Eric Herrmann wrote, illustrated and published a book about riding in Arizona. It’s called Ride the Arizona Backroads and it’s a guidebook for bikers who want to ride hot, flat, desert, rattlesnake invested roads of Arizona.



I started to read it immediately, and if you plan to blast into Arizona, you might want to read the first nine pages, quick. They immediately give you serious life-saving do’s and don’ts around desert riding. A broke down biker without a jug of cool aqua could easily die on a 115 degree day by himself in sinking sand. 



Several times I attempted to move to Arizona for open roads and wild adventures along the Mexican border. Arizona is still a frontier for the brave and rugged, who can carve out a way of life surrounded by blistering sand and cactus. Eric has lived in Cave Creek for a couple of decades and ridden dirt trails with his kids and every backroad with brothers numerous times. He knows Arizona, the road surfaces, the cops, the rest stops, bars and how far to the next gas stop.





Then, with his cool black and white line-drawing maps and illustrations he takes us on individual backroad rides. You will roll through 11 distinctive rides with complete descriptions and recommendations. “Beware of Toy Haulers on Carefree Hwy 74,” Eric wrote. “They camp in the desert and often make left turns into nowhere. Do not blow past several cars behind a toy hauler, as he may be slowing for a left.”



About Yarnell he wrote, “Somebody once told me Yarnell is made up of gays, greys and strays. Don’t know about that, but it’s a diamond in the rough as far as I’m concerned. Cool old buildings, good climate, beautiful country. I could check out and live there.”



Once he reaches his Patagonia Putt, his southern ride, he describes each destination in rider detail, including Patagonia, Nogales, Mexico, Tombstone, Bisbee, Davis Monthan AFB, Mount Lemmon, and Sedona.



Each description includes a difficulty rating with detailed skulls, miles, time, elevation and temperature swings. He documents warnings about cops, and where to watch for flash floods and sand drifts.



Just as he sold out ten books at little Mexican Anita’s Cocina in Wickenburg, Arizona, the state locked down all the bars and restaurants once more. He’s heading to Sturgis 2020 to get outta Dodge for awhile, or should I say Douglas. Just remember, if you get stranded in the desert, rattlesnake tastes just like fried chicken. As my pappy use to say, “You’ll be a long time starving if that’s all you have to eat.”

However, given the resounding support so far for this First Amendment protection, it seems highly likely that the remaining federal appeal courts would reach the same conclusion if the issue appears on their docket.

The U.S. Supreme Court

Although the U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on the precise question of recording police activity, in Branzburg v. Hayes (1972), the High Court held that “without some protection for seeking out the news, freedom of the press could be eviscerated.” And in First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (1978), the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment “goes beyond [the] protection of the press and the self-expression of individuals to prohibit government from limiting the stock of information from which members of the public may draw.” This particular “stock of
information”—recordings of police officers carrying out their duties in public—is critically important in enabling citizens to hold the government accountable for its actions, a central tenet of the First Amendment.

Utilizing smart phones and immediate Internet access, vast numbers of people now have the capability to document news in a way that only journalists and film crews could do in the past.

But do bystanders have the same First Amendment rights as journalists in gathering the news?

The courts have said yes.

The Supreme Court has been reluctant to define what constitutes a newsperson for purposes of constitutional protection, saying in Branzburg v. Haye s that such an effort “would present practical and conceptual difficulties of a high order.”

Diamond Reynolds recounts the incidents that led to the fatal shooting of her boyfriend Philando Castile by Minneapolis area police.

As the Supreme Court wrote in Hayes, the “liberty of the press is the right of the lonely
pamphleteer who uses carbon paper or a mimeograph just as much as of the large metropolitan publisher who utilizes the latest photo composition methods.”

And in U.S. v. Hastings (1983), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals interpreted the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Hayes to mean that “the press generally has no right to information superior to that of the general public.”

Updating the “lonely pamphleteer” to the “lonely bystander” metaphor, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled in Glik v. Cunniffe (2011): “The First Amendment right to gather news is… not one that inures solely to the benefit of the news media; rather, the public’s right of the [incorporated] press.”

“Ensuring the public’s right to gather information about their officials not only aids in the uncovering of abuses, but also may have a salutary effect on the functioning of government more generally,” said the unanimous First Circuit Court of Appeals in Glik.

Indeed, videos have stimulated widespread debate about how to reform harmful policing practices, especially concerning minority communities.

The Right to Record and Share
Corollary Rights

The First Amendment protects the act of recording as a necessary corollary to the right to publish and distribute the recording. Dissemination of video and audio information is clearly protected by the First Amendment. But what about the action of recording? Is the act of recording protected as well? Courts have had to deal with arguments that only dissemination is protected—not the act of recording itself. Courts recognize that the recording of video and audio is closely intertwined with the eventual dissemination of the information. Use of recording technology enables protected speech to occur, and thus the First Amendment must shield both.

“A freelance reporter may write a story, but he will rarely edit, print, and
deliver it to subscribers. To a government bent on suppressing speech, this
mode of organization presents opportunities: Control any cog in the machine,
and you can halt the whole apparatus.” ~ Justice Antonin Scalia, McConnell v.
FEC (2003).

As the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in ACLU v. Alvarez (2012): “The act of making an audio or audiovisual recording is necessarily included within the First Amendment’s guarantee of speech and press rights as a corollary of the right to disseminate the resulting recording. The
right to publish or broadcast an audio or audiovisual recording would be insecure, or largely ineffective, if the antecedent act of making the recording is wholly unprotected.

By way of a simple analogy, banning photography or note taking at a public event would raise serious First Amendment concerns; a law of that sort would obviously affect the right to publish the resulting photograph or disseminate a report derived from the notes. The same is true of a ban on audio and audiovisual recording.” The court concluded: “Restricting the use of an audio or audiovisual recording device suppresses speech just as effectively as restricting the dissemination of the resulting recording.”

Time, Place, and Manner Restrictions—And Other Limitations

Although the courts have recognized a First Amendment right to record the work of police officers in public, that right is not absolute. It is important to understand that recording in public is subject to time, place, and manner restrictions.

These are restrictions imposed on expression that are designed to maintain public safety and other valid concerns. Courts use a three-part test to assess whether they are consistent with the First Amendment. Restrictions must be content-neutral —meaning that they cannot be aimed at speech based on the subject matter. They must be narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest, and leave open alternative channels of communication.

For example, a local government could prohibit a protest taking place at 1 a.m. in a residential neighborhood in order to preserve peace and quiet during a time when people seek rest.

As applied to the recording of police officers, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said in ACLU v. Alvarez : “It goes without saying that the police may take all reasonable steps to maintain safety and control, secure crime scenes and accident sites, and protect the integrity and confidentiality of investigations.

 

What kinds of time, place, and manner restrictions could a court find reasonable?

It would depend on the situation. Police have wide discretion to take reasonable steps to protect the public and their own safety, such as keeping people a reasonable distance (e.g., 20 to 30 feet) from an incident and limiting traffic around the incident. A journalist or bystander who crossed police barriers set up to protect public safety, or at a crime scene in order to get a better angle from which to record, might reasonably be asked to move, as would someone who got in the way of police officers and vehicles moving in and out of the area. Police dealing with an active shooter situation would obviously have even broader discretion.

However, as the First Circuit in Glik held, “peaceful recording of an arrest in a public space that does not interfere with the police officers’ performance of their duties is not reasonably subject to limitation.”

In King v. Ambs , the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in 2008 that free speech rights are not protected when a bystander is interfering with an arrest by instructing a suspect not to cooperate with police. Demonstrations in public places like streets and parks are another situation in which people enjoy a strong First Amendment right to make recordings of police. However, the right to record
can be impacted by police actions during a protest—law enforcement may be able to order an individual to stop videotaping under certain circumstances. These might include, for example, if the police issue a broad-scale dispersal order that applies across the board and is not targeted at the person recording the police. It may also include situations in which the person recording is in violation of a generally applicable curfew law, or if the individual recording is too close to an officer arresting a disruptive protester. Some police dispersal orders and curfews , of course, might later be challenged by affected individuals on First Amendment grounds.

Public Versus Private Places

The court decisions discussed here relate to the recording of police officers performing their duties in public—on streets, on sidewalks, and in public parks. Journalists and bystanders do not have First Amendment protection to follow police officers when they go onto private property. They can record from a street or sidewalk, but entering private property without permission of the person who owns or occupies the property may be trespassing. Also, police cannot grant valid permission to reporters and other people to follow them onto private property.

 Nonconsensual Recordings

What about wiretapping and eavesdropping statutes—can newsgatherers sometimes violate those laws when exercising their First Amendment right to record? ACLU of Illinois v. Alvarez (2012) answered this question for the U.S. Seventh Circuit (Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana) in a decision that proved influential elsewhere. It was about whether an Illinois eavesdropping statute that prohibited nonconsensual audio recordings applied to secret recordings of police working in public.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit concluded that the statute
protects the privacy of conversations; however, “that interest is not implicated when police officers are performing their duties in public places and engaging in public communications audible to persons who witness the events.” Why? Because the police, by the nature of their office, are public servants and the recording is done on public property (or from one’s own private property, as did George Holliday when recording the beating of Rodney King in 1991).

Recording police in the line of duty does not, the court held, violate privacy laws meant for private citizens. In issuing a preliminary injunction against the enforcement in Illinois, the court said the application of an eavesdropping statute to the recording of police activity “likely violates the First Amendment’s free-speech and free-press guarantees.”

Police Cannot Seize or View Smartphone Recordings

It is critical to understand that search and seizure laws also apply to the question of
recording police. In the landmark case Riley v. California (2014), the U.S. Supreme
Court said that the Fourth Amendment prohibits police from seizing a person’s recording device or later searching through its contents
.
The only legal way for police to seize a phone is through an arrest and the only way to access its contents is to acquire a warrant. In writing for a unanimous Court, Chief
Justice Roberts said,“Modern cell phones are not just another technological
convenience. With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for many
Americans ‘the privacies of life.’ The fact that technology now allows an individual to
carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the

 

Court Cases

Decisions by United Circuit Court of Appeals
1. Askins v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security , No. 16-55719 (9th Cir. 2018)
First Amendment protects the photographing of patrol officers at ports of entry.

2. Fields v. Philadelphia , 862 F.3d 353 (3rd Cir. 2017) “First Amendment protects
the act of photographing, filming, or recording police conducting official duties in
public”.

3. Akins v. Knight , 863 F.3d 1084, 1088 (8th Cir. 2017) Has been mistakenly
identified in the press as ruling against citizens’ First Amendment rights to film
police in public. Akins was primarily ruled on procedural grounds, seeking the
judge’s recusal. It did not analyze the merits of the constitutional claims,
therefore cannot be categorized as either a pro- or anti-recording police case.

4. Turner v. Driver , 848 F.3d 678 (5th Cir. 2017) “A First Amendment right to record
the police does exist, subject only to reasonable time, place, and manner
restrictions”.

5. Gericke v. Begin , 753 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2014) Under the First Amendment, “private
individuals possess a constitutionally protected right to videotape police carrying
out their duties.”

6. ACLU of Illinois v. Alvarez , 679 F.3d 583 (7th Cir. 2012) The Illinois’
eavesdropping statute did not apply to the recording of police activities in public.

7. Glik v. Cunniffe , 655 F. 3d 1 (1st Cir. 2011) There is “a constitutionally protected
right to videotape police carrying out their duties in public” and that right was
“fundamental.”

8. King v. Ambs , 519 F.3d 607 (6th Cir. 2008) Free speech rights are not protected
when a bystander is interfering with an arrest by instructing a suspect not to
cooperate with police.

9. Smith v. City of Cumming , 212 F.3d 1332, 1333 (11th Cir. 2000) Affirmed “a First
Amendment right, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, to
photograph or videotape police conduct.”
10. Fordyce v. City of Seattle , 55 F.3d 436 (9th Cir. 1995) “First Amendment right to
film matters of public interest,” as when Jerry Fordyce filmed police activity during
a public protest.

Masthead

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. ~ The First

First Amendment Watch

Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute
New York University
20 Cooper Square, NY, NY 10003
FirstAmendmentWatch.org

Stephen D. Solomon, J.D., Founding Editor and Marjorie Deane Professor of journalism, NYU
Mary Ellen Egan, Managing Editor
Soraya Ferdman, Staff Writer

The case studies produced by First Amendment Watch are intended for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney in your state if you need legal representation.

Visit firstamendmentwatch.org to view other guides.
Contact us by email at firstamendment@nyu.edu

Big Dave
Proprietor
The Ink Spot
Troy, Missouri

This link will get ya hooked. A totally Independent production. Love their Hollywood can kiss their ass style! A meld of the Tattoo world and Motorcycles! Real and raw – totally unscripted and takes you on an adventure in the deep south – where Big Dave and company are rollin’ out over thousands of miles to meet legendary Tattoo Artists. His mission is preserving their history for tattoo artists to come and he’s doing it on two wheels. They Their journey started June 1st, 2015.

10 episodes were created – and each one gets better than the last!

You can find the episodes on YouTube with social media on Facebook!

Episode 1 – The Journey Begins

Episode 2 – Guns Don’t Make Art

Episode 3 Electric Wizardry

Episode 4 – Werewolves of the French Quarter

Episode 5 – “What’s an Isopod”

Episode 6 – airs July 6th – on YouTube

They are asking for help with sharing their links on Social Media –
Facebook has been less than helpful with their algorithms and stifling their shares as they link the people over to YouTube –
The more they post the more they restrict!
They are trying to beat the algorithms and are asking for your help! 

Their First episode 2000 views the first day on YouTube
Second episode – 1000 views on you tube….. Doing way more promotion for half the views….

David asks for help:

https://www.facebook.com/david.canoy.7/videos/10223629332863005/

Better every episode

Share content with the world….share this video and share often…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwKaDsEwo5I&t=204s

“Life is all about the stories”

–Dmac

  

I did stop in 2019 to see friends and enjoy the party on Main Street.

 

 The city is also well known for a place named the Corn Palace which attracts some 500,000 tourists every year to see the uniquely designed corn murals that cover the outside and the interesting historic information in the palace.

 

To motorcyclist it is often to visit Klock Werks motorcycle shop at 915 S Kimball St. Home of the original and patented FLARE Windshield for your motorcycle. They have been saying, if you are in the area stop by, we would like to give you a tour, a catalogue and free decal.

 Well, I did that years ago and continued to do so as did a lot of people. The shop started a Pre- Sturgis party before part of the staff headed off to Black Hills Harley-Davidson in Rapid City for the Black Hills Classic.

 To find out more about their business check out https://getklocked.com/

Well as you can imagine with all the friends and satisfied customers, they had this turned into quite a party, and it continued to grow year after year until it got so large it had to be moved to Main Street.

 The event is now named The Palace City Pre-Sturgis Party and will take place on Mitchell’s Main Street from 5-10 PM on Thursday, August 6,2020.

North Main Street from 4^th Ave. to 7^th Ave will be closed for the evening’s events.

 

 During the 2019 event, there were plenty of food and places to have an adult beverage, local shops and temporary vendors are spread out around the area.

 

 

In the area in front of the Corn Palace was set up for the Ives Brothers to do their Ball Of Death demonstration.

 

Daredevil “High Flyin” Cole Freeman did a jump in front of the palace.

 

 There were also plenty of other entertaining demonstrations going on as well.

 The city of Mitchell wants to let everyone know it is a biker-friendly city and has provided Bike Only Parking at the south end of 4^th Avenue and Main Street.

So, if your schedule allows you might want to include a stop in Mitchell on your way to Sturgis this year. Hope to see you there. Looking forward to having a good time there again this year.

–Rogue

 

 

Worldwide circumstances have conspired to ensure that this year’s 80th anniversary Sturgis Rally won’t be the stellar celebration once planned. That said, once August 7th rolls around, the eight-decade occasion will most certainly be marked, if with less fanfare.

As bike riders, we appreciate the significance of an 80-year milestone in motorcycling, especially one celebrated in western South Dakota where the aura of wild west rebellion and revelry so synergistically dovetails with biking. I’d wager that’s part of the rally’s allure for us cowboys and cowgirls on iron horses. But even the most fervent rider would agree: the relative longevity of this motorcycle rally pales quickly compared to the much longer and far more dramatic American pioneer heritage that’s rife in these parts.

On my annual treks to the Black Hills to cover the rally over several decades, I barely caught a glimpse of the region’s frontier history. It was all about the here and now. But in more recent years, as I started arriving early, staying later and finally moving to South Dakota, my inner history nerd won out. Women’s letters on the westward journey, soldiers’ diaries recounting military campaigns, even cowboy poetry became my reading of choice. Each year, when rally work was wrapped up, the western horizon beckoned. Yes, I went to Yellowstone, Cody and Little Big Horn, of course. But there were also gold mines, ghost towns, sacred sites, buffalo jumps and rock formations both natural and man-carved. So much to see!

I soon went full-on geek, sifting through the Historical Marker Data Base and Waymarking.com before trips. I’d alter my route when I spied small brown road signs reading “Lewis & Clark Trail.” I hated when circumstances demanded I leave a roadside “point of interest” unexplored. One October I happened upon scenery so stunning along Highway 20 south of Thermopolis, Wyoming, that I did a U-turn at the bottom of the canyon just to ride it the other direction and back again.

So, imagine my delight when I learned of a memorial commemorating the little-known Battle of Slim Buttes so close to home; a mere 90 miles north of Sturgis, near Reva, SD. The story goes like this:

In the late 1860’s Jonathan White was one of many former Civil War soldiers seeking fortune and adventure in the West. Sharp scouting skills and an affable nature earned him work as a civilian scout with the Army. By the 1870s he’d met and become a devotee of Buffalo Bill Cody, emulating Cody’s mode of dress and literally following him around. General Philip Sheridan once said White followed Cody too closely, mockingly nicknaming Buffalo Bill’s ardent admirer “Buffalo Chips White”

By the autumn of 1876, White was scouting for General George Crook, whose troops were combing western South Dakota for bands of Native Americans in the months after the Battle of Little Big Horn. On September 9th, Crook got word that Captain Anson Mills, who’d been sent to Deadwood for supplies, had captured a Lakota Sioux village near the Slim Buttes, an area so named for its rocky formations. A counter assault was expected and Mills wanted help.

When Crook, White and three cavalry companies arrived, Mills and his men were under attack by Crazy Horse’s warriors, led by Chief American Horse. Thanks to the reinforcements, the Army ultimately took control. Though there were heavy casualties among the Natives, only three on the Army side were lost, one of them civilian scout Jonathan “Buffalo Chips” White.

Based on remaining accounts, the good-natured scout was sorely missed. Among the stories that persisted is one claiming he was so steadfast a friend that he once saved Buffalo Bill Cody’s life. Friends like that come along but rarely.

Bike riders know about prized friendships, the ones we make on the road, the ones that persist over decades. Riding together has a way of turning strangers into friends. That’s why naming his campground after “Buffalo Chips” White made sense to Sturgis Buffalo Chip owner Rod “Woody” Woodruff. Woody’s witnessed quite a few friendships made, molded and multiplied over the Chip’s 39 years. I’d wager he’s also made a few friends himself.

So, when you’re next in the Black Hills, why not make new friends or travel with old ones on your social-distance machines to pay respects to the grit and fidelity of “Buffalo Chips” White? It’s an ideal destination ride for celebrating the steadfast courage of those who tamed the wild west and the staunch friends they made in the process. Comforting thoughts in these turbulent times.

* The Battle of Slim Buttes monument is located off SD Highway 20, ¼ mile west of the intersection with SD Highway 79, about one mile west of Reva, SD.

–Marilyn

What Happened In Santa Ana On July 2, 1950?

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

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

When Did Drag Racing Really Start?

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

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

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

Clues

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

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

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

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

Were They Really The First?

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

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

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

Rolling Starts And Perilous Stops

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

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

Elapsed Time Vs. Top Speed

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

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

The Beginning Comes To An End

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

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

How Did Drag Racing Become A Quarter Mile?

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

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

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

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

–Tim Bernsau
www.HotRod.com

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

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

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

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

 

Blow by is pressure that is forced past the rings and cylinder walls and ends up in the crankcase and then into the oil tank. All internal combustion engines have a certain amount of crankcase pressure and it does increase with miles. Large cubic inch engines have a tendency to have more blow by as well.

The Vented Dipstick comes with a sheet of instructions and I suggest you read it before starting installing this product.

Remove the stock dipstick and make sure the oil tank is full. If not add oil.

 The assembly screws into factory fill spout just like a stock part. Lubricate the O-ring on the Feuling dipstick with O-ring lube or engine oil.

The breather consists of a perforated disc, replaceable filter element and umbrella flapper valve.

There are two ways that this system can work. One is with an internal porous filter element. Though this element gives a clean look it can produce an oil misting residue on the top of the dipstick.

The other option is with a quick disconnect fitting and line with a filter element on the end of it. This is the recommended method

 

 

The cap is screwed on to the dipstick using a little 545 Loctite, this will help prevent leaking. Loctite is also added to the small 0.050 hex Allen screw in the side of the cover to lock the cap so it does not unscrew when the dipstick is removed.

The line will need to be disconnected to remove the dipstick to check or ad oil but it does like the name implies disconnects quickly.

 The line is run inside the frame rail, up under the seat then back down with the element resting between the engine and transmission mating area neatly out of the way. The line is secured in a couple of spots to hold it in place making sure the plastic wire ties did Not Pinch the Breather Line

 

For more information on this and other fine Feuling products go to www.FeulingParts.com

 

This is going to be a tough one. Hell, this is one of the toughest years in a while. How the hell do you judge it. In a sense we don’t. We just deal with it and move on. That’s life. It’s always changing, whether we like it or not.

So, last year ended with the first run of the Salt Torpedo, the first streamlined trike, destined for Bonneville records, then Micah rolled it. He broke a bunch of codes that day, but he’s a brother. Another lesson I learned from the past. I watched men lose their lives because their brothers turned on them. A brother is a brother first.

I know a guy who was a president in a major outlaw club. He had a brother who stuck with him for 30 years and went to prison numerous times. When that brother purportedly did wrong, the leader immediately turned on him. After being in a club for all that time, the leader still didn’t understand brotherhood or leadership.

One more point about thinking, maybe two. First, fuck the guy down the street or the jack-ass car salesman, but a brother deserves special consideration. And finally, about changing your mind: Several folks pointed out my brother’s wrong-doing and how I should kick him to the curb. I could have taken that path, but I sought another route. I considered the Code of the West and took the path I chose. He’s still the pilot. Although, I’ll kick his ass if he fucks up again.

I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m a nut and at 72 I’m blowing up the farm and heading to South Dakota. With the help of Dr. Hamster, we bought a home in Deadwood and I blasted out here with my high-top van packed to the gills. I’ve never lived in the snow, but I’m going to in a big major way.

Hell, I was just about on the edge of Utah and stopped for the night in Coalville. The next morning snow was everywhere, and I didn’t know what the hell to do. I’m always on a mission, so at 6:00 a.m. it was still dark, but I was ready to roll. I didn’t know until I slid up in front of my new home, that I was supposed to be driving an all-wheel or 4-wheel drive vehicle. Fortunately, it is a ¾-ton vehicle.

At the continental breakfast I befriended another traveler, who lived in Wyoming and was on his way to Park City. “So, what do you suggest?” I asked.

“You might wait until the sun comes up,” he said and probably saved my life. I had to cut a slippery trail across the Continental Divide a couple of times and peel through the notorious Muddy Gap. My newish van was cool but got super shitty mileage. I remember sliding into a gas station in Laramie.

I’m a California boy. I’ve never experienced 15 degrees. You can’t imagine the terror on the faces in LA when you say 15 degrees. They about shit themselves. So, I drove through the entire snow-covered state of Wyoming in January, passing over-turned semis in the middle of nowhere.

So, we closed on this house in the Presidential district of Deadwood. Most of the homes, including ours are over 100 years old, each with a variety of historic details. One of my goals was to live within walking distance of downtown, a town of 1270 folks. I stayed for a couple of months, then the Redhead flew out and I got to test her ability to deal with it.

Alison is 57 and dealing with hot flashes constantly. She doesn’t like the heat, any heat. She melts, and Redheads are sensitive to any climatic changes. She loved the Deadwood digs, slid down the narrow stairs, fell in the black ice coating the steep, cracked concrete sidewalks, got back up and rocked on.

She got edgy about getting back to her job, managing a rickety marina dead center in the port of Los Angeles. I started another Chance Hogan book around the swarm of bad behavior surrounding the drug-infested, outlaw run marina, plus Chance trying to build a 45 flathead for Bonneville.

Last year, I finished a screenplay about board track racing and soldiers coming back from WWI. I’ve started to circulate it around the movie industry, but screenplays are a dime a dozen. I’m astounded what gets made into a movie. So many, you can tell someone who has never been in a fist fight wrote it.

But to me, it’s about the creative endeavor, like building the Salt Torpedo and watching it blast down a desert street in the Lucerne Valley near where Lienweber cams are ground. Sometimes, that’s good enough for me, move onto the next project and there are many. In this case I said the Salt Torpedo would be the racer I could take to the salt numerous times. Can you see the dichotomy in my thinking? Can I let my desire to accomplish something and move on get in the way?

I’ve never liked the celebrity part. Maybe, that’s a factor? I wouldn’t mind if someone else took it and got the fame. That’s why I didn’t expand the chassis so I could pilot it. I wanted it to be as slick and fast as possible, so Micah got to ride it. How many more times can I make it to Bonneville? And there’s always the money aspect. Going to Bonneville ain’t cheap for a grubby biker.

In the middle of trying to finish the Torpedo, which was a long-standing project attempted by some fine builders, but ultimately us shop rats had to take the reins and make something happen. Between Kevin Kahl, myself and Micah McCloskey we stayed the course and she’s ready for the real deal on the salt.

Since the roll-over, I’ve fixed everything except I need to build a couple of front fender brackets and Paughco is making me another gas tank. I spoke to Ron Paugh and Chris, his fabricator yesterday about modifications to the tank. I believe it was a 1.2-gallon puppy, and that could be pushing it. They made it slightly wider.

Of course, the Covid hit and us old folks needed to sequester ourselves, and that worked for me, although it’s about time for a haircut.

Delvene Manning cancelled Bonneville for this year and it all fit into my master plan. I received a fortune cookie recently. It said, “It is brave to do something, not knowing the outcome.”

Speaking of fortune cookies and Chinese laundries. Buddha, a philosopher, not a god, originated in India, but ultimately the mantra slipped into China and changed some, but the words contain the same guidelines. He was just a guy who came from wealth and tried another more-humble path. He was a very bright guy who attempted to understand life and figure it out.

I’m not trying to sell anyone on Buddhism. But the philosophy of mindfulness is real and scientifically proven. If and when you are faced with bad thoughts, they can be altered, removed and replaced. And here’s a big one: You can find nirvana under any circumstances.

Here’s a great example. Dave Zien, lost a leg when he hit a deer. It was the second deer he hit. The first one he gutted and cleaned alongside the highway. Dave rode a Harley for 1 million miles, then was forced to switch to a trike. The guy has a heart of gold and just kept going with a very positive attitude. He’s currently working on two memorials, one the Rock memorial for veterans and another for motorcycle freedom fighters.

Then, of course, there’s a brother who gets depressed over anything. He’s healthy, young and strong. He has funds and friends but can’t say a good word about anyone or anything. The stress is killing him. He could fix that with mindfulness and understanding the mind.

So, when we closed on this property, we made a plan. A house is like a pallet to an artist. You can do so much to make it your home in the style of your choosing. This area contains a myriad of history and western styles, but I decided our theme will be an historic Chinese Whorehouse.

Okay, so that’s just a theme with no solid backing, but it’s going to be a fun experiment with some antique Asian stuff, brass dragons, art with half-dressed women and of course, motorcycles. Kelly Dube is sending me an antique, silk, embroidered, sexy Chinese cheongsam dress to display. Don’t ask me about the opium den. There are poppies in the garden, blooming.

I’ve wanted to cut a dusty trail out of California. When that didn’t happen in the ‘90s I moved to San Pedro, which put me just 6 miles from my aging mom. It was a good thing, because I was able to hang with her until the end a couple of years ago. I stuck around San Pedro and Wilmington for almost 20 years, the longest I ever stayed in one place.

When I turned 70, I had an awakening. Brothers and sisters were beginning to pass away at an increasing rate. When we’re younger we banged along like nothing mattered, but there comes a time, when you start to see physical changes.

Suddenly one day you know you’re no longer climbing the hill, but you’ve crested the top and you’re heading into the valley of death, but fear no evil… We are all going to die, just some die sooner than others.

When I hit 70 and was in decent shape, I figured I might have another 10 years to build shit and try something new. Don’t get me wrong, Jerry Branch helped guys work on cars, tune motorcycles and trimmed his own trees into his 80s, you just never know. Hell, Clint Eastwood is still making films at 78.

I might still run Bikernet, write books and stories when I’m 80 and that’s cool. I can go with that, but I didn’t want to do it in Los Angeles. I needed a fresh pallet, and after years of searching and planning, I set my sights on Deadwood, and the Redhead loves it. That’s a major factor.

Your partner is always a major factor. If it wasn’t for Nyla’s support, I could have never bought the building in Wilmington. Many women would have run from that grubby project in the industrial wasteland of the Port of Los Angeles. It’s amazing, and I supported the Wilmington Waterfront effort for 15 years, and just now they seem to be moving on it.

The worst mistake Wilmington ever made was to become part of the city of Los Angeles and allow all the port’s wealth to slip to Downtown Los Angeles. Wilmington would be magnificent for the kids if they stayed a city.

Just a couple of years ago, I worked with two local artists to create a considerable sculpture to represent the people of Wilmington at the entrance to the waterfront. The port suggested some off-the-shelf Walmart icon entrance with no connection to the people of Wilmington. We will see what happens.

Then, like a nut I stumbled onto a Kraft Tech frame at the Long Beach swap meet, and on my way out of the asphalt parking lot surrounding the stadium, Brad, Nyla’s brother, called and asked me if I needed a Panhead engine. Presto, I was building another bike.

 I’ve always considered myself a blue-collar builder. I’m an enthusiast, not a pro bike-builder.

It’s sort of a confession and a cop-out, but I never wanted to compete with the brothers and sisters I covered in magazines and on Bikernet™. I do my absolute best to build bikes that are structurally sound and reliable. But I just don’t consider myself a pro.

I also have a problem. I’m too tall for the bikes I like to build. That fucks with me. Actually, my Sturgis Shovelhead I built 10 years ago, almost fit. Check this shot with Bob T. at the bars. So, when I finished the funky ’69 Panhead Chris Callen said, “What the hell, did you shrink that bike?”

He was right and I ultimately installed the longer, new round-leg Paughco front end and reworked the rear seat suspension for a better ride. It handles better but doesn’t have the tight bobber look I planned.

On the other hand, as we got into Dr. Hamsters 1950 Panhead, I could build something tight and cool. It would fit a thinner, shorter man to a tee. This was supposed to be a joint effort, but the covid fucked with that big time and Christian’s (Dr. Hamster) duties included only finding parts. He’s not doing too well with that.

I’m still waiting on a generator for the Pandemic Panhead with a regulator cap and an outer primary. It took several months, but finally the headlight arrived, in the nick of time. The good doctor saved my health several times, so it’s easy to be patient.

I was sorta in the middle of finishing the Torpedo and a brother Hamster needed to make some bucks anyway he could, so I turned Dr. Hamster’s project over to Mike. Mike, like the rest of us has some health issues and space issues, so the project ended up back at the Bikernet Intergalactic Headquarters.

During the time Mike had the Pandemic Pan, a major shift occurred. We had the Knuck frame straightened and fixed by Dr. John. The Pan engine fit, but the heads were too close to the backbone of the frame and we didn’t want to mess with the frame anymore. The seat post was altered for the engine and we didn’t fix that. Dr. Hamster got frustrated and threatened to sell the project as a basket. Mike and I convinced him to start looking for a Panhead frame. He sold the Knuck frame for a bundle, so it worked out.

That brings us to July 6th, and yesterday Haul Bikes picked up five bikes from the intergalactic headquarters in Wilmington. Two are Dr. Hamster’s, the Pandemic and his ’90 FLH.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to make a pass. That was a learning experience about the Run What Ya Brung Class. I was too busy building to read the rule book that year. I thought it was run what ya brung, no rules. Not so Kimosabe.

Live and learn. Which brings us back to the Salt Torpedo and rules. There are no trike classes in the SCTA or the AMA, but there are streamliner rules. The FIM decided to include a trike class, when I reached out to Dennis Manning and found out that there was no Trike Class at Bonneville. FIM stepped up. We have tried to follow all the Streamliner rules for the SCTA, AMA, FIM and the trike rules from the FIM.

In addition, a 25-year inspector from the SCTA has tried to coach us through the process. Rodan recently quit, because they said he was too old, bullshit. There’s more to that story, but he emailed me a Streamliner, inspector’s, check-off SCTA form. We have been through it a couple of times. We’re trying, but you never know. The scrutineering process is way more terrifying than making a pass.

Sometimes I think it’s all about the outlaw in me. I’ve always lived on the edge of the law and always pushed the limits. I don’t like authorities, sheriffs or judges. Hell, I think it’s why we ride choppers.

That’s not all. Property values went going through the roof and I consider selling the Intergalatic Headquarters in LA and setting up a new shop in Deadwood. Talk about a thought process. I started looking into all the factors, challenges, obstacles, resources, you name it.

Just for a test, I reached out to Jesse James and asked him who moved his shop. He said the Dunkle Brothers. This is a big family business and they sold out just a month before the Covid struck. There’s that thing about timing. Timing is everything.

I met with one of the Dunkle brothers and he took me through the process of moving the shop—fuckin’ scary. I had to have a bunch of crates made, capable of working with forklifts, made. All the little shit goes in the crates. They come and move all crates on one truck and all the equipment onto another truck and off it goes to Deadwood.

I thought about my wives and the girls in my life. I’ve loved so many. When I needed a partner who fits, she always arrived. There have been major slip-ups in my life that I regret. When a brother says he has no-regrets, I think bullshit. I’ve made plenty of wild mistakes, some of which I will regret to the end.

If you do lots of shit, ride wild roads, chase the wrong broads, you’re bound to make mistakes, but hopefully you learn something from each encounter. The key is to keep going.

There was a David Mann painting that sported the adage, “Don’t let the bastards get you down.” I asked the boss of Easyriders, if I could have it, since it hung in my office for a decade. I helped him reach his goal to sell the company, but he turned me down. That was one of my favorites for a couple of reasons, the stellar art and the message. Everyday can be an adventure, if you let it. Every day presents you with challenges and opportunities, if you have the guts to get up and get rolling.

Right now, I’m staining my deck and looking out at the hills in the Badlands. This house we bought couldn’t be more perfect. Every day I give a nod to the beauty surrounding me. I walk up the hill to where Wild Bill Hickock was buried next to Calamity Jane. I asked if I could have a plot for Bandit’s bones and I’m working on it.

Covid or riots, it doesn’t matter. life is still damn good, and nirvana surrounds all bikers who read Bikernet, my books or Bandit’s Cantina. Hang on as the next adventure unfolds.

Ride Fast and Free Forever,

–Bandit

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