Hey,

Yesterday I met with one of my insurance agents in Sturgis. Life is complicated and insurance is nuts, but I suppose you must deal with it. Then we met with my shop building contractor for the final rundown on the bid.



I know a couple of other teams like lowbrow who are building shops. I’m excited about the prospect, but when it’s -7 degrees outside, progress is plodding. Wait, yesterday afternoon as the fleeting sun was beginning to set and the fresh factor outside dipped to -13 a large flatbed pulled up to deliver lumber from Knecht’s, amazing.



This week coming up is going to warm and shop progress will fly. Looking forward to it.

Let’s hit the news.




The Bikernet Weekly News is sponsored in part by companies who also dig Freedom including: Cycle Source Magazine, the MRF, Las Vegas Bikefest, Iron Trader News, ChopperTown, BorntoRide.com and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.







NEW FROM THE LOWBROW CREW--Now, even more MOON & Rat Fink gear in stock!

Lowbrow has carried a selection of Mooneyes motorcycle parts and other gear for many years.

Mooneyes was started in Santa Fe Springs, California in the 1950s and is still in operation there.

The name and logo is known the world over by aficionados of the internal combustion engine.

Pay homage to your gearhead roots!

Spun aluminum rear wheel discs custom made by Mooneyes in Sante Fe Springs, California. (Note the Mooneyes logo on the chin spoiler and Lowbrow Customs script on the oil tank.)



Lowbrow Customs has sponsored racer Alp Sungertekin since 2011. Alp built this 1948, nitro-burning Vincent 666 (engine cases are #666) in 2020, his first Vincent.. Top speed at it's debut race event, Bonneville World Finals in October 2020, was 182 mph.

In September 2021 Alp beat his own record in the 1000cc A-VF class on this bike at 193.621mph.






NINO 925 Jewelry Handcrafted in The USA!--What do you get when you combine an independent spirit, a unique sense of style and superior craftsmanship in the form of biker jewelry - Nino925 by Frank Zubieta.

For over 20 years, Frank Zubieta has been entrenched in biker jewelry lifestyle personally attending and creating biker jewelry for rallies around the country and worldwide in cities including Sturgis, Daytona Beach, Reno, Hollister, Las Vegas, New York City, and internationally attended by distribution, London, Barcelona, Italy, Germany, Portugal and many others.

Zubieta combines his love for biker jewelry handcrafted in sterling silver, yellow, rose, white gold, and platinum with precious and semiprecious stones to create wearable masterpieces that not only reflect the lifestyle of their owners, but can also be passed down for generations. That's because Zubieta creates biker jewelry with a lifetime warranty.

Zubieta's Biker jewelry is worn by men and women across the globe, with a certified distributor headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. Los Angeles based Nino925 biker jewelry is a known and respected brand in the jewelry industry and has been featured in multiple lifestyle magazines and on national television shows..






NEW AEROSTICH Custom Motorcycles Calendar--Stunning photography presented in a substantial 17”×11.5” format on luxurious art paper, worthy of framing, or at least pinning up to the garage wall. $18.00

BUY NOW

Save an Extra 15% on All Sale Items

Additional 15% discount will be automatically applied once sale item is added to the cart. These are all top-quality that are discounted because of discontinued merchandise, irregulars, returns, closeouts, special purchases, samples, etc. Inventory rotates quickly so check these deals often!

--AeroStich




NEWS FROM THE FREEDOM FRONT--Why We're Winning
When people learn the truth about the environment and crime, everything changes--Over the last 30 years, liberals and progressives have operated under a very specific set of assumptions about how to address environmental and social problems, including climate change and crime. Climate change was the most important problem in the world, many came to believe, and would be addressed by moving away from fossil fuels and nuclear to renewables.

Crime and homelessness would be addressed by reducing the size of the criminal justice system, decriminalizing drugs, and giving mentally ill and drug-addicted homeless people their own apartments and equipment with which to reduce the harms of addiction like HIV-AIDS.



Today, those assumptions are in serious question. Progressive efforts to expand renewables and shut down nuclear plants and natural gas production created global energy shortages, a return to coal, and rising emissions, raising questions about the sincerity of their concern for climate change.

Efforts to defund and demonize the police caused police withdrawal, officer shortages, and criminal emboldenment contributing to record-high homicides in 2021. And efforts to provide housing, drug equipment, and other services to, without requiring anything in return from, mentally ill and drug-addicted homeless people, contributed to record high (~100,000 in 2021) drug overdose and poisoning deaths.

Many and perhaps most progressives still do not recognize the implications of real-world events for their policy agendas. Most progressives and the mainstream media still refuse to acknowledge the role their policies and advocacy played in creating the global energy crisis and return to coal, while Germany and Belgium are going forward with nuclear plant closures.

And few progressives or mainstream journalists have properly reported on how progressive policies enabling and subsidizing hard drug use, including through the provision of free housing and equipment, and the elimination of tough love/carrot-and-stick policies, including bans on public camping, contributed to the spread of open drug scenes in major American cities, not just ones on the left coast.


But a growing number of more moderate liberals in the United States and around the world are waking up to the trouble with progressive policies on the environment and crime, and responding appropriately. Senator Joe Manchin recently killed President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better omnibus legislation in part because it doubled down on unreliable renewables and undermined reliable sources of energy, while France, Japan, Britain, and The Netherlands have all announced a return to nuclear power.

And a growing number of moderate liberals and Democrats, including New York Mayor-Elect Eric Adams and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, are pushing back against dogmatically Woke policies on drugs, crime, and homelessness.

As the policymakers change course, the news media are changing their tune. The Washington Post published an article pointing out that the vitriol progressive Democrats directed to Sen. Manchin after he opposed Build Back Better is self-destructive. It has become the consensus view of mainstream energy and environment reporters that Germany’s closure of nuclear plants, particularly during Europe’s electricity shortages, is irrational.

And Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle yesterday argued that progressives more than others should care about reducing crime since so much of their agenda depends on safe cities, while the day before that the newspaper published a long feature on the growing conflict among Democrats over record homicides in Philadelphia.

Environmental Progress and I are happy to have contributed to these policy shifts and public debates. Our work on energy and the environment is bearing fruit in many ways, including in greater support for nuclear, and greater skepticism of renewables.

And our work on drugs, crime, and homelessness has similarly resulted in policymakers, journalists, and influencers rethinking their prior assumptions.

--Michael Shellenberger
President and Founder
Environmental Progress
https://environmentalprogress.org/founder-president






THE LATEST FROM BURMA SHAVE--She said “Let’s do the doggy /
“And because you’re such a devil /
“I’m gonna let you visit /
“The room at the upper level.” / burma shave
--J.J. Solari





DONSTRADAMUS MAKES TOP TEN OHV & TRAIL-BASED RECREATION PREDICTIONS FOR 2022—
After a long hiatus, the Great Donstradamus is back making his OHV recreation predictions for 2022. Actually it is our Advocacy Editor Don Amador calling the shots for what the New Year will see on the land use front.


10 - The COVID-related explosion in public land recreation and resultant sales increase in OHVs inspires state and federal land agencies to devote more resources to manage roads, trails, and facilities for both casual use and permitted competition events.

9 - Firefighting agencies will add recreation and trail specialists to their interdisciplinary teams to help them better identify ingress and egress routes that can be used by firefighters and resource professionals to manage wildfires in the West.

8- Federal land agencies address challenges created by both the growing popularity of electric Adventure motorcycles with limited range and the lack of recharging stations in remote backcountry areas by installing solar powered charging stations in campgrounds and decommissioned work stations or lookouts.



7- Environmental groups join forces with off-road organizations to halt wind and solar farms proposed for installation on sensitive habitat, scenic areas, or lands used for multiple-use recreation.

6- The CA Air Resources Board reverses current effort to ban fossil fuel powered outdoor equipment such as generators, chainsaws, and OHVs after an articulate and passionate presentation given to them by rural powersports dealers, mom and pop gas station owners, RV industry, OHV consultants, and forest/grassland pre and post wildfire mitigation experts.

5- Tech giant and international businessman, Elon Musk, assigns a team of engineers and scientists to research and once-and-for-all solve the infamous “jeep death wobble” after reading about numerous complaints on various 4-wheel drive blogs. Musk states this task might be his most difficult challenge and he is committed to finding a solution.

4- Off-road racing champion partners with Kim Kardashian to create a new body spray that captures the scent of sweat, chain lube and forest loam for use by customers who don’t have time to ride but want to smell like they did. Sales soar with Generation Z and Generation Alpha customers.

3- A software company hires a number of OHV advocates to create a video game where participants pretend to champion OHV issues in the following venues; state legislatures, land agencies, Congress, counties, and social media. The gamer is considered a winner if they score a victory in any of the venues.

2- States that ended their reciprocity related to OHV registration/decals do an about face when they receive angry complaints by their residents who now have to pay for out-of-state permits in states with reciprocity requirements. States with reciprocity enjoy marked increase in permit revenue.

1- Electric bicycle riders in large cities rejoice when major state and regional parks in California authorize their widespread use of nearby designated non-paved single-track trail systems. The S.F Bay Area sees the largest celebrations.





NEWS FROM THE MASTER OF LIGHT--
As we begin this new year, we wanted to recap 2021 for those who may have missed some of the new releases.

Any successes (or fun) that we have is because of you, and we sincerely appreciate it! Happy New Year to all! Greg

NEW PIECE IN 2021

"Bounty Hunter"
New series! Second one will be released by March 2022.

EVENTS

Due to the various lock downs and changing event requirements, our show schedule was still a bit limited last year. But we did take the traveling gallery to Daytona, Oshkosh (EAA), Sturgis and, for the first time ever, Laconia.


Thanks for your time, and we look forward to seeing you at a future event!

--Greg Rhodes
International Sales Director
David Uhl Fine Art
Uhl Studios

303-913-4840

There are a bunch of pieces available on David’s web site. If you go there make sure to tell him or Greg that you came from the vast and unrelenting Bikernet kingdom. Thanks, --Bandit





BIKERNET UNIVERSITY METEOROLOGY CLASS LESSON—

Where Does The Name “Winter” Come From? It’s easy to tell when winter is coming in the parts of the world that feel the full force of the four seasons. The leaves have all come and gone from the trees, the air regularly has a distinct bite to it, and people don’t leave the house without their winter caps (and the mountains put on their winter snow caps, too).

In the Northern Hemisphere, winter falls in the months of December, January, and February, while the season spans June, July, and August in the Southern Hemisphere. Regardless of when winter comes, however, it always gets the same name in English. Yet if you look at where that name comes from, it’s not always the best description of what it’s like outside.

When did winter get its name?

Winter is not only the coldest part of the year in snowy locales, but it’s also often the wettest. That’s a defining characteristic that in part gave winter its name: the word winter, is recorded in Old English and is related to the words wet and water. Winter, wet, and water have many cognates in Germanic and other Indo-European languages. The word’s longevity is a hint to its importance. The Anglo-Saxons counted their years by how many winters had passed.

What about the season also known as fall? Learn about the many names of autumn.

When winter doesn’t feel like winter
Of course, despite the name, winter is not a universally wet season. In fact, in some parts of the world it’s the dry season.

Places close to the equator don’t see the same winter, spring, summer, and fall seasons as other parts of the world. Instead, there’s a rainy season and a dry season. India sees its rainy monsoon season from July to November, while Florida is hit with its rainy season from May through October.

So yes, the name winter itself may have an origin story that suggests a wet time of year, but sometimes the opposite is true.

When does winter start?
The seasons are based around four celestial events: the two equinoxes and the two solstices. Winter starts with a solstice.

The winter solstice is when the sun is at the southernmost point from Earth’s equator. The exact day varies, but the winter solstice typically lands around December 22. That day, which is astronomically the first day of winter, is also the shortest day of the year.

From an astrological standpoint, winter ends as soon as spring begins. That date is around March 21 during the spring equinox, which is also called the vernal equinox or the March equinox.

Of course, if you’re staring out of your window at a blizzard on December 16, it can certainly feel like winter even before the winter solstice comes and goes. On the other side of the season, a warm and sunny early March day certainly doesn’t feel like winter despite the start of spring still waiting for the equinox to pass.

--Dictionary.com






MORE CLIMATE DOOM RESTRICTIONS--More than 100 Oceano Dunes Acres Now Closed to OHVs

The California Coastal Commission, without deliberation, unanimously voted in late December to further restrict OHV use at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, immediately shutting down 108 acres of riding and driving area. Commission staff cited dust control and dune restoration as reasons to propose the shutdown, despite evidence that dust in the area is primarily caused by the wind and dunes themselves, not any human activities.

"The Coastal Commission rammed the closure through during the holidays with minimal public notice," said Scott Schloegel, MIC senior vice president of government relations. "This will further diminish the recreational experience and access for the millions of visitors to Oceano Dunes each year."

The MIC sent a letter to the CCC in December noting that claims about dust from OHVs have been debunked in two separate reports authored by Dr. Lynn Russell of the University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. And the MIC's Mario Mairena, senior manager, federal affairs, spoke at the commission meeting opposing closure during the public comment period.

"Throughout the public works plan process, we submitted comments and testified at public hearings suggesting ways to responsibly and safely preserve OHV access and resources at ODSVRA," stated the letter, signed by Erik Pritchard, president and CEO of the MIC, the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, and the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association. "We repeatedly offered to partner with State Parks to enhance safety, training, and awareness of sensitive areas at ODSVRA."

--MIC