Archive for November, 2008
Ducati 1098 Streetfighter
Nov 25th
Ducati reveal the new 1098 streetfighter……and I love it!
Hitting our streets in Spring 2009 the 1098 naked is bound to make riders around the UK forget about the credit crunch and trade in their current ride for the new kid on the block!
It looks as if the boffins at Ducati have taken the old 1098 and stuck it in an X-ray machine and thought……”lets make one that looks like that instead!!”
The 1099cc desmo testastretta engine delivers 155hp which isn’t too bad when you consider the frame is mainly tubular steel, theres also room for the Mrs on the back, if she can hold on!
The L-twin provides a hell of a lot of muscle, topped with enough torque to make you sit up and take notice! The longer swing arm is equipped to make sure the bike loses none of its superb riding capabilities.
Billy Lane’s DUI Manslaughter Trial Delayed
Nov 25th
Celebrity custom bike Builder Billy Lane has had his DUI manslaughter trial delayed till next year due to scheduling problems.
At a hearing in Viera, Circuit Judge Meryl Allawas “reluctantly” cancelled the December trial after the defence and state’s witnesses were unable to move existing schedule conflicts.
Lawyer Greg Eisenmenger said, “ Trials are typically scheduled months in advance to avoid such problems”.
Assistant State Attorney Tom Brown told FLORIDA TODAY. The trial was tentatively rescheduled for February the 9th before Circuit Judge Robert Burger.
Billy Lane 38, could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted, The offence is DUI manslaughter, On Labor Day 2006 Billy Lanes Truck was involved in a collision with a motorcycle being ridden by 56 year old, Park Ranger, Mr Gerald Morelock who died due to injuries sustained at the scheme.
Police said Lane’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when he crossed a double yellow line to pass cars near Melbourne Beach, striking Mr Morelock’s motorcycle head on.
Attorneys said they expect Lane’s trial to last up to 2 weeks and that they anticipate pre-trial publicity could result in a lengthy jury selection process.
Stay Safe,
Oneleggedfreak
Speeding Fines To Increase
Nov 20th
Well who would have thought it?
Speeding fines are to be increased and could see you banned after two offences,
The new system of fines will not be based on the current fixed penalty system, the new 6 point system will only come into affect when the driver goes over a set speed limit.
For example in a 30mph area if a driver will still receive 3 points and a £60 fine for any speed allegedly up to 45mph BUT if a motorist goes above 45mph in a 30 zone they will receive 6 points and a £100 fine.
There were calls for a change in the penalty system after there was an increase of 20% in child road deaths last year. As research has shown that a pedestrian hit by a car at 35mph is twice as likely to be killed as one hit at 30mph.
Here is a list of the proposed speeds when the 6point penalty will be imposed.
32mph in a 20mph zone.
45mph in a 30mph zone.
57mph in a 40mph zone.
70mph in a 50mph zone.
82mph in a 60mph zone.
And finally
94mph in a 70mph zone.
As of yet unsure when these will come into effect so just take things a little more steadier.
Stay Safe,
oneleggedfreak
The film clip they did not want you to see
Nov 14th
We’ve all heard the news story,
The BBC ran a news article said to show speed camera’s causing accidents and them somehow the article disappears,
Well hear it is the two clips show cars crashing due to sudden braking causing the drivers to lose control as soon as they realise there is a speed camera ahead,
The news article was originally aired in April but vanished soon after even after numerous requests under the freedom of information act,
Draw your own conclusions,
Stay Safe,
oneleggedfreak
ACPO wants to ban Motorcycles (Yeah Right)
Nov 13th
The Association of Chief Police Officers have told the Commons Transport Committee that it’s time to consider banning motorcycles from the roads.
They consider them to be ‘motorised toys’ which may not belong on the public highways.
The association apparently based its call on the false claim that production motorcycles can top speeds of over 200mph.
In fact, not a single production bike has broken the 200mph barrier unlike many of the production cars,
So if the ACPO want to ban motorcycles how about first of banning all cars say over 1300cc or all 4×4′s (except for agricultural use). 
Proposals from the Association of Chief Police Officers to ban motorcycles were written under the direction of a three-time convicted speeder South Yorkshires Chief Constable Meredydd Hughes.
Meredydd Hughes, who was last year banned from driving for his latest offence, has “overall” responsibility for the department that produced the memo, the association confirmed.
A spokesman said the South Yorkshire chief constable was “head of business area for uniformed operations including road policing”.
Hughes publicly stepped down as ‘head of road policing, business area’ after receiving a 42-day ban for reaching 90mph in a 60mph zone. The revelation he is still performing the same role suggests this was nothing more than a smoke-and-mirrors face-saving exercise.
ACPO has tried to play down its proposals, made to MPs in the influential Commons Transport Committee.
The association issued a statement claiming it was not seeking to ban motorcycles but adding: ‘Alongside a range of other road safety bodies in the UK and Europe, ACPO believes it may be appropriate in future to consider restriction on high-powered machines with extraordinarily high top speed capabilities.’
It claimed the proposals had ‘referred to consideration of restrictions on the use of off-road motorcycles’ – even though they had specifically asked whether high-powered bikes belonged on ‘our congested roads’.
Hughes’ speeding ban led him to be branded a “complete buffoon” guilty of “mind-numbing hypocrisy” by late anti-speed camera campaigner Paul Smith of Safe Speed. In his ACPO road-policing role, the diminutive police chief had taken a hard line on speeding.
Despite coming into the job in 2005 with six points on his licence from two speeding offences, he’d called for more cameras.
In 2006 he created a special legal team to scare people out of contesting speeding charges, saying: “Come and get us if you think you’re hard enough.” MCN later revealed the team was a private company – and Hughes was director.
Come on guy’s it just isn’t going to happen, what about civil liberties and freewill, or are these going to be taken away from us to,
Stay Safe,
oneleggedfreak.
Vigilante Motorcyclist Exposed
Nov 12th
Who would have thought it the vigilante motorcyclist Mr Geoff Smith, who films and reports people overtaking him has been exposed with a few dirty skeletons in his wardrobe,
Apparently the do-gooder has been jailed in the past for pocketing donations around £1800 from an ambulance charity he was running.
He also has had several motoring convictions in the past himself, Including driving without a licence and no M.O.T or insurance and also stealing a motorcycle that was on loan to his charity and to top it all off he was convicted of speeding while riding his motorcycle fitted out with blue flashing lights, Smith claimed he delivered organs to hospitals for his charity, Solent Ambulance Service.
Hampshire Police Officer DC Jonathon Waterhouse later said, “ The only organ he could transfer is some liver from the butchers”.
During the trial for stealing the donations and bike, Smith’s own defence said “he’d deluded himself throughout “ adding: “there is also an element of enjoyment wearing the uniform, the sirens and dashing around at speed.
Now no doubt we have all made some mistakes in the past – so I’ll let you draw you own conclusions to this sorry tale.
Stay Safe,
Oneleggedfreak
Work hard, Play harder!
Nov 11th
After a record breaking increase in sales for the month of October, we were treated to a nice meal and a few social drinks down our local chinese. Who says company’s don’t look after the well being of their staff??
After ringing round for almost 2 days to find a restaurant that would accept us,( cant understand why??he he ) we stumbled across Silk Road Chinese.
Needless to say the night started in the nicest of spirits untill…..well…….untill we found the spirits!
N.B If you ever need to “slip off” to the little boy’s room, please make sure your drink is somewhere safe. The last thing you want is someone running the inside of a chili around the rim…….b**dy hilarious!
Apparently the best way to enjoy a shot of tequila is to down the drink and squirt the juice of a slice of lemon in your eye.
Now your probably as lost as I am but the trick is not to blink……try telling that to our Harry!
A lovely meal was followed by a few drinks in the bar compliments of Bikesure Insurance…now you cant ask for fairer than that!!
Well there you go!
Its nice to know that in this time of the “credit crunch” alcohol sales in Norfolk are doing just fine!
Cartoons to save Bikers Lives????
Nov 5th
CARTOONS COULD SAVE BIKERS’ LIVES.
A EUROPE-WIDE safety initiative is launching a cartoon strip that could save the lives of bikers.
A 13-part cartoon series, each focussing on a different threats posed to bikers on the road, will attempt to educate them about the dangers in a humorous, light-hearted way.
A 13-part cartoon series, each focussing on a different threats posed to bikers on the road, will attempt to educate them about the dangers in a humorous, light-hearted way.
The Europe-wide bike industry group behind the scheme is the Association des Constructeurs Européens de Motocycles (ACEM), however, the British Motorcycle Industry Association (MCI) has given its full backing to the campaign.
ACEM said that the comic strip medium is “user-friendly” and will cover a variety of topics including dangerous road surfaces, diesel spills, badly repaired surfaces, night riding, winter riding, and dangerous, badly designed bends.
The cartoon’s hero is Lucky 13, a buck-toothed biker with a wispy moustache and a red, Ducati Monster-style bike.
The MCI’s Craig Carey-Clinch said: “Road safety is a priority for the motorcycle industry and the British government, so we welcome this European-wide campaign and urge riders to make full use of the tips and information in each of the cartoons.
“We also hope that road engineers, planners and policy makers will take note, and make better provision for the increasing numbers of PTW riders in the future.”
Anti-establishment cartoon biker Ogri has been a popular addition to Bike magazine since the early 1970s and has even appeared in pages of the Daily Telegraph; Lucky 13 will hope his positive safety message will have a similar impact.
To see the complete series of cartoons visit www.acem.eu/cartoon.
Quick pass me the Beano & Dandy.
Motorcycles to have access to bus-lanes
Nov 4th
Motorcyclists will be allowed in the capital’s bus lanes from January 5, London Mayor Boris Johnson has said.
The move will start as an 18-month trial, after which a decision will be made on whether to make it permanent.
Johnson said: “Londoners know that I am determined to make it easier for them to get from A to B in our great city. And I have long been staggered that while motorcyclists can use bus lanes in many other cities and some of our Boroughs they were not allowed to use the Transport for London red routes that crisscross the capital.
“One of the ways we can ease congestion is by encouraging more people to get on their bike, whether pedal or powered, and I believe they should be able to share our bus lanes successfully and safely. At the end of the trial period I will listen carefully to the views of all our road users and then make a decision about whether this should be a permanent arrangement.”
The change will apply to red route bus lanes managed by Transport for London, the capital’s transport authority. They make up 40% of all London’s bus lanes.
It will come as bad news for the London Cycling Campaign (LCC), whose current campaigns include ‘protecting cyclists from the dangers of motorcycles in bus lanes’. Opening bus lanes to motorcycles was one of Johnson’s pre-election manifesto pledges.
LCC boasted in June of handing the Mayor a petition with 3,500 names urging him to reconsider.
An MCN petition urging Johnson to press on and name the date we could expect to use the bus lanes gained 3,900 signatures.
Vigilante Biker or just Vigilante
Nov 3rd
A vigilante motorcyclist has revealed how he rides dead on the speed limit, films bikers who overtake and hands the footage to police.
Riding instructor Jeff Smith uses a helmet-mounted camera to film continuously for up to three hours while riding his ex-police Honda Pan European.
The 62-year-old from Southampton said: “I record all the idiots that, while I’m doing the normal correct speed, are flying past at 80 or 90mph.
“If someone overtakes at a bit extra speed in a 30mph zone, I would also report them because they shouldn’t be doing it.
“I know various police officers. I just download the film onto a DVD and give them a disc and it’s down to them what they do.
“I estimate people’s speeds, pass film on to police and it’s down to them whether they catch them next time.”
“I know various police officers. I just download the film onto a DVD and give them a disc and it’s down to them what they do.
“I estimate people’s speeds, pass film on to police and it’s down to them whether they catch them next time.”
Oddball Smith, who claims to never break the speed limit, believes his efforts are necessary to tackle a plague of irresponsible riding. He said: “As you will appreciate, it’s mainly because we get a lot of re-born bikers at the moment.
“I met one recently who said: ‘I only passed my test two months ago and I’ve bought an R1.’ I said: ‘You’re a bloody idiot. Did you go back to your training school and ask them to teach you how to ride it?’”
The former courier isn’t sure whether anyone has been charged based on his evidence but hopes his efforts have led police to target motorcyclists more. “I know the police do act,” he said.
“Yesterday at a local bike meet we had the roads policing unit there. Every weekend now Hampshire Police are out all over and so is East Sussex when we come into their area, which is good.”
A spokeswoman for Hampshire Police was unaware of Smith’s actions. Asked what the force would do with his footage, she said: “We would look at it”.
Now personally speaking as a biker myself I feel we have enough to look out for on the roads let alone keeping an eye for Mr perfect who NEVER speeds.
If you ever meet this gentleman on your travels just wave and say Hi!!!!