Sabtu, 23 April 2011

Bikes and Beetles in Unsnowy New Jersey


I joined the Polar Bear Grand Tour back in 1992. I wanted to continue riding my motorcycle through the winter and this tour was my way to achieve my goal. Originally, I thought I'd be doing it alone as I didn't think my wife would be the least bit interested in riding in 20 degree temperatures with even lower wind chills. I was wrong. She couldn't wait to get started.


That was at about the same time we both took up skiing. Jane's brother-in-law, Jack, got us started skiing and even came out from Illinois to supervise our first steps down the hill on skis. Jack was also the first to push us in the direction of learning to ride a motorcycle.


We went out skiing about a dozen times that first year. But when the motorcycle bug struck and we started doing winter motorcycle riding, the skis were put away, permanently.


The winters in New Jersey are totally unpredictable. There were some years with heavy snows that almost shut down our winter riding. Then there were years like this one where snowstorms were rare and the temperatures just high enough that we got rain and wind instead.


In this state, we seem to have two distinct climates. North Jersey usually gets snow while South Jersey either gets rain or nothing at all. That makes our Sunday winter rides quite interesting considering that we often traverse the state from south to north.


This last polar bear ride was to Long Valley, New Jersey, about 52 miles north of our house. On Saturday, the entire east coast had a massive coastal rain and wind storm that was never-ending. It dumped huge amounts of rain everywhere, saturating the ground. Then the winds approaching 60 mph at times blew against the trees, uprooting many and causing numerous power failures. We were continuously watching the weather reports trying to determine what the weather would be like for Sunday. Of course, to add more confusion, Saturday night was also the time change to Daylight Saving Time.


On Sunday, I got up early to check the weather and it seemed to be OK but there were some road closings and high winds were anticipated. I was going alone since Jane had one of those nasty colds going around and was in no condition to brave the cold and wind.


I tried to program my GPS but it wouldn't accept the address where I would be going. I could go many ways and I didn't know what path I'd take until I got on the road. I wanted to see how bad the wind was. Turns out it wasn't bad at low speeds but at 65+ mph, it tossed me around a lot. That made me leery to try to go over the Driscoll Bridge on the Garden State Parkway. I opted to head north via Route 18 through New Brunswick. That route was uneventful except for all the potholes and construction. When I finally got to I287, I had the option to head west on I78 and traverse country roads in a northerly manner until I got to Long Valley. However, I might encounter streams that had overflowed their banks or possibly trees across the roads. I decided to continue north on I287 and pick up Route 206. That turned out well as the speeds were lower and the winds less objectionable.


The last 10 miles were enjoyable as I climbed in elevation and the temperature lowered. The mountains and trees were all around me and I was comfortable in my electrics nestled behind my full windshield. It was a good polar bear day.


As usual, I arrived and immediately started taking my pictures and short videos that I place on the Polar Bear Grand Tour Web site each week. You'll find them on the Long Valley page.


While taking pictures I saw a nice 1974 Volkswagen Beetle in the middle of the motorcycles. It had a "QQ" plate. Here in New Jersey, the "QQ" plate designates a car at least 25 years old. I had a 1933 Chevrolet once with a "QQ" plate. I couldn't just drive the car anywhere. It had to have limited mileage and be used for educational purposes. The 1974 I saw was the same year VW I once owned. The owner, a polar bear rider, had recently bought it completely restored. He had driven the car today instead of riding his bike since he had a bad cold. It was my good fortune. He showed me the car. It was beautiful. I took pictures and a couple of videos. You'll find them on the link above. I once wrote an article about the three VW Bugs that I owned including my own white 1974. That article was written when I was the Motorcycles Guide at About.com. I had joined with all the car Guides to write about the VW after the last VW came off the assembly line in Mexico.


On the way home, I decided to ride through Princeton, New Jersey. The trip was stop-and-go down Route 206 but I was in no hurry. After I got to the Route 1 traffic circle, I found the road closed. There was some storm damage beyond. I quickly turned around the circle and headed north on Route 1. When I saw a familiar crossroad, I turned off, pulled over to the side of the road, and switched the GPS to "Home" to get myself un-lost. Thank God for the Home button. It gave me a neat country ride over a road I had never been on and then suddenly pointed me to a familiar road that took me home without a hitch.


All in all, it was a good riding day. I survived the wind and cold another day even though I only saw a couple of clumps of snow over the 104 mile route.


I'm hoping the remaining winter is kind to me. I don't expect to see any more snow, in keeping with the way things are this year. On the other hand...

Yamaha Nouvo 2008

This motorcycle original picture , Yamaha Nouvo the new model that show at Thailand Motor Show , year 2007 preceding which anticipate that , original this car is will Yamaha Nouvo the generation year 2008 certainly which different a little only.

Yamaha Nouvo Elegance (True Picture)

This motorcycle picture Yamaha Nouvo Elegance (True Picture) to begin in date 2 February 2008 this , at Bangkok , which , staff , Motorcycle Thailand , will pick a picture in the work comes to see [ praise ] during 18.00 times from now on.

Airplanes and Motorcycles


Today was the Polar Bear Grand Tour visit to the Flying "W" Airport in Medford, New Jersey. It was a really cold day with temperatures around 25 degrees and a biting wind. Not many riders standing around outside today. They were all standing on line inside waiting for the sign-in to open at 11:30 a.m.


The Flying "A" is a real operating airport for small planes. It was the first time that the Polar Bears had visited this intriguing site. While we were there, I observed several takeoffs and landings of small airplanes and I intently watched a small helicopter doing maneuvers right in front of me.


Take a look at pictures and videos I took today to document our visit.

Motorcycle Santa - The Game

Recently, I mentioned in this blog that I had written five children's stories about a special character, Motorcycle Santa. I have just finished writing the sixth story in this series. It's based on a true incident in my life. I hope you'll enjoy this story of a little girl who is awakened by the arrival of Motorcycle Santa as he is placing gifts under her tree. Santa agrees to open one present for the girl to get her to go back to bed. The girl startles Santa by devising a game that uses the gift in a new way. I hope you enjoy "Motorcycle Santa - The Game."

47 Years of Harley-Davidson Sportster: A Picture Gallery


Harley-Davidson began selling motorcycles in 1903. In 1957, Harley-Davidson introduced the Sportster. It has continued in production ever since.

We present here a look at Harley-Davidson Sportster models from the first model in 1957 to the present as provided in pictures submitted by visitors to the Motorcycle Views Web site. A gallery called 47 Years of Sportster is provided that gives a picture and description for each model year from 1957 to 2003.

The gallery is not complete. If you own a Sportster, consider sending a picture and description of it to be considered for inclusion in the gallery.

Motorcycle Santa Stories


I started writing these original stories of Motorcycle Santa in 2002. My wife, Jane, had a large collection of POSSIBLE DREAMS® Santas that had to do with motorcycles. They seem to come out with a few new ones every year so her collection grew correspondingly. I wrote a short fantasy children's story illustrated with pictures of these Santas. I have added a new story each year.

Here are the first five stories. A new one for 2007 will be out soon.

Sabtu, 16 April 2011

motocross

 motocross

 motocross

 motocross

 motocross

 motocross

 motocross

 motocross

 motocross

 motocross



Motocross can trace its roots back to loosely organized off-road motorcycle races calledScrambles held in Great Britain back in the mid 1920′s. The bikes used in those original races were heavy and rigid street machines merely modified slightly for off-road riding, and the events initially drew sparse attention. The sport has obviously evolved dramatically since those early days. Over the years, technological advances have made the bikes lighter and faster. Today’s rides have been built specifically for maneuvering over rugged terrain and contain sophisticated suspensions capable of handling intense dirt track racing. The sport has also grown in popularity producing many dirt bike enthusiasts and hard core fans. Some though, including many devoted fans, believe that motocross racing has stagnated in its development and needs to modernize the off-road motorcycle racing experience in order to stay competitive in today’s action sports arena.
The American Motorcycle Association (AMA), the governing body of motocross racing in the US, has heard these cries and taken action. Up to this point, the AMA had been handling all of the operations, organization and promotion for its professional and amateur races under the umbrella of its subsidiary organization, AMA Pro Racing. But in March of this year, the AMA spun that subsidiary off to the Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG). DMG, who will operate under the AMA Pro Racing title, now owns the rights for all operations of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship, the premier US motocross series, and the AMA’s amateur motocross racing events-the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series will still be operated separately. DMG has also entered into a contractual arrangement with MX Sports to handle much of the operations and promotions for motocross racing.

2011 KTM motorcycles

 2011 KTM 690 Duke

 2011 KTM 690 Duke

 2011 KTM 690 Duke


2011 KTM 690 Duke

indian motorcycles

 2011 Indian Chief Blackhawk

2011 Indian Chief Blackhawk

Jumat, 08 April 2011

Falling Leaves and Motorcycles


I have a great view out the window where I work at home. It's my view on the world. This time of year, the view is pretty spectacular as the final leaves continue to fall. Today, the leaves were falling rapidly and piling up on the grass. I decided that I needed to do a little raking.

I went out to the garage where my two motorcycle trikes are parked and moved the car out so I could get at the electric leaf blower. I told myself that I needed to be careful how I handled the blower. Two years ago, I developed a severe case of arthritis right after I used the leaf blower to clear the front yard. I just over-exerted myself and developed shoulder, knee, and hip problems that caused me no end of grief for the next 18 months. I had only recently got back near normal and I didn't need a relapse.

I hooked everything up and started on the side yard. I grasped the blower with both hands keeping my arms close to my body so as not to put extra pressure on my arms. I had my ear plugs in that I use when I ride my trike. I blew the leaves out to the street and then started on the main yard where I can see the beautiful tree through my window.

I had noticed that the local leaf machine operated by the township was out and about and quite possibly might be by to pick up my leaves if I could get them all to the street. But, I was in no way going to push myself to get the leaves out to the street. I got about half of the remaining leaves to the street when I heard the machine approaching. Then it came into sight and started sucking up my leaves. Well, I still had lots more to do and if I missed getting them all picked up, well, the leaves would just have to wait at the curb until another day. Of course, it was also possible that the two workmen would show me some mercy and make another run around the block.

When they got to the end of my street, they turned around and came down the other side of my street and stopped in front of my beautiful tree. The driver headed across the street toward me and said, "I'd be glad to come back in 30 minutes and pickup the rest of your leaves if you'll show me your trike." That took me by surprise.

"Sure," I said. "You wanna do it now." Then the other workman came over and the three of us headed across the yard toward the garage.

The guy said, "I've seen that trike every year when I'm out on the leaf pickup runs, but this is the first time you had the garage door open so I could get a good look."

"Well, let me tell you all about my trike," I said. "Actually there are two trikes in there."

Thus began a 20 minute break for the two workers as we talked motorcycles. Turns out he had a bad motorcycle accident in 1993 and hadn't ridden since. He had thought about converting his bike to a trike though. I gave him my complete trike story. I think I got him interested in going back into motorcycling. He'll probably tell this story to his wife tonight and she'll try to discourage him. She's done it before, he said.

After he had looked over both my trikes and got all his questions answered, he and his buddy returned to the truck and headed off down the street. That was my cue to get back to leaf blowing and finish getting my remaining leaves out to the street. Just as I finished, he returned and removed the remaining leaves.

The leaves continue to fall outside my window. It takes awhile for the tree to drop all its beauty and then stand naked against the sky waiting for the snow to start falling. Meanwhile, I'm sure I'll be out there raking a few more times trying to stay ahead of the steady downpour of leaves.

Winter is coming. My tree's beauty is fading fast. But, my trikes will be getting used during the winter. The Polar Bear Grand Tour will take care of that. But, maybe the tree and the falling leaves have helped at least one motorcyclist to dream again of getting his own bike back on the road. The leaves have done their job.

Polar Bear Grand Tour in the Pine Barrens


Another rainy day! This is supposed to be the Polar Bear season. Even though it's now officially winter, it continues to be more like spring with 58 degree temperatures.

This was our first run to the Sweetwater Casino. It's located in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey in the middle of nowhere right next to the Mullica River. The place is big enough to hold the Polar Bears when we show up in force. They even have motorcycle parking up front on concrete -- this works fine except when the Polar Bears show up.

Motorcycle Trikes Becoming Popular


I've been riding a motorcycle trike for seven years. My wife got hers before I got mine. I wrote an article about her experience in getting her trike.

In the beginning there weren't too many of us out there and we got a lot of attention on the road, in parking lots, and especially at gas pumps. I even wrote an article with standard questions I get and my answers.

I also wrote a How To about learning to ride a trike.

Then I created a Trike Picture Gallery.

I spent yesterday on the road traveling to Lewes, DE for the second Polar Bear Grand Tour run. I'll be blogging about that later today. As usual, I was asked at every gas stop about the trike and heard the same questions again.

Today, I see that the Wall Street Journal has a piece about trikes and it has a few pictures too. It's called The Easier Rider: Baby Boom Bikers Defect to the Trike by Jonathan Welsh. Maybe we are becoming mainstream after all. Take a look.

Kawasaki KSR Mini Supersport Bike

Kawasaki KSR : Touch the amusement of KSR the power is bold with 110 cc 4 stoke motors s give you has driven on hardship way dextrous or on way smooth road has swiftly , the figure passes to pass close by , nimbly modern the source and the Technology in now divisibly...
Engine : 4 stoke SOHC with the air cooling
Cylinder capacity : 111 cc
The ratio is compressing : 9.5:1
Cylinder x distance draws : 53.0 x 50.6 mm.
Dot system bursts : DC-CDI
Start system : Easy KICK
Capacity fuel : 7.3 liter
W x Lx H : 1,670 x 705 x 995 mm
Height : 225 mm
Space of wheel : 130 mm
Junction front/back wheels : 1,165 mm
Weight : 82 kg
Front suspension : UPSIDE-DOWN
Rear suspension : Swing arm
Brake : Disk Brake
Front wheels : 100 / 90-12 (49J / TUBELESS)
Back wheels : 90 / 90 - 14
Battery : 12V 3.5 AH
Price : 54,000 Baht

Yamaha Fino (version 2006)

Yamaha Fino : Autometic design fashion style unique new with both of itch build new the style day the generation.The classical please teen-age who have the fashion...




Engine : 4 motors are rhythm SOHC let off the heat with the air
Cylinder capacity : 113.7 cc
The ratio is compressing : 8.8: 1
Cylinder x distance draws : 50 x57.9 mm.
Dot system bursts : CDI
Start system : electric starting
Capacity fuel : 4.1 liter
Lubricating oil capacity : 0.9 liter
System sends the drive : V-Belt
Carrying forward gears rate : 1.880~ 0.807
The rate carries : 3.133/ 3.231
Filter the air : paper
Frame : steel
W x Lx H : 705 x 1,830 x 1,050 mm
Height : 745 mm
Space of wheel : 125 mm
Junction front/back wheels : 1,240 mm
Weight : 91 kg./ 95 kg
Front suspension : Telehydraulic
Rear suspension : unit swing
Disk brake (CT-115D, CA-115D) : disk brake/ drum brake
Drum brake (CT-115C, CA-115C) : drum brake/ drum brake
Front : 70/90- 14M/C34P
Back : 80/90- 14M/C40P
Electric front : 12 volt 32 watt/ 32 watt x 1
Battery : The dry
Price : 42,000 Baht

Antique Motorcycle Ads Gallery - Old Ads with Low Prices


One of my forum members, MadMichael, has a collection of antique motorcycle advertisements that appeared in magazines many years ago. These ads are pretty interesting and reflect the times they appeared. You'll find ads from WWI and WWII and before. There are currently 80 antique motorcycle ads in the collection.

The prices were very low in those days as you'll see. There are many Harley-Davidson ads, a few Indian ads and then some ads for obscure makes. Take a look at my Antique Motorcycle Ads Gallery.

I have just added four motorcycle ads to the collection. They are: 1908 Yale, 1916 Harley, 1924 Harley, and 1932 Harley.

Amazing Motorcycle in Thailand


We saw this motorcycle while we were waiting to catch a ferry to Koh Samet and enjoy a little vacation from our normal everyday life in Thailand.

What do you call a brand new motorcycle? .........A starter kit!


The above 3 cartoon pictures are from: The ORIGINAL Illustrated Catalog Of ACME Products 


If you are planning on buying a bike and want something custom, and you are planning on making it that way yourself, why buy a new bike?
It doesn’t make much sense to me to spend the money on brand new stock parts to turn around and discard them for brand new custom parts. I started my favorite bike project on a low budget.

I had to sell my pick up truck to drive a used "paid for" Saturn for a while to help me afford the economy Harley to begin with. I drove My used stock Harley for about a year before I could start the customization process. Even with a used bike, Cursing Mama could not understand why I needed to take off perfectly good stock parts and exchange them for new custom parts. If you understand biking, no explanation needed. I believe after seeing what I'v created, from what I started with, She sees the picture. If you read my post from March 11th, you'll see I'm in the process of doing my bike yet "again". I've included a sneak preview picture of the gas tank in process. It is taped out here. There is more to it than it looks like in this photo. The real magic will happen when it is cleared. More will pop out that you cannot see in the photo. When it is all done, and bike is put back together, I'll share more.
Mr. Motorcycle.

Sabtu, 02 April 2011

New Model : Yamaha 150 cc Sportbike

Rumors of Yamaha entering the 150cc limit of sportswoman bikes is deed large by the day, the new bike would as the tale go's be the Yamaha YZF-R15 a 150cc whole fairing bike, with the highest h.p. engine (22hp) in its aggregation at a dry metric of right 120 kilo.
If the rumors are straight, then Yamaha leave stomach the diadem in the 150cc formation from the Honda CBR-150R. The Yamaha YZF-R15 is questionable to be a four-stroke, liquefiable cooled concentrated cylinder, 4-valve SOHC, 149.8cc engine with oil-cooling and car fuel injection. To retell an insiders at Yamaha the Yamaha YZF-R15 would be a concrete R-series and is packed with Pianoforte Prix discipline.
The Yamaha YZF-R15 faculty give stunning R-Series styling and exciting sports show. A highly sporty stable coordinate, 6-speed transmission method, with Yamaha own wet sump (Yamalub) lubrication group. The chassis is a last tensile brace deltabox program, spirit to what we seen with the Yamaha YZF-125 and the Yamaha GP250 bike.

The rumour of the Yamaha YZF-R15 tells that this ultra, high-revving, fuel-injected 150cc is the run of the assonant engineers who created our YZF-R1 and YZF-R6 supersport bikes and the YZF-R15 is competent to hand stunning 150cc show.


Specification

Engine : 150 cc 4valve Fuel injected
H.P. Engine : 22 bhp

Speed 0-60 : 3sec

Speed : 0-100- 9sec

Top Speed : 145km/hr

Motorcycle History - Honda Wave

Honda Wave series, also known as Honda NF series, Honda Innova (in Europe), and Honda Supra (in Indonesia) is a series of small motorcycle models (known as an underbone or kapchai) manufactured by Honda Motor Co. Ltd as a successor of the world's most popular motorcycle model, Honda Cub series. It debuted in 1995 especially for Asian and European market. While the older Honda Cubs use pressed steel frame that also acts as the main body, Honda Wave uses steel tubes for the frames and plastic cover sets for the body.

Honda Wave comes with three displacement options - 100cc, 110cc and 125cc. In addition to the three models that uses carburetors, Honda also produces the fuel-injected 125cc model known as Honda Wave 125i, the first moped that uses fuel injection.

In 2006, the Honda Wave motorcycle series were facelifted for better looks. In addition, the 125cc model includes a key slot cover for better protection against theft. Starting from 2007, the Honda Innova 125 in Europe began using fuel injection system to replace the carburetors used by most of the Honda Wave series.

Specifications Honda Wave 125
* Engine type: SOHC 2-valve 4-stroke air-cooled 124cc engine
* Displacement: 124.9 cc
* Bore x Stroke: 52.4 x 57.9 mm
* Compression Ratio: 9,3:1
* Max Power: 9.3 PS @ 7,500 rpm (carburetor type), 9,18 PS @ 7.500 rpm
* Max Torque: 1.03 kgf.m @ 4,000 rpm (carburetor type), 0,99 kgf.m /5.000 rpm
* Max speed: 115 km/h
* Transmission: 4-speed
* Clutch: Wet multi-plate centrifugal
* Starter: Kick and electric starter
* Frame Type: Underbone steel tube
* Suspension (F): Telescopic
* Suspension (R): Swingarm
* Brake (F): Disc/Mechanically actuated drum
* Brake (R): Leading trailing drum/Disc
* Fuel tank capacity: 3.7 L

I woke up this morning and said WTF?

I woke up to snow, and lots of it. Can't it be spring already?


Very pretty, But.........

Mother nature is putting a damper on my spring fever. I thought this snow was going to be south of us. I want to ride so bad I can taste it. I know there are lots of people who ride snowmobiles in the winter to replace the obsession of riding motorcycles when the weather permits, and I've done both. I can say I don't think sledding compares to riding a bike. I don't even own one, cause it holds that much of a lack of interest for me.

I don't think God cares about my ridin weather either, but it can't hurt to pray for warmer weather.

Hopefully soon it'll be ridin time. .....(sighs)

Mr. Motorcycle

Men on Motorcycles - Picture Gallery


We present here a picture gallery of male motorcycle riders and their motorcycles as submitted by male visitors to the Motorcycle Views site. The gallery is called Men on Motorcycles.

The vast majority of motorcycle riders are men. Of course, over the years many women have also ridden motorcycles. In recent years, with the availability of training from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF), more women than ever have learned to ride and now constitute more than 10 percent of all motorcycle owners. See our gallery, Women on Motorcycles, for pictures of women and their motorcycles.

We need your help to grow this new gallery, Men on Motorcycles, so please submit a picture of you and your motorcycle along with a description of your bike.

2011 Honda CBR125R

2011 Honda CBR125R
You've heard the buzz about the CBR125R: it's the fun and friendly Honda that has given so many Canadian riders their first taste of motorcycling excitement – and has given some long-time riders a new reason to smile, too. Well, the buzz has just become a whole lot louder, because a more advanced CBR125R is here for 2011 with a new look and even better performance. Check out the stylish new bodywork, which gives the CBR125R a bigger-bike look and also enhances weather protection and overall ride comfort, and the wider wheels and tires that improve the CBR125R's excellent traction. What we haven't changed is the nimble, confidence-inspiring handling from the lightweight chassis, the low-effort controls, the comfortable seat height, and the responsive, hard-to-stall engine with PGM-FI electronic fuel injection. Easy to own, easy to operate. The Honda CBR125R sure is an easy bike to like.
Crisp response, thrilling performance
The 125cc sportsbike class is where riding careers begin. It’s a machine that gives young riders the opportunity to develop their skills as early as possible. That’s why it’s a motorcycle with a huge responsibility.
It must be just as rewarding to ride as bigger Supersports machines, particularly around town and other places where power is less important. Young riders build confidence on two wheels with bikes such as a 125cc. And let’s face it, it’s easier to learn something when it’s made to be fun.
Since its introduction in 2004, the CBR125R has represented the ideal first sportsbike. Compact, lightweight, refined, easy to use and with welcoming handling that the CBR family is renowned for. It’s a firm favourite with young riders the world over.

For 2011, the all new CBR125R is ready to prove itself as the perfect first sportsbike for a new generation of riders.
Designed to develop the sports riding skills from the earliest days of your career
Superbikes are the ultimate road motorcycles. They offer a thrill no other bike can match. That’s why we designed the 2011 CBR125R. A small-capacity bike with big ambition.
The brief to our design team was simple. Create a 125cc sportsbike with the look and feel of a bigger, more expensive machine. The new model had to retain the current CBR125R’s user-friendly handling characteristics and free-revving single cylinder engine, but packaged inside all-new sophisticated, lightweight and stylish bodywork.
Modern riders expect full-size proportions, so that meant more aggressive wheel and tyre specs too. We also added the latest advances in fuel injection and catalyser technology to make the CBR125R more efficient than its predecessor.
If you want your riding career to start with a motorcycle built as a superbike from the ground up, look no further than the 2011 CBR125R.