So you want to be a custom bike builder? Well friend, before you rush out shopping for motorcycle kits, that will set you on the road to riches and fame, stop and think about the level of expertise and artistry the top builders have attained. More importantly think about how long it has taken them to attain it! Let’s look at a few key issues…

Education

You’d be surprised how well educated a lot of today’s top bike builders are. Several of them have degrees (some more than one!) ranging from mechanical engineering to business and marketing management. Billy Lane, the founder of Chopper Inc, has several patents relating to motorcycle technology in his name for example. What about someone a little more “old school” like Dave Perewitz? Dave has accumulated close to forty years of mechanical, metalworking and painting experience. Not theoretical, but genuine hands on, early morning late night kind of experience. Could you put that kind of time in? Matt Hotch is still only young, but has gained an incredible amount of practical experience customizing first bicycles, then VW’s before moving on to custom bike building.

Facilities

These guys are building choppers and custom bikes that are state of the art. They don’t get thrown together in the yard; the motorcycle shops have all the tools and equipment required to produce almost anything out of metal, not just bikes. Just as important are the other services these builders use; the local chrome platers, machinists, painters and so on. These guys have just as important a part to play in the construction of these one off bikes as the designer builders themselves. Read the rest of this entry »

There is some great looking motorcycle clothing on the market these days, but believe me not all of the motorcycle clothing offers as much protection as you think. In Europe, for motorcycle clothing to be lawfully sold as “safety” clothing, it has to pass a series of European standards, which are pretty lengthy but are available on my website. The standards cover the clothing’s performance in abrasion, tearing and impact tests, and when they have passed; they are sold with the CE mark. However, no such regulation is available in the USA, so what should you look for?

Protection in the right places…

Not many people realize that most motorcycle injuries occur below the belt. Your legs and feet are extremely vulnerable, so make sure that you wear a decent pair of high boots and some protective pants. The pants should be reinforced at the knees and hips; ideally they should attach to your jacket by a zipper. Boots should be thick leather, with a sole that can flex with the foot but has a resistance to crushing across the foot.

Traditional material for motorcycle clothing is leather, but thick nylon and other synthetic materials work well too. Kevlar reinforced jeans are better than normal jeans .Normal jeans last 0.6 seconds in the European standard abrasion test, while protective motorcycle pants will last 5 seconds or more. You don’t really want to be ripping your skin open within less than half a second of falling of your bike do you? Thought not. Read the rest of this entry »

How do you make your Harley Davidson look and feel like an extension of yourself!

Do you think maybe it’s time to do a little customizing for that old girl of yours? Ask yourself this first.

Why do we customize and add accessories to our Harley?

Well, for me it’s simple!

We want to stand out above all else! The last thing we want is to look like every Tom, Dick, and Harry out there on the road!

You may have different reasons. You may want to add an Accessory to your bike because it fits with you and your taste.

There is an element of being practical as well. If you install a nice chrome luggage rack on your back fender, or a detachable windshield, it not only looks good but it also serves a purpose. How else would you carry your tent and keep bugs out of your teeth?

Not everyone has the same taste in customizing. Thank God for that, or it sure would be boring taking a walk down on main street in Sturgis South Dakota during the 1st week of August.

Some people go overboard on customizing their bike. Overboard for someone may be a masterpiece for someone else. It all depends on who you are and what you’re about.

How do you pick out a Harley Davidson Accessory or decide on customizing?

It’s a hard question to answer. Read the rest of this entry »

Shopping for second hand motors using the internet has never been so easy. With lightning fast connection speeds, a massive range of cars to choose from and even more quality websites to look at, the odds really are stacked in favour of the buyer. So log on and prepare to go bargain hunting!

The first thing you need to do is type a search into Google. If you already know the make and model of the car you want, go ahead and put that in- something like ‘used Audi A4’ will bring up a good selection. On the flip side, if you just want to browse for a bit, put in a more general search like ‘used cars UK’. You’ll have to look through a few more results, but at least you’ll have some idea of what’s out there.

When a list of results appears, unless you know of a specific site already such as Carsource, try to stick to the first page. It costs a lot of money for websites to be on the first page, so you can be pretty sure they will be big companies. And to make a lot of money they need to sell a lot of cars- large sales mean happy customers and that in turn means reliable motors. So whether you’ve searched for ‘used cars UK’ or ‘second hand Mercedes CLK’, stick to the first page for the best deals.

So if you’re looking to get a new car and don’t want to spend all your money, a second hand motor should be your first thought. Using the internet to look for one is so easy, and the prices are so low it’s almost criminal. All it takes is a few keystrokes and clicks of the mouse- so what are you waiting for? Get online and get searching!

People normally associate auto salvage yards with a store for useless used vehicle parts. Individuals fail to understand that auto salvage yards have not only very valuable automobile parts, but can also offer fantastic deals on wrecked motorcycles, wrecked trucks and totaled cars for sale. You can actually collect some parts from the vehicles and reuse them.

Broadly, auto salvage is the act of collecting and recycling vehicle parts from vehicles that are broken down. You then dispose of the remaining parts that that cannot be salvaged. A salvage yard is also referred to as an auto recycler. Auto salvage enables us to avoid wasting usable vehicle parts and resources from cars that cannot operate. It also prevents environmental pollution by salvaging as many parts as possible.

Above all, you need to make a good deal with auto salvage auction in order to have a good price of what you are looking for. However, if you are new to these dealers you need to consider the following tips:

• Be on time. Make sure you go earlier than the stated auction time. This is because another customer might come up and pay for it immediately. You should seek some help or guidelines from other specialized dealers. Get the price of the car (starting price) and from there you can bargain successfully.
• Inspect thoroughly. Any purchase you make for any machine needs to be after it is inspected thoroughly. Do not only pay attention to the external view of your car, inspect internal parts carefully. You can use other experienced dealers to help you inspect the car fully.

At the end of this, it will be obvious that you have saved a lot of money on this bid, by making wise decisions you avoid huge losses.