Bruce Rossmeyer of "Destination Daytona" fame, has teamed up with NASCAR to create an officially licensed "NASCAR 60th Anniversary Motorcycle Series"
To commemorate NASCAR's 60th anniversary, Rossmeyer is creating 60 custom motorcycles, each individually numbered, to capture the essence of NASCAR.
If you want to buy one, you'll have to hope that racing industry insiders pass up the opportunity, because they'll have first dibs. Sales will begin May 28. But if you're lucky enough, each bike will cost $48,600, and will include a commissioned painting by artist Sam Bass, as well as a limited edition NASCAR 60th Anniversary leather jacket, among other stuff.
Here's the photograph that accompanied the NASCAR press release...
However, I question that this is actually one of the "anniversary" bikes. It doesn't bear the official NASCAR 60th Anniversary logo, and the fact that these motorcycles aren't scheduled to be unveiled until next week.
Ironhorse Roundup Bike Show Cancelled for MC Rumble
by Steve Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Daryl at Biker-Events blogs that the Ironhorse Roundup Bike Show in Grayslake, IL was cancelled by the police and mayor, claiming that they received a tip that two rival motorcycle clubs were planning a "rumble" there...
Those who did show up, were disappointed to find that the show was cancelled.
Apparently, no rumble took place.
The article goes on to say that the mayor was trying to prevent what happened in Laughlin, NV in 2002. But that fight wasn't planned, it just materialized on its own.
So what do you folks think? Did the mayor simply want to do away with any kind of motorcycle events in town, or was this a real threat?
How many motorcycle clubs do you know of that schedule their "rumbles", and schedule them in in the middle of crowded area, where police and security are all over the place?
Television station KTBS 3 reports that a bill that will repeal the helmet law in Louisiana may have a chance.
It passed through sub-committee today, and will now make its way to a full House vote.
This is interesting being that the past several months has seen the Department of Transportation Secretary putting pressure on all states to enact helmet laws, and that the media across all channels has been putting spotlight on the increase in motorcycle fatalities.
I received this letter today from Keith Thomas regarding Jay Leno's 9-11 Memorial Bike...
Frank Davis purchased this motorcycle on eBay in 2001 to show his support for the victims of the 9-11 terror attack. Mr. Davis died in 2003, at the age of 39, while trying to save another man's life. Frank was deeply in debt at the time of his death. He had a large life insurance policy that was sufficient to cover his indebtedness and to provide support for his two daughters. Unfortunately, Frank selected an inappropriate benefactor who took the money and left the day after his funeral providing no support for his two daughters.
Frank's daughters have fought off bankruptcy, repossession and foreclosure since his death. Now the girls know that they must sell their dad's most prized possession, the Jay Leno 9-11 Memorial Harley.
The auction will be on eBay, and will start on May 7, 2008
It's a Harley-Davidson Dyna Low Rider, with the signatures of several of Leno's celebrity friends. It had actually raised $360,000 to benefit those victims of 9-11. I guess it's easy to see how Frank got into debt.
I called Keith Thomas today just to verify the story, and he describes himself as a family friend trying to help out the daughters. He was on his way to transport the bike to its last public showing in New Mexico.
If you'd like to inquire about the motorcycle, or help out the daughters, you can contact Crystal Davis at (575) 219-7586 for more information, or e-mail her at: frank_davis_estate@yahoo.com.
Update May 12: The Jay Leno 9-11 Memorial Harley is not yet on eBay for auction. I received a call today from the family, and they're planning to have it online soon. We'll keep you updated.
Harley-Davidson launched a new advertising campaign based on the phrase, "We Don't Do Fear", designed to address everyone's pessimism on the weakening economy. It involves placements in newspapers and magazines, as well as a new feature on its own website...
"Over the last 105 years in the saddle, we've seen wars, conflicts, depression, recession, resistance and revolution," reads the ad, which shows a helmeted rider on a Harley chopper silhouetted against what appears to be the red and white stripes of a slightly tattered American flag.
We've watched a thousand hand-wringing pundits disappear in our rear-view mirror. But every time this country has come out stronger than before .... If 105 years have proved one thing, it's that fear sucks and it doesn't last long. So screw it, let's ride."
Well, I agree. There ain't much for us motorcylists to do other than ride our bikes, and continue working.
As part of the "Screw It" promotion, they're offering limited edition "Screw It" bandanas. All you have to do is go to a Harley dealer, and pretend as if you want to buy a bike.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) released a new educational video called, "Thrill or Buzz Kill?", designed to make riders aware of how dangerous riding a motorcycle is. It uses some gory photos and videos of actual accident scenes...
And here it is....
It's not quite the same as the CHP's famous, "Red Asphalt", which largely shocked driving students into submission. Instead, it's more of a testimonial video, that has various CHP officers, and accident victims, to warn people that no one is invincible.
Clayton Koenig bought a Harley-Davidson XL883 Sportster in 1999 from Bartels Harley-Davidson in Marina Del Rey, CA, and ever since then has had nothing but problems with it.
Not only that, he's had frustrations dealing with the dealer wrench. Haven't we all?
So dissatisfied with his ownership, over 5 years and 20,000 miles, he decided to publish his story on a website called, "Does Harley Suck"...
Since then, other people have submitted their "Harley Sucks" horror stories, and Clayton now envisions himself as the "IT guy" towards providing the slighted Harley suckers owners a place to vent.
Well ok, I'm a Harley owner too. I've had warrantee work done on it twice already, and experienced other minor problems that were easily remedied. But if you go through the NHTSA recall database, you'll find just as much recall notices filed by Honda and Yamaha as you will Harley-Davidson. And there are just as many bad metric wrench shops as there are Harley shops.
Yeah, I know metric owners are going to say lots of great stuff about their bikes. I own a metric cruiser too. But the fact is that no company produces a well-made motorcycle anymore.
Props to Clayton for not sitting quietly and taking his lumps, however. But my advice is to change the format of the website to an actual forum, like phpBB, it'll probably be a lot easier to manage.
A Pakistani news service called "The Post" reports that a man was injured by a kite string while riding his motorcycle...
A motorcyclist was injured by a kite string in Baghbanpura area on Tuesday. According to Edhi officials, the victim, identified as Azhar Khan, 45-year-old, father of four, was on his way to home when he was injured by a kite string. He was rushed to Mayo Hospital where he was in critical condition.
It didn't say how the accident occurred, but it sounds like it may have been similar to an accident that occurred a few years ago here in the States, where a couple of kids stretched some clear plastic wrap across two light poles, thinking they could play a joke on a passing car. A motorcyclist came by instead, and was killed.
Kite string, on the other hand, could have possibly sliced this man's head clean off.
The US Department of Transporation now has its own blog called "Fastlane", headed up by the DOT's leader herself, Mary Peters.
Peters, pictured here, has made a name for herself in the motorcycle circles, because of her self-appointed campaign to get every state in the Union to make helmets mandatory.
You might want to bookmark this one, and post your thoughts and feelings everytime she talks about helmets. Or you just might want to introduce yourself right now, and let her know how you feel...
CycleTrader, a popular magazine and website that lets people list their motorcycles for sale, reports that its website business is up 46.7% in April 2008, compared to the same period last year.
They credit their recent website redesign, and the increase in demand for used motorcycles.
Earlier this month, I mentioned that NADA Guides reported a similar increase in its online service.
Last January I mentioned a new television series, "Sons of Anarchy".
Today, the Hollywood Reporter announced that FX has officially picked up the series, and should beging airing this September.
Interestingly, the cable channel will have some competition with HBO's "1%", another motorcycle club drama series.
Then add to that, the summer release of the film, "Hell Ride" by Quentin Tarantino. Looks like this year is the year of 1%er entertainment. I guess all we need now is a sequel to Wild Hogs.
The Harley-Davidson Museum isn't even open yet, but that didn't stop the Motor Company from taking reservations for private parties.
You can actually reserve the museum to host your wedding, corporate meeting, class reunion, or whatever you want. And yeah, you can reserve the whole fricken museum.
Their indoor facilities can accomodate up to 1,000 people, while their outdoor facilities can accomodate up to 15,000.
Harley provides all the food and drink.
According to them, you decide ANYTHING you want, and they'll make it happen for you.
As you can imagine this kind of thing is hard to put a price on, and as it turns out, Harley doesn't provide any prices on its website. But if you want to learn more about it, check out that website...
I don't know if the person who made these photos paired up each motorcycle and gal based on somekind of rhyme or reason, or if it just looked good together. But then, maybe that's not important.
It's mostly sport bikes, but I did find a Harley in there.
