Motorcycle Video: U.S. Secretary of Transportation on Motorcycle Safety
“Check your bike before each ride” and “Wear all your safety equipment” are two practical pieces of advice in this public service announcement (below) featuring US Secretary of Transportation, Mary E. Peters, who is also a motorcycle rider. In response to the trend of rising motorcycle injuries and fatalities, this month Secretary Peters announced a [...]
Best Long-Distance Motorcycle?
Which is the best long-distance motorcycle? And who could best answer that? How about a husband and wife team touring the world with bikes and tent? British riders, Simon and Lisa Thomas, are doing just that. Starting from England in 2003, they have so far toured 57 countries out of the 122 they aim to [...]
Gasoline and Octane: Motorcycle Go-Juice
GASOLINE BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL GOOD OLD GO-JUICE “Gasoline” in America. “Petrol” in Europe. “Benzine” in Scandinavia, Russia, Germany, Israel and Bulgaria. They’re all different terms for that favorite motorcycle go-juice we hose into our tank. Except for a few electric bikes and any other alternative energy two-wheelers that may be in development, [...]
Motorcycle Lizards Unite! (Part I)
HOW CAN WE BE HUMBLE? We are the fastest racers alive on the fastest two-wheeled rocket ships in the galaxy. We need to lean on our brakes to let lightning bolts catch up so we can grab them, give them a twist, and re-launch them into the sky in the shape of a Lizard “Z.” [...]
Motorcycle Lizards Unite! (Part II)
Read Motorcycle Lizards Unite! (PART I) After a little shut-eye, the dark-grey, dawn light outlines a bunch of Gulf Coast trees doing the limbo to the beat of a tropical downpour. Checking in with Mr. Weatherman, he gives us an evil howl, “Yo, Lizard Breath! You ain’t going nowhere!” Regardless, our sleepy lizard-brains calculate that [...]
Have You Planned Your Next Motorcycle Crash?
DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO PLANS TO CRASH? Judging by the way some motorcyclists ride around in shorts and a T-shirt, it’s likely they believe it will never happen to them. Wearing a helmet and protective jacket, pants, gloves and boots is one way to afford yourself better protection in the event of a mishap. [...]
Psychic Motorcyclist
Are you a psychic motorcycle rider? I bet you already are…or can and will be…if you ride enough. Since the term “psychic” is one of those words in contemporary society that, for some persons, is fraught with opinion, emotion and even fraud, let’s consider a definition as a point of reference. Here’s how the Cambridge [...]
Motorcycle Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS)
ABS was first developed in 1929 for aircraft and entered into general use on automobiles in the 70′s. In 1981 BMW introduced ABS on a motorcycle. Early in the 21st century, ABS is now becoming more routinely available on motorcycles, either as standard equipment or as an option. But what the heck is ABS? To [...]
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
AN INQUIRY INTO VALUES. “You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other.” There’s an understatement! Robert M. Pirsig wrote those words in his famous book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values in 1974. I read the book when it came out [...]
Motorcycle Death Wish?
DO MOTORCYCLISTS HAVE A DEATH WISH? Per the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, nearly 80% of reported motorcycle crashes result in injury or death, as compared to 20% for automobiles. In other words, you are 4x more likely to get hurt or killed if you crash on a motorcycle, as opposed to in a car. Having been [...]
Left Turns? Right Turns? Which are Better?
In a perfect world, none of us would ever enter a turn too hot. But given the perils such may present, should you be more concerned about riding a twisting road that is curving to the right as opposed to one that is curving to the left? “Yes.” Practically speaking, if you enter a turn [...]
Jack-Hammering Through Trails
Yesterday was a perfect day for dirt bike and ATV riding through Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area in Gorman, CA. It had rained for the two days prior, so the trails were moist and the whole park was void of dust. In fact, there was a good amount of mud as a special benefit [...]
Do You Know Your Location’s Zip Code When You Run Out Of Gas?
ADVENTURES OF RUNNING OUT OF GAS OK. I did it. I ran my bike out of gas last week. It’s silly. It’s stupid. I was riding out in the country. The gas station was some 4 or 5 miles away…and I didn’t make it. But that’s not what this rant is about. What it did [...]
Motorcycle-Intelligence.com
motorcycle • noun a two-wheeled vehicle that is powered by a motor intelligence • noun 1 the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. 2 a person with this ability. 3 the gathering of information of military or political value. 4 information gathered in this way. — ORIGIN Latin intelligentia, from intelligere ‘understand’. Definitions [...]
Twisted Grip Personality Test
