Free Republic

Ukrainian immigrant Dmitry Khristenko has found scrap watches an ideal medium for use in creating miniature tributes to American cultural icon Harley-Davidson... among other things: More at Reaganite Republican _________________________ Deviant Art

TOKYO (AP) -- It must have been a wild ride. Japanese media say a Harley-Davidson motorcycle lost in last year's tsunami has washed up on a Canadian island about 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles) away. The rusted bike was found in a large white container where its owner, Ikuo Yokoyama, had kept it. He was located through the license plate number, Fuji TV reported Wednesday. "This is unmistakably mine. It's miraculous," Yokoyama told Nippon TV when shown photos of the motorcycle. Yokoyama lost three members of his family in the March 11, 2011, tsunami...

Harry on a Harley... look away, Charles: Prince dons a red bandana and aviator shades, then hits Arizona highway on a £11,000 classic bike They are pictures certain to gladden the hearts of Prince Harry’s female fans. Looking tanned, fit and macho, the Prince jumped on a classic Harley-Davidson motorbike on Friday and roared off across the Arizona desert. One person unlikely to be impressed by his exploits, however, is his father Prince Charles, who doesn’t share his sons’ passion for motorbikes. Harry owns a Ducati 848 and a classic Triumph, and Prince William a Ducati 1198. But Charles admitted...

Over the years, Jerry Booth has seen many patriotically themed motorcycles but never one as ornate as the one he saw when he traveled to Tennessee a few years ago. Booth, a veteran and the organizer of this year's West Virginia Harley Owners Group Rally, saw the bike at a rally there three years ago. He loved it and the message it carries so much that he invited the owner to the event in Charleston. Tod "Weirdo" Wooldridge, owner of the 1986 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide, happily accepted. The bike is decked out in American regalia. It's painted front to back...

Milwaukee-based Iconinc bike maker Harley-Davidson on Tuesday said it will start an assembly facility of its motorcycles in India by the first half of 2011, making it the second facility outside the US. "This investment will allow us to improve our market responsiveness and production flexibility while reducing the tariff burden, which we expect will drive growth over time by making our bikes more accessible to India's consumers," said Harley-Davidson Motor Company President and Chief Operating Officer Matthew S. Levatich. The company will set up the new facility near Bawal in Haryana and expects the assembly facility to be operational...

It is being reported that now that David's murder was a case of mistake identity by a low-level member of the Los Zetas drug trafficking organization. The source also informed us that those responsible for Hartley's death are believed to have disposed of his body and that the Zeta hierarchy was conducting a damage-control operation to punish those responsible for the death and to distance the cartel from the murder. The source further reported that the murder of the lead Tamaulipas state investigator on the case, Rolando Armando Flores Villegas -- whose head was delivered in a suitcase to...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_wVCrcZtlo Jim’s update: Missy mentioned on a recent video how parenting has changed for her without television’s anesthetizing influence over the children and the distractions provided by other electronic amusements in our home. I affirm her assessment. While the attitudes of the children are drastically improving – and we delight in that – we acknowledge that we, by necessity, are becoming more attentive, engaged parents. And that often means we are finding ourselves saying things that we wouldn’t normally say. For example… (Photo) GIRLS! DON'T PUT YOUR LIPS ON THE AQUARIUM! Harvest is well underway here in Rozetta and this...

The chief executive of Harley-Davidson Inc. has urged Wisconsin employees to approve an unpopular labor contract Monday, telling them the motorcycle company is prepared to move on without them if they turn it down. CEO Keith Wandell wrote a letter last week telling the workers it's up to them to decide whether they want to remain part of Harley's future. "We are on a course to build a competitive company for the future and a business that is sustainable long term," the letter said. "Nothing can get in the way of this objective." The workers, who make motorcycle engines in...

MILWAUKEE — Harley-Davidson employees in Wisconsin are being asked to vote in favor of a labor contract that will freeze their pay, slash hundreds of jobs and hand large volumes of work to nonunion workers. As bleak as the proposal sounds, employees may have little choice but to accept it. If they don't, Harley-Davidson Motor Co. has threatened to move its last two Wisconsin operations to another state, leaving about 1,350 employees out of work. Employees are scheduled to vote on the proposed seven-year contract Monday. The results should be available by the evening. The Milwaukee-based motorcycle company blames its...

MILWAUKEE — Harley-Davidson Motor Co. and its union leaders reached a proposed labor agreement today that could keep manufacturing operations and hundreds of jobs in Wisconsin. The proposal still needs to be ratified by union workers and approved by the motorcycle company's board. Workers are expected to vote on the contract Sept. 13. Harley previously had said labor costs at its operations in Milwaukee and Tomahawk, Wis., were too high. The company threatened to move production to the Kansas City area or another U.S. city if Wisconsin workers wouldn't agree to certain labor concessions. The company declined to reveal the...

<p>SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has lept on a Harley Davidson and roared into an international biker convention in southern Ukraine.</p> <p>Around 5,000 bikers from Europe and beyond gathered in Sevastopol for the annual festival Saturday on Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.</p>

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine, July 24, 2010 (AFP) - Leaving a cloud of dust in his wake, a black-clad Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin roared into a rally in Ukraine on a Harley Davidson and hailed bikes as a "symbol of freedom". Putin drove into the rally of bikers on the southern Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea astride a gigantic three-wheeled Lehman trike conversion Harley Davidson motorbike, wearing dark glasses and waving his black gloved hands.

John DeHoop loved Harley-Davidson motorcycles: He rode one, had a tattoo of one and outfitted the family room of his White Bear Lake home with Harley memorabilia. Before he died of cancer at age 55 in May, DeHoop told his wife, Kathy, he wanted a motorcycle hearse at his funeral. During their rides along the St. Croix River, the couple had seen a Harley hearse parked outside Afton Leather, a motorcycle-apparel shop in Afton's Old Village. "He wanted that hearse," Kathy said. "Before being cremated, he wanted to go for one last ride."

Having climbed aboard an American icon at one of the most difficult points in its history, Keith Wandell has been driven by an overriding thought: Don't let Harley-Davidson become General Motors. Now, nearly a year into the job, Harley's chief executive officer has cut millions of dollars in costs, eliminated thousands of jobs and brought a sense of urgency to the world's largest maker of heavyweight motorcycles. Some of the changes, particularly the job cuts, have been painful. But in his first extensive interview since taking the reins, Wandell told the Journal Sentinel last week that the actions he took...

Harley-Davidson, the motorcycle maker, reported a fourth-quarter loss Friday, its first quarterly shortfall in 16 years, hurt by restructuring costs and the sluggish economy. Harley-Davidson has come under pressure over the last year as the tight credit markets and the weak economy led consumers to shun purchases of its high-end, heavyweight motorcycles. The company has been reorganizing its business through layoffs, factory closures and closing or selling unwanted brands. Harley said shipments of its bikes to dealers in 2009 fell 27 percent, to 223,023.

A planned promotion to support Second Amendment rights gets pulled. On December 1st, Bloomington's Herald Times posted a database of current gun permits. The local Harley-Davidson shop in Bloomington was outraged. A long-time advertiser with the paper, owners saw it as an unnecessary and dangerous practice. They planned a promotion with Cosner's Guns - Buy a Harley, Get a Gun. Just as soon as it was planned, it was pulled. The NRA has blasted the newspaper as well, saying the list makes it easy for criminals to target homes with or without guns.

Continuing hard times at Harley-Davidson came to something of a head Thursday with the announcement that the company was killing its Buell line of sport bikes almost immediately and actively looking for a buyer for its MV Agusta brand. Harley, which is based in Milwaukee, also disclosed continuing losses at its finance unit and a decline in sales of its heavyweight Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Overall, Harley’s net income for the third quarter plunged by 84 percent from last year, which was also a down year for the company. The Buell brand, based in East Troy, Wis., will shut down later this...

Harley-Davidson USA today announced that they are discontinuing the Buell line of motorcycles. This news comes as Harley-Davidson reported a third quarter earnings that was down 21.3% from the same period in 2008. All remaining in-stock Buell motorcycles and accessories will be sold by authorized dealers, but no additional Buell motorcycles will be manufactured. Existing warranty coverage for Buell motorcycles will be honored and Harley-Davidson will continue to provide replacement parts and service through their dealerships. Over time, the discontinuing of the Buell line is expected to eliminate 80 hourly productions positions and approximately 100 salaried positions at Buell. According...

A guy in Wisconsin will get a lot of attention at this year's Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. His name is Steve "Doc" Hopkins. He's got a custom-made 10-seat Harley Davidson. (It's 24-foot-long - and has seven different engines)

BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Buy a new Harley and get a gun for free That's the deal being offered by Eastside Harley-Davidson. That's the deal being offered by Eastside Harley-Davidson. Customers who buy a Big Twin Harley will get a voucher to Wade's Eastside Guns good for up to $500 in firearm, according to the shop's ad. The motorcycle shop posted a tongue-in-cheek video clip on its Web site to advertise what it's called "the best promotion of the year."

Bruce Rossmeyer, known for building a Harley Davidson empire with 15 dealerships, died Thursday in a motorcycle accident. Rossmeyer and a group of friends were on their way to the Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota when the accident happened. Rossmeyer was riding on a Wyoming Highway 28 when he attempted to pass a truck pulling a camper as it turned left. The 66-year-old, who was not wearing a helmet, struck the driver’s side door. Rossmeyer was pronounced dead at the scene.

Nearly half of the 1,000 job cuts announced by Harley-Davidson Inc. on Thursday will come from Wisconsin, the company says. Of the 1,000 jobs to be eliminated, about 480 will come from Wisconsin, including the elimination of 300 hourly production positions. About 180 salaried employees will lose their jobs here, including 100 from Harley-Davidson Financial Services. The production of Harley-Davidson Sportster engines in Wauwatosa will be shut down for about 14 weeks late this year, including the company's entire fourth quarter.

ADAMS CENTER, N.Y. -- "I'm not going to stop what I believe," Iron Block Harley Davidson Owner Erik Dunk said. Wednesday, the electronic sign out in front of the Iron Block Harley Davidson in Adams Center read this: "Obama are you kidding? We're not Muslim. You are not Christian."

Can anybody tell me if the Harley Davidson Sportster 883 is okay for a beginner? Any suggestions on the best bike to start out with?

Harley-Davidson Inc. said Friday it will cut 1,100 jobs over two years, close some facilities and consolidate others as it grapples with a slowdown in motorcycle sales. The Milwaukee-based company also reported its fourth-quarter profit fell nearly 60 percent, and said it is slashing motorcycle shipments in 2009 to cope with reduced demand. The iconic motorcycle maker said it will consolidate two engine and transmission plants in Milwaukee into its facility in Menomonee Falls, Wis. It will shrink its paint and frame operations in its York, Pa., plant and close its distribution facility in Franklin, Wis., whose duties will be...

Harley-Davidsons 'immortal' in Cuba By Joshua Robinson Thursday, January 8, 2009 HAVANA: Sergio Morales's friends gently rib him about the dirt under his fingernails and the grease that fills every line in his 58-year-old hands. The grease has been there so long, they tell him, that it must predate Fidel Castro's revolution. But Morales has heard all the jokes, and not a single one makes him look up from his work. He just shifts his cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other as his fingers twist and caress the tools in front of him, granting new life...

John Edwards once said there were two Americas. He was right. Pretty sure I know which one I want to live in.

Springsteen ends world tour at Harley celebrationBy CARRIE ANTLFINGER, Associated Press Writer Sun Aug 31, 9:36 AM ET MILWAUKEE - Bruce Springsteen ended his world tour over the weekend, toned down but revved up. Springsteen played more than 30 songs over 3 1/2 hours Saturday night on Milwaukee's lakefront for Harley-Davidson's 105th anniversary celebration. He made few comments between songs. Only for a few moments before "Livin' in the Future" did the rocker — who often brings his liberal-leaning political comments to the stage — stray into politics. Springsteen performed to a crowd not unlike the one that gave Republican...

Getting paid to ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle all day seems like a dream job. Except for the heat, the cold, the rain and snow and of course, the inattentive motorists who plow into you. But for motorcycle cops, there’s no place they’d rather be than the seat of a Harley. “We’re police officers, and we get to ride a Harley for free. What’s better than that?” said Arlington (Va.) County Sheriff’s motor officer Ralph Rice. Rice and the 17 other motorcycle officers in his department ride FLHTP Electra Glides to escort the president, respond to accidents and patrol traffic. Several...

MILWAUKEE - A motorcyclist was killed on Milwaukee’s east side after he was hit by a car. It happened Friday afternoon near Humboldt and North. Police said a 61-year-old woman from Milwaukee was driving her car southbound on Humboldt when she tried to turn right to go west on North Avenue, but instead of turning right, she went across all the lanes of traffic. Police say the woman hit the curb on the other side of the road, and tried to correct herself. That is when she struck the motorcyclist. Police said 55-year-old Michael Fleming of Michigan was riding in...

Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) said today it has agreed to purchase Italian motorcycle maker MV Agusta Group for $109 million, expanding its presence in Europe. The acquisition of privately held MV Agusta is expected to close in several weeks. Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson said it expects to finance the transaction primarily through euro-denominated debt. MV Agusta Group has two families of motorcycles: a line of premium, high-performance sport motorcycles sold under the MV Agusta brand; and a line of lightweight motorcycles sold under the Cagiva brand. The company sells its products through about 500 dealers worldwide, the vast majority of them in Europe....

MILWAUKEE Some 5,400 Harley-Davidson Inc. workers are out of work this week as the motorcycle maker cuts production because of falling sales. The Milwaukee-based company announced in September it would shut down production at plants in Wisconsin, Kansas City, Mo., and York, Pa., this week as part of a planned cut in production. A shorter layoff is better than a long one, said Frank Larkin, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents workers at Harley-Davidson plants. At least workers were able to prepare for it, he said. "We were informed early on this was...

MILWAUKEE - Cities from New York to Denver are giving motorcyclists the silent treatment. That worries riders rights groups, which fear that a wave of ordinances aimed at muffling Harley-Davidsons, hushing Hondas and stifling Suzukis will create a confusing patchwork of laws that motorcyclists won't be able to navigate. The motorcycle industry is concerned it could turn these frustrated riders away. 'From our perspective, this creates enormous problems for us because people notice the one motorcycle that makes a lot of noise,' said Bill Wood, spokesman for the American Motorcyclist Association. 'They don't notice the 50 that pass that don't....

TUMBLE: Motorcycles go flying, and one rider ends up in the hospital. A bear waiting for its chance to cut through traffic on the Seward Highway this weekend looked twice but still darted through a group of bikers, and the resulting domino effect sent one biker to a Seward hospital.The black bear walked onto the shoulder near Cooper Landing at about 11 a.m. Saturday and paused at the roadside while the first few in a group of eight bikers passed going south, Anchorage motorcyclist Randy Hames said.

Did you ever think you'd see a 94-year-old grandmother look so natural sitting on a Harley Davidson motorcycle? Well this isn't your everyday grandma. At age 85, grandmother Ruby Peterson commemorated her birthday by taking to the skies in a hot air balloon and a few years later she took the waters on a jet ski. “Every year I try do something for my birthday,” says Peterson,who will be turning 95 in July. “My kids never want me to do anything cause they're afraid I'll hurt myself,” she said. “I tell them this year I'll buy a rocking chair and...

ALERT!!! ALERT!!! ALERT!!! To all of those who are familiar with the general tone of this blog, you have been warned: WHAT FOLLOWS IS AN ANTI-AMERICAN SCREED! Why can't America make a low-cost, high performance motorcycle? Here I am, cash in hand, ready to buy American and my only choices are Victory (horrendously expensive) and Harley-Davidson (just plain horrendous). In fairness to Victory, they make a magnificent bike; powerful, gorgeous, and with fit and finish that makes them look like rolling jewelry. But that pricetag!!!??? Then there's Harley. Overweight, underpowered and overpriced. The overweight and underpowered part may be a...

West Allis - Union workers at Harley-Davidson Inc. Tuesday approved concessions that will result in a $120 million expansion and creation of at least 100 new jobs in the Milwaukee area. The 943 to 536 vote came after a sustained campaign by union leadership to reverse a rejection of similar concessions last month. The proposal that won approval includes lower wages for workers hired after the first of the year, as well as a decrease in health insurance, pensions and cost-of-living adjustments for all workers. However, the gap between the two wage tiers is smaller in the deal agreed to...

President Bush, in York, Penn., gets on a motorcycle during a tour of the Harley-Davidson vehicle operations plant. At right is roll test operator Joel Toner.

Harley-Davidson enthusiasts now have their own stamp of approval, thanks to the United States Postal Service. A 1965 Harley Electra-Glide is featured as one of four new first-class stamps being rolled out in Wisconsin at 11 a.m. Saturday at Capital City Harley-Davidson/Buell, 6200 Millpond Road, on Madison's far east side. The stamp rollout ceremony at kick-starts the third annual motorcycle ride to raise funds for the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center. The stamps were officially introduced to the public Aug. 7 during the 66th annual Harley rally in Sturgis, S.D., and have been unveiled in local ceremonies throughout America since...

Strong sales fueled Harley-Davidson Inc. growth in the second quarter, helping ease concerns that production cuts are coming. On Monday, the manufacturer of Fat Boy cruisers and other heavyweight motorcycles said bike sales grew 10% in the quarter that ended June 25. Sales in overseas markets increased at more than twice the pace of U.S. sales. Harley has revamped its dealerships in Europe, in some cases cutting the number of dealerships so that remaining locations could become more profitable. "We have made a lot of investments over the last couple of years in these markets," Harley CEO Jim Ziemer said...

What it takes to be a jerk BY DAVE BARRY (This classic Dave Barry column was originally published on Sept. 29, 1996.) Recently, when I was having a hamburger at an outdoor restaurant, two guys started up their Harley-Davidson motorcycles, parked maybe 25 feet from me. Naturally, being Harley guys, these were rebels -- lone wolves, guys who do it Their Way, guys who do not follow the crowd. You could tell because they were wearing the same jeans, jackets, boots, bandannas, sunglasses, belt buckles, tattoos and (presumably) underwear worn by roughly 28 million other lone-wolf Harley guys. And, of...

Tacoma, WA Ride and Rally For The Troops III On July 9, 2006, there will be an event, the third such, to show support of the military members currently deployed to the Middle East and their families. It is a motorcycle ride and rally that will begin and end at Destination Harley Davidson in Fife, with registration beginning at 8:00 AM, and departure time of 10:15 AM. It is an event created solely to give the general public an opportunity to demonstrate support visibly, and the money it generates is donated to support the troops and their families. Recent news...

(AP) MILWAUKEE Harley-Davidson has been a Milwaukee icon for a century. The company now specific plans to give its hometown another icon with its industrial-style museum slated to open in 2008. The company announced Friday it will start construction on its 130,000-square foot, $75 million museum this spring. The buildings -- which will feature heavy use of glass, brick and steel -- feature four distinct towers, adding another feature to the city's skyline. The museum is slated to open in 2008 with three buildings to house a museum, corporate archives, retail space, restaurant and special events rooms. "Many companies lose...

I just heard this on my local station in Tahlequah Oklahoma that memebers of Harley Owners Group's accross the country are going to our nations hero's funerals to block anti-war maggots from harrassing the greiving families. God Bless them and our troops in harms way.

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Harley-Davidson Inc. issued a voluntary safety recall on 2006 model Dyna series motorcycles built between June 9 and Oct. 19 due to a transmission defect. The company said late Tuesday the recall affects some 13,400 motorcycles and is expected to cost less than $5 million, which it will make reservations for in the fourth quarter. Harley-Davidson also said it expects to meet its previously announced wholesale shipment target of 329,000 motorcycles for 2005. The Milwaukee-based company said it will provide owners with free pickup and delivery and will make recall kits, which include three redesigned transmission components,...

STREATOR, Ill. -- Gary Simko is helping bikers take their last ride. The retired Illinois detective has a specially built hearse that's pulled by a three-wheeled Harley Davidson. Simko said the hearse is modeled after the carriage that carried outlaw Jesse James to his Missouri grave in 1882. Simko usually wears a tuxedo shirt, blue jeans, black leather vest and boots when he is on the job. Sometimes he also puts a single spur on his boots, an old tradition honoring fallen cavalry soldiers.

Iconic motorbike is on sale in Moscow for the first time since 1917IT IS the ultimate symbol of American individualism — a Harley-Davidson cruising on the open road. In Soviet times the iconic motorcycle was a distant dream for Russia’s would-be bikers, hunched in their battered Ladas in the snow. But 14 years after the Soviet collapse, the “chopper”, has finally roared into Moscow. Today, Harley-Davidson officially opens the doors of its first dealership in Russia since the 1917 Revolution, hoping to harness the spending power of the new Russian rich. Maxim Belousov, the director of the dealership on the...

NEW YORK -- A man about to be arrested for domestic violence opened fire inside a police station Wednesday night, wounding two police officers before being shot himself, authorities said. Several officers returned fire, striking Corey Harley, 27, numerous times. All three men were in stable condition at Jersey City Medical Center Wednesday night, said Stan Eason, a police spokesman.

BAGHDAD -- When he belches around Baghdad's old quarter on his spotless Harley Davidson, Kadhem Sharif, a power-lifting champion sporting wraparound sunglasses, makes for an unlikely sight. And the 53-year-old is fully aware that his passion for one of the most recognizable symbols of the American way of life is not to everybody's liking in post-war Iraq. But his garage is a carbon copy of any Harley aficionado's den in the United States, complete with posters of naked "babes on bikes". And his collection of 40-plus motorbikes provides a condensed history of 100 years of national turmoil. "This Norton was...

A Harley-Davidson Inc. shareholder has sued the motorcycle company, alleging that it used false and misleading accounting measures to conceal weakened sales, which later led to a collapse in the stock price. In the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee, Raymond Kadagian alleges that Harley shipped more motorcycles to dealers than they could sell, a practice called "channel stuffing." The essence of the claim is that Harley inflated its sales prospects and failed to disclose the company's true financial condition, said David Scott, a Connecticut attorney representing Kadagian, who lives in Las Vegas. Kadagian is a "small"...