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by Chris Bienkiewicz, Game Over Cycles

Organized as part of the Polish Bike Week

The 1st Karpacz Custom Bike Show 2023 was a custom competition organized by HD Tour, the organizer of Polish Bike Week, and Game Over Cycles, the most acclaimed Polish custom company, whose machines have been awarded at the world’s largest and most prestigious events.

Check out the details and list of winners in this photo feature – click here.

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Bandit is  digging into this book and build from Dave and we will bring you a preview in tommorrow’s weekly Thursday News — the most comprehensive motorcycle news coverage on the planet.

I also stuck my last copy of Chopper Hobo in there for you. It is a small book, 200 pages with 176 photos, so it’s a fairly quick read. I ain’t meaning to load you up with all my gibberish, but I thought I’d put that one in for you cuz that way the Chopper Hobo Rises from the Ashes book makes more sense, instead of like walking into a theater in the middle of the movie.

I was homeless on the chopper for 18 months, from September 1981 to March 15 1983. But instead of being just a regular bum, I was more of the hobo type, cuz I worked when I could, while I rode acrost the western US of A. And I took lots of pictures back then and had a decent camera, a 1979 Canon AE-1 35 mm. And the best thing about that camera was I could always get 50 bucks for it in the pawn shops, hahaha. Hope you enjoy the books and as I pointed out before, your life was waaaaaaay more exciting than what I did, so I hope it don’t bore ya too much. Here’s my latest build, the 67 built during the covid shutdown, and this is the same 67 that is in the big book when it was Old Yellow

— David Pittman

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The 2023 version has plenty of range and iconic style, that is sure to attract new and seasoned riders alike.

The SCL500 is a mid-sized scrambler that is light on kerb weight, approachable for new and skilled riders and has plenty of power and fuel tank for highways. Its an ideal motorcycle for new or casual rider and even upgrading commuters who don’t wish to ride smaller bikes. Experienced riders can return to sporty riding when needing a change from cruising on their touring motorcycles.

Honda SCL500 is powered by 471cc parallel-twin engine with six-speed transmission. Front and rear ABS are standard. 19-inch front and 17-inch rear cast wheels come paired with Dunlop Trailmax Mixtour tires.

There are noticeable elements from Honda Rebel, obviously the shape of the fuel tank, and the engine itself. Its a very reliable, proven engine. A host of aftermarket accessories are available.

Pros:
Lightweight and nimble
So many customization options
Perfect tour-to-camp bike for anyone

Cons:
Sensitive throttle at slow speed
Dash hard to see in rain/mist
Can’t turn off ABS for off-road riding

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Psst….it is rumored to be powered by the same 210cc single-cylinder engine found in the Hero Karizma XMR.

Harley-Davidson made waves in Indian market recently, with launch of the X440. It’s the only single-cylinder-powered motorcycle in Harley-Davidson’s modern lineup. It’s aimed at entry level riders, those on a tighter budget, and bite into Royal Enfield’s market share for middle-weight motorcycles.

X440 is priced at Rs 239,000, or about $2,871 USD approx., and considered to be a premium model but beyond the financial reach of most Indian motorcyclists.

It’s already the smallest engine – perhaps too small of an engine – to be considered a ‘real’ Harley for those who can actually afford to buy it.

Also, Indian market is dominated by commuter motorcycles with engines smaller than 250cc. So, machines such as H-D X440 are ‘premium motorcycles’ with a premium price tag for the middle-class masses of India.

X440 technically wears a Harley-Davidson badge, but is produced by Hero MotoCorp, the exclusive India partner and distributor for all Harley-Davidson motorcycles in India. Though Hero handles the manufacturing of X440, their industry reputation is in small displacement bikes.

In Harley-Davidson’s desperate search for volume sales—is a smaller Harley-Davidson X210 going to break-cover in India? As such, given the success of X440, it is not too much of a surprise that an even smaller Harley-Davidson would be the greedy outlook of the two partners.

A rumoured Harley X210 may share the same design elements as the current X440. The smaller H-D is rumoured to be powered by the same 210cc single-cylinder engine found in the Hero Karizma XMR.

For those in love with the brand-image of Harley-Davidson, the culture, it may be surprising that a smaller Harley-Davidson of the same nature as that of the X440 would be in the works.

If true, would anyone buy the V-Twin motorcycles of Harley-Davidson in India?

Imagine this– you have a luxury sedan from Mercedes. You drive it to office, to events, vacations and park it in the driveway of your home. Then your neighbour drives in his brand new mini-Mercedes of 800cc engine. What would be the brand-worth of your luxury car standing next to the same brand’s badge on a smaller ‘cheap’ car?

No, Mercedes hasn’t launched a brand killer of that sort, but Harley-Daivdson and its top management seem determined to destroy their brand and all its value in international markets.

Refer below articles regarding luxury goods sales in India and how Harley-Davidson’s primary V-Twin engines may become pariah in one of the strongest new emerging economies in the world:

Many buyers of Lamborghini in Indian Diaspora: CEO Stephan Winkelmann

“There are more (Indian) owners than we sell cars in India. What is a bit of a challenge today for the Indian market, for sure, is the high taxation we have for our type of products, and then, the infrastructure,” Stephan Winkelmann told ET.

full story at:
https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/passenger-vehicle/many-buyers-of-lamborghini-in-indian-diaspora-ceo-stephan-winkelmann/102438667

Foreign luxury brands flock to India ahead of festive season; big labels look to tap into growing affluence of Indians

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/foreign-luxury-brands-flock-to-india-ahead-of-festive-season-big-labels-look-to-tap-into-growing-affluence-of-indians/articleshow/103282517.cms

Hero had announced its intentions of entering the premium segment in the past, and Harley-Davidson imagines 440X and maybe a smaller engine as their entry into ‘premium’ segment in India.

Multiple Indian motoring publications suggest a smaller Harley-Davidson made by Hero is indeed in the works. They speculate that it’ll share the same powertrain as the re-launched Hero Karizma XMR, a sporty looking motorcycle revived by Hero to capitalize on X440 ‘premium segment’ success.

While Hero MotoCorp may be correct in its outlook of tasting blood in ‘premium’ or ‘middle-weight’ segment market for motorcycles — is this what Harley-Davidson wants to build its second-coming in India?

H-D had closed its office and forsaken all their authorised distributors of India in 2020.

Refer:
https://www.cnbctv18.com/business/what-harley-davidsons-decision-to-exit-india-means-for-customers-and-dealers-a-ground-report-7811681.htm

Royal Enfield Hunter 350 crosses 200,000 units sales figures In less than 12 Months since launch.

‘Most popular’ product launched in mid-size motorcycle segment, says company

https://www.business-standard.com/industry/auto/royal-enfield-s-hunter-350-bike-sales-cross-200k-mark-in-11-months-123072500389_1.html

Hero ‘owns’ the commuter segment, and probably hopes to end the dominance of Royal Enfield in ‘premium bikes’ segment and battle the other mid-weight competitors such as TVS-BMW motorcycles and newly-launched Bajaj-Triumph motorcycles.

Hero Karizma XMR has a 210cc engine, and it’s imagined to metamorphose into a Harley-Davidson X210 to compete against local big dogs such as Royal Enfield’s Hunter 350 and the Husqvarna 250 duo.

A 210cc, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, single-cylinder engine is expected to offer a maximum of 25 horsepower and 14 pound-feet of torque. Whereas the X440 at present pumps out 27 horsepower and 26 pound-feet of torque. Of course, the 210cc engine would most likely be tweaked and tuned and adapted for getting more torque at lower revs — converting it into something suitable for a light-weight ‘cruiser’ if you can call it that.

In USA, Harley-Davidsons were known as a working-class man’s motorcycles and old-timers there also complain of the ridiculous prices of its models at present and restrictions on repair and customizations — especially during warranty period or during retro-fitting it with parts which will require technology exclusively available with H-D dealerships.

If Hero and Harley-Davidson release such a miniature model carrying the iconic American badge, the entry-level Harley-Davidson motorcycles of India could be priced at much below the Rs 200,000 mark (approx. $2,400 USD) — maybe thus fulfilling the dream of the founders of Harley-Davidson company— making a commuter bicycle that ‘pedals’ itself (no pun intended).

Riding High On The Hog

Two boyhood friends, 21-year-old draftsman William S. Harley and 20-year-old pattern-maker Arthur Davidson, in 1901, embarked on a quest to “take the work out of bicycling.” Their dream was to build a motorized bicycle that would enable people to travel reliably and as fast as the technology of the time would allow.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/william-s-harley-arthur-davidson-walter-davidson/197640

Thus making Harley-Davidson motorcycles more accessible to a wider audience (in India) and boosting the sales for those at Wall Street and at Board of H-D and Hero, an old dream may satisfy the sea of commuters across the ‘ponds’ at India, as if it was 1901 all over again. Sadly or gladly, all of this is occurring in 120th year anniversary of Harley-Davidson. If anything, the funds that will flow toward the American company and through its ‘franchising’ of the iconic badge, the interim survival of the company is assured.

Images & illustrations by Wayfarer

Refer Relevant previous article:

Invasion of the Small Capacity Engines
Small is Big: Motorcycles with less power, more styling, high sales volumes

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/Invasion_of_the_Small_Capacity_Engines.aspx

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On August 4-5 in Poland, the 1st Karpacz Custom Bike Show 2023 took place. It was a unique custom motorcycle competition organized as part of the Polish Bike Week, an event listed in the official HOG
(Harley Owners Group) calendar, which annually gathers at the foot of the Sudetes mountains (south-west Poland) with several thousand motorcycles and tens of thousands of automotive enthusiasts.

The 1st Karpacz Custom Bike Show 2023 was a custom competition organized by HD Tour, the organizer of Polish Bike Week, and Game Over Cycles, the most acclaimed Polish custom company, whose machines
have been awarded at the world’s largest and most prestigious events. The first edition of the event left a strong mark on the map of custom events in Poland, both in terms of attendance, the level of the competition, and the attractiveness of the prizes.

“A total of 81 motorcycles were registered for the competition. The event immediately took on an international character, as besides customizers from all over Poland, we also welcomed participants from the Czech Republic, Germany, and Slovenia. I’m also pleased with the very high level of the competition.

“The machines that appeared in Karpacz could easily compete in the largest global events, in which we participated, such as the European Bike Week in Austria, or the Daytona Bike Week and Sturgis Rally in the USA,” said Stanislaw Myszkowski, the head of Game Over Cycles, when asked about
impressions after the event.

 

Summing up the event, Stanislaw Myszkowski added, “I consider the first edition to be very successful, and we already have plans for the next one. Karpacz Custom Bike Show will be an annual event that we will continuously develop, following in the footsteps of the biggest events in the world, while also carving our own path and organizing the event in a way that others don’t. We’re already inviting everyone to the next
edition and see you in Karpacz in 2024.”

1st Karpacz Custom Bike Show 2023 – full list of winners:

OLD SCHOOL
Pawel Zajdel
Name: Shovelhead
Brand: Harley-Davidson FLH
Customization: Pawel Zajdel

TRIKE
Waldemar Obiala
Name: Ural
Customization: Waldemar Obiala

CRAZY BIKE
Vito Klemencic VK Custom Works (Slovenia)
Name: History
Brand: Harley-Davidson Flathead
Customization: VK Custom Works

SPORTSBIKE
Mariusz Kolacki
Name: After
Brand: Harley-Davidson Vrod Muscle
Customization: Snikers Custom Motorcycles

BAGGER/TOURER
Patrick Sommer (Germany)
Name: Performance Bagger
Brand: Harley-Davidson Road Glide Special
Customization: Patrick Sommer

CAFE RACER
Lukasz Borsukiewicz
Name: Street Racer
Brand: BMW R100s
Customization: Borsukiewicz Motorsport

CHOPPER/BOBBER
Roman Buš – Wildstyle (Czechia)
Name: Harley-Davidson Softail
Customization: Wildstyle

MODIFIED HARLEY
Pawel Stachura Nine Hills Motorcycles
Name: Criminal
Brand: Harley-Davidson Breakout
Customization: Nine Hills Motorcycles

JURY SPECIAL AWARD
Boguslaw Bogdanowicz
Nazwa: Harley Davidson V-Rod
Customization: HABETA Custom Szczecin

SHOW PARTNER AWARD
Bozena Strózyk
Name: Agata
Brand: Harley-Davidson Road Glide Special
Customization: V-Force Poznan

PAINTING
Waldemar Obiala
Name: Ural
Painter: Waldemar Obiala

PEOPLE’S CHOICE
Krzysztof Wencel
Name: Rust Pistons

 BEST OF SHOW
Waldemar Obiala
Name: Ural
Customization (construction, bodywork, leather, painting): Waldemar Obiala

The winner of each category received a trophy and sets of tangible prizes from the event partners, companies Anest Iwata and Novol. Additional awards were given to the winners of specific categories:

Chopper/Bobber – leather motorcycle accessories (Piotr Lucky Lapandro)

Modified Harley – custom exhausts (BT Choppers)

Special Jury Award – service at Jack’s Motorcycles Garage

Show Partner Award – Voucher for a stay at the five-star Tremonti Karpacz hotel

Painting – personalized motorcycle helmet painting by one of the most esteemed Polish airbrush artists, Piotr Parczewski, who has adorned helmets for figures like Kamil Stoch, a world champion and three-time
Olympic gold medalist in ski jumping.

People’s Choice Award – invitation for a 6-day trip along the Spanish Costa Blanca coast funded by Eagle

Best of Show – VIP invitation to Custombike-Show in Bad Salzuflen (Germany), the world’s largest trade fair

100 word fiction contest continues…. #100WFC

Hilary
by Gearhead

We rode from Northern Cal. The rain came down in buckets. I pulled off under the redwoods in Big Sur. My wife crawled into the back seat of a car. I threw a sleeping bag on the ground under a leaking makeshift lean-to. It didn’t stop.

The fog threatened like a dense cloud of gray paint, and my wife said, “It won’t stop until late afternoon.” We had to ride. We packed up and pull out in the rain moments before the murkiness engulfed the highway. We fought downpours, the cloud of doom, wrecked cars, 18-wheelers, dead animals and limited vision until we caught the glimmer of Santa Barbara just before nightfall. We slipped the veil of death once more.

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Then email us your 100 word limit fiction to bandit@bikernet.com

Just when we thought the biker drama in whacko Waco, Texas had dulled to low roar, yet another tale comes out of Six Shooter Junction that sounds like something written by Kurt Sutter and played by 1990s Charlie Sheen.

So, said I, in my Jeanie Sue Riley voice, I wanna tell you of a story of a… well, this story ends in a murder for hire trial, not a PTA meeting. In day one of that trial, the judge told the jury this would be long and complex because there are a lot of moving parts with many people involved… I concur with him. Hang tight, and I will try to unwind this Texas sized soap opera for y’all.
But first, a little back story.

(Many people in this story are the lawyers in the Twin Peaks biker shooting… the main character is Waco attorney Seth Sutton. Seth represented some of the members of the dominant club in Texas during Twin Peaks. I am not even gonna say their name in this article, out of respect, because this whole clusterfuck truly did not involve them at all, beyond the Waco cops trying to sneak around and infiltrate someone to spy on them… because, you know, it’s worked SO well in the past, right? This is the total involvement of said dominant club in this whole mess, even though they were mentioned several times in the trial. I reckon they been mentioned enough in stuff they didn’t have anything to do with.)

Seth Sutton, is a Waco attorney, married to Katy Sutton. Allegedly they had some sort of swinger situation going on with Marcus Beaudin, and his wife, Chelsea Tijerna Beaudin, who were also Waco attorneys. Marcus and Chelsea divorced, and Marcus gets accused and eventually indicted of sexual abuse of a female child family member of Sutton.

I suppose after representing the Waco bikers in 2015, Sutton was moved to be a part of the biker community.

First, he ran on the Democrat ticket in 2018 against Abel Reyna, the DA who signed those Twin Peaks arrest warrants… but conceded to Republican Barry Johnson.

Then he made up his own motorcycle club, called, the Red Mouse Cult MC. (Seriously.) He was the President and went by the road name ‘Hollywood.’

Well, in Dec 2019, one of his club members named Jerry Dyers meets this dude named Scott Vaughn in a barber shop and they get to talking motorcycles and clubs and such. Scott Vaughn, has been an undercover Waco cop for around two decades. Well. It comes out that Sutton represented some members of a certain club during Twin Peaks.

Officer Vaughn goes back to his superiors and gets permission to go undercover in the club, to try to get close to the dominant club and try to catch them doing drugs or something. The name of the operation was ‘Operation Mighty Mouse’ and the undercover officer was involved in the operation from December 2019 to May 2020.

Well, he never got any info worth investigating about the big boys and so between Covid and monetary issues, the superiors told him to wrap up the investigation. He decided to disobey them and go rogue. (This is the Charlie Sheen part)

“I was in too deep and didn’t want to leave abruptly, I didn’t want to look suspicious.”

-Officer Scott Vaughn

That very night, Sutton tells Vaughn about the molestation of his family member. He said the girl was troubled and misbehaving and they sent her to a center to get help in Houston, and while she was there, she admitted that Marcus had molested her on multiple occasions. The discussion then turns to murder. Sutton and Vaughn discuss various ways to kill Marcus, including luring him over for sex with Katy or Chelsea, then killing him and making it look like a rape… or making it look like a road rage type incident. This particular scheme was interesting in that Sutton himself was involved in a road rage incident a few months prior.

Waco police reported that Darryl Lynn Gallaway and Waco attorney Seth Sutton got into a verbal altercation in March 2019 about 2:30 a.m. at a Whataburger. Police initially said Gallaway and Sutton got into an argument over how long Gallaway was taking to order at the drive-thru. However, after Gallaway’s arrest a week later, Sutton, a criminal defense attorney, said he made a general comment about the wait time at the restaurant that was not directed at anyone. He did not realize Gallaway heard him, but they got into an argument, he said.

“I wasn’t directing the first initial comment at him, because I know when things take a long time at a restaurant it is not a patron’s fault. But he thought I was directing it at him,” Sutton said at the time. “He started barking at me and I started barking at him, but then it ended and I didn’t think anything too big about it.” Police said Gallaway waited for Sutton to leave the restaurant on his motorcycle, followed him in his SUV and struck him near Waco Drive and North 38th Street.

 So, Vaughn decides to go rogue and keep investigating. He ended up patching into the Red Mouse club on May 13, 2020, against his supervisors’ orders, and Sutton began to trust him.

Text messages flew between the two of them regarding the way they would decide to kill Beaudin, and how Vaughn could leave town and about alibis. Vaughn claimed this was where their initial operation took a ‘hard turn right. He went to his bosses, and told them what Sutton told him. While his supervisors were pissed he went rogue, they decided to have him wear a microphone and camera to capture Sutton plotting the murder. Beaudin was never warned of a threat upon his life.

Vaughn immediately goes to meet up with Sutton and Chelsea at Sutton’s house to talk about how they planned to kill Beaudin… Chelsea is lounging around the pool, and she and Sutton are telling Vaughn the layout and security codes to Beaudin’s house and discussing buying the gun… and Vaughn is secretly taping the whole damned thing.

In the video, Sutton and the officer can be heard forming a plan to kill Beaudin. Vaughn can be heard saying the plan needed to be thought out, a gun needed to be purchased and how they needed to learn Beaudin’s daily routine. Sutton can be heard agreeing and they both agreed this plan would take place in a few weeks.

Not long after this conversation, Sutton and Vaughn arrange to meet at the Salty Dog to exchange the money. Behind the scenes, officers were lining up surveillance and take-down teams in anticipation of Sutton’s arrest later that evening, the undercover detective said during testimony.

The detective told jurors Sutton arrived at the Salty Dog and they got a beer and talked for about an hour or so. Sutton allegedly told the undercover detective to proceed with the murder-for-hire plan and gave the detective $300 to buy the gun. Immediately after that, the police who are lying in wait hop out and arrest Sutton.

Sutton and Tijerina both were arrested Friday, on May 22, 2020 and charged with criminal solicitation of capital murder.

Before the whole thing made it to trial, tragedy occurred…on May 28,2021, Department of Public Safety troopers responded to a deadly motorcycle crash… and the lone rider, Chelsea Tijerina, a 2011 Baylor Law School graduate, co-conspirator in a murder plot, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The whole sordid mess came to a head last week as Seth Sutton stood trial for a plot to murder Marcus Beaudin. He was represented by another household name during the Twin Peaks trials… Dallas attorney Clint Broden.

The prosecution marched cops and ‘biker experts’ and witnesses and videotapes past the jury, and Broden hammered away at each witness about how it seemed like Officer Vaughn was the one doing all the pushing and plotting and planning…. The Marine Veteran officer Scott Vaughn even took the stand himself. The jury saw photos of the biker vest Vaughn wore as a member of the Red Mouse Cult and other ones that showed the money Sutton paid Payne for the gun, ammo, gas and the gun seller.

Then it was time for the defense of Seth Sutton.

Once the State rested its case, Broden took less than five minutes and only included a stipulation, which was one sentence long.

The statement said Beaudin was not told of any potential threat on his life by law enforcement from the time the undercover officer said Sutton told him he wanted to kill Beaudin up until Sutton was arrested.

Jury summations began the morning of Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. Jurors deliberated for 12 hours without reaching a unanimous verdict. The jury foreman told the judge he didn’t see further deliberation leading to a unanimous verdict. While at least six jurors declined to comment after, court officials said that at one point during deliberations the jury was deadlocked 9-3 in favor of guilt…..

And just like that, the Seth Sutton case was declared a mistrial.

-AIW

100 word fiction contest continues…. #100WFC

Taking care of busyness
by Steven Sanner

There she lay. She had been there waiting for the touch of his hand for a long time. He had said she was the love of his life, but he hasn’t shown any interest in a long time. His excuses kept piling up, working long hours, too tired from work, family obligations….. a long list that seems to keep growing. He always had other priorities.

Today he finally walked in the door and went over to her, looking ashamed, but there was the gleam of want in his eye. He reached out and ran his hand along her seat, finally remembering what it was for, and said “Old girl, it’s time to get you running again” and he began the long awaited restoration of his beloved ‘63 Panhead.

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Then email us your 100 word limit fiction to the editor wayfarer@bikernet.com

100 word fiction contest continues…. #100WFC

Flat out for a flathead
by Rhys

Driving by an open garage on my way to the next job. Spotted what appeared to be an old flatty HD. I stopped and approached the person and asked if the bike was for sale. Yes it was. He quoted a price which was workable but being day before payday I didn’t have any cash in my pocket. I told him I’d be right back as I had the cash at home. Raced home grabbed the stash and made my way back. As I pulled up I saw the bike being loaded into a van.

Dollar short and a minute late.

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Yup, its a weekly contest open to all. Just sign up for the free weekly newsletter by clicking here.

Then email us your 100 word limit fiction to the editor wayfarer@bikernet.com