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At the Toys-in-the-Sun Fun Run last December I saw a bike that really looked cool. Actually, I saw several of them and that set me thinking I had missed something that might be significant. The new Suzuki M109R is a unique bike that may be destined to bring Suzuki back to a long-lost limelight.

When I saw this bike among the thousands at the Fun Run, there were three colors represented. It was nice to see a new motorcycle in more than two colors. When I started riding back in teh 60’s and early 70’s, you could tell the model year by the colors on Japanese bikes. They chose two and that was it for the year. This bike was in a satin white, black, and a deep red. But color is the way women look at bikes.

There are usually three things that I like in a bike as general statements: big engine, big gas tank ( I hate stopping for gas ) and bike back tires. The Suzuki M109R has all three fresh out of the box. To start with, the 109 cubic inch engine is nothing to scoff at. This V-Twin looks impressive and has the power to back it up. The cruiser-style exhaust has a nice throaty sound that lets you know there’s some power behind it.

The 5.2 gallon gas tank looks much larger than that, but is more than enough to take you over 150 miles without the need to stop. Finally, they put a 250 back tire in place. The bike looks wonderful from the back. At first glance, you won’t know you’re behind a Suzuki with that fat tire looking you in the face.

The final feature that makes this a great bike is the price. Sticker is only $12,499 and $12,999 for the limited edition version. For a 109 cubic-inch bike with a bike ol’ 250 back tire, that’s a good start. But it isn’t all good news. They put a little dinky front tire on it with a fender that looks like a baby Gold Wing. It has a sorta sport bike look which really detracts from what could have been a hunky looking cruiser. The front end of the bike is the only real let down. Short of wanting to do a lot of customizing on the front ( like new forks, new wheel, new look), I wouldn’t quite open my wallet. Hopefully, Suzuki will make up their mind on the destiny of this new bike. Trying to meet multiple types of radically different riders with one bike is not a good marketing idea. You obviously turn away more riders than you attract due to the factors that one may not like.

It’s worth looking at. I’d love to test ride one at Daytona next month.

We have all seen great custom painting, but did you ever think of designing it yourself? We know about the durability and strength of powder coating, but did you know how dynamic it can be as a custom paint?

Paradise Powder Coating can take virtually any design you can find or create and paint your tank, fenders or any part of your motorcycle to match it. This is the greatest way to really influence the custom look of your motorcycle.

Their process, called ImageFusion, takes any image and puts it on any surface. Imagine being able to take photographs, drawings, graphic art, and virtually anything else you can think of and then converting to your own custom design painted on your Harley-Davidson. Your black Road King won’t look like every other Road King in the parking lot the next time you go to an event. People will take a close look at your bike and know it’s your motorcycle.

Think of the possibilities as you look at their site above.

Yes, it’s true.  If you were hoping to buy a new Harley Davidson this year you may be on the waiting list.  Harley’s largest assembly plant in York, Pennsylvania has been on strike since last Friday.  This means that Harley Davidson motorcycles are not coming off an assembly line.  It means there will be delays on existing orders for Harley motorcycles.  It means that prices will inevitably go up.

This is really a shame after Harley Davidson made two significant moves on this year’s models.  They increased the base engine size while keeping the price very close to last year’s model.  This move would have sold a lot more Harley Davidson motorcycles as the rest of the industry makes their annual price increases.  The strike could negate the marketing progress Harley Davidson was in position to make.

Let’s hope this ends before the ripple effect causes damage to more workers and consumers.  Harley Davidson is already planning to reduce production at their engine and transmission plants.

Stuart Toyota is a great supporter of charities.  In this particular instance, they support the ARC of Martin County.  This is typical of biker events.  Motorcyclist of all kinds meet to have fun and ride while donating money to charities.  The feature today is a Poker Run.

For those that don’t understand a poker run, you will be riding your motorcycle from point A to point B.  Along the way are places where you can buy a hand of poker.  Let’s say for $10.  You can buy multiple hands of poker.  Some variations of the poker run let you buy a card at each of five stops.  Either way, you are allowed to have multiple hands.

A the end of the poker run, some groups give you a chance to buy one more card.  If your hand needs it to be truly great, this could be a good value.  The winning hand will get a prize, usually cash.  The remaining money goes to the charity.

In a scenario where 200 bikers play hands at $10 each and the grand prize is a $300 pot, you just made $1,700 for charity.  More riders make more money.  More hand make more money.  There are other fund-raising activities that also contribute to the cause and there’s almost always live music at the end.

Try the Bikers Challenge Ride.  Great weather.  Great scenic rides.  Great fun.  All for a great cause.

360Bikers is proud to start a trend by organizing regular rides.  The first few rides will be a combination of local rides for South Florida and a ride to Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Florida.  With 360Bikers, it’s about the ride.  We don’t care if you’re riding a Harley Davidson, a Honda, a Yamaha, a BMW or a Ducati.  All bikes and bikers are welcome.

Our first rides will be basic circles that are popular in our area.  We’d like to expand these to weekend rides in the future if there is interest.  The main purpose is to just get to know other bikers and to take safer rides in large groups.  Click the picture to see a larger map.

The rides shown here are three of the most popular in our area.  Meeting at the Citgo station in Royal Palm Beach on Southern Blvd., we typically leave around 9:30.  Times may vary with expectations of the ride.  The ride in red is known as the Ride Around the Lake as it circumvents Lake Okeechobee.  The ride in blue takes us up the east side of the lake and then back to the ocean for a slow ride along the Atlantic.  Another ride that isn’t on our list yet, but is popular takes us to a park in Broward County and then up US27 through Belle Glade and then east.

We try to plan a lunch stop in each ride or go with the flow and eat when the group is ready.  We would love to have you along. You can sign up to participate by clicking here or just show up.  Details are also on the link above.

Paint is one of the most spectacular parts of a customized motorcycle. I’ve seen paint work that makes me stare at a bike, marvelling at the depth and designs. It’s a lot of appreciation for a talent I will never have. I love paint. It’s my favorite part of photographing a motorcycle.

An acquaintance of mine is extremely talented with the airbrush. Gary Carpentier has been painting for years and had a great little side business designing and painting custom mailboxes. Perhaps it wasn’t his goal in life, but it provided a means to an end and helped finance his favorite things such as painting and motorcycles.

Gary travelled to Las Vegas a few times and took courses on painting techniques until he felt ready to take the step into the motorcycle world. Someone of less experienced would have leaped into customizing their own Harley Davidson. Gary’s mind said to start small and establish a reputation. His site, Carp Art Custom Paint, features that starting point with an array of custom painted horn covers for Harleys. Gary has some standards here, but also shows how he can make custom covers that will even match your tattoo.

Keep an eye out for Gary’s work. He’s ready to break into custom painting in a big way and has the talent to become one of the great motorcycle painters of our time. When he’s not working or painting, Gary rides a Harley Davidson Road King Classic.

We’ve all seen customized bikes and custom motorcycles. You can recognize the concepts and parts because they all have vast similarities. This is where they stop.

Mike Pugliese of Staten Island, NY takes custom design to a new level of art. Probably the most obvious feature is the frame. The radius of the back portion of the frame removes the usual corners and creates a futuristic frame for the engine and powertrain. The sweeping arc of the tank blends seamlessly into the frame to create a bike like no one else has ever seen.

You won’t see any cables hanging on this motorcycle. The system hides everything with an ingenious effort to hide anything that would interfere with the lines of this masterpiece. Mike even has a heavy hand in the painting processes. The artwork on this tank is a must to see when you visit his web site.

Mike also takes advantage of the single side swinging are and single side axle to give the back wheel a totally open look.

A while ago I maintained my blog on Blogger, a part of Google. One of my favorite blogs is one about my daughter helping me add accessories to the motorcycle. Those of you that have kids… let them help. It’s cool. It’s fun. And it gives them some respect for the work that bikers put into their machines.

I wanted to repost it here. It’s a big deal to me and so are my kids, even though they aren’t kids anymore.

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   There’s nothing like dressing up a bike to take it out with other bikers. The bike I bought already have a lot of nice accessories on it, but there were a few more things I wanted to do for finishing touches. The first four of these were chrome tips on the fenders (3) and a studded leather tank bra. I also intended to put visors on all five front lights, but these were all sent for the wrong model motorcycle and are on their way back west for replacements. All parts were standard issue Yamaha parts for the Roadstar.

My daughter, Karyn, was over so I engaged her assistance in added the accessories I had purchased. It turned out that I couldn’t have done the job without her assistance. She makes a great assistant when working on the bike and loves to go for a ride when the work is done.

First, we tackled what I thought would be the easiest thing to do: the front fender tip. As it turned out it was the most difficult of the tips. It wasn’t difficult, but it did take smaller hands than mine to reach under the fender with the lock washer and nut.

The front fender back piece was easier and the back fender tip was the easiest of all. We had all three pieces on in a matter of about 15 minutes. Now, we had the tank bra. I thought this was going to be easy but in the first frustrating attempt it was apparent that there was more to this task than just laying leather over the tank. The added thickness under the instrument section made it nearly impossible to move the package down to where the screws aligned. This one simple piece took us over 20 minutes and 3 tries. We started from scratch on each try. This meant keeping the bra, instruments, and screw holes aligned. This became the most difficult task of the evening. Of course, when we finished, we wanted to ride.

So, in spite of darkness, we took a ride and gathered a few bugs on the bike. On the way back I turned on the green underlighting and we had some fun. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to detail the bike before taking these pictures, but I’ll have more as the project is completed.

The night would not have succeeded without Karyn’s help. Thanks, Kiddo!