From the monthly archives:

March 2008

Motogiro America 2008

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 3/19/2008

in Motorcycle Racing, Motorcycle Shows, Vintage Motorcycles

In the week leading up to the MotoGP at Laguna Seca they’re going to be running the Motogiro America, an American version of the classic Italian motorcycle rally. If you have a nice vintage machine and you would like to participate, you might want to head over to their website and sign up, space is [...]

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Bakker Grizzly All-Round

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 3/18/2008

in Motorcycle Builders, Motorcycle Design

Do you have an old GSX-R 1000 that looks a little tired? Let Bakker Frames put the engine into one of these Bakker Grizzly All-Round frame kits and you’ll have an adventure touring machine that will make short work of most of the factory offerings.
Nico Bakker has put together an impressive kit that’s about 420 [...]

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Zero Motorcycles Takes Off

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 3/18/2008

in Electric motorcycles, Motorcycle Business

Zero Motorcycles has a problem, they can’t keep up with demand. Looking at them in August of last year, they seemed promising. Right now, the $7500 standard model is selling well enough to require expansion to meet all of the orders coming in.
Neal Saiki, founder of the company, formerly worked for NASA and decided he [...]

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Twist the Throttle on Discovery Turbo

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 3/17/2008

in Down Time, Motorcycle Business, Motorcycle Shows

Dylan Weiss, who has been blogging on Twisting Asphalt for several years, is a video producer for cable television. He’s worked on a number of auto and motorcycle related videos but the latest series from Dylan and his team called Twist The Throttle has just launched on Discovery Turbo on the web.
The series takes [...]

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Ethanol From Carbon Waste

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 3/14/2008

in Science frontiers

More good news on the alternative fuels front. I was listening to GM’s Bob Lutz talking to a reporter yesterday and he spoke very highly of the process of making ethanol from most any carbon rich waste. Most of us probably associate ethanol production with corn, you know, moonshine, and more recently, some companies have [...]

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Motorcycle Rider Training in 1959

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 3/13/2008

in Motorcycle Safety, Vintage Motorcycles

Yes, we’ve come a long way with motorcycle rider training and safety courses. I was digging through The Kneeslider research library and came across this Jawa training motorcycle in an old issue of Cycle. It was powered by a 250cc 2 stroke engine and had complete dual controls. The instructor sits in back and has [...]

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Orange County Choppers SR Cruiser

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 3/11/2008

in Motorcycle Builders, Motorcycle Business

Orange County Choppers introduced their new SR Cruiser at the recent V-Twin Expo and it looks like a nicely done full size bagger. Powered by the S&S X-Wedge engine, it meets all appropriate emission regulations and the SR Cruiser probably provides everything someone looking for a bike like this requires.
What’s interesting is OCC’s move to [...]

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

There seems to be a group of dedicated owners of these somewhat rare vehicles, every now and then one shows up for sale but it’s not often you see 2. The LiteStar and the Owosso Pulse were almost identical vehicles, originally designed by Jim Bede of BD-5 and BD-5J aircraft fame (among others). Bede created [...]

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