready to haul Bandit from the airport; and make a profit from the shop to pay the bills. He had service work that needed handling; the Marine's restoration housed a severe deadline; guys wanted their engines rebuilt, their customs built, their fab work done; and I wanted a shot of Jack Daniels. He was under so much pressure you could fry an egg on his forehead.
I cleaned his office, hid all the bills and paperwork, and peeled the blue masking tape off the doorknobs where someone recently painted the doors but never finished the final details. I TIG welded, and Ben wired the handlebars. I listened while the team roamed around the shop doing odd jobs. Deacon's a long- distance friend, but I rarely get to hang with him. I listened and learned.
Chris T., the treasurer, is the brother of Bob Tronolone, whom I rode with in the '70s, and he's now a member of the Chop N Grind racing nuts from 13 Palms, California. A major bike manufacturer in California sponsored them in 2006 and promised them $500 in 2007 and a Mikuni carburetor. When the time came to help the Sand Snortin' Brothers, he sent a note stating he had spent all his money. Deacon stepped up and sent Chop N Grind the carburetor, and 5-Ball Racing helped with some cash. That move on Deacon's part meant a great deal to me.
Then I met Dan, a young man working in the shop and incessantly picked on by Ben, Deacon's young son. Seems Deacon invited a celebrity bike builder to one of his shows, and Dan's dad took it upon himself to handle host duties. He wasn't a drinker, but the celeb convinced him to imbibe stout shots of Jack. Later that night, Dan's dad died in a bike accident on a coastal road and left his son without a home. Deacon's family took the boy in and now he's part of the Deacon clan. Again, I was highly impressed. That's the essence of brotherhood.
So, we rolled out of Pro Street on Saturday evening, and Layla made her famous curry dish for the treasurer and his wife, the Island Queen. The next day we returned at noon and helped Kevin, the biker dentist, fire up a barbecue the size of a '50s station wagon. Deacon's wife, Katie, a school teacher who never stops smiling, set up the food tables and prepared to feed hundreds of island riders.
The bands constructed their stage on a slab of concrete, and Ben made ice runs into town. Fire hoses were used to wash the new concrete streets and parking areas. I helped Dan roll up and store the canvas hoses. Chase worked on his Mohawk hairdo, and Ben did dirt-bike stunts and burnouts in the parking lot.
As brothers from various island clubs rolled in to celebrate the grand opening, Kevin the Dentist, and a lovely lady with singed arms fought with the smoldering barbecue. It was smoking through thin hamburger patties, hot dogs, and Polish sausages faster than they could jog around the smoking steel grates. I grabbed riding gloves and sent the blond to the serving table. “I'll handle this,” I said, as the hair on my forearms caught fire. The good doctor and I peeled around the blistering steel crate above the scorching coals, flipping, turning, and snatching chow for the band of marauders rolling in from all ends of the island.
The club formations included Island Boys, the Vagos, Aliis, Kahu, Monarchs, Refugees, League of Vets, Tiger and his World Wide brothers, Rough Riders, and of course, our host club, the Kanaka Hekili MC. “Get the president a beer,” the treasurer ordered, and I ran to the keg. I was beginning to wonder if I was a prospect or the shop house mouse.
Deacon has worked on motorcycles and drag raced for over 25 years. He's a nonstop individual who works constantly. His island shop performs service work, engine builds, performance upgrades, fab work, and bike builds. Several of his bikes have been featured in national mags, and his Jack Daniels Chopper spent a year on tour for the distillery. “We pride ourselves in building any engine from Knuckleheads to Twin Cams,” Deacon said, and told me to turn the burgers on the grill between taking notes. “Snap it up, or you may be visited by the Menehunes tonight.”
Katie and the blond ran from table to table stirring potato salad and boiling chili. They slapped layers of cheddar on burgers as I delivered patties. Dr. Painless was burning up while wrestling hot dogs over sizzling coals. I didn't know what to do, so I turned my arm as fast as I turned the patties. I noted a sizzling smell, and Katie threw a wet towel over my forearm.
Brothers approached me and checked me out as if I carried the Black Plague from the mainland. “Ever heard of the night marchers?” a giant biker whispered, and pushed me closer toward the scorching coals. My belt buckle started to melt.
I shook my head and attempted to push back. Another guy rolled up, “We know where you're staying,” he said, and his eyebrows raised in the direction of his brother. It was one of those knowing glances. “There are ancient burial grounds on the hill.”
I envisioned shallow graves between L.A. and Vegas, and a chill ran up my spine. I pulled away just after I was branded by my own buckle. Another rider approached and shoved a note in my pocket that read: The thumping on the garage walls was coming from the Menehunes; don't open the door.
I didn't know what the hell the Menehunes were, but I wasn't going to find out. Were they another club on the island, or a notorious band of natives? I looked over at Layla, who was surrounded by riders pawing her, and gave her our exclusive nod. The rusting Toyota was just around the concrete corner. There had to be a flight leaving for L.A. every hour…
Pro Street
201 Kapaa Quarry rd
Kailua, Hi, 96734
(mailing address)
905 Kalanianaole Hwy
Kailua, Hi, 96734
808 236 0405 (shop)
808 263 0110 (fax)
Our heartfelt thanks to Deacon, Katie, Chris and Joerline for always taking care of us, and making us feel at home.
Here are a few shots from the Pro Street opening.
IMS Cycle World Show Hits Long Beach 2007
By Bandit |
I should have at least got a T-shirt with the above quotation for trekking the 60-mile round trip on L.A.’s notorious 405 Freeway to take in the Cycle World/Toyota International Motorcycle Show held at the Long Beach Convention Center (December 7-9, 2007). It wasn’t a fun ride. Thanks to the Holiday Season there was an extra dose of frenzied madness along with usual mindless herds of cell phone jabbering/DVD watching cage dwellers flinging their obese Nauseators and Exploitations down the potholed pavement apparently without any conscious awareness of a motorcycle in their path. But once reaching the relative sanctuary of Long Beach’s Shoreline Drive and a view of the smokestacks of the Queen Mary berthed permanently nearby, I came upon a sea-to-shining-sea of motorcycles overflowing the parking lot of the Convention Center. I often find that event parking lots can be just as interesting, if not more so, than what lies inside.
Case in point I had just got off my bike (“the Alienator”) when I heard, “Hey, cool bike.” The voice had the twang of Massachusetts and sure enough my fellow rider, George by name, was from that neck of the country. His bike was a 2002 Buell M2L Cyclone with all the upgrades, PM wheels, carbon fiber airbox, healthy aftermarket exhaust, all in all cherry for a 13,000 miler that George had ridden coast-to-coast a few times. It happened to be for sale, as he just bought a new touring bike. He was about to retire and planned exploring the planet.
It also happened that I had slavered after a Buell since they first appeared. So we swapped stories and he mentioned a price, which seemed reasonable for a cool Buell. Little did I know that upon entering the show I would discovered the new generation Buell, the 146 hp 1125R super bike, with a price tag hovering around the cost of the new Sportster Nightster.
Then there was the $60,000 restored 1953 Vincent Black Shadow up for grabs at less than a price of a ticket to the event. Decisions, decisions. In any case, George had already taken in the show and was boogeying north to go kayaking with some friends, and so off he rode. I headed toward the Convention Center entry gates.
A ticket cost $13 which seemed a superstitiously unsettling amount. But with something like 650 machines of all kinds inside to ogle, it comes out to about 2 cents a pop. The show’s sponsors included Cycle World Magazine (for the past 15 years), the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), Progressive Motorcycle Insurance and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.
First rule of entering a Convention Center bike show, get the free plastic bag especially when it’s being offered by the I-shoulda-been-in-Baywatch girl with a side profile that coulda put your eye out. Next rule of entering a show is to check out the smaller “satellite” room first. Following my instincts I deterred a sharp left away from the main entrance hall and the new 2008 line-up of bikes and found myself staring at a smorgasbord of antique, vintage and classic motorcycles in the center of the room as well as clusters of wild custom bikes, many from the top builders “as seen on TV.”
Lo and behold the custom bike builders were there in person to meet and greet their fans. Cory Ness was there with several of his and his father Arlen’s creations. Matt Hotch had even brought a huge RV/diner thing while Roland Sands probably had the most bikes on display including his famous “Glory Stomper” and Biker Build Off champion “No Regrets,” among others.
Inside the main arena a record 19 “vehicle manufacturers” had set out their menu of 2008 motorcycles, ATVs, scooters and personal watercraft, part of the series 13-city tour presented by Toyota who by the way builds trucks to haul all that stuff if you’re looking for a connection. Makes you wonder why there’s no Toyota motorcycles. So here’s the list of manufacturers who showed off their wares, including some up and coming new kids on the block. In alphabetical order: Aprilia, BMW, Buell, Harley Davidson, Honda, Hyosung (from Korea), Kawasaki, Kymco (from Taiwan), Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta, Piaggio (with their radical MP3 400 three-wheeler) Suzuki, Ural (sidecar rigs from Russia), Victory and Yamaha/Star. There were a few bikes not on the big list but which got our attention including the American made 650cc V-twin Fischer starting at around $8k.
In addition to the acres of bikes and vendors selling miles of leather and gallons of metal polish, there was a very cool display called The History of Speed put together by speedmerchant (40 years of chasing the land-speed record) Dennis Manning. You could get up close and personal with the BUB Streamliner “Seven” which with Chris Car at the controls set the 2006 World’s Fastest Motorcycle Record when it clocked 354.832 mph at Bonneville. In sharp and screamin’ yellow contrast was the H-D streamliner in which the legendary Joe Petrali set the mile record back on March 13, 1937 at 136.183 mph. Also on hand was the first bike to pass the 200 mph mark, Leo Payne’s ’57 Sportster aka “The Turnip Eater.” Also on hand was the Cal Rayborn piloted H-D Sportster based streamliner. 10 feet long and weighing 700 lb. it reached a record setting 265.492 mph in 1970.
Speaking of walking, talking and riding history, we met Grace McKean who at 73 years young, showed us her blue 1951 45 flathead Harley that she bought new at the age of 17. She worked two jobs, 80 hours a week, to pay the $31.41 monthly payment to her local bike shop about 40 miles from Chicago. She eventually went on to clock over 100,000 miles on the bike. In 2000 she bought herself a “new” bike, a 1947 Indian. Both are kick start. And she’ still kicking them over.
Fast forward to the science fiction bike section and the “talking” motorcycle. It was racing orange and had two “boom box” speakers morphed into its tail section plus a DVD screen hovering over the gas tank. A robotic voice “spoke” from the bike describing its components. “My Master went to the best. I have the newest LED kit, which is remote controlled which can be changed to seven sequences by the touch of one button. You can purchase these at the booth at the left of me.”
But if you want to get Beyond Battlestar Galactica, you gotta check out the Traverstson V-Rex. You could say it’s a time warp evolution of the H-D V-Rod since its powerplant is the V-Rod engine, but the styling goes way X-File-ish, so call it the X-Rod, a case of science fiction turning into fact. The story of V-Rex (not to be confused with the 3-wheeled T-Rex or any dinosaurs for that matter started in December of 2003 where artist Tim Cameron produced a computer generated image of his dream bike. The pictures eventually got published in several magazines around the world attracting the attention of Christian Travert, based in Florida, the guy that built, among other wild things, Jay Leno’s 200 mph Y2K rocket bike. Cutting to the chase Christian and Tim teamed up and their enterprise Travertson, Inc. began building the bikes in 2006 in Ft. Lauderdale. And as they say the rest is still making history. Price tag is $43,000, but believe it or not you can rent the bike either to use in a display or ride. And according to the 9-foot long bike’s owner, Jack Reynolds, it’s a breeze to ride except maybe for the crowds that constantly gather around it. The V-Rex is available here in the L.A. area via www.werentmotorcycles.com or call 1-888-849-4098.
Another radical machine and already in production via Can-Am/Bombardier is their tri-wheeler, the Spyder. Somewhere between a sports car, a slotcar and a motorcycle, the two-wheels up front design is powered, like the new Buell, by a Rotax engine, in this case the 60 cubic inch V-twin V990 good for 106 hp. It’s also got VSS, Vehicle Stability System with Roll-over Mitigation. And yes, it’s street legal. No doubt your local police department will be wondering what they’re seeing when these things get out of the corral. With a slew of options, they run about $18k, say a sportier alternative to a Goldwing or a less expensive alternative to a Porsche, somewhere in that world, and a fun one at that.
Back at the Harley display, the bike that caught my eye (the one not poked out by the plastic bag girl at the event entrance) was the 1200 cc fuel injected Nightster Sportster. Just cool nostalgia anyway you look at it. Maybe my favorite ever Sporty (next to the ’78 CR I had). But at around $12K it’s not exactly your budget Harley. That’s also the price of the new Buell 1125R. If you’re into clip-ons and what looks like a contender for the liter class, it’s the bee’s knees. I kinda like higher bars like on the earlier Buells and maybe a little lower seat height. Maybe that 2002 Cyclone back in the parking lot at $3900 is getting more tempting. At the moment I have $39 so I might have to wait a spell.
Well, I had 39, but I spent 20 on five raffle tickets that could win me that restored 1953 Vincent Black Shadow, one of my, and about everybody else’s, vintage dream machine. In any case, the money went to a good cause, the National Motorcycle Museum. Wish me luck.
