Motorcycle Nearly Hit By Spinning Car (San Antonio)

A driver lost control on a San Antonio highway, spinning across the roadway, as a motorcycle accelerated to narrowly miss being hit.

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Biker still at home on motorcycle at 84

George Brown got his first Harley at the age of 16. Nearly 70 years later, he’s still riding.

Brown took home a new Harley trike Wednesday, the latest in a long line of motorcycles he’s owned over the years.

“I’ve been riding since the ’40s” proclaimed the 84-year-old.

Brown still remembers his first motorcycle.

“It was an old clunker,” he said.

Brown had worked at a grocery store plucking chicken feathers to earn enough money to buy it and recalls getting the license.

“I went to the drugstore and got the license for a quarter,” he said, adding jokingly, “you can’t do that now.”

Brown took a brief break from riding following his grocery job and worked on a tugboat on the river that took him to such cities as New Orleans, St. Paul and Pittsburgh.

Brown continued his career on the water and enlisted in the Navy at age 17. But once back on shore at the base, he continued to ride motorcycles.

After leaving the Navy, Brown was able to continue his passion for motorcycles, riding for the police department in Fort Worth, Texas, for four years.

“I could teach these kids a lot about riding,” he said of the experience.

Brown estimates he’s had eight or nine motorcycles in his years of riding, and they all have been Harleys except for one.

“I had an Indian for a while, but it had too heavy of a torque for me,” he said.

Brown’s most prized motorcycle was a 1955 police bike he sold more than 10 years ago when his wife became ill with cancer.

His partner in life, he noted she also was his partner on the road.

“She got on behind and rode with me,” he said of his wife, who lost her battle with cancer a short time later.

In all the years, Brown has managed to ride unscathed until last year when he was heading into Niemerg’s Steak House and was struck.

“It was the first accident I ever had,” he said.

Brown noted it was the reason he was getting a new Harley and trading the 2010 sidecar motorcycle.

“I carried a stuffed dog in the sidecar,” he said.

The accident didn’t deter Brown from riding again. The Mason resident rides into Effingham daily for lunch.

Brown isn’t as concerned for his safety as others who periodically look out for him.

“I have people at church who check on me every now and then, and neighbors keep track of me,” he said.

Brown has ridden his motorcycles great distances, with long trips up the East and West coasts and in Babler State Park near St. Louis, where he did volunteer maintenance about 10 years ago. He hasn’t given up his motorcycle trips, either, participating in the Sheriff’s Posse Ride and taking trips to Missouri and Ohio to visit former shipmates.

When he’s not riding, Brown keeps busy “puttering” in his shop and working on mechanical projects that include making parts for outboard motor boats for friends.

But Brown looks forward to the open road and doesn’t see his hobby as unique for his age.

“I know quite a few riding past 80,” he said. “The age limit now is being stretched. The retiring at 55 and giving up — that age is gone.”

Brown plans to continue riding into his sunset years.

“It’s in my blood. To have the wind in your face and all open space is just a tremendous feeling,” he said.

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source: The EDN (Thoele, 3/1)

Deus Bald Terrior 1200 Motorcycle

 

Deus continues its string of drool-worthy bike conversions with the Deus Bald Terrior 1200 Motorcycle ($TBA). Based on a Harley Sportster, the Bald Terrior features custom 19- and 18-inch wheel sets, brake calipers, and rotors, one-off inch clip-on bars, a Vance & Hines performance exhaust, a PM Super gas air filter, custom length Ikon rear dampers, a Daytona electric speedo, and a hard black chromed fork sliders.

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Mexico cops ticket 6-year-old for driving toy motorcycle without a license

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Police in this border city repented Thursday over ticketing a 6-year-old boy for reckless driving, driving without a license and not having his vehicle registered after he drove his miniature motorcycle into an SUV.

The boy’s mother, Karla Noriega, said police impounded the miniature gasoline-powered motorbike that her son got for Christmas after he crashed into an SUV on Dec. 27.

Noriega decided to go to the media and make the case public after finding out she would have to pay what she called a “ridiculous” $183 in fines to recover the toy motorbike.

City council Secretary Hector Arceluz said Thursday that authorities had dropped the fines, released the motorbike and would punish the police officers for having acted improperly.

Noriega’s son Gael was happy to get his minibike back, but said it no longer works after the accident.


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source: NY Daily News (AP, 1/15)

Motorcycle clubs' use of road guards may be endangering lives

Because of its size alone, the Big Texas Toy Run can be "an inconvenience one day a year" for motorists, Nick Taddonio says.

On. Sunday, thousands of motorcyclists will leave Fort Worth and Dallas and head toward QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie as part of the annual charitable event, which benefits needy children in the Metroplex.
To limit the inconvenience, on- and off-duty police officers will help direct traffic as the bikers travel along Interstate 30.

"There are many, many police officers involved," said Taddonio, president of the charity's board. "We say on our flier it's police-escorted and it's not just at the front end of the line.

"But not all motorcycle rides are as big, or as organized, as the toy run.

When motorcycle clubs set out on rides -- occasionally for charity, often just for fun -- they sometimes use their own bikers, or "road guards," to direct and block traffic, a common but illegal practice that is being blamed for the death of a man in October in Granbury.

Rafael Del Val, 38, was in a convoy of some 85 motorcyclists headed to Cranfills Gap when he was fatally injured.

According to a Granbury police report, members of the motorcycle convoy were trying to stop cross-traffic at U.S. 377 and Temple Hall Highway so the group of riders could stay together. Del Val and a second biker collided with an SUV while entering the intersection against a red light.

Although a Granbury police spokesman said the case will go to the Hood County district attorney's office for presentation to a grand jury, the accident report lists Del Val's disregard of the red light as the sole contributor to the crash.

The crash has focused attention on the use of road guards to block cross-traffic, regardless of traffic signals, until all riders can pass.

"This is a very common practice for the hordes of bikes that ride around the small towns of North Central Texas -- it happens a lot," a person wrote in a letter to the Star-Telegram. "Really friendly way to drive. Motorcyclists want cars to be bike friendly, but apparently that is a one-way street."


Interpretation of law

Some motorcyclists argue, however, that the law is ambiguous and that the use of volunteer road guards is a safety measure to keep motorcyclists and other drivers safe.

"It's a gray area," said Jeff Wilson, president of the Cowboys from Hell riding club, to which Del Val belonged. "It's always been one of those things that you just don't know what they're expecting of us. When the laws were written, it was for a single bike or a single car. ... But the laws aren't written for 80-something bikes riding at the same time. There's no clause for that."

According to a Department of Public Safety official's interpretation of the Texas transportation code, only law enforcement officers are allowed to block traffic unless an emergency occurs, such as a wreck.

While Fort Worth and several other cities have ordinances giving funeral escort companies limited authority to stop traffic, such rights do not extend to motorcycle convoys, officials said.

"If someone calls and says we're the DFW rider group and we want to take 200 motorcycles through your city, if you want to go through intersections, you're going to have to hire off-duty officers that assist you because we're the only ones that can stop the traffic," said Sgt. Ann Gates, a supervisor in the Fort Worth Police Department's motorcycle unit. "Otherwise you're going to have to obey all the traffic lights and signs. You're not going to be able to expect to blow through there as a group and expect everyone to just stop."


Defining 'escort'

Though not funeral escorts, the Patriot Guard Riders often participate in processions as part of their mission to attend, by invitation, the funerals of American service members to show respect and help shield mourners from interruptions caused by protesters.

George Winslow Jr., national president of the Patriot Guard Riders, said that if the group's members are part of a funeral procession that is not being escorted by law enforcement officers, "our practice is to follow all applicable traffic laws."

He said providing road guards is outside the group's normal practice "unless requested by law enforcement during a particular mission."

"In many states 'escort' has a specific legal definition, sometimes requiring special licensing and equipment," Winslow said. "Normally we do not provide 'escort' services. However, we often participate in a procession, which is being escorted by law enforcement officers, which I understand leads many of the public to believe that we are the escorts."

But Wilson said hiring officers for informal rides like the one in which Del Val was killed is not feasible.

"It's not a sponsored ride or anything like that," Wilson said. "Nobody raised money. It's not a sanctioned ride. It's like, 'Let's meet up somewhere Sunday and go for a ride.'"

Wilson said he believes that keeping the riders together is necessary for safety reasons and that road guards are a tool to help warn other motorists.

"I would think if you get a large group of 85 bikes coming through, you keep them together, you get them through and they're out," Wilson said. "To me it's a safety issue -- to keep the bikes together so everyone can watch over everybody."


'It's reckless'

Kat Fay, the driver of the Kia Soul involved in the collision, disagrees. She said such groups assume that other motorists understand the purpose of a person acting as a road guard.

"I had no idea what was going on," Fay said. "I had never experienced it before or even heard of it."
Fay said she found it unusual when she pulled up to the red light and spotted a motorcycle stopped in front of the car to her right, but had no idea that the motorcyclists were trying to stop all cross-traffic or that a large group of motorcycles was even headed her way when her light turned green and she proceeded forward.

"The woman on the back of the bike started waving her arms and yelling and pointing to my left," Fay said. "I looked left and there were motorcycles basically hitting my car at that point."

Fay said the Granbury investigator who worked the case mentioned to her that if the group had simply requested the Police Department's help, officers would have escorted the bikers through town.

"They can't take it into their own hands," Fay said. "I think it's reckless. I think that they're putting their lives at risk. They're putting other people's lives at risk."

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source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (Boyd, 12/19)

Honda recalls 126,000 Goldwings

Honda Motor Co. is recalling 126,000 touring motorcycles because of a brake problem that could result in a fire, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Honda said the recall covers 2001-10 and 2012 GL1800 models sold as Goldwings.

According to Honda, the bike's rear brake may still be partially engaged even after the rider released it.

"Continued riding with the rear brake engaged/dragging may generate enough heat to cause the rear brake to catch fire," the company said.

The problem was attributed to the braking system's secondary master cylinder.

Honda told safety officials that it was alerted to the problem in July 2010 when a customer finished a ride, parked his bike, and a few minutes later "heard a small explosion, saw fire emanating from the rear brake area, and used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames."

The company said it took 16 months to determine the problem and decide on the course of action, and that it was aware of 26 complaints in the United States including two fires.

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source: Journal Sentinel (Barrett, 12/12)



Commentary:  If you've been involved in a motorcycle accident due to a manufacturer's recall, such as the braking mechanism on the Honda Goldwing, please call Texas Attorney, David Cole, at The Cole Legal Group.  Cole is a Texas Biker Lawyer, an attorney and fellow rider who knows what it takes to get you the compensation you deserve for your motorcycle accident.  Call at 1-800-245-5539 for a free consultation, or fill out the short form here.

High-Speed Motorcycle Stunt Goes Wrong, But Driver Survives

A motorcycle stunt rider is lucky to be alive after a misjudgment in distance sent him flying 80 feet through the air during a high-speed, high-risk stunt.

Denis Borges and fellow rider Anderson Sanches were attempting to weave through three oncoming cars during a stunt Nov. 21 at the Beto Carrero World theme park in Penha, Brazil, when Borges misjudged the distance and, drove straight into one of the vehicles.

Video captured by a spectator at the riders’ “Extreme Show” performance shows Sanches successfully making it through the cars, while Borges pops a wheelie and crashes, and is then sent flying through the air.

Borges landed and rolled another 40 feet before finally landing approximately 82 feet from where the crash first occurred. Medics rushed to Borges’s aid as he lay motionless on the ground.

Both he and Sanches, as a precaution, were immediately taken to a nearby hospital but, amazingly, did not sustain serious injuries, according a statement released by Beto Carrero World.

The theme park, the largest in Latin America, also said both men were back at work the next day.

“The drivers are professionals who already have more than 10 years experience and rehearse their maneuvers on a daily basis,” Beto Carrero World said in its statement. “‘It was a really scary accident, but it also served to show how extreme the show is.”

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source: ABC News (Kindelan, 12/2)