Motorcycle Graveyard

I remember being a kid with my dad, crawling around junkyards looking for Fiat parts. I miss those open repositories of parts and the treasure hunt adventure of searching through the industrial archeology of the recent past. My dad was an industrial engineer and so he taught me the beauty of the machine.

I wish I could fine a graveyard of old motorcycles that I could crawl through on a wet winter's day, finding that that diamond in the rust. I'm jealous of the folks at Classic Cycles in New York who had an opportunity to access such a graveyard of old motorcycles recently.Here's the story: http://dcclassiccycles.dynamitedave.com/graveyard.html

2011 a repeat of 2008? Ex-oil Exec says get ready for $5 gas

Okay, so when I was convincing my wife that I needed a motorcycle again, one of the reasons I cited was that it would be great to have something that was good on gas for short hops around the valley and maybe even driving to work. I bought my Ford F150 pickup just as gas prices spiked last time. It runs E85, which is cheaper, but that drops the MPGs down to about 13. My old CB400 on the other hand was spec'd at least 45 mpg. It would be much higher if not for the auto tranny.

Now, the ScooterScoop is saying gas prices are slated to go up again. ( 2011 a repeat of 2008? Ex-oil Exec says get ready for $5 gas ) If you didn't notice, gas this Christmas topped $3 a gallon for the first time. Even with the dip in demand of the global economy, they aren't making new oil.

Black on White? Some Simple, Beautiful Customs

I've been looking for inspiration for the paint job on my HONDA CB400A. The folks over at Death Spray Customs have a great White on Black simple design that I'm tempted to emulate. It's a 1970 Triumph TR25 and it is rugged and clean. I've already got the black frame and will likely end up with a white or black overpaint on my exhaust system.

I also like the white pipes and clean lines on the Much Much Go as profiled at BikeEXIF. This is a cheap but beautiful custom of a similar vintage machine that won the Deus Ex Machina comptetition. What do you think?

Airbag crash testing...

I've been wondering how you go about crash testing motorcycle airbags....