Motorcycles & Cars

Archive for December, 2009

The First Motorcycle Ride Of The Year

Spring time is here and with it comes the usual craving to climb on your motorcycle and hit the street. The weather is certainly getting nice; we are having some unseasonably warm spring days and I can virtually hear my Honda Rebel asking to be taken out. I’m sure most of you are feeling the same waybut you must resist those urges until you take care of a few things.

First of all you need to ensure that your motorcycle is drivable and safe to ride. The beginning of riding season is an appropriate time to change the oil spark plugs and drain leftover gas from the tank. Establish that the lever action is smooth. Go through your brake parts to determine if any parts need replacing. Check all the fasteners look over the tires for wear and air pressure and see that all the lights are working.

Be sure to consider the road conditions. The nice weather doesnt necessarily mean that all the roads are clear of ice and snow. Be on the lookout for potholes which are rampant this time of year.

While the weather may seem nice after a frigid winter but make sure you are ready to ride. Ensure that you are dressed for the occasionget out your leather jacket chaps gloves and boots and hopefully your helmet is equipped with a face mask to help safeguard you from the chill. Consider bringing along rain gear sometimes nasty spring weather can come out of nowhere. 4050 degrees might feel good as you step outside to get the mail but getting on the highway with your motorcycle and driving down the highway is a completely different story.

When you and your bike are all set to go climb on rev it up and feel the power of freedom . . .

Happy riding!

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Jim Buchanan is an Internet Marketing Specialist for Mindscape at HanonMcKendry. His hobbies include reading writing going to concerts sports and riding motorcycles.He is a writer for Honda Parts House. For more information please visit http://www.hondapartshouse.com

The Evolution Of Dirt Bikes And Motocross

The evolution of offroad motorcycles commonly called dirt bikes is a long and complicated story. The first motorcycles were actually nothing more than modified bicycles with attached gasoline engines. These powered bicycles were amazing inventions in their day. Unreliable but amazing methods of transportation these motorcycles began captivating people across the globe. Since paved streets were not quite the norm at the time motorcycles generally could be considered dirt bikes right from the start. No single person or company has been credited with the invention of the dirt bike. Offroad motorcycling is really an evolution of many years with better tires better suspension and seats stronger frames and better control features being credited to many individuals who were essentially modifying their own bikes for better offroad use. Triumph motorcycles did however design a motorcycle specifically built for dirt riding in 1914 although this model is not actually credited with being the first dirt bike.

Motocross racing seems to have had it origins in Europe very possibly France with these early motorcycles being raced through wooded trails or racing to the top of a mountainous road for publicity. Many of these early races were not races of speed but races against time where riders simply competed against each other on an individual basis. Racing expanded as did the production of motorcycles to include scrambles and cross country events which excited and entertained spectators. Incidentally the word motocross was derived from the words motorcycle and crosscountry. The races would eventually be moved to a shorter closed track for easier viewing by the spectators and better monitoring of the racers themselves. With the world at war and the Great Depression offroad motorcycles may not have been a priority concept with people for many years but the interest in dirt racing wasn’t about to go away. Then Soichiro Honda came along in 1946 with his idea to produce cheap transportation for people after the second world war. Honda became the most predominant name in motorcycles and dirt bikes in particular undoubtedly due to the fact that they are the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. They were joined by other manufacturers over the years who would eventually become household names as well. Suzuki produced their first motorcycle in 1954 Yamaha in 1955 and Kawasaki in 1960. Although dirt bikes were still far in the future for the big four this was the beginning of the onslaught of a motorsport unlike any other. Dirt bikes and dirt bike racing would eventually become one of the most popular motorsports in the world.

After a mix of both two stroke and four stroke motors in various models through the years Honda finally designs and builds a competitive two stroke motocross motor in 1972. It reached the USA in 1973 and is called the Elsinore CR250. It immediately becomes the fastest production offroad race bike in its class and placed Honda alone at the top of the heap in regard to motocross racing. In the 1970′s motocross racing would finally do what motorcycle manufacturers hoped it would. Offroad motorcycling would become a recreational activity not unlike bicycling with its popularity exploding among the general public. The big four Japanese manufacturers would eventually produce a full product line of dirt bikes in a variety of sizes for various racing classes and ages. Children’s dirt bikes would become available for those early starters and dualuse motorcycles would also become available with dirt tires and suspension along with streetlegal features. Other manufacturers also joined the specialized dirt bike market including Maico Gas Gas and KTM.

To this day dirt bikes continue their evolution with almost constant improvement in weight reduction suspension engine reliability and overall performance. They are used as weekend recreational vehicles by millions of people around the world. The world of motocross racing has become more popular than ever before thanks to dirt bike riding basically evolving into an art form. Freestyle riding and stunt riding are captivating more young riders every year and the manufacturers continue to respond by producing high quality cutting edge dirt bikes.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Chet is the webmaster of Bike Trike and Quad Classified Ads dedicated to serving up free ads for used dirt bikes street motorcycles and atv’s. BTAQ also features Honda dirt bike parts and Suzuki dirt bike parts from leading suppliers.

The Coolest The Fastest And The Most Expensive

There are a lot of motorcycles today that dominate the market. You can customize all you want to get the best motorcycle your money could buy. Sure you can add flair paint or extra parts on your motorcycles but these are the things that require research which leads to better performance and a fast motorcycle. At the same time they are durable and will break your body even before you will be able to break the inner parts of these things. Imagine paying for one of the best motorcycle manufacturers out there to get something really cool and you will be able to grasp the price on those machines. We are giving you a list of the four best in the world.

Let us start with MV Agusta F4 CC. CC stands for the director of the company Claudio Castiglioni. The Italians might not look good in manufacturing cars but they certainly can say a lot on motorcycles. This motorcycle features 1078 CC that can command a whopping 315kph. Near the top of the steering column you will be able to see the number of the motorcycle in terms of the order of production. Claudio Castiglioni created only 100 of these things which make it even a better catch if you have one. To get your hands on one of these prepare at least 130000 USD.

MTT Turbine Super bike will make you feel like you are riding a bullet. This motorcycle currently holds the record of being the Most Powerful Motorcycle Ever to Enter Series Production according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Parts of the engine of this motorcycle can be found in some parts of the Rolls Royce as well. Imagine the power of the car transferred into a motorcycle. In this motorcycle you get to enjoy at least 300hp. Aside from power you should be drooling over the gadgets: LCD color displays if you want to know what is in your back and the fairings are made of carbon fiber. For protection it has a radar detector that will tell you if something is really really close to you. If you have seen the movie torque this is one of motorcycles featured in it. Price? 150000 USD

At first glance you might think the Macchia Nera Concept Bike is nothing but a very big bike that boasts of something really big and expensive. In my opinion the idea is too simple. The motorcycle boasts of a Ducati 998RS engine with further components for development. Too bad that it is not in production but you can still have one of these if you have 201000 USD.

We reserved the best for last and that is the Dodge Tomahawk V10. This super bike is anyones dream bike. 8.3 liter engines 400mph 1500lbs four wheel yep two wheels virtually stuck together suspensionthe features just keep going on and on. From zero to 60mph in only 2.5 seconds. What makes it even more expensive is that there are only a hundred of these. What is the current market price? 250000 USD. Bragging rights? Priceless.

About the writer:  Mansi Gupta Recommends that you visit www.FireBlades.org for more information on Honda CBR and Honda CBR600.