General Motorcycle Knowledge Quiz #05

I took all 5.
Here's my scores:
Test 1: 70% not bad.
Test 2: 70% ditto.
Test 3: 90% genius!
Test 4: 60% uh oh.
Test 5: 60% had to turn in my motorcycle license!

General Motorcycle Knowledge Quiz #05: "Quiz #05... test your general motorcycle knowledge.



That's 50 questions I've managed to get... not bad. If you've got one, send it to me, but please, also send the answer...

...

"

Rumormill: Volkswagen interested in Ducati... still

What?
Is this good or bad?



Rumormill: Volkswagen interested in Ducati... still: "

It's a well-known fact that Ferdinand Pich, Chairman of Volkswagen's Board, wishes that the German automaker had purchased Ducati back in 1985 when the Italian bike manufacturer was in dire financial shape.

"

Never too early to start planning next year's rides - Towns with odd names

Expanding on a suggestion from my riding partner, I'm making plans for "themed rides" for summer 2010 to visit "odd named" towns. Recall in 2008 I canvassed VA for suspension bridges (check out the Archive for May 2008 and on thru the summer months) and had a blast finding and photographing them.

Looking for towns with odd names is a bit different:
First, there's the issue of what constitutes an odd name. For this exercise, an odd named town is a town with a name that I consider odd. (How else are we going to do it?) There's a web site that is collecting odd named towns but it's worldwide (check it out). It occurred to me I might be able to find the names of US Post Offices listed somewhere (I did here). I realize there are probably a host of places with odd names that don't have a Post Office, but I endeavor not to let this riding theme make my head hurt. So, I culled through Virginia's 700+ Post Offices and found 14 that fit my definition of odd named town.

So, be on the look out for future posts.

Keep riding, it's only October!

Dilemma haiku

The commute today.
Choose motorcycle or car?
Two wheels make it right.


-- Post From My iPod touch

Beginner bikes -- a good article

Motorcycle Cruiser magazine posted a good piece on cruisers that are sized and have a power delivery that make them good for new riders. Check it out: Click me.

-- Post From My iPod touch

Motorcycle Touring Guide

I'm soliciting comments about a web site I stumbled across: Motorcycle Touring Guide.
If you have experience with it, please share.

I plan to check it out over the next few weeks. I was frustrated this last summer not having a "theme" to focus our weekend rides (the previous summer I focused on suspension bridges in VA). Maybe this web site will be just the ticket for next summer?

Keep riding...

Ducati Art

Mmmmmm.....Ducati Art.

Electric Motorcycle Sets Speed Record

It's happening...

Electric Motorcycle Sets Speed Record: "Mission Motors, an electric motorcycle startup based in San Francisco, said Tuesday that its prototype vehicle had set a world speed record for battery-powered bikes of 150.059 miles per hour at the Bonneville Speedway in Utah."

Motorcycles that don't require you to squeeze the clutch

I mentioned in a previous post that electric motorcycles may be the future. Between then and now the ongoing efforts to eliminate manually using a clutch to shift gears will likely come to the fore. See below a posting about Honda's latest auto shifter for the next generation VFR. An interesting development that, I assume, is thought to help some potential motorcycle buyers who are uncertain about shifting manual transmissions. I'm not sure I'd ever buy one, but I would like to ride one of these modern marvels.

Honda Dual Clutch Transmission – Automatic Shifting for Big Engine Sport Bikes: "- Original article from: http://TheKneeslider.com - The Kneeslider -
Honda has announced their “Dual Clutch Transmission” for use in large displacement sport bikes. I read through the description of this new bit of technology and it’s pretty interesting, one clutch for odd gears, the other for even gears. Each clutch engages the next gear [...]"

The adventurous grasshopper

During my last morning commute, waiting at a stoplight I noticed a grasshopper sitting on the roof of the car in front of me. He was towards the rear appearing to have his right foward leg holding on to the base of the car's roof mounted radio antenna.

This will make for an interesting experiment: At what speed will the grasshopper be blown off the roof of the car? My guess was something around 35- to 40-mph.

The light turned green and I kept an eye on my speedometer and the intrepid grasshopper as I shifted up through the gears. In no time I was up to 55-mph.

The wind buffeted the grasshopper side to side. But he remained steadfast. I imagined hearing a small scream above the din of road noise. I was impressed. This continued through 3 more lights and I watched the brave hopper hang on as the car continued north when I turned west.

I thought about that hopper for the rest of the day. It occurred to me that he had probably settled on the car's roof hoping to rest for a while. Instead of resting, he had to hang on for dear life heading to places unkown. Suffering hardship along the way, he is no different than any adventurer of any age. The only thing that would have made his experience more fitting would have been to do it on two wheels.

Ride on brave hopper!




-- Post From My iPod touch