There is no doubting the beauty of Berchtesgaden just across the border in Germany and the brilliant roads in the mountains there. I have however avoided it on my bike up until now since last time I went there I got pulled over whilst going 70 in a 70 zone by some aggressive cops, thrown in the back of a police car, taken down to the station, had my bike impounded for 4 months, was threatened with being locked up in jail unless I signed loads of papers I couldn’t understand in German, had my exhaust permanently confiscated and was fined 1500 euro all for having an aftermarket exhaust!

This time, I was having an amazing ride and all was going well until i realized with horror that my license plate had fallen off. Bugger! Anyway, luckily I made it back the 30 minute drive along the back-roads and across the border into Austria without passing any cops this time, thank the gods!

It was at this point I realized my license plate had fallen off.

The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy is the greatest motorcycle road race in the world, the ultimate challenge for rider and machine. It has always called for a commitment far beyond any other racing event, and many have made the ultimate sacrifice in their quest for victory. A story about freedom of choice, the strength of human spirit and the will to win. It’s also an examination of what motivates those rare few, this elite band of brothers who risk everything to win.

Duncan was asking in the comments about doing a wheelie so I thought rather than tell it myself, it would be better to ask the wheelie meister himself, Rok Bagoroš, so without further ado:

First:
You must know how much twisting the right hand influences the throttle. If you have a powerful bike be careful. Do it STEP BY STEP!

There are two types of wheelies. Power wheelies and clutch wheelies.
The best way to learn how to clutch up the wheelie safely is by practicing off the street and away from any obstacles.
Clutching is by far the best way to get wheelies up, regardless of whether the bike has enough power to power it up.

There are many advantages to clutching wheelies vs. powering wheelies.
1. It allows you to wheelie bikes that don`t have enough power to power it up. 2. You can wheelie at lower rpm`s, and therefore slower speeds. This allows beginners to keep a wheelie up longer, with out being at the balance point. 3. The launch is more predictable. When powering a wheelie up, the front end comes up relatively slow. Then when the front end is about 3 feet off the ground, the front end jumps up very fast under full throttle, making for a scary and unpredictable launch. When clutching up wheelies right, the front jumps up close to the balance point. From there you just play with the throttle to fine adjust the height. After a little practice, clutching becomes very predictable and not frightening at all. 4. All of the pros that I know of clutch every wheelie.

How to clutch up the wheelies:
Close the throttle, and then pull the clutch in all the way, with one or 2 fingers. You need to have the clutch held at exactly the edge where it bites and let it out quite quickly as the power kicks in. When learning to clutch, only rev up the engine a little bit at first before letting out the clutch. This will give you the feel for clutching. Then gradually increase the rpm’s before dumping the clutch, until the front end jumps up close to the balance point. Reduce the throttle as the front end comes up to the balance point. If it comes up too far, gently push the rear brake to bring the bike forward again. When clutching second and third gear wheelies, the bike may need extra help, depending on what bike it is. If clutching alone doesn’t get the wheelie up, then bounce at the same time. This is done by pushing down on the bike (with your arms and legs) at the same time you open the throttle, and then leaning back slightly when dropping the clutch. It is not a good idea to pull on the bars. Pulling up on the bars may cause the wheelie to come up funny and wobble.

How to avoid crashing:
Always cover the rear brake and the clutch, as soon as the bike is going too much on the back squeeze the clutch and the brake to save you from the crash. Be careful the front tire must be always straighten up when you are going back down!

http://www.facebook.com/Bagoros.Rok

Earth is entering a stream of solar wind blowing ~500 km/s, and the encounter is stirring up geomagnetic activity around the Arctic Circle.
Photographer Antony Spencer reports “an amazing display” over Enontekio, Finland, on March 22-23:

VIA Spaceweather.

The Kiska designed KTM Electric bike is sitting next to my desk this morning so I thought I would take a few pics for you. I rode an early prototype of this bike a couple of years ago which was brilliant. Loads of power and it was also super light so handled really well too. The only downside then was the battery not lasting too long, but 2 years later this has been massively improved I believe. Looking forward to trying out a new version as soon as it is released.

This and the (hopefully) eventual other versions of this bike can’t come soon enough either for this post peak oil world. Over the next decade, the only way the oil supply is heading is down and the only way the petrol prices are heading is up.

Gorgeous looking bike, but there don’t seem to be any decent photos of it yet, just this teaser for now. VIA do the ton.

2 new KTM Bikensteins spotted over at Simkom. No name on them though so not sure who to credit. The seats are way too small to ride the bikes properly but interesting designs anyway. Thanks Maxime for the headsup.

Took my wife for a ride finally.

She was a good passenger.

It got kind of cold again but it was a really nice ride.

We drove up to the snowline and then went for a hike up to a hut. I drove back later on my own and really started getting wheelies dialed. Never ridden a bike where it was so easy to do them.