From the monthly archives:

October 2006

Do you remember the Tailgunner Rotary Cannon Exhaust we mentioned back in January? Strictly a custom chopper piece, right? Well, the guys over at Angry Guy Streetfighters decided it would be perfect for a Honda CBR900RR based custom and built the Hell’s Tailgunner streetfighter and sure enough, there’s a rotary cannon exhaust sticking out the [...]

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Rocket Bike Leads to Rocket Truck

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 10/23/2006

in Alternative thinking, Workshop & Tools

Some of you may remember the rocket bike powered by roofing tar built by Tim Pickens some months back. He was experimenting with the engine and kept building more powerful versions, getting up to 200 pounds of thrust which worked well enough on the bike but he had more ambitious plans, like putting a much [...]

Crocker Motorcycle Company of Toronto, Ontario signed a contract with Accurate Engineering to produce reproduction engines for the big and small tank Crocker Motorcycles. Along with the expanding line of parts the Crocker Motorcycle Company has been producing, they are now taking orders for their first production series of complete motorcycle kits planned for delivery [...]

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Steam engines would seem to be a bit impractical as motorcycle powerplants go but they look so cool you just have to try. This particular steamcycle is being restored by Jim Anderson of CAMA, the Connecticut Antique Machinery Association. It was built in the early ’70s by Arthur “Bud” Hubbard of Monroe, CT following a [...]

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Harley Davidson International Growth

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 10/19/2006

in Motorcycle Business

Harley Davidson just announced it set a record for quarterly revenue and earnings which means it’s doing pretty darn good and it’s always nice to see that. If you read the press release you find retail sales up in the U.S. by 6.9% but it’s the international sales where things really happen:
Retail sales of Harley-Davidson [...]

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Exile Cycles Builds the RX-Streetfighter

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 10/18/2006

in Motorcycle Builders, Motorcycle Design

Here’s one more example of a chopper builder recognizing the move toward bikes that work and building something you can actually ride on the street. Russ Mitchell’s Exile Cycles has produced the RX-Streetfighter, powered by a Jims 120 inch twin cam with a 6 speed and loaded with carbon fiber. The exhaust is slung [...]

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Kawasaki ZX-14 Runs Over 200 mph

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 10/18/2006

in Motorcycle Racing, Workshop & Tools

A ZX14 prepared by Brocks Performance Products ran 200.92 mph at the ECTA (East Coast Timing Association) speed trials in North Carolina a few weeks ago. There have been quite a few street bikes able to crack the 200 mph mark in recent years but this ZX14 did it without nitrous, without a turbo and [...]

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Lacing a Spoked Motorcycle Wheel

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 10/17/2006

in Motorcycle Builders, Workshop & Tools

In the family of skills broadly known as motorcycle building, many skills are a subspecialty in themselves. We can learn each of these individually and do reasonably well though we may never reach the proficiency of those who decide to practice their art and become true masters, metal shaping being one of the best examples. [...]

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