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Motorcycle Views Newsletter for 11/22/2015

By Walter F. Kern

Motorcycle Views Newsletter

Vol. 9, No. 25, November 22, 2015

Articles of Interest on Motorcycle Views:

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Honda Motorcycle History and a Quiz:

This article gives a history lesson and quiz about Honda motorcycles. It is part of a series of motorcycle history lessons and quizzes.

Some may think they already know a lot about Honda, its history and its machines. Perhaps you would like to take a quiz on Honda history and skip the rest of this article. That's OK. You may want to come back later for more information.

Here's your chance to take the Honda Motorcycle History Quiz now. (Currently, the quiz does not work on mobile devices.) However, I hope you will first want to read more about Honda motorcycle history before you take the Honda quiz.

The following is a short potpourri of the history of Honda motorcycles.

Use it to satisfy yourself that you know Honda history now or as a stepping stone to learning more Honda motorcycle history later on. There will be a quiz at the end.

New riders of motorcycles are familiar with the current models but may not be aware of the history of a given motorcycle manufacturer. Most people know that Honda makes cars. In fact, in 2001 the Honda Accord was the best selling car in America. Honda began with one man and a dream. The result was an empire of motorcycles, cars, and more.

Soichiro Honda was born in 1906, in Komyo, Prefecture of Shizuoka, Japan near Mt. Fuji. He was the oldest of nine children and not at all fond of school. His parents felt that learning was best done by hands-on training rather than in a formalized school setting. Honda was a con-conforming child and did what he could to set himself apart from others. He quickly developed self-assurance and abilities with technical things.

Honda first worked with cars. At 15, he was an apprentice in an automobile workshop. He helped develop a racing car and was its rider-mechanic. He then built his own supercharged 4-cylinder Ford and set a speed record in 1936. That same day, he wrecked the car, ending his racing career.

He began making car piston rings but had trouble since he knew no metallurgy. He saw the need for more schooling but seemed to only learn enough to make his business more successful. During WWII, he worked in a factory making airplane propellers more efficient.

After the war he sold his piston ring business to Toyota to finance a new venture to put the Japanese back on wheels. He found 500 generator motors and set upon building motorized bicycles. He then made his own 50cc two-stroke engine.

He founded Honda Motor Company, Ltd in 1948. His first true motorcycle was the Model D in 1949. He renamed it the Honda Dream D. Then came the Dream E, his first 4-stroke 146cc engine. In 1958, he produced the Super Cub that eventually sold 30 million machines over four decades. It was part scooter, part motorcycle.

Read more about Honda especially how Honda didn't wait for demand, it created it. Also take the Honda Quiz.

The picture above is a 1976 Honda CB750 model submitted by Edward Hoblin.

Joe Motorcycle - Just an Average Guy:

I happened to run into a biker friend of mine named Joe Motorcycle. Now Joe is an average guy, kinda like Charlie Brown in the comics. Joe spends a lot of time on the Internet, especially on the Motorcycle Views site and on the Motorcycle Views Forum when he's not out riding his bike.

Joe has consented to answer a few questions for me. I must warn you though. Joe is a man of few words.

Oh, and please resist the temptation to click on the links until we get to the end of the interview. If you do click the answers, please remember to use the Back button to return to the interview with Joe.

Walter: "What brand of motorcycle do you ride Joe?"

Joe: "Hey, I just got a new Harley-Davidson Freewheeler trike. It's great!"

Walter: "How did you learn to ride?"

Joe: "Never went to one of those new schools. Learned on my own."

Walter: "What color is your scoot?"

Joe: "Some people around here seem to like red but the only motorcycle color I like is black."

Walter: "How many motorcycles do you own?

Joe: "Well, I used to have an old Panhead but had to sell it. I only have one motorcycle these days."

Now read the complete interview with Joe by clicking here.

Today's How-To:

I will be featuring one of my How-Tos in each issue of the newsletter.

How To Clean a Windshield

ALL Motorcycle How-Tos

My New Book:

As mentioned last time, I am now writing my fourth book on motorcycling. It will be a small introductory book.

The book was inspired by my Audible producer who was looking for a 2-hour audio on motorcycles.

I have completed the content of the book. I have a cover for the book. I expect it to be released before Christmas.

It will have Kindle, paperback, and Audible editions.

50 Wild Motorcycle Tales - Book 2 - I Need Your Help:

It appears that there may be a demand for a 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales - Book 2 in my future. It would be my fifth book. I will be writing some new stories of my own but I want to solicit from you any motorcycle stories you have written or might write to be part of the new book. These stories must involve real events that happened to you while you were motorcycling. You must be the author of the story. Send me stories if you wish to see your work in my new book.

Motorcycle Picture of the Month:

Motorcycle Picture of the Month - November, 2015 - 2001 Indian Drifter:
See the latest 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, is also available as an Audiobook (Audible) Edition on Amazon, iTunes, and Audible:

My new audiobook makes a great gift for those who want to listen instead of read.

I mentioned in previous Motorcycle Views newsletters that I would soon have an audiobook edition of my book, 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales. On April 14, 2015, that became a reality. The audiobook is available on Amazon, iTunes, and Audible.

If you click the book cover (or click here), you can listen to a 5-minute sample of the audiobook and hear all three narrators, including one female voice and me.

Should you decide to buy and download the audiobook, I'd welcome any Amazon online reviews you might want to write after you have listened to the audiobook.

Remember, this new audiobook edition is also available for download on iTunes. That means you can access it on all your Apple devices including your iPhone and iPad.

Here are some very popular articles on the Motorcycle Views Site. Take a look:

Latest Motorcycle Pictures:

See the latest received pictures by category.



"My ride is a 2007 Honda Gold Wing. We've been together two months and she's my first Wing ... more. -- Dolores Seeger"

My Motorcycle Books:

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, Kindle, and audiobook (Audible) editions. Click the book cover to learn more about the book and how to buy it on Amazon.com. The Audible edition is also available for immediate download on iTunes and Audible.

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. Here's a sample haiku poem:

Very Nasty

My motorcycle
Evil, wicked, mean, nasty
A harley panhead

—Preacher

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.

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.

Polar Bear Grand Tour Runs to The Eagles and Pic-A-Lilli:

Since the last Newsletter, the Polar Bear Grand Tour has completed runs to The Eagles in Bridgewater, NJ and Pic-A-Lilli Inn in Shamong, NJ Click this link (or the picture) to see some of the pictures as they appear on Facebook.

All the pictures and videos for these runs can be found by clicking the following links: The Eagles and Pic-A-Lilli Inn.

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 Eagles in Bridgewater, NJ.

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.

The Motorcycle Views Website is Also on your Smartphone or Tablet:

Are you relying more and more on your cellphone or tablet and less and less on your PC or MAC? Remember that all that great motorcycling information on Motorcycle Views is as near as your cellphone. It's also in a new format designed to fit your portable screen. Check us out anywhere you need motorcycle information.

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.

Social Media:

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

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.

The Motorcycle Views Website is Also on your Smartphone or Tablet:

Are you relying more and more on your cellphone or tablet and less and less on your PC or MAC? Remember that all that great motorcycling information on Motorcycle Views is as near as your cellphone. It's also in a new format designed to fit your portable screen. Check us out anywhere you need motorcycle information.

END OF NEWSLETTER

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2016

2015

2014

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