Fancy a Harley Davidson motorbike sightseeing joyride around Melbourne? Enjoy this sampler video sent to me by John (jdkarmch) from HD Chauffeur Rides.
Who needs snowed-under roads to be gritted and covered in salt? A group of ice bikers at Thunder Bay, Lake Superior, Canada, show how it's done in this video from Tacoma White (tacomawhite).
To accompany the video, Tacoma provides an informative description about the sport, which I reproduce below, "Short video on a cold day of Motorcycle Ice Racing on Lake Superior. A steady group of 15 riders that frequent the track on Lake Superior in front of the Lakeview Lodge on Lakeshore Drive, continuing a practice in Thunder Bay that dates back 30 years. They race on the ice from the end of January to the beginning of April with modified dirt bikes and specialized safety equipment. To safely run speeds of up to 85 mph requires the obvious safety gear for personal protection including a tether kill switch to prevent the bikes studded tires from grinding up a rider with engine running. Extended fenders help prevent similar injuries. Regular motocross boots are important not only for cornering but for protection should the rider put his foot into the spokes. Safety equipment works apparently as there have been no fatalities for decades. Other than the obvious $600 set of studded tires, the dirt bikes carburetors are jetted richer, engine blocks are covered with foil, and radiators are partly covered to cope with the cold winter air. 2 stroke engines are more sensitive to temperature changes than four strokes but worth the effort for the power to weight ratio they provide, not to mention the distinctive angry sound. A softer and sometimes lower suspension will better cope with the higher speeds and smaller bumps on the ice compared with a dirt track."
Enduro Africa is a unique and challenging, annual motorcycle adventure in aid of UNICEF, Sentebale, Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and Touch Africa.
160 motorcycle adventurers from all over the world tackle 8 days across some of South Africa's most rugged and isolated terrain and this year some of the adventurers will share the companionship of royal brothers, princes William and Harry, who have announced that they will be participating in the ride around its famous Wild Coast.
Back in 1947, a hell-raising group of bikers descended on Hollister city, California, USA, 90 miles south of San Francisco, for a 3-day rally over the Fourth of July holiday. The notorious events of that weekend are said to have inspired the 1953 Hollywood cult classic, biker film, starring Marlon Brando.
Hollister became known as the "Birthplace of the American Biker" and each year since then, played host to an annual Fourth of July rally where bikers were reckoned to spend an incredible eight million dollars, but times have changed. I came across this letter by Charlie Scott, a Hollister local, about the imminent demise of the famous motorcycle rally.
He relates how in recent years, there has been almost a doubling of policing and related costs, together with a perception that certain people in authority have a dislike of bikers and just don't want a rally in their community.
Charlie goes on to write,"People from all over the world recognize the name of Hollister, California, due to the rally and come from all parts to enjoy and participate. There have been fewer and fewer coming in the last 3 years and hardly any staying the 2 or 3 days."
His letter has prompted some thoughtful comments and background on the rally, which might provide some useful information for anyone thinking of attending this iconic event.
Here is an interesting video for the end of the week, brought to us from Off The Map Tours. They also do motorcycle, train, horseriding, camel and walking tours, together with many cultural tours. The soundtrack is hypnotic.
An American legend is to get its own museum. Just in time for the 105th anniversary of the famous motorcycle's birth, the Harley-Davidson Museum is set to open on July 12, 2008, with tickets going on sale May 20, 2008.
Located in Milwaukee, USA, exhibits include a bike from each of Harley's 105 years of production, together with Harley bicycles, snowmobiles and even golf carts. Raiding the company's vast archives, the museum has been able to fashion exhibits featuring customised motorcycles, clothing, photos, posters, promotional materials and magazines. Read a full review from Rick Barrett.
Ride! on BlogTalkRadio.com is a new online radio talk show, offering lively half-hour interviews every two weeks from Toronto, Canada. The realtime talks, hosted by freelance motojournalist Adrian Blake, cover all aspects of motorcycling, including international industry movers and shakers, professional racers, adventurers, custom builders, and a host of other passionate advocates for two-wheel motorised transport.
Adrian will even be conducting an interview for Ride! from the 2007 Milan International Motorcycle Show (EICMA) in Italy, which runs November 6 through 11. The fair is the largest bike show in the world.
And on November 21 at 3 p.m. EST, his guest will be Austin Vince. Austin was one of six British adventurers called Mondo Enduro, who completed a 400,000 miles around the world ride, in 400 days on 350-cc Suzuki dual sport bikes.
Their adventures were documented on video in the popular series, Mondo Enduro, shown on the Discovery adventure travel channel and the companion book to the series has just been published.
A video from Charliechicpea (part 3 in a series) of this summer's Velocette Motorcycle Owners Club Rally at Stanford Hall, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England. Velocette has been described as one of the most beautiful hand built motorcycles ever made and a 350cc MkVIII Velocette was the machine rode by Bob Foster in 1950, when he was crowned world champion.
The Dorset branch of the UK Velocette Owners Club, will be holding its annual charity bike run, the Bob Foster Run on 7 October, 2007.
50 years ago, a young man and his friend took a legendary motorcycle trek across the back-roads of Latin America. The man was Che Guevara and in a new National Geographic Adventure and Geographic television series making its US premiere on V-me Tuesday, September 4, 2007, two, similarly young, Latin Americans retrace their path. They cover more than 13,000 kilometers through the same pampas, rivers and mountains, of Chile, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela, contrasting their observations with those of Che and his friend, Alberto Granados. Exhilarating stories and stunning imagery combine to provide a fresh and entertaining perspective on Latin American travel and history.
I thought that you might like this video clip provided by jdkarmch of Harley Davidson motorcycles touring Melbourne. Like the man says, when visiting Melbourne, you can take a Harley Ride as a pillion passenger, with your own personal guide, and see as much in 1 hour as you would in 3 days on foot.
Harleys and Melbourne seem to go together well. Set up a hair drier to blow warm air in your face and enjoy the dream.
If you want more, take a look at this longer video from Phoenix Rising, of a large corporate group on an outing through Melbourne on Harley Davidsons, 10 solos, 4 with sidecars and a Heritage Trike, seeing a lot of Melbourne Landmarks.
Exhilarating stories and stunning imagery combine to provide a fresh and entertaining perspective on Latin American travel and history.
