Hey,
This week we published a piece about the state of the Chopper magazine market on Bikernet. As usual, when we delve into a topic, shit gets crazy. It’s the nature of every industry. Fifty years ago, life was simple, but exploding. It’s still exploding.
You know and face it daily. Go buy a refrigerator. Now there are a thousand options, sizes and brands. Hell, try to buy a new pair of jeans from Wrangler. Okay, so there are more riders than ever before, if we’re not banned tomorrow. Each guy or gal has their own style of riding and machines.
Then we come up against technology including the internet and social media. Every time something surfaces it divides the market and with each new technology we have opportunities and obstacles. The benefit of magazines is the visual. Web sites can’t do it like a magazine does. When websites were forced to be phone compatible, that messed with them even more.
The benefit of a website includes no word or photo count limitations, but folk don’t seem to want to read anymore. Why am I telling you this? You know it and face it daily.
Here’s the article:
https://www.bikernet.com/pages/THE_WORLD_OF_CHOPPER_MAGAZINES_RELEASED.aspx
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.
Click for all the info...God and “The 3 Mistakes”
What God did at Pearl Harbor that day is interesting and I never knew this little bit of history.
GTour boats ferry people out to the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii every thirty minutes. We just missed a ferry and had to wait thirty minutes. I went into a small gift shop to kill time.
In the gift shop, I purchased a small book entitled, "Reflections on Pearl Harbor " by Admiral Chester Nimitz . Sunday, December 7th, 1941--Admiral Chester Nimitz was attending a concert in Washington, DC. He was paged and told there was a phone call for him. When he answered the phone, it was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the phone.
He told Admiral Nimitz that he (Nimitz) would now be the Commander of the Pacific Fleet. Admiral Nimitz flew to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet.
He landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941.
There was such a spirit of despair, dejection and defeat--you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war. On Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Big sunken battleships and navy vessels cluttered the waters everywhere you looked. As the Admiral’s tour boat returned to dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, "Well Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?"Admiral Nimitz's reply shocked everyone within the sound of his voice.
Admiral Nimitz said, "The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America. Which do you think it was?"
Shocked and surprised, the young helmsman asked, "What do mean by saying the Japanese made the three biggest mistakes an attack force ever made?
Nimitz explained:
“Mistake number one: The Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk--we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.
Mistake number two: When the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America. And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.
Mistake number three: Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top of the ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plan could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That's why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or, God was taking care of America .
I've never forgotten what I read in that little book. It is still an inspiration as I reflect upon it. In jest, I might suggest that because Admiral Nimitz was a Texan, born and raised in Fredericksburg, Texas -- he was a born optimist. But any way you look at it--Admiral Nimitz was able to see a silver lining in a situation and circumstance where everyone else saw only despair and defeatism.
President Roosevelt had chosen the right man for the right job. We desperately needed a leader that could see silver linings in the midst of the clouds of dejection, despair and defeat.There is a reason that our national motto is, “IN GOD WE TRUST”.
Why have we forgotten?
PRAY FOR OUR COUNTRY! “ In God We Trust”!
Please pass this important message to others. “True Americans” need to stand behind one another and next to each other!
If you believe that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards that would have gotten you labelled a radical 50 years ago, a liberal 25 years ago, and a racist today.
-- Thomas Sowell
--from Sam Burns
MONGOLS MC CAN KEEP THEIR LOGO--
A Pasadena appeals court panel ruled Friday that the government cannot seize the logo of the Mongol Nation motorcycle club, but the court let a 2018 racketeering conviction stand.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court decision that cited the First and Eighth Amendments in a ruling rejecting the government’s forfeiture request of the club’s logo.
Stephen Stubbs, the Mongols’ general counsel, said in a statement that the ruling was “a victory not only for the Mongols Motorcycle Club, but for all motorcycle clubs, freedom, and America as a whole.”
The club, also called the Mongol Nation, is headquartered in Southern California and was originally formed in Montebello in 1969. Law enforcement officials estimate about 2,000 full-patched members are in the club.
Read the whole story at:
Pasadenastarnew.com
BIKE FEATURE OF THE WEEK—Paul Cox.
--Sam Burns
Feature Bike Editor
Bikernet.com™
Click for action
January 27-29, 2023
Veronafiere
Verona, Italy
Every January, Verona, Italy becomes the capital of the motorcycle world as enthusiasts from across the globe descend on the city for the world’s largest custom motorcycle event. This massive expo attracts more than 170,000 visitors to explore over 700 exhibitors in over 1 million square feet of exhibition space.
MBE is the beating heart of the international motorcycle scene. It provides a complete representation of the global two-wheel industry from special to sport to off-road and touring. You’ll have the opportunity to admire unique custom motorcycles from around the globe, as well as the latest models from major motorcycle manufacturers. (Not to mention, all the beautiful MBE hostesses.)
Get a taste of the show by checking out the Buffalo Chip’s previous trips to MBE in Sturgis Rider News’ Highlights from Motor Bike Expo.
MAMA TRIED
February 18-19, 2023
Eagles Ballroom
Milwaukee, WI
To a custom builder, an invitation to display your bike at the Mama Tried Motorcycle Show is as good as getting a golden ticket. This indoor invitational features only the best, with over 100 motorcycles of all calibers––flat tracker, hill climber, chopper, bar hopper, you name it. And you’d be hard pressed to find a cooler venue to see them all in.
In frigid Milwaukee, this two-day event helps builders, riders and enthusiasts keep their fire stoked all winter long. Make sure to plan your trip for an extra day on the front end to check out the Flat Out Friday indoor flat track racing shenanigans.
To catch more of the vibe from this show and the races, check out Sturgis Rider News’ No Fun at Mama Tried & Flat Out Friday.
DONNIE SMITH BIKE SHOW
March 25-26, 2023
St. Paul RiverCentre
St. Paul, MN
You can count on the Donnie Smith Show for a memorable kickoff to your spring riding season. Known as the Midwest Extravaganza, it offers 35 classes of custom motorcycles, the largest swap meet on the planet, tons of vendors and live entertainment. Strolling around the show will also give you the chance to meet industry celebrities, premium sponsors, artists and gear heads.
The Buffalo Chip is the first display you’ll spot as you travel down the escalator into the show. Stop by to see a new signature series B4 custom built by Lloydz Garage and a custom Legends Ride® auction bike created by Arlen Ness Motorcycles. Both bikes will be unveiled at the show and available to drool over all weekend. Along with this eye candy, Chip staff will be on-site to answer questions and sign you up for free passes to the Best Party Anywhere.
Sturgissridernews.com
TEXAS WEATHER REPORT--Took the Dyna up to MC Creations, hopefully it’s okay I used the Bikernet corporate card to purchase these 2 items. Top one was kinda pricey!! Made a few runs on the Shovelhead, even had the law get behind me my first trip out the other day.
And some Houston history, Stelter’s I believe was the first Harley dealer in Downtown Houston, opened in the ‘20s. My dad bought his Panhead there. I got to check it out as well before dad’s passing. Fred, a mechanic worked at Stelters, worked on my dad’s bike too. I was going to have Fred put the S&S 84-inch flywheels in my Shovelhead, then I’d do the top end.
The 84-inch kit I brought from Greg, when he worked at Union Cycle Salvage before he started MC Creations. But 3 tickets one afternoon from HPD and I had to sell it to Johnny Mancuso, to pay the fines. Johnny had recently opened the American Speed original location at N Main. Speeding, loud exhaust & one more? Probably being too wild in public!
I’d imagine everyone knew mister Fred, as N-word Fred and while the term offends many, no one meant it that way, back then. I never met anyone who had nothing but respect for him! Me, I just called him Mr Fred. Sorta like Spade George, who’s picture you posted of him sitting on his bike at the bar.
Fred was an amazing Harley mechanic, white or black we’re losing a lot of History as these individuals pass on! I don’t believe the new guys live it the same way we did. Cross country with no cell phones or social media, roads that now are packed with traffic, then not so much and few to no bikes on them that’s for sure!
--RFR
Texas Weatherman
Bikernet.com
THE INFLATIONARY RULE-- There’s only one thing that causes inflation, and that is the government.
Printing more dollars causes inflation.
Since the beginning of the pandemic panic, U.S. dollars in circulation rose from about $15.5 trillion to over $22 trillion:
That’s what causes inflation. Making more dollars reduces the value of every other dollar.
Since the federal government uses inflation, the creation of new money, to pay its bills, we can think of it as a tax. A tax everyone pays in higher prices. Some pay more than others.
Inflation results in a transfer of wealth from savers and workers to speculators, bureaucrats and government-favored special interests. People who worked hard and saved, the retired and anyone on a fixed income are robbed just as surely if they were mugged on the street.
The very people who should be rewarded for their efforts in planning for the future are hurt the most.
Inflation is no different from counterfeiting, printing up dollars in a basement, and buying things with them. Everyone knows this is stealing – fraudulently exchanging something worthless for something valuable. And this is exactly what the government does with inflation. (An undetected counterfeiter “stimulates the economy” as much as government money-printing does.)
Our government gives us what today seems normal – constantly rising prices. They aren’t a fact of life, they are an act of government. Inflation undermines growth and leaves the vast majority of Americans worse off than they would’ve been without all that extra money.
There’s only one safeguard against inflationary destruction.
The Founding Fathers, after their experience with inflation during the Revolution, said that real money was physical gold or silver. Our government is far too addicted to deficit spending to ever voluntarily return to a gold standard.
Eventually, this cycle of borrow-spend-inflate will fail – after destroying the purchasing power of the dollar for all time.
I strongly encourage you to protect your own and your family’s financial futures by diversifying some part of your savings out of dollars and into uninflatable, intrinsically-valuable gold and silver. Both have proven a safe-haven asset for thousands of years before our Founding Fathers used them as the basis of real money.
Unless you believe the government is willing to pull the plug on the printing presses voluntarily, and stop the inflationary destruction of our economy and our nation, I strongly recommend you learn more about diversifying your savings with physical gold and silver.
Both have been prized long before the invention of the dollar, and will likely be valuable long after.
Ron Paul is a medical doctor, a retired Captain of the U.S. Air Force, an author who’s published 21 books and former twelve-term U.S. Congressman representing the state of Texas. He’s emerged as one of the leading voices challenging government’s addiction to deficit spending and the Federal Reserve’s wealth-destructive monetary policies. He works with Birch Gold Group to educate Americans about the threats to their financial futures, and how to protect themselves and their families.
--By Ron Paul
Submitted by Graeme Lowen
New Zealand Correspondent
Bikernet.com
"Wait, or you could invest in motorcycles, custom motorcycles, vintage motorcycles, motorcycle memorabilia, you name it. Or maybe honey…"--Bandit
WHAT’S THE SAFEST COLOR FOR YOUR MOTORCYCLE?--If you’re out cruising on the weekends or commuting during the workweek, you may be wondering how you can improve your safety on the road. While there are a number of motorcycle safety tips to follow while you’re riding, choosing your bike color can actually affect your visibility to other drivers on the road. There are a number of factors to consider to reduce the risk of collisions, so Cycle Trader is covering the safest colors for a motorcycle.
How Motorcycle Colors Affect Safety
While there are a number of things to consider when buying your first motorcycle, you may want to think twice about what color bike you choose when shopping on the market. Road incidents involving motorcycles and other vehicles are prevalent due to low visibility. Darker colors blend in with the environment while riding, which can make it more difficult for other motorists to see you, especially if you’re biking at night. At sunrise or sunset, the amount of light on the road can make any dark-colored motorcycle blend in with the road. Even if you’re riding a blue or red bike, it can blend in with your surroundings and appear darker while you ride early in the morning at sunrise, or in the evening at twilight.
Safer Motorcycle Colors
So how do you improve your bike’s visibility to other motorists on the road? Consider choosing a bike with bright colors so you stand out against the dark road while you distinguish yourself from other vehicles.
Your best bet might be to go with a white motorcycle, which is bright, reflects light, and stands out from other colors. While white might not be the first choice for riders, it can appear as a classy option. For instance, a white Harley-Davidson shows off your power and style when you’re cruising around town. And during the hot summer months, it will reflect light and absorb less heat than a darker motorcycle. However, you’ll have to be careful if you’re riding a bright white bike against snow. If you’re going to be frequently riding in this type of weather condition, ride a bike with a contrasting color.
PLUS, you look like a cop…
While black bikes are most popular when it comes to motorcycle colors, you can still add patterns, designs, or trims that will create contrasting colors on your motorcycle to make it stand out. Other colors to consider are orange and yellow, which can draw more attention towards your bike.
5 Tips for Safe Riding with Motorcycle Colors
While going with a light and bright-colored bike can help with safety, there are several other steps you can take to improve your visibility on the road with colors.
1. Plan Your Riding Route
Plan your route and when you’ll ride to improve your visibility on the road. Pay attention to the terrain you’re covering so you can stand out with your motorcycle. If possible, avoid nighttime riding and inclement weather that can make it more difficult for drivers to see your bike on the road.
WAIT, Isn’t White the lack of all color. Gimme a color…
2. Wear Colorful Reflective Gear
When you set out for your ride, throw on some colorful reflective or fluorescent gear so you’re easy to spot. This includes your helmet, jacket, vest, pants, gloves, and boots.
3. Ride with Lights
No matter the riding conditions, your motorcycle lights should be working, including your headlight and brake light. State laws require riders to keep their low beam or dipped lights on at all times during the day. Some riders have personalized their bikes with colorful, customized underglow LED lights. Before you install ground effect lighting on your bike, make sure you check your state’s specific laws for these lights.
4. Bring Colorful Emergency Lights
If you ever have to stop for on the road motorcycle repairs, bring colorful, bright cones and flares to improve your visibility. Pack a flashlight so you can see your bike’s parts up close as you make a quick repair, and to help you see at nighttime.
5. Ride Off-Road with Color
If you’re taking a dirt bike off road through the forest and mud, you may not want to ride with a white bike that’s just going to get dirt all over it anyway. While a camouflage color of brown or green might make your bike look less dirty, it can make it more difficult for other riders to see you on the tracks. Red is a common color for these bikes, so go with something that will contrast with your environment if you’re concerned about a collision.
To help stay safe on the road, consider your color options with your motorcycle. Improve your visibility for other motorists with a light or white bike, then take steps to make yourself more noticeable as you ride. If you’re looking for your next new or used motorcycle, see all the listings on the nationwide marketplace at
CycleTrader.com.
BIKE BUILDER OF THE WEEK—
Sebastian Codreaunu, Transylvania, Romaniz. Motorcycle & car Designer & Restorer
--Sam Burns
Builder curator
Bikernet.com™
Click for Action!…… “A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) that are generated by our actions. The average carbon footprint for a person in the United States is 16 tons, one of the highest rates in the world.
Globally, the average carbon footprint is closer to 4 tons. To have the best chance of avoiding a 2? rise in global temperatures, the average global carbon footprint per year needs to drop to under 2 tons by 2050. Lowering individual carbon footprints from 16 tons to 2 tons doesn’t happen overnight!
By making small changes to our actions, like eating less meat, taking fewer connecting flights and line drying our clothes, we can start making a big difference.”_____The Nature Conservancy (ACTUAL DEFINITION)……
An intentionally deceptive vocabulary concoction of Marxist-agenda-driven psychological and emotional energy designed to bend and direct malleable and unfocused humans minds into thinking the release of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere when done by human activity leaves a permanent stain of black shoe-sole muck with tread marks and dirt across the atmospheric carpet, the celestial freshly-cleaned rugs, and the firmament linoleum floor (made with oil) that floats upward and then stops at some point up in the air where the birds and rainbows live thus preventing the earth from cooling its air into the cold of interstellar space thus resulting in the sun heating the earth to an extent that everything alive on it will die.
In truth the agenda of the carbon footprint cabal is what will kill everything on earth, at least the competent human inhabitants of it, not the carbon. The word footprint is calculatingly used because a “footprint” stays in place, it holds its shape, it has generally an unfriendly communicatory aura about it, for after all, footprints are analyzed at crime scenes, very often in the vicinity of blood-spatter, footprints leave the clean floor dirty, footprints have to be mopped and scrubbed-up, footprints can indicate a lurking unwelcome visitor waiting to pounce on you, rape your wife and disembowel your children….things which ascending methane and ascending or meandering floating human exhalations and fuel exhaust used by engines….. do not actually do or resemble.
They’re just stuff that we have. Like oranges.
--J.J. Solari
Research Specialists
bureaucrat/journalism dictionary
Bikernet.com™
LIFESTYLE CYCLES DEAL OF THE WEEK--
2018 Harley-Davidson FXBRS - Softail Breakout 114 for $18,995.00
SEE IT HERE:
https://www.lifestylecycles.com/default.asp?page=xPreOwnedInventoryDetail&id=9785344
2018 Black Cherry Harley-Davidson BREAKOUT SOFTAIL 114-INCH WIDE TIRE
ONLY 26997.00 Miles !
Some of the features/Add-on's on this bike
* 114 C.I. motor
* 6 Speed trans
* 16 inch apes
* Wide back tire
* Black ball milled mirrors
* Chrome down swept exhaust
This bike has passed Lifestyle Cycles rigorous 101 point safety and mechanical inspection. Whether your looking to commute to work, ride the coast or take that dream vacation, this bike is ready to go!!!
EZ FINANCING-SHIPPING AVAILABLE!!!
Fill out an online application and ride today!!!
**Open 7 days a week**
Just $18,995.00
at Lifestyle Cycles (714) 490-0155
Advertisement
THE FIRST MAGNIFICENT QUOTE OF THE WEEK--A chopper is a vehicle of change, after all. It puts the wheels beneath a midlife crisis, a coming-of-age saga, or even just the discovery of something new, something you didn't realize was there. It provides the means to cross over, transition, or revitalize. Choppers are self-discovery's favorite vehicle.
--Edited by Sam Burns
TEXAS MILE UPDATE--
Registration and Event Dates
The Texas Mile (Spring):
March 24-26, 2023
Chase Field- Beeville, Texas
Registration opens on Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 5 pm Central
Registration will take place on our website,
www.usmileracing.com
What you can do now: Create or update your user profile and make sure all information is correct.
If you are having problems logging in, please contact us at: (281)303-1844 or email
info@texasmile.net
INSPIRATIONAL PHILOSOPY AT ITS BEST--
Time to talk about something that I have experienced, and something that I believe many of us can relate to.
At times our lives can feel like we are going through a never-ending cycle of trials and tribulations. These moments can often be filled with stress, exhaustion and despair.
However, I want to remind you all that despite how difficult things can be, we can still get through it. We can still stand tall with our heads held high despite the darkness that we face.
We can still be brave and smile even when it seems hard. We can still be resilient and be hopeful for the future. We can still have strength when times are tough.
Whenever you feel as though things have become too much, take a deep breath and remind yourself that you will get through this, and you will be okay.
We don't need to suffer in silence, nor should we forget to look after ourselves during difficult times. Reach out to family and friends for assistance.
So, no matter what happens, remember to stay strong and be the best version of yourself.
At the end of the day knowing that you have the power to choose how you want to respond to life's obstacles is truly an empowering feeling. And I’m here to remind you that you are still standing.
--Ray Russell
NEW YEAR FROM THE MASTER OF LIGHT--Artist David Uhl - Year in Review
As we begin this new year, we welcome all of our new fans. The following recap of 2022 shows some of the new pieces from David, and gives you a glimpse of what you can expect for this year!
NEW PIECES IN 2022
RARE PAIR
ETERNAL RADIANCE--above
--Greg Rhodes
International Sales Director
David Uhl Fine Art
Uhl Studios
303-913-4840
Click to see the studio.—80-Inch Shovelhead Engine, $2750.
This is a ready to go drop in and ride motor 0-miles on top-end rebuild. Heads rebuilt w/ new guides and decked by heritage Cycle Works in Brockville, Ontario, Canada -heads vapor blasted by precision vapor blasting in Watertown, NY.
New parts include: new piston rings -new base gaskets -new head gaskets -new pushrod tube o-rings & covers -honed cylinders by Hillside Motorcycle and Machine in Munns Ville, NY -S&S 450 cam -brass oil lines -new cam chest gasket -new rocker box hardware -new rocker box gaskets & O-rings -new oil pump. Motor ran great until head gasket blew, and then I took it apart and re-did everything.
Gorgeous looking engine and fantastic runner for your chopper or daily rider build. For sale $2750 obo or trade for any Shovelhead projects with motor and transmission doesn’t have to run as long as the engine spins free.
Message or call with any questions. It was listed in La Fargeville, NY on facebook marketplace.
