#motorcycle

You probably don’t know Ray and Roy Behner or their friends Jim Carlton and Fred Hoffman – but you should. Because more than 30 years ago, they recreated Gottlieb Daimler’s 1885 Reitwagen, widely considered the world’s first motorcycle (or the world’s first gasoline-powered motorcycle, anyway). Mind you, this was before the age of Google, internet forums, or anything of the like. How did they do it? They simply replicated a small photograph of the Reitwagen. No blueprints. No schematics. Nothing. It’s a very interesting story, and one told in greater detail by Ray Behner, as told to the American Motorcyclist Association, whose story we’ve reproduced below. 

Two days ago, the New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons in a remarkable come-from-behind, overtime victory in Super Bowl 51. In honor of America’s biggest sporting event, we bring you a different kind of football: Motorcycle Football. In this surprisingly high-quality footage from 1959, we get the basics of “Motorball” explained to us while witnessing some dramatic competition at the same time. Considering all the extreme sports that are around these days involving a motorcycle, quite frankly, we’re surprised this hasn’t been resurrected. Who wants to be the one to change that?

Since today is basically the last business day before Christmas, I decided to see what moto-present I could give myself for a starting price of $100,000. In this fantasy, I have no limit to the amount I could spend on my internally-combusted art object. I deserve to be pampered after almost completing another year slaving away in the bowels of the MO Towers.

If you’re reading this, then you probably have at least a passing interest in motorcycles. And for many of you, motorcycles are probably your passion. So how do you feel when you can’t ride? Do you get down and out like we do? If so, this crying baby chimp probably sums up our emotions perfectly.

If you’ve ever been in an airplane then you’re likely familiar with the name Airbus, and while flying metal tubes are what the company is best known for, the Airbus Group has its hands in far more industries than you think. Take the 3D printing world for instance. APWorks, an Airbus Group subsidiary, has been at the forefront of advanced materials and additive layers manufacturing since 2013, producing optimized metal parts for the automotive, aerospace, and robotics industries.

When it comes to the motorcycle chase scene of an Action/Adventure film through the metropolitan center of some foreign country the close calls and near misses are what makes the scene so breathtaking. Reality, however, exposes that bad guys don’t possess the same motorcycle skillset as they do in the movies. Go figure. Some helmet cam footage from São Paulo’s R.O.C.A.M. division provides some real-world footage of motorcycle chase scenes.

The British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF) today posted an interesting statistic: From 2012 to 2014, motorcycle theft had increased throughout the United Kingdom, with London seeing the biggest hit at 44%.

MO readers tend to be pretty vocal when it comes to our three-wheeler tests, insisting that only two-wheelers count as motorcycles and three wheels should be saved for sidecars or the trash bin. If that’s the case, then what do you make of this, the Lazareth LM 847?

Today is the day many EBR fans, including ourselves, have been waiting for: EBR motorcycles are back in production. After a lengthy (and complicated) period that saw EBR assets sold at auction to Bruce Belfer of Atlantic Metals Group LLC, then wrenched away and sold again to Liquid Asset Partners, it appears that stability has finally arrived.

The idea behind the Headwave TĀG is turning your helmet into a giant, wearable speaker – a “Concert Capsule” as Headwave likes to call it. Does it work? Absolutely. Does it work well? Not really… at least not yet.

News flash: Motorcycling can be dangerous. Illustrating this fact are the left hands of myself and international roadracer, Jeremy McWilliams, seen in the above picture, a photo I imagine many would think is more than a touch morbid. The missing digits are the result of crashing motorcycles while racing.

There are countless dangers when negotiating your way through traffic on a motorcycle, and the perils have only multiplied with the hazards of distracted driving. And when you’re on a motorcycle, there’s no such thing as a minor fender-bender type of accident. You’re the only one you can rely on to traveling safely. Here are five tips you should always keep in mind when riding through traffic.

Ever feel like you need a third hand to get everything lined up and back in place when you’re trying to replace a wheel, only to have a spacer fall out and roll directly into the path of a passing street sweeper? Here’s one thing that may not work on all bikes, but definitely works on many of them, including the last-generation ZX-6R this rear wheel belongs to. Often you can remove the oil seal (the black rubber ring), and flip the spacer so that the collar goes toward the inside. Replacing the seal on top of the collar then holds the spacer in place, i.e., “captures” it, while maintaining the same overall width. Measure to make sure that’s the case if there’s a shadow of a doubt!

You’re all familiar with the limbo, right? You probably know the popular party game where you continuously bend over backwards while walking underneath a bar until the bar becomes so low you can’t do it anymore. Well, it was only a matter of time before the game was attempted on a motorcycle. In fact, we’re a little surprised it has taken this long…

Here at MO, we like to shake things up every now and then with our motorcycle reviews. You know – think outside the box, not get complacent, keep things fresh, etc. It inspires our creative juices, plus it just makes for a fun motorcycle ride. On occasion, the usual method for a single-bike evaluation can be a bit predictable. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy a nice romp in the hills on a fast motorcycle, but we’re often asking ourselves, “What can we do that’s different?” This time, I think we have an answer.