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“Hail storm” foto is the view off my back deck last week. The hail actually pitted the roof of the gazebo you see there.Our trip to the TPJ Customs bike shop was delayed a bit while the wicked weather witch raged here in NorCal. From hailstorms to wretched winds, we’ve seen it all in the […]

I can’t tell you how happy I was when engineers at Harley-Davidson devised a counter-balancing mechanism for the rigid mounted motors in their 2000 Softails models. Then, when I got a load of the Deuce, their newest FXST, which just happens to be the slickest custom production model the motor company ever produced, I was

Good God. What the hell? I received a summons for jury duty and it collected dust on my desk for a week. Then I discovered I was fucked. Last time, I sat on a drug case. I told the judge I could not be fair. I hate drug laws. Then it rained while we installed

We recently installed the Aero shift linkage from the Toughlinks department of Billet Tough Engineering on my V-Rod. The new shift linkage has a carbon fiber finish; bead blasted tapered ends, and a beautifully finished look. The installation was straight forward and easy to install. While I did hit one little snag along the way,

This Tech is brought to you by Bikernet Sponsor J&P Cycles One of the more difficult challenges we face in our tech department here at J&P Cycles is the issue of handlebars. Often we hear this simple directive: “I just want to move my hands about two inches farther back.” But in order for our

Wire Plus has been engineering state-of-the-art custom wiring harnesses, digital instrument panels and other innovative products for more than a decade. Rick Marler, President and founder of Wire Plus is an avid enthusiast himself, and has been riding his entire life. Marler knows what the environment can do to motorcycle components, especially electronics. “Our systems

This is wild. Some of the most precision shit in life is magnificently simple. Motorsport makes this popular tour-pak rack from a ¼-inch plate of billet aluminum, the masters of billet wheels, but I’ll touch on them in a minute. Metalsport’s Contoured “Billet Tour Pack Rack” is available in show chrome, Black Chrome and Raw

While there are positive signs the economy is climbing out of the toilet, that’s hardly an occasion to break into three choruses of “We’re in the money.” Nevertheless, those who can pop for a new motorcycle should step up, even if we're still teetering on the edge. For the rest of us, we’ll continue do

Here's our test subject, a 2010 dresser belonging to a Departure Bike Works Customer.We keep up on exhaust systems. The damn things are forced to change as fast as new models are released. D&D runs dyno tests on every exhaust system they make, plus they have developed new, better flowing touring bike mufflers, so when

This is a strange one. In this economy, suddenly Sportsters became the answer for wild years of partying on two wheels without any major expense. For a decade, it didn't make financial sense to customize or ever buy a Sportster. Big twins were moneymakers, whereas Sportsters cost the same to modify, but the resale price

Bert Baker, the mad scientist behind the Baker product line.The Baker team understands the love affair with your vintage motorcycle… There’s nothing like putting authentic, vintage styled components on your nostalgic bike. That’s why BAKER has taken the time to reinvent the 4-Speed. “Some people don't give a smooth fart about any Big Twins after

The 2007-2009 Sportsters have the ECM module mounted on the rear fender. This does not lend itself to a clean solo seat option. Seat styles for these year bikes have a “hump” in them to allow for a compartment to hide the module. I have been looking for a way to move the ECM to

We are currently working on the good Dr. Hamster's '34 VL, which, for some unknown reason has a set of mid '40s Indian handlebars mounted on dogbones, attached to his VL springer front end, with dogbone risers. It's a strange arrangement, but we decided to stick with it. We checked out the bike from stem