Motorcycle News

Lombard, IL – May 13, 2008 Northside Choppers believe in producing cleaner air put the

5/07/08 - Northside Choppers Now Services APC, Titan, and Ultra Motorcycle Co.

3/21/08 - Illinois ~ NOISE - County to crackdown on loud exhaust systems

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By AMANDA REAVY STAFF WRITER Published Thursday,March 20, 2008

Dual exhaust systems may enhance your vehicle’s performance, but if the extra horsepower adds adds an aggressive roar, prepare to be pulled over.

Advertisement The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday it is cracking down on drivers who violate the state law regarding vehicles with excessive noise and modified exhaust systems.

“I think that a lot of people don’t realize that there is a law that regulates … the noise emitted by vehicles,” Sheriff Neil Williamson said, noting the restriction includes any car, truck or motorcycle.

“I get complaints all the time (about vehicle noise) when I’m out in public.”

According to section 5/12.602 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, every operating vehicle should be equipped with an adequate muffler or exhaust system, which should be properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise. It is illegal to modify the exhaust system of a vehicle in a way that will amplify or increase a vehicle’s noise above that emitted by the muffler originally installed on the vehicle.

Williamson said he’s instructed deputies to be more conscious in enforcing the noise regulation and making motorists aware if they are in violation.

Motorists pulled over for the offense will either be issued a written warning or cited with a fine of $75.

“It’s especially bad for a lot of people that live at intersections or corners where the vehicles are coming to a stop and then they take off and rev them up … You can hear some of the these cars for five or six blocks,” Williamson said.

“It’s something, I think, over the last five or 10 years, it hasn’t been a real high priority with a lot of law enforcement agencies. It’s one of those things that’s crept in gradually, and it’s gotten to the point that it’s almost like noise pollution.”

Amanda Reavy can be reached at 788-1525.

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9/19/07 – Northside Choppers and Turtle Wax / Marvel Oil Co., Working Together on a Custom Project for the SEMA Show

Northside Choppers is customizing a 2008 H-D "Sportster Nightster" for the Turtle Wax Corporation which will be shown at this year's SEMA show in Vegas. Check our project gallery for photos of this project.

8/1/07 – Check Out Northside Choppers In This Month's Issue Of Boss Status Magazine – On Stands Everywhere Now!

7/14/07 – Northside Choppers Using TP Engines?

You're hearing it here first! Northside Choppers will be using TP Engineering motors in some of their selected production models starting late this year.

With their smooth, quiet, dependable power, and not to mention their awesome show polished look—TP's motors have passed all U.S. EPA and California ARB standards for exhaust and noise emissions.

Northside Choppers will be using TP engines in some "G-DeVille's" using TP's 114ci, The "Obsession's" TP's 121ci, and all "Anarchy" models using TP's biggest and baddest motors of them all, the 124ci.

5/23/07 – Rolling Thunder Rolls into Chattanooga

May 22, 2007 - 6:43PM

Hundreds of bikers rolled into the scenic city on the way to Washington D.C. They are traveling from California, headed to the Rolling Thunder Memorial Day event. They expect four hundred people, and ten are joining from Chattanooga.

Kenney Hensley is a biker and a veteran. The group says you don't have to be a veteran, or a biker, just a supporter of their mission. Hensley says, "It's a band of brothers, if you will, for one mission, it's a wonderful thing and it's also fun."

The mission is to honor and remember prisoners of war and those missing in action. On Tuesday, Chattanooga's Rolling Thunder was waiting for others to roll in, all waving the same flags and wearing the same patches.

Kenny Gaddy is the president of Chattanooga's Rolling Thunder chapter. He says, "To show honor where honor is due and we've all got the same thoughts in our hearts and minds, it's appreciation for what our veterans have done for us."

Hensley says the celebration in D.C. for Memorial Day is unforgettable, "When you get up there and see those veterans around that wall and seeing that band of brothers, or fellow soldiers' names on that memorial, it's just so much that tears flow out of a full grown man."

But there were no tears on Tuesday just practice and preparation. Bikers, veterans, and others all appreciative of those who fight for their country attended. Hensley says, "It's a wonderful feeling, it's wonderful, people should be doing this across the nation. It's great knowing they're doing it out of the goodness of their own hearts and they know what their freedom is and what they sacrificed for it."

The bikers will leave from Thunder Creek off Lee Highway May 23rd at 8:00 am. They expect one million bikers this year in Washington D.C.

5/8/07 – M/C ID Chips

Bikes could have to carry onboard microchips which transmit the machine and owners identity to police, it emerged today.

The chips are contained in number plates and enable police to identify motorcycles on the move even when another vehicle is in the way.

Data, such as the frame, is transmitted via radio waves to handheld receivers and checked against a database of untaxed and uninsured vehicles. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) have just launched a six-month study into the feasibility of making the chips compulsory specifically for motorcycles.

DVLA crime reduction officer Allan Lindenburn said the aim was to see whether the chips, called Remote Frequency Identification (RFID) chips, could provide a solution to high rates of road tax evasion for motorcycles. He said Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) currently used by police was limited because systems were usually front facing and bikes have only rear number plates.

He said, "We have looked at the problem of motorcycle Vehicle Excise Duty evasion, which is obviously higher than for any other vehicles, and were simply looking to address the problem."

Critics have pointed out once the chips are fitted to bikes the Government will find it difficult to resist pressure to fit chip readers to front facing speed cameras, allowing them to catch bikes for the first time.

David Short, campaigns manager for the Motorcycle Action Group, said, "That's the whole issue. Their [the DVLAs] argument is that this would take away the sting of requiring motorcycles to have front facing number plates."

Number plate spy chips were first revealed in MCN in 2005, when we reported plans for trials using police vehicles the following year.

Those trials found that a vehicle could be identified from a handheld reader in a police patrol car pursuing the target vehicle with a third vehicle placed in the between them according to a subsequent DVLA report.

11/26/06 – 29th Annual Chicagoland Toys for Tots Parade

The 29th Annual Chicagoland Toys for Tots Parade will be held on December 3rd 2006—always the first Sunday in December. This Motorcycle Parade has become an annual holiday tradition in Chicago. Depending upon the weather there can be thousands of motorcyclists proceeding north bound on Western Avenue to Foster Avenue and Troy.

Note: Only street legal motorcycles, no ATV's or Quad Runners. We have had up to 40,000 motorcycles delivering toys to the USMC 2nd Battalion 24th Marine Division. We need your help to proceed safely through the City of Chicago on parade day.

Parade start is tentatively at 9:30 am from the woods. If there is a large turnout it can start as early as 9:00 am and may last up to five hours.

11/07/06 – Election Day – Urgent!

ABATE of Illinois has been contacted by eighth congressional district candidate David McSweeney in regard to early voting trends. The eight-district race could hinge on several hundred votes. David McSweeney is endorsed by FEDPAC. We need your vote! In the sixth congressional district, late polling has the race too close to call. Peter Roskam is the FEDPAC endorsed candidate in that race. We are sending out an urgent appeal to ABATE members in those districts to get out and vote, we could decide the results of those two races. All ABATE members throughout the state are urged to get out and vote today if you have not already done so. Let's send our current governor a message – let's send him home – Topinka for Governor. Get out and vote.

10/31/06 – Past M.R.F. President, Karen Bolin Passes Away

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation regrets to report that our beloved past President, Karen Bolin, passed away on October 30, 2006. Karen's integrity, her love of motorcycling, and her dedication to motorcyclists' rights will be long remembered. A memorial service will be held for Karen on November 4, 2006 at 10:00 am at Yahn and Son Funeral Home, 55 West Valley Hwy South, Auburn WA 98071. Karen requested that in lieu of flowers a donation be sent to the National Cervical Cancer Coalition (www.nccc-online.org) at 6520 Platt Avenue # 693, West Hills, CA 91307. Karen's concern and hope was that every woman be tested regularly.