I finally pulled the trigger, I sold both of my bikes in the past 2 weeks. I sold one to my brother, which didn’t really bother me. Partially because I still had a bike that I could ride, and because I knew it was going to a good home. But today, I gave up my last bike to some guys that I will probably never see again. And above all, it was a bike that I had dreamed about owning for 6 years. It was the most powerful and well designed streetbike that I had ever owned. My 2004 Honda RC51 will be missed, it has been to the race track 3 times since I have owned it and down to deals gap once just recently. Now that my bike is gone, I feel kind of empty. Especially, since I work so much it was nice to commute on a motorcycle to break up the monotony of everyday life. I enjoy everything about riding on two wheels, and now that joy is gone. Also, it’s going to be that much harder to buy a motorcycle when I get back since the money I got from the sale of the bike is going towards paying it off. So it will be another 2 years until I get a motorcycle. Fuck that’s a long time. But it had to be done to do the things Katy and I want to do. I’m not sure if I should be mad at myself or just sad. I just have to be careful to not take my anger out on Katy, because it’s not her fault and it wasn’t her decision. I think I’m going to go sulk. Thanks for listening. I’m going to miss riding on two wheels, a lot…………

Motoczysz will be mentioned in the July Edition of Cycleworld Magazine. If you’re not sure what MotoCzysz is and what they do, then I will give you the short version. They are a radical thinking Grand Prix Motorcycle Development Company that is base out of Oregon, and has been around since 2005. They are radical in that they have created and patented a motorcycle motor that has two counter-rotating cranks, and mounts in the frame long ways to reduce gyroscopic forces which are created by the motor. In short the bike handles as if it had a smaller motor, which makes it easier to ride in the corners. The Discovery Channel aired a documentary on the MotoCzysz group earlier this year called Birth Of a Racer which I will say is very exciting and informative. I really hope these guys make it, since originally their plans were to build a 1000cc bike to compete in MotoGP But in 2006 the regulations changed to build 800cc MotoGP bikes, shortly after Motoczysz began development and construction of their Prototype C1. Hope is not lost though since AMA and WSB still race 1000cc motorcycles. Currently they are still looking for investors to help stay afloat and compete against the big Japanese manufacturers.

Here are two videos that Yamaha just uploaded to their server from the recent scooter introduction they did. The videos feature former Daytona winner Scott Russell, former Superbike champion Jamie James, GP rider Colin Edwards II and the ever-lovely Meredith Penrod of Yamaha US.

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelvideo/607/656/0/video.aspx

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelvideo/608/653/0/video.aspx

A motorcycle driven by 28 Year old Benjamin Snook crashed Saturday May 24th, 2008 just south of North Shore Drive on Cassopolis Street in Elkhart, Indiana. Ben was traveling at a high rate of speed when going around a bend and veered into oncoming traffic, striking a car at about 7:07pm that was heading south. Benjamin died from head injuries later that evening. You can read more about the news report here

News reports like these upset me, because although it wasn’t specifically stated. From the sounds of the injuries, he wasn’t wearing a helmet. How many more people will have to die because Indiana does not force riders of motorcycles to wear helmets?

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A company by the name of Impact Jackets have been making this Jacket and selling it for a nominal $400. Ok, well it’s nominal when you consider it life insurance. As an Avid Motorcycle rider myself, I’m always screaming at riders “Where’s your helmet”!? Now, I can scream “WHERE’S YOUR INFLATABLE JACKET”?! Here’s the story on the guys life that was possibly saved. I can’t wait for the idiots that spend the money on this jacket and then don’t wear a helmet. This may be a future addition to my riding gear, because you never know when you may drive your motorcycle into a lake!

Well, the riding season has begun! Last night Brian and I went riding for the first time together in four months. The last time we rode together was December 2nd, which was almost unbearable due to the how cold it was. We rode over to Andrews house that day and if I remember correctly the temp was middle thirties but the wind chill had to be well below that. Well last night it was in the lower forties and it started raining while we were at mikes house. There is still snow on the ground and we had to be careful of the salt and gravel that is scattered on the road. It was really nice to get back on after not riding for 4 months. My bike started right up, but I did have some trouble starting the SV which is carburated. My RC51 is not carburated which is why it started right up. I kinda forgot how responsive the throttle is on my RC, and had to modulate the throttle to prevent spinning my rear tire. When it started raining I had to be even more careful, there was an instance where Brian took off down CR17 and I tried to keep up with him with out my rear tire spinning and kicking my bike sideways. I think Brians bike is a little bit easier to ride in the rain with since his bike has less torque and he can just whack the throttle with out having to worry too much about the rear tire. I just need more practice with modulating the throttle I guess. I can’t wait to go to the track with my RC. I think I will learn a lot from that experience. Well, I rode to work today and the temp was about 41F with a windchill of 36F or so. It wasn’t unbearable as I had full leathers on. I even had a compliment on my mohawk from the tollbooth attendant! I don’t think she was trying to mock be but was sincere in the compliment. Well Brian is meeting me here at work at 5 so we can ride for a little while. Oh yeah before I forget, Mike bought an 04 R1. His last bike which he crashed and burned on was an 03. His new R1 is a two tone silver and bluish silver, with 6800 miles and is EXTRA clean. You would never know it had that many miles on it just by looking at it. He won’t be able to ride until the end of May, due to an agreement with his wife. I’m pretty excited as it means that we have another person to ride with. Well, I will have be posting some pictures of the bike soon.