JERRY GARRETT Harley-Davidson's new Rocker and Rocker C models create a seeming contradiction in terms: a chopper that handles.

These are strange times in the custom-chopper industry. The chopper, the minimalist motorcycle with the iconic extension of the front wheel, has hit something equivalent to a patch of gravel in the marketplace. Sales, like these ill-handling bikes often do, are skidding.

Steve Lucero is nothing if not meticulous. From the pristine, Rust-Oleum-coated floor of his immaculate garage to the white-glove detail job that extends to the depths of his Mille Miglia Red 1975 Corvette, no detail is too small to warrant the Lucero touch.

A new study on auto safety has found that overweight people fare worse in car accidents than slim people. Among the topics discussed at the SAE World Congress in Detroit in April was whether overweight people are more at risk in accidents than slim people.