With a history of posting annual sales losses piling up, the recession hit the Milwaukee company hard and forced it to sell off its holdings in MV Agusta closing down the Buell Motorcycle line in order to keep its core business unit operating.

But in the second fiscal quarter of 2011, Harley-Davidson posted its first year-to-date growth since 2006, and the Motor Company brand continued that trend throughout the rest of the year and finished the last quarter of 2011 with sales up 10.9% worldwide (11.8% in the US) over the previous year, Harley-Davidson finished the year strong with sales up 5.9% worldwide and sales in the United States up a similar 5.8% for units sold.

The total unit volume of 235,188 bikes being sold worldwide broke down to 151,683 units sold in the US and 83,505 units sold internationally, and during Q4 2011, Harley-Davidson sold 40,359 units worldwide while 23,753 of those units were sold to US buyers. Sales were also solid outside the US with 16,606 units sold internationally in Q4 2011. That represents an uptick of 9.7% over the same quarter of the previous year.

Those solid sales numbers meant Harley-Davidson posted some some gains on the bottom line in the bargain. Though they took a $46.7 million loss in net income for Q4 of 2010, Harley-Davidson reported a positive net income of $105.6 million and it was that increase which helped Harley-Davidson quadruple its net income for 2011, as the Motor Company brand made $599.1 million in net income. No small change, that, as compared to the $146.5 million in net income the company made in 2010.

Totaling $4.6 billion in revenue for 2011 (11.6% over the $4.1 billion it hauled in for 2010) Harley-Davidson performance can be attributed partially to dramatic sales increases domestically and abroad, but the real lynchpin of the numbers was the fact that the company saved several hundred million dollars in expenses due to a comprehensive restructuring effort which pushed Harley back to consistent profitability.

The expectations? That Harley-Davidson expects to ship 240,000 to 245,000 bikes worldwide in 2012, and that would be a 3% – 5% increase over last year. For Q1 of 2012, Harley-Davidson expects to ship 58,000 to 63,000 bikes to dealers worldwide to open the year.

It might just be better than that if a couple of new models keep the revival moving forward.

The two new motorcycle models, the Seventy-Two and the Softail Slim, were inspired by what the company thinks is a move by buyers toward favoring a “garage-built” custom motorcycle look. They should be available immediately at authorized Harley-Davidson dealers.

The Harley-Davidson Seventy-Two

Based on the Harley-Davidson Sportster, the Seventy-Two will feature a sparkling, metal flake color option, a solo seat and side-mount license plate bracket, a bobbed rear fender and the whole beast will be moved along by the Evolution 1200 cc V-Twin powertrain finished in gray powdercoat with chrome covers and a new round air cleaner with a dished cover. Also in the mix, a Sportster 2.1-gallon fuel tank, narrow white wall tires, chrome laced wheels, and high mini-ape handlebars. The whole thing is supposed to look like the chopper customs of the 1970s.

Harley-Davidson Softail Slim

This is Harley-Davidson’s attempt to pare a Softtail chassis down to essential elements along the lines of the custom bobbers of the 1950s. Featuring a trimmed-down front fender and a narrow rear end, a solo seat and very little chrome. Hollywood handlebars and a headlight nacelle are finished in gloss black, a period “cat’s eye” tank console, half-moon rider footboards, and gloss black wheel rims and hubs complete the hot rod look. Harley’s 1690 cc Twin Cam 103B powertrain will sport polished covers instead of chrome, and the the Softail chassis is set up to ape the clean lines of a vintage hardtail frame. They kept the rear suspension control which is provided by coil-over shock absorbers mounted horizontally and out of sight within the frame. A 23.8-inch seat height and rider foot boards make this bike ideal for a wider range of riders large and small.

Related posts:

1. Harley-Davidson Back In the Game, Sales Up 5 Percent in Q1
2. Harley-Davidson Q2 2011 Results Suggest The Company Ain’t Dead Yet
3. Harley Davidson Recall, Production Problems Plague Milwaukee Firm

Of all the ways there are to ride a motorcycle, riding backwards might well be the strangest, and I’m impressed. I have a hard time shaving in a mirror, so operating the controls of a bike in reverse must be quite a challenge.

I’m not saying I won’t give it a shot some time when the mood strikes – and someone loans me their bike – but I won’t be doing a quarter-mile in 11.71 seconds hitting the trap at 122 mph.

Stunt rider Bob Duffey did that, and he stands alone at the top of the heap as the fastest man on a dragstrip riding a motorcycle backwards. He set the unique record riding his stock 1979 Kawasaki Z1R-TC during an IDBA sanctioned event.

But that’s not enough for the now 62-year-old Duffey, he also has plans to try for a land speed record.

The veteran 60+-year-old motorcycle stuntman was recently scheduled to be the special attraction at the Gene Romero 2012 West Coast Flat Track Series tour in Las Vegas in the hopes that his appearance there would help him drum up  support for his world-record effort.

He rode all the way across the desert on his bike on the way to Vegas, but upon arrival, the show’s promoter’s threw him a curve.

“They suddenly didn’t want me to do it,” Duffey said. “It was very unnerving when they called me in (to an office) and asked me a bunch of questions.”

Why did the show go south? Event organizers said there was an insurance issue and said they wanted to pull the plug on the show.

“They thought I was going to go out there and be an idiot and crash,” Duffey said.

With more than 1,200 performances under his belt, Duffey was pretty confident all would go well. Once the organizers were calmed down and the insurance problem taken care of, Duffey got the green light.

Though the track at the Las Vegas show was only “170 feet from end to end,” Duffey is still hoping his backward-riding skills will generate the interest he needs to put together a show which will feature a new motorcycle speed record while sitting backward on his bike.

“You got to leave them wanting a little more. We got it done in Vegas, and now we see what happens,” he said.

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2. Wow, Riding Motorcycles With Elan and Precision
3. The Kind of Drift I Can Stomach – Motorcycle Drifting and the History of Motorcycle Stunt Riding

You sling a leg over your bike, reach down for the key, push the starter or give it a kick and…no bueno, she does not start!

There’s only one way to know why a bike won’t start, and the process begins with knowing how an engine operates. It also doesn’t hurt to know some of the history of the machine in question.

From there, it’s all trial and error which involves running down the list of possible scenarios putting your theories to the test.

Step one in your personal diagnostic checklist is to review the history of the bike.

• How long did the bike sit idle? Was it a runner before it was parked? Did it start and run just fine yesterday and crap out today?
• Have you done any recent repairs, added some custom parts, messed with the electrical system?
• Has the bike been laid down in a parking lot recently? Taken a detour through a farmer’s field? Been dipped in a local lake?
• Did you notice any strange sounds shortly before the problem happened?
• What’s the weather like outside? Wet? Cold? Incredibly hot and humid?
• Did you fill it up out of a gas can at someone’s garage? Leave it unattended overnight in a bar parking lot while you slept on the pool table inside?

All of these could factor into your thinking, so you have to eliminate the least likely possibilities and focus on the ideas which are the most likely – it’s Occam’s Razor, and can use that kind of thinking to cut through the crap and find a solution to the problem.

If the bike sat idle for a long time, start with that in mind. It started and ran fine when you put it away, but it sure doesn’t now, and that’s telling stuff. The odds are that it doesn’t have any serious mechanical problems. Electrical issues, same deal here, unless someone took their pocket knife to the wiring, not much can go wrong with electrical systems that won’t display telltale signs. Pull the plug wires, lay the plug against the jugs, and check for a spark just to make sure. No spark? No fuego.

What’s left? Bad fuel, my friend. Bad fuel in the tank and carb is the cause of the vast majority of no-start problems. Water in the lines. Clogged fuel filter. Fuel systems have the highest likelihood of failure, and that makes the fuel system a good place to begin your investigation.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking about compression or tearing down your top end to fix a problem caused by a dirty carburetor. Since there are really only three things that make an engine fire – fuel, spark and compression – make sure all those systems are go before you look for a more complicated solution.

Occam’s Razor? It’s your pal, follow the principle.

Fuel Issues

Start by making certain the carburetor is getting fuel. Pop open the overflow at the bottom of the float bowl, and if you have a handful of gasoline, you know you have fuel making to the carb. And look for simple things like checking to see if the petcock is in the open or reserve position. No fuel, you might be facing a bad needle or a seat stuck in the closed position. Rap the side of the float bowls and it might come unstuck before you tear down the carb entirely.

If you do have fuel to the carburetor, and still no start, clear out all the fuel in the tank and lines and try to start and run the bike with the choke on. If the engine conks when you turn the choke off, you’ve got a bad pilot jet and a rebuild kit is in your future.

Got Spark?

Pull a plug out, leave it in the cap attached to the plugwire,  and ground the threads to something ferrous and metallic – aluminum parts won’t do the trick, pard. Kick the motor over or hit the switch and if you don’t see a bright blue spark, a decent 1/4″ gap, and a clean ceramic, you found your problem. If the spark plug fouled and coated with oil or gas, move on to test your coil. If the coil is giving you some output, you’re into something heavier like a pickup coil or a bad CDI box. If you think the CDI box is bad, don’t even bother to try and test it, just find a new one and install it. They don’t come cheap, so check every other possibility before you take that kind of step.

Bad switch? Could be. Test it by unplugging it and looping the connection to make it hot and check for spark again.

No Compression

Pull your spark plug and hook up a compression test gauge. Open the throttle and kick the motor until the dial stops moving, and if you have anything over 100psi, you’re probably good to go here. If you have no compression or a very low PSI reading, you have problems with your piston and rings, and it’s time for a top end rebuild.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that, though modern engines are considerably more complicated than old-school twins, what makes a motor run ain’t rocket science. Fuel. Spark. Compression.

Scott McCrorie of Long Beach, California demonstrates how he kick starts his custom 1939 Harley-Davidson ULH:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Insuring your collectible or vintage motorcycle

As for insurance for your collectible motorcycle? You should be able to get Agreed Value coverage on a classic 1959 BSA Gold Star Catalina valued at $15,000 for somewhere around $25 a month, and that gives you the whole shooting match of coverage.

You can spend a lot less, but if you plan to ride the bikes in your collection, the above pricing is a reasonable approximation of what you can expect to pay.

Related posts:

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2. It’s All About the Diesel – A Primer on Diesel Motorcycle Greatness
3. Top 3 Tips for Buying a Used Motorcycle

Jon Shipley’s “Whiskey Bent,” which sports a copper oil tank fed by some hilland-holler country copper tubing, an antique brass headlight and a wooden bar stool for a seat, took the FreeStyle Class Ultimate Builder winner prize.

“Whiskey Bent,” created by Hoosier Daddy Customs out of Louisville, KY, moves down the road courtesy of a 1000cc 1977 Ironhead V-Twin engine. With a jockey shifter and a wooden handle topped by a shot glass, “Whiskey Bent” is built around a custom frame and the swingarm was stretched to match the lines of the frame, all details which cap off the vintage look.

Shipley put it all together and his stylish effort earned him the three-grand top prize.

Now it’s off to Minneapolis as The Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Shows move north this weekend.

Think your bike has what it takes to compete with the masters of motorcycle customs? You’ve got time to enter your bike in the next round of the show, and you can do it by signing on at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show website here…

Photos by Sam Kanish of Iron Works

Tips for Buying Custom Motorcycle Insurance

Custom motorcycles require the correct insurance coverage package to protect what is, after all, a significant investment on your part .

We’re here to help you find the right motorcycle insurance for your custom bike…

Tips for buying motorcycle insurance for your custom:

• Collision to pay for damage caused to your vehicle in an accident with another vehicle or any stationary object.
• Comprehensive to cover such things as fire, hail, wind, vandalism, hitting an animal, etc.
• Towing / Pickup
• Medical payment or personal injury protection to cover the medical bills resulting from an accident.
• Uninsured or underinsured motorist to protect us when the other driver is at-fault and does not have coverage or assets out of which your bills can be paid.
• Additional coverage to replace or repair accessories specific to your bike.

Related posts:

1. Progressive International Motorcycle Shows Are Heading Your Way And Bringing the Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show
2. The Teutels Vs Jesse James – Bike Builder Cultures Clash
3. Celebrity Chopper Builder Shows Have Officially Jumped the Shark

So how did Kawasaki, a little fish in the shark tank of motorcycle builders, carve out a respectable niche among those titans of industry?

Back in 1960, Kawasaki signed an agreement to take over Meguro motorcycles, at the time a major player in the burgeoning Japanese motorcycle manufacturing business. Meguro was one of the only Japanese companies making a 500cc motorcycle at that point, and in England and the UK, Meguro’s 500 (a direct knockoff of the BSA A7) was universally hammered for being a cheap copy of that classic British machine. It was, in fact, not a bad motorcycle and it was the genesis of the Kawasaki brand. A year later, Kawasaki had produced its first motorcycle, the B8 125cc two-stroke, and in the following year, the company rolled out a series of the two-stroke models ranging from 50-250cc. It was the 250cc disc-valve ‘Samurai’ model that first caught the eye of US buyers, and by 1966, Kawasaki  had developed the 650W1 which took its inspiration from the much-loved BSA A10.

So much for the history, but how did Kawasaki manage to remain competitive against larger rivals in the motorcycle game. The KZ 900 superbike kept them on the map, but according to one theory, though I’m more inclined to think it’s simply because they managed to build a better mousetrap, they did it with their social media prowess.

In this episode of Behind the Brand, Kawasaki’s chief marketing stud, Chris Brull, gives you some insight on how Kawasaki take on the challenge of getting the word out to customers.

According to Brull, his team uses social media to monitor their brand, the industry in general and to take the pulse of digital media and how it affects the business world overall.

Brull says Kawasaki uses social media to revitalize traditional marketing techniques like in-person product demos and they use mobile technology to be accessible to customers twenty-four-seven.

Related posts:

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2. Tim Rhotig Burns A Strip Down the Middle of the Nurburgring on a Kawasaki ZX-10R
3. Aussie Rules – Chris Hunter of BikeEXIF Video Interview

Starting out life as a humble and decidedly unattractive Honda GL1000, this machine is a testament to what an ingenious custom motorcycle builder can do with the most humble of raw materials.

El Vaquero keeps racking up the accolades, and this time around it took both the Retro Mod Class and People’s Choice award at the Cleveland Progressive International Motorcycle Show.

Honda sold an entire battalion of the venerable Honda GL1000′s, mostly to old guys who appreciated the homely machine for it’s tame, predictable handling and a motor which ran all day with a quiet, buttery smoothness on long hauls.

The one thing the Gold Wing never had was, well, any semblance of sex appeal or danger.

It does now, thanks to a handful of builders who’ve taken the old boy out for a makeover.

This version, the Blacksmith Motoring ‘El Vaquero,’ started out looking like this:

…and ended up, after the application of style, BS&T and some beautiful paint and metal work, like this:

Seeing something this magnificent made from one of the ugliest bikes ever to run down the road should give hope to every mullion on God’s Grey Earth that beauty really does reside within. The guys at Blacksmith even managed to make the World’s Most Ungainly Motorcycle Tank look fine.

Though if I have any beefs with this machine, and truth be told I have only one, it would be with the seat. A ride this slick deserves a little more glory applied to the place one drops one’s ass – particularly given the comfy-as-a-sofa legacy of the original donor bike.

Other than that, I think El Vaquero sets the standard by which all Gold Wing customs ought to be judged going forward…

Blacksmith Motoring
Round Lake, IL
Phone: (888)740-2077 ext. 12
By Appointment Only
sales@blacksmithmotoring.com

Leatherwork Service
Phone: 888.740.2077 ext. 11
leatherwork@blacksmithmotoring.com

Blacksmith Motoring NV
Minden, NV
Phone: (888) 740.2077
Mon-Friday 8:30am to 5:30pm
info@blacksmithmotoring.com

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Will that gut-moving experience be the same on a machine powered by an engine which runs – and sounds – as smooth as  modern sewing machine?

Probably not, but there’s no use pining for the old days; the inevitable future now looms large on the horizon and it’s coming like a nearly silent freight train down the tracks to a motorcycle dealer near you.

Electric motorcycle makers failed to wave the flag at the recent Progressive International Motorcycle Show in New York, but the count on the plug-in bikes to gain popularity by leaps and bounds in the next few years. One analyst who covers the market says it is so, so let it be written. At this point, few Americans ride electric motorcycles as only about 1,300 units were sold in this county last year. Dave Hurst, a clean technology expert with Pike Research, thinks sales of electric motorcycles will grow to something over 30,000 by 2017.

It’s pretty likely that anyone who currently owns an electric motorcycle also have a stable piston-powered bikes, but the lure of the new technology (and perhaps to a lesser degree, the eco-friendliness of electric bikes) will prove appealing to motorcyclists in the coming years as battery technology and performance improve, at least, according to Hurst.

So who’s leading the pack in the electric motorcycle manufacturing race right now?

Zero Motorcycles seems to be poised to push the field. One of the top electric motorcycle manufacturers selling in the United States, the company’s bikes made in Santa Cruz, Calif., are priced at between $7,695 and 11,495. The demographic for Zero’s customers skews a little on the elderly side at between 35 and 50 years old, and it’s the price of what is still essentially a toy that means only the affluent are the target market.

Zero doesn’t disclose exact sales figures but they do say their premium and longer-range models – those with a range of 114 miles per charge – are the most popular.

“Right now, the folks that are buying these are wealthy enough that the cost isn’t a major concern,” says Hurst. “I do think that the cost is definitely going to become a issue as you try to reach a broader audience.”

One company set on stepping into the marketplace in that lower-priced segment, a New York-based firm, Evolve Motorcycles, plans to fill the gap with a line of plug-in motorcycles and scooters to serve a less cash-heavy buying public. Benjamin Plum, Evolve’s founder, says Evolve are nearly ready to ship their version of electric scooters to nearly a dozen dealerships across the country and they plan to offer an electric motorcycle within the next couple of years.

“The motorcycle market is actually shrinking in some areas and expanding slower than the scooter market due to the worldwide economic climate,” says Plum.

Evolve scooters can be had for between $2,900 and $6,900, and while that isn’t exactly cheap, Plum says he’s hoping lower prices might draw first-time motorcycle buyers.

According to Hurst,  dealerships that sell electric motorcycles will get a boost from simply having them on the showroom floor. Zero currently numbers 43 dealerships on their list in North America and expects more to sign on by this spring.

“Traditional power sports dealers that would handle a Honda Goldwing or something like that have been sort of shying away from them, but we’re starting to see that turn,” Hurst said.

In the performance electric motorcycle market, another American company, Brammo, is making some waves.

“Brammo and Zero have really been focused on some specialized markets,” Hurst said.

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2. Electric Motorcycles You Won’t Be Embarrassed to Ride
3. Has the Electric Motorcycle Gotten A Foothold in the Market?

Al Crocker built such machines.

The Legendary Crocker Motorcycle was the king of the road.

A Crocker was built with a heavy duty cycle  – and maximum performance – in mind. Each bike, like a Hong Kong suit, was custom-tailored to the individual rider’s specs and built entirely in Al Crocker’s own facility. Riders could choose color, the level of chrome trim attached, and had a choice of which gear ratio and displacement setup would work best for his or her needs.

Al Crocker founded Crocker Motorcycles in 1936 after spending more than 20 years honing his skills engineering and designing bikes for Indian. Crocker and his former foreman at Indian, Paul Bigsby knew from their experience in the industry that they had the know-how to compete in the market.

And they had something more important than experience. They had a vision of what a motorcycle should be…

Starting with hand-wrought speedway race bikes, Crocker and company gutted the competition of the day by setting new high-water marks for performance and quality. That new standard outpaced the efforts of  Harley-Davidson, Indian and damn near everyone else a long stretch of  years. Crocker was the standard by which motorcycles would be judged until 1942 when the company folded in the face of material shortages brought on by the war and an attendant economic slowdown.

But for their efforts (and only around 100 bikes came out of the factory in the company’s heyday) the Crocker’s that did exit the factory floor are now among the rarest and most coveted motorcycles on the planet.

During a MidAmerica Auctions motorcycle sale back in 2007, a 1941 Crocker big tank brought $230,000 and in 2006 a 1931 Crocker 61 sold for $236,500. A 1937 Crocker “Hemi-head” V-Twin sold for $276,500 and a 1939 Crocker 61 cubic-inch side valve model brought $200,000 during roughly that same time period.

So what made Crocker motorcycles such an object of desire among motorcycle aficionados?

A Crocker transmission was built to handle the massive amounts of torque his unique proprietary engine design could crank out, and a meticulously engineered three speed transmission moved the bike to unheard of speeds. Crocker was confident enough in his engineering prowess and manufacturing skills that he offered to refund the entire purchase price to any buyer who was beaten by a rider on a factory stock Harley or Indian, and he never had to make good on that promise.

A Crocker would do zero to sixty – in first gear – and in times that left the competition in its wake. The stock hemi-head bikes cranked out 60hp and were capable of a top speed of 110 mph, and no other machine on the market at the time came close to that kind of performance.

Utilizing a  3.25″ bore and 3.625 stroke, the 61 cubic inch Crocker engines looked like a beautiful cube. The cylinders were set 45 degrees apart and the compression ratio was 7:1 on most machines (and 11:1 certain custom bikes), and Crocker’s were designed to be customized. Massive cylinder walls 3/8-inch thick were made to be over-bored and some customizers managed to create Crockers boasting 90 cu. in. of pure, unadulterated horsepower unparalleled for the times.

Crocker Motorcycles has, in a sense, reemerged in back 1997 and began by producing parts for one an American restorer. The re-invented company officially incorporated Crocker Motorcycle Company in January 1999 and has been producing reproduction bikes. They’ve also, back in 2007, created a modern homage to founder Al Crocker, the C4 Concept.

Designer Daryl R. Tearne came up with the fourth model in the history of the Crocker marque (following the Speedway, the Small Tank and the last of the original breed, the Big Tank) and says the C4 was an attempt to build a modern Crocker the way Al Crocker would have done it today. Tearne says using Penske suspension, this new Crocker will make the company -like its forefather – capable of offering a custom fit for any customer. A single-sided rear swing arm, alloy accents taken from the Big and Small Tank originals and other touches complete the picture for the built-to-order offering by this latest incarnation from the Crocker Motorcycle Company.

Related posts:

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2. How Can A Small Motorcycle Company Crack the US Market? Make Bigger Engines
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And for a motorcyclist, speed, the alluring curvature of a winding road, a killer bike, and some choice leather are likely more important than all the money in the world. For those with the fire of the road within them, taking a long lusted after road trip brings about a certain, specific liberation and the wind in their hair.

Whether you’ve surrendered your life to the call of the pavement, or you’re just a newbie trying to be a badass, these 10 road trips will help you decide where to grip the road on those ever-enticing steel-cut death machines.

1. Rocky Ramblers Ride
   Best for novice riders, or for those in pursuit of an unparalleled view, Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park is the true highlight of this road trip. Begin your journey in Estes Park, Colorado. Stop for breakfast in Steamboat Springs, and make your way through Durango and Aspen, soaking in the beauty of a mountain pass. If you’re there for more than the mountains, be sure to take in some of the local culture in Denver, one of the cooler (and colder!) cities in America.
2. Rocky Ramblers Ride Redux
   If you have a penchant for cold weather and wide open spaces, try the Rocky Ride Redux. This road trip builds on the previous, but extends through the Northwestern United States and into Canada, and then on to Alaska. Although you’ll probably be freezing this spring, you’ll experience the engrossing solitude of riding through primarily undeveloped areas, as well as some travel outside of the lower 48. Be honest: you know you’re planning to spook some professional sled dogs while popping a wheelie on a glacier. Better hurry before they melt! Just make sure that when in Alaska, you avoid the Bridge to Nowhere. You might find yourself in Narnia or something — and they don’t have the right gas stations.
3. The Motorcycle Diaries
   Here’s how this one works: Buy a beret that’s too small for your head to be considered in any way French. Start in Buenos Aires. Spout Marxist revolutionary epithets. Take a friend. Write a book. Change the world. Become a hipster T-shirt icon of the future.
4. Dessert Sessions
   Avoid the summer’s Burning Man crowd, and speed your Bonneville elsewhere than Black Rock City in the spring. While flowers are budding everywhere else in the U.S., find yourself in the desert of the American West. New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada all have great expanses for avid bikers, and the heart of the motorcyclist’s spirit rests in the playa dust. A great road trip for the beatnik biker, have your own Fear and Loathing moment when you pack up a saddlebag full of your drugs of choice (legal ones, of course). Make sure to bring a journal, so you seem a teensy bit more legit.
5. Davvero, Ducati?
   Challenge yourself to new heights! Well, maybe not heights, but you will have to deal with a different language, crazy road signs, and an unfamiliar set of laws. For a medium difficulty road trip, hop on a Ducati and bid Italy a bawdy buongiorno. Whether a speed demon or a languid traveler, Italy has it all. For a weekend (or longer) stop-off, enjoy the astounding arts scene in Florence. Tour through the rest of Tuscany in the spring for the beginning of the sunflower season. Ride in Lake Como (a little-known stop for avid motorcyclists) and elect to skip Rome. Because all roads lead to there, it’s a bit difficult to ride on ‘em.
6. Botswana by BMW
   A great place to take a BMW bike, start out your African tour in Botswana. Africa has long been a haven for bikers on a pilgrimage, wanting to see big game and big sights. You won’t want to miss Victoria Falls (best accessed on the Zimbabwe side), one of the seven wonders of the world and arguably the most beautiful place on the planet. Try a tour along the entire South Coast of Africa, and be sure to log some time in Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Zambia — all historically life-changing destinations for big, bad bikers.
7. The Lewis and Clark
   It’s totally possible to recreate the Lewis and Clark Expedition in its entirety. And it’s even cooler to do it with motorcycles instead of coon-skin caps and a secret order from Thomas Jefferson to explore the American West. (OK, maybe not.) More for the history buff than the buff biker, this is a great road trip for either a beginning motorcyclist or beginning professor.
8. Moto Guzzi Euro Sex Tour 5000
   If you’re a true bike fan, you love the Italian cafe cycles. The Moto Guzzi is first of these in design, handling, and structural efficiency. When taking a road trip on this little number, you’ll definitely want to dress really metro and enjoy some spring fever in Europe. Your best bet here is a tour through anywhere in Western Europe, as long as it involves some little cities and a lot of romance.
9. Royal Enfield Asia
   You’ve got to be careful about motorcycle laws in China, India, Bhutan, and Nepal — but if you do your homework, you’ll be in for the time of your life. The best bike to ride around these countries is the Royal Enfield Classic, and, while tours are fairly common, you’d be better off learning how to get along and navigate these countries on your own. Not only will you have a sweet bike to glide through exotic and beautiful places both urban and rural, but you’re also in for the treat of your life when mingling with the amazing locals and learning to gratefully (and gracefully) inhale other cultures.
10. The Lizard of Oz
    It’s a land of barbecues, bushpeople, and bikers. A favorite destination of traveling Westerners, Australia and New Zealand are also a magnet for the advanced motorcyclist. Kilometers upon kilometers of sharp turns and motorcycle-specific warnings, there’s nothing more dangerous and electrifying than the thought of a few days in the outback, then a relaxed few days on the coast. Where else can you see whales while you wheel? With a genuinely sweet populace, and an even sweeter pub scene, there’s really no place like Oz.

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2. The Top Fifteen Motorcycle Riding Trips in the USA – And Our List of Hidden Gems
3. Women Hit the Road In the Harley-Davidson My Time To Ride Video Series

What your motorcycle’s suspension is supposed to do is pretty simple stuff. It’s meant to absorb shock from bumps and potholes in the road or ruts out in the wild, keep the tires in contact with the road surface and maintain as close as is possible the overall geometry built into the chassis of your bike while all that’s happening.

So on to some basic terms which are used to explain how a motorcycle suspension does its business.

SPRING RATE is the amount of force (or weight) necessary to deflect (or compress) a spring a given distance. This value is generally expressed as lb/in (pounds per inch). If a force of 300lbs is applied to a spring and it compresses 3 inches, that spring can be said to have a 100lb/in “spring rate.”

TRAVEL is the distance the center of a wheel can move from full extension to full compression of the suspension components.

STATIC PRELOAD is the amount a spring is compressed while it supports the chassis when the machine is at rest.

SAG is the amount (distance in mm) the front or rear suspension moves when the bike is in an unweighted state.

LOADED SAG is the amount (distance in mm) the suspension can travel as a rider sits on a bike.

COMPRESSION DAMPING refers to the speed at which a spring can be compressed when a sudden shock is applied to the suspension components.

REBOUND DAMPING refers to the speed at which a spring extends following a shock to the suspension.

RIDE HEIGHT is the distance between the rear wheel axle and a fixed point on the chassis above, generally measured at the top of the seat position.

FORK HEIGHT refers to the amount the tops of the fork legs protrude through the top yoke or triple tree clamp.

STEERING HEAD ANGLE refers to the angle to which the steering head axis deviates from vertical. This number is larger for chopper style bikes, smaller for standard setups and is measured in degrees and often referred to as “rake.”

TIRE PRESSURE can either mask or exaggerate what could be mistaken for suspension problems. If a rear tire is under-inflated you will certainly feel that the back end of your motorcycle squirms when you lean the bike hard over and then again when you apply power on the exit of a corner.

This condition is also present with too soft a spring or not enough compression damping, but an under-inflated rear tire will often mimic some of the feel characteristics of a badly set-up suspension. Before you start tinkering with your suspension setup, make sure you use an accurate tire pressure gauge to inflate (or deflate) your tires to reach the manufacturer’s recommended pressure. It’s pretty easy to find, just read the recommendation on the side of the tires.

Via: MotocrossGear.com

Additional Reading:

• Motorcycle Mechanics Institute,The Complete Guide to Motorcycle Mechanics, 1984 Prentice-Hall, Inc., ISBN 0-13-160549-6
• Motorcycle Mechanics Institute,The Complete Guide to Motorcycle Mechanics, 1984, Prentice-Hall, Inc., ISBN 0-13-160549-6
• Wilson, H. The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle Dorling-Kindersley Limited, 1995 ISBN 0 7513 0206 6
• Wilson, H. The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle Dorling-Kindersley Limited, 1995 ISBN 0 7513 0206 6
• Wilson, H. The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle Dorling-Kindersley Limited, 1995 ISBN 0 7513 0206 6
• Motorcycle Mechanics Institute,The Complete Guide to Motorcycle Mechanics, 1984,Prentice-Hall, Inc., ISBN 0-13-160549-6
• Motorcycle Mechanics Institute,The Complete Guide to Motorcycle Mechanics, 1984, Prentice-Hall, Inc., ISBN 0-13-160549-6

Whether you ride a sport bike or an American cruiser, you need to make sure your insurance coverage fits your style of riding and the bike you do your riding on.

We’re here to help you find the right motorcycle insurance, whatever you ride…

Tips for buying your motorcycle insurance, coverage you need:

• Collision to pay for damage caused to your vehicle in an accident with another vehicle or any stationary object.
• Comprehensive to cover such things as fire, hail, wind, vandalism, hitting an animal, etc.
• Towing / Pickup
• Medical payment or personal injury protection to cover the medical bills resulting from an accident.
• Uninsured or underinsured motorist to protect us when the other driver is at-fault and does not have coverage or assets out of which your bills can be paid.

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While I don’t have a problem with folks riding a stock machine, there’s just something about seeing a bike someone has lovingly mangled and managed with their own two hands that pulls me in to the story line.

It’s one thing to see that kind of stuff happening in the home of the custom motorcycle culture – the Good Ole US of A – it’s another entirely to read about someone who’s done the custom deed to their bike in a society where such “antisocial” activity is a little more rare.

Case in point, this machine, The Firestarter from “Mountain Ram” in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

When Ram sent me the photos of what was once a bone-stock Harley XL883 Sporty, I was digging it, but when I looked at the background of the photos, I saw something I found more interesting – some native plants and architecture that didn’t look California, Texas or Florida to me.

And I was right on that score, so I asked a few questions to get to the heart of the matter.

First, I wanted to know if there were more in “production,” and the answer was “there are no more like it on the lift, because there was never a lift to begin with. This is a humble ‘garden garage’ build just at the entrance of our building.”

And Ram offered some other details about his build as well.
“‘Firestarter’ is my first custom project, based on a brand new 2008 HD Sportster XL883R,” he wrote. “I – along with my brother – make up a visionary joint more than a full-fledged garage and workshop. The way it all started was through an article featured in another custom-enthusiast magazine (Hot Bike) on a $1,000 budget built custom. Visions in my mind toggled back and forth between bobber, chopper, or cafe racer. This ‘virtual’ designing and scheming in my mind took quite a while, before it finally reached the vision of the finished bike. That vision kept flashing back in my mind, until it was anchored there; unchanged, unaltered. That’s when I knew that this is the design I was set on, and that I had to start implementing it.”

So there you have it. Why build a custom bike? Because if you have the Jones, there’s no other option.

What got Ram going on the idea of a custom bike build? The same set of parameters that got most of us hooked.

“I was infatuated with the hot rod and rat rod cultures, and wanted (this bike) to be the opposite of everything the Nightster was,” he said. “If the latter had dragbars and was slammed down low front and rear, I wanted the R to have a taller front end with high apes. The Nightster was clean and refined, and I wanted the Firestarter to be ratty, raw, and unfinished. Rock’n'Roll played an important part in influencing – let’s say – the attitude of the bike. To me, nothing spelled in-your-face rebel recklessness more than The Prodigy’s Firestarter song. Frontman Keith Flint’s punky attitude in that video was what I wanted my ride to be.”

So there you have it, the classic formula. Outlaw feel, rock and roll attitude; something bordering on pure anarchy in the UAR.

So how did Ram select the details which went into creating his vision of a Sporty where the factory look was left far, far behind?

“I refused the fairing made specifically for the Sportster and some Dyna models offered by Harley Davidson, and I was obstinate in wanting a Nightrod fairing, due to its slimmer, more streamlined profile,” Ram says. “For the paint scheme, I wanted a scheme that came from Black Label Society guitarist and vocalist Zakk Wylde’s infamous guitar with the swirl, so that’s where I went with the colors.”

Some of the other selections, like customizing a dropdown bracket to lower the ChopperShox mini shocks and seatpan about 1″, fabricating a bracket to hold the Nightrod’s headlight fairing; chopping, modifying, reshaping and louvering the rear fender and cranking out a custom made sissy bar which completes the chunky look, were pure Ram. Some bits, like a No School Choppers 40X taillight, required custom modification to fit properly without hitting the Biltwell 10″ rigid struts, ignition hop-ups, one-off custom modified mufflers and a custom Chopper Dave x66 air cleaner and SE neck assembly put the icing on the cake.

The shifting is handled jockey-style using a pistol grip Hurst and a LaBriola foot clutch. Does it get any hot rodder than that?

So what’s up next to take a slot on the lawn in front of Ram’s house in Jeddah?

“A cafe racer project is simmering in my mind; the final installment to my Sportster trilogy, and then maybe I move to what will probably be my first ground-up build, hopefully to be entered in the AMD custom bike world championship of…. 2015, to be realistic,” he said.

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Campbell was convicted of murdering Lagasse during what he claimed was an accidental shooting outside the Forbidden MC headquarters in Torrington, Connecticut back in 2008. Campbell now faces 25 to 60 years in prison which will be determined when the 57-year-old is sentenced April 10. This deliberation marked the second time Campbell went on trial for killing Lagasse; the first trial ended in a hung jury.

Witnesses said the dustup that led to the shooting of Lagasse came about as a result of a fight the victim had with Campbell’s brother over full-patch status for a new club member. According to Campbell, he pulled his gun on Lagassee in self-defense – and it fired by accident.

What sealed the deal for the jurors? Eyewitness testimony by club member Eugene Thebarge III contradicted Kevin Campbell’s tale in every way. Campbell told the jury that Thebarge was standing by and pounding a set of brass knuckles into his open palm as Lagasse whipped on his brother, James Campbell. Campbell said Lagasse then kicked James Campbell while he was face down on the ground and rained down a series of 10 punches to the back of his brother’s head before he drew his gun and stepped in to stop the beating.

“The second time — I yelled, ‘Stop,’” Kevin Campbell said. “And he said, ‘You want some too, b****?’”

Campbell said he pulled his .38 pistol when Lagasse charged at him as a matter of self-defense. Lagasse managed to knock Campbell to the ground, the gun went off and he Campbell said he saw Lagasse fall backwards, grabbing at his throat and chest.

But that’s not the story Thebarge told. Thebarge told the jury that Campbell shot Lagasse after the club president landed one punch on James Campbell. Thebarge testified that Kevin Campbell said, ‘You’re a dead man” before shooting Lagasse.

The prosecution played up the fact that Kevin Campbell is a deer hunter, a former Marine and a National Rifle Association member.

“I didn’t want anyone to die that day,” Kevin Campbell told the prosecutor.

For his part and his testimony, Thebarge was unapologetic and unequivocal in his take on Campbell’s actions and conviction on his Facebook page:

Ok you low life f***** piece of s*** you got your just deserve!

I never wanted to witness it. Wished at times i never did.I could have lied and said “I didnt SEE anything.But i f***** did. I saw it all. thanks to a lying scumbag f*** who couldnt control his temper and murdered a friend.now you are charged truthfully.I never got a deal. I didnt lie to save my own skin. you did .All i did was tell the f****** truth.and now im damned for it?Bullsh*** , end game M***** F*****.And anybody wanting retaliation. Bring It! I am able and willing to do whatever is necessary to defend myself ,and my family.Buy any means necessary.If anyone is stupid enough to f***with me.They will receive my WRATH.
Now I know in my heart Rolys family has justice.I did as i promised you the horrific night you lost your Dad Craig. Remember?I told you I would tell the truth. I will give you and your sister justice.I kept my word.Because I was raised to believe that a man is only as good as his word.And my word stands like Iron. Believe that. If I die tomorrow. My conscience is clear.God knows me.And he knows the truth as well.
Rose,you now can rest your mind, I hope? Roly received justice.may God rest his soul.I Love You sweetheart.And Im ready to break bread with my favorite Italian lady soon.

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Well, we are, and we’ve gone and done the deed. The winner of the Free Motorcycle Cover Contest is…drumroll please, Doctor:

Nick Barrett!

And there it was, something for nothing, my friends. My lovely wife selected the winner via her own secret methodology (which, without giving away all the secrets, involved her finger and a  hastily-fashioned blindfold).

So Nick, enjoy the cover…and do the right thing and send us a photo of your bike under the cover once it’s delivered.

So even though you didn’t win, you might want to go to our Facebook page, our Twitter thingy (@ToddHalterman) and give us a little likey-or-RT-love. I mean, after all, it’s surely not our last awesome giveaway and you might prevail in the next contest.

So why did we do this thing we do? Because if you dig motorcycles, we dig you…

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1. Brothers on wheels, Rumble Fish (1983)

   Based on the novel by S.E. Hinton, Francis Ford Coppola’s black-and-white film Rumble Fish stars a young Matt Dillon as gang leader Rusty James and an almost unrecognizable Mickey Rourke as his older, smarter, and weirder brother, The Motorcycle Boy. The motorcycle is a recurring symbol throughout the film, signifying violence, temporality, and transcendence. When, close to the tragic conclusion of the film, The Motorcycle Boy takes Rusty for an impromptu ride on a stolen bike through the dark, quiet streets of Tulsa, their mode of transportation solidifies their bond as blood brothers. Drummer Stewart Copelandof the rock band The Police composed the score.

2. Brando’s gang arrives, The Wild One (1953)

   This film may seem dated and kind of tame, but Marlon Brando’s iconic performance as biker Johnny Strabler defined the visual image of the ’50s-era rebel, influencing fellow actor James Dean and even Elvis Presley in his look for the movie Jailhouse Rock. At the start of the film Brando, riding 1950 Triumph Thunderbird 6T, leads the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club into a small town to check out their motorcycle competition. Soon, all hell breaks loose. When someone asks the leather-jacketed Strabler what he’s rebelling against, he coolly responds, “Whad’ya got?”

3. Bike crash, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)

   Like The Wild One, this too is the story of a rebel and his bike. The rebel in this case is a man-child named Pee-Wee Herman, played by comedian Paul Reubens. While on a road trip to recover his beloved stolen bicycle, Pee-Wee wanders into a biker bar — the private club for a gang called The Satan’s Helpers — and, after inadvertently knocking over all of the gangs’ motorcycles, saves his butt by dancing on the bar to the song “Tequila”. The bikers give Pee-Wee a motorcycle which he promptly crashes into a billboard.

4. “Born to be Wild,” Easy Rider (1969)

   The quintessential ’60s road movie. The film begins with Peter Fonda, dressed in stars and stripes, and Dennis Hopper, dressed in Native American fringe, hitting the road on two loud-as-hell choppers to find America. Both bikes were designed and built specifically for the film by chopper builders Cliff Vaughs and Ben Hardy, following ideas of Peter Fonda. Steppenwolf’s snarling, heavy metal anthem “Born to be Wild” is the soundtrack for this opening scene, and it will forever rock.

5. Che’s life-changing journey, The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

   January 4, 1952, a young medical student named Ernesto Guevara de la Serna hopped on a beat-up motorcycle with his buddy Alberto Granada and began an eight-month road trip through South America. This humble and unreliable mode of transportation brings Guevara, played in the film by Gael García Bernal, in close contact with poverty and suffering throughout a country he had yet to discover.

6. Steve McQueen motorcycle jump, The Great Escape (1963)

   Steve McQueen’s character in the World War II prisoner-of-war drama The Great Escape spends most of the film causing headaches for and attempting to escape from his captors. In the final climatic break-out, McQueen nearly rides a motorcycle to freedom. The final pat he gives to the wrecked bike while hopelessly tangled in barbed wire is one of those gestures that made McQueen a star.

   

7. Every single scene in which Marianne Faithfull rides a motorcycle, The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968)

   “It’s only people who allow themselves to be treated as machines!” In this psychedelic French flick, Marianne Faithfull’s character leaves her newlywed husband, takes off on a Harley-Davidson dressed only in a leather jumpsuit, and goes on a reckless trip in search of love. The movie’s poster image of that suit’s half undone zipper may have inspired Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying. In 1968, with the women’s liberation movement just beginning to gather its momentum, Faithfull’s performance shows that there was definitely something in the air.

8. Jimmy’s cliffside ride, Quadrophenia (1979)

   This powerful film is loosely based on The Who’s classic rock opera Quadrophenia. Phil Daniels plays Jimmy, a teenaged Mod experiencing a serious personality crisis while gangs of Mods and Rockers mindlessly beat each other senseless on the beaches of Brighton. Fancy, Italian-made scooters are all the rage among Jimmy’s Mod brethren, and in the final stages of an emotional breakdown, Jimmy rides a particularly fancy one along the cliffs of Beachy Head. The clue as to whether or not he has sailed over the cliff with the scooter appears in the very beginning of the film, when we see Jimmy at sunset, turning and walking away from the edge of the very same cliff.

9. Buster Keaton’s motorcycle ride, Sherlock Jr. (1924)

   Okay, so there are a few camera tricks here and there, but for most of this crazy montage, it’s just Buster Keaton riding, block after block, street after street, on the front handle bars of a policeman’s motorcycle with nobody in the driver’s seat. Keaton’s stunts prove that today’s CGI is for sissies. The final crash through the wall of the hideout probably put Keaton in the hospital. That said, it’s still incredibly funny. The soundtrack you hear in this clip is a new one created by The Clubfoot Orchestra.

10. Zed’s dead, baby!, Pulp Fiction (1994)

    “It’s not a motorcycle, baby. It’s a chopper.” There’s nothing more stressful, after you’ve just escaped the dungeon of two sadists and narrowly avoided getting killed by the local crime boss, than trying to hurry up your wife so you both don’t miss a train. It’s enough to tear a couple apart and tears are inevitable. But a gentle word with a big hug goes a long way when two people love each other. Having a tricked out chopper ready to go doesn’t hurt either. No doubt these two will make that train. But what will they do with the chopper?

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Though now highly prized for their potential as re-imagined cafe racer machines, the venerable Honda CB 750 was – back in its infancy – the bike that changed the game.

So how did it happen that the Japanese took over the worldwide motorcycle manufacturing industry? To a large extent, it came down to the creation of a single model.

With five consecutive championship titles under their belts, Honda decided to withdraw from the World GP circuit in 1967 with a plan to develop high-performance consumer motorcycles at the forefront of their vision.

While Honda exported more than half of their output back in the mid-60′s, they didn’t make a large-displacement sport bike model which would appeal to the hardcore rider in the U.S.

And it’s not like the honchos at Honda failed to notice that glaring deficiency. Sales of Honda motorcycles in America were flagging in 1966, and the company knew a brand-new worldview was in order. While the company had created the The Dream CB450 in 1965, they were still being outgunned by big bikes from other makers. The CB450 sold well, but for the vast majority of American riders, it just didn’t have the requisite zing and bottom-end torque they craved.

What really drove Yoshiro Harada, the head of Honda product development at the time, was hearing the news that Britain’s Triumph were deep in the development process of a high-performance, 3-cylinder 750 cc engine. With the ante thus upped, Honda laid out plans to compete by creating their own 750 cc engine which would lay down 67 horsepower to overtake the juice you could get from the 66-horsepower Harley-Davidson’s 1300 and the proposed Triumph Triple.

Though Honda was already the industry’s leading maker of motorcycles (due in no small part to the success of the most popular motorcycle in history, the Super Cub) the introduction of the CB750 sought to become the world’s top manufacturer of quality motorcycles as well. They were up against some formidable competition as comparable models from Triumph, BMW, and Harley were already on the road.

So what were the targets? Honda wanted to make a long-range, high-speed touring machine, so they turned to science for answers in the form of a newly-minted paradigm dubbed “ergonomics.”

Those targets included:

• Stability at highway cruising speeds
• A braking system which was reliable and would handle frequent rapid decelerations from high speeds
• Minimal  vibration and noise to fight rider fatigue on long hauls with a rider position which complimented the smoother powerplant
• Lights and instruments which were large, reliable and gauges which were easy to read
• Easy maintenance and servicing for all the various modules of the bike
• Use of top-quality materials and production techniques.

Perhaps the biggest innovation for Honda’s showpiece bike? The adoption of disc brakes. While that design decision proved costly and time-consuming, it was also a stroke of brilliance and one which made the CB 750 a favorite of the serious riding set.

Released to the U.S. public in January 1969, the announcement of the new bike’s retail price, $1,495, was met with stunned silence at a dealer meeting in Nevada. The other shoe had officially dropped. Large-displacement bikes were selling at that time for between $2,800 and $4,000, and the 2,000 dealers on hand for the announcement exploded into applause when recovered their wits.

And they had good cause for their optimism. The CB 750 immediately commanded a premium sales price in dealer showrooms of between $1,800 and $2,000 to get one out the door.

Featuring an integrated crankshaft and metal bearing to replace the spilt-type, press-fit crankshaft with a needle bearing used in previous Honda motors, the CB 750 was a great leap forward in design as well as price.

As great as this new machine was, the company initially had a serious problem. They could only manage to make something like five bikes a day, and that was clearly not enough to meet demand for what had become a major hit with the market. Production was pushed to 25 units per day, and then to 100 units, but that still left an enormous pile of back orders building up under and entirely expected sales landslide.

It became clear that the production of the original sand-molded crankcases would never meet the rate requirements of mass production, so the factory switched over to producing crankcases of a metal, die-cast construction. The bikes were such a hit with the riding public that the production of engines and chassis was moved to a Suzuki factory in mid-1971. The “sandcast” CB 750 models are now fetching prices from collectors of some three to four times higher than their new-off-the-line price back in the day.

But what really made the bikes a smash hit with the public?

Performance.

The factory racing team at Honda R&D took the new machines to compete at a 10-Hour Endurance Race in August 1969 to coincide with the commercial launch of the big bike, and Honda dominated, notching one-two finishes with the teams of Morio Sumiya and Tetsuya Hishiki taking first place and Yoichi Oguma and Minoru Sato pulling in a close second.

The deal was done when rider Dick Mann blew away the field on his CB750 during the AMA Daytona 200-Mile Race run during March 1970. The field was now wide open for large-displacement Japanese bikes, and in 1972, Kawasaki launched the 900 cc ZI to compete on the big-bike stage…and the rest is, as they say, history.

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