Daily news about motorcycleshttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/en-usWed, 15 May 2013 18:00:00 +0200 Thu, 9 May 2013 14:00:00 +0200

#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:..........

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]]>http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/spain-government-kills-biker-then-balks-at-paying-damages.htmOpinionMike Wernerhttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/spain-government-kills-biker-then-balks-at-paying-damages.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/spain-government-kills-biker-then-balks-at-paying-damages.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dxcomments/spain-government-kills-biker-then-balks-at-paying-damages.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/spain-government-kills-biker-then-balks-at-paying-damages.htm?opendocument&comments Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:00:00 +0200

You don't become world champion motorcycle racing, be it MotoGP, Superbike or any motorsport, by accident. You don't hope of on a race motorcycle at the "ripe" age of 18 and go and win races. There's virtually no sport that allows that. Whether you're racing motorcycles, cars, skiing downhill, swimming, horse riding, running, etc, you need one thing, and one thing only: YOU NEED TO START YOUNG.

The younger you are when you start competing in your chosen sport, the better you will be. Very few people will question that tactic. Valentino Rossi started racing at the tender age of 5 (karts, but quickly went to motorcycles). Casey Stoner started with motorcycle racing at the age of 4. Jorge Lorenzo started riding a home built motorcycle at the age of 3 years. Very few champions and professionals will make it to the top if they did not start really young.

Before we continue, watch this video...........

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]]>http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/what-it-takes-to-become-world-champion-motorcycle-racing---the-case-of-vasco-van-der-valk.htmOpinionMike Wernerhttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/what-it-takes-to-become-world-champion-motorcycle-racing---the-case-of-vasco-van-der-valk.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/what-it-takes-to-become-world-champion-motorcycle-racing---the-case-of-vasco-van-der-valk.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dxcomments/what-it-takes-to-become-world-champion-motorcycle-racing---the-case-of-vasco-van-der-valk.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/what-it-takes-to-become-world-champion-motorcycle-racing---the-case-of-vasco-van-der-valk.htm?opendocument&comments Tue, 26 Mar 2013 08:00:00 +0200You know you're in trouble when politicians start talking. Grandstanding is their way of trying to get more votes, more power and therefore more money, and nowhere is this more visible when politicians touch the motorcycle world. The motorcyclists are a small group of voters, so we do not represent a threat, so we're easy pickings for politicians who want to make a name for themselves, at our expense.

In Europe, there's currently a heated debate on making motorcycles go through a mandatory annual technical inspection. Experts are quite clear, as is the motorcycle world, that it's a waste of money. Most countries have agreed.

But still you'll find politicians who "believe" they are right and the rest of the world is wrong. Here is a video of Brian Simpson, a British member of the European parliament. Apart from being a MP, unfortunately he is also the Chair of the European Transport Committee, in other words, he has more power over the motorcycle world than most politicians.

In this video, he's calling motorcycles "DEATH CARRIERS"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine, this "elected" official, who has to look after the interest of amongst other bikers, thinks we ride on death carriers. This man suffers from terminal CRI. There is no hope in this world when men like him have the power. An obese man, who obviously is not healthy (mind & body), thinks he can judge bikers? What did we do to deserve this man?

Have a look at the video. You can understand my anger....

]]>http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/why-european-politicians-should-be-lobotomized.htmOpinionMike Wernerhttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/why-european-politicians-should-be-lobotomized.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/why-european-politicians-should-be-lobotomized.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dxcomments/why-european-politicians-should-be-lobotomized.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/why-european-politicians-should-be-lobotomized.htm?opendocument&comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +0200

A few days ago the French socialist government announced with big ceremony that they would be spending billions of Euros to make "The Greater Paris"; a project for Paris and the extended suburbs. To do that, they would need to beef up the crumbling transportation infrastructure, mainly the metro and commuter rail, and to do that, they would need to spend 30 BILLION Euros. And that in a country that is laden with debt, so much so that it would make the Japanese look debt free.

So you can guess what comes next... the government is going to look at us, the honest hard working tax payer, to finance this idea. And even if you don't live in Paris or its suburbs, pay you will.

But raising the tax rates even more is political suicide (the tax rate will shortly be set at 75%, yes, you read it right, seventy-five %), and the last thing the powers want is a spring uprising and then the chopping off heads. So they're now planning the next best thing; raise the price of fines!

A few days after announcing the Greater Paris project (which goes until 2030), the politicians now want to raise the price of the fine you get when you park badly, or forget to feed to parking-monster (which is easy to do since you can only feed them 2 hours at a time). Currently when fined you pay €17, shortly, if the extension gets approved, it will become €35, double what it is now.

The trouble is the fines are for all of France since it's a police matter. You can not fine someone in Paris for an amount A and someone elsewhere in France an amount B. That is illegal. So people living outside Paris will be paying enormous high fines to subsidize a project they will never benefit from. Or, they de-penalize parking fines and outsource it to private organizations, which will probably make fines even more expensive.

All in all, it really looks like this government does not know what to do. It's stumbling in the dark, bumping into objects while trying to find the bathroom and on the way, loose the content of their bladder. With all the rich people and celebrities fleeing the country because of ridiculous tax rates, with record unemployment, with companies closing down factories because of the power the unions have and the cost of having employees, the only thing successive governments will have left is higher and higher taxes. But I'm ranting....

So back to the subject. If they really want to make traffic fluid in Paris without major influx on money, all they need to do is promote motorcycles and scooters. Make more parking available in Paris, allow motorcycles to ride in the bus lanes and officially allow them to split lanes, and suddenly there's going to be less traffic jams, less pollution and a lot more happy people. But €30 BILLION is way to attractive a sum of money for some. Politicians need to think about their retirement too.

]]>http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-doubling-the-parking-fines-even-for-motorcycles.htmOpinionMike Wernerhttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-doubling-the-parking-fines-even-for-motorcycles.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-doubling-the-parking-fines-even-for-motorcycles.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dxcomments/france-doubling-the-parking-fines-even-for-motorcycles.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-doubling-the-parking-fines-even-for-motorcycles.htm?opendocument&comments Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:00:00 +0200

The elections for the Parisian mayor will be held next year and already the battles have started. The current mayor Bertrand Delanoe, a man who has done a lot of things AGAINST the motorcycle world, is stepping down. Several candidates have declared themselves, and funny enough they are all women.

The biggest contender is Anne Hidalgo, the current 1st deputy mayor, and the person behind all the current mayor's anti-motorcycle movements.

Already she has mentioned in her programs that she's planning even more drastic measures to curb motorcycles inside Paris (aside from the older motorcycles not allowed in the city, requiring mandatory annual technical inspection of motorcycles, no using of bus lanes). One of her pet peeves is the fact that motorcycles take up parking spaces in Paris. She wants to limit the number of parking spaces allocated to bikes in the country's capital. And that when there's already not enough spaces, and motorcycles are no longer allowed to park on sidewalks...........

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]]>http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-paris-mayor-elections---anti-motorcycle-candidate.htmOpinionMike Wernerhttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-paris-mayor-elections---anti-motorcycle-candidate.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-paris-mayor-elections---anti-motorcycle-candidate.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dxcomments/france-paris-mayor-elections---anti-motorcycle-candidate.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-paris-mayor-elections---anti-motorcycle-candidate.htm?opendocument&comments Wed, 28 Nov 2012 08:00:00 +0200

Things always happen when governments change. One law made during the last government gets changed with the new one. And that is what happened here.

Two laws had been created by the previous conservative government, the mandatory wearing of 150 cm2 of high-visibility armband for motorcycle riders and the mandatory breathalyzer kit in your car or motorcycle. Both laws had been heavily criticized by associations and people alike. Even the European Commission intervened saying that the laws were illegal (see related below). And both laws have been suspended.

Here's what this is all about...........

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]]>http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-hi-viz-armband-and-breathalyzers-law-suspended.htmOpinionMike Wernerhttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-hi-viz-armband-and-breathalyzers-law-suspended.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-hi-viz-armband-and-breathalyzers-law-suspended.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dxcomments/france-hi-viz-armband-and-breathalyzers-law-suspended.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-hi-viz-armband-and-breathalyzers-law-suspended.htm?opendocument&comments Tue, 6 Nov 2012 14:00:00 +0200

Time for you to get on your motorcycle and vote. No matter who you support, you need to vote. Because if you don't, you're not allowed to bitch about the way things are.

And remember, whoever you vote for, also has an impact on the rest of the world.

Happy voting...

]]>http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/usa-go-and-vote-now.htmOpinionMike Wernerhttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/usa-go-and-vote-now.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/usa-go-and-vote-now.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dxcomments/usa-go-and-vote-now.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/usa-go-and-vote-now.htm?opendocument&comments Fri, 2 Nov 2012 14:00:00 +0200

The extreme motophobic and socialist mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, has often been heard about his views on cars and more importantly, motorcycles. He is the man that has started the rent-a-bicycle operations and now even has a rent-an-electric-car thing going in Paris. He has closed many of the lanes in Paris, dedicated them to bus (motorcycles are not allowed to take bus lanes) and he has placed an extensive tramway in the French capital, taking away more lanes in the process. There's also the eternal struggle to get parking spots, both for cars and motorcycles. There just isn't close enough to what is needed in terms of parking spots, but then it's a ticket bonanza for the city, reaping in fortunes for parking tickets. So you know why he's not creating more parking spaces.

But that's not enough for the Parisian mayor. He has now announced that he's going to go many steps further to eliminate traffic from one of world's most beautiful cities, and shortly one of world's most empty.

OLD VEHICLES WILL BE FORBIDDEN TO ENTER

Motorcycles that are 10 years old or older will not be allowed into the city...........

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]]>http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-motophobic-mayor-wants-to-cut-down-all-traffic-in-paris.htmOpinionMike Wernerhttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-motophobic-mayor-wants-to-cut-down-all-traffic-in-paris.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-motophobic-mayor-wants-to-cut-down-all-traffic-in-paris.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dxcomments/france-motophobic-mayor-wants-to-cut-down-all-traffic-in-paris.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-motophobic-mayor-wants-to-cut-down-all-traffic-in-paris.htm?opendocument&comments Fri, 5 Oct 2012 14:00:00 +0200

I've really got to give this guy a lot of respect. Knowing what it is like to be taking a lot of gear with you to take photos (like the recent Intermot), you are worn down to the bone. But this guy not only has to take all his gear with him, but also his wheelchair, and he has to hold on for dear life sitting behind the motorcycle. And then take photos in a war zone.

Respect.

]]>http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/motorcycle-riding-wheelchair-bound-press-photographer---respect.htmOpinionMike Wernerhttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/motorcycle-riding-wheelchair-bound-press-photographer---respect.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/motorcycle-riding-wheelchair-bound-press-photographer---respect.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dxcomments/motorcycle-riding-wheelchair-bound-press-photographer---respect.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/motorcycle-riding-wheelchair-bound-press-photographer---respect.htm?opendocument&comments Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:00:00 +0200

Kickstarter and Fundable are great sites to help you create a motorcycle project with crowd-funding. Several good ideas have seen the light of day (including the reviewed Screaming Banshee horn) because of these websites that allow the general public to fund startups without taking equity. But people need get something in return for their money.

And that is where to problems lies with several of these ideas looking for money. You need to offer something valuable in return.

Take this project for example: Rockin' Rebel on Kickstarter is someone who makes beautiful wooden rocking chairs in the shape of a motorcycle. Really pretty... So you'd expect people to help this guy out by providing him with funds to get proper tools to make more of them. But at the time of writing this, he has gathered $200 of the $50,000 required, and only 8 days left.

Why?......

......Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......

]]>http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/how-not-to-start-a-kickstarter-motorcycle-project.htmOpinionMike Wernerhttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/how-not-to-start-a-kickstarter-motorcycle-project.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/how-not-to-start-a-kickstarter-motorcycle-project.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dxcomments/how-not-to-start-a-kickstarter-motorcycle-project.htm http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/how-not-to-start-a-kickstarter-motorcycle-project.htm?opendocument&comments