Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa December 2023 by Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa

On the Cover

December cover girl this year is a smiling beauty named Moriah, who’s in the spirit this season on Justin Krol’s ’76 Shovel sidehack. By chance Moriah is Miss December in Natanic’s Pinups biker babe calendar next year too, and is Buy 1 Get 1 Free this month at Natanic.com

2 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

Thun Th under un u nde der Ro R Roads oaad ds Magazine Maga Ma gazi zin nee of of Io IIowa owa wa on on Facebook Faace F cebo boo okk

www.thunderroadsiowa.com ww w ww. w th hun u de d rr rroa oads dsiowa dsio io owa wa.ccom m

TR T RMI MI DECEMBER DEC ECEM EMBE BER 2023 220023 23 - 3 TRMI

Welcome to the end of 2023. It was seemingly creeping along and then all of a sudden, BAM! Now we are closing it out. It is strange how times seem to be variable in the speed of passing. A second is always a second, a minute is always a minute, a day is always a day (according to those pesky time tracking devices), but holy shit time varies in the speed of passing. At least the perception of time passing is greatly variable. There have been many times over the years while having fun doing things and before you know it, it is time to leave, time to part ways, time to go to sleep for the night, and time to move on to the next adventure and good time. These times of fun and excitement go so very rapidly, without any eﬀort, seconds ﬂy by, grains of sand fall through the hourglass at rates unimaginable. On the other hand, when things are not as much fun, or just plain suck, you can almost watch the second hand move. You can almost hear the seconds tick by on the clock. It is as if time is so damned slow that it is pausing, or sometimes seems to be going in reverse. The times like these are usually when really bad shit has happened or is about to happen. These slow times I speak of are when doing things such as waiting for a test result, waiting on a loved one in surgery or in the hospital, waiting on a judge to make a decision, all times of high levels of stress and accompanying anxiety. These are the times on the opposite end of the scale.

mind. Decorations everywhere, many people saying “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” and all sorts of niceties, all while lines at shopping centers growing, with people physically ﬁghting and being rude and just simply nasty to others. I have always seen that as odd for sure. How such a joyous time of year can turn so ugly in a short amount of time. I say that for next year, 2024; let’s start oﬀ the year with a personal drive to make our world a better place. Always do what you would do if people were watching. Do the right thing. Be honest, be polite, be personable, be a better version of the human that you are. Be a hard worker; be a better parent, brother, sister, child, and the like. If we all stand proud and do what we need to do, and be better people to ourselves, and then to others as well, won’t we be living in a better place? If we all stick together and try to stand up and be better people, and it still doesn’t work, then we will know our only options going forward are limited.

We cannot change the passing of time. For the most part we cannot change the perception of the speed of that time passing either. Maybe what we can do is to do our best to set us up for the rapid time passing events in life, and then capitalize on them the best we can. Make good decisions to put us in places that make life more enjoyable and then take advantage of that time. Maybe for 2024 we can try to put ourselves into a mindset and work space that allows for more good times and less of the clock sucking time voids that are a drain on our lives and souls? Do your best to set yourself up for success, for happiness, for making things better overall in our existences. Do your best to make life suck less and be way cooler in general.

I would like to thank each and every one of you for following us along on this path for so many years. I thank our sponsors for helping make this all happen every month for almost a decade and a half. We would like to wish all of you Merry Christmas. We hope that you can have a great holiday with family and loved ones.

If we can have a variable perception on how time passes, a fact that will never change, then maybe we can have a diﬀerent perception on life. The Christmas season for quite a number of years has been a contradiction in my 4 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

If the world does not get better despite our best eﬀorts to be good people, then we know our only option is then to pretend we are the third monkey on the ramp of Noah’s ark, watching it begin to rain. If left with no other choice and being better humans doesn’t work, then take over and choose your sides. Draw your lines in the sand, and decide what you will and will not live with.

With immense respect for our biker community, Vernon Schwarte Proud Editor/Owner Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa Owner Thunder Guns and Thunder Guns West IMDA Board Member MRF Iowa Assistant State Rep COC Liaison NCOIR State of Iowa Representative vernon@thunderroadsiowa.com

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 5

Fear is a pretty powerful motivator, as any of us have experienced upon coming into a curve too fast. Our first instinct is to hit the skids and quit leaning into the curve. Bad move, but most of the time fear motivates us in the wrong direction! Maybe we’ve seen the effects fear had on someone else’s driving. One of our local delivery companies had a driver who was so afraid of getting too close to the center line in her big truck that she went too far the other way and dropped her tire off the edge of the pavement. Bad move! Her truck rolled. Or maybe your fear is about something that’s not life-threatening, just ego-threatening. I remember a particular class in Junior High where we were required to give a speech along with a visual presentation. I was afraid of speaking in front of people, so I practiced the avoidance technique and put off the preparation for as long as I could – till the night before, in fact. I decided to do a demonstration of how to make French Onion Dip, mainly because those were the only ingredients, we had in the house for something both simple and portable. Of course, we also had to turn in our prepared index cards with each step written on them and I had no blank cards so had to “borrow” some from my older sister’s recipe file. Well, you can imagine how well my speech went. My fear and avoidance not only landed me with a less-thanstellar grade, but also provided me with two free weeks of anxiety before the actual event. Now that I’m more mature (or at least, older!), I’ve learned how to better deal with things that provide a potential for failure. I read the instruction manuals, watch the YouTube videos, grill everyone who knows anything about the subject, and, of course, ask Mark. I fully admit that some anxiety may still exist, but now it’s at a low-level, informed state because I know I’ve prepared. Nowadays, fear motivates me to be proactive because let’s face it: as adults there are a whole lot of things you simply cannot avoid. Some unavoidable things in life never change because even back in 1789, Benjamin Franklin observed that “In this world nothing is certain except death and taxes.” One of the most obvious differences between death and taxes is that while we all know when the tax deadline is – April 15 – none of us knows when our death deadline is. We only know that God will judge us for the choices we made while we lived here on earth. It’s ironic that the IRS Tax Code with all its addendums ends up being about 70,000 pages long while the Bible, which covers life, death, everything in between and some things after, is only about 2,512 pages. Taxes: you break even one law and the IRS can charge you with “Tax Evasion.” Like Al Capone, you’ll need a good attorney to help you negotiate the penalties of heavy fines, back taxes, and possible imprisonment. And since the IRS can seize your assets, you’ll need someone else to step up on your behalf to pay this attorney and your fines! Given all that, most people choose not to avoid this miserable chore and instead, they prepare the paperwork, file their taxes, and pay anything owed. Death: you break even one of God’s laws during life and you can be charged with “Sinning”. The penalty? Eternal separation from God. Whether we like to admit it or not, most of us are afraid of dying. We’re afraid, not just of the process itself, but of what comes after death. No matter how much we want to put off thinking about the subject, we know we have failed in some way and 6 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

need someone to defend us and pay our debt. God has already provided all that through his son, Jesus. I John 2:1&2 says, “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins . . .” How does it even make sense that the same God who has judged us to be sinners deserving of death is also the same God who provides our salvation? I am thankful that God, who is rich in mercy, has allowed Jesus Christ to be sacrificed on our place. Jesus’s death paid our outstanding sin-debt. Our part in this is to accept the payment offered through Jesus Christ and quit trying, in our own pride, to pay a debt we can never afford. Allow your fear to drive to you be proactive. Search out the truths of God’s Word and admit your need for a Savior. Express gratitude for this gift and make the choice to live the rest of your life in a way that points to God. You’re on your own with the tax thing. Blessings – Karla Mark & Karla Cornick are with the Christian Motorcyclists Association. Find out more about CMA and God’s plan for you at www.cmausa.org.

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 7

8 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 9

Heartland Harley-Davidson The Biker Friendly Business Directory is a list of establishments throughout 117 S Roosevelt Ave Iowa that sponsor the magazine. You Burlington, IA 52601 can pick up your copy here every 319-754-1100 month. Let them know that you saw www.heartlandhd.com them in TRMI. If your business would like to advertise in Thunder Roads Indian Motorcycle of Mason City Iowa Biker Friendly Business Listing Mason City Powersports and become a part of the network, 12499 265th Street Mason City please email 641-423-3181 vernon@thunderroadsiowa.com Masoncitypowersportsinc.com

Biker Accessories

Metro Harley-Davidson 2415 Westdale Drive SW Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404 319-362-9496 www.metro-motorsports.com

Crispy’s Biker Apparel Cedar Rapids, Iowa Find Us On Facebook

Route 65 Harley-Davidson 1300 S Jefferson Way Indianola, Iowa 50125 515.962.2160 www.route65hd.net

Dirty Biker Design 122 S. John Wayne Drive Winterset, Iowa 50273 www.DirtyBikerDesign.com 515-444-9050

Storm Lake Honda 3040 Expansion Blvd Storm Lake, Iowa 50588 StormLakeHonda.com 712-732-2460

Dealers Baxter Cycle 311 4th Street Marne, Iowa 51552 712-781-2351 www.baxtercycle.com

Johnie’s Tap 112 NE 2nd Street Stuart, Iowa 50250 515-523-1146 Find Us on Facebook

Bloodline Irish Pub 214 Public Square Greenfield, Iowa 50849 Bloodline Irish Pub on Facebook

Just 1 More 515-570-4206 641-757-0159 309 Railway Jamaica, Iowa 50128

Catfish Charlie’s On the Mississippi River 1630 E. 16th Street Dubuque, IA 52001 (563)582-8600 www.CatfishCharliesDubuque.com Desperados 105 E 5th Street Atlantic 712-243-7087 Home of Cold Beer, Good Times, Pizza & Wings Flaming Office 201 W High Street Toledo 641-484-2255 Outdoor Patio, Happy Hour 5-7 Flaming Office on Facebook & Google Haverhill Social Club 202 1st Street Haverhill, Iowa 50120 641-475-3321

Entertainment

Closed Mon-Tues, 4-Midnite Wed-Thur-Fri,

Book Em Dano’s 33 S Main Street Denison, Iowa 51442 712-263-9818 Mon-Sat 4-2 Dancers Nightly 5-1:30

Big Barn Harley-Davidson 81 NW 49th Place Des Moines, Iowa 50313 515-265-4444 www.bigbarnhd.net

Okoboji Classic Cars Museum and Restoration Shop 810 Jeppeson Road West Okoboji, Iowa 51351 712-332-8029

Edwards Motorsports and RV’s 1010 34th Avenue Council Bluffs, Iowa 51501 712-366-8400 fullthrottleia.com

Harley-Davidson of Carroll 1327 Plaza Dr Carroll, Iowa 712-792-1610 www.carrollcycle.com

Barrel Smoke BBQ & Catering 109 N Main Street Templeton, Iowa 51463 Tues – Sat Open at 4 PM Barrel Smoke BBQ on Facebook

Food and Drink

(Popular Poker & Fun Run Locations) Ambro’s Roadhouse 917 Guthrie St De Soto, Iowa 50069 515-468-2236 Great Food! Ambro’s Roadhouse on Facebook

10 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

McCanns Tap NE 14th & 54th Des Moines, Iowa 50313 Bike Parking M-F 2:00-2 S-S 11:00-Close Mi Casa Family Restaurant 512 Market Street Harlan, Iowa 51537 712-755-2258 Enjoy Drinks at the Full Bar! Midway Tavern 206 1st Street Soldier, Iowa 712-884-2230 www.midwaytavernsoldier.com Montgomery Street Pub 207 East Montgomery Street Creston, Iowa 50801 641-782-2165

10-Midnight Sat, 11-Midnight Sunday Iowa Legendary Rye 707 N Main Street Carroll, Iowa 51401 Iowalegendaryrye.com Jake’s Station 107 West HWY 59 Hancock, Iowa 51536 712-741-BEER Like Our Page Jakes Station on Facebook J.R. Willie’s Gateway to the Beautiful Hill Country Colesburg, IA 563-856-5095 Open Tuesday - Sunday 11AM Home of the Willie Whopper

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Papa Joe’s 117 South 6th Street Missouri Valley, Iowa 51555 712-642-9015 Pearl Street Social Club 110 Pearl Street SW Shellsburg, Iowa 52332 319-436-7100 Find Us On Facebook! Riverside Tavern 450 E Main St Lehigh, Iowa 50557 515-359-9998 Email:riversidetap@gmail.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

Shootout Saloon 3571 310th St Dexter 1 Mile West of Bonnie & Clyde Shootout

712-249-0041 Secluded Bar in the Woods Sidetracked 206 West Union Street Creston, Iowa 50801 641-782-8534 Stumpy’s Bar & Grill 423 Main Street Duncombe, Iowa 50532 515-543-4222 Stumpy’s Bar & Grill on Facebook The Exchange 171 S Elm Street Avoca, Iowa 51521 712-343-2609 Lang’s Pizza, Cold Beer, Sports The Yankee Clipper 312 SW Maple St Ankeny, Ia 50023 515-964-9484 yankeeclipperbar.com VFW Post 9662 Bar and Grill 1309 NE 66th Ave Des Moines 515 - 289 - 9914 and Facebook Vic’s Main Tap 304 Broadway Audubon, Iowa 50025 712-563-2122 Opens M-F 2-Close, Sat 9-Close, Sun 2-Close

Thunder Guns West 1101 Chatburn Ave STE 103 Harlan, Iowa 51537 712-235-2632 Find us on Facebook

Hobbies & Collectibles Treasure Island Diecast/Facebook Hot Wheels, M2, Matchbox, Jada Ertl, Lightning, Harley, Maisto Buy-Sell-Trade 641-521-8036 rayaustinhd@gmail.com www.treasureislanddiecast.com

Insurance & Financial O’Malley Wealth Mgmt. 5623 NW 86th Street Suite 400 Johnston, Iowa 50131 515-490-0930 State Farm Clark Ahrenholtz, Agent 2114 12th Street Harlan, Iowa 712-755-5724 Clark.ahrenholtz.jb69@statefarm.com

Legal Hupy and Abraham sc, pc Lawyers for Bikers 800.800.5678 Hupy.com

Wilson’s Tap and Recreation 1008 Story Street Boone, Iowa 50036/ 515-433-1395

TheBikerLawyers.com The Biker Lawyers, P.C. Riding & Defending Your Rights for Over 30 Years 877-209-9452

Guns and Ammo

Photo and Art

Thunder Guns 201 4th Ave Portsmouth, Iowa 51565 712-249-5630 Find us on Facebook

Ullrich Photography PO Box 1842 Clinton, Iowa 52733 563-243-8715 www.natanic.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

Shops & Fabricators BS & Bikes 300 E 17th St S Suite 700 Newton, IA 50208 641-521-8448 Find us on Facebook

Steffens Cycle and Detailing 1311 E 7th Street Atlantic, Iowa 50022 712-250-8493 steffenscycle@gmail.com Thunder Road Cycles 4106 Rockingham Rd Davenport, Iowa 52802 563-323-3172 Thunder Road Cycles on Facebook

Butterfield’s M.C. Parts 8025 Blondo Street Omaha, NE 68134 402-391-3768

Tires

Chuck’s Cycle Service and Repair S&S and Drag Specialties Dealer 307 E 5th StreetWashington, Iowa52353 319-461-5278 Cycle Clinic 2209 ML King Pkwy Des Moines, Iowa 50314 cycleclinicdm.com 515-288-6954

Sandbothe Firestone 1106 Main Street Griswold, Iowa 51535 712-778-2223 Sandbothe Firestone on Facebook

Trailers Lacaeyse Trailer Sales 4192 HWY 146 Grinnell Trailers & Truck Accessories 641-990-2674 www.lacaeysetrailers.com

F & J Racing 701 N 3rd Ave Marshalltown, Iowa 50158 641-752-8651 www.fandjracing.com Mean Machine Cycles Elkhart, Iowa 50073 Custom & Full-Service HD Repair Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat by appt only 515-367-7336 Motorcycle Medic 3176 Highway 30 Woodbine, Iowa 51579 712-647-2818 Open Tues-Fri 9-6, Sat 8-12 Nelson Machine & Forge General Machining, Ornamental Iron, Weld/Fab 70 Washington Street Marne, Iowa 51552 712-781-2220

The Biker Friendly Business Directory is a list of establishments throughout Iowa that sponsor the magazine. You can pick up your copy here every month. Let them know that you saw them in TRMI. If your business would like to advertise in Thunder Roads Iowa Biker Friendly Business Listing and become a part of the network, please email vernon@thunderroadsiowa.com

Road Rage BikeWorks 401 High Street Avoca, Iowa 51521 712-307-6111 Road Rage BikeWorks on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 11

12 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

holiday

Open House SPEND D $100 ON LICENSED H-D H D MERCHANDIS MERCHANDISE AND AFTERMARKET PARTS & ACCESSORIES, RECEIVE A $25 COUPON; SPEND $50, RECEIVE A $10 COUPON*

DECEMBER

9th

GIFT WRAPPING

EXTENDED STORE HOURS

PHOTOS WITH SANTA & MRS. CLAUS CAROLERS PIANIST

8am- 6pm

REFRESHMENTS

KID’S MAKE N’ TAKE

81 NW 49TH PLACE E DES D MOINES MOINES, IA 50313 | BIGBARNHD BIGBARNHD.NET BA NET | (515) 265 265-4444 4444 *Coupon redeemable in store from 1/05/2023-02/28/2023. No cash value. No cash back. Cannot be combined with any other discount or offer. Discount does not apply to prior purchases. Coupon is valid for a one time use on a single purchase and must be surrendered at time of purchase. In stock items only. Excludes motorcycles, F&I product, & service. Coupons cannot be used towards new bike purchases. Coupons increase with each $50 purchase. Excludes clearance items.

HOLIDAY OPEN PEN HOUSE

HOLIDAY HOURS

DEC. 2nd, 2023

DEC. 9th, 2023

DEC. 16th, 2023 DEC. 23rd, 2023

8AM-4PM

8AM-6PM

8AM-5PM

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

8AM-4PM

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 13

14 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 15

Enthusiast September 1948

16 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 17

Justin Krol travels all over the country driving the events semi for J&P Cycles, and while pulling out of Anamosa a few months ago he spotted this side-hack Shovel rig with a For Sale sign on it. Austin Baker and his wife decided to downsize their collection, and as fate would have it, Justin and Austin crossed paths at the right time and both walked away with a smile! Moriah is the sexy little lady posing on Justin’s newly acquired toy, and she was tickled about the idea of donning a Santa hat with her sexy biker attire for the season! She also calls eastern Iowa home, and you can see ore of her in Natanic’s Pin-ups 2024 calendar, where online orders are Buy 1 Get 1 Free through the month of December, but strictly for online orders at Natanic.com

not so USELESS RAMBLINGS

While searching for information about these wind farm failures, I ran across a new government office. The Wind Energies Technology Office provides funds for research I had started to work on a piece for this month, but this just and development activities for wind farms. WETO is a government office, so their funds are your tax dollars. fell in my lap and it’s a good follow-up from last month’s edition, so here we go… back down the rabbit hole of green The Federal government’s Department of Energy is also offering grants and tax incentives to wind farm construction energy. companies. The green energy zealots have been Joey B has been dumping billions of salivating over two very large offshore wind taxpayer dollars into the electric bus farm projects in New Jersey, but the Danish market in an attempt to get the polluting company, Orsted, has decided to completely diesel engines off our streets all while scrap them. David Hardy, the head of the the manufacturers are struggling with company’s American operations, blamed supply chain shortfalls and massive macroeconomic factors like sky-rocketing inflation. interest rates, inflation, and supply chain bottlenecks impacting long-term In recent court filings, the Californiainvestments. based Proterra, Joe’s seemingly favorite electric bus company, has filed for Moving further north up the eastern Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. seaboard, the New England states of The chief executive said, “While Massachusetts and Connecticut are suffering our best-in-class EV and battery some losses to their offshore wind farm technologies have set an industry projects. The Park City Wind Farm off the standard, we have faced various market coast of Massachusetts has been canceled. and macroeconomic headwinds that The company, Avangrid, has said that the price of steel has have impacted our ability to efficiently scale all of our gone up recently, which raises the cost of the offshore wind opportunities simultaneously.” Proterra also said that they platforms, but perhaps the most important factor here is the are struggling to make money while meeting the demands of dramatic rise in interest rates led by the Federal Reserve and each customer’s individually designed buses. followed by most banking regulators around the world.

Green Collapse

Despite substantial monetary penalties for not fulﬁlling their The loss of an electric bus manufacturer is very concerning to Melinda J. Metzger, executive director of Pace, a bus commitments, Avangrid ($48 million), SouthCoastWind network in suburban Chicago. She said, “The industry ($60 million), and CommonWealth Wind (data not can’t aﬀord to lose a major manufacturer. If there’s less available) have all terminated their commitments they had manufacturers, the backlog gets greater and we can’t get signed with Massachusetts utility National Grid, Bostonthese buses on the street, which we need to do.” Metzger’s based energy company Eversource, and New Hampshire agency is currently waiting for 22 Proterra buses. utility Unitil. These penalties add up to well over $100 million.

20 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

It would seem that the EV bus market suffers from the same issues of smaller electric vehicles. The availability of proper charging stations, capable electric grids to support the charging stations, and fires. One of the Proterra buses exploded in a South Carolina assembly facility, a bus in the yard of a repair facility in San Jose caught fire, and several fires have happened in units that are in use in Philadelphia.

In late August, a news release reported that a new oil reserve had been discovered oﬀ the coast of South Africa. An estimated 11 billion barrels of oil and 8.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could be out there, but ﬁnal numbers should be known by the end of the year. However, there are growing concerns over the amount of rare earth materials for EV batteries.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) bought 25 of the Proterra buses in 2016, but aall ll of them have been parked in the depot since early 2020 2020, 0, after the discovery of cracks ks in the frames and several performance issues.

Wouldn’t it be nice if auto makers could make cars the consumer wants, not what the politician wants? con

In late October, just a year and a half after the beginning of their joint venture with General Motors, Honda announced that the collaboration on their compact EV no longer makes kes business sense. Honda cited ed the current business environment, ent, rising cost for the project, and challenges hallenges with getting adequate driving ing range.

This Th T h administration has dumped billions of our taxpayer dollars into the green energy market. Despite all the do ol handouts, there are parking lots full of EV’s that no hha an oone wants and windmills that never made it out of the on warehouse wa We’ve all been smelling the bullshit from this “Green New We Deal” farce, but the winds are kicking a new stench into the De air. I believe I’m catching a whiﬀ of a bailout. Yup, more of air our taxpayer dollars ﬂushed down the proverbial toilet. I ddo have to wonder about the $100+ million penalty fees and the looming bail outs which will most likely be in the hundreds of millions, if not billions… how much of that will be funneled back into the accounts of all of those tha pushing this bullshit agenda so hard? pu

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe has said that “after studying this for a year, we decided that this would be diﬃcult as a business. The cost of the program and diﬃculty eking out enough highway range contributed to the cancellation.”

David McCoy - david@thunderroadsiowa.com - facebook.com/TRMIDave - facebook.com/TRMINSUR

Ford has recently canceled all dealer stock orders of the 2023 Ford Lighting F-150 EV for “additional quality checks.” That’s a pretty ambiguous way of saying that they think their truck is going to spontaneously combust. Ford did say that the issues were not safety-related, but earlier this year, Lightning production was shut down for 5 weeks after a fire in a Dearborn holding lot. That fire started in a battery pack resulting in the total loss of that truck and two others close by. Ford is now working to match their 2023 supply with demand as they change over to the 2024 model year. Ford has also recently paused the construction of a massive EV battery plant in Michigan. Ford reached an agreement with Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), a Ningde, China-based firm, to manufacture battery cells at the plant using services provided by the Chinese company. The pause comes as the government (Republicans) launches an investigation into CATL allegedly having ties to the Chinese Communist Party. One more issue at hand that is plaguing Ford Motor Company is the slowing demand and the EV price war initiated by Tesla at the start of the year. Despite beating out GM on EV sales, thanks largely in part to the Mach-E, Ford’s sales to cost ratio has them losing an estimated $36,000 per EV sold in the last quarter. That’s up from the estimated $32,500 from the previous quarter. Maybe that’s the real reason the new gas engine trucks are creeping closer to a 6-digit price tag? Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 21

younger people that looked like breakfast may be their best option to avoid a hangover. With random signage on the walls, including some motorcycle type of signs, we seemed to fit right in with the locals. The place looks to be a typical mom and pop type of joint that is not new and shiny, but is clean and well kept.

Hutch’s Café

612 E Main Street Sac City, Iowa 50583 712-662-4996 Monday Closed Tues-Sat 7:00am-1:45pm and 4:00pm-7:45pm Sunday 7:00am-12:45pm This past riding season, Matt and I have had to travel from home up to Eldora for meetings several times. Usually they have been about 10-10:30 am, so it seemed fitting just to hop on the bikes a little early and have a breakfast stop somewhere between here and there. Something to break up a three hour ride, get more coffee, get rid of some coffee, so we thought why not find a place with some good vittles to top it all off. I tasked Matt with finding somewhere on the route, and he came up with Hutch’s Café in Sac City. Now, if you know the Iowa map well, Sac City is on Highway 20, and Eldora is actually south of there on Highway 175 and not really on the way, but it was all good even if a slightly out of the way.

The first time through, Matt ordered a Denver Sandwich, which is based off of the Omelet, but on marble rye. He tore through that, and then ate the pancake that he ordered on the side. A huge, fill the plate, fill you up for the day type of cake. I opted for the biscuits and gravy, and added a side of bacon. Creamy gravy, soft fluffy biscuits, and tons of big chunks of breakfast sausage made for a good breakfast, coupled with bacon prepared as requested. That is right, everyone prefers bacon cooked differently, and they actually ask how you want it prepared. Damn good vittles. Subsequent visits we ended up with classic egg, hash brown, toast, and bacon breakfasts, more cooked to order bacon sides, and even a couple different omelets that we have tried. I can say that we never had anything that was not a wonderful meal. Small town diner takes on some classics, and they do a wonderful job with the food preparation and service. The wait staff has always been pleasant and on the spot with coffee and water refills while being attentive to their customers but not bothersome.

Hutch’s is located on the east end of Sac City right on Old Highway 20 aka Main Street in town. It is a little building on the south side of the road, with plenty of parking that is easy to get into for most any personal usage vehicle. You walk into the place and every time there were a variety of different customers sitting at tables and booths enjoying their mornings. Farmers, church goers, and even a couple of www.thunderroadsiowa.com 22 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

We may need to start suggesting some meetings later in the day, or stop back on the way home so we can sample some of the other dinner and supper options. They are open for breakfast, noon, and evening meals many days. The hours listed above are current at the time of writing, but like many small places like this, maybe a good idea to call and confirm hours before traveling a long ways. Stop in and have some good food, interesting conversation with some locals, and don’t forget to tell them that Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa sent ya! Vernon Schwarte If you have a WRTE location for us to visit, please let me know at Melanie@ thunderroadsiowa.com Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 23

Why can’t Mrs. Clause get pregnant? Because Santa only comes down chimneys.

What do male genitals and a Red Ryder BB Gun have in common? You might shoot yourself in the eye if you don’t aim right.

A guy said to God, “God, is it true that to you a billion years is like a second?” God said yes. The guy said, “God, is it true that to you a billion dollars is like a penny?” God A climber fell off a cliff, and, as said yes. The guy said, “God, can I have a penny?” God he tumbled down, he caught hold d said, “Sure, just a second.” of a small branch. “Help! Is theree anybody up there?” he shouted. A majestic voice boomed through th thee What happened when the Grinch took Via-gra? He grew gorge: “I will help you, my son, but fi firrst rst three sizes that day. you must have faith in me.” “Yes, yyes, e ,I es trust you!”, cried the man. “Let go of the branch”, boomed the voice. My buddy got arrested on drug charges and because it was There was a long pause, and the his first offense, he thought he would get off lightly, but it man shouted up again, “Is there turned out his lawyer was one of the worst in the state and anybody else up there?” ended up botching his case, so instead of getting a short term, he ended up getting 40 years without parole!! Man, that sentence was way too long. What did Joseph say to Mary when the three wise men showed up? Is one of these guys the father? What do you call a bukkake in December? White Christmas.

My grief counselor died. He was so good, I don’t even care.

“My girlfriend dumped me, so I stole her wheelchair. Guess who came crawling back?” A man takes his sick Chihuahua to the veterinarian. They’re immediately taken back to a room. Soon, a Labrador walks in, sniffs the Chihuahua for 10 minutes Four men are in the hospital waiting room because their and leaves. Then a cat comes in, stares at the Chihuahua wives are having babies. A nurse goes up to the first guy for 10 minutes and leaves. Finally, the doctor comes in, and says, “Congratulations! You’re the father of twins.” prescribes some medicine, and hands the man a $250 bill. “That’s odd,” answers the man. “I work for the Minnesota “This must be a mistake,” the man says. “I’ve been here Twins!” A nurse says to the second guy, “Congratulations! only 20 minutes!” “No mistake,” the doctor says. “It’s You’re the father of triplets!” “That’s weird,” answers the $100 for the lab test, $100 for the cat scan and $50 for the second man. “I work for the 3M company!” A nurse tells medicine.” the third man, “Congratulations! You’re the father of quadruplets!” “That’s strange,” he answers. “I work for the Four Seasons hotel!” The last man is groaning and How did Santa know that he caught an STD? banging his head against the wall. “What’s wrong?”, the His yule log was burning. others ask. “I work for 7 Up!” A man stands in line at an ATM in Moscow. After an hour What’s the difference between Santa and a successful he loses his patience and yells, “Putin is to blame for this pimp? I’m going to the Kremlin and I will get rid of him!” 30 Santa only has three hos. minutes later he’s back in line at the ATM. “Why are you here again?”, asks another waiter. “The line in front of the Kremlin is twice as long as this one...” What is the worst thing your sibling can steal from you? Your virginity How many letters are in the Christmas alphabet? 25 — there’s noel. As a group of robbers entered the bank, their leader went to the manager and asked him to open the vault. He threatened the manager by saying, “If you try to do “I’ll never forget my grandfather’s last words to me just anything smart, you’re fiction.” The manager was confused before he died. “Are you still holding the ladder?” and asked him, “Don’t you mean ‘You are history’?” The robber angrily replied back, “Do not change the subject, okay?” “I got a job at a library, but it only lasted 15 minutes. Turns out, books about women’s rights shouldn’t go in the Sci-Fi / Fantasy section.” What do you call a snowman giving a five-dollar handy behind a dumpster? Frosty the Ho-man. 24 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

Give a man a match, and he’ll be warm for “What’s your name, son?” The principal asked his student. a few hours. Set a man on fire, and he will The kid replied, “D-d-d-dav-dav-david, sir.” “Do you have be warm for the rest of his life. a stutter?” the principal asked. The student answered, “No sir, my dad has a stutter but the guy who registered my name was a real jerk.” A blind man enters a bar and find his way to a barstool. After ordering a drink, and sitting there for a while, the blind What do priests and Christmas trees have in common? guy yells to the bartender, “Hey, you wanna Their balls are just ornamental. hear a blonde joke?” The bar immediately becomes absolutely quiet. In a husky, deep voice, the woman next to him says, “Before you tell Why was the snowman smiling? that joke, you should know something. The He could see the snowblower coming down the street. bartender is blonde, the bouncer is blonde and I’m a 6 tall, 200 pound blonde with a black belt in karate. What’s more, the fella sitting Why does Santa always come through the chimney? next to me is blonde and he’s a weightlifter. Because he knows better than to try the back door. The woman to your right is a blonde, and she’s a pro wrestler. Think about it seriously, mister. You still wanna tell that blonde joke?” The blind What’s the most disappointing thing for a man on guy says, “Nah, not if I’m gonna have to explain it Christmas morning? five times.” When he gets a sweater, but he’s hoping for a screamer or a moaner. What’s green, covered in tinsel and goes “ribbet ribbet?” A mistle-toad. What do you call an elf wearing earmuffs? Whatever the hell you want. He can’t hear you. “Today, I asked my phone “Siri, why am I still single?” and it activated the front camera.” I remember lying in bed as a kid, waiting for Santa to come...Then there was that awkward silence as he got dressed and left. “I was drinking a martini and the waitress screamed “does anyone know CPR?” I yelled, “I know the entire alphabet” and we all laughed and laughed. Well, except Christmas is so stupid... for one person.” Whomever invented it should be nailed to a cross. “I just came across my wife’s Tinder profile and I’m so A hunter goes into the woods to hunt a bear. He carries angry about her lies. She is not “fun to be around.” his trusty 22-gauge rifle with him. After a while, he spots a very large bear, takes aim, and fires. When the smoke clears, the bear is gone. A moment later, the bear taps What do 15-year-old boys and washing machines have in the hunter on the shoulder and says, “No one shoots at common? They both like keeping one sock for themselves. me and gets away with it. You have two choices: I can rip your throat out and eat you, or you can drop your trousers, bend over, and I’ll have my way with you.” The Why are obese jokes so offensive? hunter decides that anything is better than death, so he Because fat people have enough on their plate. drops his trousers and bends over; and the bear does what he said he would do. After the bear has left, the hunter pulls up his trousers and staggers back into town. He’s Why don’t penguins fly? pretty mad. He buys a much larger gun and returns to the They’re not tall enough to be pilots! forest. He sees the same bear, aims, and fires. When the smoke clears, the bear is gone. A moment later the bear taps the hunter on the shoulder and says, “You know what What is the difference between Jesus and a painting of to do.” Afterward, the hunter pulls up his trousers, crawls Jesus? back into town, and buys a bazooka. Now he’s really mad. You’ll only need a single nail to hang the picture frame- He returns to the forest, sees the bear, aims, and fires. The up. force of the bazooka blast knocks him flat on his back. When the smoke clears, the bear is standing over him and says, “You’re not doing this for the hunting, are you?” What do gay men and drug dealers have in common? They both get a lot of crack. Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas from all of us here at Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa, Thunder Guns, and Thunder Guns West! Be safe! Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 25

26 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 27

Hell Yes, let’s do some holiday stuff. I am blessed or something because our home is always the holiday home. No matter the holiday, no matter the time of year, my wife goes batshit crazy on decorations and I kind of enjoy it. It’s easy to sit back and be a hater and whine, bitch or complain about all the constant changing decor to match whatever the calendar says but I will be perfectly honest, it’s kinda cool. I roll with the flow and just let it happen and to be fair, it really doesn’t bother me at all because it’s her money she is spending and other than Christmas, I really don’t have to put forth much effort… and let’s be honest with each other, as long as I don’t have to help, why would I care. Usually what happens is I go to bed, I wake up, and boom another holiday has assploded in our home. It is not just the decorations that make it so welcoming, it’s the fact that we have friends, family, stranded kiddos from college, dudes with nowhere else to go, it doesn’t matter, if we find out you need a place to be for a holiday, boom, welcome to the holiday house! Year around, it never changes and it would be easy to sit on my patio/couch/office chair and be negative but here is the cool part, I see the pure joy my wife gets from it and I see how forward my kids look to it in addition to all the happiness and joy we have provided, even for a few moments to so many people that might not have had a chance to escape whatever is going on in their world and embrace the magic of whatever holiday is going on. From the flags and bunting from Memorial Day to 4th of July, St. Patrick’s Day, it really doesn’t matter. All of it is observed it seems but none of it (and I mean none of it) compares to what our place looks like from the Friday after Thanksgiving until after the New Year, yea, we really go after it for Christmas. Not in a tacky, whacky kind of way. It is really tasteful and well done but damn there is a shit ton of Christmas going on at our place. Thirteen full size Christmas trees, no idea how many small ones, each room has one…and they are all cozy, unique, and I love it all. Okay, so you are perhaps sitting back wondering why a biker dude is lamenting about how great the holidays are blah blah blah. Trust me there is a reason behind the madness. Let’s start with the obvious, it’s winter time around much of the riding world and that means our bikes are in storage for the most part, tenders are tendering our batteries, covers 28 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

are covering, and storage, well doing what storage does keeping our rides protected from the Midwest elements and we sit and hope that the bikes miss us as much as we miss them. Like many I dream of some warm weather days to sneak in a few miles, depending on the crap on the road. Those days are rare, a cool respite in the winter of suck. I will be honest with you, I’d rather just have a metric ass-ton of snow so I don’t get any false hopes of a chance to swing a leg over and get some riding done. Never fails, the weather sneaks up and teases us a bit but then the time to ride comes around and it’s frosty, the forecast turns or whatever the scores of reasons are that prevent us from going happen, it’s like the promise of seeing someone naked, you get all excited and for whatever reason… nada, nothing happens, and it just makes you even crankier. It’s best not to have dreams, right? All of that aside, IF there is a chance to ride this winter, I hope it’s January 1st and I am going to ride into Nebraska without my helmet on, welcome our brothers and sisters there to the world of freedom, then ride my ass back home. Yea, they lose that stupid mandate but they still don’t know how to enforce a small part of that rule, you have to show that you took a safety course. It’s a secondary oﬀense, so they can’t pull you over just for that, but just be prepared. I spoke with law oﬃcials about this and explained to them there isn’t a national data base that indicates who did or did not take a course. For example, in Iowa you must pass a written and a riding test, that should be good enough. If you have that endorsement, you should be covered. They of course didn’t have an answer. Shocking that a state would pass a law without thinking through the implications. Which in a roundabout way brings us to the reason why I love the holidays and the decorations we have in and around our home, it’s simple. It’s an escape. An escape from all the bullshit going on in their world that we try and not let us wonder why it’s all even worth it. Escapes from reality, a fortress of happiness, a source of optimism in a shit show of a world. This year it might even be more important than ever for one reason. There is a huge reason that you, me, our families

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

should all embrace the holiday season this year more than any other. The Election.

seems to really care enough to reach out and work together on anything, no matter what the issue is. I am sick of it and that’s why I have pulled back from as much of it as I can. I just don’t care anymore. I don’t even care that I am not as informed as I used to be. To hell with all of them.

Next year is another big election and I don’t care what side you are on, which party it seems will make you happy, You can tear each other up all of 2024, I am sitting it out which direction you feel we should go we can all agree on a completely. few things. But for right now, I am full on embracing the holiday This is going to be a pure shit show. seasons because I can see smiles on my kids’ faces, my friends will be over for cheer, and my wife will be in her zone with decorations. Again, I don’t care who you like, both sides are morons and are going to screw things up even more. We have people I love it all and will keep loving it until the shit show takes way beyond the age of functioning running for not only the over. highest office, but look at some of these old geezers in the house and senate. Are you telling me we can’t do better than Merry Christmas! what we have! They are all just terrible. Todd “Crash” Davis I legit hate them all, I don’t care what side you are on, I don’t like them. Even people that are my friends in office, I no longer like them either. Sure, I will tolerate them, but damn can’t we find better people to fill their shoes? Elections, the commercials, the debates, the social media shitstorm…all of it is exhausting and dividing, it’s ripping our country apart by the seams and neither dipshit party

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 29

30 - TRMI 30 TRM RMI MI DECEMBER DE D DEC ECE CEM MB BER ER 22023 00223

www.thunderroadsiowa.com w ww ww. w.th hu un nde derr rroa o ad oad dssiowa iowa io wa com m

Thun Th under un u nde der Ro R Roads oad ads Magazine Magazi Ma zin nee of of Io IIowa owa wa on on Facebook Face Fa cebo bookk

Thun Th under un u n nd der Ro de R Roads oaad ds Magazine Magazi Ma zin nee of of IIo Iowa o ow wa on wa on Facebook Faaceb F cceeb bo oo okk

www.thunderroadsiowa.com w ww ww th thun unde der d dsssio iowa io iowa wa.cco om m

TRMI TRM TR MI DECEMBER DEC ECEM EMB BE ER 20 ER 22023 023 023 23 - 3311 TRMI

Another Shot Across the Internal Combustion Engine Bow In April 2023, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted to ban the sale of medium and heavy-duty dieselpowered vehicles in the state starting in 2036. As the MRF shared last year, the implications of this move by CARB are enormous. With California being the largest market for vehicles in the country, manufacturers are being forced to make decisions on the products they offer. It now appears that the first domino may have fallen. In a recent memo to dealers, the Ford Motor Company announced the following policy for California, “Beginning January 1, 2024, Ford will not allow or recognize sales or delivery of 2025 Model Year diesel Medium Duty (F-650/F-750) units to customers who register their vehicles in the state.” You read that correctly. That is eleven years in advance of the directive from CARB that Ford is now forbidding its dealers from selling diesel-powered F-650/F-750 in the largest state in the Union. This action by Ford may be the first in what will be a growing list of manufacturers who bend to the will of California regulators. Why can California do this? The Clean Air Act allows California to seek a waiver of the preemption that prohibits states from enacting emission standards for new motor vehicles. We know that officials in California will not stop here. They already have banned the sale of gas-powered golf carts, lawnmowers, chainsaws, and generators. To make matters worse, more than a dozen other states link their emissions laws to California standards. That means that in some cases, 40% of vehicles on the road are subject to California standards regardless of whether the vehicle is registered in California. The writing is on the wall. If we want to protect motorcycles and the internal combustion engines that power them, we must act now. Recently the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1435 which would amend the Clean Air Act to prevent a ban on the sale of internal combustion engines (ICE), effectively trumping any state law that outlaws their sale. 32 - TRMI DECEMBER 2023

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

TRMI DECEMBER 2023 - 33

the cold months motorcycle showrooms are a Is Buying a Motorcycle in the Ingraveyard. A bird in the hand beats two in the bush and dealerships know this. They would prefer a buyer in the Winter a Good Idea? middle of winter over a potential customer who may pay Except for those living in warm climates, riding a motorcycle is a seasonal activity. For most people buying a motorcycle in the winter when they can’t enjoy it may sound like a bad idea. Is it?