There’s nothing like a run to nowhere. No plans, no dates, no deadlines and no formula, we just rode in the sweltering heat like two abused dogs searching for new owners. After a couple of beers, if someone asked, “why?” the cryptic answer would contain: Just to get out of town, to test the new […]
The King lives again, thanks to the Harley-Davidson Spring catalog supplement. The factory now offers complete blacked out Road King front end components. We replaced the warped nacelle. With a small brush and a 1/2 pint of gloss black Rustoleum, we touched up chipped fasteners over a couple of Coronas. What’s next? The rear fender
Road King 9/10/03 Read More »
The nacelle came off with the four dome nuts that hold the detachable windshield, but when we looked at the chunks of chromed steel we came face to face with the rubber mounted brass fasteners that hold in the headlight. With a little twisting and tugging they came away from the case. There were fastener
Road King 4/18/03 Part II Read More »
Bad shot, but it’s the horn all blacked out and still grimy. A shot of the spacer made to eliminate the rear shift lever. We were getting stoked by the changing appearance of the King. The black was giving it unity. I re-greased the shifter shaft and installed the back linkage in a vertical position
Road King 4/18/03 Part III Read More »
The Australian Connection standing in the Bikernet Headquarters shop. Around mid June Kerry and myself were organizing our trip to Sturgis, when Bandit contacted me an asked how would I liketo ride the Road King to Sturgis. Immediate thoughts were Wholly Shit, I’ve read all about the King on Bikernet and watchedthe different stages Bandit
Road King 11/08/05 Read More »
There’s two shots of the stripped King by Markus. The remaining amatuer shots were taken of the loaded King after a 650 mile weekend run to Laughlin and back to the west coast. Over the last year we’ve tore into this classic 2003, 100th anniversary Road King. I figured I wanted a touring bike for
Road King 4/26/04 Read More »
There’s an unwritten rule in the Code OfChrome that says, if you slip a set of highbarson any motorcycle you save it from mediocrity.There’s more, an evil punishment for this oftenillegal gesture towards the rebellious arts. Assoon as the unsuspecting rider throws his legover the saddle and reaches for the tall grips,his sideburns expand down
Road King 12/20/02 Read More »
If you’re like my freedom seeking self,once in a while youneed to ride. I don’t mean ride to the goddamnbar or even to arally, bike show or event. I’m talking aboutgetting out of town, outof the city, and out of site. That was the mentalplan. What happeneddidn’t exactly fit the criteria, but in somerespects improved
Road King 12/08/02 Read More »
Click here to see: Mudflap Girl FXRs, Part 7 My Son’s almost Grip Ace Wired Since last time, my Mudflap Girl is still over at Saddlemens waiting on a custom seat, but good news filtered into the shop this week. Next week, we should move forward. Then my son made his dire announcement: “I wanted
Mudflap Girl FXRs, Part 8 Wiring World Read More »
Click here to read the chapter 6: http://www.bikernet.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=10268 This is a blast. The year is just starting and shit is flying at us everyday. Gary and the gang from next door delivered enough steel I-beams and C-beams to build a deck, and in two days a gang from Long Beach will deliver a pool table
Mudflap Girl FXRs, Part 7 My Son’s almost Grip Ace Wired Read More »
Click here for: Mudflap Girl Part 3, the Bandit Engine Completed Suddenly we’re smoking on the Mudflap Girl FXRs, but the week after I received the frames, I had to jump a plane to New Orleans and ride a Victory to the Smoke Out. I was itching to work on these bikes. I survived the
Mudflap Girl Part 4, the Spitfire Frames to Rollers Read More »
That’s right. You can enter by filling out the coupon, subscribing to Bandit’s Cantina on Bikernet, or to the Cycle Source Magazine. With a Crazy Horse 100-inch engine, and a frame from Texas Bike Works this build is already flying together. From issue to issue you’ll see your motorcycle being built on the pages of
In a world where over promising and under delivering has become all too common here is a gem I must share. The Bikernet built Shrunken FXR has become my daily rider and needed a couple small adjustments to be just perfect for me. One detail was the too small seat or the bike was too
Saddlemen Mods To The Shrunken FXR Read More »
SADDLEMEN MODS TO THE SHRUNKEN FXR–In a world where over promising and under delivering has become all too common here is a gem I must share. The Bikernet built Shrunken FXR has become my daily rider and needed a couple small adjustments to be just perfect for me. One detail was the too small seat
Saddleman Improves the Amazing Shrunken FXR Read More »
Editor’s Note: Our 5-Ball factory racer was feature in Heavy Duty Magazine in Australia recently. It’s the largest selling custom bike mag Down Under. The story and the photos were handled by the amazing Smilin’ Doc Robinson, the longtime tech editor. I’ve left the story alone for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.–Bandit Many interesting and colourful
The Magnificent 5-Ball Factory Racer Featured Read More »
Click here for: Mudflap Girl Part 4, the Spitfire Frames to Roller Life is nuts, but we are scrambling on the Mudflap Girl FXRs, at least mine. Us old farts constantly have discussions about how unmotivated kids are. I want to work on my bike constantly. Every waking minute I’m thinking about it, about
Mudflap Girl FXR, Part 5 Read More »
Click here for: Mudflap Girl FXR, Part 5 Wiring is always a treat, unless you use one of those systems in a box like Phil’s speed shop systems. I ran one on my factory racer, and it was a breeze. I’ll try to find a photo. It was designed to mount to the frame
Mudflap Girl FXRs, Part 6 Wiring with Wire Plus Read More »
Hang on for a chance to win this bike. The odds will be terrific, so step up and enter, or subscribe to Bandit’s Cantina on Bikernet.com, or Cycle Source Magazine, and we will take care of your entry into the drawing towards the end of the year. In the meantime, grab a beer and enjoy
Bikernet/Cycle Source Sweeps build part 2, Sponsored by Xpress Read More »
I had a bad feeling about this mod. First, I don’t like to pack anyone, any time. If you want a ride on my Panhead, carry a hand-towel and a bungie cord. I avoid giving a girl a ride home from the bar, even a babe with gigantic hooters. I would preferred to follow her
The King stripped for powder coating. The plan was to strip the bike of all the brackets, tabs and accessories we could get our hands on and have them black powder coated by Custom Powder Coating in Dallas a Bikernet Sponsor. We ordered additional accessories to enhance the clean black effect. First we ordered the
Road King 4/18/03 Read More »
It’s part of our job as moto-journalists to try what’s outthere in the American market and report back. The ultimate test is to take a bike, customize it and ride it to Sturgis. What could give you a truer test of a bike’s ability to look cool and endure a long run? I’ve been
Sturgis 2001 Buell Read More »
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
BANDIT’S WIRE VISE Read More »
Continued from page 2…… With a couple weeks left, I called Joker Machine daily. I didn’t want to press, but I was going out of my mind. My contact, Geoff, had faced some health problems and decided that smoking was his cure. I didn’t want to add to the stress of building high-precision, very costly
Sturgis 2000 – Part 1 Whiskey, Women and the Open Road (Continued 2) Read More »
Unlike many years in the past, I didn’t rely on any builders to make the deadline for the trek to the Bad Lands. The Bikernet crew handled building two road-sizzling chops in two and a half months. I’ve got to tell you that it felt good to get back in the garage amongst the
Sturgis 2000 – Whiskey, Women and the Open Road on the Blue Flame Read More »
