Riding a motorcycle provides all sorts of pleasures (and pitfalls) that you just can't understand while driving a car. The obnoxiousness of tail-gater. The danger of distracted drivers. The clench factor of riding over wet metal grating. But there's also the ease of splitting lanes, the sound of going wide-open on a canyon road, and the joy of leaving all other distractions at home.
Here are a few more things that you can only know by riding on two wheels.
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Peter La France
Barnett's Magazine
One of the most anticipated and dreaded Harley-Davidson new bike introductions was the unveiling of their first water-cooled motorcycle, the VRSC V-Rod, back in 2001. Every Harley enthusiast has their own "absolutely-correct" opinion about any new model or variation of a model Harley produces and will gladly tell you why they are correct and why The Motor Company is either a marketing genius with its finger on the pulse of what's happening or that they just don't have a clue and that they're lucky the Harley juggernaut rolls on in spite of themselves. Maybe you don't like or are bored by the Dark Customs or you were one of the few fans of the Rocker or whatever, we're all geniuses in our own heads. But, as far as the V-Rod goes, well it's been in production for like ten years now (I can't say I've been paying close attention) and the jury's still out (and I don't think the jury's leaning more one way or another) about this heretic Harley liquid-cooled 60-degree V-twin with the same "Is it a real Harley?" issues of a decade ago.
Ask the man (or woman) who owns one and they'll tell you "absolutely" or they just don't care. The few I've spoken with seem to love their V-Rods and only have kind words to say about them. But, I did mention "the few" as frankly, I don't see a lot of them and when I do, they're usually being ridden, not parked so maybe that says something right there. The few that I have seen are basically stockers and I mean stockers right down to stock exhausts even. Maybe the V-Rod is so different that they don't feel the need for customization to stand out in a crowd of Harleys.
But then there are some owners like Todd Price of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, who for whatever reason can't leave well enough alone. Jack Cofano caught up with Todd's bike at the Charlotte Easyriders Show and took a passel of pics that definitely shows Todd's a guy who's not afraid to let it all hang out whether its own a V-Rod and possibly getting the evil eye from air-cooled aficionados or taking it to the next step with a paint job that takes it to the next level of Todd's obvious self-assurance and individuality. The elaborately detailed paint job may just seem a little familiar to you and you're not sure why. The paint scheme was inspired by Swiss painter and sculptor, H.R. Giger, who is probably more well known within the motorcycle crowd as the Academy Award winning visual effects designer for the movie Alien or for his work with bands like Korn and Danzig to name just a few. But possibly without knowing it, his work or stylistic influence has long been a favorite of tattoo artists and adorns the bodies of many bikers unbeknownst to them. When you see one side or one view of Todd's V-Rod, you've only begin to see the whole damn paint job as Giger-style stuff just keeps on going and going. Whether you like it or not, whether you like V-Rods or not, this is one paint job you have to at least peek at like a highway wreck.
Todd's basically left the V-Rod architecture alone when he had Myrtle Beach Performance (www.myrtlebeachperformance.com) in Surfside, South Carolina, create this bike. Mechanically, other than a pretty damn wide 280mm rear tire he's stuffed into a space once reserved for a seemingly super-model skinny stock 180mm. He also jettisoned the stock pipes for a set that makes its presence loud and clear even at rest. But, the biggest change was the one-piece body and a headlight of headlights that will enthrall you, scare you, or make you exclaim, "WTF?" Hey, that's just like a stock V-Rod, nobody walks away from Todd's bike without an opinion and I'd like to think that's exactly what he was going for. Even though they might be after looking at it, nobody's ever going to say Todd's afraid.
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We were expecting some refuse from the Japan's monster tsunami to make it across the pacific... But I don't think anyone was expecting this. With a stroke of luck, this bike managed to float across the pacific to the sandy shores of British Columbia. That's wild.
The bike is tagged from Miyagi prefecture, which was one of the areas hardest hit by the Tsunami. It washed up on a beach in British Columbia, in what appeared to part of a moving van. Luckily the bike was in a box, or else it would've almost certainly sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
Hopefully, they'll be able to find the original owners of this incredibly lucky bike. While they probably won't be able it ride it again, it would be a wonderful living room conversation piece. If they can't, I hope they make something of it. It would be a shame to see such an amazing story go to waste.
UPDATE: They found the owner! The bike belongs to 29-year-old Ikuo Yokoyama. According to the Japanese media, he bought the bike five years ago. The container that it washed up in was actually his makeshift garage (which explains the tools that were found with it).
He was keeping it in his backyard when the tsunami came. In addition to sweeping away his garage, the tsunami destroyed his home and claimed the lives of three of his family members.
It's unclear what will happen to the bike now, but the co-chair of the Provincial Tsunami Debris Coordinating Committee says they will work on getting it back to the owner if he expresses a desire to get it back.
Japanese television station NHK interviewed Ikuo about the situation. He says the "I would like to thank the man who found my bike in person, but because it's hard to that , I'd like to thank him here right now." When asked if he'd like to tell his bike anything, he said "Thanks for coming back buddy," in Japanese."
Now that's a partnership.
What do you think they should do with it? Discuss in the forums!
Jarrod Del Prado
DP Customs
The DP Customs garage is in New River Arizona, but we haven't had a local customer since the cows came home. Until we met a dude named Scott Brown at a Bike Night late last year. He told us a story about how he was born in 1973, how all people born that year are very cool (of course I agreed with him, since I was also born in '73), and that he wanted to build a bike in honor of his esteemed birth into the world of motorcycles. He said he liked DPC's style and we were the ones who could help him realize his dream of creating SEVENTY THREE. And it began...
He brought us an Ironhead Harley that was of the model year, well, you know... His requirements were few: It had to be really black. REALLY black. With some hints of blue. It had to look mean. Roger that.
The frame had already been hardtailed and raked. Once we scraped off all of the vintage grease and grime, however, we realized it was more crooked than Forrest Gump's back, and the welds looked like peppered bacon. Justin hooked it up to the jig and had a chopping party that no one was allowed to attend. After fabbing and tig welding the hell out of it, she was laser straight and the welds looked like the boys from Akrapovic had stopped by to help.
The bike had a bent shifter shaft. With these old right hand shift bikes, you've got go deep inside to replace it. It was worth the hard work though, as we also noticed the clutch had to be replaced. So we put in a new one while we were in the deep.
We used a black springer and powdercoated the cam cover, sprocket cover, primary cover and rocker boxes in satin black. Justin did his signature bitchin' crossover exhaust, and perfectly followed the tips with the lines of the frame.
Our favorite part of this build is that we were able to stick with the 'all black' theme while mixing in the traditional bright colors that DPC is known for. The hint of white and blue on the matte finished tank blends perfectly with the bright blue wheels and the whitewall rear tire. Oh, and we're proud of the ultra sano wiring throughout the bike and lack of clutter. It's one mean looking machine!
Scott was blown away when he saw it - in a cool way of course...
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Photos and Story by Brian (Schumacher) Zerkel
A lot of you have asked me to do a photography article, so this one is for you.
There are a few things to keep in mind when setting out to get some good pictures of your motorcycle. You camera settings, lighting, background, photo software, and of course your bike, are all important parts of getting a good picture.
There was a time not that long ago when you had to worry about the quality of your camera. Most of the cameras of today (including cellphones) are shooting 8 megapixels and up, so now everyone has the opportunity take some really sharp pictures of about anything. If you don't have a good digital camera, try and get one of at least 8 megapixels and you'll be on your way.
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The House of Fabergé is famous for producing 50 intricately bejeweled eggs for the last two emperors of Russia of which 42 still exist. The missing eight are unaccounted for and presumed lost or stolen. All they'd have to do if they wanted to knock that count down to seven would be to pony up some of that Russian oil money and buy Copper Mike Cole's version of a Fabergé Egg Shovelhead called Steampunk. They'll just have to wait until this insanely sane, over-the-top-but-just-right winner of the New York Ultimate Builder Show has finished its tour of the show circuit culminating with its invitation to compete in the AMD World Championship in Sturgis this August. Copper Mike may not be working with jewels like the eggs, but his use of copper and brass along with an artistic sensibility that goes quite a ways beyond being a just talented metalsmith could surely amaze.
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Gaudy or gorgeous? Tell what you think of this bronze bobber in the forums!
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Photo Credit: AP PHOTO/FRANKLIN REYES
Harley's are international! Hit the jump for video and a discussion in the forums!
Well, here's something you don't see every day. Harley Davidson isn't well known for the cadre of hip-hop artists dropping their name in music videos, but they still get some recognition.
Bay Area rapper C-Dat raps about Harleys in this vid, plain and simple. We'll reserve our opinion and let you all decide for yourself what to think. Check it out.
Gaddafi left behind a lot of money when he was disposed of last August. Officials confiscated some $15 billion dollars worth of assets last Wednesday, including exactly one Harley-Davidson motorcycle. |
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Story and photos by Jack "I got nothing against French people" Cofano
In my last Lovely Ladies coverage of the Indy Convention I allowed our elusive Peter LaFrance phantom to write the cover article about the ladies. He wrote it in French. I had to go to Google Translate to read what he actually wrote because, well, I don't trust him. He ain't right!
Since I really enjoy this part of my job, go figure, I had to call him out on it. If he tries that crap again I'm going to pull his green card. Send him back to France with his tail between his legs. I could have written the whole article in French myself in three words -- Ooh La La! That pretty much sums up the Lovely Ladies of Daytona Bike Week.
I put a lot of time and sweat searching for the loveliest ladies, and I have to thank all the pretties for allowing me to photograph them. Especially the ones who don't ask for a tip, that depletes my beer money.
I hope you enjoy the photos and I will force myself to continue to bring you the Lovelies even if it kills me. And oh-by-the-way Peter LaFrance, whoever you are, stay away from the girls. You're scaring them with your suave French ways.
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