Free Republic

Iranian media reported on Saturday that a 43-year-old Iranian military officer was killed and another soldier was wounded in a shooting incident that occurred early on Saturday morning in the western Iran city of Khorramabad. According to the report, which was brought by Israel’s Channel 2 News on Saturday night, the incident occurred when two motorcyclists fired shots at a group of soldiers who were on their way to an air force base located near the city. The soldier who was wounded in the incident, said the report, suffered injuries to his leg and neck. A senior official in the...

(For the short version, skip to the "Body of Comment" section.) This is a personal rant, and is why I will leave Maryland as soon as I can afford to. Please indulge. Thank you. The state of Maryland kicks a man while he is down. April 2010, I lost my job as a computer programmer. Though I interview at least twice a week, jobs are competitive and very hard to get. Perhaps my biggest pet peeve is the trend for employers to tell me, "You're hired. You will start as soon as we get the budget for the project approved."...

Illinois motorcycles and bicycles will be allowed to run red lights starting in 2012, but only in certain instances. Motorcycles and bicycles often aren’t big enough to trigger magnetic sensors that switch traffic lights from red to green, WBBM Newsradio’s Alex Degman reports. That could mean the riders either break the law and run the red light, or wait until another vehicle comes along. State Rep. Dan Beiser (D-Alton) says the new law means bikers can go through a red light if they wait a reasonable amount of time, but that amount isn’t yet defined. “A reasonable amount of time,...

ST. LOUIS • Drivers have reported huge packs of motorcycles swarming the highways around St. Louis, with the bikers pulling stunts, making hand gestures and forcing cars off the roadway.

TUCKERTON, N.J.- Authorities in New Jersey said a man cited for riding his motorcycle with his pug on his lap told them he had been riding with the canine for years. Victor "Buddy" Amato, chief law enforcement officer for the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said an SPCA officer spotted Gyula Szatmari, 56, of Tuckerton riding his motorcycle with the dog on his lap in the rain, the Asbury Park Press reported Wednesday. Amato said a police officer pulled Szatmari over on Route 18 and he was issued citations for careless driving and the improper...

TAVARES — Lawyers for civic leader Bruce Duncan may learn today if they persuaded a judge to toss out evidence that strongly suggests Duncan was drunk when authorities say he caused a fatal accident. Circuit Judge Michael Takac listened to two hours of argument and testimony Friday from five witnesses, including Duncan, 47, who has pleaded not guilty to DUI/manslaughter in the death of retired postal worker Herbert "Steve" Muller, 61, of Mount Dora. --snip-- Muller was known for his white beard and a collection of one-liners at the Mount Dora post office. Duncan recently participated in an economic-development workshop...

Driver was unaware of new passenger after 'non-injury collision with a twist' A Southern California motorcyclist rear-ended a minivan and was thrown through a window into the back seat but escaped unscathed, police said. After the incident on Thursday, the driver of the minivan continued driving and pulled into his own driveway nearby, unaware that he had a new backseat passenger, the Victorville Daily Press reported. "We're calling this one a non-injury collision with a twist," Karen Hunt, spokeswoman for the Victorville Police Department, told the newspaper. Victorville is a town of 115,000 people on the southwestern edge of the...

<p>A bareheaded motorcyclist participating in a ride to protest mandatory helmet laws was killed when he was thrown over the handlebars in Onondaga, New York.</p> <p>Philip A. Contos, 55, of Parish, New York, was on a ride organized by the Onondaga chapter of American Bikers Aimed Towards Education (ABATE), state police said Sunday.</p>

ONONDAGA, N.Y. (AP) — Police say a motorcyclist participating in a protest ride against helmet laws in upstate New York died after he flipped over the bike's handlebars and hit his head on the pavement.

The diwheel is a vehicle with two wheels on the same axle, i.e. in parallel, like the back two wheels on a wheelchair, and works by mounting a cabin of sorts for a driver between them. In this case, the power source is electricity stored in a battery. Diwheels have been created before, and have of course been seen in sci-fi movies; what’s new here is the stability control. Traditionally, the problem with creating a diwheel is in keeping the driver from gerbiling, an effect that comes about when you consider how a diwheel is constructed. If you simply connect...

Dontcha’ know, Sarah Palin is coming to town this weekend, and you may see her cruising the streets of D.C. on the back of a hog. The former Alaska governor, who is the subject of a lot of overheated speculation about whether she will run for president in 2012, has accepted an invitation to participate in the annual Rolling Thunder memorial ride this Sunday, an official says. “As far as I know, she is trying to rent a motorcycle, so she can ride with her husband,” said Nancy Regg, a spokeswoman for Rolling Thunder. Gregg says the tentative plan is...

PELHAM - “I wasn’t going to let him pass me.” That’s what police say a Windham teen told officers at the scene of a motor vehicle crash in Pelham early Friday morning, where the 18-year-old is said to have intentionally crashed his car into a motorcyclist, causing serious injuries. Cody Eller of 123 Lowell Road in Windham was arraigned in Derry District Court Friday morning on a felony charge of second-degree assault and a misdemeanor charge of vehicular assault. Police said Eller was driving south on Windham Road in Pelham around 4:30 a.m. Friday when he noticed a motorcyclist trying...

Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) today announced the acquisition of Indian Motorcycle. The business was acquired from Indian Motorcycle Limited (“IML”), a company advised by Stellican Limited and Novator Partners LLP, U.K. Private Equity firms. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “We are excited to be part of the revitalization of a quintessentially American brand,” said Scott Wine, CEO of Polaris Industries Inc. “Indian built America’s first motorcycle. With our technology and vision, we are confident we will deliver the classic Indian motorcycle, enhanced by the quality and performance for which Polaris and Victory are known.” With this acquisition,...

Models tend to do anything they can to make sure they always look their best - they're much more likely to be nibbling at a solitary salad leaf than taking part in dangerous motor sports. But Chesca Miles isn't like most models. The 20-year-old motorbike fanatic has become the first woman in the country to turn professional as a stunt rider - and it's just seven months since she started learning how to do the tricks by herself.

One of the side effects of not having a combustible engine is that electric vehicles are quiet. Very quiet. So quiet, in fact, that police in California will soon be using electric motorcycles to improve their stealth. The bikes, produced by Zero Motorcycle, are currently being employed by the Scotts Valley Police Department, reportedly the first California police force to utilize electric bikes.

This link takes you to a truly wonderfully well photographed article/post on the The first ever… LEGEND OF THE MOTORCYCLE International Concours D’Elegance Held on May 6’th 2006 at the Half Moon Bay Ritz-Carlton. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> KEEP GOING DOWN THE PAGE... There are some of the most beautiful bikes you will ever see. http://www.pashnit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5959=

Milwaukee-based Iconinc bike maker Harley-Davidson on Tuesday said it will start an assembly facility of its motorcycles in India by the first half of 2011, making it the second facility outside the US. "This investment will allow us to improve our market responsiveness and production flexibility while reducing the tariff burden, which we expect will drive growth over time by making our bikes more accessible to India's consumers," said Harley-Davidson Motor Company President and Chief Operating Officer Matthew S. Levatich. The company will set up the new facility near Bawal in Haryana and expects the assembly facility to be operational...

Going 96 mph on a 65-mph highway is enough to land a speeder in serious legal trouble. That’s 31 mph over the speed limit, and it’s the threshold between a regular speeding violation and the more egregious offense of “excessive speeding,” which earns violators a meeting with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation that they’ll likely walk out of with a suspended license. On Wednesday night, state police stopped a motorcyclist they said was clocked at 147 mph. That’s 82 mph over the limit. “That is probably the highest speed I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been at PennDOT nine years now,”...

A state trooper rolled his car multiple times while chasing two reckless motorcyclists, one of whom returned to the scene just to rub salt into the wounds of the trooper.

To all the Bikers, I'm asking for help. Netmilsdad got a motorcyle last year. He is having problems with it now and can't find the solution. Any thoughts? He says... "Bike runs fine until you idle in traffic for a long time, it will start to misfire and eventually stall if you don’t give it gas. If it does stall, it will start back up. If you are driving, it does not misfire. The radiator was flushed, the back two ignition coils read the same, about 2 Ω’s cold." If anyone can give us a hint as to what to...