Bikes and Builder Department

"Editor’s Note: The day after our reporter turned in this story he quit. “It was worse than boot camp,” Snake said, “I was surrounded by the best custom manufactured bikes in the industry and the hottest women Wichita could muster then drug from location to location by the mad dog of motorcycle photography, Michael Lichter.”"

"Aad's motor has been stripped down, cylinders are powdercoated black, valve covers and nosecone have been matt-chromed ( took almost 3 months before we got them back), all tolerances have been checked and everything that needed fixing has been fixed. Special thanks to Ronnie Breuer at Iron Pit for helping Aad with the engine rebuild and Marcel at Bike Hospital for help with parts."

Harley-Davidson Department

"Milwaukee, WIS. (March 6, 2006) - Harley-Davidson, Inc. announced today that Thomas E. Bergmann has been selected as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Bergmann, 39, was most recently Chief Executive Officer of USF Corporation, Chicago, Illinois, a publicly-traded $2.5 billion transportation and logistics company which was acquired by YRC Worldwide Inc. in May, 2005. Bergmann joined USF in 2004 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer."

"MILWAUKEE (March 6, 2006) - Harley-Davidson has bolstered its motorsports racing programs and will continue its long-standing support of flat track and drag racing in 2006. Professional, factory-backed drag racing and dirt track teams will again race under the Screamin’ Eagle Performance Parts brand seeking championships in the nation's greatest motorcycle racing programs."

"In March of 2005, the city of Milwaukee and Harley-Davidson Motor Company signed formal agreements related to Harley-Davidson's purchase of the Museum site at Sixth and Canal Streets near downtown Milwaukee. ... Our vision is that the Museum will draw visitors locally and from throughout the world to experience the people, products, culture and history of Harley-Davidson. The Harley-Davidson Museum will celebrate the rich history of the Company, the passion of the riders, the stories of the employees, dealers, suppliers, company leaders, and community members and much more. The experience will extend to outdoor space where visitors from near and far can meet, share stories and enjoy the green spaces adjacent to the edge of the Menomonee River."

Pickings Department

"On the streets and parking lots of Bike Week, the machines drawing the most stares aren't the choppers--those are soooo 2005. No, it's the stripped down, old-school bobbers, a style of custom motorcycle that was popular in the 1950s but has now been updated for the new millenium, that wind up with knots of people around them. Characterized by a look that is designed to look shorter that the super-stretched customs of recent years, bobbers take their name from the bobbed rear fender that originally defined the genre. Modern bobbers take the style in new directions, though defining exactly what a bobber really is can be tough"