Morning Reads: 6 November 2008

[mika]

Happy Birthday

motorcyclenews.com: Consider banning motorcycles, police tell MPs


motorrad.de: Ducati, BMW and Co news from the fair in Milan


sportrider.com: Honda unveils brake-by-wire ABS for sportbikes


sportrider.com: High-frequesncey headshake and synthetic oil problems
Your abnormal guide to things abnormal


thekneeslider.com: Oldsmobile Quad 4 motorcycle project


motoblog.it: EICMA Husaberg 2009


hellforleathermagazine.com: Honda commiting to 2010 V4 model production


cyrilhuzeblog.com: Tennessee cracking down on illegal helmets


Bikes in the Fast Lane: Triumph Tiger sE motorcycle


MCN: Moto Guzzi 1200 Sport first ride
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knucklebusternic.com: 1923 Indian Scout

autoweek.com: FIA shakes up the rule book


Okay we were just having our guys motoring around the track in 2008 and giving the Ompa Loompas a bit of exercise during pit stops bu Theissen says BMW Sauber will fight for the title in 2009 fromula1.com


BMW has a target on its back in F1
formula1blog.com: Honda target BMWÔÇÖs level in 2009


f1-live.com: F1 needs new point system ÔÇô Montezemolo


paddocktalk.com: Formula 1 to New York

autocar.co.ukL Help design next Caterham


autocar.co.uk: Lamborghini Estoque


autobloggreen.com: BMWÔÇÖs Strategy Number ONE includes new city car, excludes CS

worldofbmw.com: The Castrol 6 Hour ÔÇô a history

Stuff


autobloggreen.com: Free piston engines could drastically improve efficiency of ER-EVs


boingboing.net: Left-handed people more inhibited?


reuters.com: Toronto Tim Hortons going green with brown cups

Packers Blog ÔÇô jsonline.com
Packers.com ÔÇô News from the football shrine
Green Bay Post Gazette: Packer News, Commentary


Offical site of the Premier League


GasBuddy.com has gas temperature maps intended to let you see what gas prices are around the US and Canada. Areas are color coded according to the reported local average price for regular unleaded gasoline.
US
Canada

2009 Dakar Rally


Bike Candy

THE END

 

[PAULBACH]

Mika does it again

Real head scratchers

Free piston engines would use the piston itself to generate electricity using magnets.

Magnets can be mounted on the piston rod inside of the cylinder with electric coils around the outside of the piston. As the pistons and rod move back and forth the magnets induce a current in the coils.

Click Here

or - keep on eye on these German students

Formula H Hydrogen Racecar Goes for Guinness World Record

The single seat hydrogen vehicle uses a converted motorcycle motor and is expected to reach around 100 mph in the F1 class.

Click Here

 

[108625]

Honda's been so caught up in the sportbike wars, the rest of the lineup has received too little attention for too long. It's good to hear about renewed focus on the V Four lineup. Let's hope they build a worthy heir to the VFR, put the gear driven cams back, and get rid of VTEC...and send that proposed VFR1200 back to the drawing board.
At least the brake by wire will replace the linked brake system. Between them, Yamaha's fly by wire throttle, And Ducati and several others with traction control, it looks like BMWs only lead in technology is going to be with EWS... Oh, joy.

 

[mika]

I too hope Honda doesn’t screw up the VFR in their efforts. As to BMW’s technological lead, real or supposed, if it is a case of lead v need.

The Top Gear guys have a ball making fun of the tech laden BMW cages. The company has tones of technology that could be brought over to the motorrad side if the chose to do so. What I have concluded is in the past they have asked if they needed to and came up with no as an answer.

The model line up and sales mix have been dominated by the various GS dual purpose bikes. The problem with many of the superbike technologies which they could bring to their bikes is how do you turn them off when you venture off road? The simple answer, and to the detriment of the road going sport rider, is not to put them on their bikes in the first place.

The upside is in the future. BMW seems to be taking a very sporting bent in model development with the R1200HP Sport and the road going version of the WSBK S1000RR. As they go forward with product lines like this and hopefully expand their presence in those markets they will have a place to put all the technology they have developed on a bike and make it pay from their perspective. We live in hope.

Sometime after I first read the Honda piece and with the other fly-by-wire technology pieces in mind I wondered when I would find myself replace in the saddle by a transponder and a video camera and find my self on my deck with an RC controller in my hand looking at a monitor. I was racing RC motorcycles in the driveway with one of the pit crew at the time.