Posts Tagged ‘Motorcycle’

Motorcycle TV: What’s In The Barn

Posted: February 25, 2014 in Motorcycle TV
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CaptureI ran across a new motorcycle related TV Show, Velocity channels “What’s In The Barn”.  Evidently this series premiered last summer; I must have missed it while I was out riding.  LOL

Based on what I watched and what I read on their website the show is primarily about the “Wheels Through Time” motorcycle museum and it curator, Dale Walksler, search for vintage motorcycles.  I have not been to the museum yet myself, but it is on my list of things to do.

The first show I watched “A Motorcycle Crime Story” was quite interesting.  If you have ever been to a motorcycle rally or read a motorcycle magazine you are aware that the museum raffles off a motorcycle every year to help cover their operating costs.  This episode begins with the build of the 2013 raffle bike coming to a halt due to a lack of rare, vintage parts, in this case a cateye dashboard that Harley produced for one year only.Velocity

Mr. Walksler sets off to Illinois to get the part from a guy that has the barns full of old parts he purchased from a family whose mother and fathers were killed by members of the Outlaws MC, thus the title.  He also has a side trip that involves him getting an original 1970’s Arlen Ness chopper.

The most interesting show was “12 Hours and Running”, they started 120 vintage motorcycles in 12 hours.  There was some really old bikes in this bunch including Pierce, Excelsior, Henderson, Crocker as well as Harley and Indians.  It is cool and amazing that they have a museum full of running, functional old bike!

While parts of the show are “cheesy” over all it is well laid out and well put together.  I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

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Motorcycle Book Review: The Old Man and The Harley

Posted: February 19, 2014 in Product Reviews
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OldManAndHarleyI recently read the book “The Old Man and the Harley” by John Newkirk.  In the simplest terms it is a son’s tailing of his father’s 1939 cross country trip from the New York World’s Fair to the San Francisco Golden Gate International Exposition.  But, as is nearly anything, it is a bit more complex than a cross county motorcycle ride.

Mr. Newkirk rides the same route his father took and weaves, fairly well, this father’s story of pre-war America with what he finds during his own trip.  The description of how his father prepared for the trip and how he had to overcome the hardships of the open rode in 1939 are an enjoyable read.

Some of the “today” highlights for me were; rolling up to a WWII memorial service, meeting Jane Fonda, and attempting to convert a Che Guevara follower.  From his father’s journey I enjoyed; how he got the bike, rolling into Sturgis before the rallies began and the story of his cousin who was part of the “Flying Tigers”.

I purchased the electronic version of the book and read it on my iPad.  Overall I enjoyed the story and can recommend that you read it as well.  You can get more information from the books website here.

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Motorcycle TV: Philly Throttle some real information!

Posted: February 14, 2014 in Motorcycle TV
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Liberty Vintage Motorcycles

Liberty Vintage Motorcycles

We all have been wondering what is going on with Philly Throttle and my past couple posts (here, here) only shed a tiny bit of light.  But now we have some concrete information straight from the shop!

Apparently there is a good reason why Philly Throttle has not been no the air.   According to the Liberty Vintage Motorcycle Facebook page (here) Discovery Channel had sued the owner and star Adam Cramer and the shop.

Reading between the lines it looks like the producers of the show (Sirens Media) did not deliver enough product to Discovery (it looks as if someone was claiming not enough bikes were built?). But Mr. Cramer produced documents and footage showing that they had enough for six episodes.

Mr. Cramer faced Discovery in a Merit Trial in Silver Springs Maryland.  A merit trial is one at which a case is evaluated by a judge to determine whether it has “merit” to move forward or to dismiss.   The judge will render a decision after he has gathered all the fact and has evaluated those facts.   This trial was held in the District Court of Maryland, mostly likely because Discovery’s headquarters is located in Maryland.

The way I read his post is that he won, that Discovery did not have merit to move forward.  Not sure what that means for the future of the Philly Throttle show.  Mr. Cramer indicated that there was enough material to produce additional shows.

 

From the Liberty Vintage Facebook Site.

From the Liberty Vintage Facebook Site.

Think Biker: Public Service Announcement

Posted: February 11, 2014 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle advocacy, motorcycle safety
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Now with the CDC spending money to reduce motorcycling, the HHS spending money to confirm that Americans like pizza.
With the fact that cager’s don’t even think about us! With the lack of perception for what we like to do.

 

Why not spend some money on public service announcements like this!

 

AMA, MRF, MSF…. if our government will not create the PSAs, how about stepping up!

2014 Timonium Motorcycle Show

Posted: February 9, 2014 in Motorcycle, Rally
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tsThis past weekend I attended the Timonium Motorcycle Show.  This is one of it not the largest motorcycle event held in the mid-Atlantic region during the winter season.  This was the first time I have attended and not knowing if the crowd was good or not I asked a few of the vendors.  Almost all the vendors stated that it was average compared to the 2013 event. The show is split between two buildings, which is why I never felt that overly crowded but I did, occasionally, have to wait to get a picture.

The show is held at the Maryland State Fairgrounds, which is about an hour from my home.  Traffic was light, by the Washington DC metro area standard, and I made it to and from the show with no issues.  Unfortunately, I dove the truck, the temperature was 24F when I left the house, which is not a great excuse for not riding but the best I have.

In addition to the bike show and standard vendors the sponsors brought in several celebrities including the International Bikini Team, Michele Smith, David Uhl and Paul Senior of OCC.  Mr. Uhl was a no show do to WP_20140208_10_53_11_Procanceled flight but the others were in attendance.  The line for the grip and great with Paul Sr was quite long and I just viewed from afar.

Michele, on the other hand was busy in her booth. She has quite the selection of female themed biker gear. Including the blinged out helmets in my pictures as well as a great variety of thongs.  Watching her handling the sheer thongs was….tantalizing!  LOL

The bike show itself was neat.  With over 40 classes there was something for everyone’s tastes.  I was very surprised by the way some of the folks laid out there display areas.  Turns out that there was also an award for best display and some entrants were going all out.

The show is a professionally judged event, not a peoples vote type of competition. The judging would not be completed until Sunday afternoon so I will have to wait to see who won from the website.  The biggest take away for me was that my customized Heritage would have a good chance at competing in the show, maybe next year.  And as for the display….anyone got a cheap camouflage net for sell?!?!

Watch a Harley Davidson Iron being stolen!

Posted: February 5, 2014 in Uncategorized
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Was someone running the camera? Motion active panning?

Motorcycle TV: Sturgis Raw

Posted: February 5, 2014 in Motorcycle TV
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CaptureTurns out there is yet another Sturgis show on TV, Travel Channels “Sturgis Raw”.  This show follows the typical “Sturgis behind the scenes” format, similar to Full Throttle Saloon.  This show spends time at the largest bar in town “One Eyed Jacks” and at the Buffalo Chip outside of town for its saloon time.

Where Sturgis Raw differs from most other Sturgis shows is that it also follows the Sturgis Police Department for a cop’s point of view of the rally.  The view of the rally through from the cop’s eyes, I found, is really interesting.  A quick review of what I have seen, so far, with the Sturgis PD on the show include:

Motorcycle DUI arrest (not sure how he was even riding!)

Emergency call to a hotel about a guest with a gun

Rousting people “under the bridge” for drinking and drugs

Responding to and helping a guy who was stabbed seven times.

sturgis-raw-s1-ss-102-003_596x334Of course there are girls, girls, and girls, on the show.  An interesting spin on the girl theme was a bit about a body paint artist hired to make a girl to blend into a custom bike.  His work on her turned out well and she looked like part of the bike.

They have also covered a couple of bike shows that were judged by editors of major motorcycle magazines (American Iron, Iron Horse and a few others that I forget).  There were some cool bikes that were judged but the same bikes seemed to appear in each of the shows.  Not sure if that was the case or just how they edited the video.

Apparently there are at least seven episodes of Sturgis Raw with names like “Midweek Mayhem, Throttle Up and Chrome & Glory.  I have watched the first three and have set my DVR to record the rest. I was surprised to notice some café and sport bikes in the mix here and throughout the show, but you had look fast to see them. Over all I have enjoyed the show and give it five stars, primarily due to the unique aspect of the filming of the police effort.

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5star

Winter Blues…. Thinking about riding!

Posted: January 29, 2014 in Motorcycle news, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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OK, the winter “I can’t ride” blahs have set in!

In an attempt to overcome those blahs I started thinking about possible rides for when (or if it seems) it warms again. The problem with long rides is that the wife and I started new jobs so we little vacation time built up, thus we need to stay close to home with weekend rides.  I hope we will be able to get a week or so holiday so maybe I will be able to squeeze one, multiday long, trip in.

So here are some of the rides I came up with to lighten my winter blues (in no particular order):

Appalachian Waters Scenic Byway (Route 39)

Highland Scenic Highway

Appomattox Court House, Virginia

Eastern Continental Divide

Complete the C&O Canal on the Motorcycle

DELMARVA Bike Rally

Maryland/Delaware HOG Rally

West Virginia HOG Rally

Mummies of the Insane

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

Foamhenge

Moonshine Made Here

The Arm of Stonewall Jackson

World’s Largest Apple

Skyline Drive

Home of real John-Boy Walton  (more for my wife, HUGE Walton’s fan)

US Marine Corps Museum

Claw of the Dragon, VA

If we are able to get a week or so vacation I think we will try again to go to Niagara Falls. We were going to do that last summer but it did not happen.

OR…. Maybe we will head south and look for that retirement area where it might snow about one every 5-10 years!

Motorcycle TV: The Devils Ride

Posted: January 20, 2014 in Motorcycle TV
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Well “The Devils Ride” is coming back to Discovery channel beginning February 3rd.  This is the third season for the show.

I have not reviewed The Devils Ride in the past because I did not think it was going to make back on the air. But now that it is here is what I think.

It is a reality show that feels way too scripted with “characters” that are  forced.  These guys are supposedly real bikers in a real club but it just feels off, not that I have ever been in a MC.

Sometimes I get a feeling that some of the characters are not riding the bikes because I can’t see their faces when they are riding.  This pulls it even further from the “reality” concept.

If they are trying to make it a soap opera for men, SOA it is not.

I really appreciate Discovery Channel putting a lot of motorcycle related content on their networks, but, in my opinion, this is the weakest of all their bike related shows.  I give it 2 out of 5 stars.

2stars

My Customized Graduation Gift (hint it is a motorcycle)

Posted: January 15, 2014 in Motorcycle
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As I have noted in other posts I am a retired soldier.  I served 25 years and when I retired in 2008 that was more than half my life, longer than I have been married and longer then I lived with my parents…..wow that makes me fill old.

So, as a graduation from the Army gift to ourselves Debbi and I bought a brand new Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic. I chose this bike because I knew what I wanted to do with it and its 1940/50’s look was a great starting point!

What I wanted was a bike I could customize to be a tribute for the work that I had accomplished as well as a homage for all those soldiers that had come before me. I wanted a bike that I could stylize as a WWII Harley.

The bike is no trailer queen or show only bike.  We have put over 28,000 miles on the Heritage and it would have been closer to 35K had we not bought a Ultra Classic Limited early this year (we put nearly 6K on that bike in 2013).  But it does show well, we have won two first place finishes (one of which included a Caribbean cruse) and several other awards.

The bike is not quite finished.  There are a few additional pieces of chrome to put on and a couple other finishing touches before I can call it complete, but it is getting there.

The paint and some of the custom parts was done by Hardcore Choppers of Sterling Virginia.  Some of the major items on the bike are:

Dual Tailgunner Exhausts

Sampson Headers

Harley chrome forks and light housing

Harley chrome hand controls

Küryakyn ISO-Grip with throttle boss

Brass Bullet Bolt Handle Bar Clamps (and other bullet items) from innovative-mc-accessories

US Army gas cap covers from American Cycle Accessories

National Cycle CruiseLiner Hard Smooth Back Saddlebags

Bullet Stash Tube

Veteran Challenge Coin timing cover

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