Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Blog

According to many, the Harley-Davidson 2009 Street Glide has many Highs and provokes few Sighs. It's a touring bike with a new two-piece frame which is robotically welded. The total number of frame parts is 40 instead of the 90 in the previous frame.

This makes it a very stable bike which gives riding confidence and invites you to feel free on the curves and push the speed on the straight stretches. The Street Glide weighs 810 lb, but it handles well. It will flick left or right easily and will stay upright without you putting one foot down.

The engine is the same as previously -- a 1584 cc Twin Cam. The peak torque of 92.6 ft-lbs is at 3500 rpm. It has very effective Brembo ABS front brakes -- an excellent improvement. The saddle is a little sculpted and comfortable on long rides.

If you like chrome-encircled analog gauges you will be pleased with the instrumentation. In the speedometer is a small LCD display that gives you the odometer, a low-fuel countdown, and dual trip meters. This bike can get 36 mpg out of its six-gallon fuel tank. There is optional cruise control. For music lovers there is also an optional Harman/Kardon sound system.

Two Small Sighs

As for your luggage, the bags are securely attached with Dzus fasteners and easy to remove, although they have no handles. A hardbag liner would solve that problem. The only other less-than-perfect feature is a tendency of the Bat Wing fairing, handlebar-mounted, towards extra wind buffeting.

This bike has a tough and seductive profile. Its color scheme is metallic-flake Black pearl with color-matched hardbag latches, and with the sun glinting on its chrome parts it looks like the sleek American icon it is.

Don't let your love of motorcycle speed and freedom endanger your health or life. Take a safety class and pay good attention when you ride. If you have been hurt in a motorcycle accident and would like some legal advice, please email Stipe Injury Law in Oklahoma City.

At the Ippodo Gallery in New York there is an exhibit called Liquid Chrome. It is a collection of hand-built bikes by Chicara Nagata, a Japanese biker who survived life-threatening injuries in a motorcycle accident.

Chicara’s Background

Chicara was born in 1962 and at the age of 16 had a motorcycle accident on a curved road. His injuries required an eight-month recovery period filled with blood transfusions and intensive therapies. When he was 20 he began a career in graphic design with a new life-goal in mind: to create beautiful art that the world would enjoy. This was to be his way of expressing his gratitude to those who provided the blood and medical care that enabled him to survive his accident.

In 1993 he started to build motorcycles. He has a workshop filled with antique Harley Davidson engines and all the 500 or so bike parts that go into his custom bikes are hand made. Each bike takes him about 7,500 hours to build. If he works eight hours per day, that is 937 days (about 2.5 years).

The Motorcycles

The bikes are named according to when he built them. One is the Chicara Art I Classic which has a 1939 Harley-Davidson engine and a stainless steel and chrome frame. It has a three-speed transmission and 18-inch wheels. In 2006 it won the first prize in the Freestyle category at the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike building.

Another piece of bike-art is his Art III Classic which he built in 2008. It has a 1950 Meguro Racing Motor and a 1950 Triumph gearbox with four speeds. In with all its steel and chrome are a red seat, red rims and a few other red, copper and brass pieces, giving an impressive and beautiful appearance.

The bikes all run but are not designed for off-road or even street conditions. They are for sale, starting at $1 million for the Art IV Classic. This one has a 1966 Honda moped engine and is his newest and smallest bike.

The Liquid Chrome exhibit began in November, 2008 and will run until the end of January, 2009.

If, like Chicara, you have been seriously hurt in a motorcycle accident and would like to obtain some top-quality legal advice, please contact the Robert W. Kerpsack Co., L.P.A. in Columbus, Ohio.

In Brooklyn, New York there has been a dispute and discussion about the decibel level that is permitted for motorcycles. Exhaust pipes of new bikes have a manufacturer stamp to certify that the bike meets state and federal laws which limit noise to 80 decibels. That is about as noisy as an alarm clock or vacuum cleaner.

A new law was proposed whereby police could ticket bikes which have no exhaust pipe stamp. They could simply inspect parked bikes, rather than having to chase any riders down. The bill is supported by residents who object to motorcycle noise which penetrates to their bedrooms and living rooms and has a jarring effect on them.

Unfair Ticketing?

A local organization called the Concerned Citizens for Motorcycle Safety has been fighting this bill. This is an umbrella organization for a number of local biker clubs. They argue that a louder bike noise alerts drivers of enclosed vehicles, who possibly have their radio or CD player on, that there is a bike nearby.

This is highly valuable, since most motorcycle accidents involve drivers who claim that they did not see the bike rider. One of the biker club's president was quoted as saying: "Every person that rides a bike can give you several stories of how that loud pipe saved them from potentially being killed."

The bikers also claim that some manufacturers place the exhaust pipe stamp underneath where it is not easily visible. They don't expect that police officers would crawl around on the pavement to decipher such a stamp, but would simply ticket that bike.

Concerned Citizens for Motorcycle Safety hopes to eventually get the federal limit on decibels raised. They feel they represent a wide swathe of society, as they have nurses, bus drivers, police, and many others in their group. They sponsor a Little League team. They emphasize that they are not defending the adolescent joy in making a loud noise purposely to irritate neighbors. Their concern is for increased biker safety.

If you have been injured in an accident with a passenger vehicle, whether or not that driver claims not to have seen you, please consult an experienced motorcycle attorney. Some legal advice and possibly legal representation will make life much easier for you and perhaps win you some fair monetary compensation for another's negligence.

A freshman student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA has invented the Uno, an electric-powered motorcycle. It has two wheels side by side instead of front and back. It is balanced by a gyroscope and computer and to maneuver it around, he simply leans forward, backward, or sideways.

The student, Ben Gulak, was inspired to do this after visiting China, with its crowded and smog-infested streets. He imagined the streets filled with battery-powered motorbikes so small that they could easily maneuver through the dense traffic and even be carried upstairs to an apartment.

When he returned to his home in Toronto he took over a machine shop that his grandfather had set up in the house and gathered a lot of conventional motorcycle parts. For a science fair, he began building a prototype.

At first his testing featured engines on fire and brake failures. But this project was a combination of his two big passions in life -- motorcycles and engineering. He persisted and got some help from a robotics engineer to figure out how to stabilize the bike.

His persistence paid off and Popular Science magazine made his bike one of the top ten inventions of 2008. They pictured it on their cover. Mr. Gulak was invited to go on The Tonight Show. Now he is working on international patents and talking to investors. And studying for his exams.

Perhaps such a bike will become popular although it would appear that you'll need strong arms to enjoy riding it for long, as the body is slanted well forward with the feet well back, contacting the pedals horizontally.

If you are in or near Jacksonville, Florida, have been injured in any motorcycle accident and would like some legal advice and representation, please contact motorcycle attorneys Hardesty Tyde Green & Ashton for a free consultation.

Every January 1, one of the Pennsylvania chapters of the Christian Motorcyclists Association meets for a winter ride and to raise money. They raise the funds and provide support for someone they choose in their community who genuinely needs the help.

For 2009 they chose their own longtime chapter secretary, Carol Flory, who has ovarian cancer. In 2008 Ms. Flory had two surgeries and several rounds of chemotherapy. She still gets up each day with renewed hope and says that "Each day lets me get a little stronger".

About her supporters at the motorcycle chapter, she says: "If you need somebody to talk to, all you have to do is call somebody and they're there for you."

Temperatures were very low on January 1, but about fifty riders came out for the New Year's ride.

Funds for Terminally Ill Children

Motorcycle groups are often generous with their time and money for good causes. A good example was in December, 2008 in Yuma County, California, when Hells Angels held a fundraiser for terminally ill children. The bikers' Red and White Support Run will help to fund each child's last request, made through the local Catch A Dream organization.

The parents of these local children typically have very high medical bills and this extra money allows their children to have things otherwise not affordable. Almost 400 bikers showed up and paid their $20 to participate in the ride. Some of them came from other areas of California and from Nevada.

After the ride the bikers converged on a lunch place known as The Mine Shaft. The Mine Shaft's owner had bought a 2009 Custom Harley-Davidson Sportster and donated it for a drawing among ride participants. A lucky local won that bike and everyone else had fine weather and good beer. Despite some local controversy about having the Hells Angels participate, there were no incidents.

Motorcycle riding is exhilarating and attracts people from all walks of life. It does have the downside of higher injury and fatality rates than passenger cars. If you have been hurt in a motorcycle accident some legal advice can be comforting and encouraging. For excellent legal help in the Chicago area, please contact motorcycle attorney Barry G. Doyle, P.C. and schedule a free consultation.

Thailand is known as the Land of Smiles but in recent years smiling has declined because of social and political conditions. There are roving mobs, government changes, and the two Bangkok airports were shut down for over for a week at one point. Many people are angry.

In December, 2008 a polling agency did a large study, questioning over 2,000 people about the Thai Smile and found that on a scale of one to ten, people gave Thailand only a little over five points for smiles.

The new prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, was elected on December 15 2008, and is already dealing with protesters. To help the general mood of the country, and to help the Thai tourist industry improve, his government has begun a new program with the Thai motorcyle police.

Smiley Cloth Masks

These highway police will be wearing cloth masks which cover the mouth and nose. They have a red cartoon smile painted on them and hide any possible scowls that might be on the police officer's face. They also protect the police officer from air pollution.

When these motorcycle police approach a motorist their mask smile is meant to reduce stress for the drivers. Supporting this goal, there are 200 police booths distributing mints, chewing gum and bottles of holy water.

If you are a motorcycle rider, why not reduce your own stress related to U.S. highway police officers by riding safely? The Motorcycle Safety Foundation offers excellent courses and on their website you can click on your state in their map to find all the local locations where you can take a riding course.

The U.S. Marine Corps needed dual-purpose motorcycles for convoy control, messenger services, military police work and scouting. Regular bikes, both off-road and on, use gasoline. But for good supply logistics the Marines needed a machine that runs on JP-8. This is fuel used by jet planes that is similar to kerosene and diesel fuel.

A Modified Kawasaki KLR650

So the word was put out and many contractors responded with impractical suggestions and finally a small company in California won the contract. In 2008, the Marines acquired a new bike called the HDT M103M1. It uses parts of the Kawasaki KLR650 -- the chassis, internal transmission parts, and some engine components.

But it has new engine parts designed to use JP-8. At a steady 55 mph it gets 96 miles to the gallon which is about twice the mileage a gasoline engine would give. It starts up a little more slowly than a conventional bike, but as you shift through its five-speed gearbox, it achieves 90 mph and will keep that speed through any harsh environment you test it in.

It has special lights and tougher tires and suspension. When you ride it, the handlebars and foot pegs vibrate because the Kawasaki KLR650 counterbalancer that would control this has been omitted. This is to make the bike lighter-weight and less complex.

These fast machines are not available for street or off-road use unless perhaps you go to your local Marine recruiter.

High speed riding is one of the contributing causes to motorcycle accidents on our highways. On an empty road it is safer but our roads are fuller each year with big rigs and SUVs and other large family trucks. They may not see you, or may not be able to stop or change lanes quickly enough to avoid an accident.

If you are in Ohio and need some guidance and support from an experienced motorcycle accident attorney, please email the law firm of Robert W. Kerpsack today for a free consultation.