Inside the Motorcycle Industry

Custom Chrome (CCI) has been serving the industry as one of the largest independent suppliers of aftermarket parts and accessories for Harley-Davidson and custom V-Twin motorcycles for 40 years. To help commemorate this historic anniversary, CCI tapped two well-respected local builders to use the CCI catalog to create two bikes. Kirk Taylor of Custom Design Studios in Novato, California and Cole Foster of Salinas Boys located in Salinas, California, each built a bike to represent Custom Chrome's 40-year history. Cole built a '70s era raked out chopper with a Paughco rigid frame and Springer, Jammer Shovel style engine and 16/21 inch star hub wheels to represent CCI's early years. Kirk handled the other half of CCI's history by showing what can be done with a late-model bagger. Kirk cleaned up the lines of the bike, made some engine mods, added some new components as well as his own twists, and then laid down one of his flawless paintjobs. Our sister publications HOT BIKE Baggers and Street Chopper magazine each have exclusive features coming out to showcase these beautiful machines. And be sure to catch HOT BIKE's feature article on CCI's 40-year history in an upcoming issue. customchrome.com

Riding for a Cure
Congratulations to Melissa Paris who is seen here accepting an award from the Woman's Motorcyclist Foundation to thank her for raising money through the Progressive Insurance On Track for the Cure campaign. Melissa raised $5,000 in pledges for the fight against breast cancer, while also scoring herself some valuable track time to hone her riding skills. womensmotorcyclistfoundation.org

Cobra Strike
Cobra Engineering recently announced it has added Tucker Rocky/Biker's Choice as an additional distributor for Cobra's line of mufflers and exhausts manufactured for Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Tucker will now take on a whole new product line that previously had been distributed solely through Drag Specialties. cobrausa.com

What's that Snell?
A new version of Bell's Star street motorcycle helmet recently hit dealers' shelves. The helmet improves on the 2008 version with certification to the new Snell M2010 motorcycle safety standard as well as a number of smaller tweaks and upgrades such as sizing issues, removing seams from the comfort liner to relieve any pressure points, making the integrated speaker pockets both quieter and easier to use, and adding MagnaFusion, Bell's new proprietary magnetic strap keeper. Bellpowersports.com

*Numbers according to Motorcycle Industry Council

It's a Party
Harley-Davidson has announced plans for National Garage Party Month, when dealerships across the country will host Garage Party events during March 2010. Harley-Davidson Garage Party events provide a fun, social environment for women to learn about the sport of motorcycling, as well as meet other women who are interested in riding. Dealers host the events year-round, but the Motor Company has declared March as a special focus to bring national awareness to the events, which have encouraged thousands of women to learn to ride in the last few years. Garage Party event attendees are organized into small groups, getting their first taste of the camaraderie that goes along with riding. Groups will visit four informational seminars, including: Motorcycle Orientation, MotorClothes Merchandise, Customization, and Self-Service. harley-davidson.com

Fresh Paint
Fresh off the easel is this original oil painting by artist Stefanie Aziere-Sattler titled, "Stevie." "The image is the combination of the recently Klocked Firefighter edition Harley, and the spunky, vibrant young lady Stevie. "Much of my youth was spent rebelling against authority, and this young lady is like seeing a reflection of myself in younger days. My attempt many times in painting is to reveal memories and passions that stir inside us all," says Stefanie. chromedimpressions.com

Flipping Out
The race was on this past November between two motorcycle daredevils on opposite sides of the world competing to be the first to backflip a Harley-Davidson XR1200 motorcycle. Australia's Kain Saul beat American Chuck Carothers to the punch when he accomplished the feat in Sydney on November 27, just a day ahead of Carothers' successful jump in Prague. Saul's jump is believed to be the first ever successful backflip for any full-size street motorcycle (non-motocross or dirt bike). Search YouTube for the video links.

At the Race The conclusion of the 2009 AHDRA Screamin' Eagle Championship Series at the Screamin' Eagle Jim McClure Nationals was a real nail biter. Rolling into the Rockingham, North Carolina Dragway 13 different classes of competition had a points spread that made it mathematically possible for a number of racers to snag the national championship title. Three classes-AHDRA Pro Drag (Chuck Jones), AHDRA 124 Challenge (Mike Roberts), and AHDRA Hot Street (Bruce Croneberger III)-had locked the national championships going into the last event of the season. Tuned and ready to rock, the hunt for a National Championship in the remaining classes was on. After a day of smoke and rubber the results are as follows:

Missed all the action this past season? No worries the 2010 season is upon us. Catch all the high-speed action at these events:

In Remembrance
The Motorcycle industry lost one of its most respected brethren this past November with the passing of Hugh H. "Harry" Hurt, who died of a heart attack on Nov. 29. Hurt was 81. Professor Hurt was an award-winning author best known in the motorcycling community for conducting a benchmark motorcycle safety research study in 1981 entitled "Volume I: Technical Report, Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures, January, 1981 - Final Report." Commonly referred to as the "Hurt Report," the study was widely viewed to be the most comprehensive motorcycle safety study of the 20th century. In addition to that groundbreaking study, Hurt was the author of dozens of publications in the fields of motorcycle handling, safety, crash analysis, and helmet performance. It was on this basis that Hurt was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2007. ama-cycle.org.

Ooops
Correction, in the Vol.42 No. 1 issue in the Road Test article we stated that the paint on the Deep South Choppers Low Voltage Shocker was done by Airea 5150. While Deep South Choppers does use Airea 5150, this particular paintjob was done by Joe Vincent of Vincent Designs. To see more of Joe's work check out Myspace.com/jovincent, or call (225) 218-3524.