Custom Mini Bike Show in Phoenix, AZ Story and Photos by Rob Zoller A brisk 90 degree day in the Phoenix Valley pulled the hibernating zealots from their AC’d lairs to attend the event of the year. We rolled in and were pleasantly surprised to see the event already up and rolling. There was a “Mini” swap meet which drew our immediate attention and after a few great scores we turned our gaze onto the plethora of “customcool” mini bikes. There was everything from the mild to wild with Ron’s yellow racer taking top honors for speed demon, there were choppers and bobbers, stocks and mods, all were welcome. Of course we eventually wandered over to the park just across the street for some spontaneous drag racing and exhibitions of speed which drew the inevitable attention of the Phoenix PD… Everyone scattered except for the sacrificial lamb, I won’t divulge his name (Chip). We were pleasantly surprised to find that we were welcome to peruse the parking lot as long as we didn’t touch the grass… GAME ON! There will be a follow up show and drag race in...

Motorized Bike Sets Records at Bonneville Salt Flats Photographer turned record setter turned friend. It's Gunther Maier on his "Sportsman Flyer" replica 1910 Indian board track race bike.   Photos in this story are © Keith Berr www.keithberr.com. Thanks Keith! Click to see this shot full size and check out the chain. Not sure how fast Gunther's going here, but it it's a great snap!   I posted this photo of Gunther enjoying his time in impound at Bonneville Speed Week 2012: Little did I know that Gunther was the guy who'd supplied the best pictures shown in the feature story about Jeff Brock's 1952 Buick Super Riviera race car. Turns out Brock and Gunther are buddies and were pitted right next to each other on the salt!   Gunther told me, he's part of the RED RACER Team running a new production of an Indian board track racer form the 1910. The bike is the coolest and is made by Sportsman Flyer. (worth a look, or get your own kit!)   Gunther's team runs in the SCTA's A-PF class with a 175cc engine. With some success I might...

On April 16 Hendrik von Kuenheim announced that BMW will be building enough S1000RR's for homologation into World Superbike. He did not mention too much about the machine, except what is obvious. It's an inline 4, chain drive with front forks rather than any kind of superduperparatelepythagorian-lever design that they have developed. There is no telling what the price tag might be for one of these beauties. They talk about being competitive with the Japanese manufacturers. However, it was not clear whether that means a $45k bike like the Honda RC's of old or a $15k bike like any of todays superbike base machines. This is great for WSBK, but probably not so good for the regrouping of AMA SBK. I'm sure there will be plenty more information to come, but they just gave us a teaser! Enjoy the pictures for...

The second event that MyRideIsMe.com participated in leading up to Arizona Bikeweek was a charity ride by Taser Foundation. Each year they run “Takin’ the Ride”, to raise funds to assist the families of officers that are lost in the line of duty. 100% of proceeds go to the families, so you can be sure that you are giving directly to someone who needs it. This year, the third annual ride, started a Euromotorsport in Scottsdale, Arizona. At 8 AM we arrived to see about 50 bikes already lined up outside of the BMW dealer. Next to the first row of motorcycles was the “Drive to Remember” Hummer H3 that would lead the groups out to start the day long ride. This H3 is participating in many events across the country during the next few months to increase awareness of officers killed in the line of duty. More information can be found at www.drive2remember.org . Since we were early to registration, we got to kill some time looking around at all the bikes and watching the Police show their handiwork with their BMW police bikes. Never let anyone complain...

The term 'American Motorcycle' is synonymous with large, 45 degree V-Twins made for cruising the highways. When talks about American, they mean Harley-Davidson or Indian. Recently there are a number of small, independent companies that are attempting to take back the performance motorcycle category which all this American iron founded at the beginning of the last century. Everyone knows the story of Buell. Great ideas and interesting bikes but that Harley powerplant is the Achille's heel. Having finally admitted that fact, they will soon be moving over to Rotax engines which KTM also relies on. There are, however, some that you probably have never heard of. Fischer Motor Company, for example, produces the Hyosung powered MRX (designed by Glynn Kerr, I believe). The company offers an interesting a la carte approach to building your new bike that I find appealing. You can pick up the base model for about $8k and build up from there. Order it equipped with Ohlins suspension and carbon fiber bodywork if you like, which is unheard of in dealerships for any other company. Unfortunately, I think they may missed class the day they taught...

For more information on the November 8th, 2008 Memories on Main Street cruise, go to the Mainstreet Garage. While most parts of the US are still half frozen, Mesa, Arizona launches the first big cruise of the year (and first minor sunburn). Brought to us as, "POP's Memories on Main Street" by the Prostate Checkup All Sports Foundation, it was a good time had by all and we had near perfect weather for it. Cruising between Country Club and Mesa drive with parking on Main Street and in the several nearby city lots, for the $5 per car donation, I think everyone had a place. I was expecting a few more cars, but there was no lack of quality. Main street was lined with lawn chaired folks cheering for the next guy to, "light'm up!" I'm pretty sure Mesa PD did just that cause most burning rubber was followed closely by howling sirens. For the most part though, I think every had a good time enjoying their cars and making new friends. I know I did. Here are a few of the cars I especially liked. Most of the...

Robbie Maddison set a new world record by jumping his motorcycle 322 feet at the Rio in Las Vegas last night. Apparently, he did a 350 foot jump in practice. To put this in perspective, Evel Knievel crashed jumping the short way across the Caesar's Palace fountain with his heavy old Harley. Exactly 40 years later, Maddison probably would have cleared that same fountain going the long way!!! Check out the video at ESPN:...

While cruising Myspace looking for car and bike enthusiasts to bring to the light of MyRideisMe.com, I learned of the 16th Annual YOKOHAMA HOT ROD Custom Show 2007 that happened December 2nd in Pacifico Yokohama sponsored by Mooneyes Yokohama. I’ve got a special interest in what’s going on in Japan since I work for Nissan and I lived in Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan in 2000. When there, I’d occasionally see a car that was completely out of place: an old Chevy wagon or a vintage Mustang, but nothing like what’s at this show. To find the best pics of a Japanese show you look at Japanese websites, right? Good luck! That's where a new friend from Myspace named Jiro from Gifu, Japan (near Osaka) helped me find some of those websites, especially this one: SP@RETIME. Maki Kurata from Nagoya, Japan runs Sp@retime and it is LOADED with outstanding pictures of the bike and hot rod scene in Japan. The picture to the left was just loaded. Maki and his buddies are riding in Japan now and it is COLD there now! This gallery's called: いつものメンツで極寒ナイトクルーズ！ which loosely translates to: "The...

With a name like KillaCycle, why wouldn't you want to ride it? Here is the world's fastest electric drag bike. Being a devout, fossil fuel burning, carbon dioxide emission making biker I’m usually skeptical of anything linking the words electric and motorcycle. However, this bike garnered my interest for two stories that I heard. First, it holds the world record for electric motorcycles by running the quarter mile in 7.824 seconds at 168 mph. Second, it made quick work of the owner, Bill Dube of Denver, who attempted a burn out and nearly proved that the bike’s moniker is accurate. It appears that the bike is about 200 pounds of batteries connected to two DC motors than run a chain drive to the rear wheel and not much else. For plenty of pictures, video and information check out...

Evel Knievel, the man who could make Harleys fly, died yesterday at the age of 69. The recipient of a liver transplant in 1999 had been in poor health for quite a while, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis. Everyone, whether they are part of the motorcycle addiction or the real world, knows the name Evel Knievel and can probably even name the place of his worst crash. Caesars Palace, 1968. He certainly came closer than most of us ever will to using up his nine lives and getting away with it. That's what made him a legendary daredevil. So, RIP Evel Knievel. Links of Interest:Evel Knievel's Official Website Knievel article from Australia Knievel article in Motorcycle News The picture on the main page is from the Smithsonian and the copyright allows for the use of it in news reporting. The original source is here:...

You have surely seen the image before, a race bike coming hard out of a turn with a light front end and serious headshake. Occasionally, this oscillation gets more violent turning into a full-fledged tankslapper where the handlebars are thrown from stop to stop. Sometimes the result is the rider being catapulted from the bike in spectacular fashion. Most street riders have experienced the phenomenon that leads to tankslappers to some extent after upsetting the suspension by hitting a rock or pothole (or landing a wheelie a little off center), etc. In most instances, a light grip that allows the bike some freedom to move will allow a shake on the front end to settle down. Now, if you have never experienced a tankslapper then simply imagine amplifying the shake of the previous example by ten fold and multiplying the odds of dirty leathers by at least that much. The purpose here is to briefly describe why tankslappers happen and some solutions to reduce chance of being bucked off because of one. All motorcycles can experience oscillations in the front suspension, but some motorcycles are much more prone to...

Like the better known Volkswagen Typ 1, the Ural motorcycle too has been produced since the late 1930’s and remained relatively unchanged. The staggering defeat of Russia in the Winter War with Finland demonstrated the cost of using obsolete technology in combat. A new motorcycle design was desperately needed considering the increasing momentum towards war with Germany. So, the Soviet army covertly acquired 5 BMW R71 motorcycles in Sweden and took them back to Moscow for reverse engineering. Every detail of the design was studied and reproduced in the 1941 Ural M-72. Thousands of Urals were put into service on the Russian frontlines during World War II. After the war, military production of the Ural was moved to Ukraine from the Irbit Motorcycle Works near Siberia and the original factory was converted to civilian production. Since then over 3 million of the R71-based Urals have been built and can be seen on roads around the world. Yes, they are available here in the United States. What you get today is a shaft driven motorcycle powered by a 750cc air-cooled flat twin rated at 40 horsepower with some pretty unique...