Rock, Rap and Roll (and Everything in Between) For Harley's 110th Anniversary Party

An eclectic mix of talent has been scheduled to rock the Milwaukee Lakefront with Harley-Davidson during the culmination of the company's year-long, global 110th Anniversary Celebration.

More than 60 bands will take to the stages of Milwaukee's Henry Maier Festival Park (Summerfest Grounds) Thursday, Aug. 29, through Sunday, Sept.1, 2013. The first round of confirmed performers includes ZZ Top, Katey Sagal & The Forest Rangers, Dropkick Murphys, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Brantley Gilbert, Doobie Brothers, Buckcherry, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Gaslight Anthem, Sublime with Rome and Halestorm. Also recently announced are Rock n' Roll Hall-of-Famers Aerosmith and superstar Toby Keith. The recent additions will join Kid Rock as headline performers for Harley-Davidson's 110th Anniversary Celebration over Labor Day weekend.

Keith will perform Thursday, Aug. 29; Aerosmith will take the stage Friday, Aug. 30; and Kid Rock will round out the epic weekend of music Saturday, Aug. 31. Each headline concert is at the Marcus Amphitheater, located on the south end of Milwaukee's Henry Maier Festival Park.

Tickets for the headlining performances go on sale at 8 am CST Monday, May 6. A special pre-sale begins Monday, April 29, but there are two 110th Anniversary ticket package options now on sale at www.h-d.com/110tickets.

Celebration Ticket - Print at Home ($95 USD) Available for purchase within the continental U.S.; includes access to the Summerfest Grounds on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, an opportunity to purchase tickets for the headlining concerts at Marcus Amphitheater before they go on sale to the public, a link to download the event app, and a map of historic Harley-Davidson sites in Milwaukee.

Commemorative Celebration Ticket Package ($102.50 USD) Includes the above plus a photo frame holder, commemorative laminated ticket and lanyard, Milwaukee 110th Anniversary guide, limited edition poker chip, guitar pick keepsake and drink koozie with drink discounts.

For Harley Owners Group® members, ticket packages also include the H.O.G.® 30th Anniversary celebration with members-only access to the Summerfest Grounds on Thursday, August 29, which includes a performance by Lynyrd Skynyrd. There's no additional charge to H.O.G.® members to join the celebration of the H.O.G.® 30th Anniversary. H.O.G.® member card required, along with Milwaukee 110th Anniversary Celebration ticket for entry.

Plan Your Visit to the Harley-Davidson Museum:

Timed reservations for the Harley-Davidson Museum are required during the 110th Celebration and are available exclusively at www.H-DMuseum.com beginning April 29 for Museum members and May 6 for the general public. Activities planned at the Museum include the AMD Invitational Custom Bike Show, custom artisans and live music.

For performance schedules visit Motorcycle Cruiser.

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Source: Motorcycle Cruiser (AP, 4/17)

Cool Gadgets Recycled From Old Motorcycle Parts

On a design show held by Triumph Motorcycles and Birmigham Institute of Art and Design, many students brought us with various smart gadgets made out of recycled motorcycle parts.

Every gadget in the collection has a stylish appearance and you’ll find that it is actually alright and good to build household items with handbrake, headlights, instrument panel and other parts of a motorbike.

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Source: InewIdea (AP, 1/17)

World's first rearview, flip-front motorcycle helmet introduced

James Bond doesn’t always have time to put on a helmet when he commandeers a motorcycle, but if he did, the Reevu would be a fitting choice.

As its name suggests, the Reevu features a unique, periscope-style rear view vision system that allows the rider to see what’s directly behind without turning their head.

Fitted with a series of reflective surfaces built into a tunnel on the crown of the helmet that reflect light up and over the wearer’s head, the view from behind is projected onto a mirror located just above the visor, creating a similar effect to the rearview mirror in a car.

Vents keep things from misting up, and the mirrors themselves are made from a reflective, polycarbonate material that the company says is nearly unbreakable and won’t shatter in an accident.

Full face versions of the Reevu have been on sale since 2011, but the British company has now introduced a DOT-approved $479.95 flip-front model that’s just the thing for a safety-minded superspy who still needs to be ready for his close-up.


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Source: Fox News (AP, 3/11)

Revving to roam for Ronald's house

CORPUS CHRISTI — In 2001 motorcycles revved their engines to ride for Ronald McDonald House following a family’s stay for their 6-year-old’s open-heart surgery.

"He’s now 20, attending Texas A&M University, and doing well", his father said.

“Staying at Ronald McDonald House was an eye-opener to us,” said M. Randall Hicks, whose son required the heart surgery.

Hicks and two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Terry Labonte were Carroll High School classmates and friends. After learning of Hicks’ experience, Labonte was moved to endorse the nonprofit Terry Labonte Roam for a Home Foundation, which launches its 12th annual ride this week to give back to Ronald McDonald House.

The ride has raised more than $500,000 for the local Ronald McDonald House, which provided accommodations last year for about 1,000 families with sick children at critical times in their medical treatment.

“If we raise awareness and let this spider web grow — good things come from that,” said Hicks, now president of the foundation.

A kickoff party Wednesday night at Corpus Christi Harley-Davidson serves as a meet-and-greet for about 140 riders whose 80 motorcycles will roar at 8:30 a.m. Thursday into a 714-mile roam. First-timers join the ranks of more than 1,000 past participants who have collectively roamed more than 376,000 miles. The foundation has raffled two trucks, three trailers and nine motorcycles along the way, raising more than $106,000 in its top year, when organizers accepted 152 motorcycles with some 350 riders.

“These rides are a great example of third-party fundraisers allowing us to do what we do best,” said Mark Avelar, executive director of Ronald McDonald House in Corpus Christi. “It has created excellent momentum for validation of our mission focused on families.”

Labonte’s bunch also has garnered support for other Ronald McDonald Houses in Texas.

“It’s something that’s really important to all of us,” Labonte said Friday from his North Carolina home. “It’s especially touching to visit families at a house, the way we have been allowed, and to learn what it means for them. Unfortunately a lot of these people don’t have great outcomes. But when you see the children smiling, it reinforces the importance of our continued support.

“Our goal is for everyone to know they can help, even $10 helps the children.”

Labonte arrives Wednesday for the ride, he said.

Organizing the roam is challenging.

Consider plotting a route for 140 people to use bathrooms, eat and sleep all at the same times and locations, Hicks said.

“It’s a logistical nightmare,” he said.

To ease congestion, riders are divvied into six color-coded road groups. Each has a designated team captain and road committee leader to guide riders to fuel stops, oversee meal and hotel arrangements, and direct parking.

“This isn’t a typical motorcycle ride,” said Andy Felkner, 59, caption of this year’s Team Ironman. “It’s a great cause. We have always had a good time, but it’s not like you’re beating the bushes trying to run hundreds of miles a day.”

It’s about safe fun, he said.

There are quirky games along the road.

“It’s a variety of crazy things,” Felkner said. “We’ve had a basketball shootout during lunch, and contests to see who can put on chaps fastest, or how many team members can stand in a certain square.”

Some years there have been egg toss competitions for couples, and rope tug of wars among ride groups.

This year’s activities haven’t yet been divulged, because part of the fun is not knowing everything, Felkner said.

This year is sold out. Each rider paid $1,000, or $1,600 for couples, and everything’s provided. Somewhere along this year’s route there will be a motorcycle auction. Everyone gets a ticket, but it’s the last ticket drawn that wins.

A recent pre-ride by organizers helped establish this year’s roam, with fuel stops and lunch places en route to Galveston. A two-night stay is planned at The Tremont Place, a European-style hotel in the island’s historic district. On Friday night a dinner and live auction are planned to bolster fundraising. On Saturday teams take a Port Bolivar Ferry ride to roam north into Texas for lunch before looping westerly to return to Corpus Christi.

A support group roams among the teams with comfort items, snacks and drinks. And there’s a wrecker for breakdowns, which also has extra motorcycles in case needed.

Safety is paramount. All participants must wear helmets, keep pace with road leaders and abide departure and meeting times.

“Everybody follows what we tell them or they don’t go,” Falkner said.

No alcohol can be consumed during ride times and the foundation reserves the right to oust anyone who doesn’t abide its rules."
No alcohol is allowed until bikes are parked", Falkner said.

“We will even take a bus sometimes.”

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Source: Caller (Baird, 3/25)

URAL Quartermaster motorcycle project

Russian fortitude is at the heart of every URAL motorcycle. The technologies and blueprints that would eventually become the URAL Solo were traded as part of the 1939 non-aggression treaty between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Battle hardened during WWII, the URAL Solo would serve diligently on the front lines for the soldiers that depended on her.

As widespread as WWII was, it paled in comparison to the Containment Conflicts. Spread across every continent like an undead wildfire, no vestige of humanity was spared. Mobility equaled survival - mobility without stint or limit. With loins girded and back braced for the load, the Quartermaster answered this charge. it was to be a life of hardship and despair, but she had known little else. Her more technological-reliant brethren, fit with impressive componentry and power, struggled to maintain operation through the daily slog of post-humanity. Engineering complexity, once the darling of modern society, had become a mechanical albatross. The need for specialized parts and manufacturing processes had doomed the beautiful machines. Though time hadn't fully reverted back into the dark ages, it had become a very foreboding shade of grey. This was a time of simplicity and ease of use. This was the day when reliability outpaced aesthetic. This was the era of the Quartermaster.

The Quartermaster is a URAL x ICON collaborative project designed to increase the long distance off-road capacity of the URAL Solo. Devoid of the sidecar found on most URALs, the Quartermaster was a single-track beast of burden. Extensive frame modifications, including an oversized backbone, braced headstock, and high clearance subframe, differentiated the Quartermaster from her stable mates, Reinforced swIngarm, long-travel suspension, and knobbed tires provided a surefooted stance when the road ended. The oversized fuel tank, fitted with frisco'd feed lines, made available every ounce of fuel for maximum operational range. Custom skid plate, crash hoops, and high-mount fenders all spoke to her mastery of the unimproved path. Lathered in haze grey from stem to stern, she would survive where on many others had fallen. Ironically, the Containment Conflicts had turned The Quartermaster's workaday looks and antiquated performance specs into the most desirable traits of beauty. Time has a way of evening things out. Check out the video at: RIDEICON.com /Quartermaster

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source: Icon1000

'Fast N' Loud' and 'The Devil's Ride' start new seasons Monday

Weekly dose of reality: The Discovery Channel hits the road tonight with the second-season premieres of its two fast-and-loud reality shows, "Fast N' Loud" and "The Devil's Ride." The motto behind these blood, sweat and gears offerings is "restore the roar." Like that's a problem in the noisy universe known as reality television.

First up at 9 tonight is the second season premiere of the aptly named "Fast 'N Loud." This is the domain of car fanatics Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman. Motor mastermind Richard and mechanical prodigy Aaron scour the junkyards of Texas in search of buried automobile treasures. The plan is to unearth forgotten and neglected vintage cars, then restore them at their Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas, Tex.

This season, the "Fast 'N Loud" duo are searching for one of the rarest of all finds, the Ferrari F-40. The goal is to take one from rust bucket to gold mine.

The next stop is the 10 p.m. season opener for "The Devil's Ride," Discovery's look into the world of motorcycle clubs. This season promises to take viewers to the San Diego front lines of a brewing biker war between the Laffing Devils, once the city's fastest-growing motorcycle club, and the Sinister Mob Syndicate (Sin Mob, for short).

When the engines get revving on the second season, the leadership of the Laffing Devils is in a complete uproar. Founding member Danny Boy is butting heads with Sandman, and Billy hte Kid is missing. To make matters worse, Sin Mob's president is an ousted founding member of the Laffing Devils.
You're thinking subtle and refined? I'm thinking you've got the wrong night on the Discovery Channel.

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Source: Cleveland (Dawidziak, 2/18)

Steampunk Motorcycles Make You Long For The Open Cobblestone Road

Mikhail Smolyanov was commissioned by Richard Monson-Haefel, creator of the character Steampunk Holmes, to create this fine piece of transportation. The finished working motorcycles are now sold by Putsch Racing to Monson-Haefel readers.

The Black Widow is Mikhail Smolyanov's most popular steampunk design (and only one in mass production) but it is far from the only one. On his website, the Russian designer shows off a wide variety of motorcycles, from the futuristic to the future-past.

Designed for St. Petersburg customer, this bizarre contraption would've been run on steam power, as can be seen by the engine on the back.

Smolyanov was inspired by racecars of 20's equipped by airplane's engines for this design.

For more pictures of Steampunk motorcycles click Here.

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Source: Buzz Feed (Dickens, 2/1)