Bob Feather knows his way around a camera. Feather has been a professional photographer for over 16 years and is currently a staff photographer for both American Iron and RoadBike Magazines.

Feather shares several tips on how to take great shots of your bike with Thunder Bob. Get the scoop right 'hear' on Thunder Radio.

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The radio show is approximately 35 minutes.

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Bob Feather[mp3: 5.3M]

In 1998, William Queen was a veteran law enforcement agent with a lifelong love of motorcycles and a lack of patience with paperwork. When a "confidential informant" made contact with his boss at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, offering to take an agent inside the San Fernando chapter of the Mongols (one of the most dangerous gangs in America), Queen jumped at the chance, not realizing that he was kicking-starting the most extensive undercover operation inside an outlaw motorcycle gang in the history of American law enforcement.

Nor did Queen suspect that he would penetrate the gang so successfully that he would become a fully "patched-in" member, eventually rising through their ranks to the office of treasurer, where he had unprecedented access to evidence of their criminal activity. After Queen spent twenty-eight months as "Billy St. John," the bearded, beer-swilling, Harley-riding gang-banger, the truth of his identity became blurry, even to himself.

During his initial "prospecting" phase, Queen was at the mercy of crank-fueled criminal psychopaths who sought to have him test his mettle and prove his fealty by any means necessary, from selling (and doing) drugs, to arms trafficking, stealing motorcycles, driving getaway cars, and, in one shocking instance, stitching up the face of a Mongol "ol lady" after a particularly brutal beating at the hands of her boyfriend.

Yet despite the constant criminality of the gang, for whom planning cop killings and gang rapes were business as usual, Queen also came to see the genuine camaraderie they shared. When his lengthy undercover work totally isolated Queen from family, his friends, and ATF colleagues, the Mongols felt like the only family he had left. "I had no doubt these guys genuinely loved Billy St. John and would have laid down their lives for him. But they wouldn't hesitate to murder Billy Queen."

From Queen's first sleight of hand with a line of methamphetamine in front of him and a knife at his throat, to the fearsome face-off with their decades-old enemy, the Hell's Angels (a brawl that left three bikers dead), to the heartbreaking scene of a father ostracized at Parents' Night because his deranged-outlaw appearance precluded any interaction with regular citizens, Under and Alone is a breathless, adrenaline-charged read that puts you on the street with some of the most dangerous men in America and with the law enforcement agents who risk everything to bring them in.

Not only is this a page turner, but it's in production to become a major motion picture produced by and starring Mel Gibson as Bill Queen. Antione Fuqua, Director of Training Day, will be directing this one so you know it'll be well done and have an edge.

Not sure it'll be on Oprah's book of the month club, but it's definitley on mine!

MTB

Jessica Prokup, editor of RoadBike, talks about the sun, the sand, the bikes and racing. Her trip started with 5 inches of snow and ended with 80 degrees and a sunburn... ahhh, the life of an editor.

She has the 411 before it hits the magazines... don't miss it! Click the left button to start, the middle button to pause and the right button to stop.

Listen Now

It takes a couple of seconds for the audio to begin. The radio show is approximately 30 minutes.

Download
Beach Tales from Jessica [mp3: 4.7M] ]]> http://www.metricthunder.com/mt/2006/03/jessica_prokup.html http://www.metricthunder.com/mt/2006/03/jessica_prokup.html Thunder Radio Podcasts Sat, 25 Mar 2006 07:03:40 -0800 sales@metricthunder.com Save money, save time and get a better end result in creating that custom look for your cruiser by having a plan in mind before you begin.

Although lots of chrome usually always looks great on a cruiser, it's important to remember that your ride should be an expression of the rider and not just a magnet for chrome.

  Thunder Bob gives you more on the design process.

That's why we came up with the Thunder Design Process.

We believe that for any process to succeed, you have to keep it simple. Our process isn't revolutionary however, it does give you some common sense steps to think about that will make customizing your bike easier.

THE THUNDER DESIGN PROCESS

1. Decide on the purpose of your cruiser:

• Bagger for short/medium range cruising
  
• Trophy or tavern to tavern
  
• Muscle or performance bike
  
• Standard cruising
  
• Long distance/touring
  
• Hybrid or multipurpose

2. Choose a theme:

• Pro street
  
• Old school
  
• Bobber
  
• Gangster
  
• Blackout or night train
  
• Modern
  
• Retro
  
• Western
  
• One-of-a-kind

3. Decide on a budget:

• How much are you willing to spend?
  
• Remember that paint, pipes and wheels are highest cost.
  
• Consider labor costs if someone else will be doing the work.
  
• Prioritize what is most/least important to your purpose/theme
  

4. Determine your timeline:

• Decide on a realistic timeline. All at one or in segments.
  
• If paint is part of the plan, allow for..
  
  a. Time to dismantle paint surfaces
  b. Paint theme development
  c. Painters schedule, (build in an extra 1-2 weeks)
  d. Time to reassemble,(double the dismantle time).
  e. Consider that electrical, cabling, handlebars and some other elements are easier to complete while body parts are in paint.
  
  
• Be aware of lead times on key parts such as wheels and custom seats.
  
• Consider seasonality when customizing. Many who live in colder climates like to wait for winter to attack major projects.

It's most important to understand that there is no right or wrong, all that matters is that you achieve the experience you had in mind. Magazines, the Internet and your own travels will become your best source for ideas.

Remember, don't worry that each decision you make will be final or irreversable. There is a very large secondary market out there for well maintained used cruiser parts. If you decide you want to change from a set of drag pipes to a two-into-one pipe, there is a good chance you can resell your old pipes on Ebay or one of the many online bike forums.

Customizing a cruiser is the next best thing to riding one!

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