Winter's not done with me yet

Big Flakes in Gig Harbor from ronbo on Vimeo.

My poor motorbike is getting snowed under again.

HD link here: http://vimeo.com/3165497?pg=embed&sec=3165497&hd=1

My new Flip Ultra

My new Flip Ultracame today. Didn't get much chance to play with it other than to just fire it up and make sure it works. Took a video of my shamefully messy desk (reorganizing office, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.) and posted up on vimeo, youtube and 12seconds.tv to try them out. Youtube publishing is the only one of those included with the software on the Flip.


My Messy Desk from ronbo on Vimeo.




My Messy Desk on 12seconds.tv

The waterproof caseand handlebar attachmentfor my motorcycle didn't arrive. The reason I bought the Flip was to have a cheaper camcorder I could use on my bikes or in other situations where I didn't want to drag along my MiniDV camcorder but wanted a little better quality than my cellphone or point & shoot would provide.

We'll see if I actually use it.

Edit: Added flickr. Forgot they are taking video now, too.

XR650 Shakes off Winter

After a whole Winter sitting parked in the barn (hooked up to the Battery Tender) the XR was looking a little crusty around the edges. Didn't have it covered like the VFR.



A couple hours later (and much oiling/cleaning/fiddling) and I took it out for a little spin. Quick trip to top off the gas turned into a little trip to Longbranch Marina down at the tip of Key Center.

Speedway to Motorcyclists/MotoGP fans: "Give us your money and shut the hell up!"

Friken' hypocrites. The town of Speedway, home of the Indianapolis Speedway is hosting the first ever MotoGP event at the famous brickyard later this year.
They're more than happy with the money MotoGP/Motorcycle enthusiasts will be shelling out for tickets, tolls, hotels, food, drink, souvenirs, etc. but don't you dare have the audacity to show up on a motorcycle and 'rev' your engine.

http://tinyurl.com/6dq5qe

...The proposal is the first step toward making it illegal for motorcycle riders to rev their engines during race weeks.

WTF? With no mention of automobiles making too much noise, this poorly written piece of 'legislation' makes it obvious the town fathers of Speedway are pretty much money-grubbing scum, willing to 'tolerate' motorcyclists, as long as your willing to spend some dough and not make any noise.

I'm no fan of open pipe bikes making a spectacle of themselves, but there are already dB regulations governing the noise ANY motor vehicle can make. How about enforcing them and not discriminating against motorcyclists with some arbitrarily worded, shoddy piece of legal discrimination.

Let them know how you feel before the August 11th vote:
http://www.townofspeedway.org/

Revisiting Washington (Guidebook)

This is really cool. The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation has taken a guidebook of Washington State from 1941 and revisited all the tours and tips in it and updated it for the 21st century.



They've added video clips from the era, radio broadcasts and plenty of photos from the times along with modern updates such as GPS coordinates and PDF printouts of routes.

It's pretty interesting to see what's become of some of the highlights after 50 years.

Best of all, Revisiting Washington: A Guide to the Evergreen State is being released for free on CD (available at most state museums) and free download (PC only).

This should be great for discovering the back country roads for motorcycle trips around the state.

Buell getting ready to play in the dirt

At the Buell dealer get-together a couple of weeks ago, the manufacturer announced that they'll be introducing a water-cooled 450cc dirt bike for 2009.
It could be introduced even earlier and they may be planning to compete in the 2008 motocross season, taking advantage of the 1 year production waiver.

Link from SpeedTV [linkage]

MotoGP 2006 Highlights

Man, I love Youtube.com!

I always seem to stumble across something interesting and totally unrelated to what I was originally looking for.

MorpheusGT has cut together some of the most exciting footage from the 2006 MotoGP season and put together a 4 min video. Needless to say, it features lots of dicin' between the Doctor and the Kentucky Kid.

Poor Randy Mamola

Reduced to shillin' for a MotoGP board game (and doing his best Crazy Frog impression in the commercial for it).



I kid. I'm actually a big Mamola fan, being from the SF Bay Area, and no one can deny that he's one of the best GP riders ever. I think the last time I saw him ride, he was giving those sick 2-up rides on the MotoGP bike at Laguna Seca (wheelies and stoppies included, if I remember right)

Vatican: Dakar Rally - Bloody, Irresponisble

Reuters is reporting that an editorial in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano is calling the Dakar Rally 'The Bloody Race of Irresponsibility' in response to the death of a motorcyclist during the fourth stage of the race.

The trail of blood which grows longer from year to year on the route of the race instead underscores the undeniable component of violence that lies behind every attempt to export Western models to human environments and ecosystems that have little to do with the West.

The Vatican?

Dakar claims another rider

Sad news out of Africa. Elmer Symons (South African rider that had been living in the US) was killed in the fourth stage of the Dakar Rally.

From the press release:

The organisation of the Dakar received the news this morning of the death of South Africa's Elmer Symons, bike rider n°107.

Today at 9:16, the race headquarters received an Iritrack alert coming from km 142 of the 4th stage from Er Rachidia to Ouarzazate.

On the site of the crash by helicopter 8 minutes later, the race direction could only record the death, confirmed 10 minutes later by the medical helicopter.

Head of a company specialised in the exportation of metal parts from the United States to South Africa, 29-year-old Elmer Symons was taking part in his first Dakar as a competitor. He had lived two others in an assistance crew. He was 18th overall.

The rally organisation is waiting for the return of Kingsley Symons who takes care of the assistance of his brother to witness their support and sadness.

Not a lot of details as of yet, but always sad when things go so bad.

Dakar Rally 2007

Best thing about January? Hard to say. MacWorld? CES? NFL Playoffs?

For me, I think it's the Dakar Rally (Still hard not to call it the Paris-Dakar Rally, even though it hasn't started from Paris in a while.)

Scrutineering (tech inspection for us in the US) finished up today and according to the official press release, it's a record field this year: 231 bikes, 14 quads, 181 car crews and 85 trucks.

This year's rally will run from January 6 - 21, 2007, starting from Lisbon and ending in Dakar, a total of 7915 km.

This is really a beautiful race to watch played out over a series of days. Some of the footage is hypnotic, especially the desert segments. I'm not sure who's covering it for the US media, but last year I was able to find a consistent bittorent feed nightly from an Aussie station. I think it's pooled coverage, but they sure seemed to show a lot more than OLN, Speed, or whoever was covering it for the US.

While I'll watch pretty much any motorcycle racing with little or no prodding, the Dakar is even cooler because it's the only place I get to see big DAF trucks and Unimogs hauling ass through the desert.

I hope this year's race goes off without any casualties. The last two years have had three participants (all motorcyclists), and at least three spectators (children, as if it wasn't tragic enough) killed in various accidents.

Wikipedia says that over 40 participants have been killed since the race began in 1979 and an unknown number of spectators (records aren't/weren't always kept of the spectators across the different African nations.) Hopefully 2007's race doesn't add to that count.

KTM is always a manufacturer favorite, and this year is no different. The have three factory teams running in 2007 (Gauloises, Repsol and Red Bull).

One of the KTM privateer teams (San Francisco's Team Rally Pan America) are teaming up with Wheels 2 Africa after the race to backtrack along the course once the rally is finished and distribute medical supplies, food and other humanitarian aid to people in need.

33 tips for touring by motorcycle

The AMA's website has a nice list of tips for smart touring. Some are pretty obvious, but I'm seeing some for the first time:

4) Portable weather radios are now in the $20 range, and the first time one saves you from running right into a massive storm, you’ll wonder why you ever traveled without one. Check accessory companies like Aerostich, or Radio Shack.

5) On high-mileage days, you’ll feel a lot better if you carry eyedrops and use them every time you stop for gas.

20) Especially if you’re riding alone, wear a dog-tag with your name and contact info. You can get them lots of places, including your local army surplus store.

21) Take a look back at where you were parked every time you leave someplace. You’d be amazed at what you find.

31) If you call a hotel—even if you’re two blocks away—you can often get a better rate than if you just walk in. And if you have access to a computer, there are some spectacular Internet-only deals available these days. Either way, do yourself a favor and have a reservation by 4 p.m. You never know when a convention will take over your destination city. Remember that AMA members get a discount at Red Roof Inns (call (800) RED-ROOF and use AMA code CP503343).

Tip 17 is a plug for MoTow and that's one that is pretty vital for any long distance motorcycle touring. Think of it as something like AAA's breakdown service but for bikers, and at $25 a year, it's a bargain.