We had another great year with the International Female Ride day. Check out the photos below! We hope to see you guys at the next one

HID light used in IMAX projectors

High intensity discharge lights (HID for short) are spoken about a lot but does anyone know exactly what they are? HID lights produce light by generating a high voltage spark between two electrodes which heats up and produces super bright plasma (the same stuff the sun is made out of). In a traditional headlamp light is created when excess energy from heating up a filament is released. In an HID the electricity is transferred directly into light skipping the heat stage therefore allowing more of the energy to come through as light.

HIDs are a little more complicated than that though. Because an HID does not produce light in the typical manner, it must be installed with a reflector that is specifically made to be used with HID bulbs. Unlike traditional headlights, HIDs are brightest where the arc meets the electrode which creates two separate “hotspots” of light that can be responsible for scattered light patterns if used in a stock reflector.

HID bulbs also require greater voltage to operate. If you are interested in getting them installed you need to understand that you need at least 4 things.

1. A new reflector made for HIDs
2. Ballasts (these convert your 12V battery’s power to the high voltages needed to run HIDs)
3. Your HID bulbs themselves
4. Calibration

Calibration is one of the most important steps when installing HIDs. In order to be street legal your headlamp needs to be calibrated and checked for beam scattering to ensure that you are not dazzling oncoming traffic with your headlights. As motorcycle riders we need to be extra cautious because if a car swerves into us head on we’re missing at least a week of work.

So have you had any experience with HID lights? I know from speaking to some of our customers that they have gotten a lot of trouble from Police in Quebec for having “too blue a headlight” and being forced to relinquish them on the spot or suffer a $500 ticket.

Let me know in the comments!

I’m a technophile; I really enjoy technology and see the potential in new technologies instantly. I delve deeper into technology and do a lot of research on it to try to utilize emerging trends and ideas in my own personal projects. Something that I have had my eye on for the past 4 or so years has been retrofitting cars, bikes, and motorcycles with electric motors and this one just seemed to catch my eye a little bit more so I thought it would be a cool thing to share with you all. The E*speed!

Take a look at this thing! Tony Helmholdt has been very busy over on his blog building up an electric sports bike around a 1994 Suzuki GSXR. The details of his bike can be found at http://www.evalbum.com and if you go through his blog you’ll see a lot of the amazing things he’s done to test, tweak, and improve his design. With a top speed of 105MPH and a range of 60 miles per charge; this thing is a beast to be sure! While it probably won’t be on any distance riders “to buy” list keep an eye out because with the emerging battery industry I’m certain that we will be surprised at how long the batteries last in the next few years. Be sure to take a look at his use of the thermal camera to test for overheating.

You can see it in action in the video below.

Have you ever wondered why people buy bikes in the winter? Well If you’re thinking about trading in your bike for a new one next year or really want one of next years models then this is the time to get one! With a no interest layaway program you can be one of the first to get your name in for a 2012 model and have it ready for you to jump on in the spring. That way you don’t have to worry about storage costs for your current bike and you’re pretty much guaranteed to get the bike you’re looking for. On top of that this time of year is when we get all the Corporate Demo bikes in and start selling off the previous and current year models at large discounts.

If you take a look at it winter seems like the best time to buy a bike. Sure you can’t go ride it right away, which is a bummer, but you save a lot of money and get the bike you’re looking for in the long run. As an added bonus think of how awesome it’ll be when you can come in as soon as the motorcycling season starts up and jump on a brand new bike.

Yep! It seems the BMCRC will be putting on a Ninja 250R series cup for anyone over the age of 13. The bikes will all have Pirelli control tires and be fully race prepped for around £5000 or ~$8000 CDN. The junior cup will be awarded to the winner of an 8 round series and is targeted towards riders between the ages on 13 and 18.

Kawasaki believes the junior level of competition will benefit greatly from the low running and maintenance cost of the Kawasaki Ninja 250R as compared to the usual 2-stroke bikes that junior riders are known for.

I have a feeling this is going to be an exciting show. Hopefully this takes of and catches on here in Canada!

Well here comes another groundbreaking year for the triumph product line. Our friends across the pond have decided to take a not so subtle shot at the title for the adventure touring market. With last years Tiger 800 XC and now the release of their heavyweight adventure triple (The Tiger Explorer) things are looking up for all those loyalist’s out there.

All Joking aside they will provide a 19 inch front wheel and a 17 inch rear. With a class leading 950watt generator, I can only imagine what types of extra electronics they will have as options, a shaft drive so that the machine will require little maintenance for years to come and optional hard luggage. ABS turns on and off as it should for hairy road conditions and steep declines while enjoying the back roads. Lengthening the already excellent torque of the speed triple’s engine should make for a class leading adventure bike. And I am sure that we can all agree that the price will probably be the second best part of this package, apart from the three cylinder engine of course.

Here’s the scenario: A 9.5 magnitude earthquake has ravaged your area opening large chasms in the ground.  Following the earthquake, devastating tsunamis crash down on every coast on the planet. The sudden jolting of the earth has also awoken dormant volcanoes which now spew fourth lava and large clouds of ash. Oh and there are zombies too.

I know it’s far fetched however the prospect of natural disaster is a very real threat. What are you going to need to survive in the case of such a disaster? Are you prepared? I’d like to take this time to discuss a couple must haves for survival in case of disaster. There are 5 major consideration in the case of a disaster:

1. Shelter (and fire)
2. First Aid
3. Water
4. Food
5. Navigation

These are placed in order of importance. The most threatening to your survival to the least. Without shelter and warmth you can die of exposure within minutes, you can die of injuries within hours, die of dehydration within days, Starvation within weeks, and it’s important to know how to get to other people and out of wherever you are at some point in time.

For the most part when Disaster strikes you want to get outta dodge. Getting away from an affected area is probably your best chance at survival. The problem is when there is a mass evacuation the roads get clogged up with cars. That’s where the motorcycle comes in. Having a well prepared motorcycle means you can choose your own road. Is there a large obstruction in the road like a tree or chasm? Good luck getting over that with a car. Gas station empty? Your motorcycle doesn’t need much.  All around the best thing to have in case of emergency is a motorcycle.

Sure there are considerations that need to taken into account with the type of motorcycle you choose for this specific task and some will be better than others, however the difference between car and motorcycle is a much farther stretch. Personally, if I could, I would get a Triumph Scrambler with some onroad/offroad tires, a snorkel (in case of big puddles), modified suspension, and a whole bunch of storage.  Why so much storage? For this of course:

• A Knife (fixed blade is better than folding)
• Lighter
• Compass
• Flashlight
• Food Rations
• Duct Tape
• First-aid Kit
• para-cord
• Slingshot (gotta get your food somehow)
• Altoids tin fishing kit
• Cell Phone
• Tire repair Kit
• Water purification tablets
• Metal canteen (can be used to boil water)
• Flashlight (spare batteries as well)
• Radio that receives weather and emergency channels
• Some form of tent or shelter
• A Mylar blanket
• Cash ($200 or so should do it)

Keep in mind that this in no way is a complete list but should be a good starting point.

I’d like to take a closer look at one item on this list; the tire repair kit. A car can feasibly drive with a flat tire because it has four however on a motorcycle if you get a flat you are mostly out of luck. There are a couple options for repairing your tires on the fly. Some kits use a sort of sealant that is injected into the tire via the valve and temporarily seal leaks. Others use a rubber plug that is vulcanized into the puncture and is a lot more permanent. Once the hole is fixed you can either use a tire pump or one of the CO2 refill products.

If however you find yourself stranded and have no way of fixing a flat you can always go the Mythbusers way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz3sIY9AJWk

Just don’t expect a warranty.

There’s a lot of reasons that suggest motorcycles are the ultimate survival vehicles and can save your life but at the end of the day you have to decide for yourself. Let me know what you think about the topic in the comments below. Let me know what your ideal setup would be. I like this subject and want to get your ideas.

This past Sunday we were pleased to put on a customer appreciation day sale. We were lucky to have Genesis Dog Rescue come out and raise money by way of BBQ. There were sales, demos, Bike washes, Hot dogs, and foster dogs and we were happy to see several of our customers bringing in their dogs to come meet the Genesis pack. Genesis was able to raise over $300 but more importantly they found a “furever home” for one of their dogs!

We would like to thank everyone for coming out and we wish the best to Genesis Dog Rescue and their Foster Dogs.

This isn't quite a rat but pretty darned close. Look at that shifter!

Rats! The very word seems dirty. It conjures up images of filth-encrusted Bacteria-laden rodents scavenging through dumpsters and back alleys. On the other had it says something to the topic of endurance… Rats survive. The idea of a rat bike is not a new one. If you haven’t heard of them before a rat bike is a bike that hasn’t been babied. Exhaust pipe rusted through? No problem! Throw a beer can on with a couple of pipe clamps. Gear shift broken/lost? Permanent use for vice-grips!

Really it all boils down to using what you have to get by. But make no mistake about it, even though these kludges may be simple and unattractive to some it does not mean that they don’t get the job done in a relatively safe manner. On the topic of unattractiveness many rat bike owners believe that a bike should wear it’s scars with pride. For every dropped bike comes another badge of honor. Most Rats you see will be painted almost all over in matte black and sometimes will have various pieces of what seems to be scrap fastened to them… for the most part these “Scrap” pieces are a functional, often integral part of the motorcycle. The matte black paint job is sometimes uneven and possibly a different shade of black (as different kludges occur at different times) and are obviously done via spray-paint while the various parts are still affixed to the bike.

There seems to be a middle ground in which some rat bike owners professionally paint their bikes matte black, or keep some parts of their bikes nice and shiny. Sometimes it looks like the kludge was more of an effort to make the bike look like a rat while still keeping it “professional”. Upon further investigation these are called survival bikes and are deliberately, artistically modified in order to emulate bikes from movies such as mad max. If damaged deliberately and modified non artistically they are considered “Fake Rats”.

As far as I’m concerned they’re great! Why not? These bikes were made for you to beat the snot out of them. Sure everyone is entitled to treating their ride with child gloves, and doing everything by the books but isn’t there something to be said about the character of your bike. It’s soul. Something that makes you feel like your bike wants to get dirty, it wants to rip around in the mud and doesn’t care if it gets banged up and bruised. I don’t know that I would personally have my only bike like this as it’s also kind of nice to show how much you love your bike by shining her up all the time. I guess I’m conflicted. What are your thoughts?

Tell me below in the comments section. I’d love to talk about it.

A couple of days ago I asked twitter what it thought ATGATT meant. I became interested in this topic recently after hearing the news of several injuries and deaths attributed to not wearing the proper gear. In particular it was this article that piqued my curiosity in what the other side of the debate had as an argument.

Here’s what you said:

See when I was a kid I rode with my Father on his hog and he and I always wore a Full face helmet, leather jackets , and at the very least jeans to protect from exhaust pipe burns. It seems a lot of people are all for suiting up with the latest armored gear from head to toe. Alternatively there are those who wear as little as they can get away with. I still don’t know where I stand on the topic fully but I know I would never get on a bike without a full faced helmet… I’m too pretty.

I have to agree with @TiltedHorizons statement that the best way to look at it is “would I want to hit & slide down the road wearing X product” and, as an anonymous Yahoo user said “I don’t wear a helmet because it’s the law I wear a helmet because I understand physics” , So I leave this to you. What are your reasons for going ATGATT or for letting the wind flow through your hair? Is there special circumstances in which ATGATT rule can be revoked? Tell us in the Comments below!