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Motorcycle Views Newsletter for 05/08/2016

By Walter F. Kern

 Motorcycle Views Newsletter

Vol. 10, No. 10, May 8, 2016

Articles of Interest on Motorcycle Views:

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1. Recent Additions to the Motorcycle Views Website:

2. Mother's Day:

I ran this tribute to my mom last year on Mother's Day. I thought I'd repeat it for those who have not seen it.

I've been seeing lots of beautiful tributes to moms today, especially on Facebook. I thought I would do the same for my own Mom here in the Newsletter. My mom died in 1979 so I can't talk to her anymore. But, if your mom is still around, don't forget her today. Call her. The following is what I just posted on Facebook:

"I don't have any pictures of Mom here with me today but I was able to find one already on Facebook. The picture was taken 57 years ago and appeared in the local newspaper, The Pantagraph, after she won a cooking contest.

I talked about my parents in the Acknowledgments to my book, Motorcycle Haiku Poetry. Here is an excerpt that is appropriate today, Mother's Day:

'I would like to thank my mother, Margaret, and my father, Walter. My mom died in 1979 at the age of 70. Dad died in 1992 at the age of 84. I started riding motorcycles for the first time in 1989 at the age of 51.

Mom was the gentle encourager in the family. She never smoked a cigarette, never had a drink, never cussed, and never learned how to drive a car. Mom graduated from high school just before the Great Depression. Mom knew I had a desire to ride but only from seeing me at the age of 15 day-dreaming over Mechanix Illustrated magazine issues with ads for Harley-Davidson motorcycles in them. I soon got into cars and forgot about motorcycles for another 35 years.

My parents had three children, two sons and a daughter, and two of them graduated from college. Mom and Dad saw us both graduate. Mom knew that I also liked to write but thought nothing about it. They both were of a different generation. They let us do whatever we felt was best for us and knew it would all just work out, and it did. My sister had two girls, and both graduated from college. I had two of my three children graduate from college. So far, six of my parents' descendants have finished college with three of them majoring in engineering—certainly a tribute to my dad. The other three, all female, are much like my mom and a tribute to her. My seven grandchildren and my sister's two grandchildren are all on the road to getting college educations. Mom and Dad were a mixture of technical and liberal arts, and that is pretty much what I have become.

They never lived long enough to see my first book on motorcycling come out in 2011, 32 years after Mom died, and 19 years after Dad died. This book is my third book. Hopefully, they are both looking down as I continue living a life they started, but probably never imagined how it would play out. All I can say is that I am grateful they were my parents and provided their children with all the basics needed to energize their lives to achieve their individual potentials.'

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom."

3. Motorcycle Movie Reviews - Purple Rain Review:

1981 Honda CM400T I was watching something on TV about Prince's life. They said that Prince wrote and acted in the movie, Purple Rain. Of course I knew that. What I didn't know was that he liked motorcycles and owned a few. In fact he rode a motorcycle in Purple Rain, a 1981 Honda CM400 Hondamatic. I heard the words and then it registered: 1981 Honda CM400.

My first motorcycle was a 1981 Honda CM400T. The T meant that it had a Tachometer whereas the Hondamatic (CM400A) was an Automatic. That made me want to take a look at the Purple Rain movie to see the Honda and compare it to mine. So, last night I watched the movie On Demand. I then wrote a review of the movie.

I also looked for motorcycle movie reviews that already existed on my site and found three others that I had written in the past: Ghost Rider, Wild Hogs, and The World's Fastest Indian. These reviews were strangely unconnected to any index of movie reviews so I wrote an index page and listed the three old reviews. I then added the following Purple Rain review. I hope you enjoy my new motorcycle movie review and the past reviews that are now nicely connected together for the use of my future visitors.

Maybe I'll do more movie reviews now.

Check out my Purple Rain - Movie Review.

All Motorcycle Movie Reviews

4. Newsletter Archive Now Available:

I have just created a Motorcycle Views Newsletter Archive to store all my newsletters. The archive gives the year, month, day, and subject for each newsletter. Each newsletter contains many links to the Motorcycle Views website. A link to the archive will also be included on the Home page of the site and on the page where users can join the newsletter list.

Visit the Motorcycle Views Newsletter Archive

5. Today's Motorcycle Views Poll:

I'm running one new Motorcycle Views Poll in each issue of the newsletter. Please participate in each poll so we can all find out what's happening in motorcycling.

Here's Poll No. 38 (It may take a few seconds to load, so please be patient.): If you're out riding your motorcycle and it starts to rain, what do you do?

The latest Motorcycle Views Poll also appears on the front page of the Motorcycle Views website.

ALL Motorcycle Views Polls

6. Five Motorcycle Terms:

I am featuring five (5) of my Motorcycle Terms in each issue of the newsletter.

7. My Latest Book, Motorcycle Kick-Starts:

My latest book, Motorcycle Kick-Starts, is available on Amazon in Kindle, paperback, and NEW! Audible audiobook editions.

This small book provides a condensed view of motorcycling information for new riders and returning riders who have been away from motorcycling for many years. It's based on articles I published while I was the Motorcycles Guide on About.com and also during my current assignment as Editor of Motorcycle Views.

My purpose in writing the book is to whet your appetite for more while sticking to basic motorcycle information and not overpowering you with details.

We start out giving you basic information about motorcycles and showing you how you might proceed to become an active, safe rider.

Then we present ten short motorcycle stories (tales) written by actual motorcyclists. These tales allow you to observe some unusual things that happen to people who ride motorcycles. Without a bike, you would most likely never have these experiences. You will find out that your own rides will be different, but they too will result in unforgettable memories. The first story relates my own journey as a newbie rider when I joined a small group and rode cross-country on a 6,000-mile adventure.

Between stories, some practical advice about motorcycles is given in the form of ten motorcycle How-Tos and ten motorcycle Tips that you will need to know to become a proficient rider.

It's available on Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and Audible audiobook editions. Click the cover picture for more information about how to purchase the book.

NEW! As of March 10, 2016, the book is also available in an Audible audiobook edition. It can be found on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. Click the square cover to the right to hear a sample from the Audible edition.

8. Motorcycle Picture of the Month for May 2016:

Motorcycle Picture of the Month - May 2016 - 2016 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy S:
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.

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

10. Latest Motorcycle Pictures:

See the latest received pictures by category. (Send me a picture and description of your bike.)



"This is my 1987 Harley-Davidson Softail . . . more. -- Michael Mcintire"

11. My Four Motorcycle Books:

I hope you will take a look at my four motorcycle books, available in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.com. These books make great, inexpensive gifts. In fact, you can purchase all four for less than $30 total. I have reduced the price of my four 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.

NEW! My latest book (released December 1, 2015), Motorcycle Kick-Starts, also available on Amazon.com in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook (Audible) editions, contains a condensed view of motorcycling for new and returning riders. It's designed to whet your appetite for more while sticking to basic motorcycle information without overpowering you with details. The book starts out telling you what motorcycles are and showing you how you might learn to become an active, safe rider. Then ten short motorcycle stories, written by actual motorcyclists, are presented. These stories allow you to observe some unusual things that happen to people who ride motorcycles. Between stories, some practical advice about motorcycles is given in the form of ten motorcycle How-Tos and ten motorcycle Tips that you will need to know to become a proficient rider. Click the book cover to learn how to buy it on Amazon.com. NEW! As of March 10, 2016, there is now an Audible audiobook version of Motorcycle Kick-Starts. You can get it on Amazon, Audible, or iTunes.

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

My 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 how to buy it on Amazon.com.

My book, Motorcycle Haiku Poetry, also available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle editions, contains haiku poems about motorcycles. Haiku is a simple poem of three lines with five syllables in the first and last lines and seven in the second line. Each of the nearly 60 poems is coupled with a motorcycle picture and description related to the poem. I wrote seven of the haiku poems. Click the book cover to learn how to buy it on Amazon.com.

12. Polar Bear Grand Tour Best Pictures and Videos for the 2015-2016 Season:

Since the last Newsletter, I have selected my best pictures and videos of the 2015-2016 Polar Bear Grand Tour season.

See the Best Pictures and Videos of the 2015-2016 Polar Bear Grand Tour season.

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 Cape May, NJ VFW.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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 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 archives page.

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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© 2016 Walter F. Kern. All rights reserved.