Oil Drippings: News and Opinion

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

A high-speed ride took a scary turn for a rider with a video camera when a snake slithered out from between the handlebars…

What would you have done?  Calmly slowed down or completely lost control?

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Motorcycle noise in our National Parks is creating a problem. The National Parks Service has been studying the noise pollution and has determined that some bikes can be heard as far away as 18 miles and is making it tough for animals to hear predators or search for prey. NPR has the story here.

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Property tax bills arrived in today’s mail. The valuations for my three bikes don’t have me complaining, rather scratching my head as to how assessments are determined by my town.

The assessment for the 1994 BMW R100RT only differs by $15 from NADA, but the assessment for the 1969 Triumph T100R is hundreds of dollars lower than NADA, while the assessment for the 1974 Honda CB750 Four is hundreds of dollars higher than what NADA says its worth.

My total tax bill for the motorcycles is $75.27, which isn’t objectionable given the amount of pleasure they provide. As I said, not complaining, just curious.

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Visordown.com is reporting that Honda’s retro CB1100, which has only been sold in Japan and Australia for the past three model years may be sold in Europe as well in 2013. Does this suggest that sales in the U.S. might eventually occur as well?

“Haven’t heard anything official yet, but Honda claims they have a lot of new product coming. I guess we wait and see,” said Jim Tabor of Willow’s Motorsports, responding to an email inquiry.

Here’s hoping, and hoping, and hoping…

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Champion Trikes of Garden Grove, CA  has acquired Lehman Trikes, which suspended operations in March at its Spearfish, SD facilities in hopes of finding a suitable investor.