2008 American Idle
August Amercian Idle
Click Here to check out more images of this months American Ildes and VOTE!!! (To view and vote, you do not have to be registered)
The IronWorks Readers’ Rides section is now called “American Idle” and along with showing four different readers’ bikes in each issue, we’re giving additional information and photos about them here. This is also the place where you can cast your vote for your favorite.
Departments
Across The Pond by photos by Horst Roessler
Since the winners of the AMD World Championship of Bike Builders were announced last August at Championship Park in Sturgis, we’ve reserved this space to show you the top bikes of that contest. As the 2008 Championship event approaches, we’re doubling up this time, so we can wrap up the ’07 bunch before the winners are announced for ’08 during this year’s Sturgis Rally.
Placing sixth in 2007 was Epic, a bike built by expatriated Englishman Paul Stewart whose shop, Dynamic Choppers, is in Las Vegas, Nevada. The proprietary stainless-steel rigid frame carries a 93” Knucklehead race engine, and what parts weren’t made from scratch were highly modified. In fact, Stewart said, “the only part bought and not modified in any way is the
American Idle Winner
Both Don Sanner and his trusty Harley are firmly rooted in the 1970’s and that’s just fine with both of them. This attitude hasn’t hurt them, either, especially among IronWorks readers who voted the pair in as winners of IW’s American Idle section for the May/June issue.
The victory is especially sweet for Don, too, because for years, he came in second on his local show circuit to a guy with an Aspencade who had the community connections to keep beating Don, show after show. “His bike had gold plated nuts and bolts; he knew everyone and he always won,” Said Don. In fact, the bike’s current livery that incorporates padded, metalflake vinyl coverings on the saddlebags, tour-pak and fairing were modifications Don made to try and catch the judges’ eyes back in his show days, along with a chromed gas tank and fender plus a slew of fancy light bars on the back end.
Budget Boosting Bolt-Ons
Whether you’re running a brand new ’08 Harley or a trusty, even rusty, steed from another decade, the job of making your bike “yours” is an ongoing process, one that requires new thought and new parts. Yet even at a time when money is tight and gas is expensive, subtle changes such as new grips or a couple of easy bolt-ons can help remind you why you ride and why you ride a Harley. Yeah, we know the old saying, “H-D stands for hundred dollars,” but with a little selective shopping on your part you can treat your bike to an upgraded goodie or two, and at affordable prices. And to help you along, here are some bolt-on items that won’t bust the budget. The good news: these are just a few of the bolt-ons that have surfaced lately at IW HQ.
Buyer's Guide
The new Screamin’ Eagle Street Legal Heavy Breather Performance Air Cleaner Kit ($299.95) from H-D Genuine Motor Accessories offers improved performance and air flow when compared to the stock or Screamin’ Eagle High Flow air cleaner. The forward-facing exposed element is washable and rechargeable, and the back plate features integral breathers and sealed breather bolt plug. It’s available for 2008 Touring, Dyna, Softail and Sportster models. Contact your local H-D dealer, or 800-443-2153
IronWords by Marilyn Stemp
This is the first installment in a new section we’re calling IronWords, a space set aside for guest editorials. Look for thoughts from leaders in the motorcycle business, past, present and future, plus ponderings and reflections from regular riders. —ed.
In the film The World’s Fastest Indian, there’s a scene where Burt Munro’s old jalopy clunks down the single, paved road to the Bonneville Salt Flats and rolls off the end of the “boat ramp” onto the salt. Burt turns off the car’s engine, steps out into the vast silence, gazes over the Salt’s wide, white expanse, and sighs deeply in reverence saying, “This is the place!”
Letters
I have a 2006 FLSTC and have the old 5-speed transmission. I would like to install a 6-speed because I am always trying to shift into sixth at higher MPH. What options do I have for converting to a 6-speed? There are about six or seven makers of transmissions and gear sets. I know some are made in China, some in Korea and one made in the U.S.A. My local shop (not dealer) says the Chinese 6-speeds work great. I would be better off by saving money and no problems. My concern is quality and sound; Harley had problems, why wouldn’t the Chinese? Could your team investigate the makes and their quality or ask for a write in? Or is this a Forum question?
Don, there are actually several suppliers of American-made 6-speed transmissions for Harleys. Perhaps the most well known is Baker Drivetrain. They offer several 6-speed variations, as well as a 6-speed gear set that slips right into transmissions such as yours. S&S Cycle, STD, JIMS, and Delkron also offer complete transmissions or
Prime Products
Cruisin’ Goods, an online moto-art vendor, has added the work of pop artist Udi Lichtschein to their inventory. This is the first time Lichtschein’s paintings—which blend Harley culture with elements from pop-art and comics—are available for purchase in the United States. “One For The Road” (left) reflects his vibrant style, giving a glimpse of the atmosphere at a Harley gathering and letting the viewer fill in the rest of the story.
“Hanging With Friends” by Dixie Olin is another piece in the Cruisin’ Goods collection.
Speed's Secrets!
Late-model Harleys—the 2007 and 2008 bikes—are great platforms for certain performance modifications. That’s good news for the growing ranks of riders opting to keep their bikes a little longer now, hanging on to what they have rather than trading in for a newer version that’s, well, not much different. And definitely more expensive.
There’s no reason not to dig into these ‘07s and ‘08s for more power, either. And that includes even the newest ride-by-wire Electronic Throttle Control touring models. It turns out that they can be performance-modified and performance-tuned just like any other Harley. The performance gains can even be a little better than in the past. After all, you’re starting with more engine—a 96-incher.
The Works
Hayden Voyage: The promoters of America’s newest roadrace course used a 99-year-old bike ridden by America’s most recent world champion to debut the track. Nicky Hayden, 2006 MotoGP World Champion, rode a 1909 Indian boardtracker around the 2.620-mile, 16-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway last April 7 to help promote the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP scheduled to take place there September 12-14.
After his maiden lap, Hayden commented, “To be honest, when they first fired it up, I thought, ‘Man, what did I get myself into here?’ because when she fired up, she wasn’t ready for all the throttle going like this. But it was really cool. Actually, I mean the (riding) gear, I really liked my helmet. That was probably my favorite part. Those guys were men, and I can’t imagine racing that bike around here. But it was pretty unique and quite an honor to be the first guy to go around the new track here at the famous Speedway.”
Feature Bikes
Bags Of Power by Mike Seate | photos by Dain Gingerelli
As the owner of a mildly modified 2004 FLH, Jason Hanson has heard his beloved bagger referred to as an old man’s bike. But he has a quick comeback: “I always said this old man’s bike has 133 horsepower and is laying down over 100 foot-pounds of torque, and can roll down the road all day at 100 miles per hour.” What’s the secret behind those numbers? Well, Jason’s family runs Speed’s Performance Plus, the V-twin performance shop that’s been feeding you with Twin Cam tech articles in this very magazine (page 20). The shop is as serious about go-fast Harleys as an AHDRA top fueler, priding themselves, Jason says, on building motors that produce bags of power minus the hassles normally associated with high-performance engines.
Field of Dreams by Dain Gingerelli | photos by Doug Mitchel
We have to credit one of the all-time great baseball movies for the line “build it and they will come.” And that’s the scenario that Carl and Matt Olsen, the father-and-son team that comprise Carl’s Cycle Supply, follow in their motorcycle restoration business. Looking for a period-correct Knuckle or Panhead bike? They build them in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
This particular EL—a rare 1936 model—was built by Matt. In fact, this is Matt’s personal bike, one he built for the 2007 Black Hawk AMCA Meet held annually in Davenport, Iowa. And it was there that he, Carl and friend David Monahan assembled it in less than four hours as part of a technical support seminar. The build was documented on a video, too, and when it was time to fire up the 62-year-old engine, Matt did so on the first kick. For the record, AMCA judges awarded the bike 95.75 points, out of a possible 100. Not bad for something that was assembled only two days before being judged.
Rotten Ralph’s Ride by Jerry Smith | photos by Dain Gingerelli
Dennis Goodson knows that “Live to Ride” isn’t just a saying for some bikers. For Goodson those three words are what get him out of bed in the morning. So when his pal Rotten Ralph got in an accident that paralyzed him and took both of his legs, Goodson decided to do something to help Ralph get out of his hospital bed and back on the road. “He asked me to build him a trike,” Goodson says, “so I went and got another bike he owned and chopped it up and made him one.” That was Goodson’s simplified version. Here’s a more detailed account:
Less of a trike than a chariot, the unique three-wheeler—affectionately called Pig Iron—has an electric ramp that folds down so Ralph can drive his wheelchair straight in and assume the vehicle’s controls. All the controls have been relocated so they’re hand-operated, and the rig is so narrow it can be ridden up to a gas pump and refueled without Ralph having to get out.
Semper Fi, Always by Jerry Smith | photos by Darryl Briggs
Bikers sometimes refer to street riding as combat duty. It can be warfare out there as we dodge swerving SUVs, weave around potholes that might as well be landmines, or keep a lookout for car drivers armed with cell phones and coffee mugs. But in recent years some bikers have given up the simple pleasures of street riding to engage in actual combat, and a few, like Louis W. Qualls, have even paid the ultimate price.
Louis, a Marine like his father Gary, had an 1979 FXE he’d been wanting to rebuild. But duty called, and Louis shipped out for Iraq. The Shovel project would have to wait for his return, when he and Gary would do the job together.
Show Room Custom by Steve Braker
A cool custom bike with a genuine Panhead engine would find a happy home in many a rider’s garage. But Tony Olson’s Pan didn’t find just any old place to call home, it found its way back to where it had lived once before—and after 27 years of residing elsewhere.
See, Tony first rode the bike as an eight-year-old, hanging on behind his father. That first-ever motorcycle ride kindled a spark that burns strongly to this day in the form of Hog Barn Customs, the shop Tony owns and operates in Menomonie, Wisconsin.
Tony’s father bought the ‘48 Pan in 1977, enjoyed it, and sent it on its way seven years later. But the image of that bike never left Tony’s mind and when fate offered Tony the chance to buy back the Pan in 2000, he couldn’t resist—not even when he learned that the bike had been reduced to piles of parts in 5-gallon pails. A bucket case, you might say.
Feature Stories
2007 International Speed Trials by BUB by Photos by Paul Holdsworth and Steve Bohn
Without question, the high profile races at Bonneville include the streamliners. Because when one of those bullet-shaped bikes rolls out onto the Salt Flats to shoot for a world land speed record, everybody takes notice. Fact is, you don’t need to know the first thing about LSR racing to appreciate one of these sleek machines, because everybody understands what going really fast is all about.
There was no repeat of the three-way contention that ruled the 2006 event, ending when Denis Manning’s No 7 team emerged victorious over both the Ack Attack streamliner piloted by Rocky Robinson and Sam Wheeler’s E-Z-Hook liner. In 2007, Wheeler was missing in action and Ack Attack crashed on the return run. Manning kept Chris Carr and No. 7 off the salt, content to hold onto the record while relinquishing top speed of the meet to Ack Attack for their initial 299 MPH run.
2008 V-Twin Expo by Dain Gingerelli (also photos)
You might call Cincinnati, Ohio, the lynch pin of America’s Rust Belt. As such, the city persists, and so does the V-Twin Expo, which held court for the eighth time last February. Want to know what’s on the horizon for the American V-twin market, or what companies have fallen by the wayside? Just go to Cinci during Superbowl weekend and you’ll find out. But you won’t be admitted inside the Duke Energy Center in downtown Cincinnati unless you have a pass, and the only way you’ll get one of those divine badges is if you’re an industry insider, be it dealer, exhibitor or, ahem, with the press.
There’s lots to see within the 200,000-square-foot confines of the show where this year more than 500 exhibitors displayed their wares. Company displays boasted an assortment of new exhaust systems (no surprise), and wheels (ditto), while the buzzwords seemed to be “Harley replacement parts” and “custom bagger parts.”
Donnie Smith Chopper Class Challenge by M. Stemp | photos by Mike Arlett
Rather than offer a lengthy explanation of the Chopper Class Challenge, a program formed four years ago for high school-aged bike builders, here’s what the program coordinator, Scottie Ard, says about it: “The Donnie Smith Chopper Class Challenge (DSCCC) provides students the opportunity to expand their learning and creative potential by enabling them to apply knowledge and skills to something they are passionate about. The motorcycles that the students build are as unique and dynamic as any motorcycle seen today. These students have very bright futures and because of their endeavors, so does the industry.”
And for the fourth year in a row, the Donnie Smith show, held in late March in St. Paul, Minnesota, hosted the Challenge. And if you’re thinking you might have liked high school better if you could’ve built bikes instead of dressing-out for gym, well, that’s precisely the point of the DSCCC. Schools from Michigan and New York joined one from Pennsylvania and two from Minne
IW/BBB Giveaway Bike
You can’t officially begin a bike project until you’ve got a place to hang all the bits and pieces. That, of course, means you must start with a frame, and that’s where Part 1 of our giveaway project bike begins. Like all of Brass Balls Bobbers’ frames, this essential foundation for our bike is made of hand-bent tubing that’s hand-fit and hand-welded by a team boasting years of experience at this sort of thing. In fact, BBB’s frame production is managed by Sam Wills, a 3-time world champion in Top Fuel drag racing. Sam’s been building race bikes and street bikes for 30 years, so he knows a thing or three about frame geometry and material selection. The accompanying photos and captions explain how each frame—in this case our giveaway bike’s frame—is made. To learn how to win this bike, go to page 93
Marcus Dairy by Mike Seate (also photos)
Running a bike night is a complex, difficult, and often thankless job for motorcycle shop owners and bar proprietors alike. The challenges include contending with show-offs on their bikes who can’t resist burnouts in front of a gathered crowd, insurance liability hassles, and marketing the event, not to mention the chance of rain or foul weather that might cancel the show.
Sean Marcus could tell bike night organizers a thing or two about the game, because the Connecticut resident has been running the country’s largest and best-known weekly motorcycle gathering for a quarter century. Danbury, Connecticut’s Marcus Dairy has been the Northeast’s preeminent gathering for the two-wheeled tribes since the late 1970s, a time when Marcus said only a handful of steady visitors used his family’s small restaurant as a Sunday launch pad for their local rides.
Product Review
A good riding boot can be hard to find. It’s not enough to just be warm, or water resistant, or flexible, or durable. It has to be something you want on your foot; something you can wear anywhere, not just when riding your bike. Whether I’m kicking over an old Panhead, stomping through steamy jungles, or combating the fierce streets of some dark metropolitan underground, I need one durable pair of boots to handle whatever situation I encounter. I found all of this in a pair of Harley-Davidson Relief boots.
Product Review
If you’ve ever dropped a wrench, nut or bolt, or small metal object while working on your bike, and had that pesky little part land on your bike’s sheetmetal, then you’ll appreciate Prairie Tech Innovations’ Gas Tank and Fender Covers. They’re designed to slip right over the bike’s tank or front fender, protecting the paint job from butterfingers like me.
PTI’s front fender covers are available for Harley dressers, FX/FXR/Dyna, and XL models, and there’s a special fit for Fat Boy model fenders, too. Gas tank covers come in two sizes to drape over most Sportster peanut tanks and Big Twin 5-gallon tanks.
Product Review by Marilyn Stemp
With more women taking to the road on motorcycles these days, some companies are offering specialized, women-only gear. Among that gear are helmets, an item you could safely label as non-gender specific, but if you did you’d be wrong. As one who’s worn uni-sex lids for some time, I welcomed Harley-Davidson Motorclothes’ Skyline helmet, designed expressly for women.
To put is succinctly, fit is paramount. Especially in half and 3⁄4 style helmets, it’s of the utmost importance because there are no cheek pads to help keep the helmet stable while you’re riding. So H-D Motorclothes designers made the Skyline series helmets 10mm deeper in the crown, recognizing women’s superior brains, of course, (ha!—ed.) but also the fact that women’s hair styles often require more space under a helmet than do most men’s hair styles. This change, along with a removable, washable anti-static liner that makes for a snug fit at the forehead and back of the head, ensure both comfort and a sense of se
Road Stop by photos by M. Stemp
Most of us aren’t terribly attracted to the idea of city riding. Between the hoards of poorly driven cages and the ponderous pace of travel, there’s little for a biker to do in a large city but ride on, hoping for clearer roads ahead. But the situation is different when you find yourself breezing north of Raleigh, North Carolina. Amid the bustle and the distracted drivers lies Scooters Bar & Grill, where “Bikers are first, and everyone else behaves,” according to Jeff Goodwin, co-owner of Scooters with Mike Hutzler.
Right off of Capitol Boulevard, Raleigh’s main drag, Scooters sits next door to Twin Specialties, a local bike shop. I stopped by, incidentally, on trivia night, a Tuesday, just one activity the Scooters guys offer to entertain their guests. Jeff, who owns a well-tended ‘98 Heritage Softail, told me that they schedule a range of weekly events, from karaoke on Thursdays to live music every Saturday. They host a dart league, too.
Regulars
Dain Gingerelli by Dain Gingerelli
Here’s the deal: You’re a custom bike builder setting up shop in California. Of course, to sell your bikes to the good folks of the Golden State your bikes must comply with the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) agenda, so you seek out the laws as they pertain to building special-construction bikes. Once you have the laws in hand, you read every word to get a handle on what’s required of your business so that your bikes pass muster with the state’s department of motor vehicles. Below is a sample of what you’d read. This is just one paragraph as it’s contained in California Assembly Bill No. 829, Chapter 325, Section 1, paragraph (b):
“No person shall operate or leave standing upon a highway a motor vehicle that is required to be equipped with a motor vehicle pollution control device under Part 5 (commencing with Section 43000) of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code or any other certified motor vehicle pollution control device required by any other state law or any
Margie Siegal by Margie Siegal | photos by Dana Shirey
Most people who spend a lot of time at motorcycle swap meets have their own time-tested tactics for getting deals on old parts and bikes. There are those who line up bright and early at the gates. There are those who peruse the booths just before everyone packs up for the day. There are those who believe that money talks, and there are those who believe in making friends.
Russ Hogan has an especially unique swap meet strategy. He takes the “tub” (passenger compartment) off his 1949 Harley-Davidson sidecar outfit and rides into the show. Generally, people who arrive in cars must park outside the gate, but an old motorcycle (especially one that looks as nice as Russ’ Pan) is always welcome inside. Riding the Panhead, Russ can cover more ground and haul more stuff than those pounding shoe leather. His claim to fame is riding home 200 miles with a 1925 Harley JD—in fair running condition—strapped to the sidecar chassis.
Mike Seate by Mike Seate
The beads of sweat have broken out on my forehead for the third time in an hour, but the narrow, stifling room I’m standing in shows no signs of growing any more comfortable. I’m in a long, zig-zagging line waiting to speak with a U.S. Customs agent as I return from an overseas business trip. While standing in line, my legs still numb after the eight-hour trans-Atlantic flight from Great Britain—not to mention standing an additional 90 minutes in the airplane’s passenger aisle as the temperature rose to a stifling 90-degrees while impatient passengers awaited customs clearance—an IronWorks reader recognizes me.
“I read your stuff all the time,” he said, thrusting his hand in friendship. After sharing a photo of his beloved Hog that he fetched from his cell phone camera, the reader offered a compliment that sounded like anything but at that particular moment. “Man, you must have the coolest job in the world, what with being able to travel around the world and test-ride motor
Snakebit Sam Kanish by Snakebit Sam Kanish
I was sitting in a tavern one evening watching Easy Rider on the big screen TV. Nearby sat two young couples who had just bought their first motorcycles. After the scene where Wyatt and Billy leave the restaurant because they weren’t getting service, one of the girls asked me if that had ever happened to me, if I’d ever been discriminated against because I rode a bike. Being new to the sport, they couldn’t believe that people would do that to bikers.
I told her that, yeah, that happened to me a few times over the years. She asked me in what part of the country it happened. They were surprised when I told them that the first time it had happened to me was in a joint a couple blocks away. Then one of them said, “But didn’t you use to work at that place as a bouncer?”
Technical Stories
Feuling Oil Filter Cooler
The Feuling Oil Filter Cooler is a dual-purpose, dual-use product. On motorcycles, where space is limited, it’s important if you can accomplish several goals with a single item. Feuling’s Oil Filter Cooler is such an item.
Essentially, Feuling’s unit is an auxiliary filter that works in tandem with the bike’s original oil filter. Think of it as double-teaming dirty oil! The Filter Cooler’s dual-purpose feature is found in the filter housing itself. See, the housing is the oil cooler. Made of billet aluminum, the Feuling auxiliary filter mounts in front of the regulator on touring models, where it sits right in the slipstream created by the front fender. That way fresh, cool air is always passing over it to help dissipate the heat that the engine oil extracts from the engine.
More Oil For Twin Cams by Steve Bohn (also photos)
In 2007 Harley-Davidson increased the Twin Cam’s displacement from 88 inches to 96 inches. A major change for the larger engine included a new oil pump, which boosted oil scavenging by 20 percent and increased the amount of oil the pump delivered to the lubrication system by 10 percent. While this is good news for owners of 2007-and-later models, owners of older Twin Cams can benefit from it, too.
H-D has packaged the new pump, along with a mating billet cam plate, under the Screamin’ Eagle logo. The new components are designed to bolt into Twin-Cam applications from 1999-2006 (Touring and Softail models) and 1999-2005 (Dyna models). This new setup especially makes sense when installed in Big Twins with performance upgrades, or bikes that have been bumped up to 95 inches or more.
Riding Impression by Dain Gingerelli | photos by Ron Goodger
Over the years custom bike brands have come and gone, and one name that comes to mind in that ebb and flow tide is Ultra Motorcycle Company. Yet, like a boomerang, Ultra keeps coming back, and its most recent return brings with it four models, among them an updated version of its most popular model, the Ground Pounder, a rigid that hit the streets in 1998. The new model is the Ground Pounder 330, and it was released to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Ground Pounder name.
As the name suggests, Ultra’s latest Ground Pounder checks in with a 330-series rear tire that, unlike the original with its 180 tire, uses a right-side chain drive. Indeed there are several other changes that distinguish the 2008 from the 1998 model. Start with the engines, both originating from S&S Cycle. But while the 1998 was powered by S&S’s 113-incher, an engine that was known to send more than a fair share of vibration through the foot pegs and hand controls, the 2008 Anniversary Limited Edi
Tech Lite
Okay, it isn’t as bad as it once was, but Harley-Davidsons can still “mark their spot,” as the saying goes. We’re talking about oil leaks, and nothing is as vexing as having your motorcycle, be it a shiny new stocker or custom, or even that old friend of a two-wheeler, dribbling its bodily fluids on the garage floor. It’s embarrassing, not to mention messy. Oil leaks are supposed to be held in check by various seals, O-rings or gaskets, and they usually are. Sometimes, though, and this is especially true with chromed-up customs, there just isn’t a gasket made or offered for a particular application. Things can go from bad to worse when those two mating surfaces are both heavily plated. An oil leak here is almost inevitable. That was the scenario Carl Morrow faced when some custom bikes came through his shop during Bike Week, and they needed the gaskets right then and there for a repair. The gaskets didn’t exist, which meant Morrow and company had to revert to Plan B.