Getting her phone number at 70 MPH.
Chinese v Japanese Made Helmets
Sturgis, SD Citizens’ Alliance Asks for Help Building Bikers’ Scenic Byway American Motorcycle Icons
WACO Shootout video given to CNN…. Some interesting actions!
Yamaha wants to replace human riders…. WELCOME SKYNET OVERLORDS!
We discussed the robot DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio Show 332, take a listen!
Based on what I can find this is the most (and only) Harley Davidson Motorcycle in the top 10 list.
When a “barn-find” Harley-Davidson racing machine and sidecar is found after 50-plus years in storage in Australia and then sent to auction, the bidding is sure to be fierce. The expectations were that the bike would go for about US $100,000.
But the bidding was greater than expected. The bike set a new Australian auction record with a final winning bid of AUD$600,000 (US$420,000).
What caught everyone’s wallet on fire? A circa-1927 FHA 8-Valve V-Twin racer complete with its scramble-type sidecar. (The motorbike’s side car was added to the motorbike after it made to Australia and can be angled to adapt to what tracks the bike was running on according to the auctioneer.) 
The 8-Valve racing Harley is one of the rarest and most collectible models in HD circles.There were fewer than 50 built which makes it an exceptionally rare machine anywhere in the world. So for one to turn up in an Australian shed after decades certainly set the motorcycle collector world abuzz.
These powerful bikes were only offered to up-and-coming racers of the times and were not available to the general public. “To many collectors the engine is really what makes this bike. This was probably the holy grail for Harley-Davidson in this era” stated Mr. Boribon the auctioneer.
As noted above the fact that less than 50 were built makes it rare, the fact that a lot of race bikes ended there racing lives in spectacular fashion contributes to even lower numbers left in existence. I am sure more than a few of the 50 blew up or crashed on the track. So based on those facts it is very surprising that very few 8-Valve racing bikes have survived from that era.
This is the only Harley in the top ten most expensive bikes at auction coming in at
1 – US$580,000 – 1910 Winchester
2 – US$551,200 – 1915 Cyclone Board Track Racer
3 – US$480,000 – 1939 BMW RS255 Kompressor
4 – US$463,847 – 1922 Brough Superior SS80
5 – US$452,234 – 1926 Brough Superior SS100
6 – US$450,000 – 1958 Ariel 650 Cyclone
7 – US$448,156 – 1929 Brough Superior SS100
8 – US425,943 – 1939 Brough Superior SS100
9 – US$420,000 – 1927 Harley Davidson FHA 8-Valve V-Twin racer
10 – US$394,101 – 1934 Brough Superior SS100
(Bumped from the top 10 – US$383,317 – 1949 Vincent Black Lightning)
The wife and I have had the Nolan N104 Evo motorcycle helmets for about half a year now. We have worn them in a large variety of conditions including 100+ degree (F) days, monsoon rains and cool but not yet frigid temperatures (I am sure we will get that soon here in North America).
OK…so what did we like about the helmet.
1) Fit was good. Tight but not uncomfortable. As we wear it more, the padding is conforming to our heads well.
2) Easy to use “controls” (sun shield, buckle system)
3) Ventilation was good, up to a point (see below).
4) Communications, the speakers could be of better quality but they work. The microphone is good, people could not tell I was on the bike when I made a phone call.
5) Not too heavy on our heads…at the end of a long ride we were not unduly tired.
Now what did we not like.
1) Ventilation, when the temps hit the upper 90s(F) and above the vents were not enough. Even locking the chin bar up (creating a ¾ helmet) it was not enough as the tight padding would not allow air to flow around our heads. Up to those temps the vents worked well and I had no issues. During one of our trips the temps were over 100 for many days… we had to get new half-helmets to compensate.
2) Fogging was an occasional minor issue. I am not a big fan of the pinlock system in general and I know this would fix my problem.
3) There is an occasional wind induced rattle that I cannot find or recreate…it just happens for no apparent reason at weird random times. The wife has not had this issue. UGH!!
Overall we like the helmet. Other than during high temps it is comfortable and works as advertised. At this point I would recommend the Nolan Helmet to friends with the caveat about the ventilation. I give the Nolan N104 four stars.
BY: Ania Todua
After helmets, biker jackets are the essential accessories for the motorcyclists’ safety. Thankfully, while protecting you, these armors accentuate your style quotient as well. Of course, like most other niches, the biker jackets market is also swarming with immense styles and designs. Making a buying decision is often very confusing. Here are some basic things you should ensure about your jacket:
Some of Ania’s other works:
It was a great day for a motorcycle ride like this, a cool but not crisp morning. Large puffy clouds in the blue sky and large passenger jets taking off and landing at Dulles Airport serving as a poignant reminder to why we were gathering. An awesome day to Rattle the Runway.
It was a morning, not to unlike this, that terrorist commandeered Flight 77 and crashed it into the Pentagon. There were a couple of men I knew killed that day in the Pentagon.
This ride indirectly follows the flight path of Flight 77 from the airport to the side of the Pentagon impacted by the airliner. It stages behind the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum and runs down to the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. Proceeds from the memorabilia sold at the staging area (the ride is free) is given to the Pentagon Memorial fund.
This year the turnout was quite low in comparison to previous years. Normally there is five to six thousands bikes lined up eight across for hundreds of yards. I would guess that this year there might have been half or less than normal. The ride coinciding with the National Labor Day holiday most likely affected the turnout.
As usual, the ride itself was broken into groups with a few minutes between each. This is an unescorted ride once you leave the airport police jurisdiction. The groups, of about 200 bikes, is an attempt to alleviate the traffic issues that a ride of thousands would engender in one of the most congested cites in America.
Overall, I had a good time and would gladly recommend that you ride in this event if you are able.
The Rattle the Runway motorcycle ride indirectly follows the path of Flight 77. That airliner was the one that that the terrorist flew into the Pentagon on 9/11. Proceeds from the event go to the Pentagon Memorial fund. More on that in the next post.
This year, Patriot Harley Davidson held a pre-ride party at their location in Fairfax, VA. The event had a band, food trucks, a bike show and all around good time. I was a bit disappointed in the turn out but it was a major holiday weekend and I don’t think it was well publicized.
My Army Bike won 1st place in its category (Best Harley). The prize was a $100 gift certificate from the dealership. As I don’t get by this way very often I thought it best to spend the money while I was there. My wife got a nice new shirt and I now have a new pocket knife, the total came to $99.60. I guess that is about as close to $100 as I could get.
As I have noted in the past I really have not liked the appearance of the flat black maw that is one of the most noticeable features of the “Rushmore” motorcycles. On the pearl/metal flake finish of the Harley Davidson Ultra Limited Daytona Blue paint, that flat black just plan sucked.
I finally got around to purchasing the Küryakyn Chrome “Fairing Vent Cover” to cover that atrocity.
The installation was, for the most part, quite straight forward. Clean the surface and press on the part so the 3M adhesive can adhere to the surface. But, from past experience the key to making it stick long term is a “SUPER” clean surface. The way I handle the cleaning of any surface that will be stuck with 3M adhesives is:
1) Wait for a WARM day.
2) Vigorous wipe down with soft clean cloth.
3) Vigorous use of a glass cleaner and a clean cloth.
4) After drying, a second vigorous use of glass cleaner and a clean cloth.
5) Use of supplied alcohol wipes for final cleaning.
After the cleaning I test fitted the part to make sure I understood where and how it was going to fit. The instructions suggested using masking tape to mark where everything aligns but, in my case, that was not necessary.
The hardest part of installation was getting the little strip covers off the adhesive. I don’t have the longest fingernails but I doubt that many folks could have peeled these cover off with ease. I ended up using jewelry sized flat end screwdrivers to get the strip loose then tiny pliers to pull them off…. It took over 15 minutes to get a few strip off .
I am quite pleased with the appearance of the cover on my bike. MUCH better than the OEM standard!
The view of the Shanghai skyline.
I have always been interested in going to Shanghai but a trip to China is not in my future. So a motorcycle ride to Shanghai West Virginia would have to do.
Leaving the house the early cool air hid the fact that it was going to be hot, the mid 90sF according to the weatherman. I headed west toward Martinsburg, WV where I stopped for a quick breakfast.
SOMEWHERE between getting off the bike and getting back on the bike I lost a glove. I back tracked into the restaurant and searched all the places I had walked and sat and then back out to the bike but, NO GLOVE…what the heck?!?! There was only so many place the glove could be and it was nowhere to be found. Dang. This made no sense, how do I lose one glove!
Giving up on ever finding my glove in the Bermuda Parking Lot of missing gloves, I rode out of Martinsburg on US Route 9 looking for WV Route 7. Somehow I missed the turn onto Route 7, maybe it was the awesome rolling road and wonderful scenic vistas. But no worries…….it is the journey not the destination, right?
Route 9 took me into Berkley Springs, WV were I turned onto several different roads ending up on WV 13 which was also Shanghai Road. Shanghai Road climbs up the and over the steep mountainside with a lotof switchbacks.
If the pavement had been in better condition this would have been an INCREABLE ride. Shanghai Road has MULTIPLE 150-170 degree turns with serious elevation changes, both up and down the mountain, and almost no traffic! The tarmac on Shanghai Road was so poor that that a good bit of fun was sucked out of the ride, some but not all. A better conditioned road and this would be a sport bike heaven.
Dropping down the other side of the mountain you end up at the cross roads of Black Creek Valley Road and Tuscarora Pike which is also SHANGHAI, WV. Not too much in Shanghai other than a small scrap yard, a Mom and Pop country store and farms. I stopped at the store for some water and a snack. Back on the road I rolled back through Martinsburg and on to home.
A couple notes of interest. First is, part of this ride was on the George Washington Heritage Trail (an American Byway) and second I went past the Morgan County Observatory. The Observatory was closed but it looked very cool way out in the middle of nowhere.
There is not a lot of pictures from this ride as my wife/photographer was out of town. After this 175 mile ride I can now claim I have been to Shanghai….. Shanghai, West Virginia.
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 