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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Click here for: Mudflap Girl Part 2, the Bandit Engine and Spitfire update It’s May 23, 2011, about two months before we roll out to the Badlands. Every year takes on a different character. It’s sorta like the new kid on the block. We never know exactly the direction this kid it going to
Mudflap Girl Part 3, the Bandit Engine Completed 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 »
The Harley shop in Green River didn’t have it, nor did any of the other bike shops in the valley, but there was a shop in Aspen. It wasn’t in the phone book and couldn’t be reached by directory assistance. I called the Harley shop back and was given the number for Aspen Custom
Sturgis 2000 – Part 4-2 Read More »
That afternoon, I finished the weekly update and jammed for the tilting garage. Nuutboy had already broken under the extreme pressure and hauled ass for foreign shores. Wrench checked into rehab for the 24th time. He had been awake for three weeks and was beginning to look like the guy from the “Living Dead.” Japanese
Sturgis 2000 – Part 2 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 »
Continued from page 1…… I was about to reach for the phone book one morning, on an ass-saving spring hunt, when the mail arrived with an invitation to the Harley-Davidson new-model announcement. At that point I was spending every extra moment in the garage and interruptions were a problem. But the factory has always been
Sturgis 2000 – Part 1 Whiskey, Women and the Open Road (Continued) 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 »
We decided to take a run at an electrical article, since about 90 percent of problems and breakdowns come from the electrical component. Besides, it’s riding season and we all need to check our electrical connections before we ride off into the sunset. This is especially true of bikes stored in moist or seaside climates.
Road King 4/15/09 Read More »
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 »
The next morning, Myron and I got our asses in gear and loaded our scoots. Karl and Cheri were returning to Phoenix the long way through the mountains and Flag before getting home. We said our goodbyes and headed out. It was odd, or maybe not, that Myron and I were travelin’ without maps this
Sturgis 2000 – Part 4 Read More »
This here cardboard box full of odds and ends was where it allbegan. Or was it just an idea? Or maybe too much Jack Daniels. Ormaybe Bandit was tired of me whining about it. Anyway, like a beggar on the streets ofCalcutta, or Blanche Dubois in “A Street Car Named Desire,” I depend onthe
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That last 25 miles were the worst of the trip. It rained off and on as the traffic became thick as mud on your boots. Lane splitting is not allowed and when we attempted to play ignorant travelers, motorists tried to hit us. As the sun broke over the parking lot of cars, the humidity
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You’ve been there. You handed the Makita cordless drill toyou’re drunken buddy, and he drilled a hole in your big screentelevision. You tried to wrap the extension cord around his neck andfinish him off. We came close to blows in the garage a couple ofmonths back. I spent days carefully welding chunks of Samson exhaustpipes
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The next morning, after breakfast at Stan’s diner in Scottsdale, we rolled north toward Payson on our way to Holbrook. Stan’s is a small joint in a dull rectangular building downtown, that Stan tried to spruce up with adobe chairs and tables. A skinny waitress came to take our order but since this was Myron’s
Sturgis 2000 – Part 3 Read More »
Bandit and I were checking out the Amazing Shrunken FXR. “Thedamned thing,” referring to the shrunken FXR project we had beenhammering at, off and on, for almost two years, “has attitude,” hegrowled, “a bad-assed attitude.” “Yeah, but will it have sound attitude?” I mused. “I want it toget attention. I want it to be felt
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Buells are the Harley-Davidson street fighter. They are inexpensive,sharp-handling machines that give the American rider something toshout about, something to fuck with and something to race. This bike won’t compete with the 200 mph Japanese sportbikes, but it will handle like one, and brake like one. So we gothold of one and evaluated it for
Here’s a couple of shots of the Bikernet Street FightingBuell for Sturgis 2001. This is how it currently stands with ahandfull of minor modifications and a lot of plastic removed. Let meknow what you think. Note the pulley guard. We had the notion to take levers andbraces like this off, lightening-drill polish and
Sturgis 2001 Part 2 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
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 »
Like the enigmatic fortunes you find inside thosefolded Chinese cookies, our visit with Dr. John–the”frame doctor,” was a mix of New Age mysticism andpractical guidance. The week before, Bandit and Ibrought the rolling Pro-Street frame to the gooddoctor. We gave the him our best ideas of what wethought the bike should become. Basically, we wantedthe
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