24/09/2008 by info.

Came across this great video of David Mann Easyrider Centerfolds and featuring music from Bob Seger.  David Mann was THE best biker lifestyle artist of all time….. for me his images captured the very essence of what being a biker is all about!  R.I.P. dude!

Roll Me Away

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09/06/2008 by info.

Given the current state of the custom motorcycle industry, closures are a sad state of fact….. however I’m really sad to hear that Kim and Cheryl Suter have decided to call it a day. I’ve always enjoyed looking at their creations and know they have a good reputation within the industry. The industry will certainly be poorer for losing them….

Good luck in all your future endeavours.

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29/05/2008 by info.

Two priceless, multi-award winning, custom motorcycles also known as “art bikes” were stolen from a service area on the A1 this week.

The two machines, known as Psy-Bawg and Barnstormer, are well known to the international motorcycling community and there is a £10,000 reward on offer for information leading to their safe return.

The unique nature of the one-off hand-made components makes both motorcycles easily identifiable and worthless to anyone wishing to sell the bikes on, but to the team at Hawg Haven in Norwich, a Harley-Davidson aftermarket store, the bikes are priceless, representing the culmination of years of dedication and hard work.

Members of the public who have any information which may help track the machines down are asked to contact Jon direct on 07776 185 608.

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09/05/2008 by info.

With petrol rapidly becoming a luxury item, the EFuel100 MicroFueler might be just the ticket. You just set this up next to your garage, plug into 110 or 220 volts, route to a waste-water drain, add sugar, yeast and water and in a couple of days you pump ethanol into your tank at a cost of about £0.50p per gallon. It makes 5 gallons per day. Hmm …

The MicroFueler is about £4,995, given the current exchange rate - but in the USA federal tax credits can cut the price to $6,998. £8 buys yeast for 560 gallons of ethanol, each gallon requires 4 gallons of water. In the USA you need a permit from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms to make the stuff and you can’t run E100 in your motorcycle or car, it’s illegal for some reason, so you put in some petrol at your local station then drive home and top up from your ethanol pump to make E85 or thereabouts. There is also a distillation only mode which you use to recover ethanol from discarded liquor and beer. (Who the hell discards beer?) This is crazy cool.

E-Fuel Corporation makes this little refinery which will begin shipping at the end of the year though you can pre order now. Maybe it’s just me but if this works as well as described, I think they’ll sell a ton of these. VERY cool!

http://www.efuel100.com/default.aspx

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01/04/2008 by info.

Battistinis Custom Cycles, based in Bournemouth, England are ecstatic to announce on 1st April 2008 that they have been selected and are now established as a key supplier to the National Space Program for the latest Mission, Prestige that is due to blast off in 2018.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Organization, tasked with implementing the National Space Policy established on previous missions that the broadening vision of space activities shall contribute a major significance to the future of all Space exploration.

In an attempt to reduce overall mission costs and maximize on each mission, Space exploration must be aimed at extending the human presence throughout the solar system. The development of the new Battistinis two person motorcycle styled Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) was an urgent requirement to the mission program.
NASA required to land the two person human crews anywhere on the Moon’s surface and allow the CEV to transport the pair to any given location. One of NASA’s reasons for going back to the Moon is to demonstrate that astronauts can essentially “live off the land”. The utilization of this new Crew Exploration Vehicle, equipped with the complete Battistinis Product Range will allow this must needed solution and ensure that it is undertaken in utter style. The CEV that has been created is to be unveiled at the Las Vegas 2008 S.P.A.C.E Exhibition.

A L.O.O.F agency spokesperson stated that “This is a huge and very ambitious space program, Battistinis have been selected to equip the CEV with its complete line up of parts as the vehicle that has been developed is based on the American V-Twin and without doubt the Battistinis range is at the cutting edge of the motorcycle industry.

Mark Battistinis stated, “When initially contacted by the agency we could not believe the challenge that was being asked and have been working intensely and in partnership with all involved. Now having stepped up to the agency’s envisions we are poised to turn a new chapter in the custom bike industry with the departure of what one would expect is achievable. The projection of the challenge is immense yet the sole objective here maintains for the truth not to get In the way of a good old story.”

Please do not hesitate to contact Pro-Street Cycles should you require any further info about the Battistinis Product Range that is NOW AVAILABLE!

Visit Pro-Street Cycles for more info.

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06/03/2008 by info.

St Louis, Mo., based distributor Mid-USA Motorcycle Parts has been sold to John Stdko and a consortium of St Louis-based businessmen.

The company was owned and operated by Sandi Morrison, whose family started the company, and whose husband Les Morrison died of a long-term illness eighteen months ago.

In a competitive and changing market the decision to sell is understood to have been a financial one, with staff at the company being informed of her decision on March 3rd.

The new owner is a former long-time senior buyer at local rival Midwest Motorcycle Supply. Stdko left Midwest a year or so ago and has since been operating his own custom motorcycle business, Johnny Stdko’s Motorcycle Company, in the St Louis, Mo., area.

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12/02/2008 by info.

We have heard on the grapevine that Indian Larry Legacy is breaking up. A US contact has spoken to a representative of Legacy and confirmed the story.

 Paul Cox will be forming his own company and building under his own name.The same for Keino. Indian Larry Legacy will still exist but they will mostly be selling t-shirts, caps, clothing etc which they are doing currently. They also said that there is still a lot of interest in Larry’s bikes and they hope to continue to show them at various events.

From the outside the split seems amicable. Everyone involved has tried to do things the way that Larry would have wanted. Everyone involved had and still has the utmost respect for Larry and each other.

We at Pro-Street were and still are, great Larry fans.  To us, Larry was an industry icon, a great builder and more importantly to us, a real biker who was true to the lifestyle and not just doing it to make money. 

We respect Paul and Keino and wish everyone well with their new ventures.  R.I.P. Indian Larry.

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01/02/2008 by info.

AS the aftermarket gathers at Cincinnati for the 8th annual V-Twin Expo, the future of Custom Chrome appeared to be closer to resolution with the announcement that Global Motorsport Group (GMG) had agreed to sell its assets to Dae-Il USA, Inc “as a going concern”.

An announcement from GMG on January 31st stated that the sale includes all of GMG’s US operations. This includes the Custom Chrome, Motorcycle Stuff, and Jammer divisions, and the stock of Global Motorsport Group GmbH, which manages all of the group’s European operations which, principally at this time, means the profitable Custom Chrome operation out of Bad Kreuznach in Germany.

The statement said that in order to facilitate the sale process, the company filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

The Korean Dae-Il corporation is the company that has been manufacturing the RevTech program of engines and transmissions for Custom Chrome since the line made its market debut a decade or so ago.

Speculation about the company’s future has been gathering pace in recent years, and became especially intense in the past three months, once it became known that GMG owner Cerberus Private Capital would listen to proposals aimed at taking the company forward.

The announcement states that “the Company has reached an agreement with its lender to provide debtor-in-possession financing, subject to Bankruptcy Court approval, to fund the Company’s business operations while it completes the sale process. This financing will provide the Company the necessary funds to continue operations in the normal course of business, keeping all of the Company’s distribution facilities open on normal schedules, and fulfilling customer orders. The Company does not foresee any changes in employee numbers or facility locations.

“The purchase agreement is subject to the approval of the Bankruptcy Court. Definitive documents will be filed with the court, along with bidding procedures noting that qualified bidders will be provided an opportunity to make higher and better offers for the purchase. It is anticipated that the sale will be completed within 45 days. .

Scott Avila, Chief Restructuring Officer of GMG, is quoted as saying that “we are pleased to have entered into an agreement to be acquired by Dae-Il USA and are confident that this transaction will position GMG to re-establish its leadership position in the marketplace. We have carefully reviewed our options and believe that a sale will provide the best long-term prospects for the Company’s customers, vendors and employees”.

The deal sees former CEO Nace Panzica return to lead the business with which he was synonymous until his exit some eight years ago. “We look forward to supporting GMG’s success and continuing operations as a stand-alone business,” Panzica said in his capacity as President of Dae-Il USA.

As one of the original founders of Custom Chrome in 1970, and the man widely credited with managing the business to market leadership, the market will hope that Panzica’s reconnection with the business is a signal that this latest twist in the troubled recent history of the company will mark a watershed in its fortunes.

“We are committed to investing in GMG’s product lines and outstanding customer service. With the continued support of our faithful employees, loyal customers and valuable vendors, I am confident GMG’s future will be a success,” he went on to say.

The release stated that senior GMG representatives will attend at the 8th Annual V-Twin Expo by Easyriders being held in Cincinnati beginning on February 2, 2008, and that via its Motorcycle Stuff division it will also exhibit at the International Powersports Dealer Expo in Indianapolis beginning on February 16, 2008.

The company says that the transition of control to the new ownership should be concluded by March 2008.

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20/12/2007 by info.

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01/12/2007 by info.

Legendary daredevil dies of natural causes at 69

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Evel Knievel is dead.

That sentence probably should have been written in 1968, when Knievel crashed his motorcycle spectacularly as he jumped the fountains at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and wound up in a coma.

It probably should have been written in 1974, when his rocket-powered cycle failed as he tried to jump the Snake River Canyon and he almost landed in the raging water. Or the numerous other times when, while trying to jump something bigger than ever, he splattered.

Instead, it was written Friday. Natural causes. Age 69.

“It’s been coming for years, but you just don’t expect it. Superman just doesn’t die, right?” said longtime friend and promoter Billy Rundle. He’s the organizer of the annual Evel Knievel Days festival in the daredevil’s Butte, Mont., hometown. “I lost a good friend and a guy who was like a father to me. I’m just glad he doesn’t have to suffer anymore.”

Rundle said Knievel had trouble breathing at his Clearwater condominium Friday and died before an ambulance could get him to a hospital. Knievel had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs. He had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his many spills. He also suffered two strokes recently.

Knievel’s son, Kelly, 47, said he had visited his father in Clearwater for Thanksgiving.

“I think he lived 20 years longer than most people would have,” Kelly Knievel said. “I think he willed himself into an extra five or six years.”

Immortalized in the Washington’s Smithsonian Institution as “America’s Legendary Daredevil,” Knievel suffered nearly 40 broken bones before he retired in 1980.

For the tall, thin daredevil, the limelight was always comfortable, the gab glib. Always, he welcomed the challenge whether in sports, at work or play. To Knievel, there always were mountains to climb, feats to conquer.

“No king or prince has lived a better life,” he said in a May 2006 interview with The Associated Press. “You’re looking at a guy who’s really done it all. And there are things I wish I had done better, not only for me but for the ones I loved.”

He garbed himself in red, white and blue and had a knack for outrageous yarns: “Made $60 million, spent 61. …Lost $250,000 at blackjack once. … Had $3 million in the bank, though.”

Although he dropped off the pop culture radar in the ’80s, Knievel always had fans and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years. His death came just two days after it was announced that he and rapper Kanye West had settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel’s trademarked image in a popular West music video.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source Sports Illustrated

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