“It’s time to make the engine the focal point of the motorcycle,” says Harley-Davidson Senior Designer Casey Ketterhagen, “so we put a Softail on a diet to get the proportions back in check. Scale down the rear with a narrow tire and chopped fender and the heart of the bike, the motor, once again becomes the focus. We left a gap between the nose of the seat and tank so the rider can see the top of the motor. I like to be able to look down and see what’s moving me.”

To keep the rear of the motorcycle simple and clean, the Slim has combination stop/turn/tail lights and a side-mounted license plate. The rear fender struts are left uncovered, exposing the forged steel and fasteners. A thin formed-leather strap covers the fuel tank seam. The powertrain is finished with polished covers instead of chrome, and the black cylinders are left unhighlighted. The FL front fender is trimmed to expose more of the tire.

“I’d personally like to strip the bike down even further,” says Ketterhagen, “but this is as far as we can go on a production model. The Slim is intended to be a direct interpretation of home-built customs of the 1940s and 50s, and we used a number of components that evoke that era, beginning with a Hollywood handlebar.”

The Hollywood bar, identified by its wide bend and cross brace, was originally an accessory for Harley-Davidson® models with a Springer fork. The name may have been coined because owners of that era who used the cross-brace to mount lights and bags had “gone Hollywood” with excessive accessorization. For the Slim, the cross-braced bar and louvered headlight nacelle are finished in gloss black. Other period styling cues include a gloss black “cat’s eye” tank console with a retro speedometer face, half-moon rider footboards, a round air cleaner cover, and gloss black wheel rims and hubs. The cover of the solo seat is stitched in a tuck-and-roll pattern.

“The seat really gives you the feeling of sitting in the bike, rather than on it,” says Ketterhagen. “The bars are nice and low, too, so when you’re riding you have an unobstructed view forward, which reinforces the idea that this is a very elemental motorcycle, a real back-to-basics ride.”

A counter-balanced Twin Cam 103B™ engine is rigid-mounted within the frame, creating a solid connection between rider and the machine. The Softail® chassis mimics the clean lines of a vintage hardtail frame, but utilizes rear suspension control provided by coil-over shock absorbers mounted horizontally and out of sight within the frame rails. With the combination of a 23.8-inch seat height and rider footboards, the Slim comfortably fits a wide range of riders and offers light side-stand lift-off. A pull-back riser from Harley-Davidson® Genuine Motor Accessories can be installed to move the handlebar back two inches without changing control cables and lines.

Situation:
The compensating port hole inside the secondary master cylinder (part of the combined-braking system) can become blocked due to (1) stacking of tolerances in manufacturing and (2) sufficient swelling of the primary pressure cup inside the master cylinder. If the compensating port hole becomes completely blocked, the rear wheel brake caliper can drag after the rider releases the brake input. If this occurs, the rear brake temperature and pressure progressively increase. Unexpected braking increases the risk of a crash and continued riding with the brake engaged can generate enough heat to cause the rear brake to catch fire.

Inspection and Repair:
Honda motorcycle dealers will inspect the secondary master cylinder of all affected motorcycles in dealership stock or sold to customers (consumers and commercial entities). If an inspection indicates that the compensator port hole can become blocked due to this problem, the dealer will replace the secondary master cylinder. Registered owners of affected motorcycles will be contacted by mail and asked to take their motorcycle to a Honda dealer. The dealer will inspect the motorcycle, and if necessary, replace the secondary master cylinder, free of charge.

Additional Details:
Honda motorcycle dealers will immediately receive a transmittal of complete repair instructions. Replacement secondary master cylinders in the U.S. will initially be made available through American Honda’s dealer technical support hotline. Upon approval by NHTSA, American Honda will mail a letter to all registered owners, and also post a copy of the letter on the Honda Brand website: powersports.honda.com. Target dates for website posting are before the end of December 2011, and mail receipt by registered customers should occur before the end of January 2012.

Honda apologizes for any inconvenience this creates, but feels the safety of our customers is the highest priority. Honda encourages every customer to contact their dealer to schedule an appointment upon receiving the SAFETY RECALL letter.

“We are excited to be part of the revitalization of a quintessentially American brand,” said Scott Wine, CEO of Polaris Industries Inc. “Indian built America’s first motorcycle. With our technology and vision, we are confident we will deliver the classic Indian motorcycle, enhanced by the quality and performance for which Polaris and Victory are known.”

With this acquisition, Polaris adds one of motorcycling’s legendary brands to its strong stable of Victory cruiser and touring bikes. Indian will operate as an autonomous business unit, building upon the potent combination of Polaris’ engineering acumen and innovative technology with Indian’s premium brand, iconic design and rich American heritage.

“We are delighted to have reached an agreement with Polaris. Polaris will utilize its well-known strengths in engineering, manufacturing, and distribution to complete the mission we undertook upon re-launching the brand in 2006: harness the enormous potential of the Indian brand,” said Stephen Julius, chairman of Indian and managing director of Stellican. “Polaris is the most logical owner of Indian Motorcycle. Indian’s heritage brand will allow Polaris to aggressively compete across an expanded spectrum of the motorcycle market.”

Novator Partners LLP is a London based alternative investment firm founded and led by the investor Mr. Thor Bjorgolfsson. An avid motorcycle enthusiast, Mr. Bjorgolfsson said “After a troubled past, our goal was to bring the legendary Indian bikes back on the roads. The initial phase of that project is done and now our great partners at Polaris will carry on the work to realize the full potential of this classic American brand.”

Conference Call and Webcast Presentation
Tomorrow, April 20th at 9:00AM (CT), Polaris Industries Inc. will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the acquisition, as well as the first quarter 2011 financial results. The call will be hosted by Scott Wine, CEO, Bennett Morgan, President and COO and Mike Malone, Vice President-Finance and CFO.

A slide presentation and link to the audio webcast will be posted on the Investor Relations page of the Polaris web site at www.polarisindustries.com/irhome approximately 30 minutes before the conference call begins.

To listen to the conference call by phone, dial 800-374-6475 in the U.S. and Canada, or 973-200-3967 internationally. The Conference ID is #36643140. A replay of the conference call will be available approximately two hours after the call for a one-week period by accessing the same link on our website, or by dialing 800-642-1687 in the U.S. and Canada, or 706-645-9291 internationally.

About Polaris
With annual 2010 sales of $1.991 billion, Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets off-road vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris RANGER® Side X Side vehicles, snowmobiles and Victory motorcycles for recreational and utility use and has recently introduced a new on-road electric powered neighborhood vehicle.

Polaris is a recognized leader in the snowmobile industry; and one of the largest manufacturers of ORVs in the world. Victory motorcycles, established in 1998 and representing the first all-new American-made motorcycle from a major company in nearly 60 years, are making in-roads into the cruiser and touring motorcycle marketplace. Polaris also enhances the riding experience with a complete line of Pure Polaris apparel, accessories and parts, available at Polaris dealerships.

Polaris Industries Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “PII”, and the Company is included in the S&P MidCap 400 stock price index.

Information about the complete line of Polaris products, apparel and vehicle accessories are available from authorized Polaris dealers or anytime from the Polaris homepage at www.polarisindustries.com.

About Indian Motorcycle
Founded in 1901, Indian was America’s first motorcycle company, producing some of the industry’s most iconic models and becoming the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer. In recent years, Indian has continued to produce these legendary motorcycles on a smaller scale. The company’s instantly recognizable badge is still associated with premium products and strong American heritage by casual consumers and motorcycle enthusiasts alike. For more information on Indian, visit www.Indianmotorcycle.com

About Stellican
Stellican is a U.K. Private Equity firm specializing in the purchase, turnaround and re-launch of iconic, heritage brands which have gone bankrupt. In the last ten years, Stellican has been particularly active in the power sport industry. It currently advises funds which own Chris-Craft Corporation, a premium boat and yacht builder based in Sarasota, Florida, which it acquired in 2001. See www.chriscraft.com. Previously, Stellican advised funds which owned Riva boats in Italy. Contact information: Stephen Julius at sjulius@stellican.com or www.stellican.com or 941-3029585.

About Novator
Novator is an alternative investment firm founded and led by the international investor and entrepreneur Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson. Novator’s investment portfolio is focused around following sectors: Telecommunications, Pharmaceuticals, IT and Renewable Energy. In addition, Novator operates a Private Equity Fund and a Credit Opportunities Fund.

Contacts

Polaris Industries
Marlys Knutson, 763-542-0533

Start any engineregardless of displacement or compression ratio with a stock starter. The new Easy Start Cams from S&S® Cycle make hard starting obsolete for 1999-up big twins. Available in chain drive and gear drive versions.
Don’t get caught “dead” without them! More Proven Performance® from S&S Cycle, Inc., the leader in V-Twin high performance parts since 1958.

Features:
• Start any engine with a stock starter
• Save your starter and battery!
• Reliable – tested for 10,000 starts and didn’t
even run the battery down!
• Automatic – no buttons to push

THREE MOST POPULAR GRINDSA bolt-in cam for all RPM ranges.
Something for everyone.

S&S® set out to develop a new group of bolt in cams for 2007-up big twins. The three design targets were low end torque for touring, peak horsepower and a cam that would offer the best possible combination between torque and horsepower. The 551 emerged as the touring cam and the 583 is a great over all cam. The proven 585 posted the best results for peak horsepower.

551 Torque Cam

Optimized for a 2007-up 96 to 106 CID touring bike with slip-on mufflers and 9.0 to 10.0:1 compression
Best bolt-in cam available for dressers
Pulls hard from idle to 4000 rpm.

583 Midrange Cam

Optimized for use as a great over-all cam in the Softail®/ Dyna® lines, but can be used in any 2007-up big twin model.
Provides strong low end torque and horsepower that you can really feel.
Strongest from 1500-5000 in a Softail/Dyna application.

585 Horsepower Cam

Optimized for a 2007-up Softail or 2006-up Dyna 96 to 106 CID with slip-on mufflers, high flow air filter and 9.0 to 10.5:1 compression.
Great results from 3000-6000 rpm.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS

ONE
Each of the two exhaust cam lobes are equipped with a spring loaded compression release lobe on the “heal” of the cam at the point where the valve would normally be fully closed.

TWO
The lobe holds the exhaust valve open slightly at cranking speed. This releases some of the compression, making the engine much easier to crank.

THREE
Once the engine starts, and rpm increases, the compression release lobe is centrifugally retracted and the engine runs normally, with full compression, and without any loss in performance. This allows a stock starter and battery to start nearly any engine.

Reduces cranking compression – easier on starting system!

This story is about our customer, Dave, a retired pilot and flight instructor. At the age of 65 Dave decided he’d like to try motorcycling. He went out and bought a new 2004 Harley Sportster Custom. Dave’s not a “group” sort of person so he didn’t join any riding clubs. He just started exploring the countryside around his Bucks County, Pennsylvania home on his own. He found that motorcycling suited him very well. Several days each week, winter or summer, Dave would go out and play “get lost” on the hundreds of beautiful rural roads of Eastern Pennsylvania. He never ventured more than a hundred miles or so from home, but he spent the next few years putting more than ten thousand miles per year on his Sportster.

Meanwhile, Dave’s oldest son, Kyle, was living in Phoenix Arizona and working for the Conservation Department. Kyle loves the outdoors, and spent a lot of time exploring and camping out in the desert. In 2009, Kyle surprised his parents by buying a Kawasaki KLR650, a single-cylinder dual-sport motorcycle. Soon he was exploring the desert on his motorcycle just like Dave was exploring the back roads of Pennsylvania on his.

In late August 2010, father and son embarked on a great adventure. Dave, who was now 71 years old, wasn’t sure how he’d like riding all the way from Pennsylvania to Phoenix, so he shipped his Sportster out to Arizona by truck. He and Kyle loaded their “little” bikes up with camping gear, freeze dried meals and several gallons of water, then headed out on a sixteen day, 3300 mile loop through Arizona, Utah, Nevada and Colorado.

Kyle had studied maps and planned a rough route to follow. Aside from that, he and Dave had no set plans, no timetable to follow. They would camp for a few days, then do a motel night. They rode as much as they liked each day, stopping whenever the fancy took them for exploration and photos. Many times the pavement ran out, but with their nimble non-touring bikes they were able to ride many miles off the beaten path on dirt roads, and explored magnificent sights that most tourists never get to see. When Dave got back to the East coast, I asked him if he was sorry he didn’t have more of a dedicated touring bike. Dave replied that he was glad he didn’t have a big, heavy motorcycle, or he never would have ventured into such remote places or had so much fun chasing his son down all those remote dirt roads. Would he and his son do such a long trip again? In a heartbeat! But next time, Dave says, he’ll just ride there and back again; forget the truck!

Dave and Kyle each took more than a thousand photos on their trip, and they shared them with us. The beauty of the land they traveled took our breath away, and the quality of their photos is positively mind boggling.

Enjoy these photos of Dave and Kyle’s trip and remember, there’s no such thing as “can’t!”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO GALLERY OF DAVES TRIP

Teutul, in a press conference at the Tucker Rocky dealer show, said he hopes to work with Biker’s Choice in the future to build parts and accessories for the distributor. More immediately, his first bike for the TV series will feature parts and accessories from Biker’s Choice.

The bike will be unveiled at Sturgis in August.

“This is an exciting new adventure for Biker’s Choice and we are proud to have Paul Jr. and his team join the Biker’s Choice crew,” Johnson said.

Paul Jr. Designs and American Chopper will begin airing Aug. 12 on TLC

The new TLC series, scheduled to air in August pits father against son — Teutul Jr. is now located in a shop a stone’s throw (his words!) from the old Orange County Choppers headquarters. A press release about the show says the following, “Once partners, they are now fierce competitors at contending motorcycle shops.”

The show is said to capture the rivalry between father and son with en extra twist, son is bringing back former OCC employees his brother Mikey, Vinnie DiMartino, Robert “Nub” Colard and Joe Puliafico.

Cycle Sounds, LLC also produces a wide variety of audio components, not just for the V-Twin market, but also for sportbikes, metric cruisers, ATV, UTV, scooters and the new Can Am.

CLICK HERE TO FIND CYCLE SOUNDS FOR YOUR MOTORCYCLE

Cycle Sounds is your source for motorcycle speakers and motorcycle stereo and audio products.

This 19 inch wheel looks as good as a 21 but its much stronger

The first time, the change was motivated by economics. A customer had a Sportster Custom which, of course, had a 21 inch laced front wheel right from the factory. Many years and many miles of rough roads and potholes had taken their toll on the front wheel. Llots of the spokes were loose and the rim looked more like an octagon than a circle. To top it off, the front tire was nearly bald.

 The cheapest way to go was a new(er), gently used 19 inch cast front wheel from Harley-Davidson, which we picked up for less than two hundred dollars. We installed a new Metzeler ME880 tire, and returned the motorcycle to the customer. We hoped for a more sturdy front wheel, but we got much more. The customer was back in a couple of days. “What did you really do to my bike?” she asked. “It feels lighter. It turns easier, it tracks better, it’s totally happy going around corners…it even stops better. Really, what did you do???”

 Honestly, all we had done was to replace that skinny 21” laced wheel with a nice, sturdy, tubeless 19” front wheel. Her old tire was a 21” Metzeler; we installed a new 19” Metzeler to go with the 19” wheel. The only difference was the wheel itself, but dropping 2 inches of diameter and picking up a little bit of width really transformed the handling of that Sportster.

 Since then, we have converted three more Sportster Customs from 21” front wheels to 19” (upgrading them from Dunlop to Metzeler in the process) and the customers are raving about the transformation of their rides. “You told me it would be great,” said one of our more recent ‘converts,’ “but it’s like a whole new motorcycle. It feels better now than it did when it was new.”

 It’s very hard to believe, I know, but having ridden “before” and “after” bikes myself I can testify that it’s true. A Sportster with a 19 inch cast front wheel handles much better than one with a laced 21 inch front wheel. And a 19 inch front wheel is going to hold up much better to the slings and potholes of outrageous fortune (or our outrageous roads). With that meatier tire and a sturdier construction, it would take one heck of a whack to damage a typical cast 19 inch wheel.

 ”Oh,” they cry, “but a 19 inch front wheel is so ugly! The 21 looks so much better!” Well beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but if you stop by our store you can have a look at Chuck’s Sportster, which is graced with a beautiful, chromed, 19 inch billet wheel. It looks as good as a 21, but it has the strength of a 19.

 If you just want to sit on the curb and look at your Sportster, fine. Keep that “pretty” 21. But if you want to ride the beast, consider upgrading to a 19. The view from the saddle is much better than the view from the curb any day!