Editor’s Note: Bikernet got ahold of an historic home in Deadwood in the Presidential area. We decided on a Chinese whorehouse theme. We discovered this 110 year-old home was built over the original cemetery where Wild Bill was buried. Someone got the bright idea to dig up the bodies and move them up above Lincoln Street. Here’s some of the Chinese history in Deadwood.

In the recent TV series Chinese man enters a barn followed by Doc Cochran and Johnny Burns, a thug working for the infamous saloon owner, Al Swearengen.

The Chinese man carries a body slung over his shoulder. As he reaches a hog pen, he tosses the body over the fence and into the mud. Ravenous hogs rush to the body and begin to tear it apart. “That’s Mr. Wu,” says David Milch, the Executive Producer of HBO’s hit series Deadwood, during his commentary on Episode 1, “I love this guy.”

Deadwood is a gritty, captivating show. The series portrays its Chinese characters as mysterious, hardworking, lower class people. But were the Chinese of the real Deadwood like those depicted on TV?

I traveled to Deadwood in the Black Hills of South Dakota to find out who these Chinese of Deadwood really were. Jerry Bryant, research curator and resident archaeologist at Deadwood’s Adams Museum, invited me to his office. I explained my mission and then asked, “Jerry, what are the similarities between the Chinese of the historic Deadwood and the HBO series?”

“None,” he shot back. “For instance, the TV show has Chinatown off to the side of Main Street when in reality, Chinatown, or as the residents of Deadwood called it, the Badlands, was actually a part of Main Street. Deadwood is a long skinny town at the bottom of a gulch with hardly any room for side streets. As you enter Deadwood Gulch from the north you pass through Elizabethtown, then the Badlands, then into Deadwood.”
“And another thing,” Jerry added. “There were never any Chinese prostitutes kept in cages. The good citizens of Deadwood would never have put up with that.”

For the next hour, Jerry gave me a rapid lesson on Deadwood, the Chinese, what to read, where to research and who to contact on Chinese frontier history.

“Okay, one last thing I’ve got to ask,” I said toward the end of my interview. “Did the Chinese really feed human bodies to the hogs in Deadwood?”

“Never happened,” he answered, with a chuckle.

The first two seasons of HBO’s Deadwood portrayed the Chinese as rough, hardworking, shadowy underworld characters. But is this portrayal really true? Milch states on HBO’s Deadwood website, “I want to make it clear that I’ve had my ass bored off by many things that are historically accurate.”

So who were Deadwood’s Chinese? Where did they come from? What goals did they have? What lives did they lead? And what happened to them? Jerry gave me several good leads to begin my search for the real Chinese inhabitants of Deadwood that revealed a story far richer than what viewers can extract from TV.



The Real Deal

During the mid-1800s, China’s southern Guangdong province was in turmoil. Guangdong along with its capital, Canton, was a hothouse of rebellion against the Manchu dynasty, which, 200 years earlier, had invaded China from Manchuria, conquered the nation and replaced the Ming dynasty. Famine and the destruction of crops during periodic rebellion against the government resulted in the deaths of millions of people.


The addictive opium was also wrecking thousands of Chinese lives. British traders smuggled opium into China. When the Chinese government tried to enforce an embargo on opium shipments, the British government attacked, forcing the Chinese to consent to the trade. In 1847, British banks cut off funding to businesses in Guangdong for over a year, throwing 100,000 men out of work. Desperate husbands, fathers and sons grasped at the rumors of Gum Shan—Gold Mountain.

James Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill in California in 1848. A Chinese man living there wrote to a friend in Canton about the discovery. Soon everyone in Guangdong was talking about Gum Shan, where a person could pick up gold nuggets off the ground. The Chinese gold rush was on.

The men’s plan was to find enough gold in Gum Shan so that the family back home in Guangdong could live comfortably. Once the Chinese prospector achieved this goal, he would return to live in luxury in China.

But when the Chinese came to the goldfields, the Chinese miners were so efficient at mining that their white neighbors became jealous and began restricting the mining rights of the Chinese.

Some of these miners shifted gears and found jobs with the Central Pacific Railroad, which was building the transcontinental railroad from the west. Central Pacific recognized that the Chinese worked faster, cheaper and better than the white workers did. It was their expertise in explosives and working on cliffs that made building the railroad less costly. On May 10, 1869, when the railways were joined from east and west to create the transcontinental railroad, the Chinese were out of a job.

Chinese prospectors and business-men spread throughout the West. Wherever there was a new strike, the Chinese made their way to that mining district—California, Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Colorado. The predominantly white population developed prejudices against the Chinese based on their different language, work ethic, dress and culture—all causing friction. To lessen hard feelings against them, the Chinese began to work old placer mines that whites believed were useless. They also opened businesses that held little conflict with whites, such as restaurants, laundries and stores carrying Asian goods. Most Chinese lived the American dream—they were independent businessmen.

Paha Sapa Gold

By 1874, prospectors had explored all of the continental U.S. for mineral deposits—all that is except one area, which lay within the Great Sioux Reservation; Paha Sapa in the Lakota language, Black Hills in English.

Lieutenant Col. George Armstrong Custer led an expedition through the Black Hills in 1874. The expedition’s geologists reported to Congress the positive prospects for gold and other minerals, triggering an illegal gold rush to the Black Hills.

At first, the government tried to round up and evict the trespassers but soon gave up its attempts and embarked on a course to buy the land from the Lakota people. Meanwhile, streams of miners poured into the Black Hills. In the fall of 1875, prospectors entering Deadwood Gulch in the northern Black Hills discovered gold along Whitewood Creek. Miners started to lay claims; but the real rush for gold did not start until the spring of 1876.



Chinese prospectors were not far behind the first discoverers of gold in Deadwood Gulch. One early arrival was Fee Lee Wong.

Wong and his brother had left Guangdong, finding jobs as laborers in Gum Shan. In 1870, 24-year-old Fee Lee and his brother arrived in California.

With news of gold in the Black Hills, Fee Lee took a job as a cook with a small party of white prospectors headed for the Hills. Along with the usual hardships of the trail, the party fought off attackers. When the prospectors reached Deadwood in 1876, they staked claims and divided them by lot among the group. One of the members wanted to exclude Fee Lee, but the others overruled him, and Fee Lee received two claims. Gold was soon discovered on the claim next to Fee Lee’s claims. He may have sold his claims for as much as $75,000, but there is no record of the property transaction. Deadwood’s fires destroyed many of the early records. Fee Lee’s story is one of the more fortunate ones.

Most Chinese headed to Deadwood via train to Cheyenne, Wyoming, or Sidney, Nebraska. From these railheads, they rode a stagecoach 300 miles to Deadwood or traveled alone or in small groups. Some followed the Missouri River from the Montana and Idaho goldfields to Bismarck or Fort Pierre, Dakota Territory, and then crossed the prairie to the Black Hills.

Just as Fee Lee did, some Chinese acquired placer mining claims. As time went on, most of the claims were worked over. The mining turned to hard rock, requiring lots of capital and manpower. Most of the Chinese did not have the money to invest in equipment and people to perform that intensive type of mining. But they still bought old placer claims to rework them and extract more gold.



Opportunists

Another successful way that they made money was by opening a laundry service. Think about it—a large population of young, dirty, hungry miners with excess cash (or gold dust). These men did not waste their time cleaning their clothes and cooking their food; they were in Deadwood to find gold.

The Chinese laundry operators were pretty clever. They saved the wash water from the miners’ clothes and sluiced it, recovering gold dust—in other words, mining the miners. Half the recorded Chinese population in Lawrence County, of which Deadwood was the county seat, were involved in the laundry business, according to the 1880 U.S. Census.

The number of Chinese who owned restaurants was greater than those owned by Caucasians. The 1898 Black Hills Residence and Business Directory listed 11 restaurants in Deadwood, seven of which were Chinese-owned. The Chinese learned to cook what American prospectors wanted to eat—for the most part, steak, potatoes and other standard fare. Wong Kee, the owner of the Bodega Café, had a standing joke with his patrons. “What kind of pie do you want?” he’d ask. The diner would name his favorite pie. Wong would then laugh and say, “We have apple.”

Fee Lee Wong used his profits from his mining claim to open the Wing Tsue Emporium on Deadwood’s Main Street. Wing Tsue is Cantonese for Assembly of Glories. Fee Lee spoke English well and was respected by and socialized with the non-Chinese community.

His advertisement in the 1898 directory reads: “Wing Tsue, Dealer in Chinese Groceries and Provisions. Chinaware and Japanese Goods, Silk Handkerchiefs, Silks and Dry Goods of all Kinds. Fireworks, Chinese Curios, Novelties, Etc., Etc. I also carry a full line of Chinese Medicines, Chinese shoes and Clothing. Americans as well as Chinese are invited to call and Inspect my goods.”

The Chinese were employed in a wide variety of positions including house servants, private cooks, barbers, physicians, lumberjacks, prostitutes and gamblers. They owned real estate, including hotels and opium dens. Some Chinese even became cowboys. A “Chinese cowboy” was “seen on the street yesterday. He was rigged out with leather pantalets, belt, cartridges and gun,” reported the 1895 Black Hills Daily Times.

An accurate count of the Chinese population of Deadwood is hard to determine. The 1880 census recorded 221 Chinese in Lawrence County, with 110 of them living in Deadwood. But some researchers think this figure is an underestimation because the Chinese distrusted the government. The census takers probably only counted those who owned property, ran businesses or were employed by whites. Other facts recorded by the census reveal 202 Chinese males and 19 females, mainly between the ages of 18 and 45. So there was a large population of single Chinese men.

These men had even less of a hope of finding a good spouse when Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. The act cut off almost all new immigration to the U.S. from China. The Chinese population of Deadwood became stagnant as the men became older and were unable to send for their wives or marry within their race. Fee Lee Wong was one of the lucky ones. He brought his wife to Deadwood in 1884 before amendments tightened provisions in the original law.



White Pigeon Ticket

Cut off from traditional family and female companionship, the young Chinese males of Deadwood enjoyed many of
the same pastimes as their white neighbors, including a good drink, camaraderie—male and female—and most of all, gambling.

Mark Twain quipped about the Chinese, “About every third Chinaman runs a lottery.” The Chinese bet on everything. Some of their favorite betting games included poker, fan-tan and white pigeon ticket, also known as the Chinese Lottery. The Chinese Lottery was popular with whites. They bought tickets, even though they couldn’t identify the Chinese characters. Apparently, any bad feelings some whites may have had toward the Chinese didn’t extend to gambling; they believed the Chinese would give them the correct winnings. The Chinese Lottery eventually evolved into the game of keno.



Legal Opium Dens

The Chinese enjoyed a drink of rice wine and the standard alcoholic drinks consumed by many of Deadwood’s residents. A number of Chinese also used opium, which was legal to sell and use in Deadwood during the early years. Opium den owners bought a license from the city, the same as saloon owners. Most Chinese smoked opium for med-icinal purposes or pleasure. Deadwood’s non-Chinese residents who ventured into the opium dens came to experiment with the drug.

Soon enough, the Black Hills Daily Times editor sounded an alarm for these opium dens in a February 11, 1882, issue: “The attention of city authorities is called to the opium joints now being conducted wide open in that portion of the city known as Chinatown. Where white people, and black ones too, hit the pipes as often as they can raise 50 cents. Owing to the fact that none of the old joints have been molested for some time, several new ones have started up, where can be seen at almost anytime of the day or night, forms of men and women stretched out perfectly unconscious of their surroundings, reveling in the pleasant dreams that the devilish narcotic brings to them for a brief one hour. If the evil cannot be suppressed a restriction can at least be put upon it that will prevent its further spread.” Congress finally outlawed opium use in 1909.



Fun and Games

Fire was always a major concern in Deadwood. Fee Lee Wong’s store was the source of a fire in 1885 that damaged other buildings in Chinatown. The Chinese organized two fire hose teams. Each team consisted of 10 men pulling a two-wheeled cart with fire hoses.

The teams marched in Deadwood’s July 4, 1888, parade, dressed in traditional and Western clothing, carrying banners and flags, and accompanied by a band playing Chinese music. The mostly white crowd clapped and cheered as they passed down Main Street. After the parade, the two teams held a race for the “fastest Chinese hose team in the world.” The contestants lined up on Main Street, but before “go” could be shouted, someone tossed an exploding firecracker and the race was on. Fee Lee’s team was well out in front; but one of the men stumbled and fell. Hi Kee’s team won the race—200 yards in 30 seconds. No one knew of any other Chinese fire hose teams, so the citizens of Deadwood declared Hi Kee’s team the Champion Chinese Hose Team of the World. No one, to date, has ever contested the claim.

The Chinese participated in American holidays like 4th of July and Christmas, but they went all out for their own celebrations, the most spectacular holiday being the Chinese New Year. It’s usually celebrated in February, with the start of the new moon, and lasts 15 days. The Chinese prepared weeks in advance for the New Year. During the celebration, they closed their shops and took a vacation from work. They decorated their houses with banners, paintings and lanterns. They shot off fireworks and firecrackers day and night. The Chinese marched in parades accompanied by their bands. They paid off all their debts, invited one and all to visit their homes, and gave the visitors gifts.



Joss House to Tongs

The Chinese built a Joss House, or temple, on Deadwood’s Main Street, where they conducted Buddhist and other Chinese religious ceremonies. The Joss House also served as a meetinghouse.

Some Chinese became Christians through the efforts of Deadwood’s Congregational and Baptist Churches. The members of these churches conducted night schools for the Chinese to learn how to speak, read and write English.

Mayor Sol Starr and Dr. Henrich Wedelstaedt, both prominent Deadwood citizens and members of the city’s Masonic Lodge, worked with the Chinese to establish a “Chinese Masonic Lodge.” This lodge was never part of Freemasonry. The Chinese allowed only Mayor Starr and Dr. Wedelstaedt to attend their lodge functions. The Chinese Masonic Lodge was a prominent organization, and the Deadwood newspapers often mentioned Chinese masons. It may actually have been a Chinese tong.

There were possibly two tongs in Deadwood. Tongs were important social societies that provided their members fellowship, recreation and social services. Sometimes tongs engaged in criminal activities. No evidence has been found to show that Deadwood’s tongs had a criminal element, but the hatchet was the weapon of choice for tong members and it was sometimes wielded in local attacks.

But the Chinese may have had good reason to strike out. White mobs were known to loot and burn Chinese homes. In 1878, a short-lived anti-Chinese organization, the Caucasian League and Miners Union, emerged in the northern Black Hills. Its mission was, “to protect the interest of white miners.” During the league’s short existence, assailants burned down four Chinese houses and attempted to blow up another house.

Kuong Wing, one of Deadwood’s Chinese leaders, printed a general letter in the paper to assure the white population that the Chinese wanted to be good neighbors and not take their jobs. Through this published assurance and the goodwill efforts of friends of the Chinese community—Mayor Sol Starr, Judge Granville Bennett and others—the Caucasian League faded away.

As time went on, the Chinese and non-Chinese of Deadwood learned to tolerate, if not enjoy, each other’s company. Whites even came to the assistance of their fellow citizen, Fee Lee, who had traveled to China for a visit. On his return to the U.S., the Immigration Office detained Fee Lee in Port Townsend, Washington. Some of Deadwood’s citizens learned of Fee Lee’s plight and contacted the Immigration Office. He was allowed to return home.

But still, Deadwood was a rough town, and the Chinese were also victims of murder and crime. At times, Chinese fought each other. Tong Hay and Ton Lem Sang attacked Ching Kee Lang with hatchets. The police arrested them, and a lucky Ching Kee Lang recovered from his wounds.


On November 27, 1877, two people murdered Di Gee. One attacker smashed her in the face with a hatchet, while the other stabbed her repeatedly in the back with a small knife. The coroner stated that Di Gee must have died from multiple blows to the head. The authorities determined that the attackers did not rob her.

Who murdered Di Gee? No one knows. The Chinese would not cooperate with Deadwood authorities. One thing is certain; after the murder, the people who moved into Di Gee’s house heard a knock on the door at night. Di Gee’s voice cried out, “Moo shot ngin,” meaning “Don’t kill.” Then they heard the sounds of her murder but never saw anything. The occupants soon moved out of the house, and no one would live in it. Neighbors also began hearing Di Gee’s voice and moved away.


Chinese funerals were usually exciting extravaganzas. The Chinese struck the gong at the Joss House to notify everyone of a death. Everyone dressed in white or brightly-colored clothing and joined a procession to take the body to the cemetery. People carried banners and lighted tapers called Joss sticks, and tossed firecrackers and colored pieces of paper. A Chinese band played cymbals and drums. Sometimes the Deadwood City Band led the procession. It was a joyous parade. Many of Deadwood’s non-Chinese residents joined the procession, as well; some out of friendship, others out of curiosity and others went for food and gifts.

Mount Moriah, Deadwood’s Boot Hill, is a steep climb from the gulch below. From on top, the people saw all of Deadwood. After burying the body in the Chinese section of the cemetery, the Chinese would pass out food and gifts to all who attended. The Chinese left food at the gravesite for the spirit of the departed to eat before starting on its journey to heaven. Children often hid themselves and waited until everyone left so they could raid the food left behind for the spirits.

One popular Deadwood legend states that a white man asked a Chinese man when the dead would come out of the graves to eat the food. “Our dead will come up to eat our food when your dead come up to smell your flowers,” he replied.

Many Chinese had provisions in their contracts with the companies that brought them to America, that if they died here, the contract companies would ship their bones back to China. After the body had been in the ground for two or three years, an undertaker or Chinese worker dug up the bones, wrapped them in newspaper or cloth, placed them in zinc-lined boxes and shipped them back to China. Some people believe most of the bodies were removed from Mount Moriah, while others believe many are still buried there.



The Last Remnant of Chinatown

Since not many Chinese formed families, thanks to the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Chinese population slowly drifted away from Deadwood, either heading back to China or to other Western towns. By the mid-20th century, Deadwood’s Chinese lived on only in the memory of those whites who had been children when the Chinese were an integral part of town life.

Although Fee Lee Wong found success in the U.S., he was still a traditionalist and returned to China with his family in 1919 so that his children could learn their Chinese heritage. Fee Lee died in China in 1921, but many of his children yearned for the U.S. and returned. In 2004, Edith Wong, Fee Lee’s great-granddaughter, organized a family reunion in Deadwood. Sixty-seven members of the Wong family arrived in Deadwood for their first family reunion and posed for a group photograph in front of the Wing Tsue building.

If you visit Deadwood today, you will find little left of the Chinese. During Deadwood’s annual Days of ’76 parade, a local girl is designated the China Doll and rides on a parade float. The Adams Museum displays Chinese photographs and artifacts for the public to view. Visitors can also drive up to Mount Moriah to view the remaining graves in the Chinese section of the cemetery.

But the last recognizable remnant of Deadwood’s Chinatown was destroyed just last year. On December 24, 2005, Gene Johner, the owner of Fee Lee Wong’s Wing Tsue Emporium, demolished the building, in direct violation of Deadwood’s historic preservation ordinances. As of publication, the complaint filed by the City Commission was still being investigated.

The only building left in Chinatown is the Hi Kee store, now called the Deadwood Gulch Saloon, but Adams Museum’s Research Curator Jerry Bryant says it has been refurbished and bears no resemblance to its original structure. For all intents and purposes, Deadwood’s historic Chinatown is gone.



The old saying goes “Art imitates life.” Well in Deadwood, you can say, “Art imitates life—life imitates art.” The City of Deadwood has built a mockup of the HBO Deadwood set, complete with a replica of a hog lot named Wu’s Pigs.

But if you listen late at night, you just might hear the China Doll cry out, “Moo shot ngin.”

 

The Limited-Production Fat Boy 114 with Special Styling Will Be Serialized

 

MILWAUKEE (February 3, 2020) – Harley-Davidson celebrates an icon with the introduction of the Fat Boy^® 30th Anniversary motorcycle. Cloaked in dark finishes with bronze highlights and powered by a blacked-out Milwaukee-Eight^® 114 engine, production of the 30th Anniversary Fat Boy will be limited to 2,500 examples, each serialized with a number plate affixed to the fuel tank console.

 

The Fat Boy was a perfectly outrageous name for a motorcycle that at its 1990 introduction was brilliantly bodacious.

 

“The Fat Boy took the look, proportions and silhouette of a 1949 Hydra-Glide motorcycle and completely modernized it for a new generation of riders,” explains Brad Richards, Harley-Davidson Vice President of Styling and Design. “Those riders appreciated our post-war design DNA but also found themselves drawn to the clean simplicity of contemporary industrial design. Each of these elements was captured in the new 2018 version of the Fat Boy model. For this 30th Anniversary model we wanted to create something very special, so we leaned into the popularity of darker finishes and a limited run/serialized strategy to make the bike truly unique and exclusive.”

 

Fat Boy 30th Anniversary Model

The Fat Boy 30th Anniversary motorcycle celebrates the three-decade impact of the original model with a bold reinterpretation executed in dark finishes paired with a single color option, Vivid Black. The cast-aluminum Lakester wheels are finished in Satin Black with machined highlights. The blacked-out Milwaukee-Eight 114 powertrain is finished with engine covers in gloss black and subtle bronze-tone lower rocker covers and timer cover script. The exhaust finished in a Black Onyx, a durable physical vapor deposition paint finish that reveals the underlying chrome in bright light.

 

 

A Vivid Black headlamp nacelle, handlebar and controls complete the over-all dark look that is distinctive from the regular production model. A new bronze-tone waterslide Fat Boy tank logo complements the black finish and other bronze details that set the Fat Boy 30^th Anniversary apart from the regular-production model.

 

Based on the Harley-Davidson^® Softail^® platform launched in 2018, the Fat Boy motorcycle re-defines an icon with power and presence. The entire Fat Boy front end is massive and topped with an LED headlamp in a newly shaped nacelle. The Lakester disc aluminum wheels update that defining Fat Boy style point. The 160mm front tire is balanced by a signature 240mm rear tire that delivers a factory custom look.

 

The Softail frame and suspension combine to form a chassis that’s stiff and lightweight, for agility and performance that will exceed the expectations of the most-demanding cruiser riders. The mono-shock rear suspension preserves the signature “hard tail” lines of the Softail chassis and places a single coil-over shock absorber below the seat at the optimal angle for a smooth ride and outstanding handling. Remote hydraulic pre-load adjustment is accomplished by simply turning a knob located below the seat, making it easy to dial in the ride and handling for rider weight.

 

The Milwaukee-Eight 114 V-Twin engine, the most-powerful Softail powertrain option, delivers inspiring performance and classic Harley-Davidson look-sound-feel. The rigid-mounted powertrain further enhances chassis stiffness. Dual engine counter-balancers are tuned to reduce primary vibration at idle speed.

 

Dealer-installed Screamin’ Eagle® Performance Parts Stage Upgrades from Harley-Davidson Genuine Motor Parts & Accessories are available to boost engine performance even further.

 

Base price for the Fat Boy 30th Anniversary model is $21,949*.

 

*Price listed is the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price for base model. Options are available at additional cost. Price excludes tax, title, licensing, registration fees, destination charges, added accessories, and additional dealer charges, if any, and are subject to change. Harley-Davidson reimburses dealers for performing manufacturer-specified pre-delivery inspection and setup tasks.  Dealer prices may vary.

 

Birth of an Icon

Introduced in 1989 as a 1990 model, the original Fat Boy was designed by legendary Harley-Davidson stylists Willie G. Davidson and Louie Netz and combined a fresh, contemporary look with classic Harley-Davidson styling cues. To achieve a “milled from billet” look the bike was finished in monochromatic Fine Silver Metallic with a matching powder coated frame, and rolled on aluminum disc wheels – the rear exposed by the Softail chassis – that would become the defining characteristic of the Fat Boy model. The look was beefy for the time, from the fat front tire covered with a trimmed fender to the wide handlebar and a seven-inch headlamp in a massive chrome housing perched on a polished FL-style nacelle. Davidson designed the winged tank logo, which has been an enduring feature of the Fat Boy model.

 

In 1991 the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle entered popular culture with its featured appearance in the motion picture “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” in which actor Arnold Schwarzenegger rides a Fat Boy motorcycle through Los Angeles in a dramatic chase scene. The movie was a global sensation, helping cement the Fat Boy model as an iconic representative of the Harley-Davidson brand in many markets, especially Europe.

 

About That Name

Only Harley-Davidson would have the confidence to name a motorcycle Fat Boy. Here’s how it happened, according to an account by Willie G. Davidson from his book “100 Years of Harley-Davidson”:

 

You’re probably wondering how we came up with a name like “Fat Boy,” and I’ve heard a lot of tales about this, nearly all of which are untrue. Here’s the real story: it’s tough to come up with names that will be popular on the street. We always have to ask ourselves, “What’s the street going to name this?” and work from there. We were looking for something unusual and maybe even a little irreverent, because there’s something sort of cool about poking fun at your products from time to time. To me, and to a lot of other insiders who’d seen it, the bike had a massive  “fat” look. So the folks in marketing came up with the name “Fat Boy” – and the street picked it up.

 

The Fat Boy model received regular styling updates until 2018, when an all-new Fat Boy model was rolled out on the reinvented Softail chassis, powered by the Milwaukee-Eight engine. The current Fat Boy model turns up the volume on all of the distinctive Fat Boy cues, from the aluminum disc wheels to the massive headlamp and nacelle. The Fat Boy remains one of the most physically imposing motorcycles in the Harley-Davidson portfolio.

 

 

Foothill Ranch, Calif. (February 2, 2020) – Round 5 of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship returned to Oakland, California where Team Green found success all day long. Monster Energy® Kawasaki rider Eli Tomac put on an impressive show as he returned to the top step of the 450SX class podium for his second win of the season, while Monster Energy®/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Austin Forkner battled hard, earning second overall in the 250SX class and placing his KX™250 on the podium once again.

Adam Cianciarulo and Tomac continued to show the way in qualifying/practice with the dynamic duo once again qualifying one-two respectively for the fifth straight week.

Tomac lined up for the first 450SX heat race of the night where he crossed the finish line in second place and was able to find fast lines that would pay dividends later in the Main Event. Teammate Cianciarulo lined up for 450SX heat race number two and found himself buried mid-pack off the start. As Cianciarulo began picking off his competitors one by one he ran into the back wheel of his former Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammate Martin Davalos. Cianciarulo got shuffled to the back and had to charge all the way back up to sixth place to qualify into the Main Event.

As the gate dropped on 450SX Main Event, it was Cianciarulo and Tomac getting off the line in great shape. Rounding the first turn side by side amongst the leaders, they ran second and third place respectively. After dicing it out in the first few turns the teammates settled into place. Near the halfway mark the No. 3 Kawasaki machine of Tomac saw an opportunity and began to charge towards the front. After passing his teammate, he was able to make quick work of the leader and began building a lead around two seconds, but a costly mistake at the end of the sand section sent Tomac over the berm. However, there was no denying Tomac on this night. He regrouped and with two minutes left, he was able to reclaim the lead and win the race with authority. Cianciarulo would ultimately end up crossing the finish line in fourth place on the night.

With the win in Oakland, Tomac ties former Monster Energy Kawasaki racers James Stewart and Ryan Villopoto with the most wins in Oakland. After capturing his second win of the season, Tomac now sits just three points behind the series points leader heading into Round 6.

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Forkner kicked off the day qualifying second, while teammate Cameron McAdoo returned to racing in Oakland after two weeks off, and able to qualify in ninth place heading into the night show.

Forkner lined up for the first 250SX heat race of the night and got off to a good start. After picking his way past a couple competitors, he began to run down the leader, and after a few turns of playing cat and mouse, Forkner was able to take control of the lead and never looked back. In the second 250SX heat race of the night, it was a wild ride for the No. 29 machine of McAdoo as the Top-5 running order shifted lap after lap. McAdoo capitalized on the opportunity and he went on to win his first ever 250SX heat race.

As the gate dropped on 250SX Main Event, Forkner shot into second place and by lap two had moved himself into the lead and began putting distance between the competition knowing that every point counts towards the championship points lead. As the race progressed. Forkner would be forced to battle lapped traffic allowing the competition to close the gap. Following a quick battle, Forkner would have to settle for second place overall.

In the 250SX Main Event McAdoo found himself buried in the mid-pack off the start. After dodging mayhem in the early laps, McAdoo settled into seventh place and wanted to get valuable track time after returning from injury and ultimately crossed the finish line in 14^th place.

After putting his KX™250 on the podium in Oakland, Forkner’s point deficit remains at 10 in the 250SX West Point Standings, however he was able to move up into third place in the championship point standings.

“Wow, what a crazy night. We got a good start tonight and were able to get going right away. Had a good battle with Ken (Roczen) tonight, then got a little excited and missed my rear brake and went over the berm there. Luckily, I was able to recover quickly and charge back to the front. My KX™450 was straight up ripping tonight and we closed the points gap up to three points. I am feeling really good right now, and we are just going to carry this momentum into San Diego next weekend.”  – Eli Tomac

“For me tonight we made great strides and for only riding one time this week to see if my tailbone was good to go, I am pretty pumped with the result. I can’t thank the whole Monster Energy Kawasaki team enough for giving me a setup tonight that allowed me to do what I did after being a little banged up. I am looking forward to some more recovery this week and to come out swinging next week in San Diego.” – Adam Cianciarulo

 

by Sean Parker from https://www.wheels24.co.za/

While many of us were enjoying a break over the festive period and new year, Kirsten Landman and Taye Perry began 2020 by competing in one of the world’s toughest sporting events: the Dakar Rally.

This year’s race took place in Saudi Arabia for the first time and competitors were faced with a route of 7900km. They traversed massive sands and rocky terrain and performed exceptionally well to finish the race.

Wheels24 reported earlier in January that Landman, a 28-year-old from Durban, completed the two-week-long race in an excellent 55th-place overall, while Perry (29) came home in 77th place.

They performed incredibly well over the twelve days on the bikes and the reality of how dangerous the Dakar came to light when Portuguese rider Paulo Gonçalves died after crashing in the seventh stage of the race, the first casualty since 2015.

“I was very nervous, one of the officials came to me and said this is the point of no return. Once you go over this (starting) podium it’s over. It’s the beginning, but it’s over,” says Perry in an interview on Carte Blanche.

Landman, whose love for motorbike racing started at 10-years-old, said: “I grew up watching Dakars, and you see videos of riders crying because they are so physically exhausted they can’t get out of a section, it is so physically tough and draining.”

https://youtu.be/PW8UoxJez7s

 

They also have a great online tutorial explaining all the key components of the engine and electrical and fuel system and what starting points should look like and how to adjust and modify. You can find the free web-based training here:

http://streetperformancetuner.harley-davidson.com/training/ENU/index.html

The software offers a guided smart tune process to quickly navigate through whether you’re a new to tuning or experienced.

You can also record and view service codes for diagnostics and troubleshooting.

If you plan on riding the same elevation this is all you need. The system should allow you to go to other elevations but may not run optimized. If this is a concern Harley also offers an option for this, it is the Screamin’ Eagle Smart Tune PRO Automatic Tuning Module (ATM). It automatically tunes your bike for the combination of performance components, temperatures, altitude, and vehicle load conditions you are operating in.

It constantly monitors the motorcycle and modifies the ECM on the fly to give maximum performance in most conditions. It is able to do this by the wideband O2 sensors it utilizes reading oxygen levels in the exhaust stream to determine the optimum air/fuel ratio, spark advance and timing your bike needs at the moment.

In order to take advantage of this option you do need to have the Screamin’ Eagle Pro Street Tuner also. If you add this at a later date you do need to upload a new map with the selected wide band sensors. Then all you have to do is ride and enjoy.

Install is a straight forward procedure:

1.    Remove saddlebags

2.    Remove main fuse

3.    Remove seat.

4.    Remove battery

a.    Release ECM from top caddy. Move out of the way.

b.    If present, move purge solenoid forward to release from top caddy

c.    Models with security system: Release HFSM antenna from top caddy and move out of the way

d.    Release connectors from anchors on top caddy

e.    Remove fasteners

f.     Cut cable straps. Move harnesses to allow more clearance for the top caddy

g.    Push top caddy forward to disengage front of caddy from front hold-down bracket. Lift and remove top caddy

h.    Disconnect both battery cables, negative battery cable first.

i.      Pull up battery strap to raise battery. When battery is extracted far enough to get a good grip, grasp battery and remove

5.    Remove right front footboard and brackets from frame.

6.    Disconnect front and rear heated oxygen sensor (HO2) connectors

a.    Note routing of oxygen sensor harness and placement of cable straps along the frame

 Remove exhaust system.

8.    Rework exhaust pipe. Use Exhaust Oxygen Sensor (Wide Band HO2) Bung Drill And Tap Tool Kit (Part No. 14900105) to complete procedure or install Screamin Eagle High-Flow Exhaust System with Street Cannon Mufflers for HO2 sensor installation

a.    Note that no rework is required on Screamin Eagle High-Flow Exhaust System. Bungs accept wide band HO2 sensors.

9.    Install wide band heated oxygen sensors. Using Oxygen Sensor Socket (Part No. HD-48262-A) Torque: 40–60 N·m (29–44 ft-lbs)

a.    Do not install sensors that have been dropped or impacted by other components the sensing element may be damaged

b.    Replacement sensor assemblies have threads coated with anti-seize lubricant and a new gasket.

c.    The electrical connector must be clean and free of any dielectric grease.

10. Install exhaust system with new exhaust gaskets

a.    It is acceptable for the wide band sensor strain guide to make contact with the transmission cover.

b.    If there is contact between the O2 sensor body and transmission cover, install a couple of washers or a spacer under the mid-frame exhaust clamp. Up to 0.200 in of spacer is acceptable.

11. With the ATM inside the battery box, route grey and black connector harnesses

a.    Start at front right corner of battery box area.

b.    Slide grey or black connector harness (1) between the brake lines (2) and frame rail.

c.    Slide connector harness along until it exits the battery box area and enters side cover area.

d.    Repeat procedure for other connector harness.

12. Route the grey and black connector harness leads out behind the ABS control module and connect to main harness. Color match connectors: black to black and grey to grey.

13. Clean mounting surface with alcohol pad. Remove liner from adhesive backing and install dual lock tape to ATM. Remove liner from adhesive backing of dual lock tape and install ATM to back of battery compartment.

14. Install ATM with wire harness facing right toward the inboard side of the frame

15. Route and connect ATM ground wire to clean ground post and torque to 6–10 N·m (50–90 in-lbs)

16. Front HO2 sensor (long harness lead):

a.    From front sensor, route and secure O2 harness along the inboard side of the right frame downpipe. Install cable straps as needed.

b.    Route and secure harness along inboard side of the lower frame toward the O2 sensor connector. Install cable straps as needed or use existing clamps and retainers.

c.    Connect O2 sensor connectors.

17. Rear HO2 sensor (4, short harness lead):

a.    From rear sensor, route and secure O2 harness along top of transmission (4). Install cable straps as needed.

b.    From battery box area, route and secure ATM harness toward the O2 sensor connector. Secure with cable straps as needed.

c.    Connect O2 sensor connectors.

18. Make sure all harnesses and connectors are secured and not located in any hot zones.

19. Install right front footboard and brackets to frame

20. Install battery, battery caddy and attach ECM.

21.  Install seat. After installing seat, pull up on the seat to verify that it is secure.

22. Install main fuse.

23. Install saddlebags.

24. Use Screamin’ Eagle Pro Street Tuner to complete installation. Download new ECM calibration when installing this kit.

 

The Pro Street Tuner software can be downloaded from

http://streetperformancetuner.harley-davidson.com/StreetTuner.aspx

You will need the VCI serial number found on the label located on the back of the VCI in order to download. It is important to understand that the device can only be used on one motorcycle.

If you have issues downloading make sure that Pop-ups are not blocked in your browser for the website.

Connect the VCI to the computer and to the motorcycle. The drivers should install automatically once the VCI is detected.

Note you will need separate purchase of Screamin’ Eagle Tuner Cable Kit

https://www.harley-davidson.com/store/se-tuner-cable-kit-pa-18-41000018–1

You should see a green check mark next to the motorcycle in the lower left corner.

On the tuning tab make sure that O2 sensor is selected to wideband in order to get the proper map for ATM.

I found the system to be great! I have over 1500 miles on the bike so far with no issues. I can say that the system is very responsive with one down flaw that is dictated to Harley Davidson by the US government. There is a speed cap of 111.8 mph. If I was a track guy that would bother me, but for the open road I find that plenty fast enough. I have used other software’s in the past and found that Harley did a great job with the package. It is easy, very intuitive and just plain works.

 

 

https://www.harley-davidson.com/store/street-performance-tuner-kit

https://www.harley-davidson.com/store/smart-tune-pro-automatic-tuning-module

https://www.harley-davidson.com/store/se-tuner-cable-kit-pa-18-41000018–1

 

 

(CNN) — A province in Indonesia is offering a reward to anyone brave enough to free an enormous wild crocodile from a motorcycle tire.

According to Indonesia’s state-run Antara news agency, the 13-foot (4-meter) crocodile has been carrying the tire since 2016, when it was first spotted roaming the Palu River in the province of Central Sulawesi.

The crocodile survived an earthquake and tsunami that struck the region in 2018 — but the tire hadn’t budged from its neck, according to the report.

Fearing the reptile may get strangled, Central Sulawesi’s Natural Resources Conservation Office (BKSDA) this week launched a contest to free it.

“A reward will be given to anyone who can release the hapless reptile,” Central Sulawesi BKSDA chief Hasmuni Hasmar said, according to the Antara report.

Hasmar did not disclose any more details of the reward.

According to Antara, there have been previous attempts to remove the tire. In 2018, conservationist and “animal whisperer” Muhammad Panji made an attempt, and later that year the conservation office tried to lure the animal with meat. Both attempts were unsuccessful.

by Alex Hern from https://www.theguardian.com

The government is showing signs of legalising electric scooters on roads, but new laws should be about safety, not horsepower

If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that being hit by a scooter hurts less than being hit by a bike. That may sound like a strangely negative place to start, but it’s sort of fundamental to why I’m glad the government is finally showing signs of legalising the use of electronic scooters on public roads across the UK.

The current state of the law is a mess. Its broad strokes are reasonable enough: powered vehicles require an MOT and registration to use on public roads, while unpowered vehicles do not. Pavements are for foot traffic only. Access requirements complicate matters, but only a little: wheelchairs, both manual and powered – legally, “class three invalid carriages” – can go on pavements, while some – class four – can go on roads as well.

Then, in the 1980s, the law was modernised to support the first generation of electric bikes. Fitted with simple motors that aided hill climbs, it felt silly to ban them as electric vehicles, and so a new category – the “electrically assisted pedal cycle” – was invented, and the laws amended further in 2015 to remove weight limits, allow for four wheels and increase the maximum power of the motor.

Which means, as the law stands, you can ride a four-wheeled vehicle of potentially unlimited weight, largely powered by a motor up to 15.5mph, on public roads without training, licensing or registration. But not an electronic scooter. Nor, for that matter, a 5kg, 10mph “hoverboard”, unlikely to hurt anyone save its rider.

Looking at the laws from the ground up, the distinguishing characteristic should be safety, not how a vehicle is powered. It’s hard to argue that an electric motor is inherently more dangerous than pedal power. In fact, given the variability of human strength, it’s almost possible to argue the opposite: electric motors in e-bikes are capped at 250W of power, after all, but no such limit is possible for people, where a fit cyclist can easily exceed 300W or more.

And so a set of regulations which allowed, alongside bikes, skateboards and scooters, electric vehicles of limited weight, power and speed is surely the only justifiable outcome of any consultation.

But more than justifiable, such a set of rules would be good. One of the truisms of the cycling world is that the safest thing for cyclists on the road is more cyclists on the road. It’s not all about public policy and accessible cycle lanes: sheer weight of numbers is important too, in forcing other road users to treat cyclists as a viable third transportation mode, rather than just annoying slowpokes ripe for close passes and aggressive overtakes.

Expanding that constituency, to encompass a wide variety of mid-speed vehicles, would only help push cities towards the tipping point where they can consider transport beyond a simple car/pedestrian binary. And that’s a point every city needs to reach, sooner rather than later, in the face of a climate crisis that much see car usage drastically curtailed.

But. While laws need to be rewritten to support electric scooters, they don’t necessarily need to support the peculiarly American model of dumping a load of scooters on a pavement and hoping enough people will ride them before they get stolen or damaged for the unit economics to work out favourably. That model, unfortunately, has defaulted to its present state: unregulated, unmanaged and cutthroat, with councils left fighting back with nothing but their powers to prevent littering.

Here, the trade-off is more painful. Dockless rideshare – of bikes, e-bikes or e-scooters – can be great for promoting access, but it can also harm those least able to cope, as anyone who has tried to navigate a wheelchair or pram around a pile of Uber bikes knows. Micromobility can succeed with or without the Silicon Valley business models – but it can’t succeed without being given a chance on the roads.

The largest motorcycle event in the Rocky Mountain Region returns this weekend! Saturday and Sunday, head to the National Western Complex for the 42nd Annual Colorado Motorcycle Expo. Tickets start at $16.
coloradomotorcycleexpo.com

The Colorado Motorcycle Expo is the largest indoor motorcycle event in the rocky mountain region. Now in our 42nd year and under new ownership, we draw more than 20,000 people to the heart of Denver every year.

Hosted at the enormous National Western Complex, the Expo covers almost 300,000 square feet and is home to more than 700 vendors selling everything from motorcycle parts and gear to snacks for the road.

Spread across two days, the Colorado Motorcycle Expo offers entertainment for the whole family. From a custom and antique bike show, live music throughout the weekend, food & drink, and tons of things to do and see.

Visit https://www.coloradomotorcycleexpo.com