Morning Reads: 11 August 2007 - Storm Edition

[mika]

TodayÔÇÖs Birthdays / Calendar

At 3:30AM a heavy storm hit Lilydale. During the lightning display, winds and rain I gathered some clothes to put on, my flashlight and emergency radio. Those tasks completed I implemented secret emergency plan Saturday and slept in. The power is still out; the Lilydale gas station has no coffee so I am in a coffee mill a couple towns south. I may have to become a refugee and mooch lunch off some friends. Oh the horror of it all.


Saturday August 11 : Green Bay Packers at Pittsburg Steelers

BMW in the News

roadracingworld.com
BMW running two bikes in this weekendÔÇÖs 24 hour Race at Oschersleben

motorcycledaily.com
How far will BMW go?

Canada.com
Mobile Tradition powers BMW classics.

TED: Ideas worth spreading
TED Blog,Conferences, Themes, Talks and Speakers


BMW Press: News and press releases from the official BMW sources

World of BMW News

Hmmm
BMW Motorrad offers complimentary insurance on G Series range

I think I Wondered about this before when MCN ran articles about other manufacturers trying this, now if BMW NA would figure it out for us.


BMW GroupPress Club:

PressClub UK

BMW Motorrad offer complimentary insurance on G Series range

BMW Motorrad has launched a free one-year, fully comprehensive insurance policy for all customers buying a brand new BMW G 650 X motorcycle, courtesy of BMW Motorrad Insurance.

With complimentary insurance cover, customers buying a brand new G Series machine will make a substantial saving of up to ?ú500, compared with the highly competitive rates already offered by BMW Motorrad Insurance.

Tony Jakeman, BMW MotorradÔÇÖs UK Marketing Manager, said; ÔÇ£By offering complimentary insurance to purchasers of any of the new G Series range, we are making entry level BMW ownership more accessible than ever. Combined with our current finance packages, where customers can buy a G 650 X for as little as ?ú99 per month* , there has never been a more affordable opportunity for riders to buy into the BMW brand.ÔÇØ

Free BMW Motorrad Insurance is applicable throughout the G Series range, from the enduro G 650 Xchallenge, to the urban Xcountry, and the sporty Xmoto. Whether riders favour hardcore off-road trails or aggressive city slicking, the G Series range caters to every bikersÔÇÖ need.

The BMW Motorrad complimentary insurance offer is available for customers aged between 21 and 74, who hold a full motorcycle licence, subject to final approval by BMW Motorrad Insurance. The offer applies to all BMW G 650 X models registered between 1 August and 31 December 2007.


BMW Sauber F1: Website

BMW Motorsport

BMW Yachtsport

BMW Golfsport

BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Sport website


News:

superbike-news.co.uk
BMW Motorrad Motorsport/Oschersleben 24hr Preview


topspeed.com
Durbahn 992V2 Concept

MotoGP Racing ÔÇô Rider or Machine

MotoGP ÔÇô Like Formula 1 or NASCAR or Neither?

[url=http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=29884]roadracingworld.com
Kawasaki France on pole position for Oschersleben 24 Hour World Endurance Race

I wanted to run the picture so I better run the story
insidebikes.com
Royal Enfield accessory catalogue out (in the UK)

Desmoblog for Friday 10 August

Forum moderators have concluded ÔÇô
f1complete
No ÔÇÿF-wordÔÇÖ exchanged in Hungary ÔÇô McLaren
- and I was worried that McLaren would be sent to the doghouse and Hamilton and Dennis would be banned from the forum.

Wow this was totally unexpected
bbc.co.uk
Bourdai to join Toro Rosso in F1

autosport.com
Massa hopeful of Ferrari fightback

jsonline.com
Woodson free to be himself

slate.com
Remember when cheating a video games was harmless fun?

So Jesse says the chopper is dead, take this Mr. West Coast Chopper:
Bikes in the Fast Lane

Iron Butt Rally 2007

2007 Iron Butt Rally

The 2007 Iron Butt Rally will take off on Monday, August 20, 2007
from the St. Louis, Missouri area. Once again, it will be a challenge
not only to riding skills but also the riders ability to map a
successful route in order to maximize points and solve the
time/distance equation.

Iron Butt.org:
Website
Forum
SaddleSore Website

Iron Butt Rally in the News:
Morning Reads attempt to give you ways for you to follow the event and fill in some of the background for the unfamiliar.


Bike Reviews:

motorcyclenews.com
Aprilia Pegaso


Rumors:

motorcyclistonling.com
MV Agusta: F4 600cc Supersport

Feature:

The World of BMW news is part of the UK BMW press arm. If you have read the M.R. for any length of time you are familiar with them as an official source of interesting BMW news items. The following piece would normally run in The World of BMW news section. As you read it pay particular attention to the article date line.

10/08/207: Nate Kern ÔÇô master of the apex

For some of you this article will look very familiar. Nate Kern master of the apex has been running on the home page since August 7th.

BMW Motorrad International did not run it until the 8th of August.

If you are in to keeping score the date line for news outlets is what the checkered flag is to racers. When I began doing Morning Reads the MOA staff took some knocks for its motorcycle coverage due to my postings. Over the last year the BMW MOA media team has gone from a back marker in the BMW news date line race, to regularly tying other primary sources and now more frequently being a first place source of North American BMW Motorrad news.

Familiarity can cause people to overlook the value of something. If you are overlooking the BMW MOA homepage because you think you are familiar with it you are missing out on a valuable part of what the entire website has to offer you as member.


Adventure Posts:

Sues Excellent Adventure
2007 Rally chair Sue Rihn-Manke is riding now what she calls "Sue's Excellent Adventure," covering 48 states in two weeks on her GS.


Blog Update

Foreign Language Blogs


Gear:

webbikeworld.com
Shift Lodown Jeans

gadling.com
Wood-Gas campstove: The Experience


Over Heard in New York | Voice of the City


Riding Skills:

A discussion from twtex.com
Its not IF you go down

Joe Grant writing for motorcycle.com talks about taking the MFS Advanced Rider Course to meet base requirements in: Learning what you already know.

Photography / Video:

Vai: Bikes in the Fastlane ÔÇô Aprilia SXV450/550
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M.R. Traveler

prweb.com
San Diego Labor Day Classic Car, Truck and Cycle Swap Meet, Show & Sale

Another excuse for a ride Sunday if you are in the Quad Cities area:
qctimes.com
British sports cars on display in the Village
What: Heartland British Autofest, sponsored by the Quad-City British Auto Club
When: Noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, with an awards presentation at 3 p.m.
Where: Village of East Davenport, Mound Street and River Drive, Davenport
How much: Free
What no need for day passes!?!


Technology:

How much are you willing to pay for more nothingor is it less of something?
gizmodo.com
New Sony Vaio gets SSD, hefty price hike
The new light weight Sony laptop may appeal to the motorcycle traveler but the price tag.


Saturday Cartoons

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Wonderings:

We have been wondering about the power of volunteerism on the forum.

Volunteer to save a life.


TodayÔÇÖs RoadFood.com



Woot

Todays Woot

The Blog

xkcd A webcomic of Romance, Sarcasm, Math and Language


Bike Candy:

I am willing to admit I like looking at British caf?® bikes, after all that is where I started my fascination with motorcycles.

But BMWs are for the long haul.

With apologies to the owner/Ambassador/Mileage Award winner I lost my notes. Whose bike is this?


THE END

 

[REBECCAV]

I saw that the western part of the state got hit pretty hard. It doesn't look like we will get anything here in Milw though. Sorry about your coffee situation.

 

[braddog]

Come on up, M1ka.

I've got electricity and 2 leftover pizzas from my kid's pool party yesterday.

I just got back from Deephaven an hour ago where I picked up Black Beauty. She needed some plastic surgery as well as some other mechanical bits after a get off this past spring. I got caught in a little morning rain, but no worries.

 

[PAULBACH]

This chopper:

1. is smuggling refreshments from the bear tent
2. has been designed for the L.A. freeways
3. is in a hurry to get to the Green Mountain Rally
4. secret model from BMW for winning at Daytona.

 

[bmwdean]

Bike Candy:

I am willing to admit I like looking at British caf?® bikes, after all that is where I started my fascination with motorcycles.

Ditto. But substitute slash-2s for the Brits.

 

[FELAW]

Whose bike is this (The Red RS)

Darryl (& Terry) Cainey, Fenwick Ontario Canada.
Ambassador and President of The Niagar Riders.

 

[FELAW]

Typo - Niagara Riders

 

[HODAG]

hope it works.....
it didn't
how do I get this to work in my sig?

 

[mika]

Darryl (& Terry) Cainey, Fenwick Ontario Canada.
Ambassador and President of The Niagar Riders.

Thank you very much!

 

[mika]

Ditto. But substitute slash-2s for the Brits.

A bit of background.

The Triumph stood out in my mind because it was a very nice bike in its own right and because it was a big dose of nostalgia for me.

I was born and lived in Madison until I was 14. This year Wisconsin was the focus of much of my riding. The various rustic road trips, rides visiting the Madison area and riding around the West Bend Rally area brought back a flood of memories from then.

I remember going to family friends on a Sunday afternoon for some celebration and dinner. The father of the house had a white Triumph Thunderbird in the garage which he used as a daily rider back and forth to work. I had seen many Harley style bikes before but this was the first European bike I had seen and I fell in love with it on first site. It was the basis of many a childhood fantasy as we took family drives the same roads I found myself on this summer. The image of that white Triumph Thunderbird and my dreams of riding it over the southern Wisconsin countryside are burned into my imagination.

As I went about taking pictures of the various BMWs that caught my eye, they flooded my mind with thoughts of adding a similar one to a stable of bikes I would build, or details and modifications I might make to my Roadster. Awash in this bounty of German confection this white Triumph bust into my vision one afternoon. There was a latter day caf?® version of the bike I had carried in my minds eye for many years. So yes, for very personal reasons, it was my favorite bike from the Rally.

I like bikes. So I am sorry Jeff I can not substitute a /2 for it. Rather I would like to add it to a stable with my Roadster, a /2 (black with the great pin striping), the R100RS(a silver 77 with the wire wheels or a blue 83 or 84) that I have wanted since I first saw one in person, a HP2, a caf?® airhead and several other bikes that have caught my fancy over the years.

I love my Roadster, but a little 56 year old boy can look at a nice bike like that white Triumph and dream.

 

[bmwdean]

So I am sorry Jeff I can not substitute a /2 for it.

Don't be sorry! No criticism intended at all. I suspect we all have our images from our youth as to the most fabulous motorcycle.

 

[mika]

Especially my Roadster