It’s impossible to ignore the gleam of chrome coming off Harley-Davidson’s 2013 Custom Vehicle Operations (CVO) line. The 2013 Breakout, its tins the recipient of a 10-step sanding process, is shooting the reflection of the sun off the tank up under the rim of my sunglasses as avenues lined with multi-million dollar homes reflect in its polished metal. We rumble past posh estates and personal wineries as we sample some of the finest from The Motor Company, the CVOs the result of a year’s hard work by a team whose sole purpose is to make the production models stand apart from the crowd. At their disposal are premium Screamin’ Eagle parts, an unparalleled factory paint program, and the most potent stock powerplant available from H-D, the Twin Cam 110.
Motorcycle USA spent two days flogging the four new CVO models recently, rumbling out of Carmel Valley and down California’s scenic Hwy 1 to Big Sur before shooting inland to the torrid Salinas valley, trekking over 300 miles on everything from twisting, bumpy farm roads to open highway.
While the introduction of a new  … More
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The Harley-Davidson Museum is the place to be this Labor Day weekend as it showcases some of the greatest customized motorcycles in the country during an expanded, three-day Custom Bike Show Weekend. The weekend’s activities begin on Thursday, Aug. 30, with the largest Bike Night of the summer that includes a party kicking off a year of 110th Anniversary global fan-driven celebrations and the first public preview of the new 2013 Harley-Davidson models.
On Friday, Aug. 31, and Saturday, Sept. 1, the Museum partners with AMD, an organizer of premiere international bike shows, to bring some of the best professional bike builders in the business to Milwaukee  … More
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Early this year, I got the idea of racing the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb on my Triumph 675 Street Triple. Ignorance is bliss, they say. Luckily, I procrastinated to the point of no longer being able to afford it, as the registration costs continue to increase every month or two. The race still intrigued me and never having watched it in person, I applied for and was promptly denied press credentials with apologies as the deadline had long since passed.
Then came the fires; those wicked, heartbreaking fires. We were all stunned and the race was postponed. An announcement was made a few weeks later that the show would go on  … Pictures and more
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It’s not every day you get the opportunity to sit in a donut shop three miles above sea level and talk racing with real champions. If you do, I’d say jump at the chance. In my case, there was a whole lot more listening than actual talking, but you get the picture.
We had a pretty good idea that motorcycles would be setting new records in this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, (the first five classes did!) but when Greg Tracy clocked 9:58.262 on his number 555 Ducati Multistrada, to crack the 10 minute barrier first, even the car drivers sat up started paying attention  … More
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