Motorcycle Parking In Brisbane

Looks like the Brisbane City Council has decided to get tough on us riders when parking in the city. The story below details how the council issued parking tickets to all bikes that were parked along the footpath in Turbot Street in late May. This is where I park my bike in the city when working back home.

Concerns about blocked footpaths?? Where, Mr Mayor??

To be quite honest, I think this move is an absolute load of crap - at a time when the council should be looking at ways of reducing the number of cars entering the CBD, these knobs have decided to turn on one of the best alternatives for some unjustified revenue. The footpath in question is not very often used by pedestrians, and most times, all bikes are parked so to allow ample room for pedestrians. For times where a bike is blocking access for pedestrians, fine, give them a ticket but why outlaw this number of parking spots for bikes without replacing them all??

Unbelievable......

The 3 Wheeled Spyder

A few weeks back Eddie finally took delivery of his Can Am Spyder he had on order since late last year. I was fortunate enough to ride it for a short period over the last weekend I was back home and I've gotta say that for what they are, they are impressive.

The first thing you gotta get used to is the fact that you don't need to put your feet down - it almost feels like a quad when your sitting on it, but that is about the only similarity. Cornering is completely different - usually on a bike you lean in to the corners and the force travels down through your body and bike to the road. With the Spyder, you need to use your stomach to almost force your body into the lean due to the momentum from the turn wanting to slide you off the opposite side. It really did take a few decent corners to get used to this, but once I found out how, I really loved the way this thing just stuck to the road like the proverbial to a blanket! I took the turn off from the M1 onto the Gateway where the road loops under the other whilst in a tight turn - that is one point where I really wanted to give it a bit of jooce to see how it would react. I came out of that corner at abbout 90kmh hanging on for dear life with all three wheels on the road, to further prove my point. One other point - it is VERY good at changing direction in a hurry, but make sure you are ready for it!! Even the slightest bump from a free arm on one occassion was cause for alarm.

I was very impressed with the performance from the 990cc Rotax V-twin that powers the Spyder as well - on a couple of occassions I opened it up from a dead stop and it didn't take long to pull the 316kg machine plus my 'healthy' weight up to a decent cruising speed. The rear wheel is shod in a flat profile 225 tyre and does all the grunt work, with almost all of that rubber flat on the road surface to provide you with great traction.

My opinion of them - if you like a conversation with others about them then get one. Everywhere we stopped, waited and even whilst riding on the road, people where commenting, staring and pointing. It does stand out and I believe that BRP have matched these stand out looks with some healthy performance figures, thanks to the Rotax motor and the belt driven rear wheel. A couple of other stand out features - the large storage area under the front panel for those times when you need more than just the seat behind you and the reverse gear, although I didn't need to give it a go.

I personally would not buy one - I much prefer the two wheeled type, but if you get a chance to ride one, do it - I reckon you will like it!

Airbag Protection....Coming Soon!

I recently read on the MCN website that Dainese are planning to sell an airbag equiped motorcycle suit to the public by 2010. It looks impressive in the way that it is small and how it provides much needed protection/support to a riders neck. A couple of prototypes were actually worn in the last race of the 125 and 250 classes of the 2007 MotoGP season at Valencia, and they were fully tested.

It won't be cheap judging by the technology that it uses, but at least we will have the option. Good on ya Dainese.

Twist The Throttle

The Iron Chef from Motorcycle Paradise has posted a link to a great resource for all motorcycle enthusiasts that Discovery Channel has put together called Twist The Throttle.

Check out his post and the link here.

Front Licence Plate Legislation

Well the Victorian Government is at it again - I really don't understand what they hope to acheive by forcing all motorcycles to display front number plates/decals. What, they think that they are missing out on a share of revenue from speeding motorcycles?? Get real fellas!

I believe there are some major flaws with this legislation such as the need to fix these plates to most bikes where there is nowhere to fit one of the proposed decals, which may require drilling somewhere on the front end. Us riders will then have more to worry about should the plate come loose or worse still, in the event of an accident. Most importantly, there is strong advice from industry sources suggesting that it was not technically feasible across the range of motorcycles now on the roads.

Oh, and guess what? The cost of fitting said plates/decals will be borne by the owner of the bike!

I understand that it is only Victorian legislation at this point, but if it is successfully passed then you can rest assured that the other Australian states will follow suite eventually.

Please support the push against the introduction of front plates on motorcycles by signing the online petition initiated by the MRAA here.

Motorcycle front license plates - another initiative from the Victorian Government

Yamaha's Raider

Well, Yamaha in the US have released a bike that I would seriously consider putting in my shed along side the Zook! It was actually released in September of last year, but I have only just become aware of it.

To me, the Raider is an agressive looking go-bike without the extra bits of plastic that make other Jap cruisers look big and heavy. By persisting with an air-cooled motor they have eliminated the need for a bulky radiator up front, and combined with the impressive rake, gives this bike a real custom look. On that point, the 1850cc v-twin is shared with the bulkier looking Roadliner and Stratoliner models but to be quite honest, I don't know how they will be able to meet the US EPA emission standards without liquid cooling - then again, there are many ways to skin a cat. This motor also utilizes a single pin crank shaft unlike Honda's VTX and Suzuki's M109, and in doing so, retains that real meaty v-twin sound and not something akin to a VW! Another standout for me is the single shock, hardtail-look giving the bike a real clean back end, adding to its already striking looks.

There is no mention of Yamaha importing them to us poor bastards down here yet, but if they do, I will be lining up to test ride one. As far as cruisers go, I like the M109 a lot, but think that Yamaha have gone one better with the Raider!

Read more about the Raider on Yamaha's US website here.

Confederate Motor Company

A couple of stylish looking machines by a company with a passion for design and engineering. Check their website here for more pics and info.

Suzuki B-King

Well the GSX1400 has reached the end of it's production cycle and Suzuki are just about to release it's replacement for sale in the UK - the supercharged 1350cc B-King. The concept bike was first shown to the public in the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show - kind of grows on you after a while. The thing I really like is the underseat exhaust, although I don't know if the pillion will be as comfortable as the GSX, and the performance figures - 176bhp - making it the fastest naked production bike in the world.

I have not heard if they will be releasing it here in Australia but really hope they do. For further info check out the B-King UK website.

The replacement for the GSX1400 - the new Suzuki B-King

A sign of things to come??

Have a look at this - it is called a Monotracer, is produced in Switzerland by a company called Peraves and is available for sale. I personally don't like it, although I would love to take one for a spin to see what they handle like. However, I find it hard to understand why you would want to be closed in on two wheels - may as well jump in your car.

The power comes from a BMW built 1170cc liquid cooled in line four using shaft drive, so it certainly would have a bit of grunt. Although the website doesn't disclose too much on the side wheels, I believe that they operate via a speed sensor and drop to support the hybrid (similar to what has been developed for the GoldWing) as it comes to a stop. These wheels also protect the cabin if dropped or leaning too far. It offers most of what you can get in a car, except it is controlled by handlebars. It does have a second seat for a pillion, but it looks very claustrophobic.

Trendsetter maybe, but not very appealing to the biking community in my opinion.

KillaCycle

Check this out - 8.168 seconds for a quarter mile and it's battery powered!! I reckon it would be quite strange seeing a bike taking off from the line with little noise.

Who said going green needs to be slow.

Interesting...

Read about this incident that happened down on the Gold Coast on Demo's site - looks like the prospect got more than what he bargained for!

I don't like the way the author describes the incident though - almost like they are making fun of the guy. They don't know all the facts, so they should have posted something a little less sensational and avoided trying to embarass the guy.

Kind of makes sense why they didn't put their name on it, doesnt it!

MotoGP

I always knew these bastards were mad.....some incredible footage in this clip set to some great music. Checkout some of the powerslides and monos.....woah!! Enjoy.

MotoGP - video powered by Metacafe

Stand Up & Be Counted

The following is an extract from Netrider regarding next Tuesday's National Census...

Tuesday August 8th is national census night and Netrider calls on all riders to
ensure you ride to work that day.

This years census will most likely have a question asking how you got to
work that day (Aug 8th). If all riders commute on that day, then we
could honestly answer that we went to work via motorcycle ( we wouldn't want
any false answers to elevate the % of bike riders now would we!)

In the last census - 2001 - only 10% of households, that had 1 or more
motorycles, rode their bikes to work on that day. If we could get that
number up to at least 50% for this years census (Tue Aug 8th, just 2 weeks
away!) then wouldn't that send a clear message about motorcycle and scooter
riding to the government and statisticians.

In March 2005, there was over 420,000 motorcycles registered across the
nation (3.0% of all vehicles registered). With a 4.7% annual growth, this
means we should now have approx. 440,000 registered bikes. If at least 50%
of those were ridden to work on census day, then 220,000 riders being
included in the census would be a powerful statistic for us to use in the
future.

So the "calls to arms" is out! Will you ride you bike to work on census day?
Tell everyone you know that rides or owns a bike to ride to work on census
day too!

Check This Out.....

...a site dedicated to talking about motorcycles and it's not model or type specific!! The Motorcycle Group is a forum where all us like minded riders can gather and discuss stuff, so if you want to have your say on something motorcycle related create an account, log in and just do it!!