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| EPISODE
CRO 11001 |
This episode of Corbin’s Ride On includes the kickoff of our latest J&P Motorcycle Makeover...plus, in ShopTalk, we’ll look inside the Boxer engine...and we’ll head to Sin City to meet a big man who lets his customs do the talking! |
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El Pitts is a big man. And you won’t be surprised to find out his first career was as a security guard at a Vegas casino. But when one celebrity high-roller complained to management that El was too menacing for comfort, he decided it was time to move on. Pitts was a hot-rod guy until a family connection drew him into the world of motorcycles. Now, his Vegas City Choppers is a major motorcycle attraction, & El and his crew are building a reputation for designing and constructing some of the most unique creations in the custom world. The crew includes El, his technician Kenny, and Dino, who creates incredible seats and accessories from hand-tooled leather and exotic skins. VCC’s marketing and PR guy, BS, was gassing up his car one day when he saw El and Kenny cruise by. He chased them down & eventually joined the staff! Now, everybody knows what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas – but at Vegas City Choppers, they like to say “what happens in Vegas – probably started at Vegas City Choppers!” & while the custom creations that come out of VCC are characteristically long and low, it’s tough to nail down a particular theme or style. And that’s the way El wants it. Keeping things different even means using a variety of motors. Another of El’s idiosyncrasies is that he prefers to do all the maintenance on every bike he builds. We mounted up with El and the crew to take in some of the sights west of Vegas towards the Red Rocks area.
Vegas City Choppers are getting plenty of notice at motorcycle shows and events around the country, but El Pitts is one custom builder who would rather see his creations rolling!
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On our last Motorcyle Makeover, J&P Cycles wanted to show how radically they could transform a stock Harley with just bolt-on parts, & how fast they could do it. But this year J&P’s John Parham wanted something different – a complete build with a vintage “bobber” style & a twist – the finished bike would be donated to the National Motorcycle Museum for a fund-raising raffle! To nail down the details for this retro project, John met with design & fabrication specialists Scott Takes & his painter Lowell from Underground Studios. To make the bobber come to life, John enlisted the help of veteran motorcycle technician Jeff Wiley & newcomer Bob Boyer, a J&P crew member who volunteered to get a little grease under his fingernails. The project started as a kit bike available through the J&P catalog. Jeff & Bob pre-assembed the unfinished kit to check for proper fitment before sending the frame off to the powdercoater, Mike Zimmerman at Z Custom. & no expense was spared to use the best components available!
Frame: The Fat Guy Rigid Bobber Frame by Chopper Guys with custom powdercoating. True to the bobber concept, this frame features a stock 35 degree rake & short inch-&-three-quarters stretch in the backbone..
Front end: custom wide springer front forks by Paughco. Classic looks from the most respected line of springers in the industry with Paughco’s award-winning chrome finish.
There’s a long way to go before the Raffle Bobber is ready to roll, so look for more episode of our Motorcycle Makeover. You can follow this makeover & learn about these parts & thousands more at jpcycles.com.
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Of all the motorcycle engines produced, one of the most efficient and successful is the BMW flat twin, or as it is better known, the Boxer engine. The Boxer was developed by Max Friz, and with some minor improvements along the way this little engine remained virtually unchanged for nearly seventy years. Its history includes titles in which it set dozens of speed and endurance records; however, perhaps the most impressive piece of information regarding the horizontal opposed twin-engine, is the fact that there are still hundreds of thousands of these bikes still on the road today! The secret of the Boxer’s success is in its design. Inside the Boxer, as with all four-cycle engines, each piston fires every two revolutions of the crankshaft. In other words, the pistons mirror each other while firing in a staggered sequence. One unique feature about the Boxer is that it is the only twin design (including the V-twin) that doesn’t require crankshaft counterweights to offset the weight of the pistons.
Some of the positive features of this design are that the weight of the rotating mass of the engine is reduced and that means more torque, more efficiency, and less vibration for a smoother ride. Some other positive by-products of the horizontal design of the engine are that the location of the bike’s cylinders lowers the bike’s center of gravity for better handling. In addition, there is increased air-flow over the cooling fins which enable the engine to run cooler. The flat-twin also features an in-line crankshaft that delivers power directly to the transmission without a so-called “primary-drive,” and that means that more torque and power make it to the rear wheel.
Outstanding design, quality craftsmanship, and a rich history and tradition are the key components that keep BMW Motorcycles on top today—not to mention the history and performance associated with the legendary Boxer engine.
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