Hey,
Yesterday was a milestone day and a challenging day, but at the end of the day all our shit was finally located in the Badlands. Under mild duress I learned and stumbled at operating a Skid Steer to unload crates. We worked with three forklift operators at Dakota Equipment rentals who were able to unload our 1500 pound crates at their yard.
Then, one-by-one they loaded the crates into the 5-Ball Racing Van, and we hauled them to Boulder Canyon, where I unloaded them with the Skid Steer. At the end of the day all our shit was in the Badland, hoorah. We spent the first night with whiskey and sandwiches, and this morning I was able to make coffee but didn’t have any cream, damn.
Here’s the quote of the week from J.J. Solari: The news is 50% hacks accusing people of things and 50% people apologizing for the things the hacks are accusing them off HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Let’s hit the news:
The Bikernet Weekly News is sponsored in part by companies who also dig Freedom including: Cycle Source Magazine, the MRF, Las Vegas Bikefest, Iron Trader News, ChopperTown, BorntoRide.com and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS–
Virginia Looks Into Lane-Filtering for Motorcyclists
Virginia Senator Dave W. Marsden, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, has asked the state’s department of motor vehicles to commission a stakeholder study on the possibility of motorcycle lane-filtering.
“The MIC Government Relations Office is participating in the study,” said Scott Schloegel, senior vice president at the MIC GRO. “Several meetings will take place between now and the end of the year, at which point the DMV will issue a report to Senator Marsden. We’re seeing more states taking an interest in what California has allowed for decades. Oregon’s governor recently vetoed a bill to allow lane-filtering and not long ago, Montana’s legislature passed a bill allowing it.”
Virginia House Bill 1236 failed last year on a tied vote in committee, but it proposed to allow lane-filtering – riding between cars – when traffic is moving at 10 mph or slower and the riders are traveling at 20 mph or less.
–MIC
NEW HARLEY UPDATE FROM JALOPNIK--It seems like everyone is rooting for Harley-Davidson to fail these days, but all it takes is a ride on any of their products to understand how far The Motor Company has come in recent years.
Harley is building not only the best Harleys in history, but some of the best bikes in history. And with the new watercooled dual-overhead cam VVT twin introduced in the Pan America adventure touring bike, Harley has a great modern engine on its hands, ready to drop into a number of new machines.
The next bike, based on the 1250 Custom prototype unveiled last December, is finally going to be shown in production spec on July 13th. While the Pan America uses this 1250cc Revolution Max engine to produce 150 horsepower and 94 lb-ft of torque, you can expect this 1250 Custom to cut power in deference to torque to fit the cruiser vibe of this sporty forward-controls machine. I’d expect horsepower to still be in the low triple digits, but torque will also be bumped above the 100 mark.
This new Revolution platform engine will be replacing Harley’s long-standing Evolution air-cooled motor. That engine has powered the Sportster lineup since time immemorial, and after the old mill failed to meet Euro 5 standards last year, it was canned from the lineup. Harley, therefore, needs to fill its bread-and-butter lineup, and sharpish.
I really liked the character of this engine in the Pan America, finding it quite similar to Ducati’s old 1260S engine found in the Diavel and Multistrada. It was rev happy and smooth from idle to redline, and provided enough power to both get into and get out of trouble.
The Pan America shows that Harley is serious about building competitive motorcycles with competitive prices in the future, and I hope that this 1250 Custom continues that trend.
Obviously, Harley will be aiming squarely at stuff like Indian’s Scout lineup with this new line, and as such, it will likely be priced a little cheaper than the old Sportsters. The Sportster started at just a smidge under ten grand, while Indian sells a stripped-back version of the Scout for just $8,999.
Of course, with the number of special editions and ride types, Harley can craft from just one platform, there will surely be high-dollar high-power versions of the bike as well. Don’t expect whatever the 1250 Custom becomes to be a cheap one.
The 1250 Custom looks much more compact and low to the ground. If I wasn’t quite as pessimistic as I am, I’d be saying that this watercooled DOHC muscle/sport/cruiser is everything I had hoped the VRSC V-Rod would be.
–by Bradley Brownell
Jalopnik.com
Interesting article. I always wish Harley the best. They represent way more than any specific model. They represent the biker lifestyle, Freedom, the code of the west and more.
But I do wonder about some of their decisions. Yes, this is much like the Indian Scout configuration. And yes, it looks like a V-Rod which wasn’t successful. It also looks like the recent FXRD (Drag Racing) model, which also had a V-Rod stance. That model only made it for two years. I would still like to buy one, but that’s another story. This drag racing/V-rod platform doesn’t work for the average biker rider.
On the other hand, the Sportster platform works for so many demographics from entry level, to performance, to flat track, to chopper and touring. It can do anything and as I suggested, it could be the go-to model for user friendly modifications. Just my 2-cents. –Bandit
DIRECT FROM FOX NEWS–Physicist to Tucker Carlson: Climate Change Is ‘Fiction of the Media,’ Not an ‘Existential Threat’
Democrats and their media lapdogs are rabidly hyping the bogus narrative that climate change is an imminent “existential threat” to mankind as part of a cynical move to promote left-wing agendas.
That’s the takeaway from a Fox News interview with physicist Steven Koonin, who offered scientific support to those who believe grifting climate alarmists are flippantly weaponizing this sham talking point to enrich and empower themselves.
“It’s a fiction of the media and the politicians who like to promote that notion,” Koonin said on Fox Nation’s “Tucker Carlson Today.”
Lest anyone dismiss Koonin as “right-wing,” it bears pointing that he was undersecretary for science in former President Barack Obama’s Department of Energy.
The theoretical physicist and engineering professor is currently the director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress at New York University.
Despite the nonstop environmental fearmongering from Democrats and the left-wing media, he said “human influences” are not responsible for natural disasters such as hurricanes and intermittent heatwaves, which are just as common today as they were in 1900.
“The warmest temperatures have not gone up in the last 60 years,” Koonin said.
Koonin scoffed at Biden administration officials such as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and jet-setting climate czar John Kerry, saying they mindlessly parrot the term “existential threat” when discussing the climate even though they don’t understand what they’re talking about.
“I don’t think the science says what … Secretary Pete thinks it says,” he said. “In fact, I can guarantee you he’s never read the science.”
Koonin continued: “Fact, I can guarantee you that Sen. [Bernie] Sanders, President [Joe] Biden, Ambassador Kerry, [Energy] Secretary [Jennifer] Granholm have never read the science — because you need to be a scientist in order to do that. And in fact, when you read it, there’s very little in terms of extreme weather that has changed over the last many decades.”
The physicist also berated the scientific community for not pushing back at clueless politicians and media that are promoting climate alarmism.
Allowing these lies to metastasize in the public consciousness causes unnecessary panic and erodes the credibility of legitimate environmental scientists who don’t endorse this mass hysteria.
“It is a failure of the scientific community not to stand up and say, ‘Guys, you know, you have over-egged the custard. You really need to be much more circumspect in how you talk about this,’” Koonin said.
Environmental expert Patrick Moore, the co-founder of Greenpeace, echoed these sentiments when he asserted in February that there is “zero evidence” that we’re in the midst of a climate emergency.
Like Koonin and some other environmental experts, Moore torpedoed climate alarmism as pseudoscientific propaganda whose goal is to redistribute wealth and usher in a new world order.
“It is clear that the highly exaggerated claims … are not so much out of concern for endangered species as they are a front for a radical political, social and economic ‘transformation’ of our entire civilization,” Moore said during a 2019 congressional hearing.
A BIKERNET SEARCH EFFORT–
There used to be a story on the site of a kid whose dad owned and rode a Panhead. He told the story about how someone tipped it over one day and the dad basically called everyone out but was cool.
They picked his bike up and when the kid said he was surprised his dad didn’t kick anyone’s ass, his dad replied, “I just did.”
Where’s that story hidden at, I can’t find it anywhere.
–Johnny Humble
Tech Editor
Bikernet.com™
NEW FROM INDIAN–Indian Motorcycle is excited to announce its revolutionary heated and cooled seat with the ClimaCommand Comfort Seat for Challenger models.
Like mentioned in the information below, Indian Challenger models, from 2019-2021 the well-cushioned seat provides adjustable heating and cooling for the rider seat and the slightly elevated passenger perch. Riders and passengers can choose from either low, medium, or high settings in both heating and cooling.
Here are some of ClimaCommand Seat details:
Well-cushioned seat includes slightly elevated passenger perch
Adjustable heating and cooling controls for both rider and passenger via Ride Command or seat controls
Three levels of control in both heating and cooling modes
Heated seat settings to stay comfortable when the weather turns cool
Cooling seat settings to minimize sweating and discomfort during warm-weather
Durable, water- and UV-resistant vinyl cover
Easy to clean
Modern, aggressive styling to complement its plush comfort
The ClimaCommand Comfort Seat starts at $1,199.99 and can be found at Indian Motorcycle dealers and online at IndianMotorcycle.com.
NEWS FROM THE BIKERNET BLOG EDITOR–
Have a look at the UK sales top 10 – Harley is competing very closely with the smaller engines of Enfield at 8th and 9th rank respectively.
The top 2 places with Honda and Yamaha suggest the need to commute not using public transport. More expensive Triumph at 3rd place seems to show a clear preference over the American brands.
The complete absence of Polaris Indian is surprising and strange – the other article shows how sales grew for Polaris last year.
UK Motorcycle sales see post-pandemic bounce back
https://blog.bikernet.com/uk-motorcycle-sales-see-post-pandemic-bounce-back/
Polaris factory decisions controlled by Supply Chain Bottlenecks
https://blog.bikernet.com/polaris-factory-decisions-controlled-by-supply-chain-bottlenecks/
Polaris’s retail sales in North America last year grew by 25% from 2019 and increased by 70% in the first quarter from last year. It has hired about 1,000 more employees in the past year, a 7% increase in the workforce.
–Wayfarer
Supreme Editor
Bikernet Blog™
LATEST FROM SUPPORT GOOD TIMES–American veteran, motorcycle rights advocate, magazine publisher, world land speed record holder, author, internet pioneer, Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame inductee, and editor in chief of Easyriders Magazine back in its heyday, Keith “Bandit” Ball’s scope of work and influence has inarguably shaped our love of freedom, speed, and building and riding choppers.
“Over the years I built choppers for friends and for myself, maybe 30 of them. Most of my bikes have been featured in Easyriders, Cycle Source, American Rider, Heavy Duty Magazine, 100% Biker, and others. I never considered myself a pro-builder, just an enthusiast who loves to create something new. I rode to Sturgis maybe a dozen times and in 2001 hit a deer in Wyoming and broke three ribs. I rode on several long road rides to the Smoke Out, rode to the Yuma Prison Run once with the Outlaws and Hangmen, once to help a friend who broke down and once with George Christie before either one of us were in a club.”
In thankful tribute, SGT is honored to present this collaboration with the legend Keith “Bandit” Ball @banditsbikernet and @whiskey_river_art.
TARIFF EUROPEAN NEGOTIATIONS NEWS–Aircraft Dispute Cools Off, Along with Major Threat to Powersports Industry
The long-running tariff battle between the U.S. and the European Union, which threatened to unfairly sweep powersports products and parts into the fray – and potentially, dramatically, raise costs for manufacturers, distributors, and consumers – has simmered down following recent high-level meetings in Brussels, Belgium.
Both sides announced a cooperative framework to address large-civil-aircraft disputes between Boeing and Airbus, along with a five-year suspension of tariffs and a move “away from past confrontation in pursuit of a cooperative future,” according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
“It was great news to hear that the relationship between the U.S. and E.U. has improved and allowed for sensible discussions regarding a proper resolution of the Airbus/Boeing dispute,” said John Hinz, CEO of KTM North America, Inc. “KTM North America, our dealers, and the MIC strongly opposed the implementation of unrelated tariffs that would negatively affect the motorcycle industry, our dealers, and jobs across America. We sincerely appreciate the work of all the trade representatives to resolve the issue without further and additional unrelated tariffs.”
–MIC
LIFE AND TIMES REVIEW— I loved that story about all the shit you went through to get moved. Congratulations on getting married again. Hope it works out well for you this time.
I knew you had a lot of stuff to move but man!! I want to take a trip up that way this summer but not during Sturgis. Would love to help in some way to get that trike on the salt.
You remember I rode up to Bonneville in 2012 when you were running the 45. I would have liked to try different gearing on the 45. Maybe loose the 4-speed entirely to save weight and run an original 3-speed or even a 2-speed Cushman or something. Just ride the clutch on takeoff and roll it on in direct. Maybe that setup Clay Ridley used on his Briggs and Stratton bikes. They would do about 80. Just rambling. Good luck and hope to see you soon.
–Bill May
Departure Bike Works is working on the 45 Bonne Belle, as I write this. I need to check in with them. It had a 5-speed, but you are right, I over geared it when we ran it. We just needed to change the rear wheel sprocket. Damn! –Bandit
TEXAS WEATHER REPORT–
My tire has extra groves underneath, cool!
Found one a tad worse on the Little Red Rigid years back took a video of it. Cause you had to roll the tire to get it all in.
–RFR
Certified Weatherman
Texas region
Bikernet Weather Channel
BULLSHIT HEADLINE OF THE WEEK–
all weather is now climate change. the four seasons are now climate change. the new York times is a snake pit of idiots.
How is it an entity so useless on every level is considered the go-to source for insight and wisdom? Oh wait: journalists are now calling demi lovato “they” because she told them to.
Maybe I should tell them to close their doors and take long walks off short piers, if they’re that obedient. Masks will be optional because I am merciful.
–J.J. Solari
Media Analyst
Bikernet.com™
QUICK, OPEN THE BANDIT’S CANTINA BAD JOKE LIBRARY--Your wife says you never buy her flowers. Is that true?
Me: To be honest, I never knew she sold flowers.
Never sing in the shower! Singing leads to dancing, dancing leads to slipping, and slipping leads to paramedics seeing you naked. So, remember…Don’t sing!
So, if a cow doesn’t produce milk, is it a milk dud or an udder failure?
I’m at that age where my mind still thinks I’m 29, my humor suggests I’m 12, while my body mostly keeps asking if I’m sure I’m not dead yet.
–Judi Green
BRAND New Bikernet Reader Comment!
Oil Transfer Problem on a 2019 Harley-Davidson
https://www.bikernet.com/pages/Oil_Transfer_Problem_on_a_2019_HarleyDavidson_.aspx
Too many issues straight from the H-D factory. $50,000 plus for CVO 2020 M-8. H-D wants you to spend an extra $1000 right away, to see if you’re telling the truth about oil transfer. What a bunch of crapola.
Pulling wrenches for 60 plus years. I can tell when oil level isn’t correct and where it came from. Primary over fill by 8 ounces and tranny shy of 8 ounces. DUH! No wonder H-D is going down.
Three different touring bikes since 2011. I’m done! Next big touring bike WILL NOT be a Harley. Customer service SUCKS at best. Calling corporate does no good. They say we stand behind all our dealers and their decisions. OK See Ya.
— Firedome 55
gscromer@gmail.com
Cooper City, FL
THE ELECTRIC DEBATE–Jumping on the bandwagon Vs Industry Leaders
It’s too early to focus on electric cars only says Toyota
Toyota Motor Corp.’s lineup over the next 30 years will contain a myriad of options beyond just electric vehicles, executives at an annual shareholder meeting said Wednesday.
“It’s too early to concentrate on one option,” said director Shigeki Terashi, responding to an investor’s question about why the world’s biggest carmaker is taking a different electrification route than Honda Motor Co., which is targeting all-electric vehicle sales by 2040.
Terashi, speaking from Toyota’s headquarters in Aichi prefecture, said that in the years leading up to 2050, different options including hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles need to compete against each other so that the company is left with the best options.
Compared with several auto majors including General Motors that aim to exclusively offer EVs in two decades’ time, Toyota is sticking firmly to its stance that non-electric cars will also play a lasting role in global auto markets.
“Some people love battery-electric vehicles but others don’t see the current technologies as convenient,” Toyota’s Chief Technology Officer Masahiko Maeda said. “In the end what matters is what customers choose.”
Toyota’s logic behind taking a slower approach to EVs extends beyond just forecasts of consumer demand. According to some studies, the materials needed to make EVs and batteries could account for a larger share of total emissions than those from tailpipes. The Japanese automaker says it will work to streamline its production processes to lower the cost of producing EVs and other vehicles in tandem.
“When looking at reducing carbon emissions, there’s one school of thought that says we should focus on battery-electric vehicles,” Terashi said. “Including production, use and scrapping-related emissions, “we’re choosing to look at the whole lifecycle.”
–from Wayfarer
Lead Reporter
Bikernet™ International News Desk
NEW FROM S&S — Tuned Induction Air Cleaner
Air flow is everything in a performance engine and naturally it begins at the air filter, Factory units are downright boxy and can be pretty restrictive, so what’s the answer? The new Tuned Induction Air Cleaner from S&S Cycle deals with these challenges with not one, but two air filters mounted to highly engineered runners.
The Tuned Induction system utilizes laser cut tubes merged into a single collector and fed by high flow air filters placed directly in an unobstructed air stream. The end result is maximum performance for your engine and a stylish package as well.
The Tuned Induction system offers twice the filtering area over stock intake systems and increases horsepower and torque across the RPM range. The unique filters are washable and designed to last for years and can be paired with an available rain sock as well.
Available in chrome or black and now in brushed stainless, the TIG welded intake is the perfect solution for the performance and style minded rider. Fitment for most M8 powered models as well as 2008-2017 Twin Cam Touring and Softails. For more info check out the S&S site at www.sscycle.com/updated-tuned-induction
This one is kind of a redux of a system we did years ago. Substantially updated, reduced price and now with fitment for all the M8 models. The TIG welded stainless version is my favorite! ~ DZ
[page break]
DON’T MISS YOUR 5-BALL RACING ORDER—We have vest build for hot runs. They breath and contain two deep gun, glasses, cell phone pockets.
I’ll be signing books and the Flying Piston Builders Breakfast in Sturgis shortly.
Get breakfast, get a signed book, and make a donation to the new riders program.
–Bandit
J.J. REVIEWS CHAPTER 94— Read chapter 94. listen carefully: You have the makings of a first-rate anti-environmentalism satirist. no one is putting this “green” “global warming” shit into novel – as in book fiction novel – form. All it needs is a ton more sarcasm, a little less kindliness and some overarching plot and you could probably become the first biker anti-sustainability, anti-green novelist.
With biker-gang meanness mixed with biker gang humor you could hit the mainstream. I hate to say it, New York Times best-seller list.
I’m not bullshitting you, what the fuck do I have to gain by bullshitting you, your email address? I already have that. thank you.
remember, in a novel you don’t have to worry about your advertisers. It’s its own universe. In a novel you have carte blanche. Whatever that is? Thank you.
You apparently, from what I can see, have a perfect vision of all this mother fucking crap called saving the fucking planet or whatever fucking voodoo slogan is in use this week. And nuke the free-range chickens, FUCK them meandering uncorralled egg layers. Thank you!
–J.J. Solari
You can read more chapters by becoming a Bandit’s Cantina subscriber and supporting our content. –Bandit
SUPREME Quotes from the gray mountain–
“The quality of life that we enjoy also depends on the quality of our thoughts. Enhance it to be your best.”
“Be Happy! Not because everything is good, but because you can see the good side of everything.”
‘It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.’ – Muhammad Ali
“When you start to develop your powers of empathy and imagination, the whole world opens up to you.” – Susan Sarandon
–Wayfarer
Monk in Training
Bikernet™ Cultural Center
BIKERNET NEWS SPECIAL REPORT–
Why Everything They Said About Solar Was Wrong
Solar Panels Will Create 50 Times More Waste & Cost 4 Times More Than Predicted, New Harvard Business Review Study Finds
Three years ago, I published a column at Forbes arguing that solar panels weren’t clean but in fact produced 300 times more toxic waste than high-level nuclear waste. But in contrast to nuclear waste, which is safely stored and never hurts anyone, solar panel waste risks exposing poor trash-pickers in sub-Saharan Africa. The reason was because it was so much cheaper to make new solar panels from raw materials than to recycle them, and would remain that way, given labor and energy costs.
My reporting was near-universally denounced. The most influential financial analyst of the solar industry called my article, “a fine example of ‘prove RE [renewable energy] is terrible by linking lots of reports which don’t actually support your point but do show that the RE industry in the West considers and documents its limited impacts extremely thoroughly.’” An energy analyst who is both pro-nuclear and pro-solar analyst agreed with her, saying “I looked into this waste issue in the past and concur with [her].”
The Guardian said solar panel waste was a “somewhat ironic concern from [me], a proponent of nuclear power, which has a rather bigger toxic waste problem” adding that “broken panels… are relatively rare except perhaps in the wake of a natural disaster like a hurricane or earthquake.”
But when reporters eventually looked into the issue they came to the same conclusions I had. In 2019, The New York Times published a long article about toxic old solar panels and batteries causing “harm to people who scavenge recyclable materials by hand” in poor African communities. In 2020, Discover magazine confirmed that “it is often cheaper to discard them in landfills or send them to developing countries. As solar panels sit in dumps, the toxic metals they contain can leach out into the environment and possibly pose a public health hazard if they get into the groundwater supply.”
Still, each of those articles stressed that some solar panels were already being recycled, and that more of them one day would be, which was what many of my original critics had pointed out. “The European Union requires solar companies to collect and recycle their panels,” noted Discover magazine, “with the cost of recycling built into the selling price.” The solar analyst who accused me of making unsubstantiated claims said the reason “there are few solar panels being recycled to date [is] because most of them are still working fine.”
But a major new study of the economics of solar, published in Harvard Business Review (HBR), finds that the waste produced by solar panels will make electricity from solar panels four times more expensive than the world’s leading energy analysts thought. “The economics of solar,” write Atalay Atasu and Luk N. Van Wassenhove of Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires, one of Europe’s leading business schools, and Serasu Duran of the University of Calgary, will “darken quickly as the industry sinks under the weight of its own trash.”
Conventional wisdom today holds that the world will quadruple the number of solar panels in the world over the next decade. “And that’s not even taking into consideration the further impact of possible new regulations and incentives launched by the green-friendly Biden administration,” Atasu, Wassenhove, and Duran write in HBR.
But the volume of solar panel waste will destroy the economics of solar even with the subsidies, they say. “By 2035,” write the three economists, “discarded panels would outweigh new units sold by 2.56 times. In turn, this would catapult the LCOE (levelized cost of energy, a measure of the overall cost of an energy-producing asset over its lifetime) to four times the current projection.”
The solar industry, and even supposedly neutral energy agencies, grossly underestimated how much waste solar panels would produce. The HBR authors, all of whom are business school professors, looked at the economics from the point of view of the customer, and past trends, and calculated that customers would replace panels far sooner than every 30 years, as the industry assumes.
“If early replacements occur as predicted by our statistical model,” they write, solar panels “can produce 50 times more waste in just four years than [International Renewable Energy Agency] IRENA anticipates.”
The HBR authors found that the price of panels, the amount solar panel owners are paid by the local electric company, and sunlight-to-electricity efficiency determined how quickly people replaced their panels.
“Alarming as they are,” they write, “these stats may not do full justice to the crisis, as our analysis is restricted to residential installations. With commercial and industrial panels added to the picture, the scale of replacements could be much, much larger.”
What about recycling? It’s not worth the expense, note the HBR authors. “While panels contain small amounts of valuable materials such as silver, they are mostly made of glass, an extremely low-value material,” they note. As a result, it costs 10 to 30 times more to recycle than to send panels to the landfill.
The problem is the sheer quantity of the hazardous waste, which far exceeds the waste produced by iPhones, laptops, and other electronics. The volume of waste expected from the solar industry, found a team of Indian researchers in 2020, was far higher than from other electronics.
“The totality of these unforeseen costs could crush industry competitiveness,” conclude the HBR authors. “If we plot future installations according to a logistic growth curve capped at 700 GW by 2050 (NREL’s estimated ceiling for the U.S. residential market) alongside the early replacement curve, we see the volume of waste surpassing that of new installations by the year 2031.”
It’s not just solar. “The same problem is looming for other renewable-energy technologies,” they write. For example, barring a major increase in processing capability, experts expect that more than 720,000 tons worth of gargantuan wind turbine blades will end up in U.S. landfills over the next 20 years. According to prevailing estimates, only five percent of electric-vehicle batteries are currently recycled – a lag that automakers are racing to rectify as sales figures for electric cars continue to rise as much as 40% year-on-year.”
But the toxic nature of solar panels makes their environmental impacts worse than just the quantity of waste. Solar panels are delicate and break easily. When they do, they instantly become hazardous, and classified as such, due to their heavy metal contents. Hence, they are classified as hazardous waste. The authors note that this classification carries with it a string of expensive restrictions — hazardous waste can only be transported at designated times and via select routes, etc.”
Beyond the shocking nature of the finding itself is what it says about the integrity and credibility of IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency. It is an intergovernmental organization like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, funded by taxpayers from the developed nations of Europe, North America, and Asia, and expected to provide objective information. Instead, it employed unrealistic assumptions to produce results more supportive of solar panels.
IRENA acted like an industry association rather than as a public interest one. IRENA, noted the HBR reporters, “describes a billion-dollar opportunity for recapture of valuable materials rather than a dire threat.” IRENA almost certainly knew better. For decades, consumers in Germany, California, Japan and other major member nations of IRENA, have been replacing solar panels just 10 or 15 years old. But IRENA hadn’t even modeled solar panel replacements in those time frames.
IRENA wasn’t the only organization that put out rose-tinted forecasts to greenwash solar. For years, the solar industry and its spokespersons have claimed that panels only “degrade” — reduce how much electricity they produce — at a rate of 0.5% per year.
But new research finds that solar panels in use degrade twice as fast as the industry claimed. And that report came on the heels of a separate report which found that solar panels have been suffering a rising failure rate even before entering service. “One in three manufacturers experienced safety failures relating to junction box defects, an increase from one in five last year,” noted an industry reporter. The “majority of failures were prior to testing, straight from the box.”
Dealing with the problem requires that government regulators clamp down on solar. “A first step to forestalling disaster,” write the HBR authors, “may be for solar panel producers to start lobbying for similar legislation in the United States immediately, instead of waiting for solar panels to start clogging landfills.”
But that’s unlikely since such legislation would significantly increase the cost of solar, and thin profit margins mean that many solar companies would likely go bankrupt. The result is a self-reinforcing feedback loop. “If legislation comes too late, the remaining players may be forced to deal with the expensive mess that erstwhile Chinese producers left behind.”
As such, taxpayers will likely have to subsidize the clean-up of solar panel waste. “Government subsidies are probably the only way to quickly develop capacity commensurate with the magnitude of the looming waste problem,” they write.
None of this means there’s no role whatsoever for solar panels, nor that they are not ingenious machines. Like many others I have long been filled by a sense of wonder in how they convert sunlight, photons, into electrons, and I have solar panels in my backyard. Solar panels power satellites. And they can be an important way to generate electricity in off-grid areas.
But solar panels cannot be a primary energy source like nuclear, natural gas, or coal, for inherently physical reasons relating to the unreliable and dilute nature of their “fuel,” sunlight. Low power densities must, for inherently physical reasons, induce higher material intensity and spatial requirements, and thus higher physical costs.
Even as the cost of solar panels has come down, the cost of producing reliable grid electricity with solar panels has risen, due to their weather-dependent nature, something that became evident in 2018, was recognized by University of Chicago economists in 2019, and was further supported by spiraling costs in renewables-heavy Germany and California in 2020.
The new research on the coming solar waste crisis, along with rising blackouts from renewables, reinforces the inherent flaws in solar and other forms of renewable energy. Over-relying on solar panels, and underestimating the need for nuclear and natural gas, resulted in California’s blackouts last summer. It’s now clear that China made solar appear cheap with coal, subsidies, and forced labor. And in the U.S., we pay one-quarter of solar’s costs through taxes and often much more in subsidies at the state and local level.
And none of this even addresses the biggest threat facing solar power today, which are revelations that perhaps both key raw materials and the panels themselves are being made by forced labor in Xinjiang province in China.
The subsidies that China gave solar panel makers had a purpose beyond bankrupting solar companies in the U.S. and Europe. The subsidies also enticed solar panel makers to participate in the repression of the Uyghur Muslim population, including using tactics that the US and German governments have called “genocide.”
Today, many companies, including Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, buy immense quantities of solar panels with no awareness of their impact. “I tried to bring up this issue [of solar waste] when I worked at Microsoft,” said a former employee. “I was told ‘That’s not the problem we’re trying to solve.’”
The Guardian reporter claimed, “it’s valid to note that end-of-life solar panel recycling and disposal is an issue that we’ll have to address smartly, but unlike climate change, it’s not a big or urgent concern,” but the Harvard Business Review study shows that this was never the case.
The idea that humankind should turn our gaze away from urgent problems like genocide, toxic waste, and land use impacts because they complicate longer-term concerns is precisely the kind of unsustainable thinking that allowed the world to become dependent on toxic solar genocide panels in the first place.
–Michael Shellenberger
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TECH QUESTION OF THE WEEK–
Riding the other day and my wife was curious about how hot my engine, (2016 Twin Cooled Twinkie) got compared to hers as she was pretty uncomfortable.
I realize they run lean from the factory and figured once we had some miles racked up, it may cool off some. Well, yesterday it was only 88 degrees here and after riding 100 miles I checked the head temps on her bike, a 2020 FatBob with the 114 engine. The front cylinder was a scorching 310 degrees! The air filter and oil tanks were both over 150 degrees and the rear cylinder was 240!
In comparison my engines heads get warm but I’ve never seen them over 250 degrees. So, although the M-8 is reported to run cooler, it doesn’t appear to be that way so far.
–Johnny Humble
Texas Tech Editor
Bikernet.com™
BRANDON ROBINSON AND JARED MEES SPLIT WINS AT OKLAHOMA CITY DOUBLEHEADER
Robinson becomes second rider to win two Mission SuperTwins victories of the season; Jared Mees’ 3-straight win streak at OKC comes to an end, but completes 4th career win at Remington Park
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (June 18/19, 2021) – Indian Motorcycle Racing, presented by KICKER, continued its 2021 American Flat Track season with wins at this weekend’s doubleheader at Oklahoma City Mile I and II. Brandon Robinson took first place in Friday night’s Mile I, while Wrecking Crew rider Jared Mees won Mile II on Saturday night.
Robinson was sidelined for the past three weeks, after an injury at Joliet back on May 29. Nursing a bad knee, Robinson dealt with the rough conditions at the Remington Park venue while holding his own. A hot Briar Bauman finished in second place, after back-to-back event wins in Fort Worth and Joliet.
Friday night’s victory marked Robinson’s second of the 2021 AFT season, his first coming at the Volusia Half-Mile I event in March. Robinson’s Wrecking Crew teammate Jared Mees also made the podium on Friday, finishing third.
With a third-place finish last month in Chicago and in Friday night’s event, Mees came into Saturday with a chip on his shoulder. Mees ended up on top of the Mile II event, winning his second race of the season. This win was Mess’ 4th career victory in 5 appearances in Oklahoma City.
The multi-time Grand National Champion Mees got off to a great start from the opening lap and never looked back. Friday’s victor, Robinson, got a great feel for the track but didn’t get a good starting position. Again, Robinson found himself battling the pack and ultimately clawed his way to a second place finish, ahead of Briar Bauman.
Through seven races, Robinson, Mees, and Bauman all have two wins a piece. With second and third place finishes in Oklahoma City, Bauman is still atop of the leaderboard with 114 points. Two points separate Robinson and Mees, who have 107 and 105, respectively. Jarod Vanderkooi, who made consecutive fourth place finishes this weekend, also sits in fourth with 93 points.
The 2021 AFT season will continue on Saturday, June 26, at the Lima half-mile. For more information on Indian Motorcycle Racing, visit IndianMotorcycle.com and follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
KEEP THE BANDIT’S CANTINA BAD JOKE LIBRARY WIDE OPEN—No Mask Required.
Well shit. I think my license might be in jeopardy. And all just because of a stupid state trooper. The conversation went like this, when I got pulled over on my bike:
Trooper: “License and registration, please, I think you are drunk!”
Me: “I assure you, I did not drink anything.”
Trooper: “Ok, let’s do a little test! Imagine driving in the dark on a highway at night, when you see two lights in the distance. What is this?”
Me: “A car.”
Trooper: “Of course! But which one? A Mercedes, an Audi or a Ford?”
Me: “I have no idea!”
Trooper: “So, you’re drunk.”
Me: “But I didn’t drink anything.”
Trooper: “Okay, one more test — Imagine, you drive in the dark on a highway at night, and there is one light coming at you. What is it?
Me: “A motorcycle.”
Trooper: “Of course! But which one? A Honda, a Kawasaki or a Harley?”
Me: “I have no idea!”
Trooper: “As I suspected, you’re drunk!”
Then I started to get annoyed and asked a counter question.
Me: “So… counter question — You’re driving in the dark on a highway at night and see a woman on the roadside. She wears a mini skirt, fishnet stockings, high heeled shoes and only a bra as a top. What is this?”
Trooper: “A prostitute of course.”
Me: “Yes, but which one? Your daughter, your wife or your mother?”
Things went downhill from there and now I have a court date to attend…
–El Waggs
Certified Librarian
Bandit’s Cantina™
ANOTHER New Bikernet Reader Comment!–
CEO of Harley-Davidson, saving the company and the world
https://www.bikernet.com/pages/CEO_of_HarleyDavidson_saving_the_company_and_the_world.aspx
Oh, John, yer sew funnee
–Cap’n Bill
Here, TN
J.J.’S QUOTE OF THE DAY–
This quote is like saying someone is the finest defecator of this generation. Journalism is different from squirting fecal matter out of your anus in that, if anything, journalism is more disgusting.
It gets worse: the quote is from a fellow employee of The New York Times, a paper so enchanted with itself it has the word “the” in its name. There is nothing more fun to watch than two media “news” squirters feuding with each other….via the media: the purses being used as weapons are always from the most chic designers.
–J.J. Solari
KEEP THE BANDIT’S CANTINA BAD JOKE LIBRAY OPEN EVEN IN A THUNDERSTORM—
There was a saint. Anyone could ask him anything on any subject and he had an answer. Ask him the same thing again and again, he always gave an answer and never got angry.
Once I asked him, “Holy Sir, where did you get this teaching of immense patience, focus and compassion?”
The saint looked at me with kindness and said, “Son, I have worked in a women’s clothing retail showroom for 20 years.”
Wife: “Why can’t I see your love for me?”
Husband: “It is asymptomatic!”
I helped my neighbour out with something this morning and she said to me, “I could marry you.”
I couldn’t believe it! You do something nice for someone and they threaten to ruin your life in return.
[photo 10608]
Being on your wife’s social media profile picture doesn’t mean you are special to her.
Even Raid spray has a picture of a cockroach on the can!
–Wayfarer
Logan Cipala Rides to Victory– On a Buell
Winner of the Freemansburg AMA Pro Hillclimb?
Logan Cipala took first place in the AMA Pro Hillclimb in the twin class riding his Buell® 1190HCR! The AMA Pro Hillclimb event held races for three classes: the 450, Twin, and Premier class.
“Speaking on behalf of the Buell team, we are very proud of Logan continuing his 2020 Championship reign, by winning this year’s AMA Pro Hillclimb. Once again displaying the power of his Buell, and as an added bonus to have his brother Luke on the podium with him says Buell can be a family affair,” said Steve Laham, Chief Product Officer at Buell Motorcycles.
We look forward to seeing Logan and Luke competing at round three of the AMA Pro Hillclimb on August 28th 2021, in Scottsburg, Indiana.
About Buell: Buell is excited to have Logan and Luke Cipala both riding Buell 1190HCR’s into victory. The 1190HCR is just the tip of the iceberg for the future of Buell. Buell has a renewed vigor to bring the experience of American performance to the community and motorcyclists everywhere.
Visit the Buell website for more information at: www.BuellMotorcycle.com.
THE LASTEST FROM THE CLIMATE DEPOT–Watch: COVID lockdowns morphing into climate lockdowns – Morano on Tucker Carlson
“Chuck Schumer is urging Biden to declare a national climate emergency. Just like a blue-state governor, he could have emergency powers,” Marc Morano of Climate Depot said on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show last night. Morano continued: “The World Health Organization employees are now recommending these climate lockdowns. …In the UK they’ve proposed CO2 ration cards that the government or employers would monitor your CO2 levels, your energy use. This is the world…A CO2 budget for every man, woman, and child on the planet has been proposed by a German climate advisor. This is what we’re looking at.”
“We have the major UK report that came out; we have an International Energy Agency report that came out… calling for essentially the same type of lockdowns — everything from restrictions on your thermostat to restrictions of moving. You can only fly in a climate emergency when it’s ‘morally justifiable.'”
Morano warned: “They’re going after freedom of movement; they’re going after private car ownership, they’re going after everything it means to be a free person and turning it over to the administrative state.”
–By Marc Morano – Climate Depot
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?—The future is bright. Hang on. This is sort of a strange day.
It’s raining on my crates and lightening is flashing all around. Each crate is full of steel. Maybe I should ground each one.
I would like to spend the night here and then roll into Deadwood and spend the day working on the railing to prevent drunk riders from stumbling over the wall. It’s sort of a metal art project. If I don’t blow it, I’ll take some photos of the project and share them.
We have more content head your way, and as you know being a bike is never dull. I need the rain to blow over so I can test ride the Panhead. Hang On!
I also need to sign up for the Salt Torpedo’s first run to Bonneville.
In the meantime, ride free forever!
–Bandit
