Couple of M'Cycle Snippets...

[motordavid]

"Electric" Drag Bike, and some other stuff of interest to m'cycle/motorheads
BR,mD






Super-quick on an Electric Bike
Here’s the problem with most battery-powered vehicles: They’re slow.
Which makes it tough to wrap your mind around something like the KillaCycle dragbike, which uses 990 Lithium Ion batteries to run the quarter-mile in a fast 8.168 seconds at 155.78 mph—a world record for an electric motorcycle.
Built by Bill Dube and raced by Scott Pollacheck, the bike features a 180-pound battery pack and is claimed to put out more than 350 horsepower. It can make seven runs on a single charge, using up about 7 cents worth of electricity on each run, and can recharge in 10 minutes.
The eerie thing? When Killacycle launches, it’s silent except for chain and tire noise.

V-Rod power, sportbike chassis

Another U.S. Bike-maker?
Like your sportbikes racy, powerful and American? You may have a new option soon, if Roehr motorcycles’ ambitious plan to build a sportbike around the Harley-Davidson Revolution motor pans out.
The company says it hopes to take a V-Rod motor, add a steel-and-aluminum frame, Ohlins suspension, Brembo brakes, Marchesini wheels, side-mounted radiators and carbon-fiber bodywork to build the Roehr 1130 Superbike.
It’s still early, but the company says it hopes to begin construction of the first 50 units in 2008, each with an estimated price of $39,995. Info: www.roehrmotorcycles.com. Photo Below ...



What’s That Mean, Anyway?

In the motorcycle industry, we all tend to take company names for granted, but plenty of them have their own histories.

Here are a few:
KTM The letters originally stood for Kraftfahrzeuge Trunkenpolz Mattighofen, for founder Hans Trunkenpolz’ motorworks, located in the Austrian city of Mattighofen. The initial “K” was changed to reference a new business partner, Ernst Kronreif, in the 1950s.
Thor Though many figure the name refers to the Norse god of thunder, it’s actually an acronym for Torsten Hallman Off Road, founded by the four-time world motocross champion.
ATK The company founded by Austrian Horst Leitner took its name from his patented “anti-tension kutentraub,” or chain drive.
Factory 909 Named for the Los Angeles area code that’s home to many motocross race shops, tracks and professional MX racers.
EMGO A contraction of the name of company owner Emil Gomez.
FMF Racing Originally an acronym for Flying Machine Factory.
MSR An acronym for Malcolm Smith Racing.BMWA contraction of Bayerische Motoren Werke, or in English, Bavarian Motor Works.
Cagiva A word made up of the initial letters in the names of founder Giovanni Castiglioni, coupled with his company’s location, Varese.

VOICES

Overheard This Month
“If the projectile were the size of a Harley-Davidson, the resulting crater would be the size of Yankee Stadium.”
—National Geographic’s “Naked Science,” explaining the energy released by meteors hitting the moon at super-high speeds.


“OK, who’s going to buy the $100 pizza?!?”
—MX pit legend and Scott Goggles rep Bevo Forti, after the final weigh-in in his 62-pound weight-loss crusade that raised more than $40,000 for injured racers.

“Anytime a plaintiff is on a motorcycle, the jury will find them somewhat at fault, just because they’re on a motorcycle.”
—California lawyer David Ring, explaining a jury decision that his motorcyclist client was 5 percent at fault when a woman turned her car into his path, severely injuring him, four days after she flunked the state driver’s test.

MY FAVE this Month...WTF?!
“I’m me now.”
—Virginian Spike Jenkins, telling the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot the freedom he felt after tattooing “Harley-Davidson” around his head, and orange flames where his eyebrows would be.


Roehr 1130 Superbike





Slide the keyring onto your helmet strap and fasten it before putting your helmet down at a lunch stop or overnight. Since you won’t leave without your helmet, you won’t leave without your key.