10. If she can do it, I can do it
This was one of the first posts I wrote that tackled my internal struggles of “women only”-type things. My favorite quote (still to this day) is a quote from the Suzuki spokesperson who said “we think [what] we know is that women motorcyclists don’t want to be called women motorcyclists. They just want to be motorcyclists. They don’t want a women’s motorcycle.”

9. I’m richer. Well, my motorcycle is anyway.
Last summer I made a lot of modifications to my bike-mainly because I was having airflow issues. Of course it’s a slippery slope when you start doing mods because once you alter one thing a chain reaction of other things needs to happen. But this post details one of my first adventures of tearing my bike down, drilling out the carburator and putting it all back together.

8. Video Tuesday: Laconia Bike Week 2007
My photo slideshow from Laconia NH bike week last year. I had such a great time, the highlight was riding all the way up Mt. Washington with all of the other bikers. What a view from the top!

7. “You ride your OWN?” (and other famous quotes)
I think the title says it all, some funny ones in there.

6. & 5. Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom Day 1 and Anatomy of the Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom
I’m putting these two posts together because they relate to each other. This was a very fun time from last summer cruising around on this motorcycle.

4. October 14: a day I can’t forget
This post chronicles one of the scariest and most trying times in my life. I truly believe this was fate testing us. I hope we passed.

3. Bikers and tattoos
Two great tastes that taste great together.

2. My first motorcycle love
A fantastic guest post written by Mr. Forrest Frazier.

1. Steampunk motorcycles
Perhaps I’m biased and this is too obvious, but because I love the steampunk movement this is my top pick. Also the most popular post on this site to date.

So now I ask you guys: is there a particular post that you really like from the past year and if so, which one is it and what makes it your favorite?

I know a ton of wrestlers ride motorcycles, in fact Mr. Jesse James built custom choppers for Shane McMahon (son of evil genius, Vince), the Undertaker and Goldberg (you can check those bikes out at West Coast Choppers website if you want to check them out).

I remember when the Undertaker dropped the “Deadman” schtick for a little while and went into full on Amercian-Badass-biker-dude persona. I liked that Undertaker, sans dyed black hair, so I went looking for some videos of that era. Well, I found 2 great tastes that taste great together: “Hollywood” Hogan (the evil version of Hulk Hogan) destroying the Undertaker’s motorcycle during one of the shows. It’s painful to watch this gorgeous bike get destroyed, but wrestling is ultra-sensationalism at it’s best (or worst, however you see fit to view it).

The initial destruction by Hulk Hogan.

And of course, the reaction from the Undertaker. Don’t you love how he gets so mad that he starts kicking the bike? Like it’s going to make him feel better?

Good thing there wasn’t anything red, shiny and candy-like. I’d be all done then!

That’s right boys and girls. The eagerly anticipated (at least by me) Quentin Tarantino produced film, Hell Ride will be in theaters this summer on August 8th. As you know I’ve been keeping my eye out for this movie, my last post was back in January and the first time I wrote about the movie was back in December.

Now, i don’t know how good this movie is going to be, but I’m hoping for high camp factor. I figure with the likes of Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen and David Carradine there’s definitely a good chance!

Instead of me trying to write about it from an outsider’s point of view, I asked him if he’d guest write a post to share with us what was going on in his head through the whole experience. Thankfully, he said yes! I hope you guys enjoy the read as much as I did.
-Liz

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It was an uncomfortable sleep, tossing from side to side on my raggedy sleeping bag. At 4AM I emerged from my tent back out into the fluorescent lights of the conference room and back to confines of my cubicle. Stephen King’s first major e-book Riding the Bullet was set to go live in a matter of hours. The internet was waiting and investors were watching.

During the height of the dot com bubble I daydreamed of being retired at 35 riding through the South West on a Harley with not a care in the world. I had tons of stock options and in no time the world would all be using our e-book product. A few months later I was handed a severance check and a pink slip as our dot com went dot bomb. My millions in stock options were worth about six cents but I still had my dream of riding, a few grand and a clear calender.

I walked into the local Honda dealership with a wad of cash in my pocket and rode out on a brand spanking new 2001 Honda Shadow ACE. After buzzing around town for a week I over packed and headed west looking like Clarke Griswald turned biker. With no real riding experience my riding goals and motorcycle time management were ridiculous and after a few days of 18 to 20 hours in the saddle I pitched my old cubicle tent outside in fresh air on a South Dakota hillside. I finally gave in to Sturgis calling me and along with hundreds of thousands of my close personal friends rode the Black Hills and tossed back a few beers.

My ACE was a champ. As-long-as I lubed the chain before going to bed and shined her pretty before heading out in the morning she never complained. She was my baby and if I treated her right she would take me to places and show me things I only dreamed of before. After my first week on the road with the ACE looking more like a pack mule than a free spirited steed it was time to lighten the load. Stopping at the Sturgis High School where UPS set up a make shift depot I packed up everything but a change of clothes, my maps and cameras. It was a valuable 60 pound lesson.

The next three weeks adventure created biker stories that would be told and retold on later adventures or just swapping tales with fellow riders along my journeys. I rode through the Rockie mountains, across stretches of Historic Route 66 got caught in a hurricane in Texas, saw the biggest ball of twine and all sorts of other things that only motorcyclists would care about.

Eventually I made my way back to New England with summer in my past. When I brought my bike in for service Steve the manager said it was one of the quickest 20,000 miles he had ever seen put on a 750.

Home now I worked during the week and spent my free time keeping my bike in tip top condition for my next adventure. I’d work and save then meet friends on the road. I worked some more and bought presents for my bike. A new sissy bar and luggage rack so the next trip could be two-up. Better springs and progressive shocks so I could take a trip to the Tail of the Dragon in style. All the chrome and all the extras went into that bike. And my ACE gave back. Other riders always complimented my bike and were impressed by the miles I put on. Never any mechanical problems even after being overloaded by 150 pounds and riding through the rain and snow.

As time went on we got comfortable together and began to take each other for granted. I didn’t spend the time I used to cleaning and polishing every nook and cranny. In turn she didn’t give me the power, throttle response and confidence she once did. I still loved her and treated her well but it wasn’t the same. One night I was riding home from work and went down. Luckily I had put crash bars on the ACE and she sustained only minor damage. I on the other hand was laid up for over 6 months.

When you have a motorcycle accident, doctors and nurses are quick to let you know they refer to bikers as “organ doners.” Physical theripasts tell you not to ride again or you might hurt this or that. For me one of my main focuses was getting my ACE back in shape and going for a ride, at least one last ride.

When I was well enough to go outside I would try to detail my bike, neglected no more she was to be the shinyest bike in all the land (or at least on my block). As I recovered I thought about that feeling the first time I took my bike on the highway. All those moments of adrenaline rush and all the wonderful places I’d been on the ACE.

One May morning I hopped on my sparkling clean Honda ACE and with friends by my side hit the road again. I was nervous for about 3 minutes then a rush of emotion came over me and I was happy. I was back.

My perspective had changed, as is often the case, major traumatic events are a catalyst to other life changing decisions. My former girlfriend whom I was pursuing was by my side not to leave, ever. She also decided to take the MSF course and get her own bike even after me being busted up and other friends having accidents.

Over the next few years with my best friend and now girlfriend again riding next to me more adventures were had. The ACE once again got the nurturing it deserved even if it wasn’t the only steed in the stable anymore. She continued to give me all she had and I treated her right, knowing full well that her all was not good enough.

As a rider each experience you have on the bike should make you a better rider. Every time some jackhole takes a left in front of you, it is a learning experience. Different road conditions, weather conditions, sights, sounds, and smells are merely put there for us to learn from and grow. I found that I had out grown my reliable ACE. I want to carry more weight than she can safely handle. I want to have more emergency power on the throttle when that 18 wheeler comes flying up my butt at 90mph in the mountains of West Virginia.

We were at a crossroads. It was time to say goodbye.

This weekend I rode my faithful 2001 Honda Shadow ACE with about 55,000 miles on it into the Harley dealership and made my peace with our separation. I realized my dream of owning a Harley Davidson Road King. My FLHCI is a 2004 with less miles on it than I put on the ACE our first month together. I always said my next bike would be black, but to my surprise it’s silver pearl just like my ACE was, with all the extras I put on my ACE and all the extras I wanted for my ACE but never got around to getting.

As excited as I am to join the collective, part of me is a little sad to see the ACE go. She served me well and doesn’t owe me a thing. If inanimate objects could emote, I hope she would say she enjoyed our adventures together. Hopefully someone as festidious as me finds her some day and is inspired to treat her well. I know she will repay the favor.

“The story is amazing: I could not help but admire his courage, sheer bloody-mindedness and his soul-searching. His insights were deep and this was the aspect of the book that I enjoyed the most…Read her full review here.

From boston.com:

April 21, 2008

GLOUCESTER, Mass.—Sandra Bullock and her husband were unhurt after a head-on crash with a drunken driver, police said Saturday.

The actress and her husband, Jesse James of TV’s “Monster Garage,” were being driven in a sport-utility vehicle Friday night when a station wagon crossed the center line and hit them, said Gloucester police Lt. Jerry Cook.

Both vehicles were totaled, but no one was hurt. The vehicles were traveling 15 to 20 mph, Cook said.

The other car was driven by Lucille Gatchell, who registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, Cook said.

She was held by Gloucester police overnight and released Saturday on personal recognizance. She is to be arraigned Tuesday in Gloucester District Court.

Gatchell did not immediately return a call seeking comment Saturday. Calls to representatives for Bullock were not immediately returned.

Bullock, 43, was “gracious” and concerned about whether Gatchell was OK, Cook said.

The actress, who starred in such films as “Speed” and “Miss Congeniality,” is in Massachusetts filming the romantic comedy “The Proposal.”

“You know, Dr. Evil, I have always thought you were crazy, but now I can see you’re nuts.”
-Austin Powers, Goldmember

I noticed the impact of this trend fully for the first time last summer when I went to bike week in Laconia, NH. Many of the vendors present had large displays of them in all colors of the rainblow, I mean, rainbow. Most common are chrome, gold, brass, pink and most notably, blue. Are they funny? Sure. And they’re also a whole lotta trashy!

If you haven’t seen these before or are curious to peruse the vast variety of nuts out there, allthenutz.com is the online place for you to start. They’re very serious about their nuts. And I love their videos!

But what makes someone put a set of balls on their motorcycle? What statement are they making with a big set dangling off the back? Is it just be a wise-guy? Is it to show off the power and prowess of their fine, steel machine?

“I’m upper, upper class high society
God’s gift to ballroom notoriety
And I always fill my ballroom
The event is never small
All the social papers say I’ve got the biggest balls of all

CHORUS
I’ve got big balls
I’ve got big balls
And they’re such big balls
Dirty big balls
And he’s got big balls,
And she’s got big balls,
But we’ve got the biggest balls of them all…”

“Big Balls”-AC/DC

Apparently a lot of women buy these for their vehicles as well. The pink ones are especially hot, although I’ve never seen any of these on a ladies motorcycle (or car for that matter). Whether you like them or not, these things sell like hotcakes and someone somewhere is making serious jingle off of them. I’m glad I don’t have any kids yet that I have to explain these suckers to!

So what do you think? Trashy fun or distasteful humor?

(sorry for the ads, blame revver.com)

The premise of the show is that Earl has done a lot of bad things in his life and after winning the lottery & then getting hit by a car, he has an epiphany and decides he has to cleanse his karma by righting the wrongs he’s done.

Last night’s show, Stole a Motorcycle, details a night that Earl and his brother, Randy, stole a motorcycle from the OCC guys shop (not a chopper, it was a crappy beater bike that looked like a Sportster) that someone left the keys in. Paul Sr. and Jr. did their typical arguing schtick and Mikey was the jokester who left the keys in the bike. Screen time was short and sweet.

(the videos are from nbc.com, so sorry if there’s ads in them)

The interesting thing is that OCC was also approached to create a My Name is Earl theme bike to be auctioned off for the Make a Wish foundation. If you watch the show, then you can understand how humorous the paint job and plaid shirt seat cover is.

The actors talk about the Teutels’ acting abilities and Paul Sr. talks about creating the charity bike:

If you can try watch the episode either in a re-run or somewhere online. I highly recommend it!

It’s kind of formulaic for a “metal” music video.

• Rock stars: check. (Introduction on the bullhorn by none other than Mr. Vince Neill, Sully from Godsmack and Nuno Bettencourt from Extreme in case you were wondering.)
• Cool motorcycles: check.
• A hip-looking crowd with some hot babes that have big boobs: check.

‘Nuff said. Throw up the horns and rock on with your bad selves!

But something weird happened: I finally found my groove, my posts started getting attention and I found not only was I enjoying the whole blogging thing, I was “meeting” a lot of other my fellow biker bloggers and people who were becoming regular readers and I was also getting great blog reviews and awards from my blogging peers.

I didn’t really know the first thing about blogging. I’d kept a personal journal but a motorcycle blog is different. How would I find people to read my blog and who would care anyway? Through some cool blog communities like BlogCatalog I met a bunch of people and learned lots of things about writing a blog. And through social networking sites like myspace and BikerWorlds I found other bikers who are interested in the same things I am.

Traffic started increasing, people were linking to the site and honestly the highlight for me last year was when Greg White and Kawasaki asked me to test ride a Vulcan 900 Custom. I mean, who the hell was I? Just some biker girl from MA who happened to start a blog a few months before…

In one year, I’ve gone from a few readers a week to tens of thousands of page views. I’m not going to make any grand claims like you see on other blogs, but I will tell you that I’m happy to see my google page rank on the rise (link to me!), my Alexa rank continues to move up and the number of people who view the site goes up almost every week. Fellow bikers in 114 different countries have checked in on the rippin-kitten.com blog. And I’ve been getting inquiries from major companies regarding advertising opportunities. Not too shabby.

Anyway, enough of boring blog stats and me marveling at my own success. Stay tuned later this week as I roll-out a new feature for Rippin-Kitten.com and share some other things that I’ve been working on.

Thanks to everyone for making my first year of blogging a great one. It’s been a great learning experience and I’ve enjoyed our many discussions. Looking forward to another year!

I was perusing my news aggregator this morning and Steve over at Biker News Online mentioned the second annual International Female Ride Day on Friday, May 2, 2008, with lots and lots of sarcasm and even raised the question: Why do women riders need a special day to celebrate themselves?

Now, here’s my disclaimer: I’m not attacking or singling out Steve’s post for any detrimental reasons, I’m merely highlighting it because for the first time, someone posted about a women-only event with the question: Who gives a f**k?

That’s what I’m wondering. While the women’s ride to Daytona was kind of a cool thing, I also just read on Women Riders Now about the Diva Custom’s Divas Only bike show that’s happening at the end of May. Are these events a good thing or is this women-only madness spiraling out of control? Is it helping female bikers or is it setting up a precedent for women to segregate themselves from the biker community rather than being a part of it?

And just like Steve at Biker News asks: If a chick can master a motorcycle and hold her own among the biker crowd, does she need empowering?

Which brings me to a creation that’s been making the rounds all over the internet: a steam-electric hybrid motorcycle called The Whirlygig Emoto, built by an artist named Tom Sepe. The frame is 1967 Tote-Gote and while it’s steam-powered it actually doesn’t “go” using steam, it’s propelled by propane and batteries. But the steam still gives it a cool effect, even if it sounds like the tea’s done!

If you’d like to read up on this kooky creation, here’s a few links:

Steampunk Workshop

Tom’s Flickr page with lots of photos

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks for me and I’m glad to be returning to my normal routine. I’m looking forward to writing a regular post for tomorrow. There’s lots of new news and interesting things to catch up on!

I just wanted to let you know that the reason Lizzie hasn’t posted in a few days is that she is in the hospital. She had been sick and was misdiagnosed, this lead to a rush to the ER the other night. Right now she is resting and doing well. We expect her to be coming home this weekend. She misses you all and is looking forward to posting again next week.

But I guess we can’t write them off just yet. They do plan to sell their assets to new investors and continue with their operations. We shall see.

So, here’s some good news for a change, regarding the first ever Harley-Davidson Woman’s Day Ride:

Some 500 women cruised into Daytona Beach, Fla., March 4, as part of the first ever Harley-Davidson Daytona Women’s Day Ride. The event garnered a whopping $60,520.50 in contributions to help send children with neuromuscular diseases to MDA summer camp, the Muscular Dystrophy Association announced today.

Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company of Milwaukee organized the historic ride, the largest women’s ride in the company’s 105-year history. In addition to providing recognition to women motorcycle riders, the event will enables MDA to send more youngsters to camp, where they’ll enjoy a week of accessible activities such as swimming, horseback riding, fishing and arts and crafts.

Karen Davidson, great-granddaughter of one of Harley-Davidson’s founders, William A. Davidson, led the group, including the six winners of Harley- Davidson’s “Get Down to Daytona” contest. They left Atlanta March 1, and were joined by the rest of the riders for the last 10 miles of the approximately 500-mile trek, which ended at Ocean Center.

Three women received special recognition as the top fundraisers for the event: Joanne Mold of Forest Hill, Md., ($3,055 raised), Dee Roberts of Bernville, Pa., ($2,717) and Lynne Cone of Houston ($2,715). Each received a 105th Anniversary Harley-Davidson women’s jacket, and had lunch with Karen Davidson and the six “Get Down to Daytona” contest winners and MDA ambassadors.

Story source and full article: The Auto Channel

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t need to be involved in women-only events to show my pride in being a female rider, but I think this would have been a cool event to be a part of and for a really great cause. And for that, kudos to all those ladies who participated!

For part three of this subject matter I’m going to highlight a few more sites that I’ve found since I last wrote. One thing to keep in mind, not all of these sites are created equally. While a lot of them share the same basic idea and similar buckets of content, some are technically easier to use and more thought out than others. It all depends on what appeals to you in the end.

Motorcycle Syndicate: This site has been around since summer ‘07. I’m not quite sure what their member base is, but according to their site they “strive to be the premier interactive online community for motorcycle enthusiasts worldwide.” They also use other social networking sites to their advantage when trying to get the word out. You can also win a free T-shirt if you’re a registered member and help spread the word.

Hogstr: I got an email about this site a few weeks ago so I thought I’d check it out. Seems this site is a brand-spanking newbie, having only come into existence in the beginning of February. Not a lot of members or content yet and now that I look at it I’m not even sure if it’s officially “launched.” I see lots of profile pics with half-nekkid chicks on bikes, which kind of turns me off. I’m going to file this one under “wait and see.”

Harley Social: I think the title for this one speaks for itself, but this social network is for HD enthusiasts. It looks to have launched early this year and encourages it’s members to upload photos, videos and to post blogs. It’s a visually robust site, almost to the point where I don’t know where to look first, but the emphasis on this site seems to revolve around just having a good time.

Biker Nation: From what I can tell this site has been around since late 2006. Like all of the other sites it has forums, news feeds, blogs, classifieds, events, pictures, videos and music. It also has a “babes” section (if you’re into that sort of thing) and online auctions. For the amount of time this site has been in existence I guess I expected more. Perhaps they’ve been spending more time focusing on their heavily-tattooed, sister site Inked Nation.

If I had all the time in the world I would love to join all of these sites, but I just don’t. You can still find my profiles on Bikerworlds, BikerOrNot and of course, good old myspace.

Do any of you have a favorite social networking site that you use regularly?

Recently, Johnny Knoxville decided that he was going to attempt an Evel Keneval-style stunt by flipping a motorcycle backward in the air. Problem was, he didn’t really know what he was doing, let go of the bike mid-air which promptly landed on him-breaking the handlebar off in his crotch.

So today you guys get a 2-for-1:

Here’s a short and sweet clip of the crash itself (no sound).

Here’s a much longer clip of Johnny on the Jimmy Kimmel show discussing the accident, the actual accident shot from a different angle and imparting the joys of having a catheter.

I know, he’s an idiot.

Last night I finally had my winter frustration meltdown. I’m sick of snow and cold weather. I’m tired of layering up my clothes to stay warm. I’m ready for warmer weather and open-toed shoes. I’d even be happy with some rainy days as long as it was warmer outside.  Today is the last day of February and March usually brings more optimism.

Ok, no more complaining. I’m going to settle into bed and try to get better.

WOMEN RIDERS HAVE A NEW WEBSITE TO CHECK OUT

www.garage-girls.com goes live covering everything a girl wants to know about motorcycles and so much more…

Minneapolis, MN— The launch of www.garage-girls.com was well received by female motorcycle enthusiasts around the world. The new site created and maintained by Sara Liberte and Jody Perewitz presents motorcycling and everything that goes along with it from a female perspective.

www.garage-girls.com is a unique, exciting new website developed to meet the growing needs of women seeking information about motorcycles and their maintenance.

Wow! I couldn’t wait to go check the site out!

I have vague knowledge of both ladies who are involved with the site. Sara Liberte, as far as I knew, fashions herself a photographer and her images usually consist of a portrait of a person photoshopped with motorcycle parts. I’m not a big fan of her images (I’ve seen better “image fusion” done by other artists) but that’s just my opinion. As it turns out she owns a bike shop as well. Jody Perewitz, well, the only thing I knew about her was that she’s the daughter of famous bike builder, Dave, and that she and Sara are doing a bike build for charity.

Needless to say, I was more than disappointed when I got to the site. The overall design of the site is lackluster and the footer navigation doesn’t even work. Also, it’s never a good sign when the homepage of a site that claims to be a “motorcycle resource for women” is chock full of too much info about the two women who involved with the site. Sigh.

Moving onto the Body & Machine section and it doesn’t get much better. I do think it’s interesting that they’re trying to incorporate fitness information in the “Body” section, but there’s not a whole lot of helpful info there (and I can’t tell who wrote the copy. Since the main graphic says “Sara Liberte’s Garage Girls” I’ll assume she wrote everything). In the middle of the page is a video of Jody and Sara interviewing each other that seems really out of place, even though they do talk about their favorite foods among other things.

The “Machine” section is comprised of two videos of Jody and Sara and a section about battery maintenance. Yawn. “Events” is where you can see them on tour building their Bobber for a Cure and “Sites2See” consists of links to Sara’s photo site and bike shop.

“Cruisin’ companions” has nothing to do with fellow women riders but riders of the fuzzy, four-legged kind. It’s a cute spin on the request for users to upload their photos (and let’s face it, animals on motorcycles will make anyone’s heart melt).

Overall, Garage Girls seems to be a narcissistic venture for these ladies rather than a site providing “everything a girl wants to know about motorcycles”, which totally bums me out. For that, I’ll stick with Women Riders Now, which I still think is the best site for women riders yet.

So, our video today is about how to pick up a dropped motorcycle. It is information that appears on almost every website geared toward women riders. Is it helpful, sure. Does it need to be on every website out there? Debatable. But still something every rider should know how to do.

Dear Rippin Kitten author,

Our editors recently reviewed your blog and have given it a 8.5 score out of (10). Your blog is currently in the top ten in the Sports/Motor Sports Business category of Blogged.com. This is quite an achievement!

http://www.blogged.com/directory/sports/motor-sports

We evaluated your blog based on the following criteria: Frequency of Updates, Relevance of Content, Site Design, and Writing Style. After carefully reviewing each of these criteria, your site was given its score…Please accept my congratulations on a blog well-done!!

How about THAT? Go me!

And of course, a Happy VD for everyone!!!

Way back in October, I was bound and determined to get my ass to Daytona this year. Well…looks like that’s not going to happen after all. Since I just started a new job last month, taking off on a trip so soon didn’t seem like the right thing to do. Sigh. So, once again I’ll have to experience it all vicariously through daytonabikeweek.com. I will also miss being one of the many women participating in the largest Harley Women’s Ride. Repeat: SIGH.

I can happily report that rippin-kitten.com continues to gain momentum in being a successful and esteemed motorcycle blog written by a female. Site traffic shows that this site has been maintaining a increasing stream of visitors. Nice!

Some very exciting news: new Rippin-Kitten stickers are on order and I’m pleased to say that I’ve also got some t-shirts designs finished and ready to be ordered! Look for the new Rippin-Kitten store to be up and running in the next month or so!

Another blog award to report: Linda Moore of Raven’s Roads has given this site the Excellent Blog Award. Big thanks to Linda! I guess the idea is to pass this on to 10 more bloggy friends so here I go: The Salem Insider, Eternal Vigilance, Keep the Rubber Side Down, Crusty the Biker, Go! Smell the Flowers, Come on in, the Web is Fine, The Many Thoughts of Harley Girl, The Ride Report, The Necro Files, KT Did. Whew! That’s a lotta blogs!

One of my favorite streaming radio stations of late is Radio Nigel, a station that plays ’80’s music WITH ATTITUDE. Anyway, yesterday they played “Harley David” by the Bollock Brothers, which sounded somewhat familiar to me. Low and behold, I even found their video on youtube in all it’s hilarity.

Honestly, these guys don’t look like they would even know what to do with that motorcycle!

Be sure to watch next Sunday’s [RK: February 10 @ 9PM] episode of “Rock of Love” on VH1. Brett Michaels brings ten hot chicks, each one a potential Mrs. Michaels, into our workshop for their next challenge. Watch tensions rise as two teams race to get their Exile custom finished and fired first, all the while under the strict eyes of Russell and head mechanic Random. The finished chop then takes pride of place in the Rock of Love mansion for the whole season.

Check out VH1.com for more information or to satisfy your gnawing curiosity about Rock of Love 2: A Ride on the Wild Side.

Slayer’s RockHard Helmets will be available in three unique shells: Full Face Street (retail from $349), Off Road Dirt ($249 to $269), and Half Shell (Harley style) ($159 to $179). Every helmet will be boxed in a custom-made container patterned after the Anvil road cases, which are used to transport band equipment while on tour. Each helmet passes the highest safety standards from around the world, certified standards in each country in which they are sold. These standards include DOT, SNELL, Australia, EU, Japan and ECE. Each helmet is produced with the finest materials and is made with the most comfortable liners for a perfect fit every ride.

“The RockHard Helmet line, and the Slayer helmet in particular, has generated a huge amount of buzz with our retail outlet buyers,” said Jim O’Neal. “Personally, I’m very psyched about this product as it takes Slayer to another merch level.“

RockHard Helmets is also producing limited edition helmets for AC/DC, KISS, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Hustler in its current first “Tour” line up. With nearly 300 artists under contract with the RockHard project, what better way to launch the RockHard line than with the almighty metal icon, Slayer.

product images from RockHard Helmets

Article source: The Gauntlet

**RAWK!** Now you can go see a Slayer show and not worry about damaging yourself when your head-banging- especially if you’re wearing your very own Slayer helmet!

This video is brought to you from the guys at Smart Cycle Shopper.

So what do you think? Twenty years from now do you think people will remember when Victory did this?

This award was sent by Gabrielle Faust of www.gabriellefaust.com/

Awarded by
Gabrielle Faust
to Rippin Kitten

Thanks to Gabrielle! She’s got a great horror-themed blog, so check it out if that’s your thang!

Rossmeyer, who owns 14 Harley-Davidson dealerships across the country, just acquired Boston Harley-Davidson and also opened up a high-end HD shop to sell overpriced t-shirts and gear to tourists on illustrious Newbury St.

He was quoted in a recent article written in the Boston Herald newspaper as saying:

“The image of Harley-Davidson bikers as ‘rebel riders’ is pretty much gone these days. We’re ‘Rolex riders’ now.”

Huh? Perhaps that’s the case in Mr. Rossmeyer’s world, but I think he needs to buy himself a clue. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the face of the modern biker is changing. Gen X and Y are getting in on the action and they definitely do not fall into the RUB category. There’s a younger demographic of riders out there just waiting to be tapped and the HD mothership gets that.

This video accompanies the announcement of HD’s Dark Custom line of bikes that’s had the motorcycle world buzzing for weeks now. These bikes are stripped, chopped and raw and extremely cool looking!

Even reading some of the comments on youtube the clash of the age groups is palpable:

“…you need a young spine to ride a hard single seat with your hands above your shoulders all day. these “radical customs” are poser bikes. hard core riders ride roadies, dynas, and softies and not fatbobs, nighsters, or boneses. you just cant sit on one all day.”

“Harleys aint for the old anymore - just ’cause i am 24, doesn’t mean i want a p-o-s bike. i want a harley, now i am gonna get me one. thanks for finally acknowledging not all gen x is broke…”

This is an interesting time to be a younger biker. I think I’ll sit back, watch and go along for the ride.

Hell Ride premiered at Sundance earlier this week (and was reviewed favorably, which you can read here) and is a throw back to the 60’s & 70’s style biker movie that promises to be filled with lots of testosterone and violence (or according to the movie review, the three B’s: bikes, beer, and booty!)

According to another recent article on shocktilyoudrop.com, Hell Ride could eventually become a trilogy:

Leave ‘em wanting more. Films with the Quentin Tarantino touch seem to have that effect. Hell Ride may be no exception. Larry Bishop’s revenge tale, presented by Tarantino, premiered last night at Sundance to a sold-out crowd and already those involved in the project have the word “sequel” on their lips.

Co-star Michael Madsen tells us during an interview, “I hope this is going to be a trilogy.” In the film he plays a well-dressed biker named The Gent and it’s a role he’s looking forward to revisiting. “The Gent’s story has not been completely told.”

When we later spoke to writer-director-actor Bishop, we inquired about a possible “trilogy” and Madsen’s desire to slip back into The Gent’s skin, to which Bishop merely sat back, raised his eyebrows over his dark shades and smiled, “Absolutely.”

As of right now, there is no release date for the movie. Dammit.

“The Tattoo Artist” by Norman Rockwell, Saturday Evening Post, March 4, 1944

After World War II tattoos became further stigmatized by their associations with bikers and juvenile delinquents. Tattooing had very little respect in the American culture. In 1961 there was an outbreak of hepatitis, which caused an even bigger backlash against tattoos and sent the tattoo world into a tailspin.

tattoo flash by Sailor Jerry

Here in Massachusetts, there was a ban on tattooing in effect since 1967, until local underground artists lobbied to legalize it in the late 90’s, partly because of health and safety reasons. Tattooing was finally legalized in this state in 2001 and shops began to spring up everywhere–the first legal shops being Fat Ram’s Pumpkin Tattoo and Darkwave Tattoos (which then spawned Lightwave Tattoo Studio). Natan Lin, owner of Darkwave and Lightwave, was a large supporter of legalizing tattooing in MA and has been running the wildly successful annual Boston Tattoo Convention ever since.

Here are three of my favorite, tattooed bike-builders (can you guess why?)
Billy Lane, Jesse James and Russell Mitchell