Motorcycle Protective Clothing That Works!

There is some great looking motorcycle clothing on the market these days, but believe me not all of the motorcycle clothing offers as much protection as you think. In Europe, for motorcycle clothing to be lawfully sold as "safety" clothing, it has to pass a series of European standards, which are pretty lengthy but are available on my website. The standards cover the clothing's performance in abrasion, tearing and impact tests, and when they have passed; they are sold with the CE mark. However, no such regulation is available in the USA, so what should you look for?

Protection in the right places?

Not many people realise that most motorcycle injuries occur below the belt. Your legs and feet are extremely vulnerable, so make sure that you wear a decent pair of high boots and some protective pants. The pants should be reinforced at the knees and hips; ideally they should attach to your jacket by a zipper. Boots should be thick leather, with a sole that can flex with the foot but has a resistance to crushing across the foot.

Traditional material for motorcycle clothing is leather, but thick nylon and other synthetic materials work well too. Kevlar reinforced jeans are better than normal jeans .Normal jeans last 0.6 seconds in the European standard abrasion test, while protective motorcycle pants will last 5 seconds or more. You don't really want to be ripping your skin open within less than half a second of falling of your bike do you? Thought not.

Same principles apply to jackets. Make sure they are hardwearing, if they are leather make sure it is thick leather not fashion leather like some jackets. Stitching should be uniform with no dropped stitches, and all your "sharp bits", your elbows and shoulders should be reinforced, ideally with some impact protection included.

A decent pair of gloves is a must; your palms will be at risk in an accident; you instinctively put out your hands palm side down to stop yourself in a slide, so the palms of your gloves should be reinforced with patches. Knitted Kevlar is especially good for this kind of abrasion resistance, but reinforced leather works well too.

Impact protection can be bought separately like back protectors and so on, but remember where your most vulnerable areas are. And make sure if you buy impact protection you actually wear it! If you have any doubts it may be better to go for motorcycle clothing with a degree of impact protection included so that you know when you put on your jacket and pants, the protection is always going to be there.

Last but not least, pick out a helmet you can wear and wear it always. You may have a greater chance of getting injured below the waist in a motorcycle accident, but the consequences of being involved in an accident without a helmet just don't bear thinking about?.

So, next time you are shopping for motorcycle clothing, give a bit of thought to the level of protection it offers before you buy it. You never know it could save you a lot of unnecessary pain!

Michael Holmes is a enthusiast for all thing motorcycle. His website, <a target="_new" href="http://www.motorcycleparts-accessories-andmore.com">http://www.motorcycleparts-accessories-andmore.com</a>, is a great resource of articles aimed at motorcyclists of all levels, including a page specifically for <A target="_new" HREF="http://www.motorcycleparts-accessories-andmore.com/motorcycle-clothing.html">motorcycle clothing.</A>

Suzuki Motorcycles - From Fine Loom Manufacturers to Major Motorcycle Company

Started in a small warehouse by Michio Suzuki back in 1909, Suzuki aimed at making better looms for the Japanese silk industry. It was only thirty years after its existence that the company started thinking of diversifying into cars, motorcycles and related machinery. In fact, it was only after the collapse of the cotton market in 1951, that Suzuki seriously got into the motorcycle and car industry.

One of the first two-wheeled innovations by Suzuki was a motorized bicycle called the "Power Free". This bicycle was so ingeniously designed that the government of Japan gave Suzuki a subsidy in order to continue their research in motorcycle and car innovation. As time progressed, the company started to build better and better motorcycles. And by 1962, Suzuki Motorcycles had won their first 50cc Grand Prix World Championship.

By the late 60s, the company had become known and respected in the American and European motorbike world. One of their best-selling machines during this time period was the Suzuki X-6 Hustler, which was the fastest Japanese 250cc for that time.

Suzuki Motorcycles also gained fame in the motocross world. In the 60s and 70s, motocross racing was largely dominated by European motorcycle manufacturers. Japanese motorcycles did not have much of a presence or respect in this arena, but during this time, Suzuki Motorcycles won the World Championship several times between 1971 and 1976 in the 500cc MX race. In addition to this, the company also won every 125cc world championship from 1975 to 1984.

By the late '80s, Suzuki had gained the respect of all within the racing community at the highest levels. One of the best Suzuki Motorcycles of this era was the GSX?R750. Its design and energy was unbeatable and, at that time, it was the lightest bike around in its class.

The Suzuki GSX-R was without any doubt one of the most important and influential motorcycles of the 80s. Even now, twenty years later, you will find the GSX?R line in Suzuki Motorcycles current catalog. In fact you will find it in several sizes ranging from 600cc to 1000cc.

Since the GSX?R750, Suzuki Motorcycles has come with many other successful models and today, Suzuki is a well-known name in the Motorcycling world . The company has won over a dozen World Championships along with many other races. Their long-standing emphasis on innovation as well as their meticulous care in craftsmanship has lead the company from strength to strength for more than 50 years.

For all this Suzuki is now one of the four big names in the Japanese motorcycles industry. If you are planning in buying on changing your ride, their models must be included in your list of possibilities.

Enjoy the Ride!

Daniel Levy

Daniel Levy is the owner and contributing writer of <a target="_new" href="http://www.japanese-motorcycles-only.com">http://www.Japanese-Motorcycles-Only.com</a>. He loves motorcycles and Web development. For more great info visit his site (listed above) or his blog at: <a target="_new" href="http://japanese-motorcycles-only.blogspot.com/">http://japanese-motorcycles-only.blogspot.com/</a>.

So You Want To Be A Custom Bike Builder? Start With A Motorcycle Kit!

So you want to be a custom bike builder? Well friend, before you rush out and buy that motorcycle kit, the one that will set you on the road to riches and fame, stop and think about the level of expertise and artistry the top builders have attained. More importantly think about how long it has taken them to attain it! Let's look at a few key issues?

Education

You'd be surprised how well educated a lot of today's top bike builders are. Several of them have degrees (some more than one!) ranging from mechanical engineering to business and marketing management. Billy Lane, the founder of Chopper Inc, has several patents relating to motorcycle technology in his name for example. What about someone a little more &quot;old school&quot; like Dave Perewitz? Dave has accumulated close to forty years of mechanical, metalworking and painting experience. Not theoretical, but genuine hands on, early morning late night kind of experience. Could you put that kind of time in? Matt Hotch is still only young, but has gained an incredible amount of practical experience customizing first bicycles, then VW's before moving on to custom bike building.

Facilities

These guys are building choppers and custom bikes that are state of the art. They don't get thrown together in the yard; the motorcycle shops have all the tools and equipment required to produce almost anything out of metal, not just bikes. Just as important are the other services these builders use; the local chrome platers, machinists, painters and so on. These guys have just as important a part to play in the construction of these one off bikes as the designer builders themselves.

Desire

All the top custom bike builders live for one thing; building the best bikes they can. They literally live eat even dream about custom bikes (and looking at some of the more way out creations you can totally believe this from the designs they produce!) They are constantly striving to build bikes better. Its not about money for the top guys, I am convinced of that.

So where does that leave Average Joes like you and me? Actually, I don't think we are too badly off; in fact if you want to build a custom bike, it has probably never been easier. Here's my take on it?.

Education

There is an unbelievable amount of information for the guys who want to start down the road to custom bike building. Videos, books websites, all of them help to flatten the learning curve for a novice. Most of the material out there relates to motorcycle kits, and for the beginner, building a motorcycle kit is definitely the best way to go if you want to get real hands on experience. After that there are motorcycle maintenance courses, which again will allow you to get up to speed as fast as possible in your quest to become the next Arlen Ness!

Facilities

To put together a shop like the ones you see on television costs thousands of dollars. But you don't need all that stuff if you start with a motorcycle kit. Motorcycle kits can be put together with some pretty basic tools, providing they are of good quality. Two things that are an absolute must in my opinion though are a torque wrench and a basic lift. With these two tools, you can tighten the motorcycle kits fittings correctly, and not break your back while you are doing it!

Desire

Well this is one area where you can match the pros, no question. If you really want to be a custom bike builder, start doing it for fun and put your motorcycle kit together.

We can't all be Billy Lane, Eddie Trotta or Russell Mitchell, but we can have a lot of fun trying!

Michael Holmes is a enthusiast for all thing motorcycle. His website, <a target="_new" href="http://www.motorcycleparts-accessories-andmore.com">http://www.motorcycleparts-accessories-andmore.com</a>, is a great resource of articles aimed at motorcyclists of all levels, including a page specifically about the <A target="_new" HREF="http://www.motorcycleparts-accessories-andmore.com/motorcycle-kits-resources.html">motorcycle kits resources</A> available online.

Welcome To The World Of ?Upside Down? Motorcycle Loans!

With the depreciation on motorcycles being so enormous after they are driven off the showroom floor, the potential for a buyer owing more on their motorcycle loan than the bike is worth it quite high. Owing more on your bike than it is worth is often referred to as the world of &quot;up side down&quot;.

Many people finding themselves in this situation discover that financial lessons are sometimes the hardest and most expensive to learn. Motorcycle loans of more than 48 months (especially without a down payment) put you in the position of owing more than the value of the bike.

Let's take a look at this phenomenon.

First, the interest calculation your lender uses can make a big difference in your situation, especially in the first 18 months. There are two primary interest calculations, pre-computed (combined with rule of 78) and simple interest.

Pre-computed interest combined with Rule of 78, is typically the worst situation for a buyer because most of the interest is paid in the first 24 months. Therefore, in the first 24 months little of the monthly payment has gone towards paying down principal. If a buyer wishes to sell or trade in the motorcycle within this timeframe they will likely find themselves owing more than the bike is worth. Statistics show that the average owner trades in every 18-24 months.

Simple interest on the other hand, is much more favorable for buyers since interest accrues on the balance of the loan. However, buyers that extend their loans for greater than 48 months can still find themselves up side down with simple interest. This is especially true if a down payment is not made. The reason this occurs is that the motorcycle depreciates faster than the principal is paid; leaving the balance owed to the lender to be more than the bike can be sold for.

A common view that many people have is that they will just surrender their motorcycle to the lender if they are caught in an &quot;up side down&quot; position. If you are considering this option don't! Your worries do not just end after your bike is surrendered or repossessed; in fact they are just beginning. The lender will sell your bike at an auction for much less than it is worth. You will still owe the difference between the amount you owed on your loan and the amount the motorcycle sold for at auction. So if you owe $5000 and the bike sells for $1500, you still are responsible for owing the lender $3500. To make it worse lenders may tack on hefty auction fees which you will owe as well. So the net result is that you are now responsible for making monthly payments on a bike you can no longer ride.

So what steps can you take to prevent from being caught &quot;up side down&quot;?

1. Find a lender that uses simple interest. Avoid lenders that use pre-computed / Rule of 78 interest calculations.

2. Always try to put money down on your purchase.

3. Try to avoid motorcycle loans that extend past 36 months.

Jay Fran is a author and publisher for a website that specializes in <a target="_new" href="http://www.motorcycle-financing-guide.com">Motorcycle Loans: High Risk OK</a>. A comprehensive resource on simple interest motorcycle financing, poor credit, new, used and bad credit motorcycle loans.

Online Shopping for Motorcycle Accessories

When shopping for a certain item and material, the way to do it is to shop like a woman. Who else knows how to shop till they drop but women, right? Isn't it that husbands, partners, spouses and lovers often complain about the amount of time and the energy given to shopping by their women even for just one item they need?

But who else gets the most of their budget, and takes home the item of high grade quality at the least price possible? Women. Women are known to have the intuition for great sales and wonderful bargains just because they give time and effort in looking for the item at the best price.

Same thing with motorcycles. When you need to buy performance motorcycle parts accessories, we know that our local motorcycle parts store is a great place to begin with. Aside from being near our home, our familiarity with our local store will help reduce the time it takes to choose the accessory most suitable to our requirement.

However, as any woman would tell you, your local store may not have the item you need, or it may only have a limited number of stock items on hand. And worse of all, you might just be getting more than you bargained for just because you want the easy way out of shopping.

So the next step would be to go out and hop to stores that offer performance motorcycle parts accessories. Or you could try doing it online.

Shopping for performance motorcycle parts accessories online is the most ideal means of making sure you get the best selection and the best possible prices, all in the comforts of your home or office. You don't need to use fuel and get stuck in traffic just because you need to have the item for your precious motorcycle. With so many vendors in the wide world of the internet, from here to Timbuktu, chances are, you'll be able to find exactly what you're looking for in no time. Plus, internet retailers often ship to any location in the world. You just have to pay extra charges for the shipment costs. No worries. It's better than endure the traffic and pollution, and the migraine you're sure to have when you do it on foot and in every store you could find.

And just like a woman, you'll be able to shop till you drop; the only difference is you're doing it all over the state, country, and even the world- all in the comforts of your home or office.

And just like a woman, you'll definitely end up finding performance motorcycle parts accessories online that you never even knew was available in the market. There are a lot of items in the internet if you just know where to look. With the vast access of the internet, you'll be able to get a wide range of selection from which to choose from with just a click of your fingers.

Granny's Mettle is a 30-something, professional web content writer. She has created various web content on a diverse range of topics, which includes digital printing topics, medical news, as well as legal issues. Her articles are composed of reviews, suggestions, tips and more for the printing and designing industry.

Her thoughts on writing: "Writing gives me pleasure? pleasure and excitement that you have created something to share with others. And with the wide world of the Internet, it gives me great satisfaction that my articles reach more people in the quickest time you could imagine."

On her spare time, she loves to stay at home, reading books on just about any topic she fancies, cooking a great meal, and taking care of her husband and kids.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit <a target="_new" href="http://www.motorcyclepartsbin.com">http://www.motorcyclepartsbin.com</a>

How To Make Your Own Vintage Motor Cycle & Automotive Spare Parts

Vintage Car & Motorcycle restoration enthusiasts all share one thing in common...

The difficulty in obtaining obsolete spare parts.

How many times have you tried to find a special part for your restoration project, only to find that it's unobtainable.

For the home restorer on a tight budget, it is actually possible to put money back into your own pocket... real savings can be made by learning a few simple skills. Lets face it, if you are rebuilding or restoring old vintage vehicles then you most likely already have many practical skills & abilities.

You could expand on your valuable practical skills even more.

Take for instance the dozens of mechanical components that need to be rebuild/reconditioned... professional re-builders will charge you quite a lot of money for reconditioning parts, which to all intents & purposes could be carried out in the home workshop at a substantially reduced cost.

You may already have the luxury of a lathe, milling machine and a collection of other associated machines in your workshop.

Cast your mind outside the square for a moment... if you're unable to produce a part by machining parts from a solid billet, then all you need to do is to build a simple gas fired furnace, fabricate some tools, mould boxes, and get hold of some green sand to make your sand moulds, learn some new skills, and you'll be able to melt & pour your own special aluminium & bronze parts.

Then you will be able to machine them in your lathe etc, to produce low cost high quality spare parts... it is possible... many people have been doing this for along time.

Why don't you join this select band of people who've discovered that casting your own metal parts is not that difficult, once you have learnt the basic techniques of the craft.

Once your mini foundry system is up and running, you'll wonder why the heck you didn't discover metal casting years ago.

You can read & learn more about hobby metal casting by visiting: http://www.myhomefoundry.com Where you can download free ebooks, access free foundry directory info, and have a lot of fun learning new skills to add to your practical restoration skills.

Learning about metal casting could open up a whole new dimension & opportunities for you in your home workshop. But you wont know just how much until you take the step to learn. Why not take that step today?

Written by: Col Croucher
Ebook Author and Administrator of:
<a target="_new" href="http://www.myhomefoundry.com">http://www.myhomefoundry.com</a>
Australia

People Are Crazy... and Everyone Is A Racer

?And everyone is a racer. If you doubt that, you've obviously never driven in New York City during rush hour. Look closely at the driver of that Japanese luxury car. He's just as miffed as you the racer is at having to drive fifty-five miles per hour when the speedometer on the car clearly reads one hundred and fifty. Why can't we drive it at that speed if the car can come close to it. Man, just look at him fiddling with the knobs pretending to be tuning the radio into a station. We racers know what he is really doing is setting the frequency of his imaginary laser beam roadblock remover system. You know the ones; they make little bomb sounds as we pretend we are obliterating our foes on the drive home.

If you really want to annoy him, honk your horn, tailgate him for a few seconds then cut in front of him. When he reaches his boiling point, slam on your brakes and drive slower than you were both going previously. then apply your brakes and drive slower than you were driving before you cut him off. His typical response will be one of anger, an anger borne of the pent-up frustrations of living in a high tech world and being legislated into a low-tech existence. Our driver will invariably stab the gas pedal and swerve out of the lane in an attempt to pass you back. You, in turn, speed up, knowing that his intent is to block pass you at the first opportunity, then brake check you just so you get the message.

And so this high-speed game of "chicken" unfolds on any highway others will graciously move over to let the two road-warriors carry on with the spectacle. I've participated in a more than a few such duels myself though lately I choose to be a bystander to other people's road rage. This emotionally charged ego-tripping could be very dangerous to anyone near the scene.

Society says we should be punished for breaking their law of a maximum velocity of fifty-five miles per hour (in New York at least). Most racers will try to get away with as much as we can, just like on the track and usually have the skills to pull it off. The typical driver lacks all of the needed skills and courage to indulge themselves and so after one or more two hundred dollar speeding tickets, the potential racer's lust for life is usually squashed flatter than Spongebob in the Arizona desert. They usually go home more frustrated, angrier, and two bills poorer. I'm glad I race motorcycles; I'm glad I have a family of people who know and think and feel exactly as I do... we are fortunate to be real racers.

Drivers aren't the only ones who are acting crazy either. Anyone who has walked or driven in Manhattan can attest to the fact that the craziest of all humans is not "Checkered Cabbus-Weavus"; that honor belongs to "Pedestrius Al-sue-yerbutt", the dreaded New York City pedestrian.

No other form of life on the planet is capable of staring into the eyes of the errant tractor-trailer driver and then stepping nonchalantly into the path of his serpentine behemoth. If you've never seen eighteen thousand pounds of truck with all the wheels locked up you don't know what you're missing. The puff of blue smoke in the distance alerts one to the presence of "Pedestrius Al-su-yerbutt."

While the truck driver shakes uncontrollably, trying to bring his heartbeat back below the three hundred mark, "Pedestrius Al-su-yerbutt" flashes an ear to ear grin. And why shouldn't they, they've just looked fear and death in the face and walked away unscathed. Others can only look on in amazement; children will point in their direction with wonder and awe. They are momentarily idolized as they relish fifteen seconds worth of their fifteen minutes of fame. They will be on the tongues of everyone who saw their gutsy moves,

"Holy cripes, did you see that?"

I'm glad I race motorcycles; I'm glad I have a family of people who know and think and feel exactly as I do... we are fortunate to be real racers and have our outlet.

Before we forget that this is a moto-cross story, let me get to the heart of the matter. The point is simply how much we as off road riders and racers have to be grateful for. Unlike the road-rager and "Pedestrius Al-sue-yerbutt," we don't have to drive our cars at one hundred and twenty miles per hour, nor do we have to tempt fate by stepping in front of speeding trucks just to feel that surge of adrenaline. Thank God we are real racers... I do. We aren't as unlucky as the folks who live out the two examples of non-racers.

We are the normal; we can take out our frustrations on machines that were designed to be the healers of our pressures and frustrations. We have moto-cross and the woods to keep us sane. How lucky we are indeed. I'm glad I race motorcycles; I'm glad I have a family of people who know and think and feel exactly as I do... I am fortunate to be among real racers. So when next you are privy to witness any of the afore mentioned dramas, you'll know? people are crazy, and everyone is a racer.

Michael James

*7 years covering professional motocross racing for Cycle News, mxlarge.com, motocross.com, and mxwired.com *amateur motocross racer *screenwriter - seeking representation- *8 year columnist for several motocross papers and magazines