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Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 |
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Posted 02:00:00 PM
Filed under Ideas Safety
Author: Mike Werner | Location: Normandy, France |
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You'd have thought that almost anything that can increase our safety on a motorcycle has already been invented, but you'd be wrong. Two bright motorcycle riders in the USA have come up with a great safety product that will not cost you a fortune, nor hours spent installing it.
Currently a Kickstarter project looking for funding (help them out by donating a few bucks), Vololights  is a smartly designed product that can, and probably will, save you from being rear-ended. It has always been one of my fears when riding my motorcycle; when you decelerate your bike by just letting go of the throttle, or by downshifting, your motorcycle slows down faster than a car would, but with no warning to car drivers.
If the car driver is not paying attention, like most of them don't, your sudden deceleration will catch them by surprise, and boooom, before you know it at the very least they'll kiss your rear end. It might sound dirty to you, but it's super dangerous. Many motorcycles have found themselves in the ditch,or worse, because the car behind them didn't see them decelerating.
The Vololights is a license plate that replaces your current one. It is attached to your bike's 12V power and no further electrical or mechanical intervention is required. The reason? Because the Vololights has an onboard accelerometer (in fact,it has three of them), which when it finds that your are decelerating, will flash the brake lights twice every second. But when you hit the brakes, the lights will flash 5 times per second.
In other words, the Vololights will tell a car driver behind you that your motorcycle is slowing down, even when you are not braking. It's the motorcycle that does the work, not you, a first in motorcycle history. The intensity of the brake lights flashing will tell the drivers behind you who strongly you are stopping.
The installation is simple; replace your old license plate with the Vololights, use the supplied magnet to calibrate the accelerometer (done only once), and you are in business.
Currently they have only one license plate on the drawing board that will fit regulations in 47 out of the 50 states in the USA. For international usage, you'll need to check if the dimensions will fit your bike and your country's regulations, or wait until they start making international ones. If motorcycle manufacturers were to use their brains, they would see the writing on the wall and contact the two guys.
Here's the video introducing the project:
Click here to access the Vololights Kickstarter page (pledge some money)
Click here to access the Vololights website .
Click here to access the Vololights Facebook page .
(Thanks Jesse Szynal for the tip)
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Technorati :Braking Crowd-Funding Kickstarter License Plate Lights Motorbikes Motorcycles Safety
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Posted 08:00:00 AM
Filed under Ecology Electrical France Statistics
Author: Mike Werner | Location: Normandy, France |
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After a recent study of the French market in 2012, the survey shows that the French as a nation support in rather large numbers the use of electric or hybrid cars and motorcycles.
A survey conducted of some 2,000 people shows that 38% of them would purchase a hybrid vehicle if they had the financial means to do so. That's 15% up over the previous year. 18% of the surveyed said they'd like to purchase an electrical vehicles, up over 2011 when that figure was only 8%.
Diesel mania has dropped significantly over 2011, going from 45% to 20% (thanks to reports that diesel is very dangerous for our health), while normal gas guzzling vehicles went from 15% to 9%.
The study was for "purchase intent", not actual purchase, since diesel remains the number one choice for cars (70% of all new vehicles).
But the numbers are encouraging. More and more people will want to buy hybrid or electrical motorcycles (and cars), it's just become a price issue, which over time will hopefully change.
Via: AVEM
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Technorati :Ecological Electric France Motorbikes Motorcycles Purchase Statistics Survey
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Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 |
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Posted 06:00:00 PM
Filed under Ads Safety
Author: Mike Werner | Location: Normandy, France |
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Hmmm.. interesting. Here's a public service announcement coming from India, trying to keep riders and drivers focused on the road. They've got several ads, cars and motorcycle, and in the nicely-done graphics, they show what the driver is thinking.
"Obviously" the motorcycle rider is thinking about his Girlfriend, while the car drivers are thinking about the Boss and the Husband.....
It's true, that especially when riding a motorcycle, better keep 100% of your focus on the road and not let you mind wander off.
The two other ads are:
- Boss
- Husband
Via: Ads of the World
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Technorati :Ad India Motorbikes Motorcycles Safety
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Monday, May 20th, 2013 |
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Posted 06:00:00 PM
Filed under Special-Bikes Video Feeds
Author: Mike Werner | Location: Travelling |
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If ever the famous and notorious Red Baron would have had a motorcycle, this one would have been it. It's a custom made chopper, using a real aircraft engine, in this case a Radial Aircraft Engine .
You should have a look at the video below, and TURN UP THE VOLUME. This is one engine you'll want to hear purr away. Amazing. I'd say the motorcycle has an enormous torque, but also that it's very heavy. The little propeller is just a gag.
The video is part of an article from the German motorcycle magazine Motorrad , and the builder and chopper are in Germany (the chopper's name is Red Baron). But even if they talk a bit in German, and some of the text is in German, it doesn't remove any of the fun. Have a look.
Of course it's the not first time a radial aircraft engine was used on a motorcycle, quite a lot of them have been made in the past (including one driven by Jay Leno). Click here to have a look at many other radial engine motorcycles .
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Technorati :Airplane Chopper Custom Germany Motorbikes Motorcycles Strange Video
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Posted 02:00:00 PM
Filed under France Safety
Author: Mike Werner | Location: Travelling |
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Here's an interesting site developed by the Prevention Routiere et Assureurs Prevention, an organization for the prevention of accidents funded by insurance companies. The site, called MotoPrev (as in Motorcycle Prevention) is like a video game without the controls. It shows you how and when motorcycle accidents happen. It allows you to identify areas where you may be in danger.
There are 7 main areas, and each area loads a video (using high quality animated graphics) which you can view from either the motorcycle's point of view, satellite/above/God view or the car's view. There's at the end also an explanation, but it's in French (as is the whole site).
Motorcycle View:
Above/God View:
Car View:
Even if you don't read French, it's still interesting to see.
The 7 main areas are:
- The Stop
- Loss of Control
- Overtaking
- Lane Change
- Upcoming Car
- Sudden Braking
- Pedestrians
Each scenario has a different motorcycle. The graphics are nicely done, the motorcycle's point of view is like if you're actually riding a motorcycle. As explanations go, it's a great way of showing (new) riders what to watch out for.
Click here to see the MotoPrev site .
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Technorati :France Graphics Motorbikes Motorcycles Safety Video
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