Syndicate Moto

Lake Zurich, IL. (Dec 17, 2007)

The Cobra Gets Some Air!

David “The Cobra” Vuillemin joined the growing list of riders racing with RXR Protect’s chest-protectors, inking a deal with the protection-maker last week. RXR Protect is very pleased and excited to welcome motocross rider David Vuillemin to the RXR Protect Race Team.

“This upcoming season is a big one for me. I am very excited to be on the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki and given the opportunity to race on a factory bike again” said DV. “After my injuries last season, at the Phoenix SX, and later the Millville MX, I started to look for more and better protection. I wanted to race with something that would help me remain healthy throughout the seasons and at the same time stay comfortable on the bike. I’d heard some really good things about the RXR from riders who have been using it for a while, especially in Europe, and decided to give it a try. In testing the RXR chest-protector felt very comfortable, light and the ventilation was good. I got comfortable with it on my first ride.”

Of course the guys at RXR Protect are ecstatic to welcome DV to the family.

“It’s a great honor to work with him, it’s awesome!” said RXR Protect’s Chris Favro. “DV is one of those Top riders who are exciting to watch racing, but beyond the name, we were seriously looking for a racer of his level, and maturity, to help us develop our products further more. David is exactly that; a great developer, a great tester and someone very particular about his gear and about being comfortable and safe when riding. It’s a perfect match and we believe that it is the beginning of a long partnership”.David Vuillemin will use the RXR Protect V1.0 models, in 2008 AMA Supercross and Motocross series, and RXR Protect should announce a “DV12 Signature” model very soon.

Ride safe!
Check us on the Net: www.rxrprotect.com

There’s a rumor that over one million Swingarm Shovelheads still roam the highways. We say, “Bullshit.” Let’s count ‘em. That’s beside the point here. Ben Kudon, the marketing director of Rivera/Primo came up with this hair-brained scheme. “Let’s fix all Shovelheads,” Ben said. “We can do it for a decent price and give Shovelhead riders late model starters, a six-speed tranny with a spline shaft and a state-of-the-art Rivera primary and clutch system.” He was right. Rivera/Primo could offer all these upgrades to Shovelhead owners for the price of some primary drives alone-less than three grand. Ben began to look like the Shovelhead Moses.

So we went to work finding a local suspect: Roger Brown, who was tired of his old four-speed tranny and the starter that only worked occasionally. With this system he lost his kicker, but Primo has kicker systems designed for their six-speed transmissions. We jammed to Larry Settle’s shop in Harbor City, CA, near the center of Los Angeles and not far from the STREET CHOPPER Headquarters. Larry’s shop has been around longer than…he wouldn’t tell us. It’s in the back of an industrial block structure as far off the road as possible. It’s sorta an industrial strip mall. On the positive side, painters and pinstripers surround him, and Yvonne Mecailis performs artistic magic on bike parts just up the lane.

Larry has been working on bikes since, well, you know. He’d rather not say. He was a good man to perform this daunting task, and immediately started asking Ben questions. “So, what do you want me to do with the speedo cable?” Larry inquired.

There were a couple of other curious items needing attention: The old stock clutch cable wouldn’t work, and a new one wouldn’t readily fit in the stock lever. Shift linkage needed to be reworked. Some starter relays might get in the way, but after you consider the hiccups, the benefits of this mod were substantial. We’ll go through each and every alteration and explain Larry’s solution. This bike also sported floorboards, and Larry machined a bracket so the rider could continue to run them.

Photo Gallery: Upgrading Shovelheads - Street Chopper Magazine