If you're a motorcyclist, last summer's announcement that a new major motorcycle crash study was finally slated to begin at Oklahoma State University was good news indeed.But it's also proving to be costly; current estimates project a figure somewhere north of $6 million, a dramatic increase from the original amount of $4 million when the new Motorcycle Crash Causation Study was first announced.

At that point, Motorcycle Safety Foundation members pledged over $2 million to match the $2 million in funding granted by the feds. Then, last month, the Motorcycle Industry Council said it would contribute an additional $200,000. When you add this figure to the $2.8 million already in the till from Motorcycle Safety companies, total contributions from the industry now equal $3 million. And it's sorely needed.

The study would end a 26 year drought of motorcycle traffic safety information; the last (and most comprehensive) log of data on the causes of motorcycle accidents came out with the Hurt Study in 1981. In over a quarter of a century, however, a lot has changed. Almost 11 million street bikes have been sold in the U.S., and the rider population has swelled to over 6.5 million. Even more significant is the average age of riders. In 1985, the typical rider was 27 years old. Today, he's 41.

"We need new field research that might help us further refine our safety initiatives," said Tim Buche, president of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation."There's a long list of things that have changed over the years". Motorcyclists still tend to be about 0.5% of vehicle miles traveled, Buche said, "but motorcycle fatalities are approximately 10% of all roadway fatalities in the United States."

Changes that have cropped up in recent smaller studies show that more fatalities are now related to negotiating a curve prior to a crash, and more deaths are occurring on rural, rather than urban, roadways. The new study will be based at Oklahoma Transportation Center and conducted by Samir Ahmed, the Oklahoma State University civil engineering professor in charge of the research.Unfortunately, due to layers of governmental bureaucracy, the pilot study won't even begin until spring 2008.

Warning: Distracted Drivers Ahead

In related news, Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations, announced the release of a Public Service Announcement made in conjunction with Nationwide Insurance. In this interview, he discusses how the AMA is trying to reduce motorcyclist fatalities on U.S. roadways.

1) "Distracted Drivers" is the latest public service announcement from The American Motorcyclist Association and Nationwide Insurance. Why on that topic?

EM: Nationwide's recent "Life on the Go" survey found that roads are full of distracted motorists, with 73 percent of respondents admitting they use their cell phone while driving. More evidence is pointing to distracted drivers as the cause of motorcycle crashes involving another vehicle. We wanted to remind drivers to put down their phones, lattes and make-up, and pay attention to the road.

2) With gas prices reaching new highs, more people are purchasing motorcycles and scooters. What advice do you have for new riders?

EM: First, take a motorcycle training safety course. Even if you've been riding for years, you'll find new skills in a safety course. Plus, some companies, like Nationwide, will give you a discount on your insurance for completing a safety course. Second, consider your first bike purchase carefully. A smaller bike may be the best choice for those new to motorcycling.

3) While participation in motorcycling is increasing, there are also more RVs and trailers on the road. What tips would you offer to drivers sharing lane space with motorcyclists?

EM: First, don't simply rely on the rearview and side mirrors to check who is sharing the road with you. It is especially easy for motorcycles to visually disappear within the blind spots on recreational vehicles. Always use your signal and physically turn your head to check before merging. Second, make sure any items you're storing on or outside your vehicle are securely tied down. It's especially critical for drivers towing a trailer to check for adjustments at every stop.

4) I have seen a number of stories lately about the rise in motorcyclist fatalities. What is causing this increase and what can be done to change the pattern?

EM: Part of the reason motorcyclist fatalities are up is due to the fact that there are more motorcyclists. According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, sales increased 34% between 1998 and 2003. Other factors have been the proliferation of larger vehicles, and the expanding use of cell phones and other driver distractions.

Through a grant from the US government and contributions of the motorcycle community, a comprehensive crash causation study is going to be conducted by Oklahoma State University. When the study is completed, we will be better equipped to understand how to prevent crashes and ultimately reduce fatalities on roadways.

5) How can the motorcycling community and the public support the new motorcycle crash study?

EM: The government has agreed to match money raised by the motorcycle community to complete the study. So far, through significant contributions from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, the Motorcycle Industry Council, the AMA and individual riders, the community has been able to make available over $3 million.

Additionally, AMA has established a web site to allow other riders to contribute to the effort through our "Fuel the Fund" program - one tank's worth of gas at a time. So far, individual riders have given over $20,000. Riders can find more information at www.amadirectlink.com/study/.
You can view the PSA at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPGazsBjxF4

In case you haven't already heard, Southern California's annual Love Ride is the largest one-day motorcycle fundraising event in the world. The 24th version is taking place this weekend, but it's moving from its old stomping grounds in Castaic to the Fairplex, in Pomona, California. What's also different is that the Ride is now part of California Bike Week - a brand new, 3-day motorcycle experience encompassing several kinds of two-wheel entertainment.

The whole shebang kicks off on Friday, November 9th with the California Bike Week/Love Ride auction in conjunction with Bonhams & Butterfields, at the world-famous Petersen Automotive Museum (featuring artifacts of the Von Dutch collection).

Friday and Saturday, there's also All Harley-Davidson Drag Racing Association (AHDRA) racing on the famous NHRA drag strip in Pomona, as well as the debut of The Pacific Coast Nationals flat track races Saturday night featuring the Harley-Davidson Wrecking Crew and notable racers of AMA fame. This showdown is open to all pro-level competitors, American and metric. The event will be produced by legendary flat track racer Gene Romero.

There's plenty of other stuff to feed your moto-jones too - exhibitions by the Victor McLaglen Motor Corps Stunt Team, freestyle stunt demonstrations by Jason Pullen, demo rides provided by the top major manufacturers, and an enthusiast trade show with hundreds of vendors, including the interactive Harley-Davidson Village and traveling museum.

The whole thing is capped off with a concert on Sunday featuring Gregg Allman, which benefits the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Reading by 9 and Cure Autism Now.

A huge complimentary barbecue for Love Riders and free parking all weekend for all motorcyclists seals the deal. Plan to spend the weekend with Love Ride Grand Marshall Jay Leno and thousands of your closest friends at what looks to be a rolling party for a good cause.

About California Bike Week:

California Bike Week is a three-day premier motorcycle event created for motorsports enthusiasts. With national caliber drag racing, flat track racing, demo rides from the world's biggest OEMs, freestyle stunt exhibitions, vendors, premium food & beverage outlets and the star-studded, world-famous Love Ride, the event is poised to rival some of the largest consumer shows and rallies in the U.S.

The California Bike Week partnership is comprised of the Southern California Harley-Davidson Dealer Association, the Northern California Harley-Davidson Dealer Association and The Love Ride Foundation.

For more info on California Bike Week and/or The Love Ride please call

1-877-CAL-WEEK (1-877-225-9335) or visit http://www.calweek.com

Of Motorcycles, Maps, and Gas Stations

Shell and Best Western Reach Out to Harley Davidson

Remember the days when branding used to just be a way you marked your cattle? These days, it's the normal course of business for many companies. The trend continues with the latest announced `alliance', between Harley-Davidson and Shell Oil. Fortunately, this time it looks like it will actually offer benefits to riders. Here's how it'll work: Shell Oil will place all 14,000+ Shell-branded stations and their locations on the online Harley-Davidson Ride Planner, so that gas stops can be planned along any route you're devising.

Harley's Web-based Ride Planner allows motorcyclists to pre-plan road trips utilizing an interactive map that also identifies the locations of authorized Harley-Davidson dealers and soon, Shell-branded stations. We've all been able to look up any gasoline station on the Internet by city or ZIP code, but the Ride Planner will allow riders to identify the locations of all Shell stations along any route. The cool part is that riders will even be able to get an aerial view of the station and its surroundings prior to the trip. As the alliance evolves, more info will be available on the companies' Web sites at www.harley-davidson.com and www.shell.com/us/.

The press release goes on to mention that Harley recommends premium gasoline for its bikes, and these stations all offer Shell V-Power premium gas. It's also interesting to note here that, according to Top Tier Detergent Gasoline (a standard for gasoline performance created by BMW, GM, Honda and Toyota), the minimum level of detergent additive required by the EPA has declined by an estimated 50% over the past several years. Top Tier claims that, as a result, the ability of a vehicle to maintain stringent Tier 2 emission standards has been hampered, leading to engine deposits which can have a big impact on in-use emissions.

Shell is one of the companies that complies with the Top Tier standards, said to be aimed at ensuring optimal engine performance. For a list of other qualifying companies and to read the standard's requirements, go to: www.toptier.com

Another other alliance taking shape in Milwaukee (seems Harley's been busy these days) partners the Motor Company with the world's largest hotel chain - Best Western. The hoteliers are offering the Gold Crown Club International Ride Rewards - a free, themed frequent guest program for Harley-Davidson enthusiasts. Any Harley-Davidson owner or enthusiast can register for the program by going to https://www.goldcrownclub.com/h-driderewards/. Once registered as Gold Crown Club Ride Rewards members, enthusiasts will earn 10 points for every U.S. dollar (or Canadian equivalent) spent on qualified room rates at any of the 4,200 Best Western hotels worldwide. Rewards members can redeem points toward awards such as free rooms, merchandise and gift certificates.

As a complement to Ride Rewards, Best Western will also serve as a preferred hotel for Harley-Davidson's "Great Roads" interactive Web application, found at www.harley-davidson.com/experience. Using Microsoft Virtual Earth, the application maps out a variety of U.S. "Great Roads" and shows Best Western hotels and Harley-Davidson dealerships along the way. Each listing features hotel descriptions along with a directory of services and amenities. A 10 percent savings is available to customers who book their Best Western reservations through this site, or by calling 1-888-224-BIKE.

For more information on Ride Rewards and features of the Best Western/Harley-Davidson partnership, visit www.bestwestern.com or www.harley-davidson.com/experience.

Motorcycling Loses An Icon
We'll never forget his cool one-piece jumpsuit or flair for showmanship, but the godfather of two-wheel daredevils, Evel Knievel, has died. According to the Associated Press, the white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil died Friday, November 30, in Clearwater, Florida. He was 69. Knievel's eye-popping stunts, which included a jump over Idaho's Snake River Canyon, made him an international icon in the 1970s. Knievel's death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten. He had been in failing health for years. Longtime friend and promoter Billy Rundel said, "It's been coming for years, but you just don't expect it. Superman just doesn't die, right?"

Weather you ride
We're forever checking weather reports prior to and during any trip - even if it's just a daylong ramble up to the mountains. And any touring rider worth his salt knows the weatherman can make our break a weeklong cross-country road trip. Which is why we're pretty jazzed to hear about AccuWeather.com's Forecast Snapshot, announced a few weeks ago. The forecast tool integrates with Google Maps and provides current conditions, 3-day forecasts, weather news headlines, and radar or satellite images for every location on Earth.

The Forecast Snapshot should be particularly appealing to riders because it combines the most popular weather info into a single interface. Even better is the fact that you can access it for both domestic and international locations, easily selected by ZIP code or city and country search.

Accuweather.com's Forecast Snapshot

Chief at last?
Things may be heating up over at Indian Motorcycle - the company finally held a groundbreaking ceremony last October in Lowell, NC at the site of one of its future dealerships. A release stated that this will be the first of 50 dealerships the company plans to have in place by 2010. The new building will feature interior and exterior designs that Indian Motorcycle Dealers across the country will integrate into every shop. The Lowell location is just off I-85 and visible from the interstate.

Other info on the site has been slightly updated as well, with new entries about Indian's history, the head honchos behind the current firm and updated images of the plant and the bike. Along the way, you're still reminded that Indian Motorcycle remains America's oldest and most iconic motorcycle brand. Also, that the 106 year old company's new manufacturing facility is in Kings Mountain, NC. Indian Motorcycle still plans to release a 2009 model year Chief in 2008, and these limited edition bikes can be reserved at www.indianmotorcycle.com

Radio Nomad
You may have caught wind of this several weeks ago, but we'll remind you again: Kawasaki Motors Corp., USA has introduced its first motorcycles with satellite radio through a partnership with XM, the nation's leading satellite radio company.

The all-new, state-of-the-art Premium Audio System can be found on Kawasaki's Vulcan 1600 Nomad touring model. This new system will incorporate XM as an option, which means riders will be able to tune into more than 170 XM channels of music, sports, talk, news, and entertainment. Kawasaki motorcycles sold with XM radios will offer three months of complimentary XM radio service.

With this, Kawasaki becomes the first Japanese bike manufacturer to add XM Satellite Radio to a touring bike. The MSRP of the Premium Audio System is $710.95 and the XM Radio Kit is $442.95, which does not include installation. What's more, it's retrofittable to 2005-2007 Kawasaki 1600 Nomads.

XM has more than 8.2 million subscribers across the continental U.S. See the details at www.kawasaki.com or www.xmradio.com

Those of us who plunked down hard-earned cash for a brand new bike anytime in the last 5 years might be pleased to learn that a new survey finds overall satisfaction with the motorcycle ownership experience within that time period increased. The latest J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Motorcycle Competitive Information Study, released in December 2007, measures owner satisfaction with new motorcycles by examining five major components of the overall ownership experience: product; quality; cost of ownership; sales; and service.

Now in its 10th year, the study finds that improvements made in product satisfaction and the dealership service experience have helped drive the increase in overall ownership satisfaction across the industry. Service, build quality and product/performance primarily drive the overall motorcycle ownership experience.

"While overall satisfaction has steadily increased, satisfaction with the sales experience has remained relatively flat since 2003," said Tim Fox, research manager of the power sports practice at J.D. Power. "One bright spot regarding the sales experience is that satisfaction among those who purchase a motorcycle from a single-line dealer has increased slightly over the past five years, while satisfaction among those who purchased from a multi-line dealer has slightly declined."

Despite the increase in overall satisfaction, a small portion of motorcycle owners report that the dealer caused a new problem while repairing their bike. More than 20 percent of owners took their bike in for repairs, and when the work was not performed correctly the first time, 22 percent say that the dealer created a new problem. This also marks a considerable increase from the 2006 study (16%).

"While this only occurs for a few motorcycle owners, dealers should be aware that the number of initiated problems among this subset is increasing," said Fox. "Quality of the work being performed significantly drives satisfaction with service, so it becomes critical to ensure not only efficient service, but also accurate and high quality repairs the first time around."

The study also finds that engine problems account for 40 percent of total reported problems. Specifically, excessive heat; unusual noise; excessive vibration; and the motorcycle stumbling, hesitating or dying are the most frequently reported engine problems. Engine problems have the most notable impact on the overall ownership experience, as those reporting an engine problem are much less satisfied than those owners who did not have an engine problem.

The study also reveals the following:

Fifty-six percent of new motorcycle owners report that they acquired information about the model they purchased from displays on showroom floors. Additionally, 38 percent found information on a manufacturer Web site and 32 percent indicate that a past experience with a particular manufacturer aided them in their purchase decision.

Overall satisfaction with the cost of ownership has increased among motorcycle owners for a second consecutive year, with owners being most satisfied with the initial price and resale value of their bike. Satisfaction with maintenance/repair costs, cost of accessories and insurance has also increased.

Motorcycle owners are strong advocates of their brand and dealer, as 68 percent "definitely will" recommend their brand and 56 percent will recommend the dealer from which they purchased their motorcycle.

"Loyalty and advocacy levels are particularly high among motorcycle owners when compared with owners in the automotive and boating industries," said Fox. "For example, only 47 percent of boat and 35 percent of auto owners say they are loyal to their brand. The motorcycle industry is much more of a niche market where consumers have a particularly strong allegiance to a brand compared with automotive and marine industries."

The 2007 Motorcycle Competitive Information Study includes responses from 8,796 owners who purchased new on-road motorcycles between September 2006 and May 2007. Owners were surveyed in September and October, 2007.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a marketing information services firm operating in sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on reviews and ratings, visit JDPower.com.

Celebrating the past, present and future of motorcycling, this luxury charitable event will feature 200 of the world's best historic bikes, a representation from the kings of cool, Elvis and McQueen, participation from legends like Giacomo Agostini, Jesse James, and Willie G. Davidson, a cigar & spirits lounge, displays of racing and custom bikes, and more. Featured marques are MV Agusta and Norton. The landmark world event takes place May 3rd at The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay just south of San Francisco. To buy tickets, or for more information, go to: http://www.LegendoftheMotorcycle.com