Monday, March 11, 2013

Bikes in the Fast Lane: 41 Firefighting Motorcycles From Around The World (+ Videos) plus 2 more

Bikes in the Fast Lane: 41 Firefighting Motorcycles From Around The World (+ Videos) plus 2 more

Link to Bikes in the Fast Lane - Daily Motorcycle News

41 Firefighting Motorcycles From Around The World (+ Videos)

Posted: 11 Mar 2013 09:00 AM PDT

Firefighter Japan Yamaha
Firefighter Malaysia Honda ST1200
#Firefighters #Firemen - Firefighters, as we all know, are heroes. They put their lives in danger to protect us and our possessions, often with disastrous consequences for the firefighters. But getting to a fire in crowded cities is not easy, even if fire trucks have priority. When there's a traffic jam, even they are stuck.

So one way of getting there fast is by motorcycle. Many countries have adopted motorcycles for their first responders. Often these motorcycles are equipped to start putting out a fire until the fire tenders arrive, not an easy task for these brave firefighters. They need to circumnavigate crowded cities on heavy motorcycles, facing first the danger of riding a heavy motorcycle in a city, then putting out a fire. Respect.

Here are 41 photos of different kind of firefighting motorcycles from around the world...........

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France: Doubling The Parking Fines, Even For Motorcycles

Posted: 11 Mar 2013 05:00 AM PDT

Motorcycle pound towing
France flag
A few days ago the French socialist government announced with big ceremony that they would be spending billions of Euros to make "The Greater Paris"; a project for Paris and the extended suburbs. To do that, they would need to beef up the crumbling transportation infrastructure, mainly the metro and commuter rail, and to do that, they would need to spend 30 BILLION Euros. And that in a country that is laden with debt, so much so that it would make the Japanese look debt free.

So you can guess what comes next... the government is going to look at us, the honest hard working tax payer, to finance this idea. And even if you don't live in Paris or its suburbs, pay you will.

But raising the tax rates even more is political suicide (the tax rate will shortly be set at 75%, yes, you read it right, seventy-five %), and the last thing the powers want is a spring uprising and then the chopping off heads. So they're now planning the next best thing; raise the price of fines!

A few days after announcing the Greater Paris project (which goes until 2030), the politicians now want to raise the price of the fine you get when you park badly, or forget to feed to parking-monster (which is easy to do since you can only feed them 2 hours at a time). Currently when fined you pay €17, shortly, if the extension gets approved, it will become €35, double what it is now.

The trouble is the fines are for all of France since it's a police matter. You can not fine someone in Paris for an amount A and someone elsewhere in France an amount B. That is illegal. So people living outside Paris will be paying enormous high fines to subsidize a project they will never benefit from. Or, they de-penalize parking fines and outsource it to private organizations, which will probably make fines even more expensive.

All in all, it really looks like this government does not know what to do. It's stumbling in the dark, bumping into objects while trying to find the bathroom and on the way, loose the content of their bladder. With all the rich people and celebrities fleeing the country because of ridiculous tax rates, with record unemployment, with companies closing down factories because of the power the unions have and the cost of having employees, the only thing successive governments will have left is higher and higher taxes. But I'm ranting....

So back to the subject. If they really want to make traffic fluid in Paris without major influx on money, all they need to do is promote motorcycles and scooters. Make more parking available in Paris, allow motorcycles to ride in the bus lanes and officially allow them to split lanes, and suddenly there's going to be less traffic jams, less pollution and a lot more happy people. But €30 BILLION is way to attractive a sum of money for some. Politicians need to think about their retirement too.

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UK: It Takes All Sorts

Posted: 10 Mar 2013 11:00 PM PDT

British Dragin Motorcycle Royal Fan
UK flag
The world really has all sorts (and I don't mean the candy), even in the motorcycle world.

A dragon motorcycle ?

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Friday, March 8, 2013

Bikes in the Fast Lane: Top Internet Stories - 8 March 2013 plus 2 more

Bikes in the Fast Lane: Top Internet Stories - 8 March 2013 plus 2 more

Link to Bikes in the Fast Lane - Daily Motorcycle News

Top Internet Stories - 8 March 2013

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PST

Top Weekly Web Article
I'm getting antsy for the full riding season, so far riding has been limited. But interesting motorcycle articles have been appearing over the last week, so here are a few of them for your reading pleasure.

- A Visit To The Ktm Engine Plant (Ktm Blog)
- How Fashionable Do You Need To Be On A Motorcycle (Motorcycle Blog From Jafrum)
- Is Google Glass The Future For Motorcycles (Leatherup)
- Harley Davidson Financial Normalcy In Europe (Northwest Harley Blog)
- Making The Case For Motorcycle Commuting (Forbes)

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Video: MV Agusta F4 RR TV Commercial

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 04:00 AM PST

MV Agusta F4 RR Commercial
MV Agusta logo
#Agusta - You don't get to see many TV commercials from MV Agusta, and I don't even know if this is a "real" advertisement for the F4 RR super motorcycle, but it's kind-of cool.

You get to see close ups of the Italian motorcycle with the sounds that resembles that of jet fighters talking, and then you see the MV Agusta in its natural environment, the race track.

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Tunisia: Creation Of An Angry Biker Federation

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 10:00 PM PST

FTMC Tunis
Tunisia flag
Tunisia have gone through hell and back with their "revolution". A dictator was disposed, and the current government is not exactly popular, so there's still a lot of unrest in the tourist-depraved country. But one thing the motorcycle groups have decided to do is set up a proper motorcycle lobbying association.

Modelled after the French Federation of Angry Bikers (FFMC), the Tunisian one is called FTMC (Federation Tunisienne des Motards en Colere)...........

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

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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Bikes in the Fast Lane: Get Your Child A Proper Bicycle, Based On A Motorcycle - Pretty! plus 2 more

Bikes in the Fast Lane: Get Your Child A Proper Bicycle, Based On A Motorcycle - Pretty! plus 2 more

Link to Bikes in the Fast Lane - Daily Motorcycle News

Get Your Child A Proper Bicycle, Based On A Motorcycle - Pretty!

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PST

Dunecraft balance bikes
The Netherlands flag
As you probably know, the Dutch are very much into bicycles. Almost everyone has one, and when you visit The Netherlands you stand a bigger chance of being run down by a bicycle than a car. Bicycles are in their veins and DNA. So it's no surprise they know how to teach young kids how to ride a bicycle.

Dunecraft make balance bikes, so no pedals. It "forces" the child to learn how to balance a bicycle (and later a motorcycle) by walking and shoving the bicycle.

The Dunecraft balance bike is based on a 1920 Isle of Man TT racing motorcycle..........

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

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Video: Harley-Davidson Dallas Dealer - Lifestyle

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 04:00 AM PST

Harley Davidson Dallas Lifestyle
Harley-Davidson logo
#Harley-Davidson - Here's a TV commercial from a Dallas Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealer. Lots of girls in mini-bikinis, lots of platitudes (like brotherhood, individuality, etc), but at least we see girls riding a motorcycle, not just in bikini.

I wonder if in real like there are these bikini-clad girls at the dealership??

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Pakistan: Still Amazed How Many People Fit On A Motorcycle

Posted: 06 Mar 2013 10:00 PM PST

Pakistan Crowded Motorcycle
Pakistan flag
I've been truly amazed how many people can fit on a motorcycle, and not for a dare, but in real day-to-day life. take this family for example in Pakistan: 6 (six) people on one smallish motorcycle. I already have problems when my (rather skinny) SWMBO sits behind me and moves around a bit.

It's an example of a) riding skills and b) the motorcycle manufacturers.

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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Bikes in the Fast Lane: Exhausts: New Material - Quieter, Cheaper, Easier plus 2 more

Bikes in the Fast Lane: Exhausts: New Material - Quieter, Cheaper, Easier plus 2 more

Link to Bikes in the Fast Lane - Daily Motorcycle News

Exhausts: New Material - Quieter, Cheaper, Easier

Posted: 06 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PST

Bamboo Exhaust
China flag
You got to give it to the Chinese. When push comes to shove, when they need to be creative, they find a way. The need arose for a man, Mr. Jen Fang, who needed to replace the exhaust of his motorcycle. But in a country with many billionaires and many, many more poor people, Mr. Fang fell in the poor people category. He had no money to buy a new exhaust.

So he did the thing that made the most sense to him; He placed a bamboo pipe on his motorcycle, replacing the old one. And guess what? It worked like a charm...........

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

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France: Interesting Statistics On Motorcycle Usage In Paris

Posted: 06 Mar 2013 04:00 AM PST

Statistics Article
France flag
#Statistics #France #Paris - With all the troubling issues coming from the Mayor of Paris, and the upcoming 2014 Mayor elections and their moto-phobic candidates, it's interesting to see some statistics about the usage of motorcycles and scooters in Paris. The number crunching was done by the DRIEA (Direction Regionale et Interdepartementale de l'Equipement et de l'Amenagement).

First of all, the stats aren't for just Paris, but what is called "Ile-de-France", or more accurately the Greater Parisian Area, which is Paris and its suburbs. If the candidate politicians ever read these statistics, maybe they'll change their minds about motorcycles, but somehow I doubt it.

Every day there are 570,000 PTW moving around and through Paris. That's half a million per day! Between 2001 and 2010, there was an increase of 34% in the number of daily PTW movements...........

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

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France: No Entry Into Alps For Motorcycles No Longer An Issue

Posted: 05 Mar 2013 10:00 PM PST

Col de la Schlucht
France flag
In January this year, the local governor of the Haut-Rhin province called for a ban on motorcycles riding the Alps in his area. The ban was supposed to be for the weekends only and would forbid motorcycles from riding the twisting roads to the mountain peaks.

This brought a very loud outcry, not only by motorcycle riders all over Europe, but also from the biker rights lobby groups like the FFMC. Since this goes against the freedom of movement, a fundamental human right in Europe, the local government quickly caved in and stated that this is a non-issue...........

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

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Bikes in the Fast Lane: Ads: Thailand - Dead Helmet plus 2 more

Bikes in the Fast Lane: Ads: Thailand - Dead Helmet plus 2 more

Link to Bikes in the Fast Lane - Daily Motorcycle News

Ads: Thailand - Dead Helmet

Posted: 05 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PST

Ad Thailand Dead Helmet
Thailand flag
Maybe something got lost in the translation. Or it's a cultural thing. These two print advertisemenst from the Thai Health Promotion Foundation are just plain weird.

The text reads "Ride safe, wear a helmet" but what is the image supposed to tell us? Is it that our heads are not a helmet (probably), or use helmets that are in good condition?

Your guess is as good as mine...

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Smartphone Based Alcohol Breathalyzer

Posted: 05 Mar 2013 04:00 AM PST

Alcootel testing
USA flag
Here's something that might satisfy the safety nazis in France. With their new mandatory-breathalyzers-but-no-sanction-if-caught law in France, every vehicle, including foreign registered ones, will require to have a working breathalyzer onboard, but if you get caught, you'll not be fined (I know, it's stupid but that's politics for you).

The Alcohoot is a Bluetooth device that works are a breathalyzer. It pairs with your smartphone (iPhone in the beginning, Android later) and you blow into the device. The data is sent over to your phone where it is analyzed, but more smartly than the breathalyzers used by LEOs since it uses your gender, age, weight and height to correctly tell you if you should be riding your motorcycle or not...........

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

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France: Digger Machine Takes Out 2 Automatic Radars, Bikers Rejoice

Posted: 04 Mar 2013 10:00 PM PST

France Radar Destroyed by Tractor/Digger
France flag
In the time of two days in North East of France (Alsace region), a digger machine was used to totally demolish 2 automatic radars located alongside the road.

People are fed up with these automatic radars, since they will make expensive photos of you and your car or motorcycle, even when you are only a few kilometers over the speed limit.

Radars have been shot at, burnt, garbage bagged, painted, but this solution is far more radical; the radar is totally wasted.

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Monday, March 4, 2013

Bikes in the Fast Lane: 27 Postage Stamps With Motorcycles From Around The World - Part 2 plus 2 more

Bikes in the Fast Lane: 27 Postage Stamps With Motorcycles From Around The World - Part 2 plus 2 more

Link to Bikes in the Fast Lane - Daily Motorcycle News

27 Postage Stamps With Motorcycles From Around The World - Part 2

Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PST

Postage Stamp Motorcycle Ecuatorial Guinea
Postage Stamp Motorcycle France
Part 2 of the motorcycle stamps series from around the world.

There are people who love motorcycles, and there are people who love collecting postage stamps, and believe it or not, there are people who love both.

Over the years most postal services around the world have issued stamps with motorcycles on them. Here is but a small collection of stamps, literally from around the world, with motorcycles on them. Some old, some new. ..........

I particularly like the Equatorial Guinea stamps, with drawing of all the classic motorcycle racers from years ago. Very nice.

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

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More Info On The Electric Toyota i-Road Motorcycle/Trike

Posted: 04 Mar 2013 04:00 AM PST

Toyota i Road Official
Toyota logo
#Electric #EV - In January of this year, Japanese car maker Toyota, teased the world press with a picture of a new electric vehicle they were planning to launch in Geneva, the i-Road. From the photo it looked like a three wheeler, with the passenger sitting pillion style (behind the driver) in a covered motorcycle. Not much else has been revealed, until now....

The i-Road is indeed a three wheeled motorcycle/car/vehicle, electrically driven with the passenger sitting behind the driver/rider. The motorcycle is narrow, narrow enough to split lanes with only 850 mm of width (length is 2350 mm and height is 1445 mm). It's immediate competitor is Renault's Twizy with 1230 mm of width, so far more narrow.

The i-Road has a tilting technology called "Active Lean" which, like the Piaggio MP3, allows the vehicles to take curves at an angle...........

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

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France: New Hidden Radar In Service This Month

Posted: 03 Mar 2013 10:00 PM PST

France New car radar
France flag
A new and very sneaky speed radar starts this month in France. The radar is mounted in unmarked police cars, and there are no visible signs that you're about to be caught by one. No markings, no telltale radar bubble, to visible flash... nothing to tell you that you've been photographed apart from a very expensive photo sent to your house in the next few days (and remember that radar detectors are highly illegal in this country).

The only current sign is that these unmarked police cars are Renault Megane 1.5 dCi, and there will be two uniformed gendarmes inside, and starting on the 15th of March, there will be 20 of them patrolling the French roads. The cost for each car is €70,000, paid for by our taxes and speeding fines...........

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

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Friday, March 1, 2013

Bikes in the Fast Lane: Top Internet Stories - 1 March 2013 plus 2 more

Bikes in the Fast Lane: Top Internet Stories - 1 March 2013 plus 2 more

Link to Bikes in the Fast Lane - Daily Motorcycle News

Top Internet Stories - 1 March 2013

Posted: 01 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PST

Top Weekly Web Article
1st of March already, and almost spring time. Can't wait for the real riding season to start. Here are a couple of interesting motorcycle related articles you may have missed last week.

- Anatomy Of A Motorcycle (Outdoor Canvas)
- The Psychology Of Motorcycle Racing & Sexual Performance (Real Road Racing Blog)
- The high price of fashion: Sena SMH10R review (Gizmag)
- Top 10 Riding Tips For Noobs (Motorcycle.Com The Sidecar)
- Isnt It Time For Us Motorcycle Racing To Evolve (Revgirl)

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A Virtual Visit Of The Michelin Facilities - Very Nice

Posted: 01 Mar 2013 04:00 AM PST

Michelin Virtual Museum Visit
Michelin logo
Many of you will never get the chance to visit the incredible Michelin museum. Michelin have been manufacturing motorcycle tires since there were motorcycles, and they have a history to be proud off.

In the city of Clermont-Ferrand, Michelin have had their headquarters since the beginning (1888). In fact, most of the city is Michelin. One of its biggest attractions is the impressive and very big museum. But as I said, not many people get the chance to see this museum, until now...........

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

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John Kerry: Once A Biker, Always A Biker?

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 10:00 PM PST

John Kerry And French Motorcycle Cops
USA flag
Is the new US Secretary of State, John Kerry, just naturally interested in motorcycles, being a biker, or does it look good in photos. He's got no points to win with the French voters, so maybe he's just interested in French motorcycle police and their bikes.

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