Morning Reads: 30 December 2006

[mika]

The motorcycling world viewed from the saddle of a BMW. A daily look at all things BMW, Euro-bike, products and things I find interesting on the internet. With links to news, reviews, events, riding skills, maintenance and racing series updates. Morning Reads is a one stop shop for motorcycling information.

TodayÔÇÖs Birthdays / Calendar

BMW MOA Chartered Club:

Planning a European riding vacation?
This group looks to be a good information resource,
and fun group to hook up with at one of the Euro Rallys

Left Lane #142

Founded:
10/1/1984

Contact:
Cheryl Bernshausen (helmut.cheryl.bernshausen@t-online.de)
Jahnstr. 21
89168 Niederstotzingen, Germany
www.leftlanemc.org

Meetings:
This club consists primarily of English-speaking BMW riders living in Europe. One or more members organize weekend rallies.

Events:
Rallies to be announced, location varies, April ÔÇô October



Gem??tlichkeit is the warm, comfortable feeling
one receives from pleasant surroundings and atmosphere.
I think you will find that when you come here.



Ozaukee ÔÇô Washington Daily News

Fond Du Lac Reporter

The Sheboygan Press

Daily Citizen, Beaver Dam

Weather

West Bend WI
Current

10 Day Forcast

United States
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

Canada
Meteorological Service of Canada




News:

Telegraph.co.uk: A Rolls-Royce Fit for a king? Andrew English on Rolls-RoyceÔÇÖs new convertible.

Roadking.com: Motorcycles appeal to an older crowd these days.

mysanatonio.com: Born to be wild? Consider a scooter.

Wired.com: Predictions for a Wired 2007

MotorcycleUSA.com: MCUSAÔÇÖs best of 2006. BMW appears in two catagories

Feature:

googlevideo.com: Lockpicking ÔÇô BMW decoder tool

Adventure Posts:

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Blog Update:

Salcar: El Calafate, Argentina

Gear:

webBikeWorld.com: Review of two battery heated vests.

Photography:

DPS.com: How to photograph fireworksseemed like a good thing to brush up on for the coming New Years Holiday.

Technology:

Gizmodo.com: Solar Bluethooth GPS

I know that several of you are Mac fans. Here are 10 questions Wired.com thinks Apple must answer in 2007. What do you think?

Wonderings:

DarkRoastedBlend: I think I found someone who has more time on their hands than I do. ÔÇô Animal Armor?

Manufacturer of the Day:

ABAKO

Apparatebau A.G., Kracker & Co.
1923 ÔÇô 1925
N??rnberg

Economy-point.org: Abako ÔÇô a very brief description

Motorradonline24.de: Abako ÔÇô in German

And you thought this was going to be easy and predictable.

Found this in my mailbox from Ural. They must celebrate on the Christmas Holidays with the Orthodox calendar.

And we thought Santa was done for the year.

SANTAAA you forgot a couple things on my list.

Woot

Todays Woot

The Blog

Bike Candy:

Why arenÔÇÖt these guys smiling ear to ear? They are on adventure bikes out in the wild. Besides PUDGYPAINTGUY gave CharlieÔÇÖs Race to Dakar a good review.

The Pit Crew View: Racing News:

All things BMW

techeblog.com: BMW X5 Dakar v bike

Dakar 2007

Googlevideo.com: Charlie Boorman ÔÇô Meet the Author

Carscoop.com: BMW X3 CC Dakar Rallyhmmm I missed this.

X-Raid.de: Now I found this. BMW X-Raid Dakar effort in German and some English. I found this at the BMW Styr plant site.

TheRallySite.com: Dakar by the numbers. Trivia fans will like this post.

PaddockTalk.com: Who can beat Mitsubishi?

EUROSport.com: Vatanen out to prove a point.


autoblog.com: Little car, big race ÔÇô FiatÔÇÖs PanDAKAR.

Yes the trucks competesometimes better than others it seems.

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Then there are the ones that really know how to race.

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autosportvide.be: Video interview with Carlos Sainz, VW rally driver. He kindly speaks English in the interview. Some good driving shots, an idea of what he does to train and more.

The official Dakar 2007 website.

Versus: Now that you too are hooked on the event here is the TV schedule for your 2007 Dakar viewing pleasure.

Dakar Rally News via topix.net

Mobileindustry.biz: EA launches Dakar 2007 for mobiles.

Popcorn Dakar

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Trucks at prelim for Dakar.

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Now some bikes

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NORTH AMERICAN ENTRANTS:

Here are the entrants from NA and their websites when available. This undoubtedly is an incomplete list and I will continue to refine it up to race time.

MOTORCYCLE

Chris Blais: Red Bull / KTM

Paul Broome: Honda

Terry Curtis - Team Rally Raid Mexico / Yamaha

James Embro: Team SSC / JJE Constructors

Timothy Hall: Heatland Dakar 2007 / KTM

Sunny Irvine - Team Rally Raid Mexico / Yamaha

Christopher Jones: KTM

Mike Kary: Team RallySoCal / Husqvarna

Steve Laroza: Team JJE Construcors / KTM

Casey McCoy: Rally Pan America / KTM

Brian Schumckle: Team RallySoCal / Husqvarna


Elmer Symons: Team SSC/JJE Constructors / KTM

Jonah Street: Pai-Rally Pan America / KTM

CARS

Ron Bailey Motorsports

Team Gordon

Volkswagen Motosport: Drivers Mark Miller / Ralf Pitchford

Team SMG: Divers ÔÇô Michael Peterson / Matthew Stevensen

TRUCKS

Thomas Geviss / Paul Mitchell: Team Gordon

Darren Skilton / Jose Grijalva / Hecotr Camachof

Here is another chance for you to do the digging: Google Directory: Dakar 2007, approximately 598 sites to mine. Have fun.

Dakar Motorcycle Entrants as of 5 OCT 2007 This appears to be a complete list of the motorcycle entrants.

PAGE 2: A Link to Events and Racing Calendars
Last update: December 17, 2006


Unless noted otherwise, I have no known commercial interest in any products, retailers or manufactures discussed in the Morning Reads. The links used in the Morning Reads are for informational use only. The use of all links is subject to the terms of use of the originating site.

The End

 

[mika]

Page 2

BMW C1: Part III

With the concept of combining many of the safety features of a car and the mobility of a scooter combine in the C1, there was some refining to do.

The roof was one place to look. Should it be fixed, removable or be there at all? Given the project parameters the removable option was selected. A smoked hard top which was

hinged in the rear was selected. This allowed visibility even when the hardtop was in place. Hinged in the manner it was it could be opened to act as an air scoop in hot city traffic increasing rider/driver comfort and removed made you a greater part of the elements.

As an urban transport vehicle for work, shopping as well as pleasure carrying capacity was an issue. The solutions included option racks, trunks and cargo nets for the cockpit.

Creature comforts were anticipated also. Cell phones are ubiquitous in Europe and a cell caddy was incorporated into the option list.

For the audiophile speakers could be added on either side of your head and audio controls were incorporated in the left grip controls.

The C1 would be offered in a Basic, Friend and Executive models. The levels of trim included:

C1
Central seat belt release
Seat belt locks with warning light
Stainless steel exhaust system
Controlled three-way catalytic converter
Laminated glass windscreen with windscreen wiper and wipe/wash system
Storage recess in dashboard
Lockable storage compartment in the rear
Scratch resistant interior paintwork
Two integrated fresh air outlets in the dashboard
Lever system for placing vehicle on centre stand (with tamper protection)
Combined ignition/steering lock with single key system and simultaneous locking of bench seat and rear storage compartment
Preparation for multi-functional luggage system
Preparation for the installation of electric special equipment


C1 - FamilyÔÇÖs Friend
In addition to standard model :
Rear storage fixing kit
Large glove compartment in the front
Dual colour paintwork with graphics
Painted sills

C1 - Executive
In addition to C1 FamilyÔÇÖs Friend :
Luggage rail
Front luggage net
Reading light
Mobile phone bracket
Metallic exterior finish

The build project seemed complete. From the concept of combining a car and a scooter into a single vehicle an interesting chassis was developed. A sound power system would deliver the power. Finally the special nature of the vehicle allowed for creature comforts and solutions not normally found on scooters. The BMW C1

But who would buy thisthing?

L.E.O. provided a logical Brot und Butter target market. Off to the German police to see their reaction.

For those of us that watched Ponch, John and the rest of the CHPs cadre make the freeways of California safe for democracy and other things their European counterparts could definitely use the C1 to handle city law enforcement tasks.

With the emphasis on technology and innovation BMW rolled out its F-1 toys in support. Europeans are into F-1 in a way that may be more fanatical than people are about NASCAR in the US and Canada.

BMW now the owner of the MINI brand dug into their Mod 60ÔÇÖs history and tried some trendy promotional models to appeal to the urban crossover crowd.

The press was worked with very mixed success. On the plus side BMW managed to obtain a Scooter of the Year award from the German magazine ÔÇ£Roller Spezial and ScooterÔÇØ two years in a row. On the down side the influential Sunday Times writer Jeremy Clarkson panned the C1 in his pre-release review in the important London paper.

An aggressive practical approach was taken with the public and the show circuit. BMW would reserve sections of show grounds for test drives. Riders would be given instruction and coached by qualified instructors while people waiting could relax in the C1 caf?® and ponder its many features.

These would be the real target audience. Police could provide a base for production. Whimsy can sell to the chic. A living would be made selling to the urban commuter.

BMW C1 ÔÇô Part IV will wind up this look at the C1. The stage is set, now will it sell? You think you know the answer, but do you really know the reasons? In the end I am, as usual, left Wondering.

 

[PAULBACH]

What I learned from MIKA today!

VW owns Bently. Watch the video of the new Bently. The engine of the beast has two superchargers.

2007 Predictions
Internet Traffic Doubles ...to 5,000 petabits per day by the end of 2007. And 80 percent of it is peer-to-peer file sharing, mostly Skype video and BitTorrent.

A petabit? Was just learning to fit in terrabits and now petabits?

 

[MOTOR31]

What the heck is that long handle / lever that comes up to rest right in front of the handle bar in the center????

Seatbelts?!?!?!?!?! I have mixed feelings about that. Given the design of the bike and the high probability of being "lofted" on a front impact it might be a good thing to keep the rider from impacting the cage rails. To me this is a "good" and "bad" idea but I think it will really have to be one of those "experiance" things to prove it's worth.

 

[mika]

I wondered about the lever also. All the information that I have is elegantly unclear as to what the lever is. Through investigation and a process of elimination I am down to three possible answers.

1. It is the central release for the seatbelts. In day to day use this would be convenient for quick release upon arrival. In the case of an accident you would find yourself on you side or you head and thus the central release lever would make it easy for you or a rescuer to release the belts and get you out.
2. It somehow deploys and retracts the center stand. The red button behind it may be the central seatbelt release.
3. It activates the emergency rocket assisted ejection feature for the C1 command pod.

Crash test videos are in the next segment.

 

[boney]

VW has been messing with the W12 engine for a while. When they originally built it, their concept car set the world record for highest average speed and distance in 24 hours. (i'll see if I can round up the article, it's several years old.) In that form it was twin-turbo with 600 hp. The same engine was naturally aspirated and offered in the Phaeton at 400 hp. Offered in the Audi A8, I don't know the specs, and now twin-turbo in the Bentley with 550 hp. The true beauty of the engine is that it's about as long as a conventional V8. Nice to see they're getting the miles out of it, so to speak. BTW, if you've never driven a car with the Syncro or Quattro AWD system in it, you owe yourself a test drive. They're truely amazing.

Apple. Hmmm. I suspect that they're just going to be a "boutique" PC manufacturer in the coming years, and thier real business is going to be software and accessories.