Hallman Tells His Tale

ast year Cycle Source announced that the SmokeOut would be returning to the Rowan C o u n t y Fairgrounds for the first time in a decade. Early in my career, The SmokeOut was the “go-to” event for all of us “Chopper kids” in the Midwest and the East Coast. Back then, social media was nothing like what it is today. The community that we all orbited in wasn’t an online community. We would all look forward to the ride down as much as we looked forward to the actual event. The hijinks along the road to the SmokeOut often provided more fun, more good stories and by the end of the weekend was a large part of the overall experience. Let’s face it, who remembers that time we did that thing, and nothing happened?

lIn 2005, my business partner, Evan, and I built and repaired motorcycles as a full-time vocation. I had been married for 11 years, and Evan was a single dude fresh out of university. We made our living repairing, welding, and fabricating as many bikes as the general public would send our way. This was nearly 20-years ago. We were the new kids on Detroit’s “West Side”, and there were some shops around us that were the OG’s, and they got the good work. Names like Steve Broyles and Gary Milligan are just two that I’d say lit the way for Evan and me to have a craft to hone. So, needless to say, heading to an event like the SmokeOut was a pivotal move for us to learn more about where we were headed (career-wise), and it would be the place where we could assert ourselves within our peer group. Back then, builders like Paul Wideman, Pat Patterson, Brian from Black Sunshine, and ourselves were all full of piss and vinegar and were ready to party the entire way to, at, and from the Rowan County Fairgrounds. What happened was an epic story that I, for one, will never forget. We left Thursday morning at

Article By: Jason Hallman

the crack-ass of dawn, headed for what we all hoped would be a life-changing moment. When we rolled home that Sunday, we had made life-long friends and took home memories that no one can ever take away.

Some folks like to paint the readers of The Horse Backstreet Choppers with a broad brush stroke as if we were all the same. Nothing could be farther from the truth! While we all shared a common love of music, motorcycles, and partying, everyone that passed through the gates into the fairgrounds was there for their own reason. Some were there for commerce, some for debauchery, while others were there for fellowship. This was a very different party from an Easyriders rodeo or a Bike Week. This was two days (Friday and Saturday) of nonstop, around-the-clock partying, and the fairgrounds weren’t even open around the clock. In those days, the event promptly ended early, which meant that we savages were all set free to terrorize the town of Salisbury, North Carolina…only we didn’t. The SmokeOut was the perfect size crowd, the perfect size venue, and the perfect amount of fun, and it was all self-governed. In fact, once the party was over at the fairgrounds, it was getting started in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn.

While most hotels would have called the law and sent everyone packing, the Holiday Inn in Salisbury welcomed us with open arms. Burnouts, beer, booze, and broads filled the parking lot until the wee hours of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings. The debauchery was kept to a minimum while the damage was mainly limited to the parking lot and a few motorcycles that didn’t make it out of the unofficial burnout area due to a blown tire or engine (or sometimes both).

Our voyage there and home was filled with only a few minor problems that, ironically, ended up being little teaching moments

about the motorcycles we built and then rode across half the country for the privilege, and believe you me, it was (and still is) a privilege to meet some of your hero’s face to face. Dudes like Billy Lane and Paul Cox, Roadside Marty, XS Speed (who I have since become friends with and can tell you an AMAZING and funny story about. If you ever meet me in person, just ask… (I even have photographic proof). They were all right there having their own SmokeOut experience.

Personally, I am looking forward to The SmokeOut being back in Salisbury. It was a good fit. Sure, there is no longer a Holiday Inn, but who knows…maybe we can all just go there and make some new memories while we look back on all of the old ones!

They say you can’t put the smoke back in the bottle, but with a bit of luck…lightning can strike twice!

PERFORMANCE MACHINE BLACK CONTROL KIT

CAN BUS SYSTEM GIVES YOU A SLEEK WAY TO HAVE CUSTOM CONTROLS WITH STOCK FUNCTIONALITY

Article By And Photos By: Chris Callen

While I’ve been hard at work on the Evolution FXR for the Dennis Kirk Ride-a-way program, I haven’t realized that while I am building under the new performance banner of sorts, I have been taking a very “Chopper” approach to it. By that, I mean not just grabbing the most expensive parts for the build but looking for ways to match cost with style and performance. The Performance Machine Black Handbus Control Kit was a solid find to that end.

Not only are these things dopelooking, they are a sleek way to have custom controls but still retain all the functionality of factory controls. It’s a best of both worlds scenario and all for a moderate price when compared to some of the upper-end controls on the market today.

So what’s this CAN Bus System. Well, I’m not an expert. CAN Bus is offered on 2014 and later Dressers and 2010 and later Softail models. It’s a new system, a modern way the Motor Company went with for

electrical componentry. There are much fewer wires compared to the traditional system, and as an example, instead of 13 wires in the handlebars on an Ultra Classic, you only have like five, and it does everything. This system also communicates with the body control module on your stock bike, so it’s hassle free.

The controls are CNC machined from billet aluminum. The kit I got includes a 9/16” brake master cylinder, brake light switch, starter interrupt switch, left and right side switch housings, dual cable snap-in or electronic throttle by wire throttle housing, clutch side spacer, CAN Bus controller, and your choice of either a cable clutch perch or an 11/16” hydraulic clutch master cylinder. Best of all, they are proudly Made in the U.S.A. Might be why I could get ‘em in time for this build too....? Go to www.DennisKirk. com today and check them out.

Article By: Kevin Baxter

my top five reasons I believe peak horsepower is overrated. To start things off, there is no question that there is an ego side to horsepower. Everyone wants to have more than their buddy.

This happens in the car and bike world. We have these bragging rights that we put behind a single number with almost total disregard for all the other factors that matter when it comes to your bike or car, how you ride, and your overall driving experience.

Number one. I think horsepower is overrated because we all simply go with a peak horsepower number. That’s what everyone talks about. But that peak number doesn’t tell you the whole story.

It doesn’t tell you how much average horsepower you’re actually putting down at any given moment. A great, although extreme example, would be to compare a Tesla to a 1000 horsepower supercharged pro street car. The Tesla depending on the model, is rated at an average of 300 horsepower but can have a zero to 60 time of under three seconds. Considerably faster acceleration when compared to a car with three times the horsepower, even if they weigh about the same. The Tesla, because of its electric motor, hits peak torque immediately. And the car with three times the horsepower takes more time to build it. No question, despite that difference, the Tesla will be the faster accelerating car. So, the whole point is that the entire curve

is very important, and the peak number is not all that important, especially when considering how most of your time driving or riding is spent.

Number two. Horsepower is actually a major contributing factor to a bike or car’s top speed. So, there’s really two important things for determining how fast a bike or car can go, how much it weighs and how aerodynamic it is. Weight actually plays a very small role in determining the bike’s top speed. A heavier bike may take longer to reach its top speed, but it will get there. Yes, less weight could make a small difference in top speed, but not as much as you may think. For those of us living on public roads with speed limits and true constraints of everyday driving, top speed is less of a concern than the rate of acceleration. Yes, horse plow power plays a small role in rate of acceleration. But with extremely high horsepower

combined with high RPMs, traction then becomes an issue as well as a limiting factor. Most of the time, you don’t get to go up to those top speeds. It’s just not something that’s feasible.

So what’s more important? The rate of acceleration or top speed? For most of you that ride on the street most of the time, you have to ask yourself, what’s the point where you want to be able to accelerate quickly? Do you want to be able to accelerate quickly on the low end? I think if we were all to say in the zero to 80 or 100 miles an hour range, most of us would agree. So, where do you want all that power to be? Where do you want to enjoy it? I’m sure most of you street riders will agree that you would prefer to put the power in the lower mile per hour range and not seek a top speed simply because without a track, there’s

no opportunity to enjoy it.

Number three. Horsepower is heavy. That’s just a fact. When you start adding power, you either need a larger engine, larger pistons, larger valves, heavier weight valve springs, bigger intakes, or you need a turbocharger or supercharger. You’ll need to beef up your brakes too because you’ll be riding at much faster speeds. This is often why lower horsepower cars and bikes can, in fact, accelerate so much quicker Because all the components are so much lighter.

Number four. Now I want to talk about acceleration because, obviously, we all enjoy acceleration, and that pull your arms out of the socket feeling when we crack the throttle. That’s why people talk horsepower. But, I think one of the distinctions we need to make is the initial jerk of acceleration rather than the average acceleration over time. So what’s the difference? Well, velocity is the speed that you’re going right now. Then your rate of acceleration is the increase in your velocity. That jerk you feel is the change in the rate of your acceleration. So what that means is, if I’m not accelerating right now, then I twist hard on the throttle, we’re instantly getting a peak torque that would have a very high jerk, and it pushes you back in your seat. That’s what’s fun and feels good. That response is actually torque, not horsepower. It takes time to build horsepower. Yet, torque can be immediate, like in the Tesla example. It’s far more thrilling when you twist the throttle or slam your foot down and immediately get planted in your seat. That’s more exciting. And that jerk is more about torque response rather than how much peak horsepower the vehicle has.

So it’s not necessarily that you have to have a high horsepower for it to accelerate quickly and have that jerk.

Number five. So really, we’re talking about horsepower versus fun. So let’s think about all the things we enjoy about street performance engines. Some will say they like horsepower but care more about the jerk and the rate of acceleration increase. You care about braking, you care about steering, you care about how it handles and what it feels like. You care about the grip of the tires, and so on. There are a lot of things that you care about, and all are the qualities that we want in a bike, and horsepower is just one of those qualities. But the sad thing about horsepower is that if you tend to weigh that value higher, if you say this is more important, you start to sacrifice all of those other factors. So many people seem to be in a horsepower war and don’t want to break that cycle. Others are beginning to say, hey, 130 horsepower at the wheel is plenty. Give me a bike that weighs less, handles and rides like a dream, jerks my head when I hit it and accelerates like crazy zero to 80 miles an hour. It can handle the twisties, stop when it needs to, and last a long time without issues. Those bikes are a riot to ride. All that said, when you call us for your engine upgrades, take some time to really think about how you ride and where. Think about all the aspects of your motorcycle and the entire riding experience. We know and understand suspension, braking, and all the other factors of a total bike build. And armed with that information, it helps us in our efforts to coach you along in building the perfect machine just for you. It’s not always all about the peak horsepower. But we do know, and we do love torque.