The Body and Machine Section is the place to hang out and grab pertinent information for everything from motorcycle maintenance to fitness to very cool stuff to know about!
Garage-Girls Ultimate Biker Makeover
For those of you that have not heard about the Garage-Girls ultimate Biker Makeover, it's time to crawl out from under that rock! If you are planning on attending the Carlisle Summer Bike Fest, July 17th-19th 2009 you need to take a few minutes to enter for your chance to win the Ultimate Biker Makeover. Now lets get a few things straight here, this is not a contest for the next top model, this is simply a contest to help a few people "win the lottery" when it comes to the best riding gear, bike parts and accessories. We are looking for two people to win big during Carlisle. This contest is open to both guys and girls and were hoping to help somone out with some much needed updated riding gear and killer parts for their ride. So if you leather jacket is so faded it is actaully now grey, or if your bike is so stock it gets mistaken for someone else's in the parking lot, this contest is for you!
All we are asking is that to you submit your story and photo for a chance to win the “Garage-Girls Ultimate Biker Makeover”. We will be accepting submissions until May 15th, 2009. Contestants must submit a 200 words or less essay along with photo– describing why they are most in need of a biker makeover to bikermakeover@garage-girls.com before May 15th, 2009. This contest is open to both MEN and WOMEN, so send in your story's! Submissions will be narrowed down to a few finalists, then narrowed down to the final three, via on-line voting here at www.Garage-Girls.com and CarlisleEvents Two winners will be selected for the Rider Makeover, including all-new gear by ICON including Jacket, Helmet and gloves, a sweet new pair of riding boots from HD-Footwear, a case of Spectro motorcycle oil, Wizards Cleaning Products, Pink Partz Clothing, a year subscription to IronWorks Magazine and much more, with one grand-prize winner, who will win the Ultimate Biker Makeover with killer parts and accessories for HIS or HER ride!
Winners must be present at the Carlisle Bike Fest on Saturday, July 18th to collect their prizes.
Spring is Here, Lets Fire 'em up!
It's finally time to bring your ride out of it's winter storage. Here are a few tips to make this transition happen more smoothly.
When bringing your bike out of storage start by putting the bike into first gear, disengage the clutch and push the bike back and forth a few times. This will insure the clutch is working properly and you won’t have to worry about the bike moving at initial start up.
Make sure your battery is fully charged and place it back in the bike if you had taken it out for charging over the winter months. Look at your cables and connections make sure you see no signs of corrosion or anything being loose. (REMEMBER disconnect negative first, reconnect negative last.)
Remove and inspect spark plugs, change if they look either totally black or totally white. a Neutral beige color is the color of a perfect running plug.
Check your tire pressure, adjust if needed. Find your bike's correct tire pressure on your frame tag or in your service manual.
Clean out your air filter, depending on where your bike has been stored dust, leaves or even mice could have found there way in there.
Start the engine and let it reach normal running temperature. (may need to use choke if you have a carburetor)
Check all fluid levels and fill if needed (this must be done after the bike has reached normal running temp)
Check all lighting, turn signals and brake lights
Check horn
Look bike over for any leaks.
Check over your riding gear as well, make sure everything is holding up ok and you have no scratches on your riding glasses.
Be Safe on your first few rides, don't forget there is still usually a bunch of debris on the roads from the winter.
Daytona Bike Week 2009
Garage-Girls had a sweet time kickin' it in Daytona this year, good times with good friends, awesome bike shows to check out, sweet sunny beaches, killer music and fun rides.
Send in your shots from Daytona to sara@garage-Girls.com we'd love to see the fun you had.
MRF, you ride you should join
During the V-Twin Expo I attended a seminar held by Keith Ball of Bikernet, the seminar was more of a way to rally motorcyclists together in order to have more of a uniform stance in standing up and having one voice in protecting our industry. A member of the MRF was on hand and gave us a quick run down of just exactly what this group has done and continues to do. I am a bit embarrassed to say I was not aware of some of the things that are in the works in government concerning our rights to ride and enjoy the sport of motorcycling. To say this was an eye opener is an understatement. I strongly urge you to check out this organization, join and stand protected in what we all have a passion for, our way of life. Here is some info from the MRF website, but please check out the site, read the articles and join the group.
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF), incorporated in 1987, is a membership-based national motorcyclists’ rights organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. The MRF monitors and when necessary, sways federal legislation and regulatory action that pertains to street riders. The MRF concerns itself with what is going on in the arena of motorcycling safety education, training, licensing, and public awareness. The MRF provides members and state motorcyclists’ rights organizations with direction and information to protect motorcyclists’ rights and motorcycling. The MRF sponsors annual regional and national educational seminars for motorcyclists’ rights activists and publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, The MRF Reports.
MRF Mission Goals
Maintain and improve our ability to act as an advocate before national, state, and local legislative, executive, and judicial bodies and with private or public entities regarding issues affecting motorcycles, motorcyclists, or motorcycling.
Maintain and improve our financial base and ensure financial stability.
Maintain and improve our capability to meet and exceed the needs of our membership base and all state motorcyclists' rights organizations.
Maintain and improve our capability to be the national information center for motorcyclists' rights information.
Enhance training of national, state, and local motorcyclists' rights activists.
Daytona Bike Week 2009
Well Finally, Daytona Bike Week is right around the corner, do you know what that means? It's pretty much the kick off of the spring riding season. It won't be long now, the skies will start clearing up, the birds will start chirping early and the buds will start to appear on the tree's. The world will soon awaken and we will all be able to enjoy experiencing it up close on our bikes. If you are headed down to bike week your in for some fun in the sun. The 68th annual Daytona Bike week, February 27th-March 8th is sure to warm your soul with good times as usual. So much to do and so many places to see. We'd love to hear about your journey's, so when you get back drop us a line and send in your photo's and stories to sara@garage-girls.com
Stop the Ban of Youth Motorcycles and ATVs!
On August 14th, 2008, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). Intended to make children's everyday toys safer, the rule governing implementation of the act threatens to end youth off-highway vehicle (OHV) riding entirely.
According to section 101(a) of the enacted legislation, all youth products containing lead must have less than 600 parts per million (ppm) by weight. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has interpreted the law to apply to various components of youth OHVs including the engine, brakes, suspension, battery and other mechanical parts. Even though the lead levels in these parts are small, they are still above the minimum threshold.
The unavailability of youth OHVs will devastate family OHV recreation and cripple amateur competition, creating a domino effect across all aspects of motorized recreation.
In order to assure continued availability and access to youth OHVs, the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) and Specialty Vehicle Industry Association (SVIA) submitted petitions to the CPSC asking that certain vehicles be excluded from the final rule governing the law.
It is critical that Congress and the CPSC know the petition exists and that they act on it to maintain a vital form of recreation for American families, preserve youth racing and protect the thousands of jobs associated with this industry.
Please write or call your Representative and the CPSC today and ask them to approve the petition to exclude youth OHVs from the CPSIA lead content requirements.
You can send your Representative a letter by using the 'Take Action' option. To contact the CPSC directly, use their contact form by clicking here