Hey,

Everything is happening fast. The brothers at Bennett’s Performance headed to Bonneville at the crack of dawn. Sturgis is winding down and we’re waiting to hear reports from the front.

Rogue made it to several events. He said the number of folks was strong, and although it rained cats-and-dogs on the way to the rally, the weather has been moderate in Sturgis.

Brothers are after me to make it to the Meeting of the Minds and the Fall Foliage Hamster run about the same time in September.  I'm focused on the Salt Torpedo.

We are still hammering away on the first Streamlined trike and I’m concerned about the firewall construction. I’m scrambling on the wiring and Micah is headed over on Saturday to install the new 10.5-inch Suspension Technology shocks and work on the firewall.

We might be able to start it this weekend. Hang on. 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. Most recently the Smoke Out and Quick Throttle Magazine came on board.






Easyriders Rodeo roars in to Fowlerville, MI August 16-18 and Chillicothe, OH August 29-September 2. Got to www.easyridersevents for more info.

Inspired by the wild and woolly motorcycle board track racing of the early 20th century, the first known Wall of Death style of attraction came to life in 1911. It was called the “Race for Life” at the Coney Island amusement park in Brooklyn, New York.

In keeping with tradition, Rhett Rotten rides a 1927 Indian Scout, the make and model commonly used to ride a barrel shaped wooden cylinder 100 years ago. His Wall of Death was built in 1941. An antique in its own right and the last of its kind.

Rhett will be performing at both the Easyriders Rodeos in August. If you can't catch him there, he travels all over the country with his vintage bikes and "Wall" wowing spectators with his unique riding skills.





RECENT TAX HIKES—I don’t get it, and then maybe I do. But let’s cut to the chase and get to the facts. Our income hasn’t increased since 1999, and in most cases dropped, but other than what Trump did taxes and costly requirements continue to rise.

Just recently in California, it’s mandatory to give your employees sexual harassment training to the tune of $200 a month or $36 per employee to have them certified.

In Los Angeles the major mandated trash handling and our fees doubled. And now it’s administered by the city, so you can’t reach anyone if you have an issue.

And California passed two Homeless taxes to the tune of $88,000 per homeless person. I wish I made that much. And of course the homeless population increased this year.

Gas taxes continue to increase to punish you for driving fossil fuel vehicles. And now that marijuana is legal, the taxes are going through the roof for its use.

Gas Taxes Rise in a Dozen States, Including an Historic Increase in Illinois

On January 1, 1990, the Berlin Wall was standing, Nelson Mandela was still in prison, and Illinois was raising its excise tax on gasoline to 19 cents per gallon. A lot has changed since 1990, but Illinois’s gas tax rate hasn’t budged.

Fast forward almost 30 years, however, and the Land of Lincoln is finally at it again. On Monday, Illinois’s gas tax rate will rise by 19 cents and its diesel tax rate by 24 cents per gallon to raise money for infrastructure improvements. Both increases are calibrated to almost exactly catch up with inflation over the last three decades.

But Illinois isn’t the only state where gas taxes will increase. On July 1, 12 states will boost their gasoline taxes and 11 will boost their diesel taxes. The reasons for these increases vary, but they’re generally intended to fund maintenance and improvement of our nation’s transportation infrastructure–a job at which Congress has not excelled in recent years. Details of these upcoming gas tax changes are as follows:

California: The gas tax will rise by 5.6 cents per gallon under the last stage of an increase approved by lawmakers in 2017. As in Illinois, California’s gas tax rate will now also be adjusted each year to keep pace with inflation. Voters were asked to repeal the 2017 law last year at the ballot box, but they decided to keep the reform intact by a margin of 57 to 43 percent.

Connecticut: The diesel tax rate will increase by 2.6 cents per gallon because the tax rate is designed to vary alongside changes in average fuel prices. Even with the increase, however, Connecticut’s diesel tax rate (46.5 cents) remains significantly below its 2013 peak (54.9 cents). Gasoline taxes in Connecticut are also partly based on the price of fuel, but that formula applies to the actual sale price and therefore the tax rate can vary continuously rather than undergoing periodic adjustments.

Illinois: The gas tax will rise by 19 cents and the diesel tax by 24 cents under legislation enacted earlier this year. But lawmakers didn’t just write a new, flat cent per gallon tax rate into the law. They also planned ahead by choosing to index the gas tax rate to inflation so that it can retain its purchasing power with small, periodic increases in the years to come.

Indiana: The gas tax will rise by 0.5 cents while the diesel tax will rise by 1 cent. Under a 2015 reform both taxes are updated annually to keep pace with inflation and the rate of personal income growth in Indiana. The gasoline tax is also partly linked to gas prices, which explains why the gas tax rate is rising by less than the tax on diesel (falling gas prices in Indiana are partly offsetting the impact of inflation indexing).

Maryland: Gas and diesel taxes will each rise by 1.4 cents per gallon because of a formula implemented in 2013 that ties the tax rate to increases in the rate of inflation and in the price of motor fuel.

Michigan: Gas and diesel tax rates vary each month in Michigan alongside changes in the price of fuel. On July 1, the gas tax will increase by 0.1 cents and the diesel tax by 0.2 cents. Looking ahead, Michigan is poised to join the growing number of states that index their fuel taxes to inflation starting in 2022.

Montana: Gas taxes are rising by 0.5 cents and diesel taxes by 0.2 cents because of a phased-in tax increase enacted in 2017. The full increase, which will amount to 6-cents for gas and 2-cents for diesel, will be completed in July 2022.

Nebraska: Gas and diesel tax rates will increase by 0.1 cents under a formula that considers both fuel prices and the legislature’s infrastructure spending decisions.

Ohio: Gas taxes will rise by 10.5 cents and diesel taxes by 19 cents per gallon under an increase enacted earlier this year. Gov. Mike DeWine also proposed indexing the state’s gas tax rate to inflation, but this reform was ultimately left out of the law. Lawmakers did agree, however, to offset some of the gas tax increase falling on lower-income drivers by boosting the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

Rhode Island: Gas and diesel tax rates will each rise by 1 cent per gallon under an indexing formula enacted in 2014. This marks the state’s first adjustment since July 2015. The formula allows for adjustments every two years, but no adjustment was made in 2017 because inflation was relatively low.

South Carolina: Gas and diesel tax rates will each rise by 2 cents per gallon under the third stage of a 6-part increase. These tax rates will eventually rise by a total of 12 cents per gallon because of legislation enacted in 2017.

Tennessee: The gas tax will rise by 1 cent while the diesel tax will increase by 3 cents. This is the final stage of an increase enacted in 2017 that raised gas taxes by 6 cents and diesel taxes by 10 cents overall.

Vermont: The gas tax will rise by 0.55 cents while the diesel tax rate will remain unchanged. Vermont’s gas tax is linked to the price of gas and an increase in gas prices led to this tax change.





REPORT FROM THE BIKERNET SEO CHAMBER--The article bitching about Harley Davidson problems is very popular on Facebook.


In 23 hours we reached 1956 people with 17 Shares, 9 Comments and 269 clicks to the BLOG Link. 467 Engagements in just 23 hours.

https://blog.bikernet.com/20-glaring-problems-harley-davidson-wont-admit-about-their-motorcycles/

Below are some of the Comments:

Bruce Donaldson - One problem would be all the pussies buying them that can't do maintenance, and can barely ride.

Mike Johnson - Harleys would be much better with liquid cooled engines even with the traditional under square engine. Air cooled engines cannot simply be made ever bigger without critical overheating problems.
Harley has to build what sells but what the customers prefer is a gaggle of bad ideas and a personality crutch and it is best if you can fix it yourself or can locate a specialist who is capable.

Example: Have your crank assembly checked, serviced and welded at Dark horse Crank works.

Dan Krumwiede - The Road Glide “wobble”? More like “tank slappers”. Almost killed me twice. The dealership knew about the problem when they sold me the bike. Told me to tighten shit down to twice the specs.

Moopa Guastapaglia - I've always done my own wrenching. Had many a few, the older bikes were easier to work with. I currently have two: '99 FatBoy "Lizzie"& '03 Road King EFI "Beula". Love both them girls. Beula is new to me, picked her up this past April. Lizzie don't seem to care one bit, she's still roarin' & rippin' up roads the way she always has.

Yeah, H-D has lots of future problems, heck I think there are almost as many bikes on the dealer's floor as they have tee shirts …

Don't got mechanics, just "techs" glorified parts changers that have no answers. Any of ya remember them days of waiting a year for your new bike to come … points, condensers, magnetos, & kickers? Those were the machines that made the legend of H-D. Just Keep Riding, Love & Respect!

Anthony Burns - Mine is always getting drunk and and falling over.

Dave Tootell - Tell you what, this "Fly by Wire" throttle glitch sucks too!

Mario Paolo - Well, the author's not wrong. specially with the Twin Cam tensioner shoe issue H-D refused to admit. Blew up my '05 Dyna

Michael Hatcher -  I agree with Bruce Donaldson.

David Peel - What's this bagging crap?

Wayfarer,
Senior SEO Analysist
Bikernet™ Vast Web-based Empire





QUICK, OPEN THE BIKERNET BAD JOKE LIBRARY--A different twist on politics.

--EL WAGGS





ROGUE HITS RAIN ON HIS STURGIS RUN FROM FLORIDA--H-D Rain Gear
On May 7, 2019 I posted an article on Harley Davidsons new FXRG rain gear. You can see the article at https://www.bikernet.com/pages/NEW_RAIN_GEAR_FROM_HARLEY_DAVIDSON.aspx

Well my trip to Sturgis SD this year was very wet, the kind that has vehicles pulling over because the operators cannot see far enough in front of them to drive.

Yes, I did have to pull off the highway a couple of times because I could not see. But when I did I was still dry unlike other riders with different brands of rain gear.

Just a follow up as we continue to product test items in real situations.

Ride Dry
--Rogue
Senior Editor in Chief
Bikernet.com™




‘Poop burgers’? Eat insects? ‘Meat patch’ to stop cravings? New UN report takes aim at meat-eating – UN seeks expansion of climate agenda to regulate what you eat.

Climate Depot's Marc Morano Note: Get ready! UN coming after your burgers & steaks to save the planet. This is yet another report from UN IPCC intended to empower UN bureaucrats to centrally plan our lives for no impact on the climate.

From 2011:
Japan scientist synthesizes meat from human feces
By Jeff Hughes — Posted on June 15, 2011

Somehow this feels like a Vonnegut plotline: population boom equals food shortage. Solution? Synthesize food from human waste matter. Absurd yes, but Japanese scientists have actually discovered a way to create edible steaks from human feces.

Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, has developed steaks based on proteins from human excrement. Tokyo Sewage approached the scientist because of an overabundance of sewage mud. They asked him to explore the possible uses of the sewage and Ikeda found that the mud contained a great deal of protein because of all the bacteria.

--Digital Trends

Climate Depot Special Report

Here we go again. Yet another UN report claiming we must follow its dictates or face certain climate change doom.



See: Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet – The report on global land use and agriculture from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change



Nature reports: “Efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and the impacts of global warming will fall significantly short without drastic changes in global land use, agriculture and human diets, leading researchers warn in a high-level report commissioned by the United Nations.”

Climate Depot note: They now claim that the UN’s efforts “will fall significantly short”. It is odd and predictable that the UN Paris pact — which was hailed as saving the planet in 2015 — is now considered woefully inadequate by the UN.

See: UN admits ‘historic’ Paris climate pact did not save Earth after-all! Now says: Cutting CO2 ‘not enough’ – ‘We must change food production to save the world’

The report continued: Hans-Otto Pörtner, an ecologist who co-chairs the IPCC’s working group on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. “But it would indeed be beneficial, for both climate and human health, if people in many rich countries consumed less meat, and if politics would create appropriate incentives to that effect.”

--Marc Morano
Climate Depot






LIFESTYLE CYCLES DEAL OF THE WEEK-- 2016 Harley-Davidson FLHTK - Ultra Limited

$16,995.00

https://www.lifestylecycles.com/default.asp?page=xPreOwnedInventoryDetail&id=7266377



2016 Electra Glide Touring Ultra Limited FLHTK

Take this bike on that long trip you always dreamed. H-D Boom Audio stereo system with music, GPS and Bluetooth accessibility. The Twin Cam 103 is mated to a smooth-shifting 6 speed cruise drive transmission for lower rpm at highway speeds.

The Ultra Limited has more room and touring comfort for the passenger and a redesigned iconic batwing fairing to reduce head buffeting. Reflex Linked Brakes with ABS Anti-lock Braking System. H-D HALO Lighting, brighter turn signals, brighter brake lights, and a new steering head with stiffer front forks. CVO exhaust system. Contrast cut aluminum cast wheels and a 6 gallon fuel tank for fewer necessary stops.



ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT:

Vivid Black with silver pin-striping and raised tank logos is in eye pleasing condition. Chrome strap with one touch gas cover and a painted inner fairing.

Boom! Box 6.5 GT Audio System with GPS and touchscreen, Bluetooth capability, with 25- watt per channel amplifier. Black 12" Lindby style bars, chrome/rubber heated grips, chrome levers, mirrors, and brake reservoir caps.



Tinted windshield and daymaker headlamp and LED passing lamps. Fender trim. Chrome blinkers chrome fork down to the axle caps all on Contrast Chrome Impeller Cast Aluminum wheels. Chrome engine guard with freeway pegs that match the grips. Great sounding exhaust with black tips pairing with 103ci of raw power. It has ABS anti-lock braking system.

Chrome engine covers including Screamin' Eagle air filter and cam with raised chrome 'Live to Ride' cover. 2-up seat with passenger floorboards and Air-adjustable rear shocks. 4 pt. docking hardware as there is no tourpak. Bag lights have the LED blinkers, LED taillight, and fender light. A pigtail and more...

This bike has passed Lifestyle Cycles rigorous 100 point safety and mechanical inspect




NEW ZEALANDER’ USA ROAD TRIP, DAY 39-- The ride through the next shower of rain is not too long nor as heavy
as the last one. The stop in Basset saw a number of riders all taking
wet weather gear off and we are doing the same.



There were a couple of rider there, who we made contact with in the rainstorm at Sargent. They have a mate towing a trailer with his bike on and the truck contains all
their camping gear. They are heading west but we are going north to Murdo. The east road will take the more direct route to Sturgis.



In the town of Winner, we see a number of bikers in a local motel and the
thought did pass through my mind about stopping, but we have a museum to
look at in the morning and the evening is still nice and cool for riding.



--Graeme Lowen



THE TWIST OFF IS BACK!
The Twist Off is coming back again this year and now is your chance to get in the gates at pre-sale pricing! Not sure what The Twist-Off is? Check with Revival Cycles.

Choose "Sprinter" tickets if you plan on racing for the weekend, and if you just want to watch the action, pick out a "Spectator" ticket. We HIGHLY encourage ALL to participate by being a Sprinter, so take a leap and join us in the dirt and/or the track for some some good old fashioned grudge racing!

--Revival Cycles






Here’s another classic from Hal Robinson.

--Bandit