Digitals Discovery

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a good one. I was interviewing 23-year-old Jesse Srpan for an American Iron/Bikernet biker feature article and I mentioned the SU carb on his dad’s Panhead. “Do you know what SU stands for? Jesse said. I didn’t. “It stands for Skinners Union, meat packers made these carbs.” That’s a good story, […]

It was a chance meeting, I’d had enough of how things were going in OC, and decided to hop on my ’68 FL, for an escape to visit brother “Moon” Horton up in Big Pine. The trip to see “Moon” was not to be, a few miles north after I merged from Highway 14 onto

This discovery is thanks to Charles Plueddeman, who works for Harley-Davidson as a freelance public relations specialist. He also loves to collect old publications, and he turned Bikernet onto a batch of old do-it-yourself mags from the ’50s and ’60s. This particular issue contained a couple exciting stories for the Bikernet staff. The mystery continues

There’s a bit of the robot in Baron Margo, a bit of the puppet master, a bit of the Alchemist, a bit of the Welder, a bit of the DaVinci…. You could list dozens of different talents and all would be pieces of the Baron Margo puzzle. Stand-by for Launch! Now for the answers, or

  Hey Guys, Thought you might get a kick out of the following motorcycle trivia around salt flats racing at Bonneville.   Partial Streamlining – 1932 Style Even the heels of his boots are aerodynamic.  –Drew Gatewood AMA/F.I.M. technical steward       GEARS – Gatewood Engineering And Race Support P.O. Box 2568 Chesterton, IN.

This issue was uncovered by Ray C. Wheeler, the Bikernet Performance Editor, and submitted to the Digital Discovery board of regents for consideration. They were bowled over by the line art illustrations and the creative imagination of 1948, the year Bandit was born in a dinghy off the coast of Catalina Island. Each illustration was

AMAZING SUNDAY DIGITAL DISCOVERY–That’s George Hood’s hands holding the photo. The image of Eddie Ryan’s shop in San Pedro was taken right before the city tore the building down. A guy approached the city of San Pedro to buy the wall and keep it intact, but the city said “No”… Ultimately the wall was destroyed.

  There’s a surprising amount of old American iron around these parts of the Netherlands, two wheels and four, some left over from the war, others brought over from the U.S. for avid collectors that can’t get enough of anything from the good ‘ole U.S. of A.  These two Indians that Mart owns are neither

The Bikernet official Curator, Don Whalen, recently ran across this 1913 Sears during a swap and trade transaction. The seller mentioned in passing, “This bike was featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not.” Don was a childhood fan of this publication. “You’re kidding,” he said. “Nope,” the seller said, “here’s the clipping.” The story behind

This week’s Digital Discovery brings us back in time; call it chopper archeology if you will. Our friend Deano Masouras recently unearthed an old issue of Choppers Magazine from December 1968 and was nice enough to scan a few pages for us.  You’re looking at a feature of Ed Roth’s famous Candy Wagon. Enjoy this

Here are some shots from the NAMES show of current progress on Jerry Kieffer’s 1/8 scale Harley Davidson “Knucklehead.” The Schrader valves in the wheels do hold air for the tires. The scale value is about 4 psi, which gives the right amount of tire “flat spot” for the scale weight. However, when Jerry makes

As my eyes accustomed to the low light I thought for an instant I had died and gone to heaven. Or maybe been whisked by a modern day genie to an Aladdin’s Cave of motorcycles. But when I pinched myself it hurt, so I figured so semblance of realism inhabited this motorcycle nirvana. But let

Before you read to the end, does anybody know what the main ingredient of WD-40? Don’t lie and don’t cheat. WD-40 – Who knew! I had a neighbor who bought a new pickup. I got up very early one Sunday morning and saw that someone had spray painted red all around the sides of this

New Zealand has a reputation as an interesting place of unparalleled beauty. Well, it is and I think most people know that. What I personally found just as interesting is that it is a land of motor heads. I have never seen a population so fascinated by anything with an engine and they will race

For those of us drawn to the somewhat fringe zone of postcard collecting and research, a passion/addiction officially known as Deltiology, good things indeed come in small packages. Those outside the postcard world are probably unaware that it is the third largest collecting hobby in the world, next to coin and stamp collecting, usually 4

Hey, With the help of a Bikernet reader, Anson Alexander, who has every issue of Easyriders, we discovered the first Renegade poem. He wrote a portion of this while he was in the hospital after a Southern Comfort bike accident. We typed it from the original page while drinking Jack Daniels, so don’t blame the

This is one of Bandit’s favorites. Built by Pat Kennedy, this ground-up project featured no handlebar controls except a throttle. Proportioning brakes handle dual Performance 13-inch Performance Machine floating rotors in the front, and a single in the rear. Pat made the frame, the tank, the rear fender, the pipes, the intake manifold, and all

Lou Kimzey commissioned the restoration of this VL and a sidecar to go along with it. When Lou headed into his final divorce, Bandit bought the bike. The sidecar was never completed. Mike Egan performed the restoration duties and the bike has been featured several times and shown at several antique exhibits. And yes, it

DISCOVERED IN THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF EASYRIDERS MAGAZINE, ORIGINALLY FROM AN ISSUE PUBLISHED IN 1973–This poem was written my Renegade, when he was just an angry kid in his 20s on the staff with Bandit. A BROTHER LOST A Brother is lost His soul no more to his body bound Death was the cost His

Editor’s note: While slavering over a brother’s new sports car, Rodan took me aside. “Did you know about Studebaker motorcycles.” “No,” I said, “didn’t know they built bikes.” “I’ve got the story,” Rodan said. And of course I had to get my hands on it for Cantina members. Plus, here’s a brief history of Studebaker

Digital Editor’s Note: Damn, we scored this 1960s issue of Ed Roth’s Choppers Magazine, from the Sheriff out of Sweden. We dug around a found an interview with Ed Roth and Bandit in April of 2000, for Hot Rod Bikes, when Frank Kaisler was the editor. This interview took place just a year before he

  Ex-factory race bike, documented history from new 1929 Harley-Davidson 21ci Peashooter Engine no. 29SA511 Editor’s Note: We discovered this bike and the history as one of the sale lot at the Bonham’s 2011 Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction. We were able, through an Australian publication, to grab a few photos of this bike, and we

Seems Bob Dylan “faked” his infamous motorcycle crash in the ’60s. I think is interesting is how creative he was when he owned/rode his Triumph… and how that changed after he quit. (…from The Vintagent:) These photos of Bob Dylan date from 1964/5, when he rode a Triumph on the leafy roads surrounding his home

The mysterious Bob T., a member of the notorious Chop N Grind Bonneville Racing team, called me in the middle of the night and whispered, “You got the briefcase. I got the shit.” I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, then an e-mail arrived containing over 100 vintage biker images from 1965.