Biker gang halts traffic on California I-10 freeway for marriage proposal, angers state highway patrol

As reported by New York Daily News:

Hundreds of bikers blocked traffic on a major California freeway so that a member of their crew could propose to his girlfriend. But cops are less than thrilled for the happy couple, and now the pair could be facing criminal charges.

YouTube videos of the stunt showed a pack of hundreds of bikers slowing to a crawl on the I-10 freeway near West Covina, halting traffic in their wake. The groom to-be, identified as Hector Martinez, 24, kicked off the impromptu proposal by spinning his back tire, which was custom crafted to emit a large plume of pink smoke, according to local reports. Martinez then hopped off his bike, doffed his helmet, got on one-knee and popped the question to his girlfriend, Paige Hernandez, also 24. Fellow riders whooped, popped wheelies and did donuts in celebration before the group pulled off.

The pair later recounted the story to local radio station Power 106. Martinez said Hernandez had no idea the proposal was coming. "Only a handful of people knew what was going to happen," said Martinez, who wore a jacket with the insignia of the Subliminal 710 Bikerz during the proposal. Hernandez thought "it was just another Sunday ride," he said.

Family members from both sides were watching from an overpass, Hernandez said. The California Highway Patrol said the incident was under investigation, and the district attorney was considering slapping the bikers with felony charges. "It's dangerous when you do something like that," CHP Sgt. Kurt Stormes told The Sun, a local newspaper in San Bernardino. "You've got free-flowing traffic, suddenly traffic comes to a stop and people don't know what happened, and that's when accidents happen." It wasn't clear if the highway halt led to any accidents. Martinez told The Huffington Post the couple planned a two-year engagement to finish school and would like to get married at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. No reports of arrests have been made in connection with this incident, to date.
 

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Mary Thom, Editor of Ms. Magazine Killed on Her Motorcycle

As reported by CNN April 28, 2013:

Journalist Mary Thom, a prominent feminist who was an editor of Ms. magazine in its early years, has died. She was 68.

Thom was killed Friday when she crashed her motorcycle on a highway in New York. She helped found Ms., an influential feminist magazine, and served as an editor there for 20 years. She had picked up her motorcycle from winter storage when she veered into traffic upon entering a highway. Thom had a passion for riding motorcycles and died riding her 1996 Honda Magna 750 when she struck another vehicle and was struck by another on Friday evening on the Saw Mill River Parkway in Yonkers, just north of New York City, her nephew Thom Loubet said.

After leaving Ms. magazine in 1992, she worked as editor in chief of the features section of the non-profit Women's Media Center, which works to raise women's visibility in the media. "Mary was and will always be our moral compass and steady heart," said the center's co-founders Robin Morgan, Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda in a statement.

"Wherever her friends and colleagues gather, we will always ask the guiding question: What would Mary do?"

Perhaps asking "What would Mary do?" should be replaced with "How many feminists does it take to crash a motorcycle?"

Rest in Peace Mary Thom.

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Husband & Wife Go Homeless on Motorcycles

As reported by eBikerLeather yesterday, a couple of Internet marketers found enough success with their business to live on motorcycles for the next 6 months.

In April, Tina and Steve will be heading out on the road to unknown destination, with no schedule where to arrive. This will be one amazing trip, to read about. 

The pair already document their motorcycle lifestyle on their respective blogs, "Motorcycle Philosophy" and "Sash Mouth".  

Reportedly, they'll launch a new blog called, "Road Pickle" to post their travels.

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Shaving Your Vagina While Driving

And you throw a fit when you see someone using a cell phone while driving, here's a woman who crashed her car into another vehicle, while shaving her cooch...

http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=12107993

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Introducing the Bike Condom

Bike Condom is a motorcycle cover that will fit inside your pocket. It's biodegradable so that you can use it once and throw away.

And priced at $5.99 each, with free shipping, you can afford to do so.


Just today, it was announced that Bike Condom won the grand prize Dealer's Choice Award in the Third Annual Dealernews International Powersports Dealer Expo Kickstart New Product Contest, held in conjunction with the 2010 Dealer Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana. The competition recognizes the hottest new products in the powersports industry based on innovation, design and manufacturing quality, marketability, and distinction in the marketplace.

No word yet if they're planning a "ribbed for her pleasure" version.

Check out Bike Condoms online...
http://www.bikecondoms.com/

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Officer's Family Sues Hillary Clinton

The family of a Dallas, TX motorcycle police officer has sued Hillary Clinton, the City of Dallas, and the manufacturer of the helmet he was wearing, after he died while escorting Clinton's motorcade...

Sr. Cpl. Victor Lozada-Tirado's widow and children filed the lawsuit in state district court Monday, saying the city did not give him proper training for escorting a motorcade. It also accuses Clinton and her campaign of not giving timely notice for motorcade assistance, and claims the helmet was defective.

Source: MSNBC

Is that lame or what? Is this what the officer would have wanted?

I guess the economy is really that bad.

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Motorcycle Air Conditioning System

EntroSys makes this air conditioning system for motorcycle riders. For those times when the heat gets too high, and you need to keep your cool...



Visit EntroSys online...
http://entrosys.com/

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Motorcycle Apps for the iPhone

Greatest Road Software today announced the release of an app for the iPhone to help motorcyclists plan their rides and trips. The company claims it's the first ever motorcycle app for the iPhone to help riders find and rate roads...

The app allows customers to choose a location on a map, zoom in or out, and look for nearby road stretches. Each road stretch has a rating indicating how fun, twisty and scenic it is and what shape the road surface is in. Open-ended comments mean riders can tell others about highlights or report on a current hazard. Road stretches are all contributed, rated and commented on by other bikers.

Visit Greatest Road online...
http://www.greatestroad.com/

As far as being the first ever motorcycle app for the iPhone, it ain't necessarily so. But note that the company didn't say that specifically. They said it was the first motorcycle iPhone app to help riders find and rate roads.

There are other apps that motorcyclists can use for other purposes, some are dedicated for motorcycles, and some are for general automotive use. For example...

• Motorcycle Minder - http://jgmapps.com/motorcycle-minder/ - Tracks your motorcycle maintenance needs and repairs.



• Dynolicious - http://dynolicious.com/ - Records and stores automotive performance metrics.



• iBike Rider - http://www.ibike-rider.com/ - Which turns your iPhone into a hands-free helmet device.



• AccuFuel - http://www.appigo.com/accufuel/ - Tracks your mileage and fuel efficiency.

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Ridley Motorcycles Settles with Harley Davidson

Ridley Motorcycle Company accounced today that it has settled a seven year legal battle with Harley-Davidson over the trade name "Auto-Glide".

Harley brought the suit against Ridley in 2003.

As part of the settlement agreement, Ridley has agreed to discontinue use of the Auto-Glide name in any future models. The full terms of the settlement have not been disclosed as part of the settlement agreement.

The case was tried in the Eastern District of Wisconsin Federal Court in August 2007, but a verdict had not been announced before the suit was settled. Ridley introduced its automatic transmission Auto-Glide models in 2003, and plans to continue to offer their fully automatic transmission under a different name.

Source: Ridley Motorcycle Company

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American Throttle Board Game

When it gets too cold or wet to ride your motorcycle, you and your buddies can play, "American Throttle", a board game based on a poker run.

You ride, you drink, you gamble, answer trivia questions, and go to rallies, just like real bikers! At each rally, you pick up a poker card, and the player with the highest hand wins.

Watch the video...



And if you purchase the board game, you get a free biker t-shirt. I mean, how can a biker resist a t-shirt?

Visit American Throttle online...
http://www.americanthrottle.com/

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Yamaha FZ6 versus Harley-Davidson Sportster 883

I don't know if any of the motorcycle magazines have run performance comparisons between the Yamaha FZ6 versus the Harley-Davidson Sportster 883, but it seems like these two bikes are indeed comparable in many ways, yet quite different in others.

But having only ridden cruisers, and not being all that familiar with sportbikes, I hadn't realized that these two bikes are similar in one other way: they're both considered beginner bikes.

The story goes back to last week when I was hanging out with some fellow riders at a Wings And Things in Murrieta, CA. Two of the guys there were from the local metric motorcycle dealer, one guy a salesman, and the other a wrench. Both were sportbike riders.

So I asked them what they thought about the Yamaha FZ6. I explained that I was actually interested in buying one, because I wanted something that could handle the twisties better than my Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic, that was a lot lighter, and was priced low. And the Yamaha FZ6 fits that bill.

Yamaha FZ6
They said, "The FZ6 is a good bike, but it's a beginner bike. In six months you're just going to want the R6. Since you already have a lot of experience riding motorcycles, my advice is to just buy the R6."

The R6 is Yamaha's 600cc sportbike. That is, it's a true sportbike. Whereas, the FZ6 is actually a 600cc standard, when you consider the more upright riding position and different gearing. The FZ6 simply has a sporty look, and often ends up being called a sportbike.

Their answer made me stop to think a moment.

Suddenly I saw myself seriously considering buying the sportbike equivalent of a Harley-Davidson Sportster 883.

I'm actually one of those guys who tells newbie riders to avoid the 883 Sportster, and get some kind of Twin-Cam based Harley. They're bigger bikes, more expensive, but you're going to want one anyways, and why put yourself through the hassel of selling off an 883 that you won't get full value for.

And so for a couple of days following, I found myself pricing R6's, which are all priced at $10,000. The FZ6 on the other hand, is priced at $7,000.

But then I forgot something important. I wanted to buy the FZ6 because it handles the twisties better, it's more lightweight than my Harley, and it's priced low. I never wanted it for power. But it still has power, generating 98hp tops, and weighing in at only 459 pounds. It's going to blow my Ultra Classic away as it is.

So I've forgotten about the R6, and am back to looking at the FZ6 again.

But I just can't afford to buy it now. I have some debts to get rid of first. It'll probably be after the 2010 FZ6 comes out that I'll seriously think about parting with my money.

But as far as the FZ6 being considered a beginner bike, well so be it. I'm not buying for that reason anyhow. But I wonder how many sportbike riders out there decide to buy an 883 Sportster just because they want to experience the joy of riding a Harley? Well, I just can't see them buying the 883.

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Myrtle Beach Bike Week is Back On

After all the news that Myrtle Beach Bike Week was going to be cancelled, the obvious happened: bikers are still going to Myrtle Beach to party.

Well, maybe not in Myrtle Beach itself, but all outside the city limits.

Myrtle Beach Harley-Davidson, the local Harley dealer there, sent out a press release reminding everyone that just because the City of Myrtle Beach passed some laws that would punish bikers for making a peep in their town, those laws don't extend outside of the city. And apparently, that's where the dealer is trying to move the event to.

"Many tourists wrongly believe that Myrtle Beach is synonymous with the 60-mile-long 'Grand Strand' that is visited by more than 14 million tourists annually," said Mike Shank, marketing director for Myrtle Beach Harley-Davidson. "In reality, the City of Myrtle Beach is just a small town inside of Horry County. It only has 25,000 residents. To the north, south and west of Myrtle Beach is the much-larger Grand Strand community where there are many restaurants, bars, recreational facilities and accommodations. Horry County has more than 250,000 residents and they are preparing their businesses to welcome bikers."

Except now they're calling it "Cruisin' The Coast", and will take place May 8-17, all along the Grand Strand, except for the Myrtle Beach part. Here's the official website...

http://www.mbbikeweeks.com/

That's exactly what happened with the Hollister Motorcycle Rally a few years ago. The city tried to shut it down, except bikers still went there anyways and found the rally going on outside of city limits.

So if you want to do some "sticking to the man", show up on your scooter anyways, and the keep tradition rolling.

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The Honda Fury - Yet Another VTX

I knew it all along, this new Honda Fury that everyone's been raving about is just another VTX. They took their VTX 1300 engine (1312cc, 52°) and slapped it on a different chassis.

And now metric fanatics are saying this is going to erode away at Harley's market.

Yeah, right, as if the VTX ever eroded away at Harley's market.

Ok, it looks like a nice bike. I'm not sure I like the radiator on a raked out bike. But, I'm sure Honda will sell these things. But they'll only sell them to people who already love the VTX. They're not going to sell them to Harley riders.

Either you're a Honda rider, or a Harley rider, or a Yamaha rider. Brand loyalty is pretty fierce in the cruiser world. This bike isn't going to take any more sales away from Harley than Harley has taken away from Honda.

The problem with Honda, which Dale Franks identified, is that they don't invest themselves into the cruiser-riding community. Harley is always doing stuff with its customer base, reaching out to them, and even riding with them, mainly because what Harley sells is a lifestyle, not so much a motorcycle.

Whereas Honda is throwing motorcycles at people who are wanting to buy a lifestyle.

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Will Cheaper Oil Save the World?

The price of oil keeps getting cheaper all the time...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081111/bs_nm/us_markets_oil

The price of oil affects the price of everything: food, dining, durable goods, travel industry, plastics, urban sprawl, just about everything.

Had the price of oil kept going higher, $5.00 a gallon and up, I would have curtailed my joy riding habits, by more staying closer to home, and on fewer days. As long as it keeps going down, I can at least still ride.

And when I ride, I usually stop somewhere for a bite to eat. And as long as I keep riding, I'll have to maintain my motorcycle and purchase new tires, oil, filters, etc. I'm still spending money.

In a world so dependent on oil for everything, it makes sense to me that we need cheap oil to get the economy back on track.

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Feds to Seize Mongols Patch

This article from the LA Times paints a rather disturbing picture of what lengths the feds will go towards eliminating gang violence...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mongols22-2008oct22,0,754213.story

But the most lasting blow to the San Gabriel Valley-based bikers may be down the road: In an unusual maneuver, the feds are also seeking to seize control of the Mongols' trademarked name, which is typically accompanied by its cherished insignia -- a ponytailed Genghis Khan-like figure riding a chopper.

This makes the feds no different than a rival motorcycle gang. It's not uncommon for a motorcycle club to collect the patches of a smaller club, and effectively put it out of business.

And what good would it do to take away the name and logo from a club? It's members are still out there, and will seek to continue their ways under another name and logo.

I guess if the feds can buy control of banks and mortgage lenders, they can also seize control of trademarks and logos. That's a scary thought when you consider Barack Obama is about to become the next President.

Next thing you know, Obama and the liberals will want a law that requires every club to register their name and patch with the feds.

I won't defend the Mongols or any other club, but I don't like the idea of government seizing ownership of private property under the guise of protecting the public, especially when property itself can't commit any crimes.

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