Now the cowboys are mostly gone, unless you count the millions of Stetson-wearing poseurs driving Chevy Silverados to their cubicle jobs.

Mentally back to reality and the point at hand: My CRF is box-stock and very quiet, and I like that. Jim loosed one bolt out of the back of my exhaust, popped out the inner core and presto! It's loud: "sounds good, now, huh?" he queries me with that devilish smile of his. 'No,' I think, 'it sounds garishly loud, don't touch my bike!' Count, one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, and...

On September 20th, he was sent with California's contingent to Louisiana to assist with disaster relief efforts. Although he is a combat veteran, seeing action as a .50 caliber machine gunner in the first Gulf War, and has seen all kinds of horrible poverty and destruction all over the world, nothing could prepare him for the sight of devastated American homes and communities.

The main objection folks have to buying new is price. Motorcycles are expensive, especially compared to home appliances like dishwashers or microwave ovens. However, when you adjust for inflation, a good 600cc sportbike is only about 1,600 bukcs in 1970 dollars. Of course, the 1970 sportbike had

A MO staffer rides a Honda ST1100 up a very boring Route 99, half asleep at the throttle. State Highway 99 is one of the straightest stretches of road in California and there's always lots of roadkill on the sides of the asphalt. It's as though the animals get bored of looking at the same farmland for so long and and just decide to jump. Or maybe they feel like they should join their country cousins in agricultural bliss.

Particularly for a large, professional race, where the stakes are high, and the competition fierce. If you have never attempted this sort of thing before, my first piece of advice is to start small, with a couple of local, amateur events, before diving into the maelstrom of big-time, professional competition.

Last month [Part I], we talked about figuring out which motorcycle you want and need. You've done all your research, talked to all your friends, and read all the message boards and FAQs online. You have your money, or at least your credit is sufficient to allow you your purchase. Now you just have to find your motorcycle. Just like finding your true love, your motorcycle is out there, waiting for you, and now you're going to find it, right? This is easy. I mean, it's easy to find your favorite brand of razors or dish soap, so you just walk on down to the motorcycle shop and buy it, right?

...a clear understanding of these basic terms is essential for an understanding of what's to follow.

That actually worked out pretty well for me. Back in the late 80's, when I bought my first bike, there was a massive glut of cheap, reliable used motorcycles, the result of Honda and Yamaha's battle for market share in the late 70's and early 80's. I bought a 5 year old Yamaha XS650 from a dealer for the whopping sum of $999. It had 1200 miles on it and ran perfectly for as long as I had it, even though it was heavy and buzzy and a nightmare to tour on.          

According to the US Federal Highway Administration, in 2000 the 75 largest metropolitan areas "experienced 3.6 billion vehicle-hours of delay, resulting in 21.6 billion liters (5.7 billion gallons) in wasted fuel and

We really are here for you at MO. We review bikes and dispense advice, not just because it's fun and allows us to bask in the radiance of our own presence, but also to repay, in a small way, our karmic debt for just being able to do it in the first place. Even though we say it often and loudly, "There is simply no substitute for track time, when learning how to ride a high-performance sport motorcycle." On a race track, all of the traffic is going the same way, there isn't any gravel, diesel fuel, or dirt at the apex, and there is generally an ambulance within 1 minute of you, should something go wrong. Not only is there is a wealth of talent around to help you improve your riding ability, you'll also meet plenty of like-minded people, which is the best part of it for most of us.

If you already own a camcorder you are just a few Ben Franklin's away from narcissistic nirvana starring in your own movies.

Even the bike's latest iteration, the ZZR-1200, has come in for punishing prose along the lines of "Ho-hum, not much new here." Well, bollocks-n-buggery! Fact is, thanks to the robust aftermarket (and that in turn to the loyalty of ZX-11 Fans), the original 1989-1999 ZX-11 Ninja still has a lot to offer. A quick browse through cyberspace says it all. Several very active 'sites are devoted to the bike, examining just about every stressed bolt, layshaft and oil pan - stock and modded. Just search Google for "ZX-11" and see for yourself.

Well stuff them all! We don't ride bikes because of the fuel mileage or parking convenience. We ride them for an ass-kicking rush of speed, the thrill of crazy lean angles and, most of all, because the opposite sex digs 'em! And if you're going to ride, you may as well learn some tricks, right? Luckily we're here to educate you on the things they missed in Driver's Ed.

Lets say you see those tell-tale rings of oily dirt on your fork tubes, and you're starting to get the idea that a little thing like a leaky fork seal can become a life-threatening problem. Well, we're here to verify your fears: it is. And it always amazes us that, when pointing out an obviously leaking seal, some riders come back with: "Well, dude, it was leaking for a while, but it stopped, so nothing's wrong." Duh, you numbskull, you're probably out of oil, or the seal has absorbed so much dirt that it's piped a bunch down into the fork, turning the stuff formerly known as oil into a mean glob of sludge.

Oil changing opens up the usual debate about which oil to use. I won't go into all the pros and cons of synthetic vs. semi-synthetic vs. mineral in this DIY article. My tip is: if you are someone who really piles up the miles or loads the engine constantly, go with the best synthetic oil that you are willing to pay for (Be sure your bike likes whichever oil you choose. My ex-SV650 wouldn't shift correctly under race conditions and would frequently slip out of gear, with Mobil 1 MX4T. -Sean). On the other extreme, if you ride an old hack that consumes oil, your routine oil top-off is going to constantly renew the all important anti-friction additives and detergents in the crankcases anyway. In that case, it would be pointless to go for expensive and long lasting high-end oils and you would do well with an old-fashioned mineral. For all those in between cases (which means most of us), you won't go wrong by sticking to the recommendation in your owner's manual or by choosing those mid-range semi-synthetics. Regarding the filter, some say that forcing new oil through a used filter is not the best idea and I have to agree. Changing the oil filter on each oil change rather than on every other one is not a bad policy.

Motorcycle restoration is in many ways the perfect hobby, melding an interest in things mechanical, the joy of craftsmanship, the satisfaction of collecting, the excitement of riding and the value of investment. Deciding where to start is the hard part.

There's a fine line between treasure hunting and swap meet fever since junk, like beauty, is mainly in the eye of the beholder. But for this writer/bike builder the joy of finding, say a `50s Parilla primary cover can be just as intoxicating as a prospector stubbing his toe on a huge nugget of gold or a Schliemann finding the fabled lost city of Troy.

This thing could make the MOTOGP grid in any race while carrying around some 30 pounds more.

Here's a guide to un-sticking stuck fasteners.

Ever since I first watched this tape I've had this recurring dream. Fade in to the mean streets of South Central Los Angeles. A bunch of Biker Boyz-ish hoods are doing burn-outs and power wheelies on chromed out Gixers in a back alley. The hip-hop is thumping, the hoochies are strutting, the 40s are draining. And all of a sudden there's a loud "screeeech" on the turntable, and the music stops. Some poor dude falls out mid-stoppie and almost cracks open his helmet-less melon. Everybody laughs. But their eyes are all fixed on the 2 white dorks rolling up on pre-historic, thrashed out Yamaha XT-550 dirt bikes looking as though they made a wrong turn like 200 miles back in the middle of the Mojave Desert. But there wasn't any wrong turn. Me and my man Jerry Jones have come to throw down the gauntlet! Like Luke Skywalker and Obiwan Kenobi we bust out some tandem slow motion balance wheelies. I shift to a standup wheelie while Jerry does slow, menacing one-wheeled circles around the leader of the hood rats, all the while beaming at him with his big as Texas cheesy smile! All the street punks are Ooooohing and Aaaaaaahing as I make eye contact with the slenderest of the tenderest fly girls and lay back into a fender bender to admire the scenery for a little longer before cruisin' on by. Meanwhile Jerry is wheelie-ing over the tricked out Civics and Integras like they were speed bumps.

Lake Elsinore, California, October 9th, 2002 -- Interesting how things that oftentimes appear to be a radical departure from the norm are in fact evolutionary rather than a genuine fundamental  revolution. The new buzz on Radial Mount Calipers is straight from the automotive industry with a few minor tweaks. With cars, they've almost always mounted the calipers in a fore and aft manner because it's a straight up simple and strong way to do so. Granted, the new motorcycle version has finally taken that lead and adapted the concept by incorporating a radial mount instead of the commonplace perpendicular (90 degree to rotor face axis) mounting bosses universally prevalent today. In reality, whether calipers are mounted radially or perpendicularly is of little consequence, having only to do with the fact that the new generation calipers can be made a bit lighter via the radial mount set-up (no other significant performance difference here).

Mainly, rust never sleeps, and when rust is maybe taking a catnap, there's all kinds of dust and dirt and junk dying to get in between your brake caliper and its little pistons, creating friction, robbing feel. You can take the calipers all the way apart of course, but sometimes a good cleaning will do the trick too. (And you'll need new piston seals if you take them apart.) All you need to do is remove the calipers from the fork tubes, slide out the pads--and you're right there on the front porch of the piston sisters. Easy.

Torrance, California, August 16, 2002 -- The time had come for some serious work to be done on my trusty 2000 Suzuki SV650; it had survived two Seattle winters and traveled more than 16000 miles, looking great but in need of some mechanical luvin'. I was past due on the 15000-mile service, it was desperately in need of some new sprockets and a chain, the exhaust needed repacking, the forks felt like they were filled with Jell-O, and the shock absorber was no longer absorbing shocks.

What you'll need to go street class racing: A set of racing leathers, (leather jacket and pants are still approved in some sanctions) full-face Snell 85 or 90 approved helmet, boots, gloves, and one Harley Davidson V-twin motorcycle, Sportster or Big Twin. Most stock class entrants are on Evolution-era motorcycles now (because of their reliability) although you can probably race your knucklehead if you want to. Stock classes are usually just that, sometimes with modifications to exhaust or carburetion allowed -- call the sanctioning body for rules. Some events require a lanyard kill switch (dead man's switch), that can be bought for a few dollars. Expect to pay a few bucks for a rulebook (essential reading), a few more bucks for numberplates, and up to 50 dollars in entry fees, depending on class. You may have to stump up a tech fee too, and you'll have to submit to a tech inspection; no oil leaks allowed.

Most of us can't afford to run out and buy a new bike every time something goes wrong or needs adjusting. So as consumers, we are familiar with the ever-so-painful and expensive trip to the local dealership or mechanic.

I could feel the sharp pain in my right ankle and I knew something was wrong. Looking up from my position I could see the light brown pick-up truck that had sideswiped me. The specifics of the accident didn't really interest me as I heard the wail of the sirens get louder. The only thing that I could be sure of was that I was injured. I didn't realize I was about to become an unwitting health-insurance guinea pig.

In many high-performance situation, riders clamor for higher octane fuels, thinking this will give them additional horsepower and, thus, an advantage over the competition.

Since the previous Wrenching With Rob, Chemical Soup: The Meaning of Gasoline we've been besieged with questions and comments regarding the combustion process occurring in an engine. In particular, the discussion focused on the problem of detonation, commonly referred to as "knock," which is a very serious and detrimental problem when it occurs - usually the pressures exerted onto the piston top during detonation are much larger (but of a shorter duration, like a pressure spike) than the mean combustion pressure. Nevertheless they are very detrimental to engine life, as the continual high shock loading of the piston, rod, crankshaft and bearings is quite destructive.

Disclaimer: This article is for your entertainment purposes only. Don't do this. All photos are of professional riders under controlled conditions, wearing safe and protective clothing. If you try this at home, it could rip your leg off. Or your mother will.

"We started out with a 2- item Honda CB450 wish list that I made up," says Augustine. "From that, Todd picked four areas that we would work on before Daytona."

As always children, don't try this at home (even if you do live in California) or at least don't do it because you saw it here. We have good lawyers and we'll chain whip you if you sue us because you got hurt doing something stupid. It wasn't our fault, you were an abused child or something. Basically, the voices in your head aren't ours. What follows is a work of fiction, and all visual representations were rendered using our really big, air-cooled SGI computer that makes a scary humming noise like the ones they used to make dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park".

This is not an unusual desire these days, not with waiting lists and sky-high prices for some of the more popular Harley-Davidson models. In Harley parlance, a "basket case" is a pile of parts in the corner of someone's farmhouse, often contained in baskets. Restoring a "basket case" is a respected way to gain admittance to the fraternity that is Harley-Davidson. However, there are only so many to go around, and since practically everyone with a shred of technical know-how is buying them up, even basket cases are now becoming an endangered species.

Disclaimer: This article is for your entertainment purposes only. Don't do this. All photos are of professional riders under controlled conditions, wearing safe and protective clothing. If you try this at home, it could rip your leg off. Or your mother will.

Something in human nature seems to require that we make judgments by comparison. It's not enough that a new motorcycle scores a direct hit on our senses. We can't seem to make up our minds until we've seen the superiority of the new machine demonstrated in a face-off against familiar bikes. In 1996 Yamaha set forth on a bold experiment, introducing their all-new Royal Star into the large-displacement cruiser market where retro style and image were perfected and V-twin powerplants rule. Comparison was inevitable.

Savor this simple fact: Life is short and the road is long.

"Krazy" Keith Kardell is world famous for his motorcycle stunt riding antics, including a 12.5 second quarter mile time while riding backwards on his Harley-Davidson Sportster. The following report is Keith's accounting of his world-record-setting run at the Bonneville Salt Flats this past summer in the MPG 1650 class (Modified frame, Push rod, Gas engine) aboard a 1987 Bartels' Harley-Davidson Sportster. Keith and his mechanic, Dave Rivera, have been racing this bike for the past three years at SCTA land speed events on a 1-1/3 mile course at El Mirage dry lake bed in the California desert.  

Simply put, it's because the two-stroke exhaust system, commonly referred to as an 'expansion chamber' uses pressure waves emanating from the combustion chamber to effectively supercharge your cylinder.