No one understands America’s proud military tradition more than her veterans. Men and women who’ve suffered some of the greatest hardships humanity is capable of inflicting upon itself, all to guard our way of life. These people are as varied as those in the melting pot they protect; so too are the ways Americans thank them for the valuable service they render for the rest of us.

Tribute bikes and coffee table books aren’t new ways of commemorating the military. Far from it. Combining the two is pretty different, though, and exactly what Dana Harbaugh and Sandy Steiner did when creating their Pearl Harbor tribute motorcycle.

Veterans themselves, this was an opportunity to pay homage to their fellow servicemen and women. Dana was working on his coffee table book, Pearls of Honor: Their Duty to Remember, when he met Sandy. Sandy was at his booth at Las Vegas Bike fest when his engraving caught the author’s eye. Dana loved how Sandy’s shop, Chrome Fusion, mixed painting and chrome finishes-not on the same bike, but on the same part. Hence the name of his business.

You read it right. Chrome Fusion engraves parts, chromes the artwork, and has the unworked surface painted. Dana started talking to Sandy about the book and that lead to a tribute bike.

Talk lad to action. The two met again, this time at the shop, and started going over artwork. Tons and tons of artwork. If you’ve ever seen The History Channel, you may have gotten the idea that folks documented the tar out of World War II, and you’d be right. It took months just to get through it all! Still, they managed to narrow the field down to a mere 150 plus images, all of which found a home on the 2009 Harley-Davidson Cross Bones chosen for the project. The overall goal was to build a rolling history lesson commemorating the Pearl Harbor attack of 1941. For example, all the Pearl Harbor battleships made it onto the Harley, but the Arizona was captured in three stages—open water, bombed, and the current memorial. The dash panel also has the TCB emblem from Elvis Presley who did the concert to raise money for the memorial.

All of images were also done by hand. Detailed engraving on a motorcycle’s irregular surfaces is hard work, even for a machine. Sandy elaborated: “There’s some great engraving out there but we use unique practices. There are all kinds of angles to it. It’s not a straight line. Some have to angle out or fl air out or in; thick and thin again in one movement. If you were to take a single brush and do a tree where you had to vary the strokes in the same line, that’s what it’s like only we have to worry about fl air and depth. We do it all day every day.”

Sandy Steiner started engraving motorcycles 15-16 years ago, when he wanted detailed work for his own bike. “I’d seen rough ones from the `60s that weren’t very refined. It wasn’t being done to the detailed extent we were doing it. I wanted the same detail you’d put in a watch but in lines 3 feet long,” he recalled. Sandy had gobs of experience in leather craft and translated that to metal to get the level of detail he wanted. However, it was his son, Jason, who invented the process of adding chrome and paint into the mix. It’s a patented process; the Steiner’s guard it like a state secret or a barbecue sauce recipe. They’ve been at it many years, first in Nashville, Tennessee, now in Las Vegas.

With the artwork chosen it was time to put money to mouth and get the job done. Chrome Fusion makes a basic layout on paper, and then transforms it for the correct perspective. Just because a picture looks good on a nice, predictable piece of paper doesn’t mean it’ll look as cool on a curved tank. In this case, they traced on the paper outline, and then hand drew the details for the rest. Much like an artist making any drawing.

The actual surgery, though, is closer to painting or tattooing. You have all these lines that flair in and out, at various depths in the metal, all coming together as a distinct, very detailed form. It’s way more art than science.

Once the raw artwork was laid down, it was time for finishing. The worked surfaces received a healthy dose of shiny chrome, while the naked bits got an artistic take of their own, courtesy of the painter’s gun. This being a Pearl Harbor bike, what else would you use but a Pearl color scheme? Dana and Sandy chose pearl white but offset it somewhat with an extremely light blue metal flake. The idea was to evoke images of the ocean waters around the harbor.

Needless to say, that didn’t take nearly as long as the engraving. Dana’s finished bodywork went right back on as soon is it was cured. Then it was on to a date with destiny.

Fourteen Congressional Medals of Honor were handed out for the heroic actions committed during that day that lives in infamy. All of them are on this bike. One of them went to John W. Finn, who was the First World War II serviceman to receive that honor. He also happens to be the oldest, at 100 years of age. Dana and Sandy were honored beyond belief when Finn agreed to sign their Cross Bones. He put his name right next to his image.

Viper’s back, and its here to stay, declares new Dodge chief Ralph Gilles. “2009 was a bad year for owners and a bad year for the car,” says Gilles of the persistent stories the Viper franchise was to be sold off. “But it woke the whole Viper nation. Everyone realized how special it is.” While the Cerberus regime failed to understand the Viper’s potential as a halo car for the company, it needed no explaining to Sergio Marchionne and his team, continues Gilles. Marchionne has committed to building 500 Vipers between now and mid-July 2010. Among those 500 cars will be a mildly tweaked ACR, and the new CR X, intended as a track-only spec racer for Viper fanatics.

“This will be a bridge to the new car,” adds Gilles. “I can develop that in peace.” The new Viper will likely appear [in] 2012. While refusing to divulge details, Gilles says the next Viper will definitely be V-10- powered, and the engine will be a version of the current Chrysler-developed 8.4-liter unit. It will not, as has been speculated on the Internet, be powered by a V-10 version of a new modular power plant under development by Ferrari. Gilles says remarks he made about potentially leveraging Ferrari’s expertise were misunderstood: “Ferrari is a great resource for expertise on advanced technologies, materials, and chassis development. But there will be no sharing of parts or components.” Gilles also discounts rumors the next Viper may switch to a V-8: “The Viper will always be V-10,” he insists, though he doesn’t rule out building a V-8 sports car using some of the new Viper’s hardware. “If it had a different engine, it would have a different nameplate. Maybe one with a snake theme.” Remember the Copperhead concept?

Gilles notes that the next Viper will have a much more stylish interior and use some advanced materials to further reduce weight though not too many, as he does not want to push the car’s price point too high. “My biggest conundrum: What is enough power?” The popular perception is the 600-horse V-10 is big and heavy. It’s long, but it actually weighs less than a Hemi V-8. The current Viper’s front-to-rear weight distribution is 49/51, and the engine is offset 15 mm to the passenger side, so the left/ right balance is pretty good too. The current V-10 is also good through 2013 in terms of emissions.

Gilles wants to look at what can be done with the power train to improve performance and efficiency. A dual-clutch transmission may be on the agenda (again, another Ferrari connection in expertise). SRT engineers say it would probably be worth 0.6 second around Laguna Seca, say, and therefore probably three seconds or more a lap at the Nordschleife. But the feeling is there would always be a conventional stick available too.