Part 184 - Motorcycle Awareness... (",)

Motorcycle Awareness

With the recent series of motorcycle fatalities in the area I thought it appropriate to go over some basic motorcycle safety tips. Over two-thirds of car-motorcycle crashes are caused by drivers, not by motorcyclists. The driver either does not see the oncoming motorcyclist at all or does not see the motorcyclist in time to avoid a crash. Special thanks to Sean Gillette for sending me most of this material!

Why Didn't I See That Motorcycle?

• Drivers tend to look for other cars, not motorcycles.
• Because of its smaller profile, a motorcycle is harder to see and you may find it more difficult to estimate the motorcycle's speed.
• The motorcyclist's riding pattern is different from your driving pattern. Different actions may be needed for the same driving or highway situation. For example, you may ignore a piece of road debris as a driver; however, that same piece of road debris may be deadly for a motorcyclist.
• Traffic, weather, and road conditions require a motorcyclist to react differently than a driver, thus it is more difficult for you to judge and to predict cues that may require the motorcyclist to take an evasive action.
  

What Are Some Situations When Crashes Are Most Likely to Occur?

• Car making a left turn: You are attempting a left turn in front of a motorcycle operator.
• Riding in your blind spot: A motorcyclist is riding in your blind spot and you may not see the motorcycle. Additionally, you may fail to adequately check blind spots before changing lanes or making turn.
• Hazardous road conditions: Potholes, wet leaves, railroad tracks and other road obstructions may dictate that a motorcyclist take an action that you may or may not.
• Obstructed line of sight: Large vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles, delivery vans, and large trucks may block a motorcycle from your view and the motorcyclist may seem to suddenly appear.
  

How Can I Become More Aware of Motorcyclists?

• Respect the motorcyclist: Remember the motorcycle is a vehicle with all of the privileges of any vehicle on the roadway. Give the motorcyclist a full lane of travel.
• Look out: Look for the motorcyclist at intersections, when a motorcyclist may be making a left turn, and on the highway, when a motorcyclist may be changing lanes. Clearly signal your intentions.
• Anticipate a motorcyclist's maneuver: Obstructions that you do not notice may be deadly for a motorcyclist. Predict evasive actions.
• Allow plenty of space: Don't follow a motorcycle too closely. Allow enough room for the motorcyclist to take evasive actions.

Part 183 - Avoiding Accidents on a Motorcycle... (",)

Avoiding Accidents on a Motorcycle

Tips to Help You Ride safely and Stay out of Trouble

Riding motorcycles can be a lot of fun, but it can be dangerous as well. Preparing yourself for some of the dangers is a great way to help prevent them from happening.

One of the biggest reasons people don't ride motorcycles is that they are simply afraid of having an accident and getting hurt, or worse, getting killed. While it's true that motorcycles are inherently dangerous, there are several things you as a rider can do to help avoid accidents. Most of the things you can (and should) do involve simply being aware of what is going on around you.

How to Stay Safer on a Motorcycle

1. Ride assuming that you and your motorcycle are totally invisible to motorists. Do not be paranoid and think that they are all out to get you, just pretend they don't see you.
2. Leave plenty of space in front and back and to the sides from all other vehicles. This is not always possible, but when you are forced to be close to other vehicles, you should always plan an "out."
3. Anticipate trouble situations and know what to do when you see them. It's not always easy to know what to do, but if it's on your mind constantly, you will be better prepared to deal with trouble if it comes.
4. Beware of motorists turning left in front of you at intersections. This is a leading cause of injuries to motorcycle riders. It is not always a case of not seeing you, sometimes it is a case of mis-judging the approach speed of the motorcycle.
5. Slow down as your motorcycle enters an intersection and be prepared to make an evasive maneuver if necessary. Watch from the sides, up front for left-turning cars, and behind you.
6. Never drink or take drugs and try to ride a motorcycle.
7. Don't ride if you are on medication that makes you sleepy. Read all warning labels of any meds you are taking before riding to make sure it is safe to do so.
8. Avoid riding at night, especially late Saturday night and early Sunday when drunken drivers may be on the road.
9. Beware of riding your motorcycle into sun glare.
10. Don't try to keep up with more experienced riders, even your friends. Know your personal limits.
11. Beware of taking curves that you can't see around. A parked truck or a patch of sand may be awaiting you.
12. Do not give in to road rage and try to "get even" with another rider or motorist.
13. If someone is tailgating you, either speed up to open more space or pull over and let them pass. In motorcycle vs. automobile accidents, the motorcycle almost always loses.

Important Tips to Remember:

1. Do not subscribe to the tactic of throwing something on the road behind you to warn a tailgater to back off.
2. Take a motorcycle safety course to learn what to look for to avoid accidents.
3. Wear protective clothing and a helmet in case you forget these tips and find yourself sliding across a concrete road on your backside.

Safely riding a motorcycle requires awareness and the ability to make instant decisions. Having some of these tips in mind while you ride will increase the likelihood of your being able to get yourself out of a situation that could otherwise be dangerous when faced unprepared.

Read more: http://motorcycles.suite101.com

Part 182 - Honda DN01 2009... (",)

Honda DN01 2009

Performance Horsepower (bhp): N/A bhp Torque (Ft Lbs): N/A lbs Redline RPM: N/A RPM	Exterior Body Material: Plastic Frame: Steel Hand Grip Material: Rubber
Transmission Number Of Speeds: 6 Transmission Brands: N/A Transmission Types: Continuously Variable (CVT)	Instrumentation Speedometer: Standard Tachometer: Standard Fuel Level Warning: Standard
Wheels Rear Wheel Diameter: 17 Front Wheel Width (in): N/A Rear Wheel Width (in): N/A	Bags & Storage Tank Bag: Not Available Saddle Bag(s): Not Available Lockable Storage: Not Available
Tires Front Tire Speed Rating: Z Rear Tire Speed Rating: Z Tire Brand: N/A	Fuel Economy US MPG (City): N/A US MPG (Combined): N/A US MPG (Hwy): N/A
Brakes Front Caliper Pistons: 3 Rear Caliper Pistons: 3 Rear Brake Rotor Width (mm): N/A	Suspension & Steering Front Suspension Brand: N/A Front Suspension Type: Telescopic Fork Rear Suspension Type: Single Sided Swing Arm
Seats Seat Height (mm): 690.9 Seat Material: Vinyl Seat Type: Two-Piece	Other Specs Fuel Capacity (gal): 4 Number Of Speakers: N/A Adjustable Handlebars: N/A

Source --> sportrider

Part 181 - Controlling Your Cornering Arc With The Throttle... (",)

Controlling Your Cornering Arc With The Throttle

By Lance Holst

Photography by Brian J. Nelson

When learning the basics of cornering, most riders begin with separate inputs in a consecutive order. For example: shut throttle, apply brake or brakes (for this column let's use only the front brake), downshift, steer into the corner. As we progress, these previously separate inputs overlap one another and sometimes occur simultaneously which smoothes the overall process and makes better use of the time we have to execute them.

We evolve to what Andrew Trevitt outlined in his Throttle-to-Brake Transition Riding Skills Series column in our January issue. Rather than first shutting the throttle, then reaching for the brake, then downshifting, then steering, we begin by shifting our body position to the inside just prior to smoothly applying the front brake lever while smoothly rolling off the throttle. As soon as we've scrubbed enough speed we begin blipping the throttle to match engine revs on our downshifts as early in the braking zone as possible so that as the corner approaches all of our attention can be focused on precisely setting our corner entrance speed and accurately choosing our turn-in point.

Here again, as we advance our riding technique and smooth our transitions, we slowly release brake lever pressure as we approach the turn-in point and trail off our braking as we increase our lean angle into the corner. This allows the front suspension to remain compressed which steepens the effective rake of the chassis geometry, which in turn allows it to turn in quicker, with less effort than with the fork extended. More importantly, it smoothes the weight transfer from front to rear and minimizes the changes in suspension stroke and chassis geometry. In other words, the fork transitions from its fully compressed state at or near the bottom of its stroke under maximum braking, to where it will settle under cornering load, likely somewhere between 70 to 80 percent of its travel (with fully extended defined as zero travel, fully compressed being 100 percent).

Sorry for the lengthy but necessary lead-in, but now that we've steered into the corner and set our lean angle, we arrive at the subject of this Riding Skills Series column: controlling our cornering arc with the throttle. Later on, we'll get to the most heroic (and most over-stated) example of throttle steering, which is skillfully and purposefully spinning up the rear tire to bring the back end of the bike around in what car drivers call oversteer. Oversteer occurs when the rear steps out, which causes the bike to turn tighter into the corner (hence the term oversteer) and requires a slight outward steering correction (often perplexingly described as steering into the skid) to keep from running off the inside of the corner. First, however, let's cover the more commonly applied use of the throttle in controlling the cornering arc when the wheels are kept in line with one another.

In my years teaching riders of widely varying abilities on tracks across the country and overseas, one of the key missed steps in advancing rider skill is getting comfortable using throttle application to control cornering arc while leaned over in a turn. As with all advanced skills, absolute smoothness is a requirement. Using the throttle as an on-off switch is sure to put you on your head faster than you can scream "What the H---!" Even with today's incredibly advanced traction control electronics that use GPS systems to allow teams to dial in the percentage of tire slippage on a corner-by-corner basis, the best riders in the world (Valentino Rossi and the handful of riders who are genuine rivals) use the throttle as a rheostat in almost infinitely small increments in both opening and closing the throttle. As we saw this past MotoGP season, the most talented of the new-comers from the 250 class, like the brilliant Jorge Lorenzo, can muster the trust to use modern electronics with brutal effectiveness to produce blinding speed, for a time, but eventually even Lorenzo's shooting star burned too brightly when he was repeatedly launched heavenward the several times that even the best Magneti Marelli magic couldn't save him. So the bottom line is that the fundamentals of smoothness still apply; electronics are no substitute for experience and ability.

In the real world for riders who ride with their wheels always aligned, the smooth use of the throttle while banked into a corner is an indispensible tool in precisely adjusting your line through a corner. Your bike's trajectory or curved path through a corner is primarily determined by two factors: your speed and your lean angle. Increasing lean angle quite obviously tightens your cornering line while increasing your speed has the opposite effect. In other words, once you've set your lean angle you can tighten your line by simply reducing your speed or widen your cornering arc by increasing it; without ever changing your lean angle. Keeping your engine rpm between 60 and 80 percent of redline also enhances its throttle response, though the higher rpm also demands greater smoothness.

As riders build their cornering confidence they focus most of their attention on lean angle; specifically, achieving ever increasing levels of it. In their quest for pushing the limits of lean, however, riders often find themselves needing to alter their line mid corner and panic often ensues. We tend to do a predictable number of things when we panic (we tense up, target fixate, slam the throttle shut and grab the brakes) and all of them hinder our ability to control a motorcycle. It's better to practice controlling our speed as well as our lean angle before panic sets in. As riders build their confidence in leaning their motorcycles it's important to gain experience in varying the throttle position as well

After steering into the corner while setting your corner speed by trailing off the brakes, there comes a point where you need to slightly open the throttle to neutral throttle, the point at which you maintain the desired speed, neither accelerating nor decelerating. If you don't crack open the throttle, the bike will continue to slow and corner at an ever-decreasing arc. This is caused by two factors: the first is that, lacking the centrifugal force of hard cornering, most bikes tend to continue to lean into the corner if the throttle isn't cracked open to arrest the lean; the second is that all other things being equal, simply slowing your speed tightens the cornering arc as well. Ironically, it's this situation--the feeling that the bike is falling into the corner--that triggers the panic reactions that many riders find the most difficult to overcome. The simple solution is to open the throttle to the point where it both arrests the lean angle and it increases the speed to the point of widening the cornering arc. As simple as this sounds, our instinctual panic responses are programmed to do the opposite: tense up, target fixate, close the throttle and grab the brakes. By either avoiding panic by increasing our speed and lean angle in small increments or reprogramming our ability to overcome panic when we feel it begin to take hold, we can keep ourselves out of trouble and in control.

The opposite situation is needing to tighten your cornering line while you're already at the lean angle limit that your confidence allows (note that for most but not all riders, this limit is below that of the maximum lean angle that either the cornering clearance of the chassis or the traction of the tires allow). Here is where the need for sublime smoothness on the controls is most needed. The degree of input while rolling out of the throttle to tighten your line is only a few percentage points of the quarter-turn available. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that neutral throttle is 17 percent of the total throttle opening. If you're nearing the physical limitations of the chassis, simply shutting the throttle completely could overwhelm the available traction by transferring more load to the front contact patch than the tire can handle. In this admittedly rare but critical instance you need to have the feel to relax the twist grip perhaps as little as two or three (or at most five to seven) percentage points of available throttle angle to tighten your cornering line. That slight reduction of throttle will transfer the bike's weight distribution forward, subtly compressing the fork and increasing the front tire's contact patch, both of which enhance the bike's ability to steer into the corner. These factors, in addition to the slight reduction of corner speed all combine to tighten your cornering line. Too much reduction in throttle, however, and the fork could compress to the point of compromising cornering clearance or overwhelming the available traction of the front tire.

Delicate applications of either the front or rear brake can also be used but that's a subject for another column.

However it's done, it's a delicate balance best executed with a calm, practiced touch which brings us back to advancing in gradual increments with equal awareness in how lean angle as well as throttle position effect our ability to adjust cornering lines in those perilous mid-corner moments that life can throw at us.

From --> sportrider

Part 180 - Bullet 500 Military, A Unique Motorcycle... (",)

Bullet 500 Military

Description

The rugged Military model has seen extended duty on several fronts over the years and is now a prize for military enthusiasts throughout the world.

This highly unusual motorcycle is painted olive drab and comes standard with metal panniers (saddle bags) and engine bars, a unique look that harkens back to World War II.

Unique Features

• New aluminum alloy Lean-Burn engine
• A complete military look harkening back to WWII
• Metal panniers (saddlebags) and engine bars standard
• Improved for higher speeds, better handling
• Now more environmentally friendly with lower emissions and increased fuel economy

Cast-iron engine shown here. Lean-Burn AVL engine now standard.


SPECIFICATION...

Engine	Four Stroke, OHV
Bore & Stroke	8.4 cm x 9.0 cm
Cubic Capacity	499 cc
Compression Ratio	8.5 to 1
Engine Output/Torque	23 BHP @ 5500 RPM
Electrical	12 volts
Ignition	Electronic
Lubrication	Dry Sump Gear-Type
Clutch	Multi-plate, Oil-immersed
Transmission	5 Speed, Constant Mesh
Gear Shift	Lever-Operated 1 Down & 4 Up
Suspension - Front	Telescopic Hydraulic
Suspension - Rear	Twin Shock Absorbers
Brakes- Front	Twin Lead - Drum 7”
Brakes- Rear	Drum 6” Pedal-operated (right side)
Tires - Front	3.25 x 19
Tires - Rear	3.50 x 19
Tank Capacity	3.8 gallons
Reserve	0.33 gallons
Fuel Consumption	75 mpg
Dimension - L x W x B	82.25 x 27.25 x 41.5 in
Wheel Base	53.5 inches
Ground Clearance	5.5 inches
Seat Height	30 inches
Maximum Speed	75 mph
Dry Weight	370 lbs

Part 179 - FIM changes the rules for `09 & `10... (",)

FIM changes the rules for `09 & `10

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix

- Changes to the 2009 Regulations -

The Grand Prix Commission, composed of Messrs. Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna, Chairman), Claude Danis (FIM), Hervé Poncharal (IRTA) and Takanao Tsubouchi (MSMA), in the presence of Messrs Vito Ippolito (FIM President), Ignacio Verneda (FIM Sport Director), Javier Alonso (Dorna) and M. Paul Butler (Secretary of the meeting), in a meeting held on March 28 in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), decided to introduce the following amendments to the Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations.
MotoGP Class

For immediate application

1. Engine restriction from Czech Republic Grand Prix included

a) A rider can use a maximum of 5 engines until the end of the Championship.

b) New engines have to be sealed before use (practices, warm up, race).

c) A new engine will be deemed to have been used when the motorcycle exits the pit lane.

d) All used engines will have the exhaust ports additionally sealed at the end of each event.

e) A sealed engine can be reused at any time.

f) The penalty for using an unauthorized engine will be a deduction of 10 points from the total point of the Championship ranking of the rider concerned.

2. 2009-2010 tests
8 days in total. Venues and days will be announced.

3. Ceramic composite materials shall not be permitted for brake discs and pads.

4. Any pressurized hydraulic powered system is not allowed. Also engine lubricating oil cannot be used for any other purpose.

5. Electronic controlled suspension shall not be permitted.

6. EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) shall not be permitted.

7. Testing with non-contracted riders is allowed at any track, at any time, but it is subject to the following limitations:

a) Only tyres coming from the Tyre Supplier are allowed, and not more than 240pcs. per Manufacturer can be used from the 1st of January to the 31st of December including after-race tests.

b) After the MotoGP season has started, testing before a race included in the MotoGP Championship is limited to 2 tracks, and no later than 14 days prior to the race.

8. Testing for contracted riders:

a) Contracted riders are allowed to 2 after-race tests. The tyres used by the contracted riders will not be counted.

b) The winter test ban will be extended up to January 31st.

For 2010

1. Only one machine can be used during each MotoGP event.

2. A rider can use a maximum of 6 engines for the entire Championship.

3. A new event schedule will be announced.

4. Carbon composite front brake discs must be of one diameter only and two types of mass. The diameter will be 320mm only.

5. The maximum fuel injection pressure is 10 Bar.

6. MMC (Metal Matrix Composite) & FRM (Fiber Matrix Material) shall not be permitted.

7. Temperature sensor for the tyre will not be permitted.

8. From 2010 to 2012, the rim width shall be limited to 2 sizes for front and 1 size for rear for each manufacturer. Wheels diameter shall be limited to 16.5 inches only.

9. Variable exhaust system shall not be permitted.

10. Variable Valve Timing system and Variable Valve Lift system powered by electric and/or liquid, shall not be permitted.

11. Connecting rod shall not be a hollow structure but less than 2mm oil pass tunnel is permitted.

12. Twin clutch system (known as DSG) shall not be permitted.

13. Automatic transmission shall not be permitted. But manual transmission assisted by small force shall be permitted.

14. Consecutive Variable Transmission shall not be permitted.

15. Only DORNA can supply GPS unit just for entertainments such as TV broadcasting, which can’t connect to CPU unit by any kind of system.

16. Electric/electronic steering damper system shall not be permitted.

17. Minimum weight of motorcycle shall be the existing one + 2 kg. (ex: 150 kg for 4 cylinders).

18. Only 5 persons can work on the machine in the pits.

19. Riders who enter the Championship for the first time (Rookies) must be entered by a non factory Team.

Moto2 class

MSMA unanimously proposed “One Make Engine Regulation”. Manufacturers will be consulted to know if they are interested.

About FIM

FIM (WWW.FIM-LIVE.COM), the world governing body for motorcycle sport, is an independent association formed by 98 National Federations throughout the world. It is recognized as the sole competent authority in motorcycle sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Among its 49 FIM World Championships its main events are MotoGP, Superbike, Endurance, Motocross, Supercross, Trial, Enduro and Speedway. FIM also deals with non-sporting matters such as leisure motorcycling, mobility, transport, road safety and public policy and the environment, FIM was the first International sporting Federation to enforce an Environmental Code in 1994.

From a press release issued by the FIM.