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Motorcycle Views Newsletter for 04/12/2015

By Walter F. Kern

 Motorcycle Views Newsletter

Vol. 9, No. 8, April 12, 2015

Articles of Interest on Motorcycle Views:

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Today's Motorcycle Views Poll:

I am running one new Motorcycle Views Poll in the newsletter for each issue.

Here's Poll No. 11: How many motorcycles do you own?

The latest Motorcycle Views Poll is now also appearing on the front page of my website.

ALL Motorcycle Views Polls

Today's How-To:

I will be featuring one of my How-Tos for each issue.

How To Handle a Motorcycle That Dies in Traffic

ALL Motorcycle How-Tos

Recent Additions to the Motorcycle Views Website:

Reflections: Motorcycle Trips - How Do You Prepare?

Today, I'm going to reflect on motorcycle trips. I know some have never taken a long motorcycle trip. Maybe you will only go on one long motorcycle trip in your lifetime. If so, how do you plan for it or will you just take off and wander around for a month or two.

Before you go on a motorcycle trip, you need to determine if you have the right motorcycle, the right apparel, and the right physical conditioning to have a successful motorcycle trip. In addition, the bike must be in good mechanical condition. Further, you must determine what needs to be packed on the bike to make an enjoyable adventure. The kitchen sink is not required but often it seems to be the only thing left off. We discuss all aspects of getting ready to have a great motorcycle trip.

What's Your Motivation for Going?

A motorcycle trip is more than just a ride to the store for milk. A motorcycle trip is much longer. It might be 50 miles or 3000 miles or longer. It's a chance to go touring and see what's over the next hill.

You might be motivated by a chance remark by a friend to join them on a trip out West. You might read about a rally 300 miles away and want to go do some test rides.

You could be motivated to ride somewhere beyond your limits. Your experience may be lacking or your bike's too small. You shouldn't go. Only the strong survive.

You might be wanting to test yourself. That's not all bad, if you're prepared.

Prepare the Motorcycle

Touring can be done on any motorcycle but these days, most touring riders want a big bike. When I thought about riding out West with friends, I was riding a Nighthawk 750 and my wife was on a Shadow 600. We quickly decided we needed new bikes to tour on. We bought twin Honda PC-800s. You have to decide what bike is best for your trip.

Once you know what bike, you need to make it mechanically perfect. Either do-it-yourself or let your local mechanic go over it. Change the fluids, buy new tires and battery, and get a good set of tools.

Of course, some riders are adventurers. They just ride and pray a lot ... Read more.

Picture courtesy of Jef Verswyvel whose story "Trip to Llano" is featured in my book, 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales.

Motorcycle Picture of the Month:

Motorcycle Picture of the Month - April, 2015 - Laurie:
See the April, 2015 Picture of the Month and previous pictures. If you'd like to be considered for Picture of the Month, send me a picture and description of your bike. Submit Picture.

My Book, 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales, has completed production to be an Audible Selection:

Soon, I will have another ordering option on my 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales book: Audio.

Audible is another Amazon company that is producing books you can listen to while you're driving or riding your motorcycle or anywhere else you don't have the option to read. I'm happy to be supplying books to this new listening audience.

The audio version will meet requirements for Whispersync for Voice at Amazon. That means you can synchronize the audio with the Kindle version so you can listen on your bike or car and when you get to your destination, continue on with your Kindle version. In fact, you can even put the Kindle version on your tablet, listen to the Audible version on your smartphone, and see the text highlighted on the tablet. That's called immersion reading.

Update: Production is complete. It will soon be available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. On Amazon, it will appear with the paperback and Kindle editions. You'll be able to listen to a 5-minute sample of the book and hear all three narrators, including me. Check out the new Audible book cover, shown here. The cover is also now appearing on both the Kindle and paperback editions of the book.

Here are the Most Popular articles on the Motorcycle Views Site. Take a look:

My Motorcycle Books:

I have reduced the price of my three Kindle editions to $0.0 (FREE) IF you also first purchase the corresponding paperback edition. That way you can always have the book with you if you have a tablet or smartphone with you. None of the paperbacks has color pictures in them owing to the high price of producing a book with color. However, every Kindle edition has color pictures, so the Getting Started Riding a Motorcycle and Motorcycle Haiku Poetry Kindle books are in full color.

I hope you will take a look at my three motorcycle books, available in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.com. These books make great, inexpensive gifts. In fact, you can purchase all three for less than $25 total. As I mentioned above, you will also be able to download each of the three color Kindle books FREE, IF you buy the corresponding paperback first.

My first book, Getting Started Riding a Motorcycle, was first published in 2011 but only as a Kindle edition. It was revised in 2014 and also made available in a paperback edition. Click the book cover to learn more about the book and how to buy it on Amazon.com.

My second book, 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales, contains a collection of stories that originally were only available on my website. Fifty of these stories were selected, intensively edited, and compiled into the book. I wrote five of the stories. The book is available in both paperback and Kindle editions. Click the book cover to learn more about the book and how to buy it on Amazon.com.

My third book, Motorcycle Haiku Poetry, also available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle editions, contains haiku poems about motorcycles. A surprising number of visitors to my site quickly caught on and enjoyed haiku poetry that had been submitted to me over the years from motorcyclists. Haiku is a simple poem of three lines with five syllables in the first and last lines and seven in the second line. They are easy to write, and most riders like to read them. I coupled each haiku poem with a motorcycle picture and description that tied into the poem itself. I wrote seven of the haiku poems. Click the book cover to learn more about the book and how to buy it on Amazon.com.

Polar Bear Grand Tour Pictures and Videos:

Since the last Newsletter, the Polar Bear Grand Tour has completed one more run: Hickory BBQ Smokehouse in Kingston, NY. There was no April 5 run. Click this link (or the picture) to see some of the pictures as they appear on Facebook.

All the pictures and videos for this run -- including some taken at Orange County Choppers (OCC) -- can be found by clicking the following link: Hickory BBQ Smokehouse

The Polar Bears consist of 550 riders from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware, who ride each Sunday to a different prescribed destination where they sign-in and receive points. There is, usually, a restaurant at or near the destination. It gets cold, windy, and snowy on these rides. I've been a Polar Bear member for more than 20 years, and I built and continue to maintain their website.

The picture to the right was taken at the Hickory BBQ Smokehouse.

Motorcycle Video:

Here's a video I found on YouTube showing a dog being rescued by a large group of motorcyclists after he jumped out of a car window on a busy highway in Brazil: Watch the video.

Help Grow Motorcycle Views:

The Motorcycle Views Website is here for you. We encourage you to submit a story, picture, poem, salvage yard recommendation, user review of your own bike, tattoo, YouTube video you made of your bike, motorcycle tip, etc. These will be evaluated for inclusion into one of our major features. Send us a submission today and share part of your motorcycling experience with our many readers. Read how to make a submission.

Send In Your Pictures:

We love pictures of your motorcycles. Even better is a picture of you with your bike. We also like descriptions of bikes so tell us all about your bike. What accessories do you have? What special paint job do you have? How long have you been riding? Tell us more. Women riders are especially requested to send their pictures in. Submit a Picture.

Social Media:

See me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube.

My Website:

My website, forum, and blog are all available on your PC or MAC and your smartphone or tablet (in a new format).

Be sure to check out the Home Page on Motorcycle Views. It keeps changing daily, now containing links to hundreds of my original articles and features including Makes and Models, Picture Galleries, Motorcycle FAQ, Motorcycle Tips, Motorcycle How-Tos, Rallies, Videos and Movies, and User Reviews.

Walter F. Kern's Author Page on AmazonThanks again for coming along for the ride in this new edition of the Motorcycle Views Newsletter. -- Walter.

For New Subscribers:

Expect newsletters on Sunday afternoon every other week.

Please understand that the Motorcycle Views Newsletter is NOT the Motorcycle Views website. The newsletter provides a few links to content on the Motorcycle Views website. Once you click a link in the newsletter, you'll be getting access to content on the Motorcycle Views site.

If you'd like to view some recent newsletters, just go to the newsletter sign-up page and look below where my three motorcycle books are described for links.

Thanks for signing up for the Motorcycle Views Newsletter. Using this Newsletter, I'll keep you up-to-date with what's going on in the Motorcycle Views Blog, the Motorcycle Views Website, and the Motorcycle Views Forum. The forum has a new look as of February 13, 2015. Take a look. Not sure what a blog is? It's like a daily readout of what I'm thinking about, similar to a diary at times. Most often, I'm using mine right now to tell my visitors what has been added to the Motorcycle Views site.

See me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube.

My website, forum, and blog are all available on your PC or MAC and your smartphone or tablet (in a new format).

END OF NEWSLETTER

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