Morning Reads: 9 October 2008

[mika]

Happy Birthday


US Forest Service: Fall color guide

urbanext.uiuc.edu: The Miracle of Fall – About Fall Color

I have always liked the Norton Manx. A Noroton Manx history from soutsiders-mc.blogspot.com
There is background music on this site so be careful in the office.


thekneeslider.com: 2009 Confederate Fighter from Neiman Marcus
WOW!


superbike.co.uk: Yoshimura 2009…Monkey bike


motonieuws.nl: Aprilia Mana 850GT


BMW has another brand to contend with on its home turf.
motorcycle-usa.com: Victory Motorcycles plans Euro expansion


Videos via moto-station.com: BMW K1300
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Triumph’s new Thunderbird via visordown.com
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moto22.com: Anti-rebound performance clutch


dailymotos.com: Royal McQueen Phantom, the Rolls Royce of motorcycles


cmgonline.com: Intermot wrap-up


More on the high speed chase in England. With all due respect to our LEO members, this is stupid.
motorcyclenew.com: 140 mph chase was ‘safe’
It was safe for me because I only saw it on the internet.


motociclismo.it: Moto Guzzi restructuring, the Eagle flies in layoffs


Before they flew (with Moto Guzzi it would be Geese not Eagles) they made this
motocycledaily.com: Moto Guzzie Unveils new 1200 Sport 4V


dealernews.com: Vectix sales up 156% in past year




Not many of us will attend but I found this interesting.
dailybike.com: 08 VACC Safe Routes Scooter Rally
In your individual cities and regions what are the “safe” routes to commute on? How do you pass that information along to your fellow riders, or do you?

topspeed.com: Ruture electric BMW to be called IO?


In financial terms:
ft.com: VW passes Toyota to top spot


For this decade BMW has focused its marketing and development on hydrogen. The goal was to be an industry leader in the brave new automotive world. Have they on a dead end ‘flyer’?
reuters.com: Green car investment seen settling on electric


autonews.com: Daimler says it has ‘extremely comfortable’ liquidity


leftlanenews.com: GM to halt production in all but one European plant


canadiandriver.com: 25th Annual British Car day 2008, Oakville, Ontario

MotherShip News is on Page 2 today.

Stuff


theglobeandmail.com: Red wine, pear and almond tart


The Caucasus
economist.com: At history’s center


The stuff you need to know about Octoberfest
Spiegel.com: 6.6 Million liters of beer, 104 oxen and no false teeth


I really like watching old westerns. I like the gunslinger ones as much as the next fan. The ones that really interest me are the ones dealing with ranching in various ways. Give me a good old range war or a cattle drive movie and metaphors and sub-text for application to our current world abound. There are two elements that drive the plots of these movies; grazing rights and water.

These two elements are not unique to old western plots. Slice through the story line of any plot be it biblical, historical or current events and you will find some form of grazing rights and water at the core.

So what does this have to do with the Morning Reads?

I post article links about grazing all the time. These are in the forms of oil and alternative fuel articles. Energy in various forms what we use to feed the various engines of our lives. Alternative forms of motorcycles, cars, boats, buildings or whatever are simple the breed of cattle we are feeding. What I have not posted are links to water articles. Today and perhaps in the future that will change.

The Morning Reads share the things that I bump into on as I read on the internet. If they are interesting I pass them along. I am not advocating anything, just sharing my purposeful wonderings about the internet. Don’t read too much into any comments I make or some hidden purpose in posting these. They are just way points as I wonder around.

Water is obviously at the core and is a major issue beyond the scope of these articles.

reuters.com: Water seen as the new oil for U.S. Army


globeandmail.com: Oil sands will pollute Great Lakes, report warns


BRITS in Japan
reuters.com: Naked swimmer evades police in Tokyo palace moat

Packers Blog – jsonline.com
Packers.com – 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


Wonderings

INTERMOT 2008 is upon us and I am left wondering if I have egg on my face or is there more to come from BMW in Milan or elsewhere?

Any time you speculate you run an equal chance to be brilliant or look like a fool. It was easy to tout the S1000RR’s release because it was definitely expected. The K1300 was a reasonable expectation given the normal evolutionary cycle BMW develops engines in. So little brilliance/fool reward/risk here.

Along with various European sources I speculated on the release of a BMW scooter. If you heard Pieter de Waal at the Gillett Rally you heard him give an affirmative nod to the project. POWER seems to be the theme fro BMW at Intermot this year. Maybe Cologne was not the place to release it. Perhaps scooter friendly Milan?

The agile wonderer always finds daylight to run to. I find it in this snip from the speech by Peter M??ller the Executive Vice President Development and Model Lines BMW Motorrad:

Ladies and gentlemen,
I would also like to welcome you very warmly.
Before you look at our K 1300 models close-up, I would ask for a moment of your
attention.

We would like to inform you briefly about our motorsports activities, especially about our
Superbike project.

As far as our off-road plans for the 2009 season are concerned, we will inform you later this year.

At this point I can only say this much: we have a lot planned next year and a couple of
surprises in store.

However, today l want to concentrate on on-road motorsports.


Now here are two sound bites from the speech for me to wonder about and sound bites that will keep rumors alive.

“As far as our off-road plans for the 2009 season are concerned, we will inform you later this year”

“…we have a lot planned next year and a couple of surprises in store.”

I just don’t know where to start. I guess that leaves me wondering about wondering…

And breakfast, I wonder if there are any eggs left for me to cook? Oh and is there bacon?


Bike Candy

THE END

 

[mika]

bmwmotorrad.co.za: Intermot 2008: S100RR in Race Livery


A more concise distillation of the K1300 Press Kit with pictures for the reading impared.
bmwmotorrad.co.za: BMW releases new K1300 Bikes


worldofbmw.com: Adventure Riding Techniques ÔÇô coming soon


Teaser: BMW at the Paris Motor Show 2008
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BWM at the Paris Motor Show 2008 ÔÇô BMW Efficient Dynamics
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I donÔÇÖt remember if I posted this video but here goes.

BMW Concept X1:

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World Premiere for a new Yacht Generation. - BMW Group DesignworksUSA and Belgian Yacht Builder Zeydon present the Performance Cruiser Z60 at the Mediterranean Scenes.
10/08/2008

Munich. Fascinating design, superior performance and maximum comfort are the hallmarks of a new generation of offshore yachts that Belgian boat builder Zeydon will be presenting in France and Italy this fall. In spring 2004, when the company developed its first yacht, the Zeydon Z60, the Belgian specialist established a long-term, close cooperation with a design partner that has been renowned for its emotional and innovative premium design: BMW Group DesignworksUSA. The independent design subsidiary of the BMW Group has been involved in automotive as well as other cross-segmental design projects from a variety of different industries. The global studio was subsequently commissioned to bring to life Zeydon's vision of establishing a completely new category of performance-oriented luxury yachts.
Working in close cooperation with Zeydon, BMW Group DesignworksUSA was required to develop an all-out offshore yacht of the 60-foot class that was to combine the sailing potential of a performance offshore yacht with the substantial equipment range and unaffected elegance of a modern luxury cruiser. First and foremost, the design was to directly express this innovative combination of attributes as the yacht's characteristic feature. In order to ensure that the design and product development emerged from a virtually organic process, the design studio was involved already in the early conception stage and played a major role in the entire development process. The result is an extraordinary yacht of high design quality, which was presented by both partners at the scenes of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez from 30 September through 4 October and at the Yachtclub Italiano during the Genova Boat Show until 12 October.

Perfect match: Zeydon and BMW Group DesignworksUSA.
Zeydon is an innovative newcomer among European shipyards. Its founders, Ben Van Hool and David Van Nieuwenhove, have fitted the young company with their comprehensive pool of experiences from a related mobility segment. Zeydon is distinguished by a progressive approach to yachting applications that is second to none in the industry. Accordingly, it has become an integral part of Zeydon's corporate philosophy to take a new approach to conventional assumptions and established construction and production principles and to develop these further. As part of this strategy, the team will systematically weigh up all potential possibilities for transferring knowledge from related mobility segments to the yachting application at hand. Therefore, BMW Group DesignworksUSA with its design principle of "cross-fertilization" was an obvious and appropriate partner.

The studio's specific approach was the perfect complement to Zeydon's philosophy of idea transfers from other mobility segments to yachting applications. The principle of "cross fertilization" refers to the process of cross-industry knowledge transfer. "Our great strength lies in the fact that for decades we have been working for top clients in a great variety of industries and over all this time we have always been closely linked to the BMW Group", says Laurenz Schaffer, Head of the Munich-based European office of BMW Group DesignworksUSA. And continues: "Therefore we have a comprehensive and cross-industrial understanding of mobility which enables us to transfer knowledge and experience from the automobile area into other industries. While doing so, our designers get inspired and experienced through the work for an interesting array of premium brands and products and effectively enable themselves to infuse the design studios of the three BMW Group brands from the outside with their inspirational thinking."

The special ability of developing tailor-made design concepts in this way made BMW Group DesignworksUSA the perfect partner for Zeydon and the development of the extraordinary Z60. "Choosing the right design partner was one of the most crucial decisions we had to make over the past years. Obviously, we were well aware of the fact that the design of the first yacht would also determine the whole identity of the new Zeydon shipyard", says Ben van Hool, Zeydon's founder.

Zeydon design: Character all down the line.
The design of the Zeydon Z60 yacht expresses the extraordinary boatbuilding concept in a striking, elegant and direct manner. The hydrodynamics and the hull design were developed in close cooperation with yacht and boat designer Peter Bosgraaf. Even below the waterline, the Zeydon presents its perfect synthesis of performance and aesthetics. The styling of the hull and the superstructures convey pure dynamics and exhibit maximum design perfection in every detail of the boatbuilding design: the exterior of the Z60 presents regatta-oriented functionality, outstanding seaworthiness and a generously designed deck area. The interior surprises with an equipment range that is commonly associated with much larger yachts and impresses the beholder with the systematic deployment of high-grade materials and design with a focus on precision and perfect functionality right down to the smallest detail. This approach visibly dissolves the dualism of performance and comfort that has been prevalent in the boatbuilding segment and seamlessly merges both concepts, thus creating a convincing overall design. Zeydon also required the Z60's design to create conspicuous, individual character features, which were to set the yacht clearly apart from the competition and ensure that it could invariably be identified as a Zeydon. Therefore, the yacht received its unique, prominent character lines.

"This project was a wonderful opportunity to launch a new brand in the boatbuilding segment. Due to its innovative and emblematic form language, the Z60 can always be identified as a Zeydon and as a yacht with premium performance potential, even from a distance. Moreover, the Z60 is an impressive example of the unique brand building potential of design", says Laurenz Schaffer.

The WYSIWYG Performance: What You See Is What You Get.
Following the development of the design concept and the completion of a prolonged, perfection-driven joint production phase, Zeydon finally set out to prove the successful implementation of all aspired performance characteristics at competitive level when the yacht was presented offshore in July 2008: in all tests conducted so far, the Zeydon Z60 has performed flawlessly. On average, the Z60 is faster than 13 knots, which is the speed calculated during model tests, and achieves downwind speeds of up to 23 knots. The yacht tracks 23?? close to the wind at a reasonable speed of 10 knots and easily accelerates to speeds of between 10 to 13 knots when driven by an engine.

The customer will discover a unique yacht with a spacious, comfortable and relaxing feel and he or she will certainly experience the Z60 to be both easy and sportsmanlike sailing, emanating reliability and luxury. It is no surprise that Zeydon chose a breathtaking shade of blue for their first yacht to be presented to the public this fall, a rather clear statement of the boat builder's focus on innovation and the aspiration to bring a fresh breeze to the yachting segment. "Zeydon is different - we chose the color blue because it perfectly communicates the characteristics that determine our corporate identity: progressiveness, originality, courage, strict authenticity and infinite emotion", van Hool explains.Zeydon has announced its plans to build between five and eight yachts every year.

Zeydon - Up-and-coming Belgian yacht yard.
Zeydon is a Belgian boat builder, building semi-custom luxury sailing yachts, with a unique design ranging from 60 to 100 foot. Zeydon was established in 2004 in Antwerp, Belgium and is proud to finally put Antwerp, a world port and diamond centre and a city of fashion designers onto the world map of high quality and luxury sailing yacht builders. Zeydon was founded by transportation expert Ben van Hool who together with his team developed a highly distinctive company vision about a contemporary relevant and advanced state-of-the-art sailing yacht.

BMW Group DesignworksUSA: Design perfection beyond the spotlight.
BMW Group DesignworksUSA is a subsidiary of BMW Group. Founded in 1972 in L.A., the center of the vibrant Californian lifestyle and design industry, the studio, then called "Designworks USA", implemented its first projects for BMW Group as early as the 1980s. Even during its starting years, the portfolio of the design studio featured top brands such as Nokia or HP. The studio has always been renowned for its fascinating mixture of strategic competence, sensitive intuition and unlimited creativity and ultimately convinced Zeydon with its passionate designs.

Meanwhile, the company, which was taken over by BMW Group in 1995, operates three studios in Europe, the US and Asia and acts both as a source of inspiration for individual BMW Group brand design studios and as an innovative driving force for a variety of renowned customers from different segments such as IT and consumer electronics, the aerospace, medical, environmental, lifestyle and sports industry. While the design studio inspires BMW Group design, it also brings to bear the experience and insights gained during its work for customers from the complex and visionary automotive industry on design projects for customers from other industrial segments.

The main ingredient of the agency's recipe for success is the ability to develop design concepts that express the individual, unmistakable identity of any specific brand by defining a self-contained design language and translating the sum total of all brand facets into a strong, design-driven product experience. The design identity of the Zeydon brand is an impressive and successful example of this approach.

 

[Visian]

Slice through the story line of any plot be it biblical, historical or current events and you will find some form of grazing rights and water at the core.

john, next time we meet, let's plan to have a lengthy discussion about geopolitics.

ian

 

[PAULBACH]

The Morning Reads share the things that I bump into on as I read on the internet. If they are interesting I pass them along. I am not advocating anything, just sharing my purposeful wonderings about the internet. DonÔÇÖt read too much into any comments I make or some hidden purpose in posting these. They are just way points as I wonder around.

Purposeful wonderings is the mustard on the Morning Reads. I like a bit of spice.