The Ride-In Show Part 2 - Eyecatchers
Posted on Wednesday, Mar 12, 2008 by Steve Natt
I’ve covered a lot of bike shows over the years and unlike other forms of art, what makes show bikes special is the details. Are the fasteners “clocked?” What pattern are the spokes in? Is there orange peel or overspray in the paint or drips in the clearcoat? How even is the diamond-cut pattern on the cylinders, how good is the chrome, how smooth is the billet? But of course you can’t get to those details until you first take in the whole bike. I think the proper term here is “GROK.” You ever use that? It’s like when you...
Ahrma 2 - It takes a village
Posted on Saturday, Mar 08, 2008 by Steve Natt
One of the best things about the vintage motorcycle community is that it is just that – a community. There’s something about thrashing wonderfully wonky old bikes for all they’re worth that brings together like-minded people. And it crosses brand lines in a way that doesn’t necessarily happen among street bike riders. Here, for example, I saw Harley guys pitted next to Indian guys, and there wasn’t even one fistfight. I’m kidding of course, but you get the idea. This entry is about a really cool H-D that caught my eye… a certain 27x. At first glance, you’d be right...
Ahrma 3. The D-Twins and The Single
Posted on Saturday, Mar 08, 2008 by Steve Natt
There are at least a few of you who’ll be surprised to find out that at one time, some Harley-Davidsons came from Italy. That’s right. Italy. Back in the 60’s, the Motor Company acquired a little company called Aermacchi and brought their peppy little bikes to our shores. Something else was going on back then too… a little thing that was never called a war in a faraway place called Viet Nam. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Twin brothers named Dick and Don Hollingsworth had grown up in their parents’ Harley shop – founded up the road in...
Stunning Runners - First of Two from the Ride-In Show
Posted on Saturday, Mar 08, 2008 by Steve Natt
Road Kings, Not Trailer Queens There’s a Japanese restaurant near where I used to live that placed plastic models of their best meals in the window to represent what you could get if you went inside and ordered. I went to a museum where they had a garden filled with statues that were excellent replicas of actual ancient Greek statues. You can go to Las Vegas and visit Paris, Venice and New York via taxi and never break a twenty-dollar bill if your driver knows the back way ‘round. To me, these are all analogous to what is wrong with...
Is that flat track racing I hear????
Posted on Friday, Mar 07, 2008 by Rebecca Dahlgren
Last night I went to the flat track races here in Daytona. I love flat track racing because it is raw speed mixed with deep tight turns. I still taste the dirt that I got spattered with when watching flat track racing. Racing is a lifestyle. I absolutely love walking through the pits. From pit dogs to entire families sitting under pop up tents sharing a family meal, these are great people who are dedicated to racing. As I was walking around the pits last night, I started bumping into some serious Harley legends! Members of the Harley “Wrecking Crew”...
The Dean of Mean Keith Jardine
Posted on Friday, Mar 07, 2008 by Rebecca Dahlgren
Tonight I met my first UFC fighter and had to sit down and interview him. Keith Jardine and I could not be more different. He is an extremely successful UFC fighter, I am not. He is really big and tremendously strong, again I am not. Just when I thought I would have nothing to interview him about, we started talking bikes!!! This is what I love about working for Harley, I end up meeting someone completely opposite of me and we find a huge commonality. Keith’s first bike was a ’73 Sporty which he still owns and won’t part with....
A1A Beachfront Avenue
Posted on Friday, Mar 07, 2008 by Rebecca Dahlgren
It’s easy to forget when you’re in Daytona for Bike Week that there is a beautiful ocean which starts at the end of Main Street. This Wisconsinite hasn’t seen sun or green grass for the last four months. I feel like I have been buried in the snow since November. Any thoughts of cracking a throttle generally won’t start entering my mind until the end of March. Being able to feel the warmth of the sun and take a walk on the beach just doesn’t seem like it's on the “to do” list for Bike Week until you get here....
Nasa Visit Part Two: Gearhead Heaven
Posted on Thursday, Mar 06, 2008 by Steve Natt
It’s a pretty easy guess to say that if you’re a Harley person, you’re also a patriot. Well it’s impossible not to get all choked up with Stars and Stripes fervor in this place – especially if you’re a bit of a science geek like me. Just the sheer scale of the hardware here is impressive, and when you start to think about what they accomplished back in the 60’s when nearly everything was analog, it’s truly amazing. These things generate 6.75 million horsepower in the eight minutes they burn. THAT's what I call a kick in the pants. The...
NASA 1 - I need my space
Posted on Thursday, Mar 06, 2008 by Steve Natt
In an earlier posting, I told you that I rode out of Daytona with about a dozen of my fellow moto-scribes in search of adventure… and lunch. We were determined to ride as hard as the posted speed limits would permit, all the while subjecting our loaned test bikes to a professional-grade thrashing. Hey, it’s our JOB to do this, and we do it for you. Me and my friend Peter Jones who also writes for Cycle World, on the phone to our respective signinficant others. The weatherman had been waving a warning finger at us, but hey, we’re professionals,...
The Definition of Cool
Posted on Thursday, Mar 06, 2008 by Steve Natt
Man oh man is this ever a slippery subject. I’ve started writing this one like 5 times now, and each time, I get trapped in this no-exit morass of subjectivity. Of the thousands of customized motorcycles that make their way along Main Street in a given day during Bike Week, were any of them purpose-built to elicit laughter or ridicule? Of course not. An odd choice to me.. but to the person who built this in what must have been a painstaking fashion, it's a very special bike. So we walk along and we look and we analyze and we...
Women Rule Boys Drool
Posted on Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 by Rebecca Dahlgren
I started my day today with a ride, my favorite way to start a day. Today is Women’s Day here at Bike Week. Harley-Davidson.com held a contest where women could enter a short personal video. The winner would participate in a ride to Bike Week with the legendary Karen Davidson, Willie G.’s baby girl. Each woman had to explain how a riding mentor made a difference in their motorcycle riding life. All stories were so inspirational that all six finalists were asked to join in on this ride of a life time with their mentors. Once the finalists and Karen...
The Ups and Downs of Group Riding
Posted on Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 by Steve Natt
If you read my stuff from Sturgis last summer, it won’t seem weird to you that after less than 48 hours in Daytona I was already itching to get out and ride. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to roll around here and be part of the scene, but there are miles of roads to go check out and places to go that I’ve never seen. Besides, every once in a while, it’s good to get past third gear. So with that in mind I hooked up with a bunch of fellow motojournalists who are here covering all sorts of...
A Guy's Take on "Women's Day"
Posted on Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 by Steve Natt
Today I took a long ride out of town with a bunch of fellow motojournalists (more on that later). There were twelve of us, all guys, and as we were rolling along these laser-straight Florida roads, I suddenly started thinking about Women’s Day here in Daytona. I was trying to figure out how I felt about it. I’m guessing a lot of you are like me in some ways. I’m a lifelong motorcyclist, and it’s a key part of my identity. It’s how I define myself when people ask, “What are you into?” or “what do you like to do?”...
AHRMA 1 - The Japanese Connection
Posted on Tuesday, Mar 04, 2008 by Steve Natt
Daytona has always been a gearhead’s paradise, but it was racing, more than cruising and sightseeing, that got this all started. Brave young men on wickedly fast but (by current standards) rather dangerous motorcycles would tear up the A1-A road, turn left, then roar down the beach to another left turn. It was a long and superfast oval. Flash forward to today, and you don’t need to be told what goes on in that pantheon of power: the Daytona Speedway. But the only way to get a flavor for what it might have been like to rip through the humid...
First of the firsts
Posted on Tuesday, Mar 04, 2008 by Rebecca Dahlgren
Today was the first day of Daytona Bike Week and my first time riding a Harley-Davidson down Main Street. Riding a Harley down Main Street was a surreal experience. Tons of bikes and people everywhere. You couldn’t turn your head without seeing a motorcycle or a biker! And I was a part of it all. Totally unbelievable. Today was also the first time I met and chatted with Willie G. and Billy Davidson! Being an employee at the Motor Company is amazing. Getting to meet Willie G. and Bill makes it even better. When you’re at Bike Week there is...
Hello Daytona
Posted on Tuesday, Mar 04, 2008 by Steve Natt
Saturday afternoon I was all alone in LA traffic. Well, just me and 8 billion cars. And today I get to Daytona and there are bikes EVERYWHERE. On the street, in parking lots, on trailers, on the sidewalk, on the BEACH, I mean everywhere. I was frankly shocked there wasn't a bike in the hotel elevator. I didn’t expect to see such a huge turnout so early in the week, but it’s a great thing. It tells me that despite all the doom and gloom you hear about the economy, we’re still very much in need of getting out and...
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