Car or motorbike?

Tonight's hybrid vehicle:

How to wash a Harley

Tonight's motorcycle cleanliness video:

Making of a motorbike - the Triumph Rocket III

Tonight's motorcycle construction video - the Triumph Rocket III:

Dancing bikes

Tonight's unusual motorcycle crash, from a race at Magny-Cours:

Unicycle

Tonight's motorized unicycle - the Ryno:

From the video's description:

Range Up to 30 miles
Max Speed 25 mph
Recharge Time LiFePo4 1 ½ hours
Tire Diameter 25”
Weight of Bike 125 lbs.
Footprint 16” x 34”
Max Hill Incline 30%
Max Rider Weight 250lbs
Turning Radius Zero to 3 ft.

Estimated Retail Cost $3,500

Not your daddy's mo-ped

Tonight's electric motorcycle - the MotoCzysz E1PC:

This bike is bad-ass, no two ways about it. It has a custom-built 12.5-kilowatt-hour lithium polymer battery that can be swapped in seconds. The custom-built, oil-cooled motor generates 100 horsepower (continuous) and 250 pound-feet of torque. It all hangs from a custom frame. Of course, it’s got the usual top-shelf hardware. Ohlins. Brembo. You know the drill. ...

Read about it here.

The Old Tablecloth Trick, BMW edition

Tonight's bit of moto magic:

Open carry: The gun / motorcycle analogy

From Ride Fast & Shoot Straight, comes this analogy of open carriers today, and bikers back then:

Clayton E. Cramer makes the case (again) against open carry and he does have a few salient points. It makes some people nervous being the most powerful. I'm sure he is correct.

I'm tempted to point out that there was a time when bringing your differently colored friends to a party, restaurant or church made not differently colored people nervous. Even though it was perfectly legal.

Or how in the 1970's blatantly discriminating against motorcyclists was, if not common, at least widespread. I was denied service many times for wearing a vest (without any colors or MC insignia). I was denied entry to facilities because I came by motorcycle. I found motorcycle parking prohibited all over the place. Random, no cause stops by the police we very common. All of which was illegal, but I guess bikers made people nervous. *

What I would like to hear from Mr. Cramer and others who support not openly carrying, is just how do we acclimate people to open carry without actually open carrying? Or is Mr. Cramer advocating we give up on open carry altogether? I can't support that and never will.

Our mission is to get people to understand that "keep and bear arms" means carrying a gun. Concealed, open, in a case or on handlebar mounts. It doesn't matter so much how, just that you do. ...

Read the rest here, including his take on what helped change the image of bikers over time.

I wonder what kind of driver's license you need

Tonight's automotive oddity - the Carver Car/Motorbike:



That does look like fun, but the passengers are probably gonna need to break out the Dramamine.

Ups and downs

Tonight's little motorcycle jumping video -- daredevil stuntman Robbie Madison does a little New Year's Eve entertaining at the Paris Las Vegas casino: