The Paris climate agreement was deeply flawed from its start. It was legally and constitutionally suspect, based on politics rather than science, and contained unrealistic goals. It promised not only a dramatic expansion of the administrative state and a huge increase in the regulatory burden on American businesses, it threatened to put the brakes on U.S. economic output at a time when most economists think the U.S. will struggle to achieve even a meager two percent growth.

It’s likely that it was already acting as a drag on the U.S. economy. After President Barack Obama unofficially committed the U.S. to the Paris agreement, businesses began preparing for its impact. Knowing that it would diminish U.S. economic output, businesses invested less and directed more investment toward less-productive technology to meet the climate deal’s mandates. Banks and financiers withdrew capital from sectors expected to suffer under the climate deal and pushed it toward those expected to benefit. A classic example of regulation-driven malinvestment.

The Paris climate agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015 at the conclusion of the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference. Parties to the agreement are expected to begin taking measures to reduce emissions in 2020, mainly by enacting rules that sharply reduce carbon emissions. Countries are supposed to publicly announce “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” to combat climate change and periodically report on their progress. The Obama administration announced the U.S. would commit to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, a quarter of which was supposedly achievable by the implementation of the previous administration’s legally-questionable Clean Power Plan.

To get the rest of the way, the U.S. would have to make major investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and cleaner motor vehicles. This likely explains why the Paris climate deal was so popular with many in Silicon Valley and many on Wall Street. It promised a bonanza of spending and investment, most likely subsidized by taxpayers, in technologies that wouldn’t otherwise be attractive. It was practically calling out for making self-driving, solar powered cars mandatory.

Dropping out of the agreement will let the U.S. avoid several deleterious effects of the agreement.

1. Goodbye to ‘American Last.’ The Paris agreement was basically an attempt to halt climate change on the honor system. Its only legal requirements were for signatories to announce goals and report progress, with no international enforcement mechanism. As a result, it was likely that the United States and wealthy European nations would have adopted and implemented severe climate change rules while many of the world’s governments would avoid doing anything that would slow their own economies. The agreement basically made the U.S. economy and Europe’s strongest economies sacrificial lambs to the cause of climate change.
2. Industrial Carnage. The regulations necessary to implement the Paris agreement would have cost the U.S. industrial sector 1.1 million jobs, according to a study commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. These job losses would center in cement, iron and steel, and petroleum refining. Industrial output would decline sharply.
3. Hollowing Out Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The industrial carnage would have been concentrated on four states, according to the Chamber of Commerce study. Michigan’s GDP would shrink by 0.8 percent and employment would contract by 74,000 jobs. Missouri’s GDP would shrink by 1 percent. Ohio’s GDP would contract 1.2 percent. Pennsylvania’s GDP would decline by 1.8 percent and the state would lose 140,000 jobs.
4. Smashing Small Businesses, Helping Big Business. Big businesses in America strongly backed the Paris climate deal. In fact, the backers of the climate deal reads like a “who’s who” of big American businesses: Apple, General Electric, Intel, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, General Mills, Walmart, DuPont, Unilever, and Johnson & Johnson. These business giants can more easily cope with costly regulations than their smaller competitors and many would, in fact, find business opportunities from the changes required. But smaller businesses and traditional start-ups would likely be hurt by the increased costs of compliance and rising energy costs.
5. Making America Poorer Again. A Heritage Foundation study found that the Paris agreement would have increased the electricity costs of an American family of four by between 13 percent and 20 percent annually. It forecast a loss of income of $20,000 by 2035. In other words, American families would be paying more while making less. 
6. Much Poorer. The overall effect of the agreement would have been to reduce U.S. GDP by over $2.5 trillion and eliminate 400,000 jobs by 2035, according to Heritage’s study. This would exacerbate problems with government funding and deficits, make Social Security solvency more challenging, and increase reliance on government’s spending to support households.

 

Best Get a Grip on It

 Emcee Grant to Get this Show Started

 
 Arlen Ness Being Cool and Signing a Guy’s Bike Part. He’s still very cool after all these years.

  

both created by Bryan Thompson of Thompson Cycles ( Arroyo Grande, CA)

 

Okay, a lot has happened since the last episode. We installed the new CCE Dyna motor mounts. It was easy except for the placement of the jack. We needed to keep the jack clear so the old units would drop out easily. A chunk of 2 by 4 did the trick.

We had a discussion about Loctite. I use Loctite, stainless lock washers, and Nylock nuts whenever possible. I learned a lesson about red Loctite. That shit is mean and will cause serious problems, so the best bet for most applications is blue, except for engine and transmission mounting bolts, and as you will see transmission mainshaft splines.

When I wasn’t looking, Franky pulled the primary and started to take the clutch apart. This got tricky. The clutch hub nut is left-handed threads, whereas the engine compensator nut is right hand. Both of these bastards were tight, too tight. We fought the transmission nut for days with my impact driver.

When I feel lost, I reach out to Eric Bennett at Bennett’s Performance. He deals with this shit daily and knows the variations. “Is your compressor strong enough?” he asked. It was a good question and I’ve dealt with this issue before.

We have a shop compressor set at 150 pounds. The shop next door made a compressor connection for us out the side of their building. It takes more line to make the connection. But it did the trick. “The other issue can be too much Loctite on the threads, and you might need heat,” Eric said.

The stronger compressor did the trick for the transmission, but not the engine. Even the manual suggested too much Loctite and the use of heat. In the case of the engine, heat was the solution. We pulled everything apart.

Just to stay on the safe side, here are the Barnett Scorpion removal steps:

Note: A hydraulic press is required to remove OEM clutch hub and install the Barnett Scorpion clutch hub! We have one in the Bikernet Shop.

Barnett Tool and engineering recommends changing primary lubricant after the first 500 miles and every 5,000 miles thereafter.

Remove primary drain plug at bottom of primary.

Remove foot pegs (shifter lever) floorboard etc.

Remove five screws to remove the derby inspection cover from the primary chain cover.

Refer to your factory manual to remove the clutch basket and associated components using proper safety instructions, proper tools and pullers.

As it turned out, both major nuts were overloaded with Loctite and needed to have the threads wire-brushed clean, before installation.

Using a hydraulic press, remove the OEM clutch hub from the clutch basket. Watch for clip rings that might need removal.

Firmly support the OEM basket as shown during this operation. After pressing the hub out, check the bearing for smoothness. If the bearing feels rough or binds, it must be replaced.

Using the press is better accomplished with another set of eyes and hands to make sure everything is aligned. I have lots of chunks of bar stock of different diameters, and a wide selection of sockets help, too.

Barnett Warning: Always wear proper eye protection when removing or installing snap rings. Slippage may propel the ring with enough force to cause an eye injury. Verify the tips of the pliers are not excessively worn or damaged. That’s a tough one…

Barnett Installation Guidelines for a Scorpion Clutch

Install snap ring into rear of Barnett Scorpion hub; make sure the snap ring is correctly embedded into the snap ring groove. There are two grooves. The inner groove is for the 2011 and up models, and the outer groove is for all other models.

Reinstall the clutch basket into the primary case (don’t forget the chain, chain adjuster and the compensating sprocket). Using red Loctite on the transmission main shaft before installing the clutch hub nut. Tighten the hub nut to 50-60 ft-lbs.

Start by installing the “B” fiber plate (B plate has larger I.D.). Next, install the damper spring seat (flat steel band), and then install the damper spring (curved steel band) with the white dot facing out. Follow with a steel plate, then fiber, steel, fiber, ending with a steel plate installed last.

Install the pressure plate using six MT-95 springs, six spring cups, and six 6mm SHCS bolts.

The Barnett Scorpion comes with three varieties of spring pressure for your riding style and clutch handling. If you have a hot rod and ride hard, you may want stronger springs. If you need a lighter touch clutch, you may want to go with lighter springs.

Torque the 6mm Allens to 5 ft-lb.

Adjust clutch and cable per factory instructions.

Don’t forget the starter components if you removed the starter.

Finally, we straightened his stock shifter lever, buffed the road rash and installed it. A new Brass Balls Cycles shift lever is headed our way, but we did install the wild billet pegs.

The later model swingarm became a major issue. I couldn’t find anyone who had switched out an early model swingarm for a late heavier, stronger model.

I took on the final assembly by myself. I had to bore out the transmission case from 5/8-inch to ¾ inch for the new axle. Fortunately, the case width is exactly the same. I pressed in all the sleeves and bearings using my handmade press with all-thread. Once the parts were in place and the case bored, the swingarm fit like a dream, except…

I couldn’t get the axle nut on the left to start. I was concerned that some machining would be required, but I was patient. When Franky showed up, I backed off the axle and had him hold the nut in place on the other side. He did, and it slipped together like a dream and we applied the proper torque.

We are waiting on our MetalSport wheels, tires, rotors and pulley, and then we need to bore the old brake anchor for the new 1-inch axle.

While I worked on my Panhead, Franky installed the Brass Balls grips and Aeromach levers. His clutch perch was damaged from the accident and he had to chase one down. The Brass Balls grip confused him since it doesn’t slip under the switch housing like a stock grip would.

He cleaned up the ends of the bars, also damaged from the accident. Then he slid on the Brass Balls grips. I suggested some silicone on the bar to dampen vibration and secure the grip. Brass Balls supplies stainless setscrews to hold the billet grip in place.

He replaced the perch and we installed the Aeromach lever. It came with the old style axle and not the Teflon bar, but we greased it and oiled the cable, so finally we could adjust the clutch and install the derby. I’m sure I have a Teflon bar to replace the steel unit.

On the throttle side, he grappled with the puzzle of positioning the brake master cylinder, the lever perch, the switch housing, the throttle and the throttle cables. We carefully oiled the throttle cables from the top, greased the Brass Balls throttle cable grooves and made sure there were no kinks in the cables.

Next, we need to replace the wiring and install the Zipper’s Thundermax EFI system. Then with the MetalSport Wheels and new paint, we can replace the front end and finish the build. Hang on!

Aeromach
www.aeromachmfg.com/Motorcycle

Twin Power

BDI Exhaust
Call (530) 274-0800
Email Ramsay@bub-design.com
110 Springhill Drive, Suite 14 Grass Valley, California 95945

Larry Settles
Address: 1436 259th St, Harbor City, CA 90710
Phone:(310) 326-3466

Yvonne Mecalis
https://www.yvonnedesigns.com/

Chris Morrison Paint

Ronnie’s Harley-Davidson

I asked the Bikernet readers if I should chop the 1928 Shovelhead. They said, “Yes, definitely.” So, I called the master of the chopper world forever, Paughco.

I spoke to Steve Massicotte about changing the bars, the gas tank and the oil tank. I was going to attempt to leave everything else in tack. Then, as usual, life jumped into the fray.

The original was a 1984 Shovelhead cop bike I bought from Arlen Ness. With a plan in mind I shipped the engine to JIMS machine and the transmission. Some of the other pieces, including a Paughco frame were shipped to Stroker’s Dallas. Marty Ruthman’s shop in Van Nuys suddenly went out of business and I bought a bunch of parts.

Then based on the plan to build a flatside JD gas tank Shovelhead, I bought a set of vintage repop tanks and a fender. All the elements were shipped to Rick Fairless. It was ultimately featured in American Iron, but it had a couple of issues and I started to address them.

Okay, so the bike was registered as a 1984 Harley in Texas. Dean Shawler, the editor of Biker magazine, ended up with the frame and sheet metal pieces, which he finally restored a few years later.

Once I took possession the Texas registration caused issues and of course California didn’t like the Harley title. It took six months, but I now have a California title and plate, and Sturgis is around the corner. Franky and I are headed out with a couple of my customs and never coming back.

So, suddenly I was on a deadline and started to replace the bars with the new, show-chromed Paughco Hollywood bars.

I was blown away by the care they take in packaging each set of bars. Nothing goes out uncovered or unprotected. Paughco had problems for a while with their chrome. They have their own chroming facility and I think they fought regulations that fucked with their quality, but they have it remedied now.

The chrome is beautiful. Steve wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with the riser mounting. These risers are solid brass and threaded for ½-inch fine studs. The springer is stock, so I started to ponder my options.

I machined the top of the riser stud to ½ inch or .500 and cut the threads. I was golden. I had to cut off the stud to the proper length, also. I hid the stock stud, which is smaller than the Paughco brass base, with a couple of O-rings from True Value Hardware. They aren’t perfect and I should check with McMaster Carr for more options.

I cut 1.5 inches off each end of the bars just to make it slightly narrower. Then I started to mess with the controls. I found an old throttle and dug through my pile of cables for the proper fit and length with the S&S Super E and my pull-only vintage throttle. It took a lot of fudging, but I made the throttle system work.

Then I moved the Performance Machine master cylinder into place and I need a 6-inch longer cable. I use a small shop on Signal Hill, Baker Performance, run by a couple of women who just supply race products and fittings to boat, drag, and dirty bikers, like me. I hope to run by later today, get a new line and be ready to rock.

Originally I was going to replace the oil tank battery area with a new chromed Paughco Softail oil tank. I tore out the battery, electrical box and discovered a lot of issues. I put it all back together and will leave that project for another day, or year. Let’s go to Sturgis and ride.

PAUGHGO

S&S

PERFORMANCE MACHINE

AEROMACH
www.aeromach.com

Some 15 minutes before we landed this pond-hopper in Rapid City, chewin’ on dry airplane pretzels and sippin’ on complimentary coffee, I couldn’t help to think about the next few days ahead and what was in store. At 23, I landed in the Badlands for the first time to attend Scott Jacob’s first artist retreat.

Excited as all hell and anxious, but at the same time drained from the full day of layovers and long security lines, I was ready to get to Deadwood, South Dakota and crash. I met a fellow retreat-ee at the connecting flight to Rapid City coming from LA. Olivia, Scott’s daughter, sent me her info on the flight in from LAX, an older blonde woman named Julia.

A piano musician from Long Beach who was a long-time collector of Scott Jacob’s artwork, she showed me her collection of an amazing Elvis that blew me away. Hanging directly besides it was a Marylyn Monroe. Both are from Scott’s series of wine- influenced portraits.

She shared with me a photo of the paintings and the wine bottles from the actual painting sitting beneath them on a coffee table in between two thick leather chairs and her vintage piano. After talking some more about the retreat, we figured out the cab situation from Rapid and arranged the lift to the Deadwood hotel.

On arrival to Deadwood we checked into the Grand Hotel. I lucked out with a corner room on the third floor. It had an amazing view of main street Deadwood. Couldn’t sleep, so I took a stroll around town. Before leaving the lobby, I checked out a display of different Harley-Davidson paintings of Scott’s. This guy’s ability with realism is insane. I am trying to infuse more realism into my tattoo and painting efforts.

I hit the cool evening, empty, pre-rally streets and immediately could feel the history of this old western town. Pictures of Wild Bill at almost every corner and the old wooden structures brought the 1800s back. The painted and leafed intricate building details side with the sense of the old west through the characters and names of the saloons and gambling joints from the past. It must have been boot-tough and rattlesnake-mean area at one time, but there was also a sense of glamour.

I found the only spot in town serving food at midnight. I grabbed two hotdogs and cruised into the local bar where the sound of live music crept out the door. A Social Distortion cover band, made me feel like I was back at home, except I would have been surround with strip malls and plastic franchise joints. It’s funny because only a few hours earlier, I was actually talking to Mike Ness’s son whom I tattooed over seven years ago. After a few jams, I headed back, on foot to the Grand.

I woke up at about 8:00, showered, grabbed some coffee and headed over to the studio. I arrived just before nine and met the crew.

I was greeted by Olivia and Scott and the rest of the Jacobs clan, along with the 12 retreat-ees who traveled from all over the country to attend this special event.

I felt honored and grateful to be a part of Scott’s first artist retreat in the history of his career. I cruised around Scott’s studio for a bit checking out the incredible layout and what seemed to be a never-ending supply of incredible paintings on display wall-to-wall.

The energy is this place was amazing and took me off-guard for a second, there was so much to take in. As we walked upstairs and into the action the actual art studio where Scott creates his masterpieces and works alongside daughter Alexa, nephew, and Dan.

I was also introduced to Darren, the film guy who was in town from New Orleans for the event. There we 12 canvases set up on easels adjacent to two tables set side-by-side. The easels were situated in organized rows, with one canvas up front, on which Scott would demonstrate.

After an introduction by the man himself explaining the paint volumes and brushes he would use during the retreat, the class went to work on a particular piece, which included a wine bottle with a glass and cork/cork screw on top of a wood grain table captured from a top angle looking down.

They began by starting in the top left corner on the wine piece, a dark purple with small hints of red, trying to cover the tops of the canvas with hard body/light body acrylics.

Scott explained the natural movements of the wrist and how to create lines with the proper strokes. He then described how to use a blow dryer to dry the background for light body paint to speed up the process.

Starting from left to right as if doing a tattoo they worked on the background first to build foundation. It was very interesting to watch the beginning process Scott used to produce the effect of capturing the angle of the design. The retreat-ees worked for a few hours, getting comfortable and familiar with the paints and brushes. Before I knew it, it was chow time.

We stepped out for lunch at the saloon across the way. It was a bar/restaurant/casino across the street about five or six store fronts down the brick paved street. The sun was out and shining bright as a pure Indian summer, and the air, clean and sweet, filled my lungs almost 100 miles away from any smog-polluted city.
The weather couldn’t have been any better.

I scarfed a Caesar burger with a salad. I enjoyed my meal in the company of Scott, Alexa and Darren, sharing war stories and going over all the attractions Deadwood has to offer.

Getting back into the studio, we started on the second phase of the piece, which was beginning to work on the rim of the barrel. Then we moved onto the background, keepin’ it slightly blurry to keep eyes focused on the details in the front.

We used masking tape and pin stripping tape to cover up everything so we could work on the wood barrel shape before gradually working into wood grain.

Scott demonstrated the wood grain effect with a small brush with brown, then going in with the lighter wash to fade from the bottom to the top. Then he headed back in with dark brown to sharpen up the grain. The class worked on wood grain for the majority of the day, blending and giving lighter tones of brown to achieve the effect depicted in reference photo.

While hanging out, I got to talk to one of the digital artists on deck helping out with the retreat, Dan the man. Dan is an incredibly gifted digital artist/air brush artist/acrylic artist and overall badass. When it comes to creating anything by hand that has to do with art or capturing something on a canvas or actually pretty much anything, he has it covered.

I wore my favorite Harley shirt to the retreat. He actually designed it.

After class was dismissed, everyone went their separate ways. They gathered again in the evening for a show being performed by the Bare Naked Ladies. To my disappointment, the band was made up of three older dudes. But hell, they put on a good show.

The concert was held at the Grand and Scott and Olivia arranged a meet and greet with the band, along with VIP seating on a private stage center view from the rock stars. Later on in the dark Deadwood night, I hooked up with heads I met at the show and ventured further out into Deadwood, with some locals to check out the bars and night life, which seemed like it appeared out of nowhere in this small, sleepy town.

I hung out with a gentleman named Sean, who actually splits his time between Deadwood and my neck of the woods in West LA. Also ran around town with Deadwood’s high school principle for a majority of the night… I’m not sure how that worked itself out. Haven’t always had the best relationships with principals of high schools but this guy was cool as shit and funny as hell.

Hung out with Scott and Darren, and few others from the class then checked out a smoke shop. It used to be an opium den way back in the day. We puffed on cigars and listened to some of the best live blues I’ve heard in awhile.

The next day, the class focused on the grey blue portion of the painting in the bottom left corner. The students mixed three drops of white, one drop of blue and one drop of black, along with four or five drops of water to get the silverish grey needed for the job.

They used a similar mixing method to paint the handle of the corkscrew as well to give it the shiny metal look from the reference photo given. After working on these silverish tones for awhile they moved onto the wine bottle, mixing reds and painting bottle solid. Then shortly after taping off the label and carefully used a light body fill into the negative spaces within the taped-off surfaces.

Dan hooked me up with a fresh canvas and I went work trying to catch up with the rest of the class. It was fun using some of the new techniques I picked up. I didn’t get too far along in my painting, but really enjoyed zoning out for a bit in a style of art I’m normally not accustomed to. I’m definitely interested in pursuing more painting and realism in the near future. This style of fine art is amazing. All the extensive prep work that goes into it was very cool to learn about and watch in delicate action. Seeing first-hand, how it unfolds from being a pencil sketch to an almost live piece of art was inspirational to say the least.

The energy flowed high on the last day of the art retreat, with everyone including Scott’s crew, working against the clock to completed these paintings. Scott got everyone going and moving in the right direction.

For the most part, they all dialed in on specific elements of the painting. Then they worked on the other small details testing their ability to administer what they saw in the corkscrew details and share those elements through paint on their canvas.

The day continued with lots of small details and highlights added to the pieces.

After the awards ceremony, I was able to talk to Scott a bit more about the retreat and how it came about. I asked what sparked the idea of throwing this event, to which Scott said it was his daughter Olivia’s idea. She brought it up a week or two after his accident that occurred on September 11th, 2016.

Scott took a spill on a gravel road on a run in Maryland. He was riding a vintage 1915 Harley-Davidson and he told me seven other riders went down on that same Cannon Ball Rally turn. Scott severely injured his shoulder on the arm he uses to paint; he showed me the scars to prove it.

Scott has made a full comeback and his new pieces of art are looking more incredible than ever. Using different methods of working; for example, resting his shoulder or elbow on the canvas while painting. He is still able to work with precision and grace as he brings images to life on canvas.

Scott Jacobs was the first officially licensed artist for Harley-Davidson and has been licensed with them for 23 years. He started the fine arts program and has had a long and successful career doing what he loves. Working alongside his family in his studio/home in Deadwood, South Dakota, he and his family relocated from San Diego and have really made a dent in the community of Deadwood.

I also asked Scott when and how he and Keith “Bandit” Ball met. He said, “at the Easyriders Ranch in ‘94.” After talking for a little bit longer, and saying our goodbyes, I slipped out to meet up with an old friend of Bandit’s named Adrian.

Dan walked me up to Adrian’s amazine Rose House, where I was able to check out a house from the 1880s that Adrian has been restoring and customizing for the past few years. It was inspiring to see the hard work Adrian has been dedicating to his home and it was cool to hang out, hearing old stories about the rally in Sturgis and FXRs.

Before I split I mentioned to Adrian about how I was thinking about renting a bike from a dealership in Sturgis the next day to take a ride around Deadwood, when he offered to let me ride his ’87 Softail. He said to call him at 8 o’clock the next morning to arrange a ride over to a warehouse where it’s been resting on charge for the winter.

After leaving Adrian’s, I met up with another friend of my grandfather’s, Urban and his wife Jennifer, for dinner at a local steak house in Spearfish. After dinner, we went back to Urban’s on Hamster Hill where I was able to check out his collection of FXRs.

Urban also lives in Los Angeles with Jennifer where he has another collection of motorcycles that go back to the late 1890s. He invited me out to see his collection once we got back to LA. I am looking forward to stopping by and checking them out after my return from Sturgis this year.

The next day, I woke up earlier and met up with Adrian. We headed back out to Spearfish to pick up the Softail. After firing it up, I ventured out on my own back into Deadwood to meet up with Sean to go out and take a ride. We cruised on over to Scott’s place were we met up with him Dan and Alexa.

We blasted out into Spearfish Canyon, but we weren’t able to ride for to long because of the shuttle I had to catch back to Rapid City. But I was able to grab a solid couple hours of riding through the canyon.

It had been a week or two since I’d been back on a bike, and fuck, did it feel good! I’d been feeling really stressed and anxious a majority of the trip, and it all seemed to fade away as I gripped the throttle, felt the wind on my face and left the BS behind me.

The stretches of green and wildlife all around me really made me start to consider why the hell I’m living in concrete jungle of LA, spitting lanes at high speeds. Cheating death on a daily basis is fun and all, but this was the shit man.

Being out in the middle of nowhere, with no helmet and no traffic, with no cops to fuck with you. I really felt free for a second. I felt like this was something I could get used to. I’d had a lot of fleeting thoughts on that ride and a lot of gratitude as well. This was a great opportunity and experience. I was glad to be part of it all. I got to learn more about art, meet and hang out with a legend, and ride free through the Wild West, all within a few days.

Life’s good.

Camarillo is a city in Ventura County, California. It’s south of the 101 Freeway and north of Pacific Coast Highway, just minutes from entering Malibu along the winding coast. Camarillo is named for Adolfo and Juan Camarillo, two of the few Californios (pre-1848 California natives of Hispanic ancestry) to preserve the city’s heritage after the arrival of Anglo settlers. They had to be boot-tough and rattlesnake-mean. Settlers took everything from everyone.

For decades, Camarillo was a riders paradise between Ventura and Los Angeles, and home to one of the mainstays in the Harley aftermarket industry, JIMS Machine. Jim Thiessen built a family-owned business around special tools for builders all over the world, to make their Harley mechanical jobs easier and provide them with quality transmission parts.

JIMS reached out to further his business with more performance products, including a line of high-performance twin cam engines sold through Harley dealerships. Jim is being inducted into the Sturgis Hall of Fame this year. He deserves it and more. It takes a tough, wise man to keep any business alive through all the challenges he’s faced. He’s supported racers all his life, including our own 5-Ball Racing Team, and if we enter the Salt Flats next year to test and tune the first streamlined trike, a 135-inch JIMS Twin Cam engine will power it.

Two members of his team have been around for a very long time, Paul Platts and Garry Hughes. In 2011, Paul decided to build his first ground-up chopper and his best friend and co-worker, Garry Hughes kicked in to help out.

“I’ve always loved choppers, and they were the rage when I started dreaming up this project,” Paul said, “but there were no real big-inch Twin Cam choppers. Working in product development, I knew JIMS was developing a true Twin Cam Evo-mount case. I simply wanted a big-inch, new technology chopper with a complete JIMS Powertrain.”

Inspired by Russell Mitchell, Paul set out to keep his bike as clean and sanitary as many Exile Cycle bikes he admired over the years. Of course, he wanted the JIMS engine to stand out big time.

He worked with Mike Scraggs of Chopper Guys for a classic Swedish-styled rigid frame sporting a stout 2.5-inch stretch in the downtubes and 40 degrees of neck rake. Chopper guys frames are tough, well-built and stylish.

There’s another classic Ventura-based cycle parts company, Storz Performance, and Steve Storz sets up classic Ceriani front ends for use on Harleys. Camarillo held the best of the best when it came to coastal and hillside roads for chopper riders blasting around and through strawberry fields, wicked coastlines and through wineries leading inland. Unfortunately, population growth is fucking it up.

Paul understood the chopper rigid code and Garry was inspirational when it came to suspension. They rubber-mounted his bars, ran rubber pegs and grips and gave his spring-mounted thick, solo, Le Pera seat a couple of inches of travel. This hot rod could fly along any road.

The entire bike has a tough, bare look with only performance components, including the bare stainless Vance and Hines two-into-one Competition Series exhaust system.

Mike Grieco did a helluva job with the contoured tank, including the arch on the bottom to highlight the JIMS 120-inch power plant. Jason Hart created the oval oil tank and battery box housing and concealing the electrical panel and circuit breakers.

In Exile tradition, the paint and chrome is minimal. Silver metallic powder handled the frame and sheet metal, with pinstriped highlights. Everything else is hard-coat black or polished stainless steel.

Paul took a memorable three years to complete this build alongside his best friend, Garry Hughes. “As you can see on the air cleaner cover, it reads ‘In memory of Garry Hughes.’ Garry was my best friend and was taken too soon with stomach cancer.”

“He was my go-to guy for the complete build. He would brainstorm with me and bring me back to reality if I was getting too creative. I spent a couple of weekends at Garry’s house getting the bike ready for its first fire and loved every second of it. My fondest memory was the first ride on the backstreets of Somis, California. “Garry took off on his scooter leading the way, and I followed on this raw-metal, mocked-up chopper, with the biggest smile on my face ever. I would trade this bike in a heartbeat to have him back, and I will always remember that day and that ride vividly. Rest in peace buddy. I miss you every day.”

Owner: Paul Platts
Builders: Paul Platts, Garry Hughes, Jim Thiessen and friends
Year/Model: 2011 Special Construction
Time: Three Years

Engine

Type: JIMS Twin Cam 120
Builder: JIMS
Displacement: 120-inch
Horsepower: 116 monster horses
Cases: JIMS Evo-style
Flywheels: JIMS 4.375-inch stroke
Balancing: JIMS, balanced to 54 percent
Connecting rods: JIMS
Cylinders: JIMS 4.125-inch bore
Pistons: CP-Carrillo
Heads: Screamin’ Eagle
Cam: Screamin’ Eagle 258, .569-inch lift
Valves: Screamin’ Eagle
Lifters: JIMS steady Roll and rocker arms
Pushrods: Screamin’ Eagle, adjustable
Carb: Harley-Davidson CV 58
Air cleaner: Screamin’ Eagle/JIMS Race Flow backing plate
Exhaust: Vance & Himes Competition Series 2-into-1
Oil pump: Screamin’ Eagle

Transmission

Primary cover: Barnett
Model: JIMS six-speed
Case: JIMS
Gears: JIMS
Clutch: Barnett
Primary Drive: Barnett
Final drive: BDL/GMA

Chassis

Frame: 2003 Chopper Guys Swedish Rigid
Rake: 40 degrees
Stretch: 2.5 inches

Front wheel: Black Bike 21-inch
Rear wheel: Black Biker 18-inch
Front brake: BDL/GMA

Rear brake: BDL/GMA pulley
Front tire: Metzeler 80/90/21
Rear tire: Metzeler 240/40/18
Rear fender: Exile Cycles, modified
Fuel tank: Mike Grieco Designs
Oil tank: Jason Hart Designs

Frontend

Forks: Storz Performance Ceriani
Mods: Extended legs
Handlebars: Wild 1 Chubbys
Risers: Wild 1 Chubbys

Accessories

Headlight: Exile Cycles
Seat: Le Pera
Pegs: Exile Cycles
Mirrors: Custom Chrome

Foot controls: Exile Cycles

JIMS MACHINE

STORZ PERFORMANCE

BARNETT CLUTCH AND CABLES

LE PERA SEATS

BDL/GMA

NCOM BIKER NEWSBYTES
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,

U.S. motorcycle sales for Harley-Davidson, which represents about half of America’s big-bike market, were down 3.9% last year, and investment management firm Alliance Bernstein recently downgraded the Motor Company’s rating while citing the millennial generation as a key contributor in the brand’s downturn.

“Our data suggests the younger Gen Y population is adopting motorcycling at a far lower rate than prior generations,” AB analyst David Beckel told AOL’s Business Insider. “Gen Y’s are aging into the important ‘pre-family’ cohort of riders and Boomers are increasingly handing over their keys to the smaller Gen X population.”

Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers in numbers to become the largest generation pool in the United States, and these 18 to 35-year-olds grew up during a recession, which has impacted their spending habits.

 

BIKE-TO-VEHICLE (B2V) TECHNOLOGY TO PREVENT MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS
Drivers involved in an accident with a motorcycle often claim they didn’t see the bike. Their smaller size, quickness and maneuverability makes motorcycles more difficult to identify in traffic. Autotalks, the world leader in V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communication solutions, is launching its bike-to-vehicle (B2V) solution, a technology for the prevention of motorcycle accidents. The solution is based on the B2X (Bike-to-Everything) chipset developed by the Israeli company.

Research conducted by Bosch, a leading global supplier of technology and services, finds that motorcycle-to-car communication could prevent almost one third of motorcycle related accidents, which has encouraged the German company to develop what they call a “digital protective shield” for riders. Digital visibility would warn the driver of a car about a motorcycle’s close presence, even when it’s not visible to the human eye.

The goal of the new technology is to prevent accidents from occurring, by providing warning notices on dashboards. The data would be exchanged by vehicle transmitters through public WLAN and ITS-G5. Potential hazards and nearby motorcycles would then show up on satellite navigation, including direction of travel, position, speed, acceleration, and vehicle type.

OREGON ENACTS R-O-W LAW TO PROTECT MOTORCYCLISTS
A “Right-of-Way” or R-O-W law has been enacted in Oregon, as House Bill 2598 was signed by Governor Kate Brown on June 20, 2017. The bill also known as the “Milkman Mike Act” or the “Driver Responsibility Bill” will become law on January 1, 2018 and expands the offense of vehicular assault to include contact with motorcycle, motorcycle operator or motorcycle passenger that causes physical injury.

“This means that if a reckless driver injures a motorcycle rider or their passenger, the driver can be charged with vehicular assault and will be a Class A Misdemeanor,” reports the Oregon Confederation of Clubs. The punishment can be doing time up to one year in prison and a maximum fine up to a $6,250.

“This is a great win for Oregon riders!!,” states the Oregon COC on their website (www.oregoncoc.org). “Now we have something that has some teeth in it to punish drivers who are determined to be ‘reckless’. We have had too many brothers and sisters run down by car drivers getting a ticket for nominal money or no ticket at all. At best they get a slight bump in their insurance rates. And in the case of no ticket, their insurance company never really has a clue they have a high risk client on their hands.

“All it took was a sharp attorney (Oregon A.I.M. Attorney Christopher Slater) to do a very simple thing. He had the great idea to look to see if there is existing legislation. He found legislation that covered bicyclists and pedestrians (ORS 811.060). From there it was easy to add a few words…’motorcycle rider and passenger.’ It was so simple it was brilliant. Much thanks to Christopher and his efforts. Many thanks to BikePac of Oregon and ABATE of Oregon who also worked hard to make this bill a reality.

 

NORTH CAROLINA TO PROVIDE DRIVER INSTRUCTION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT STOPS
Similar to a measure recently adopted in Louisiana to teach new licensees how to interact with police during traffic stops, House Bill 21 “Driver Instruction/Law Enforcement Stops” has been approved unanimously by the North Carolina legislature and signed into law by Governor Roy Cooper on July 12, 2017.

OHIO ‘DEAD RED’ LAW AMENDED FOR BICYCLES ONLY
During a lame-duck legislative session ending last December, the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 154, commonly referred to as a “Dead Red” law, allowing all vehicles and bicycles to treat a malfunctioning traffic signal as a stop sign and to proceed through a red light after a reasonable time has elapsed, as long as the intersection is clear and you must yield to oncoming traffic with the right of way. Signed by the governor, the new law was to take effect in March, but an amendment was introduced and fast-tracked as an emergency measure to remove all motor vehicles (cars, trucks and motorcycles) from the law, and House Bill 9 amended the red light section to apply to bicycles only.

Under the language of HB 154, if drivers think they have waited long enough at a red light, they can go through it, explained Representative Kyle Koehler (R-Springfield), primary sponsor of the amendment bill HB 9 “To amend section 4511.132 of the Revised Code to specify that the alternative protocol for proceeding into an intersection with malfunctioning traffic lights due to a failure of a vehicle detector applies only to bicycles, and to declare an emergency.”

Unlike when a stoplight is out or blinking because of a mechanical failure, there is no way for a driver to know for sure if an otherwise functioning light has been signaled to change, so legislators worried that the law would allow motor vehicle drivers to treat intersections like stop signs. Lawmakers rushed to fix the law, and HB 154 passed both chambers unanimously and was signed into law as an emergency measure by Gov. John Kasich, taking effect right away.

While ABATE of Ohio maintains that all Traffic Control Devices should be in good working order at all times and is working with the Ohio Department of Transportation to report/repair malfunctioning devices (Red Light Hotline (614) 387-0722 or biker.report@dot.state.oh.us), the organization reports that “Legislation granting motorcycles the ability to treat a malfunctioning traffic signal as a stop sign is planned for the future.”

Basically, “Dead Red” laws allow a motorcyclist stopped at an intersection who has not been detected by a traffic signal sensor to run the light legally, when done so safely. Currently, 20 states have enacted such laws, varying in specificity from 45 seconds to 3 minutes, or 1-2 cycles of the light, or “when safe”: AR, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MN, MO, NV, NC, OK, OR, NJ, PA, SC, TN, UT, VA, WA, WY.

 

NEW JERSEY RECOGNIZES VETERAN RIDERS
On Thursday, June 22, 2017 the New Jersey Senate and the Assembly voted unanimously to pass Senate Bill No. 1750, and Assembly Bill No. 2729, to create a Veteran license plate for motorcycles.

This establishes “U.S. VET” plates for any honorably discharged Veteran. There will be an annual $10 charge for these plates and all monies collected will be deposited in a fund to be used by the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs for the support of programs benefiting New Jersey military veterans.

HAWAII GOVERNOR VETOES BILL FOR MOTORCYCLISTS TO USE SHOULDER LANES
Legislation to allow motorcyclists to travel on shoulder lanes in congested traffic passed through the Hawaii legislature but was vetoed by Governor David Ige on July 11.

House Bill 727, introduced by Representative Henry J.C. Aquino (D-Waipahu), passed both the House and Senate with only two ‘No’ votes, and would “authorize the operator of a motorcycle or motor scooter to proceed cautiously upon the shoulder of the roadway, in the same direction at a reduced rate of speed of no more than ten miles per hour” until the adjacent lane cleared.

 

VIETNAM TO BAN MOTORCYCLES IN CAPITAL CITY

 

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE BANS COMING FROM EUROPE, ASIA
A growing list of countries plan to ban conventional vehicles running on gasoline, diesel or other fossil fuels. Several European and Asian countries have already laid out ambitious plans to eliminate fossil fuel-powered vehicles:

– Norway & The Netherlands have designed the most aggressive plans, wanting to switch to electric vehicles by 2025.
– India wants to get all of its vehicles switched to battery power by 2030, not only ending the sale of internal combustion vehicles, but will convert or replace all vehicles on the road.
– France announced plans coinciding with the G20 summit to have 80% of its fleet electrified by 2023.
– Germany is pushing to end sales of gas and diesel cars by 2030.
– China is increasing sales of so-called New Energy Vehicles by putting strict limits on the number of new vehicles that can be registered in major cities, exempting NEV models.

WHAT IF 10% OF DRIVERS SWITCHED TO MOTORCYCLES?
In recognition of Ride to Work Day in June, the Motorcycle Industry Association in the U.K. released figures highlighting the benefits for everyone if just 10% of car drivers made the switch to two wheels — including a 20% increase in parking spaces, a 40% reduction in road congestion and financial savings from less cars on the road.

The figures come from a Belgian study, which modeled traffic for one of Europe’s congested roads and found that if 10% of car drivers swapped four wheels for two, congestion for all road users went down by 40%. If 25% of drivers rode, congestion was completely eliminated.

 

QUOTABLE QUOTE: “The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity.”
~ Amelia Earhart (1897 – ?), American aviation heroine

Because attacks happen so quickly it is often difficult to predict which self-defense technique is needed before the attack actually happens. It is because of this that Krav Maga Worldwide training utilizes the body is natural reaction to being attacked to teach people to defend against common chokes, grabs, and strikes, as well as more serious threats involving weapons.

Straight Punch
The basic movement behind a straight punch is to push off from your legs, rotate your hips and shoulders, and extend your arm out toward your target as explosively as possible. Clench your fist tightly and aim to make contact with the two knuckles at the base of your pointer and middle fingers against your attacker’s chin, mouth, or nose.

Knees

 Bear Hug Defense

 Choke Defense
If a choke comes on from the front, back, or side and that choke happens “in place”(which is to say that you are being attacked but generally standing in the same place, not being moved or pushed while the choked) Krav Maga Worldwide students are taught to “pluck” the choker’s hands away and immediately strike back. Your body (meaning your hands) will want to immediately go toward your neck if a choke is put on you and will most likely end up on top of the attacker’s hands as they are already on the neck. Instead of trying to pull the attacker’s hands off of the neck, which could be impossible if the defender is a much smaller person than the attacker, use your hands like hooks (thumbs against pointer fingers, hands in a “C” shape) and explosively pluck at the attackers thumbs. The attacker cannot maintain a choke using their hands (it’s a different defense if the attacker is choking with their arm like a “rear naked choke” or similar) if their thumbs are plucked off of the defender’s neck. Immediately begin to strike vulnerable areas on the attacker’s body.

For more information check out www.kravmaga.com see the Facebook page (Krav Maga Worldwide), follow on Instagram @krav_maga_worldwide or call 800.572.8624.

As you know the “Big Wheel Craze” is still going strong. Metasport’s new 34-inch 3D Wheels are now available along with New 18-inch rotor and caliper sets.

Ron Loynds, President of Metalsport, and the Metalsport crew have always maintained the cutting edge of innovation within their product lines. They were first to create the really Big Wheels and to develop Vee Rubber’s Monster tires to fit them. They offered one piece stainless steel rotors in 11.5, 11.8 and 13-inch sizes to match their Big Wheel designs.

To continue along the cutting edge, Metalsport has developed a line of 18-inch floating rotor and caliper sets to match their wheels.

These larger diameter rotors offer unique and beneficial characteristics.
The larger diameter provides more leverage to slow the wheel and the greater surface area offers more efficient cooling that will provide longer life.

Mark Ashton, Metalsport’s General Manager, began development of these 18-inch rotor sets through a joint manufacturing effort between Metalsport and Brembo Brakes. The result incorporates heat treated 420 stainless steel outer rings and 6061-T6 Aircraft Grade Aluminum carriers cut to match Metalsport wheel designs.

The rotors are ‘floating’ on the carriers and are connected by specially designed stainless steel buttons for long lasting performance. Sets include a 6061-T6 caliper bracket and stainless steel hardware.

Not long ago Shannon Davis, of “The Chop Shop” (828-635-1189), tested a Metalsport 18-inch rotor and caliper set on a trip to Daytona and found it to be the best 18-inch brake he had ever used.

When asked for comment, Ron said “Quality is over the top, our engineering team has gone all out on these brakes.” Metalsport claims their new rotor set will outperform any 18-inch rotor/caliper kit on the market.

Metalsport displayed it’s 34-inch Wheel and 18-inch Rotor and Brembo Caliper Sets at the Daytona Bike Week. The question always asked was, “When will they be available?”

The answer is, “They are available NOW!”

The new 34-inch monster wheel and 18-inch rotors are now available in the following styles: Don Juan Torque, Whip, 15-Spoke and Corleone, but can be ‘Special Ordered’ in any Metalsport 2D or 3D Style including the Chip Foose designs. Standard finishes are Chrome, Polished, Black or Black and Machined.

Metalsport also provides 2D and 3D wheel blanks of the finest grade forged aluminum and rotor blanks as well. So you can cut your own wheels if you choose.

Check out all their products at www.metalsportwheels.com