From the monthly archives:

August 2007

While cruising through recent patent applications I came across this design for a new poppet valve from Michael Czysz, designer / builder of the MotoCzysz. It’s pretty interesting. Instead of the usual circular valve we’re all familiar with, this design is triangular but not straight edged, it’s the shape you would get if you took [...]

{ 29 readers have commented so far, ... your thoughts? }

After my previous posts on a modified Honda GL1000 and GL1200, Randall Washington thought I might be interested in his bike. Randall runs a business by the name of Randakk’s Cycle Shakk, where he offers various parts and services for the Honda GL1000. His primary test mule for developing nifty new stuff is what he [...]

{ 12 readers have commented so far, ... your thoughts? }

AND Motorcycles by Julian Farnam

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 8/28/2007

in Motorcycle Builders, Motorcycle Design

Once again, a comment on one post deserves a post of its own and Todd’s comment on Julian Farnam’s A-N-D Vehicles company is a great example. I had never noticed Julian’s motorcycles before, but after seeing his frame and front end work it’s obvious he deserves a closer look.
The bikes shown here are designed using, [...]

{ 19 readers have commented so far, ... your thoughts? }

Street Trackers From Mule Motorcycles

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 8/27/2007

in Motorcycle Builders

A few months back, I came across an article on one of Richard Pollock’s street trackers. The particular bike in question was a Yamaha XS650 powered special, with a Buell front fork, custom pieces throughout and it just looked right, everything was where it was supposed to be without any excess hardware anywhere. Digging a [...]

{ 12 readers have commented so far, ... your thoughts? }

KTM Planning RC8 Superbike and Venom

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 8/27/2007

in Motorcycle Business

If you thought the recent KTM offerings have been interesting, wait till you see what’s coming in the next few years. They will be bringing out bikes based around 3 engine platforms, the current 990, the new single cylinder 690 and the not yet released 1190 V-Twin. The 1190 will be used to power the [...]

{ 4 readers have commented so far, ... your thoughts? }

Here’s another artist / craftsman making things from junk unused parts. Maurizio Lamponi Leopardi studied mechanical engineering in Milan but after a few years decided to go off in another direction. After working around the family’s artistic foundry and then trying his hand at photography he finally came up with the idea of creating art [...]

TomTom Rider 2nd Edition

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 8/24/2007

in Motorcycle Technology, Motorcycle Travel

TomTom just released their TomTom Rider 2nd Edition the new version of their very popular TomTom Rider. Price is $699.95. Designed to work with RAM Mounts, you can attach it to most any motorcycle. Cardo scala-rider® wireless Bluetooth® headset connection means you get the voice instructions inside your helmet . Need a GPS for your [...]

{ 7 readers have commented so far, ... your thoughts? }

The Tryphonos, named after designer / builder Mike Tryphonos, is a hub center steering British motorcycle that first appeared in his engineering dissertation in 1990 and gradually evolved as he produced a series of prototypes building on the lessons learned at each stage. Mike looked at motorcycles and found, as many had before, that the [...]

{ 19 readers have commented so far, ... your thoughts? }