“My recommendation is you don’t get back on the bike for a few weeks”

 

Those were the words that echoed from the doctor’s mouth as he spoke to my good friend Greg  at the hospital where Greg had arrived a short time ago via an air ambulance affectionately known in the Southern Wisconsin area as MEDflight. While racing his CR250 at Aztalan Raceway in Lake Mills Wisconsin, Greg had misjudged his approach to a nasty tabletop to step down that sent riders plummeting down the equivalent to what seemed like forever, but was actually about 30 feet. He subsequently over jumped it to flat much like Honda factory rider Doug Henry had done at Budds Creek Maryland. The landing and brutal dismount rendered Greg unconscious for some time and when he awoke, unaware of his surroundings and what had happened, he began to fight with EMT’s which they took as possible head trauma. So, off to University Hospital via the sky.
After receiving attention by some of the finest doctor’s in the Midwest, Greg was found to have rung his bell quite well and had a mild concussion to accompany all the bruises and swelling that are part of any motorcrossers daily grind.

 

“That guy doesn’t know me very well”

The International Motorcycle Show (IMS) makes its way around the country every winter to keep all of us hibernating bikers chomping at the bit for the upcoming riding season. Billed as “The World’s Largest Motorcycle Show,” it features all of the major motorcycle manufacturers, as well as helmet and gear companies, aftermarket parts manufacturers, motorcycle insurance companies, stunt shows, food concessions, and about anything else you can think of related to the lifestyle.

Lance A. Lewsader: Well we all know you as EMom or Donna or Oldrider and the simplest of all Gavin’s Mother. We also know you came to us through a great tragedy.  What we want to know is what makes you who you are. Never have I seen you with a negative comment. Not even in the face of those who would say negative to you.

Oldrider: I think what we learn along the our path in life, is what shapes & molds us into who we are, even though it changes as we go along. I try to always be ‘positive’ in everything & especially when dealing with people.  The Bible says a kind/quiet/soft word (don’t know which one of those, since I can’t really quote the Bible), turneth away wrath.  My version is, if you really want to be the ‘winner’ in any argument, or personal attack, be prepared to be ‘nice’. Drives ‘em crazy if they can’t get under your skin & make you fight back. Also, makes them stop & think about the level of maturity THEY are displaying for the world to see. Works EVERY time! :)
I also have an over-developed sense of loyality & I like to ‘help’ if at all possible. I hate it when someone is unhappy, or suffering, & for whatever reason, I usually side with the underdog.  :(

Recently the good folks at Bell offered up two lids to be given away to the most deserving of all those who entered the contest. After pouring over the streams of incoming stories about why everyone felt they needed to win, we eventually decided on the two lucky winners.  We asked them to provide us some pictures and a small message. Luckily for us, one is a photographer, since the other is deployed with just a “camera” phone lol.  Surprisingly enough both of the winners chose the same helmet! I guess the RSD design is a hit! Congrats to the both of you, and thanks to Bell Helmets! Big props go out to Bell Helmets for helping to keep our streetfighting brothers and sisters safe on their day to day battles.

 

Many of us fighterers know about the Big Belly Crew and some of the bikes they’ve messed around with or on. (Pictured below is the ZX-10 Jesse built that was featured in Streetfighter Magazine-issue 190). What most of us didn’t know however, was the long motorcycling history in the Cornell family dating back over 100 years.

Last Summer I had the opportunity to meet up with Jesse Cornell and the Big Belly Family in Springfield Massachusetts. The place of meeting was the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum, which has quite an interesting collection of antique automotive history. Not just the 2-wheeled variation, but cars, planes, pedal-bikes and more. It was really cool to see some of the interesting ideas from way back when and the way things progressed from so long ago! One particular room is devoted almost entirely to machines manufactured by Indian,  which was the reason for our visit. Jesse had a Great-Great-Uncle, Stanley, who dealt Indian Motorcycles in the early 1900′s.

Gdogg’s interview series putting members of Custom Fighters that you should know in the spotlight!

I have heard the story from Miller about the birth of CF. However the masses probably don’t know how this whole mess came about. Care to share with us how it happened?
It all started when I bought my second 929 CBR. This one was to be my stunt bike, as the one I already had was about the nicest full fairing around (IMO). So I bought this crashed 929 off a friend and stripped the broken plastic off the bike, and began to set the bike up for making wheelies and crashing. Once I had it stripped, the big frame became so much more prominent to me, seeing the engine exposed under the frame, everything was right there to see. Over the next couple weeks of rebuilding the bike I started thinking that I liked how my stunt bike looked better than my full faired, AND it was much more comfortable to ride with the dirtbike bars.

I started searching around forums for nice stunt bikes and found a few here and there, but nothing that was actually clean or nice. Then I came across a couple posts from a fellow from the netherlands….a stunter from a group called Plan B. He posted a pic of what I still think is the most beautiful 900RR fighter I’ve ever seen. Then the digging ensued. I was bit by the bug and had to have more.

Miller (ab420) was/is a bit more computer saavy than I, so I asked him to teach me some better search techniques for the internet, and before you knew it, I was translating page after page of German, Dutch, Spanish etc and saving it on my computer for reference. I was creating files and files of folders of pictures broken down by manufacturer. It was about all I ever talked about. Constantly scheming how I could transform my bike and why I would do this or that, and how to make it something very different than I’d seen before.

Well after a couple months of me being completely consumed by this and talking about nothing else, my good friend Chris had a good suggestion.

“Either do something with this or shut the fuck up about it man!”

Play along with me, because I guarantee this is going someplace. I find solace and a certain amount of nostalgic tingling whenever I get the chance to take in a swap meet or salvage yard. I like to think in my head that I am the Indiana Jones of motorcycling on that particular day and no person on earth can stop me from acquiring the Crystal Skully, or at least the Yamaha DT tank that I really want for my latest project. If chopping up perfectly good stuff is wrong, then i don’t want to be right.

 

How many different bikes other than the original donor were cannibalized to make your current machine?

(a) None – 0 points
(b) 1 or 2 bikes – 10 points
(c) Between 3 and 5 – 20 points
(d) More than 5 bikes – 50 points

 

Some of us are privileged enough to spend time around the great minds of the motorcycle industry. I’m such a soul that has been able to speak face to face with some very gifted minds, and it never fails to impress me just how down to earth and average these seemingly super human people manage to be. When you look at the results of their nearly tireless efforts to become one with the machine it is hard to imagine that they put their pants on one leg at a time.

At Custom Fighters (Street Fighter Motorcycle Forum) I’ve watched from a far as member Motohorho (Toni) has brought a GSXR from yesterday into a “twin-charged” (supercharged and turbocharged) and radically styled monster of a bike with what seems like a never ending budget and a knowledge base most of us mere mortals could only dream of. Given the job to have a chat with him and get some info was like being told to meet the president and ask him what his foreign policy details were going to encompass. I was a little nervous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The time has come for yet another CF winter buildoff, so we thought we would take the time to look back at our most recent winner and owner of the amazing carbon clad creation you see.

 

 

 

 

I took a moment to ask Knifemaker what makes him tick and the thought process that went into his Winter Build Off Winning Bike.

Lance A. Lewsader: What was your inspiration behind this build?

Chris (Knifemaker): I actually stumbled across a picture of a Honda VT1000 Hawk Concept and absolutely loved it.
http://idata.over-blog.com/2/78/64/83/vtr-concept-4.jpg

I really wanted to build a V-Twin bike, as all my other bikes have been twins, but when the F2 fell in my lap for $500 I couldnt pass it up especially after seeing Fathead03′s F2 build-off thread. It challenged what I thought of as far as custom fabrication goes, and I really wanted to give it a try.

LL: How many hours would you say you have in this build?

Chris: It is really hard for me to gauge hours, but I have been working on the bike since last June. I would say 1000+ hours of work would be conservative. Especially if you include all the machine time, fabricating, carbon fiber work, mechanical work, and finishing.

Lance A. Lewsader:  What got you into motorcycles?

HardCore:  My brother was the person who got me interested in motorcycles. He had a ’71 Ironhead. I wanted a bike, but I wanted something more aggressive and when I came to Custom Fighters I knew what I wanted.

LL:  What got you into Streetfighters?

HC:  I was looking for something badass I could do to my Speed Triple and found the website.

LL: Why did you build the bike you did?

HC:  I actually didn’t build the bike. I bought the original Speed Triple from eBay. I brought it to my bothers house in between my deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. I figured out with him what we wanted to do and while I was deployed to Afghanistan my brother took it to his friend Kyle Ford, The Shop Supervisor and Bike Builder at Southeastern Steel Choppers in Jacksonville, NC.

LL:  Why did you enter this month’s FOTM?

HC:  I had finally gotten all the little things done to the bike I wanted to, like the drag bars and front end painted, the brake reservoirs on, and the switches under the tail.

LL:  You relocated all your switches under the tail. Has this ever been an issue for you?HC:  It’s never been an issue really. I like having all that off the front bars more then I dislike having to reach back to start it or switch the headlights.