We’re deeply saddened by the passing of an industry leader and friend, James Clark, who died unexpectedly this past Friday the 16th in Dayton Nevada. He leaves behind a legacy of warmth, friendship, creativity and enthusiasm for his family and this industry. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and close friends of James during this time. God Bless.

Hey, thanks for coming back! Great to see there are a few of you out there that have taste and style! Seriously, thanks for visiting. If you know of stories you think people would be interested in, shoot us a line C'ya!

Trent Whatley is a man with passion. An average guy with maybe too much time on his hands and an over active imagination, and we love him for that! As most of us can admit, we like food. And if your a guy, we like our food with a bit of an attitude….(just like our choppers, cars, women and dogs!), as well as having food with our friends when we’re out at events. Granted after awhile “a grill is a grill is a grill”. And there is nothing really exciting about them. That is until Trent got ahold of an idea bouncing around in his head. So after telling a few friends his idea for a grill (and promptly ignoring their snickers and ridicule), Trent struck out on his own personal journey to build this behemouth of a grill that would satisfy every mans hunger for power, food and sex (ok, not sure where the sex comes into play, but it works, so run with it) So, what better way than to stuff 60,000 BTUs of Raw Power and 120 DPH (Dogs Per Hour) underneath the hood of a V8! This baby can turn up the heat and GIT-M-DONE quick! You can find more about Trents Stoker V8 Grill at www.V8-Grill.com.

Part of any lifestyle choice involves dealing with the risks that are involved with that particular lifestyle, (ie skydiving, scuba diving, running, motorcycling, etc, etc). As we were leafing through our inventory of BLOG and resource sites for a new build we are doing, i ran across this excellent resource called Bikers Accident Survival Forum who’s objective is to provide those that have had accidents with information and resources that can assist them in both rebuilding and dealing with everyday life. As they state on the site “We hope to be of some good encouragement for you to ride, with the help from inspiring bikers their websites and stories. While at the same time urging you to see clearly the practical aspects that will be essential to your recovery and therapy. With our fellow bikers – our direct aim is to support you, educate the masses, and prevent these escalating Accidents and Casualties”. The site has a users forum as well as volumnious amounts of links to resources that deal with everything from amputation, spinal cord, biker rights, state laws, accident site management, abdominal trauma, insurance, brain, orthotists & prosthetists and many more needed resources. Take a look as well as pass this onto those you may know that could benefit from this resource. I know i will be!

As one that rides frequently, and as a responsible enthusiast (ok, ok i make my living by being in the motorcycle industry!), i periodically read reports from our government agencies that can/do impact a riders life. Such is the case of the recently released NHTSA report that spanned a 10 year study from 1995 to 2004 on Trends in Fatality of Motorcycle Crashes. I’ve even used some of the data in one case. It was distubing to read that now, that report is under attack (with some valid data itself) by Warren Woodward, Chair of the State Legislative Committee, of the Street Bikers United Hawaii. His claim (posted on an ABATE discussion forum), is that NHTSA “cherry picked” it’s data to serve it’s own agenda. In a nutshell, the NHTSA pointed out that motorcycle-related deaths have increased sharply from 1997 to 2005, by a rate of 89%. However, that’s not what Woodward found. Using the same NHTSA data, he found that the agency had cherry-picked its data for maximum impact. Had they gone further back in years, they’d find that motorcycle-related deaths have actually decreased. But hey, why don’t you read his post and make your own decision. Also, check out the data on Helmet Law Facts. You can read Warrens post at Recent Trends NHTSA Claims challenged

My wife and i had a “discussion” the other day on gun control, whereas she stated “I’d love to see all guns outlawed, like they do in England and other European countries”! Not to her suprise, i disagreed. Then shortly after that “discussion”, while browsing through the Cigar Intel Agency BLOG, what do i come across? But a well written and elequent post from CIA’s administrator, that stated exactly what i’d been trying to explain to my wife, on why we as American citizens should have the right to carry concealed weapons. Kudo’s to you guys! Click HERE.

I know, sometimes it’s just too hard to get people to church on a regular basis, or for that matter, even to attend a Sunday service on holidays. Seems like the good ol’ Southern Baptists have taken a new turn by giving away a free motorcycle at biker rallies and speedways across the country….all as a way to attract new converts for a new style of evangelism. The Sioux Falls Journal has an interesting article about this new strategy. You can find it HERE. Good God Almighty! Guess if it works, it works.

As most know, we’re not big fans of OCC, but we do give them due respect for what they’ve contributed to the industry, which is recognition (howbeit disfunctional or staged by the networks). However we are fans of one particular guy there-Vinnie DiMartino – one of the guys that actually made Paulie Jr’s ideas work and function. Well Vinnie has bid adieu to OCC. And OCC has lost their leading fabricator — and one of the most popular characters on their reality show. DiMartino, 34, of Montgomery, left about three weeks ago for reasons he didn’t disclose yesterday, at his lawyer’s request. “I am happy,” he said. “You can put that in the paper.” Also on the move is Cody Connelly, 20, another hometown gear-head who started working for the disfunctional OCC gang well before he could drive and went on to co-design rides for the hit reality series “American Chopper.” An OCC spokesperson would not comment on the departures, explaining that the garage is very busy wrapping up filming for next season and preparing for the grand opening of its World Headquarters in the Town of Newburgh. But local gadflies and online fan sites smell blood and have been chattering about OCC shorting DiMartino his due pay. DiMartino said the goodbye was on good terms and actually might air on an upcoming episode on The Learning Channel. DiMartino was known as the Teutuls’ wingman and, on devoted fan sites, as the nice one or the hot one or the one with the sharpest mechanical skills. DiMartino and Connelly said they plan to stay local, at least for now, and are exploring new career opportunities. Source: Time Herald