Motorcycle related deaths are at an all-time high, according to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. We agree, but shouldn’t they start doing something else apart from presenting us numbers and doing a few fairly inspired videos? >> read
Honda of America Manufacturing motorcycle plant is scheduled to discontinue motorcycle production operations in their Marysville facility next year. This is the only North American motorcycle producer that staffs over 13,000 workers at the company’s five production plants in Ohio. The company now plans to transfer its workers offshore and consolidate production in a new plant located in Kumamoto, Japan.
The Marysville building is set to be converted to and assemble center for vehicle suspensions. Officials from Honda said that they would offer other jobs to their current staff of 450 workers.
The company will begin the transfer next summer 2009.
The fact that motorcycles and scooters are getting more popular thanks to enormous hikes in fuel prices is no surprise to anyone, least to gasoline companies. French oil company, Total, has taken note and has started looking towards these motorcycles as a real “market”.
Total have recently opened a gas pump designed for motorcycles in the Paris suburbs (L’Isle Adam) . Cars aren’t welcome (and will not fit), and the pump has all sorts of stuff designed for bikers.
First of all, the pump itself has all the controls at mid height, meaning you can remain seated on your motorcycle while controlling the pump: selecting the fuel, paying by credit card, getting your receipt, etc. There’s even place for your helmet in case you want to take it off. The pump instructions are in French, English and German.
Secondly, the nozzle is shorter than the car variant. This means that you can place the nozzle and actually see if the tank is filling up, not find out when the precious fuel runs over.
The floor has been treated with a special anti-slip paint, meaning that you do not need to be afraid that your foot is going to slip on the floor when you put them down.
The only downside is that currently this station only has 95 unleaded fuel not 98 which some motorcycle use. A second station is about to open, and that one will have 98.
Another nice motorcycle-friendly part of this gas station is the motorcycle specific cleaning area. The pressure cleaning station uses wax and not-that-high-pressure water. They also have rotating narrow brushes that can be used to clean in between the spokes of your tires. The final cleaning phase includes blow drying your bike.
There’s a waterproof compartment for your helmets and other stuff you carry. The same place also has an air compressor for your tires.
Nice touch, and it would be great to see more of the motorcycle friendly gas stations opening around the world.
The Segway was created to drive people faster at work and have them get fatter and fatter, so people doing this crash test considered a “sidewalk rush hour” situation in which a person moving on a Segway hits a walking individual.
As you can imagine, it is more dangerous to get hit by a person running then by one rushing on such a transportation mean, but the mouths of those most suspicious of you had to be reduced to complete silence through the video attached below.
Moto journalists have had serious doubts about the Honda DN-01 going into production, but the Japanese manufacturer proves them wrong and starting with August 1 the motorcycle that blends in that much body types will begin being sold in the United Kingdom.
With this new model, Honda intends on showing its open mind in what concerns heading towards new horizons and I guess that the 680cc engine from the Honda Transalp is pretty suitable to do that.
The bike that is too fast to be a cruiser, to comfortable to be a sport bike and too aggressive to be a scooter comes with forward footboards and cruiser-like riding position, maxi-scooter handlebars and sport-tourer appearance.
It not only creates a whole new cathegory, but brings new systems in the motorcycle industry. Such a system is the ‘Human Friendly Transmission’ running in full automatic as an infinitely variable transmission, or locks into standard ratios and so provides a tiptronic-style ‘sports mode’ for when the going gets rough.
Offered for the equivalent of $18,200 in pounds, the brand new Honda DN-01 will have virtually no competition (not that there’s another thing like it on the market and the price is the decisive factor), exactly what Honda intended in the first place.
Innovation has no limits, especially when it comes to designing machines that will solve human kind’s commuting problems. The tendency is to keep the thing, light, compact and green. This is also the case of the unicycle named NOAH.
A concept, the bike aims towards that perfect union between rider and machine, the first using the last as an extension of its body for strict commuting problems in comfort and without polluting. It so uses an electric engine, but what attracts our (...) >> read
Not all companies like their employees to ride motorcycles to work, and that goes doubly so for car manufacturers who do not make motorcycles (I guess if you work for BMW cars it’s okay to arrive on a BMW motorcycle, ditto for Suzuki and Honda). Several companies have even been forbidding their employees from riding a motorcycle for business reasons (Johnson Controls UK springs to mind, but the list is growing).
French car manufacturer, Renault/Nissan, are not one of them. 8% of their ( >> read
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is not the only FEMA acronym around. The one we’re interested in is located in Europe. As you probably know (or should), Europe is divided into many different countries, each with its own motorcycle lobby group/association. Since 27 of the European countries are more or less run out of Brussels, protecting the biker rights in Europe is not an easy task.
FEMA, Federation of European Motorcycle Associations is the grouping of most national (...) >> read
Today, the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) announced the end of the 250GP class. The sanctioning body unanimously voted to the following changes in the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations:
Unleaded fuel will comply with the new EU standards;
Replacement of the 250GP class with 600cc four-stroke engines.
Currently, the 250GP class consists of two-stroke engines with a maximum of 250cc. This class has been active since the inception of the Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix by the FIM in 1949. Although the reasoning is understandable, the thought of completely eliminating the 250GP class is sad, to say the least. It has always been the most successful of the so-called “support” groups to MotoGP (the premier racing class). In fact, it was the 250GP where manufacturers like Aprilia, KTM, and others made their mark in motorcycling racing.
I realize in this eco-friendly world that a two-stroke engine is considered worthless and unnecessary; however I had the pleasure of seeing a real 250GP in the form of an Aprilia RS250. It was a few years back at a local bike rider’s watering hole and this very different sounding bike pulled up. It was probably the coolest looking bike I had ever seen. It looked and sounded like it was ready and waiting for the next Grand Prix. The end of an era in motorcycle racing has been thrust upon us; I do believe a moment of silence is owed to the 250GP class.
More than half a century ago, Honda started life as a motorcycle manufacturer, and migrated towards being one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world, while maintaining their dominant position as the largest motorcycle manufacturer.
Now it would seem, motorcycles are going to become a more important part of their corporate life again. According to Honda’s CEO Takeo Fukui (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeo_Fukui), “Motorcycle business is the driving force of Honda’s growth and expansion, and it is one of the key strengths of Honda that other automakers do not have”. Fukui further said at his mid year speech held on the 21st of May in Tokyo, “Demand for motorcycles as a means of transportation is expected to continue to grow mainly in Asian and South American nations. In addition, considering the global high price of crude oil, there is a good chance that motorcycles will be considered not only in developing countries but on a global basis”.
Honda has seen the light (or smelled the rising cost of fuel), and is going to beef up motorcycle production. According to Fukui “Toward this end, it is important to strengthen motorcycle production. The new motorcycle plant at Honda’s Kumamoto Factory, which began operating in April 2008, will play a key role”,
What does this mean to us common bikers? Honda is going to come with many new models, from basic transportation motorcycles (like the new/old Super Cub) to off-the-wall motorcycles like the DN-01. Fukui reinforced this by saying “In order to efficiently produce approximately 60 models, from commuters to large-size motorcycles, Honda conceived and built from scratch highly efficient and ideal production lines to accommodate the unique characteristics of each model”.
60 motorcycle models?? The future looks good for motorcycle riders.
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Unleaded fuel will comply with the new EU standards;
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