Motorcycle Blog on 2040Motos

Motorcycle.com Weekly Community Round-up!

Here are a few things going on around the Motorcycle.com Forum Network: Animated Engines plivez, a new member of the Ducati.ms forums (welcome Plivez!) has a website where he animates motorcycle engines in flash. It’s pretty interesting to see the way a Evo and Twin Cam V twin Harley Davidson engine works. He also has up the crazy BMW flat twin R100 motorcycle engine which seems more complicated then an engine should be!

Kawasaki Ninja 250 Rental for the Track

If you ever wanted to get some track time on a motorcycle you should know that its not as easy as you would imagine. Rent My Ninja can take care of all the details so you can get out there and have some fun, they will rent you a Ninja 250 that is setup for your weight (plus gear), give you riding class (Kevin, the owner has over 20 years of experience) and arrange the track time, all you need is approved riding gear and $250 (if you book it in advance) and your off to the races! The schedule is now set for 2009, starting in February and ending in September.

5 Awesome Motorcycle Gift Ideas for those Pesky Teenagers

Those darned teenagers and their troublesome ways could use some motorcycle-inspired gifts for the holidays. And although you may not understand the mind of a teenager, you can at least massage their brains a bit by imposing your motorcycle hobby onto them. Here are 5 awesome motorcycle gift ideas for pesky teenagers: Capcom’s MotoGP 08 Video Game Recommended Ages: Rated E for Everyone Who Has It: Anyone who sells video games should have it ( BestBuy for example ) How Much: $59.99 They’re not old enough yet to be speeding around a track at ridiculous speeds but at least they can pretend to be and MotoGP will put them in the riders seat.

Free Limited Edition Mug from Ducati!

How festive! Ducati North America wants to give you Ducati fans a limited edition cappuccino mug for all that hard work you do on your motorcycle. The mug is to celebrate their 2008 world championship win so I guess everyone is a winner!

Santa on a Can-Am Spyder

Everyone knows that the market for three and four wheeled motorcycles is fueled by aging motorcycle enthusiasts not wanting to let go of that feeling of being in the wind. Similarly, some voyagers in their aging years are opting to travel on the ground instead of taking to the skies. Santa is no different.

Get a Hayabusa Engine Into Your Car

Have you have ever wondered how to get a Hayabusa motor into a car? Well then all your questions have been answered (we will send for the doctor right away!). Hartley is a US engineering firm who has come up with the conversion kit to do just that, when fully dressed the engine will have a dry weight of 140lbs and can produce 175 to 250 hp or more if you throw in a turbo or two.

Off-Road Motorcycle and Free-Ride Bicycle Compared

What if anything do bicycles and motorcycles have in common? Besides the whole two-wheel thing, it isn’t outright apparent that these two “handle-barred beasts” share more than ancient ancestry. Modern Off-road motorcycle and Free-ride bicycle designs side-by-side illustrate how much technology the two have in common.

Batman’s Original Batcycle

Oh, that Batman and his toys, those marvelous toys. Millionaire Bruce Wayne’s alter ego has always had a penchant for accessories. While normally reserved for freeing him and boy wonder from intellectually challenged villains, he has also had his fair share of tricked-out transportation over the years.

POW! 2008 KTM RC8 1190 ‘the orange torpedo’

Red, Blue, Green & Black – these are motorcycle colors, right? Well, orange definitely needs to be considered a motorcycle color too. Full discretion first, I’ve a thing for KTM bikes.

Nationwide Insurance ‘Tis the Season Contest

When the holiday spirit strikes do you include your motorcycle or scooter in the merriment? Whether you decorate your tree while drinking Eggnog from your Harley-Davidson beer stein or get gussied up like old Saint Nick to ride your crotch rocket, Nationwide Insurance wants to know about it. Or maybe you have participated in a holiday themed ride or parade.

How to Wear a Motorcycle

What do you get when you cross a Harley with a fashion Supermodel? … A Softail !!! I have been told that many of the outfits we see on the runways are not meant for the average person to wear but more to showoff the designer’s creativity.

Dan Gurney’s Two-wheeled Terror at IMS

When the Gurney Alligator A6 made its debut in 2002, the world saw a glimpse of a new concept in sport motorcycles. Long, low, quick and efficient like its namesake, the ’Gator was like nothing we’d seen before. The bike was the brainchild of Dan Gurney, the legendary F1 and Le Mans winning driver and championship-winning sports car builder.

Electric Sportbike Debuts at NEC Show

Zero to 60mph in 3.5 seconds, top speed of 125 mph and a recharge time under two hours with a standard 13 amp power supply. Wait, what? Those are not typo my friends, they are the stats for the TTX01 electric sportbike unveiled at the 2008 NEC Bike Show in Birmingham.

Win a 2009 Can-Am Spyder!

BRP has a new contest ongoing (you may have seen the ads running on Motorcycle.com) to win a new 2009 Can-Am Spyder valued at $16,199. The contest is pretty simple and you are only required to answer four questions, and provide your personal information. The contest is only open to US residents.

Motorcycle.com Weekly Community Round-up!

Here are a few things going on around the Motorcycle.com Forum Network: GSXR fights back LOL alex70 of the Gixxer forums made an awesome find on MySpace TV. Ray, a “manly man” who sweats testosterone and probably Gatorade as well, tries to fight a speeding ticket. Ray is quite proud of the tickets he has received over the years as well as the Suzuki he rides.

5 Awesome Motorcycle Gift Ideas for Kids

Wow, is it that time already? Time to drink eggnog and be merry until I get my credit card bill and then I’ll be drinking eggnog and trying to forget how broke I am. As we all know the most difficult part of the holiday season is the stress of shopping for gifts.

Take the Test

Though British-based campaign is for the benefit of bicyclists, the same mentality can be applied to motorcyclists. A similar campaign, albeit with much more dramatic effect, has been created specifically for motorcycles by Australia’s government. Obviously these campaigns are made to keep motorists aware of two-wheelers, and don’t necessarily apply to us riders.

More Celebrities on Motorcycles

Tom Cruises on his Confederate Hellcat A man known for his epic enthusiasm (see video after the jump!), now has something he can really get excited about. What would have been a Mission Impossible for millions of other admiring Top Guns, Tommy has made a reality. The Color of Money without a doubt had something to do with Cruise rolling up to a movie premier on this, his new $70,000 Confederate Hellcat.

Flying Motorcycle

Back when we were young, the transportation of the future seemed to promise flying cars. Yet, decades later, we’re still waiting for them. But perhaps our upcoming transportation in a three-dimensional realm will come from a flying motorcycle.

BMW Helps Vertically Challenged

No matter where they go or what they do, it seems that people who are vertically challenged always get the ‘short’ end of the stick, pardon the pun. Historically, if a pint-sized person wanted to get into the hobby of motorcycling, their choices were limited to bikes like the Suzuki Marauder, Ninja 250 or HD Sportster (the thought alone makes my back hurt.) BMW Motorrad now has good news for riders who either need or simply prefer a lower seat height, but do not want to compromise on model choice. BMW is the first motorcycle manufacturer to launch a range of models that can be ordered from the factory with lowered suspension – to provide customers with low seat height options.

New: Revit off track textile jacket

Although the one pictured doesn’t look that worn it’s a recent replacement for the one I’ve been using ever since I passed my test two years ago. The previous incarnation met its fate in Africa at the hands of a knobbly tyre and chain. It has been in constant use this summer.

2010 Honda Fury: New Honda Chopper Motorcycle?

UPDATE (May 19): Official 2010 Honda Fury Pricing UPDATE (Feb 27): The Honda Fury Review is finally here!!! Some may baulk at Honda’s description of the Fury as “radical.” Sure it’s not mind-blowing in the way a $60K custom can be, but it’s worth noting that not even Harley-Davidson has produced a bike with a rake angle so stretched or a wheelbase as long. So let’s admit that, for the normally staid Honda, the Fury is radical.

96-foot-high MX Jump in Vegas

While most of us will be imbibing too much champagne and looking for drunk chicks to lock lips with at the stroke of midnight this New Year’s Eve, FMX star Robbie Maddison will once again be making history. Having broken the Guinness World Record for a motorcycle with a leap of 322 feet, 7.5 inches over the length of a football field during the 2007 Red Bull New Year’s Eve event, Maddison will attempt an equally challenging jump this year. The 27-year-old Aussie will jump his bike more than 120 feet high and land on the top of the 96-foot-high and 40-foot-deep replica Arc de Triomphe in front of Paris, Las Vegas.

A Hero’s Thanksgiving Homecoming

U.S. Army Spc. Michael Alcorn received a hero’s welcome from friends and family members last night at his home in Medford, PA.

POW! 2007 Harley-Davidson Softail Custom

A throwback to 2007 or the year of the dolphin for this weeks POW! Tor Sagen (author) and Jürgen Mainx (photography) had teamed up for a great review of the Harley-Davidson Softail Custom. Be sure to download this Free Motorcycle Desktop Wallpaper after the jump.

On Newsstands Now: Deeper Than Ink

I love pop culture… maybe even a little too much. With such an addiction to collecting – regardless the industry – I read a lot of magazines. I simply don’t know when to say no.

Back to the Future

Crocker Motorcycles. Who? Exactly.

It’s Here! Motorcycle.com’s New Dealer Locater has Arrived!

A new tool from Motorcycle.com has launched that wants to help you find a motorcycle dealer near you! The new Dealer Locater helps you find motorcycle dealerships that sell the bike you want to buy. Wondering where to nab one of those feisty Big Dog Choppers?

Harley Davidson Dealer Selling Stock

For a limited time, a Harley-Davidson dealer in St. Louis will be shelling out five shares of HD stock with every motorcycle purchase or will give you stock if you bring in a friend to purchase a bike. Harley has been going through some difficult times this year, posting losses for the first nine months of 2008.

“Revheads” Save Us from Ourselves

With long-standing names in the retail world evaporation like the morning dew, further news of major US automakers begging for billions is just plain depressing. This got me pondering how major Japanese and European automakers managed to avoid the same fate. My supposition?