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Yamaha Y125 Moegi goes back to basics

Yamaha y125 Moegi

Yamaha has gone back to its simple racing roots with this Y125 Moegi motorcycle. For now just a concept bike, this slick little 2 wheeler is destined to become a reality. Launched at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2011, this little beauty has some super design developments and engineering solutions.

Not many will remember this, but in the Fifties the bike this concept is based on was launched. It was called the YA-1 and it was a super little 125cc 2-stroke delight. The company that launched it wasn’t by then called Yamaha, they were known as “Nippon Gakki”.

With their engineers being driven to succeed, this little 125 won a few big races and so began some strong sales. Here’s the original YA-1 in all its glory:

Yamaha YA1

The Moegi is a bit of a hybrid to me, taking design influences from both older, now ‘classic’ motorcycles, and uber-slick scooter lines too. Yamaha have made the frame from super-lightweight cast aluminium which means it weighs in at just 80kg or 176 lbs. Impressive stuff.

The engine is an air-cooled, 4-stroke 125cc lump that integrates an aluminium die-cast cylinder which no other motorcycle has. Estimated top speed is around 50mph but fuel economy is said to be over 180mpg. I’d be surprised if that was the case but never say never….

Verdict:
I like this bike’s style and would love to see it on the streets. What do you think?

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Unique invention solves parking problems

So you are struggling to get into or out of that parking space? Maybe you just find doing donuts a bit too difficult?  Well the answer lies in a 1927 invention that, quite honestly, looks like it might need a few more fail-safe add-ons if it’s going to hit mass production any time soon. Funny though…

Perhaps you’d prefer this: Modern solution to parking?

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Harley-Davidson Factory tour at York, Pennsylvania

Having recently done the Harley-Davidson Factory tour at York, Pennsylvania here’s our review.

The Harley-Davidson York Operations plant offers a free guided tour of the factory floor. The tour guides are mostly ex-workers and they have good knowledge of how the production process works and what the old and new models are. Questions are definitely encouraged. Outside the plant there’s plenty of free parking. It’s also easily accessible being just off the main road.

On arrival, you’ll usually find plenty of visitors but each person registers at the reception desk for a tour time. This may be in a few minutes or, more likely, in an hour or so. This gives you chance to browse the models on display in the entrance hall. You can sit on the motorcycles as they are firmly clamped down.

harley-davidson-york-waiting-area

harley-davidson-police-motorcycle

harley-davidson-museum

harley-davidson-frame

harley-davidson-factory-york-build-stage2

harley-davidson-factory-york-build-stage

harley-davidson-factory-tour-york-opening-times

harley-davidson-factory-tour-york-off-road

As you can see there are some mock-ups of assembly stages too.

What tours to do at Harley-Davidson, York

The York factory is also known as “Vehicle Operations”.  Here they put together the Softail, CVO, Touring and Trike models. If you want to be assured a place on the tour you can ring ahead and confirm they are open for that day.  Some days are non-production days too, usually when they are changing the model runs over, so if you want to go on the “Steel toe tour” then it’s important to ring ahead. The “Steel toe tour” is an additional, paid tour that takes in some of the heavier production areas of the plant. The standard free tours still go ahead though, most days.

You can tour the factory for free but it pays to get there in the morning to get the best chance of a tour.  If it’s fully booked it will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

Any children will need to be 12 or over but as long as you say they are then there’s no checking.  All visitors are required to have enclosed shoes for all tours (don’t forget this!) and the steel toecap overboots are issued to you for the paid tours.

Harley-Davidson factory tour – opening hours

The tour is available from 9:00AM to 2:00PM Monday to Friday.  In the summer it is open on Saturdays from 9:30AM to 1:30PM

Car and motorcycle parking

There’s plenty of parking available and bikes get to park close to the entrance. The car park can be as interesting as the waiting area on a good sunny day. On our tour day there were mostly Harleys in the parking lot, and a few Buells, Triumphs and Ducatis rolled in over the few hours we were there.

 

Unsurprisingly, the staff parking sported some shiny new Harleys in there. Company bikes perhaps?

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harley-davidson-factory-tour-york-staff-parking  harley-davidson-factory-tour-york-visitor-parking2

harley-davidson-factory-tour-york-visitor-parking

Harley-Davidson factory paint finishes

Harley are rightfully proud of the gleaming paint finishes they achieve on their fenders and fuel tanks. The tour guides spent a long time talking about this and there were many areas in the factory dedicated to exploring further.  You are often invited to “Touch the frame” or “Feel the pinstripe before and after the lacquer coat”.

harley-davidson-frame-assembly

Here’s a few shots of the areas you can compare paint finishes at different parts of the production process:

harley-davidson-fuel-tank-finish

harley-davidson-factory-tour-york-fuel-tank-finishes

Inside the Harley Davidson factory

Unfortunately, our cameras were not allowed in the factory. It is without a doubt one of the cleanest motorcycle production environments we’ve ever seen and there seems to be a pride taken in each and every section of the shop floor. There’s a large use of robots in the plant but we were pleased to see a lot of manual workers there too. There are some jobs that robots will never do efficiently, especially on the final quality inspection, so it’s good to see a compromise here.

Just before taking the tour, you sit in a mini cinema where you get to learn the history of Harley from 4-men-in-a-shed to current day global operations.  The tour guides then issue you with safety goggles and headsets so that you can hear them above the noise of the machinery. As mentioned previously, each tour guide knows their HD stuff, so all questions are answered. At the end of the factory tour you’ll end up in the ubiquitous gift shop where you can buy anything from a bottle opener to a full leather outfit.

Conclusion

I would rate this as a must-do tour if you have even a passing interest in motorcycles. If you are a fan of Harley or an afficionado of the cruiser style of motorcycle then it’s not to be missed. With free entrance you can take the family and have a few hours of fun for nothing.  Upgrade to the steel toe tour if you are a biker, you won’t regret it. With nearby Amish country at Lancaster and the Strasbourg Railway close by,  there’s even more reason to do the Harley-Davidson tour en-route to seeing the sights that Pennsylvania has to offer.

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The maddest intersection on earth?

maddest-intersection

We have all seen those Russian and Asian videos where there are some simply lunatic drivers whizzing through crossroads at breakneck speeds. This one really takes the prize though, as pedestrians, riders and drivers all compete to get as close as humanly possible to each other.

Well OK, it’s a heavily modified mix of video clips run through the ubiquitous Adobe After Effects, but this is one creative video truly worthy of a watch!

 

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Airtrax Cobra uses revolutionary omni-directional wheel movement

As you can see above, the Airtax Cobra uses a unique wheel system to enable sideways and fore-aft movement. I think this will be very useful for applications such as the ‘Cherry picker’ one shown in the video where space is often at a premium.

Airtrax CobraAirtrax make a wide range of warehouse vehicles with this system already. They describe their special wheel as “omni directional” meaning multi-directions can be achieved. Control of the Airtrax Cobra is via a joystick rather than the usual steering wheel, although many cherry pickers use this type of control already. One particular plus is the ability to completely rotate through 360 degrees within their own length.

Impressive stuff and I’m sure we’ll see more from this type of technology in both controlled and remote-controlled vehicles.

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Miles, Kilometres, Pints and Litres – a light hearted look

Someone asked me today if an American mile was the same as a British one. I said it was but the US gallon was slightly different (the context of our chat was miles per gallon). This led to me finishing the conversation and immediately jumping onto Google and Wikipedia for a definitive answer. I was right about the miles and the gallons are indeed different. My daughter has recently asked me about my Km/L (Kilometres per Litre) fuel consumption but I replied that I was still ‘old school’ and talked in MPG (Miles Per Gallon) terms. I did the responsible parent thing though and tried to educate her by explaining the magic mileage conversion figures of 1 mile=1.609344 kilometres, a number that rolls off the tongue. When I added that 1 gallon = 4.55609 litres she ran away screaming.

You may be interested to know that an American pint is 16 American ounces (473 ml), while a British pint is 20 British ounces (568 ml). The more mathematically minded amongst you will probably note that an American ounce must therefore be larger than the British kind.  Canadian pints are stranger still because Canada runs the metric system, so there is no legal definition of an ounce or a pint. In an Irish-Canadian bar you might be lucky and get served a British pint, while in some other places you will get fobbed off with an American pint. Happened to me last year actually, I thought it looked small!

Apparently, the most common definition in Canadian bars is that a pint of beer is half a litre, but some trendier bars selling bottled European beer will try and sell you ‘Belgian pints’ (quarter of a litre). Now my head is spinning and it isn’t the alcohol…..

Australians don’t really know what a pint is either according to Wikipedia, a pint of beer in Australia is 570 ml but a pint of milk is 600 ml. Work that one out. Some might say they don’t know what beer is anyway but let’s not go there….

 

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How to restore faded plastic panels, motorcycle or car

This article details how to restore faded plastic panels on your motorcycle or car back to their former glory. I had this issue some time back with a dirtbike and all of the bright red sidepanels and mudguards (fenders) had gone to a very feminine pink! Sun exposure usually does this and fades the panels over time.

Please note, this method requires the careful use of a sharp blade. It’s a technique that will work but requires a bit of dexterity. Practice on old panels first if you really want the best results.

OK, so let’s see what we need for this:

  • A Stanley knife blade, brand new, also known as a box cutter.
  • (OPTIONAL) Some 1200 grit ‘Wet or Dry’ sandpaper with water.
  • A clean rag, lint free.
  • A tin of alcohol.
  • A hot air gun.

The basic method is to remove the top layer to get down to the fresh plastic below by scraping over the whole area until the colour is uniform and as original. Hold the blade at 45 degrees to avoid ‘digging in’. Once finished, you’ll find a few lines created by your scraping, so you’ll need to scrape in the opposite direction and at 90 degrees to make smooth.

Optionally, we can now use some fine grade ‘Wet or Dry’ paper with some water to go over the whole panel. Use a minimum of 1200 grit as this will not leave scratch marks. This stage is not always required but may improve the final finish. Dry off the panel before moving to the next stage.

Using a clean rag, add some alcohol to it and wipe over the panel. What we are doing here is removing the impurities before we melt the top layer of plastic. Impurities can cause lumps, cracks or blisters and this stage avoids that.

Now we move on to the hot air gun. These are very common in hardware stores or online and can be picked up very cheaply, there are some links below.  Use the hot air gun and heat the panel until you start to see some reflections appearing. Don’t overdo this as you might deform the panel. Keep the hot air gun moving so you don’t concentrate the heat in any particular area.

As you can see from the video below, we now have a new-looking shine on our panel. By practising this method, you can save lots of money and restore even the most worn-looking panels.

 

 

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Electric Harley Davidson – I kid you not!

electric harley davidson motorcycle

Called “Project LiveWire”, this is Harley’s first attempt at selling electric motorcycles. Interesting to see they included an ‘engineered sound’ because they thought it needed something. Not the thump of a big v-twin as you might expect, but instead what seems like some sort of pseudo-electric whine.

0-60mph times of 4 seconds and 90 MPH have been reported from this fully electric bike, so it is perfectly pitched in the performance stakes with similar petrol-driven motorcycles.

Whether you like the idea or not, you have to applaud Harley’s attempt at breaking tradition as well as pushing the boundaries and getting something out there for people to comment on. We remain unconvinced by the styling though and think that Harley need to step this side up a bit to compete with other electric brands currently available if they are to remain at the top of their game. With a huge slab-sided profile and what looks like a cheap aftermarket tablet stuck to the handlebars, they should draw inspiration from some of the custom builders out there and make this design flow a lot better.

What do you think?

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Honda C90 Stepthru – the omelette maker

Honda C90 stepthru

 

This is not the story about one of the greatest bikes of all time, rather this is the tale about THE greatest bike of all time; of course it can be none other than the Honda C90, the king of the “Crunchies”! The Yamaha R1, the Ducati 916, the Manx Norton or Triumph Bonneville all have their place in biking history, but the Honda C90 stepthru has been bought by in of excess of 20,000,000 people around the world. Now that is true greatness.

The subject of this little ditty is the unlucky example (a 20,000,000:1 shot for God shakes!) that had the great misfortune to be sold to my sister. The beginning of this story is pretty normal, my sister needed a cheap, reliable commuter and a C90 seemed to fit the bill perfectly. So rather than throw herself into the shark infested pool that is the used bike market, she bought herself a brand spanking new model, in cool blue from Fewsters of Alnwick in Northumberland. This dealer is long gone now, but it had the odd distinction of being the only bike dealer I know of that also sold tractors! If you exclude BMW and HD dealers that is!!!

Now if you think that the “step-thru” was in for an easy life then think again. The route that my sister took to work involved a 17 mile run along the bumpy coastal roads of Northumberland ~ stunning views, challenging corners, but very demanding for a bike that was meant for chugging around town. The situation was exaggerated by Mary’s total absence of mechanical understanding or sympathy. The poor Honda was relentlessly thrashed to within in an inch (25.4mm ~ for youngsters), of its life, not because she is a speed demon: No, it was just because she thought that as the throttle went all the way around that this was where it had to be! Good job she couldn’t afford a big bike…

 

Honda C90 and the castle

Early in the Honda’s life Mary was charging through the charming little village of Warkworth which, apart from Eric Burnden of the 1960s band “The Animals” living there for a while, is most notable for it’s semi-ruined medieval castle. Throughout the centuries this castle had endured various attacks, sieges etc., but in none of these had prepared this proud monument for what was about to happen next. The castle sits proudly overlooking the village main street, then one quiet afternoon my sister aboard her flat out (as usual), step thru appeared heading straight for the castle’s outer wall! The throttle had jammed open and with the engine and my sister screaming in unison, the C90 bravely launched its attack. In a scene straight from a Laurel and Hardy movie bike and sister speared the castle, and landed in lump of twisted leg-shields and top-box! As if to prove just how tough these things are the damage was limited to some slightly bent forks! Mary stopped screaming after a couple of days! The castle was ok.

Dennis, the star (CBX1000 riding), mechanic at Fewsters soon wielded his magic spanners and had the Honda all straight again. Ready to be handed back into the hands of its shaken owner. Right then, if it could talk, the Honda probably would of said “HELP ME!”

The thrashing continued as the bike bounced across Northumberland each morning and evening without so much as a murmur of protest. Just as you would expect from the machine that seems to of transported half of the world. The Honda just took it all in it’s stride whilst continuing to make that sewing machine like thrum they all do. One evening I tried to follow her home in my car and wound up being amazed at the way she rode. The step thru would only do 57 mph, but this speed was maintained absolutely everywhere!

Then, when the trembling Honda thought things just could not get any worse – it did. I borrowed it for a few weeks! What on earth had this bike done to deserve this, in a world where some believe there is a God?

This was the summer of 1982, I had just turned seventeen and the Honda was the first bike I ever rode legally on the road. The suffering for the Honda cranked up a notch in my clumsy, inexperienced hands. Not knowing any different, my only reference points up to now being my own C50 “quarry bike”, a 5 speed racer pushbike and an elderly Ford Cortina, I thought the ‘big bore’ 90 was quite quick. Over the next few weeks I had a brilliant time blasting around all over the lanes that surround Alnwick, Warworth, Alnmouth, Amble and Boulmer to name but a small selection. All the time a look of glee was spread across my face and I generally took any excuse to use the bike to go somewhere. On one memorable occasion I was despatched on the orders of my sister into the nearest village to buy some eggs. So I hopped aboard and zapped into Warkworth, bought a nice tray of free-range eggs, stuck them carefully in the ‘Top Tek’ top-box (a compulsory fit to a C90 obviously), and then turned for home. After a couple of uneventful miles I decided to go the long way back and headed off into the wilds. I bounced out towards RAF Boulmer to take a look at the old EE Lightening fighter jet that was on display there near the entrance.

 

Stepthru omelette anyone?

About a fun filled hour later I got back to the house and suddenly thought “Shit, the eggs!” They had been scrambled at 57 mph! Gingerly I opened the top-box lid to be greeted by a right old mess, all the eggs had long since escaped the confines of the tray and were now a beautifully beaten omelette mix! There was however a slight problem; my sister waterproofs and whole manner of other junk and detritus had shared the top-box with the eggs and everything was now completely covered in the mix. Some was even dripping out of the bottom through the mounting holes. Oh dear!

The Honda returned to my sister full time not long after that and continued to be tortured at 57mph for several more years. It was dutiful, reliable and cost pennys to run. Eventually after the better part of a decades service the by now near derelict Honda was stolen from her backyard. So not even an easy retirement was in store for this brave little bike. It’s last days were probably spent being thrashed across fields bereft of its leg-shields and its dignity.

KNL 702X, if any of you is still out there, you have my respect – you were one hell of a way to scramble eggs!