Motorcycle Views

• Kymco Recalls 2016 K-Pipe Motorcycles to Correct a Gear Shift Pattern That Was Assembled in a Reverse Sequence
  

• Ducati Recalls 2016 XDiavel S Motorcycles for a Rear Wheel That May Have Been Incorrectly Installed On the Hub
  

• Ducati Recalls 2014 1199 Superleggera Motorcycles for a Damper Plate Assembly Between the Primary Driven Gear and the Clutch Basket Assembly That Could Break
  

• Updated Motorcycle Seat Heights Feature to Include Most 2016 Motorcycle Models
  

I've had a popular Motorcycle Seat Heights feature for quite a few years. I have just begun to update this feature with the seat heights for all major motorcycle makes for 2016 including electric models by Zero.

I have just completed the 2016 seat heights for Suzuki and Yamaha. The remaining makes will be covered in future newsletters. Note that these data don't change much from year to year for the same model. However, there are some differences for 2016. Watch future newsletters for other motorcycle makes.

2016 Motorcycle Seat Heights for Yamaha

2016 Motorcycle Seat Heights for Suzuki

ALL Motorcycle Seat Heights

Here is my gallery of old motorcycle advertisements that contains 80 actual ads from the past.

The first ad, above, was for the year 1908. That happens to be the year that my dad was born in Bedford, Indiana. So far as I know, Dad was a car guy. He never rode a motorcycle.

The second ad, above, was for the year 1954. That was the year that I first thought about buying a motorcycle in Normal, Illinois. I was 16 years old, fresh from getting my driver's license. At that time I had been reading the ads for Harleys in Mechanix Illustrated, very similar to the ad shown here. I also was at a decision point. I wanted to either buy a used Harley motorcycle, buy a used 1936 Plymouth, or buy a used Crosley. I opted for the Plymouth. It cost me $50. The Harley would sit in the back of my mind for another 35 years.

Now, take a look at these 80 great ads to see how motorcycles were advertised in the first 60 years of the motorcycle industry. If you have any old ads and want to see them here in the Antique Motorcycle Ads Gallery, submit your ad here.

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.

With the recent distinctions between sex and gender, it's hard to make a poll to find out the percentage of women riders in the total population of motorcycle riders. It used to be around 9% when I started riding in 1989. Recently, it seems to hover between 10% to 15%. My new poll leaves it up to you.

Here's Poll No. 41 (It may take a few seconds to load, so please be patient.): If you wanted to submit a picture of you and your motorcycle to Motorcycle Views, in which gallery would you want it to appear?

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

There are now 41 Motorcycle Views Polls. Maybe you missed a few. Take a look at the following polls and please contribute if you haven't done so before:

ALL Motorcycle Views Polls

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

• Ape Hangers
• Dual-Sport
• Laughlin
• Rigid
• Throttle
  
  
• All Motorcycle Terms

Motorcycle Picture of the Month - July 2016 - 2003 Kawasaki Concours ZG 1000 A18:
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.

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



"This is my 2014 Kawasaki Vulcan 1700 Vaquero SE that . . . more. -- Tbear"

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.

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.

• Motorcycle Salvage Yards: Where you can find motorcycle parts.
  
• Motorcycle Seat Heights: Lists seat heights by motorcycle make.
  
• Famous Motorcycle Movies: The great motorcycle movies are discussed.
  
• 2016 Motorcycle Models: We give links to major motorcycle model pictures and specifications.
  
• Motorcycle Recalls: Gives all motorcycle recalls for the last ten years by make and year.
  
• Women on Motorcycles: These women ride their own bikes.
  
• 10 Ways to Be Safe on a Motorcycle: This article could save your life.
  
• 10 Motorcycle Myths: There are many myths about riding.
  

When I started issuing newsletters at About.com in 1999, they were weekly. When my four forums got very popular, I added a second weekly forum-only newsletter. That meant I was doing two newsletters each week.

When I started Motorcycle Views, I issued one weekly newsletter. That continued for a while until I decided to stop sending the newsletter.

Some more time passed and I restarted the newsletter every two weeks.

Then I started writing motorcycle books. So far, I've finished four books, each with a Kindle edition and a paperback edition. I even did two of the books in Audible audiobook editions. I'm currently working on two more books, one a memoir.

I'm finding it more and more difficult to continue delivering a newsletter every two weeks. It just takes up too much time.

So, I will be sending out the Motorcycle Views Newsletter once a month on the first Sunday of the month. Of course, you can always visit my site any time to check out what's going on.

I now have 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

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.

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

While we wait for the 2016-2017 Polar Bear Grand Tour to begin in late October 2016, here are 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 nearly 25 years, and I built and continue to maintain their website.

The picture to the right was taken at the Cape May, NJ VFW.

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.

Thanks again for coming along for the ride in this edition of the Motorcycle Views Newsletter. -- Walter

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 any of our past 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. 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