Archive for the ‘Motorcycle news’ Category

ijustwant2ride

Recently the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company stated that they were going to introduce 50 new models in 5 years. From my perspective there are now 49 models still on the delivery line now that the “Street Rod” has hit the road. 

Ijustwant2 ride.comOver the last few years Harley Davidson has put out a lot of new stuff that appears to have been setting the stage for this 50 models in 5 years effort.  The electric motorcycle prototype “Live Wire” (which I got to test ride), the Street 500/750, the water cooled 104 and Milwaukee 8 engines are what I think are the underpinnings of this 50 models in 5 years push. 

So with 49 motorcycle models still to go what can we expect? Harley Davidson has already stated that there is going to be a production electric motorcycle by 2020.  In my mind that would be two additional models, one a variant of the Street line and one a cruiser (maybe based on the Dyna?).  Which gets the 50 models in 5 years down to 47 unknown bikes.   

NOW for question.  Just WHAT would you like to see in that list of 50 models in 5 years?  We spoke on that during the show #401 of the DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio show a while back.  One of my ideas would be a true sport touring motorcycle.  Something that would push back on the BMW and Triumph sport touring motorcycles.  Harley Davidson did have a sport touring motorcycle in the past, the FXRT which, seemed to have good reviews.  I just never remember seeing one. 

If you were charged to creating one of the 50 models in 5 years what would it be?

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As like the previous years, Debbie and I attended the Timonium Motorcycle Show.  As always it was held at the Maryland State Fair grounds.  

We enjoyed walking around the facilities looking at the 2017 motorcycles from all

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Yes, that is a TV, why? Why not?

the big makers.  There was one in particular missing though and that was Victory.  With the news that Polaris was pulling the plug, now 17 months away, guess there is no real reason to be at the motorcycle show. 

But all the other usual suspects were on site.  Harley Davidson of Baltimore had the largest display of all the manufacturers, in terms of footprint it was not even close.  If I had to guess I would think that the Honda display would have been next largest in terms of bikes.  Pete’s Cycles had, what looked like, at least one of every Honda made.   

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Lois Pryce discussing her recent trip to Iran

One of the busiest sections was the motorcycle travel/adventure area of the show.  Lisa and Simone Thomas (2 Ride the World) and Lois Pryce were just a couple of the folks on hand to discuss their global adventures.  Other speakers were on had discussed travel techniques and opportunities guided and otherwise.  

Several regional motorcycle rallies (Ocean City Bike Week, Mountain Fest, and Thunder in the Valley for example) were on site to remind riders that there were many places to ride to that did not require anything more than a long weekend.  

And of course all the custom and vintage motorcycles your heart could desire.  Debbie and I really enjoyed looking at all the great bikes, from stock/restored bikes from the bygone years to mild customs to full blown, over the top motorcycles!   

As for the crowds, my guess is that in the nearly 5 hours we spent at the event the crowd was at least even with 2016.

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The view of the show from up high

Debbie and I went to the Washington DC International Motorcycle Show on the 8th of January.  But before I tell you about the show I have to tell you about the adventure we had just getting to the show. 

On a Sunday morning, barring accidents, it can take about 45 minutes to get to the Washington DC convention center from our home by car.  The problem is that parking in DC is very bad on the very best day, so we elected to take the metro/subway instead.  That was a big mistake! 

First and foremost we forgot that system was undergoing major overalls on the rail lines.  Second the trains are less frequent on weekends and third it was 12F and windy.  Sooooo, we quickly learned that we should have just driven in by car.

 The long story short is that we changed trains 5 times had to leave the subway to take a bus for 3 stops and walked several blocks to wait in stations for the next train to arrive.  At one point I think we were within a mile of convention center but at 12F the remaining 30 minute train ride was a better deal.  All in all just over 2 hours after boarding the first train we arrived at the convention center where we then had to walk to blocks, in doors, to get to the exhibit center. 

Well once there we had a great time.  This here the show was a bit smaller than those of the past.  Honda and KTM were not present thus the number of makes were down by at least two.  Last time we were there on a Saturday so I do not know if the crowd was smaller but it felt well attended to me.   

We wondered around the exhibits looking at the new bikes, checked out the JP Cycle motorcycle show contestants (I should enter my Army bike) and talked with the representatives. I had a nice conversation with the CEO of Southeastern Virginia Indian out of Newport News about what he and Indian are doing.   

I also had a good conversation with the marketing director of Royal Enfield USA.  She knew about the DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio show and stated that if any of us got to Milwaukee we had an invitation to ride the new Royal Enfield Himalayan adventure bike.  It is not yet available in the US but of course the HQ of Royal Enfield has a few on hand! 

After about 2 hours we knew we had to pack it in, even if we were not ready because we had a 2 hour train/bus/walking trek ahead of us.  So we packed our swag and headed out. 2 hours later we were in our car warming up and head to the house. 

All in all this year’s IMS Washington DC event was worth the 4 hour travel!

Check out he following links!

 

Hilariously Confused Dad Is Overwhelmed By Daughter’s Gift Of A New Bike

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Pule Jets and Motorcycles?  Why not?  We also talked about this on the DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio show #393.

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Bosch wins a CES 2017 innovation award for their motorcycle technology.

 

The 2017 Honda Rebel is a rad reboot!

 

Rambo the Motorcycle Riding Alligator!

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I had high hopes for the Bathroom Book of Motorcycle Trivia by Mark Gardiner.  The description of book on Amazon led me to believe that this would be a fun book.  I also thought that it might even provide me with some “pearls of wisdom” for my hosting duties on DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio show.

Mr. Gardiner started out strong with nuggets from the early days of motorcycling, early racing knowledge, Isle of Mann trivia and some just “fun” stuff.  Yet, half way through this book you could almost “feel” a change to content as you read each “days” trivia.

My biggest complaint is this….  I AM SICK AND TIRED OF GETTING FEED POLITICAL VIEWS IN PLACES WHERE THEY SHOULD NOT BE!!!!!!!!!!

This book is one of those places where political views are not warranted. Mr. Gardiner added political droppings such as painting Che Guevara as something other than the massive racist, bigoted, mass murder that he was to titling one item “Cover it up like a Republican congressmen caught with a trannie hooker (that one was about covering your motorcycle when storing it).

Tie those items into his other narratives like Daytona Bike Week is now Spring Break from the old folks home and “I don’t expect a room devoted to Davidson trannies” after someone told him that Arthur Davidson liked to wear his wife’s clothes. I hope you are getting my point…This was supposed to be a book on motorcycle trivia not a tool to inject the author’s personal/ political basis.

Based on the political twists and the fact that there was a lot of lists (The Ultimate 10 Honda Collection or example) masquerading as trivia I can only give this book 2 out of 5 stars.  Do not buy this book, if you really want to read it, go to your local library.

2stars

 

ijustwant2ride.com

The DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio…The #1 Motorcycle Show in the US

This week another interesting motorcycle podcast/show.

Dateline Kenya: What do you do if your motorcycle is stolen in Kenya?  Call the local witch doctor!  In this case the guys discuss a recent event where the witch doctor actually comes though and finds the stolen bike…. Or does he?

Dateline Electric Bikes (kind of): It seems we are talking about a new electric vehicle every third show or so, this time Morgan Motors is the latest to offer an electric motorcycle.  Well motorcycle or trike or autocycle, the Morgan 1909 falls in that weird category that that the T-Rex or SlingShot also fills.  One thing for sure is that the Ken and Phil have no love for the appearance of the electric version of the classic motorcycle.

Dateline The Space Age: Graphene is one of the newest “space-age” materials.  Strong, light, heat resistant and able to leap tall building in a single bound, graphene has made it to the world of motorcycles.  The guys talk about MOMO’s attempt to integrate graphene into helmets that are reasonably priced.

Dateline Stupid Rules: In the racing segment Phil brings up the topic of the new rules for World SuperBike motorcycle racing.  It seems that the “participation trophy” generation has come to WBSK.  No one on the show how the lack of achievement will now be rewarded.

In fact we think that there could be fight between the 3rd 4th and 5th place riders to finish 4th….don’t understand?  Listen to the show.


World Superbike rule changes….participation trophies for all!!

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The DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio…The #1 Motorcycle Show in the US

This week Ken completes his list of the top 11 motorcycle makers (by sheer number produced).  I was surprised that Royal Enfield was not one of those eleven!

Next we discuss the maybe, possible resurrection of Birmingham Small Arms, better known as BSA.  BSA started in the 1860s making guns  and then added bicycles, then motorcycles and at one time made cars, buses, tools among a long list of things.

The BSA brand was bought by the Indian company Mahindra and it is our hope that we might see BSA motorcycles on the road sometime in the not to distance future.

Next up is a review of the results of World Superbike, Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP racing.

You can listen to the show HERE!

 

 

ijustwant2ride.com

E15 can kill your motorcycle

If you listen to the DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio podcast you know that I have some strong views on motorcycles and the EPA. Most recently it has been the forced use of E15 fuel in the face of facts.  E15 will destroy your small engine devices (i.e. lawn mowers, golf carts, weed whackers, etc.) and the engine on your motorcycle.

This is a proven fact, do a little research and you will see for yourself that our motorcycles could be intentionally damaged in the fight against global warming.  The destruction of internal combustion engines are but a small sacrifice, fodder if you will, in the noble war.

If you think that “I have a new motorcycle, it is under warranty, no problem.” think again.  Most. if not all, companies specifically exempt damage from ethanol from the warranty.  “No problem” you say, I will be careful not to use anything above E10!  Well not so fast buddy, the EPA has, intentionally I believe, approved the use of “blender pumps”.

Blender pumps are those that use a single hose/nozzle to dispense all the fuel sold at that pump.  With blender pumps it is possible to have a quart or more of whatever the person before you purchased in the hose.  If that person bought E15 or, worst yet, pure ethanol for their flex fuel car or truck you get that bonus too.  So if you have topping off your 4 gallon tank before a big ride…… you just might be invalidating your warranty and damaging your engine.

So what is driving tonight’s rant?  One of my local gas stations just installed new pumps and now sells E15 and pure ethanol.  Lucky for me it is not a blended pump (I hope) and each type of fuel has it own hose BUT the fact it is there is a danger.

So what can you do… Join the AMA, they do not win all the time but they are our best hope to influence what is going on.

 

 

 

wp_20161015_09_51_15_proA few months ago I bought Pirelli Night Dragons for the Harley Davidson Ultra Limited.  We have run these tires all summer, just over 5000 miles.  They have been run through the mountains (including the Tail of the Dragon), in the rain and the hot concreate of the interstate highways in mid-summer.  So how did they fair to date?

Very nicely, is how they performed!  In the mountains I could feel the grip as we rolled though the twisties. On the rainy days I never felt that we had any slippage and the high temps never seem a problem either.  In comparison to the Harley Davison OEM tires I can already state I prefer the Pirelli’s.  That preference is not due to the grip in the mountains but due to their performance in the wet. I truly felt more in control in wet conditions with the Night Dragon’s v. the OEM tires.

So far, tire wear seems to be on par with the OEM, but with only about 5000 miles on the tires it is a bit early to tell.  At about 10,000 miles I will have a better handle on this particular issue.

Soooooo, I cannot give these tires a grade yet and most likely won’t until it is time to replace them.  But, I can say if you are not comfortable with the wet weather performance of the OEM tire you can truly consider the Night Dragons.

ijustwant2ride.com

The DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio…The #1 Motorcycle Show in the USf

This week on DawgHouse Motorcycle News Rants & Racing show #383

10 Awesome roads to ride from around the world!  These are not the normal rehashed and rehashed set of roads (well mostly).  The #4 road on the list is the Iroha-Zaka in Japan which looks just unbelievable. Check out this map view of the road….d1

In an earlier show (DawgHouse 373) I discussed the possibility that motorcycles may not be allowed on the road as to dangerous to the riders. The framework that is working in Europe now is called “Vision Zero”, the Zero is for zero deaths.

Ken now has to admit I might be right!  Recently the US government has introduced a discussion of a version of Vision Zero and guess what was left out of that discussion…. MOTORCYCLES!  The AMA is worried that the reason the Federal Government left out motorcycles from it future planning is that they want to ban motorcycles.

In racing news…. MotoAmerica’s 2017 season schedule is out and there are some new tracks!!!! They have added Pittsburgh International Race Complex and Sonoma Raceway (and Ken again has to admit Warren was right). AND… Phil likes the change!!!!