harley

INDIANAPOLIS--At first glance, the Vance & Hines facility outside Indianapolis wouldn't seem to offer much of interest to anyone. And that would be precisely the case, unless you're interested in motorcycles, speed, drag racing, burning rubber, loud engines, championship trophies, world records, and elite precision engineering.

Two expansive, blandly adorned warehouses hide off a side road beside several acres of corn stalks. But the engineers and mechanics working inside Vance & Hines produce some of the fastest two-wheeled vehicles in the world.

Competing in National Hot Rod Association motorcycle competitions, the 2.6-liter, 385-horsepower Vance and Hines/Screamin' Eagle team motorcycles were the first racers to break the seven-second mark on the quarter mile, with a 6.99.

According to Vance & Hines racer Eddie Krawiec, the next Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson racing goal is to break the 200 mph mark: "I'd love to be the guy who does it, but every racer on the circuit wants the same thing." … Read more

MILWAUKEE--Even Harley-Davidson has its secrets. Inside the recesses of the company's archives and housed near the Harley-Davidson Museum complex here, a sort of motorcycle "X-Files" hides away. The collection includes a varied array of strange and iconic items connected to both the company and overall biker culture.

Some of those odd items have been assembled into Collection X, an exhibit on display through August 22. During a recent trip to both the Powertrain Operations factory and the Harley-Davidson Museum, CNET got to spy on Collection X, which offers insights into extreme machines that scored incredible achievements and bizarre creations forged out of a love for motorcycles.

Displays include the 1985 FXRP "Transamazon" motorcycle that Charles Peet raced 9,000 miles in 26 days across the width of South America, and the 1970 Land Speed Streamliner that Cal Rayborn piloted to the then land-speed record of more than 265 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. … Read more

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wisc.--To Harley-Davidson riders, the Powertrain Operations facility here just north of Milwaukee is hallowed ground. It's where the hearts of their favorite bikes start beating.

Engines for most of the Harley-Davidson line come alive here before they head to bike assembly plants in Pennsylvania and Missouri. To help promote Harley-Davidson's emerging Dark Custom line, CNET was invited to stroll through the plant as part of its Steel Toe Tour this past weekend to see how the company's V-Twin engines come together.

Harley-Davidson began offering the Powertrain Operations tour in 2010, escorting a small number of motorcycle lovers through the factory floor to see the various stages of V-Twin engine construction. The tour builds chronologically from the construction, refinement, and inspection of engine components, including cam heads and pistons, to the fly wheel assemblies and overall engine build. About 100 employees work in two shifts at Powertrain Operations alongside Swedish-made industrial robots that perform assembly and inspection. … Read more

MILWAUKEE--There's no better time to visit the Harley-Davidson Museum here than the July 4th weekend. The often brutal Great Lakes weather smiles on you with blue skies reflecting on the nearby riverfront. The huge Summerfest music festival roars not too far away. And the rebellious, proud image of America's oldest active motorcycle manufacturer fits the patriotic mood.

But museums generally look back at history, the minds behind Harley-Davidson looked to use the 3-year-old attraction to promote the company's push to modernize its image.

Built on waterfront property that was once a Morton Salt factory, the $70 million-plus complex documents the engineering history of Harley-Davidson and the development of the uniquely American motorcycle culture that developed throughout the 20th century. Founded in 1903, Harley-Davidson was the only surviving American motorcycle company until a British firm begin making a small number of Indian motorcycles in the U.S. around 2006. … Read more

"The Wild One" would have been a very different movie if Marlon Brando had ridden into town on Jodi Johnson's customized 2004 Harley-Davidson motorcycle. It's hard to fear a biker sporting a ride with pink flames and 10,000 Swarovski crystals. It's just as hard to be brooding and moody when you're looking at one.

Johnson is the cover rider for the April issue of the Thunder Roads Michigan motorcycle magazine. "Every girl needs a little sparkle in her life," Johnson writes in the magazine. I can attest to the truth in that. Most gals don't take it as literally as hand-applying thousands of crystals to a machine that's more closely associated with leather and bar brawls than Beyonce's Swarovski-encrusted microphone.

Johnson describes her style as "J-Bling." She started with motorcycle helmets, but every hobbyist yearns for bigger and better things. She celebrated the recent achievement of earning her motorcycle license by going all Liberace on her ride.

As we know, it's hard to stop the spread of Swarovski crystals once it has started. Everything from the front windscreen down along the tail pipes to the license plate holder has been emblazoned with little gems of happiness. I can hear Jon Bon Jovi singing in my head, "I'm a cowboy. On a steel unicorn I ride. And I'm wanted... dead or alive."

Unlike actual unicorns, you can see Johnson's sparkly creation in person at the Giant Motorcycle Swap Meet in Michigan on April 17. In summary: wheels, a pink paint job, and crystals. I would do this to my Prius in a heartbeat, if I didn't think it would negatively affect my gas mileage.

(Via Luxury Launches) … Read more

YORK, Pa.--Take the world's most iconic motorcycles. And take industrial geekiness at its best. Mix the two. And what you get is what I'm looking at: the production lines of the 2011 model year Harley-Davidson touring, Softtail and "trike" motorcycles.

I've come here as part of Road Trip 2010 knowing that there are few ways more popular among those who travel the highways of America than Harleys. When planning this visit, I had in mind the motorcycle version of the story and photo package I did on the Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Each summer for the last four years, I've been lucky enough to get to pick a region of the country and spend several weeks driving around, writing stories and taking photos of some of the best geek-oriented destinations I could find.

In 2006, it was the Pacific Northwest. In 2007, the Southwest. In 2008, it was the Southeast. And in 2009, I traveled through almost the entire Rocky Mountain and Continental Divide region. Over the four years, I've covered 18,528 miles and visited dozens of the most interesting research labs, military bases, aviation facilities, NASA centers, … Read more

Lately, it seems that more tech products are getting into leather (or some synthetic version thereof), even if they're not even available yet. The most recent example is the Audio Pro Porto seen on Chip Chick.

There are countless iPod docks and speakers on the market, of course, but this one tries to distinguish itself with a vertical design and casing that allows it to be more portable than other home systems. The leather (or leather-looking) exterior has a nicely stiched handle on top so you can make it into upright boombox as long as your triceps don't … Read more