Entertainment, Flag Waving and False Patriotism: Bikernet’s “Telling it how it is” Report
By Bandit |
The biggest enemy of the Constitution is apathy!
As I see it, we have inherited the rights we hold so sacred, without having had to fight for them. Does that make it easier to overlook asserting our rights when there is the prospect of doing something pleasurable? I think Thomas Paine described this very eloquently in December 1776 when he wrote these words in The Crisis: “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.”
Unless we stand together, speak out and refuse to submit to illegal transgressions of our rights, we will lose even more of them. In the above referenced instance, I cannot blame the Navy or Harbor Park for presumably issuing a request to leave weapons at home. The blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the Rolling Thunder chapter leadership and the riders who blindly followed a request to participate in the disintegration of personal rights while others around the country are fighting to end this sort of discrimination.
ESCAPE TO THE COLORADO MOTORCYCLE EXPO
By Bandit |
Nothing better than old friends to help the winter disappear. When January closes out and the weather forces everyone inside, bikers look for any excuse to get out and party. The Colorado Motorcycle Expo is a terrific excuse. Like clockwork the CME is held the last weekend of January at the National Western Stock-show Complex.
For two days the facility is filled with steel horses, leather and chrome. Touted as the largest indoor motorcycle swap meet in the nation, it met the challenge. With approximately 200,000 square foot of space and 800 vendor spaces, all of them full, with action and bling.
Everyone has a specific reason for peeling to a swap meet. Small/Independent shops attend to make some money, and hold themselves over till riding weather and business picks up. Big shops need to get their names out and generate active leads. It will be bike-buying season soon. Builders bring their latest bikes to show off and hope to earn some bragging rights by taking home a trophy.
Shade tree mechanics scour the aisles for that special brand new innovation, or inspirational antique they need to launch their project closer to completion. Riders go to see old friends and make new ones. MCs meet for their winter get together and to maybe find a new prospect or two. Me, well I go for all of the above and to capture the essence of the event and bring it to you. Whatever your reason, the CME is a great show.
This year I meet up with some great vendors and quizzed them about their experience. My old friend Johnnie from J10 Leathers couldn’t keep his display full. Every time I stopped by he had a handful of customers looking at his biker wallets and other fine leather work. He said it was a great show, and thanks to the great attendance he will be back. I couldn’t even get close enough to his table to grab a photo.
Arlin and Donna Fatland of 2-Wheelers kicked off their 45th anniversary at the show. Old friends of Bikernet we wished them the best and congratulated them on achieving such an amazing milestone. They were working the crowd and visiting with everyone who came by their booth. Arlin has rolled with the custom world through thick and thin. Donna and Arlin also have shops in Daytona during Bike Week and on Main in Sturgis during the rally. Their shops are full of quirkiest shit on the planet. You can’t miss them.
Diesel Life and Greasy Bikers were on hand selling their sweet t-shirts and accessories. Both gave the same reviews as J10. Diesel Life even made some contacts for getting her line into some local stores. When your a start up company every little bit helps.
Wicked Influence sold their excess parts and Frank had a constant massive smile on his face. When I asked how he was doing he said, “Bills are paid in full for the month!” You can’t beat that.
Almost anything you could want in the way of motorcycle parts or accessories could be found. This is what a swap meet should be like. Watching one vendor, I caught him opening new tour-pak boxes and displaying them on his table. In a few minutes they were sold and he unwrapped some more. Chatting with him later he said he had to send his wife home to load more tour-paks. He sold out. That’s the perfect problem to have.
As the day rolled on the crowds stayed strong. At one time I even had trouble walking through the isles. But at about 3:30 the crowds thinned out as everyone made a b-line for the stadium. Jack Portice was on the loud speaker calling all able body bikers to come and enjoy the wet t-shirt contest. After its hiatuses for a year, it was back by popular demand. This year the girls did not disappoint.
Wherever you may live I am sure sometime during the year you will face a local swap meet. It may not be as big as the CME, but it’s always good time. Grab some buddies and go. If you can make it to Colorado at the end of January come down to the stock-show complex and join in some of the fun.
Eulogy for Dale Sheppard
By Bandit |
Dale Shepard died recently (November 16th). His passing was unexpected.
For those unfortunate enough not to have known him, Dale was the man who owned Biker Dale’s Bike Shop in Groves Texas where I replaced Betsy’s engine only weeks ago.
It was at the Galveston Motorcycle Rally last weekend that Dale ate two bad oysters. For whatever reason, these caused an infection in his blood that somehow complicated an already existing medical condition. It was one of those times when something that should not have killed a man did. I’ve seen this before. I have also seen men survive things that should have killed them 10 times over. Go figure. Some say that when your number’s up, it’s just up and nothing can change it. So it would seem.
When a man dies those who knew him often get to saying a lot of nice things—even if the guy was a complete asshole. I have no intentions of doing that here and will only talk about the man as I did when he was still alive.
Until the end Dale dedicated his life to the motorcycle. Although grumpy at times, he had one of the biggest hearts of anyone I’ve known. He was a biker through and through. He was my friend.
It was a sunny day the first time I met Dale. After being turned away at two other shops, I’d pulled into his yard with my clutch problem to ask if it’d be okay to pull my bike apart in his lot. Of course I’d buy any needed parts from him. I also secretly hoped to barrow any special tools I might need, and maybe get a little technical advice too. I was on the road with a mechanical problem, not too much money (as usual), and nowhere else to turn. So I looked hopefully at this stranger as he said, “Let me ride it.”. This seemed an unusual request but, with little choice anyway, I said, “It’s not locked.”
When evening came and Betsy was still on that rack (where she’d remain for an entire month), Dale offered me the shop’s back room or “guard shack” to stay in. For transportation Dale gave me one of his own bikes and often loaned me the shop truck. To date no one had been able to diagnose my clutch problem, but Dale determined it was inside the transmission itself. I located another trany and began the shipping process. During this particular stay I worked sporadically on the shop’s customer bikes, painted the ceiling, and installed a little water heater. In the end Dale charged me only for the small parts I bought; and even then it was at his cost. But by then we’d become friends.
I later learned Dale was building a motorcycle around the broken—now fixed—transmission I’d left behind. Since my ability to run down inexpensive used parts was sometimes better than his, he’d occasionally call to hit me up for something needed on this new bike build and I always found it for him. First it was a clutch; then came other parts too. Very weakly that cheap fuck would ask what he owed me, but I never let him pay a single dime.
My good fortune here was not exclusive. This is another example: Dale’s birthday party was held at the shop every year with a big BBQ and beer fest. Having ridden the 100 miles from Houston to be in attendance, Chadd’s Shovelhead blew an engine not far from the shop. After Dale picked the bike up, Chadd threw it on one of the lifts and soon learned that the front cylinder had suffered an internal meltdown. When time came to leave, Dale gave Chadd one of his own FXRs for the ride home. Although I don’t know how that story ended, I do know that, although acting like this may not always have been the best for business, it was definitely the best for creating close, long lasting friendships and Dale was an extremely wealthy man in that arena. To my surprise, this kind of generosity did not seem to hinder business much for whenever I made return visits to the shop the place had always been expanded. Wanting for the ability to do complete engine work, Dale was recently putting together a machine shop in one of the shop’s adjacent bays.
With a standing invitation to use of a complete shop to see to the needs of ANY problem Betsy might develop, I returned many times over the years and, among so many others, have certainly spent my share of time in the guard shack. While there I was always given a lift and access to tools. Bryan, Dale’s sole employee and a Harley-Davidson mechanic of 30 some-odd years, would be busy working on customer bikes as I slaved over Betsy. Dale had a tendency to sit working at the computer in his little office. Now and then he’d come out all bitchy and gripe loudly at us over some tedious bullshit. I learned that this was just his nature and so I’d tell him, “It’s a good thing I’m here ’cause it gives you more to bitch about.” and he’d not argue. Next I’d tell him that if we did everything perfect he’d still make up shit to gripe about. To this he’d also agree. Other times he’d surprise me with sarcastic comical outbursts that seemed to come out of the blue. Sometimes I’d tell him of the parts or information I needed while he completely ignored me and simply went about his own business. Then Dale would surprise me again by quickly ordering the parts, finding them in the shop, or working out a solution to my problem. It was fucking amazing really.
Always, and especially on my last visit, Dale put many hours of his own time into getting my beat up old bike back on the road. I often wondered how he could afford this when there were so many real-customer money jobs that required his attention. And because of this I always did my best to pour time and effort into any project I was capable of handling for him. He accepted my offers quickly and with no regret.
Sometimes I’d ask how he made that motorcycle go so fast or pump him for other mechanical information (us gear-heads are always hungry to learn more) and he’d refuse to give a fucking answer. Other times that man would go out of his way to teach me something; as in the case of a customer’s chopper I recently worked on. This chopper needed the transmission reassembled and installed into the bike. It became pretty apparent that, although I might get the guts put back in that thing eventually, I really had no idea what the proper procedure for the job was. Seeing this, Dale told me to leave the fucking thing alone. Later, he came outside to get me and made me stand there watching as he put it together properly. Dale wanted me to learn and this was his way of giving a lesson. When he’d finished, I installed the trany, clutch, etc. and ultimately completed the job.
Whereas some shops usher customer bikes in and out as quickly as possible with only nominal thought or attention paid to detail, these guys were very good and very attentive mechanics who used their extensive knowledge and experience to do their absolute best at solving the customer’s problems. I was there. I saw. For them, this whole deal was an act of passion.
Another interesting thing is that Dale was extremely literate. He often complained about the terrible spelling and bad grammar of my writing (I carry only a fourth grade education) and sometimes helped to fix it.
As a young man of 20’ish, and long before the “new age” biker scene came to pass, it was men like Dale who’d originally attracted me to the biker culture. For not only did these guys share the same passion as I, but most extended a kind of real friendship I’d seldom seen before. But such men were not molded by that era, they seem instead to have been born that way. I believe, and so have seen, that they will always exist among us and it is to this day that I hold in high value the existence of people like Dale.
I have lived long enough to truly know that this world is only temporary. Every year some of those around me just keep popping out of here until the day arrives when it’ll finally be my turn. So it is that I seldom take the world too seriously anymore; for in the end we will all leave this place together and everything left behind will simply return to the dust. And once on the other side I’ll be among those many friends who gather at Dale’s table and talk of the times we shared together in this life.
So it’s not so much Dale’s death that bothers me. We’re all going there. It’s the fact that I’ll not be seeing him again for the duration of this life that puts an ache deep into my heart. And so I say…
“Goodbye my friend.”
Expendables 3 – Sneak Peek
By Bandit |
Powwow of Native Iron American Heritage Motorcycle Party
By Bandit |
Partying, Fighting and Biking
By Bandit |
What the Hell is 5-Ball Racing?
By Bandit | | General Posts
Arizona HOG Rally 2012 Rocks Williams, Arizona
By Joshua Placa | | General Posts
The annual Arizona HOG Rally recently returned to the historic mountain settlement of Williams. The event moved around the state from year to year, but Williams is a HOG favorite, having returned to this northern Arizona town for a record tenth time.
Founded in 1881 as a trapping and logging camp, Williams is named after one of the town’s wooly settlers, mountain man Bill Williams. Riding by its handmade brick and clapboard buildings, it’s easy to get the feeling Norman Rockwell might be hanging around, leaning up against an oily Flathead, waiting for the next staged western shootout, admiring the period architecture, maybe planting his easel on the corner of Third and Main, more popularly known as Route 66.
Roughly 500 HOG members representing 13 Chapters statewide rode into this well-preserved piece of old west Americana to suckle on the tar teat of the Mother Road. According to a spokeswoman for the Williams Chamber of Commerce, “I think HOG likes our small town hospitality, and bikers are very welcome here. They also like being on Historic Route 66, the motorcycle-only designated parking throughout downtown, and, of course, all the great rides. We roll out the red carpet and they pretty much have the run of the town.”
When many motorcycle rallies across the nation are finding their host cities less and less hospitable, Williams is a home away from home. The town is helpful and authentic; there is a laid back and intimate feel that makes a biker feel at ease. There is this creeping greed elsewhere, where enthusiasts are too often treated like nothing more than commercial revenue and traffic ticket fodder. This old boomtown, population 3,200, about 3 ½ hours northwest of Phoenix and 30-minutes west of Flagstaff, appears to understand motorcycling is made of people.
Williams was the last town in America to submit to the interstate bypass. It stubbornly fought the highway, relenting only when the feds agreed to provide no less than three exits to the tiny town. Seems like there’s no better place to hold a biker rally than this rebel outpost. Harley’s classically styled motorcycles couldn’t be more at home, or in a better place to ride away from.
The Grand Canyon is less than an hour’s ride north of town. Within one- to two-hour rides from Williams, which is flanked by the biggest ponderosa pine forest in the nation, is the perky college town of Flagstaff, spectacular Oak Creek Canyon, the red rock wonderlands of Sedona, and the old copper boomtown of Jerome. Further northeast is Monument Valley and the great Navajo Nation, the country’s largest Native American reservation. The haunting Petrified Forest and parts of the vast Painted Desert can be reached in less than three hours. If Williams has the will and facility, it has the makings to become another Sturgis.
At an elevation of 6,800, June in this mountain town offers almost ideal biker conditions. Temps were in the 80s with low humidity and a soft breeze that sometimes picked up to a bluster. The event celebrated Arizona’s centennial by giving away free bags of commemorative swag during the bike games. There was also a free poker walk, guided and self-guided tours, a poker run, bike show, street dance, and a stirring bike parade that could bring a tear to the most grizzled eye. Wild Bill Hickok himself would have felt right at home here, thrown down his bedroll, played a little faro, and maybe sought a more charmed end.
Bobcats, Bikers and Bears…
Oh my. There is an unexpected, 158-acre wildlife park just east of downtown Williams. Bikers are heartily welcomed, and if you go they may even make you an exhibit. Bearizona is a drive-through wild animal preserve, featuring not only black bears but arctic and tundra wolves, American bison, white buffalo, burros, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and Dall sheep.
Motorcycles are dissuaded from the wild animal drive-through portion since the inhabitants have a strictly controlled diet and don’t digest leather very well. A courtesy car and GPS audio tour is provided free of charge. The drive takes about 30 minutes, although there is no time limit.
The road leads to a posse of black bears of various cuddly sizes and ages, although we’re often reminded to not hug the fluffy, man-eating wildlife. Fort Bearizona looms as the road exits through a large, gaping gate, leaving us to wonder what, exactly, is keeping the bears from the nearby concession stands.
Inside the wide-open Fort Bearisona, large pens contain bobcat, lynx, raccoon, porcupines, a barn animal area, and other forest creatures indigenous to North America, including the star of the show, cute little baby bears. A Birds of Prey show is presented at 11, 1 and 3 p.m. daily and is a treat.
Bearizona is open everyday from 8:00 a.m.; last vehicle admitted at 6:00 p.m. Closing hours vary with season and weather. Adults cost $20; seniors 62 and older, $18. For more information, call 928-635-2289; visit www.bearizona.com.
The Arizona HOG Rally will be reconvene in Yuma next October 24-26. For more information, contact Nick Feldaverd, Rally Coordinator, email nfeld@cox.net; call 602.206.1940; www.azstatehogrally.com.
For more on Williams, AZ visit www.experiencewilliams.com.
The Sheridan House Bed & Breakfast
460 East Sheridan Ave.
Williams, AZ 86046
928-635-8991
www.sheridanhouseinn.com
I find when it comes to B&B’s, what they are not is as important as what they are. The Sheridan House Inn is not rife with Grandma’s fussy doilies and bric-a-brac. It strikes a balance between an inviting, come-and-have-fun vibe and serene environs snuggled in between the cool, towering pines. The suites offer a tidy, restful, minimalist décor. The luxury touches leaves one feeling pampered—unparalleled coziness of their pillows, and Elemis bath and body products that put their dewy kisses upon road and wind-weary tresses and parched skin.
Motorcyclists Claire and Nick Kirby are the vivacious proprietors. They seem to have been born to the task of cultivating an inn, but we were surprised to learn they’re new to the gig. The affable Kirbys hail from the U.K. and lucky for Williams, a post-9/11 officious bureaucracy didn’t thwart the pioneering spirit that landed them on the frontiers of northern Arizona. Their once run-down property is now resplendent in extensive renovations, artful taste, and fresh zeal under their ownership. The Brit visionaries have innovative ideas to further develop the grounds, and offer special packages to man and biker alike.
We arrived to what I can only describe as the “happiest” of happy hours, delightfully hosted by the Kirbys each Friday and Saturday. We saw a passel of buffed Harleys in the driveway, and knew it was time to put the keys away. With a toast to the Grand Canyon Brewing Co., our host’s delicious homemade chorizo nuggets, and the attending fellow riders, we pronounced Sheridan House our new hideout.
Breakfast on the patio is a selection of sweet and savory offerings made on premises. Their handmade, secret recipe Lincolnshire Sausages, a Lemon Chiffon confection, Sweetened Mascarpone Cheese with Fresh Berries and the regional Huevos Rancheros were outstanding.
Sheridan House puts you up into the quieter residential area, but just a quick ride down the hill into downtown and all the rally action. See their website and Facebook page for more details.
Considering the cut of our Baby Boomer relaxed jeans, it’s easy to see we have husky appetites. Here are a couple of places that won’t disappoint:
World Famous Rod’s Steakhouse
301 East Route 66
Williams, AZ 86046
928-635-2671
www.rods-steakhouse.com
Rod’s Steakhouse is an icon, a surviving monument to Historic Route 66. The blazing Hereford cow sign is a beacon to the lost and hungry.
As you dip another shrimp in cocktail sauce, take in all the country kitsch—dishware accented by the sturdy bovine, paper cow cookie-cutter logo menu, and tell-all placemat detailing the rich history of the eatery. For the duration of the rally and maybe beyond, staffers dress in H-D regalia. No surprise the owners have been HOG affiliated for more than 20 years.
The present owners are Lawrence and Stella Sanchez. The missus has a warm smile for the customers and puts her love into the house specialties, such as Pasole, a nurturing elixir of exquisitely spiced pork and hominy soup. Her husband rose through the ranks in true American dream fashion, from dishwasher, busboy, manager, head chef, then new proprietor. A Sanchez is always on property to accommodate the needs of their guests.
The concise menu is heavy on the beef offerings with chicken, fish, and shrimp options. Appetizers and sides round out the menu, and the Cherry Pie makes for a nice finish. Their steaks are best-cut top sirloin, and their mesquite broiler imparts a really nice flavor. Cut options will fit the daintiest to manliest appetites. We enjoyed the thick and juicy Filet Mignon ($27) and the Ladies Lite Cut Prime Rib Au Jus ($21). Entrees come with Soup or Salad, Baked Potato, Fries, or Green Beans, and Rolls w/ Butter. The meat was fork tender and beautifully cooked to order.
See their website for photos, souvenirs, detailed history, cuisine offerings, and more.
Grand Canyon Brewing Co. & Cruisers Café 66
233 West Route 66
Williams, AZ 86046
928-635-2168 (Brewery)
928-635-2445 (Café)
www.grandcanyonbrewery.com
www.cruisers66.com
Brew crafters aspire to achieve beer’s ideal “taste and balance.” Strangely enough, those two qualities are lost on heavily imbibing consumers, who then not only ruin a beautiful brew, but maybe their future if they get back on their bikes. Beer is a terrible thing to waste, especially if it’s from Grand Canyon Brewing.
The beer menu changes with the availability of harvest time ingredients, but often there are pilsners, pale ales, wheats, stouts and seasonal brews in the rotation. Beer aficionados are watching this tasty microbrewery with great interest, and expansion appears on tap. A Grand Canyon beer may be coming to a bar or restaurant near you.
Attached to the brewery is 1950s’ theme Cruisers Café 66, hard to miss from the street with its elevated hotrod, Marlon Brando mural, and beer girls barely in bikinis. The restaurant has an outdoor patio and stage, and seems to be the hub for rally revelers. The girls pop tops while musicians rock and wail. This is an ideal spot to people watch, dance, and enjoy the American café-style cuisine. Portions are ample and provide that Mother Road burger, barbecue chicken, and old-fashioned, strangely satisfying Chicken Fried Steak goodness.
A full cocktail bar, four HD flat screens, gift shop, and nostalgia decor comprise this venue. The fruits of the on-property brewery are on draft.
Powerflo II Up-Sweep Pipes from Samson
By Bandit |
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Lighting Your Bike Up Without Increasing the Load
By Sc ott Holton | | General Posts
Today I’m going to becovering on your ride, how to see things better — and more importantly —how motorcycle light bulbs can help you see and be seen better. But in order todo that, I’m going to have to toss around a few electrical terms. You know,like watts and volts and amperage.
Wait! Don’t hit the Back button,because I’m going to try and make this as easy to comprehend as possible.A watt is a unit of measure that takes into consideration themathematical relationship of volts and amperage. What it looks like is this:Watts = Volts X Amps.
The standard motorcycleheadlight that comes attached to most of today’s models has a rating of 55/60.That means the low beam draws 55 watts (12 V X 4.5 A), while the high beamdraws 60 watts (12 V X 5 A). The higher the wattage, the more light issupplied.
How we doing so far? Still with me?Good. Now a great number of halogen headlamps are using a two-piece system thathas a reflector with a changeable bulb. These changeable bulbs are givennumbers like H3, H4, H7 and H13. There are higher wattage bulbs available inthis type that can provide even more illumination.
For instance, J&P Cycles offersGerman Rally bulbs in 55/60, 80/100 and 100/130 wattages. But I digress. Goingback to our formula, a 100W low-beam bulb draws 8.3 amps (12V X 8.3 A = 100W)while a 130W high-beam bulb draws a whopping 10.8 amps (12V X 10.8 A = 130W).
These bulbs add new meaning to theterm bright! However, this is acceptable up to a point. Higher wattages requireheavier components to handle the higher current load. These higher wattagesincrease the amount of heat produced and require a metallic or glass reflector.Some lower-priced halogen reflectors are made of plastic, and these high-outputbulbs can easily melt the unit. In addition, the wiring on your bike is onlydesigned to handle a specific amount of power.
Changing to one of these Rallybulbs will most likely require an increase in the size of the wire going to thelamp in order to keep it from melting or burning up. Sounds like a lot ofeffort in order to get a brighter lamp.
But this brings us toa neat solution engineered by the PIAA Corporation. What PIAA has done, isincrease the light output, without increasing the wattage required. These bulbsare a bit more expensive, but modifications to your bike are not required. Andthat’s a good tradeoff, if you’re asking my opinion.
Another thing to consider withthese super bright bulbs is the effect they have on the bike’s charging system.All ’66-’84 Shovelheads come with 15-,17- and 22-amp alternators, and ’84-’88 Evo Big Twins have 22-ampalternators.’67-’79s Sportsters have 10-amp charging;’80-’84s have 13 amps;’84=-’90s have 19 amps; and bikes between ’91 and ’05 have 22-amp systems.
Upgrading to thehigher-wattage bulb is impossible on the smaller-amp charging systems. Toupgrade, the 22-amp system would be the lowest amp output recommended. Therejust isn’t enough current output to run everything required, and keep yourmotorcycle battery charged. Big Twins built from ’89 and onward have a healthy32-amp alternator, so this isn’t a challenge.
Now, what’s your opinion of LEDlighting? This acronym stands for Light Emitting Diode, and these little guysprovide a lot of light with minimal wattage requirements. Used as a taillight/brakelight on our bikes, no changes are required. However, when used as a turnsignal, we’ve got issues.
In applications that have aself-canceling turn signal, a load equalizer is required. Since the LED lightchanges the wattage in the circuit, the difference in current draw will confusethe original processor into thinking that the bulb is burned out.
This can cause a no-flash ordouble-flash condition and believe me, we get a ton of calls about this. A loadequalizer, like those from Badlands, will correct this condition by fooling theprocessor into thinking the stock bulb is still in the circuit. Your new LEDturn signal will flash and cancel normally. A load equalizer is also requiredif a small, marker light is used as a four-way flasher.
Due to possible heat buildup in theunit over a longer period of time, it’s a good idea to keep usage down to aminimum. And just a reminder: While these small, marker lights look good on ashow bike, they should not be used on the street, because they can’t be seen aseasily as a DOT-approved light, especially in the daytime.
I certainly hope this sheds somelight on today’s subject, and hope I set things out in an understandablemanner. If not, the friendly and savvy tech staff at J&P Cycles is alwaysavailable to answer any questions that you may have.