Boston Motorcycle Injury Lawyer Blog

I have been thinking about purchasing BestRest’s CyclePump portable air pump to go with a tire plug kit I plan to purchase for a motorcycle camping trip.

One of the reasons I like the CyclePump is that there are no C0₂ canisters to throw away. Another reason is that a tire plug kit is not very useful without an easy-to-use pump.

It takes me forever to inflate my bicycle tire with a hand pump after a flat on the road. I cannot imagine doing that with a motorcycle tire.

The CyclePump Adventure model comes with four powering options: BMW, SAE, cigarette lighter, and battery clips.

Using a 10-15 amp fused outlet is recommended when drawing power from your motorcycle; otherwise, you can connect the alligator clips directly to the battery.

The CyclePump Adventure Combo Package adds an EZAir Tire Gauge and the Stop&Go Pocket Plugger. The air gauge works in-line with the pump. The plugger seals leaks without glue.

All told, you can fix a puncture and be on the road in a matter of minutes. It also works great in the car.

For more information, visit the BestRest Web site.

Long trips on a motorcycle are part of the fabric of the American motorcycle lifestyle. Hitting the road on a fully loaded Harley or custom cruiser is both great fun and challenge. Distance riding requires strong motorcycle riding skills and endurance. While motorcycle riding skill is developed over time by riding in varied conditions, riding endurance develops differently. In order to have the endurance needed for long trips, riders must develop a plan to travel safely.

Rest: Before heading out on a long trip, make sure to get as much rest as possible. Starting a trip without proper sleep can make a long motorcycle trip even longer.

Travel Planning: Before heading out on the trip, make sure to plan the route and as much as possible, plan each stop for fuel and lodging. Motorcycles need to refuel every 1.5 to 3 hours and these stops are vital to staying awake and aware. When stopping for fuel, make sure to walk around to keep the blood flowing.

Attire/Gear: Depending on the climate, proper gear is essential to building endurance. Gear that keeps you warm, dry, or properly ventilated will help a biker stay awake. Also, consider changing your motorcycle seat for one offering more support and comfort.

Fluids: It’s important to stay properly hydrated while on long road trips. Make sure to drink water at every stop for fuel to make sure dehydration does not sap your energy while on the bike. In warm climates, sun, wind, and the heat from the bike can drastically increase fatigue. Stay away from soda and other sugary and caffeine filled drinks. Soda and energy drinks are great for initial energy but can lead to a major energy crash.

Food: Food is important to endurance and making the right food choices makes a big difference. Avoid heavy meals or foods with large amounts of carbohydrates. Heavy meals can cause fatigue and heavy carbohydrate meals can cause an energy crash. It’s best to eat small meals frequently.

Long trips are great fun and once you have a plan to keep your riding endurance at the highest possible level, the ride will go quickly and safely. With some planning, your endurance will increase allowing you to trips from several hours to several days.

Have you been injured in a motorcycle accident in Massachuestts due to a driver’s negligence? If so, contact Tom Kiley. His team of attorneys and legal professionals can help you get the compensation you deserve.

Riding a motorcycle requires that both the rider and motorcycle are operating at peak performance. The same care that should go into maintaining a motorcycle should also go into the physical, emotional, mental state of the biker. Many riders feel that because they are experienced, they can ride under any conditions. Sadly, this attitude causes bikers every year to make critical mistakes causing injury and death.

There are 4 main impairments that bikers should recognize that make bikers unfit to handle sport bikes or cruisers.

• Emotional/Mental Issues: Mood swings, emotional highs and lows, or mental preoccupation can cause a biker to exhibit poor judgment.

• Drug Use: Prescription and illicit drug use can render a biker unfit to ride because of the effects on reaction time, coordination, vision, and cognitive functions.

• Alcohol Consumption: Even a few drinks can cause a rider to have impaired judgment.

• Sleep Deprivation: The lack of sleep causes riders to behave in the same manner as someone who is impaired by alcohol.

Before riding, make sure you and your friends are in a stable and sober mood. It can be the difference between life and death.

If you are a member of the Best Western Ride Rewards program–and even if you are not a member–check out the Best Western travel blog, “You Must Be Trippin’.” The blog features helpful articles on travel tips, ideas, and destinations, including articles on motorcycle-related topics.

Motorcycle enthusiast Jason Fogelson, who writes from North Hollywood, California, and rides a 1993 Harley-Davidson Sportster Deluxe, contributes the motorcycle travel articles. Recently, he has written Lake Placid, Sturgis, and motorcycle movies and books. There is even a post on motorcycle business travel.

Other contributors have written about budget travel tips, Yosemite, pizza cities, shopping vacations, packing, senior travelers, Oktoberfest, and more. Overall, the site is useful for travelers of different means.

Best Western launched the travel blog in July 2008. Fogelson began contributing articles in March 2009.

Best Western Ride Rewards is an exclusive travel program for Harley-Davidson enthusiasts. Read more about it in an earlier post here on this site.

This post is for all you women riders out there. Do you have a passion for riding? Can you put that passion into writing?

If so, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) may reward you for it.

In an effort to come up with a new slogan to promote motorcycle safety training for women motorcyclists, the MSF is hosting the “Ride On! Write On! Contest.”

That’s right, the MSF is asking for your help.

Your slogan could earn you a $599 gift certificate from Whitehorse Gear so take out your notepad and sharpen your pencil. It is time to turn a phrase.

Sorry guys, this contest is open only to women riders (U.S. residents age 18 and over).

Here is your task: “The message (up to 10 words) should reflect how essential it is to get started in motorcycling the right way–by taking an MSF RiderCourse–and how uplifting that accomplishment can be.”

The deadline for submission of your pithy entries is 6 p.m. on Sept. 28, 2009.

A panel of MSF associates will select 10 semi-finalist slogans by Sept. 30, 2009. Public voting online will then whittle down the semi-finalists to the top three winning slogans.

The first place slogan will appear on T-shirts and other items from MSF. The winning writer of that slogan will receive the $599 gift certificate from Whitehorse Gear.

Second and third place winners will receive $400 and $300 gift certificates, respectively.

For more information, including contest rules and restrictions, visit the MSF Web site.

The 2009 Harley-Davidson V-Rod Muscle was Motorcyclist Magazine’s “alternative take” for Best Cruiser of the Year. (The bike that won the spot was the Star 2010 VMAX. Visit the Web site to read more about this year’s best motorcycles.)

In an earlier review, the Motorcyclist Magazine praised the redesigned 2009 model–”Finally, a V-Rod that looks like a Harley!”–giving it 4 out of 5 stars. The main complaint about the first generation V-Rod, which hit the market in 2002, was that it did not look like a Harley.

The 2010 V-Rod weighs in wet at 673 lbs and packs a liquid-cooled, fuel-injected 1250 cc V-Twin engine (122 horsepower and 86 lbs-ft of torque).

The second-generation V-Rod has upgraded instrumentation with an electronic speedometer and a tachometer. There is also a clock, dual trip meters, and a fuel gauge with a countdown feature.

Other features include an airbox, a 5-speed transmission, a slipper clutch, upside-down front forks, ABS, a hydroformed perimeter frame, 5-spoke aluminum wheels , a fat 18″ rear tire (the front tire is 19″), satin chrome dual side exhaust, with turnouts, front turn signals integrated on the mirrors, and a LED rear taillight.

The tank, accessible by flipping the backrest forward, holds five gallons of fuel. Estimated mpg is 34.

The difference between the 2009 and 2010 models is cosmetic: new black denim and brilliant silver pearl paint.

The MSRP is $17,199 and the bike comes with a two-year warranty.

For more information on the 2010 V-Rod Muscle, visit the Harley-Davidson Web site.

Be sure to check out the two other VRSC models: the V-Rod ($14,999) and the Night Rod Special ($16,699).

Grand Island, NE – A motorcycle accident on Grand Island yesterday left one biker hospitalized, but in stable condition.

According to reports, 65-year-old Murray Thompson was riding his motorcycle south on Broadwell Ave when his bike collided with a car driven by 16-year-old Nathaniel Pfeifer, who was attempting to turn from 18th Street onto Broadwell heading north.

Thompson was taken to St. Francis Medical Center with injuries that included cracked ribs, bruises, and road rash.

If your loved one has been seriously injured or killed in a motorcycle accident, you may need to contact an attorney. Tom Kiley, a motorcycle enthusiast and personal injury lawyer in Massachusetts can help. You can reach attorney Tom Kiley at 1-800-930-8145 or by e-mail.

In the world of motorcycle charity events, Love Ride is the largest one-day fundraiser.

In the world of motorcycle movies, Easy Rider is the greatest ever made.

This year, Love Ride 26 has teamed up with Sony Pictures to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Easy Rider.

Love Ride 26 will take place on Oct. 25. It is the main event of California Bike Week (Oct. 23-25), which is celebrating its third year.

Oliver Shokouh, the owner of Harley-Davidson of Glendale, Calif., is the founder and chairman for Love Ride, which debuted in 1984.

“Love Ride is about helping those less fortunate–this year, more than ever, there are so many people who need our assistance,” Shokouh said.

Grand Marshall Jay Leno will lead the ride, which begins at Glendale Harley-Davidson and ends at the Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. A vendor show, food, drinks, and concert will follow the ride.

The event is expected to draw 25,000 riders this year. Many celebrity riders will be among them.

Last Year’s Love Ride Raised $1 Million

The 25th annual Love Ride raised over $1 million for charity.

Celebrity riders in attendance last year included Harley-Davidson legend Willie G. Davidson (a Love Ride Honorary Chairman) and family; Kiss’s Gene Simmons; actors Peter Fonda, Rutger Hauer, and Larry Hagman; the cast members from FX’s outlaw biker club drama ‘Sons of Anarchy’; and Cassandra Hepburn, star of the Quentin Tarantino-produced motorcycle gang film Hell Ride; among others.

The 2008 end-of-ride show included the Foo Fighters and ZZ Top.

Registration for this year’s ride kicked off on Aug. 22 with a block party at Glendale Harley-Davidson, which is located at 3717 San Fernando Rd., Glendale, CA, 91204 (at the intersection with Mira Loma Ave.).

Easy Rider Available on Blu-ray Disc

Easy Rider is slated for release on high-definition Blu-ray Disc on Oct. 13. The 35th anniversary edition is available on DVD.

Peter Fonda, one of the stars of the 1969 film, is a Love Ride Honorary Grand Marshall. The classic counterculture film also starred Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson.

Easy Rider will be featured in promotions, music, and giveaways throughout California Bike Week and Love Ride 26.

For more information on the ride, or to register, visit the Love Ride 26 Web site.

For more information on Easy Rider, visit the Sony Pictures Web site.

If you are looking for scenic roads that offer a great ride, visit the Web site for the National Scenic Byways Program, which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.

The Web site lists no less than 125 roads, or Scenic Byways–a.k.a. National Scenic Byways and All-American Roads.

According to the program, these roads from all across the United States represent “the depth and breadth of scenery in America–natural and man-made panoramas; electrifying neon landscapes; ancient and modern history coming alive; native arts and culture; and scenes of friends, families and strangers sharing their stories.”

Also listed on the Web site are other byways from other agencies:

• The Forest Service (National Forest Scenic Byways),
• The Bureau of Land Management (Back Country Byways),
• The Fish and Wildlife Service (America’s Byways and National Wildlife Refuges), and
• The National Park Service (America’s Byways and National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary Series).

In addition, you will find listings on scenic byway programs in individual states.

The roads are organized by state on the National Scenic Byways Program Web site, so you can find one for a specific location near you or near where you plan to travel. There is an additional category for multi-state roads (where applicable).

You can also view the byways by activities, that is, byways that offer particular experiences such as golfing, hiking, mountain biking, and more.

The listings for the roads offer information of value for motorcycle trip planning, including brief and detailed overviews, additional articles, photos, maps, directions, information on visitor services, and links to other resources.

For example, the National Scenic Byways Program listing for the Connecticut River Byway, a multi-state road in New Hampshire and Vermont, provides articles on the Appalachian Trail, on shopping for New England charm, and on birds of the Connecticut River Byway.

There is also an itinerary for a 2-day, 42-mile trip from Rockingham, Vt., to Lebanon, N.H., covering stops at Rockingham Meeting House, Fort No. 4, Billings Farm, and Dartmouth College, among others.

Not every road will be great for motorcycling, but many are. Once you have found a road to ride, use the “Print-n-Go” feature to create a customized PDF file for convenient printing of all the information you want to take along with you.

For more information, and to plan your motorcycle trip, visit the Web site for the National Scenic Byways Program.

Westerly, RI – 37-year-old biker Powell Bell, was killed Sunday night when his motorcycle struck another vehicle on Winnapaug Road in Westerly.

According to reports, Bell was thrown from his bike upon impact and pronounced dead at Westerly Hospital. The driver of the other vehicle, 49-year-old Angelo Urso was uninjured in the motorcycle accident.

No chagres have yet been filed and the motorcycle crash remains under investigation.

If your loved one has been seriously injured or killed in a motorcycle accident, you may need to contact an attorney. Tom Kiley, a motorcycle enthusiast and personal injury lawyer in Massachusetts can help. You can reach attorney Tom Kiley at 1-800-930-8145 or by e-mail.