The DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio…The #1 Motorcycle Show in the US
Lane-splitting: perhaps not as dangerous as we first thought?
Mercedes Benz (Daimler) pulls the trigger on MV Agusta.
Stolen 1954 Harley Hydra-Glide Returned After 42 years
He and Dong buy bodies!
Interview with Chris Ulrich.
World Superbike Championship decided in Qatar.
MotoGP & Moto2 picks for Valencia.
This past September I rode in the Washington DC DGR ride. I wrote about the event and ride in this post.
A few days ago I received a letter, Air Mailed from Australia; from the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride organization (a motorcycle inspired charity). It was a thank you letter for the donation I made to the organization. It also contained a patch and a couple stickers because of the amount of money I donated. While I was not expecting anything in return it was a nice surprise (I went back to their website and yes if donate more than $100 you do get tokens of appreciation).
I really like the patch and it will make a fine addition to my vest and the stickers will go on my tool chest with all the other motorcycle related stickers. Maybe this winter I will do a post on my tool chest LOL!!
A lot has occurred on the subject of lane splitting (or filtering depending on where you are) this year to include the following:
> A complaint from one person forced the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to remove lane splitting guidelines from their website.
> In Australia, New South Wales is now allowing lane splitting and Queensland is will be legal in 2015.
> Change.org has a petition to make lane splitting legal in the state of Virginia.
> UC Berkeley issued a study, commissioned by the CHP, finds the practice does not increase safety risks.
The most important item of the year on this subject is the UC Berkleley/CHP study. The study shows that lane splitting is, mostly, as safe as riding in a standard lane. I can see this report supporting the movement to allow lane splitting in other states in the very near future. The report, titled “Safety implications of lane-splitting among California motorcyclists involved in collisions” studied the “prevalence of lane-splitting among approximately 8,000 motorcyclists who were involved traffic collisions in June 2012 through August 2013”. Some of the highlights of the UC/CHP study: (LSM=Lane Splitting Motorcyclist)
> The practice of riding in between marked lanes to filter through slow-moving or stopped traffic, is just as safe for riders as traveling in normal lanes
> Riders who split lanes are less prone to getting rear-ended; however, the likelihood of a rider rear-ending a car is greater.
> Danger level does increase for riders who are splitting at speeds of 10mph or faster than the surrounding traffic.
> They found that lane splitters were splitting at lower speeds and in slower moving traffic than they had been previously.
> Time of day also varied greatly by lane-splitting status 59.5% of LSM were involved in collisions between 6-9 am or 3-4pm, compared with 37.3% of motorcyclists who were not lane-splitting.
> Patterns of injury were significantly different comparing LSM and other motorcyclists. LSM were notably less likely to suffer head injury (9.1% vs 16.5%), torso injury (18.6% vs 27.3%), or fatal injury (1.4% vs 3.1%) than other motorcyclists. The occurrence of neck injury and arm/leg injury did not differ meaningfully by lane-splitting status.
The authors of the report have promised further analysis on the data they collected. They plan to look at things such as age, gender, rider characteristics, and roadway conditions to further dig into what exactly is and isn’t dangerous on the roads.
You can read the summary of the UC Berkeley/CHP study yourself at this link.
On the 28th of September I and hundreds of thousands of other around the world rode our motorcycles in support of and to raise money for prostate cancer. WAIT that did not sound right let’s try it again… We rode in a “dapper and genteel” manner to raise awareness of and money in support of the fight against prostate cancer. The ride was part of the world wide phenomenon known as the Distinguished Gentleman’s ride.
The Washington DC DGR began in Georgetown at the Exxon gas station near the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the famous “Exorcist” stairs. This was my first ride with the DGR, and I cannot state how different it is from any other event I have participated in to date. Riding in from Leesburg to Georgetown in jacket and tie I received more than a few double takes… but that is part of the purpose of the ride right?
From my research on last year’s DGR in DC I assumed that there would be a similar number of riders and bikes in attendance about 50-60. Well, there was, in my estimation, double that, at one point I noticed a thoughtful gentleman counting the bikes at the first stop (Belle Haven Park on the George Washington Parkway) he was at 102 when I moved to take pictures.
Due to the greater number of participates the organizers had to make a few “on the fly” changes as we progressed. An example of the changes was the revamping of the route to loop around the front of Mount Vernon instead of riding through old town Alexandria. That was a very wise decision as it would have caused a lot of traffic issues, which should not be gentlemen’s first choice. The riders took it all in stride and things worked out well, kudos to the organizers.
For the record I had two items that I was disappointed with during the DGR, both were my issues not the ride itself. First it was at Mount Vernon that I had to drop out from the ride. I missed the stop at the US Capitol and the hoisting of pints. Not something that I will miss next year! Second I am only contributing $100 to the cause, I just did not have time to get out and look for sponsors. I am making a calendar event now to start that process in early August for the next ride.
Please mark your calendars for next years ride!
No bikes in this future?
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, part of the Department of Transportation, recently issued an “advanced notice of proposed rulemaking” on “vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications.” Which means they are considering requiring a transponder be added to transmit your vehicles data. In this age of American bureaucracy that means it is all but a done deal.
This document initiates rulemaking that would propose to create a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, No. 150, to require V2V communications for light vehicles. In this effort light vehicles are cars and small trucks (pickups).
V2V communications would contain the “relevant elements and describe them accurately (e.g., vehicle speed; GPS position; vehicle heading”.
These future rules would create a uniform V2V system built into all vehicles that will give automobile manufacturers the opportunity to equip their products with standard warning systems that alert drivers to potential accidents — such as one that might be caused by cross traffic at a blind intersection or a light changing color.
Now that all sounds good but tie that with the following….
The agency has published a “Preliminary Statement of Policy Concerning Automated Vehicles.” This statement describes V2V as part of a “continuum” leading to fully automated vehicles. “Accordingly, three distinct but related streams of technological change and development are occurring simultaneously:
(1) in-vehicle crash avoidance systems that provide warnings and/or limited automated control of safety functions
Let go of the bars and take a nap!
(2) V2V communications that support various crash avoidance applications
(3) self-driving vehicles,” NHTSA finds that it is helpful to think of these emerging technologies as part of a continuum of vehicle control automation”.
Soooo how does this make the future of motorcycling dim? I am not sure where bikes fit in this brave new, safer, reduce health care cost, world.
Suppose that separate lanes may be established early in this effort to allow these V2V vehicles to operate. If you don’t have a transponder then you are not allowed on these roads.
Then as the technology matures it may be required to merge onto major highways to “ensure your safety”. If your bike does not have the tech to merge you into the traffic you are not allowed on the road.
After a little more time all interstates and major urban areas would be “wired” to supported automated vehicles, no transponder no access.
I maybe a cynic but I can see a future where bikes would not be allowed on major interstates because they cannot be made part of the herd. That “for the safety of everyone” only smart vehicles will be allowed on major roads and in cities.
Would you want to ride a robo-bike when you could stretch out and nap in a robo-car?
….. and why would anyone want/desire to ride a motorcycle that would be limited to riding with the herd anyway.
Well I had a very cool email waiting for me when I got home today. I get to test ride the Harley Davidson electric motorcycle Project LiveWire when it arrives at Rommel HD in Annapolis, MD.
You can be sure I will do a review with pictures and video of that event!
Debbie and I rode our “Army” motorcycle in the 2014 Rattle the Runway ride to support the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial Fund. This commemorative ride is an attempt to honor the memory of the people killed in the attack on the Pentagon. The ride loosely follows the path of Flight #77 from Dulles International Airport to the Pentagon
The weather for the event was great; I rode in a t-shirt and leather vest (yea I know ATGATT…) while Debbie started in a light jacket and switched to her vest at the staging area. We left the house a little late this year and missed the opening ceremonies but arrived in plenty of time to make the start.
As always the ride starts behind the National Air and Space Museum – Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. In the past the museum had opened its doors for the riders to stroll through and view the exhibits before the ride starts, not sure if it happened this year as we arrived a bit late. The staging for the event has riders park their bikes six abreast in an area about three to four hundred years long. Almost every major and minor brand of motorcycle is represented in this ride, this year I saw:
| Harley Davidson | Honda | Iron Horse |
| Yamaha | Star (I know) | Suzuki |
| BMW | Motor Guzzi | Cam-Am |
| Victory | Triumph | Ducati |
| Stallion | MVAgusta |
But I must say the turn out this year was about half of what it was last year. More often than not the bikes fill the staging area, this year my guess would be that the bikes numbered at about 1000. Maybe that this was the first day of the NFL season reduced the number in attendance.
To reduce the traffic congestion that a ride of 1000+ motorcycles would bring around Dulles airport the ride is broken in serials of about 100-150 bikes. We were in one of the last serials to pull out and the ride to and past the main terminal of Dulles were smooth and quick. The ride to the Pentagon was also uneventful with only 2 cars merging through the line of bikes to enter or exit the highway.
When we reached the Pentagon the mood of the group became more somber as we visited the Memorial site. If you have never been to the Memorial site you should consider adding it to your list of places to visit, at a minimum look at it on line, it is quite well done. After paying our respects we mounted up and headed for home.
PS…. On the way home we saw the BING version of a Google Street View car. It was pulling onto Route 267 near Reston, VA. I will be keeping a look out on Bing for the updated street view as it should show me flipping the driver the bird because he nearly ran us off the road!!!!
As a lot of Goldwing owners have known of the problem with the rear breaks sticking, dragging, overheating and some even catching fire! Honda has initiated a recall on the bikes to fix the issue. The bikes that are affected are GL1800 Models from 2001- 2010, 2012, and GL1800A models from 2001-05.
“The recall notification letter Honda sent to the NHTSA states a “preliminary letter” will be sent to owners with instructions on how to conduct pre-ride and post-ride inspections so they can identify the condition. If the condition exists the bike should be taken to the dealer to be inspected, at no cost to the owner. A second letter will be sent to owners to let them know a repair exists or that replacement parts are available.”
So this is NOT a do not ride recall!
This will be a good chance for Gold Wing owner to try out the new government Safercar.gov website. This is the website where you can enter your VIN number and find out if you are affected. I wrote about it in an earlier post.
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 