If you do a Roethlisberger and hit face-first, you may only appreciate what a full-face helmet can do for you if you aren't wearing one. Helmet wearers who take a hit that would have scrambled their eggs if they had been bareheaded often just think, "I'm glad I had that on." But it's hard to fully appreciate what you avoided.

Roethlisberger has said that if he rides again, it will be with a helmet. I'm guessing it will be a full-face helmet, since he now probably understands its value.

The three essential ingredients in any [motorcycle] restoration project are an engine, a frame and a manufacturer's parts book. The engine and frame are the heart of the project; the parts book, with its exploded diagrams, is the brains. Let's assume you have these three things. The first step is to haul the motor off to an engine shop that specializes in completely rebuilding your type of motor.

Imagine this: You're doing the first tune-up on your newly acquired bike. To get the oil filter cover off you need to remove three cross-head screws. You apply your trusty $1.89 K-Mart screwdriver to the first screw, and turn. The screwdriver slips out, so you try again, pushing harder. It slips out again, rounding the screw head a little. But you've got your trusty Vice-Grips in the tool box, so you clamp them onto the screwdriver's shank and really bear down on the screwdriver... this time stripping the head completely. Arrrgh!

If you've worked on bikes at all you're probably nodding your head right about now, saying "yeah, I did something like that." Bikes today have higher-quality fasteners than they did 10 or 20 years ago, but still the various forces of entropy conspire to stick fasteners together a little stronger than they're designed for. Here's a guide to un-sticking stuck fasteners.

There is not an off the shelf Micron muffler available directly for the CB1300 from the UK manufacturer but Australian distributors, AP Imports, have made their own connecting pipe to fit a race muffler to the CB1300 exhaust system. As you can see this works quite well. However, the specialised Micron item direct from the factory is expected in the next Australian shipment.

This document describes a method of changing so-called "tubeless" tires. Once upon a time, tires had inner tubes that held the air pressure required to keep tires rigid and support the weight of the vehicle. This was necessary back when wheels had spokes which necessitated many holes in the rim; now that most vehicles don't have spoked wheels, it's possible to get rid of the inner tube all together and simply have the tire itself hold the air. This makes life easier for a number of reasons, and is generally regarded as a Good Thing...

The vast majority of motorcycle shipping is done using enclosed trailers. This is done for several reasons. Motorcycle shippers can fit dozens and dozens of [motorcycles] in an enclosed trailer that may only hold eight autos. Motorcycles are also a little more sensitive to the elements, many people don't want their brand new Harley or Ducati getting snowed on. Finally, motorcycles are more of a security risk on open trailers. For this reason, ShipVehicles strongly suggests using open motorcycle shipping only for shorter distances (under 500 miles) or if you are not concerned about the exposure and security risks associated with the open trailer over longer distances.

Now, I'm not going to claim that this course will train you as well as a formal Motorcycle school. But then again it is FREE. Which is more than I can say for several, State run, EXPENSIVE Junior College's I know of. To top it off, guys I've talked to, who have taken these courses, tell me the courses were no good. If you do pay for formal instruction, make sure you see the job placement record for the graduates of whatever school you go to, before you give them any money.

I will try to take you from knowing nothing about Motorcycle Repair to being able repair your own and others Motorcycles. How much you learn and how well you repair your motorcycle will depend on you.

At the risk of seeming condescending, you did follow the correct starting procedure, didn't you? Every motorcycle has its own starting drill. Many require that the clutch be held in, whether the [motorcycle] is in gear or not, and some want [it] to be in neutral anytime it's on the kickstand. Before you panic, verify the starting procedure, especially if it's a new [motorcycle] that you're not entirely familiar with. It may sound obvious, but make certain that someone hasn't moved the kill switch to off, especially if you have little urchins running around who love to sit on motorcycles when mom and dad aren't watching.