Hey,
This week has been strange. I didn’t know which way to turn this weekend. We had the Peterson Museum auction of Steve McQueen memorabilia that according to some was a flop. Jesse James hosted his No Love poker run and party at West Coast Choppers.
I received confusing reports about the cost and whether the public or only his fan club was invited. My Son, Frank, advertised his Tattoo Parlor, Hardball Ink in Jesse’s Garage magazine, so he was invited. Bikernet Betsy called Jesse and received clearance for her and a few of her pals to make the poker run.
We decided to cook up a pot of Chilli and hang at the Bikernet Interplanetary Headquarters as a back up to broken down brothers and a place to hang after the party. That worked out perfectly. We watched the poker run brothers blast past our building on their way to Century Motors in San Pedro. We sent a truck to rescue Tom Foster broke down of Figueroa. Later my son and his group of young Dyna glide brothers, rode over after the party to hang, then Bikernet Betsy clan rolled in after the WCC gig shut down and we gave, Betsy, Gevin, Carrie, the magnificent leather worker, and Casandra a tour of our digs. It was all good. Let’s hit the news, then I’ll fill you in on the Bikernet Mysteries for next week:
SHOP INVENTORY FOR SALE– The parts inventory consists of about 4,000 part’s and is a good mix of pan, shovelhead ironhead and a small % evo. I est the retail on the parts is about $115,000 and I have invested a little over $50,000 in Harley special tools and shop equipment. You can view the shop on ebay item#390114244867.
I’m a very motivated seller and want to Liquidate asap.
I hope we can make a deal. My cell# 630-913-2128 work# 630-907-1700 ext-239
–Randy Petersen”
BIKERNET UNIVERSITY FINANCE CLASS MEETS OR CONFLATES WITH THE ENGLISH STUDENTS– conflate kuhn-FLAYT, transitive verb:
1. To bring together; to fuse together; to join or meld.
2. To combine (as two readings of a text) into one whole.
Scott Reynolds’s creepy debut feature [film] conflates the present and the past with ingenious use of flashbacks.
— Anne Billson, “Bent beneath the weight of its own righteousness”, Sunday Telegraph, March 1, 1998
The Bikernet mechanics union conflated old bikes, late model scoots, and pieces of old shopping carts to keep their motorcycles running during hard times.
–Wrench, Senior mechanical editor, Bikernet.com
Painting America as a drug-ridden society leads to bad policy — as does the tendency in some quarters to conflate the various drug abuses into a single dreadful statistic.
— William Raspberry, “Not a Drug-Ridden Society”, Washington Post, April 21, 2000
Conflate is from Latin conflatus, past participle of conflare, “to blow together; to put together,” from con-, “with, together” + flare, “to blow.”
California SideCar Announces Dramatic Price Reductions– Arrington, Va.-Nov. 10, 2009-If a trike conversion kit or a motorcycle cargo trailer are topping your Holiday wish list this year then consider yourself covered. California Side Car, the trike conversion, sidecar and motorcycle cargo trailer specialists, has just announced huge price reductions.
Available November 15 through May 30, 2010 retail prices have been reduced by $1,000 for all trikes for the H-D Softail?, Ultra FLH? series and the Goldwing? 1800. Prices for Elite Trailers have been slashed by $300 and the LE, SE and Classic trailers are also reduced by $200.
For more than 25 years California Side Car has been providing consumers with the perfect blend of form and function. In addition, their experience in independent suspensions is unmatched. A number of competing manufacturers have recently introduced their own Independent Suspensions, only to be met with complications and suspended deliveries. As with any new technology, manufacturers need time and experience in order to produce superior machines.
California Side Car has almost ten years experience with independent suspensions and is on its third generation of IS models, making them the proven leaders for trikes with independent suspension.
California Sidecar products are built to order and are available through factory trained authorized dealers or can be purchased directly from the factory. All direct trike purchases must be installed by the factory. You can trust California Side Car to take you where you want to go in comfort, style and for the right price.
See for yourself how California Side Car is the ultimate in performance touring. These price reductions won’t be around forever so act now. For more information on California Side Car’s product lines or to see a complete list of authorized dealers, please call (800) 824-1523 or visit www.californiasidecar.com.
–Sarah Wozniak
NEW WEB SITE FROM K&G ONLINE PARTS RETAILER– Great suggestion. Ken wrote the piece from my talking points and it is big because the site upgrade is big. How about each week or two I send you a short piece about one aspect of the upgrade? That way, we point people to certain aspects that may attract them.
As always, we saw a spike in traffic coming from Bikernet as soon as the thing was released. Loyal readers are also loyal clickers.
–George
888-50K-ANDG (5-2634) x150
www.kandgcycles.com
AMERICAN IRON MOTORCYCLE MAGAZINE SALES REPORT–I don’t know why Buzz does this? He has a highly successful magazine in our market, but he puts out these erroneous reports regarding competitive sales figures.
HARLEY MAGAZINE READERSHIP UPDATE – OVERALL SALES DROP
Like most of today’s businesses, the magazine industry is facing tough challenges on all fronts. The readers are becoming more selective and tend to buy fewer different magazines than in the past. Advertising is down, and subscription numbers are dropping.
Because of general confusion in actual paid circulation we’d like to address how the various Harley-oriented magazines are selling. Actual magazine sales data is tough to know due to several factors. One reason for this is because most magazines do not have audited circulation numbers, another is because some magazines artificially inflate the subscription numbers with free or nearly free subscription offers.
All major publications are audited and their numbers are available through SRDS and ABC Audit Bureau, and by law each pub is forced to print their numbers annually in their magazines.
We have found the best and most legitimate sales data is based on newsstand, or single copy, sales. That is the number of copies actually sold and not returned on the newsstand.
This statement is not entirely correct. The number you will read does not include subscriptions. Many major magazine subscription numbers far surpass their newsstand sales as you will see.
We have collected all the sales data from roughly 90% of the magazine wholesalers in the US and Canada and projected the average single copy sales for 2009.
Here is a ranking report for the projected average newsstand sales for Harley-oriented magazines for 2009.
Rank Magazine Average Sale Share of Market
1 American Iron Mag 53,356 29.6%
2 The Horse 41,955 23.2%
3 Easy Rider 27,231 15.1%
4 Hot Bike & HB Baggers 19,368 10.7%
5 Barnetts 14,284 7.9%
6 Cycle Source 7,109 3.9%
7 American Bagger 6,427 3.6%
8 IronWorks 6,093 3.4%
9 American Cycle 4,643 2.6%
* Please note we had to average the sales for Hot Bike and Hot Bike Bagger due to how the magazine wholesalers report the sales data. The number is a blend of their average sales.
This information if provided to you by TAM Communications, publisher of American Iron Magazine and RoadBike. If you would like to discuss the contents of this email or any other subject please contact Terry O’Brien, VP Sales at terryo@tamcommunications.com.
We reached out to a Senior VP from the Source Interlink, publishers of Hot Bike, Street Choppers, and Hot Bike Baggers. Here’s what they had to say: This information is roughly the same as the information we have. Exception being sales of Easyriders, as I show 43k average sales.
Also would like to point out that by combining both HB and Baggers they are showing their market share % off as it should be separated out. Combined we would have 19.38% of the market opposed to the 10.7% shown.
More Complete Numbers:
Hot Bike: 65,000 subs, 20,451 News stand, total: 85,340
Hot Bike Baggers 36,000, 17,370, total: 53,100
Amer. Iron 54,600, 59,490, total: 114,200
Rider 100,272, 42,666, total: 143,000
Easyriders 61,200, 45,600, total: 106,800
V-Twin 16,700, 23,700 total: 40,300
The HORSE 10,000, 45,800, total: 55,800
American Bagger total: 17,000
American Cycle total: 9,600
Iron Works: total: 53,700
The above numbers come from the ABC Audit Period ending June 2009, I rounded them slightly, ’cause I’m in a hurry.–Bandit
Marlon Brando ?The Wild One? Jacket Replica In The Works– Brando Enterprises and Triumph Motorcycles have entered into an agreement for the design and recreation of the leather jacket worn by Marlon Brando in the iconic movie ?The Wild One?. The replica jacket will be an addition to Triumph’s popular apparel line, Triumph Legends.
The modern day replica is said to include key features of Brando’s original jacket right down to the embroidered ‘Johnny’ name tag and the BRMC distressed print on the back. The style will be inspired by the original, with a classic highway collar, shoulder epaulettes and pocket detailing. The leather will be modern yet treated to give a vintage look and feel. The double impact seam stitching, CE certified shoulder and elbow protectors and a removable thermal vest lining will make the replica both fashionable and functional.
To celebrate the life of the original rebel, and under official license from Brando Enterprises, Triumph is also developing men’s and ladies’ t-shirts as well as a limited edition print that features Brando’s iconic movie pose inspired by “The Wild One.”
– – C.S. Berg
William Jefferson’s judgment day: An editorial– Former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson was sentenced to 13 years in prison Friday for the 11 counts of corruption for which he was found guilty in U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III’s courtroom last summer.
That’s a fitting punishment for a disgraced former official whose conduct the judge described as “a cancer on the body politic.” New Orleans needed effective representation in Congress more urgently than ever after Hurricane Katrina. But Mr. Jefferson, whose Washington, D.C., home was raided by federal agents three and a half weeks before the storm, was mired in his own legal troubles during that critical time. The accusations against him reinforced the negative stereotyopes about Louisiana as a bed of political corruption at a time when people from elsewhere were looking for reasons not to come to our aid.
His schemes to help American businesses make deals in West Africa in exchange for money and stock paid to shell companies controlled by his family members ended in his convictions for soliciting bribes, depriving citizens of honest services, money laundering and racketeering.
Mr. Jefferson promised an honorable explanation for the $90,000 in cash that agents found in his freezer in 2005, money that prosecutors say he intended to pay as a bribe to the then-vice president of Nigeria. He was acquitted of the single count of violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the charge most closely linked to the money received from Lori Mody, a businesswoman cooperating with the FBI. But Mr. Jefferson never delivered an honorable explanation. At Friday’s sentencing, he chose not to make a statement since he is pursuing an appeal. Mr. Jefferson owed his constituents and his country more than an explanation, he owed them honorable behavior. Prosecutors say that he instead turned his congressional office into a criminal racketeering enterprise.
Judge Ellis lived up to his reputation for being tough on public corruption. And it’s only appropriate for Mr. Jefferson to serve a longer sentence than two other co-conspirators since he was the key figure and the one who held a position of public trust.
Prosecutors had argued that Mr. Jefferson should serve 27 to 33 years, a life sentence for a man of 62. They called his offenses “exceptional in their sheer number, length and breadth” and said his “repeated attempts to sell his office were not only criminal, they were egregious.”
By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune >
–from Rogue
HAPPY THANKSGIVING– Just think………. If the Indians had given the Pilgrims a donkey instead of a turkey, we would all be having a piece of ass this Thanksgiving!!..
–Rogue
SCOOTER’S NEW BONNEVILLE BOOK– At long last the 2009 BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials Yearbook is finished. 160 pages with 288 images from the 2009 BUB event. Pictures at speed, in the pits and from the banquet. There is also a listing of all the AMA records that were set. You will see Ray Wheeler, Jay Allen of the Broken Spoke Saloon, Leslie Porterfield (the world’s fastest woman on two wheels) , Bikernet’s own Valerie Thompson on Wink Eller’s “Spirit of Cliff Gullet”, and the Women of Klock Werks as well as the World’s fastest motorcycle the BUB #7 which holds the record at just over 367 mph.
It was one of the most successful BUB events yet. 45 records were broken, a total of 95 new records were set. It was perfect weather and the Salt conditions were as good as we have had in recent years.
The book is available with a personalized cover, though the inside of the book is always the same. Just go to my website, www.ScooterShoots.com and pick the image you want on the cover from the 2009 BUB galleries, drop me an email at ScooterShoots@cox.net with your choice and I will make it happen.
Here is the link to the book: http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/960542 or just go to www.Blurb.com and search “Scooter Grubb” As always a portion of the profits will be donated to “Save the Salt”. Scooter
ps: I have attached a banner and a high res image of the BUB cover and as always thanks for your support
–Scooter
www.ScooterShoots.com
BIKERNET TIP FOR SUNBATHING NUDE SPONSORED BY DANNI ASHE– A man was sunbathing naked at the beach. For the sake of civility, and to keep it from getting sunburned, he had a hat over his privates. A woman walks past and says, snickering, “If you were a gentleman you’d lift your hat.” He raised an eyebrow and replied, “If you weren’t so ugly it would lift itself.”
–Jim Waggaman
NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT, Urgent Alert: Ask Your U.S. Senators And Representative To Sign Amicus Brief Supporting Second Amendment Rights In The States! As a critical Second Amendment case goes before the United States Supreme Court, U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Jon Tester (D-MT), and Congressmen Mike Ross (D-AR) and Mark Souder (R-IN) are gathering signatures for an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief by Members of Congress. And we need your support for this important effort next week. The case is McDonald v. City of Chicago, and it will answer the question of whether the Second Amendment applies to the states-as the Congress clearly intended in the 1860s, when it adopted the Fourteenth Amendment to protect constitutional rights against abuse by state and local governments.
This brief is an opportunity for today’s Congress to show just as clearly that it respects the Second Amendment’s importance to all Americans-not just residents of the District of Columbia and other federal territories. www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts
NASH WIRING SOLUTION FOR BOBBERS– Building a bike can be a lot of fun until you get to the part where it needs to be wired. Everyone knows that wiring a bike is the most tedious annoying part of the build. We have just made life a whole lot easier on you. Take your 2-day job and make it a 2-hour job with The Juice Bag!
Included in your juice bag is everything you need to make the wiring of your bike a piece of cake. This will give your bike a much cleaner look, hiding the majority of the wiring in the bag. You can use our Nashty Ol Bag, Sancho Bag, or Half & Half Bag. Each bag is universal to fit either Hardtail or Softail applications.
The juice bag includes an Etx 14 Deka Battery pumping out 200 cold cranking amps. The battery measures 5 7/8″ Long X 3 7/16″ Wide X 5 3/4″ Long. 3.5 feet of both positive and negative battery cable is included so you can cut it to whatever length is needed.
A water proof key start is mounted on the outside of the bag. Water resistant starter relay, circuit breakers, quick disconnect deutsch connector, and high quality water resistant wiring is all mounted inside, along with the battery.
The juice bag allows you to wire your headlight, taillight, brake light, ignition system, starter, and all the ground wires for head/tail light. These bags are made of high quality products with everything being right here in the good Ol USA.
The Juice Bag is a custom application and additional wiring may be needed. Feel free to give us a call if you have any questions.
BIKERNET FORUM ON IMMIGRATION REFORM, Let me see if I understand all this…. IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR……
IF YOU GO INTO CHINA ILLEGALLY, YOU?RE CONSIDERED A SPY AND GET HARD PRISON TIME…..
IF YOU GO INTO GERMANY ILLEGALLY, YOU GET A HEFTY FINE, WORK IT OFF OR PAY IT OFF, THEN DEPORTED……..
IF YOU GO INTO ENGLAND ILLEGALLY, YOU ARE IMMEDIATELY JAILED AND DEPORTED……..
IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY…..
BUT, IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. .. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET:
1. A DRIVERS LICENSE
2. A SOCIAL SECURITY CARD
3. WELFARE
4. FOOD STAMPS AND
5. FREE HEALTH CARE
I guess I still don’t understand…maybe we need to VOTE OUR LAWMAKERS OUT.
–Vickie Kelly
Last Buell Motorcycle Built– On October 30, a Buell Lightning XB12Scg rolled off the company?s East Troy, Wis. assembly line, the last of the 136,923 motorcycles built in the company?s 26 years of operation. Parent Harley-Davidson announced on October 15 that the Buell lineup of motorcycles would be discontinued effective December 18, 2009.
Buell motorcycles will continue to be sold through existing dealers until inventory is depleted.
–Charles Plueddeman
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