The Growing Motorcycling Community on Google+

We have been involved in the creation of some great Motorcycle related Communities and Pages over on +Google+ .  Motorcyclists from around the world have been sharing their stories, photographs and discussions with others eager to join in.

Come on in and take a look at:

World Motorcycle Community #womoco - Over 5100 members!
A lively community covering all aspects of motorcycling Worldwide.

Motorcycle Traders Community - Over 450 members.
Bringing together those involved in motorcycle related trades and to give advice on how to use +Google+ .

Motorcycle Places to Stay Community - Over 130 members.
The members in this community offer to provide each other free places to stay when on our travels around the world.


Motorcycle Photography Community
We've just started this community and it is full of great photographs already!

Come on over and check them out.  Also let us know about your favourite communities.

Simoncelli Tribute

Win British MotoGP Tickets and a Cal Crutchlow Replica Spidi Suit

In case you missed our announcements yesterday on the World Motorcycle Community take a look at these links to see what we're doing to celebrate the upcoming 4,000 members.

2 Pairs of British MotoGP Tickets

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cal Crutchlow Replica Spidi Suit

My Favourite Things – Posts On #womoco July 2013

These are some of my favourite posts out of the hundreds posted on the World Motorcycle Community last month.

The first is this computer art by +Louise Burrows which you can see here Ducati Night.  I really like the style of this painting.

The second is an original motorcycle art design Manga style Hamaguchi Racing.

Third in the list of no particular order is this banked track photo posted by +Mohamed Nofli which is here and gives the effect that the bike is clinging to that corner.

+Ashwin Raj T posted a photo that gives the full effect of the beauty and the prospects on a ride through Monument Valley.

+Marco Florian showed us that you can enjoy a day or two riding your bike on a race Track-day and than head off in to the Dolomite Mountains another day.  What a life!

Lastly is +David David's photo of his 75 year old Dad's new Ninja 300.  Old age is definitely the time to start biking if you haven't already tried it. Nothing better for keeping that heart rate up.

Enjoy #womoco.

Motorcycle Places To Stay - FREE

The Motorcycle Places To Stay Community on +Google+  is for those of us who fancy travelling the world without bankrupting ourselves. If we all agree to offer free (no charge) space to other motorcycle travellers we'd be able to travel extensively in return for sharing our spare rooms / sofas / camp beds or just the space for a tent.
You also get to stay with a motorcyclist with a local knowledge of the best roads, places to eat and other invaluable information.
Places are being offered in:

• West Connemara, Ireland ( +Sean Rima )
• Southern Highlands, Australia ( +Jacqui Kennedy )
• Alicante, Spain ( +Lawrence Duffy )
• Lancaster, California, USA ( +David Sanderson )
• Poole, Dorset, UK ( +Paul Tansey )
• Grenada, Mississippi, USA ( +Evo's gogocycles.com )
• Western Sydney, Australia ( +Colin Rolls )

To get free accommodation you need to offer free accommodation to the community.
Join the Community and share the adventure.
Use the hashtag #motorcycleplacestostay .
Thanks to +Paul Tansey  for starting the discussion on the World Motorcycle Community.

What's Popular With Bikers On Google+?

You’re a motorcyclist and you have the opportunity to share your ideas and discuss with thousands of other motorcyclists on the World Motorcycle Community on Google+. So what do you think would be the most popular posts? Racing, bike maintenance, motorcycle safety, adventure touring?

Using Circle Count we discovered the top ten posts (based on +1’s and re-shares) were:

1. Real Life Motorcycle Signals – not what you think.
2. Gixxer Dog
3. Michael Rutter Leaning On A Wall
4. Pee'd Off
5. Welcome Hiromi Takahashi
6. Your Car Is A Lethal Weapon
7. Pick Up The New Diavel Today
8. Me And My Daughter ... Let The Race Begin....
9. Go Go Go
10. Fully Restored 1974 Laverda 750 SF

Which is your favourite motorcycle post that you have seen anywhere online?

Finding Places To Stay

If you are looking for accommodation on your next motorcycle adventure this list may help.

• Motor Bike Friendly
• The Biker Guide
• La Posta, Azul, Argentina
• Horizons Unlimited - Accommodation Links
• Beds4Bikers
• BMF Accommodation
• My Place
• I’ve got a House in the south of Spain near Alicante. It is a very comfortable 3 bedroomed casa with a 2 bedroomed mobile home on the same site. Contact me for more information.

I am surprised that when you search the web accommodation is difficult to find.
If you have any places that you have stayed in or know of please add a link below.

Review - Fly Racing Maverik ATV Boots.

Review by +Speed Triple & R1200GS over on the World Motorcycle Community on Google+

Two out of five stars

I was looking for a set of "dual sport" boots that did not break the bank and were of decent quality. I decided on these Fly Racing Maverik boots and I was surprised at the high quality, comfort and performance for a measly 85 dollars or so.

I got them on sale and with free shipping so I was self-congratulatory until +Donald Mittelstaedt asked me about their water resistant capabilities. Errrr... oops. I forgot about that. I assured myself that surely these boots are waterproof to a degree. They have that rubber flappy thing and everything! Later that day I stepped into the bath with one of the boots and started to run the water. As soon as the water was an inch or so high I felt moisture then a torrent. I posted later that they had failed the test however I was hopeful that they would at least keep my feet dry in a rainy ride.  Yesterday a storm blew into the Dallas area and I drove home in a light rain. My commute is about 25 miles and in traffic yesterday it took about 35-40 minutes. I felt dampness on my toes in about 15 minutes and when I got home and took the boots off my socks were fairly damp.

So... in conclusion if you want a cheap comfortable boot that looks good and seems to offer good protection and never expect to ride in the rain or step in a puddle then these boots are for you. In hind sight these boots do not meet my needs and I should not have purchased them. Ah well. Lesson learned.   I think any motocross boot should be somewhat water resistant. I give these boots 2 out of 5 stars.

www.flyracing.com

Guy Martin to Open Showroom

Guy Martin To Open New Showroom | Suzuki Bulletin

Hangout With Jorge Lorenzo

On Thursday 21st February Jorge Lorenzo, the current MotoGP World Champion, will be talking face to face with users of Google+.

If you want to join in go here: Invite From Jorge.

MotoGP 2013 – Team and Rider Websites, Google+, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

If you have any updates please let me know here:  World Motorcyclist on Google+

Team Webs	Rider Webs
Avintia Blusens	Hiroshi Aoyama	Hector Barbera
Came Ioda Racing Project	Danilo Petrucci
Cardion AB Motoracing	Karel Abraham
Ducati Team	Nicky Hayden	Andrea Dovizioso
Go & Fun Honda Gresini	Alvaro Bautista	Bryan Staring (No Web)
LCR Honda MotoGP	Stefan Bradl
Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Cal Crutchlow	Bradley Smith
NGM Mobile Forward Racing	Colin Edwards	Claudio Corti
Paul Bird Motorsport	Michael Laverty	Yonny Hernandez
Power Electronics Aspar	Randy De Puniet	Aleix Espargaro (No Web)
Pramac Racing Team	Ben Spies	Andrea Iannone
Repsol Honda Team	Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Blog)	Marc Marquez
Yamaha Factory Racing	Valentino Rossi	Jorge Lorenzo

 

Twitter
Hector Barbera	Nicky Hayden	Andrea Dovizioso	Alvaro Bautista	Bryan Staring
Stefan Bradl	Cal Crutchlow	Bradley Smith	Colin Edwards	Claudio Corti
Michael Laverty	Yonny Hernandez	Aleix Espargaro	Ben Spies	Andrea Iannone
Dani Pedrosa (1)	Marc Marquez	Jorge Lorenzo

Facebook
Hector Barbera	Danilo Petrucci	Nicky Hayden	Andrea Dovizioso	Alvaro Bautista
Bryan Staring	Stefan Bradl	Bradley Smith	Colin Edwards	Claudio Corti
Michael Laverty	Yonny Hernandez	Aleix Espargaro	Ben Spies	Andrea Iannone
Marc Marquez	Jorge Lorenzo

YouTube
Hiroshi Aoyama	Hector Barbera	Andrea Dovizioso	Alvaro Bautista	Bradley Smith
Ben Spies	Andrea Iannone	Marc Marquez	Valentino Rossi

 

Google+
Marc Marquez	Jorge Lorenzo

Drift HD Ghost

Had my first outing with the camera yesterday, just a quick run to the shops for some cold and flu remedies. Not feeling very well at all, but it was so sunny I just had to get the ‘bike out. All I wanted to do was hide under the duvet all day.

There are lots of clips on YouTube reviewing the camera, probably isn’t much I can add to them. I like the size and shape of the camera, lends itself better to helmet cam use than something like a GoPro. I particularly like the fact that you can rotate the lens, so no matter which way you orientate the camera, you can always get the picture the right way up. The remote is great too, no fiddling around with the camera trying to stop and start it with your gloves on. The remote makes this a very simple operation. The mounts are nice and secure, although the fit between the universal clip (which fixes to the base of the camera) and the helmet mount could be a bit more snug. I found it rattled just a little, so added a piece of thin sticky pad under the clip to stop it.

I’ve used Adobe’s Premiere 9 to process the video and upload to YouTube. It think it converts it into an .flv file before uploading. I’m pretty sure the process degrades the quality of the video in comparison to the original file. If anyone has version 11, I’d like to know if you think it’s worth the upgrade.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to bed…

TT Legends - Starts On ITV4 UK Monday 4th Feb 2013

TT Legends is an eight-part series which will debut on ITV4 at 8.30pm on Monday 4th February, 2013.

Grand Prix Racer, a one off documentary about the 2012 IoM TT, will air on ITV4 Tuesday 5th February at 8pm.

www.itv.com - I don't know if the player works outside the UK but you can try. Also on satellite TV.

Arai Chaser V

Hi guys, thought I would have a go at posting on a blog to show off my new lid.

After trying on many different makes and models I decided on an Arai Chaser V. It came down to a choice between the Arai, a Shoei XR-1100 or a HJC RPHA-10. Ultimately it was the best fitting helmet for me that helped decide. All 3 have their merits but the Arai fitted my bean head perfectly.

Once that was out of the way, I had to decide on a design. With so many to choose from it proved to be a tough decision to make. Do I wait for a new 2013 design (the Union Jack due out in May was tempting), go for a current design with a bit of colour for a change (the Giugliano Matt looks great), or save a few quid for an older graphic?

This is the one I ended up with, the Strain Silver. Sure, it's not the latest design or anything but I think it looks fantastic. The online shop images don't really do it justice, hopefully these pictures will though. Please note that the Simoncelli 58 on the back doesn't come as standard, that's just my little addition. Have checked with Arai, stickers don't damage the lids.

 
Best of all, because it's an older graphic, the price was great - £299, not bad considering a new 2013 graphic will set you back up to 460 quid. That saved me some cash for the smoked visor, and some toward a new helmet cam - more about that another day.

Cheers!

February 2013 Events In Spain

See all the latest events in Spain via TuMotoWeb.

World Motorcycle Community Reaches 1000 Members

The World Motorcycle Community now has over 1000 members and is growing stronger. To celebrate Chaotic Motorcycle Parts And Accessories and Firecrest Motorcycle Outfitters have made two great offers.  To see them click here World Motorcycle Community.

Motorbike Monday on Google+

#MotorbikeMonday is a page which collects together the best biking photo’s on Google+ and was set up by +Rznag Rmrod +Brian Dukes  and  +Mukundh B . The World Motorcycle Community has partnered with them and the photo’s are pouring in.

Here are some examples:

From +Jens KaPunkt

From +Kevin Warren

From +Karl Hargreaves

If you want to see more, and there are lots more, go to Google+ and search for #womoco or #motorbikemonday or go to the #MotorbikeMonday page.

World Motorcycle Community – Close To 1000 Members!

#womoco is nearly at 1000 members and growing really well. To help us celebrate Chaotic Motorcycle Parts And Accessories are offering free shipping for anyone that is in the community on any ADTEC Biker boots! Adtec Motorcycle Boots just show that your a member of the World Motorcycle Community and all shipping in the continental US is free! It’s easy to prove as the membership list is just a click away on the World Motorcycle Community page.

Motorcycle Traders Community on Google+

The invites to join went out at 19:30 UK time yesterday and at 17:30 the membership stood at 58 and growing quickly.  Click on the picture to go to the community.

World Motorcycle Community Passes 900 Members

I'm happy to announce that the World Motorcycle Community (#womoco) on Google+ has just exceeded 900 members.
We held a special World MotorbikeMonday on Jan 7th 2013 in conjunction with the +#MotorBikeMonday page which saw lots of motorcycle related photo’s published to Google+ with the hashtags #womoco and #motorbikemonday.  #womoco was 9th in the Google+ Trending list that day.
Come and join us because I'm sure you’ll enjoy it.

Moderators are: +Karl Hargreaves, +Speed Triple & R1200GS, +Rania Madanat, +Rainer Diabl, +Eric Kindley and myself +Lawrence Duffy.