These last few weeks I have spent squeezing out the last drops of the impeccable fall weather we have been blessed with out here in the midwest. My journeys have included hiking, riding, flying, standing on my feet all day at a motorcycle rally, and driving a drag car with a 350 chevy and power glide, going 70 mph in 200 feet. Yea, you could say I’m trying to “cram it all in” before the cold weather decides to blanket us. I chose to wear the Darice boot by Harley-Davidson Footwear, for all of my various activities. I must say, I have enjoyed every minute, not only due to the fact that I have been doing some fun things, but most importantly, my feet have been happy while doing all those fun things. We all know you need comfortable shoes to endure long hours while out living life.
The Darice boot, instantly upon slipping into it, gives a feeling of a well broken-in boot. Ya know, the boot or shoe you must have the second you put it on, because you just know. Soft, comfortable, and very flexible, best words I can use to describe this boot.
Whatever your plans are, wherever your journeys are going to take you, I recommend you go out living in the Darice Boot. Visit the site to check them out up close and locate a dealer near you that has ‘em on the shelf!

Don’t Miss your chance to win The 75th Anniversary Helping with Horsepower Rebuilt Bike, “Star” to benefit the Abbott House in Mitchell, SD.

Get your tickets at www.abbotthouse.org. Drawing will be November 15.

The rebuilt Harley Davidson Road King features a diamond cut motor, vintage side car and customized design by the Abbott House girls.
This event is the second in the Abbott House 75th Anniversary Year. The 75th Anniversary Celebration and drawing for the motorcycle will be held November 15, 2014 at the Sherman Center on the Dakota Wesleyan University campus. The event will honor Abbott House children and feature Olympian Gold Medalist Billy Mills.

The intent of the project is to provide education, empowerment and encouragement for Abbott Hosue girls, who are generally at-risk due to abuse, neglect, drug and alcohol abuse, self harm and/or the inability of their families to support them.

About Helping with Horsepower
Helping with Horsepower uses a motorcycle as a tool to teach life lessons on a personal and professional level.  Abbott House is again partnering with Laura Klock of Helping with Horsepower, who developed the program. The hands-on project has been used in eight other states across the country as a different way to help at-risk youth learn how to overcome life’s obstacles and realize that , like their lives, a motorcycle can be rebuilt even better than before.

Halloween Candy Bark

Craving somethings salty and sweet?   This is the perfect way to use up the left over candy, That is,  if ya have any!

What You’ll Need:

1 pound vanilla candy bark, candy melts, or white chocolate

mini pretzel twists

chocolate sandwich cookies with orange filling

candy corn
assorted sprinkles
additional candies of your choice
To make, follow these steps:


1. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a silicone liner or parchment paper; set aside. Chop or break any larger candies, cookies, or pretzels; set aside.

2. Melt the vanilla candy bark (or white chocolate) as directed on package. If heating in the microwave, use 50 percent power to prevent overheating the candy/chocolate. Pour about half of the melted chocolate onto the lined baking sheet, then spread about 1/4 inch thick.


3. Working quickly, add an assortment of pretzels, cookie pieces, and candy corn (or other candies) in a single layer.

4. Pour the remaining melted chocolate on top of the pretzels and cookies, then add additional toppings, including sprinkles. Set aside and allow the chocolate to cool fully. You may place the entire baking sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes to speed up the process.

5. Once the chocolate is fully set and cool, break candy bark into pieces. Store Halloween Candy Bark in an airtight container for up to a week.

Mustang Seats continues to fight for a cause that hits close to home for members of the company’s extended family — breast cancer. The new “Fight Like A Girl” limited edition pink seats commemorating National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a continuation of last year’s successful “Comfort For A Cause” campaign that saw a portion of the proceeds for every pink seat sold go directly to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s efforts to find a cure.

Mustang is continuing to help bikers “think pink.” Mustang marketing director Marilyn Simmons explains, “Last year, Mustang introduced our Breast Cancer Awareness custom seat program, which offered pink thread and pink vinyl seat inserts or pink vinyl ribbon appliqués on seats or accessories.” Mustang is upping the game this year. “For October 2014, Mustang is now proud to introduce your choice of custom pink stitched embroidery for Breast Cancer Awareness month.”

Mustang will add custom pink embroidered ribbons, phrases, tributes, memorials or initials on the seat of your choice for the duration of their new “Fight Like A Girl!” campaign. Please note that the location may vary from the seat shown; not all seats or accessories can be customized. (A full custom embroidery program offering a variety of colors and images will be available soon from Mustang after the pink pilot program wraps up.)

Like last year, Mustang will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for each “Fight Like A Girl” or other pink custom embroidered seat purchased from now through 12/31/14. For more details or to order, please contact Mustang Customer Service at 413-668-1190 or 800-243-1392 or visit mustangseats.com/Mustang/Comfort-for-a-Cause

Garage-Girls Profile; Karlee Cobb

Most known for her land speed racing, the second generation of the Klock Werks family, Karlee Cobb, 21, just launched her first design effort at the Tony Hawk Foundation’s “Stand Up for SkateParks” event held in Beverly Hills, CA. Perry Farrell, lead signer of Jane’s Addiction and founder of Lollapalooza, along with wife Etty, won the bidding for the 2014 Triumph T100 desert runner Karlee designed.

The Kustom design is based off a 2014 Bonneville T100 donated by Triumph Motorcycles and proudly sports modified and custom made parts by Klock Werks, along with carefully chosen parts from Triumph, British Customs, Joker Machine, Metzeler Tires, Nash Motorcycle Company and Hagon Shocks. Brad Smith of TheFactoryMatch.com flawlessly applied the Custom Paint job.

“Our team at Klock Werks did a great job of executing on timeline and budget.” Karlee explained. “It was an honor to work with The Tony Hawk Foundation as they help youth around the world enjoy the benefits of skateboarding and the safety of skate parks.
It’s a great event and great cause! I was so excited that Perry Farrell bought my first custom! He loved it!”

With her recent build under her belt, we decided it would be fun to ask Karlee some questions about her life and share them here at Garage-Girls with you.

GG –Tell us about you, where are you from, what are you into and what do you like to do with your free time?

KC – I’m from Mitchell South Dakota, I am into a lot of things. From being thrown from school to school and state to state growing up in a few different family’s and having a very open mom, I got the pleasure of putting my toes into a lot of water. I enjoy camping, fishing and hunting. I enjoy doing hair and makeup. I enjoy people watching and shopping, to go karting, swimming and working out. I LOVE spending time with animals (it’s almost uncontrollable). I enjoy spending time with my family and just relaxing. Just taking long drives in my car and not looking back.  I love to ride motorcycles and travel the world because of motorcycles.

 GG –   How did you find your passion for  Racing bikes how long have you been doing it?

KC – As long as I can remember my sister and I always wanted to race some sort of anything to be honest, from regular peddle bikes to scooters to snowmobiles to four-wheelers, and we were lucky enough to be thrown into the motorcycle world. Our mom, in 2006, decided to take the bagger they were building for the TV show “Biker Build Off”, to the Bonneville Salt Flats. It took one look of how fast she was going for us to jump all over the idea!!!!
My sister and I have also grown more and more into road racing and have taken a few classes; we are officially knee and elbow draggers!

GG –  What do you love most about it?

KC –I love the fact that when I’m on my bike at the starting line its mentally and physically only my bike and me. We have no distractions. It’s at that point that I just get to focus on the best time to shift, when’s the best time to get into my tuck. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and take off. After that it’s just so gratifying to be on the track that the feeling is something that nothing else can give me. A lot of people can’t say that and I’m blessed for it.

GG –    Do you have a sweet car or a motorcycle other than your race bike ?
KC –My car, to me as a girl, is pretty sweet. I have a Subaru WRX STI and it does have the bug eyes; it also came with the momo steering wheel
I also have a few buells that I adore. Buells were always my first love for racing and just riding!

GG –     What are you most passionate about in life?
KC –I am very passionate about family because they have always surrounded me and pushed me to go forward.
I am passionate about racing because it’s always something my sister and I have chased for so long and it’s something my whole family does together as a team. I am constantly learning something new, not just about the sport and technique, but about myself and goals and so much more.
GG – Where would you most like to visit?
KC –I would LOVE to go to Australia. Not only am I an animal freak, and Australia has some of the goofiest animals; but it is very, very beautiful there.
Most of all, Australia has a dried up lake with “salt”, that they race on. I always think, Bonneville in a whole different country, you’re kidding right!?! It’s a dream come true
GG –  What type of music do you normally listen to?
KC – Depends on the people I am around and the situation/place I am at. I can listen to just about everything, but sappy country

GG – Do you collect anything?

 KC – Weirdly enough I do collect heart shaped rocks, helmets and random furniture/pictures.

Chris Gibbany of Harrison, Arkansas, is the winner of the 2014 Ultimate Biker Makeover, sponsored by GEICO Motorcycle. Gibbany was among 84 contestants who sent in a 600-word essay describing why they are most in need of a Garage-Girls Ultimate Biker Makeover. Her essay touched upon her sacrifices and commitment to “hunker down” and put herself through school in order to open new career opportunities.

We received more submissions for this years Ultimate Biker Makeover Contest than any other.  It was a definitely a challenge choosing a winner among so many great entries. We need to thank GEICO as well as our other sponsors for their commitment to make this contest possible. Frankly, there would be no Garage-Girls Ultimate Biker Makeover Contest without their continued support.

As the 2014 Ultimate Biker Makeover winner, Gibbany will be able to enjoy a multitude of prizes that include: a new wardrobe of shoes from Harley-Davidson Footwear Footwear; a brand new jacket, matching gloves and a helmet from Roland Sands and J&P Cycles; a cleaning kit from Wizards Products; a case of Synthetic oil from Spectro Oils; clothing from Hijinx Apparel; a set of AVON Tires; and saddlebags from Mustang Seats.

After reading  Chris’s entry it was obvious she puts a lot of miles on her motorcycle , so we were pretty excited that part of her winnings would be a brand new jacket, matching gloves and a helmet to help get her down the road safe, thanks to J&P Cycles and Roland Sands Designs.

“It’s just like Christmas around here.  And seeing how we don’t “do” Christmas, makes it that much more exciting.  I told the UPS guy to “keep ’em coming. I hope to ride tomorrow (raining today) and try out the new jacket.  Husband really likes it and says it will be my “new look” to come out riding the Panhead! Thanks so much Sara and Garage Girls! ~ From an email Chris sent to us.

Stay tuned to Garage-Girls for info about next years contest and how this could be you in 2015!

From “Deep Space Blue” to “Vortex Green”, the trippy metal flake colors live again! In a sweet surprise, Mustang Motorcycle Products LLC is introducing metal flake vinyl options to their custom seat program. These six new colors match the retro color schemes found on the Harley-Davidson® Hard Candy Custom™ collection.

“Of course, I am much too young to remember when metal flake was first popular,” joked Mustang’s Marketing Director, Marilyn Simmons. “However, Mustang is old school… we have been manufacturing the world’s most comfortable motorcycle seats in our historic New England factory since 1980.” In addition to the extensive custom seat program rolled out last fall, customer demand for metal flake has added even more options when it comes to creating your own seat. “We are now offering custom seats with a selection of different stitch patterns, thread colors and now metal flake vinyl inserts to choose from,” she explains.

The customers’ first step in Mustang’s automated online seat design process is to pick a stitch pattern: plain, Tuck and Roll or Diamond stitch options are available. Next, it’s time to pick the vinyl color – choose from a variety of colors including Mustang’s new metal flake options. As you’re designing your unique seat, you can see exactly how it will look. There is even a magnifier tool that lets you get a close-up look at the flakes and stitch colors.

Seeing is believing, but these out-of-this-world colors have to be seen in the light of day rather than on a computer screen to really do them justice.

“Featuring countless combinations of stitch options, 12 contrasting thread colors, and 18 vinyl colors including six new metal flake choices, our custom seat program is available for our most popular models,” says Simmons. Mustang’s Tripper™ Solo, Tripper Fastback™ and DayTripper™ are three seat styles currently available in the custom seat/retro metal flake program, but more seats and colors are coming. You can check them out at
mustangseats.com/custom

Today is the day, after months of collecting submissions and pouring through tons of entries, we finally have our winner!
We are happy to announce Chris Gibbany as the 2014 Ultimate Biker Makeover Winner.
Thank you to our awesome sponsors for hooking Chris up with all her amazing prizes. Please check out her story, and see why we chose Chris as the Winner of the 2014 Garage-Girls Ultimate Biker Makeover.
Chris’s Entry

“My brother and I were given the option of a candy bar a day or the equivalent in money, I ALWAYS took the money, he took the candy.  I took care of all of my clothes and toys and then resold them at yard sales to recoup some of my money.  I picked up aluminum cans and scrap metal while growing up to have more cash.  I never got my ears pierced as I knew it would make me buy “unnecessary things”.   I graduated high school with honors and my graduation gift was a $10 denim purse.  I went to college on full scholarships and I worked two jobs.

While everyone else was eating out everyday, I was the only person in college who brought lunch in a reusable sack.  I continued to learn that if I wanted things, it was possible but I had to have my priorities straight and be confident enough to take “ribbing” from other people due to my different choices and not “going along with the crowd”.

My first year in college I bought a super nice black 1978 Camaro, that I owned 15 years.  My second year I bought a 1978 Z-28 Camaro, a car I owned 22 years and just sold three weeks ago!  I went to buy a third Camaro while in college but instead fell in love with MOTORCYCLES!  I had these things while making minimum wage.  While married to my first husband, I was forced to sell my motorcycle to buy him an expensive birthday gift.  I  got another motorcycle and one day while still at work, he sold it.  Needless to say that after a few events like this, I filed for divorce, typed up my own papers and got divorced for only $50.  Another lesson in frugality!  He was also trying to force me to have kids and I instead went and got my tubes tied, also free of charge!

I decided that I was not going to live a life that didn’t suit me and my love of the machine.

I now am married to my soulmate, a man who doesn’t limit the amount of cars or motorcycles I can have. A man who lets me design and helps me build my dream bikes. The only thing lacking is MONEY! I give 110% of my life to my passions, which are obviously motorcycles and cars. With that being said, and probably because of the way I grew up, I live a VERY frugal life. We choose to live without television (one of the best decisions we have ever made), telephone, microwave, clothesdryer, dishwasher, etc. I go shopping for food once a month (just like my parents did) for what I don’t kill, catch or raise in the gardens. I only shop in thrift stores and I only own one pair of boots, which I got by trading JcPenney’s gift cards (that I got for free) for a gift card to a local boot store. With that being said, even though I ride all the time, I don’t even own a riding jacket or a pair of gloves! Just this year I broke down and bought a helmet, and because I am so cheap, it is already cracked!

I live my life to the fullest, always promoting women, motorcycles and related events. If I win, I will not only be a GREAT ambassador to Garage Girls and women in general, but for any prizes I cannot use, I would like to donate to a runner-up. But I really need a set of Avon tires!”