Tech

A while back, I spent a week one day in the garageof Bikernet headquarters with Bandit. Bandit was hot to putapehangers on his shiny new Road King Classic. Once I arrived and cooled down his “high-bar desire”, I suggestedputting all the handlebar switch wires inside the bars where theywould be safe from his undue attentions […]

I’ve known Ben Kudon, the general manager of Rivera/Primo for over 20 years, and no one knows Rivera Primo products like Ben. He won’t hesitate to let you know his level of expertise. Unfortunately, when the RP team developed these cool lighting systems, I was forced to ask Ben about them. Here’s his initial response:

  Ok, ok, ok….so you want me to check out a new oil pump by Fueling, Super Scavenger Oil Pump for Twin Power. Well, right off the bat I have to wonder if this pump is no good and they are just trying to “buy” my seal of approval.     With that in mind,

      1.  What is Ethanol?     Ethanol is referred to as grain alcohol or ethyl alcohol. It is used in alcoholic beverages, but is also used in gasoline as an oxygenate.  Ethanol used in gasoline applications is denatured which means that it contains a bittering agent in it to prevent it from

We peeled out to Saddlemen’s family-operated dream factory recently to see what was new, and maybe test a new bag on a 250 ATK cruiser. We worked with Saddlemen’s team on several occasions, building a totally custom seat for the Mudflap Girl FXR, creating seats for Bonneville Racers, you name it. The Saddlemen group is

A brother, contributor, official Bikernet certified welder, VP of Bikernet Manufacturing, Dr. Feng, lives on a rusting steel ketch in the Wilmington marina. He recently agreed to a long-term road test of a 650 ATK cruiser. The notion of living on a boat is a romantic, solitary existence, rocking to sleep each night by splashing

This story kicked off 10 years ago with a Lincoln MIG welder and a rusting mini-bike. An obsessed weight lifting and skateboarding 13-year-old, with his dad’s support, bought a MIG welder and started to chop his mini. “I raced motocross until I broke my left foot,” said Jesse Srpan. “I needed to shift to something

There is a buzz in the industry once more. It started with the invention of a composite material capable of revolutionizing brake systems. I’m not kidding. This shit brakes like nothing else on the planet. It will last forever. It won’t squeal or wear, and brake pads will last and last. Also, this shit doesn’t

    Do I start with “In the Beginning”, “Long, Long Ago”, or “Once Upon A Time”?  However you look at it, there’s always going to be a back story, bits and pieces coming out over a Jack and Coke or a brew, at the shop, local pub or even the Warehouse in Port Costa.

    I’m using a Baker DD6 transmission and they mount on a 5 speed transmission plate as used in Evolution Softail frames. I don’t care for the flimsy stamped sheet metal trans mounting plates available commercially so I opted to make my own. Back in the day we used to have V shaped rear

During a late night North Carolina thunderstorm I got a call from Edge, the Commander of the Smoke Out High-Security Team. He caught me just as I was finishing the last savory drops of my double Jack on the rocks. With Edge, you never know what alley a conversation will take, so I shook myself

    My wife Jane bought a 2012 Dyna Switchback after 22 years of FXR ownership, and this new bike has become another test bed machine for Heavy Duty magazine (www.heavyduty.com.au). In terms of performance, we began by switching out the stock cams for a set of S&S 585 units, fitted an S&S air cleaner

Eric Bennett grabbed the shop door chain and hoisted the roll up door for the first time, in 2000. He started his mechanical career as a certified diesel mechanic with 60-weight always flowing through his blood stream. Finally, he gave into his entrepreneurial spirit and his desire to make motorcycles his life—he opened his own

  Editor’s Note: I recently received a note about the last ’48 Panhead I owned. Two years ago Doc Robinson, a moto-journalist and tech writer from Australia, talked me out of it. Since it arrived on his little island in the Pacific he had a mission, to make it vintage road race rally ready. When

Well, here we are, past the point of no return. In this chapter I cover the reassembly of the 1964FL restoration. I have been working on this classic for the past nine months. I know it says frame above, but the frame was bone stock, no dings, or mods. The customer requested paint over powder,

Bad Brad, a martial arts Sifu, and the previous owner of the San Pedro Kick Boxing School recently bought a ’98 King from the Billet King. He still owns his 1964 Panhead, for 40 years. The Road King was clean as a whistle, and had an air system to lower the rear shocks, but the

Tail Gunner Checking in! This month I take a look at LA Choppers Big Air Kit (round), for either EFI or Carb bikes. The kit comes complete with everything you need for an easy install and an estimated 10% HP increase. The Big air kit has a built in breather, so no hose’s to fool

My Wife calls me the “frequent flyer.” But over the years she’s finally gotten comfortable, on her perch on the bitch seat of my Softail, when I dog down the throttle lock and extend my arms out to the side as I emulate Red-Tailed Hawks and other winged raptors that seem to be able to

  Editor’s note: We are very fortunate to have two of our top techs tackle this installation. Each one brings a slightly different direction to this tech, and both thoroughly tested the Force Flow from JIMS.  By Doc Robinson   Summer is here and engine heat once again becomes and issue given that Twin Cam

  Tail Gunner here! I’ve been running the Screamin’ Eagle exhaust system for a while on my old Softail. They perform well, but lack the sound and midrange of other more comparable mufflers such as Cycle Shack or Paughco. I didn’t really want to sink another $300 to $400 in another set of pipes, so

First, what TCB isn’t, it’s not ABS. Simply, Anti Lock Braking is a computer controlled sensor on the front and rear wheel. When a lock–up is occurring it sends a message which tells the hydraulics’ to release pressure and to unlock, then lock. This happens hundreds of times in a couple of seconds allowing the

Well, here we go. When Kustom’s Inc. was asked to be the lead builder, with Ron Harris from Chop Doc’s Choppers, we didn’t even stutter. It was hell yeah! Just think, we get to work with Chris (Hooker) Callen and Keith (Bandit) Ball.     Little did I know that meant not only building the

After the engine was removed from the frame, I mounted it on an engine stand and clamped it to a work mate. This worked perfect, as I have limited working space due to all my daunting, ongoing projects.   I got lucky with this engine, as I later found out it had recently been rebuilt