Saying Farewell
Those of you who have been longtime readers of HOT BIKE, STREET CHOPPER, and HOT ROD BIKES magazines undoubtedly recognize the name Jeff Deasey. Jeff worked as an editor in varying capacities on all three titles during his tenure with the American Motorcycle Group until he left the company as a senior editor in January 2004. Upon leaving the publishing industry, Jeff became the marketing and media director for Joker Machine, where he has been employed ever since.
On Friday, March 10, 2006, Jeff was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident not far from his home and passed away later that evening. All those who knew him or came into contact with him will miss Jeff very much. Jeff is survived by his wife Michelle and his 14-year-old daughter Lindsey. God speed, Jeff.
If you'd like to show your support for Jeff's family, they suggest you make a donation to Olive Crest, an organization that provides homes and services for abused children and was near and dear to Jeff.
Olive Crest
ATTN: Tonya Powers/Jeff Deasey Memorial710 S. Victory Blvd., Ste. 201Burbank, CA 915
Milwaukee Iron Uses Robotics To Increase Productivity 300 PercentCustom-Bike Builder Takes Advantage Of Lincoln Electric Robotic Welding And Cutting SystemRandy Simpson started tinkering with motorcycles when he was 17 years old. Now, 30 years later, he has his own custom motorcycle shop and a hit television show on the Discovery Channel called Southern Steel.
While the television show has focused on the shop's custom bike-building business, behind the scenes the employees at Simpson's Lynchburg, VA, shop, Milwaukee Iron, focus on aftermarket parts. These parts include fenders and dashboards marketed to Harley-Davidson enthusiasts looking for aftermarket customization.
As Simpson's fame and popularity have grown, so has the demand for his line of steel fenders. However, with fewer than a dozen employees, and more orders coming in every day, Simpson needed a way to turn out more product-and do it without increasing labor costs. Being a long-time customer of the Lincoln Electric Company, he once again turned to his friends "in red" for help.
The solution was a small robotic unit capable of cutting and welding thousands of custom fenders each year. When Simpson made the move to robotics, productivity jumped 300 percent. Previously, all fenders were cut and welded by hand-a job that took 15 minutes. Now automation has decreased cutting time to two minutes.
The current robot cell used at Milwaukee Iron is a close predecessor to Lincoln's newest small robot, the "eCel"-a dual fixed-table cell that provides flexible automation for consistent and predictable production on small parts and high production volumes. Milwaukee Iron's robotic system uses Lincoln's Pro-Cut 55 plasma cutter to cut out fenders and other parts. The plasma cutter is sometimes changed out with a Lincoln Invertec STT MIG unit for welding on various other parts.
While the shop now uses the Precision TIG 275 for manual TIG welding, future plans call for installing another robot to use exclusively for TIG welding. Simpson estimates the added automation will increase productivity by 85 to 100 percent for those operations.
Mancuso arley-Davidson Burns Rubber With D&D Performance ExhaustMaking -Twin Horsepower In The Deep South Of TexasWhen enthusiasts come in to the Mancuso Harley-Davidson dealership inHouston,TX,looking for more power for their Harleys,Assistant Parts Manager Walter Birmingham recommends a performance package that include sexhaust pipes from D&D Performance Exhaust. A common way to add ponies to a V-Twin engine is to add a high-flow air cleaner, jet kit or fuel-injection module, and a high performance exhaust pipe. These three upgrades working together will show the biggest bang for the buck.
"We have four criteria in selecting a pipe that include performance, fit, finish, and heat shields," said Birmingham. "If D&D [pipes] didn't meet the performance standards,we wouldn't recommend them. They are that good. They consistently outperform Samson, Reinhardt, and Hooker."
Birmingham has indicated that Service Technician Jeff Skipski is on the dealership's dynamometer daily and acknowledges the difference between manufacturers. "As an example, we started with a stock Sportster that produced 60 hp at the crank," said Skipski. "We added a pipe, high-flow air cleaner, and a jet kit to the package. When we finished running it through its paces, we were making 78 hp. That's a great bump in performance."
D&D Performance Exhaust pipes are torture-tested on D&D's state-of-the-art in-house super-flow eddy-current ram-air dynamometer. This is done in combination with the super flow bench and the first-in-the-industry, multi-cylinder Lambda fuel/air-ratio sensors. They are interfaced with the dyno for real-time meter and graph analysis.Each pipe is dyno-tuned for maximum performance and sound.
For more information on D&D Performance Exhausts, call (817) 834-8961, or go to www.danddexhaust.com.