Indeed…and as an aside, I once rocked the muttonchops back in the day.  I miss them. My wife recently vetoed my desire to grow out my mustache, procure some wax and go for the old-school handlebar look. I was saddened by her lack of aesthetic appreciation, but as I’m determined not to upset the delicate balance of domestic life, I’ll just have to keep rocking the goatee (which has the Good Spousekeeping Seal of Approval) from now until I pass from this mortal coil.

C’est la vie.

At any rate, back to the subject at hand, this goofy ad for last-chance motorcycle and furniture purveyors, Classified Moto out of Old Virginny:

Team Ryland (husband John and wife Betsy), have been making waves building custom motorcycles and custom motorcycle home furnishings, and that’s always struck me as a wild and wonderful combination.

John Ryland takes bikes dropped off by his customers – or bikes or he finds himself – redesigns them,  and then applies his signature look while giving the bike’s guts a mechanical update. He says that while he has a definite preference for the design and engineering elements of customizing motorcycles, most of his time is spent with a wrench in hand.

And those thoroughly stylish and motorcycle-centric home furnishings?

Betsy Ryland, who also works as a jewelry designer, creates the lamps from old motorcycle parts and they’ve become a hit as well and have sold to customers all around the world.

So who’s to thank for this inspired and goofy bit of cinematic self-log-rolling? Adam Ewing did the shootin’, Devin Bousquet cut it all together, Bill Grishaw dropped the needle for the musical accompaniment  and Jeff McManus did his digital deejay thing and mixed it all into the soup.

The awesome French Foreign Legion muttonchops were provided by  actor Patrick Biedrycki and one Kristy Heilenday chipped in the dramatic gesticulation that set the whole thing in motion.

All in all, I give it two thumbs up…

As you ride in a straight line down the road, a motorcycle is always essentially, trying to fall over to one side or the other. The front wheel of a motorcycle aligns itself with the direction of travel.

In general, the more “trail” a motorcycle needs to remain upright, the worse the handling will be. Trail is the distance between an extended line projecting from the steering axis to the pavement and a line extending to the earth’s surface from the center of the front axle. Trail normally falls in a range from 3 inches to 4.5 inches but it can extend into the ridiculous on choppers with “raked out” front forks. It’s that huge trail which makes choppers truly evil in the handling department. They run just fine in a straight line, but slight deviations from that line at speed can result in truly epic “tank slappers,” or uncontrollable wobble.

It’s the balance in front to rear tire traction and steering geometry which keeps your bike on the road. Engineers tasked with creating racing machines generally select the smallest front tire that will still provide enough braking force to do the job. If they didn’t need to use the front tire to stop the bike, you’d see thirteen-inch front wheels on motorcycles to improve turning.

All the information about how a motorcycle “feels” is transmitted through the handlebars and the footpegs. The ideal is to achieve “neutral steering,” a motorcycle with the correct balance of front to rear traction and weight distribution.

If those things don’t happen, you have the problems encountered while riding the bikes on our List of Handling Shame below…

1. Early 1980′s BMW’s With an aging suspension design, weak and too-flexible frames, heavy cast-iron cylinder liners (which were ultimately replaced with plated aluminum versions) old heavy and lame ATE swing caliper brakes on the front wheels, BMWs were falling well behind the standard of the latest Japanese bikes. To answer the detractors, heavy flywheels were replaced with a stamped steel clutch carrier which cut down the rotating mass and allowed the engine to operate more smoothly. By 1980, BMW motorcycles were ponderous, slow, poor handling beasts, but the company addressed those issues and quickly got back in the game.
   
2. Kawasaki 750 Triples. Weighing in at  748 cc and featuring a revolutionary three cylinder, 2-stroke engine design, the “Widowmakers” were the fastest street bikes yet seen -  in a straight line. On the downside, and it was a major downside for a machine capable of stunning speed and acceleration, the brakes and handling may well have marked an all-time low in design. While they were introduced to the market in 1972 and sold well, the original model line was dropped from Kawasaki’s roster in 1976 in favor of bikes you could actually take around a corner. I had one myself and while it was a thing of beauty in a drag race, it was a nightmare through the corners and on wet pavement, it was positively brutal to ride.
3. Honda CX 500 A truly beautiful bike which is slowly coming into favor with custom builders, the CX500 was horribly top-heavy and an absolute bear to maneuver at low speeds. Made from 1978 to 1983, the CX 500 was beloved for it’s smooth engine, but incorrect crankshaft main bearing specifications led to a major recall of the line. Like the Moto Guzzi models before it, the CX500′s eccentric crankshaft rotation (a horizontal-v configuration) meant the machine would twist noticeably to the right when you came off the throttle. It was also far too easy to lock up the rear wheel when changing down through the gears.
4. Moto Guzzi Like the CX 500, the engine design of the early Guzzis, while it was smooth as silk, introduced some quirky handling effects on acceleration and deceleration. In addition, some early Moto Guzzi models  included rubber mounting of the handlebars which ultimately made them very unstable at speed. The movement introduced in the handlebar mounting scheme made them feel loose and disconnected in cornering. Not exactly what you want…
5. Kawasaki 500 H1 On their introduction in 1969, the 500 line suffered from the poor handling and woefully sorry braking of the larger 750′s. Their light weight also resulted in an unintended, but highly-prized, consequence. A ton of high-end torque meant riders could bring the front wheel up – in all three of first gears. Good for hooligans, not so good in many other respects…
6. Harley Davidson Sportster, 1981  Long forks set at a steep angle and a top-heavy design mean that Sportsters from this era are fine in a straight line, but their handling through long corners was disastrously bad due mostly to poor suspension. The fork and steering geometry was also deeply messed up, and while they looked exceptional, it was the design which provided those looks which sent many a sportster sliding out over the high side.
7. Honda C50, 70, 90, 110 While these Honda models are the best selling bikes of all time, their step-through, moped-like frames were inherently nasty on handling. The automatic transmissions on the early models were prone locking up the rear, and the bike’s suspension was so buttery soft that the wallowing, oscillating, bouncy ride put lots of riders off the road. One good thing about them was that, while they featured horrific handling, they weren’t fast enough for it to matter much…
   
8. Suzuki GT380/550/750 The GT series Suzukis suffered from miniscule ground clearance, excessive engine width, front disc brakes which barely functioned and  a noodle-like swing arm. The front end would deviate so wildly on hard acceleration that tank-slappers were nearly inevitable for less experienced riders, and the rear shocks provided such outrageous amounts of damping that they rode like bucking ponies. Truly horrible. Epic in their lack of rider feel.

Designed as part of the Honda City series, this minibike folded up and was made to fit in the trunk of your car. For those who lived in the Tokyo of those times the value of space, on the streets and inside your living room, was the impetus for the designers at Honda who came up with this tiny, 50 cc machine.

The Motocompo died and went the way of many things from its era in the early 1980′s – the Walkman, say, and the getup the model is wearing in the advertising photo above – and it’s now a largely forgotten exercise in forward thinking that failed to capture the imagination of the motorcycling public. It’s pretty likely that it worked better as an end-table to hold your pineapple then it did as a motor vehicle.

The really shocking thing is that, with a top speed of 22 mph, Honda managed to build and sell as many of them as they did.

The Motocompo was introduced as a “trunk bike” to fit inside subcompact cars like the Honda Today and the Honda City. The bike’s handlebars, seat, and foot-pegs folded into a rectangular plastic , box-shaped bike about the size of a commercial sewing machine. Honda actually believed they could sell 10,000 Motocompos a year, and all in all nearly 54,000 Motocompos were sold by the end of the three-year production run  in 1983.

If you want one, and I guess I’m not sure why you would, you can find them on eBay once in a great while and the prices reflect its lack of status as a viable alternative to the scooter or the folding bicycle. If you’re really hot to have one, there’s a Honda Motocompo Facebook page you can check out.

One thing the Motocompo had, though, was (at least according to the ad agency who put together the campaign to sell this tiny anomaly) the power to make your hair a curiosity and insure that you look like someone lost on the way to a BeeGees concert…

Honda MotoCompo Specs:

Thank your lucky stars you didn’t buy a Honda Motocompo, because chicks just don’t dig motorcycles you can store in your briefcase any more than they like plaid pants.
Whether you ride a sport bike or an American cruiser, your insurance needs can get complicated.

We’re here to help you find the right motorcycle insurance, whatever you ride…

One of the most scintillating acts to ever take a Rock’n'Roll stage, the MC5′s Detroit performances in the late 60s are legend and their music became an anthemic soundtrack to bikers, at least in my home state of Michigan.

Their debut album, Kick Out the Jams, was the high-water mark in their career and the sonic standard for loud, fast and anarchic music of the kind which attracted the biker set of the time. The MC5′s pre-punk stance and radical politics provided a spark to the fire of the most turbulent years in our nation’s history, and the MC5 played loud and long during a real American revolution.

What did they get for their troubles? A horrible review from famous rock critic Lester Bangs, a string of broken contracts, harassment from the authorities and censorship and attempts to suppress their musical output.

The legend, and the music, has lived on and you can hear the band’s influence in punk, in heavy metal and grunge made throughout the last forty years.

Their place in rock history – and their place in American history – is both a story of redemption and a cautionary tale.

Theirs is a story of bikers, fast motorcycles, dragstrips and riots. They hung with the Panthers and got busted for pot. They were continually monitored by the FBI. They were five genuine American originals.

Former MC5 bassist, Davis, began a slow slide into oblivion after a motorcycle accident on Monday, May 8, 2006 when he was hospitalized with a laundry list of injuries – but he ultimately recovered. Davis had been riding his Harley Davidson on a Los Angeles freeway when he was unable to avoid a muffler which dropped from a vehicle into his path. He was wearing his helmet and leather jacket at the time but  still suffered a fractured spine, bruised ribs, and road rash.

This week, the motorcycle and music community lost one of their own, and that’s the way of the world…RIP

In a way, you can’t help but be cool when you’re a chick on a bike. The juxtaposition of control and freedom and the thrill of the road beneath her feet are something of an exercise in the complexity of femininity. Although motorcycling has long been a male-dominated art, lots of women participate in and forward bike culture. And they’ve done so, across cultures and professions, and throughout motorcycling’s history. These ten biker chicks all have singular attitudes and philosophies, but share this: they’re all undeniably badass.

1. k.d. lang

   Often photographed on motorcycles, k.d. lang likes to rule the road in vintage style. In Novermber of 2011, the singer auctioned off a beautiful 1967 Triumph TR6 “Desert Sled”.
   Why She’s Badass: She’s won tons of Grammys. She’s performed at the Olympics. She’s a Buddhist, vegan, and an animal and human rights activist. And she’s one fantastic musician.
   

2. Texas Governor Ann Richards

   Former Texas Governor Ann Richards (1933-2006) rode a Harley-Davidson during her term as governor because she “thought she needed to do something kind of jazzy.” The white-haird, firecracker governer had the biker babe spirit, and broke barriers in Texas and beyond.
   Why She’s Badass: A prime and beloved example of Texana, she was a spirited public servant, an active senior citizen, and had a great sense of humor. Her legacy has even inspired a two-act play called Ann: An Affectionate Portrait of Ann Richards.
   

3. The Van Buren Sisters

   Augusta and Adeline Van Buren also broke barriers, but long before Ann Richards was even born. These sisters were the first women to travel from sea to shining sea on solo motorcycles, and completed their New York to California trip in 1916.
   Why They’re Badass: These ladies completed a 5,500 mile course that would be advanced for anybody to do, and they did it almost an entire century ago. Not only the first women, but some of the first people to dare ride motorbikes across a huge continent. The highway system looked a lot different in 1916 — and were, in many ways, more dangerous.

4. Brigitte Bardot

   Iconic French actress/model/singer Brigitte Bardot was enamored with Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In 1968, she released a French language single called “Harley-Davidson”.
   Why She’s Badass: Any woman worthy of being the subject of a Simone de Beauvior essay (in this case, 1959′s The Lolita Syndrome) is definitely badass. Additionally, her features have been used on the bust of Marianne, the French national emblem.

5. Cher

   One of the most successful entertainers of all time, Cher quips, “I’ll never get rid of my motorcycle or my truck.” It’s just a part of what makes Cher Cher.
   Why She’s Badass: She’s won Emmys, Grammys, an Oscar, Golden Globes, and every other award imaginable. She did things before doin’ things was cool, like get tattoos and wear lots of leather and glitter. An absolute icon, Cher is one of the most successful and multi-faceted people on the planet.

6. Elizabeth Taylor

   Her Diamonds may be White, but Elizabeth Taylor’s Passion…is Purple. In the 1980s, she was gifted a motorcycle by then-boyfriend Malcom Forbes that she dubbed “Purple Passion.”
   Why She’s Badass: The celebrated beauty had more than just great acting chops — she was also known for her several businesses and AIDS philanthropy.
   

7. Dot Robinson

   Maybe not the First Lady of motocycling, but definitely the first lady of motorcycling. Born into a motorcycling family in 1912, Dot often wore long skirts and pillbox hats while she rode, proving that you could still be classy (or maybe a bit prudish) and ride motorcycles. Her mission was uniting women riders, and her legacy is The Motormaids.
   Why She’s Badass: Dot Robinson broke a transcontinental motorcycling record in 1935. She owned and operated her father’s motorcycle dealership until the 1970s. She’s in the Hall of Fame. She’s a true legend.

8. Pink

   Pop-punk singer Pink and her husband Carey Hart are single-handedly making motorcylces all rock n roll once more. An entertainer, mom, feminist, champion of women’s rights, and all-around rebel, Pink embodies the free spirit of the lady motorcycle rider.
   Why She’s Badass: She can win Grammys and awards abroad for her pop-punk fearless female image. Pink is badass and a legit biker chick too, as she owns several bikes.

9. Queen Latifah

   According to tabloids, Queen Latifah was injured in a motorcycle accident in 2008 in the Virgin Islands. Her brother, who was a policeman, was killed in a motorcycle accident in the early ’90s. Although it’s cool to be a biker chick, here’s hoping that she stays 100% safe!
   Why She’s Badass: A positive role model for women and rappers, Queen Latifah has used her fame to forward wholesome comedy and a kind image — even though she’s totally badass.

10. Wynonna Judd

    Wynonna Judd recently had a garage sale and auctioned off her maroon-and-chrome 1992 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softtail. Guess she was done with her days of hell for leather. Described as always really down to earth, she sold her bike and other wares to fans and friends and neighbors in order to downsize to move houses.
    Why She’s Badass: Guess she traded her bike for a bigger dream: the country music star moved to a 500 acre estate down the road from her mother and sister.

Darrell Murphy’s Honda 1500

The Progressive International Motorcycle Show is headed to Charlotte this coming weekend, and the lineup includes a couple of local builders vying for the freestyle custom title and the three-grand check that comes along with it.

The Charlotte Convention Center show, like the shows before it in other cities across the country, features stunt riders, a vintage motorcycle exhibit, seminars lead by titans of the motorcycle industry and what they bill as  “the world’s largest” custom-bike-builder competition.”

The Smage Bros. Stunt Show, finalists on the NBC television show “America’s Got Talent,” will rev up the crowd making runs through obstacle courses, riding on the back wheel and hopping their trials bikes around.

A couple of local builders, Christopher “Toro” Meyer and Darrell Murphy will be two of some 10 builders from North Carolina entered in the show.

Murphy is entering a 1998 Honda GL 1500C and Meyer has entered his Bonneville Triumph Black custom.

Charlotte Motorcycle Show

When: 4-9 p.m. Feb. 24; 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Feb. 25; and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 26.

Where: Charlotte Convention Center, 501 South College St.

Cost: A one-day pass is $13 if bought in advance online, or $15 at the door. For children age 6 to 11, a one-day pass is $10; free for age 5 or younger.

www. motorcycle shows .com/ charlotte

704-339-6200.

Murphy’s bike will soon be  featured in StreetFighters Magazine,and he says he’s put $35,000 to $40,000 into making it a contender. He made most of the parts himself, molding plastic, designing the bikes upholstery and creating a custom exhaust system. Murphy’s bike is a little unusual for the custom bike breed in that he rides it to and from shows. No Trailer Queen, Murphy entered his bike in the freestyle custom-bike competition.

Murphy has a serious bike pedigree and has, at various times, worked as a machinist, a welder, a drag racer, an obstacle-course rider, a motorcycle salesman and a bike repair technician.

As for his custom bike work, he says he has worked on 300 to 400 bikes, and it’s the work he enjoys. Murphy recently sold off six of the bikes in his collection.

“There’s no sense keeping one. They just collect dust. The fun is in the restoration,” Murphy says.

Would he like to win the title? Damn right he would, but that’s not the primary reason he take on his projects.

“To me, it’s a sculpture,” Murphy said of his custom works. “This is my recreation. And when you’re done, you can ride it to work.”

Mikhail Smolyanov Concept Motorcycle

The Future of Harley-Davidson…and Maybe Indian

Indian and Harley-Davidson. The boys at H-D are trying to arrive at a formula which will work for them in modern era, and they need to take care of that business before everyone who’s now into Harleys is, well, to put it indelicately, dead from old age and fast living.

As for Indian, they have yet another shot at recapturing past glories, but it remains to be seen whether or not the latest incarnation of that fabulous and storied marque can pull itself once again from the ashes of self-destruction and backward thinking.

Sales world wide in the retro-cruiser slot stagnant at best, and they only remain strong in the USA. Indian Motorcycle has made steps to jump back into the game, but due to slow sales of cruiser models, they may not have picked the best time launch. Harley-Davidson is still working on grabbing a share of the huge youth market, but they also insist on designing models which hit the showroom floor at prices you need middle east oil money to afford. The new “48″ and Softail Slim 72 models are a step in the right direction, but it’s hard to say if those gems will be enough to keep the younger set from simply grabbing up used H-Ds and making them something special.

Honda is selling some “chopper” style bikes now, but those models seem hopelessly behind the curve. Some people might like bikes like the Honda PCX and the Fury – and they’ll surely snap up some buyers who may in the past have purchased a Harley, but the Motor Company’s big competition is going to come from machines like the Kawasaki Vulcan, the Yamaha Stratoliner and the entire Triumph line.

The V-Rod was supposed to be the answer and was without doubt a beautiful bike with subtle and modern lines, a great engine, fuel injection and a cool factor. But it didn’t – and this is a real problem and the same one they had trying to move Buell models – sound like a Harley, look like a Harley or ride like a Harley.

With an average consumer age of 46+,  the Milwaukee crew have some catching up to do, but the numbers are promising and the stock-buying set seem content for the moment…

The Near Future

American racing legend Dan Gurney was one of the many who have tried over the years to re-imagine the motorcycle with his Alligator A6. Gurney built the Alligator with a low center of gravity in mind, and Cycle World tested a version of the original A6, it did 0-30-mph in just 1.1 seconds and turned out to be quicker than any streetbike the magazine has ever tested. The A6 also came to a stop in a heartbeat, coming to a halt from 60 mph in just 114 feet – and that’s nine feet faster than radial-mount brakes slowed Kawasaki’s ZX-6R, the most advanced bike of the time period.

“It’s pretty amazing in this day and age that you can build something unique and that hasn’t already been done,” said racing legend Eddie Lawson of the A6. “I enjoy it because I can get on a motorcycle and it’s different and it’s fun.”

With gas and oil prices going through the roof and supplies of the non-renewable resource getting lower everyday motorcycles should continue to grow in demand. Today most of us ride motorcycles in North America for fun or as a hobby but it is not this way in other parts of the world. Even in first world countries (like the UK) people are riding them due to the savings in gas, oil, insurance over other vehicles and even riding them year round. Will that happen here as well?

The Great Leap Forward – Hybrid Gas and Electric Motorcycles

Electric motorcycles. Like them or not, they’re looming large on the horizon, and they’re achieving some pretty startling performance numbers as better batteries come through the pipeline.

Kids aren’t as appalled by the idea of riding a bike that sounds like a blender, so it won’t be long until electric motorcycles start chipping away at the fossil-fuel-powered bikes I know and love. As much as I hate change, it would be just plain silly not to see the writing on the wall here.

Are you listening, H-D?

Diesel Motorcycles?
The US Army has already tinkered with the idea of buying up a bunch of  Kawasaki KLR650s that run on diesel fuel, and a bike which sports efficiency around 120 miles per gallon, develops  33ftlb of torque and has a top speed of 85 mph is going to be a player in the market .

Add to that appeal the fact that diesel powerplants are reliable like anvils, simple to maintain and now capable of running down the road without rattling all the fillings in your teeth to dust, and you’ve got a prescription for the future of the touring-utility motorcycle.

Electric Motorcycles
Does this all mean motorcycles will be going electric-only? Much as I hate the idea, it means precisely that.

Electric motorcycle are doing the 1/4 mile in well under nine seconds now, and that’s enough performance to make them the future of the breed. The internal combustion engine has slotted into motorcycles for more than 100 years, and there’s precious little room for improvement in them – at least improvement the Average Joe can afford. Big oil companies have a major stake in the market, but they’re going to run out of product at some point. Long before they run out, their product is going to become prohibitively expensive, and that is really, really bad news for the old school like me who live for the smell of grease and gasoline. The internal combustion engine is up against competition which creates almost no noise, has no vibration to speak of, weighs much less, provides complete linear power availability throughout the range of speeds and motors which require few to no moving parts.

You be the judge and jury on this one.

It all makes me glad I’ll be long dead before the Brave New World of motorcycles becomes reality…or maybe science will come up with a cure for living like a dumbass and I’ll just have to get used to it all.

Toro, aside from building this really fine Triumph Bonneville custom, The Bonneville Black, is planning to make a run at a speed record at, you guessed it, the Bonneville Salt Flats some time in 2013.

Meyer now calls Morrisville, North Carolina, home, but he’s currently planning a move to Houston, Texas for his work as Systems Design Engineer for an automation company. His job takes him all over the world and he says it gives him a chance to own, ride and gawk at all manner of motorcycle variations. His quest has taken him to motorcycle shops, shows and museums throughout the US, UK and – all over Europe and Asia.

Aside from being a world traveler, he’s also an administrator for the Brit Iron Rebels (founded by Poison Drummer Rikki Rockett), the drummer from that awesome hair band, Poison.  The Brit Iron Rebels came together in 2004 as a gang of hooligans from around the world dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and promotion of classic and retro-styled British motorcycles.

“I started my love affair with motorcycles and motorcycling at a very early age. My step-father, a non-rider at the time, purchased the first motorcycle I ever rode – a 1974 Honda MR50,” Meyer said. “I immediately knew motorcycling would be become a lifelong passion. I’ve owned and customized over 20 different motorcycles across multiple brands. I began my current focus on Cafe Racers and Bobbers around six years ago, and continue to look forward to – and dream about – what’s next in the motorcycle world.”

According to Meyer, his favorite bikes can be described as “Less is More” machines.

“I build and customize motorcycles to suit my tastes rather than the masses,” Meyer said. “If I don’t have passion for it, then how could anyone else? I appreciate subtle styling cues and attention to detail.  Motorcycles of all marques appeal to me for their craftsmanship, their beauty and the emotion that I feel in regards to the particular motorcycle.”

And he’s not the only one paying attention to the details. Meyer’s bikes have taken a long list of titles at various bikes hows across the nation and The Bonneville Black will take its place on the line at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Charlotte, North Carolina next week.

What’s next? Oh yeah, there’s that Bonneville Salt Flats thing. Meyer plans to pull together various components from a pile of 2006 Triumph Scramblers ( he has  a total of five waiting for their shot at glory) to be the foundation of his 2013 Land Speed Record project for next year. He’s working on sourcing parts and design plans to build his modern Triumph  for the 2013 Bonneville Speed Week – and it will feature a double-engine design.

If you need to check out more of what “Toro” has been up to, check out these handy-dandy links:
http://www.britironrebels.com/botm6.shtml
http://motochimp.blogspot.com/2011/09/toros.html
http://www.joshuahoffmanphoto.com/album/toros_bonnie

The inside skinny on Chris “Toro” Meyer’s Bonneville Black:

Engine built and wiring customizations were done byRay Price Triumph Performance Shop

Performance Upgrades:

• British Customs Black Ceramic Coated Headers
• British Customs Predators
• British Customs Airbox Elimination Kit
• British Customs Low Profile Air Injection Kit
• British Customs Billet Intake Manifolds
• British Customs Performance Cams
• British Customs Performance Cylinder Head w/ Custom 6mm Oversized Intake and 5mm Oversized Exhaust Valves
• 2011 Triumph EFI engine cases
• 1087cc Bored and Sleeved Cylinders
• ¼” Stroked Crankshaft w/lightened Flywheel (-2lbs)
• FCR 39mm Flat Slide Racing Carburetors
• Oil Pressure Gauge Kit
• Pingle Pro Flow Fuel Petcock
• Pingle Pro Flow Adapter Plate
• Nology Pro Fire Coil
• Nology Hot wires
• T6 Aluminum Downtube Oil Coolers
• Wiseco Pistons (Custom-sized)
• Carillo Connecting Rods
• K & N Air Filters
• Procom Programmable CDI Box
• Barnett High Performance Clutch Kit
• Scotts Performance Stainless Steel Micronic Oil Filter
• EK525 MVXZ Quadra-X Chain

Driveline:

• British Customs Direct Mount Front Brake Reservoir Kit
• Rizoma Billet Rear Brake Reservoir
• Carrozzeria Forged Aluminum Wheels
• Galfer Front Brake Rotor
• Braking Rear Rotor
• Bridgestone BattleAx BT023 110/80 ZR 18 Front Tyre
• Bridgestone BattleAx BT023 170/60 ZR 17 Rear Tyre
• Vortex Rear Sprocket
• LSL Sprocket Cover
• EBC Brake Pads

Suspension:

• SuperBrace Fork Brace
• Ohlins S36E Rear Shocks
• Progressive Fork Springs
• LSL Steering Dampener
• Triumph Thruxton Lower Legs

Controls:

• British Customs Control Clamps
• British Customs ‘Stealth’ Triple Clamp
• Motogadget Motoscope Mini Digital Dashboard
• Motogadget M-Swtiches
• Pazzo 6-way Adjustable ‘Shorty’ Racing Levers
• LSL Clip Ons
• LSL Rearsets
• LSL Passenger Pegs
• Triumph Thruxton Stock Controls

Lighting:

• British Customs Cateye Taillight
• British Customs Rear Turn Signal Relocation Kit
• British Customs Front Turn Signal Bracket
• Kellerman Turn signals
• Easy Start Headlight Control Module
• Motogadget Motosign Mini Indicators Lights

Bodywork:

• British Customs Low Profile Seat Screws
• British Customs Flush Mount Gas Cap
• British Customs Fender Eliminator Kit
• Triumph Skid Plate
• Triumph Thruxton Contemporary Seat
• Triumph Knee Pads
• Custom Satin Black Powdercoating

Accessories:

• British Customs Ignition Relocation Kit w/Custom Push Button Start
• British Customs Clutch Cable Bracket
• British Customs Clutch Lifter Arm Finisher
• Spiegler Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines
• Triumph Fork Gaiters
• Joker Machine Shock Bolt Dress-up Kit
• Joker Machine Fork Stem Cap
• Joker Machine Oil Filler Plug
• Pazzo Racing Pre-Load Adjusters
• Rizoma Sportline Billet Grips
• Rizoma Conical Bar Ends
• Rizoma “Class Retro” Bar End Mirror
• LSL Headlamp Ears
• LSL Framesliders
• LSL Passenger Pegs
• R & G Fork Sliders
• Headlight Stoneguard
• Custom Wire Covering
• UK Tax ID Holder

Before I hit the highway for Happy Hour with the wrecking crew, I took the time to put together a page of my favorite stuff I read this week from the Motorcycling Internet Collective.

If you dig motorcycles, these guys have just the tonic for you this morning. From  Trent Reker at bikeMetric to Mike Werner at Bikes in the Fast Lane, you’re sure to like what these greasy motorcycle types took the time to pixelate for you.

Enjoy…and pay them a visit. Link-clicky love is always appreciated by these digital coal miners, my brother…

A Hindu Custom Marvel

The word aghori is the name of a hindu sect whose followers revere shiva and consider themselves monists and devote their spiritual energies to shiva as it’s form of bhairava. they believe reality is one organic whole with no independent parts. we are all connected as one organism. interesting. i do not doubt that at all.

Shiva/Bhairava is depicted as ornamented with a range of twisted serpents worn as earrings, bracelets and anklets. he wears a tiger skin and an apron composed of human bones…

Read more…

bikerMetric

Mean Lean

Jim Harrell was thinking about trikes for some time, even before the blond on the cell phone rear ended him and his wife at a traffic light, but with a new collection of bumps and bruises it was getting even more difficult to ride, so, Jim finally decided, now was the time. He surveyed the options already out there, from Hannigan, Can-Am and others and became more convinced than ever, without the ability to lean in the turns, a trike just doesn’t work…

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The Kneeslider

An Eye for Beauty

South African-born Pierre Terblanche is one of the most influential motorcycle designers in the world today. He’s most famous for his Ducati designs, such as the exquisite Supermono, the iconic 749 and 999, the retro SportClassic and the ultra-modern Hypermotard. After a brief sojourn in England, Terblanche is now back in Bologna…

Bike EXIF

Limpnickie Lot News

The Limpnickie Lot, the collective of young builders and craftsmen from the custom motorcycle scene that band together to travel together to motorcycle events will be in Daytona for Bike Week at it’s original location at the Stone Edge Skate Park, on South Ridgewood Avenue…
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Cyril Huze Post

The Beautiful Game? Meet the Beautiful Machine

It looks like if you ride a Honda motorcycle, you are an excellent soccer (football) player. Or at least, that is the case if you believe this Honda TV commercial.

You get to see, what I presume is a famous Brazilian soccer player (have no clue who it is), doing tricks with a (soccer) ball on his motorcycle…
Read more…

Bikes in the Fast Lane

Buying Your First Bike? The Women’s Guide to Motorcycle Insurance

Whether you ride a sport bike or an American cruiser, your insurance needs can get complicated.

We’re here to help you find the right motorcycle insurance, whatever you ride…

Tips for buying your motorcycle insurance, coverage you need:

• Collision to pay for damage caused to your vehicle in an accident with another vehicle or any stationary object.
• Comprehensive to cover such things as fire, hail, wind, vandalism, hitting an animal, etc.
• Towing / Pickup
• Medical payment or personal injury protection to cover the medical bills resulting from an accident.
• Uninsured or underinsured motorist to protect us when the other driver is at-fault and does not have coverage or assets out of which your bills can be paid.

1. 1901 William S. Harley, at age 21, finishes a blueprint for an engine designed to fit a bicycle.
2. 1903 Harley and Arthur Davidson build the first production Harley-Davidson motorcycle in 1903. It features a a 116cc engine working from a 10 x 15-foot shed on Chestnut Street in Milwaukee. That’s still the address of Harley-Davidson’s corporate office.
3. 1904 C.H. Lang of Chicago, the very first Harley-Davidson dealer, opens for business.
4. 1906 The Motor Company builds a new 28 by 80-foot factory at the Chestnut Street location and the company grows to six employees. The nickname “Silent Gray Fellow” is applied to an early machine as a reference to the fact that the bikes were painted dove gray, and that they were quietly reliable.
5. 1907 William A. Davidson joins and Harley-Davidson Motor Company is incorporated. The first stock offering is shared by the Harley and Davidson brothers.
6. 1908 Walter Davidson scores a perfect 1,000 points at the 7th Annual Federation of American Motorcyclists Endurance and Reliability Contest. Wowed by that demonstration, the City of Detroit becomes the first to buy a H-D motorcycle for its police force.
7. 1909 Harley makes its first V-Twin. which features a displacement of almost 50 cubic inches and produces a total of seven horsepower.
8. 1910 The now-famous ‘Bar & Shield’ logo is created in 1910 and trademarked a year later.
9. 1911 The F-head single-cylinder engine is made and remains in service until 1929. The inlet-over-exhaust design with overhead intake valve and a “side” exhaust valve proves reliable and popular.
10. 1912 Harley-Davidson exports its first motorcycles to Japan. Construction begins on a six-story headquarters in Milwaukee, a Parts and Accessories Department is opened and the company boasts more than 200 dealers across the United States.
11. 1913 Bill Harley creates a race department to handle the needs of competitors and builders.
12. 1914 The first sidecars designed specifically for H-Ds are manufactured and Harley-Davidson becomes one of the last motorcycle manufacturers to switch from leather drive belts to chain drives.
13. 1915 H-D motorcycles upgrade their transmission systems and now feature three-speed, sliding-gear transmissions with a final and primary drive on the same side of the bike.
14. 1917 Fully one-third of the company’s production is purchased by the Army, and to train Army mechanics the company starts the Quartermasters School. It would later become the Service School and used to provide factory-trained mechanics to dealerships.
15. 1918 Nearly half of all H-D motorcycles manufactured are sold to the U.S. military in World War I. Corporal Roy Holtz becomes the first American soldier to enter Germany and he does it riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
16. 1919 The 37-ci Sport model is created with its horizontally-opposed, fore-and-aft V-Twin.
17. 1920 H-D boasts reaches the 2,000 dealer mark in 67 countries and is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. The factory racing team, “The Wrecking Crew,” takes a small pig as a mascot and the Harley is nicknamed a “hog” as a result.
18. 1925 The teardrop gas tank replaces previous flat-topped versions and Joe Petrali becomes one of the first salaried “factory racers” in the world.
19. 1928 The first twin-cam engine is created for the JD series motorcycles which makes the bikes capable of a top speed between 85 and 100 mph. A front brake is offered for the first time.
20. 1929 The D model, with its rugged 45-cubic-inch flathead V-Twin engine, is introduced and will be sold in various configurations for the next 40 years. As the Great Depression looms, the company sells 21,000 motorcycles in 1929.
21. 1932 The three-wheeled Servi-car starts a run of more than 4o years as the most popular utility motorcycle in history. Joe Petrali strings together five straight national championships on the dirt track and four straight hill-climb titles to dominate motorcycle racing like no one since.
22. 1933 The Motor Company sells only 4,000 motorcycles as the Depression grinds on.
23. 1935 The company begins to license production of its motorcycles in Japan, and the Sankyo Seiyakyo Corporation purchases tooling and starts producing Harleys. These bikes are sold as Rikuo, which translates to “King of the Road.”
24. 1936 Harley introduces the EL, an overhead valve, 61-cubic-inch bike which earns the nickname of ‘Knucklehead’ due to the shape of its distinctive rocker-boxes. H-D also introduces an 80-cubic-inch side-valve engine.
25. 1937 Joe Petrali sets a land-speed record of just over 136 mph on a machine powered by a streamlined Knucklehead. The first WL models are manufactured. William A. Davidson dies two days after signing an agreement which makes the company a union shop.
26. 1938 Ben Campanale wins the Daytona 200 on a 45 cubic-inch WLDR in a race run on a 3.2-mile beach course. The Jackpine Gypsies hold the first Black Hills rally in Sturgis and that event goes on to become the most well-known annual gathering of motorcyclists in the world.
27. 1941 United States enters World War II and the production of civilian motorcycles comes nearly to a halt.
28. 1942 When U.S. soldiers who capture Wehrmacht motorcycles in North Africa find that the BMWs and Zundapps with their “boxer” engines are better suited to tough military duty. Harley-Davidson and Indian introduce machines with shaft drives and flat-twin motors styled after the German bikes. Walter Davidson dies.
29. 1943 William S. Harley dies.
30. 1945 By the end of WWII (1941-45) the company had produced almost 90,000 WLA models for military use.
31. 1948 The company’s 61 and 74 c.i. OHV engines are updated to use aluminum heads and hydraulic valve lifters, one-piece rocker covers which resemble cake pans, and that look earns the new motor the nickname ‘Panhead.’ The Allies grab up German patents as war reparations and the small two-stroke motors built by DKW are copied by Harley-Davidson and used in the bike which will come to be known as the ‘Hummer.’
32. 1949 Hydraulic front forks are introduced on the new Hydra-Glides.
33. 1950 Arthur Davidson dies.
34. 1952 Harley-Davidson creates the 45 c.i. side-valve K model to compete with the increasingly popular – and much faster – British-made twins of the time.
35. 1953 Indian Motorcycles spirals into oblivion and leaves the field open to H-D as the only serious motorcycle manufacturer in the U.S. for the rest of the century. To compete on the race track with the British 500 cc machines dominating dirt track and road course races, the H-D racing department creates the KR from the 750cc, flat-head WR.
36. 1955 The KR takes seven consecutive Daytona 200 wins.
37. 1957 The Motor Company introduces the Sportster, a larger-displacement version of the K motor fitted with an OHV head. The 55 c.i. machine rivals all of the English bikes for performance and only falls shorts of the British Vincents for pure performance.
38. 1958 The Duo-Glide comes out with hydraulic rear suspension.
39. 1960 Harley-Davidson buys a half-interest in the Italian company Aermacchi.
40. 1961 The Harley-Davidson Sprint becomes the first Aermacchi-created design to reach American showrooms . Short-track racers snap them up for their low center of gravity and light weight.
41. 1964 The Servi-Car becomes the first Harley to come with an electric starter.
42. 1965 The Duo-Glide also gets an electric starter and becomes, by virtue of that addition, the Electra-Glide.
43. 1966 Harley updates the old Panhead motor in the quest for more power and the new engine’s rocker boxes, which some think resemble coal shovels, earn the new design the nickname “Shovelhead.” The Shovelhead motor stays in production relatively unchanged for 20 years.
44. 1969 The introduction of the Honda CB750 Four – and the brutal competition it offers to American buyers – leads to the sale of the company to the American Machine and Foundry Company. AMF, a maker of bowling balls and bowling equipment, is crushed by the fast, sophisticated and affordable Honda. AMF management presides over a nosedive in the quality of Harleys and the “pre-AMF” tag becomes the standard by which buyers select their used H-Ds .
45. 1970 The XR-750 is introduced to take on the Japanese competition at the track and features a motor based on a destroked Sportster powerplant. None of the H-D factory entries finish higher than fifth in that year’s Daytona 200.
46. 1971 the FX 1200 Super Glide (using the front end of the XL series and frames and motors from the FL series) becomes the first “cruiser” motorcycle.
47. 1973 Harley opens a new assembly plant in York, PA.
48. 1977 One AMF-era bike, the 1977 XLCR, stands the test of time. That bike was the second major project for Willie G. Davidson,  grandson of one of the founders, but it was roundly panned by Harley customers back in 1977. A miniscule 3,100 were sold and the model was dropped from the line after a year, but you could still buy a new one off the showroom floor well into the 1980s. The FXS Low Rider is introduced.
49. 1979 The FXEF “Fat Bob” is called “fat” because of its dual gas tanks, and “bob” for its bobbed fenders.
50. 1980 The FLT is introduced with rubber-isolated drivetrain and an engine and five-speed transmission which are hard bolted together to reduce vibration. A Kevlar belt replaces the chain as the final drive on some H-D models. The FXWB Wide Glide is also introduced.
51. 1981 AMF mismanagement leads Harley-Davidson to the brink of extinction as customer abandon the sinking ship and profits tumble. A group of H-D executives offers to buy the company for $75 million and AMF, knowing they were in over their heads, signs off on the deal. What follows is nothing less than a startling corporate turnaround as the new owners focus on product development modern quality control standards.
52. 1982 The FXR/FXRS Super Glide II are released , and those models feature a rubber-isolated, five-speed powertrain which is a huge improvement over previous setups. H-D adopts just-in-time inventory systems which ultimately lowers costs and improves quality.
53. 1983 Harley battles with the International Trade Commission and manages to get a tariff applied to the purchase of Japanese motorcycles of  more than 700 cc in displacement. The Japanese motorcycle manufacturers are forced reconfigure their motors to under 700cc for the U.S. market to avoid the tax.
54. 1984 The 1340cc V2 Evolution engine is installed in five models, and though development of that powerplant began in the AMF era, build quality is far superior to the AMF versions  – and oil-tight. The Softail comes along and features a concealed rear suspension while managing to look like the rigid-chassis hogs of the glory days, and buyers love the change.
55. 1987 H-D institutes an Initial Public Offering and the company’s stock is traded on the NYSE for the first time. Ticker symbol? HOG. H-D, confident that they can now compete,  petitions the ITC to kill the tariff on imported motorcycles and  that move is a sign to Japanese companies that make V-Twin cruisers that the game was on.
56. 1988 The classic Springer front end returns on the FXSTS Springer Softail.
57. 1990 The Motor Company introduces the FLSTF Fat Boy.
58. 1991 The first model in the Dyna line, the FXDB Dyna Glide Sturgis, hits the market.
59. 1992 Harley-Davidson replaces chains with drive belts on all their major model lines as drive belts provide a smoother ride than chains, last longer, and eliminate chain lubrication and adjustment hassles.
60. 1993 H-D purchases a minority interest in Erik Buell’s Buell Motorcycle Company.
61. 1995 Harley-Davidson models are equipped with fuel injection systems for the first time.
62. 1997 The company opens a new 217,000 sq. ft. design center in Milwaukee and FL engine production moves to a newly purchased plant in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. A new plant in Kansas City, a big one at 330,000 sq. ft., takes over the production of the Sportster line.
63. 1998 H-D opens its first factory overseas in Manaus, Brazil, and acquires all remaining shares of Buell.
64. 1999 The Touring and Dyna lines are rolled out and they feature the new Twin Cam 88 motor.
65. 2000 The characteristic sound of a Harley motor becomes the subject of a long and costly legal fight, but H-D ultimately drops its U.S. Patent Office application. A public relations nightmare, the suits are quietly settled and the company moves on to more pressing business.
66. 2001 The VRSCA V-Rod, featuring a motor designed with input from Porsche, features fuel injection, overhead cams, and liquid cooling.
67. 2003 Some 250,000 people descend on Milwaukee to celebrate The Motor Company’s 100th anniversary.
68. 2006 The 2006 Dyna motorcycles are offered with a six-speed transmission and the company announces the opening of its new museum in Milwaukee to be completed in 2008.
69. 2007 Harley upgrades the Big Twin motor  to 96 cubic inches and adds the six-speed transmission from the Dyna line to all models.
70. 2008 The Motor Company opens the new museum in time for Harley’s 105th anniversary. It also buys MV Agusta for $109 million in the hope of putting MV’s European distribution channels to use.
71. 2009 Keith Wandell becomes the first person in nearly 30 years to become CEO of Harley-Davidson without previous connections to The Motor Company. The US economic recession forces Harley-Davidson to discontinue the Buell line and put MV Agusta up for sale. Profits dropped 84 percent over the previous year.
72. 2011 Harley regains the confidence of investors after painful labor and manufacturing changes are made to the company’s processes and sales make a comeback
73. 2012 New models aimed at recapturing younger buyers like the “48″ and “72″ attract the attention of buyers looking for old school styling and modern engineering.

“It’s all I do. It’s how I make a living,” said Josh Headford of the horrific crash that brought stunned silence to the crowd.

Twenty-year-old Headford stunned the crowd when the motocross bike he was riding hit a cable during a Shrine Circus performance in Saginaw, Michigan.

According to Headford the cable should have been lowered or removed by circus staff. Headford suffered a broken leg, wrist, elbow and shoulder as a result of his tumble.

“As soon as I saw the cable, it caught my bike and I went flying. That was pretty much it,” Headford said. “It was like hitting a brick wall. I thought I was done…”

Headford lives in Menominee County in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and it looks like he’ll be facing a long recovery…

Josh “Whoha” Headford

For the most part, a motorcycle is a thing of utility. It does what it was meant to do, but at various times in history, designers have reached into their bag of tricks in attempts to achieve something more timeless, more glorious, and some of those attempts have hit the mark like a punch to the solar plexus.

The creation of the BMW R7 prototype was one of those moments in time, and it was nearly lost to history.

Only a single example of this magnificent ride was crafted back in 1934 by BMW design engineer Alfred Böning, and it was a stark divergence from the “motorized bicycle” style of many early machines during the 1930s. The R7 introduced  enclosed bodywork, a pressed steel frame, open and valanced fenders  and – perhaps the most prescient element -  telescopic front forks. With an ‘H’ pattern hand shifter and an 800c Boxer engine designed by Leonhard Ischinger, the R7 was more than just a pretty face. The boxer was revolutionary for its time as well with its crankshaft forged for a single piece and a monoblock cylinder housing, and a hemispherical combustion chamber eliminated the need for a head gasket.

The R7 was also, due to the brutal economic and political conditions of the times, way too expensive to produce. That led the factory to strip it down, crated it up and abandon the bike – until 2005. When the crate was rediscovered and the R7 was  pulled out for inspection, restorers found it was something like 70% complete. It was also, however, nearly a pile of rust.

As the restorers set to work, they found original design drawings in the BMW Archives and BMW Classic went on from there. A team rebuilt the frame, bodywork, transmission and the one-off motor, and by the close of 2008, the R7 project was complete. The bike was sent out on the road for testing and the rest is truly history; history in glorious motion.

In its final form, the R7 weighed in at a little over 360 pounds dry and produced 35hp @ 5000 rpm  which made it  capable of over reaching speeds just over 90 mph.

Böning retired in the 1970s, and by the 1980s, there was a groundswell of talk about restoring R7. The job was ultimately given to Armin Frey and Hans Keckeisen, and we have them to thank for the survival of this awesome piece of design and function.

Now if they’d only put a modern version into production, I’d start returning aluminum cans every day and buy one myself…

BMW R7 Specifications

Engine and transmission

Check out more on the BMW R7 from The Vintagent…

Scientists believe that the extra concentration needed to successfully operate a motorcycle can contribute to higher general levels of brain function, and it’s that increase in activity that’s surely a contributing factor to the appeal of the motorcycles as transportation. It’s the way a ride on a bike turns the simplest journey into a challenge to the senses that sets the motorcyclist apart from the everyday commuter. While the typical car-owning motorist is just transporting him or her self from point A to point B, the motorcyclist is actually transported into an entirely different state of consciousness .

Riding a motorcycle is all about entrance into an exclusive club where the journey actually is the destination.

Dr Ryuta Kawashima, author of Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain, reported the outcome of his study of “The relationship between motorcycle riding and the human mind.”

Kawashima’s experiments involved current riders who currently rode motorcycles on a regular basis (the average age of the riders was 45) and  ex-riders who once rode regularly but had not taken a ride for 10 years or more. Kawashima asked the participants to ride on courses in different conditions while he recorded their brain activities. The eight courses included a series of curves, poor road conditions, steep hills, hair-pin turns and a variety of other challenges.

What did he find? After an analysis of the data, Kawashima found that the current riders and ex-riders used their brain in radically different ways. When the current riders rode motorcycles, specific segments of their brains (the right hemisphere of the prefrontal lobe) was activated and riders demonstrated a higher level of concentration.

His next experiment was a test of how making a habit of riding a motorcycle affects the brain.

Trial subjects were otherwise healthy people who had not ridden for 10 years or more. Over the course of a couple of months, those riders used a  motorcycle for their daily commute and in other everyday situations while Dr Kawashima and his team studied how their brains and mental health changed.

The upshot was that the use of motorcycles in everyday life improved cognitive faculties, particularly those that relate to memory and spatial reasoning capacity. An added benefit? Participants revealed on questionnaires they filled out at the end of the study that their stress levels had been reduced and their mental state changed for the better.

So why motorcycles? Shouldn’t driving a car should have the same effect as riding a motorcycle?

“There were many studies done on driving cars in the past,” Kawashima said. “A car is a comfortable machine which does not activate our brains. It only happens when going across a railway crossing or when a person jumps in front of us. By using motorcycles more in our life, we can have positive effects on our brains and minds”.

Yamaha participated in a second joint research project on the subject of the relationship between motorcycle riding and brain stimulation with Kawashima Laboratory at the Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer at Tohoku University.

The project began in September 2009 and ran until December 2010, and the focus of the research was on measurement and analysis of the cause and effect relationship involved in the operation of various types of vehicles and brain stimulation. The study measured changes in such stimulation over time by means of data gathered from a long-term mass survey.

The reason for Yamaha Motor’s participation in this project is pretty obvious and not a little self-serving, but further research into the relationship between motorcycle riding and brain stimulation as it relates to the “Smart Aging Society” will certainly provide some interesting results.

The second research project was divided into two time periods throughout 2009 and 2010 compared differences in the conditions of brain stimulation as they related to the type of vehicle and driving conditions. A second set of tests measuring the changes in brain stimulation over time involved a larger subject group.

Yamaha Motors provided vehicles for the research and made its test tracks and courses available for the study. What the study revealed is that what you’re thinking about while you’re riding – and your experience on the bike -  changes the physical structure of your brain.

Author Sharon Begley concurs with Kawashima’s findings. In her tome, Train Your Mind – Change Your Brain, Begley found much the same outcomes.

“The brain devotes more cortical real estate to functions that its owner uses more frequently and shrinks the space devoted to activities rarely performed,” Begley wrote. “That’s why the brains of violinists devote more space to the region that controls the digits of the fingering hand.”

And you may also get some mental and physical benefits from just thinking about going for a ride on your machine.

A 1996 experiment at Harvard Medical School by neuroscientist Alvaro Pascual-Leone had volunteers practice a simple five finger exercise on the piano over five days for a couple of hours each day. Pascual-Leone found that the brain space devoted to these finger movements grew and pushed aside areas less used.  A separate group of volunteers were asked to simply think about doing the piano exercises during that week as well, and they dedicated the same amount of “practice time.”

Pascual-Leone was somewhat take aback to discover that the region of the brain which controls piano playing finger movement expanded in the same way for volunteers who merely imagined playing the piano.

Along with the obvious benefits of riding motorcycles; like saving money (motorcycle insurance is relatively inexpensive), motorcycles take the edge off the grind of the daily commute, and that appears to make your brain a better place to be…

Buying Your First Bike? The Women’s Guide to Motorcycle Insurance

Whether you ride a sport bike or an American cruiser, your insurance needs can get complicated.
We’re here to help you find the right motorcycle insurance, whatever you ride…

Tips for buying your motorcycle insurance, coverage you need:

• Medical payment or personal injury protection to cover the medical bills resulting from an accident.
• Uninsured or underinsured motorist to protect us when the other driver is at-fault and does not have coverage or assets out of which your bills can be paid.
• Collision insurance to pay for damage caused to your vehicle in an accident with another vehicle or any stationary object.
• Comprehensive to cover damages cause by such things as fire, hail, wind, vandalism, hitting an animal.
• Towing / Pickup

The motorcycle began from humble stock as the “safety” bicycle, but depending upon whose claim you wish to believe, the first motorbike was built in the late 1800′s either by Daimler (the company which would one day become Mercedes-Benz) or by Sylvester Howard Roper.

If you go for the Roper version of the story, the first real motorcycle was powered, not by a gasoline engine, but by a steam engine. Roper rode his steam-powered bike at demonstrations and races during fairs and circuses in the eastern US in 1867, and though it did generate considerable publicity, it failed to capture the imagination of the buying public. It did, however, include features which anticipated those found on many modern machines. Those lasting innovations include the twist-grip throttle.

If you’re looking for the world’s first really practical, gasoline-driven motorcycle, you’ll find it in the form of the 1885 Daimler Reitwagen.

But it wasn’t until the turn of the century that machines which could correctly be called  “motorcycles” began to appear on the scene. In 1895, a U.S. inventor,  E.J. Pennington, demonstrated his machine in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and claimed it was capable of a top speed of 58 mph. It is Pennington who is ultimately credited with coining the term “motor cycle” to describe such machines.

In 1901 English bicycle maker Royal Enfield introduced the firm’s first motorcycle, and it featured a 239 cc engine mounted in the front which drove the rear wheel via a belt system. By the early  1900′s, English bicycle maker Triumph began the initial work necessary to manufacture motorcycles, and by 1902, the company had produced its first design. Essentially a bicycle fitted with a Belgian-built engine, Triumph sales reached 500.

The Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company, founded by two former bicycle racers, designed the so-called “diamond framed” Indian Single in 1901 with an engine was built by Aurora in Illinois from specifications created by Indian. The resulting bike, a single, sold 500 units by 1902 and that output would rise to a high-water mark of 32,000 annually by 1913.

Led by Indian, design experimentation and innovation were moved forward by the wildly popular new sport of motorcycle racing. The demands of the track required the development of tough, fast, reliable machines, and Indian led the way.

1900-1955 Motorcycles As Industrial Output

• 1902 – Triumph
• 1903 – Harley-Davidson (Harley-Davidson Motor Company)
• 1946 – Honda (The Honda Motor Company)
• 1952 – Suzuki (Suzuki Motor Co.)
• 1954 – Kawasaki (Kawasaki Heavy Industries)
• 1955 – Yamaha (Yamaha Motor Corporation)

1945-1985 — The Motorcycle Boom in the US

• 1945 – 198,000 motorcycles registered
• 1955 – 450,000 motorcycles registered
• 1958 – Over 500,000 motorcycles registered
• 1962 – 646,000 motorcycles registered
• 1965 – 1.4 million motorcycles registered
• 1970 – 2.8 million motorcycles registered
• 1975 – 5 million motorcycles registered
• 1985 – 5.4 million motorcycles registered
• 1990 – 3,650,000 million motorcycles registered
• 1998 – 4,809,000 million motorcycles registered

Watershed Moments in the History of the Motorcycle

• 1953 – Marlon Brando makes movie The Wild One – the birth of motorcycle cool
• 1959 – First Japanese motorcycle manufacturer (Yamaha), takes on the U.S. market
• 1962 – “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” ad campaign converts the masses
• 1969 – Stock motorcycles run quarter-mile in less than 13 seconds,
• 1970 – Easy Rider movie released – motorcycle cool redefined
• 1972 – Motorcycle controls standardized
• 1973 – Motorcycle Safety Foundation formed
• 1978 – First time stock motorcycles run quarter-mile under 12 seconds
• 1980 – First International Motorcycle Safety Conference sponsored by MSF
• 1980 – Stock motorcycles torch the quarter-mile in less than 11 seconds
• 1986 - “Superbike” ban proposed and summarily defeated
• 1986 – First stock motorcycles run quarter-mile in under 10 seconds

1978-1987 – The Fall From Grace – Motorcycle Sales Decline
The original explosion of the motorcycle market coincided with the first baby boom generation.

During the postwar years of 1944-46, veterans returning from World War II were restless and seeking thrills to match their war experience. Motorcycles were the answer, and the most adventurous GIs stripped them down and hit the highways seeking speed and the adrenaline rush they found lacking in postwar America.

But it wasn’t until the 1960′s when the children of those pioneers came of age that motorcycling found its way into the public consciousness. In 1962, the most successful motorcycle ad campaign in history was created by the Honda Motor Company, and the game was on. That campaign, dubbed “You meet the nicest people on a Honda,” managed to push motorcycle sales through the roof. In a scant three-year period,  the number of registered motorcycle doubled in the United States, and five years later, that number had doubled again. After another five year stretch, registrations doubled yet again and the boom was on.

Registrations climbed from 646,000 to 5 million in just over 10 years.

During the early boom years the average motorcycle buyer was young and content with the cheap, small displacement motorcycle offerings of the Japanese. But as roads were expanded across North America, those young riders gained experience and began to lust after larger and more powerful machines. The Japanese manufacturers saw the writing on the wall, and in 1969 , Honda came out with the iconic and perfectly-timed CB750K. At 750cc, it was a “superbike” capable of astonishing speed, comfort and handling, and the release of the CB750 spurred over sales yet again. As other manufacturers followed suit in designing more powerful and comfortable bikes, the 1970′s became the Golden Age of road bikes.

As the decade came to a close the,  motorcycle industry suffered the first of many crushing hits and sales dropped drastically. The kids who had been responsible for the boom were now starting families, settling down and the motorcycle lifestyle just didn’t fit the into the picture. The second boomers stopped buying and motorcycle manufacturers went into panic mode. The bust caught motorcycle manufacturers by surprise and they had no ready answer for the disastrous conditions they suddenly faced.

At the time, the predictions for the entire industry were dire indeed and it looked like the Day the Motorcycle Died had indeed come to pass.

Very Late 1980′s – Back in the Saddle Again
While motorcycle sales were in the trench near the end of the 1980′s compared to just 10 years before, there was actually light at the end of the tunnel. The motorcycle dealerships who managed to weather the drought were in horrible shape, but two mostly-unexpected things occurred; baby boomers came back to motorcycling – and they brought their freshly-minted children with them on the trip.

Whereas they had once sought speed and handling at the expense of comfort, the boomers came back to motorcycling in search of comfort and reliability. Suddenly, what had come to be called cruisers  were in fashion with older riders. Their children, as they had before them, were on the quest for speed and adrenaline the older riders craved back in the day.

Present – Baby Boomers Rediscover the Motorcycle.
The Motorcycle dealerships and manufacturers who survived the down times found themselves once again on the cusp of success and profitability. As it now stands, the number of registered motorcycles is approaching historically high levels and every year sees a new crop of  models offered – and more importantly for the industry – sold. Participation in racing events of all stripe is climbing as well. The rebirth of the Cafe Racer culture, the popularity of sport bikes and the continued dominance of cruisers on the sales charts is a testament to the enduring appeal of the motorcycle.

Read part two…

With Ducati sales up some 43% last year and the buzz generated by the unveiling of the 1199 Panigale, Investindustrial SpA, a Milan-based private-equity firm which currently owns Ducati, is also considering selling off the company to a partner, a sale which insiders say could bring in $1.3 billion. At this point, Deutsche Bank AGand Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are inked in to manage the IPO should it occur.

Rumor has it that companies throughout Europe and the U.S. may join the bidding for Italy’s most recognizable and successful motorcycle maker, at least according to Andrea Bonomi, chairman of Investindustrial. Bonomi says Germany’s Volkswagen AG and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) are among possible buyers as well. BMW and Volkswagen officials are playing it close to the vest regarding their interest in Ducati with spokespersons for both companies declining to publicly express interest in such a deal.

Some analysts say Ducati would also be a good buy for Harley-Davidson Inc., but the American giant could still be leery of such a deal after the closure of the Buell wing of the company.

Investindustrial ranks as one of the largest private equity investors in southern Europe and stands to pull in three times the company’s initial investment if the sale of Ducati proceeds, and insiders are saying a sale to a rival motorcycle maker is more likely than the IPO route. Indian motorcycle group Mahindra have also been mentioned as possible buyers.

Founded in 1926 by the Ducati brothers, Adriano, Bruno and Marcello, the original Ducati shop sold radio components, and in 1946, the company began producing sportbikes for the burgeoning post-war Italian transportation market. The firm stayed under the control of the Ducati family until 1950. Investindustrial Holdings, bought the company in 2005 at a bargain-basement price.

The classic Italian marque notched an impressive 43% uptick in motorcycle sales in North American in 2011 over the previous year, and sales of the Diavel and Multistrada lines accounted for most of that increase. Last year also marked the first time in history the North American market was the number one outlet for the company.

So who’s the most likely buyer?

Volkswagen.

Volkswagen Chairman, Ferdinand Piech, rides a Ducati and has said in the past that he made a mistake by not buying the Italian firm when the the price was low a few years back…