Hopefully you'll never need this... ...but if you do need it, it's very cool - and far better than trying to free-draw accident diagrams on your insurance forms!
Milwaukee, Wis. (November 20, 2009) - Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) announced today that following the company's recent decision to discontinue the Buell motorcycle product line, Erik Buell, Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of Buell Motorcycle Company, will leave the company to establish Erik Buell Racing, an independent motorcycle race shop.
Erik Buell Racing will specialize in the supply of race-use-only Buell motorcycle parts and race preparation services for engines and motorcycles, and the building and sale of Buell® 1125R-based race-use-only motorcycles under license from Harley-Davidson, as well as providing technical support to racers of Buell motorcycles.
So close, but no street bikes will be produced. AMA rules state that once a bike has achieved homogulation, it may continue to be produced and raced until it no longer can comply with AMA rules.
I'm pretty sure you won't be able to get street legal titles for these. The Motor Company will see to that. They don't want ANY of the new bikes Erik produces to find their way onto the road. Maybe it'll take an act of Congress. The government controls every other part of our "free market" economy. Why not have them decide which motorcycles we can buy and ride?
Ask me how I really feel about Prius This was on the trunk of a customers Triumph Sprint ST I worked on the other day. Had a hard time taking the picture because I was giggling so much.
And it's option. . .C?! Japan or Europe, Japan or Europe. . . hmm. I was torn between the Aprilia RSV1000 and the Yamaha R1. I own an Italian supertwin and just sold an R1, so I'd kind of experienced both sides of the fence there.
But what hadn't I owned, what had never been part of my collection?
Ahh, right, a British triple! But how best to fuse worlds?
It's a Triumphuki! No, wait, it's a GSX-RS (or maybe a GSprintX-R?)!
Real sexy looking bike! Much nicer looking to me than the Honda VFR1200.
Price for the base model is $14,995, add ABS and you are up to $16,495.
The swanky "S" Sport model includes: Ohlins suspension, ABS, traction control, tire pressure monitoring, and carbon fiber fiddly-bits for $19,995.
The Multistrada 1200S Touring model, set at $19,995, will also include Ohlins and ABS, but changes the S model’s carbon highlights for heated grips, a centerstand and hard luggage as standard.
With a pedals and top speed of 28mph, I think that's more of a moped if anything. Though Wired has translated "motorbike" = "motorcycle", and I think there may be some subtle nuances between the two that only Europeans are familiar with.
Order now and it'll ship 11/30. I grabbed a Scorpion EXO400 for $70.
Also - I noticed NewEnough has modified their already excellent return policy. They'll now email you a prepaid FedEx mailing label instead of giving you an extra 10% of the original price. Now I dont even have to go to the post office! :)
Tire Changer Review I've used home-cooked setups that involved 14" car rims bolted to a countertop. I've used hydraulic tire-changing machines. And this past weekend I got to use a No-Mar Junior Pro tire changing rig.
It's not *quite* as it-just-works snazzy as the several-thousand-dollar hydraulic machine. Not quite. But really effing close. And once you get good at it? Exactly as easy, and takes the same amount of time.
Two thumbs up. :-)
And Rosie's got a new front tire. I need a second job to keep her in rubber. :-/
Decisions, decisions! As a couple of you may know (if you cared or followed), I sold my '03 R1.
I have narrowed the field down to two main contenders to park in the garage in my departed R1's stead.
Option #1 is a 2000 Aprilia RSV1000. It is in beautiful cosmetic shape. Maintenance has been done regularly, but it has 72,000 miles. I've never owned an Aprilia and the novelty factor would be huge. I could pick up the bike for about $2,000.
Option #2 is a 2005 Yamaha R1. It's also in good condition; it has 34,000 miles. I know the owner well and know that he's been good with service. It will need tires in probably the next 1,500 miles. I'd get the bike for $3,800.
It's a tough call. On the one hand, the Priller has lots of miles but it's much cheaper and the originality factor is a big one for me (but mechanical problems would be catastrophic). On the other, the R1 is a known quantity. I do like having diversity in my garage; currently I do have a Ducati MS4R (liter-twin superbike, like the Aprilia). I do not have a high-revving inline-four race replica; my Hayabusa is more a rocket-powered couch that can blister tires.
2 Phoenix police officers injured in crash near Tucson By Jamar Younger ARIZONA DAILY STAR Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.13.2009
Two Phoenix police officers were injured Friday on Interstate 10 after a mattress flew off of a pickup truck and struck their motorcycle, authorities said. The victims were part of a group of at least 15 off-duty officers traveling on motorcycles eastbound on I-10 near Colossal Cave Road, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
A pickup truck was passing the group when the mattress fell off the truck and hit the officers.
The officers, a man driving the motorcycle and a female passenger, were taken to University Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
Shell gas I dropped my bike off at the shop this morning for a service, and my mechanic reminded me of something I had forgotten, or perhaps never quite realized.
A while back, he had rebuilt my whole top end. Without getting into the whole story, he thought I had bent intake valve stems, but it turned out to be excessive carbon buildup preventing the valves from seating. We discussed possible causes, and the one that stuck in my memory the most was my early riding habit of keeping the revs too low (I had learned better by then, but what was done was done). I had a theory that the previous owner had done so as well.
What I had forgotten discussing was my use of Shell gas. When a choice of which gas station to use comes down to brand, Shell is usually toward the bottom of my list, but the station most conveniently located to my house is a Shell so I'd probably been getting 90% of my gas there. It turns out that the additives they put in to "clean" your engine actually coke it up pretty good--at least for motorcycles. My mechanic said that afterward he had discussed it with other motorcycle mechanics, and the word on the street is that Shell gas causes carbon buildup in bikes.
But apparently Chevron's additives do help clean things out.
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