The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) has learned that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted last Friday, April 17, 2009, on the issue of banning sales of youth ATVs and motorcycles because of lead levels. The CPSC voted to keep the ban in place; however, they did issue a two-year stay of enforcement of the ban. This stay of enforcement will allow manufacturers and retailers of youth ATVs and motorcycles to continue building and selling these items. It also gives the industry two years to comply with the new law and if, for some reason, it is technologically infeasible to manufacture a certain part with less lead than allowed by law, the industry will have a chance to make an argument to the CSPC…. Details
Archive for the ‘New Motorcycle products & Tests’ Category
Remember when Jay Gleason rode that 1986 Vmax into the nines for Cycle World? (Yes, some of us do.) Once he did that, lots of guys hustled over to their Yamaha dealers with their checkbooks wide open. Fast forward to 2009 and Tim Nash, over at VmaxGuru.com, went to work on his new Vmax. After everything was ready, he asked Jay if he might like to run it down the strip. Jay thought it sounded like a good idea so the run was arranged.
Tim didn’t do any engine rebuilding but opened it up a bit so the engine could breathe by adding a… Details
Many riders consider the 50’s and 60’s as the golden age of motorcycling, But many of those great bikes ended up in a wad by the side of the road, as their powerful new engines overwhelmed the crappy suspensions of the time.
Enterprising (read: broke) riders cut repair costs by transforming their wrecks themselves. Removing battered fairings. Replacing lights and windscreens with anything handy. Painting the results with a brush. And out of these garage laboratories — cue the thunder and lightning — naked bikes were born: sport bike engines and chassis, flat or clip-on handlebars, virtually no fairing or bodywork.
Eventually, nakeds became so popular they were legitimized. Honda built the … Details
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Some folks follow MotoGP racing because of the personalities involved, others, and I have a hunch that would be many of you, are more interested in the tech side of things, it’s not who is riding what, it’s what are they riding. If you count yourself among the latter group, Kevin Cameron’s new book, The Grand Prix Motorcycle: The Official Technical History, is something you’ll want to read. Although the large format and glossy pages make you think it’s one of those coffee table books soon forgotten, in reality, this is a complete history of the top level of motorcycle racing from the FIM World Championships beginning in 1949 right up to the present day motorcycles in MotoGP… Details