Honda Motorbikes

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Bikes in the Fast Lane: France: Finally Petrol Taxes To Be Lowered plus 2 more

Link to Bikes in the Fast Lane - Daily Motorcycle News

France: Finally Petrol Taxes To Be Lowered
How Not To Start A Kickstarter Motorcycle Project
Philippines: Can Not Ride Your Motorcycle On Water? Carry It!

France: Finally Petrol Taxes To Be Lowered

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 09:00 AM PDT

For years now, in fact since 1928, France has had a steep tax on petrol. Abbreviated to TIPP, the tax was a percentage of the gross petrol price at the pump. The higher the gas price, the more the government made. Apart from the TIPP tax, they also get 19.6% VAT (Value Added Tax, i.e. a sales tax). The petrol tax is rated differently per product; 60% for unleaded and 52% for diesel. This means that per liter, the government gets around 70%!

Despite the economic crisis, or more because of it, the French government never lowered the tax. Many people were not able to drive their car, or worse, ride their motorcycle, because of very high petrol prices. Many associations and lobby groups have been calling upon the government to lower the taxes when the petrol barrel price goes up. So far, nothing..... until today.......

Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......

...

How Not To Start A Kickstarter Motorcycle Project

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 05:00 AM PDT

Kickstarter and Fundable are great sites to help you create a motorcycle project with crowd-funding. Several good ideas have seen the light of day (including the reviewed Screaming Banshee horn) because of these websites that allow the general public to fund startups without taking equity. But people need get something in return for their money.

And that is where to problems lies with several of these ideas looking for money. You need to offer something valuable in return.

Take this project for example: Rockin' Rebel on Kickstarter is someone who makes beautiful wooden rocking chairs in the shape of a motorcycle. Really pretty... So you'd expect people to help this guy out by providing him with funds to get proper tools to make more of them. But at the time of writing this, he has gathered $200 of the $50,000 required, and only 8 days left.

Why?......

......Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......

...

Philippines: Can Not Ride Your Motorcycle On Water? Carry It!

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:00 PM PDT

I guess if you can't ride your motorcycle in deep water, the only thing you can do is gather some friends and carry it...

...

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Bikes in the Fast Lane: Ads: Preventing People From Texting While Driving - Weird plus 3 more

Ads: Preventing People From Texting While Driving - Weird
Signal: More Safety Lights On Motorcycle Helmets
Pssst! Want To Buy A Chrome Masei Helmet For Cheap?
Indonesia: Will That Take That Many Motorcycles?

Ads: Preventing People From Texting While Driving - Weird

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 09:00 AM PDT

Sometimes PSA are weird, if not scary. The Blue Hive PR agency in the UK created the following advertisements for the Brake organization (a road safety charity organization) to condition people not to text/SMS while driving their cars.

Car drivers that read their SMS/text messages while driving are a menace to everyone, especially motorcycle riders, so it's a good thing people are trying to prevent it, but these ads are just plain weird.

If you are one of these that text while driving, would you stop doing it because of these ads? I don't thing so.

...

Signal: More Safety Lights On Motorcycle Helmets

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 05:00 AM PDT

Suddenly several people got the idea that lights on a motorcycle helmet is a good idea, and it is. Riding a motorcycle in dense traffic can be dangerous, since our "surface" is small, and the lights on our rides are even smaller. Stop lights and indicators are really small, particularly on a sportsbike. So when you do hit the brake, or decide to turn, cars behind you may not have seen your lights.

Signal is one of the several new products that tries to address this issue. Instead of using standard LED lights, these guys use Lumigram, a new fiber-optic fabric.......

Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......

...

Pssst! Want To Buy A Chrome Masei Helmet For Cheap?

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 12:45 AM PDT

Masei helmets have put up one of their chrome helmets, the Masei 310 on sale on eBay. They started the bidding at $0.01 including free shipping, so a deal of a lifetime.

So far, the bidding has reached $32 (at time of writing this), and it's got another 8 days to go. The helmet size is Large, so if it'll fit, here's your chance to get a unique motorcycle helmet.

...

Indonesia: Will That Take That Many Motorcycles?

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 11:00 PM PDT

Holy cow! That is a lot of motorcycles trying to board that ferry.

When I'm getting on one, and there are 5 motorcycles, I'm surprised by the high number. But this....

...

Monday, August 20, 2012

Bikes in the Fast Lane: 12 Motorcycles Made Out Of Sand plus 2 more

12 Motorcycles Made Out Of Sand
Patents: Guy Invents Transformer Motorcycle - Cool Idea
Europe: Who Are The Worst Drivers - Survey

12 Motorcycles Made Out Of Sand

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 09:00 AM PDT

As kids we've all made sand castles, and some even ventured further by making more elaborate castles with decorated turrets, moats, etc. The kids turned into adults, but some remained kids at heart and continued making sand castles. Except now they're no longer sand castles but very detailed works of art.

Several artists, since that is what they are, make some of the most incredible and imaginative structures made out of sand. One of these elaborate structures they make are motorcycles. Making motorcycles out of sand can't be easy. For one reason, motorcycles have round forms; tires, mud guards, fuel tanks, etc, and making those of out sand can not be easy. But they still do it.

Here are 12 photos of motorcycles made out of sand.........

.........Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......

...

Patents: Guy Invents Transformer Motorcycle - Cool Idea

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 05:00 AM PDT

I often make fun of patents, since they look like they were invented for the sake of inventing, not necessity. But here's one that makes sense.

Takefumi Okubo filed a patent for a moveable motorcycle cowl structure. When you read the lengthy patent, what he really wants to do is have the side panels adapt to the speed you are riding at. You can either manually open or close the cowls, or let your motorcycle do it.

This way, depending on your speed and if you have a pillion, you can regulate airflow. If it's hot outside, you can call up more air, and if it's cold, you can prevent the air from hitting you and your passenger.......

......Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......

...

Europe: Who Are The Worst Drivers - Survey

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Often when riding your motorcycle in Europe, you end up having the impression that some countries have worse drivers than other countries. I know I've had that feeling often enough. Travel web site Zoover thought so too, so they held a survey on their site, asking their readers which country has the worst drivers. Some 30,000 readers responded.

In the top 15 of the countries with the worst drivers, the number 1 slot (i.e. the worst drivers) is Italy, and the best drivers come from Finland.

Here's the complete list.......

Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......

...