Happy 2011!

A few things:

I drove two hours to Hartford, Connecticut to check out a '91 Suzuki Katana 1100 for sale. I'm looking for an oil-cooled powerplant for an upcoming engineering project and I'm hunting for either a GSX-R or Katana 1100 or 750. I got the buyer down from $1000 to $700 because he couldn't get it to run (bum starter). I was really disappointed to see that it was in worse shape than he described (rust everywhere, crash damage on the left side, hacked-up wiring harness) not to mention it was blocked in by his junker car against a fence (and then the mountain of snow left by the complex snowplow) so I couldn't drop it in gear on the pavement to see if the motor turned over. Oh well, it was a valuable experience in that during a purchase situation, I was calm and emotionally unattached to just walk away.

Cell phone pictures LIE! This bike turned out to be a shitbox on 2 wheels.

Brought the Suzuki back to life tonight. Lots of smoke and a long warmup period but it ran smooth. Got around to taking some pictures of the garage:

Also check out this video on how two brothers stole their father's Norton, fully restored it, and surprised him with it on Xmas:

http://vimeo.com/11285536

Motorcycles Abroad Pt. 2

I spent the last 4 months in Europe studying at Czech Tech University in Prague, Czech Republic. Of course, their international classes were a joke and I had plenty of time to travel. Here's a few pictures I took of motorcycles in different countries:

Vienna:

odd shift pattern. heh.

mmmmm...

On the Wien River

plenty of these tourist coaches

Amsterdam:

MT-03! AHHH!!!

Mr. Power Ranger dismounted at the local cafe

I dream of a place where the local police ride around on exquisite, purposeful motorcycles

The best way to see Amsterdam is on bicycle

What's going to Amsterdam without seeing this?

Barracuda

A little overloaded in the rear

luxury cars and pricey boats lined the canals

my favorite: a Suzuki GS chopped beyond recognition!

Paris:

Derbi, another alien to the states

Naked standards are the European equivalent to America's drab, chromed-out Harleys

don't really know what this is

Something tells me this would sell in America given the chance-maybe given the current big tire fad?

Triumphs, so many Triumphs!!!

Toyota concept store

unfortunately, there was no chase here

I was casually surprised to see a guy my age step out of this R8

I wonder what this guy thinks of France's 100hp limit to motorcycles

Brussels:

Too many neat motorcycles that were never introduced stateside

Suzuki RF (not sure of displacement) in beautiful shape

a well ridden BMW cafe

Motorcycles Abroad

I spent the last 4 months in Europe studying at Czech Tech University in Prague, Czech Republic. Of course, their international classes were a joke and I had plenty of time to travel. Here's a few pictures I took of cars & motorcycles from different countries...

Czech Republic:

Literally the only Jawas I saw abroad, both at the Museum of Communism.

Bentleys were common around the historical district in Prague

city tour cars

This guy was cool enough to pose for a picture. I love the 996!

farm machines running a bunch of us cyclists off the road

just managed to take a pic of the last guy in a group of sportbikes blasting through a village

sexy seat cover

guy and his pup

on display at the Pilsner-Urquell Brewery. Looks like a Japanese V-twin. So garish!

badass leaf blower guy

lots of small displacement rides abroad. Definitely wish we had more of those here in the states

Munich, Germany:

on display at Oktoberfest in Munich at one of those Wall O' Deaths. I was too busy at the tents to check it out

Spotted this old Ford on the way back to the hotel from a day of drinking at Oktoberfest. One of many photos I don't recall taking!

stylish taxis, leather seats + everything!

We paused to appreciate this: a matte black R8.

Another matte black goodie. Note I hesitate to denote a matte black vehicle as "murdered out." That's for the OCC, TLC channel folks who form "opinions" according to whatever garbage the mainstream media spews.