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If I had a nickel for every silver-backed motorcyclist I hear lamenting the loss of the late, (sometimes) great Cycle magazine, I’d have more than five dollars. The oft-heard refrain goes something like this: “Cycle magazine, now those guys really knew how to review a bike. It wasn’t a real road test until they counted all the ball bearings in the transmission. Not like today’s slash-and-grab advertorials…”
Then some wag chimes in about the time Cycle magazine dissolved a testbike in a vat of acid then ran the resulting mash through a centrifuge. “You really knew the molecular structure of a motorcycle when you read Cycle.”
“That’s nothing,” some other wag pipes in: “One time they won Daytona with a bike built from scratch using nothing but ore excavated from Cook Neilson’s backyard.” (I still have the “Build Your Own Motorcycle Smelter!” special issue.)
I loved Cycle. It was a fantastic magazine, staffed with moto-journo gods from a glorious era, but today’s mag-whiners are just suffering more CRS (Can’t Remember S—t) syndrome. The main reason Cycle dismantled those testbikes was because they had to. Motorcycles back then practically required a complete rebuild right off the showroom floor. If the ignition timing wasn’t retarded or the jetting too rich, the spark plug was too cold or, less often, too hot. Whatever it was, it was almost guaranteed to be wrong from the factory.
Motorcycles of the ’60s, ’70s, and even the ’80s gave any reviewer real meat to sink their teeth into. Engines would overheat, clutches would drag or slip—or both at once. Smoke would pour from the exhaust pipe of a four-stroke on over-rev. The forks always contained the wrong amount of stinky whale oil that invariably needed changing, and the spring rate was never right. Swingarms flexed, tires slipped, and quite a few bikes were really, truly, god-awfully bad.
For 30 years those lucky reviewers wobbled about on crummy rear shock absorbers provided by the Japanese Big Four. “Over-sprung and under-damped” was a gimme line. Buying replacement shocks was the equivalent of today’s “pipe and Power Commander” upgrade. Cycle magazine was shooting fish in a barrel.
Today, most modifications only make a new motorcycle worse. Sure, you can spend $2,000 on 3 hp, but the bike will only sound obnoxious and burn more fuel afterward. Wholesale suspension work is usually relevant only for the racetrack. Counting the transmission bearings is a fool’s errand—you’ll just screw it up. Modern bike mags don’t take apart motorcycles because modern riders don’t have to.
And don’t even get me started on the Brit-mag snobs… “British bike mags are so glossy! So many pages! They really tell it like it is! Not like crappy American mags where the advertisers tell them what to print.” Bollocks.
British journos are not more ethical; they’re just angrier. They ride in wet knickers 12 months of the year. Forget athlete’s foot. When you’ve got a case of athlete’s bum like that, any motorcycle is rubbish! Besides, it’s been years since they’ve seen the sun, and everything they eat is boiled in water that’s swimming with newts.
British journalists are hypercritical because they’re miserable. True, their reviews are often longer, but the majority of that is cockney rhyming slang. Cut that and what’s left is a thinly veiled suicide note. Give those grumpy bastards 10 minutes on a Honda Grom in the warm SoCal sunshine, and they’ll be raving about Harley-Davidson’s Street like it’s a Street Glide.
The Brit-snobs and Cycle curmudgeons both gleefully predict the inevitable impending demise of printed motorcycle magazines then proudly proclaim: “I haven’t bought an American bike magazine in more than 20 years—not since Cycle went away.” I realize they’ll never see this column, but if you know one tell them to skip a Happy Meal or two and cough up a few nickels for a year’s subscription. At least then they’d have something more recent to complain about.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Japan’s Takata Corp. rejected federal regulators’ demand Wednesday for an expanded, nationwide recall of millions of air bags, setting up a possible legal showdown and leaving some drivers to wonder about the safety of their cars.
Amid the standoff, Honda Motor Co. decided to act on its own and recall cars with the potentially defective equipment in all 50 states. But other automakers have yet to make a decision.
At issue are air bags whose inflators can explode with too much force, hurling shrapnel into the passenger compartment. At least five deaths and dozens of injuries have been linked to the problem worldwide.
Over the past six years, Takata and 10 automakers issued a series of recalls covering 8 million cars in the U.S., mostly in high-humidity areas such as the Gulf Coast, because of evidence that moisture can cause the propellant to burn too quickly. But after incidents in California and North Carolina, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began pressing for the recall of 8 million more vehicles from coast to coast — a demand that Takata flatly rejected.
“There’s not enough scientific evidence to change from a regional recall to a national recall,” Hiroshi Shimizu, Takata senior vice president of global quality assurance, told a House subcommittee on Capitol Hill.
Takata also contends that NHTSA has authority to seek recalls only from auto manufacturers and makers of replacement parts, not from original parts suppliers — a position NHTSA contests.
Shimizu insisted that the air bags are safe: “I would drive a car with a Takata air bag.”
David Friedman, NHTSA deputy administrator, said he was “deeply disappointed” by Takata’s response.
The agency is now gathering proof that a recall is needed, which it will present at a public hearing. After that, NHTSA could order Takata to undertake a recall, and could take the company to court if it refuses. But Friedman acknowledged that could take months.
“It’s time for industry to step up,” Friedman told lawmakers. “Until (Takata) and automakers act, affected drivers won’t be protected.”
The stalemate is likely to add to the confusion among car owners, many of whom are already bewildered because some of the recalls have covered driver’s-side air bags, while others applied to passenger-side air bags, and a few covered both. The NHTSA-demanded recalls would involve driver’s-side air bags.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, the panel’s senior Democrat, said she has received letters from constituents “who are literally afraid to drive their cars.”
Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., warned that driving a car with a Takata air bag is “tantamount to driving down the highway with a shotgun pointed at you.”
Drivers whose cars have been recalled should have received notices in the mail. A driver can also key in the vehicle’s identification number at www.safercar.gov or call the dealer to see if the car is covered.
But for those outside the recall zone who want to know if their air bags are safe, things get trickier. It’s difficult to tell if a car has a Takata air bag inflator. Car owners can try asking their dealer, but even they may not know.
Honda is Takata’s largest customer, but the company also made air bags for Ford, Chrysler, Mazda and BMW. Mazda said Wednesday that it will probably expand its recall, while BMW said it is evaluating the situation.
Ford and Chrysler both expanded passenger air bag recalls on Wednesday to include states outside of the initial high-humidity zones. But neither automaker recalled additional driver’s side air bag inflators, as Honda did.
In a statement late Wednesday, NHTSA said Chrysler’s response was insufficient, and its plan to notify customers in January is too late.
Rick Schostek, executive vice president of Honda North America, said Honda is acting even though Takata hasn’t identified problems beyond the current recall areas. Honda didn’t say how many vehicles will be recalled, but the recall includes some of its most popular vehicles, including the 2001-07 Accord sedan and the 2002-06 CR-V SUV.
“Our customers have concerns and we want to address them,” Schostek said.
Lawmakers expressed frustration that, after a decade, Takata still isn’t certain about the cause of the explosions. They also questioned whether the replacement air bags made by Takata will be safe.
Takata said it has tested 1,057 inflators taken from locations outside the high-humidity zone, and none of them ruptured.
Wednesday’s hearing was the second in Congress regarding Takata air bags. Earlier this year, Congress held a series of highly publicized hearings into General Motors’ handling of a recall of cars with defective ignition switches that are now linked to 36 deaths.
“I’m sorry to say that it has been a bad year for auto safety,” Rep. Fred Upton, R-Michigan, said at the opening of the hearing.
____
AP Auto Writers Tom Krisher and Dee-Ann Durbin reported from Detroit. Yuri Kageyama contributed from Tokyo.
Hello readers!
Thank you for your ongoing support, donations and thoughts – yesterday you donated £4,460, which combined with estimated gift aid takes the total so far to £35,397.
Over the next few weeks we plan to share with you the latest available data on mental health conditions, services and stigma.
The Time to Change campaign, set up by appeal charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, seeks to dispel the idea that mental health problems are experienced by a small minority – the statistics clearly show a different story.
So who is suffering and from what?
The latest comprehensive review of psychiatric disorders in the UK was published in 2009. It showed that over one year 23% of adults experienced one of the following disorders at some point over a single year: generalised anxiety disorder, mixed anxiety and depressive disorder, and obsessive and compulsive disorder.
The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, commissioned by the NHS and carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and the University of Leicester, is the primary data source on the prevalence of mental health conditions.
Their data reflects information gathered in a 2007 survey among adults over 16 in private households. In the week before the survey, 16.2% of adults had a common mental disorder, which includes a number of depression and anxiety disorders, including social anxiety and post traumatic stress. These are the most common mental health problems that cause distress and problems for people in their daily lives but do not affect their ability to think rationally.
The number of adults suffering from mixed anxiety and depressive disorder currently stands at 9%. This is when anxiety becomes a symptom of depression, whereby treatment often targets depression first and anxiety is potentially alleviated as a result.
Women are significantly more likely to experience common mental health disorders than men, with the exception of obsessive compulsive disorders and panic disorders.
NatCen is currently conducting its latest survey on psychiatric disorders and will publish its findings next year.
The Centre for Mental Health, one of the charities we are supporting in this year’s appeal, is anticipating the potential changes.
Andy Bell, Deputy Chief Executive said: “Research is not just an intellectual curiosity. This year’s new survey of mental health in the UK will indicate for the first time if more people have experienced mental health problems since the recession began. We genuinely don’t understand how it has impacted on the nation’s mental health, which is essential so that we can match needs with provision.”
“We still act as if ill mental health is something rare – but as the statistics show, it likely affects every family and every school in the country.”
The full report from NatCen can be found here
The Centre for Mental Health carry out research and analysis, specialising in employment, criminal justice, children and recovery.
If you would like to support mental health research by donating to our appeal, you can do so here.
WENTZVILLE • A Wentzville school district bus driver was on her cell phone, failed to signal, and violated a traffic signal when she pulled into the road and was struck by two motorcyclists, killing them, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed last week.
The suit was filed in St. Charles County Circuit Court against Wentzville School District, a bus driver, its school board members, and its director of transportation on behalf of one of the motorcyclists, Matthew A. Adam, 43, of Bowling Green. The suit was filed by his wife, Staci Adam of Bowling Green.
Adam and Jacob D. Boedeker, 22, of Warrenton, were killed while riding separate motorcycles on March 11 on Highway A at Westgate Business Court. Bus driver Pamela S. Love, then 52, of Wright City, turned left out of the district’s transportation facility and the motorcycles hit the driver’s side of the bus. A third motorcyclist struck crash debris and was thrown from his bike but was not injured.
The suit says the driver violated a traffic signal, was on the wrong side of the road, failed to yield, and was on her cell phone at the time of the crash. The suit also says the driver was operating under “reckless policies imposed upon her by her employer” that caused her to “routinely and repeatedly violate the traffic control devices as a mean of avoiding reprimands, penalties and termination” by the district.
The suit says school board members created and enforced the policies and said the rules required bus drivers to “always be running on schedule” and not to allow their times to “vary by more than two or three minutes.”
A spokesman from the Wentzville School District said they had not had a chance to review the lawsuit and would not comment on pending litigation.
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The suggestion of using a bike is to enable you the liberty of the outdoors while traveling. It can also be a really economical means to take a trip or to commute. Knowing ways to operate a bike is essential. You do not would like to be an unskilled driver out there with a lot of other motor vehicles on the road. The process is quick for some, and others battle to discover how to operate one. It comes down to discovering the skills and counting on your ability to make it occur.
Bear in mind that the bike you learn on is going to affect just how well you are able to learn to run it. Ensure it is made to match you. This can be some what challenging considering that many people discover how to use a bike on one that belongs to someone else. Nevertheless, you need to make sure the bike isn’t also heavy for you. It is very important that you have the ability to touch the ground with both feet. Reaching the gas, brakes, as well as take care of bars are vital too. It is a good investment to find an affordable utilized bike that fits your physical body well. As soon as you have efficiently learned to ride it well, consider updating to a better bike.
Make certain you gain from a person you rely on and that is patient. Absolutely nothing could include in your insecurity as an individual watching over you, particularly if they are worried regarding you harming their bike. If you do not have a person you could comfortably gain from then you are squandering your time. It could be a worthwhile investment to enroll in a motorcycle guideline course as well as gain from an individual which is educated to instruct this skill.
As soon as you have managed the basics of bike riding, proceed exercising. Much like driving a motor vehicle, you will improve as you exercise. Avoid riding on hectic roads, freeways, or interstates up until you are quite comfortable with your using abilities. Technique transforming streets, transforms, contours, and also sudden quits as these are all things you will experience as soon as you are operating your motorcycle on the open roadway.
Technique using your motorbike in a selection of weather scenarios. This will give you some extremely important bike abilities that you will not get anywhere else. You will certainly be amazed at just how various your bike operates a sunny day versus a really windy day. Being gotten ready for a selection of using disorders is visiting make you a far better operator. In time you will feel comfortable sufficient for long travels, possibly also to some of the wonderful motorcycle rallies that happen yearly.
If you begin tiny and also practice hard, learning to run a bike will be an extremely fulfilling encounter for you. A lot of newbies desire a new motorbike or the exact same power as their friends. They either discover the motorbike to be excessive to manage or seriously injure themselves using it. This can also trigger you to loosened interest in the suggestion of learning to ride it, and cause your selling it.
The motorbike finding out process can be a terrific experience if you aren’t quickly to be driving it quick on significant road means. Like anything else, your skills will just enhance as you exercise and also learn from your very own blunders. Running a motorcycle is a difficulty that you will proudly succeed at if you work hard as well as comply with the safety and security precautions of the road.
You know you’re in country music’s world when Chris Cornell is just a backup singer. The Soundgarden frontman kicked off Tuesday’s (Dec. 2) CMT Artists of the Year special by backing up the night’s first honoree, Jason Aldean, with guitar and vocals on his latest single “Just Gettin’ Started.”
Luke Bryan Cancels CMT Performance After Brother-in-Law’s Death
Aldean was one of five Artists of the Year feted at the annual event — plus Artist of a Lifetime honoree Merle Haggard — joining Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan, who had to sit the night out following the death of his brother-in-law over the weekend.
“One of my buddies, Luke Bryan, is not here tonight, dealing with some family stuff in Georgia,” Aldean said after accepting his Artist of the Year trophy from his soon-to-be tourmate Kenny Chesney. “Just want to say I’m thinkin’ about you, you and your family. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. Hurry back to the country music world.”
After an introduction from fellow badass Danica Patrick, Lambert performed one of her quieter songs, “Holding on to You.” Her Pistol Annies bandmate Ashley Monroe then presented her with her Artist of the Year hardware. “My husband, I always forget to thank him, but he’s my rock,” she said through tears before (needlessly) identifying her Voice coach spouse: “Blake Shelton. He’s somewhere on TV right now.”
In Bryan’s absence, Lady Antebellum agreed to sing “Drink a Beer” with one of the track’s co-writers, Chris Stapleton. While Bryan didn’t help write the song, it spoke to him because of the deaths of his two siblings: brother Chris and sister Kelly. His brother-in-law who died over the weekend was the husband of Bryan’s late sister. “Family comes first, and sadly, Luke’s family faced a tragic loss this weekend with the death of his brother-in-law Lee,” Lady A’s Charles Kelley said before the performance. “So tonight, we wanted to perform a song that’s very special to Luke.”
Bryan already responded to the performance on Twitter, thanking his friends for the fitting tribute:
That was amazing. Truly. Thank you Charles, Dave, Hillary and Chris! Beautiful!!! Thank you fans for your love.
— Luke Bryan (@LukeBryanOnline) December 3, 2014
Florida Georgia Line performed their mellow hit “Sun Daze” before receiving their Artist of the Year honor from — who else? — Wiz Khalifa. “I’m proud to be their fan and happy to know that they’re mine too,” Wiz said. “That’s the way it should be, because as musicians, we’re brothers and sisters. And that’s how these two roll.”
Cornell returned to the stage to introduce Urban’s performance of the James Brown classic “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” — appropriately backed by a 10-piece all-female band.
Urban made sure to spotlight Luke Bryan in his acceptance speech: “I want to send my love and prayers out to Luke and all your family tonight too, brother. You’re right here tonight, brother,” Urban said as he patted his heart.
To wrap up the night, Haggard was introduced as the inaugural Artist of a Lifetime by Billy Bob Thornton. Before he accepted the honor, Eric Church, Monroe and T-Bone Burnett paid tribute to the outlaw country star by performing “Workin’ Man Blues.”
“Anything I’d say would be short of the mark, so thank you very much and God bless you,” Haggard said to wrap up the night. “Good music lives forever!”
History-Making Motorcycles
Larry Van Horn’s 1947 Indian Chief Roadmaster is subtly better than the originals.
The recent resurrection of the Indian motorcycle name by Polaris conjures memories of the originals and engenders comparisons of the classic Indians to the new generation.
At the top of the original Indian product line in its closing years from 1947 to 1953 was the Indian Chief Roadmaster.
It was the model that out-accessorized the base Clubman and mid-range Sportsman variants offered that year. Since the Chief was the only model offered that year, and total production was only 11,849 units, finding a serviceable example can be difficult these days.
But, once found, if you know what you’re doing, as Larry Van Horn of Monroe, Wis., does, you can not only save that great bike, you may be able to make it better than the original.
Larry Van Horn is a former Suzuki Motorcycle dealership owner and also has many years of experience with automotive body and paint work. His love for classic motorcycles and skill in making machines look beautiful combined when he saw an Indian Chief still in action earning its keep on farm.
Van Horn checked into acquiring the bike and when the deal was done in 2006, he went to work getting it back to its original glory—and a little more.
Original Indians — even the top-of-the-line Roadmaster — lacked a few things that modern motorcycles have. Some affect safety, such as turn signals; some affect rideability like an electric starter; some affect bike longevity and operating status like a tachometer and engine oil temperature gauge.
With some careful reengineering during the bike’s restoration process, Van Horn managed to add all these things, and did so skillfully in a subtle way, so the bike did not lose its original character.
Adding the electric starter was more than just a convenience upgrade; Van Horn explained that he was getting to the age where using the kickstarter made getting the bike going for a ride was more of a challenge than he wanted. Tucked down low and working through the transmission, the electric starter is barely noticeable.
Adding a tachometer was a matter of personal preference. “I don’t push the bike all that hard, but I’m used to having a tachometer, so I added one,” he explained. Again, a Drag Specialties model with a small case tucked down behind the windshield makes the modern upgrade something you have to look for to notice.
“Having to rely on hand signals bothers me. I wanted turn signals, but they had to be consistent with the bike’s design and not overly noticeable,” he said. Again, using vintage style units, sized to blend with the bike’s lines filled the bill.
While those upgrades were carefully melded into the bike’s restoration to go virtually unnoticed to preserve its authenticity, the aesthetic restoration was done to be full-on gorgeous.
The bike was stripped to the frame and all the painted surfaces stripped smoothed and completely re-done with the help of friends and local artisans. A stunning two-tone paint job with hand-painted pin striping, script and graphics makes this Indian a piece of rolling classical art.
Period fringed leather bags and seat are complemented by amazing hand-made studded leather fender skirts front and rear, taking the hallmark deeply valenced fenders one step further.
The 80 cubic-inch, flat-head 42-degree V-twin motor was tuned and thoroughly cleaned, but did not require major mechanical overhaul. The major mechanical components, carburetor and ignition system were cleaned, lubed and tuned to spec, but not replaced with electronic ignition or other modern components.
Van Horn has named his breathtaking Chief Roadmaster “Indian Summer,” a name befitting not only it origins, but its late-blooming beauty and staying power.
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Over the weekend, it was a great turnout for this year’s Toys for Tots motorcycle run and the bikers were all in the holiday spirit.
The motorcycle run began off logistics drive in southwest Jefferson County.
Stuffed animals hitched a ride on some of the motorcycles.
“Today we’ve got great weather. You couldn’t ask for a better day and to come out and support this great event is fantastic,” said motorcyclist Rich Bliven.
“In this community, there are a lot of families in need. Last year, we had over 18,000 kids we provided toys for,” said Cletis Evan with Toys for Tots.
The ride came to an end at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, where the toys were unloaded from the motorcycles and loaded into a large truck.
The Kentucky Motorcycle League and Marine Corps League make it all possible.
WLKY is a proud sponsor of Toys for Tots.
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Chris Valasek poses for a picture Nov. 19 during the Los Angeles Auto Show. Valasek catapulted car hacking into the public eye when he and a partner plugged into a port used by mechanics and controlled a 2010 Toyota Prius and 2010 Ford Escape. (Chris Carlson , The Associated Press)
LOS ANGELES — Against the team of hackers, the poor car stood no chance.
Meticulously overwhelming its computer networks, the hackers showed that — given time — they would be able to pop the trunk and start the windshield wipers, cut the brakes or lock them up, and even kill the engine.
Their motives were not malicious. These hackers worked on behalf of the U.S. military, which along with the auto industry is scrambling to fortify the cyber defenses of commercially available cars before criminals and even terrorists penetrate them.
“You’re stepping into a rolling computer now,” said Chris Valasek, who helped catapult car hacking into the public eye when he and a partner revealed last year they had been able to control a 2010 Toyota Prius and 2010 Ford Escape by plugging into a port used by mechanics.
These days, when Valasek isn’t working his day job for a computer security firm, he’s seeing how Bluetooth might offer an entry point.
Automakers are betting heavily that consumers will want not just the maps and music playlists of today but also Internet-enabled vehicles that stream movies and turn dictation into e-mail. The federal government wants to require cars to send each other electronic messages warning of dangers on the road.
In these and other connections, hackers see opportunity.
There are no publicly known instances of a car being commandeered outside staged tests. In those tests, hackers prevail.
One was the Defense Department-funded assault on a 2012 model, American-made car, overseen by computer scientist Kathleen Fisher.
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Hackers demonstrated they could create the electronic equivalent of a skeleton key to unlock the car’s networks. That may take months, Fisher said, but from there it would be “pretty easy to package up the smarts and make it available online, perhaps in a black-market type situation.”
The project’s goal is more than just to plug vulnerabilities — it is to reconceive the most critical lines of computer code that control the car in a way that could make them invulnerable to some of the major known threats. The model code would be distributed to automakers, who could adapt it to their needs. That should take a few more years.
The industry is participating — and not waiting.
One major association representing brands, including Honda and Toyota, is helping establish an “information sharing and analysis center” patterned after efforts by big banks to try to thwart cyberattacks.
“Before, when you designed something, you looked at how might components fail,” said Michael Cammisa, director of safety for the Association of Global Automakers. “Now, you have to look at how would somebody maliciously attack the vehicle.”
The so-called Auto-ISAC will allow participating companies to evaluate the credibility of threats and, in the event of an attack, let one warn others so they could test their own systems. The effort was announced this summer at the CyberAuto Challenge in Detroit, one of an increasing number of programs focused on auto hacking. Several days later, in China, organizers of a cybersecurity conference announced success in their challenge to hack a Model S made by Tesla Motors.
Another American company, General Motors, has checked how Boeing and defense companies create systems to repel hackers, according to Mark Reuss, GM’s executive vice president of global product development.
Cybersecurity is “one of the highest priority things that we have,” Reuss said. “We have got to make sure that our customers are safe.”
Ladies and charities, rejoice: Movember 2014 is complete.
Deriving its name from a portmanteau of “moustache” and “November”, the Movember Foundation aims to “change the face of men’s health”, by raising awareness and money for prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health problems.
This year, almost 12,000 New Zealanders signed up to take part, including Richie McCaw, Black Caps players, and several politicians.
More than $1 million was raised by the end of the month, and a spokeswoman said additional funds were coming through today at a rate of about $5000 an hour.
Launched in 2003, the Foundation challenges men (“Mo Bros”) to grow moustaches in November, with support from “Mo Sistas”. To date, 4 million moustaches have been grown worldwide, with $709 million raised for over 800 programmes in 21 countries, according to its website.
Last year, participating Kiwis raised more than $1.5 million for Movember men’s health partners, the Mental Health foundation of New Zealand and the Cancer Society.
“The Movember moustache is leading the charge in raising crucial awareness and funds for men’s health,” Robert Dunne, New Zealand Country Manager for Movember said.
THE TOP KIWI EFFORTS
1. THE HANDLEBAR (AND MOST FAMOUS MO’): All Blacks captain Richie McCaw created mo’ history when he played his 100th test with a striking trucker moustache in 2011. This year he led the way with a classic slug, taking on the challenge to lead the hairiest All Blacks team ever into their end of year tour. There’s no denying this is a fine bit of lip hair, although it is a bit patchy where the mo’ and bars meet. A bit of eyebrow pencil would’ve done the job.
2. THE TEAM EFFORT: The Black Caps got behind Movember this year, and raised almost $3000 for the Foundation. Special mention has to go to these two (their handiwork is light in colouring, but strong in form) …
3. THE TIGHT BUT BUSHY CROP: ACT party leader David Seymour single-handedly raised more than $900 for his mo, saying a health scare had prompted him to take part this year to raise awareness of testicular cancer among young men in particular. (A mo’ is particularly handy when rowing on a machine in the midday sun – catches the sweat nicely).
4. THE ONGOING MO": Green Party MP Kevin Hague enlisted in Movember to help change the face of men’s health. Hague has said he’s keeping the mo for another month as he also grows a Decembeard to raise awareness of bowel cancer.
5. THE LONG AND STRONG: Edge radio announcer Marty Hehewerth captained his station’s Movember team, and, judging from the results, he took his role seriously …
DUNEDIN MAN GREW A MO’ FOR DAD
Dunedin’s Paul Lawrence this year raised almost $500 with a friend — less than previous years, but this time it was personal.
“Turns out my dad has a form of prostate cancer,” he wrote on his profile. “This year I dedicate my moustache to him.”
Lawrence said it had prompted him to get a health check, and he encouraged other men to do the same.
“It’s not like you’re growing a slug for no reason. It’s great that people are familiar with [Movember] now.
“When you’re walking down the street and you see another guy with a mo, you’ll give him a head nod. It brings a whole lot of people together in quite a unique way.
“It’s the one month of the year when my partner can’t stand me and I get no affection from her whatsoever, but every male I come across loves me. It’s a tradeoff, and I can handle that for a month.”
To encourage his workmates at Nidd Realty to donate, he set himself a “burpee challenge”: For every $1 donated by a member of the company, he did the same number of burpees (an aerobic exercise combining a star jump and press up) in succession.
“I’m a sucker for punishment and I love fitness,” he said.
After doing 138 burpees in just under 15 minutes, was he having second thoughts?
“No, I was a bit sore, but it’s totally worth it.”
– Stuff
California and motorcycles go way back: from Marlon Brando’s star turn as an outlaw biker in 1953’s “The Wild One” to the current TV hit “Sons of Anarchy,” set in the fictional town of Charming, California. Real-life California is packed with motorcycle clubs, from the notorious Hells Angels (founded in Fontana, with its best-known chapter in Oakland) to the hundreds of clubs that crisscross the state on bikes today. That includes dozens of African-American groups, like Oakland’s East Bay Dragons.
This year marks the Dragons’ 55th year as a motorcycle club, and they enjoy elder statesman status among the black motorcycle set. California’s black clubs descend on Fresno each October, convening to celebrate motorcycles. The weekend is known as the Halfway Run — because of Fresno’s location roughly halfway between Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
In Fresno, the Dragons team up with two L.A. clubs to rent out a Days Inn. The motel is just off Highway 99, and the low din of car traffic from the road is regularly punctuated by roaring motorcycles. On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of people pack into the parking lot. The clubs are grilling food, lounging by the swimming pool and checking out each other’s rides. There’s gridlock, with motorcycles of every color glistening in the sun and blasting music.
In front of his hotel room, Ali Ar Rasheed takes in the scene. Rasheed is a member of the East Bay Dragons. A consultant by day, he helps manage the club’s finances. “Riding is sort of like an active form of meditation,” Rasheed says, smoke rising off the cigar in his hand. “If you ride — and you’re serious about riding — you’re not worried about bills. You know, that’s not your focus, mentally. It’s the traffic, it’s the people you’re riding with.”
The Dragons’ other business manager goes by the name “Tug Boat.” He’s a solidly built man with a shaved head. Like Rasheed, he stresses that the image of bikers as outlaws doesn’t apply to the laid-back gathering in Fresno, which crosses generational lines. Not that the police get the message. “I don’t think any cop has a day off when we’re in town,” Tug Boat says. For Tug Boat, the gathering represents unity. We all enjoy one thing, and that’s riding motorcycles,” he says.
Bikers at the Halfway Run all give their own reasons for riding motorcycles. MC Raw, a Fresno-based rapper, calls a motorcycle “a missile with handlebars.” Watts-based construction worker Blackie says “being on a Harley is like having sex.” And G-14 Classified, who rode his Suzuki Boulevard 1500 from Sacramento, calls riding a bike “almost like a low-level flying. I enjoy the feeling of the wind, the music and sometimes even solitude.”
Many of the riders here are affiliated with clubs, like Los Angeles’ Divided Time and Chosen Few, Sacramento’s Aftermath and Fresno’s Unknown Riders. A handful of all-female clubs, like Compton’s Red Pearls, also make the trip to Fresno.
The motorcycles they fly around the state on are bigger and brighter than the ones the Dragons rode through Oakland in the 1950s. But through all the changes, the Dragons stuck with the same man as president: Tobie Gene Levingston. He goes by “Prez” to club members.
Levingston grew up in rural Louisiana, the son of a sharecropper. After World War II, his family moved to Oakland. “I had some brothers, and they was all behind me. And they was kind of crazy!” he remembers. “So I started a car club to work on old cars and get their mind occupied working on cars.”
It worked, and the club began attracting other kids from the neighborhood. Levingston and the Dragons made the switch from cars to bikes in 1959. He says bikes were cheaper, and they didn’t get hassled by cops as much on two wheels.
The Dragons adopted their own uniform. They wore black, grease-stained Levi’s and vests with their signature patch: a green dragon against a gold background. The club’s name and hometown are in bright red stitching: “East Bay Dragons OAKLAND CALIFORNIA”.
The Dragons are an all-male, all-black club. And they ride only Harley-Davidsons. “Because it’s made in America and they keep jobs here,” Levingston explains. “That’s the reason I ride the Harley Davidson.”
He looks back fondly on the early days of the Dragons: going to dances in the ’50s, and partying with hippies, Hells Angels and Black Panthers in the ’60s. At the group’s clubhouse in Oakland, pictures of old dances, parties and motorcycle “runs” cover the walls.
The toughest moments for Levingston and the Dragons came in the 1980s, as crack ripped through East Oakland. “I seen a lot of good men, I mean a whole bunch of them, get hooked on that s—” Levingston recalls. “I lost a lot of good friends behind that s—.”
But the club survived, and continues to attract new members. More than 50 made the trip to Fresno, including Levingston. He’s had health problems in recent years, including a bout with cancer, so he wasn’t able to ride his own Harley to the Halfway Run. “You know it’s like an old car,” he says. “You wear out man!” But he’s still there. “I ain’t never gonna get rid of my bike, man.”
Many Dragons are decades younger than Levingston — a few are in their 20s — and he gives them all the same message: “I want ya’ll to keep it going on when I’m gone. All I say: Don’t you get your butt outta here and get in and get out and jump and run off. Carry it on.”
For now, though, Levingston’s going strong at 80, and looking to buy his next Harley: a three-wheeler.
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