Welcome to Friday Fudge – a weekly round up of the more ‘unusual’ motorcycle related stories that are just too silly to post on their own, but raise a much bigger chortle when you slap them all together and take the piss.
Honest police?
Motorists have always cynically accused police of writing traffic tickets for their own department’s benefit, but there are some signs that may be changing.
Last April, we told you about two LAPD motorcycle patrol officers who won $2 million in a lawsuit after they claimed their supervisors discriminated against them over ticket quotas, which are illegal under California law.
Now, ten more motorcycle patrolmen are filing their own lawsuit for the same reason. Could it be that law enforcement officials are having a change of heart, and deciding to go after the real criminals amongst us? We’re not quite sure yet, but if violent crims who prey on innocent victims feel more of the law’s brunt, and we get hassled less by the Man, we’d call that a win-win.
Story source: LA Times
Tailgaters beware
Every motorcyclist hates tailgaters. Nobody wants a car or truck breathing down your neck – it’s an invitation for trouble.
But, we’re betting tailgaters are one problem this Pakistani stunt man never has to worry about. No, his problems are more along the lines of running out of ammunition for his somewhat puzzling stunt.
He’s wasting his time in Pakistan, though – with his bike-borne gunplay skills, it’s surprising he hasn’t been snatched up as an actor on bikesploitation series Sons of Anarchy
A world record
When most people set a motorcycling record, they think of something like a land speed record, or jumping over a collection of buses.
Not music journalist Greg Parmley though! Starting in June, he set his own record of a different sort – he visited 26 live music festivals in 30 days, ripping through Europe on a BMW R 1200 R.
But we are somewhat puzzled by the oddity of his record; who would think up something like that, and why would Guinness even bother recognizing it? Maybe we need some crackpot record suggestions of our own here at CMG to get us in the record books. Ideas, anyone?
Source: Ultimate Motorcycling
Hanging on
So, what do you do if you want to take your main squeeze, or anyone else, on a motorcycle ride, but they’re afraid of falling off?
You could do like riders have done for a hundred years now, and tell them to hang on to your waist, or you could tell them to use the grab bars fitted to most motorcycles … or you could set them up with the latest invention in our Friday Fudge innovation file.
Called the Moto-Grip, it’s basically a harness that fits over the rider, with handles for the passenger to hang on to, if they aren’t comfortable with your love handles. It’s supposed to enhance two-up stability, and the optional Moto-Grip Jr., which straps your younger rider right to you, so if lil’ junior falls asleep, they won’t fall off the motorcycle.
Will the Moto-Grip catch on? It’s a bit of a niche market, but maybe there will be a demand, especially with motorcycle taxis … or riders hoping it will help their significant other “come to grips” with their motorcycling pastime …
Story source: Gizmag
A hard sell for hard drive help
Apparently it’s catching.
First, it was watchmakers or luggage makers or even speedboat builders trying to gain some product credibility by slapping a motorcycle logo on their product. Then it was politicos like Sarah Palin saddling up to hopefully feed off the motorcycling culture’s image.
Now, here’s a YouTube video from a computer repair shop in Anchorage, Alaska, that has resorted to using motorcycles to promote their service.
It’s more of a funny commercial than an hopeless attempt to associate keyboards with bad-assery, which is a good thing, because think about it: they’re a computer repair shop in Anchorage, Alaska. They probably have a rifle in the truck to fend off bears on the way home from work. They don’t need motorcycles to be cool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuTV1aY-ocY&feature=youtu.be
Toilet humour
Harley-Davidson is a polarizing brand; some bike enthusiasts think they’re shit-hot, but others simple think the bikes are crap.
We’re not sure which set is the intended market for this toilet seat and cover, though – maybe both?
Source: Bikes in the Fast Lane
When my son was younger i use to use a product called snow buddy (looks very much like the product above) which i wore and it had 2 handles so he could hold on to me and move with me on the bike and gave him a better way to keep himself stable when i had to hit the brakes hard. i had to carry his weight then of coarse but it worked really well.