S&S Cycle 10th Annual George and Marjorie Smith Memorial Ride

Beautiful days and a lush green scenery are not uncommon – at least in the summertime – to folks who live in Wisconsin. The riders of S&S Cycle got together for the tenth annual memorial ride honoring S&S Founders George and Marjorie Smith.  It was a gorgeous day for a ride, 37 riders gathering for a route that took us winding through the beautiful countryside and Home to S&S, the driftless area of southwestern Wisconsin.

Two groups, one starting in Viola and another in La Crosse, met at Jersey Valley county park where current S&S president George B. Smith (son of George and Marjorie) gave a speech commemorating his parents and thanking all of the riders for their enthusiasm and hard work.

"My parents started this company in 1958, to make high performance parts for american v-twins. It's all of you who have taken our motto "Proven Performance" to the next level, and helped shape the company into what it is today. I look forward to the years ahead and thank you for your hard work. Now, get out and ride!"

Motorcycling is an important part of life for many S&S employees, as it was for George and Marjorie Smith, both avid riders and enthusiasts.

Following the Memorial Ride, employees and family enjoyed a picnic bash, including a feast of BBQ favorites, games, a bouncy castle (not just for the kids) and camaraderie.

Enter to Win the Official Daytona Bike Week 2011 Motorcycle!

This bad a$$ one-of-a-kind Brass Balls Chopper wants to go home with YOU! This machine is powered by the high performance of an S&S® / Flathead Power® SH93 engine – vintage style with modern muscle. If you are going to Daytona Bike Week (March 4-13, 2011), come visit us! We will be located at the Daytona International Speedway. 

1884 TICKETS HAVE BEEN SOLD AS OF 2/16/2011

Each year, the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce holds a drawing for the Official Bike Week Motorcycle. Since there are only 4500 tickets printed, the odds to being a winner is incredible.  In addition to the Grand Prize, there are 10 additional runner up prizes valued at $200. Not only is this custom motorcycle valued at $35,000 but it is a collector’s item. It is the only Official Bike Week Motorcycle for 2011. Click Here for more information and how to enter.

Unlike other Bike Drawings, what makes this Bike Drawing Unique are the following:

• LIMITED TICKETS PRINTED - Only 4,500 tickets printed - 4500 is the maximum that can be sold - the odds are great. 
 
• How Much is it to Enter? $50 for each Official Certificate to enter the drawing. Instead of selling 100,000 or more tickets to win a motorcycle at $5 or so a ticket, we instead limit the drawing to 4500 entrants at $50 a ticket, so you have a better chance of winning.
 
• 2011 Official Bike Week Motorcycle - Not only is this a great bike valued at $35,000, it's also A ONE OF A KIND.
 
• American Iron Magazine features the complete build, from frame to finished masterpiece.
 
• Tax Deductible - Major Fund Raiser facilitated by the Daytona Beach Community Foundation with proceeds going back into the management and betterment of each bike week event.
 
• 8 Runner Up Prizes - all worth $200 or more
 

Come visit S&S® Cycle, Flathead Power®, Crane Cams® and Mobil 1® at the Daytona International Speedway, March 4-13, 2011. And good luck to all entrants! 

S&S, Crane Cams, and Flathead Power in Chicago this weekend for IMS

S&S® CYCLE WILL SEE YOU AT THE PROGRESSIVE® INTERNATIONAL MOTORCYCLE SHOW® IN CHICAGO

Don't miss S&S® Cycle at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show (IMS) in Chicago, IL this weekend.  The show will be held in the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in the Village of Rosemont, and runs from Friday Feb. 11 through Sunday Feb 13.  Here's your chance to see all the new S&S, Flathead Power® and Crane Cams® products for your Harley-Davidson® motorcycle, no matter if your bike is vintage, custom, or a late model stocker.  Another bonus is that two of our tech guys will be on hand to answer your questions, and show you how you can make your ride a lot faster.

The S&S 4-Step Performance products will all be on display so you can see for yourself what the buzz is about.  The S&S 4-Step Performance Program is a roadmap to better performance, that you can take one step at a time as your budget allows or as your passion for speed demands.  Get up to speed at your own speed!

The 4-Step Performance Program includes S&S Cycle's high performance exhaust products.  Don't miss the opportunity to see the newly redesigned S&S SPO® touring mufflers and the all-new Power Tune duals – up close and personal.  Want to know what S&S slip-on mufflers sound like?  Check out the S&S interactive exhaust touch-screen video kiosk.  Not only can you see photos of these slip-on mufflers installed, you will be able to hear actual sound recordings of the mufflers in action.  They look great and they sound great, and we want you to know it.

S&S Cycle is the primary distributor of Crane Cams motorcycle products, and all the old favorite Crane products will be on display, along with two new Crane ignitions, a new set of cams for 2007 and later Harley-Davidson big twins, and the newly released Time Saver pushrod kits for shovelhead engines.

Vintage fans will love the new products from Flathead Power.  The new KN-Kone engine, recently awarded "Engine of the Year" by V-Twin magazine, the new KN-74 engine, replacement vintage kicker covers, 80" UL flathead cylinders, and more.

For more information about the IMS show in Chicago and dates for other IMS shows, click on the IMS website at http://www.motorcycleshows.com/Chicago

Just in case you can't make it this weekend, here are some other shows that S&S will be attending this year.

 

Feb. 25-27, 2011	International MC Show	Greenville, SC
Mar. 4-13, 2011	Daytona Bike Week	Daytona Beach, FL
Mar. 26-27, 2011	Donnie Smith Bike Show	Minneapolis, MN
May 13-22, 2011	Myrtle Beach Bike Week	Myrtle Beach, SC
May 28-29, 2011	South Texas Biker Jam & Expo	Houston, TX
June 9-12, 2011	ROT Rally	Austin, TX
June 11-19, 2011	Laconia Bike Week	Laconia, NH
June 25-26, 2011	J&P Cycles Open House	Anamosa, IA
Aug. 8-14, 2011	Sturgis Rally	Sturgis, SD
Sep. 1-4, 2011	Antique MC Club of America	Davenport, IA

The S&S Road Crew goes to the V-Twin Expo in Cincinnati

Just days after Punxsutawney Phil, the weather predicting ground hog failed to see his shadow, ensuring an early spring, and right on the heals of one of the worst winter storms in living memory, the V-Twin Expo opened Saturday Feb. 5 In Cincinnati Ohio.  In spite of the inclement weather a few days before, exhibitors and dealers showed up for the Expo in force.  The Cincinnati show is not only a rite of spring, but also a great chance to see what's new in the v-twin industry for the coming year.

The V-Twin Expo is a three-day dealer-only show, which is presented by Paisano publications, the home of both V-Twin and Easy Riders Magazines.  This is one of the largest, most important, and certainly the most historic shows in the v-twin industry.

On Saturday night after the first day of the show, V-Twin magazine held a ceremony during which they presented a number of awards to companies and individuals who have made significant contributions to the industry.  The very first award presented went to S&S Cycle for the KN-Kone engine sold under the Flathead Power brand.  Flathead Power is S&S Cycle's brand of vintage engine parts for Harley-Davidson® motorcycles. Accepting the award for S&S and Flathead Power, were S&S VP of Product Development Scott Sjovall, and Flathead Power product line manager Eric Wangen.  Eric was the driving force behind designing the KN-Kone and getting it into production. 

The KN-Kone is a special engine that reminds me of the old horror movie "The Fly", where scientist Andre Delambre's body parts accidentally get swapped with those of a fly in a brilliant but misguided experiment in teleportation.  However, instead of a grotesque creation, the KN-Kone is a wonderful combination of something that looks like a knucklehead top end grafted to an alternator shovel style bottom end.  The result is actually a very cool retro looking engine that will drop into any 1970-'99 big twin chassis.  It can be used in earlier chassis if the longer late style transmission shaft is used.

On Saturday and Sunday of the show, S&S presented a seminar on new S&S products entitled "When a legend is not enough.  The seminars were presented by Marketing Manager, Bruce Tessmer with guest appearances by representatives of Crane Cams, Mobil 1 and the Power Sports Institute.

Day 3 of AZ shoot. In-motion action shots with the new SPO® mufflers

Today we met Skip Taylor and some of his friends and customers for the real deal photo shoot to get the riding shots. This is the shoot we had been scouting locations and practicing the shots for yesterday.  We met at the same location near Gisela. 

The first order of business was to introduce everybody and to sign photo releases. 

Next we explained what we were trying to do and how we intended to do it.  The general idea was that Wally, riding our 2009 Street Glide, equipped with S&S® SPO® mufflers and teardrop air cleaner, would lead the way.  The others would follow just a little behind to show that having the S&S performance exhaust and intake would put you ahead of the pack.  This is not just an illusion, because when we got back to Phoenix later that day, John at Average Joe's put the bike on his DynoJet 250i dyno, which showed that we had picked up about nine horsepower and about seven foot pounds of torque with the SPO mufflers and the teardrop air cleaner.

Photo shoots can get really tedious even if they involve riding motorcycles.  We had Randal shooting photos from the back of the truck with the bikes trailing behind.  It looks like they are cruising down the highway, but they are really only going about 20 mph.  This kind of maneuvering will show if you real know how to control a motorcycle, holding position in a group at low speed and look like you are having a good time.  Try it sometime!

We picked out a fairly short stretch of road that ran more or less north and south, and our merry little procession drove up and down it a lot of times.  We could only photograph on the northward leg because the morning sun was coming from the east, and we had to have the light on the right side of the lead bike to show off the teardrop air cleaner.  In between trips down the road, we would stop and look at the images.  We would show the riders what our pictures looked like and tell them what we wanted to change on the next trip.  Then we would assemble the parade and do it again…and again.  The secret to taking really good pictures is to take a lot of them.  Well, we certainly took a lot of pictures and it paid off, since we got some really good images.  Thanks to Skip and his crew for helping us out!

We then cruised on into nearby Payson and had lunch at Mackie's Grill and swapped lies for a while. A great bunch of people to work with, and fun to hang around with!

On the way back to Phoenix we traveled through a huge forest to saguaro cactus on the Bee Line highway.  You sure can see a lot of cool stuff if you get out and hit the road.  Then it was back to Average Joe's to drop off the bike, and our adventure was pretty much over except for the flight back to Wisconsin.

Day 2 of the AZ photo shoot

Today we traveled to Payson, AZ to check out locations for some group-riding shots for our photo shoot on Saturday.  On the way we stopped at a motorcycle junkyard near the little town of Rye.  The place is called "All Bikes",  and is a must see for bikers, especially if you are interested in vintage stuff.  There are junked motorcycles, bicycles, ATV's of all makes and models as well as a few vintage cars, all crammed into a huge lot and several buildings.  Ron the owner is a grizzled gentleman who loves to talk bikes and tell what the more obscure items in his yard are, told us it had taken him 38 years to accumulate his horde of stuff.  When Wally asked him if he knows what he has and where everything is, he responded "Well, I put it there so I should know where it is."  We asked him about a few things, and sure enough, he knew where it was, and could tell us the history of the part and a lot more.  A lot of cool stuff!

From there, we went on to a remote road near Gisela where we checked out locations for some group riding shots.  We found an abandoned store that just looked cool, so we unloaded the bike and took some shots in front of it. 

After we had as much fun as the store allowed, we got ready for the riding shots.  Randal wedged himself into the back of his pick-up and we took off with the bike following.  We were trying to get a feel for the area and figure out where we could get the best light the next morning.  Another factor was that we were looking for a place where we could shoot with a group of riders without getting creamed by traffic.  Not much traffic out here.  Tomorrow, Skip and some of his friends and customers will meet us here to do the shoot.

Photoshoot in AZ of S&S Cycle's performance products

S&S is on the road again doing photo shoots for our next new ad campaign.  Marketing manager Bruce Tessmer flew to Phoenix AZ to meet up with Wally Cahill of G2G Productions. The first stop was to see John Scott of Average Joe's Motorcycle Service. 

John's role in the program was to help find some local bikes and riders for the shoot.  We had a bike lined up that Wally was using for a video about the S&S 4-Step program, but we couldn't get a hold of the owner.  Seems he was out riding.  Unlike Wisconsin, Arizona has beautiful weather in November, and who can blame the guy for being in the wind.  So we needed another bike.  Scott lined up a 2009 bagger and we put an S&S air cleaner and the new S&S SPO® mufflers on it.    This was the first time John had seen the new SPO mufflers close up, and he was really impressed with them and how easy it was to install the teardrop air cleaner kit.  When they fired up the bike, he was also pleased by the way the SPO's sound.

Once we had the bike set up, we proceeded to Black Magic Motor Sports in Tempe, AZ to pick up Wally's trailer and talk with Skip Taylor, who was also helping to line up some local riders for the shoot.

We then hit the road for Sedona to meet with our photographer Randall Bohl, to shoot the bike against some scenic backgrounds. Due to the higher elevation, the weather in Sedona was a little cooler than in Phoenix and we had clear skies and temperatures in the mid 80's.  It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it!

 

 

We ended up at the Sedona airport, which is up on top of a mesa, and affords a spectacular view.

We got there just before sunset to catch the light and get a very cool effect.  By the way, the area around Sedona is believed by many to be a "spiritual vortex" and UFO sightings are said to be common. The mesa behind Randall and Wally in the photo, supposedly is a landing spot for extraterrestrial visitors. (they apparently have their own airport).

 

Tomorrow we are off to scout some more locations and do some more shooting.

Engineering MGR Jeff Bailey set a new record @ Bonneville!

This just in from the salt flats at Bonneville...

During the "World of Speed" meet, S&S Cycle's own Jeff Bailey just ran a blazing record breaking speed of 173.5 mph on his custom built 1995 Buell S2.  His first run was clocked at 171.9 mph and then 175.0 mph on his return at 8 am this morning for the average of 173.5 mph.  Smashing the previous record of 159 mph!

We are glad Jeff made his run in 1 piece and proud to have one of our own setting records with the help of our performance products.  S&S Cycle has had a long history at Bonneville and Jeff now has his own place in S&S Cycle's record breaking runs.

Congradulation Jeff!  Just imagine what would happen if you opened up that throttle!  Just joking.

S&S Engineering MGR Jeff Bailey @ Bonneville World of Speed meet

This week, S&S Cycle's Engineering Manager, Jeff Bailey is at Bonneville attending the "World of Speed" meet and has brought his own custom built bike to put to the salf flats. Here is Jeff's first progress report:

"My Dad (Neil), Gene Dlask and I left Sunday morning.  WE took 2 days getting out.  Had to do a front brake job on the truck when we got here because the trailer brakes weren't working properly on the way out.  No big deal when you have Gene along.

Today is tech inspection and we made it through that with little drama.  This is the World of Speed meet put on by the USFRA, so it is a little smaller than Speedweek, but the weather is cooler and the lines are shorter.

Racing starts tomorrow and runs through Saturday.  My bike is a 1995 Buell S2 that I built up from a bar frame purchased through the badweatherbikers.com webite.  The engine is a 160 cast prostock, 4.8: bore x 4.375 stroke.  The real trick thing about this bike is the EFI system.  Nevin and Rob figured out how to create a closed loop wide band O2 sensing system.  This system uses 1 throttle body from the S&S Billet Pro Stock engine. So Tuning should be easy.  They also set up a cool AIM dash/data acq system.

The Hillegass brothers, Kyle, Nevin and Grant should be arriving tonight.  They left a day early and headed to see the Grand Canyon.

More to come!"

The AMCA Vintage Motorcycle Races & Swapmeet

S&S® and Falthead Power® attended the Vintage Motorcycle Races & Swapmeet hosted by the AMCA in Davenport IA September 2^nd - September 4^th.  We debuted the S&S® / Flathead Power® reproduction kicker covers and showed some of our reproduction gear covers, KN rocker arms, breather gear and put out a UL cover casting as a little teaser for things to come.  We also had a set of KN heads we borrowed from our friends at WayBack Wheels.  Although Thursday was not open to the public and is strictly vendor setup, this was the biggest chance for the vendors to walk around and see what’s what. There were some 820 vendor spots at the Mississippi fair grounds, so the vendors alone made for a busy day on Thursday, and Friday we had a pretty steady flow of traffic.  The weather sort of cooperated with us as we didn’t get rained on, but we still had to deal with the mud and high winds that forced us to take down the canopy around noon on Friday.

The kicker covers were well received, comments were mostly directed to the authentic nature of the parts with the markings and casting shape, next was the improvements we made.  The gear covers were also a hit, as most people we spoke with didn’t even know we had anything other than our old 4 rib cover available.  

If you get the chance, you should attend one of these races, if for no other reason than to see these old bikes literally fly around the track with no suspension and no brakes.

We couldn't get a video of this year but here's one from last year made by Pusherman Racing. (races start at 2:06 in)

Here are a few snapshots of the swapmeet.