The new Brammo hat…. and more??

This last weekend brought me down to the headquarters of Brammo, in Ashland, Oregon. I toured the facility and had a great time with all the Brammo boys. Before I left, I was presented with a brand new Brammo hat! Could this be the first in a line of apparel that Brammo will make available on their website at brammo.com. ??
 
To give you a little idea of how terribly cool the Brammo boys are, the hats are made from 100% RPET. What is RPET? Let me quote Tom Larson of the GreenSmart Notebook:
” What is rPET Polyester Fabric?
This question has been coming up lately, so why not talk about it in a blog? It’s not difficult to get, it’s just never explained.
rPET stands for recycled PET, the bottles that we are all familiar with used for water and soda. The recycle symbol #1. PET is Polyethylene terephthalate, a member of the polyester family, which most people don’t realize. What has always been the case is that PET is the same chemistry as polyester. The difference is that a PET bottle is molded and polyester is a fiber. So in most respects PET and Polyester are synonymous. If that doesn’t quite add up, you could think of dough in a loaf pan to make bread or dough in a pasta machine to make linguine. The source of both is dough, but, the result is totally different.
When anyone puts a bottle in the recycle bin, it may go back through the recycle process to become a bottle, or it may become a polyester fiber of some kind. It may come back all kinds of forms. Polyester is tremendously strong, inherently water-resistant, and pretty much totally color fast. In outerwear you’ll find polyester as polar fleece, in general apparel because it is lightweight and wrinkle resistant, as a component in clothing (cotton/poly blend), bedspreads, sheets, curtains and in all types household fabrics. Additionally, polyester is found in tires, ropes, conveyor belts, safety belts and lots of industrial applications.
Any one of these applications could have rPET origins, but, most don’t. What makes rPET fascinating is how much energy is saved in production and of course, it consumes what would otherwise go to landfill, the bottle. So when you see something labeled as rPET, rest assured that it is a recycled material.”

I thought that tag on the cap from the CAP AMERICA company, put it so well. “This cap began life as a plastic bottle and now has a new purpose. After the bottle was recycled it became PET and was spun into yarn that was used to make your cap.  Enjoy your new headwear knowing you are doing your part to keep our planet beautiful for futur generations.”  
Brammo has chosen to create motorcycles that are made of recycled materials or parts that can be recycled. This kind of conscientious thinking has spilled over to the hat they gave me. I am constantly being amazed by this company! I look forward to being amazed in the future…..

Lady Godiva on wheels…. thankful for conscientious companies like Brammo!

My Enertia may have a big sister…

A couple weekends ago was a great treat for me with a visit to the Brammo headquarters down in Ashland, Oregon. Along with the great visit, I started hearing  that my Enertia, Dorothy, may have a new sister. A BIGGER sister. Yup, that’s right…. a BIGGER sister, with an estimate of 60 miles on a charge!
The new motorcycle, speculated to be  named the Enertia Plus,  has better battery technology that make the range better. I even heard someone say that there will be some other changes to the bike as well, such as the absence of the ON button in the middle of the body panel. There will also be some colors that weren’t available on the original Enertia. So, as soon as they make the announcement, go to brammo.com to see all the information about the newest addition to the Brammo family of electric motorcycles.
As lithium batteries become more popular and the demand increases, the cost of the material to make them goes down allowing companies to spend more time and money on new technology.  Brammo is constantly looking for ways to bring us a better motorcycle for the best price possible. Compare the Brammo bikes to any other electric motorcycle on the market and you will find this to be true. I am expecting Brammo to get to the point that their bikes are comparable in price to the ICE bikes on the market.  
For everyone’s information…. that is what cultivated the partnership between Flextronics International Ltd (NASDAQ: FLEX) and Brammo (Cant wait till they go public!). A huge electronics manufacturing company with facilities in over 30 countries would be able to aid in keeping costs down. Flextronics has contracts with such large companies as Microsoft, Lego, and Verizon Wireless and has been in business since 1969. This should be a great journey to watch! When I heard the news about the partnership, I was doing the happy dance under the covers in my bed with the flu. That was the most spunky I had been in three days!! I actually started feeling better after that….who wouldnt??

Brammo has also expressed the fact that the owners of the original Enertia, like mine, will be able to take advantage of the new technology. We will have to wait to find out what that means but, they promise that they will do their best to make sure we aren’t forgotten. I have to say that I was a little surprised about the attitude there! How many companies are helping you to upgrade when a new model comes out?  I can’t think of one….  Thanks Brammo!! I can’t wait to have a longer range in Dorothy!!

Lady Godiva on wheels…. gettin an upgrade!!  YAHOO…

Guess where Dorothy and I went last weekend??

This last weekend, Dorothy got to get back to her roots! Yup, she went right back down to Ashland, Oregon to see the place of her birth….er, assembly…Brammo!
On Friday I loaded my beautiful little electric darling up on her trailer and we made the four-hour trip to Ashland, a lovely little town near the Oregon/ California border. The next day we traveled over to the Brammo headquarters and were given the VIP treatment! Myself, my dear friend Cindi Servante (Motoette in Forward Motion and Girlracer) and her darling niece and our favorite helicopter pilot, Devon Watkins, were shown around the place and we shot video for hours. We were even shown some top-secret things!!  I promised I wouldn’t tell so, don’t ask me. (FYI, tell ya later!!)
A special thanks goes out to Wayne Buck, Project Engineer for Brammo, for taking really good care of us while we waited. He was so patient and showed us all around the assembly part of the building and in to the design and conception areas. Another “thank you” goes out to Adrian Stewart, director of sales and marketing,  for helping organize this weekend and for showing us all the really ‘COOL’ stuff! Oh, and for the tea…he’s British!  Last but certainly not least, thank you, Craig Bramscher, for allowing us to interview and just generally “bug” you. You were so gracious.
There is much more to say so, stay tuned! We have a couple big stories to come…..

Lady Godiva on wheels….keepin the lips zipped!!

Want to be like SSK..doin my part!

My buddies at South Side Kustoms are very charitable business owners. They have the “Real Divas Ride” motorcycle with a portion of the sale going to Breast Cancer Research and a new t-shirt coming soon.

So, I wanted to show them that I do my part, as well.  Sunday the 19th was Portland’s Susan G. Komens “Race for the Cure” and it was quite an event! Here are some pictures of the ride downtown on our MAX Rapid Transit line. Wall to wall people in pink accessories!! We were the happiest sardines you ever saw…

And, once we got downtown to the waterfront, there was more to see!

 

There were news crew…

And loads of help, if needed..

And when we were all in place, all of the thousands of women in the dark pink shirts (survivors) and all the rest of men, women and kids, in the white shirts, walked for 5 miles, side by side. You couldn’t help but have a constant lump in your throat. Some of the women would never have the chance to come back and walk the 5 miles again. But, today they walked. They finished the race and walked into the survivors lane where their families and friends cheered them on and meeting them with hugs, kisses, tears and flowers.
With this race and others across the country and all the money donated, there may be a day when breast cancer is a thing of the past. Until then, we all need to do our parts. A huge thanx goes out to South Side Kustoms, the family of Susan G. Komen, all the people who walked 5 miles on Sunday, and everyone else that does their part to help find a cure…. cuz that’s what we really want!

Lady Godiva on wheels…. doin my part!

I had a really bad week…..

I havent written a post for a week. I havent written one because I didn’t feel like it. I had a bad week. I lost a friend on 9/11 in an automobile accident. I was there to bury her on Saturday 9/18.
I was sitting in my chair in my bedroom, feeling blue and whining to God. In the midst of it all, I saw a report about a man with Cerebral Palsy that decided to climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. What? How? They had my attention…. 
I’ll be darned if this guy didn’t take on the enormous task of pulling himself up, 4-6 inches at a pull, in a specialty built chair and with the help of two friends, to the top of El Capitan which is the equivalent of a whopping two Empire State Buildings (2,500 ft)! He pulled with only his hands roughly 20,000 times over six days to reach the top. And he did reach the top making him the first person with his disability to achieve it.
After he reached the top he said, “The pure exhaustion of six to eight hours of constant pull-up after pull-up after pull-up and the bright sunshine and the heat,” Wampler said. “The whole adventure was, was just unbelievable.” Read the whole story here.
So, this is what I learned from Steve Wampler….
When you think you are having a bad week, try pulling yourself up with just your hands, 4-6 inches at a time, to get to the top of something that is so big you cant even see the top..and yet, you keep going! Now your week doesn’t look so bad.
I commend you, Mr. Wampler! You havent just provided an example for people with physical disabilities but, little old me with “thinking” disabilities. Every day is precious so climb those mountains and remember anything is possible, even when you don’t think it is!

Lady Godiva on wheels…put in my place!!

Race for the Cure and South Side Kustoms…

It’s that time of year again and I will be participating in the Susan G. Komen Foundation “Race for the Cure” on Sunday, September 19th in downtown Portland, Oregon. I am honored to be walking with my BFF who is a 3 year breast cancer survivor! GO, VICKI!!
Now, when I think of the breast cancer fight, I cant help but think of my wonderful friends at South Side Kustoms. They have built a special “Real Divas Ride” themed bike that is just the women in the world and meant to help with the fight against breast cancer as well as give friends/family members a way to honor those that lost their fight but are never forgotten. I did a previous blog about the generosity of these guys and cant help but blog about them again. You have got to see the bike they put together, it is so beautiful! Jason…you are an amazing young man with an amazing woman at your side. Keep rockin the place with your generous hearts, my friends.
October is “Breast Cancer Awareness” month. Remember to take care of the “girls”, inside and out! 

Lady Godiva on wheels, remembering those who passed before us and all of those who will pass in the future. Let’s find a cure…. do your part!!

Miss Stephanie still aint buyin what hairys celln…

 As you may remember from my previous posts about “The Many Thoughts of Harley Girl” Stephanie Maier, is planning a little “Hairy Cell” butt-kicking on October 9th in West Des Moines, Iowa, by participating in a fund-raiser sponsored by the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Here is the webpage to get all the information about how you can show this amazing woman a little support in her quest to beat this monster blood cancer. No donation is too small, ever! When coupled with others, it turns into a means to ” fund lifesaving research that has contributed to major advances in the treatment of blood cancers and treatments for other types of cancer, such as chemotherapy and stem cell transplants. New targeted therapies that kill cancer cells without harming normal tissue are providing drugs and procedures that are improving quality of life”.  

I don’t want anyone to ever go through any event that is life altering by feeling alone. It is our social networking sites that allow us to go through these times with the arms of people from all across the country, around us and offering comfort.   

I admire this woman for her courage in simply sharing her story and so, we can say “thank you” and offer our support by showing her that we are behind her, even though we wont actually experience the event. From any place in the world, we can be a part of Stephanie’s fight against this “Hairy” beast. Let’s show her what the spirit of community means by helping her in her battle.  

 

 

 

  

Also, take a moment to wish her well on Twitter at Iowa Harley Girl. GO, STEPH!! 

Lady Godiva on wheels, being Stephanie’s little cheerleader!!  

 

 

 

 

Meeting at “The Barrage”, part two…

As I said in my last post, I made the trip to North Portland to meet with my recently acquired Twitter best bud, Rodney Lucas with “The Barrage”. I had such a wonderful time with he and his brother, Chad. Along with some great conversation, a true meeting of the motorcycle minds, and some laughter, we also talked about the bikes that were part of the place. 
Imagine a motorcycle bone yard, add a little museum feel, then throw in some “memories of my past”, and mix with a pinch of history and you have a basic idea of the group of bikes these guys had. It was an impressive showing! Here are a few pictures of just some of them and the rest of the interview.
The first one is by far the most interesting motorcycle I have ever seen and it was actually his grandfathers bike that Rodney got hold of after his passing.
Here is what Rodney had to say about it. “1958-62 Rokon:  This is an interesting beast.  A 2 wheel drive motorcycle built in New England in the late 50’s and early 60’s.  The company is still around, although it’s been bought and sold about 12 times since then.  Go google rokon, or YouTube and you’ll find some really interesting items.”

The bikes as they sit now;
1982 CB650 (my first bike)  A friend got me into that bike about 5 years ago and I haven’t turned back.  Funny story about that one.  Before I started wrenching on my own I took it down to Vicious Cycle off interstate.  Really great guys down there, you should see what they can do with a CB160, both in the shop and on the track.  Anyway, I rolled it in there and they pretty much told me it wasn’t worth the money I put on the bike.  I was incredibly offended.  I get it now.  As a mechanic the hours spent vs. what the bike was worth didn’t add up.  But that is one of the instances that got me into wrenching on my own and I’ve learned an incredible amount since.  So thanks to Vicious for sending me off on my own.  
1982 CB650: originally bought as a parts bike for the other one.  But the further and further I get into tearing it apart the more I want to do a Street Tracker rebuild to the thing.
1981 CB400T:  Chad picked this bike up for $200 on CL last year.  It runs, and is a total rat job, but he loves it.  We’re working on replacing the electrical this winter.
1978 CB550:  A friend has this bike in the shop right now.  A lot of potential behind it, CB mods from the 70’s are so “it” right now.  Pretty easy to work on and find parts for, and highly modifiable.
1978 CB750 Super Sport:  This one is actually a sad story.  An old friend from High School, Mort, bought this bike running and was having some electrical problems.  Got into it way too far and now it’s in bins all over the.barrage.  He’s now since got a new job, is having a kid, and all sorts of other things life throws at you.  He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m using his bike as the “learning” bike.  Teaching people how to do specific things while slowly rebuilding his.  By spring I hope to deliver to him a very clean, cafe CB750 as a congrats for having a kid and getting through life.
Lastly I have a 2009 Harley Davidson Sportster Iron 883.  Black beauty.

Q..What was your impression of what The Barrage would be?
A..It’s evolved over time as far as the details, but at the heart of things I’m trying to build a community in Portland around the DIY motorcyclist geared toward our moto:  To learn, to wrench, to ride.  I truly believe that the more you know about your bike, how it functions, how to fix it, the better you will be at riding it.    I don’t necessarily think that you “need” to wrench, but understanding the basic fundamentals should help you become a safer rider, at all speeds your stallion may carry you.  And right now that is what we are focusing on.

Q..What do you see it being in the future?
A..The opportunities are endless.  I hope to create a space that has everything you need to do this.  Come hang out, rent some space, rent some tools and we’ll have a mechanic on duty to help walk you through what your bike needs, or what you want your bike to need :).  I want to provide books, education, and an atmosphere that is fun in doing so.  Maybe some good local brews on tap after the shop closes for the day, a cafe/ small restaurant to get some good grub when you get frustrated with why your head gasket is still leaking!  A current problem of mine 🙂

One of the other great things about what we are doing is the revival of vintage bikes.  I know it’s not entirely “green” as these bikes still burn fuel.  But the gas mileage is way better than my neighbors Buick, and it’s not ending up in the dump… so you do the math.

Rodney, Chad, and I all talked about why we do what we do. We are all knee-deep in “motorcycle stuff” and we are happy as pigs in mud! It was great to talk to these young men and see how much the loved the ideas they were working on. They feel for the bikes that are everywhere and they talked about them with such love and respect. Later, via email, I asked Rodney to sum it up for me. Here’s what he had to say…
Haha, yes, this is something I’ve struggled with.  Do I do what I’m good at and make great money doing it, even though I don’t enjoy it, or do I do what I love and make a meager living doing so, but enjoy every minute.  For example, I’m currently responding to your email sitting in a bar in Brookings, OR.  Some of the.barrage guys and I are down here on vacation.  They are playing pool and imbibing, and I’m sitting at the bar with my MacBook Air writing to you.  Zach, our resident artist, walks up and says hey dude, what are you doing working?  I tell him it’s barrage related, and he quickly says, “Oh, well, you can’t call it work when you do what you love”.  

 

I think that sums it up pretty darn well.
It was so well put that I don’t really have anything to add!

If you are ever in the area of North Portland, give Rodney a shout out. He is always available to show you a good time, help you fix your bike, serve you a cold brew, and just plain charm ya. He can even hook you up with a shirt!!

Lady Godiva on wheels, watchin these boys cuz they are goin places! 

 

 

Meeting at “The Barrage”, part one…

Last week I finally made a long overdue trip from my house in the “burbs” to the downtown areas of Portland. It has to be something really important to drag me out of the more rural setting that I am accustom to, and it was. I was going to meet a relatively new friend named Rodney Lucas of “The Barrage”. 
He had contacted me on the wonderful social networking site, Twitter, because I was a motorcycle person and lived in the area. Again, a fabulous reason to be on these social networking sites. We have been going back and forth for nearly a year. I was so intrigued with his ideas and his passion for them and it kept me coming back to him for more information.  He was in the very early stages of putting together his social gathering place/wrenching arena called “The Barrage” and I delighted in sharing ideas with him and watching him spread the word around about what was to come. I finally had to make the trip down to talk to him in person and so, on the last day of August I climbed into my car….the treat of rain and the fact that I don’t know his neck of the woods real well made me do it!!…and off I went. 
Rodney lives in a fantastic “old” area of North Portland off Killingsworth, a well-known street for we Oregonians. I found that his residence off N. Moore Ave was a super cute bungalow with a detached garage down an alleyway in back of the house. Perfect for the first stage of this endeavor!  
When I arrived I was greeted with a huge smile and a hug. I was so impressed with the his kind demeanor, gracious hosting, and absolute zeal for the future of  “The Barrage” that I had to remind myself that it was time to go home! I predict that the future of this wonderful place will be quite bright and I will want to be a part of it. Here are some pictures and an interview to give you a better idea about what this young man, along with his brothers, have in mind…..
First I have to mention Rodney’s younger brother, Chad. What a doll he was! Just as cute and sweet as his older brother. It’s so much fun being the “old lady” in the crowd because I can say things like that and its ok. 😉
Q..So, Chad is your partner and your brother?
 A..Yes,  Chad is my bro.  1 year younger.  I have 4 brothers in all.  Zach, who is currently in the Marine Corps is acting as my CFO.  He’s the true financial mind.
Q..When did you first start The Barrage?
A.. I first started the.barrage in August of 2008.  So we’ve been “operating” for about 2 years now.  It started with my brother-in-law, a close friend, and slowly went from there.
Q..What did you do initially to get the garage set up?
A..The garage.  Well, it’s in its 3rd revision and about to embark on our fourth in 2 years.  It grows and changes based on the activities: sharing a brew vs. wrenching vs. playing darts, vs. hanging out.  The name was derived from our two biggest passions: Wrenching and Good Brew.  And being from Portland there are a lot of cool bikes around, and we were the Brew Pub capital of north america for a while.  We just got beat out by someone on the east coast.  That is where our name came from the.”bar” “age”.  Bar in a garage. 
…Tell me about the participants.
A..The participants are an eclectic bunch.  A lot of friends and friends of friends.  And many more girls (women) than one would expect for this sort of thing.  Most of our “attendees” are proud motorcycle owners.  But one thing that became really clear, and what really sparked my interest in taking this “live”, was that people started showing up that originally had no interest in bikes and just wanted to hang out.  We started making mini pizza’s and selling them for $3 and calzones for $5.  That with the Bring beer to Drink beer campaign we really started having a good time and it was becoming popular.
Q..How is it going today?
A..We started with 2 bikes.  My CB650 and a Rokon, so we didn’t need much space to wrench, so a lot of it was seats.  As we’ve grown in members and bikes we’ had to conform to the needs of the masses.  Now we have a few seats, more work space, and are even expanding into the basement where we can really roll out all the parts of an engine and do some dirty work.
For the record, I am now an “honorary member” of The Barrage! I even got the tshirt to prove it…

More about The Barrage and the great bikes I saw coming in my next posting. So, stay tuned….the best is yet to come. The motorcycles in Rodneys garage! Oh, my.

Lady Godiva on wheels, lovin my new friends from The Barrage!!

Dorothy gets a boost…

The last time “Dr Dave” came to replace the black plastic seat frame, we got to talking about the upgrades for the bikes. I am very anxious to get some upgraded batteries with a longer range. I’m sure all we Enertia owners are! Having the development of the Empulse has given us all a glance into what is to come with our Brammo motorcycles and I am anxious!
To help keep me happy while I’m waiting for new batteries to become available, my field rep, Dave Murray, came up with a little plan. He gave Dorothy a “boost”.  
As Dave explained it to me, “I adjusted up the voltage boost setting in your motor controller. This is the software limitation on current allowed to flow to the motor during peak demands, (i.e. hard on the throttle). It makes the Enertia react a little quicker to rapid throttle twists.” 
Let me just say that if you havent had this done, do it! Dorothy is runnin like a scared rabbit!  It takes a little off the range but, I am having so much fun that I don’t even care. Dave has promised that if it’s a problem, he can put her back to factory in no time. I would have to break his thumbs first!!
One more note, it is incredible in the curves….

A very happy Lady Godiva on wheels, taking every curve I can find!!