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Dave Currier, aged 68, on Winning Cannonball riding his 1911 Harley-Davidson

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by Kevin Wallevand from https://www.inforum.com

Fargo man wins Motorcycle Cannonball with 1911 Harley Davidson

  • Dave Currier turned 68 years of age on the road while racing in the Motorcycle Cannonball
  • Earlier, Dave Currier had been a runner-up in 2018 Motorcycle Cannonball riding a 1915 Harley-Davidson
  • His father sold Indian and Harley motorcycles in the 1940s and 50s in Fargo and also raced them
  • Dave Currier credits John Rouland of Northern Crankshaft in Thief River Falls for doing a lot of the technical and engine work on his 1911 H-D

“To start it, you have to pedal to start it, it is a belt drive. To move it forward, you have a lever which tensions the belt and the bike moves forward.” – Dave Currier

Fargo man wins Motorcycle Cannonball with 1911 Harley Davidson

A Fargo man has just won a cross country motorcycle run called The Motorcycle Cannonball.

Dave Currier is finally getting some feeling back in his rear-end. He is back in Fargo after competing in the most difficult, antique endurance race in the world: The Motorcycle Cannonball.

“I think this has been the toughest ride of my life,” Currier said. “It is a real grind, I had about eight hours in the saddle every day.”

Riding his 1911 belt-driven Harley Davidson, Currier and 88 competitors crossed 11 states over 16-days straight. From Michigan to South Padre Island, Texas, they racked up just over 3,700 miles.

“The bike is tall. I have short legs, so my feet don’t touch the ground,” Currier said. “To start it, you have to pedal to start it, it is a belt drive. To move it forward, you have a lever which tensions the belt and the bike moves forward.”

But Currier, who had a team planning and tweaking this bike, not only competed; he won.

“I had a police escort, it was an absolute incredible deal,” Currier said. “They closed the roads off.”

He crossed the finish line with this checkered flag, bringing home the trophy.

“Before the finish, they handed me the checkered flag, and I rode in with the checkered flag,” Currier said. “It was incredible. (It’s) still hard to talk about it.”

Currier credits John Rouland of Northern Crankshaft in Thief River Falls for doing a lot of the technical and engine work on the 1911 Harley.

He said his local sponsors; Milwaukee Tool, Acme Tools, Dakota Fence, and TechLine Coatings all played a role in the win.

Currier, who turned 68 during the race, thinks he had a little help from angels above. His dad, Dick Currier, sold Indian and Harley motorcycles in the 1940s and 50s in Fargo. He raced them as well, and Currier believes his dad would be pretty proud.

“He was a big part of my life,” Currier said. “That’s why I called it, ‘The Last Ride.'”

For more info on the Motorcycle Cannonball visit their website by clicking here.

Earlier Dave Currier had been a runner-up in 2018 Motorcycle Cannonball riding a 1915 Harley-Davidson

From September 2018.

“I’ve already been doing a lot of thinking,” Currier said, chuckling. “I have done the twin cylinder. The next challenge for me would be to take a single cylinder and make it across the U.S. But this was a trip of a lifetime. Going over the mountain in Kalispell, Montana, that’s when I turned 65.”

‘Trip of a lifetime’: Fargo resident named runner-up in world’s hardest antique motorcycle run

Currier says his bike, a 1915 Harley-Davidson twin-cylinder boasting an 11-horsepower engine, took him two years to restore.

by Emma Vatnsdal from https://bismarcktribune.com

PORTLAND, Ore. — Enjoying a sunny 48-degree morning in The Dalles, Ore., Dave Currier and his entourage were getting ready late last week to point themselves east and head back home to Fargo.

While many go west to escape the cold of winter or spend time with family and friends, Currier had a different motivation — and to end up in Portland, he had to start in Portland, Maine.

In 2010, one man set out to become the first person to take a group of 45 like-minded antique motorcycle riders across the U.S. from Kitty Hawk, N.C., to Santa Monica, Calif. Sixteen days later, 10 of the original 45 riders rolled their roughly century-old bikes onto the Santa Monica Pier, completing the inaugural Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run.

Now in its fifth running, the 2018 installment of the run saw more than 100 people ride from Maine to Oregon, giving participants a chance to see much of the U.S. in a whole new way.

Three classes of motorcycles — single cylinder, twin cylinders with two-speed rear ends and bikes with three-speed transmissions — set out, racing to navigate the roads to each day’s checkpoint before 5 p.m. Taking only the “back roads” across the whole country, Currier and the rest of the crew averaged around six hours of riding per day beginning at 7:30 a.m.

In true-to-history fashion, modern navigation systems like a GPS device were not allowed. Instead, riders were given maps each morning 30 minutes before they set out with directions consisting instructions like “drive north 3.2 miles, turn left at the blue house and head west.”

Currier said it was a voyage to remember.

“It was incredible,” Currier said. “It was a fantastic trip kind of re-enacting what the old-time people did when they had the opportunity to go across the U.S. What was really kind of special was I had my birthday (during the trip). Going over the mountain in Kalispell, Montana, that’s when I turned 65. It was kind of a monumental trip in many ways for me.”

Lifelong passion
There are few requirements about which motorcycles qualify for this cross-country road trip, but there are standards that must be met. For the 2018 run, all motorcycles had to be manufactured in 1928 or earlier, and must still appear original in nature.

While period-correct modifications were accepted, no modern replica bikes could be entered.

Electrical charging systems, auxiliary fuel tanks and modern wheels were OK, though GPS systems were specifically banned.

Currier says his bike, a 1915 Harley-Davidson twin-cylinder boasting an 11-horsepower engine, took him two years to restore.

“I started with the basic frame and completely refurbished it from the ground up,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed the motorcycles since I was 7 years old when I first rode one. Restoring this was pretty special.”

Safety is the No. 1 concern during this race, especially because the bikes are sometimes older than riders’ grandparents. Upon arriving in Portland, Maine, riders completed a half-day of safety classes consisting of rules of the road and safety features.

Each Cannonball rider is also allowed a support team to help them along the way. Currier chose his wife, Kay, two friends from Alaska and a co-worker to assist him with any repairs after each day was done.

“When you get done with the day and you check out, you can do any service work you want on your bike,” he said. “You can change motors, you can overhaul it, whatever you can between 5 at night and 7 in the morning. The support team can’t have anything to do with you during the day.”

Even with the small issues he faced — losing bolts, tough winds and unsoldered ground wires — Currier says he wouldn’t have placed runner-up in his class without the support of his wife and family.

“They’ve always been incredibly good,” he said. “I couldn’t have done this without them.”

The Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run happens every two years, and Currier said he’s started planning for 2020.

“I’ve already been doing a lot of thinking. Six to seven hours a day, you got plenty of time to think about a lot of stuff,” Currier said, chuckling. “I have done the twin cylinder. The next challenge for me would be to take a single cylinder and make it across the U.S. But this was a trip of a lifetime.”

Piaggio, KTM, Honda and Yamaha set up swappable batteries consortium

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by Reuters from https://www.investing.com

MILAN (Reuters) – Italian scooter maker Piaggio said on Monday it had set up a consortium with Honda Motor Co., KTM AG and Yamaha Motor Co. to encourage the use of swappable batteries for electric motorcycles and light electric vehicles.

The Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium (SBMC) aims to broaden the use of light electric vehicles, such as scooters, mopeds and motorcycles, and support a more sustainable management of their batteries, a joint statement said.

It will focus on issues such as battery life, recharging times, infrastructure and costs and will work on defining international standard technical specifications for swappable batteries.

The companies in the consortium said they welcomed others joining them to extend standards to as many companies as possible.

“Urban mobility is going through a delicate transition moment towards electrification. Thanks to this consortium, motorbikes will keep their key role,” Piaggio Chief of Strategy and Product Michele Colaninno said.

Honda’s Motorcycle Operations Chief Officer Yoshishige Nomura said the consortium’s objectives aimed to make electric motorbikes more convenient for clients, as their “use on large scale can substantially contribute to the creation of a more sustainable society”.

Piaggio Group owns iconic two-wheeler brands such as Vespa, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, among others.

Piaggio, KTM, Honda and Yamaha to set up swappable batteries consortium

By General Posts

from https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com

The consortium will define the standardised technical specifications of the swappable battery system for vehicles belonging to the L-category, mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles.

Piaggio Group on Monday said it has signed a letter of intent with KTM AG, Honda Motor and Yamaha Motor to set up a Swappable Batteries Consortium for motorcycles and light electric vehicles.

The consortium will define the standardised technical specifications of the swappable battery system for vehicles belonging to the L-category: mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles.

The companies will be working closely with interested stakeholders and national, European and international standardisation bodies. The founding members of the consortium will be involved in the creation of international technical standards. The Consortium will start its activities in May 2021.

In the context of the Paris Climate Agreement and the transition to electromobility, the founding members of the consortium believe that the availability of a standardised swappable battery system would both promote the widespread use of light electric vehicles and contribute to a more sustainable life-cycle management of batteries used in the transport sector, the companies said in a joint statement.

Also, by extending the range, shortening the charging time and lowering vehicle and infrastructure costs, the manufacturers will try to answer customers’ main concerns regarding the future of electromobility.

Michele Colaninno, Piaggio Group chief of strategy and product, commented, “With the signing of this letter of intent, the signatories show their proactiveness vis-à-vis the major concerns of their customers and the political priorities as regards the electrification of vehicles.”

An international standard for the swappable batteries system will make this technology efficient and at the disposal of the consumers, added Michele Colaninno.

Motorcycles and Motorcycling in the USSR

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Motorcycles and Motorcycling in the USSR from 1939: A Social and Technical History
Hardcover – April 16, 2019 – available for Pre-Order on Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com//dp/1787113140/

Motorcycles and Motorcycling in the USSR from 1939 provides the first accessible English language account of motorcycles in the Soviet Union. Concentrating on the wartime and postwar period until 1990, prior to the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, it covers the motorcycles produced, and looks at the way in which they were used at home and exported abroad.

Chapters cover wartime, models produced, the social character of Soviet era motorcycling, and wide-ranging sport. With planned rather than market-led production based around copies of pre-war German BMW and DKW models, the industry churned out hundreds of thousands of utilitarian and rugged machines that were very different from the more fashion-orientated machines produced in the West.

These motorcycles went under the place names of the producing factories: Ishevsk, Kovrov, Moskva, Minsk and, of course, the large flat twins produced in Irbit and Kiev under the Ural and Dnepr names. With a strong emphasis on Soviet era illustrations, the book provides an insight into a life, based on idealism and ideology that has now passed.

Photographs and images, many of them from private family collections, show Soviet bikes as well as popular imports Jawa from Czechoslovakia, and Pannonia from Hungary.

Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Veloce Publishing
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1787113145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Colin Turbett got his first motorcycle at age 15 and has owned, built, and cried over mostly British bikes ever since. He currently looks after a 1949 BSA Gold Star, as well as a modern bike. Colin spent a long career in social work in the West of Scotland through which he was a successful textbook author. In recent years motorcycle trips to Eastern Europe have triggered an interest in the utilitarian machines produced there during the Communist years. He has always been interested in the history of the Soviet Union, and this book brings several of his passions together.