Photo courtesy of BruceRossMeyer.com

Renown Harley Dealer Bruce Rossmeyer died in a motorcycling accident in Wyoming on July 30, 2009. He and a group of friends were enroute to Sturgis, South Dakota to attend the annual rally. According to reports, Rossmeyer collided with a truck that was pulling a camping trailer as it turned left while Rossmeyer was attempting to pass.

Rossmeyer is survived by his wife, Sandy, five children and nine grandchildren. Visit http://www.brucerossmeyer.com for more details.

Photo Credit: Christy Bowe. Courtesy of Harley Davidson

On Jan. 20, 2009, at 12 p.m. President-elect Barack Obama will be sworn into office as the 44th President of the United States. Leading the way will be a Police Motorcycle escort riding a one-of-a-kind 2009 Harley-Davidson Police concept Tri-Glide Ultra Classic Trike.

Lieutenant Scott Fear (pictured in photo on right), Commander of the U.S. Park Police Motorcycle Unit, will lead the parade from the Capitol to the White House.

For more information on the Harley-Davidson Tri-Glide, please visit www.harley-davidson.com.

It was a sunny, warm, & beautiful spring day – a great day for a motorcycle ride. It was also a day that left me slightly puzzled and wondering if a pickup truck driver was being reckless or just polite.

Here’s what happened: On the way home, I had just finished coming up to speed off an entrance ramp to the highway and I had no sooner settled in with the other traffic when suddenly I found myself dodging debris which was bouncing off of the road in front of me. I quickly figured out the stuff was blowing out of the bed of a pickup truck just ahead.

Traffic was light and I was able remove myself from the situation by changing lanes quickly and safely. As I approached the driver’s side of the offending pickup truck, I noticed his window was down. Good, I thought, now I’ll be able to inform this driver of the hazards he is creating. I jockeyed up along side of him and as loud and clear as I could I slowly said: DO–YOU–KNOW-THAT-STUFF-IS–BLOWING–OUT-OF-THE-TRUCK?

He looked me square in the eyes and with an ear-to-ear smile on his face he said YES!

That was it. He made no attempt to pull over to investigate; he expressed no concern, just a big ole’ smile and a simple YES!

I was stunned and had no idea what to make of this. I spent the remainder of my ride pondering the possibilities. Did he not hear me correctly and was he just being polite? Did he hear me correctly and if so, was driving down the highway at speed, and letting the air currents blow stuff out of the bed of his truck, his way of disposing of refuse?

While I may never know what the real story was, there is a message here: Hazards are everywhere and in addition to always finding a way to sneak up on you when you least expect it, they usually present themselves in creative and unusual ways.

Have fun and be safe.

Updated: 8/22/08

No, it’s not the “Big Dog” chopper; actually, it’s not even a motorcycle. Nevertheless, this machine is so cool we just had to show it to you! (Click here to see the action video).

Billed as the “most advanced quadruped robot on Earth”, the Big Dog can run at 4 mph, climb slopes up to 35 degrees and walk across rubble – all while carrying a 340 pound load! And when it comes to balance – you can’t seem to knock this thing over.

“Big Dog is being developed by Boston Dynamics with the goal of creating robots that have rough-terrain mobility that can take them anywhere on Earth that people and animals can go”. The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) is funding the program.

Visit the Boston Dynamics website for more information and to view the video.

Quick facts:

• The Census Bureau says out of the approximately 129,141,982 commuters in this country only 147,703 of them ride motorcycles to work regularly. That’s only .11 percent !
• Adding more motorcycles and scooters to everyone’s daily commute makes urban parking easier and traffic flow better, according to Ride to Work, a non-profit advocacy organization.
• Studies have also shown that across the same distances, motorcyclists reach their destinations faster than those using automobiles.
• Motorcycles and scooters also consume less resources per mile than automobiles.

Visit RidetoWork.org for more information.

Merriam-Webster Inc. has added the word Supercross to its new edition of the Collegiate Dictionary. The dictionary definition is: “a motorcycle race held in a stadium on a dirt track having hairpin turns and high jumps”.

Main Entry: su·per·cross
Pronunciation: \ˈsü-pər-ˌkrȯs\
Function: noun
Etymology: super- + motocross
Date (first used in an English-language publication): 1983

Visit the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary website: supercross .

Source: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2008. Merriam-Webster Online. 6 July 2008 Merriam-Webster.com

Photo courtesy of KTM.