Free Republic

CycleSpace Takes Online Motorcycle Enthusiasts to the Next Level ATLANTA--CycleSpace announced today the launch of their new website, CycleSpace.com. A fusion of the MySpace experience, Internet television, and dedicated resource information, CycleSpace serves up a media-rich, fully interactive social networking environment to the motorcycle culture. “Our own research showed there was a need for an all-inclusive portal where enthusiasts could share and enjoy all aspects of their culture,” says Jeremy Wolfe, founder and CEO of CycleSpace. “It is the first of its kind to fuse a social network, like myspace, with Internet television that delivers programming geared specifically toward the...

Think of it as “Easy Rider” meets “An Inconvenient Truth.” Or, maybe, the perfect Christmas gift for the environmentalist with everything. A solar motorcycle. Well, not solar, strictly speaking, but electric — with its battery charged by the solar panels on Rob Thayer’s Village Homes roof. Thayer, a UC Davis professor emeritus of landscape architecture, recently purchased the custom motorcycle for $7,000 from electricmotorsport.com, an Oakland company that’s one of a handful modifying or building electric motorcycles. His is a 2003 Spanish-built Derbi Grand Prix racer, its gas engine replaced with a battery and low racing handlebars replaced with...

A Suzuki racing bike screaming at 80 mph in a 25-mph zone slammed into Gigliotti on Oct. 4 as she was leaving her job at Long Beach City College, igniting a fireball inside her Ford Escort. "It is not uncommon to see these kinds of accidents with motorcycles, particularly high-powered super bikes," said Raymond Dennison, the Long Beach detective who investigated the crash. "The whole function is to go as fast as they can."

A total of 4,553 motorcyclists died in traffic accidents last year in the United States, but more than 700 of them would have lived if they had been wearing helmets, Mary E. Peters, the new U.S. transportation secretary, said Thursday in Milwaukee. Peters, during a visit to the Harley-Davidson plant in Milwaukee, talked about the "alarming rise" in fatalities and injuries involving motorcyclists since 1997. Peters, an ardent motorcyclist, said she will "never, ever ride without a helmet." She said a helmet last year saved her from more serious injuries in an accident in which she hit her husband's motorcycle...

COCOA — Local motorcycle builder Billy Lane turned himself in at 1 p.m. today in connection with a fatal accident Sept. 4. Among the charges Lane faces are driving under influence, manslaughter and driving with his license suspended. Lane, 36, arrived with his lawyers at the Florida Highway Patrol office on State Road 520. FHP spokeswoman Kim Miller said Lane’s blood alcohol level was .192 when the accident occurred on State Road A1A south of Melbourne Beach. She said bond would be set at $15,000. Investigators have said Lane was trying to pass two other vehicles on a double-yellow-lined stretch...

Motorcycle airbags part of safety trend By JAMES HANNAH, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 14, 12:24 PM ET MARYSVILLE, Ohio - Jeaneen Parsons' husband steered their motorcycle to the ground seven years ago to avoid hitting a passenger whose cycle went down on a twisting mountain road in Kentucky. The couple emerged from the accident with a few road burns and frazzled nerves. The passenger's leg was shattered. Marifran Mattson lost part of her left leg when the motorcycle she was on was struck by a semitrailer in 2004 near Crawfordsville, Ind. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was seriously injured...

Viper-powered Tomahawk to be offered for sale Remember the Tomahawk, which debuted a few years ago on the auto show circuit? Maybe a better question would be: How could you forget it? There had been some speculation that it might actually see limited production, and apparently the-powers-that-be at DaimlerChrysler have given the green light. The 500 hp V-10 Frankencycle will be marketed as the Chrysler (not Dodge) Tomahawk, and will cost a cool $250,000, give or take a few pennies... Don't forget to check out the video on this site. I found it interesting in that they didn't show it...

Confederate motorcycles, the US makers of the amazing Hellcat and Wraith, has unveiled its latest prototype – and it looks just as mad as its predecessors. The Renovatio is still in concept stage but the designs and specs look pretty far down the line considering the firm has had to recover from the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, which devestated the factory. The minimalist design is centred around a GM based v-twin engine and not much else. The engine puts out 150bhp in standard trim but there’s a supercharger option that boosts that to 190bhp. Confederate describe the concept as “Minimal;...

Bare-breasted porn stars ride choppers Wed Aug 23, 4:09 PM ET AUCKLAND, New Zealand - Two dozen bare-breasted porn stars paraded on motorcycles and military vehicles down the main street of New Zealand's biggest city on Wednesday after beating efforts by Auckland officials to prevent the promotional stunt. Thousands of people, many of them clicking away with cell phone cameras, lined the street for the parade by male and female porn actors, most semi-clad in black leather, to publicize an erotica show which opens in Auckland later this week. The crowd — four deep in some places — was reportedly...

Harley-Davidson enthusiasts now have their own stamp of approval, thanks to the United States Postal Service. A 1965 Harley Electra-Glide is featured as one of four new first-class stamps being rolled out in Wisconsin at 11 a.m. Saturday at Capital City Harley-Davidson/Buell, 6200 Millpond Road, on Madison's far east side. The stamp rollout ceremony at kick-starts the third annual motorcycle ride to raise funds for the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center. The stamps were officially introduced to the public Aug. 7 during the 66th annual Harley rally in Sturgis, S.D., and have been unveiled in local ceremonies throughout America since...

STUTTGART (Reuters) - Riot police detained a group of around 100 rowdy England soccer fans in a square in the center of Stuttgart on Saturday after they had clashed with German fans, throwing bottles and chairs and trading punches. Tens of thousands of English and German fans had gathered in the area, many drinking throughout the day, to watch Germany's 2-0 second-round World Cup win over Sweden on big screen TVs. Trouble broke out shortly after the end of the game. England fans were in the city for their country's second-round match against Ecuador on Sunday. Some 150 fans on...

Today: June 22, 2006 at 9:56:7 PDT Lightning Strike Kills Colo. Motorcyclist ASSOCIATED PRESS WESTMINSTER, Colo. (AP) - A motorcyclist died after he was struck by lightning while riding in rush hour traffic between Denver and Boulder, police said. Witnesses reported seeing a flash of light shortly before the motorcyclist struck the center divider on U.S. 36 Wednesday, police spokesman Tim Read said. Gary Missi, 46, of Longmont was pronounced dead at the scene. A coroner's investigation was under way to determine whether the lightning bolt, the collision or something else caused his death, Read said. The lightning blasted a...

No other capital city would allow its center to be abused for commercial purposes the way Berlin has for the World Cup, argues one newspaper in an editorial that is likely to be drowned out in the World Cup frenzy gripping the country. Plus, the German government shouldn't copy the anti-smoking "hysteria" sweeping the United States. Berlin is abusing its landmarks in its obsession with the World Cup, according to left-wing newspaper Berliner Zeitung in a commentary criticising the city for allowing the Brandenburg Gate to be obscured by a giant soccer ball on one side and a public viewing...

Roethlisberger Involved In Motorcycle Accident http://news.yahoo.com/s/wtae/20060612/lo_wtae/9356067 Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was injured in a motorcycle accident on Monday morning. The Steelers confirmed the accident for Channel 4 Action News. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review said the accident happened on Second Avenue near the 10th Street Bridge. A witness told Channel 4 Action News that Roethlisberger went over the handlebars, hit the windshield of another vehicle and then hit the ground. Roethlisberger was not wearing a helmet, according to the paper.

A council in the Australian city of Sydney is taking radical measures against car-revving youths - the calming tones of singer Barry Manilow. Officials in Rockdale say that local youths have been hanging around in car parks, revving their engines and generally annoying residents. So the council has decided to strike back. From July, Barry Manilow's greatest hits will be piped into one car park in a bid to drive the youths away.

I POSTED THIS IN THE AMERICAN IDOL THREAD, BUT THOUGHT IT DESERVES A WIDER CIRCULATION... BARRY MANILOW DON'T GET NO RESPECT. BUT HE's USEFUL ----------------------------------------------- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5047610.stm Manilow to drive out 'hooligans' A council in the Australian city of Sydney is taking radical measures against car-revving youths - the calming tones of singer Barry Manilow. Officials in Rockdale say that local youths have been hanging around in car parks, revving their engines and generally annoying residents. So the council has decided to strike back. From July, Barry Manilow's greatest hits will be piped into one car park in a bid to...

Pinging the collective wisdom of Free Republic here . . . The Issue Punks are setting off "Bootleg Cracker" fireworks outside my home -slash- my neighbor's homes, beneath city-owned trees that line the sidewalk. These are the evil devices: Now, they may not look like much in this picture, but they're about the size of a can of Pringles potato chips, and inside, they're stuffed with 200-250 firecrackers fused to go off within 2 to 3 seconds. So what you get is one big, elongated explosion, and since the city-owned trees are no more than 10 yards from our homes,...

Ok -- here was a comment by JoeSixPack1 made to me on this thread: Riding is an extremely personal affair and each and every one of us that swings a leg over a saddle has one thing in mind while firing up the 2 wheeler... ::: To survive our passion. But here on FR biker threads, the discussions devolve so quickly into biker bashing, intimidating safety advice, organ donor jokes, life support jokes, and every other aspect of biker lore that it's like being a conservative on a DU thread or a troll posting at FR. When was the last...

IF you make your way over to the Javits Convention Center for the New York International Automobile Show — or if you've gone to any auto show in the last year or so — you'll know that hybrid cars are the hippest automotive fashion statement to come along in years. They've become synonymous with the worthy goal of reducing gasoline consumption and dependence on foreign oil and all that this means for a better environment and more stable geopolitics. And yet like fat-free desserts, which sound healthy but can still make you fat, the hybrid car can make people feel...

A world-renowned motorcycle safety expert from Squirrel Hill was killed over the weekend in a motorcycle accident in Texas. Larry Grodsky, 55, owner of Stayin' Safe Motorcycle Training, died after a deer ran in front of his motorcycle Saturday night in Fort Stockton, Texas. Grodsky, a Gateway High School graduate, had a decades-long love affair with motorcycles and trained celebrities including Ted Koppel and Mike Tyson on safe-driving techniques. He was the nephew of Myron Cope, the longtime Pittsburgh Steelers announcer who retired last year. His mother, Violet Grodsky, also 85, said her son began riding motorcycles while attending Ohio...