Last night while nursing a scratchy throat with some tea, I was flipping through the channels and stumbled across the movie Purple Rain. I immediately began to feel really old when I realized that it was released 26 years ago. Sigh. I remember when I was a kid it looked like the Best Movie Ever, but as I started to watch it last night I realized that it was a really horrible movie with really great music clips.

Purple Rain

Then there was his motorcycle. My recollection of it was much different than what it actually was. Maybe it’s the giant fairing in the front, but I recall it being more flashy and impressive. A little bit of Googling ensued (and a lot of conflicting opinions later) led to a forum thread that included info from a guy named Tom Summers, who supposedly worked on the bike for the movie.

He revealed that the motorcycle was a 1981 Honda 400A (also called a Hondamatic 400) and had a Kutter fairing added on (although a lot of people say it’s a Windjammer fairing). The seat had a hot pink velour inserts and you can see the early version of Prince’s symbol painted on the fairing.

movie captures found at imcdb.org

There were three bikes in the movie, two of them stunt bikes. Prince’s actual bike was revamped in 1990, painted black and gold for the movie Grafitti Bridge. But one of the stunt bikes, still painted purple, is currently on display at Paisley Park Studios.

Graffiti Bridge

OK, there’s my useless knowledge post of the week! I will now have this song stuck in my head for at least…three days!

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I like to be reflective of the year gone by. Since I made a top 10 list of the most viewed posts of 2009 I thought I’d make a list of my 10 personal favorites:

• Adeline and Augusta Van Buren: notable women motorcyclists : this post was not only extremely interesting to research but it was equally gratifying to write about these two amazing women.
• Sayonara, Myrtle Beach : this post is not necessarily a favorite, but was big news in the MC world and sadly marks the end of the historical rally in Myrtle Beach.
• When is a custom motorcycle not a custom? : the world”factory custom” motorcycles are explored and debated.
• Women’s only motorcycles: pandering or genius marketing? : probably my most controversial post of last year. Opinionated? Yes. But it sure stirred the pot!
• A punk icon joins Sons of Anarchy : Henry Rollins. Sons of Anarchy. ‘Nuff said.
• Book review: Chicks on Bikes : I feel the need to pimp this book out as much as possible. Christina Shook created a book that’s a perfect mix of words and great photos about…well, chicks on bikes of course. If you don’t have this book in your library, you really should buy it. (Plus, Christina is a great person in real life!)
• Rescue Ink exclusive interview unleashed : my interview with the bad boys of pet rescue.
• I want your skulls. I need your skulls. : OK, so like every other red-blooded woman out there, I like jewelry. I’m like a fish, if it’s shiny then I’m drawn to it. And if you’re a biker who likes quality silver jewelry and you like skulls, then Nino925 is your man. Ooh…shiny…
• Rippin-Kitten gets a makeover! : this is self-explanatory but after 2 years of the same old-looking website, Rippin-Kitten got a facelift!
• Sons of Anarchy season 2 finale: this post wraps up the last of 13 amazing episodes of Sons of Anarchy and I found out that Kurt Sutter actually read this post when he sent me a tweet saying I could lick his brain anytime. Think he ever saw the movie, Misery?

If you have a favorite Rippin-Kitten post tell me what it is!

In honor of Military Appreciation Month, we’ve put together a number of different ways for us all to salute men and women who serve our country.

HD declares November "Military Appreciattion Month"

A special section of the Harley-Davidson web site

http://www.harley-davidson.com/thankyou – allows visitors to salute active and retired military members on electronic postcards featuring H-D motorcycles and fellow rider and U.S. military supporter Marisa Miller. Watch the behind the scenes video from the recent photo shoot.

Free schwag

Participating H-D dealerships have free military-themed posters, postcards, and calendars featuring Marisa Miller (calendars available only to those with a military I.D.). While you’re there, don’t forget to sign the H-D flag that will be sent to troops overseas.

Contest

The “Harley Salutes the Military Contest,” created in partnership with Maxim magazine, gives active or retired personnel the chance to win a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle of their choice – delivered personally by Marisa. The winner will also receive Rider’s Edge training and four tickets to attend the Jan. 2, 2010, Ultimate
Fighting Championship event in Las Vegas. Visit http://www.maxim.com/salutes to enter and get exclusive downloads.

Billy Lane by Forrest Frazier

I try not to delve too much into other peoples misfortunes but the facts are quite clear. Lane, 39, faced up to nine years in prison after a judge in June OK’d a plea deal in which prosecutors agreed to drop a charge of DUI manslaughter due to a Sept. 4, 2006, crash that left fellow biker Gerald Morelock dead.

Police said Lane’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when he crossed a double-yellow line to speed at 68 mph past three cars on State Road A1A south of Melbourne Beach. He crashed his Dodge pickup head on into 56-year-old Morelock’s small Yamaha motorcycle.

Today Billy’s lawyer plead his case focusing on the positive aspects of Billy’s life and the public service he has done with children, the military, and local organizations. He emphasized the good that Billy can do and has done and his ability to reach out to the younger generation.

Billy spoke to the judge taking responsibility for his actions and got quite emotional regarding the killing of Gerry Morelock. He was surrounded by other bike builders and notable members of the motorcycle business. The support for him from his peers as-well-as the members of Mr. Morelock’s family with whom he has built up a relationship was truly touching. However, in the end the fact remained that one man lost his life because of the lapse of judgment of another man.

I understand that other people have been in similar situations. A few months ago I lost a relative who was riding his motorcycle because someone ran him over. These tragedies hit our community all too often. Please keep this in mind next time you are in your cage and are driving distracted (read: drunk, on the cell, yelling at your kids, texting) and try to be more aware of cagers, or other potential hazards when you are on your bike.

I don’t want to hear about you being in jail or winding up dead, you are all to important to me.

The goal is to collect at least 10,000 photos by Friday, May 15th. Once a photo is submitted, you’ll get an email to confirm its receipt. From there you’ll be able to review and locate your photo in the mosaic. I’m definitely going to do it so I can play the HD version of “Where’s Waldo?”.

I’ve worked for some big agencies on big accounts.  Last year I moved to a smaller agency with clients that were more fun and allowed me to be more creative with my design work. The downside to that is that I’d been working stupid hours with unreasonable deadlines and overall not too happy about it. Other than the ridiculous workloads of late, there were other things at play. Office politics were beginning to play a big part, tension with the offline creative group, pressure from upper management and then my boss was maneuvered into resigning by her new boss, etc. etc.

So it didn’t come as too much of a shock when I walked into a meeting the other day with my writing partner and we were informed that our positions were “eliminated”. I was laid off.

The sucky thing is that I was let go for purely political reasons, not economic ones, not because of poor job performance (in fact I got a more than glowing review just the week before and some of the coolest work of my career is slated to go live very soon).  It’s been a long time since I haven’t had a full time job. I’ve been working steadily since I was 16 years old and today starts the first week that I won’t have to go somewhere to work. I can roll out of bed, have coffee with the cat and get my online portfolio together.

Luckily, if you can call it lucky, I had expected it. I had a lot of hypothetical conversations with my husband the week before, made many jokes about the possibility of not having a job the following week.

And so, here I am with a clean slate, at the crossroads, [insert cliché metaphor here]. I think I’d like to get some freelancing going and make a go of it through the summer. And I can also put a lot of focus on riding and blogging. Rippin-Kitten.com is going to be celebrating the two year blogoversary mark next month!

Now I have the opportunity to give more time and attention to this site. It’s time to retire this blog theme and incorporate a more robust layout. My readership has steadily increased over the past year and Rippin-Kitten is now one of the top three motorcycle blogs out there. I’ve been getting more and more followers on Twitter (thx fellow Tweeps!) and I really want to expand it to incorporate all the things people are looking for to take it to the next level. Don’t be surprised if you see some poll action (not pole action, sorry guys!) in the next few weeks so that I can get a better idea of who’s reading. I’m really excited!

Well, that is what’s happening in my world. How are you guys?

Kurt Sutter recently posted an update on his blog about the progress of writing for season 2:

I’ve finished a draft of the first script and my writers are in the process of writing 202 and 203. We’ve broken the first four episodes and have a pretty solid handle on the arc of the season. Two weeks ago, I pitched the big ideas to the network and they loved them. It’s cool when your boss is also a fan of the show. I don’t just get “that’s good for the network”, I get “that’s great shit for the show”. They had very few notes on the first script, so we are off to a good start with the story-telling. My hope is to have four scripts approved by the time we start production at the end of April.

Obviously, I can’t give anything away, but I as I’ve said in a few interviews, this season is all about alliances. We are going to explore and exploit the bonds we have with our brothers, our family, our country and our god. As I was writing this first script, I smiled when I realized that I get to channel all my twisted Catholic angst into a show about men who play God. I love my fucking job.

Still uncertain exactly when season two will air. A lot depends on FX’s development slate. I will keep you posted.

It’s always a good sign when the writer himself is giddy with twisted excitement!

Related posts:
A punk rock icon joins the cast of SoA
More info about SoA
Shooting begins for SoA

February is my least favorite month of all. Even though it’s short it just feels…so…long…But I’ve snapped out of it and I am raring to go.

Here’s a few interesting bits of late:

All ladies summer tour through Alaska

MotoQuest Tours is planning an all women, 9-day, 1200 mile trip (on all paved roads), with lodging-through Alaska from June 26th to July 4th.  An average day will be about 250 miles so everyone can take in the scenery and all the riders will be followed by a 12 passenger van to schlep all the luggage and provide snacks and refreshment. Full details and information can be found at http://motoquesttours.com/09ladiesintro.html

Sons of Anarchy, Season Two

There’s very little to report lately about the next season of SoA. Writer and creator, Kurt Sutter, posted in his blog a month or so ago that they were back in the writing room working away. Shooting allegedly begins in April, with new episodes hitting the air hopefully in September.

Jesse James News

No, it has nothing to do with Jesse’s appearance in the next “Celebrity Apprentice” or his show “Jesse James is a Dead Man.” This video is of Jesse winning a pie-eating contest at the Tennessee Vally Fair. Just because I think it’s funny.

Sadly, there will no longer be any rallies in Myrtle Beach. Done. Dead. Finito. Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way outta town, buddy. It’s too bad they decided to go this way. I have a sneaking suspicion that their issues are not with the biker community as a whole. I’ll just leave it at that.

A letter from the Mayor:

Dear Visitors,
Myrtle Beach is no longer the location for two long-running motorcycle events. After many years, our residents grew weary of three weeks of noise and traffic congestion each May, and they asked City Council to end the events. As a result, the Harley-Davidson Dealers Association Spring Rally and the Atlantic Beach Memorial Day Bikefest will not be held in Myrtle Beach.

This was a difficult decision. Myrtle Beach welcomes visitors year-round, but the giant motorcycle rallies simply grew too large. Our staff, residents and businesses strained to keep up with these huge single-focus events. It may surprise you, but our economy is much healthier with a fully diversified visitor base, instead of a concentration on one or two extremely large events.

Please know that Myrtle Beach is not anti-biker or anti-motorcycle. We want folks to come on the vehicle of their choice and enjoy all of the things Myrtle Beach has to offer. We are ending the motorcycle-related rallies because they grew too big and lasted too long. The huge rallies even kept visitors away from Myrtle Beach, and that’s not good.

For everyone’s safety and welfare, City Council has added a few new rules and regulations. We believe these new laws will make Myrtle Beach a safer and more friendly destination. For example, with your safety in mind, we now require that all motorcycle riders and passengers wear a helmet and eye protection. We also have a 1:00 to 6:00 a.m. curfew for everyone under 18. These and other rule changes are explained on this web site. Thank you for understanding. As you know, Myrtle Beach is a great place to visit, and we welcome you at any time. I look forward to your next visit and am confident that you will have a great time in Myrtle Beach!

Sincerely,

John Rhodes
Mayor

The official Myrtle Beach Bike Week site is still up with the would-have-been dates and official bike week merchandise still up. You’d have a pretty sweet keepsake if you can actually buy some 2009 t-shirts. And you can still visit Myrtle Beach as a vacation spot, as long as you adhere to the new rules and regulations. You now have to wear a helmet, eye protection and have a “functioning” muffler for your bike. Oh yeah, and there’s a curfew. Let’s face it, not having those things is what made hanging out in MB fun!

I’d only gone once a few years ago, but I thought Myrtle Beach was really nice and I think back on that trip fondly because it was my first long distance ride. Before I had this blog I actually wrote about my trip on a personal blog that I kept. This was how my week went while I was there:

Friday- Day 1 of a two day ride begins when we hit the road at 7:30 a.m. The ride isn’t so bad but we hit traffic in RI, NY and DC. We grab a hotel room somewhere in Virginia. I’m so tired and achy that I take a Tylenol w/codeine and a shot of whiskey and go to bed.

Saturday- Day 2 of riding goes better with little traffic. We know we’re getting close when we see start seeing billboards for South of the Border, Cafe Risque (it’s a TOPLESS! TOPLESS! TOPLESS! donut shop) & the Ava Gardner museum (yeah, I didn’t know there was one either).

We make a pit stop at South of the Border because it’s just so cheesy you can’t not stop. We got an ice cream because it was hot outside, posed with Pedro and perused the trinkets before hitting the road. We arrived in Myrtle Beach around 5:30 and had dinner.  Later that night we headed out to meet friends a local bar called Fatboy’s. There’s no open container law there, so drinking beers outside feels weird! The gang decides to head to Hog Wild and it appears that the entire attendance from the bar leaves.

Sunday- Caught up on much needed sleep! We lounged about for a little while & later that day we surveyed the area around us, grabbed lunch at a steak house and just chilled out.

Monday- We got up kind of early and headed down to Murrell’s Inlet where the old Suck Bang Blow (SBB) & the Beaver Bar is. There were lots of vendors all around so we looked at all the merch. I broke down & bought a pair of chaps. We spent a few hours there and then headed over to the Broken Spoke Saloon. They also had vendors there and Easyriders magazine had some show bikes on display. We saw Goth Girl there, who looked like she was setting up to play music but it started to rain so she scrambled to keep her equipment dry. When it stopped raining we used the opportunity to head back to home base for a little while.

The weather cleared up that night so we checked out the new Suck Bang Blow (I guess the building it’s in used to be a Lowe’s or Home Depot. It’s enormous!). We had a couple of beers there, checked out the burnout pit and the vendors in back. We called some of the guys that we knew were there and met them at another bar called “Sundown’s.” Bikes just kept coming and going the whole time we were there.

Tuesday- The sky was still cloudy this day but no rain. We headed north and stopped at Broadway on the Beach. It’s a mall-like area and there were supposed to be a lot of things going on there. We saw a lot of trailers but not a lot of people had things set up. ArtBiker had arrived from Texas & met up with us there. We stayed there for the bulk of the day and then we went to the Rat Hole. We watched a “biker rodeo” which just ended up being a bunch of games done on motorcycles.

That night we picked up a good friend of mine at her place and went back to the big SBB. We drank beer and chatted up some folks. ArtBiker met us there and we ventured over to the other SBB for a while. Then we hung out at the Angry Beaver for a few beers (the boys enjoyed stogies) until they kicked us out for the evening.

Wednesday- Back to the Broken Spoke Saloon where Billy Lane & Discovery Channel are filming a show. We got bored there after a while and hit the Harley shop where we had lunch and Forrest bought me a cowboy hat! That night the big SBB had the first round of the”Baddest Biker on the Beach” boxing matches. I’d never seen live boxing before so I found the experience kind of interesting. There was a lot of energy flowing while the matches were happening, the crowd was completely digging it. We stayed for a little while after the matches were over. More burnouts, more scantily-clad skanks.

Thursday-Checked out a bike show at the Dog House (south). Was a hot and sunny day so lot’s of PBR talls were had. On the way back we decided to hit Broadway on the Beach again because it appeared that everyone was set up. Exile Cycles was there. I immediately went into stalker-mode and got another photo of me taken with Russell Mitchell (and once again was reduced to a babbling idiot while talking to him). We also managed to get a photo of Eddie Trotta while we were there. So, it wasn’t a wasted visit.

Friday-The day threatened rain but we headed out anyway. We met ArtBiker in N. Myrtle Beach and went to Barefoot Landing- also another mall area with lots of vendors and stuff set up. Biker Billy was there doing a cooking demonstration promoting his new book Biker Billy Cooks With Fire. We got to try some of the food afterwards and it was so yummy & spicy! I’m totally getting his book. Now that I think of it, I should have gotten one there and had him sign it. Oh well.

As it were, it did rain on us sporadically but luckily never while we were on the bikes. We had all of these grand illusions of going out that night because it was our last night there. We were going to take a little nap to rejuvenate ourselves but we just never woke up. We were so tired from running around all week and we had to ride the next day.

Saturday & Sunday- full days of riding. Sunday sucked because it was cold and rainy. It rained on us from NY all the way home and we hit traffic in NY & CT and that delayed us about 2 hours. When we saw the “Welcome to Massachusetts” sign I got all teary-eyed because I was so thankful to be almost home. My feet & hands were completely soaked and frozen to the point of numbness. I had so many layers on under my rain suit that I could barely move, my body ached and I was so tired. When we got to the 5 miles to home mark, a little pebble hit me square in the middle of my forehead and sent me completely over the edge. I had a complete meltdown and started crying. I was hating life at that very moment.

When we finally pulled off the ramp at our exit my poor husband was stunned to see tears streaming down my face, ha ha!!! We made it to his house around 7:30 and I was so happy to be off my bike.

While that trip had it’s difficulties for me, I really did have fun. I’d hoped that I might get to enjoy that feeling again going to the MB rallies.

Jesse James. In a suit.

Joining Jesse on the show are: Clint Black, Andrew Dice Clay, Annie Duke, Tom Green, Natalie Gulbis, Scott Hamilton,  Claudia Jordan, Khloe Kardashian, Brian McKnight, Joan Rivers, Melissa Rivers, Brande Roderick, Dennis Rodman, Herschel Walker and Tionne Watkins. I know, I haven’t heard of half of these people either, but with the Dice Man, Tom Green and Jesse-I gotta think things will get pretty interesting.

Here’s Jesse’s bio for the show:
JESSE JAMES can be called many things: custom bike and car builder, producer, publisher, television host and restaurateur. James is currently in production for his new show “Jesse James Is A Dead Man” which will premiere on Spike TV. This past summer, James hit the road and toured across the United States to talk to the American worker one-on-one to launch his new clothing line Jesse James Industrial Work Wear, which is currently available in Wal-Mart stores nationwide. James also founded West Coast Choppers, which creates custom made motorcycles. In 2000, James was the subject of “Motorcycle Mania” which chronicled his everyday life as a motorcycle builder on the Discovery Channel. James established a loyal following who would tune in for 85 episodes to watch the anti-host in his best known role on the international television hit “Monster Garage,” which he produced and starred in. In 2006, he opened the restaurant Cisco Burger, named after his beloved pit bull Cisco. James will be playing for the charity, “Long Beach Education Foundation.”

I have never been a huge fan of The Apprentice, but my husband is and I confess that I watched Celebrity Apprentice last season and enjoyed it. So, if you’re curious like me and wondering how long Jesse will last in the board room (and if he can bring himself to wear a shirt and tie every day), then let your morbid curiosity get the best of you and tune in on Sunday, March 1 at 9pm (EST).

There’s a new landing page up for Spike TV’s Jesse James is a Dead Man. Apparently, they need our help!

“Jesse wants your ideas for crazy, stupid, and ridiculously dangerous stuff for him to do. He’ll pick the wildest challenge, bring you out to LA to explain what it is on the show and then he’ll do the challenge on the show!”

Send in a video challenging Jesse to perform whatever crazy stunt you come up with! (In order to submit your idea, you will need to register for an account on spiketv.com, which is just a bullshit way for them to capture data, in my humble opinion…)

Jesse’s calling you out!

I’ve lived here for quite a few years and I’m sure it comes as no surprise that it is the mecca for all things Halloween. It is a haven for tourists who want to learn a little bit about history, maybe to learn what actually transpired during the Witch Trials and to be able to walk around wearing a witch hat, a cloak or a top hat without feeling self-conscious about it.

I am not exaggerating when I tell you that it’s absolute pandemonium on Halloween. The city shuts down all of the major streets to accommodate all of the people, the police recruit help from neighboring towns and traffic is backed up for hours at a time.

Here’s a video that was shot of last year. It’s a bit long but you don’t have to watch all of it to get the gist of what it’s like here.

While it is both an amusement and a burden to live in Salem, I do love seeing all of the various costumes people come up with. While it’s always been my favorite holiday, I was never one for dressing up in costume until recent years. Here are two of my recent costumes.

psychotic nurse from 2006

zombie concubine 2007

You can also view my Flickr set from Halloween 2007. There’s lots of good photos there.

With Halloween being this Friday, I cannot imagine what this year will hold for my quaint, little historical town. It will surely be insane. And I will be out there in the middle of it all.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.
Myrtle Beach passed 15 ordinances Tuesday to crack down on a 70-year tradition of motorcycle rallies in the city, but some attorneys warned the new laws may not survive legal challenges.

The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reports that city council unanimously passed nearly all the ordinances, which include rules requiring motorcycle riders to wear helmets, restricting where bikers can park and strengthening loitering rules.

Lawyers representing Harley-Davidson of Myrtle Beach and businesses that cater to bikers suggested some of the laws are illegal, but city attorney Tom Ellenburg told them to “save those arguments for the judge” and councilman Wayne Gray said the city is ready to face any legal challenge.

The helmet law may get the toughest challenge. State law doesn’t require helmets for riders 21 and over.

The city decided to get rid of the rallies after years of complaints from residents about noise, lewd behavior and congestion, and council raised property taxes earlier this year to help pay for the effort. So far, none of the surrounding governments have followed suit.

The Harley-Davidson rally has been a fixture in Myrtle Beach for nearly seven decades and attracts mostly white riders. The Atlantic Beach Bikefest during Memorial Day weekend is a much newer event. It lasts four to five days, caters to black bikers and doesn’t have the same kind of organization as the Harley rally.

Officials estimate the two rallies bring more than 500,000 people to the Grand Strand every year.

Here’s a quick reminder of what the show is about:

“FX Network’s new original series, Sons of Anarchy, is an adrenalized drama with darkly comedic undertones that explores a notorious outlaw motorcycle club’s (MC) desire to protect its livelihood while ensuring that their simple, sheltered town of Charming, California remains exactly that. Charming. The MC must confront threats from drug dealers, corporate developers and overzealous law officers. Behind the MC’s familial lifestyle and legally thriving automotive shop is a ruthless and illegally thriving arms business. The seduction of money, power, and blood.”

If you’re totally anxious for the premier and want to pump yourself up before the show, FX has jam-packed the SoA section of their site with all sorts of goodies: including information about the cast & crew, blogs, downloadable wallpapers for your computer and a few other fun things.

So make sure to set your Tivo or DVR if you’re not going to be around tonight to watch it! I can’t wait to hear what you guys think!

From Spike TV:

New York, NY, August 27, 2008 – Jesse James takes on the role of a modern-day daredevil in “Jesse James Is A Dead Man,” a new, original weekly series on Spike TV premiering in February 2009, it was announced today by Sharon Levy, senior vice president of original series for Spike TV.

“Our goal was to create a new and distinctive series for Jesse that is unlike anything else on television,” said Levy. “In this series, viewers will get to experience one of the most fearless guys on the planet in an entirely new way, taking on death-defying physical challenges each week.”

Each episode will follow James as he readies himself for a different death-defying challenge. Preparing for the risky challenge can often be as dangerous as the challenge itself as he endures a battery of tests to prepare. With CGI effects, viewers get a taste of the enormity of the stunt, revealing the physiological stress James’ body will endure.

Some of the dangerous challenges he’ll be facing include the harrowing, grueling and lawless off-road race, the Baja 500, and hitting over 200 mph on a Nitro bike supercharged by ultra-combustible nitro-methane fuel.

Ten weekly one-hour episodes of “Jesse James Is A Dead Man” will be produced by BASE Productions (“Sports Science,” “Fight Science”) with Jesse James and his production company, Payupsucker Productions, serving as an executive producer. Spike TV signed James to a multi-year talent deal in October 2007, and this project represents his first series with the network.

Jesse James is a custom bike and car builder, producer, publisher, television host and restaurateur. In 2000, James started his TV career with Discovery Channel’s “Motorcycle Mania,” and in 2002 produced and starred in the international television hit, “Monster Garage.” Before his TV gigs, James started West Coast Choppers by doing what he loved, building motorcycles in his mom’s garage. As an expert welder, Jesse produces only 12-14 bikes a year, making a very long wait list for his coveted custom machines.

More recently, Jesse established his own production company, Payupsucker Productions, and in 2004, he became publisher of Garage Magazine and launched Payupsucker Publications. In 2006 he opened an eco-friendly burger joint, Cisco Burger in Long Beach, CA.

Spike TV is available in 96.1 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

What do you guys think of Jesse coming back to television on a non-motorcycle related show?

From HD’s Community Outreach Coordinator:

We Ride serves as an inspirational and educational brochure for non-riders and newly licensed female riders alike. The guide features women riders sharing their passion, apparel designed specifically for women and information beginner riders need to know before they hit the road, along with many other topics specific to women riders.

The guide is on harley-davidson.com/womenriders or directly download the pdf:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/media/downloads/women/HD_GTR_eBook.pdf

When I initially saw their website I was a bit turned off by the amount of the color pink being used and it didn’t seem very professional. I could have just caught them when they first launched the site- I seem to have good timing that way (re: see the Garage Girls posts). But this time around it appears the color palette has been toned down, there’s a new logo and it’s more streamlined.

Lady Biker website circa 2007

Lady Biker website now

If you’re interested in ordering a copy it takes a bit of effort for U.S. consumers, you’ll need to send an email to get a price. The summer 2008 issue is available now.

“Chopper Zombie” is a new graphic novel created by Thom Beers (yes, the same guy that brought us “Monster Garage” and “Deadliest Catch”), which was unveiled last month at Comic Con. For the occasion, a custom-built zombie chopper was created by Russell Mitchell and Exile Cycles (dressed with specially created zombie parts).

Image borrowed from Dread Central. View entire gallery of photos from the event there!

Beers got the idea to create a chopper/zombie movie for his ten-year old son, melding his own love for choppers and his son’s love for zombies. The graphic novel (and eventual movie-due to go into production in 2009) is about a motorcycle builder who refuses to sell his formula for a new super-fuel to a dangerous corporation. When a team of thugs drowns him in his own toxic creation, he rises from the dead with a score to settle. It sounds a bit like “The Crow” with motorcycles, but I’ll take it! You can be sure that I’ll be following any news about the movie when production starts.

Go to http://www.chopperzombie.com to check out pages from the graphic novel!

Choppers and zombies are two great tastes that taste great together (not to mention trendy these days)! Since I was unsuccessful in finding any videos of this event from San Diego’s 2008 Comic Con, I decided to go with a video of Russell Mitchell and Exile Cycles celebrating their 10 yr. anniversary.

My name is Chrissy and I’m working with FX Network to help promote their fall premieres. I noticed your recent post regarding the upcoming series premiere of “Sons of Anarchy”, and I wanted to follow up and provide you with some additional digital assets and information in support of the series.

SONS OF ANARCHY
Series premiere – Wednesday, September 3rd at 10:00pm

Official Press Release: Coming Soon, but here’s a sneak peek:
“FX Network’s new original series, Sons of Anarchy, is an adrenalized drama with darkly comedic undertones that explores a notorious outlaw motorcycle club’s (MC) desire to protect its livelihood while ensuring that their simple, sheltered town of Charming, California remains exactly that. Charming. The MC must confront threats from drug dealers, corporate developers and overzealous law officers. Behind the MC’s familial lifestyle and legally thriving automotive shop is a ruthless and illegally thriving arms business. The seduction of money, power, and blood.”

In addition, FX Network is hosting offline events in support of the premiere. I know you’re based in New England, but thought that you or your readers might be interested in the following “Sons of Anarchy” motorcycle rally events:

Fri Aug.8-Sunday Aug. 10
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Sturgis, SD

Saturday, Aug. 16
Salute to American Veterans
Winter Park, CO

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if there’s
any additional information I can provide you!

Best,
Chrissy

So, there you go everyone! If anyone is going to Sturgis drop me a line!

Marketing to women: Harley-Davidson proves once again they’re a mega-marketing machine
Harley-Davidson is a force to be reckoned with, for sure, whether you love or hate them. Since we now have a Harley in the family it’s been more and more apparent to me why people have such brand loyalty to them. They constantly reinforce a feeling of belonging to a family with their customer service, their membership programs and mailings. They’re one of the first brands to really being marketing towards women and they’ll be damned if they don’t bust into my demographic if it kills them. They were one of the first to put a special section on their website geared towards women, they offer women only garage parties and now they’re offering something that’s sure to make women feel like they belong to an exclusive community: they’re giving away an exclusive designer ring to women who buy one of their bikes.

This exclusive HD ring was designed by Karen Davidson

Goldmember would be jealous: a chopper made of GOLD
This extravagant piece of art was shown at the International Motorcycle show in Seattle. It’s gold plated and only costs a mere $500,000. Where can I get one?

View more photos of this magnificient beast at funtasticus.com

Red band trailer for HELL RIDE finally available for viewing
Here it is in all it’s glory, boys and girls. Definitely not safe for work so tread lightly where you’re viewing it. Glad to see that tongue is still planted firmly in cheek after seeing the trailer and I am definitely looking forward to some raunchy sex & violence with this flick.

Anyone else still eager to see it?

Sorry, I have to interject here: do you think if Jesse wasn’t married to Sandra Bullock that he’d even CARE about skincare at all? That he’d even know what the hell Kiehls was?

Photograph courtesy of Kiehl’s and Vanity Fair.

“I’m not metrosexual or anything,” insists James, whose ruggedness—or maybe his baby-smooth cheeks—has gained the charms of wife Sandra Bullock. “But I’m pretty fuckin’ hard on my skin.”

Mhmm.

Well, that didn’t stop Jesse from slapping his name on a Kiehl’s exclusive Jesse James Dopp Kit which includes: Facial Fuel Energizing Face Wash, “White Eagle” Ultimate Brushless Shave Cream, Ultimate Man Body Scrub Soap, Facial Fuel Energizing Moisture Treatment and a deluxe sample of Ultimate Strength Hand Salve for a mere $66.

Anyway, here’s the accompanying video to the motorcycle build. Jesse’s not in it, but the end result isn’t too shabby.

But since the biker weeks are not official Myrtle Beach events, the city is still trying to figure out how to get the bikers not to just show up.

The city says it wants the month of May to go back to being a family vacation month, not a time for rowdy partying.

“It’s what you and your thousands of event attendees do when you are here. It’s not who you are or what you drive. It’s what you do and what your behavior is when you’re here. That’s the issue,” says Mark Kruea. (source: WIS News 10)

Bikers from across county are planning to attend the Horry County council meeting on July 1 at 6 PM to show their unified support for continuing both rallies. “At this point we still have both bike rallies and what we need to do is sit down with city (of Myrtle Beach) officials and talk about how we can make the future bike weeks better,” said Hakim Harrell, CEO of Cycle Shoe International and promoter of the Memorial Day events held at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. (source: scnow.com)

I spent some time over the weekend implementing a couple of new features: one failed miserably, the other was making space for private advertising on my sidebar, which worked out just fine. So, if anyone is interested in advertising on this site, email me and I’ll gladly send you an ad pricing list.

Motorcycle Blogger Beware
You may have seen a button for BikerKiss.com in the sidebar for a few days earlier this week. I was approached by their affiliate program about advertising on this site a few weeks ago. After a lot of emails back and forth (and implementing their button/banner) the experience turned sour when the person who I was working with told me they had expected a large banner running across the top of my site (which was never discussed or asked for and for very little monetary compensation). When I told them I was not willing to compromise my layout for that and was only implementing smaller button sizes that fit in my sidebar, they backed out of the arrangement (not to mention throwing a parting jab at me). Needless to say, BikerKiss can kiss off as far as I’m concerned.

Off for a fun weekend
While most of you will be slumbering (or just getting up for work) at the butt-crack of dawn Friday morning, we will be heading out to Lake George, NY for the last weekend of Americade. It was a last minute decision to go, but we decided we need a break from day to day life. Unfortunately making the last minute decision means we’re going to have to do one of the things that I dread: CAMP. Did I mention that it’s also going to be about 90 degrees this weekend? Oh well. At least I’ll finally get some time in the saddle.

Art Center College of Design shows Yamaha-branded wearable motorcycle concept

Challenged to rethink motorcycle transportation, Art Center College of Design student Jake Loniak decided the idea of a machine as an extension of the body should be taken literally. Inspired by Biomechatronics and called the Deus Ex Machina (not to be confused with that other Deus Ex Machina from Australia), Loniak’s concept is an electric, vertically parking motorcycle controlled by 36 pneumatic muscles with 2 linear actuators.

The Yamaha-branded Deus Ex concept is worn as an exo-skeleton with seven artificial vertebra as well as the pneumatically attached helmet. The motor is in-wheel, powered by ultra-capacitors and doped nano-phoshpate batteries similar to those already used in hybrids. It’s also capable of 0–60mph in three seconds. Top speed is 75mph with a recharge time of 15 minutes and cycle time of one hour.

As an exercise in urban transportation, we love the engagement a machine like the Deus would require. That said, the lack of storage or securement for a briefcase, purse or satchel means that even the average urban commute is beyond the Deus Ex Machina’s current capabilities.

Source: Hell For Leather magazine, written by Grant Ray

“Foo Fighters and Three Days Grace are incredible additions to our already stellar line-up for the 105th Anniversary,” said Ken Ostermann, Harley-Davidson’s general manager of Outreach Marketing.

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep on saying it, Harley-Davidson definitely is trying it’s hardest to market to a younger generation and it’s blatantly obvious when looking at the full line-up of bands at this event. On one hand I think it’s great that us “younguns” can finally listen to musicians of our generation at a biker event. But I would think it would give the actual concert a feeling of disjointedness and that the generation gap of those in attendance would be glaringly obvious. It’s just another instance that shows times are a’changing.

10. If she can do it, I can do it
This was one of the first posts I wrote that tackled my internal struggles of “women only”-type things. My favorite quote (still to this day) is a quote from the Suzuki spokesperson who said “we think [what] we know is that women motorcyclists don’t want to be called women motorcyclists. They just want to be motorcyclists. They don’t want a women’s motorcycle.”

9. I’m richer. Well, my motorcycle is anyway.
Last summer I made a lot of modifications to my bike-mainly because I was having airflow issues. Of course it’s a slippery slope when you start doing mods because once you alter one thing a chain reaction of other things needs to happen. But this post details one of my first adventures of tearing my bike down, drilling out the carburator and putting it all back together.

8. Video Tuesday: Laconia Bike Week 2007
My photo slideshow from Laconia NH bike week last year. I had such a great time, the highlight was riding all the way up Mt. Washington with all of the other bikers. What a view from the top!

7. “You ride your OWN?” (and other famous quotes)
I think the title says it all, some funny ones in there.

6. & 5. Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom Day 1 and Anatomy of the Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom
I’m putting these two posts together because they relate to each other. This was a very fun time from last summer cruising around on this motorcycle.

4. October 14: a day I can’t forget
This post chronicles one of the scariest and most trying times in my life. I truly believe this was fate testing us. I hope we passed.

3. Bikers and tattoos
Two great tastes that taste great together.

2. My first motorcycle love
A fantastic guest post written by Mr. Forrest Frazier.

1. Steampunk motorcycles
Perhaps I’m biased and this is too obvious, but because I love the steampunk movement this is my top pick. Also the most popular post on this site to date.

So now I ask you guys: is there a particular post that you really like from the past year and if so, which one is it and what makes it your favorite?

Good thing there wasn’t anything red, shiny and candy-like. I’d be all done then!

That’s right boys and girls. The eagerly anticipated (at least by me) Quentin Tarantino produced film, Hell Ride will be in theaters this summer on August 8th. As you know I’ve been keeping my eye out for this movie, my last post was back in January and the first time I wrote about the movie was back in December.

Now, i don’t know how good this movie is going to be, but I’m hoping for high camp factor. I figure with the likes of Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen and David Carradine there’s definitely a good chance!

“The story is amazing: I could not help but admire his courage, sheer bloody-mindedness and his soul-searching. His insights were deep and this was the aspect of the book that I enjoyed the most…Read her full review here.

From boston.com:

April 21, 2008

GLOUCESTER, Mass.—Sandra Bullock and her husband were unhurt after a head-on crash with a drunken driver, police said Saturday.

The actress and her husband, Jesse James of TV’s “Monster Garage,” were being driven in a sport-utility vehicle Friday night when a station wagon crossed the center line and hit them, said Gloucester police Lt. Jerry Cook.

Both vehicles were totaled, but no one was hurt. The vehicles were traveling 15 to 20 mph, Cook said.

The other car was driven by Lucille Gatchell, who registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, Cook said.

She was held by Gloucester police overnight and released Saturday on personal recognizance. She is to be arraigned Tuesday in Gloucester District Court.

Gatchell did not immediately return a call seeking comment Saturday. Calls to representatives for Bullock were not immediately returned.

Bullock, 43, was “gracious” and concerned about whether Gatchell was OK, Cook said.

The actress, who starred in such films as “Speed” and “Miss Congeniality,” is in Massachusetts filming the romantic comedy “The Proposal.”

But something weird happened: I finally found my groove, my posts started getting attention and I found not only was I enjoying the whole blogging thing, I was “meeting” a lot of other my fellow biker bloggers and people who were becoming regular readers and I was also getting great blog reviews and awards from my blogging peers.

I didn’t really know the first thing about blogging. I’d kept a personal journal but a motorcycle blog is different. How would I find people to read my blog and who would care anyway? Through some cool blog communities like BlogCatalog I met a bunch of people and learned lots of things about writing a blog. And through social networking sites like myspace and BikerWorlds I found other bikers who are interested in the same things I am.

Traffic started increasing, people were linking to the site and honestly the highlight for me last year was when Greg White and Kawasaki asked me to test ride a Vulcan 900 Custom. I mean, who the hell was I? Just some biker girl from MA who happened to start a blog a few months before…

In one year, I’ve gone from a few readers a week to tens of thousands of page views. I’m not going to make any grand claims like you see on other blogs, but I will tell you that I’m happy to see my google page rank on the rise (link to me!), my Alexa rank continues to move up and the number of people who view the site goes up almost every week. Fellow bikers in 114 different countries have checked in on the rippin-kitten.com blog. And I’ve been getting inquiries from major companies regarding advertising opportunities. Not too shabby.

Anyway, enough of boring blog stats and me marveling at my own success. Stay tuned later this week as I roll-out a new feature for Rippin-Kitten.com and share some other things that I’ve been working on.

Thanks to everyone for making my first year of blogging a great one. It’s been a great learning experience and I’ve enjoyed our many discussions. Looking forward to another year!

I was perusing my news aggregator this morning and Steve over at Biker News Online mentioned the second annual International Female Ride Day on Friday, May 2, 2008, with lots and lots of sarcasm and even raised the question: Why do women riders need a special day to celebrate themselves?

Now, here’s my disclaimer: I’m not attacking or singling out Steve’s post for any detrimental reasons, I’m merely highlighting it because for the first time, someone posted about a women-only event with the question: Who gives a f**k?

That’s what I’m wondering. While the women’s ride to Daytona was kind of a cool thing, I also just read on Women Riders Now about the Diva Custom’s Divas Only bike show that’s happening at the end of May. Are these events a good thing or is this women-only madness spiraling out of control? Is it helping female bikers or is it setting up a precedent for women to segregate themselves from the biker community rather than being a part of it?

And just like Steve at Biker News asks: If a chick can master a motorcycle and hold her own among the biker crowd, does she need empowering?

I just wanted to let you know that the reason Lizzie hasn’t posted in a few days is that she is in the hospital. She had been sick and was misdiagnosed, this lead to a rush to the ER the other night. Right now she is resting and doing well. We expect her to be coming home this weekend. She misses you all and is looking forward to posting again next week.

But I guess we can’t write them off just yet. They do plan to sell their assets to new investors and continue with their operations. We shall see.

For part three of this subject matter I’m going to highlight a few more sites that I’ve found since I last wrote. One thing to keep in mind, not all of these sites are created equally. While a lot of them share the same basic idea and similar buckets of content, some are technically easier to use and more thought out than others. It all depends on what appeals to you in the end.

Motorcycle Syndicate: This site has been around since summer ’07. I’m not quite sure what their member base is, but according to their site they “strive to be the premier interactive online community for motorcycle enthusiasts worldwide.” They also use other social networking sites to their advantage when trying to get the word out. You can also win a free T-shirt if you’re a registered member and help spread the word.

Hogstr: I got an email about this site a few weeks ago so I thought I’d check it out. Seems this site is a brand-spanking newbie, having only come into existence in the beginning of February. Not a lot of members or content yet and now that I look at it I’m not even sure if it’s officially “launched.” I see lots of profile pics with half-nekkid chicks on bikes, which kind of turns me off. I’m going to file this one under “wait and see.”

Harley Social: I think the title for this one speaks for itself, but this social network is for HD enthusiasts. It looks to have launched early this year and encourages it’s members to upload photos, videos and to post blogs. It’s a visually robust site, almost to the point where I don’t know where to look first, but the emphasis on this site seems to revolve around just having a good time.

Biker Nation: From what I can tell this site has been around since late 2006. Like all of the other sites it has forums, news feeds, blogs, classifieds, events, pictures, videos and music. It also has a “babes” section (if you’re into that sort of thing) and online auctions. For the amount of time this site has been in existence I guess I expected more. Perhaps they’ve been spending more time focusing on their heavily-tattooed, sister site Inked Nation.

If I had all the time in the world I would love to join all of these sites, but I just don’t. You can still find my profiles on Bikerworlds, BikerOrNot and of course, good old myspace.

Do any of you have a favorite social networking site that you use regularly?

WOMEN RIDERS HAVE A NEW WEBSITE TO CHECK OUT

www.garage-girls.com goes live covering everything a girl wants to know about motorcycles and so much more…

Minneapolis, MN— The launch of www.garage-girls.com was well received by female motorcycle enthusiasts around the world. The new site created and maintained by Sara Liberte and Jody Perewitz presents motorcycling and everything that goes along with it from a female perspective.

www.garage-girls.com is a unique, exciting new website developed to meet the growing needs of women seeking information about motorcycles and their maintenance.

Wow! I couldn’t wait to go check the site out!

I have vague knowledge of both ladies who are involved with the site. Sara Liberte, as far as I knew, fashions herself a photographer and her images usually consist of a portrait of a person photoshopped with motorcycle parts. I’m not a big fan of her images (I’ve seen better “image fusion” done by other artists) but that’s just my opinion. As it turns out she owns a bike shop as well. Jody Perewitz, well, the only thing I knew about her was that she’s the daughter of famous bike builder, Dave, and that she and Sara are doing a bike build for charity.

Needless to say, I was more than disappointed when I got to the site. The overall design of the site is lackluster and the footer navigation doesn’t even work. Also, it’s never a good sign when the homepage of a site that claims to be a “motorcycle resource for women” is chock full of too much info about the two women who involved with the site. Sigh.

Moving onto the Body & Machine section and it doesn’t get much better. I do think it’s interesting that they’re trying to incorporate fitness information in the “Body” section, but there’s not a whole lot of helpful info there (and I can’t tell who wrote the copy. Since the main graphic says “Sara Liberte’s Garage Girls” I’ll assume she wrote everything). In the middle of the page is a video of Jody and Sara interviewing each other that seems really out of place, even though they do talk about their favorite foods among other things.

The “Machine” section is comprised of two videos of Jody and Sara and a section about battery maintenance. Yawn. “Events” is where you can see them on tour building their Bobber for a Cure and “Sites2See” consists of links to Sara’s photo site and bike shop.

“Cruisin’ companions” has nothing to do with fellow women riders but riders of the fuzzy, four-legged kind. It’s a cute spin on the request for users to upload their photos (and let’s face it, animals on motorcycles will make anyone’s heart melt).

Overall, Garage Girls seems to be a narcissistic venture for these ladies rather than a site providing “everything a girl wants to know about motorcycles”, which totally bums me out. For that, I’ll stick with Women Riders Now, which I still think is the best site for women riders yet.

So, our video today is about how to pick up a dropped motorcycle. It is information that appears on almost every website geared toward women riders. Is it helpful, sure. Does it need to be on every website out there? Debatable. But still something every rider should know how to do.

Way back in October, I was bound and determined to get my ass to Daytona this year. Well…looks like that’s not going to happen after all. Since I just started a new job last month, taking off on a trip so soon didn’t seem like the right thing to do. Sigh. So, once again I’ll have to experience it all vicariously through daytonabikeweek.com. I will also miss being one of the many women participating in the largest Harley Women’s Ride. Repeat: SIGH.

I can happily report that rippin-kitten.com continues to gain momentum in being a successful and esteemed motorcycle blog written by a female. Site traffic shows that this site has been maintaining a increasing stream of visitors. Nice!

Some very exciting news: new Rippin-Kitten stickers are on order and I’m pleased to say that I’ve also got some t-shirts designs finished and ready to be ordered! Look for the new Rippin-Kitten store to be up and running in the next month or so!

Another blog award to report: Linda Moore of Raven’s Roads has given this site the Excellent Blog Award. Big thanks to Linda! I guess the idea is to pass this on to 10 more bloggy friends so here I go: The Salem Insider, Eternal Vigilance, Keep the Rubber Side Down, Crusty the Biker, Go! Smell the Flowers, Come on in, the Web is Fine, The Many Thoughts of Harley Girl, The Ride Report, The Necro Files, KT Did. Whew! That’s a lotta blogs!

This video is brought to you from the guys at Smart Cycle Shopper.

So what do you think? Twenty years from now do you think people will remember when Victory did this?

OK, you may be wondering what in the hell I’m talking about, right?

Well, apparently some guy decided that having a cool-looking computer case wasn’t enough: he had to build a computer case that’s a 1:1 scale Harley Davidson V2 engine from scratch. The engine runs for real, pistons pump water through the system to cool the components. He included a bunch of Harley Davidson motorcycle pieces into the mod, including chromed out exhaust pipes.

The actual computer inside this crazy case has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Abit AW9D-MAX motherboard, and the 2 x XFX7900GT video card, in case you were wondering.

You can read the full, tech-laden article and see lots more photos at bornich.org.

Yours truly has been nominated for “Women riders booster of the year“-how cool is THAT? But already the competition is tough. I’ll be sure to remind everyone when the voting period begins, so you can vote your lil hearts out! Until then they need you to go nominate your favorites. Go go go!

Hey, My name is Peter and I am a Producer for Gigantic! Productions in New York City. We are currently producing an episode of an MTV documentary series called True Life: I’m Going to Bike Week. We are looking for people who appear between 18-28, to participate in the show and I was hoping you might be able to help us. It would be great if you could help get the word out about this project to people who might be interested in participating.

Anyone interested in learning more about the project can email them at casting@gigantic.tv or call 212-343-2674.

There, I’ve done my due diligence. Feel free to pass the info along to anyone you know that might be interested. I wonder what “bike week” they’ll be featuring…Hey, if you end up contacting the producer and actually get on the show, drop me a line!

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season and got lots of shiny things to bolt onto their big, metal babies. Now that all of the holiday madness has passed, we cold weather climate dwellers have a nice, long stretch of months to lament the fact that it’s still too cold to ride and that spring is still months away. *sigh*

As more and more motorcycle blogs pop up onto the world wide web, posting new and interesting content becomes a bit more challenging. When I read someone else’s blog that happens to post information that I’ve written about previously, it make me wonder if the content is being pilfered or if it’s just inevitable in this small niche we’re writing about. I can honestly say that I do strive to write about unique and interesting things and promise that I shall continue to do so in 2008.

I’m looking forward to a great year. It’s already starting off with a bang for me personally because tomorrow I start a new job after being at my old one for seven and a half years. I also have some great additions in the works for rippin-kitten.com. And as the months go by, readership of the site continues to grow which makes everything worth while.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has faithfully visited and told their friends about the site! Rippin-Kitten.com wouldn’t be what it is without you.

I absolutely love Tarantino movies and the cast of this movie looks really interesting. I’m excited!

Exerpt from the Hell Ride wiki:

“Hell Ride is a feature film from Larry Bishop being released under the “Quentin Tarantino Presents” banner. The film promises to be a blood and sex-soaked tale of motorcycle revenge and retribution.

Larry Bishop will star as bad-ass biker Pistolero, (named after the original title for Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado) who along with The Gent (Michael Madsen RK: who wouldn’t really have a career if it weren’t for Tarantino) and Comanche (Eric Balfour RK: one of my favorite young actors from Six Feet Under and 24), hit the road to avenge the death of Pistolero’s old lady Cherokee Kisum (Julia Jones), by the 666ers a rival motorcycle gang.

Vinnie Jones (RK: a great character actor recognizable from Guy Ritchie’s movies “Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch”) and the ultimate bike riding legend Dennis Hopper to star as members of the satanic biker gang the 666ers. (RK: of course they’re satanic!)”

Photos courtesy of Shock Til You Drop and Ironhorse Magazine.

Celebrities and corporate moguls are fueling the boom in custom motorcycles–and creating a new subculture of fierce collectibles.

Jesse James and Kid Rock

 Jesse James, a distant relative of the outlaw from the 1880s, nervously scans his e-mail on a recent afternoon from a tiny office inside his 250,000-square-foot motorcycle shop in Long Beach, Calif. He’s searching for a reaction from a customer: Robert Wheeler, chief executive of Airstream, who is paying $300,000 for one of the most elaborate masterpieces James’ shop had ever produced–a gleaming silver motorcycle-with-sidecar to commemorate Airstream’s 75th anniversary. James and his welders machined, riveted and hammered 18-gauge steel and razor-thin aluminum into a space-age-looking vehicle, applying some of the same construction methods Airstream uses in its shiny luxury trailers. “I can’t wait for Wheeler to see it,” James says.

Word soon came. “It’s an absolute work of art,” says Wheeler.

Custom bikes inspire certain passions. Lauren Hutton was a 20-year-old nightclub waitress when she had her first encounter with one. Riding to work on her clunky Vespa, she heard the roar of a motorcycle that pulled alongside her at a stoplight. The guy astride a customized Indian Motorcycle bike, Steve McQueen, exchanged glances with her. “Hey, sweetheart!” he yelled. “You want to see how a movie is made?” Hutton nodded, flashing her gap-toothed grin, and followed him to the set of The Cincinnati Kid. It was her entrée into the world of cycling, a four-decade adventure that has vastly enlarged her circle of famous friends (see box)–and which nearly killed her in a 2000 accident.

What makes a handmade bike different from, say, a $120,000 MV Agusta F4CC with a 200hp engine? Custom-builts approach the power and speed of racers, but, as one-of-a-kinds, they also reflect the distinctiveness and eccentricities of the builder and the owner. They confer status and satisfy a basic need for exhibitionism. Typically they cost $25,000 to $150,000, depending on the degree of customization. At James’ garage bikes are built from the ground up and can take 800 hours to fabricate. They look and feel dangerous: “ape hanger” handlebars force the rider to reach for their grips; engines are set to growl as loudly as thunder; the guts of the bike–carburetors and transmissions–are purposefully exposed as menacing visual lures.

Perhaps 100 custom builders ply this trade in the U.S. Jesse James’ garage, West Coast Choppers, is a sprawl of warehouses in a rundown neighborhood of wrecking yards and auto body shops. He has recently opened a diner next door called Cisco (nasdaq: CSCO – news – people ) Burger, named for his one-toothed pit bull, whose portraits adorn the walls of the restaurant. Inside James’ compound is a metalworker’s dream. Steel is stretched and shrunk using planishing hammers, jig mills and Yoder roll-forming machines. There are nine power hammers operated by foot pedals, including a 1940s model once used by the Nazis to make wing sections for Messerschmitt fighter planes. Like many builders, James reels in 60% of his estimated $5 million in annual sales from his line of 200 parts, which he manufactures, from black organ exhaust pipes to Maltese Cross axle covers. He calls his hand-hammered fenders “rollers” (slang for a police car) and has used Civil War cavalry swords as suicide shifters.

James has hand-built bikes for trial lawyers, investment bankers and celebrities like Kid Rock and Keanu Reeves. The custom builder has clocked 110mph on motorcycle trips with Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT – news – people ) executives. He says his backlog is three years deep and includes a bike for Robert Nardelli, Chrysler’s new chief, who has to wait in line like everyone else. “I won’t make a bike for someone I don’t like,” says James, who is married to actress Sandra Bullock. “My hands won’t do it.”

Kid Rock owns three of James’ handmade models. “When I dump out the clutch on one of Jesse’s bikes,” he says, “it’s like being on a rocket.” Brad Pitt prefers work by Paul Cox and Keino Sasaki, a pair of builders who churn out a mere six bikes a year in a former wine warehouse near the Brooklyn, N.Y. waterfront. Inside the cluttered shop a sign reads: “Visitors will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.” Pitt’s bikes, nicknamed “Bone Crusher” and “When Push Comes to Shove,” are outfitted with features that come in handy when fleeing paparazzi. Most builders like to stretch a bike’s frame dramatically. Cox kept the extension of the frame of Pitt’s bikes to a mere 2 inches and put a modest 30-degree rake in the neck of the bike. He installed a horizontal piston that rides along the fork as a steering damper. All this adds stability at high speeds. The bike also delivers Pitt a smooth ride along L.A.’s potholed streets. His bikes are equipped with a Rigidaire pneumatic seat suspension system developed by Cox that absorbs vibrations using a small compressor and two air shocks under the seat.

Owners are fiercely protective of their machines. Chris Cornell, lead singer for Audioslave and vocalist on the title track for the last James Bond movie, demonstrated his loyalty at a stoplight in North Hollywood last year. One moment he was straddling his jet-black $55,000 custom Exile cycle. The next, he found himself flying through the air, having been walloped from behind by a speeding truck. Dazed but without any broken bones, Cornell flipped open his cell phone and madly dialed for help–not for himself, but for his Exile cycle. Minutes later a tattooed Englishman with a blond mohawk arrived. It was Russell Mitchell, the man who’d made the bike. He retrieved the smoking, crushed two-wheeler and brought it back to his shop for repair. With just a few cuts and scrapes, Cornell was back in the studio that afternoon.

Custom jobs are prized by lesser mortals, too. Andrew (A.J.) Herold, a Manhattan hedge fund consultant, has had two machines built at $25,000 to $50,000 apiece. “These bikes are assets I can enjoy now,” he says. His builder is Farmingdale, N.J. customizer William Dodge, who created one bike for Herold using a 1947 Harley flathead engine and another using a 1966 shovelhead engine (that is, with a domed combustion chamber). Herold has called Dodge in the middle of the night and on weekends for road assistance. He once dialed his savior while Dodge was in bed with his girlfriend. “Bill, I’m losing compression!” yelled Herold as he gunned his engine in neutral. Dodge determined the problem was a blown gasket; the bike was out for months. Herold was crushed. Motorcycles are his ticket to bike shows and block parties thrown by custom builders. He has also struck up friendships on scenic bike tours along the East Coast.

Collector Frank Cotroneo, a real estate developer and restaurateur in Bernardsville, N.J, owns 22 bikes–15 of them custom, which set him back $1.2 million. Why so many? “You need three kinds of custom bikes,” he says. “One for long hauls, one for looking cool and one as a sport bike for flying around curves.” Reason number two often predominates. Says Cotroneo: “I love pulling up to a stoplight and having a hard-core biker give me a nod of respect, then ask how I installed my suicide clutch.” He refers to a vertical shifter requiring a dicey maneuver to change gears–gripping the shaft with his left hand as he depresses the clutch pedal with his left foot, steering with one hand. Cotroneo has no patience for stock Harleys, with their cushy hand-clutch transmissions and factory paint jobs. “There’s nothing worse than pulling into a motorcycle rally and discovering that 20 people bought the same bike that you did.”

Never discount the bad-boy appeal. On a recent afternoon at the shop, Kid Rock, formerly married to Pamela Anderson, showed up at James’ shop and recounted what happened at a White House reception he attended recently. “I was drinking a Jim Beam with Donald Rumsfeld, talking about Iraq,” says Rock. “Then I heard this voice behind me, ‘Roooock, you’re a good man.’ It was the President. He slapped me a high five,” recalls Rock, guffawing as he puffs on a cigar. Rock’s visit to Washington went more smoothly than his trip to Atlanta in November. After a performance with his band he was arrested for punching a fellow diner at a Waffle House. The victim apparently wasn’t a biker.

Like Nascar, custom biking is sneaking into middle America. There are now a handful of reality shows on cable TV devoted to the subject. The longest running, the Discovery Channel’s American Chopper, is about the Teutuls, a family of feuding custom- motorcycle mechanics. They’re not arguing over money: Since the series launched, the Teutuls have done ads for Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HPQ – news – people ), AOL, Lugz Boots and the Wall Street Journal.

One slight hurdle for this collecting sport: the frequency of mishaps. Last summer custom builder Billy Lane plowed his pickup head-on into a biker, killing the man instantly (he now faces manslaughter charges). Indian Larry, a motorcycle stuntman and builder, died three years ago after tumbling off his cycle from a standing position at a bike show. Lauren Hutton barely survived her 2000 accident. “I landed like an arrow, head first, then my body rolled for 170 feet across 4-foot boulders,” she recalls. A crushed sternum, multiple fractures to her right leg and a collapsed lung resulted in a long hospital stay. And yet, she keeps the pieces of her destroyed BMW 650 in her New York City apartment. “Someday I’ll have someone reassemble it,” she says–perhaps a custom builder.

:Steampunk:
Definition: a genre of science fiction set in Victorian times when steam was the main source of machine power. (You can learn more at wikipedia.)

Artists have been experimenting with steampunk art for a while and it’s gaining in popularity. It incorporates a lot of brass, copper and the use of gears and cogs and has a high-tech, yet vintage look. One of the most recent creations that has spread online is the steampunk LCD monitor and keyboard modification (which can be found at the Steampunk Workshop if you’re interested in modifying your own set up).

steampunk laptop

I began to wonder if anyone had created steampunk-style motorcycles and with the help of Google, a blog called Dark Roasted Blend and The Kneeslider (both sites posted about steampunk style motorcycles back in July, you can read them by following the appropriate links) I found some examples.

While these motorcycles might not have specifically been created to reflect the steampunk sensibility, they come pretty close and I think they’re really fantastic.

This is the Bobster trike from Zeel Design.

This bike was initially created for a motorcycle comic and the artist’s brother decided to make it real.
You can see more images of this bike on this German site.

Now this bike, the Hubbard Steamcycle actually has a steam-powered engine. Read more about it.

This is the B120 Wraith which was made by the Confederate Motor Company.

And lastly is this beast: the Aero Bike by none other than Mr. Jesse James.
Cycle World has an article about Jesse and this bike.

There’s no doubt that these motorcycle are really fricking amazing, but I hope one day someone builds one with steampunk specifically in mind.

I know that news of Evel Kinevel’s passing yesterday has been widespread and plentiful in the motorcycle community. I doubt that I need to go into a full detailed account here when there are plenty of online resources to read about him, his life and accomplishments.

When I was younger I spent a lot of time with my uncle, who is only 8 yrs. older than me. At that particular moment in time he liked three things: KISS, his remote controlled racecars and Evel Kinevel.

I remember hanging out in his room that had posters of Evel soaring through the air in that star-spangled jumpsuit, flying over cars, double-decker buses and the like. I remember seeing his stunts covered in the news and on a rare occasion he would have his own special show on tv highlighting his next death defying feat. It would be exhilarating when he made the jumps and when he didn’t, the dangers of his stunts were mind crushingly real.

R.I.P Evel Kinevel

Life as a daredevil wasn’t easy and life after being a daredevil seemed even less so. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs.

“It’s been coming for years, but you just don’t expect it. Superman just doesn’t die, right?”
-Longtime friend and promoter Billy Rundel said.

Many women join motorcycle clubs for camaraderie and to ride with other like-minded people. And let’s face it, who wouldn’t stop to watch a large group of ladies ride by on their shiny motorcycles!

I recently found an informational article that goes into depth about the differences of a motorcycle club and a riding club, which I think could be helpful if you’re thinking of joining one.

Here are just a few of the nationwide groups/clubs out there:

• Chrome Divas – a group for riders, passengers or enthusiasts-no motorcycle required. They are a socially conscious group that strives to give back to the community and support worthy causes.
• Devil Dolls MC-a badass group of women with a love of their motorcycles and a love of the ride- so you do need a motorcycle to be considered.
• Motor Maids was founded in 1940 and is still going strong for women who legally own and operate their own motorcycle or one belonging to a family member.
• Women on Wheels -open to women of any age, experience and make of motorcycle. They have many chapters across the country.
• Women in the Wind strives to educate our members in motorcycle safety and maintenance unite women motorcyclists with friends of common interest, and promote a positive image to the public of women on motorcycles.

I don’t know a whole lot about one specific group but I know there are a lots of groups to choose from!

You can now purchase a customizable stainless steel rivet with a name and message where it will be displayed somewhere on the museum grounds (once they figure that part out).

here’s what my rivet might say if I customized one

When I decided to get my motorcycle license I didn’t have a female motorcycle “mentor” so to speak. I hung out with a lot of guys that ride and spent plenty of time on the back. I watched all of the Motorcycle Manias, Motorcycle Women and even the first season of American Chopper. I began to see more and more women out riding their own and when the opportunity came up I went for it. So, I guess I inspired myself (with the help of some anonymous biker girls)!

But since I’ve started this site I realized that there are many influential women out there. One who I admire is Genevieve Schmitt.

Genevieve Schmitt is a former television producer and magazine editor (anyone remember Woman Rider magazine?), is the founder of the fantastic website Women Riders Now and her blog is always a good read.

From WRN: Genevieve has been working in the motorcycle industry since 1993 and is recognized as a leader in motorcycling journalism focusing on the area of women. She is an inductee in the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame for her journalism work on raising awareness of the female motorcyclist. She is the leading spokesperson on the subject of women and motorcycling.

You can read her monthly columns in American Iron, Dealernews and Midwest Motorcyclist. She is also a frequent correspondent for Speed TV and Outdoor Life Network (now called Vs.). This is a busy woman who has made huge strides getting women motorcyclists the attention they deserve.

Honorable mention:
If Betsy Huelskamp looks familiar to you it’s because she was one of the Magnificient Six featured in the 2003 Discovery Channel documentary “Motorcycle Women.” She was also featured in that fabulous “Live By It” commercial that Harley Davidson ran over the summer. She has 20+ years riding experience, is a personal trainer and recently attempted to climb Mt. Everest which was documented in Discovery Channel’s “Everest 2: Beyond The Limit.” She also writes “Backroads with Betsy” on her best gal-pal Genevieve’s site.

Geneveive & Betsy at Sturgis 2007

Does anyone out there have a story to share about someone in the motorcycle world who has inspired them?

From the Exile website:

“As many of you may know I love doing the bike shows and it seems I’m at a different one in a different State every weekend. I get so many people asking me when I’m shooting the next Build or Bust series and sadly I don’t know whether we will because we don’t actually have control over that. That set me thinking recently as we have so many good ideas for our own TV show. So here’s where you guys can help me out. I’m pitching some great new ideas to the networks right now and would really appreciate the Exile fans out there helping me out. Your comments about how you wanna see the Exile crew back on TV causing trouble would show the massive support we receive from you all. So why don’t you write a quick e mail to say just that and send it to media@exilecycles.com and with any luck you’ll see me and the crew back on TV, hopefully with our own show.
Cheers.
Russ”

It definitely seems that motorcycle programming has been phased out to almost extinction and the new trend is tattoo shows like LA Ink, Miami Ink and Tattoo Wars. With Jesse James without a show and Billy Lane trying to dig out of heaps of legal problems, Russell does seem like the next in the natural selection.

So here it is:
My best friend (who is now my husband) almost died in a motorcycle accident on October 15, 2003. It was raining heavily that night and instead of riding his motorcycle on the highway, he decided to ride back roads home instead. He didn’t give it a second thought. He had his rain gear and was used to riding in all kinds of weather. He had been in worse storms than this particular one.

The accident itself is hard to determine, but what we think happened is that he got to a rotary area and was forced into the guardrail by a cab. He was thrown from the bike and the cab never stopped (and no one ever came forward). Luckily there was a gas station across the street and the guys there called an ambulance.

I got a call on my cell phone around 4:45 am. When I saw his number calling I thought it was a case of him drunk dialing until I heard a woman’s voice on the line and she told me she was calling from Boston Medical Center and the only words I really focussed on was motorcycle accident.

My apartment at the time had a skylight and the rain was just pounding on it. I remember for a split-second wondering why was he out riding in this weather? and why didn’t he catch a ride with someone else? But that thought was replaced by the urgent need to get to the hospital. I threw on whatever clothes were close by and was at the hospital ten minutes later.

While I waited I called some of our friends and his sister, since his parents were out of the country on vacation. A bunch of people came to the hospital and kept vigil with me.

After 5 hours of waiting with zero information, the vascular surgeon finally came out and told us the extent of his injuries: his spleen had been punctured and removed, seven ribs broken and a collapsed lung, a large gash on his leg, 3 broken metacarpals and oh yeah, his left arm was almost severed: his humorous was shattered and the major nerve, veins and arteries were also severed. They had to transplant a large artery from his right leg into his left arm, which seemed to work because there was blood circulation going to his hand.

in the SICU the day after the accident

His spent the first three days in the SICU (surgical intensive care unit) unconscious and intubated and an additional two days there after he woke up. He had another surgery to fix his shattered bone by inserting a titanium rod and reconnect the nerve. Then he spent an additional week in the rehab ward. The doctors took photos of the entire surgery, but I’ll spare you guys those gory details!

The day after the accident, the left image is the temporary “erector set” to keep the broken bones in place, the right image is a picture of his broken hand with the pins still in place.

The aftermath of having his spleen removed and his right leg where they had to take a vein to put into his arm.

The day the stitches were removed.

A year of pain, physical therapy and lots of determination helped him regain almost full dexterity in his hand, although his ring finger and pinkie finger remain numb due to nerve damage and he’s lost almost all of the muscle mass in his hand. To this day he cannot use his bicep muscle in his left arm (meaning he cannot bend his arm using the muscle) but he’s good at compensating for it in different ways. People don’t even realize there’s something wrong with his arm unless they see the scars or we tell them about the accident.

This experience has not deterred our enjoyment of motorcycles. A month after the accident my husband was daydreaming of riding again. Less than six months later he was back up and riding. And that summer I got my motorcycle license (although I did waffle on the decision beforehand). I’m sure everyone thinks we’re nuts but it’s a big part of our lives that we enjoy.

Maybe it’s a bit corny but the course of our lives changed that night. We each got a huge wake up call and a new outlook on life. It made us realize that life doesn’t wait for you to get your shit together, so get out there and try to accomplish all of the things you dream of. We are thankful to have each other every day. When this time of year rolls around we can’t help but to be grateful that the result of that accident didn’t go another way. And while it’s a day I don’t always want to remember, it’s a day I won’t ever forget.

I’ve known about a lot of different women-only motorcycle publications that have tried to succeed and sadly have failed. The latest magazine that I just found is Biker Alley. I’m actually surprised that I haven’t heard of this magazine sooner since, impressively, it’s been around since 2000.

They publish six issues a year for $19.50 (if interested, you can subscribe through their website). Articles are about safety, motorcycle maintenance, product reviews, motorcycle news and stories of experiences from other women riders. They pride themselves on being a family oriented magazine, open to male readers and they try to keep an informal rapport with their readers:

“Unlike other motorcycle magazines, as you read Biker Ally Magazine, it will seem as though you are sitting at the kitchen table talking to your friend over a cup of coffee.”

Well, that sounds nice. A lot of women on the message boards I read really seem to like it. And if they’ve been publishing this long they must be doing something right.

Since there is usually snow & ice on the ground here that time of year (and I don’t relish the idea of riding to Florida in 20 degree weather) getting down there may present a challenge. And shipping the bike could be costly. Needless to say, I have some big planning ahead of me!

Unfortunately, I’m not eligible for Harley-Davidson’s Get Down to Daytona contest. If you aren’t aware of the contest, if you’re a woman you can win a spot on a bike trip to Daytona with Karen Davidson.

From the site: To enter, submit a video, 90 seconds or less, describing how your riding mentor helped you improve your confidence and riding skills, and what riding means to you. Make sure to include your riding mentor in your video or a photo of her or him.

You have to own an HD and been riding for less than 2 years (I’m out on both counts) but if you’re a woman who fits those requirements…well stop reading and go submit a video, dammit!

Living in Massachusetts, it’s easy for me to hop on my motorcycle and be in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island or Connecticut in an hour. Some of the most beautiful fall foliage around is in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The Green Mountains of Vermont are fun to ride, but since all the trees are pine they don’t change color and it’s just not as pretty.

So each year, along with thousands of other bikers (and way too many cagers) I try and ride up to the Kancamangus or out to the Mohawk Trail in the Berkshire Mountains for a brisk ride and soak in all the wonders of nature in New England.

This week is peak foliage time. Unfortunately, the weatherman says that this weekend we will get bamboozled with a rain storm. Trying to peep leafs on twisty mountain switchbacks in the rain with leaves all over the ground is not my idea of fun. I guess if I can’t go to New Hampshire this week I’ll probably try and head to a more southerly Massachusetts or Connecticut Valley location for next week. Either way it will be time to slap the windshield on my bike and wrap myself head to toe in black leather so I can be nice and toasty for the fall riding season.

His first pilot is called “Metal Church.” It will showcase his talents as one of today’s best welders and fabricators. Having seen his bikes in person, I can tell you his welds are vastly superior to any other custom bike builder out there.

I don’t know what happened to the “New Mayor in Town” show and it’s too early for a clip of “Metal Church” so on this video Tuesday here’s a little Jesse clip. It’s a small history of why his bikes look the way they do.

From mooshoes.com: this is a non-leather engineer boot. But I don’t like them because they’re vegan-friendly. I like the style, the rubber sole of the boot and the matte black finish on the buckles. They’re comfy and really easy to break in. I wish I got them earlier on in the riding season, but at least I will be able to enjoy them for fall riding.

Chopper Couture has some really cute clothes with biker-esque designs on them. I don’t love everything they have to offer, but I could see myself in a few of these shirts.

And of course, there’s Juicy Couture. I would never normally spend my hard earned money buying anything “designer”, but these gloves are really frickin’ cute.

Do you guys have some “biker” fashion that you like and want to share with me?

If you’re a woman looking into getting a cruiser, I think this is a good option. I put on a little over 600 miles during the time that I had it and I got really great gas mileage out of it. It’s a nice looking bike, rides smoothly and handles really well. Plus, it doesn’t feel like a heavy motorcycle. I never worried about dropping it (ok maybe I did worry, but mainly because it wasn’t my motorcycle to drop!). I also fund that I leaned much farther in my turns than I usually do. Some people with back problems commented that they didn’t like the forward foot pedals but I had no problems, especially after riding for a couple of hours straight.

The only drawbacks that I found with this bike: it kicks out a lot of heat on higher temperature days and there’s a lot of vibration at higher speeds that I never really got used to.

Bye, bye little red motorcycle…live long and prosper!

I’d quickly like to say thank you to Greg White for finding my site and pitching the idea of giving a motorcycle to a virtually unknown blogger to Kawasaki. And of course, thank you Kawasaki for giving me the opportunity and for trusting me with your fine-ass motorcycle!

• I recently discovered that I have the honor to be included on a highly exclusive and coveted list: I am #5 on the September list of The Most Bangable Blog Babes. Thank you, thank you very much…
• The word about rippin-kitten.com keeps on spreading (obviously, Kawasaki loaned me one of their frickin’ motorcycles! omg!) and more and more female biker blogs keep popping up. Everyone takes different approaches with the content of their blog, but it makes me wonder how long some of the newer blogs will stick around. I guess it depends on how dedicated they are and the quality of content being served up.
• Random question: does anyone still watch American Chopper? How have they survived the whim of Discovery Channel’s motorcycle programming over all of the other motorcycle shows?
• And finally, I’m happy to say that “Rippin-Kitten” stickers are available again! YAY! These cutie stickers are a great size for your helmet or anything else that you like to put stickers on! And they’re absolutely FREE.

This is a 4.25″x1.37″ sticker

This is 1″x3″sticker-the perfect size to put on your helmet!

If you would like some, all you have to do is send me an email with your mailing address (U.S. requests only please) and I will mail them directly to you! Did I mention that they’re free?

According to the Guinness Book of World Records this is the biggest, rideable motorcycle in the world. It’s 15-foot high 25-foot-long, built by a guy named Greg Dunham, who likes monster trucks and wanted to build a monster motorcycle. It’s pretty amazing, see for yourself.

They describe themselves as “raw, low-down, grimy, greasy, dirtbaggy, unsavory clusterfuck of a shop that pulls off some pretty clean and class rides. We ride, and we build, back-to-basics old style chops and kustoms….Gritty, Loud, Fast, Dangerous, and DIY through and through!”

Welcome to the next generation of bikers, bitches!

The guys at Choppahead sell a lotta shwag, including dvds. Here’s a clip for “Chopper Animals & Mayhem Machines Volume 2.”

But I will say that I was pleasantly surprised when I laid my own eyes on it. It is much better looking in person. Perhaps I was dazzled by the gorgeous red paint…(just kidding!) Sometimes just looking at photos of a bike (especially online) don’t do it justice.

Right now I’m going to take the time to post some of the specs here (pulled from Kawasaki’s website) and highlight, in my opinion, what I believe to be some of the nicer features of this motorcycle.

Engine:

• 903cc V-twin SOHC
• Gear-driven balancer allows use of single pin crankshaft without heavy vibration

-This is very true. There is minimal vibration and that contributes to a nice, smooth ride. It’s smooth like “buttah!”

Electronic Fuel Injection:

• Dual throttle bodies with sub throttles provide optimum performance and rideability

-what this means to me is: no choke! It’s great to be able to start the bike up cold and not have to worry about warming it up to go.

Dual Slash-Cut Mufflers:

• The mufflers are angled so that they look good when the bike is on it’s side stand
• Include honeycomb catalyzers to help reduce emissions

-They do look good, but they are very quiet. Almost too quiet. But if you’re a “green” person and care about things like emissions, then this is definitely a benefit!

Belt Drive:

• Lower unsprung weight than shaft drive to improve ride quality and suspension action
• More efficient so more power reaches the rear wheel
• Low maintenance and low noise

-All three of these features appeal to me. The less maintenance and the more power, the better.

Custom Cast 21 in. Front Wheel:

• Arranged in pairs, the wheel’s 18 “spokes” were designed by hand
• Tapered and flanged in two directions, every line and surface of each 3-D spoke is exquisitely curved

-Basically, it looks nice. It’s also easier to clean than spoked wheels, which some people would appreciate. I know from experience that it’s a bitch to clean spoked wheels.

Cooling: Liquid

Rear Tire Size: 180/70-15

Wheelbase: 64.8 in.

Front Brake/Rear Brake: 300mm hydraulic disc/270mm hydraulic disc

Fuel Tank Capacity: 5.3 gal.

Low Stepped Seat:

• Ultra-low 27 in. seat height allows riders to easily plant both feet on the ground at stops

-Seat height is a huge deal for some women riders. I’m 5’7″ tall and I am lucky to say that I have no problem putting my feet flat on the ground when I’m on this motorcycle. I don’t know if I could say the same for a woman who is 5’5″ or under. I’m also not so sure how easily (if at all) this bike could be lowered-if so desired. I’ll have to do a little research.

Dry Weight: 549 lbs.- I was surprised to learn that this motorcycle is this heavy. It feels, and handles like it’s much lighter.

This is Harold, who made a special trip fro NJ to MA to drop off this pretty machine.

And to give me paperwork to fill out and sign. There it is. The 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom. Ain’t it purdy?

Before I took it out for a spin…

And here’s the video shot shortly thereafter:
I also want to thank Mr. Forrest Frazier for all of the support, photo and video work that he has done for this site!

But recently there’s been a big difference in the performance of Rippin-Kitten.com. More and more people are coming to this site, linking to it and actually liking it. Hmm, maybe I don’t suck after all!

Earlier this month I received an email from someone I’ll call “Mr. White”, because that’s his name (hee hee). He said he worked for Kawasaki‘s PR firm. He said he had read my blog and was wondering if I might be interested in riding and writing about the 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom. He said he had a red one. He said it was in NYC and that they would have it shipped to me. He said I could have it for a couple of weeks. All I would have to do is ride it and write about it-no strings attached.

Wanna know what I said?

[insert sarcasm]

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

[end sarcasm]

I was absolutely positive that it was a big, fat joke. That Mr. White was some kind a scam artist looking for a sucker, and that sucker was ME. But I did a little research and it turned out that Mr. White was actually Greg White (you may know him from Speed TV) and the company that Mr. White worked for was legitimate and down with the blogging community.

And they were going to give me a motorcycle to ride and write about.

A week went by and I hadn’t heard from Mr. White. I figured that perhaps he was having some trouble convincing Kawasaki to give a shiny, new motorcycle to some chick with a blog. And I wasn’t surprised. I was just flattered to even be asked.

Another week went by when I discovered that I had a voice mail…from Mr White. I promptly called him back and much to my surprise he got approval to have that shiny, new red 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom shipped to me.

Guess what I got today? That’s right…..

More pics, vids and my first impressions tomorrow.

A few years back I was caught going through a stop sign in a Dukes of Hazzard-type scheme. I was on one of those hills where you have to pull a few feet past the stop sign to see the oncoming traffic. Even though I was going 2 mph, I still got a ticket. Fast forward 6 years and the ticket finally falls off my record. Since I just moved I figured I go and change my insurance agent (because my current agency is too far away and their customer service blows).

There is a company right by my house. I went in and met with some of the people, who seemed to be nice and on the level. They walked me through the options of what I need for insurance and how much, you know, all that fun stuff.

Now let me tell you how bad my state of Massachusetts is when it comes to insurance:

• there is no competition here so you pay the same no matter what insurance company you go with
• unlike auto insurance, when you insure a motorcycle you have to pay into “personal injury protection” but if you ever get injured you can’t collect anything
• no multiple vehicle discounts – if you have a car and a motorcycle you don’t save anything
• no seasonal discounts – I ride from about March/April to November-ish (depending on snow) but pay the same to insure the motorcycle for 6 months or a year
• no discount for alarms – not that I have an alarm on my bike, but I do on my car and get a discount for that

So what’s the deal?

In Massachusetts we pay more for insurance that any other state and from the looks of it, I get less if an incident ever were to happen. I talked to some people in Laconia this year who pay about $400 to insure a Heritage Softail for the year, which is about 1/2 of what I pay. As of now I am getting a safe driver discount and have no points on my license.

So why am I getting screwed?

I’m guessing that it’s part of the Mass state theory of knowing what’s best for me. But come on people I am subjected to ads for Progressive, Esurance and those cavemen guys, why not let me buy that insurance? AND….to go to one of those sites and try to get a quote, if you enter MA as the state you’re from, they boot you right out of the page.

I know this is a bit soap-boxy, but lets be real. My bike costs 1/4 what my car does and I ride it 3 months less than my car. Why should my insurance be almost the same?

In the recent years, I’d be remiss not to mention how important social networking sites have become to the average internet dweller. Sites like: Facebook, Friendster and MySpace are just a few of many and while they have a reputation for being skewed towards a younger demographic, the truth is that these sites are open to everyone of all ages.

When I wondered if there was a “MySpace for bikers” imagine my delight when I found a site called Bikerworlds. Bikerworlds has been up for less than a year and boasts about 10,000 members. It offers a site chock full ‘o forums, groups to join, classifieds, polls, videos, galleries and ridelogs. One of the things they’ve really focused on is to make the community friendly and open to female motorcyclists.I created my profile back in April and I have to say that there’s barely a day that goes by that one of my BW pals doesn’t send me a friendly message.While the basic functionality of Bikerworlds is very similar to MySpace, it is different enough to set itself apart.

“Larry” is a cuddly, bad-ass of a teddy bear and the public face of the site. He has his own profile and when you join the site he is your first friend (and as I write this Larry is up to 5600 friends, give or take a few!). A sense of community is important to a lot of people, especially online and especially with bikers. They are a group often stereotyped, misinterpreted and undervalued. Their seemingly rough exterior actually houses extreme generosity and kind hearts.When I started this blog my intent was (and still is) to foster a sense of community among young women riders. While I enjoy the social networking sites, nothing beats the freedom of your own site to express your own views. There is such a good feeling when your tooling along some back road and you get that little wave from a fellow biker. This is my wave to my fellow online bikers.

(photo grabbed from Choppers Inc. and Copyright Choppers Inc.)

I realize that this is not a big deal. I just thought it was funny that technology invented in the latter part of the 1800′s is now cutting edge. The monocycle is nothing more than a larger version of Billy’s hub-less wheel. Billy, by his own admission, had the plans for years and gives credit to the original inventor. It just happened that he was able to take the concept and hammer it out to make a working prototype for a bike.

As I have mentioned before, I have never had the pleasure of attending the Sturgis bike rally. I’ve talked about it a whole bunch of times but the plans just never came to fruition. Well, I guess if I can’t go to Sturgis, I can bring Sturgis to me with the interactive Sturgis street, sidewalk and Main St. webcams, which appear to be on a 30 seconds refresh rate. It’s almost like being there, except that I can hear, feel or smell what’s happening there.

*sigh*

While doing my morning message board reading I found a post about this site that, quite frankly, I was surprised I hadn’t heard of before. Biker Friendly (http://www.bikerfriend.org ) is a site dedicated to building awareness not only for bikers on the road, but if on the off-day that your in your 4-wheeled cage you can let other bikers around you know that you ride, too.

…if only there was a way that motorcyclist could get together in an attempt to non-verbally communicate that there was another biker in their midst. Knowing that this transplanted rider was aware of them and was eager to share the road with another biker.

Well, now there is a way. You can order free stickers from the site for free (at the site owner’s own expense). Larger stickers and t-shirts are also for sale or you can just be a good doobie and donate some cold hard cash to the cause and relax their wallet.

I am not a frequent viewer of the Food Network. I have caught a few shows here and there and am familiar with who Alton Brown is. I have seen his other show Good Eats before.

So, while scrolling through the cable program guide the other night I saw the listing for Feasting on Asphalt and with my trusty DVR I recorded a few shows. I’m really glad that I did.

The premise of the show has Alton and crew road-tripping on motorcycles (BMWs, no less) across the country to find and highlight the places and history behind American “road food.” They avoid highways at all costs, pledging to ride the forgotten back roads to find the dwindling, one of a kind roadside eats. Alton Brown an enigmatic and well-educated food-geek, the show itself is an interesting blend of road-tripping, history and mouth watering food!

From foodnetwork.com:

“Feasting On Asphalt merges a little Easy Rider with good eats and great tales from our road food’s past and present, while preserving the map for its future.”

Season one had them riding across the south from S. Carolina all the way to Los Angeles. For the recently kicked-off season 2, they head up the great Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico up to Minnesota.

“Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebars to the saddle.”

This quote is particularly true in describing yours truly this summer. I have created my own problems by trying to enhance the performance and bad-assness (did I just make up my own word?) of my motorcycle. I’m a bit frustrated because the summer is half-over and I haven’t done any real riding since bike week in Laconia.

The good news is that the pilot jet I was waiting for is finally here! The bad news is that it’s suppose to rain for the next few days.

And today, of course, is the beginning of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. I have never had the pleasure of attending, but I hope to someday. The past few years money and occupational commitments have prevented me from packing up and heading out there. Not to mention the fact that I live on the east coast and it’s pretty damn far for me to ride!

But I will do it some day.

I literally got goosebumps when I watched the “Live by it” video and knew that I had to post it here because it doesn’t matter what kind of biker you are, this short video will speak to you in some capacity.

Head on over to the Harley Davidson website to see/learn about the creed film.

Motorcycling and organ donation are two things that almost seem to go hand in hand. I was an organ donor way before I learned how to ride a motorcycle, however I feel that with taking up a seemingly selfish (and often dangerous) pastime I owe it to the community to give back if something were to happen to me.

So as a member of BlogCatalog, we bloggers are sometimes asked to raise awareness of certain social issues. This month it’s about organ donation and the issues surrounding it. I didn’t realize that it was such a controversial issue for some people until a lot feedback on the subject came pouring in.

For me, it only seems like a logical choice: if you die, you can save other people with your organs. You can save families from pain of losing a loved one and for the recipient, you’re giving them a second chance.

Where I live (Massachusetts) it’s very easy to become an organ donor, we are presented the option at the registry of motor vehicles when we get/renew our licenses.

So, if you want to become an organ donor, visit:
http://www.OrganDonor.gov
http://www.organdonor.gov/donor/index.htm
http://www.unos.org/
http://matchingdonors.com

Reading the VolusiaRiders board has been very helpful with advice and keeping me sane. I think I lost a little, bitty O-ring that everyone told me not to lose. That’s the only thing I can think of since we’ve ripped the bike apart fifty times to get at the carburetor it probably fell out at some point. That has to be it. So, today I ordered not one but two. They’ll be in on Thursday.

If all goes well I’ll be out riding this weekend, dammit.

Check it out, dudes!
http://www.theweblogreview.com/review/3395/

Bust out your box of tissues, this one’s going for the heart rather than the throttle…

Well, the answer to that (and reason #2 why I’ve been so quiet) is because I JUST BOUGHT A HOME! (*cheers, applause, hooray!*) Yes, it’s true. I’ve become a member of the landed gentry. So my life is in complete upheaval! In fact, I have to get out of here to go paint a room. But I wanted to do a quick update and say ‘hi’! Now I gotsta go!

Taylorblue from the Mom’s Out There blog nominated yours truly for the “Rockin’ Girl Blogger” award. Isn’t that kick-ass?

She kindly said:

If there was ever a rockin’ blogger it has to be her!!! I love how everything revolves around her motorcycle…

Now I must choose 5 women bloggers worthy of the “Rockin’ Girl Blogger” award – so if you get tagged, place your pretty pink badge on your site and then list 5 of your favorite Rockin’ Girl Bloggers. (only if you want to-no pressure!) There are a lot of great bloggers to choose from, but here I go:

VampireFaust-horror is near and dear to my heart and “Eternal Vigilance” showcases her writing, graphic design and knowledge of the culture keeps me going back for more.

Thrift Shop Romantic-she’s got the best home decor ideas with a Victorian flair. It’s all stuff that you can do yourself, doesn’t cost a lot of money and the end result is lovely & unique!

Cooking with Anne-as a self-proclaimed foodie, her site has a lot of great recipes & insights. This is one of her three blogs. Oh, and she has seven children! Seven…whew!

Logotree Design Company-great resource for many aspects of smart business design including logos, web & print. As I am a web designer by trade, Natalie’s site is a great resource for inspiration.

Corset Girl-Corsets are cool. End of story. She hasn’t updated since May, I hope she hasn’t abandoned this site! I dig it!

My bike comes stock with a HUGE air cleaner, lovingly referred to as “the football” and a “pair valve” (California emissions control device). The plan was to rip off the pair valve, replace the football with a hidden K&N air filter, re-jet and debaffle the exhaust pipes (since I have not made a decision on what style of new pipes I want). I realize this was ambitious, but I started over a month ago and figured I’d be done by now. The problem is that I still don’t have all the parts that I ordered! The one big thing I’m missing is the jet kit. But I couldn’t wait, so I started anyway!

Getting half-naked.

When you remove the pair valve and the football on the Volusia, it allows you an unobstructed view of the V-twin cylinders (or “jugs”) so some smarty-pants refers to them as having “Naked Jugs“. I began to set my jugs free today by removing the pair valve. Things went fairly smooth except for the front air breather, that’s a bitch.

Once that was done I figured since I can’t re-jet yet that there was no reason to replace the football. My bike runs lean anyway so the last thing I want to do is give it more air.

The top row of pictures is the pair value before and after I removed the casing. The second row is me tackling the “football.”

Voila! Naked jugs!

So now the bike is half-nekkid. I’m going to have to wait until I get back from bike week to re-jet and go au naturale.

Baffled that I haven’t debaffled before now.

I decided to do a partial debaffle of the exhaust pipes. There are 3 separate baffles in the Volusia. My goal was to remove the first one.

We picked up 2 hole saws to cut through the plates in the massive pipes. You cut out a doughnut and the baffle becomes unrestricted. Then put a dowel in the baffle and wiggle it around until the metal fatigues and breaks off.

Pull the baffle out: lather, rinse and repeat on the other pipe.

What a difference! The sound coming out of those pipes now is unbelievable!

So, as I mentioned before I will be at bike week from Wednesday to Sunday and will try to post updates while I’m there. I’ve been working on a special feature that uses a GPS that I put on the bike and Google maps so you can see me riding in real time. Look for the “Where am I” link under pages in the right hand column. When it’s there, that means I’m on the road! Check back soon and check often…

• You have your own bike?
• Your rode your own? (I heard this one a lot when I did the 900+ miles from Boston to Myrtle Beach)
• Your man lets you ride? (could it be more insulting?)
• Isn’t that bike too big for you? Don’t you want something smaller?
• Can I ride bitch? (usually from some wise-ass guy)
• Are you a lesbian/dyke/femi-nazi? (um, no-and that’s not nice)
• You’re too good at parking that thing. If I didn’t just see you do it, I’d never have believed you parked it yourself. Now at first I found that comment a bit insulting, until…I witnessed many women at a bike rally having their husbands or boyfriends park their bikes FOR them in a tight spot! Puleeze, girls!
• Will you show me your tits? um, you…absolutely not.
• Good for you! -or- Go Girl!
• Damn, you’re HOTT! -or- That is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. (these are favorites, of course! ha ha!)
  

Ladies, want to share some you have heard?

Here’s some other interesting facts:

• it’s usually held in June and typically ends Father’s Day weekend (except in 2008, when it’ll actually start on that weekend)
• motorcyclists began converging on Weirs Beach, NH in 1916
• it began as a weekend event for races, shows and hill climbs
• the popularity of the “biker” image caused a surge in attendance which extended it to “bike week”
• in the 60′s, Laconia saw troubled times when riots between bikers and the police broke out, causing a decline in attendance. The week-long eventually downgraded to only 3 days.
• in the 90′s local businesses, hoping to boost tourism, looked back to the bikers and reviving the week-long event, which is now run by the A.M.A
• 7 years ago, motorcycle week turned into a 9-day event and attracts 100,000 to 400,000 people
• I have been going for about the past 15 years

I am having some minor issues with the bike lately, so I didn’t get as much riding in as I would have liked to. However, I did order some things for minor improvements, including some foot pegs and clamps to add to my highway bars, a Uni filter to help with the airflow issues I’ve been having and a jet kit.

I did accomplish a simple but cool modification: I lowered the bike 2.5 inches. It’s a a popular mod that a lot of people with Volusias/Boulevards do that’s really easy and effective. Two and a half inches doesn’t sound like a lot, but essentially it lowers your center of gravity for better control while riding. At first I barely noticed a difference, but riding next to other motorcycles I feel like they tower over me.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a whole lot of pictures while doing the work because one of the bolts was really difficult to remove and I was getting super pissy…ha!

So, here’s one of me starting the work and another of me after it’s all over and done with.

OK, well I’m off to spend some time kibbitzing with other bloggers and to market, market, market to build up more traffic to this site! Nitey-nite!

The official Rippin-Kitten myspace profile is gaining friends exponentially. If you haven’t added me as a friend, what are you waiting for?

And let’s not forget about my biker buds over at Bikerworlds (it’s a myspace for bikers!). Definitely a passionate, optimistic and good-hearted group of peeps. Oh, and someday soon you may see this blog (among others) featured as an RSS feed in their forums.

I’ve also made a lot of friends (and even picked up a stalker!) over at BlogCatalog.com. There are a lot of smart bloggers over there who are quite possibly some of the most supportive people on the world wide web. I never realized how large and diverse the blog-world really is.

If you haven’t done so already, make sure you get some Rippin-Kitten stickers while they’re hot! Response has been great so far! There’s a few ways you can get some of these bad-boys:

1. Send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
Rippin-Kitten
c/o Frazier
P.O. Box 851
Salem, MA 01970

2. Next month look for me at the Laconia Bike Rally (details to follow!)

Again, I thank everyone for reading and caring about this site. Keep visiting!

Get your very own “Rippin-Kitten” stickers now while supplies last! Are these adorable or what???

This one is a 4.25″x1.37″size sticker

This one is a 1″x3″sticker-the perfect size to put on your helmet!If you would like some, all you have to do is send me an email with your mailing address (U.S. requests only please) and I will mail them directly to you! Did I mention that they’re free?

I scoured my motorcycle message board, VolusiaRiders.com to see if anyone else had a similar problem. After searching through multiple of threads I found out that when stock, my type of bike runs a bit lean and that I could adjust the carburetor mixture screw. But I had to drill out a piece in the carburetor to get to it.

I found a tutorial at The Rusks, grabbed the toolbox and my husband (because there was NO way I was going to do this alone) and headed outside!

I get really nervous at the idea of pulling everything apart because I never think I can get it all back together again.

First step: gotta take off the seat.

Then take off the speedo.

Starting on the tank.

Then lifting off the gas tank (my hubby helped me unhook all of the lines). I don’t know why I expected it to be really heavy but it wasn’t.

Drilling out the carb.

Here’s the piece drilled out.

And there’s the screw.

Stretching my legs before reassembly.

Putting the tank back on so that I can start the bike up and adjust the mixture (while my man holds the tank up for me to get the the screw).

Done!

We adjusted the mixture so that the bike runs a little richer and I’m ready to take it out for a spin. The adjustment helped a lot, but unfortunately it’s still not 100%. I think I’m going to have to replace the air filter (perhaps a UNI filter?) and my husband thinks that I should bite the bullet, get new exhaust pipes and rejet. I know that he’s probably right, but I’m procrastinating!

Well, we’re expecting thunder showers so the bike stayed home today. It was a gorgeous morning and I grumbled and cursed behind the wheel of my car as I drove to work. There were so many people out riding and it made me wonder if they checked the weather at all and if they had, did they care?

It’s funny how one has to become an amateur meteorologist as a motorcyclist. I check the weather so much more during the riding season than any other time of the year.

I’m not necessarily skittish if I have to ride in bad weather, I have the rain gear and I actually took my MSF course in the pouring rain. I just don’t want to if I don’t have to. Today’s one of those days. Plus, I didn’t want to ruin my hair!

Just kidding.

Here’s the full text:
“I saw you, hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line. But, you didn’t see me, put an extra $10.00 in the collection plate last Sunday.

I saw you, pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk. But, you didn’t see me, playing Santa at the local mall.

I saw you, change your mind about going into the restaurant.
But, you didn’t see me, attending a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.

I saw you, roll up your window and shake your head when I drove by. But, you didn’t see me, driving behind you when you flicked your cigarette butt out the car window.

I saw you, frown at me when I smiled at your children.
But, you didn’t see me, when I took time off from work to run toys to the homeless.

I saw you, stare at my long hair. But, you didn’t see me, and my friends cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.

I saw you, roll your eyes at our leather coats and gloves.
But, you didn’t see me, and my brothers donate our old coats and gloves to those that had none.

I saw you, look in fright at my tattoos.
But, you didn’t see me, cry as my children where born and have their name written over and in my heart.

I saw you, change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere.
But, you didn’t see me, going home to be with my family.

I saw you, complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be.
But, you didn’t see me, when you were changing the CD and drifted into my lane.

I saw you, yelling at your kids in the car.
But, you didn’t see me, pat my child’s hands, knowing he was safe behind me.

I saw you, reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road. But, you didn’t see me, squeeze my wife’s leg when she told me to take the next turn.

I saw you, race down the road in the rain.
But, you didn’t see me, get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to go on his date.

I saw you, run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time.
But, you didn’t see me, trying to turn right.

I saw you, cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in. But, you didn’t see me, leave the road.

I saw you, waiting impatiently for my friends to pass.
But, you didn’t see me. I wasn’t there.

I saw you, go home to your family. But, you didn’t see me.
Because, I died that day you cut me off.

I was just a biker. A person with friends and a family.
But, you didn’t see me.”

Be careful everyone!

Here’s my fine-looking machine just out of the garage, although it’s not really looking so fine…I had a lot of cleaning ahead of me.

I’m all geared up for the ride back home. (How’s my new leather jacket look on me?)

A detailed shot of my handlebars. What a mess.

And now it’s gleaming.

Without the PowerBall Mini and the Nano polish this would have required a ton of elbow grease and a lot of time that I don’t have. (look at how filthy the spongy ball is!)

Before

After (so much better!)

Well, it’s not going to win any contests but this bike is on it’s way to looking buff and beautiful for the summer!

I wanted to be able to take some pictures to share the lovely commute to work I have everyday. And the only way to do that is to be on the back.

Here I am, ready to go!

This is the old Salem jail, now haunted and waiting to be condos!

Dave Frank’s is the local motorcycle and gun & ammo shop. I firmly believe that they have a gimp in the basement.

This is the view from the Salem to Beverly bridge that I go over everyday. It’s nice to finally see boats in the marina.

Passing by Montserrat College

Look you can see me in the mirror!

This is the entrance to Long Hill

Here’s a wild turkey

And this is the long, winding driveway to go to work!

There are some benefits to working up in the sticks! It only gets more lovely as the warmer weather gets here.

Guess what I did over the weekend. Thats right… spent the day detailing my ride.

I can’t believe that it’s the end of April and I’m not out riding every day. Normally by now, my weekend excursions would have begun but thanks to the craptastic weather we’re having I just don’t have my routine set up yet. The weather over the weekend was perfect to do some detail work on the bike though. Over the winter I spent some time researching some products I wanted to try and picked up a few winners.

I started out by doing a basic wash using Meguiar’s gold car wash. The way I look at it, any car wash is as good as the next as long as it is non-abrasive and doesn’t strip the wax you put on there. Now that all the winter dirt that made it’s way on there has been eliminated, I stood there looking at my non-shiny bike. For no logical reason I did the chrome next, starting with the front wheel and working my way back.

• step 1. steal your man’s powertools
• step 2. attach a Mothers power-ball mini
• step 3. apply thin coat of Nano-polish
• step 4. let the fun begin

That’s right, after being sucked in by a late night TV commercial I went out and picked up the Power-ball mini. It attaches to a drill with a 10″ rod and it’s small enough to get all those hard to reach spots, like in between your spokes, the back side of your forks, and the head casings of your engine. That made life so easy and greatly reduced the elbow grease needed. But the big surprise was the Nano-polish. Not only did it do a killer job cleaning up the chrome and making it shine, but it also got rid of some surface rust and filled in some minor scratches. I can’t get over this stuff.

I started working on the bike at about 10am and took a 2 hour break for lunch. Just when I was finishing up the rear wheel at 5:30pm the rain started up. I’m pissed I wasn’t able to take any photos of the chrome or that I didn’t get to the paint. Since I live by the ocean the fog has settled in and I’m looking out the window at my soaking wet bike cover. If the weather clears today I’m going to try and get to the paint and get some good photos.

Once the bike is all detailed it will be time to lower the back end. Stay tuned.

But this is really important stuff to us bikers that want to look good after a long ride. Granted, we are somewhat limited with just how good we can look with a helmet ruining our ‘dos, dirt and exhaust caking our face and let’s not get into the bug-thing…

I know a lot of women bikers probably don’t even bother with worrying about hair and make-up and are probably laughing at me (and my vanity) right now. What can I say? I still try to be a girly-girl even when I know I’m going to get dirty from the road.

Now, hair in many cases can be a lost cause when doing long rides. I usually wear my hair in braids to avoid those scalp-wrenching tangles and that attractive sweaty, plastered down look. Bandannas, ‘do-rags and hats all help disguise the dreaded helmet-hair, of course. For shorter rides you might have a fighting chance and still be able to salvage your coif without too much damage.

I couldn’t believe how dirty I got during my first season of riding. My face, already slathered with high SPF sunblock, would get covered with dirt, exhaust and pollen (notice I didn’t mention that thing about the bugs?). And my complexion suffered from it. So, I started carrying those facial cleansing cloths in my saddlebags. They are incredibly useful to keep on hand and don’t take up too much room. I also make sure that I adhere to a consistent cleansing regiment.

Wearing make-up requires some skill and good products. I typically don’t wear a lot of make-up while riding. It usually wears off or smudges from your eyes tearing up due to the wind. And, I almost always have to touch it up once I reach my destination. My essential arsenal consists of: waterproof mascara & eyeliner, concealer and lipstick. With those things I am good to go.

Lipstick is tricky. If I’m wearing a darker color I usually matte it with powder from my compact so that things don’t stick to my lips. But sometimes that gets gross. I like to use Revlon Colorstay lip color (in sheer colors) because that stays on pretty well and when I arrive at my destination I just add the glossy topcoat and I’m instantly gorgeous. OK, well maybe not gorgeous but at least I don’t look like a dumpster rat!

Recently I discovered two companies marketing to the biker community. Biker Skin Care products offer skin, foot and tattoo care for motorcycle enthusiasts. There’s also a company called Bika Chic that features a whole line of cosmetics for the “hardcore ladies”.

I’ve not tried products from either company so I cannot vouch for the quality of the products, nor can I say if these biker-specific items are any better than any cosmetics and skincare that you can buy at drugstores. I’d be curious to find out if anyone else has tried them. If you have, feel free to contact me and let me know about your experience.

I bet that’s a phrase that’s familiar to a lot of women who have gotten into motorcycles. I know I said it to myself a few summers ago. It certainly changed my life. I hope that seeing me out there riding has made other women say it to themselves, too.

The more I’ve researched while trying to launch this site the more I realized that a lot of the back-stories from other women riders is very similar. Common words used are “freedom” and “control.” I certainly wanted to be in control of my own machine, rather than relying on someone else-always fearful of falling off the back when hitting a very large bump in the road. And being in control is so much better.

This article talks about the growing numbers of women motorcyclists (or “Biker Babe” as the title suggests). Harley Davidson added a women’s section to their website, which I feel is both good and bad. Yes, it’s great that they’re recognizing the economic growth of women buyers, but I feel like the addition is almost patronizing. It’s a bit transparent, in my opinion, to employ this tactic to get women to buy. Especially when they’re marketing a Sportster for their first bike. Ladies, there are so many motorcycles out there to choose from. Don’t sell yourself short.

Also in the article, Suzuki acknowledges that they know 12 percent of it’s buyers are women, but they aren’t creating any special focus on women. Their company spokesman was quoted as saying “…we think we know is that women motorcyclists don’t want to be called women motorcyclists. They just want to be motorcyclists. They don’t want a women’s motorcycle.” YES!!! That is EXACTLY how I feel! Finally somebody gets it! I wish more companies would employ that opinion.

Just because I’m female doesn’t mean I want a clutch-less, pink motorcycle, pink helmet and matching pink jacket. I know there are women out there who want to flaunt the fact that they’re a “biker babe” (sorry, I couldn’t help myself). Maybe it empowers them or something. It’s just not my bag, baby.

I’m optimistic that the gender separation will die out someday (although not anytime soon). Wishful thinking, perhaps, but I’m confident there will be a day where it won’t be such a novelty to see a woman riding her own bike. I know the nearly nekkid models on motorcycles with their asses up in the air will continue to perpetuate. However, I’d like to think there will be more women writing articles in regular motorcycle magazines and advertising feature women riding, not posing.

Here’s the countdown:

3. VTwin Mama-Of the three sites this one is the least sophisticated, but it’s a great forum to have any riding-related questions answered. It also has longevity behind it, having just celebrated it’s 5-year anniversary.

2. Real Divas Ride-Promotes a sense of community, well-rounded content that’s sure to appeal to a variety of women.

1. Women Riders Now blows the doors off of the other two sites. It’s superior in content and information, robust with stories, articles, letters from readers, etc. It’s all you need, all right here.