Okay,

I believe life is beginning to come into focus for the year. Is that possible? Am I too late? It’s the middle of the year goddammit. Our Bonneville frame is coming into focus with Kent Weeks at Lucky Devil’s in Houston. Tube bending should take place this week.

I spoke to Dave Rash at D&D Exhaust about pipes and he recommended that I go with fuel Injection over Carl’s Speed Shop Typhon carb. Carl makes the only carb on the market with a 2-inch venturi. I spoke to Rusty, the D&D mastermind tuner. He recommended sticking with factory components and a Horse Power Inc. massive throttle body. They go as high as 68mm.

I’m working with the JIMS team on my 2006 135-inch twin cam configuration, so I can run one of JIMS heavy-duty race 5-speed transmissions. It’s getting exciting. I’m also working with the JIMS team on an article about the new 135, all the improvements and why they chose this configuration.



I’m going to disappear next week and edit my second Chance book, and get this puppy headed for publication. Let it be written, let it be done. And hopefully the first 5-Ball Racing Wheeler Work Station will head out to our local shelf maker on Monday.

Plans for Sturgis are underway, including something to do with the History Channel.

Let’s hit the news quick:




The Thursday News is sponsored in part by Cycle Source Magazine and Las Vegas Bikefest.




SADDLEMEN PUNCHES IT UP FOR HARLEY DAVIDSON RIDERS-- Introducing a New Line of Seats to the Saddlemen Family – The Knuckle

After several months of extensive research in design, function and comfort; Saddlemen is proud to introduce the newest member to their custom seat family, the Knuckle seat. With a brash refinement the Knuckle seat will instantly transform any bike, and cause heads to turn.

The Knuckle seat features deep, aggressive ribs, which are carefully hand stitched into a brushed SaddleHyde cover. The robust stitch lines not only give the seat a unique style, but the foam-infused ribs give a new dimension of cushion. The Knuckle stands apart from other aftermarket low profile seats with its hand-crafted progressive density foam and a SaddleGEL foundation, enhancing the seats’ cushion.
As Harley-Davidson riders have seen before with classic saddles like the Renegade solo and the Profiler two-up, Saddlemen has a gift for designing realistic comfort into a low slung seat. Under all that style, the Knuckle comes equipped with a strong fiberglass pan and plated hardware to ensure a perfect fit for a trouble-free install for a variety of H-D models ranging from 2008 to 2014; Dyna, Softail, Sportster and Touring models are all included.

When it’s all summed up, it’s difficult to look past the great ribbed cover design of the Knuckle seat. Not only does it look great with the brushed SaddleHyde, but the cover is fully weather element resistant. Each Knuckle seat packs the knock-out combination of being designed and manufactured here in the USA and insured with Saddlemen’s Lifetime Warranty.

The Saddlemen Knuckle seat is available through any DRAG Specialties dealer. To learn more about Saddlemen’s lineup of seats, luggage and accessories visit www.saddlemen.com. Don’t forget to follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/saddlemen for the latest product and racing updates.





WASHINGTON WEEKLY UPDATE-- Pretty quiet week on our issues anyway. The Senate was in recess while the house held a heated, rare, late night hearing with the Veteran’s Administration, the veteran’s scandals have rocked the Obama administration. President Obamas administration saw the resignation of the department of veteran’s affairs and his press secretary Jay Carney. Carneys team recent mistakenly released the name of the top CIA operative/station chief in Afghanistan. Both on the heals of Memorial Day weekend. Needless to say President Obama has been hit with a bombshell.

A bill has been intruded to block the FCC from designating Internet providers as telecommunications services. Re-designating their status would allow the FCC to rule over these service providers. This move would give the agency more authority to impose rules on broadband providers, making it more costly to users.

This bill might make it onto the MRF legislative agenda.

--Jeff Hennie
Motorcycle Riders Foundation




FIRST AMENDMENT UNDER FIRE--This Guy May Get Sued Over an Amazon Review And he could lose his case, if legal history shows us anything--UPDATE: The company that threatened to sue the negative reviewer just lost its Amazon account.

The next time you write an online review, be careful. You might get sued.

That's what could happen to a Florida man who left a negative review about an Internet router he purchased. According to his Tuesday post on Reddit, where he's asking for legal advice, he received a letter from a law firm in Philadelphia threatening to sue him for an "illegal campaign to damage, discredit, defame, and libel" the company that makes the router.

"Your statements are false, defamatory, libelous, and slanderous, constitute trade libel and place Mediabridge and its products in a false light," the verbose letter from the law firm reads in part.

In his review, which has since been edited, the man made several allegations, including that many of the positive reviews about the product on Amazon might be fake and that the router itself was "identical" to a router from a different company.

If the man doesn't take down his review within three days, cease all Internet conversation about the product, and agrees to never buy the company's products again, the law firm will sue him, according to the letter. But by going to Reddit and not keeping quiet, the man might have already sealed his fate.

Companies, it turns out, have every right to sue people who write reviews on websites that they may feel are libelous or defamatory.

While there is a level of legal protection that third-party websites (in this case, Amazon) have from being sued, which come from Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act—the same section that protects websites that show revenge porn—the authors of those reviews are not protected.

Neither the letter nor the user can be confirmed. Still, this isn't the first time that someone has taken legal heat for online reviews.

In 2012, a Virginia court sided with a contractor who received a negative review from a woman on Yelp, claiming defamation. The woman who wrote the review said the service was poor and accused the contractor of stealing her jewelry. She was sued for $750,000.

In 2011, a book author sued a man, though unsuccessfully, who wrote negative reviews about his book on Amazon. And in 2006, a woman in Florida won $11.3 million in a lawsuit resulting from defamatory remarks on an Internet message board.

So while Amazon states in its terms of use that sellers "may not ask buyers to remove negative reviews," these companies do have legal protections to go after comments they may deem libelous.

While the Internet allows users a certain amount of anonymity behind reviews on Amazon or Yelp—where a negative or positive review can determine a company's success—there is still a danger that companies will take legal action against these reviews. For this Florida man, his gripes with this company will only grow.

--by Matt Vasilogrambros
National Journal



PROGRESSIVE SUSPENSION– Monotube Fork Cartridge Kit for Dyna models!

True high performance front suspension is finally available for the HD Dyna line. Progressive Suspension has gone back to the drawing board and created a state of the art Fork Cartridge Kit designed to outperform everything on the market.

Their new asymmetrical layout places a preload adjuster over a progressive rate spring in one leg and an aluminum bodied, sealed cartridge damper on the other. The result is superior damping and ride control combined with tunable preload and a new benchmark for high performance suspension for the Dyna platform.

Monotube cartridge style damping improves ride comfort, resistance to front brake dive as well as improving front end stability, cornering and bottoming control. No mods are required and install is relatively simple.

Each kit includes components for stock as well as 1” lowered version for 2006 – 2014 FXDB, FXDC, FXDL & FXDWG Applications. Check it out on their website, or contact your local Progressive Suspension dealer for more information.

MSRP $399.95

Progressive Suspension
6911 Marlin Circle
La Palma, CA 90623
877.690.7411
info@progressivesuspension.com
www.progressivesuspension.com





by Kevin Thomas

Using interviews and personal experience, A Common Man introduces the reader to two unique men. A Common Man explores Lakota Sioux Spirituality and Religion in their own words and experiences. Sidney Keith was a Lakota Spiritual Leader and Holy Man for twenty-seven years. He brought the sacred Sun Dance back to the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota where it had been illegal to practice their own religion.

Read the entire report on Bikernet in the next couple of days.


THE DAVE ZIEN FLAG/WARRANTY CONTROVERSY CONTINUES--Here's another issue for Harley to consider. I have both a 2004 FLHT Electra-Glide Standard and a 2006 Road glide. Both bikes have only one rear tire that is approved by Harley-Davidson, the Dunlop D402 Harley-Davidson Rear Tire.

Being the only touring tire approved by Harley-Davidson for over 3 decades, the D402 is the choice for riders who want to ride their Harley the distance. Developed and made in the USA, they are engineered to handle the unique demands of the American road.

Features:
Official H-D emblem on sidewall
Three-ply polyester casing with two fiberglass belts gives enhanced stability for touring riding
Computer-optimized tread profile with offset center groove improves rider confidence over rough roads including rain grooves and steel-grated bridges
Tread compound provides reduced cupping for enhanced wear and life
The D402 is available in front and rear black, single-white-bar and wide-white sidewall, all with an H speed rating.

Made in the USA

I know numerous riders who have gone with Metzler and other brand tires. Is Harley-Davidson going to start voiding warranties on bikes that show up with non Hartley-Davidson tires? This also is a valid reason for voiding warranty if Harley is going to go down the road of RESISTANCE. Tire manufactures are all aware of different rolling resistance depending on tread design, tire compound etc.

Food For Thought!
--David Mackie
American Patriot, Defender of Freedom, Motorcycle Adventurer and all around Good Guy!





NEW TECH, Bikernet Reader Comment!-- S&S Twin Cam Gear Drive Set Installed

http://www.bikernet.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=1800

Great article.

I wondered about the pinion run-out issue with the MoCo's generous tolerances (re: 2014 pinion run-out @ .010-inch).

I've heard that there were run-outs reported in excess of .020 found in warranty repairs in bikes with less than 5000 miles. I'm not sure what
mileage is specified by the MoCo for replacing the tensioner shoes (for me it doesn't matter because I wish to do this mod), but I'm amazed that
they didn't provide a tear down under the manufacturer's warranty at the end of the 2-year period. I feel that would have been the responsible thing to do.

I've heard the chain driven design was used to simplify assembly. I think it was so they could use a cheaper press-fit crank to reduce manufacturing costs. Even though it is prone to misaligning itself if
The bike is ridden hard, the chain driven cam design is more tolerant of pinion run-out issues, where the gear drive design is not, and can still
time the engine well enough to get it through its primary 2 year
warranty
period.

This being said, it makes a lot of sense to consider using an an S&S crank for this modification, if not just for longevity, reliability
And the piece of mind- for the added stability of the bottom end for future performance upgrades.

-- Ted Shredz
Delta, BC, Canada


From Bruce at S&S:
I think there's a lot of truth in Ted's comment, but we can only speculate about the reasons that these things happen. However, I can offer some factual information about S&S flywheels. I've had the issue where a guy wanted to use S&S gear drive cams, but ended up installing chain-drive cams because his stock flywheels had too much pinion shaft run-out. S&S flywheels will solve that problem, but there are a bunch of other reasons to invest in S&S flywheels besides the run-out issue.

Here's a link to a YouTube playlist showing some strength comparisons between stock flywheels, S&S flywheels and stock flywheels with welded crankpins. The results were pretty amazing even to us!

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQmEl4PFFeWN4ZTcsMQdDAsADCVSmxYzc
--Bruce Tessmer
Marketing Projects Coordinator
S&S(r) Cycle Inc.
608-627-0283





INVERNESS MAN’S BOOK INSPIRES DOCUMMENTARY MOVIE--In 2000, Ohio resident Ed Youngblood wrote a book about John Penton, an American international motorcycle sportsman whose vision and determination helped revolutionize the off-road sector of the worldwide motorcycle industry. His ideas changed off-road motorcycles from expensive vehicles with limited availability to lighter, better, affordable, and sporty vehicles available in any dealership.

After 40 years in the motorcycle industry, Youngblood retired to Inverness in 2012. His book, “John Penton and the Off-Road Motorcycle Revolution,” is still in print and has inspired a documentary movie entitled “The John Penton Story,” being released this month. Todd Huffman, head of Pipeline Digital Media, located in Orange County, California, explains, “I read the book soon after it was published, and I vowed that one day John Penton would be the subject of a documentary film.”


Huffman launched his project in 2006, collecting archival film and still images and traveling from California to Europe to create hundreds of hours of original testimonial footage from associates of John Penton. The movie is narrated by actor and singer Lyle Lovett, whose early youthful motorcycling experiences centered upon his own Penton motorcycle.

Youngblood was flown to Ohio last summer to be interviewed for the project. He says, “I am thrilled that I’ve had any involvement in inspiring Todd Huffman. He is a man in the model of John Penton; dynamic and determined and willing to nurture a dream for years in order to make it come true. I’m very excited about attending the premier of ‘The John Penton Story’ next week.”

The new documentary will premier in Cleveland, Ohio on June 9 and in Los Angeles on June 17. Cleveland was chosen for the first premier because it is near the Penton home in Amherst, Ohio. John Penton, now 89, will be guest of honor at the premier.

Youngblood has authored seven books about motorcycle history. Today he serves as a volunteer at the Florida Artists Galley and writes a monthly column for The Pioneer about Floral City.





SAMSON DEAL OF THE WEEK — 15% Off Legend Series Baloney Cut.

Samson’s Legend Series exhaust systems offer a show-quality finish with Samson’s exclusive chrome plating that provides long life corrosion protection and the ultimate in shine.

Beauty is only skin deep, but Samson performance runs all the way to the bone! The FL4-930 high-performance exhaust system has been designed and tuned to produce maximum torque and horsepower. When you’re packing a passenger and a load of road gear you want as much torque as the motor is capable of providing.

The sound says American motorcycle like nothing else can. Removable heat shields are pre-installed and the exhaust system is ready to bolt-on right out of the box.

Fits 2010 to 2014 Harley-Davidson Dressers or Road Kings. Hit on the banner below to take advantage of this offer that expires June 6th.






New Bikernet Reader Comment!--May 27, 2010 Part 1

http://www.bikernet.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=7369

I have been in love with motorcycles, Fords, and airplanes for the last 24 years. I have been carving and making baleen baskets. This article was very informative and funny and with the content that runs right up my oil lines.

I am currently researching Harley's ‘29 peashooter as I am making a scale model in baleen ivory both walrus and mastodon with some walrus bone "because of its strength" and porcupine quills for the spokes.

--Julian Paul Rentenaar





BIKERNET NUMBERS FOR MAY—Google has us at the following numbers compared to Stat Counter.

Total Google Numbers for May

unique 105,066
Page Views 180,149

TOTALS from Stat Counter
Impressions: 170,070
Uniques: 115,403



These numbers include Bikernet, Bikernet Blog, Bikernet Trikes, and Bikernet Baggers. Baggers won the growth award for May with a 30 percent increase in page views.

Of course the editorial board kicked off an investigation into Bagger numbers corruption. I’m sure indictments will be forthcoming. We will bring you the results momentarily.

--Snake




BIKERNET SOAP BOX-- Regarding the Santa Barbara attack: Two wrongs don’t make a right. One man attacks some folks, so the cry goes out immediately to attack our entire society with more stringent regulations. This time the calls went out not just to attack the gun industry, but others. So why isn’t the media added to the list. Isn’t it time to attack the media for the constant violence and sexy women in films, or how about attacking pornography?

It’s all wrong and freedom is right. We need to educate and train, not restrict and condemn. More and more gun owners feel ostracized. We should feel proud and empowered by our rights, not fearful. What if society started to blame death and disfigurement on the media or our “outdated” first amendment. I'm not in favor of any additional restrictions, on the contrary, I think freedom and education does the job. But I wish the media would respect freedom. Two wrongs don’t make a right and generally don’t work.

--Bandit



BRAND New Bikernet Reader Comment!-- Humans might be the one problem Google can’t solve

http://www.bikernet.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=11721

We already have self-driving vehicles... Take a bus or the subway if too detatched to enjoy a nice ride on/in a bitchin' machine!

--Speeddaddy
saskatoon, SK, Canada



UNCLE MONKEY KEEPS OFF THE GRASS-- Growing up it seemed like there was a rule for everything. One of the many rules I remember from school was no walking on the front grass. Our small town school had been built barely a generation before and was the pride a joy of the community.

The principal wanted to keep it that way so the grass that made up the front lawn was strictly off limits. That's not to say we wee ones were delegated to spend our recesses playing on hot asphalt or hard concrete. We were fortune enough to have lots of green space to run and frolic in, but when it came to the front lawn, it was a no-fly zone with punishment comparable to swearing or hitting a teacher.

One day in my youthful enthusiasm I had stepped onto the corner of the grass as I hurried for the bus home. The next morning the principal was waiting for me. The first one or two times it was a firm warning but if I continued pushing it farther than that it would bring more serious consequences. I and my backside knew what that meant having met the strap before when I decided to see what all the fuss was about swearing.

I didn't understand what it meant at the time. Didn't understand what was so important about following that simple rule about preserving that one small area. But it stuck with me. It was about pride, about integrity, about respect, not only about me but for others around me. It means opening the door for others or offering an arm to help someone cross the road even if it means we'll have to wait at the center medium to make it all the way across on the next light. Those small boundaries ripple across our lives. A Code of the West that fewer and fewer of us live by.

I recently took my granddaughter to Disneyland and was disappointed to see a father lift is daughter over a barrier to knock over plants and kick away at a speaker that was playing the delightful childhood melody. It wasn't the first time I had seen him. He and his family had barged through the security gate insisting that it was only for the "other" people. I watched as he reached over and broke a branch away from a plant, proclaim "oh, its real" and threw it on the ground instead of into the garbage container he was literally leaning against.

He and his family were rude and ignorant to the employees and the whimsical world Walt Disney had created for us. He was not the only one. Another "father" got bored and pulled his daughter out of line to meet and get an autograph from one of her favorite characters telling her that her hero was a loser and only a supporting character. Tears welled in her eyes as they headed towards the beer stand.

If only perhaps someone had told them to stay off the lawn when they were young.

--bad Uncle Monkey





5-BALL RACING 5/8-Sleeve Leather Jack Shirt--Big League Leather for Boot Tough Riders

Design by old school Bob Kay and Keith Ball from 5-Ball Racing, and styled after the old school baseball shirts, this 5/8-sleeve Jack Shirt is made with durable Buffalo leather and features quick snap front closure, two chest pockets, two waist pockets and one inside gun pocket.

“They’re made boot tough and rattlesnake mean,” said Ball, “and slick for speed.”



Cut in a full shirt length at 30 inches from center back neck, fully lined with 100 percent cotton poplin and features collarless neckline. Made by riders for street racers who don’t mess around.

MSRP: $200
www.crankandstroker.com
1 800 441 3331

Also available at J&P Cycles and select H-D dealers.