18/01/2012 by info.

Blacksmith Motoring Co is scheduled to return to Sturgis in 2012 after winning the Ultimate Builder Freestyle and Retro Mod classes in Washington DC. Giovanni’s bike “El Patron” which competed in the Performance Custom Class at last year’s World Championship, is based on a 2003 Suzuki Volusia and features Nitrous induction, Stroker kit, Big Bore pistons, custom cams, 4 degree rake, remote Air Ride and Performance Suspension shocks. Second place was taken by Eye Candy Designs’ 2009 GSXR 750 Michael Jackson tribute with Bruce Banks 2010 Harley FLTRX third.

The Modified Harley class was won by C&C Cycle with “Black Shadow”, a 2002 FLHTCUI. Meticulous Concepts Sportbike Customizing won the Performance Custom class with “Reaper”, a 2003 Kawasaki ZX9R, and Blacksmith Motoring Co became the first 2011/12 double class winner by also taking the Retro Mod class with “El Vaquero”.
The Ultimate Builder series continues over the weekend of January 20-22 in New York, and then moves to Cleveland, OH, on January 27-29.

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07/12/2011 by info.

Larry Moore of Moore Customs booked his place at the 2012 AMD World Championship and took home a $3000 cash prize by winning the Freestyle class at the Ultimate Builder show in Dallas, TX. Larry’s bike “Bad Influence” features an 80ci Harley-Davidson engine, custom frame, dual gas tanks, dual calipers and hand fabricated sheet metal. Runner-up was Production Manufacturer World Champion Dar Holdsworth of Darwin Motorcycles with “Filigree”, a 2012 ‘69 Brass Balls Chopper, and Joe Martin of Martin Bros Bikes was third with a 2011 Road Glide.

The Modified Harley-Davidson class was won by Three Two Choppers with their World Championship fourth-placed bike AMFU. Arynn Aikins won Performance Custom with “Midnight”, a 2009 Hayabusa, and the Retro Mod class was won by Pat Kahanek and Primer Inc Customs with “Number 79″, a 1979 Ironhead Sportster.

The Ultimate Builder series now moves to Long Beach, California, on December 9-11, followed by Seattle, WA, on December 16-18. Entries are welcomed at ultimatebuilderbikeshow.com or call Biker Pros on 919-886-5075 for details. Cash prizes are awarded to class winners who also receive a free entry and automatic place at the 9th annual AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building in Sturgis, August 5-8 2012.

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21/07/2009 by info.

THIS year saw in excess of 20,000 riders gather for the 28th annual Moto Clube Faro Rally on Portugal’s southern Algarve coast, and the 18th Custom Bike Show that organizers have staged.

By far the biggest motorcycle event in Portugal, the ‘Faro Rally’ is one of the largest such events in Europe as a whole and attracts riders from literally all over the continent for four days of music and riding.

This was the second time the bike show had been affiliated to the Official World Championship of Custom Bike Building, and the judging jury (custom bike journalists from around Europe) chose “The Paisa” by Team Sable of Madrid, Spain, as winner of the Radical Custom class, Best in Show, and winner of the AMD World Championship Affiliate prize.

This means that “The Paisa” will be seen competing at the 7th annual World Championship at Sturgis, Sd., in August 2010.

First seen when it scored a respectable 14th place in the 2008 European Championship, and again when it was one of the selected bikes for the ‘Mad Builders’ Show at Barcelona’s MotOH! Expo in May last year, it certainly is a “radical” approach to what can be achieved with a 1200cc Sportster engine!

www.motoclubefaro.pt
www.t-sables.es

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09/06/2009 by info.

BY KEYONNA SUMMERS
FLORIDA TODAY

In June 2002, motorcycle builder Billy Lane of Melbourne Beach was on top of the world.
He and his team of “gearheads” sold custom-built motorcycles at $30,000 to $40,000 a pop out of his well-established shop, Choppers Inc., on U.S. 1 in Melbourne. The Discovery Channel’s motorcycle-themed reality competition series “Monster Garage” had just featured Lane on the show’s first installment. He was invited as a featured guest to motorcycle shows and festivals all over Florida and beyond.
Now, the 39-year-old Lane is facing up to nine years in prison on a single felony charge of vehicular homicide in connection with a Labor Day 2006 car crash that left a Melbourne Beach man — also a motorcyclist — dead.

After several delays, Lane is expected in court Tuesday morning to change his not guilty plea. He would then be sentenced at 9 a.m. Aug. 14.

“We did get the written plea agreement in,” defense attorney Greg Eisenmenger told FLORIDA TODAY. “Based on my review of it, I don’t anticipate any problems. I anticipate we are good to go Tuesday.”

Lane was charged two years ago with one count of DUI manslaughter in connection with the 2006 traffic accident in which Sebastian Inlet park ranger Gerald Morelock, 56, died.

Police said Lane’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when he crossed a double yellow line to pass slow traffic on State Road A1A south of Melbourne Beach. He crashed his Dodge pickup head on into Morelock’s small Yamaha motorcycle on Sept. 4, 2006, police said.

In light of ongoing legal discussions over the permissibility of blood evidence at trial, prosecutors in late December added an alternative charge of vehicular homicide, which requires the state to prove that Lane was driving recklessly but does not include the drug or alcohol element needed to prove DUI manslaughter.

Both charges are second-degree felonies, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

But under the terms of the plea deal, Eisenmenger said prosecutors will drop the DUI manslaughter charge. Instead, they will seek a nine-year prison term for the vehicular homicide charge, a term Lane is eligible for under state sentencing guidelines when his prior criminal record is considered.
Eisenmenger will seek a sentence that calls for no time in prison.

“We believe there are mitigating factors in this case. . . . And we’re going to be presenting those to the court at sentencing,” he said.

Since the crash, Lane’s public persona has suffered.

A message on his motorcycle shop’s Web site says the shop is closed to the public, though merchandise is available for purchase online. Court records indicate that Lane’s Melbourne Beach home is going through foreclosure.

Lane reached a confidential out-of-court settlement on a wrongful death suit filed by Morelock’s family. Also, records show that Erin Derrick, a 22-year-old woman who was in the car with Lane at the time of the crash, is suing him for injuries she says have rendered her unable to work.

Most people contacted by FLORIDA TODAY declined to comment, but several observers from the motorcycle community said the case has hardly tarnished Lane’s celebrity.

Mike Odom, a Melbourne motorcycle photographer who blogs about the case and has attended all but one hearing, said Lane’s booth at Biketoberfest 2007 in Daytona Beach attracted a long line, so he decided to informally poll 10 people in line.

“Out of those 10, 50 percent were not aware of what happened, and the other 50 percent were aware but didn’t care,” Odom said.

On his blog, Odom said, a lot of reader comments have called for prison time. But there also is a sizeable number of people who want to see a “positive outcome,” such as having Lane build and donate a motorcycle in Morelock’s name or do public service announcements about the dangers of drunken driving, Odom said.

“He has enough of a following that people would listen to him,” he said.

Like workers at most local businesses that sell motorcycles, Mike Marconi, general manager at Champions Honda in Cocoa, said Lane’s custom motorcycle market and the “average Joe” market Marconi caters to are “entirely different.”

“So most of our customers, they don’t talk about it, and I’d guarantee a lot of our customers don’t know who Billy Lane is,” Marconi said.

Asked to offer his own opinion of the case, he said: “I don’t really have a comment. I think the media likes to play it up because he’s a known figure. If my parts manager got arrested for the same thing, I don’t think we’d be talking about it.”

Contact Summers at 242-3642 or ksummers@floridatoday.com.

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