Another month as passed which means another new lot of prizes

Congratulations to Paul and Peter who won last months giveaways

Remember anyone who leaves a comment on any blog post within the month goes into the draw.

This months freebies:
1. Ewan McGregor and Charley Borman's - Long Way Down
2. Harley Davidson 100 years - Celebration of a Legend - by Tod Refferty

Go for it! And remember, check here every month to see what we’ve found to give away – it could well be a one-off that you’ll never find anywhere else.

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

Faster unfaired

This little story from Cruiser+Trike 5 will give you a chance to show just how much you know about motorcycle history...

Harley-Davidson built this EL record bike to promote the power and performance of the recently introduced 1936 overhead valve, 61 cubic inch knucklehead engine. The bike was equipped with twin carburettor and a fuel mixture of alcohol and benzoyl boosted output to 65 horsepower at 5700rpm. The little fairing is actually a half petrol tank.

According to the factory, this bike may well have been the first time streamlining was used in the United States for motorcycle speed record purposes.

Ironically, it didn’t work. When H-D’s factory race team member Joe Petrali set about practice runs at Bonneville Salt Flats, he experienced serious high-speed wobbles several times. The engineers at the site suspected that the streamlined bodywork was the cause. They removed it and taped a conventional seat onto the frame instead.

And lo: that did work. On the 13th of March 1937, Petrali broke the record of 123mph, which had stood since 1926, with two-way timed runs averaging 134.83mph. He bettered that the next day with averaged runs of 136.85mph. Runs were timed electrically by John LaTour, the same man who timed Sir Malcolm Campbell’s record attempts. The record was authenticated by E.C. Smith for the American Motorcycle Association.

Now here’s the trick: one of the assertions in the story above is incorrect. Which is it? Can you work it out - without looking it up? The answer is below. Don’t peek, now!
























Answer: The record runs were made at Daytona Beach, not Bonneville.

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

Want to know when your bike was mentioned in Australian Road Rider? Or which road to take in some part of Australia you have never explored before? Or, indeed, whether we’ve written anything about that gadget you’re eyeing covetously?

Well, no longer do you have to scrabble through back copies (or write to us and ask us to scrabble through back copies).

The ARR Index has been updated, all the way to issue #57! Go check it out now!

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

…and more figures we simply don’t believe.

Here’s another press release from the National Motorists Association of Australia (NMAA) that’s worth reading. Especially in the light if the tragic crash just recently where a truck crossed to the wrong side of the road and killed a motorcyclist and his son, who was riding pillion. This crash happened in Tasmania, but it could happen – and similar things do happen – anywhere in Australia.

Please note that the figures for fatality reduction using speed-limiting GPS come from MUARC, whose figures we… well, let’s say “doubt”. We think these devices would increase the road troll, especially among motorcyclists.

I’d be very interested in your comments.

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

National Road Safety Strategy betrayed

The National Road Safety Strategy has been betrayed by the NSW government.

Ten years ago the NSW government made a solemn commitment to the National Road Safety Strategy to reduce road fatalities by 40 per cent, based on 1999 road statistics.

It was recognised by the National Road Safety Strategy that nearly half of the reduction, 47.5 per cent to be precise, would come from government expenditure on road improvements such as divided carriageways. However, our state government failed to make this expenditure.

Instead of expending money on road improvement, the state government decided to focus on one issue: speed detection. With this contrived strategy, the government converted the roads portfolio from being a need for expenditure to being a cash cow for the State Treasury. We have reached the end of a decade of raising revenue from speeding instead of focusing on road improvements and other important factors in improving road safety. The horrific reality is that the population has suffered higher vehicle accident rates and far higher road fatalities than if the previous rate of reduction of fatalities up until 1997 had been maintained.

The focus of enforcement is imbalanced and ineffective, being primarily focused on speed. The reality is that exceeding the speed limit causes a very low percentage of road fatalities. Australian university research has shown that preventing every vehicle from exceeding the speed limit by means of GPS speed controllers would reduce road fatalities by less than 8 per cent and reduce road injuries by less than 6 per cent. It is not appropriate to focus on the cause of less than 8 per cent of fatalities and to ignore the causes for 92 per cent of road fatalities.

The National Road Safety Strategy recognised government expenditure on road improvements, such as divided carriageways, is the most significant means of reducing road deaths and injuries. The state government’s decision to not spend the money on road improvements was an act of betrayal to the National Road Safety Strategy and the public in general.

Divided carriageways on main roads are essential. An example of this construction is the concrete Jersey barrier on Mount Ousley Road. It separates oncoming traffic with a concrete barrier. This barrier effectively prevents most head on crashes that are so devastating to human life.

Providing divided dual carriageways on the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne is reported to have reduced road fatalities by 80 per cent.

NMAA spokesman Michael Lane said “The only thing protecting oncoming traffic on most of our main roads is a line painted on the road surface. It’s cheaper for the government to blame the drivers than to make the roads safer. The state government should be improving our road network by providing more overtaking lanes and divided dual carriageways.”

“The small reduction in road fatalities in the past decade is directly attributable to improved vehicle safety that has been provided by vehicle manufacturers. Examples are ABS brakes, air bags and curtains, seat belt reminders and electronic stability control,” Mr Lane said.

Nationally, road fatalities increased by 60 over the previous year. However, in NSW road fatalities increased by 85 over the previous year.

The NMAA calls for improving road safety by three courses of action
• a vastly improved standard of driver training, requiring P-platers to complete a defensive driving course before being granted a full licence
• increased expenditure on roads, such as providing divided carriageways and more overtaking lanes
• employment of more highway patrol officers enforcing all of the road rules, not just the one road rule (speeding) where technology allows the most tickets per hour to be issued.

Mr Lane said “The decade has ended with a horrific toll of human lives on our substandard roads in NSW. Now watch the government spin doctors swing into action as they blame the public as the sole cause of all those fatalities. The government’s next proposed course of action is to increase state revenue with covert speed cameras and to allow private contractors to operate them. The state government has reduced the number of highway patrol officers to cut costs and now wants to use contractors.”

“The NMAA is concerned that the state opposition's main pressure on this issue is that Labor has not rolled out the speed cameras fast enough.” Mr Lane said “I would suggest that both parties are united in their betrayal of the NSW public by seeking revenue over safety. Both Liberal and Labor need to be pressured through the media into a change of policy. I can't see any good in having the opposition intending to do the same thing if elected. The state government cannot be allowed to use the excuse of waiting for the next National Road Safety Strategy to be published when the job of the last ten years is unfinished.”

Mr Lane said “The state’s road revenue strategy has cost hundreds of innocent lives each year for the past decade. We deserve better government than this.”

Big story or bull****?

Here’s an interesting story from Pressmart.com. What do you think of it, applied to magazines like Australian Road Rider and Cruiser+Trike (and this website)?

There was a time when, what you got out of the paper or the publication was the sole product of the news brand and the journalists responsible for telling the story to the masses. The millions of people out there? They were simply consumers, maybe helping to enrich the content through an eye-witness account or some inside information. But their participation was strictly left to the journalist, and the editor.

Today, there's a new form of journalism that materializing right before our eyes. It's called Citizen Journalism, and it's shaking the news tree like never before. Think about it...there are millions of people out there...each with a story, a new perspective, a different experience. With the propagation of modern technology like cell phone cameras, computers and the wealth of outlets the Internet provides, how people get their news is rapidly transforming from one stoic voice to the cry of millions of passionate people looking to be heard.

While the traditional news media has scoffed at the idea that common, everyday citizens have the power to enrich how issues and events are covered, the world is seeing examples of it everyday. The fact that consumers are everywhere, that virtually nothing that happens goes unseen, is creating a market for what's witnessed and bringing to life those first-hand accounts, adding depth and detail to a story.

Saying it is all fine and well, but what are the examples of Citizen Journalism, what's the proof that traditional news media and professional journalism aren't still in the drivers seat? There are hundreds of examples out there but let's just focus on a few.

The shootings at Virginia Tech just a few short years ago, the images from this horrible event weren't captured by a reporter and his trusty cameraman, but instead crudely captured on a cell phone camera...by a student...in real time. The bombings of The Tube in London, the crash of U.S. Airways Flight 1549...all examples of where everyday citizens have taken the lead on a major story, just by being there and having the technology to record the events that would create history.

But, these are major stories and not all news is of this variety. What's great about Citizen Journalism is that it doesn't have to be a headline story or big breaking news. In the digital press, Citizen Journalism can show up as a comment to an article, a piece of local news, a first-hand account of a local town board meeting. There are virtually thousands of avenues that Citizen Journalism can take.

Still, it can be an uncomfortable proposition for a publisher, allowing readers and interested citizens the chance to speak their minds. After all, it's your brand that's behind the story. But it can be controlled, your digital publication getting its proverbial feet wet by allowing simple reader comments to start. Or setting up an open source dialogue between Citizen Journalists and staff journalists. Over time, Citizen Journalism can evolve and become a valuable part of your content, supplementing stories and creating new venues for readers to explore.

Regardless of how uncomfortable the thought of allowing average citizens to create content for your publication, it's happening. Those who accept the change and embrace the propagation of Citizen Journalism, have the opportunity to do so at their own pace. Those who resist, will eventually fall by the wayside, their content diminished by the richness of their competitors.

Drop us a line with your opinions (see, it’s starting already!).

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

Another kneejerk reaction from the Queensland government

Incapable of interpreting statistics and unable to come up with sensible idea, the Queensland State government has flagged the idea of zero alcohol limit for Queensland's motorcyclists. Promoted as a response to that state's worrying road toll statistics for 2009, it is in fact more like a populist attack on a pretty much defenceless minority group - motorcyclists.

Motorcycle statistics are showing a rise over the last five years, but the numbers are far below the increase in motorcycle use. In other words, it’s like employing more people in your company and then complaining that the wage bill has risen.

Once you consider the full figures, it looks as if motorcycling is actually becoming safer. But it’s also looking as if the Queensland government would prefer to wipe motorcyclists off the map entirely – witness the nonsensical decision to require potential riders to have a car licence for a year before they can apply for a bike or scooter permit.

And they’re reviving the idea of radio tags for bikes, an invention George Orwell would have loved for his book 1984.

According to the Brisbane Murdoch paper, the Courier Mail: "Queensland Transport is investigating the benefits of a zero alcohol limit as part of its four-year motorcycle safety strategy, along with new technology to prevent bikes escaping speed camera detection.

"Radio Frequency Identification Devices are being developed to help overcome the problem of motorbikes not having a front registration plate by allowing bikes to be identified through other means.”

And it’s never really hard to find someone who hasn’t thought things through to make a comment, is it?

Also in the Courier Mail, the clearly confused Terry Walker of the United Motorcycle Council of Queensland said: "Make it zero tolerance on the road everywhere. But certainly we'd support a zero limit for bikers because you need to be as alert as possible when riding.”

And make motorcyclists wear yellow hats while you’re at it, Terry. And when they’re not on their bikes, make them ride in the back of the bus.

Mate, think before you comment: anything that discriminates against riders only makes it easier to target them.

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

Another month as passed which means another new lot of prizes

Congratulations to Steve and David who won last months giveaways

Remember anyone who leaves a comment on any blog post within the month goes into the draw.

This months freebies:
1. Charley Borman's Race to Dakar
2. The Essential Guide to Motorcycle Travel by Dale Coyner

Go for it! And remember, check here every month to see what we’ve found to give away – it could well be a one-off that you’ll never find anywhere else.
Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

And I’ll see you on the road in ’10

The motorcycle industry is still suffering as I write this, but I hope it is in the process of recovering – I’m waiting for the 2009 sales figures and will pass them on when I get them. But it’s important to remember that we, the riders, are not suffering nearly as much. In fact we’ve had a bit of a bonanza with some amazing discounts.

It will get more expensive as the year wears on, and the manufacturers try to claw back some of the money they’ve lost. Yes, they have taken a pretty spectacular bath; one Australian subsidiary lost $33 million in 2009… although worldwide the company lost more than a billion.

Prices are one thing. The unceasing onslaught of restrictive legislation, mainly from State governments, is another threat and it’s one we intend to fight as hard as we can this year. With your help I hope we can roll back some of the more punitive and nonsensical laws and regulations.

But the main thing is to remember to have a good time as we roll into the second decade of the 21st Century.

After a really big and extremely busy year, what with launching Cruiser+Trike and finally (I hope) completing the last of my major non-motorcycle writing projects, I’m declaring 2010 the year of The Rides.

I’ll see you on the road!

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

"Motorcycling has lost none of its attraction”

The Vietnamese people use a simple scale from one to ten to judge events, things and feelings. Number 1 is the worst, number 10 is the best. Going with that measurement, next year will be the best one yet.

Let’s hope so.

The problems of the international banking system certainly cast a pall over the motorcycle industry in 2009. We in Australia have been relatively well off; our market is down, but not disastrously. It’s more like a correction after several years of very strong growth. Things have been considerably worse overseas, especially in the US.

What we need to remember, though, is that motorcycling has lost none of its attraction just because the bankies stuffed up. It’s still economical, enjoyable, time-smart and a great way to express yourself. There is no shortage of new bikes – the total number may be down, but if there’s anyone out there who can’t find exactly what they’re looking for (albeit at a price, but it was ever thus) then they’re just plain too fussy.

So I reckon it’s going to be a pretty good year if we only let it!

Just as well. The past year was not really a keeper. Apart from the Big Money Shamozzle or whatever it was called, 2009 also held some more intimate tragedies. Here are just a few.

The greatest shock was the death of David “Davo” Jones, one of the best-loved motorcyclists in Australia. Davo, who rode the new 1400GTR Kawasaki across Australia and back for us, leaves not only a grieving family but also a devastated long distance riding community.
We lost a good friend, and many people lost an irreplaceable mentor.

Very sadly, we also just lost Peter Smith. I’m going to his funeral tomorrow.

Better known as Mr Smith, he enlivened first the pages of BIKE Australia and subsequently Two Wheels with his own anarchic brand of gonzo “journalism”.

Smith was an original, and we shall not see his like again – we’ll have a bit of a tribute in ARR in the New Year.

And Pete Lawrence from Adelaide has news of a truly despicable theft.

"Ian Corlett, late secretary of the SA Historic Motor Cycle Racing Register, passed away just before Easter 2009.

“In a sad postscript to his death, Ian's 1912 Triumph racer was stolen from a locked garage at his family's home in Adelaide in September 2009. Ian's restoration of this bike was a labour of love over a 10 year period. Its last outing was in the parade laps at the 2009 Adelaide Clipsal 500. Ian's Triumph was displayed in pride of place inside the Church at his funeral.

“His family are quite distressed at this loss, and would love to see this tribute to Ian's love of motorcycling returned to them.

“If you see this distinctive and rare Triumph, or any bike which you suspect may be Ian's Triumph, please report the sighting to BankSA Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000."

But that’s all the sadness you’ll get out of me. Now’s the season to be jolly – until ’10 kicks in! It’s going to be a huge year, folks, with lots of projects, trips and other plans.

Hope I survive it.

With good will to all womankind and mankind and whatever other kind there is out there, and all the best wishes to you and yours, your Bear.

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

Vote and win!

What’s the best bike road you’ve ever ridden? Come on, it’s a simple enough question. We all have favourites, and sometimes those favourites are not at all what someone else might expect. For example, my favourite movie is Julie and Celine Go Boating, or Phantom Ladies Over Paris. Never heard of it? It’s your loss. But I must admit that I’m the only person I know (or have ever heard of) who even likes this film.

So we’re not going to impose anything on you. In the interest of democracy, we’re going to ask you to vote instead. Oh, and I do understand that your “favourite” road might not necessarily be the “best” road you’ve ridden. If there is conflict within your mind about this, and I imagine that, as always, there will be for some people, go for “best”.

Ready to rock? Just answer this question:

What is the best motorcycle road you have ever ridden (anywhere in the world)?

Answers will appear on this website. Make sure you identify the road properly. For example, you might write “Silver City Highway (B79), NSW Australia, Wentworth to Broken Hill”. You might, but we hope you won’t because that road is so boring we’re falling asleep just thinking about it.

Okay? All set? Get your answer in soon and we’ll announce the results on this website and possibly in ARR.

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming