REVOLUTION MOTORCYCLE MAGAZINE - English - Issue 59 Winter 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ISSUE 59

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WINTER 2021

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EVENTS & SHOWS

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Rally in the Rockies

FEATURED BIKES 16 Silver Angel 38 Not Your Grandpa’s Bagger

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54 Dare to be Different

ON THE ROAD 32 Vacations on Rigids 70 Heading Towards the Bagger Racing League

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INTERNATIONAL 16 Ride to Stop the Crimes Against

Native American Women

COLUMNS 6

Editorial

26 New Generation — Cold Certified 62 Old school — Bob “Bobepine” Lafrance

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80 Collection — Confidential Production 86 Her say — Carle Brenneman 92 Our Readers — Succession of Enthusiasts

EDITORIAL

BY FABRICE MONCEAUX

KICKSTART !

The first kick is given ! From a simple discussion between two editors respectful of each other’s work, the desire for adventure and tranquility of the more bearded of the two led to a handover that I had not at all foreseen… especially in these troubled times we are all going through. Not to mention that print magazines are simply left for dead in the short term.

Now that’s a lot of challenges, you might say !

I’ve always had a thing for old machines, maybe because of the old pictures of my grandfather and his Terrot 350 cm3 that will haunt me forever ?

I’m still looking for explanations for my passion for beautiful pieces of machinery, especially American ones, with two, three or four wheels that sometimes go on the water or in the air.

An overflowing passion, invasive some would say, which made me change

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continents to satisfy it and make a career out of it. My personal garage illustrates my passion, not so much by the number as by the diversity.

I got my motorcycle licence to ride a Harley during my military service. I did my service at the military school in Paris, just in front of the Eiffel Tower.

There, I had already met another soldier, called up just like me, who was riding a wickedly tuned Sportster 1200 Evo. We took off for wild rides in Paris as soon as we could. My rear end still remembers it !

I love motorcycles in general : for the object itself, for restoring them and for riding them. I’m not yet the adventurer Pascal is, but everyone has to start somewhere.

We will meet on the roads. If not on two wheels, then on four, and the discussions will be passionate in every way.

Don’t worry, Revolution Motorcycle Magazine will continue to evolve. We want to create an RMM store, offer international subscriptions, participate actively in events (here, in the USA and why not, in Europe ?) You gotta dream big !)

Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you to Pascal Richard for the trust he has placed in me and for his passionate work during his 15 years at RMM. He will remain by my side for this new adventure. You don’t change a winning team, you complete it !

Enjoy your reading and your rides !

Text : François Kelly Photos : Richard Pelchat

For us at RatShop / Rolling Thunder, the Shovelhead is a must when we start talking about our favourite bikes. We’ve all had one, long ago in our youth and even now. We’ve travelled with these bikes, worked on them on the side of the road, in hotel rooms and even in our kitchens. They’ve allowed us to meet a lot of people and the adventures we had with them have given us a lot of stories, some of which we won’t be able to tell here. It vibrates, resonates, it seems like everything wants to rip … the devil is probably riding around on this bike in hell.

When Frederic Ouellet, who was already a customer at the shop with his 99 Fat Boy, came to us with a chopper/bobber on a Shovel base for a project, it immediately lit up Fred Vaillancourt, the owner here at RatShop/Rolling Thunder. After having won him over with the modification of his Fat Boy, our customer gave

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us carte blanche to realize his dream. And what a project it was, spread out over two years, amid a global pandemic. Suddenly, we found ourselves with transportation problems as well as supply problems.

The parts took forever to arrive, the manufacturing material was not delivered, the chrome and polishing took a long time, not to mention the painting. With a customer who didn’t want to skimp on quality, we all took our time and we’re proud of the final product. The customer had a ’83 Shovelhead that had been in a fire. So, simple enough, we had to rebuild everything. We rebuilt the engine, which was chromed, polished, and engraved by Bruce Bradshaw who by the way did a wonderful job. For the finishing touch, we also gave it rigid oil and chrome lines. Here at RatShop/ Rolling Thunder, we are custom frame builders.

FEATURED BIKE

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For this project, we wanted to keep the original castings to keep its “stock” looks so we only made it rigid. We then built the oil tank and a rear wing, keeping the style as clean as possible. Same for the exhausts for which we tried out two or three different versions to finally opt for the stainless.

It’s a simple but aggressive look, not to mention the sound, wow. As for the fork, we used the good old Sportster which was rechromed and narrowed it so it would follow the lines

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of the bike and give it a clean look. The spoke wheels on the Avon Speedmaster were the natural choice for a classic look. We opted for the direct caliper on the HHI sprocket for the rear brake. Not to mention the aftermarket fuel tank, to which we made some minor modifications, but which holds a bit more fuel than the traditional “peanut” since the owner wanted to go ride long distances.

To allow for the “distances” the owner wanted to ride, we moulded the LED indicators with the wires that go through the frame to give it a semblance of legality, HA ! Just to hide the electronics, we custom-made a control box along the seat post. This gives it an even more streamlined look. The open primary with belt was also a natural choice and what a pleasure it was to hear the clutch through the noise of the engine at the stop ! Without getting into all the details,

each time we received a part, we tried to improve it and make it unique. One of the last pieces of the puzzle was the seat which, once again, was custom-made and had to be modified a few times. For the finishing touch, the Dellorto carburetor was a must to give it even more character. The retro custom look it gave the bike was just perfect for the project.

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OWNER CITY

Frederic Ouellet —

ACCESSOIRIES

GENERAL Manufacturing Year / Make Model Assembly Time

ENGINE Year Model Builder Ignition Displacement Lower end Balancing Pistons Heads Cam Lifters Carb Pipes

TRANSMISSION

Rat Shop Harley-Davidson FX 1983 — Rat Shop 1 year — 1340 Shovelhead Harley-Davidson — Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson Wisco Harley-Davidson Andrew Andrew Dual Weber Rat Shop

Type Shifting

4 speed —

PAINTING Painter Airbrush Color / type Special

FRAME

SPECIFICATIONS

An unreliable one — Gun metal —

Year 1983 Builder Harley-Davidson / Modified by Rat Shop Type — Rake 33 degrees Stretch 0 Shocks Rigid

PHOTOGRAPHE R

Bars Handlebar Controls Headlight Tail light Speedo Dash Pegs Electrics Gas Tank Oil Tank Oil System Primary Seat Front Fender Rear Fender Mirrors Grips

Rat Shop Contour PM — — B/O — — Rat Shop — Rat Shop Rat Shop Tech Cycle Stéphane Jean B/O Rat Shop — Joker

FORKS Type Size Builder

— — Sportster modified by Rat Shop

WHEELS FRONT 21” — Avon —

Size Wheel Tire Brake

REAR 16” — Avon —

Size Wheel Tire Brake

OTHER

Engraving , polishig and chrome : Bruce Bradshaw

Richard Pelchat

You never know what to expect when someone walks into the shop the first time, and even the second time, in this case.

However, one thing is for sure, everyone comes in with a dream.

Then, we spend a lot of time with the client dreaming up ways to make it come true. This client becomes a friend, and his project becomes ours. I think this one, however, was one that particularly spoke to us. When the time came to hand over the bike to the customer, Fred, the owner of the company and the master builder of the shop, felt a twinge of sadness. However, as in any good movie, the ending will be happy, because the bike will be part of the team with the arrival of the shows starting again, so we will be able to enjoy it a little more. After all, our customer and now friend is already back with another project.

To be continued !!!

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INTERNATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

Text and photos : Olivier Touron

In 2019, in the USA, a group of North American, Native American women motorcyclists, fans of Harley and Indian motorcycles, began riding to denounce the violence done to them more than to any other. In 2021, they were the official guests of the 81st Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

It is Sunday, August 8, 2021, in the early afternoon. The image is striking. In the foreground, the organizers of The Medicine Wheel Ride, fists raised and with grave looks on their faces, pose surrounded by dozens of people who’ve come to ride behind them on the roads of the Black Hills

of South Dakota for the 81st Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. In the background, you can see the carved mountain where the Lakota Sioux leader Crazy Horse has been appearing progressively since 1948, a Native American answer to the famous Mount Rushmore a few miles away. The more than 190 registered bikers rode 120 kilometres from the sacred site of Bear Butte, just east of the small town of Sturgis.

This is the first weekend of the prestigious motorcycle rally.

Over the span of 12 days, the town will grow from its normal population of 6,000 to more than 500,000 visitors – bikers from all over the U.S. and beyond when the borders open.

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The Medicine Wheel Ride is a non-profit organization founded in the U.S. in 2020 by a handful of Native American women bikers to raise awareness about Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW), and funds to help the families of the victims and the organizations that support them. “This is historic,” proudly acknowledges Lorna Cuny, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe living nearby Rapid City and one of the five founders of The Medicine Wheel Ride. “For a long time, the local indigenous communities looked down on this rally, so they were basically excluded from it. But as a woman biker myself, for the past few years, and with what my friends and I have been doing, it has been important to turn that around and assert our presence. As women bikers, as Indian women. And to say loudly that we don’t want to be invisible and silent victims of violence too often overlooked.” During the ride, Lorna Cuny proudly

rode her white Street Glide marked with a red hand, symbol of the MMIW cause, that can now be seen on many motorcycles. In front of her, her friend Lynette Roberts, descendant of the great Chief Red Cloud, led the procession.

In the convoy, S. Vongasphalt (whom the readers of the magazine could discover in the fall 2021 issue No. 58), who came with his buddy Alex from Brooklyn, New York, is still under the shock of the morning’s opening ceremony. More than the route itself, which this longdistance cyclist is particularly fond of, it’s the reason for riding that day that affects him. “I learned about the event through my Instagram (@vongasphalt),” says the Frenchman who has lived in the U.S. for seven years.

“I found something here that I couldn’t have imagined, and that’s fantastic. Motorcycling brings people from different backgrounds together, and this ride especially makes sense in Sturgis,” continues the young man.

Back in New York on his 85,000-mile 2017 Low Rider S, when asked what Sturgis was like, he immediately talked about the experience, and what he learned about violence against Native American women.

This is not to the displeasure of Shelly Denny, who is behind it all. This acupuncturist, doctor of oriental medicine working for the Indian Health System in the USA, is a lifelong biker. An Ojibwa from Minnesota through her mother, a biker through her father, former

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president of an MC in the northern part of the state, she has crossed the country several times on her Dynas, which she particularly likes. Today she rides a black Switchback from 2016 but keeps her timeless silver and black Low Rider anniversary from 2003.

“We are in our third year of The Medicine Wheel, which continues to expand and grow across the country as we raise awareness and find ways to concretely and timely help families solve some of their immediate problems, until society as a whole becomes more aware and implements changes that will positively affect generations to come,” she said when asked.

“The cycle of violence and passive genocide that has yet to be addressed has yet to be reversed, and it is a great honour to help build a community like this,” she continues. In 2019, she stood at her home in Phoenix, Arizona, in front of a map of North America on which she had made, using coloured thread pins, a traditional medicine wheel serving as a roadmap to travel for her upcoming awareness campaign. In April of that year, she had completed by herself the Iron Butt SaddleSore Challenge for the cause, riding 1,600 km in less than 24 hours, motivated by the statistics she had in mind, following discussions she’d had with her biker friends : 9 out of 10 Native American women in the U.S. have been victims of violence, half of the cases being sexual in nature. Since counting began in the 1970s, according to available official data, an indigenous woman disappears or dies every three days in the U.S. In some regions, the risk of being a victim of violence is ten times higher than it is for other ethnic groups.

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Among the first to stand up with her were Luvy Yonnie, Navajo, Lorna Cuny and Lynette Roberts, Lakota, Lisa Sacred Rider Rivera, Yaqui. While their project, which was then called Riding for MMIW, was posted on social networks, they were contacted by two Canadians. Joan Jack, an indigenous Anichinabean or Ojibwa, and a lawyer from the Manitoba region in Central Canada, is going to ride with her friend Charmaine Willier-Larson from the Cree tribe, and complete the outer perimeter of the path traced

by Shelly Denny on her map, straddling three countries : Canada, the USA, and Mexico. On her red Harley Switchback, with Charmaine on her white Indian Chieftain, they will achieve an incredible performance. In 59 days, they’ll ride more than 12,000 kilometres, stopping regularly to meet local tribes and communicating daily on social networks.

In Canada, the issue of indigenous women being murdered and disappearing was raised long before it was in the U.S. But even today, the problem remains for Joan Jack, who can only note that “since the action taken in 2019, nothing has really changed in Canada. The federal government has still not really taken charge of the cases of disappearances and murders. It has not concretely helped the communities locally to accompany the families. I don’t believe that the political will to act truly exists. If 4,000 white women were killed or disappeared, the entire country would be moved and mobilized. Even though indigenous women are working hard within the system every day, the disappearances and grisly discoveries carry on every day. It’s terrible.”

The lawyer does not mince her words. For the indigenous peoples, women are sacred, and connected to the mother earth. To attack one is to attack the other. “It’s like our lands and their wealth. Indigenous women are considered like oil or other minerals, consumer products.”

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Strengthened by this first initiative in 2019, the American women bikers, who received a warm welcome and encouragement, continue their path. In 2020, they mobilize in May, a month which has become in the USA, since a vote in the Senate in 2017, a moment of national commemoration of the MMIW tragedy, taking place around May 5 in memory of Hanna Harris, Northern Cheyenne, murdered in July 2013, and whose case had shaken the nation. In August 2020, the women bikers gather in Sturgis with their supporters and allies, at the rally. In the presence of Mark Carstensen, mayor of the city of Sturgis, invited for this first commemoration event, they gather more than 125 motorcyclists. With emotion, the mayor remembers this moment : “It was an honour to participate. I’ve thought for a long time that the mission of awareness was very useful and necessary. Native American culture is inseparable from South Dakota and the Black Hills. Being from Sturgis, with my older Native American sister (they were adopted, ed.), it’s a part of my life. And I just think that talking about these missing women across South Dakota and beyond needs to go on.” For this first event, the bikers raised over $15,000, which will be donated to local charities and used to help families of missing women. Following this great moment, the non-profit organization The Medicine Wheel Ride was created. The five founders are now surrounded by dozens of bikers throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.

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In 2021, the first meet was set for May 1, in San Diego, California, for International Women Riders Day. Supported by local Indian Motorcycle dealerships, they are reaching a more diverse audience that goes far beyond indigenous communities. In August 2021, a caravan left Phoenix, Arizona for the Sturgis rally. In one week, it crossed the Navajo, Northern Arapaho, Eastern Shoshone, Northern Cheyenne, Crow and Lakota reservations, covering six states and 6,500 km. The group grew along the way while meeting with families and tribal leaders. The motorcycles were covered with red ribbons hung by the relatives of the missing and murdered women and displayed the red hand that has become the symbol of their fight.

On August 8, 2021, early in the morning when the sun was still low, Rob Day, a member of the Rez Riders Indian MC, passed by dozens of bikers at the foot of Bear Butte, the sacred hill where Crazy Horse had his visions before the battle of Little Big Horn that saw the defeat of General Custer and his 7th cavalry, with a bouquet of smouldering dried sage in his hand to cover them with purifying and protective smoke, a strong spiritual gesture among Native Americans. Behind him, Lakota singer Belle Brings Plenty sang in honour of the victims of violence, after the female doctor offered her prayers. Gathered in a semicircle, facing the participants who came to support them, the bikers of The Medicine Wheel Ride listened with delight to the representatives of local associations, such as Lily Mendosa for the Red Ribbon Skirt Society, and then Mark Carstensen making his historic proclamation.

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“Now, I, Mark Carstensen, Mayor of the City of Sturgis, do hereby proclaim the first Sunday in August as the annual MMIW Medicine Wheel Ride Day.” The sentence was solemnly pronounced. “The crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women has tragically affected an incredible number of Native American families, every tribal community, and is a significant issue for urban populations across the state, with significant concern for the Sturgis event,” the proclamation states. In this summer of 2021, fifty women were missing in South Dakota, and 34 of them are Native American, even though the community makes up only 10 % of the population.

At the end of the moving ceremony, the chief magistrate, who had also invited the founding group of the movement to participate in the inaugural parade of the rally on Friday, August 6, along with Jody Perewitz, the champion biker named grand marshal for this edition, wanted to reaffirm his official support for the Native American bikers.

A few minutes later, more than 190 motorcycles roared their V-twins and set off in two columns on the roads of the Black hills, escorted by the local police, in the direction of the Crazy Horse memorial.

This year, in Sturgis, The Medicine Wheel Ride will have raised over $25,000, and raised awareness among thousands of people, both on the road and on social networks.

To read more www.medicinewheelride.com

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Text and photos : Eric Marshall

So Scott, tell me about yourself a little.

Where you’re from, where you live and what you do for a living.

I’m originally from Fort Frances, Ontario, but I’ve been living in Winnipeg since 2008 with my wife, Danielle, and my son, Camden.

I work as a construction project manager.

How did you get into bikes ?

Were you into older vehicles beforehand ? Do you plan on building more ?

I built my first bike about 10 years ago and have had a number of different bikes and projects since then. I’ve always been into older vehicles, especially trucks and vans.

I’m no expert, but I love doing chassis and sheet metal work. I definitely plan on building more bikes. I’ve got the next one in my head, and I’ll be parts hunting soon.

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NEW GENERATION

Tell me a bit about the bike. Where did you source the motor from ?

Where did you obtain the parts ?

I was collecting parts for about a year. I was on a tight budget, so I had to find decent old parts for as cheap as possible. I picked up the 80’ shovel motor and trans first in Kenora, but the motor ended up needing a case crack repaired and a complete rebuild. Richard Neufeld built the motor for me, and it’s installed now.

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The frame was a swinger one that I cleaned up and hard tailed. The neck has been windowed and some subtle moulding was done on the down pipes. I fabricated the z-bars and the sissy bar. The rear fender and gas tank are from Lowbrow. I cut the fender to narrow it by an inch. The springer front end was built by me and Eric Marshall (Northern Motorcycle Springers). The cobra seat is from B&C Cycles. The rest of the little bits and pieces were sourced from Internet classified ads and guys at the Boneyard. I built the majority of the bike in my little garage at home and then moved into the Boneyard just in time to disassemble it for paint and chrome.

What made you choose the colour ?

Any back story to it/inspiration for it ?

I love the custom painters from the ’60s and the fade paint jobs from that era. I knew I wanted to incorporate some fades and, of course, needed some flames as well.

I’m super indecisive, so it took me forever to decide on a colour. I mostly chose the blue so it would be different from the other bikes in the shop. I did the bodywork and Ian Kroeker (Von Knobb) handled the paint and killed it.

Tell me a bit about how you met the Boneyard crew, and what brought you into the mix.

I’ve been doing my own thing in Winnipeg for a while now and, it’s weird, our paths never really crossed until a couple of years ago. I ended up camping with a few of the guys from the shop at a local music festival and had a bit too much fun. I had already started collecting a few parts to build this bike at that time and then started hanging around the shop after that. I moved into the shop in January 2021. It’s been so much fun. I can’t thank those guys enough for the spot.

Any memorable stories from trips with those guys ?

Tell us more.

The rides and the camping are always the best. To kick off summer, Border Run is the event of the year for me.

I’ve only been to two, but I love watching it start from fairly mellow in the afternoon to develop into complete chaos by the time the sun starts going down. I can’t even pick a favourite memory. I’m just soaking up the good times.

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Do you have any funny stories from riding or breakdowns ?

This is my first foot clutch bike and I really had zero practice before hopping on. I just finished it, so it was literally my first ride on the bike and first ride with some of the guys from the shop. I was feeling pretty cool and thought I was looking pretty good. Well, that lasted about three minutes because I popped the clutch, bounced off Jordan’s back tire, and dropped the bike on a super busy road. Instantly not cool, but we all need to be humbled sometimes. No harm done to my bike thankfully, but I did need to replace one of Jordan’s fishtails. The only time mine has actually broken down was when my battery gave up on the highway about 20 minutes from our Border Run destination. It’s still pretty new, though, so I’m sure that will change.

What’s your favourite era of motorcycles ?

There are things I like about the early club bikes from the ’50s through to the wild ’70s chops. If I had to pick one though, it would probably be somewhere in between, in the late ’60s. Just a little sketchy with spool hub front wheels, drum brakes, lots of chrome and cool paint.

When you built this bike was it based on that era ?

If not, what was it based on ?

Yeah for sure, as much as possible with the parts I had.

The drivetrain obviously isn’t from that era, but almost every other part could have been. The narrow profile, extended springer, stock rake, z-bars and paint were all chosen to get the look I was going for.

Do you like really long bikes that aren’t practical to ride ? Or do you prefer something that rides a little easier ?

Long bikes are sick too and I’ll probably have one someday, but right now my preference would be ripping around on something with decent performance and handling. I’m looking forward to building a stocky tough guy bike next, but at some point, I’ll hopefully be able to challenge myself to go crazier with fab work and moulding on a show bike.

Any shout outs to anyone ?

All the Boneyard brothers ! The bike is a true Boneyard special with Eric Marshall springer, seat by Jeff at B&C Cycles, Von Knobb paint, and Richard Neufeld motor.

Also shout out to my wife, Danielle, for putting up with my spending habits and for me being home a lot less.

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lexy Pr

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Charle

ON THE ROAD

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ON THE ROAD

Last summer, Laurent and I went to the Magdalen Islands on motorcycles. I rode a 2020 Roadglide while my father, Laurent, rode a 2020 Roadglide Limited. I had just returned from a trip to Ontario, and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to make our usual trip to the United States. Laurent had suggested that we go to the Magdalen Islands. I had heard about this small Québec slice of paradise many times but had never had the opportunity to visit. Laurent, however, had already visited the islands on a motorcycle with some friends several years ago.

This first trip to the islands was fantastic. We made the trip from Laval in two days, and the trip back from the islands in one day, with the pedal to the metal.

On a nice fall evening in October 2020, a few weeks after our trip, my father was coming back from hunting on the North Shore and called me and asked : “Charles, what do you think about going back to the Islands, but this time with antique motorcycles ?” He had just met two Madelinots fishermen during his hunting trip and wanted to return to the islands to see his new acquaintances. He wanted to ride there on an antique mode of transportation. The passion for antique Harley-Davidson motorcycles has always been very strong in the Prémont family. My father started his career in the motorcycle industry as a machinist in his parents’ basement. His first motorcycle was a 1965 Panhead. So, to that question and challenge, my answer was immediately YES. Laurent and Alain Verreault, master mechanic at Premont Harley for over 20 years, had been working on rebuilding a 1946 Knucklehead for about five years. Laurent had purchased this bike that had caught on fire in the Eastern

Townships decades ago. The knucklehead rebuilding project was very important to Laurent. Everything had been rebuilt. I participated in the assembly of the engine and transmission about four years ago, while I was a student living in Québec City. On Thursday nights, after store hours, we would stay in the shop for several hours to get the project done. I oversaw Parkerizing. Alain and Laurent were not at their first restoration, and I was involved more as a student than anything else. Even with the little mechanical knowledge I had, I could see that nothing on this bike was neglected. I remember watching my father file down every gear on the transmission so that it would engage better and reduce metal residue.

During the winter, we did not talk about the trip. It was May when Laurent asked me if I was still interested in making the trip to the islands with antique motorcycles. His Knucklehead motorcycle was about to be ready to burn some gas.

I suppose that seeing and hearing his knucklehead being ridden reminded him of the suggested trip to the islands from last October. My answer was obviously still yes. I remember Laurent warning me : “Charles, with old Harleys, you can’t ride at the same speed as you would with the bikes you’re used to. You’re going to have to work on your patience. Also, it’s quite possible that we’ll have some problems with the bikes along the way, so don’t expect to make the trip in one or two days as we did last year. It’s just a dream for me to make such a trip on old bikes.” I had ridden a few old bikes here and there before but riding a few dozen kilometres in the country roads of Mirabel and riding more than 2000 km were two very different stories, Laurent warned me.

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ON THE ROAD

The knucklehead bike was finally ready in July 2021, about a month before our planned departure. I had planned to ride a 1947 Flathead Big Twin. It was a bike that hadn’t been ridden in about seven years, when Laurent last took it out on the road. Laurent and I finally booked the ferry and confirmed our second trip to the islands. Less than a week before departure, I had not yet ridden the 1947. The first ride I did was from the shop in Laval to our home. Cailloux, a friend and technician at the Premont Harley Laval store, got the bike up and running and made sure it was safe. The ride went great. When I got home, after having ridden 25 km, I remember saying to myself : “OK, this is good. This bike could take me anywhere.” As for Laurent, that same day, he went for a ride with the knucklehead to his secondary home in Québec (150 km from Québec City). Upon his return, we spoke on the phone, and he told me that he’d had problems with his knuckle, and that he had arrived at the cottage with great difficulty. However, he had repaired what he thought the problem was and the return trip had been normal. He then said to me : “Perhaps Charles, the motorbikes are not broken in enough. We don’t know them much. Perhaps our plan is too last minute.” He then offered me three choices : 1—Either we cancel the trip; 2 – we make the trip on newer motorcycles, or 3—we make the trip on antique motorcycles and God knows what will happen. We said to ourselves that we’d take the night to think about it. Needless to say, that we landed on the third option.

When the departure date arrived, we agreed to end the day in the Maritimes, a place we love for its warm Acadian people and, for the seafood. The road from Laval to Québec City looked normal, but an unfortunate battery problem cost me several hours. The 6V battery I had just bought had exploded, so I lost everything. I was stranded in Trois-Rivières. Luckily, Cailloux was following me with his Dyna. We contacted Claude Roberge, a real enthusiast who owns several antique HDs and who lives about 20 minutes from Trois-Rivières, to see if he had a 6V battery that he could lend me so I could continue my ride. Lucky for me, he had one available. Thanks Claude ! So, the first day of travel ended in Québec City around 4 p.m. where I met Laurent. We took advantage of the shops in Québec City and had time to do a last checkup. The next day, we left for New Brunswick at 6 a.m. It was about 10 degrees Celsius and raining. We rode a total of 700 km that day, using highways and back roads, and we made it to Petit-Rocher.

When we got to the motel, my lead cable was melted, so we resheathed it with electrical tape. The second day was perfect, nice weather. Our two bikes ran very well after the oil change was made in the morning in the parking lot of a Canadian Tire, in Bathurst. After some 300 kilometres of sunshine and pure fun, the beer was more than inviting and we finished our day of riding in the vibrant city of Charlottetown, in PEI. We took advantage of what the beautiful potato capital had to offer, stopping at several cozy little breweries, and enjoying the beautiful weather while waiting to cross to the mystical islands town at Souris, PEI.

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The crossing was on a calm sea. Nothing better for a hangover than the fresh air of the sea mixed with the smell of favourite beers from the islands’ microbrewery. After five pleasant hours of navigation, the arrival to the islands was as expected : a setting sun, delightful weather and a soft breeze tinged with the smell of the sea and the gas of our vibrating machines. All in all, the scenery, not unlike that of the Caribbean islands, is sure to charm anyone who arrives to the Magdalen Islands.

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We spent several days strolling to the rhythm of the islands.

Aimless motorcycle rides with breathtaking scenery, stops on deserted and heavenly beaches, swimming in the blue water of the Atlantic, and enjoying seafood, morning, noon and night.

WOW ! Madelinots truly welcoming people.

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Text : Micaela Wallace — Photos : Grady Ens

Baggers. Often referred to as retirement motorcycles or Dad bikes. These long-haul V-twins provided comfort to aging bikers looking to extend their riding tenure for as long as possible. But now, this mindset is proving archaic and Baggers (or Dressers depending on what side of the border you reside) have overcome their Bad-Dad stigma and are paving the way into a new performance build subculture thanks to an elite club of builders and riders who are smashing industry boundaries by riding 800 lb+ V-Twins like a street bike.

We started to see Performance Baggers emerging from builders like Nick Trask and Satya Kraus a few years ago in the US where chrome and flashy accessories were no longer the focus as function and performance were key. Challenging the notion that customization equals poor performance, these builders created the ultimate riding machine for those who like to go fast and ride furious anyways.

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In 2017, builders like Trevor Madore began pushing the limits with their Performance Bagger builds in Canada Function and form prevail (and not the other way around) – this is the art and science of pushing engineering to its limits, creating motorcycles that can endure the fastest and most aggressive riders lending themselves to an elite group of owners that crave, no, demand more from their motorcycles. Papa G was the name of Trevor’s first true Performance Bagger (and the first performance build in Canada) that he revealed at the Motorcycle Show in 2018 and that he sold that same day. Harley-Davidson had just released the M8 114 Stage 4 and Papa G was turbocharged helping Trevor achieve rocket status with this bike. This build put Trevor on the map in the performance engineering industry in Canada, giving enthusiasts and buyers a preview of what a Canadian builder can do with a “dad” bike.

Trevor now manages the Redline Harley-Davidson in Saskatoon, SK, where he and his build team have gained a solid reputation as wizard tuners and performance engineers not only in Western Canada, but across the country and worldwide. Bikes that are sent to Trevor for tuning made some of the most renowned builders stumbled. His skillset allowed him to secure some of the most prestigious performance projects and clients.

One such client is Geoff Best, an entrepreneur from Calgary, Alberta who has been riding for more than 20 years. He has always loved Harley’s and was always drawn to tinkering and customizing which led him to an exclusive membership with the Hamsters Motorcycle Club after many projects and builds. Geoff was really impressed with Trevor’s work and his mating of design and engineering. He wanted a bike that would keep him going for long trips over multiple days but didn’t want to sacrifice performance and speed to be comfortable. He wanted the power to ride further and faster, and handle curves with agility and control, so he went to Trevor and started the conversation about building him a bike.

Trevor and Geoff have known each other for a while. They have shared the road together on many trips, and Trevor was keenly aware of Geoff’s riding style and what motivated him in

a performance build. After a few conversations, some sketches and a couple of tweaks later, Trevor began to build the black and yellow performance machine that Geoff had envisioned for a while. Geoff’s Road Glide received all the best parts on the market. All bodywork was replaced with carbon fibre to shave as much weight as possible, providing Geoff with the desired speed and agility he was looking for.

Trask Performance provided a billet tail section, swing arm to help cut even more weight and give the build a truly custom appearance. Trevor also added BST carbon wheels to ensure this speed machine had adequate grip and stopability, and contribute to the lower weight of the bike. The suspension was upgraded with Kraus reworked Ohlins for max proven performance. Huge stopping power was needed to match the Screaming Eagle 131’ which makes 147rwhp/142tq. HEL performance calipers with oversized Trask rotors were also components of this build. Trevor added a Screaming Eagle tuner with custom tuning and some Trask Assault pipe to complete the build.

Once these performance enhancements were made, Trevor and Geoff knew they needed the look of the bike to match its superior performance and trusted Wade Miller from Too Tall Airbrushing to make this happen. Over 200 paint hours went into this aesthetic. Yes 200 hours. But did you expect anything less with this build ?

I asked Geoff how he feels while riding the bike, and politely reminded him that she needs a name. It was difficult for Geoff to articulate his appreciation, and I am sure that anyone with a performance machine like this would say that you just need to ride it to get it, but his favourite part of the build is its handling. He can’t say enough good things or give Trevor enough due credit – the bike is tuned to perfection, the suspension is of the highest quality. Plus when you negotiate a curve, she just sticks. With nearly 200 lb shaved off thanks to all the carbon fibre parts, the bike rides and feels smaller than it is. Geoff’s first long trip on this bike was meant to be Sturgis, but thanks to COVID-19, Kelowna was the revised plan. He commented that it was the best riding he has ever done, and that Trevor’s hard work and expert knowledge of performance builds have made him a better rider. As a builder, you cannot get a higher accolade than that !

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OWNER CITY

Geoff Best Airdre, AB

ACCESSOIRIES

GENERAL Manufacturing Redline Harley-Davidson Custom Divison 2021 Harley-Davidson Year / Make Road Glide Special Model — Assembly 3 months Time 0 ENGINE 2021 Year M8 Model Builder Redline Harley-Davidson Custom Divison Harley-Davidson Ignition 131 Displacement SE Lower end Harley-Davidson Balancing SE Pistons SE Heads SE Cam SE Lifters SE street tuner with custom tuning Carb Trask Assual Pipes

TRANSMISSION Harley-Davidson 6 speed

Type Shifting

PAINTING Wade Miller - Too Tall Painter — Airbrush Color / type Carbon Fibre / House of Kolor – yellow / black – Special

FRAME

With his ever-growing following of elite motorcycle owners, Trevor has big plans for his custom and performance shop at Redline. He has proven himself and defined his team as “the” performance shop in Canada, and he welcomes the opportunity to help riders build their dream machine. Trevor and his partners at Redline will be opening a new building this spring. This will allow them to take on more performance builds. Trevor is currently working on several custom bikes and his next personal project is a drag bike which he will debut at Sturgis 2022. I am sure this build will land its own article in Revolution, but for now I will tease you with this : 135 turbo charged nitrous Softail.

As the Performance Bagger subculture continues to grow, we hope to see builders like Trevor continue to push the limits and draw attention and support from the worldwide community. Perhaps we will see one of Trevor’s builds claim a title at a King of Baggers race one day.

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Year Builder Type Rake Stretch Shocks

SPECIFICATIONS

2021 Trask billet back tail section Touring Modify - Kraus KRT Trees Stock OHILNS

PHOTOGRAPHE R

Grady Ens

Fly Bars Handlebar Controls Harley-Davidson / Obern Levers Baja Designs Headlight Kodlin Tail light Harley-Davidson Speedo Carbon Fibre Dash Trask Assualt Pegs Rockford Stereo Electrics Stock with Carbon Fibre Overlay Gas Tank Harley-Davidson Oil Tank SE Oil System Harley-Davidson / AIMS Primary Speed Merchant / Saddleman Seat Carbon fibre Front Fender Carbon fibre Rear Fender Rizoma Mirrors RSD Tracker Grips

FORKS Type Size Builder

Inverted Ohlins 43 mm Kraus / Ohlins

WHEELS FRONT Size Wheel Tire Brake

19” BST Carbon fibre Dunlop Trask rotors / HEL calipers

REAR Size Wheel Tire Brake

OTHER

18” BST carbon fibre Dunlop Trask rotor / HEL calipers Model : Jessie Evashenko

Text and photos : Pascal Richard

The last two years have been almost non-existent in terms of motorcycle events across Canada, except for one that has been under the spotlight for the last two years. The Rally in the Rockies in Calgary, Alberta has held its own despite this pandemic. The event is held mostly outdoors and is organized by the Calgary Harley-Davidson dealership.

It began in 2020 and it’s second edition was held this summer of 2021. Despite the fires raging in the west and the enormous density of smoke surrounding the area, the event has grown in terms of both participants and activities. The rally spans a week, and I was there for the first weekend of the event. Throughout the week, group and solo rides are organized across the province’s points of interest. Whether it’s a poker run, a charity ride or a ride for our veterans, there’s sure to be one that you’ll enjoy. The routes for each rally are designed to take you through Alberta’s extraordinary landscape. All departures are always in the morning at the dealership; all very well organized and safe.

During the day, there are booths, a beer garden and live music on the dealership premises. The staff at Calgary Harley-Davidson knows how to make people feel welcome. One of my favourite things about the weekend was the Bike and Bulls. This event is special and has a ton of activities that make it so. First, you can camp directly on the huge site, which is a plus when you’ve been partying for most of the day. Here’s what this incredible mishmash looks like, bringing together people with similar interests in mechanical and animal machinery. Imagine a huge playground where all day long you will find kiosks, food trucks, bars, a car and motorcycle show, all interspersed with car and motorcycle drag races taking place in the city of Airdrie’s airstrip. In the afternoon, the atmosphere changes to more of a western flavour with the professional Bulls competition. I have never been to this kind of event before and I can tell you that it is impressive. When you are only a few feet away from these massive bulls, you realize how much of a feat it is for these cowboys to ride them for a few seconds. After this competition, several bands set up to play on the stage continuously over the afternoon and the party goes on until the early hours of the morning. This event is very cool, and I will definitely be back in 2022.

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The Calgary Harley-Davidson dealership graciously provided me with a motorcycle during my stay. A huge thank you to the team and to Eric Sum and Paco Montes in particular. On Sunday, I took the opportunity to visit the surroundings on my own. Whether it’s Drumheller and its Canadian Badland, museums such as the Royal Tyrrell Museum (a must see !) or the famous Last Chance Saloon in the city of Wayne, while driving through the friendly city of Cochrane by its mythical Rockyview Hotel. If you are in this area, a nice road to take is the 40 towards Longview to the Twin Cities Saloon where a Poker Run of the Rally in the Rockies was heading to end the day beautifully.

The dates for the 2022 edition have been announced : August 12 to 20. These dates have been scheduled for after Sturgis, which after visiting our friends in South Dakota will allow us to head north through the beautiful landscapes of Montana towards Calgary and attend the Rally in the Rockies.

Thanks Rally in the Rockies and see you next year.

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Photo : Mélanie Vachon

Photo : Richard Pelchat

Text and photos : The Moto Foto | Dan Lim

There are times in a person’s life when a seed – an idea, an inspiration, a dream, whatever it is – gets into their head. It gets so deeply rooted that they can’t seem to shake it – like an itch they can’t reach. That seed starts to grow and grow and becomes so compelling that they must get down to doing it or it will never leave. They may not even know how to go about doing it, but they will do it anyway, despite biting off more than they can chew, and maybe even experiencing some frustration through many trials and errors. Such was the case for Morgan Wallack during the COVID-19 pandemic

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lockdown when the world came to a virtual stop. When the hustle and bustle of everyday life subsided, the timing couldn’t have been better to seize the opportunity to build another chopper. Not realizing it at the time, that decision was what she needed to keep her OCD in check throughout the pandemic.

“The start of the COVID and the lockdown was very hard for me,” Morgan says. “Because with OCD (obsessivecompulsive disorder), I don’t do well with changes. I need to keep busy and keep my mind focused.

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When I realized that the COVID was not going away anytime soon and that I would have more time on my hands, my life became simpler. I went from going from work to working on my bike, without any other options of socializing or distractions.” She is the first to admit that focusing her attention on the project saved her sanity on so many levels, and in many ways, she believes that the COVID was a blessing in disguise.

felt the same vibe based on the positive comments I heard

I first met Morgan at ‘Roll the Bones’ event in Montreal, Québec, where I had the pleasure of being invited to exhibit my motorcycle photos at this annual custom motorcycle and art trade show. I was introduced to Morgan’s bike before I met her. Her ‘Willy Wonka-ish’ Cadbury Easter egg yellow 1983 Harley-Davidson Ironhead chopper caught my attention immediately as it was displayed directly in front of my photo exhibit work. I remember thinking to myself, “how freaking cool is this chopper !” It was more than what initially meets the eye, and that yellow was not a colour I often see on a chopper. It instantly gave me an upbeat, easy, and spirited feeling when I saw it.

Morgan is an old soul in a young body. She’s a photographer/artist who works primarily in the analog realm shooting with medium to large-format cameras. Meaning, she is an old-school-type photographer, shooting on film/ paper utilizing archaic photo methods that are very hands-on and tactile, creating her art/imagery. Nothing digital at all, so it is not surprising the same mentality of getting her hands dirty, learning through doing, allowing the non-digital creative process is what guided her throughout the course of building the Slippery Banane.

Appropriately named, ‘Slippery Banane’ (the French word for banana), it wasn’t the best-built bike or even the bestlooking bike at the show (which is not a slight to her build at all). Still, there were many other great custom bikes from builders that are way more experienced than Morgan.

But her bike was fun. And she deserved to be an invited showcase builder to the show. It had a lot of charm, character, authenticity, and a definite chill vibe about it. I wasn’t the only one who felt that way as many attendees and builders

throughout the show.

When I finally met Morgan, her humour, zest for life, oozing creativity, contagious laugh, and innocent-like adventurous spirit all made total sense to me that this bike had to be her creation. This chopper was a perfect reflection of her persona.

The adventure began when she set out in search of an Ironhead that had little or no modifications to it. Instead, she found a dull blue Ironhead that was opposite to what she was looking for. The bike presented a much more significant challenge for her to build from, as the previous owner had tried to turn it into an Ironhead bagger wannabe. Yes, you read that right. What was the previous guy thinking?

The butt-ugly hauler came complete with a big Mustang tank, Mustang seat, tassels, and lights located underneath the tank that ran along the frame. Just try to imagine that.

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Morgan spent the first half of the pandemic lockdown ripping the Ironhead apart from top to bottom. As she puts it, “Nothing you see on the motorcycle as it is today, besides the engine, is what was originally there because everything was removed.” As much as she enjoyed tearing apart the bike, she loved the process of putting it all back together even more, with some help from her friends and people in the moto community. This project would not have been possible without the help of Stewart McAndrew from Spud Co (IG @spudco_speedandcustom) who did all the framework and welding, and Nick Pharand from Pharout Precision Welding (IG @pharoutprecisionwelding) who also did some welding and fabricated the custom exhaust pipes designed by Morgan. She also wanted to give a big shout-out to Jim Jodoin from Andrix Motorcycles who was instrumental in helping Morgan get her chopper ready for the ‘Roll the Bones’ show. Morgan recalls fondly what a treat it was that Jim invited her to use his space in Montréal to finish the project three weeks before the show. A good thing too, as Jim would sometimes catch her doing something the “fast way” rather than the “right way” due to the pressure of the show deadline. Still, Morgan greatly appreciated Jim’s overall knowledge, great advice, good attitude, and she was constantly impressed with how insanely knowledgeable he is.

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However, true to Morgan’s personality, getting advice from other builders she respected was simply a starting point.

At the end of the day, she is true to her conviction on certain areas of what she wanted her chopper to be, and there was no talking her out of it. For example, the custom pipes with pie cuts that she designed and wanted on her chopper so badly, despite the many objections from the people she asked, as she says (with laughter), “The number of people that said to me that pie cuts don’t belong on a chopper… If I had five bucks for every person who said that to me, it would have paid for the bike’s build !” She continues saying, “I think anything belongs on a chopper. The whole point of it is not doing it for anybody else as much as it is for me. Now that it’s complete, it’s a 50-50 split on how people feel about it when they see it. They either love it or they think it’s blasphemy, and I fucking like that ! It is exciting, and the excitement I get is one hundred percent all for me.”

The other thing that makes the ‘Slippery Banane’ such a unique bike is the hand-painted gas tank by artist Pascale Arpin. Well known in the sign painting, hand lettering and artistic community, Pascale –who also did a tour with Tim Burton doing all his lettering – had never worked on a gas tank before. Apparently, she had turned down quite a few people requesting to work on their tanks with her art, but something Morgan had presented must have piqued the

OWNER CITY

Morgan Wallack Ottawa, ON

ACCESSOIRIES

GENERAL Manufacturing Stewart McAndrew Spud Co. Year / Make 1983 Harley-Davidson Ironhead Model XLH 1000 Assembly Morgan Wallack Time 3 months

ENGINE Year 1983 Model XLH 1000 Builder BA Machine Ignition Lowbrow Displacement 1000 Lower end Harley-Davidson stock Balancing Harley-Davidson stock Pistons Harley-Davidson stock Heads Harley-Davidson stock Cam Harley-Davidson stock Lifters Harley-Davidson stock Carb S&S super E Pipes Pharout Precision Welding - Nick Pharand

TRANSMISSION Type Shifting

4 speed Clutch

PAINTING interest to take on the project. Together, they creatively collaborated on the concept of the tank, throwing ideas around from flames to a Thunderbird to a rising sun, but ultimately were inspired with the more straightforward, and more graphic and iconic Harley-Davidson 80’s AMF design – but Morgan didn’t want a commercially finished tank’s constricted and refined look for this bike. It would not have fit the overall look and feel for what she was going after.

Morgan said, “It’s awe-inspiring to see an artist, you know, not use tape to tape anything off, or use a spray gun, and just free handing the art with simply a paintbrush and her skills. Pascale also used gloss paint (less forgiving), which is such a nice contrast to the mat paint finish, and it just gives the tank an organic, authentic, and textured look that is more my style, and I love that !” She says, “I was so excited when I picked up the finished tank. I kept telling her throughout the process, don’t show me, don’t show me ! The only thing she showed me, which we didn’t discuss, was the banana art added to the tank. That really caught me off guard ! I was like, oh ! There’s a banana !”

She laughs and adds, “It’s the funniest thing having that little bad banana painted on the tank where I can always see it during my rides, because my dad used to call me Morgana Banana, and Pascale didn’t know that.”

Painter Pascale Arpin Airbrush — Color / type Montana matte mellow yellow Special Oil tank art : Emily Healey-Martin

FRAME Year Builder Type Rake Stretch Shocks

PHOTOGRAPHE R

SPECIFICATIONS

1983 Stewart McAndrew Harley-Davidson / TC Bros None None None

Bars Handlebar Controls Headlight Tail light Speedo Dash Pegs Electrics Gas Tank Oil Tank Oil System Primary Seat Front Fender Rear Fender Mirrors Grips

Jebs Cycle Co. — TC Bros Harley-Davidson signal None — Harley-Davidson stock Vintage and home wiring Lowbrow wassel TC Bros cylinder Custom Harley-Davidson Butt seats — TC Bros — Bitlwell

FORKS Type Size Builder

02 Sportster Front end 6 over / 39mm Morgan

WHEELS FRONT Size Wheel Tire Brake

21” Spool Avon speed master Harley-Davidson stock

REAR Size Wheel Tire Brake

OTHER

18” Spool Avon Harley-Davidson stock Garage / Mentor : Andrix Motorcycle

The Moto Foto | Dan Lim

I asked Morgan if she had any parting words of wisdom to anyone who may want to undertake a chopper build for the first time. With a gleam in her eyes, she said, “Yeah. I think it’s important to remember that it’s okay to ask for help, and it’s okay to admit that you have had help on your project. Do your research, surround yourself with the right people, ask for help, and then build your bike, mistakes and all. Then, you know, it’s your own bike.” She says, “If you screw it up, you screw it up. It doesn’t matter. None of it really matters.

If it runs and it’s safe, it’s all good, because at the end of the day, once you get on YOUR bike, you’re just rubber and pavement, and for me,” she says with a smile, “it’s the most beautiful part of my life, and nothing can ever match that.”

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BY CHARLIE LESSARD

Text : Charlie Lessard — Photos : Bob Lafrance Collection & Charlie Lessard

Oh boy ! You never know who you’re going to meet in this business. Attending and enjoying the 2021 Roll the Bones Show in Montréal last summer (with my “much-better half” Lynne), I had a chance encounter with a gentleman who seemed very drawn to shake my hand and talk about the historic Wall-of-Death motorcycle carnival show. He seemed inquisitive and I was surprised that he knew of me and of my father who once was a motorcycle test and stunt rider in the 1950’s and 60’s (Pops rode for legendary Wall-of-Death owners Speedy McNish, Goldy Restall and Amusements of America). I had never met Bob Lafrance before, but I can assure you that it didn’t take 10 seconds for me to realize that I would enjoy this man’s company. In fact, I knew he would quickly become a brother. As I later asked around “who was Bob Lafrance,” I was informed with much conviction that this man had “some history !”

THE SUNSHINE STATE Sainte-Anne-de-Prescott is a small village nestled in the Municipality of East Hawkesbury, Ontario, about halfway between Ottawa and Montréal. About 500 residents live in Sainte-Anne where the local economy is based on agriculture. As you can probably guess, there’s not much going on in this part of Eastern Ontario, and even less for a young man born with a nomad soul. Robert Joseph Lafrance was born in 1960. He is the son of Adrienne Cardinal and Simon Lafrance, a mechanic who owned the corner service station. Living and growing up adjacent to his father’s garage, it was evident that the young Robert would inherit his father’s occupational talents. And that he did ! By the age of seventeen, Bob was riding a Yamaha XS650 to which he added extended forks, custom Z-bars and custom rear sissy bar. The XS650 was a bike Bob enjoyed daily

back in 1977 as he rode with his first motorcycle club, the Eternels MC, a small band of brothers that brought a little rebellious commotion to the sleepy rural villages of SainteAnne and neighbouring Saint-Eugène. He got his nickname “Bobepine” in high school, and it has stuck with him all his life. But with Bob being a true dynamo, it didn’t take two years for him to get his first Harley, an almost new 1978 Low Rider that he bought in Valleyfield. Beer, bikes, and straight pipes !

By 1980 the Eternels MC had folded, and Bob along with a couple of his club buddies found themselves uniting with the Bison MC who had a clubhouse in Thurso, Québec (Thurso is located in the Ottawa River region). The small club later became the H-D Riders MC and had about twenty-five members. Another motorcycle club that was very tight with H-D Riders was the Rolling Eagles MC from Saint Apollinaire. To this day, Bob still meets up with some of his MC brothers. He really enjoyed them and shares great memories of the club, in an era where the riding was prolific and the parties were epic. The early 1980s also saw Bob working as a truck mechanic for Kenworth in Montréal.

It’s there that Bob met a guy named Gratien Proulx.

Gratien had a company in Florida that delivered drywall and other construction materials, and he was looking for a good mechanic to keep his trucks running properly. In passing, Gratien asked Bob if he would be interested in working for him down in Florida. Bob thought about it for a while and by the time his summer vacation period rolled around in 1981, he decided to ride his Harley down to the Sunshine State so he could scope out the new job proposal. It was then that Bob decided that the Southeastern region of the USA was going to be home for a while.

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Earning “Benjamin Franklins” and riding his Harley in the beautiful Florida weather (year-round) wasn’t hard to take for the young 21-year-old. In fact, it was like paradise for him. Florida was a place where Bob made many new likeminded friends, who loved to ride. The A1A along the Atlantic coast, Daytona and Key West were not uncommon runs. But even paradise does, at times, come with a cost.

In 1982 Bob crashed into the driver’s door of a travelling tow truck at the intersection of Dixie Highway and Hollywood Boulevard, scrapping his 1977 FXE. With the confusion of the traffic lights, some yellow – some red, combined with the stress brought on by a shooting incident of a friend of his that was visiting from the Rolling Eagles MC in Québec a couple of days prior, Bob mistakenly crossed into oncoming traffic. Bob’s injuries were severe, including a broken right femur, broken hand, broken jawbone, and a skin graft on his right calf due to an exhaust pipe burn that got infected. Bob travelled back to Canada where he remained for six months while his bones mended (the Canadian health care system was much appreciated). Once he was well enough, he returned to his state of affairs in Florida. He reunited with his then girlfriend Kathy and not long after, a new journey began.

THE GOLDEN STATE It’s a 3370-mile ride from Dania Beach in Florida to Crescent City in California. This is where Kathy got a job opportunity in her nursing profession. But things didn’t

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fare well for Bob as he couldn’t find work as a heavy truck mechanic. Crescent City had a population of about 6000 people and Bob (an outsider) wasn’t about to get hired anywhere or anytime soon. So, the pair packed up again and headed south on Highway 101. Los Angeles looked like a good place to start over, and Kathy had an uncle who lived there. Before he knew it, Bob was rolling his toolbox into Boerner Truck Center on Florence Avenue in Huntington Park. As a dependable (mobile) truck repair technician, Bob saw an opportunity to branch out on his own. He founded Transportation Mechanical Services and from that point it was “game on !” Working tirelessly at his business, Bob was fortunate enough to get a break and worked for 8 years in the Hollywood film industry. Bob was tasked with carrying out daily work on the vehicles needed for many well-known movies such as Bugsy (1991 – Warren Beatty, Annette Bening) and Congo (1995 – Laura Linney, Dylan Walsh), as well as blockbuster films such as 1991’s Terminator-2 Judgement Day starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Robert Patrick. Bob worked the second shift on the movie sets and for that reason he would often have to pull all-nighters to get the cars and trucks ready for the next day’s shoot. Frankie Edmonds was the motorcycle tech on Terminator-2, while Canadian Peter Kent was Schwarzenegger’s stunt double. Bob was very well liked by the film crews because of his tenacity and hard work ethic.

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Many of his new L.A. buddies rode Harleys and “Frenchy Bob” (his new nickname) was always helping them out with their maintenance needs. Many of his friends were transplants from other countries that seemed to congregate together in the L.A. area. Bob jokes that it was a “biker’s United Nations !” Bob hung out a lot with his buddy Roger Meineke (originally from South Africa) who had a small bike shop in Glendale. Bob lived in Los Angeles for a total of 11 years. His biker adventures included riding to San Diego, Ensenada, Mexico, Daytona Bike Week, many Southern California motorcycle club events, the Modified Motorcycles Association motorcycle events, Easyriders Rodeos in Agoura where he met some of the writing staff and was featured in magazines a couple of times, and much more.

He rode to Sturgis, S.D., on his custom 1968 Harley, which was built on a John Harmon frame for the 50th Anniversary in 1990. “What a mind-blowing trip that was,” said Bob. He subsequently attended the Sturgis Black Hills Rally two more times and highly recommends that young bikers get there at least once in their lives. The Rock Store was a fun place to have a beer and the Custom Chrome motorcycle parts shows were always a blast with good friend Alain “Goone” Laliberté (Goone Cycle). “Those were crazy times,’ said Bob with a good laugh.

Unfortunately for Bob, another accident occurred in California. In 1992 he and his then girlfriend, Ruby were struck from behind by a hit-and-run car driver while waiting for a traffic light to turn green on Hollywood Boulevard. Ruby suffered trauma to her lower body while Bob luckily suffered only minor injuries as he was thrust over the handlebars and onto the street. It was estimated that the driver of the car was travelling at 30 mph. The driver was eventually caught a few days later but bore no consequences due to the fact that he lied and told the cops that he was threatened at gunpoint, therefore he fled. Needless to say, Bob tends to stay away from boulevards with the word “Hollywood” in their name !

In 1995 Bob sold Transportation Mechanical Services and moved back to Canada. By 1996 he started wrenching for Cummins Diesel which gave him an opportunity to then apply his talents on big V-16 engines in Labrador. He worked at this for 18 years. With his professional goals now attained, today Bob now works as Maintenance Planner for Lemieux Transport in Montréal, a company that has over three hundred big rig trucks in its fleet. Never a dull moment !

THE UNITED STATE When Bob returned to Ontario in 1995, he decided it was time to loosen the grip a little on his fuck-the-world persona and find a suitable place to land. He set forth to start a family. Luckily for him he met his life partner Nathalie at the Café Saint-Pierre. Nathalie wanted nothing to do with the big bear that was circling around the honey jar. Her first experience on a motorcycle also brought her a first experience in a hospital bed. She wasn’t going to go through that again with anybody, especially a hard-core biker like Bob Lafrance. But as time moved forward so did their beautiful bond. The couple got married at the church in Rigaud Québec where the entire street was lined with bikes and their riders. Brothers and sisters from as far away as the West Coast came to celebrate the couple’s union. Monk Bob (Monks MC) travelled from California and Tall Tom – who was the best man – came from Toledo, Ohio. Bob and Nathalie have two sons, Jesse who is now 21 (he is named after Jesse James a good friend of Bob’s who was a member of the Monks MC in California), and Kevin who is 18 and loves to ride his father’s ’98 FL. Being a true biker through and through, combined with the fact that Bob has a little more time on his hands now, 2021 saw Bob doing more riding than he has in the past twenty years. You want to join him in Sturgis in 2025 ? The reunion is being planned.

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Bob spends many hours in his shop (Bob’s Motorcycle Restorations in Saint-Eugène) where he loves to work on his and customer bikes, Pans to Evos. Bob’s latest project bike is his 1969 blue and white Shovelhead. He bought the bike from his friend Alanah in Squamish, B.C. Her partner Ken had owned it since the mid-1990s, and Bob always pestered Ken to sell it to him. Of course the answer was always “No !” Sadly in 2018 Ken passed away and Alanah called Bob to tell him the bike was his. The bike was in a complete state of disrepair but by the spring of 2020 it was up and running. You may have seen this classic at the Roll the Bones.

“I was lucky enough to tour the USA and work in the USA where I made lifelong friends and brothers – while later in my life I had my family. It was ‘my road’ and I rode it ‘my way’,” said Bob. That you did Bob ! Thanks for sharing your story with us.

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1977 YAMAHA XS650

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1978 H-D FXE

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1962 PAN/SHOVEL that he bought from Dino at Harley-Davidson Montréal.

It succumbed to a fire at the Eternels MC clubhouse.

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1977 H-D FXE he bought for $2500 in Nashville. It was scrapped when he hit a tow truck in Florida.

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1968 H-D SHOVELHEAD with John Harmon frame, bought in Florida. It went through many changes and styles. It was sold in 1993 and is now in Switzerland.

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1988 H-D FXR with a Mitch Bergeron modified frame.

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1996 H-D ROAD KING with a 96 cu.in.

EVO engine built by Goone Cycle.

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1998 H-D FL BAGGER, his favourite bike.

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1969 H-D FL SHOVEL

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ON THE ROAD

Text and photos : Pascal Richard

In recent years, performance on Harley-Davidson motorcycles has been on a roll with the rapid growth in popularity of the performance Bagger. Many of the parts companies and even Harley-Davidson are moving more and more in this direction. After talking with Evan Kleen of Feuling Parts, a company well known among the motorcycle community for its performance products, he invited me to participate in a new race event, the Bagger Racing League that took place last June in Salt Lake City. Without a moment’s hesitation, I confirmed my presence at this event because, with this pandemic and all its restrictions, there was nothing better than taking a good ride from Montréal to Salt Lake City, and making a few stops on my way to visit customers and friends of Revolution Motorcycle Magazine. I also planned to ride through some states on some of the mythical roads I still hadn’t seen.

ANOTHER DEPARTURE I left Montréal on June 16, with the Canada-US border still closed. The good thing about working for the media is that we are considered essential workers. We have the right to cross into the United States, but without any facilities. After many check points, I was allowed to cross the border with my papers, proof of identification for the magazine and a

letter of invitation to the event. Then there I was, on American territory.

It’s so nice to cross over to our neighbour’s side and ride on their beautiful roads. Don’t get me wrong, not all roads in the USA are beautiful.

Those who travel a lot in the United States know it well : in some states the roads are worse than motocross tracks and even worse than Québec roads… My first stop was in St. Louis, Missouri, for a little visit to my friends

from Mid-USA, distributors of HarleyDavidson motorcycle parts. St. Louis is the city that borders the Mississippi River. Most people know St. Louis for the famous Gateway Arch that was built in the 1960s to mark the entrance to the American West. The mythical Route 66 also passes through this city, which is home to several blues bars. St. Louis is a beautiful city to visit with a rich history.

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HEAT AND BEAUTY GALORE I have already driven the 66 on a few occasions, but I took another direction, that of Kansas City, from where I’ve only travelled on secondary roads. I have to say that on my way to Salt Lake City, I had nothing but nice weather with temperatures at a constant 40 degrees. The country roads were thus welcome, and it is through these small roads that we discover beautiful places. As I noticed a simple sign on the side of the road that said Motorcycle Museum, I turned off towards Marquette, a small town of 600 inhabitants lost in the fields of Kansas. To my surprise, I discovered a superb museum with a few hundred motorcycles from the 1900s to the 1970s with a specialist on site to answer any questions.

That’s the good side of taking the back roads; getting into these little

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towns where the most beautiful treasures are hidden, avoiding the tourist traps along the highways.

WHERE THE COWBOY STYLE SHINES Heading to Dodge City, again in Kansas, where our traditional visions of the American West become reality.

This city looks as if it were taken directly from a Lucky Luke book, with its infrastructure that could easily serve as a set in a Sergio Leone movie and the overwhelming heat that crept close to 42 degrees. What could be better than taking part of the afternoon to walk the streets and visit some saloons ? If you have the opportunity to pass through this area, take the time to stop in Dodge City for a few hours to get a feel for the Wild West culture.

HEADING TOWARDS THE COOL AND THE BEAUTIFUL After riding in a hellish oven for a few days in this excessively hot weather, I woke up in Colorado with a drop in temperature of several degrees. It was even a little chilly. Let’s just say that I and my bike, my big V-twin, enjoyed it. Colorado is a beautiful state with very diverse landscapes.

One of the roads I had put on my to-do list was the classic One Million Dollar Highway, a small road on US 550 that stretches for 40 km between the beautiful towns of Ouray and Silverton. This road is well worth discovering as it offers endless curves and incredible views. It is said to be one of the most dangerous roads in the United States because of its curves and the height of the slopes without guard. I recommend trying it if you’re passing through this area.

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UTAH, WONDER OF PARKS AND HEAT Back to the scorching heat !

Utah remains for me the most beautiful state to visit. It has everything going for it : mountains, desert, canyons with bright red colours, the roads are splendid and without traffic and on some of them, you will come across very few vehicles. One of the classic roads on the Arizona-Utah border is Highway 163 which passes through Monument Valley. This mythical road will take you back to the ’70s, to the Western movie set. I can tell you that even after driving on this road several times, the hair on my arms still stands up because it is so impressive.

Another must-see in Utah is the Scenic

Highway 12 which is classified among the most beautiful in the United States and, in my opinion, the most beautiful in the heart of Utah.

SALT AND SPEED Located in Northern Utah, about 175 km from Salt Lake City on Highway 80, this is one of the most unique places to see not only for motorcycle, car and speed enthusiasts, but for its unique beauty. I am talking about the Bonneville Salt Flats drag strip. This sea of white salt is truly impressive.

This is where every year since 1949, drivers of all kinds of vehicles have been trying to break world records in speed. You can take your vehicle out on the salt of this vast dry sea and if tempted, you can test your engine by

stepping on the gas, or just take a series of great photos with the mountains in the background.

The Bonneville Salt Flats are located on the border of Utah and Nevada, and Nevada is home to casinos, hotels, and entertainment. There, you will find the city of Wendover, Utah and West Wendover, Nevada. I took the direction of Nevada because the casino hotels are more affordable.

That same evening at the Casino bar was the Montréal Canadians/Golden Knights Stanley Cup series hockey game in Las Vegas. Let’s just say that apart from me, there weren’t very many CH fans in the room. So I was the only one celebrating the Montréal victory.

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SPEED ON THE TRACK In the United States, Harley-Davidson and Indian bagger motorcycle racing is growing and there is a fierce competition between these two great rivals, which has been growing for a while now. It was my first time attending this Bagger Racing League event at the Motorsport Campus, a few miles from Salt Lake City. A beautiful sunny weekend, a unique track, all in the splendid mountain and desert setting of Utah. I can tell you that it is very impressive, whether it’s the atmosphere in the pits, on the track or outside. Several classes of motorcycles were competing for the win over the weekend : Hooligan GP, Big Twin GP, Pro Stock Bagger GP, Stunt GP and the most impressive, the

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first Bagger GP where this HD and Indian rivalry was present. The big winner of the Salt Lake City edition was Hoban Brothers Racing/DTF Performance Harley-Davidson rider Michael Barnes, followed by S&S Indian’s Tyler O’Hara. Ben Bostrom of the Feuling team finished in fourth place.

I had the chance to follow the Feuling team closely. For qualifying, I focused on the Feuling Parts team. These races are professional and technical, with a team of several people who each have their own task to adjust some parts of the bike at the right time.

Those little corrections on the machine that can save that one second needed to win. Their team also included a cameraman and a photo-

grapher who were there to immortalize the race.

Outside of the track, there were booths and products of all kinds from the motorcycle industry. Drag Specialties, the main sponsor of the event, was present with a huge booth.

On the site, a custom bike show was organized by Arlen Ness’s team, as well as a great stunt show to keep the spectators busy during the qualification breaks. These races were a great opportunity for me to go on a motorcycle trip, see some good friends, and witness the unique entertainment that is these Big-Twin races.

In the summer of 2022, I plan to be there to witness who between HarleyDavidson and Indian will come out on top !

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Text : Mario Tittley — Photos : Mélanie Vachon

I would like to share with you the story of a motorcycle, a very rare model which manufacturing was very limited production which leads me to believe that you would also be interested to know its history.

A few years ago, I met a young man who was a true vintage motorcycle enthusiast.

Knowing his father, Serge Ste-Marie, I knew that the apple had not fallen far from the tree. Mikael came to meet me and told me that I had impressed him with my motorcycle restorations. Honestly, it always touches me when people give me these kinds of compliments because I’m just living my passion. I must admit that it always makes me happy. I love seeing that there is a new generation of people working to ensure the survival of our beautiful vintage motorcycles.

NEW FIND One day, Mikael found a 1940 Harley model UA 1200. He found it on the Web. The motorcycle was in London, Ontario. For several years it had been on display at the Classic Iron Museum in Niagara Falls. This beautiful machine was complete except for a few finishing details. Mikael restored it completely. The UA 1200 is a military model mounted as a UL 1200, the civilian model. The differences between these two models are the colour and the fenders. This is very rare as are many WLAs we used at wartime, but the UA is rather rare itself since these models were demilitarized at the end of the war and sold to the public at a very low price.

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WAR EFFORT 1940 was a pivotal year as the war had just begun in Europe. Harley was supplying the army with motorcycles, which meant that almost the whole motorcycle production was meant for these troops. Surprisingly, the 1940 model is a mixture of 1939 and 1941. In fact, it’s really a transition for this model as the whole bike was reworked, and every part was improved. In 1939, there was one major change. The neutral position had been moved between second and third, which apparently did not please everyone because in 1940, the neutral between first and second was back. There was also a 3-speed transmission with a reverse gear. This transmission was meant for sidecars and servi-cars.

1940 is also the year when the first aluminum heads arrived. The Flathead engine was less powerful than the Knucklehead one but it was very reliable, which was a very important factor at wartime.

For civilians, there was a choice of 16-inch or 18-inch wheels. The 16-inch tires were more “balloon-like”, which gave a better suspension and a very different look. The brakes too were enlarged. At that time, the chassis was still rigid, and the suspension of the fork was spring-loaded. To compensate for the stiffness of the chassis, the seat was mounted on a spring post, which gave it suspension. The chassis had a support for the new toolbox, shaped like a water drop, placed horizontally, and riveted.

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Nowadays, we can still find this type of toolbox on some models. The footboards have been redesigned. In fact, they have been rounded, which gives them a more refined finish. On the fuel tank, there’s a pinstriping exclusive to that year. The tanks are connected by a small pipe for fuel balancing and there is a reserve that is activated by a button on top of the left tank.

The rear fender still has the famous hinge to access the tire in case of a puncture. The saddlebags are made of a unique type of leather that makes them more flexible. The transmission lever is located on the left side of the tank and the clutch is at the foot, a classic.

The throttle is on the right and the feed is on the left. Believe me, it keeps the rider busy. The UL model is very rare because it was produced in very small quantities. The flathead engine was used on the servi-car until the end of 1973. It has no suspension since it was mounted on a rigid axle with a differential. Since this type of vehicle was made to transport material, it offers practically no real comfort. When you think about it, as motorcycles helped the troops move around in the field, the war helped Harley-Davidson to develop to its fullest capacity at the time, and to arrive at fabricating the most reliable and lightweight motorcycle with the most manoeuvrability possible. It is not uncommon to see pictures of soldiers in combat, lying on the back of their motorcycles to protect themselves from bullets. Military motorcycles don’t require a key for the ignition; you just turn the ignition, hit the kick and off you go.

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REFURBISHED During the restoration, the seat, the exhaust system as well as the speedometer kept their patina as a nod to the age of the bike. Mikael had a lot of fun looking for the parts, restoring them and then assembling the bike. Since then, the bike has been sold to Mr. Pierre Trudeau who still takes great care of it today. While talking with Pierre, it took me only a few minutes before I wanted to sit down with him and talk about his passion for motorcycles. He really enjoys restoring motorcycles as well.

Pierre owns a few and is really looking forward to riding the UA1200. The first time he started it to hear the engine, he really enjoyed the kickstart experience. The old-timers will say, “Now, that’s a real bike !” Imagine if this bike could talk about its history. Imagine all the stories this bike has witnessed ! Pierre told me after we’d had a few beers in his garage next to his bike that he hears it telling him these stories. Mikael told me that he misses that bike, but he knows that it is in very good hands. He also knows that Pierre will take care of it as the apple of his eye. When the nice weather returns, we will surely see a nice 1940 HD on the road.

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Text : Becky Goebel — Photos : Carle Brenneman personnal collection

There’s so much to say about Carle but I am limited in the number of words I can write. I first met Carle in high school.

She was in grade 12 and I was in grade 10. We were both on the same snowboard race team, except that I was slow and she was fast. Like, really fast. Before we were even out of high school, she was travelling the world on a professional Snowboard-Cross team and competing in real races.

another. There’s such a correlation between the adrenaline of board sports and motorcycles. A great deal of people with whom I ride motorcycles used to be professional skateboarders, surfers or snowboarders, and Carle is such a perfect example of that.

For you non-winter-sport people, Snowboard Cross is just like Moto X, but on snowboards. It’s fast and gnarly and these riders have to hit these massive jumps at full speed.

It’s even an Olympic Sport, and that’s exactly where Carle took it. She competed in the Sochi Olympic Games and over the years has travelled all over the world as a member of the Canadian Olympic Team. After high school, Carle and I shared a bedroom in Whistler so we could save our money to, well, party and snowboard more. We rode together every day, sometimes clocking up to 250 days a year on our season passes. As the years went by, I gradually stopped being so involved in snowboarding and moved onto motorcycles.

Carle’s love for riding has more recently transferred from snowboarding more into motorcycles. She’s gradually grown into quite the businessperson and used her free time off the mountains to take online business classes and ride her motorcycle. One of her sponsors during her Olympic days was Trev Deeley Harley-Davidson. During her sponsorship, Carle and I would host the “International Female Ride Day” rides from the dealership and encourage other women from Vancouver to get into riding. Carle has recently landed a job doing content creation and marketing at Trev Deeley and is now focusing on her career in motorcycles and business. She creates all the videos you see online for the dealership and is always riding around town with a motorcycle and a camera.

When Carle started getting into motorcycles, it was the best thing ever. Going out to ride with her brought back all those feelings of riding powder days together, chasing each other through the trees, hitting jumps one after the other, pushing each other to be better and just having that flow next to one

It’s awesome to see someone like Carle live such an interesting and fun life. Carle is such a well-rounded person and rider so there’s a lot to expect from her career-wise in the future. I’m sure you’ll be seeing her work more and more over the coming years.

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Here’s a bit more about Carle in her own words : What got you into motorcycles ?

“I honestly wasn’t super interested in riding motorcycles until I had spent some time on the back of one with my boyfriend. After a few road trips, I got tired of sitting on the back and wanted one of my own. AKA, my butt was getting sore as shit, and the road trips were becoming limited. I remember one of the first long trips when I rode on the back of my boyfriend’s bike on a 10 cm x 10 cm pad from Vancouver to Portland and back with no sissy bar… Let’s say I probably wouldn’t do that again…”

Explain your transition from snowboarding to motorcycles.

Is there a link between the two ?

Snowboarding was my life. I loved snowboarding so much, and it was my escape. Unfortunately, at that time, I was having issues competitively and with the association running the program. I had gotten some money back from them. I immediately took that money, which I think was like $800, and bought my first motorcycle. It was kind of a ‘fuck you’ moment—like they were almost making snowboarding not fun for me anymore. So, I went and found something else to keep myself sane in the meantime.

It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

It’s crazy but the motorcycle scene and the snowboard scene are very similar. Everyone has their different styles and ways of looking at how they think motorcycling should be done. I think that’s what I like about it so much. It is what you make it.”

Tell us about your motorcycle journey — from buying your first bike to now riding every big Harley you can !

“My first bike was a hunk of junk, but it was perfect. I believe it was a Yamaha Maximum 450. The speedo didn’t work, and cables were melting on the exhaust, but it got me around. I custom-made a vinyl snakeskin seat for it. My boyfriend took me to a million parking lots to learn how to ride before he let

me go on the road. We went on a lot of short road trips on that thing. I remember one trip we were going over to Orcas Island in the U.S.A., and my battery died at the border crossing… literally at the booth. We had to get border security to help push my bike to bump start it and keep going.

I then upgraded to a 1997 Sportster 883. I freakin’ loved that thing. I got it right before I got my full licence, so I would have a speedo that worked… joke was on me, though cause that speedo also didn’t work properly. I still managed to pass my test somehow, so it all worked out. I mainly customized the look of that bike, but I learned a lot doing that and kept that bike for three or four years. During that time, our local Harley-Davidson dealership, Trev Deeley Motorcycles, had sponsored me as a snowboard athlete before the Olympics. They put a few of the other girls from my team and I through a riding school which was actually super fun. Last year the owner suggested that it may be time to upgrade my bike.

I loved my Sportster, but I knew burning through quarts of oil on the I-5 would not last for long, so I sold it and upgraded to a 2020 Softail Standard.”

Tell us about your bike.

“I had no idea that having a biker bike with more horsepower would make road trips that much easier.

I used to get so tired on long journeys from the suspension/the engine vibrating and the breakdowns. Now, it’s like I wake up fresh and ready to freakin’ rip almost every day.

I feel like every bike has a place. If I had a place to keep bikes and car insurance weren’t so damn expensive in Canada, I would love to have kept the Sportster and grown my collection.”

Why did you choose a career in motorcycles ?

“This last year, I had decided to ‘retire’ from competitive snowboarding. I had just gotten my diploma in Digital Marketing. The dealership that had already been sponsoring me had approached me about taking on a role at the dealership.

It couldn’t have been better timing, and I was honoured to have the opportunity. I wanted to keep myself busy. I traded thinking about snowboarding every day for thinking about motorcycles every day. It has become my passion.”

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What’s your dream job ?

“My dream job would be to be the owner of my company and be able to road trip all the time. (For content trips, of course… haha)”

You do a lot of riding in BC, what are your favourite routes ?

“Yea, I was lucky to have time to go rip the roads during my snowboarding career. Last summer, since we couldn’t travel outside of BC, we pretty much hit up every road in the interior of BC that isn’t gravel. There are so many unique pieces and parts of highways so that it’s hard to pick one route. Ripping Highway 3 from Vancouver to Nelson, staying at Toad Rock Motorcycle campground, then looping around on Highway 6 through Nakusp and over the ferry is definitely a standout route.”

Any favourite secret spots ?

“We have found some pretty rad semi-hidden camping spots along the way. I probably couldn’t even tell you where until I passed them on the road.”

What’s some of your favourite riding gear for women ?

“I’ve pretty much worn my hand-me-downs from Becky for the last 3 years, or more ha-ha — the Tobacco Kevlar Riding Jeans and the Strange Vacation Leather jacket are my go-to. Then I obviously love the latest Axel Co. gloves and soft goods, and a pair of women’s Red Wing boots.”

What’s your favourite part about being a motorcyclist ?

“It sounds so cliche but freedom. We very loosely plan motorcycle trips, and they almost always end up being so rad. You never know what’s going to happen on your next trip, it rules.”

What advice would you give someone who’s looking to get into riding ?

“Just do it, try it. Take some lessons and learn the basics.

No one lives forever, so why not rip it up, eh ?”

Thank you to Carle Brenneman for taking the time to be a part of this issue of Revolution Motorcycle Magazine. You can follow Carle’s travels through her Instagram page @carleb, and be sure to follow her content work through the Trev Deeley Harley-Davidson social media platforms as well !

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x — Photos :

e Monceau Text : Fabric

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rd

ha Pascal Ric

OUR READERS The captivating story of this bike begins when Denis St-Onge buys a motorcycle magazine because he falls in love with the machine on the cover. On this cover, a Harley Davidson Flathead U modified by a workshop in the State of New York creates a crazy desire in him to build a similar model.

HUNTING FOR PARTS

Since Denis is not at his first motorcycle, his circle of acquaintances is quite large in the province and elsewhere.

In 2013, he found at his buddy’s, Dean Hadd’s from the

Eastern Townships, an old Harley Flathead U engine equipped with UH or ULH 80 pc cylinders recognizable by its extra cooling fin and its 3-inch 7/16 bore instead of 3-inch 5/16 for the 74 pc. Denis was accompanied in his quest by his friend Claude Charpentier. The two enthusiasts brought the engine back for a first in-depth inspection. This piece of machinery would to be completely restored, but the pleasure is exactly there in the making of such a project.

Then, he found the frame in Maple Grove, near Beauharnois.

That frame had already been modified, which particularly interested Denis, who did not want to build an original bike.

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Closer to home, in Herouxville, at Gaétan Cossette’s, he found an original Springer Harley fork that needed some tender care to get back in use. Then, always accompanied by his accomplice Marc, he found original wheels, a BSA tank, English motorcycle fenders and a whole bunch of other parts that will make the bike a joyful puzzle to assemble.

VIRTUAL PROTOTYPE Denis started by modifying the front part of his frame, which had already been transformed. He grafted a Triumph fork support to it to be able to make a mount of his own making later. The large 18-inch wheels were restored, painted black and fitted with Firestone ANS tires. The fork was taken apart, restored, and adapted to Triumph’s post, and an English motorcycle handlebar has been mounted thus reducing the massive silhouette of the original American bike. The bodywork elements carefully selected by Denis will greatly contribute in increasing the lightening, almost giving it the look of a pre-war Harley prototype intended for the European market. Two black painted British motorcycle fenders simply highlight the tires without covering them like Harley fenders. A BSA fuel tank is positioned on the top tube of the frame. A Triumph protection grill will be added. To add to the vintage aspect of the project, Denis decided not to chrome the accessories, but rather to copper them and patinate them afterwards.

A simple brown leather solo seat mounted on a spring refines the simplistic aspect of the bike. In 2016, Denis sold his creation to his friend Claude, who unfortunately passed away suddenly in 2017. It is his brother Marc, also a great motorcycle enthusiast, who will take care of the beautiful, modified Harley.

WHY NOT A SIDECAR ?

Even though Marc is happy with his new ride, the memory of his brother pushes him to make it something he would be proud of, customizing it with taste and subtlety. Thinking about it, after the AMAQ year-end ride in 2019, he opted for the creation of a sidecar that would help add his personal touch to the bike without altering the passionate work of its two previous owners. With the help of old photos of motorcycles from 1918 to 1925 that he found on the Internet, Marc estimated the proportions, and started fabricating the chassis of the sidecar and its skeleton. Marc dressed the frame with sheet metal and placed a fender found on the Net. Marc entrusted his sister Danielle with the upholstery, while his friend Daniel from the Daneault garage in St-Nicéphore would take care of the bodywork and painting as he did on all Marc’s bikes. The friendly bearded man was not at his first try since, at 16 years old in 1968, he gifted himself his first motorcycle, a BSA 62. Then, he had a Triumph, and in 1972 his first Harley, an XLCH. Since then, Marc has only owned Harleys. He bought his first vintage bike in the early 2000s, a 1964 Duo Glide that he restored and regularly rides. He also has a 1978 Shovel project that is now occupying his free time. One thing is for sure, Claude would be glad to see that his brother’s passion has been celebrated and made his motorcycle evolve.

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ADVERTISERS Chief editor : Fabrice Monceaux Deputy editor-in-chief : Pascal Richard Regular contributors and columnists : Eric Marshall, Micaela Wallace, Pascal Richard, The Moto Foto | Dan Lim, Charlie Lessard, Mario Tittley, Becky Goebel, Fabrice Monceaux Photographers : Richard Pelchat, Olivier Touron, Eric Marshall, Charles-Alexy Prémont, Laurent Prémont, Grady Ens, Pascal Richard, Mélanie Vachon, The Moto Foto | Dan Lim, Charlie Lessard Special collaboration : François Kelly, Olivier Touron, Charles-Alexy Prémont, Laurent Prémont, Bob Lafrance, Carle Brenneman Models : Cover and center page : Macdie Moulin-Vézina Center page : Julie Monceaux Not your grandpa’s bagger : Jessie Evashenko Translation : Céleste Savoie Proofreader : Nicole Duchesne Graphic design and layout : Suzie Gauthier Printing : Imprimerie Transcontinental Advertising Consultant : Fabrice Monceaux : 514 927-2310 Éditeur : Revolution Motorcycle Mag Inc. 201-300 Saint-François-Xavier Delson, QC J5B 1Y1 Tel. : 450 633-9637 Fax : 450 633-9639 Email : info@revolutionmotorcyclemag.com Revolution Motorcycle Magazine is a quarterly publication of Revolution Motorcycle Mag Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in total or in part is forbidden without prior written permission from the publisher or their authors.

The price of the copy is $ 8.95 plus tax in Canada and $ 9.95 in the United States.

Distribution : Messageries Dynamiques (French) Comag Marketing Canada Group inc. (English) ISSN : 1913-0090 Legal deposit — Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec 2021 Legal deposit — Bibliothèque Nationale du Canada 2021 Registration number Post Publication : 41471522 Printed in Canada

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Revolution Motorcycle Magazine

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