Night Riders On A Roll

On some days it seems like the Near South is overrun with biker gangs — not the leather-clad groups of 50-somethings wearing skull caps and riding noisy luxury motorcycles. The area is host to several bicycle meet-up groups that ride en mass from bar to bar, spreading revelry and body odor wherever they land.

The longest tenured Southside beer-and-bike group is the Night Riders. The two-wheeled pub-crawlers meet twice a week (Sunday and Wednesday) at The Chat Room Pub and pedal into the night, jumping from bike seat to bar stool. Anywhere from 10-80 people show up for the bi-weekly ride. In addition to swarming bars, the group is also raising money for charity and doing its part to improve bike culture in the Fort.

Recently, the Riders held its second annual BBQ Fundraiser, and raised $500 for the West, Texas volunteer fire department.

“[The donation was] nothing extreme in terms of dollar amount, but substantial for a completely volunteer, non-official and free cycling group,” said George Gdovin, one of the group’s leaders.

The cyclists also successfully raised $900 through raffles and donations and installed a publicly accessible bicycle fix station, where riders can stop by and make minor repairs, pump air into their tires, and make minor adjustments to their bikes. The first such station is bolted to the bike rack of their home base at The Chat. Here is a picture of it on the Fortworthology blog.

Gdovin said the group is in talks with other bars and hopes to install more stations in the near future.

“We started talking to other bars that are going to chip in [towards the cost],” said Gdovin, “or we’ve arranged it that if we go to a bar, a certain portion of the proceeds [from sales] will go towards getting them installed.”

The Night Riders have also started a Fort Worth Bike Polo Group that meets once a month.The owners of Trinity Bicycles donated the mallets and balls, and a group from Denton came down and taught the bikers how to play.

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Source: Fort Worth Weekly (Griffey, 5/31)

Charge

For over a hundred years, riders throughout the world have ridden Man TT's hills and curves with high speed and glory. Our recent global awareness has pushed society to new dreams and challenges in perfecting an Eco friendly way to live, including our motorcycles.

In June 12, 2009 to what some considered blasphemy, others consider it history as the first ever zero emission grand Prix roamed free in Man TT.

The new documentary, "Charge," which recently released, captures the dreams and visions of obsessed riders, engineers, and businessmen, as each set a high speed record in the electric motorcycle world.

In our previous blogs, Brandon Miller(a.k.a Electric Cowboy) attempted to set an electric Motorcycle speed of 100 mph.

Miller actually ended up with the record of 101.652 mph.

The highest speed record is recently held by Lightning Motorcycles at 215 mph.

At the fast rate technology is improving we wouldn't be surprised for a higher speed record to be set anytime soon.

"Charge captures a pivotal moment in motor sport history: the dawn of the zero-emissions racing era. It came on June 12th 2009, the day of the world’s first zero-emissions motorcycle grand prix. The race took place on the Isle of Man TT course, the most demanding and deadly circuit on the planet. The film begins in early 2009 amid the hectic preparations for the race and concludes over a year later at the 2010 TT Zero. The second race sees a huge leap in performance – proof that racing really does improve the breed and that maniacs on motorcycles can be a force for global good. We follow the fortunes of several teams in the run-up to the 2009 race and on their return in 2010, from swaggering US hotshots MotoCzysz to shoestring Anglo-Indian contenders Team Agni and local heroes ManTTx Racing. Charge is the dramatic and highly entertaining inside story of an unlikely group of pioneers – obsessed visionaries, ambitious businessmen, new-tech eccentrics, government ministers and hardcore racers – from as far afield as India, the USA, Germany and Britain. It’s a human story as well as a technological one: the teams’ hopes for personal glory and commercial success ride on their green machines. It’s about the dream of a clean, green world. It’s about the dream of winning."

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Source: DocuramaFest (AP, 5/21)

How to choose a safe motorcycle helmet

The ability to choose a safe motorcycle helmet is easily among the most important aspects of motorcycle travel, and the subject should be afforded the proper attention to protect the lives of both drivers and passengers. Unfortunately, a large percentage of motorcyclists opt to choose a helmet that "looks cool" rather than one that is protective, and others choose to wear no helmet at all. Without question the largest percentage of motorcycle deaths are related to head trauma resulting from either not wearing a helmet or choosing a motorcycle helmet that offers little protection. By doing a small amount of personal research a biker can choose a safe motorcycle helmet that is both protective and fashionable, without detracting from the enjoyment of the recreation.

The best way to choose a safe motorcycle helmet is to simply follow the U.S. Department of Transportation recommendations as to which helmets on the market offer the greatest amount of personal protection. Every motorcycle helmet is tested by the government in one form or another to see how it stands up in a collision, and the motorcycle helmets that are certified as safe are the ones to purchase. Not all motorcycle helmets are equal in safety, and just because a rider is wearing a helmet does not mean that they are protected.

To choose a safe motorcycle helmet requires that the type and style chosen offer the maximum protection. While hybrid, open face and half-helmets offer some measure of protection, the best type to choose for a safe motorcycle helmet is by far the full-faced type. These not only protect the head from impact but also keep a rider's face from flying objects and hitting the road in an accident.

Lastly, to choose a safe motorcycle helmet requires that any helmet that is purchased fits properly and comfortably. An ill-fitting motorcycle helmet is a dangerous distraction on the highway and may be the cause of an accident in and of itself. Investing a small bit of time at a helmet retailer pays big dividends simply because a helmet that is uncomfortable at first inspection will be nightmare on the road. By choosing a safe motorcycle helmet that is comfortable a rider will most likely wear it more frequently, and hopefully wearing a helmet will become a habit. With the number of safe motorcycle helmets available a biker should have no problem finding one that is also fashionable with a little effort.

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Source: Helium (Conroy, 6/19)

Modern Motorcycle Diaries: Man Captures His 500-Day Trip Across the Americas

If you feel feelings of wanderlust and jealousy easily, you might want to stay away from the story of Alex Chacon. He’s a guy who recently completed a 503-day solo journey on a motorcycle. He rode 82,459 miles across 22 countries in both North and South America. Chacon also captured photos and videos throughout the journey in order to document his experience.

Here’s a 9-minute video Chacon put together after returning to his home in Texas. It shows highlights taken from over 600 hours of video, and has gone viral with hundreds of thousands of views in less than a month:

The journey started shortly after Chacon graduate from the University of Texas with a degree in biomedical sciences. Prior to starting his graduate school studies, he decided to follow through with his longtime dream of exploring the world adventurously while supporting a worthy cause.

Starting from his home in El Paso, Texas, Chacon rode south until he hit Ushuaia, Argentina, the “End of the World.” He then rode up to Brazil, then all the way up the Americas to Alaska before finally riding home to Texas.

Chacon says he sold everything he had prior to embarking on this ambitious journey — one that was inspired by Che Guevara’s The Motorcycle Diaries — and used the trip to raise awareness and money for the charity Children of Uganda. To raise money, he worked for two months, sold his car, sold his clothes, gave blood, and took every opportunity he could find to make and save money.

Over the course of the trip, Chacon passed through interstates, highways, dirt roads, no roads, mud, rivers, through hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, rain, hail, sun shine, snow, ice roads, and more. Every night he would stay at whatever shelter he could find: gas stations, parks, couch surfing, hostels, or anyone willing to take him in. His meals would often consist of various canned foods.

As his story began spreading on the Internet, fans became donors and contributed food, money, and gas. Even the bike company Kawasaki contributed $1,000 toward a new bike, and GoPro joined in as a contributor as well.

Video and images during the trip were captured using a Canon DSLR, GoPro camera, and a special monopod Chacon designed for himself. The GoPro would often be fixed to the side of his helmet and the side of his bike.

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Source: PetaPixel (Zhang, 5/10)

THE 1 MOTORCYCLE SHOW

We knew it had to happen. The generation-long “Easy Riders” orthodoxy of custom-bike design has finally sputtered out, setting people free to build whatever they like. Remember that word, freedom? It means no one laughs and points if you fail to include a bellowing Harley-Davidson engine in the middle, with a Schwinn wheel way out in front and a Buick tire in the back. Anything goes.

The idiosyncratic bikes in these photos appeared at the “1 Motorcycle Show” in Austin, Texas, the same weekend as the nearby MotoGP event at Circuit of The Americas. Austin is the state capitol, an arty town that calls itself “the live music capital of the world” and is willing to try anything.

Like simplicity? Take pride in your sheet-metal skills? Or perhaps you see the motorcycle as “Death Star”? The “Art of the Motorcycle” at the Guggenheim Museum in 1998 was just a beginning. Start noodling with tools and see where it takes you.




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Source: Cycle World (Cameron, 5/3)