Results tagged “motorcycle” from Green Mesh

Last week I went into Action Motorsports, in York, for a new pair of winter riding gloves. I asked John, the owner, how the economy was affecting him and he said, when people can't do anything about the economy, they ride. It seemed to be better advice than murdering yourself and six family members as a California man did yesterday over his financial problems.

I was sitting in this big, uncomfortable chair in the Adirondack Park yesterday on a random motorcycle ride north and I came to a conclusion about the economy. Maybe it has to all come apart and return to local economies where people know each other and know who they are doing business with, paying and sustaining each other with work, responsibility and respect.

Globalization and monopolies seem to be killing each other and the base they feed off of. We live in a broken economy that operates on credit, and we are attempting to repair it with more credit.

An illusion that cannot be sustained.

I decided to dump my credit cards as much as possible. I have never used them for credit. I just use the dividend cards and I don't like change. I am considered a "deadbeat" customer by the credit card industry because I don't get into debt.

Today, the average family owes roughly $8,000 on their credit cards. This debt has helped generate record profits for the credit card industry -- last year, more than $30 billion before taxes. pbs.org

Adding to that, I am giving my local merchants a 2..3..%? stimulus in a weak economy on every purchase that credit card companies charge them for the service on my credit card purchases.

I feel free. None of my purchasing history is tracked. As the change piles up, I take it to a self checkout at a local retailer and dump it in.

Going back to cash has been a rewarding exercise of simplicity in a complicated economic environment.

I headed out on motorcycle trip with a buddy and currently I'm sitting in Rome, New York. (about 300 miles north of York, Pa.)

I usually store all my electronics in Ziplock bags. The Dell Mini 9 fits comfortably in a gallon Ziplock bag with room to spare.

Long distance motorcycle traveling appears to have dropped off across the northeast, perhaps it's because night temperatures in the mountains have dipping into the low 30's.

I can't resist an event where a company lets me ride their motorcycles on an 11 mile real world ride for free and you have to love Harley for this once a year not to miss event.

Harley-Davidson Open House Sept 25-Sept 27

A cut-a-way of the new Buell / Rotax liquid cooled 1125cc Helicon V-Twin caught my eye at the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show in Washington D.C last winter.

Buell is the sport bike division of Harley-Davidson marketed to riders who aren't into the chrome and mystique, but would like to buy something American made that isn't a clone of anything.

Buell went to Austrian engine manufacturer Rotax to help them design a V-twin engine that utilizes three counter-balancers that smooth out the power monster. Rotax also makes the parallel 800 cc twin in my BMW 800 ST.

I love the quirky, one of a kind Buell designs, the low maintenance lifetime drive belt (BMW take notes here) with a tensioner that makes it feel like a drive shaft that only pulls in one direction - straight . However, I have never been a fan of a bike that the mirrors vibrate so badly you can't see what's behind you at a stop light. Previous Buells are based on HD engines.

The new Helicon® V-Twin is a symphony of motorcycle ecstasy. Lots of torque, a subtle trashy mechanical sound, and an assertive exhaust that lets you know it's a stealth rocket without sounding noisy.

The engine uses a "Hydraulic Vacuum Assist (HVA) Slipper-Action clutch that eases clutch pull and limits back-torque during hard downshifts". The result is one silky clutch/transmission combination.

Now if they would put this engine in the Buell Ulysses series (I'm more of an upright rider)... and trim down the cc to about 800 (I want to get 60+ mpg) .. that would be about perfect for me.

Interesting thing about riding alone on a motorcycle trip is that you are never really alone. There is a bond formed by two-wheeled travelers. Perhaps it is the shared risk or the shared responsibility for each other. It's symbolized by "the wave", a synchronized passing of open palms in opposing lanes.

I decided to take the long way down to my destination on the coastal border of North and South Carolina. The Outer Banks of North Carolina connects back to the mainland with a system of ferries.

Motorcycles are strange creatures on small ferries. Ferries bounce and roll and riders are usually advised to stay with their bike.

With the first ferry, I shot past a line of 50 cars because there is always room for a bike.

With the second ferry, I was first in line with a Harley rider named Mike. We were tucked between the lines of cars in the center of the bow.

Two hours standing guard over land loving machines on choppy water. Two hours of shared conversation spanning a lifetime

My fascination with two-wheeled journeys began freshman year in high school.

Three buddies told their parents that they were staying over each other's houses; we hit the road and bicycled through the night. The exhaustion, the moments of fear, the laughing made it memorable. I don't even remember if there was a destination. We were just going far.

It was a world shared by no one. All those people trapped in their cars going somewhere or sleeping the night away were getting nowhere. We were kings ruling our adventure kingdom.

Motorcycle trips are usually framed by weather reports and last week was scheduled to fall apart right in the middle. It really doesn't matter if the weather changes because that often creates an place to stop and you might just meet someone you wouldn't have met otherwise.

There is an unwritten law about not leaving on a trip in the rain. That's just miserable. This week turned out perfect with windows of clear riding and a rain stop just as planned in the middle.

In the 1980's and 90's, I used to slam the vacation road in a VW diesel Golf.

My concept of vacation planning was to head west and make a right at North Dakota... or wander southwest until... I needed three days to get home.

Once I was having such a good time in Pitkin, Colorado after taking on a new identity for two weeks, that I left there on a Friday evening and had to be back at work Sunday morning in York.

For the past six years, my vacation has been motivated by a motorcycle. Sure there is something wonderful about driving a few hundred miles and filling up with $10 of fuel, but with simple frugality comes a richness of experience.

Smells are richer, those you come in contact seem kinder because of your vulnerability. Fellow riders strike up a conversation without pause.

Once you loose two wheels and let the air pour though your clothes, it's hard to hide in a car during a vacation again.

Cars are for work. Cars are filled with fast food wrappers and stress.

My bike is freedom.

Next: 1259 miles of adventure in five days.

So Chuck checked out a local East York used car dealer turned scooter franchise and presented me with some figures. The Chinese made Roketa scooters sure have a low price point.

Scooters haven't been a big sale item in the U.S until the recent gas crisis. I remember my father buying an Austrian made Puch moped in the 1970's during that gas price escalation. Today, the Motorcycle Industry Council estimates that 50% of the world's scooters originate in China. In many parts of the world, a scooter is the dominate mode of transportation. Honda actually sells more motorcycles than it does cars.

New scooters can be purchased in four ways:

---Mainline dealerships that carry familiar nameplates.
---Independent motorcycle repair shops that carry a line of scooters.
---Business entrepreneurs (often car dealerships) that offer a line of (most likely Chinese made) scooters.
---Internet purchase with drop shipment (usually Chinese made)

I am fascinated with the Royal-Enfield Bullet diesel. The 100+ mpg one cylinder diesel motorcycle, from a 50 year old design, is still manufactured in India and is probably the sole transportation for some families there.

The Diesel Bullet reminds me of just what North American workers compete with in a global economy and just how lean the competition operates.

The Diesel Bullet is a lean machine that some in more economically evolved nations are using as a platform to innovate and satisfy their own desire for energy independence.

Riding on Salad Oil - A guy in Germany, where over 50% of the new cars registered are efficient clean diesel technology, has retrofitted an old stripped Enfield with a Yanmar L100 diesel engine (Chinese clone) engine. He runs diesel, makes biodiesel and even uses salad oil getting a (diesel/price) equivalent of 500 mpg.

Harold Benich of Albion, Pa., put his Harley-Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle on a diet by retrofitting it with a diesel and burning soy bean oil, getting over 100 mpg. americanprofile.com