Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/763593
32 nJanuary 2017n www.thunderpress.net THUNDER PRESS Banning bikes Overseas motorcycle news may be a grim indicator of how easily things might go awry in America. Recently Paris announced a plan to ban motor- cycles produced before 1999 from parts of the city during the day. Since the French capital continues to have some of the worst air pollution in the world, the reasoning is the new law will address older motorcycles man- ufactured before current Euro emis- sions standards. And now London has jumped on the anti-motorcycle wagon in a desperate attempt to reduce its pollution levels. (Within the fi rst week of 2016, London exceeded its pollution limit for the entire year.) London has had a long-standing congestion charge (US$17) to discour- age cars from entering the center of the city but motorcycles and scooters had been exempt. But plans are being drawn to begin charging motorcycles made before 2007 when Euro 3 emis- sions standards were fi rst applied to bikes. This was supposed to be a part of London's new Ultra Low Emission Zone initiative that was scheduled to be introduced in 2020 but could now be implemented as early as 2017. Hanoi is also getting in on the action, announcing plans to completely ban motorcycles by 2025 in hopes of reducing traffi c congestion by promot- ing public transportation. The city of Lift with your legs A team of 23 students from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands is causing a storm, taking off for a 14,300-mile trip around the world. The center of all the excitement is the STORM Wave, a revolutionary development in electric motorcycles developed by group of several independent companies. While we at THUNDER PRESS remain partial to recycling dinosaur hydrocarbons (the internal combustion engine), even we skeptics took notice when noting the bike's specs. The motorcycle uses a modular battery pack that delivers 28.5 kWh that, when combined with the electric motor generating a nom- inal 35 kW (max 70 kW), can propel the bike to a top speed of 100 mph and accelerate from 0–60 in fi ve seconds. While it is interesting that the STORM Wave is capable of cover- ing 235 miles without charging, the most applauded aspect is that since the battery is a modular unit, it can be exchanged with a second fully- charged battery within seven minutes, doubling the bike's range. While that little bit of propaganda sounds great on the surface, there is a weight factor to take into consideration. Without the modular battery the bike weighs 352 lbs. Adding the battery jumps the weight up to a whopping grand total of 750 lbs. We fi gure that's why they needed 23 students since lugging 400 lb. batteries in and out of motorcycles in seven minutes must be exhausting work. With all the promise electric bikes hold, it seems plausible that the reliable combustion mode of two- wheel transport will continue to be around for a while. Targeting bikers Ever since the fi rst archer painted a series of concentric rings on a bale of hay, targets for hunting, recreation and protection have been a part of improving your skills. And while that original target is still viable, silhouette targets have recently become the rage for shooting enthusiasts. First made popular on televised law enforcement programs, silhouette targets now come in wide variety of hostile bad guy versions. One version that caused a recent upset in the world of motorcycles was the Bad Biker Target sold by Baker Targets. While Baker carries a large assortment of traditional gun targets including standard military-style sil- houettes, Bad Thug, Turkey Day tar- gets and even an arcade game target, they also wander into the weird side of the business, offering zombie targets (both male and female), Frankenstein, the Rocky Road (raccoon with a gun), caveman and creepy clown targets. But when they launched their line of "Bad Biker Targets," they instantly received the attention of two-wheel enthusiasts across the country. With two targets depicting bad bikers, one showed a helmeted biker brandishing a handgun while a sec- ond was a cowboy hat-wearing rider aboard a motorcycle aiming a pistol with his right hand with red impact dots indicating high-value marks across his body and the front tire of the motorcycle. Along with these images, an ad on their website read, "Bad bikers need to be terminated." David "Double D" Devereaux is a spokesperson for the Washington State Council of Clubs, founder of the Hanoi presently has 4.9 million motor- cycles and scooters on the road which is expected to jump to nearly 7 million in the next four years. Here in America, it seems our biggest advocate to protect against gov- ernment overreach may be our newly elected Vice President. Seems VP Mike Pence is a two-wheel enthusiast and a supporter of motorcycle rights, work- ing directly with ABATE of Indiana. He has completed a personalized basic rider training course and has partici- pated in the Ride with the Governor event in Indiana as well as serving as an escort to riders passing through the state on their way to the nation's capital for the Rolling Thunder rally in Washington, D.C. Sporting a vest festooned with various patches, last July Pence, aboard his Project RUSHMORE Street Glide, took part in a motorcycle ride to promote motor- cycle safety awareness and to raise funds for the Indiana National Guard. Two weeks later he was nominated as Donald Trump's running mate and will be sworn into offi ce in January 2017. Hopefully his affection for motorcy- cles and riders' rights will continue once he takes his national position. We at THUNDER PRESS are currently seeking an invite to the fi rst White House Biker Bash—tent camping, a fi re pit and some keg beer in the Rose Garden, anyone? Motorcycle Profi ling Project (MPP) and works with motorcyclists on the national level. He wrote an interesting piece on www.motorcycleprofi ling project.com condemning these targets as discriminatory and noting a report by the University of Chicago that concluded, "Stereotypes in targeting training create a bias infl uencing the decision to shoot a target, even an unarmed target." The MPP received an e-mail from Baker Targets the fi rst part of November 2016 informing them that Bad Biker Targets had been removed from their website within 12 hours after Baker received the fi rst complaint, scor- ing a bullseye for the bikers. No word yet on how the International Fraternity of Zombies or the Consortium of Creepy Clowns will proceed.