#poll

A video making the rounds this week showed a rider trying to be a good Samaritan after seeing a wallet slide off the roof of a car as its inattentive driver pulled onto the street. Picking up the wallet, the rider chased after the car but was given a rude response. The rider tried again, and this time, the driver understood what happened, and the rudeness turned to relief.

The fall motorcycle show season kicks off next week in Cologne, Germany, at the semi-annual Intermot exposition. Although manufacturers try to keep secret the news of upcoming bikes that are nearing production, we already know of several that are due to be revealed this autumn. Here’s a list of some of what we’re expecting to see this year:

Honda’s CBR1000RR/Fireblade has stood patiently by the wayside all these years while its contemporaries in the fiercely competitive liter-class sportbike category have bulked themselves up, delivering levels of performance and technology not seen anywhere but the MotoGP and World Superbike paddocks.

Despite the fact Harley-Davidson has sold its Super Tuners to be used for off-road or competition use and not on public roads, The Motor Company has reached an agreement with the EPA to stop selling its Super Tuners, which essentially reflash the ECU for optimum EFI performance. A byproduct of the Tuner’s installation is the motorcycle emitting higher emission levels than what was originally certified with the EPA.

As motorcyclists, we’re all too familiar with car drivers merging into our lanes, seemingly blind to the fact we’re occupying the lane they are trying to merge into. But what’s proper etiquette when a two-lane road turns into one? Which order should vehicles in a double-file line let each other into a single-file line? Whatever your answer, it’s probably not what this woman was thinking as she comes from behind this motorcyclist and co-occupies the lane he’s in. He then gets upset, honks the horn a few times, gives the driver a quick lesson in merging, calls her a choice expletive then rides on.

It’s a question we’re asked all the time: “What’s the best motorcycle for a new rider?” It’d be great if we could give the same answer every time, but in reality the answer depends on many factors – rider size, competency, wants, needs, and desires among them. Small displacement bikes are generally a good place to start, but read enough forum commenters and before long you’ll find someone who shares their tale of how they started on a literbike and lived to tell the tale.

We’ve all seen it: a guy on a bike at a stoplight will periodically rev his engine for no apparent reason. A few days ago at Daytona Bike Week, I witnessed a rider doing a U-turn while holding in his clutch lever and constantly blipping the throttle. Because the engine was always at a different speed, the bike lurched each time he engaged the clutch. Then there was the woman riding the custom bike with ape-hangers so tall that she looked like she had to stretch to reach them. Still, at every stoplight (I was stuck behind her for a while), she’d pull in the clutch and vroom-vroom-vroom. Although the straight pipes were noisy, I think it was her tube top and riding position that triggered all the extended looks.

Friday is winding down here at the MO Towers. Naturally, the topic of what is happening this weekend has come up as we stand around the espresso bar waiting for our pre-commute massages. We’ve got our weekends planned out: Tom is busy with the construction of the motocross track in his living room. Troy has almost grafted the baby seat to his CBR600R test bike. Burns will be rearranging the furniture in his garage for optimal XDiavel placement. The Dukester is investigating the latest shark guard technology. I’m planning on getting intimate with my R6 as I install another test product. Sounds like we’ll be busy with plenty of moto-entertainment.

We know that lots of riders give lip service to wearing All-The-Gear-All-The-Time (ATGATT), but we thought that it was time to check to see how the numbers really shake out. Because MOrons are smarter than your average bear, we expect them to score highly on the gear usage list. Still, we know that, while everyone on earth has a reason for existing, some people are destined to become a bad example. Don’t be one of those guys! OK?