Motorcycle FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions About Motorcycles

I have just released a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for the Motorcycle Views Web site.

The questions and answers in the motorcycle FAQ cover a wide variety of information about motorcycling.

My approach is to consider the various phases that a motorcyclist goes through in his/her search for motorcycle information.

In the beginning, a prospective motorcyclist may just have basic questions. As they get deeper into the subject and actually realize that they want to learn to ride, their questions change.

As a person becomes a rider, they then want to buy a motorcycle and all the stuff that goes with it. The questions continue changing as the rider becomes more experienced.

I attempt to treat most of these major questions normally asked throughout the complete life of a motorcyclist -- a big undertaking.

Check out my Motorcycle FAQ for the complete set of questions and answers.

Motorcycle Forums and Lots More

Motorcycle Views is more than just this blog. It has a newsletter, a main site, and a motorcycle forum.

Signup for the newsletter to keep up-to-date with site changes and important forum discussions. I always have four forum discussions listed in the newsletter.

The main site has most of the content that I created for the old About.com site. I continue to add to that content. I have many features on that site including motorcycle pictures, women on motorcycles, user reviews, motorcycle recalls, motorcycle tattoos, makes and models, and a motorcycle tests index.

My motorcycle forum is now on Delphi and has attracted most of the regulars from the old site. So, if you've missed hearing from a former member, check out the forum and see if they're now in the new forum. This is a very active motorcycle forum with a good mix of experience and we ride all brands of motorcycles. Both men and women riders are represented.

So, be sure to check out the complete site so you don't miss anything.

Article, Feature, and Subject of the Day

I have created a new daily feature, "Article, Feature, and Subject of the Day," that showcases my content on the Motorcycle Views site (not this blog).

Each day, a new item will be listed for each of these three categories.

Check back daily to see three new items each day. Hopefully, this new feature will assist to make more riders familiar with what Motorcycle Views has to offer.

Articles are stand-alone pieces giving information about some aspect of motorcycling or motorcycles.

Features are not static and grow with either user submissions or additional work on my part.

Subjects are listed on my Main Menu and contain all the articles, features and outside motorcycle links.

Start your day by checking out Article, Feature, and Subject of the Day.

Motorcycle Views A-Z List

I have just created an A-Z list for Motorcycle Views. It puts all my original motorcycle content into an alphabetical list.

Check out the Motorcycle Views A-Z List.

Motorcycle Video Clips

Both my wife and I are members of the Polar Bear Grand Tour based in New Jersey. This is our 16th season riding with this motorcycle group and it's also the 29th anniversary of the founding of the group. I happen to be the Webmaster for the Polar Bears and I spend quite a lot of time taking pictures and videos of the various runs.

I'll be featuring these videos in a new feature, Polar Bear Grand Tour - Motorcycle Video Clips. I expect that more motorcycle videos will also be finding their way into this feature in the coming year. For the time being, it's mostly about what I've observed over the past few years as a Polar Bear member.

Take a look at these Motorcycle Video Clips. They're very short. It's too soon to tell whether I want to start featuring motorcycle video clips submitted by visitors.

Motorcycle Audio Clips

I have just released my Motorcycle Audio Clips feature. It contains short audio clips of motorcycle engines and exhaust sounds.

I have my own motorcycles in there too as well as some engine sounds submitted by others.

If you like making short audio clips of motorcycle-related sounds, send them to me for inclusion in the feature.

Here are my Motorcycle Audio Clips.

Honda Recalls 2007 CMX250C for Crankcase Breather Defect

Honda has issued a recall of certain 2007 CMX250C motorcycles.

On certain motorcycles, the crankcase breather separator may be defected. During the molding process, the breather passage may have been blocked by a thin layer of the injected plastic material. This blockage will create a build-up of pressure inside the crankcase and may cause the left side engine seal to be pushed out of position and an oil leak will occur.

6784 units are affected.

Check out my Motorcycle Recalls feature for more details.

Motorcycle Road Tests Index

Most riders want to be pointed to articles about a particular bike to find out what professional testers think of the bike. Since the motorcycle magazines tend to take a very long time to get a test published, more and more riders are turning to the Internet for bike evaluations. Many of the motorcycle electronic magazines listed on the Motorcycle Views site do give these more timely reviews.

The problem still is finding out if a particular bike has been tested, what magazine or electronic magazine it's in and the date of the publication. Often members of motorcycle forums post messages asking if anyone has seen a road test for such-and-such a bike. There is no simple index of these road tests.

To provide a means for these road tests to be indexed, I have created an index on the Motorcycle Views site called Motorcycle Road Tests Index. This feature lists the various motorcycle makes and models alphabetically on an index page. Clicking on the model of interest takes you to a separate page of information about that bike. This information includes the motorcycle magazine containing the test and the month and year of publication. Information is given so you can order back copies of the magazine. If any electronic magazine articles have been found for the same model, they are also listed.

So far, I have listed tests for 2006 models and for some 2007 models. I have a few more to add for 2007 to catch up with what has already been published. 43 tests are in the index at this writing.

Women on Motorcycles - Best Pictures for 2005-2006

The Women on Motorcycles gallery displays pictures of women riders and their motorcycles. This gallery has proved an inspiration for many women thinking about learning to ride a motorcycle.

When women see women riders from all walks of life enjoying the sport and recommending it to other women, they often are engendered with the spirit to give motorcycling a try.

The top women on motorcycles pictures were picked from pictures submitted in 2005-2006. Women were chosen for a variety of reasons. I looked at each picture, read each description, and picked those pictures that held my interest. There's a mix of women and motorcycles here that should give you an understanding of how deep the motorcycling experience is for women these days. Check out Women on Motorcycles - Best Pics for 2005-2006.

If you're a woman thinking about riding, be sure to also view our current Women on Motorcycles Gallery for inspiring testimonials from women riders and to see how diverse the population of women riders is.

Ural Recalls Motorcycles for Improperly Installed Wheel Bearings

Ural has issued a recall of certain 2006 Gear-Up, Patrol, Raven, and Tourist motorcycles.

On certain motorcycles, the wheel bearings may have been improperly installed at the factory. This can cause loose wheels or wheel lock up increasing the risk of a crash.

33 units are affected.

Check out my Motorcycle Recalls feature for more details.

21 Years of Honda Shadow - A Gallery

Honda began selling the Shadow motorcycle in 1983. It has continued in production ever since.

We present here a look at Honda Shadow models from the first model in 1983 to the year 2003 as provided in pictures submitted by visitors to the site. A gallery called "21 Years of Shadow: A Gallery" is provided that gives a picture and description for each model for each year from 1983 to 2003.

The gallery still has some models not represented. If you own one of these models, send me a picture and description of your bike and I'll include it in 21 Years of Honda Shadow: A Gallery.

One-Stop Motorcycle Page

I've just created a One-Stop Motorcycle Page for the Motorcycle Views site. It contains links to information that riders seem to want to know. That information is all over the site so I've culled the major stuff onto this One-Stop page.

You should be able to find almost anything about motorcycles by looking at the Main Menu on Motorcycle Views. Subjects are arranged on the left while the most requested items are explicitly listed on the right side. Even the top 10 most popular articles are shown in a special box at the top.

However, there are some items that keep being requested over and over. Those items will be found on this One-Stop Motorcycle page.

It's a Two-Way Street

Over the past eight years I've written a lot about motorcycles both on the old site and on the Motorcycle Views site, forum, newsletter, and this blog. However, writing can be like riding down a one-way street. I want it to be like riding down a two-way street being able to see my readers waving at me on their oncoming motorcycles. I want to be able to stop at a watering hole and get feedback on what I'm doing right and wrong and have riders submit articles, pictures, comments, and discussions to help the total site grow. I need submissions.

This is not a site in a vacuum. Never was before and won't be in the future. It's a site that depends on you.

At yesterday's Polar Bear run, I had several people come up to me and talk about this new site. They liked it better than the old site. It still has much of the old content but it's much simpler to navigate and is not cluttered with ads. It was nice to hear people talk about the new site in such glowing terms. However, success of the new site depends basically on three things: Search engine placement, User Submissions, and forum growth.

Search engine placement is a complicated process. I'm doing about all I can to foster this process. However, search result ranking often depends on having other sites linking to a site. That proves that the site is important enough to others that many other sites want to link to it. It seems to have the effect of raising a site's ranking in the search results. So, if you happen to have a motorcycle site and like what you see here on Motorcycle Views, consider linking to the main site. As always, I will provide a link back to your site as I always did on the old site.

I have seven items on my Submissions page. These include User Reviews, Motorcycle Pictures, Tattoos, Haiku Poems, Forum Participation, Newsletter Subscription, and Blog Comments. Take a look at my Submissions page to see where you can contribute most to the growth of the site. Nearly eight years of doing this has made it readily apparent to me that "It all depends on you." I enjoy reading the submissions and processing them to appear on the site. Help me out by writing a great user review of your own bike, submitting a picture of you with your bike, showing me your motorcycle-related tat, writing a simple haiku, becoming active on my forum -- it's FUN, subscribing to my newsletter, and commenting on this blog. What could be easier?

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

More Features on Motorcycle Views

More features have been added to the Motorcycle Views Web site.

• Motorcycle Makes and Models - Click on a motorcycle make and get a page containing links to all motorcycle articles and features on the site for that make. Also included is a page containing all 2007 models each with a link to the make's official Web site giving all details for that model.
• Clubs and Associations - Gives links to motorcycle clubs, riding clubs, law enforcement clubs, rights organizations, and motorcycle associations.
• Classified Ads - Are you looking to buy or sell a motorcycle? Check out these online motorcycle classified ad sites.

I published my first Motorcycle Views Newsletter on Sunday night. It contains up-to-date information on site changes. It also gives links to forum discussions. If you're not yet a subscriber, please sign-up for the Newsletter now. When you sign-up, you'll see a link to view previous newsletters.

Peter Fonda Does Ghost Rider Without a Motorcycle

Peter Fonda, iconic star of Easy Rider, has done over 70 films. He appears in the current Ghost Rider film playing the devil. Peter continues to ride motorcycles as he shortly turns 67.

A piece by Susan Carpenter, Los Angeles Times, and reported in delawareonline.com discusses Fonda's career and his need for speed. He once went 189 mph on an MV Agusta F4-1000 sportbike. Here's an excerpt:

"I've had this puppy up to 189," Fonda said, not so much boasting as marveling at his own stupidity during a rest stop at Coldwater Canyon Park. "I never want to do that again. One road rut, and I would have been toast."

Read Carpenter's story for all the details.

Also, read my movie review of Ghost Rider as reported here in the Motorcycle Views Blog.

Motorcycle Views Forum - New Feature

After I left the old site, there was a certain amount of confusion among the members of the motorcycle forums that I hosted at the time. All the moderators had been shutout and no one was in charge. Of course, some members liked not having anyone in charge. Fortunately, no trolls have arrived and no heavy SPAM has occurred so the old forums are still relatively sane.

It must be mentioned that the old site and forums have been unguided for two months now. Also, the site is still being advertised to find a new Guide. It could be many months before a new Guide is found, trained, and allowed to build the site from scratch. That's right, the old site will disappear and a new site will be constructed from scratch. The forums may be allowed to stay the same, or some forums may be deleted, or the forums may start from scratch. No one really knows.

However, many hundreds of the forum regulars departed and attached themselves to two existing forums and one newly created forum. The latter forum is now being run by a former "corner host" and the vast majority of the regulars have set up housekeeping with that forum.

In the beginning, I was happy to see that the regulars were attached to a forum that would stay around. Many were worried that the plug might be pulled on the old forum and everyone in the community would lose touch with each other. The new forum solved that for the most part.

I was also not ready to be responsible for another forum when I was trying to establish the new Motorcycle Views Web site. I first created this Motorcycle Views Blog. Then I established the Motorcycle Views Web site. Next came a Motorcycle Views Newsletter. I'm currently getting subscribers for the newsletter from a sign-up form on the site. After I had established a huge number of articles and features for the Motorcycle Views Web site, I started thinking about creating a forum.

The Motorcycle Views Forum is now attached to the Motorcycle Views Web site. It can be reached from any page of the site. Having the forum allows me to stay in touch with a very large community of riders, both experts and beginners. I can now run Polls in the forum and link to them in the newsletter. I can also provide links in the newsletter to important forum discussions as I used to do in my former newsletters. I can also put links to forum discussions in my articles to enable people to discuss important points in the articles.

The net effect is that I finally have back the major pieces of the old site and that's a good feeling.

I hope you will visit the Motorcycle Views Web site and the Motorcycle Views Forum and also subscribe to the Motorcycle Views Newsletter. Together, we will all continue to learn more about motorcycling and develop a great motorcycle community. It all depends on you.

Walt

How Do Motorcycles Work?

I developed a feature on the old site called "How Do Motorcycles Work?" I did most of it five years ago but kept expanding it. It's a complex of about 60 files so I have been putting off converting it for the new Motorcycle Views site -- until now.

I spent the better part of two days redesigning the feature to present the material differently. The result is a new feature, "How Do Motorcycle Parts Work?" This is an expandable feature with plenty of room for growth.

Polar Bear Motorcycle Run to Hooters

On Sunday, I made one long run via car to attend a GWRRA Chapter NJ-H meeting near North Plainfield, NJ. I used to live up there when I first got married so it was nice to see the area again with all its changes. After the meeting we headed farther north to Wayne, NJ so I could take pictures at the Hooters destination for the Polar Bear Grand Tour.

It was a cold day and the turnout wasn't that great, maybe 100 bikes spread over a couple of hours. I still got a good set of pictures including the requisite pose of our Chairman, Bob, with two Hooters girls. Bob does enjoy that.

We have seven more runs before the end of the season.

Meanwhile, I continue to work on the new Motorcycle Views site. That's the subject of my next blog entry.