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Harley-Davidson motorcycles and even some Indian motorcycles were a main-stay in the 40’s and 50’s.  Then, we started to see imports at lower prices that offered those without the money to buy American bikes to get started.  Before long Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki had made names for themselves and were thriving in the import market.  It wasn’t just the Japanese motorcycles that were entering America.  BMW, Moto Guzzi, Bernelli, Ducati and many others entered.  But the low-cost bikes made the impact.  Soon, Honda even invaded the automobile market and became the number one auto sold in America.

We live in a global market and today Harley-Davidson is opening stores all over the world.  They recently even opened one in China where their motorcycles cost more than 10 years of an average income.  Of course, China is said to be producing 100 new millionaires every month with the growing economy.  If they are buying Harley’s, what are they selling?  Is the next invasion from China?

Most markets are broken by someone coming in low, appealing to the cost-effective market with an entry level machine.  If you take a class today to learn how to ride motorcycle you are usually on someone’s 250cc machine.  Welcome to CF Moto.  This Chinese company is hitting on a few cylinders and could be China’s entry into our motorcycle market.  I was dumbfounded when I saw my first at Bike Week in Daytona this month.

The world is changing.  Motorcycles are changing. New companies are entering the markets where old companies struggle to keep their grip on profits.  Customer loyalty to a company brand means unquestioned profits without regard for quality.  But today’s market demands growth.  While the 2007 Harley-Davidson motorcycle models have great new features with larger engines in many of them, all the companies must always keep a watchful eye on their competitors.  Soon, we could be seeing new, larger models from China that displace the well established Japanese manufacturers.   But think about it, who would be next after them?  And inevitably you will have to question if competition is only good when you’re winning.

If you’re reading this you probably have an interest in computers and motorcycles.  Afterall, you’re reading a motorcycle blog on the Internet with a computer.  Like our bikes, we enjoy making upgrades and adding accessories to our computers from time to time.  It make the time we spend here a bit more productive, entertaining, and useful.

I haven’t posted here for almost a week because of such an upgrade.  Imagine ordering a Screaming Eagle kit for your Harley-Davidson and installing it.  The work goes according to directions and you’re ready to step back and admire your work.  You get on the bike and it starts up, only your throttle doesn’t work like it used to, your oil filter doesn’t filter, and your lights point straight up.  Not only that, it appears that you can’t change the settings at all.  So, you call your local Harley dealer to get advice and they tell you to take it all apart, reinstall the original equipment, and test it to see if it works the way it was before you upgraded.

Yeah, thanks a lot.  I want to waste all the time I put into upgrading by downgrading to see if I can upgrade again.

I upgraded my computer to Vista.  I lost all my email accounts in Outlook.  My receiver quit working.  Some of my peripherals were unrecognized.  I should have listened a bit more closely to my friends who said, “Don’t do it!”  So, I’m telling you:  Don’t Do It!  The time you waste repairing your computer upgrade could be spent shining your bike, putting another piece of chrome on it, changing the oil, or better yet… RIDING IT!  The age-old motto, if it works - don’t fix it, holds true on your computer, too.  Perhaps after a year or so when someone says it’s safe I’ll try it again, but not likely.  I missed several nights that would have been great riding because I had to repair this system.  I missed time I could have cleaned my bike and worked on it to make it nicer because support was worthless.

Don’t do it.

Bike Week was great.  It’s always great riding with friends, making new friends, watching the people, drooling over bikes, and just having a great time.  I had some disappointments that I hope to make up for in October or next year at Bike Week.

First, I really wanted to test drive some motorcycles.  I wanted to try the new Harley-Davidson with the new engine.  I’d love to test a Road King and possibly an Electra Glide.  I also wanted to try some metrics like the Suzuki M109R and the Yamaha Stratoliner.  While rolling around at the speedway vendor area I also discovered a stock Kawasaki with 125 cubic inch engine.  Geez!  This competition thing is getting big.

Second, I wanted to meet a few custom builders.  I wanted to have the opportunity to meet Cyril Huze in person.  While living in the same area, I’ve yet to actually meet the man behind the bikes.  I’ve communicated in email and on his blog, but never really got to meet him.  I’d also like to meet Sam Nehme.  Sam was at the Rat’s Hole showing the “Nehmesis”, the competition build for the Metric Revolution TV Show that is coming out soon.  From Broward County, just south of me, he has built one of the hottest bikes I’ve ever seen.  I really wanted to take picture of that one.

But, all is not lost.  I did snap off a few hundred photos and discarded a lot.  I’m not as happy with this year’s lot, but I’ll let you browse through the photos.  Next time, I hope to ride with someone on the back taking pictures.  I think we can get more bikes and more candid shots.

Take a look at www.360bikers.com/bikeweek-07.

One of my favorite tee-shirts I’ve seen in Daytona in previous years is the one that sarcastically states, “I went to Trailer Week, but I rode my bike!”  So many “bikers” put their motorcycles on a trailer and ride in the comfort of a cage to get to events.  Personally, it’s about the ride.

Now, it makes sense for custom bikers that have to take entire booths and several bikes to trailer or transport.  Vendors have to take their wares to the show so we can spend our money.  You need to transport a lot, the trailer makes sense.

Riding to bike week you pass and are passed by hundreds of bikers on the trip.  Because of the size and length of the event, we even see riders driving away as they take advantage of the opportunity to ride to Key West, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and other parts of Florida and southern Georgia.  Bike week offers rides that go far beyond Main Street, the loop, and local rides.

Our ride up was not without an event.  I had Greater Yamaha work on my bike before we left.  I had a short  blowing fuses in the lighting system.  They were supposed to fix it and when I picked up the bike, it did work.  We were riding down a 2-lane road with no lights and more traffic then we anticipated.  There was one car driving way too slow and backing traffic up.  We hit a spot to pass and as I accellerated, my lighting system blew.  So here I am, at dusk, in the middle of nowhere, with no lights.  I rode beside Andre (the Gold Wing shed enough light for two bikes) and we made it to a service station.

Having worked on the bike’s electrical system before, I knew what to test and how to circumvent the problem.  First, though, I tried my spare fuse.  It blew immediately.  I went into the store and was fortunate that they carried fuse sets that included mine.  I bought two and test the 15 amp in it again, but with the passing light switched off.  It blew again.  I figured the service department tried to cheat by putting a 15 amp in the headlight where it fuses the passing lights.  It’s supposed to be a 10 amp.  I removed that fuse, replaced the main 15 amp again and everything worked fine.  Of course, I still don’t have working passing lamps.  I’ll have to fix this myself when I have more time.

Sometimes (a lot of the time) it’s better to just do it yourself.  You can make sure the job is done right.  You also understand your motorcycle better when you take it apart yourself.  Just don’t have spare parts left over when you put it back together.

An important thing to have is a good friend living close to the event.  Thanks to Carlos and Kerry for putting us up for the event.  Their hospitality is greatly appreciated.

Yes, today I’m leaving for the weekend at Bike Week in Daytona Beach, FL., but it’s really just the kick-off event for another great year of motorcycle rallies.  You probably need to bookmark a site where you can find out information about rallies, rides, and meetings.  I South Florida, I just a friend of mine’s site.  Dan Henderson is an avid rider and very active in his participation at events, both local and national.

Take a look at the events on Dan’s site.  His full descriptions make it easy to understand what is happening at each event.

The other night I decided a quick ride would help me sleep.  There’s nothing like a nice ride in the cool night air to relex me after a stressful day.  I got on and started out of the development we live in.  It was a beautiful South Florida night with a nearly full moon and the temperature just finishing the low 70’s before hitting the 60’s.

As I left the development I went from first to second gear as I usually do and accelerated as I drove east.  The throaty sound of the bike reflected its power and I craved a little more than usual.  I thought, as I shifted to third gear, I would test the limits and bring it up through third at full throttle.  I twisted the grip past the point I usually accelerate to and pushed it just a little more than I should.

Suddenly, I was accelerating out of control as the throttle jammed at full-open.  I was more pissed off than anything and quickly hit the kill switch to let it die down.  Realizing that I had to also get the bike home to work on it, I decided to compromise between the full acceleration, the kill switch, the clutch, and third gear.

Keeping the bike in third forced it to accelerate from low speeds with a lot of fuel being pushed into the cylinders.  The bike would take off as it gained momentum, forcing me to take some off the clutch.  Periodically, I hit the kill switch as I pulled in the clutch and coasted until my speed dropped below 20 mph.  I’d let the engine catch as I let the clutch out again, keeping it in third gear.

I repeated this process until I got home successfully.  I pulled in the garage and turned off the bike.  The engine was crackling from the intense heat of excessive fuel and high revs.  I was fortunate the incident occurred while I was within 2 miles of my home.  This would have been a diastrous ride if it had been 5 or more miles away.  I probably would have blown the engine or, worse, caught fire.

It was late, so I went to bed knowing the bike would be cooler in the morning.  I got up early to see what I could do before going to work and found little that I could remedy.  The throttle felt fine, but attempts to start up went full blast and I had to shut down each time.  I went to work and decided to work on it over the weekend.

It was time for another compromise.  After dismantling the throttle, removing the tank and working down to the carborator, I found that everything in that range was working fine.  The throttle moved; the cables moved; the pulleys moved.  Everything was smooth, but the engine still failed to calm down.  At the carborator level I considered three things:  1) I used to take carborators apart and reassemble them with no problem.  It was easy.  There aren’t that many parts.  2) I hadn’t done that since 1978.  Yeah, I’m that old and I’ve had fuel injectors for the most part since then.  I also hadn’t had any problems like this to keep the skills sharp.  3) I was supposed to leave for Bike Week on Thursday.  I also had a new rear tire on order to be installed.  Considering the time and lack of recent experience, I deferred to my dealership.

Sometimes, it’s just better to let someone else do it right.  Now, I’m waiting to see if they can finish it in time.  With literally hundreds of local riders getting ready for Bike Week, they couldn’t take my bike right away.  Now, it’s just wait and see.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I read a lot of motorcycle blogs. Today I contacted a few bloggers around the country to reciprocate their blogs with mine.  It’s great to hear the stories and see the photos of riders everywhere.  Take some time to check out the blog roll here and to see the listing on our biker link page.

If you have a motorcycle blog that you would like added, just drop a line to blog @ 360bikers.com.  Of course, remove the spaces.  I’m looking for stories local rides, major rides, poker runs, and fun.  I  love photos of customs, Harleys, Metrics, Sport-bikes and more.

Remember, it’s about the ride.

I read several motorcycle blogs and recently read this on Cyril Huze’s blog.  I have to reiterate his comments as there is little worse than losing a fellow biker.  Each year at major events for motorcyclists there are deaths.  The larger the event, the more casualties we seem to have.  Last year Bike Week saw 20 riders go down permanently.

Riding safety can be tough at large events, especially with so many opportunities to over indulge.  If you can’t ride, take a cab.  If you think you can ride, but you’ve had a lot to drink, take a cab.  Don’t ride on the back with a buddy.  You could take both to the hospital.

When you’re riding at an event, keep an extra close eye on cages.  Cars and trucks often don’t see bikes and cause 60% of all motorcycle fatalities through their careless drivers.  At large events, with hundreds and thousands of bikes the four-wheelers can lose track of you.  Look twice before you turn.  Look twice before changing lanes.  Look twice when you see a vehicle approaching you and keep alternatives in mind.

Technology has made it possible to do a lot of things on a motorcycle that you would have previously only done in a car.  Listening to tunes while you ride is nice, but you may want to turn it off when you’re out in traffic.  Save it for the open highway.  Even cell phones can be used with the right gear.  Leave it off.  You can check it when you dismount and call them back.

The Bike Week safety campaign is a great start.  We have a lot of motorcycle events in Florida and as the weather warms across the country, the events grow to the point that there isn’t a week without several happening.  Ride safe.  If you breakdown, get as far off the road as you can.  If you can’t get the bike far off, get yourself away from traffic.  They’ll make more bikes.