| 16 May, 2013 - Pakistan: And Why Do You Think There Is Fraud In Elections? | #Elections #Fraud #Pakistan - People sometimes (okay, often) wonder why there's fraud in elections, and how it's possible. The
answer is quite simple: because we make it possible!
Transporting the ballot boxes like this on a motorcycle is spelling trouble.... or in any vehicle, in bags.
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| 13 May, 2013 - India: Bajaj Wins Patent Court Case Against LML - 7 Year Struggle | #Bajaj #LML #India - Italian scooter manufacturer LML and Indian manufacturer Bajaj have been at odds for the last seven years, and slugging it out in court. The reason? Bajaj have been granted a patent for an intake system for two stroke engines which improves fuel efficiency and reduce emissions, two much sought-after technologies in today's world.
LML have been claiming that the patent granted to Bajaj was not new, just a minor improvement over existing technology. The Indian courts disagreed, but it took 7 years of, probably very boring, testimonies to come to that conclusion.
Bajaj is over the moon, and LML will challenge the ruling. I think the only real winners were the lawyers.
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| 9 May, 2013 - Spain: Government Kills Biker, Then Balks At Paying Damages | #Spain #Court #Compensation - You know that government rarely have the best interest of its citizens in mind. Usually the contrary, as long as they can get rich and/or more powerful, and when they do get caught doing something they shouldn't, or should, they pretend that it wasn't their fault. It's what has been going wrong in the world lately, and you can see that citizens are revolting against it. Enough is enough.
The latest abuse/mis-actions can be seen in Spain. Back in 2007, a Spanish motorcycle rider lost control of his motorcycle because of the potholes in the motorway. The road is that bad that when hitting one of the holes it means the biker can easily get ejected from his bike, which is what happened. This was not a city road, but a motorway, so speeds are higher, and you have less time to react.
More bad luck for the unfortunate motorcyclist, he hit the guardrail which was one of the old, and very unsafe, rails, killing the biker on the spot:..........
...........Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 3 May, 2013 - The Netherlands: Odometer Rollback Now Illegal - You Mean It Was Allowed? | #Odometer #Rollback #Fraud - The Dutch have gotten a new King, and it looks like they also got some common sense. Last week the Dutch politicians managed to vote on a new law that makes odometer rollback illegal. Odometer rollback is when unscrupulous motorcycle dealers (or private people) rollback the bike's odometer, therefore making it look like there's less mileage on it, thereby raising the price.
In most countries this is an illegal, often criminal, activity, but not in The Netherlands, and it will remain "legal" until January 2014 when the law becomes active...........
...........Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 8 April, 2013 - India: TVS Motor And BMW To Make Joint-Venture? | #India #BMW #TVS - TVS Motor, India's fourth motorcycle manufacturer, is looking at an expected tie-up with German BMW. KTM are heavy into Bajaj (actually, it's Bajaj who is into KTM), and the partnership/relationship is working fine, so it makes sense for BMW to look for a partner in India.
The alliance would call for a technology collaboration, manufacturing of motorcycles and distribution.
TVS have a range of small displacement motorcycles, typically in the 160 to 180 cc range and are looking to produce more premium motorcycles, while BMW needs better access to the blossoming Indian market...........
...........Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 25 March, 2013 - Spain: GasGas and Ossa To Jointly Make Motorcycles | #Ossa #GasGas - Spanish GasGas motorcycles are famous the world over for their trial and off-road bikes, and Ossa, a company founded in 1924 (and stopped in 1982) by the former MotoGP star rider's grandfather, Sete Gibernau, are going to make motorcycle together.
Ossa was reborn a few years ago (2009) and has been hammering away trying to make their products sell in an increasingly competitive and difficult market, while GasGas had already been expanding with a factory in Brazil and more to come (talks are for another Latin-America country and one in Asia).
The joint factory for GasGas and Ossa will be using the current GasGas factory in Salt (Girona area) of Spain...........
...........Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 14 March, 2013 - UK: 1000s Of Speeding Fines To Be Binned Due To Wrong Font Used | Sometimes, rare I admit it, you got to love lawyers. In the UK, on a stretch of road on the M42 motorway, the Highways Agency has been using the wrong font for their variable speed limits.
The electronic signs that got placed there in 2006 signal different speed limits according to road conditions and traffic. And there lies the problem: the font used for the electronic signs was too narrow, or at least, not in compliance with the standards set in 2002.
In the mean time, thousands of cars and motorcycles have been fined, and the lawyers want these fines squashed...........
...........Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 25 February, 2013 - The Netherlands: 2012-More Motorcycle Riders, Many More Female | The community of motorcycle riders in The Netherlands has expanded quite a lot last year. During 2012 31,500 cloggies (=Dutch people) got their precious motorcycle license, an increase of 18% over 2011. Half of the new bikers are under the age of 24.
The most interesting statistics is that 50% of the under 24 year old new motorcycle riders are female. So more and more girls are taking to riding their own motorcycle, which is a good thing.
The reason for the sudden increase in the number of people taking a motorcycle license... on January 19th, a new motorcycle license law came into effect in Europe, making it impossible for younger riders to go directly to bigger displacement bikes. Younger riders need to progressively move to larger displacement motorcycles, so many wanted to go directly to the big bikes license.
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| 20 February, 2013 - India: Now Victory Motorcycles To Enter India | Are there still any motorcycle manufacturers out there that haven't started selling in India or at least announced that they are planning to? Almost any self-respecting manufacturer has decided to enter this mega market. The last one to make their intentions known that they want to sell their high-end motorcycles is Polaris with their Victory Motorcycles brand.
Polaris are not an unknown name in India, since they sell ATVs, but it'll be a first for Victory. Apparently the Victory motorcycles will be shipped to India, not built there (CBU - Completely Built Unit). Any unit that is not manufactured in India faces enormous import duties (about 110%), so much so that you can expect the already expensive motorcycle to double in price before it reaches the customer's hands...........
...........Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 23 January, 2013 - Kevin Ash, Motorcycle Journalist For The Telegraph Dies At BMW Launch | It's one of those articles which I hate to read. Any motorcyclist who dies while riding is one too many, but when it hits a fellow colleague, it brings home the often deadly consequences when riding a motorcycle.
Kevin Ash, a long term (20 years) motorcycle journalist for the UK based The Daily Telegraph died on the road in South Africa while attending the press launch for the new BMW motorcycle.
Details are still sketchy since the police are currently investigating the accident, but unfortunately Kevin is dead. Tony Gallagher, Editor, The Daily Telegraph, said: “Kevin Ash was the doyen of motorcycle correspondents. Respected throughout journalism and the motorcycle trade, he was also one of our most admired motoring columnists and will be greatly missed by both Telegraph staff and readers. Our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family at this difficult and sad time.”
You will have noticed I had used many of Kevin's articles in my Friday afternoon roundups.
He'll be missed. RIP.
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| 15 January, 2013 - USA: Woman Fired Because Hubby Was In Biker Gang | Talk about discrimination, bigots and perceptions.. Melissa Summerson works in the city of of Kingman (North Arizona) as human resource technician, and she's been doing that for 11 years. But recently she got fired, and not because she was bad at her job, or got drunk on the job, or took pay-offs.... no, she got fired because her husband is a member of the Desert Roadriders motorcycle club...........
...........Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 15 January, 2013 - Italy: Rome Send €725 Clean-up Bill To Dead Biker’s Mother | There are times in one's life that you just shake your head in dismay, pickup your .357 and start shooting. This is one of those cases.
In 2009, a 15 year old kid crashed his scooter in Rome, and died while hitting a lamp post. On a side note, the lamp post was placed there illegally and since then has been removed and the people involved in placing the post are being investigated for involuntary manslaughter.
But that did not stop the city to send the dead kid's mother a bill for cleaning the blood of the street for €725. Heartless b*stards...........
...........Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 11 December, 2012 - Egypt: Motorcycle Against Tank | Several years ago in China, we saw man against tank, now in Egypt, we see motorcycles against tanks. Scary stuff.
They don't seem to catch a break there.
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| 27 November, 2012 - Colombia: No More Male Motorcycle Pillions Allowed | Wow, talk about drastic measures. In Colombia apparently there's a lot of thieves working on motorcycles. Pillions rip handbags out of the hands of old ladies walking to church, and ride off in the sunset with the loot.
To stop the expanding crime, the 10 mayors of the Aburra Valley area have decided that starting November 30th, for a period of 2 months, no motorcycle is allowed to carry male pillions. According to statistics, 20% of thefts are done by motorcycle riders and 17% of homicides were also performed by armed pillions...........
...........Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 21 November, 2012 - Europe: 3 Motorcycle-Related Laws Coming Into Play | The European Parliament has passed three laws specific to the motorcycle world yesterday. They are all positive, but with some negative news.
The three laws are on the following topics:
1. 100+ (74kW) limitation of motorcycles
2. Mandatory ABS
3. Euro4 and Euro5 polution norms
...........Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 15 October, 2012 - Japan: Tsunami Damaged Motorcycles Galore | Just look at what a tsunami can do to lives and properties ... and it's not only those that get damaged, but also motorcycles.
Frightening what nature can do to us.
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| 3 September, 2012 - The Netherlands: 1%er May No Longer Be Allowed To Escort Funerals | Talk about double standards. Some parts of the Dutch political parties, in this case the socialist PVDA, want to make illegal the escorting of funerals of 1%er by 1%ers. In other words, when one of their own 1%er gang dies, the other members would not be allowed to escort the deceased to their funeral (if the law is passed, which isn't the case ... yet).
The reason cited by the politicians is that the funeral procession has got nothing to do with honoring a fallen comrade but more "flying the flag", or "showing the colors".
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| 23 August, 2012 - A Honda Pan European Clone - Cheap - CF Moto | Many Chinese motorcycle manufacturers will clone successful motorcycles without any hesitation, copying most details of the original bike. One of these manufacturers is CF Moto, who are known to have unbashfully copied the Kawasaki ER-6N. Now they are trying their hands on the very successful Honda STX1300 Pan-European......
.....Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 10 July, 2012 - South Africa: Great Idea! Police Confiscate Mobile Phones | This is a great idea that the police have had in Cape Town, South Africa. There, like anywhere else in the world, many motorist drive their cages while talking on their mobile phone. Distracted as they are, they are a menace to all, especially motorcycle riders.
Most countries will fine you when caught. But not in Cape Town. There the cops just take away your mobile phone, and you can come and get it back 24 hours later .....
Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 9 July, 2012 - BMW Motorcycles To Marry TVS? | India's 4th motorcycle manufacturer, TVS Motors, is looking into a tie-up with the German giant BMW.
After KTM and Bajaj, is it now the turn of BMW and TVS?
Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 3 July, 2012 - What A Surreal Picture, Spooky | This photo really got my attention when I saw it in the streams of photos I look at each day. It's so surreal, with the motorcycle "floating" on the water. Amazing shot...
It's a pity the circumstances that prompted the photo to be taken were not so nice.
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| 13 June, 2012 - Biker Caught Doing 193 MPH On NY Highway - In The Rain | This guy has either got the skills of Valentino Rossi, balls of steel, or he's dumber than dogshit, or both. 28 year old Anthony Anderson from Poughkeepsie was caught speeding by a state trooper in upstate New York, doing 193 mph (311 kph) on his Suzuki motorcycle. To make matters worse, it was raining (even MotoGP guys slow down when it rains).
He was travelling at the speed of light on the southbound Interstate 87.
Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 30 May, 2012 - Motorcyclist Teeth Knocked Out By A ..... Golf Ball | The stuff of nightmares. A female motorcycle rider was hit, while she was riding, but an out-of-control golf ball from a golfer at hole 14.
The golf ball hit her square in her mouth, wrecking several teeth.
Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 26 March, 2012 - Dangerous Escorting VIPs Using Motorcycles | It's looking more and more that police who escort VIPs using their motorcycles are in danger.
What used to be a glamour job, high profile, can now get you injured or killed. Or is it just that the media are more interesting in these kind of accidents?
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| 12 March, 2012 - Audi To Buy Ducati? | It looks like it might not be Volkswagen, nor Hero MotoCorp, who will buy Ducati motorcycles, but the high-tech car manufacturer Audi.
Audi have inked a deal with Ducati, giving them until mid April to close the deal....
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| 28 February, 2012 - Utah To Abolish DUI Roadblocks | It's amazing if you consider the previous article ()...Utah is going to ban the police from setting up roadblocks to search for motorists who have been drinking and driving their cars or motorcycles.
The proposed law changes would make roadblocks authorized only if the authorities obtain a search warrant.
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| 22 February, 2012 - Hero MotoCorp Partners With Erik Buell Racing | World's largest motorcycle manufacturer, the India based Hero MotoCorp, has partnered with USA based Erik Buell Racing. Erik Buell was well known for his revolutionary motorcycle designs when the Buell brand was part of Harley-Davidson. But a few years back, Harley closed the Buell brand, and Erik Buell set up his motorcycle design shop. Last year, Hero ended the 26 year partnership with Honda.
Now he will be supporting the Indian brand in the design of their future models using his cutting edge technology.
So do not be surprised to see very new and advanced motorcycles next year coming from Hero.
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| 9 February, 2012 - Switzerland: Motorcycle Riding To Be Put In The Constitution | There is a movement going on in Switzerland to have motorcycle riding put officially in the constitution. It sounds pretty strange, but what the motorcycle groups are trying to do is make motorcycle riding a "normalized" form of transportation, guaranteed by the constitution.
The movement comes from a group of illuminated politicians, assisted by the motorcycle lobby groups.
The proposed constitution change will allow people to make the free choice of transportation vehicles, allow lane splitting, riding in the bus lanes, and for cities to have sufficient parking spots.
It should also mention that using motorcycles is an efficient way of transportation.
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| 28 December, 2011 - You Took The Wrong Road, Mate | You shouldn't have taken that road with your motorcycle, just the wrong place, the wrong time...
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| 26 December, 2011 - Miracle: Motorcycle Rescued Alive After Explosion | It's one of those articles we love to read, especially during the festive season, when a disaster hits somewhere in the world, and a miracle occurs - a motorcycle is rescued out of the debris of a collapsed building, ALIVE.
Unfortunately, 13 people died during the explosion of a pipeline.
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| 6 December, 2011 - Europe: IMCO Vote on Type Approval Legislation | FEMA tells us that the European Parliament are putting things in place to make our lives much more difficult when riding a motorcycle.
Maybe they have a few good points, but the bad points far outweigh the good ones.
Here's the press statement from FEMA.
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| 6 December, 2011 - France: President Sarkozy Does Not Like Bikers | President Nicolas Sarkozy has last week declared war on many things, but most importantly, on motorcycle riders.
He has announced several drastic, and often stupid, measures, like mandatory breathalyzers in every car in France starting next spring..
But the worst was his statement on motorcycle riders. He's convinced that bikers are the reason so many people die on the French roads. He calls them "Human Bombs"!!
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| 29 November, 2011 - Vietnam: Using Fishnets To Stop Motorcycles | Interesting, but very dangerous, way of stopping speeding motorcycle in Vietnam....
...Throw a fishnet over the rear tire!!!
I prefer the solution in the photo..
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| 23 November, 2011 - New York: Police Throw Scooters At OWS Protesters | Over the last few weeks, I've lost all respect I had for the boys in blue in New York.
Between failing to handle the OWS protests properly (a bit like what's happening in Egypt now), and the way they deal with motorcycles, it's no wonder they are as unpopular as ever before.
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| 21 November, 2011 - New York: Judge Approves Discrimination Against Motorcycles | A judge has decreed that the New York police are allowed to discriminate against motorcycle riders.
It's in our own interest! And then they wonder why judges, politicians and cops are so unpopular.
Time for judges and cops to get their collective heads out of each other's asses.
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| 16 November, 2011 - Brazil: Police Confiscate and Crush Motorcycles - Drug War | The Brazilian police have declared a war on the crime syndicates in Rio de Janeiro (before the World Soccer Cup and the 2016 Olympics).
They did this by crushing motorcycles with their tanks,and those that escaped the crushing, were confiscated.
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| 20 October, 2011 - Yemen: What A Shitty Way To Go On A Motorcycle | It's probably not the best way to go on a motorcycle, but at least they are trying to save the man's life.
They can't call for an ambulance, since the ambulances work for the tyrannic government, the same that shot the man.
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| 19 October, 2011 - European Motorcyclists Say NO To Mandatory Technical Inspections | FEMA has handed over a petition with 110,000 signatures to try to stop the mandatory technical inspections on motorcycles.
Statistics show that only 0.3% of all accidents is due to technical failure, so it makes no sense, and will cost the motorcycle owner money.
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| 4 October, 2011 - Germany: Hells Angels Banned From Frankfurt | Germany has banned two chapters of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang from Frankfurt, and seized all their assets.
But nobody was arrested! Sound like harassment to me...
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| 28 September, 2011 - BMW Dealers To Sell Scottoiler | BMW have signed an agreement with Scottoiler, the system we reviewed a few weeks ago that automatically lubricates/oils your motorcycle's chain, for an exclusive distribution of their system by BMW for BMW motorcycles.
The motorcycles covered by this agreement are the BMW F800GS, F650GS and F800R models, each with their own set of installation instructions.
The product will have a BMW logo on it...
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| 13 September, 2011 - Video: Lucky Biker - Saved From Under Burning Car | An incredibly lucky motorcycle rider, despite his unluck in having an accident.
He ended up under a car in flames, but some people went up, and despite the danger to them, lifted the car, and pulled him from under the car.
Incredible brave! Here's the video.
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| 12 September, 2011 - Boobs On Bikes Cancelled Due To Rugby | The now famous motorcycle parade in Auckland, New Zealand, "Boobs on Bikes" - a parade of topless strippers on motorcycles - got cancelled due to pressure from the people.
The parade was going to be held at the same time the World Rugby Cup match between their national team, the All Blacks, and France's national team was going to be played. People wanted a family environment, and topless strippers on motorcycles was not the way to go.
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| 25 August, 2011 - Next Target: Hells Angels Sue Amazon | The Hells Angels are on the war path, again. Nope, it's not some criminal activity, or speeding, or whatever sees them on the evening news, but they are again fighting for their trademarked name and logo. And this time, after going after several high profile companies, they have targeted Amazon for one stupid (and very FUGLY) t-shirt.
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| 9 August, 2011 - New Old Motorcycle Manufacturer, Or An Old New One? | A new company was launched after Honda pulled out of Hero Honda in India.
Now called Hero MotoCorp (not exactly a creative name, but it builds on name recognition), the company starts life as an elephant, with a projected sales of $10 BILLION in the next 5 years, and 12 million motorcycles to be manufactured per year.
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| 29 July, 2011 - Norway: Biker Gangs Call Truce, Pay Tribute To Massacre Dead | The main 1%-er biker gangs in Norway called for a truce in order to organize a massive motorcycle parade to pay tribute to the young kids killed in the Norway massacre of last week.
Organized via Facebook, even the motorcycle police took part.
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| 8 July, 2011 - Motorcycles: Germany Gets It, France Does Not | On one side, we have Germany, with a Transport Minister who understands motorcycle riders, and has reduced the minimum dimensions for license plates, and on the other side we have France, where the Minister of Interior hates motorcycles, and is trying to increase license plates dimensions.
So what happened to the unified and uniform Europe? Only when it suits you.... right?
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| 29 June, 2011 - UK: Want To Get Your Motorcycle License? Dress Appropriately | Starting the 1st of July 2011, the UK's agency that tests you for your motorcycle license, the Driving Standards Agency, will refuse candidates who do not have appropriate motorcycle clothing.
They've issued a list of what you must haven and what they will refuse, like no sneakers...
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| 21 June, 2011 - Europe: Confusion With Motorcycle Licenses | ACEM are pointing out some facts about the unified European motorcycle license that is going wrong in Europe.
What is supposed to be a uniform motorcycle training and license, is becoming chaotic, and member states are doing whatever they want to do, with some very damaging consequences.
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| 7 June, 2011 - UK: Want Motorcycle Insurance? No Pillion Then | One of world's biggest, and the UK top, insurance companies, Aviva, will not insure you on many motorcycle models, if you are planning to take a pillion with you.
And it's not only sportsbike that are involved, even some off-road models.
Now if that's not discrimination, I don't know what is...
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| 24 May, 2011 - Maybe Loud Pipes Save Lives, But They Will Cost you | A guy in Canada, who was fed up with the sound level of some motorcycle in his neighborhood, made a device that records sound levels from vehicles, video tapes them, and can sound out an automatic fine to the owner of the vehicle.
Calgary, Canada is testing out the system for wide use.
Another quick way for governments to get money? France should be very interested in the system...
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| 23 May, 2011 - This Is All That Is Left Over Of A Motorcycle Bomb | Motorcycle bombs... scary! Here's all that's left over after a motorcycle bomb went of in Thailand (11 people were injured). All you can tell from what is left is that the motorcycle was red, single cylinder and probably a 125cc.
Anyone able to determine what make & model it was?
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| 2 May, 2011 - Statement From Paul Bird - Kawasaki SuperBike Team | After the Kawasaki SuperBike Team trucks were found to contain drugs and a weapon, and 4 members of the Paul Bird Motorsport Team were arrested, Paul Bird has issued the following statement.
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| 2 May, 2011 - Kawasaki SuperBike Team Arrested For Drug Smuggling | The Kawasaki SuperBike Team, racing under the Paul Bird Motorsport Team, got stopped by British Customs/Border Agency and was found to have a lot of drugs and a loaded weapon on board of the trucks.
4 people were arrested (drivers and mechanics). From now on, all motorcycle and Formula One teams will receive a close inspection by customs.
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| 20 April, 2011 - Advantage Of Ducati/AMG Tie-up For One Person | Looks like Nicky Hayden is making full use of the Ducati/Mercedes AMG tie-up.... He just took delivery of a brand new Mercedes AMG CLS 63... a very fast car.
But is it as fast as his Ducati motorcycle? And when will he receive his first speeding ticket?
Lucky Nicky...
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| 4 April, 2011 - Belgium: Government To Put Motorcycle Taxi In Place | A first? In Belgium, a country without a government, the temporary government is putting in place licenses for motorcycle taxis in Brussels.
Aimed at shaving off 50% of the journey time in the city, with enormous daily traffic jams, it's good to see a government that see motorcycle taxis are a solution, not a problem.
Already the first company has a web presence, and will be using Hybrid Piaggio MP3 scooter.
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| 30 March, 2011 - France: Radar Equipped Motorcycles This Year | The French government has found another very effective way of parting us from our hard earned money. They are planning this year to equip several unmarked motorcycles with onboard digital radars and cameras to catch us speeding.
There's no way you can see them, and even worse, next year, the motorcycles can photograph you on opposing lanes.
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| 30 March, 2011 - The Netherlands: Point System For Driving Licenses Coming? | The Dutch government are into NIHS (Not Invented Here Syndrome). The are looking at applying a very repressive license point system. Get caught twice in a period of 5 years, and your riding license is gone for 6 months. No matter if it's in a car, your motorcycle license is gone as well.
Other countries in Europe are looking at easing the penalties since now there are many people without a license but still on the road (and therefore no insurance).
One day a politician will be born that actually uses brains...
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| 24 March, 2011 - Russian President Joins Biker Gang | The President of Russia, all-round macho man, Vladimir Putin, after visiting with the Serbian President, put on his leathers and joined up with a local motorcycle gang, the Night Wolves.
Scary man...
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| 24 March, 2011 - ACEM: New President, BMW Replaces KTM CEO | ACEM, the European motorcycle manufacturer's association, has replaced the current KTM CEO with the current BMW Motorrad CEO.
Lots of work to be done...
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| 24 March, 2011 - Australia: Escalating Biker Gang War | The Rebels and the Rock Machine are having a full out battle in Australia, involving even heavy-caliber fully automatic machine guns.
The police has been raiding their club houses and properties to stop the fight.
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| 3 March, 2011 - Give Away Your Motorcycle For Charity | If you've got a motorcycle that you no longer use, or no dealer wants to give a trade-in, instead of bringing it to a scrap yard, why not donate to charity?
In the UK there is an organization, called GiveAcar, that will come and collect your motorcycle, and the money from the proceeds go to one of numerous charities. You choose the one.
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| 23 February, 2011 - Biker Died 3 Times, 38 Operations, But Still Wants To Ride | How much do you love your motorcycle? Gary, a grandfather from the UK, had a terrible accident with his Ducati motorcycle.
He died 3 times, but was revived. He had to undergo 38 life saving operations to function normal again. He's in a wheelchair, but he's already thinking about his next motorcycle.
Would you?
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| 15 February, 2011 - Van Caught Speeding At 764 Mph (1230 Kph) | A Fiat van in Italy, with a top speed of 97 MPH got a speeding ticket for 764 MPH!
The ticket was signed by two officers, so it looks like no one pays attention to the ticket and the possibility that it could be wrong.
Makes you wonder about speed radars when you get a ticket on your motorcycle...
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| 17 January, 2011 - Disable Red Light Cameras And Make Free Phone Calls | A sad, but funny state of affairs in Johannesburg, South Africa. Not only have thieves been stealing the poles from red light cameras, and selling them for scrap metal, but now they have discovered that a central part of the camera is a GSM SIM card.
So by stealing the SIM card, not only does the camera not work, but they get to make free phone calls...
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| 28 October, 2010 - Europe: EC To Outlaw Self Maintenance On Motorcycles? | The bunch of over-paid and over zealous politicians in the European Commission are looking at outlawing most self-maintenance, specially when putting after-market items on your motorcycle. By means of on board electronics, if the computer detects a non-homologated item, it shuts down. Only official dealers will have access to the device.
They also want special tools, available only to dealers, that can open the ECU.
And then they're surprised when their heads roll off at the guillotine...
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| 27 October, 2010 - Hells Angels Sue Saks, McQueen and Zappos | The Hells Angels motorcycle club are taking Alexander McQueen's design company, Saks and Zappo (an Amazon company) to court for trademark infringement.
Expensive dresses and handbags are being sold with the death-head, and even the Hells Angels name.
My money is on the Hells Angels...
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| 22 October, 2010 - Europe: Bureaucrats Reject ABS Kill Switch For Motorcycles | The European Commission has first of all declared that all new motorcycle with more than 125cc will have mandatory ABS. Now they have rejected the notion that there will be an ABS kill-off switch!!!!!
This means that if you're riding a dual-sport or off-road bike (licensed for road), you will not be able to override the ABS. Therefore you will likely crash.
Thank you European Commission for getting rid of more bikers.
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| 20 October, 2010 - The Netherlands: New Motorcycles Not Recognized By New Radars | The new radars being installed in The Netherlands and Belgium require a metal sensor placed in the road surface.
The sensor detects metal, and present day motorcycle have very little metal; more carbon, aluminium and plastics, so they don't get detected, and therefore don't get ticketed for speeding.
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| 15 October, 2010 - Belgium: Age Increase For Full Motorcycle License | The good folks in Belgium are going to have to be older to ride a full motorcycle. Laws are being drafted to change the legal age for riding a 35 kW+ motorcycle from 21 to 24.
Sounds fine, but what about cars. Can a kid drive a Lambo, Ferrari or Bugatti at 18?? Sounds unfair...
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| 20 September, 2010 - India: Hero Honda To Become Just Hero? | Despite record revenue and profits, one of world's biggest motorcycle and scooter manufacturers, India based Hero Honda, are in disagreement about royalty payments. Honda might shed its 26% share in the Indian company.
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| 27 August, 2010 - The Netherlands: Hell Freezes Over | Looks like hell has frozen over, and pigs can fly! The ultra strict country of The Netherlands, were many portions of motorways are limited to 80 kph, and where there is an overall maximum speed of 120, has gotten many of the Members of Parliament asking the Minister of Transportation to "up" the speed limit to 130 kph, or even 140 kph!
I would have thought it would have been faster to see Paris Hilton get an Oscar for acting.
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| 21 July, 2010 - Europe: ACEM’s Motorcycle Ad Policy | The European motorcycle manufacturers association, ACEM, have published their advertising policy for the manufacturers.
No more aggressive riding TV ads, like KTM's ads.
Huh? But KTMs CEO is also ACEM's President....
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| 17 June, 2010 - UK: Despite Threats To Withdraw, Motorcycles Are Allowed To Use Bus Lanes | Despite threats of stopping the motorcycles on bus lanes experiment, London Mayor, Boris Johnson, has decided to continue allowing motorcycles to ride on the red lanes.
According to the Mayor, there have been no problems with motorcycles in the bus lanes.
Fantastic. Now if other cities would take note....
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| 17 May, 2010 - A Notable Dakar Victim In The Libyan Airplane Crash | Emilie Poucan, the person responsible for the press at the Dakar race has died in the airplane crash in Libya last week.
She was returning from South Africa where she celebrated her 32nd birthday.
She'll be missed.
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| 7 May, 2010 - France: The Life Of A Biker Is Worth Euro 100 | A motorcycle rider here in France was killed when a guy cut him off in his car. The police stated that this was 100% the car driver's fault.
But the defense lawyer dug up a mystery witness who stated that he was passed by the biker some time ago while he was speeding. So the judge said he was probably speeding at the time of the accident (despite police reports denying it).
The car driver got fined €100. That's the price of a motorcycle rider here in France.
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| 5 May, 2010 - Spain: Motorcycle Sales Increasing - Scrappage Working | Despite rumors of financial doom and gloom in Spain, last month saw a healthy increase in the number of motorcycles sold; 18% over last year.
But the Spanish motorcycle association wants to government to extend the scrappage scheme...
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| 4 May, 2010 - USA: May Is Motorcycle Safety Month. But Maybe Not In California | With the NHTSA calling May the Motorcycle Safety Awareness month, the LAPD have decided instead of making sure that motorcycles are safe from cars and SUVs, that they are going to target motorcycle riders for traffic violations.
I think they didn't read the memo correctly...
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| 20 April, 2010 - A Victim Of The Volcanic Ash: Motorcycle Taxis | There are many victims of the airline paralysis due to the volcanic ash, but one that never gets mentioned, are the motorcycle taxis.
50% of their daily revenue comes from carrying passenger from and to airports....
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| 20 April, 2010 - Indonesia: Airplane Kills 2 Motorcycle Riders | In a stupid, but deadly accident, two people riding a motorcycle took a shortcut.
The shortcut was over an active runway of an Indonesian airport, just when a light single engine airplane was landing. Both bikers were killed on the spot.
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| 14 April, 2010 - Latest Resurrection Of An Old Motorcycle Brand | The "old" Hungarian motorcycle brand, Pannonia, is being resurrected.
In the making since 2007, they have just released their first prototype, and are waiting for their permits before starting production of 55 units.
Will they make it?
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| 13 April, 2010 - Moto Morini Bought | The brother of the Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Berlusconi has just bought Moto Morini for €2.5 million.
He is also in talks for the purchase of MV Agusta.
Glad to see that Moto Morini's problems are for the time being solved.
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| 13 April, 2010 - France: 1 Year Prison For Speeding On Motorcycle | 22 year old motorcycle rider gets caught speeding on his motorcycle. He was doing 190 kph on the Paris ring road.
The judge threw the book at him: 1 year prison (no parol), €7500 fine, license gone for 2 years, redo the driving test, motorcycle confiscated.
A bit heavy handed??? Read on!
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| 9 April, 2010 - Crash Your Motorcycle In The USA? Pay The Rescue Bill! | When will politicians stop trying to take our money? Their next scam is having you pay for your own crash!
Take example in this story, guy gets hit from behind on his motorcycle, fire department arrives, and hands him a bill for $200 (the car driver got a bill for $100).
Is that what you pay your taxes for? "Crash Tax" - my ass!
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| 30 March, 2010 - Europe: ACEM Ask Regulators To Be Realistic | ACEM, the European Motorcycle Manufacturer Association, are asking that the European Commission be realistic when drafting new technical legislation this year.
Most motorcycle manufacturers have suffered greatly during the last 2 years, and trying to survive at this moment. With limited scrapage schemes in place (not for long), we need to ensure that the industry remains competitive.
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| 19 March, 2010 - Real Life "Sons Of Anarchy"? | This sounds strangely enough like a great episode of the popular Sons of Anarchy TV series....
The Vagos Motorcycle Gang is suspected of sabotaging the anti-gang police building. One way they tried, was cut a hole in the roof, and pipe in inflammable gas....
Will be see this in next year's SoA ?
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| 18 March, 2010 - UK: How NOT To Teach Motorcycle Riding |
The photo of Sandra Kenyon was removed on request by the Ross Parry agency.
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Sandra Kenyon, a 46 year old motorcycle instructor, showed up for her lessons drunk as a skunk, with 4 times the legal limit.
She dropped her motorcycle three times, and needed help to get back on. Cops found 2 brandy bottles in her jacket.
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| 11 March, 2010 - USA: LEO Caught At 149 Mph Is Not Immoral, Gets Job Back | The state topper that was caught racing his motorcycle at 149 mph, and subsequently fired has had to be rehired.
The state mediator deemed that the cop was not immoral, and should be put back to work!!!
FUBAR
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| 24 February, 2010 - Widowed Family Sues Clinton For Motorcycle Cop Death | The family of the motorcycle police officer that crashed and was killed when escorting Hillary Clinton is suing anyone with pockets.
The one target for the lawsuit should indeed be sued, and that's the Dallas police department, since they didn't provide proper training (he crashed because he couldn't take a curve at normal speed), and they didn't provide adequate protection (a motorcycle helmet with little protection).
But they are also suing the helmet manufacturer and Hillary Clinton. Why not sue the road manufacturer, the tarmac and the weather...?
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| 11 February, 2010 - Banks Still Not Doing Their Job! Gima In Trouble | Remember this cute retro-looking motorcycle, the French Gima 125?
It's got quite a success, with 150 orders so far. To make the motorcycle available in France, the company needs to put in place dealers, spare parts, training, etc. For that, they need €400,000. But banks just aren't interested in parting with the taxpayer's money used to bail them out. They prefer to give themselves a big bonus than to lend money.
Now the CEO of Gima has gone on hunger strike to get some attention from the media and politicians.
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| 13 January, 2010 - UK: BBC Journalist Fired For Being A Hells Angel | A journalist working for the BBC got fired because they found out he was a member of the Hells Angels. It was discovered after the Bulldog Biker Bash in which the reporter criticized the heavy-handed approach by the local cops. The reporter, without mentioning that he also worked for the BBC, was a spokesperson for the bash.
Pathetic!
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| 11 January, 2010 - Oh Shit! Nightmare Come True! | The stuff of deep and really bad nightmares, like Stephen King would write...
Guy has accident on motorcycle, goes to hospital, doctors pronounce him dead, sent to the morgue, put in casket, and then they find out HE IS ALIVE!
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| 7 January, 2010 - UK: Government To Tax Taxes | The UK (like several other countries) have promised not to raise taxes despite record deficits.
Instead they have decided to raise a "victim surcharge" on speeding and parking fines. Noooo... that's not taxes, that's to help the victims when you badly park your motorcycle!!!
How stupid are we....???
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| 21 December, 2009 - The Influx Of Chinese Electric Motorcycles | Looks like the Chinese factories are really mass producing electric motorcycles and scooters now.
That means things will get a lot cheaper, and more and more people will use electric bikes for run-arounds.
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| 9 December, 2009 - Volkswagen Done It! Bought 1/5 Of Suzuki Motorcycles | In a surprise move, Volkswagen purchased 1/5 of Suzuki motorcycles for US$2.5 Billion.
The surprise wasn't that fact that VW bought a motorcycle company, but the rumor was that it might be Ducati.
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| 8 December, 2009 - France: Paris Taxis On Strike Because Of Motorcycles | The Parisian taxis went on strike today, paralyzing the French capital with their protest.
The reason? Car taxis want motorcycle taxi to be stopped, and not allowed to use the taxi ranks at airports.
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| 25 November, 2009 - Kenan Sofuoğlu, ex World Supersport Champ Refuses Sponsor Money | Kenan Sofuoğlu, the former world champion SuperSport motorcycle racing (2007), and only ever Turkish champ, refused won he was due because of his title, because it came from gambling.
Islam law forbids gambling, so the 480,000 US$ is going to charity.
Nice to see principles amongst champions.
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| 24 November, 2009 - Belgium: Almost No Booze For Motorcycle Riders | The politicians in Belgium are going to really lower the maximum alcohol allowed for young drivers (less than 2 years license).
But they're going a step further.... professional drivers of trucks and buses, police .... and .... all motorcycle riders will have the same booze limit imposed on them.
Even if studies & statistics show that motorcyclists as a group are far less likely to drink & drive, the motorcycle work still gets singled out.
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| 20 November, 2009 - The Pope And A White Motorcycle Helmet | The Pope has been given a white motorcycle helmet by the group of motorcycle riders calling themselves the "Freedom Caravan".
The biker group are promoting the release of some 3,000 hostages in Colombia, Gaza and Mexico.
They asked the Pope to mediate for the release, so far the pontiff has agreed to pray for the release.
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| 19 November, 2009 - Suzuki India Doubles Motorcycle Production Capacity | Suzuki India have announced that they are doubling their motorcycle and scooter production capacity. End of the year, will see 300,000 units made yearly.
By March, they will reach 25,000 units per month. Not bad.
Looks like they are getting the reverse effect of the economic downturn.
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| 18 November, 2009 - UK: Motorcycle Rider Scares The Living Sh*t Out Of Horses | A motorcycle rider, presumed to be a Harley-Davidson, scared two horses, one which went off on a gallop after he revved his engine.
He then followed his horse, causing it to panic, falling, and injuring the horse rider....
Hmmmm...
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| 18 November, 2009 - Hefei China Bans All Motorcycles | Hefei in China has decided to ban all motorcycle in order to fight pollution.
Wouldn't it be smarter to ban cars?? Or is there more money in cars?
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| 17 November, 2009 - The Netherlands: No Road Tax, Motorcycles Exempt, Less Cars on The Road | The Dutch are going to tax cars on a pay-as-you-drive system, i.e., per kilometer. No more road tax or sales tax on cars. Initially €0.03 per kilometer, then €0.07 per kilometer.
Motorcycles will not be required to pay these taxes, so many people will start flocking to motorcycles. More fatalities are foreseen.
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| 10 November, 2009 - Death Of French Beach Motorcycle Racer, Timotei Potisek | Timotei Potisek, a great French beach motorcycle racer has just died after a training accident on a beach. He was 25.
At the age of 25, he had already won several of the toughest beach races in Europe, including the crazy Le Touquet Enduropale.
Sad..
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| 28 October, 2009 - Travis Pastrana Pastrami Hamburger? | Travis Pastrana jumps over a helicopter with its blades turning in Syndey, Australia.
One slip and we've got a Pastrana Pastrami burger...
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| 19 October, 2009 - Good Samaritan Helps Biker, Then Shoots Him | An off-road motorcycle broken down, loosing his chain in South Africa.
Two men came up and helped him put the chain back on, then drew a gun and shot him in the leg, taking off with his tools.
Blimey!
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| 9 October, 2009 - Crisis Strikes Again: Love Ride 26 Canceled | Due to the economic crisis (ie people don't have the money), the big motorcycle charity ride, Love Ride 26, is canceled for this year.
Instead, they'll be showing the Easy Rider movie, with Peter Fonda in the audience.
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| 9 October, 2009 - Gaza Strip: Women Are Not Allowed On Motorcycles | Hamas have decreed in the Gaza Strip that for their own safety, women are no longer allowed on motorcycles.
Not as rider, nor as pillion.
Please stay pregnant and barefooted on your donkey.
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| 8 October, 2009 - Motorcycle Strip Ride - Too Funny | Interesting form of protest in Israel.....
To protest the rising insurance prices for motorcycle riders, stating that the companies are stripping the country naked, the motorcycle riders rode around stripped down to their underwear.
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| 2 October, 2009 - Amazing! Man Owned Every BMW Motorcycle Model Ever Made | Willy Neutkens during his lifetime collected every model BMW motorcycle every made (he was a Dutch BMW dealer, so that helped).
He recently passed away, and now his collection is being auctioned off next month at the BMW Museum in Munich.
Over 100 BMW Motorcycles, dating back to 1923...until 2000. Amazing! |
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| 25 September, 2009 - Update: Moto Morini Financial Woes | Moto Morini have issued a press release stating that things aren't as bad as it would seem.
Yes, they are having problems, but no, they are still paying their employees. They have filed, voluntarily, for bankruptcy protection.
So if you're a supplier, you're the one with the problem.
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| 24 September, 2009 - Moto Morini Files For Bankruptcy | One of the "other" Italian motorcycle manufacturers, Moto Morini, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
They have not been able to pay the September salaries...
Bad news...
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| 24 September, 2009 - UK: Crash Your Motorcycle? Pay For Road Damages! | A biker crashed his motorcycle in Scotland because of a stray sheep. Not his fault? Right ?
Wrong! According to the local authorities, he must pay £200 for the damage his motorcycle did when it burst out in flames.
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| 18 September, 2009 - Belgium: Fake Radars Coming | Guy makes a fake speed radar and installs it in his street. Fake radar is a success, now he is flooded with 100's of requests.
Guy goes in business selling fake radars.
B'stard!!
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| 16 September, 2009 - Australia: Electronic Tagging Of Motorcycles Coming? | The Australians in Queensland have abandoned their idea of placing front license plates on motorcycles (after spending US$320,000 studying it), and have decided now to turn their attention to electronic tagging (RFID style) for motorcycles.
Obviously they'll be able to spend much more money studying electronic tagging before they throw away that "solution".
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| 15 September, 2009 - Motorcycles Clamped? | And you thought that your motorcycle can't get clamped?
If you live in Slovenia you'd be wrong, very wrong!
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| 10 September, 2009 - The Netherlands: No Fear For Police Chases | The Dutch cops have got a big problem on their hands. One of their main cars, the Volvo V50, has been declared unsafe at high speeds, and now cops are allowed to drive it up to a maximum speed of 140 kph.
The brakes of the car catch fire when used at high speeds. So not more motorcycle chases...
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| 8 September, 2009 - France: Scorpa Then Voxan Motorcycles Go Chapter 11 | Two out of three French motorcycle manufacturers have hit it bad in these economic downturns. Scorpa went first, filing for bankruptcy protection, and then taken-over by the third manufacturer Sherco.
Now it's the turn of the main French manufacturer, Voxan. They have just filed for bankruptcy protection...
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| 3 September, 2009 - UN Slams Australian Bikie Law | The UN Office on Drugs and Crime have stated that the Australian anti motorcycle gang (bikies) laws are extreme and naive.
They say nothing good is going to come out of them...
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| 2 September, 2009 - 93,000 Motorcycles Seized In Cambodia In August | The cops in Cambodia seized 93,000 motorcycles during the month of August for the most amazingly stupid reasons.
And then they have the gall to say "look, it's working, road fatalities are down 15%". But if you take away all vehicles, fatalities will be 0...
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| 1 September, 2009 - USA: Philadelphia To Test Motorcycle Parking | The authorities in Philadelphia have created 60 motorcycle parking spots in their city.
Sounds good? Not really! You got to pay 50% of the car price, and they fit 4 motorcycle in the spot of one car. You do the math!
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| 27 August, 2009 - USA: Pathetic - Lawyers and Motorcycles | Guy borrows motorcycle from friend. Guy crashes motorcycle and injures himself.
Guy then sues friend for allowing him to ride motorcycle!
Pathetic!
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| 25 August, 2009 - Goose And Gander? | Two cops in Ohio, USA were caught speeding on their motorcycles (off duty). One at 147 , the other at 149 mph.
One was given a slap on the wrists, the other fired. The moral of the story? If you want to speed without any dire consequences, join the police.
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| 25 August, 2009 - Australia: Youngest Gangster’s Motorcycle Impounded | Instead of dealing with their biker gang issues, the Victorian Police in Australia confiscated the 49cc mini motorcycle from a 5 year old girl, invoking the anti-hoon law (a law for anti-social behavior - like street racing).
They even had a tow truck come and take away the mini-bike... tough guys!
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| 24 August, 2009 - Ghana: No Motorcycles After 20:00 | The Police in the African state of Ghana have unilaterally declared that you are not allowed to ride a motorcycle after eight o'clock at night.
Your motorcycle will be confiscated.... however, it's not a law, since it was not passed by the politicians.
But Police have guns, and politicians don't...
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| 22 July, 2009 - UK: Speed Radar Photos May Be Copyrighted! | A UK motorcycle rider challenged a speeding ticket by proving that he was not speeding. How?
By calculating the real speed by comparing the two photos he received, measuring the distance and time. Simple.
But now the speed camera operator is challenging the website that published the photos (like what we are doing now), saying that the photos are copyrighted. They don't want you to see how easy it is to challenge the ticket...
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| 20 July, 2009 - Tour de France 2009: Motorcycle Kills Woman Spectator | Sad. A stupid woman decides to cross the road in between bicycles during the Tour de France 2009 and gets hits by a Police motorcycle.
Sad.. for the cop, since he'll have to live with it for the rest of his life.
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| 16 July, 2009 - Amazing Motorcycle Rider - No Hands | Liu was stopped by the Chinese Police because he had too many passengers, but to the surprise of the cops, he didn't have ANY ARMS.
Liu had been riding motorcycle for 10 years, without a license and without any arms!!
Amazing!
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| 13 July, 2009 - Motorcycle Back-Flip Over The London Tower Bridge | Australian Robbie Maddison, the famous free style motorcycle rider, just jumped, with a no-hand back-flip, over the (real) London Tower Bridge (not like the fake Arc de Triomphe in Las Vegas).
He did it early in the morning while the bridge was opening.
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| 8 July, 2009 - Spain: Motorcycle Scrapage Deal Approved | Spain have recently announced a motorcycle scrapage deal. For motorcycle between 5 and 7 years old, you can get up to €750 reductions.
Some manufacturers are upping the ante, Kawasaki have announced up to €2300 reductions for the purchase of a ZX-6R motorcycle.
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| 7 July, 2009 - Motorcycle Speedometer Deviations | Now that French authorities are letting no-one speed more than a couple of kph over the speed limit, it's good to know what speed your motorcycle shows and what speed you truly are riding.
French magazine Moto Revue tested many motorcycles from different years, and published the deviations in speeds. Here are the highlights.
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| 23 June, 2009 - UK: 28,899 Speed Tickets Cancelled And Refunded | In the UK, the Dorset Speed Camera Partnership must refund 28,899 speed ticket, to the tune of US$2.5 million. All because of a clerical error when the speed limit as lowered.
The paperwork for the speed limit mentioned a road that does not exist!
There's still justice in the world...
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| 22 June, 2009 - USA: New Jersey To Ban GPS Operations On Motorcycles/Cars | It's not only Spain that is forbidding motorcycle riders (and car drivers) from operating a GPS while on the move! The same law is coming to the USA!
New Jersey, Garden State and all, is looking at fining riders and drivers when operating their GPS while moving.
Good law, or money spinning law? You tell me!
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| 17 June, 2009 - Xenon HID Lights Outlawed In France | The Police in the French capital, Paris, have started distributing fines to motorcycles that are equipped with Xenon HID. Apparently, some obscure law forbids you to use lights that have not been supplied with the motorcycle. Even if the HID lights have received type approval, and were installed by official mechanics, you'll still receive a fine.
What other creative ways can governments come up with to get your money?
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| 3 June, 2009 - Russia: Motorcycle Taxi Starts Up - Uses Carver Motorcycle | The first Russian motorcycle taxi company does it right. Not only do they ride MP3 scooters are their main vehicle, but they are also equipped with the Dutch Carver.
It should be worth the money just to be able to ride in the Carver. Great idea for a taxi company.
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| 2 June, 2009 - Italy: Police Raid Speed Radar Firm For Fraud | The Italian Police have raided the manufacturer of one of Italy's speed radars. The manufacturer had bypassed the calibration and approval process, hoping to make an extra dime or two.
81,000 tickets have been cancelled, and US$16 million refunded. Motorcycle riders around Italy rejoice...
Ooops.
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| 1 June, 2009 - Paris To Create 18,000 Motorcycle Parking Spaces! Miracle | The Mayor of Paris had promised during his election campaign that he would create more motorcycle parking space. Now he is saying it will happen.... by the year 2014.
2014? That happens to be the year of his re-election campaign... hmmmmmmm...
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| 20 May, 2009 - Confirmed: Easy Rider Sequel Coming In September | It's confirmed. The sequel (prequel?) to Easy Rider is coming. And it's coming faster than what you might think!
"Easy Rider: The Ride Back" will be in theaters starting September in the USA. None of the original cast, but instead the plot focusses on Peter Fonda's movie character's brother (who actually looks like him).
Great! Looking forward to it!
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| 19 May, 2009 - One Week, 600,000 Speeding Tickets | The European Traffic Police organization, TISPOL, went on a speeding rampage in April. In the space of one week, they caught 600,000 people speeding in cars or on motorcycles.
That's almost 100,000 per week!!!
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| 14 May, 2009 - Paris Motorcycle Show Moved To 2010 | Not only is the Paris motorcycle exhibition, the "Mondial du Deux Roues" cancelled, but they plan to hold it again next year, instead of 2011, and compete head on with Intermot AND EICMA. Silly.
There's also a strong rumor floating that Honda and possibly Yamaha will not attend EICMA this year. Bad news...
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| 8 May, 2009 - Paris Motorcycle Exhibition 2009 To Be Cancelled | Looks like it's over this year for the Paris Motorcycle exhibition, the Mondial du Deux-Roues.
They plan to integrate the motorcycle show with the annual car exhibition. That leaves only EICMA as major motorcycle show this year.
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| 5 May, 2009 - Italy: Scraping Old Motorcycle For New One Deal | Italy are running a cash back for your old motorcycle deal when buying a Euro 0, 1 or 2 new motorcycle.
You can get up to €1800 back.... not bad. Motorcycle sales have jumped in Italy.
When is it our turn?
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| 29 April, 2009 - Next Week 5000 Extra Ticket Writing Police In The Netherlands | Since centuries, the Dutch Military Police, called the Koninklijke Marechaussee, had many rights as a normal Police Officer, but one right/duty they did NOT have. And that was writing out tickets!
Next week, that changes, and now some 5,000 Military cops can stop you, and write out a ticket. Did you get that number?? 5,000 extra ticket writing cops as off next week!!!!
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| 28 April, 2009 - Several US Based Motorcycle Magazines Go Bankrupt | The holding company for several big US based motorcycle magazines has filed for Chapter 11.
Large motorcycle mags like Dirt Rider, Motorcyclist and Sport Rider (and many more) are on the chopping block.
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| 27 April, 2009 - Australian Motorcycle Gangs Peace | It looks like the Australian government got its way with the Australian motorcycle gangs (called Bikies), but not they way they thought it would go.
It looks like all the 1%er biker gangs are uniting to fight the government....
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| 21 April, 2009 - Aftermath Of The Le Mans 24 Hours Motorcycle Race | After the 24 hours of Le Mans motorcycle race, 1100 Police officers were deployed to catch speeding bikers.
76 bikers lost their license on the spot (meaning they got caught at at least twice the speed limit), and 41 DUI. No mention in the total number of speeding tickets, but for the 92,000 spectators, I would not be surprised if there were more than 1,000 tickets.
Looks like the real race was outside the circuit...
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| 16 April, 2009 - Guatemala: Pillion Passenger Are Only Allowed To Be Girls | In Guatemala a new law prohibits male pillions on motorcycles. No more, just women are allowed to ride as a pillion.
The politicians, in their knee-jerk reaction, hope to reduce the number of violent and often deadly attacks being committed by male pillions.
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| 8 April, 2009 - One Million Miles On A Harley Motorcycle | Not only is David Ziel a former State senator, but the man is probably the ultimate long distance biker (and probably the most thrifty person in the world).
He has gone ONE MILLION miles on the same Harley motorcycle! Talk about a good investment!
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| 2 April, 2009 - Motorcycle Gangs To Be Outlawed In Australia? | Australia is getting tougher on motorcycle gangs. After a spate of violence in public areas, they have vote in a new law.
If the biker gang is violent, they can be ruled as criminals, and all property and belongings confiscated. Gang members can face 5 years of prison just for belong to a gang.
The question is who decides that a biker group is criminal? This could be a law that is abused...
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| 30 March, 2009 - How Trustworthy Are Speed Cameras? | More and more stories are coming out of people receiving speeding tickets for offenses they never committed.
Several of them are clear, like this lady whose car was PARKED, and are others in different countries.
It's obvious that the technology they use for speed radars are not to be trusted. But why do the authorities keep stating that their machines are flawless?
Answer: MONEY!
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| 24 March, 2009 - After London AA, Now Ambulance Service Go Honda Motorcycles | The London Ambulance Service is one of the biggest of its kind in the world.
To ensure that their paramedics get to the scene as quickly as possible, The Service has extended its partnership with Honda UK, taking delivery of 12 new ST1300 Pan European motorcycles.
The Service knows from experience, that motorcycles are the only vehicle that can get there in the fastest way possible.
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| 20 March, 2009 - Motorcycles And Gear For Very Cheap In Europe | LIDL is a German discount shop found in several European countries. They offer heavily discounted product, such as food, house and office stuff and even computers.
Not only are they offering very discounted motorcycle gear, but they have started selling cars on the internet for 25% discount!
It's only a matter of time before they'll start selling cheap motorcycles. Mind you, they don't sell cheap brands, they sell "brands" at a cheap price.
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| 18 March, 2009 - Burt Munro’s Motorcycle Sold For Record Amount | One of Burt Munro's (remember the movie "The Fastest Indian"?) got sold at an auction for a record amount.
The Kiwi collector bought the 1936 Velocette motorcycle for N71,000!
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| 17 March, 2009 - Amazing Tiffany Goes For Another Amazing Motorcycle Trip | Tiffany "Tiff" Coates is an amazing woman. I've interviewed her once before when I was covering the 2005 Dakar race. She was on her way for a lunch appointment (the appointment was in Timbuktu).
She had during the 1990's ridden a 2nd hand BMW R80GS from the UK to India, since she couldn't afford to go any other way. She had never been on a bike before! She loved it so much, she continued riding around the world.
Last year she became very ill, and was confined to a wheelchair. The Docs said she could probably never ride again. Boy were they wrong.
Tiff is now going to ride from Cornwall all the way to Mongolia! No support crew, no trucks, helicopters, cameras, doctors, etc... the way it was intended.
Click the headline to read more about this amazing woman.
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| 5 March, 2009 - France: Bikers: 1 Government: 0 | The FFMC (the French Angry Biker Association) have gained an enormous victory. After a meeting with the Ministry of Transportation, the proposed law that would make on-the-spot technical inspections possible, towing to a garage and inspections by non-trained mechanics, is off the table for motorcycles.
From now on, we'll be consulted for all new laws, and several study/working groups have been created to make recommendations about all those other pesky laws (100 HP limit, lane splitting, bus lanes, etc).
Spring is going to be nice...
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| 2 March, 2009 - Guy Riding 122 MPH With His Son Jailed For 6 Months | The guy we reported on a few weeks ago, who got caught riding 122 mph in a 60 mph zone, with his 14 year old son, during wet conditions, got sentenced.
The judge gave him 6 months jail, and 18 month driving ban.
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| 17 February, 2009 - Motorcycle Rider Badly Hurt In The Paris Metro | In what can be classified as those "strange but true" moments of mankind, a motorcycle rider, trying to get through a rapidly closing gap, between a turning truck and the sidewalk, and pushed onto the sidewalk, and DOWN the stairs of a Parisian Metro station.
Lucky for him, there were no other people on the stairs encountering his big Suzuki motorcycle, and unlucky for him, he got very badly hurt and is in critical condition.
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| 11 February, 2009 - Riding Naked On A Motorcycle? In The Winter? | Hmmmm.... strange but true.
A guy was arrested for fleeing from the State Troopers in Arkansas, USA. The reason they were chasing him, was because he was riding .... totally NAKED!
It's winter... why would anyone ride a motorcycle naked, specially in the winter?
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| 10 February, 2009 - Learner Motorcyclist? Do The Survey, Win A Scooter | FEMA, together with several other alphabet agencies (FIM, ACEM and CEICA) are conducting a survey for trainee motorcycle riders.
Fill in the multilingual survey form (with some interesting questions), and you stand the chance of winning one of several prizes, including a 150cc Suzuki scooter.
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| 6 February, 2009 - Tire Pressure Systems To Become Mandatory In Europe? | The European Commission don't have enough on their plates. They are passing a law that will make it mandatory in 2012 for all new vehicles to have on-board a tire monitoring system.
There's no mention if this includes motorcycles, but if it doesn't, it's only a matter of time.
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| 4 February, 2009 - Motorcycle Gang War Down Under | A full scale war is under way in Australia. The Hells Angels' clubhouse got blown up, the rebel's house got fire-bombed, and there have been several drive-by shootings.
Maybe they have been watching Sons of Anarchy.....
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| 4 February, 2009 - Malta: Motorcycle Police Breaking The Law The Enforce | The motorcycle Police in Malta have not been equipped with special comms equipment that has an earpiece. They need to use a handheld radio when chasing cars....
... and that is against the law!
They also don't have proper helmets, bad quality gloves and boots, and no protective jacket.
It looks like the authorities from Malta do not like their motorcycle Police officers...
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| 3 February, 2009 - Myrtle Beach Wants To Ban Black Motorcycle Rally | Myrtle Beach is asking Atlantic Beach to help ban a black motorcycle rally, the Bikefest.
Atlantic Beach is considering this if Myrtle Beach will send some money to Atlantic Beach.
Do they just not like motorcycle riders in general, or is it just that they don't like black bikers?
Scandalous!
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| 3 February, 2009 - Italy: Government Red Traffic Lights Fraud | Apparently the local Italian Police and government authorities have been a bit to diligent....
They have rigged the red stop/traffic lights to jump real fast via orange to red, so that they could ticket motorcycle and car drivers for driving through red.
100,000 people got ticketed, generating €130 million! How fast can you say Mafia?
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| 2 February, 2009 - Biker Caught With Son Doing 122 mph In The Rain | A bloke was caught riding his Suzuki GSX-R at 122 mph in the UK, with his 14 year old son riding pillion.
It had started to rain, and the poor kid had to hold on to the back of the motorcycle.
Not smart...
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| 26 January, 2009 - France: 36% Of Motorcycle Police Force Slashed | The French government has announced that since the introduction of digital radars has been so successful, there is less need for motorcycle cops.
So they are laying off 36% of all "Police National" motorcycle cops.
Too bad, since most of them are really cool cops, and served a good purpose!
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| 26 January, 2009 - Bermuda To Start Very Graphic Safety Campaign | On the tropical islands of the Bermudas, the authorities are starting a very graphical safety campaign in order to reduce the number of car & motorcycle road deaths .
They are using photos of what happened to people after an accident. With the use of blood and gore, they plan to shock the population, hoping that fewer people will drink & drive.
The shocking photos will be placed in public rest-rooms, bars and restaurants.
WARNING: IF YOU ARE EVEN A BIT SQUEAMISH ABOUT BLOOD, DO NOT READ OR CLICK ON THE LINK.
I am showing one of the photos so that maybe a few people who don't live on the island will think before they drink & drive.
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| 15 January, 2009 - Official Honda Fury Motorcycle Photo Leaked! | Our friends at Hell For Leather Magazine have managed to "find" an official photo of the new Honda Fury Chopper motorcycle, which is due to be launched on Friday.
Since we web sites don't receive the info officially (with an embargo date), we don't feel we need to adhere to these dates, so they get published. So here's the official photo of the Fury.
Thanks Hell For Leather Magazine!
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| 10 January, 2009 - Dakar 2009: 2 More Dead! Tragic! | Tragedy struck again on the Dakar race trail. On Friday, a support truck carrying tires for the 9th stage crashed into a private car, killing the two occupants.
The truck driver is currently in prison pending investigation.
Tragic! |
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| 22 December, 2008 - Motorcycle Pillion Riding Banned In Karachi | In Karachi, Pakistan, the authorities are banning motorcycle pillions. This, because of security concerns.
Only female, journalists and old folks are allowed.
Huh..? In Pakistan, apparently senior citizens, who are female journalists, do not throw bombs...
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| 18 December, 2008 - Speeding Biker Did Not Know He Was Speeding! Yeah, Right! | A motorcycle rider was arrested and his motorcycle taken away in Australia for speeding.
However, he did it twice, and he claims he didn't realize that he was speeding. The speed limit was 90 kph, and he was speeding (or maybe he was flying very low) at 190 kph!
Lame!
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| 15 December, 2008 - Bajaj Slowly Buying All Of KTM Motorcycles | Bajaj announced that they have upped their share holding in KTM to 25.86%.
They are slowly buying up KTM. Already they have several projects on the table, and several KTM motorcycles are to be sold in India under the Bajaj label.
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| 10 December, 2008 - MotoGP Coming To Bulgaria | The MotoGP circus, complete with all its motorcycles, riders, pit and umbrella girls will be setting up their tents in Bulgaria.
As off 2011, you'll be seeing MotoGP races in that former East-Block country. According to the designers, the circuit is out of this world.
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| 10 December, 2008 - Harley-Davidson Gives Away Motorcycles | Harley-Davidson are giving away free motorcycles.
Three motorcycles have been given to China's Police force.
Is that what they call "FREE SAMPLES"...??
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| 4 December, 2008 - A Bit Of Wind, and Bang! | This is what happens when you leave your motorcycle outside when a storm hits town.
Photo was made during the summer and is part of Reuter's Pictures of the Year.
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| 1 December, 2008 - Suzuki Hayabusa In India? | One of world's fastest motorcycles, the Suzuki Hayabusa, goes on sale in one of world's most crowded countries, India!
Where can they ride it?????
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| 27 November, 2008 - String Them Up! Only Humane Thing To Do | Kids out for some fun, are stealing the helmets of the London Ambulance Service Motorcycle Response Group, grounding the paramedic.
No helmet, no life saving activities. Apart from the cost (£600), the helmet is useless to anyone else.
Only one merciful thing you can do...
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| 12 November, 2008 - UK: AA Now Offer Motorcycle Repair and Recovery Service |
The Automobile Association (AA) of the UK have just bettered their own service level.
They have bought 5 vans equipped purposely to repair, if not recover, broken down motorcycles on the M25.
Nice... bravo!
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| 12 November, 2008 - My Kind Of A Vicar: Motorcycles And Swinging | Rev Theresa Davies is a 37 year old vicar for the Church of England. So far, nothing new. But the good old vicar loves two things that have caused a scandal in the church.
She loves motorcycles, and she loves swinging. She would ride to the South of France with her hubby, and do some wife swapping.
This was no good for the church, and she got banned for 12 years. Spoil sports!
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| 30 October, 2008 - Netherlands: New Style Countdown Red Light Being Tested | In Den Bosch, The Netherlands, they are testing a new style red light. Instead of going directly from Red to Green, there's a 3 second countdown indicator before jumping to green.
What a great tool to do some drag racing with your motorcycle.... |
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| 21 October, 2008 - Australia Deploys Noise Cameras | In Australia, the local government in New South Wales have started installing noise cameras.
These cameras will take a 10 second clip of your motorcycle, video and audio, and fine you for excessive noise.
Looks more like a system that is going to cause problems for many, even those without a loud motorcycle.
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| 13 October, 2008 - Win A Ducati Monster Motorcycle At Charity Raffle | Our buddies at ProItalia are holding a charity raffle. For US$ 25, you get the chance of winning a Ducati Monster 696 motorcycle.
Winner will be announced at the upcoming Love Ride!
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| 29 September, 2008 - Bali: Motorcycle Exodus | A mass exodus of motorcycle on the island of Bali, Indonesia.
Not because of a plague, but because of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
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| 26 September, 2008 - Lots Of Recovered Stolen Motorcycles | That's quite a lot of stolen motorcycles that have been recovered in Indonesia.
But it does show you how many get stolen everyday, since only a very small percentage gets recovered.
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| 18 September, 2008 - UK: Kill Your Motorcycle Engine On Idle, Or Else | In the UK they (the politicians) are testing a new possible law, that says if you're in a traffic jam you need to switch off your engine.
Sounds good heh? Well, the idiots do say after how much time running on idle you must switch off, but they do say that it'll cost you £20 if you don't. So any fine-happy cop with a ticket quote is going to fine you.
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| 17 September, 2008 - Ashes On High Speed Motorcycle Chase | A young man (19 years) in the UK, decided to respect his dead father's last wish, and take him for a last motorcycle ride. He loaded his father's ashes on his Dad's Triumph motorcycle, and went for a spin.
The Police gave him a chase that you see in Hollywood movies, and eventually he was captured (and the ashes).
The stinger? The young lad was going to become a cop...
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| 12 September, 2008 - No More Intra-Europe Speeding | The European Parliament is voting on a new law next month, that will make cross border traffic violations punishable in each other's countries.
What does it mean? You get caught speeding on your motorcycle in one country, you'll get fined in your own country.
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| 1 September, 2008 - Blind Man Build His Own Harley-Davidson Motorcycle | Bud lost his sight some time ago, but that didn't end his passion for motorcycles.
So he built a special Harley-Davidson motorcycle himself, that allowed him to ride his motorcycle, with the help of his friends.
Awesome!
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| 29 August, 2008 - Valentino Rossi Becomes CEO Of AGV Motorcycle Helmets | Valentino Rossi is already looking ahead for his next job when he retires in a few years.
Rossi has just been appointed President of motorcycle helmet manufacturer AGV. There you go... set for the next few years..
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| 27 August, 2008 - Piaggio To Buy Airline? Motorcycles Not Enough! | Piaggio is joining an Italian group that is going to bail out the Italian Airline, Alitalia.
The motorcycle consortium's CEO is marked to become the CEO of the troubled airline.
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| 22 August, 2008 - Top Internet Stories 08-18-2008 | This is the start of a weekly article on what has been happening on the world wide web in the motorcycle world.
We'll be showing you stories we thought were interesting, with a link back to the original story, so you can read it in full.
We hope you like this new series. Please let us know.
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| 13 August, 2008 - Yearly Motorcycle Technical Check Coming To Belgium | Sometimes politicians just don't get it (OK, not sometimes, it's actually very often). They make assumptions, they don't research matters, and then they want to make a law based on faulty findings.
It's the case at this moment in Belgium. Like most European countries, cars need to have a yearly technical inspection, and now a senator wants the same for motorcycles "BECAUSE OFF THE HIGH ACCIDENT RATE OF MOTORCYCLES".
Get your fact right before making statements like that.
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| 11 August, 2008 - Speedway’s Motorcycle Ordinance Cancelled Thanks To Motorcycle Blog Pressure | Remember last month we told you about the town hall of Speedway, In, USA (where the MotoGP will be held) was planning an ordinance that would make it illegal to rev up your motorcycle engine? A lot of motorcycle web sites went up in arms about it.
Well, the good news is that the city has seen the light (and smelled the loss of money) and are now abandoning the ordinance.
Thank you Speedway for seeing the light and being brave enough to make the change.
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| 1 August, 2008 - Chinese Wipe Out 14,000 Motorcycles! | The Chinese authorities have gone on a rampage, destroying so-called illegal motorcycles. In one swoop they destroyed 14,000 motorcycles.
Since 2003, in one province alone, they have confiscated and destroyed 500,000+ motorcycles.... yes... HALF A MILLION motorcycles!
Talk about genocide!
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| 31 July, 2008 - Belgium Testing Route Speeding | Despite political issues unrest the Belgium government, they still have time to start an experiment (which has been very successful in The Netherlands).
By placing two digital radar cameras miles apart, taking photos of all motorcycles (and cars), they analyze both photos and subtract the time. This way they calculate your average speed, and fine you if you were going to fast!
No escaping possible!
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| 30 July, 2008 - Study: Riding Your Motorcycle Dangerous For Your Children | According to some Doctor, riding a motorcycle for more than 3,000 miles per year, and wearing tight leathers, will not only prevent you from getting children, but could also give you sexual performance issues.
So it looks like you've got to make a choice.... sex or motorcycles, motorcycles or leathers, leather or sex...
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| 18 July, 2008 - The Netherlands: Toll Free For Motorcycles | The Dutch government, in a rare moment of clear lucidity, has decided that motorcycles are a solution, not a problem, for traffic.
Therefore, for the new tolls that are being planned for their motorways starting 2012, motorcycle will not have to pay, and can use the motorways for free.
One small step for mankind, one big step for bikers!
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| 11 July, 2008 - No Smoking While Riding In San Marino | In the mini country of San Marino (an Italian protectorate - a bit like Monaco), a new maw forbids you to ride (or drive) while smoking.
According to the new law (enforced by a €100 fine), you need to keep control of your motorcycle (or car) at all times.
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| 19 June, 2008 - First Motorcycle Friendly Petrol Station Opens | French petrol giant, Total, have opened the first "made-for" motorcycle petrol station.
Not only is it biker friendly, it was designed for motorcycles. Special fuel pumps with shorter nozzles, payment while still seated on your bike, hooks for helmets, anti-slip floor etc.
There's even a special place to clean your motorcycle, adapted for motorcycles. How cool is that...
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| 5 June, 2008 - Indian M&M Acquire Major European Motorcycle Designer | A major player in India, M&M, a manufacturing conglomerate have acquired a controlling interesting Europe's leading motorcycle design company.
Italian Engines Engineering Spa is relatively unknown, until you see which motorcycles they have designed. Their client list includes many models for Ducati, Benelli, Yamaha, Derbi, Honda and Gilera.
This gives M&M a design company for future production of motorcycles. Interesting.....
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| 2 June, 2008 - New York Police Do Not Like Motorcycles | The New York cops are at it again.
This time they're deliberately targeting the motorcycles attending the Americade show, all 50,000 of them.
According to the cops, it's for safety reasons...... yeah right.... check is in the mail....
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| 20 May, 2008 - First 100% Motorcycle Friendly Road Opened | After intense lobbying by FEMA (the Federation of Motorcycle Associations), the first motorcycle friendly road has been opened.
Located in Norway, the road has been adapted to be safe for motorcycles. Way to go! More please !!!!
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| 8 May, 2008 - UK: The Time To Get Your Motorcycle License Is Now! | A new tougher motorcycle test comes into effect October 2008 in the UK (aligned with European directives), and the UK Motorcycle Council (MCIA) are urging potential motorcycle riders to take their tests now.
After the new laws takes place, it'll become tougher and longer to pass the test.
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| 2 May, 2008 - Feel Like A Clown With Todays Gas Prices | Don't you feel like a clown (or a milk cow) when you're filling up your motorcycle at a gas station?
I know I do, specially when you see the obscene profits some oil companies are making!
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| 12 March, 2008 - Official: Polluting Is A Sin | The Vatican is looking at adding some more sins to the 7 bad ones already categorized.
The main new one that should interest us motorcycle riders is the sin of POLLUTION!
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| 10 March, 2008 - Want To Buy A Dakar Winning KTM Motorcycle? | This is your chance to get Cyril Despres's Dakar winning KTM motorcycle. Or even David Coulthard's F1 car.
Starting 13 March until the 30th, there's an auction for the "Wings for Life" organization.
All items will start off at €1.
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| 10 March, 2008 - Motorcycle Cop Escorting Clinton Was Not Able To Take Curve | The motorcycle Police officer that died while escorting Hilary Clinton in Texas, crashed because he was not able to ride in a single lane, and negotiate a curve!
That implies a lack of proper training, and it's not the cop's fault, but the Police management. Training Police officers for these kind of duties is extremely important!
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| 6 March, 2008 - TT Assen Circuit Fined For Sound Levels | The motorcycle race circuit of TT Assen (North of The Netherlands) has been fined €10,000 for noise hindrance.
Does this mean that the people who live there didn't know there was a race circuit next door?
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| 3 March, 2008 - New York Continues To Discriminate Towards Motorcycles | The New York Police department (NYPD) have decided that despite a federal law, no motorcycles are allowed in HOV lanes.
The reason. Simple... they disagree with giving bikers that right!
So if I understand it right, if you disagree with a law, you can ignore it?? Right ???
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| 28 February, 2008 - No More US Built Honda Motorcycles | It's over for Honda USA!
They are stopping motorcycle production in their USA factory. This venture started in 1979, so not exactly a short term, money grabbing, operation.
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| 19 February, 2008 - Ducati Being Taken Over? | Trading in Ducati shares was suspended today in Italy, since it would seem that they majority shareholder of the Italian company is planning to purchase all of the company, and remove Ducati from the stock exchange.
This could be very bad for the company, and for us.....
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| 15 February, 2008 - Rock Store: The Movie | A documentary has been produced about the legendary motorcycle hang-out in California; the Rock Store.
A place where you can find famous and not so famous motorcycle riders, admiring each other's motorcycles. Started in 1961 by Ed and Vern, Mulholland Highway would never be the same again.
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| 29 January, 2008 - Now The Dutch Want To Force DRL | The cloggy (Dutch) government wants to force cars to run their lights during daytime (DRL) in order to save 30 lives per year.
Car driver lives, not motorcycle rider lives.... how many motorcycle riders need to die before they notice the imbalance?
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| 23 January, 2008 - Irish Motorcycle Riders Can Drink Less Than Cage Drivers | If one of the Ministers in Northern Ireland gets her way, that's exactly how it will look like.
She wants to reduce drinking limits for car drivers to .5 g/liter, and for motorcycle riders to 0.2 g/liter (half a beer).
Stupid woman, it should be the other way around. Ignorant!
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| 9 January, 2008 - Memorial For Dead Bikers | In the Ukraine, the people have erected a monument dedicated to all bikers who have died on the road.
How cool is that?
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| 19 December, 2007 - Batman: The Biker | In the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight, the good old cape crusader will he riding a motorcycle.
Not just any motorcycle, but the batpod, fully equipped with machines guns and canons.
I want one...
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| 14 December, 2007 - Motocross of Nations 2008 Cancelled | Due to financial problems, the 2008 Motocross of Nations has been cancelled in Northern Ireland.
The FIM are busy looking for another venue in order to save this prestigious event.
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| 29 November, 2007 - Motorcycles Against Charity Thieves | What's the world coming to.... where we need to get a thief-catching motorcycle team to protect charity material...
Asswipes....
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| 29 November, 2007 - France: The Upside Of The Strikes | The biggest winners of the French transportation strikes last week was not the French government, but the motorcycle taxi operators.
With 200% increase of their new customer, 100% increase of their trips, they hit a bonanza.
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| 20 November, 2007 - Motorcycles Cause Cancer? | There's a book out that states that riding a motorcycle MIGHT cause cancer due to low frequency radiation from the engine.
What do you think? Possible? ...
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| 8 October, 2007 - New Long Distance Organization For Motorcycles | A new organization has been created, competing with the Iron Butt Association.
Get certified for riding 1,000 mile sin 24 hours... after that the certificate will get you excellent physiatric help...
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| 19 September, 2007 - ACEM Appoints KTM CEO As Their President | The CEO of KTM becomes the President of the European Motorcycle Manufacturer's Association, replacing the current President of BMW Motorrad who has served as President of the association for 2 years.
ACEM is the primary group for motorcycle manufacturers in Europe, and look after the interest of motorcycles in Europe.
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| 7 September, 2007 - France: Motorcycles To Remain Less Than 100 HP | The French, through their association (FFMC) have lost their day in court.
The European Commission have decided that France is in its rights to impose a 100 HP limit on French registered motorcycles.
What's the use of a uniform Europe, if something elementary as the power of motorcycle engines can be whatever they want it to be?
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| 4 September, 2007 - European Parliament Going For A Motorcycle Ride | The European Association of Motorcycle Associations (FEMA° is taking the politicians of the European Parliament for a motorcycle ride-out.
57 kms on a motorcycle, followed by a dinner (and speeches, many speeches).
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| 31 August, 2007 - Hayden’s Dad Dragged Into Drug Gang Arrests | Earl Hayden, Nicky's father, has a car dealership. The business manager of the dealership has just gotten himself arrested for drug money laundering.
Earl himself is not accused or arrested.
Interesting, specially after reading the Bostrom Conspiracy...
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| 29 August, 2007 - Netherlands: Vandal Proof Speed Camera | The Dutch have a new speed radar camera.
It's vandal proof. You can shoot, it, burn it or try to pull it down. It'll keep working.
4 cameras are on board, so you'll be flashed, no matter what or where.
There's no escaping!
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| 29 August, 2007 - Biker Loses Prosthetic Hand On Motorcycle | A UK teenager with a prosthetic hand left his hand on his motorcycle when quickly visiting his girlfriend.
When he came back, his hand had disappeared.
Bummer! |
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| 29 August, 2007 - India: Motorcycle Police Extreme Brutality | Motorcycle Police in India get extreme violent with a purse snatcher.
On TV, they drag the man through the streets chained to their motorcycle.
Makes Rodney King look like a walk in the park.
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| 28 August, 2007 - China: Police Monitor The Web With Motorcycles | The Chinese Police are going to monitor all web traffic with Police motorcycles.
They fear that the communists will loose power because of Western influences. But using motorcycles ?
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| 28 August, 2007 - Dangerous Job: Motorcycle Escort For George Bush | This is the 2nd time in a year, that a motorcycle Police officer dies while riding escort for President George W. Bush.
Does this happen frequently, or is it a Bush thing?
I wonder what happened... sad!
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| 23 August, 2007 - China: This Still Hurts Me | No matter how many times I see these photos and read the articles, it still hurts!
What a waste of motorcycles!
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| 16 August, 2007 - Canada Introduced $10,000 Speeding Ticket | The Canadian have thought off a new way of getting your money; serious money!
If you get caught speeding 50 kph over the speed limit, you'll get fined $10,000!
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| 15 August, 2007 - Church Condemns Valentino Rossi For Tax Evasion | The Vatican have stated that they believe that Valentino Rossi is guilty of tax invasion.
They do not want a trial, but plan for an inquisition. Rossi to burned at the stake!
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| 10 August, 2007 - Police in Victoria, Australia On Strike | The Police in Victoria, Australia are going on strike. They are planning to stop collecting money of the fines generated by the radars, unless their demands for a pay rise are met.
They've even produced a nice little TV ad promoting their strike!
NO RADARS!! Yeah !
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| 8 August, 2007 - Weee! Splash! | Rain continues to fall in large parts of Asia.
Not fun riding motorcycles like that.
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| 3 August, 2007 - Worst Floods In Memory In Asia | The worst floods in living memory have hit Asia, specially China.
There's no way you can take out your motorcycle, except by pushing it. What is the world coming too?
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| 3 August, 2007 - Lawyer Trying To Get Out Of Parking Ticket Loses | The English lawyer who claimed he did not need to pay his parking tickets, since his motorcycle was on a center stand and didn't touch the ground, lost his case.
Shocking but true.
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| 1 August, 2007 - Dainese Buys AGV | Dainese announced that they have purchased AGV from a Belgium company, making this old Italian company, Italian again.
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| 20 July, 2007 - Netherlands Wants To Outlaw Integral Helmets | The Dutch part for Freedom and Democracy, the VVD, wants to outlaw bikers from wearing integral helmets when not riding a motorcycles!
In other words, you must take off your helmet before dismounting! Stupidity is too kind of a word.
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| 28 June, 2007 - Philippines: Politicos Gone Crazy | Yet another bunch of idiot political bosses decide on a new law. In this case it's in Manila, Philippines, where the top idiots have decided that all motorcycle and scooter riders must paint their license paint in the front and back of THEIR HELMETS!
That must have been some serious dope they were smoking!
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| 27 June, 2007 - Bloody Parking Meter Maids | Toronto, Canada, like many other cities, have parking meters for vehicles parking in the street. And like most cities, they employ staff to enforce that proper usage of these meters.
And like in most cities, the staff can only be qualified as sub-human. Here's an example.
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| 8 June, 2007 - Motorcycles In Denver Are Allowed Only Stock Pipes | Denver, Colorado are introducing a new law, starting July 1st, that will force motorcycle riders to only ride with stock exhausts.
No more racing exhausts, no more loud pipes, no more after-market exhausts.
But the law is ONLY for motorcycles, not cars! That does not seem fair to me. Discrimination !
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| 7 June, 2007 - UK Police Don’t Get Fined For Speeding | Apparently, if your a Police officer in the UK, chances are very high you'll not be fined for speeding or running a red light.
Is that a job perk or what ? |
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| 6 June, 2007 - Safety Ad Cop Caught Drink/Driving | One of the Police officers in the UK involved in a safety campaign against drinking & driving was caught.... drinking and driving !!
It's supposed to be "show how it's done" not "show how it's NOT done! |
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| 4 June, 2007 - Motorcycles Pollute/Do Not Pollute More Than Cars | Report on motorcycle pollution have always been written with a lot of bias, usually by people with obvious interests.
In Paris, France, the environment agency, ADEME, have produced a real, unbiased, report. They looked at pollution in real life, not on a test bench.
Surprise! Motorcycle pollute less than cars!
But we all knew that...
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| 4 June, 2007 - Something Strange Going On Here! Who Is Truthful? | While we're all under the impression that actors Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman are on the way to South Africa riding their motorcycles through Africa, undergoing whatever hardships they encounter, the real truth is probably very far away.
According to the BBC's page, the journey's blog states the pair (and their support crew) are in Libya in a major sandstorm (June 3rd).
But AP News have filed photos of the two actors with Richard Branson in Nairobi, Kenya (thousands of miles South) enjoying a moment with some small motorcycles. Dateline: June 3rd!!
How can they be at different places at the same time??? Who is kidding who here ??
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| 25 May, 2007 - Texas To Ban Speed Cameras! | There a bill being passed that will ban all speeding radars in the state of Texas. Eeeehhhaaa !!
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| 22 May, 2007 - Gabriele Del Torchio Checks-in At Ducati | Gabriele Del Torchio has become the new President and CEO of Ducati.
He comes from the Luxury Yacht builder Ferreiti which he ran since 2005.
Let's hope his yacht experience will benefit the Ducati world..
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| 22 May, 2007 - Marc Coma To The Dark Side | After several motorcycle stars leaving the motorcycle world for the four-wheel world, it looks like Spanish KTM motorcycle rider and former Dakar winner, Marc Coma, is getting a taste of riding a car in a race.
Marc has signed up to drive a Porsche Cayenne S in the Transsyberian race held in August. Let's hope he'll leave it at that, and not ride the car in next year's Dakar.
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| 27 April, 2007 - Johnson Control Bans Employees From Motorcycles | How bad are things when a large company forbids its employees to use motorcycles during working hours. Johnson Controls did just that.
Maybe they should ban Johnson Controls! |
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| 19 April, 2007 - Fleeing On Your Motorcycle | Imagine having to escape all the violence on your motorcycle, with 4 other adults and all your worldly possessions.
What a life!
Makes you realize how good things really are for you.
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| 19 April, 2007 - BBC To Help You Buy Your Motorbike | Live in the UK? Want to buy a new motorcycle?
The UK TV producers; BBC, are planning a TV program that advises people how to get the best possible deal when buying a new motorcycle. |
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| 18 April, 2007 - Not Nice To Ride Like This | Not a nice way of riding your motorcycle:
Sandstorms must be a major downer to ride in. I can't think of anything worse except maybe a snow blizzard...
Imagine coming home from a ride in a sandstorm, taking off your gear... sand everywhere, face burnt, eyes watering... yuk!
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| 10 April, 2007 - Motorcyclist Hit By Bathtub | This is the stuff of nightmares. Sounds like truth can be stranger than fiction.
A 72 year old biker was riding along when a bathtub fell of a truck and hit him of his Honda motorcycle.
Talk about a bizarre accident!
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| 2 April, 2007 - French Presidential Elections - Motorcycle Issues | The French Angry Biker Association, FFMC, have sent the French Presidential candidates a series of questions on their attitude towards motorcycles.
Surprisingly, the man who started the campaign against speeding by placing 1,000's of radars, Nicolas Sarkozy, is very much in favor of motorcycles. Yes to riding in the bus lane, yes to parking on side walks.
The leading contender, Socialist Segolene Royale, is totally opposed to anything that allows a motorcycle to function properly. So all she has going for her is that she's a woman, and reasonably pretty.
If only I was allowed to vote.
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| 29 March, 2007 - UK Wants To Limit Motorcycle Speeds | The anti-motorcycle brigade are out again. This time it's in the UK, where the politicians want to limit the speeds of motorcycles.
When will they ever learn? |
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| 23 March, 2007 - UK 2008 Taxes | Miracles do occur! You just need to look out for them.
The UK just announced its 2008 budget, and for a rare occurrence, motorcycle taxes are not going to increase, or just very slightly. Compared with cars, motorcycles (or motorbikes, depending on which country you live in) are much better off.
I guess we'll be seeing more and more motorcycles in the UK now.
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| 8 March, 2007 - Korea: Anti-Motorcycle Politics | We're not the only ones that have problems with strange anti-motorcycle laws.
Have a look at what's happening in Korea. Not that strange North Korean, but in South Korea!
As a motorcycle rider, you're not allowed to ride on highways (express ways), car-only roads and over passes! The only roads you can take are smaller rural roads and city streets, both are far more dangerous for motorcycles. Why ? Because the Korean government, in 1972, decided it was not safe for motorcycles!
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| 16 February, 2007 - Catch A Thief, Win A Motorcycle, Be A Thief | | A strange method of fighting purse-snatching, motorcycle riding, youths in Malaysia. Catch your brethren, win a motorcycle, snatch more purses. Strange ??? |
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| 14 February, 2007 - Illegal To Use GPS In Switzerland | | It has become against the law in Switzerland to have a GPS equipped with a speed radar database. This means almost any modern GPS. If caught, you face the destruction of the GPS and a hefty fine. Long live the liberties in Switzerland. |
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| 8 February, 2007 - Belgiums Show The Way | Belgium is one of the more progressive, forward thinking and motorcycle friendly nations on Earth ! They have just adopted a new law that allows motorcycle to park on sidewalks (officially) and for 125cc motorcycle to use the bicycle lanes. Already they were legally allowed to lane-split ! This puts other countries to shame !
I guess it helps when your King is a biker ! |
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| 2 February, 2007 - French Motorocycle Cops Fed Up! | | The French motorcycle Gendarmes are fed up with having to fine speeding bikers, so they've stopped doing it ! They don't feel they should be tax collectors. Now, for speeds of under 20 kph over the limit, you'll get a warning. Vive la France ! |
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| 25 January, 2007 - Geat Idea In Malaysia ! Why Not Here ? | | In Malaysia the local politicians would seem to be motorcycle friendly. They are planning to install motorcycle-only lanes on their roads. Way to go ! Are the politicians in other countries paying attention !! |
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| 22 January, 2007 - Free BMW Motorcycles in the UK | After a ship wreck last week, of a big container ship, hundreds of people are combing the beaches in Devon, UK, for treasures. And some of them found more than they expected! BMW R1200RT motorcycles !!
Losers Weepers, Finders Keepers.
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| 10 January, 2007 - Vatican: Paris-Dakar-Bloody Race of Irresponsibility | | The Vatican today slammed the Dakar race as a "Bloody Race of Irresponsibility", condemning the Dakar as a "irresponsible, violent and cynical attempt to impose questionable Western tastes on the developing world". In which ass have they got their heads ? |
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| 12 December, 2006 - Anti-Greenlaning Law Repealed In France ? | | First strike against the French greenies and their proposed law forbidding motorcycles from riding off road. The top government agency in France has decided that the proposed law is without merit, and condemned the greenies to pay legal costs. One small victory, but the battle still rages. |
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| 10 December, 2006 - Dreadful Sight: Chinese Motorcycle Graveyard | Here's a photo that's making me cry.
Thousands of motorcycles in a Chinese graveyard. All these motorcycles have been confiscated, and will be destroyed !!
What a waste !
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| 8 December, 2006 - What ?? I can’t hear you !! | A simple-minded town in Arizona, USA has imposed a 80 dB noise level on motorcycles !
The town council has not given their approval, their own law states 85 dB, and a US$750 fine was never decided upon.
Why not just say "Bikers Not Allowed!".
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| 2 November, 2006 - Motorcycle Car Retriever To Be Used In Dubai | The Honda Goldwing Retriever (the Swedish car towing service using a Honda motorcycle) got a nice contract in Dubai, Middle East. Sweden, China and Canada are already using this nifty service.
What better than a motorcycle to tow a broken down car.
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| 10 October, 2006 - 2nd Hand Motorcycles in the USA | | To my shock, Suzuki USA announced the first warrantee program for pre-owned (=2nd hand) motorcycles in the USA. Does that mean that normally 2nd hand motorcycles are not protected even if you buy them from a dealer ? |
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| 9 October, 2006 - New Proposed Law For Daytime Running Lights (DRL) | | The European Commission are proposing to equip all vehicles sold in Europe with special Daytime Running Lights (DRL). So not only do vehicles need to have their lights on during the day, but the lights have to be special. Will this craziness ever end ? |
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| 12 September, 2006 - Cell Phones and Driving | | Cells phones in cars are dangerous for us motorcycle riders. Sweden is about to ban all cell phones, including hands-free ones. Here's a list of countries with regulations against mobile phone usage. |
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| 11 September, 2006 - Belgium and Motorcycle Greenlanes | | The Belgium motorcycle riders have their share of problems with new laws forbidding them to ride off-road. A small protest of 500 bikers ended in the Minister's garden. |
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| 1 September, 2006 - Motorcycle Wiki | A motorcycle Wiki was started by MBI member Wheelhound, and is steadily growing with loads of information.
You too can help by providing information to this on-line motorcycle encyclopedia.
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| 30 August, 2006 - And You Think Your Motorcycle Is Safe Outside? | | Despite what you lay think, strange things can happen to your motorcycle when it's outside. Sue Smith found out, when her son discovered a video on the internet of a stranger stripping on her motorcycle. |
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| 25 August, 2006 - US Motorcycle Carriers | Here's a fellow in the USA, who'll come and pick up your motorcycle and transport it on a truck to popular destinations (like Sturgis etc), or in the winter to warm weather (Florida).
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| 24 August, 2006 - Interesting Way To Avoid A Ticket | A Wales, UK based Royal Marine got arrested for changing the color on his motorcycle, in the hope of escaping a speed radar ticket.
Good idea, but it didn't work.
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| 14 August, 2006 - UK Police Chief Told Off For Anti-Motorcycle Writing | | The British Motorcyclist Federation (BMF) have logged a complaint against the deputy Chief of Police for North Wales, Clive Wolfendale, for anti-motorcycle writings in his blog. He now wants to ban motorcycles from Wales's national parks. |
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| 4 August, 2006 - 4 Year Old Stolen Racing Motorcycles Mystery Solved | | 5 GP Racing Suzuki motorcycles (Barry Sheene, Kevin Schwantz, Scott Russell, Kenny Roberts Jr.), that were stolen 4 years ago, have been found. It was an inside job !! The butler did it ! |
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| 18 July, 2006 - Motorcycle TV in the USA | Finally, a TV Cable station in the USA is going to be dedicated to motorcycles.
Called "The Motorcycle Channel", it'll air 24/7 early 2007 ! |
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| 18 May, 2006 - Holy ¤#%$ ! Bear Grabs Biker to Eat | | A bear pulled a biker (the pedal powered variety) from his bicycle and kept him alive in order to eat him later. Gives a whole different meaning to the term "midnight snacks". |
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| 5 April, 2006 - Excellent Document From ACEM | ACEM published a new document today, that not only all governments should read, but all motorcycle riders as well.
Meant for the governments of this world, as a rider you can learn a lot.
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| 29 March, 2006 - European Driving License Approved | | The European commission has approved the new common motorcycle license. It's going to take 26 years to fully implement! And it's going to be tougher to get a motorcycle license. |
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| 20 March, 2006 - More Fraud In Air Vests | Yet another case of fraud in air vests.
Doesn't look good for that industry. |
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| 15 March, 2006 - Rossi Challenges Alonso To Duel | Rossi has challenged Alonso to a high speed duel. F1, Rally and MotoGP are the weapons of choice.
Is Alonso man enough, or will he take back his words ? |
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| 7 March, 2006 - Disney Paris Looking For Motorcycle Stunt Riders | Ever dreamed of becoming a motorcycle stunt rider ?? Here's your chance ! Disney Paris is hiring motorcycle riders for their incredible stunt show.
Hurry, applications close on the 13th of March.
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| 24 February, 2006 - KTM Into The Greenlane Fight | | Finally the first motorcycle manufacturer has picked up the challenge, and has started a publicity campaign to help motorcycle riders defend their rights to greenlaning. Where are the rest ? |
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| 24 February, 2006 - French Government Turning Down The Heat | Finally the French government has turned down the heat on motorcycles and has started to become positive.
Are there now that many motorcycle riding voters ???? |
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| 28 October, 2005 - Legal Motorcycle Parking | The French Angry Biker Association is planning a massive protest ride on the 5th of November protesting parking laws, while the Toronto authorities have granted free parking to motorcycles!
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| 1 April, 2005 - High Tech Motorcycle Fines | | The French gouvernment put in place a new system for paying speeding fines; welcome to the 22nd century! |
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| 21 January, 2005 - Last Enduro of Touquet Cancelled ! | | The last and final Le Touquet Enduro race, world's biggest, has now been cancelled (no more beach race - end of an era). |
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| 8 December, 2004 - Politician Merchandising | One famous US politician is planning to trade on his name with motorcycle gear.
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| 12 April, 2004 - KTM Motorcycles Party | | KTM are throwing their annual party between 10 and 12 June this year. |
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| 5 March, 2004 - World Ducati Week | Ducati is holding its annual week long event in Italy.
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| 12 November, 2003 - Caught Red Handed ! | | Two daring thieves on a motorcycle are caught on camera by passersby.... |
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| 30 October, 2003 - Fear of My Life | | A direct quote from a USA newspaper about someone who killed 2 bikers... |
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| 27 September, 2003 - What A Waste !!! | The Chinese government destroyed over 1,000 motorcycles!
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| 25 May, 2003 - The Valentino Rose | | A yellow rose has been created and named after the MotoGP worldchampion |
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| 15 May, 2003 - Swiss Bikers in Trouble | The swiss want to limit all motorcycles to 80 kph by putting limiters on their bikes.
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| 30 April, 2003 - Killed by both of his hobbies | Bill Wilson is passionate about two things in life; his motorcycle and bird watching!
Unfortunately, he has been killed while doing both ! He was out riding on his Honda Goldwing when he slowed down to watch some geese. One of them flew right in to his windshield and struck him in his chest. (the goose also died)
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| 21 April, 2003 - Undercover Biker Cop | The French are testing the concept of an undercover motorcycle cop, ie, a plainclothes cop, with no signs that the motorcycle is a cop.
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