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17 Nov 13:25

The Malheur Occupiers Were Found Innocent. The Standing Rock Protestors Were Assaulted. What Does This Say About Our Country?

by Mark Sundeen

On Thursday, hundreds of riot police in North Dakota used pepper spray, batons, helicopters, mine-resistant armored vehicles, and a sound cannon to uproot Native American demonstrators occupying the construction route of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline. They arrested 141 people who say the pipeline has destroyed sacred sites and in the event of a spill would contaminate drinking water on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Also on Thursday, an Oregon jury acquitted Ammon Bundy and six other "Patriots" of felony conspiracy charges stemming from their occupation earlier this year of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Southern Oregon. The Bundy crew, which included dozens of other armed protestors, opposed what it considers unlawful ownership of federal lands. Occupiers barricaded themselves inside federal buildings for six weeks, swaggering in front of news cameras with pistols strapped to their hips and rifles slung over their shoulders, before finally being evicted by law enforcement officials.

At first blush, the scenarios seem similar: a group of passionate activists commit civil disobedience in the hinterlands to protest issues that seem beyond their control. But the particulars are quite different, and understanding them illuminates how America’s centuries-old myth of the noble cowboy and savage Indian has taken contemporary form in white privilege and institutional racism. The simplest evidence of the disparities between the protestors at Standing Rock and the ones at Malheur can be found by looking at how each group has been portrayed in the media and treated by law enforcement.

There are three key differences between these two groups: the Bundy militia was white, armed, and staged inside a federal compound on public land; the Standing Rock demonstrators are mostly Native American, they have enforced a “no-guns” rule at their camp, which, until three days ago, was also pitched on public land. The clashes with police occurred when protestors moved onto private property recently purchased from a rancher by Dakota Access, LLC, a subsidiary of Texas-based Energy Transfer, builder of the 1,172-mile oil pipeline from the Bakken to a refinery in Illinois.

Upon moving camp, Standing Rock protestors opened themselves up to charges to trespassing, a crime that provided police with clear justification to disperse them. The Bundy clan, on the other hand, was charged with the murkier count of conspiracy to prevent federal employees—that is, refuge workers—from doing their jobs.

When the Bundys made their stand, news networks arrived immediately, beaming footage of Ammon Bundy and LaVoy Finicum fielding questions in camouflage jackets and cowboy hats. In one perplexing CNN report, a reporter describes the Bundy camp as “peaceful,” claiming “we saw no guns,” even as guns appear in the footage.

By contrast, Standing Rock protestors, who number in the thousands, have been largely ignored by national television news. Many of the reports that have trickled out relied heavily on statements from North Dakota officials, who often portray the Native Americans as dangerous. On August 17, for example, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said protesters “were preparing to throw pipe bombs at our line.” Although he did not provide evidence of the explosives, the claim found its way into the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Tribal officials speculated that he mistook their public invitation to visitors to “pack their pipes”—a reference to peace pipes, filled with tobacco.

“The state of North Dakota is doing everything to paint Native Americans as the aggressors,” said tribal attorney Tara Zhaabowekwe Houska, campaign director for the nonprofit Honor the Earth, who has attended several demonstrations. “They use stereotypes that we are savage and uncivilized.”

Beyond the contrast in rhetoric, there are also discrepancies between how each group has been treated by authorities. For the first several weeks of the Malheur occupation, armed protestors could travel to and from the refuge for grocery runs. Ammon Bundy went to local towns for meetings and to negotiate with the FBI. It wasn’t until the twenty-fourth day of the occupation that he and others were arrested, during one such outing. (Finicum was shot and killed by federal agents when he attempted to avoid a roadblock and, having crashed his truck into a snowbank, reached for a pistol under his coat.)

At Standing Rock, Sheriff Kirchmeier quickly established a roadblock on the state highway just north of camp: anyone trying to enter the reservation was sent on a long detour over dirt roads. As of Thursday, more than 400 protestors have been arrested. 

According to Sheriff Kirchmeier, those arrests were made in response to aggression from the protestors. On September 3, they clashed with Dakota Access’s private guards, in what Kirchmeier described as “more like a riot than a protest.” 

Several participants and witnesses I interviewed confirmed that protestors on Dakota Access land fought with security officers. But a video of the event shows that the first physical contact occurred when a guard tackled a protestor who had blocked the path of a bulldozer. It also shows guards urging their dogs to attack protestors, six of whom were bitten.

Paradoxically, these unarmed protestors received much harsher treatment from law enforcement than the armed Patriots in Oregon. (Rob Keller, spokesman for the Morton County Sheriff, confirmed to me that no pipe bombs were ever found at Standing Rock and that, as of last week, his officers had not seen any protestors armed with guns.) The Bundy group frequently made the point that, without guns, they would simply have been crushed by police, and this seems to be true. Wanting to avoid a repeat of Waco or Ruby Ridge, federal agents took great pains to avoid a gun battle.

It’s impossible not to ask: Did the two groups of demonstrators receive such vastly disparate treatment in part because one is primarily white and the other primarily Native American?

Racism among law enforcement agencies has been well documented: in the wake of police killings of African Americans in Ferguson and Baltimore, the Department of Justice found both departments mired in racial bias. In 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona, Justice sued Sheriff Joe Arpaio for systematic infringement of the rights of Latinos.

Thursday’s raid is the latest in a series of actions by North Dakota officials that raise questions about whether Native Americans are getting fair treatment before the law. There was already evidence that they were being treated unfairly: a 2016 state study showed that minorities were underrepresented in trial juries in Morton county—whose population in 2010 was 94 percent white and four percent Native American. A 2012 study showed that statewide, people of color were arrested and jailed at disproportionate rates.

It’s hard not to cry injustice when the Bundy crew is found not guilty, despite the other factors at play. Ultimately, having spent three weeks inside the Oceti Sakoni camp on the banks of the Cannonball River, for me, the events at Standing Rock shine a harsh light on a culture that celebrates and appropriates the historical Indian as a symbol of our nation’s brave and free spirit, while at the same time ignoring or criminalizing modern-day Native peoples when they demonstrate bravery in fighting for their freedom. In the context of history, yesterday’s clashes are not an aberration but a continuation of 500 years of brutal relations between the colonizer and the colonized.

12 Nov 17:11

DIY Cinder Speakers

by Chris
"Daniel Ballou and Dashdot are developing a system that transforms the humble cinder block into a high fidelity speaker. Concrete is a low resonance material that minimizes vibrations and reduces coloration of pure sound delivered by the drivers. A drawback of course is that it’s heavy to handle and ship, and labor intensive to mold."
21 Oct 22:18

RMR: Post-Election Issues

by MercerReport

Solutions for your family.
13 Oct 16:49

The Pursuit of Perfection: Eastern Spirit’s CX500

by Chris Hunter

Custom Honda CX500 by Eastern Spirit Garage.
Three years ago, Poland’s Eastern Spirit Garage exploded onto the custom scene with one of the best Honda CX500s ever built. Its immaculate lines even inspired automotive designer Charlie Trelogan to write a hugely popular guide, How To Build A Cafe Racer.

Lukas and Sylwester from Eastern Spirit are now back with another Honda CX500, and it’s even better than the first. It’s a little less raw, a little more detailed, and drop-dead gorgeous.

Custom Honda CX500 by Eastern Spirit Garage.
“I enjoy building ‘classic’ looking bikes,” Sylwester tells us, “so most of the technical elements are original, but with modern touches.”

The beautifully proportioned lines of this machine are in direct opposition to Sylwester’s background: Like Guy Martin, he’s spent much of his career working on monster Scania trucks.

Custom Honda CX500 by Eastern Spirit Garage.
But he also spent his teens tweaking Polish WSK and WFM mopeds, and building karts with Honda CBR engines. And the years of engineering experience are clear to see.

Custom Honda CX500 by Eastern Spirit Garage.
This Honda CX500 is a 1978 bike, lowered by eight centimeters. The suspension has been stiffened up with new springs and oil, but the ground clearance is still ample. “With the improved center of gravity it handles way better, and corners much faster,” says Sylwester.

Custom Honda CX500 by Eastern Spirit Garage.
New triple clamps tidy up the front end, and there’s a cleaner dashboard to match—with twin compact gauges and ‘idiot lights’ set into the front edge of the top clamp.

Custom Honda CX500 by Eastern Spirit Garage.
The tank has been reshaped and set level, removing the awkward slope from the original. It sits flush with a new rear frame: nothing fancy here, just clean lines and a classic humped seat unit with a diagonal support underneath.

If you need to carry a passenger, there’s a two-up seat that is an easy ten-minute job to switch.

Custom Honda CX500 by Eastern Spirit Garage.
The distinctive Honda CX500 central down tube remains, but it’s much less noticeable, and is now flanked by a pair of cone filters. The engine has been completely refreshed, and a new cam chain and tensioner fitted—a common wear issue with the overhead valve, liquid-cooled v-twin.

To keep the CX500 humming sweetly along, there’s also a new clutch, new brakes with metal braided hoses, and a brand new wiring loom.

Custom Honda CX500 by Eastern Spirit Garage.
The exhaust headers have been fashioned from an acid-resistant, high alloy stainless steel. They’re bent to match the original shape, but terminated with blacked-out reverse cone mufflers.

Custom Honda CX500 by Eastern Spirit Garage.
We love the simplicity of the black-and-white color scheme too. The ungainly clutter of the standard CX500 has all gone: this is truly the ugly duckling transformed into a swan.

Eastern Spirit Garage Facebook | Instagram | Images by Mateusz Stankiewicz

Custom Honda CX500 by Eastern Spirit Garage.

30 Sep 01:05

We drove out of Yellowstone into the Grand Tetons and were greeted by this incredible view of the mountains. [OC][2048x2048]

05 Aug 19:29

What Pizza Can Teach Us About

by DOGHOUSE DIARIES

What Pizza Can Teach Us About

Unless you're talking about that part of me that I hate.

28 Mar 03:19

Action! Vimeo launches The Greasy Hands Preachers

by Chris Hunter

Motorcycle documentary: The Greasy Hands Preachers
This weekend, the definitive film about the new wave custom scene is released to the public.

Following its premiere at the San Sebastian film festival, The Greasy Hands Preachers is going global with Vimeo. From Sunday you can stream and download the 90-minute documentary—and you can pre-book right now.

Motorcycle documentary: The Greasy Hands Preachers
Shot on Super 16, Greasy Hands takes viewers all over the world, with stopovers in France, the USA, Scotland, Spain and Indonesia. The cast is a roll call of big name builders: from American-based heavyweights Roland Sands (above left) and Shinya Kimura (right) to controversial Europeans El Solitario and Blitz Motorcycles.

It’s the work of producer-director team Clément Beauvais and Arthur de Kersauson, which is a stamp of quality in itself. They’re best known for the brilliant Long Live The Kings—an elegant, elegiac mood piece that made our list of motorcycle films worth watching.

The Greasy Hands Preachers is a celebration of manual work, seen through the lens of motorcycle enthusiasts who have found their way to a happy life. “A biker crossing a beautiful landscape is an image that conveys the idea of freedom,” say Beauvais and de Kersauson. “However, the mechanic who builds and repairs this bike is perceived as proletarian with dirty hands.” It’s a perception that the duo have set out to overturn.

Motorcycle documentary: The Greasy Hands Preachers
It’s also an idea that resonated with the high-ups at Belstaff, BMW Motorrad and Motul, who offered sponsorship to fund the film. A further $100,000 came from a successful Kickstarter campaign—a sure sign of appetite on the public side too.

Watch the full-length trailer below to get a taste of The Greasy Hands Preachers right now. To stream or download it in full, head over to the official Vimeo On Demand page.

Enjoy.

The Greasy Hands Preachers on Facebook

24 Mar 01:11

BMW R1200S by Cafe Racer Dreams

by Chris Hunter

R1200S custom by CRD
The R1200S saw the debut of BMW’s most powerful-ever boxer motor, with over 120 horsepower going to the back wheel. It was that rare breed, a sportbike with a shaft drive, and retained the classic Paralever single-sided swingarm.

Not what you might consider to be ideal custom material: I think this is the first time a major custom workshop has taken a grinder to BMW’s sport-tourer. But against all odds, Cafe Racer Dreams have made it work.

R1200S custom by CRD
Pedro García and Efraon Triana have managed to retain the core capabilities of the R1200S while giving it a radically new look and even better handling dynamics thanks to adjustable Öhlins shocks front and rear.

R1200S custom by CRD
There’s a definite apocalyptic look to this R1200S, with two lights up front and a military-looking mesh covering the tank, hooked up to a painstakingly-welded exoskeleton.

R1200S custom by CRD
A layer of black paint now covers the boxer engine, and exhaust gases now exit via a SuperTrapp system terminating just to the left of the back wheel. The tires front and rear are Metzeler Karoos—a 70% street/30% dirt compound designed for big adventure bikes.

R1200S custom by CRD
The seat unit is especially neat, finished in an olive green fabric and flush-fitted with a new subframe that can be removed by undoing four screws. Micro taillights and indicators keep the back end looking clean.

There’s an appealing brutality about this R1200S’s new look. It’s certainly not subtle, but sometimes, that’s no bad thing.

Images by Enrique Pacheco. Check out earlier builds on the Cafe Racer Dreams website, and follow CRD’s news via their Facebook page.

R1200S custom by CRD

The post BMW R1200S by Cafe Racer Dreams appeared first on Bike EXIF.

28 Nov 17:33

RMR: Target Comes to Canada

by MercerReport
Former Zellers' shoppers are seeing red.
Views: 11541
206 ratings
Time: 00:43 More in Comedy
20 Oct 02:24

Researchers Develop Battery-Free Wireless System to Power Mobile Devices

by Morgana Matus

university of washington, ambient backscatter, battery-free, mobile device, signal, network

Anyone with a mobile device has likely experienced the frustration of having to be reliant on a battery. The charge never lasts long enough, and finding a source of electricity on the run is a hassle. Researchers at the University of Washington have come up with a solution to modern tech troubles with their new communication technique called “ambient backscatter.” The process uses TV and cellular transmissions to connect wireless gadgets so that they communicate with one another, reflect existing signals, and share information.

university of washington, ambient backscatter, battery-free, mobile device, signal, network university of washington, ambient backscatter, battery-free, mobile device, signal, network university of washington, ambient backscatter, battery-free, mobile device, signal, network

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Post tags: ambient backscatter, battery-free, computing machinery's special interest group on data comminications 2012, Hong Kong, joshua smith, mobile devices, Seattle, tv tower, university of washington, wireless network


    






18 Oct 16:32

The MakerPlane is an Open-Source Two-Seater Aircraft That Costs Only $15,000

by Morgana Matus

makerplane, open source, airplane, plans, 3d printer, cnc, indiegogo

If you are a model plane aficionado or simply got bored on tinkering away on an old junker in the garage, the MakerPlane might be the perfect project. Able to be made for $15,000, the two-seater airplane is designed to be a lightweight commuter that can be fabricated on a CNC at home or local maker space. 3D printers are used for all non-structural components, and each step of the construction process comes with detailed instructions, videos, and animations. They even use slots and tabs to help with assembly.

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Post tags: 3d printer, airplane, airventure, amateur, cnc, downloadable, experimental light sport aircraft, FAA, FREE, IndieGoGo, makerplane, open source, oshkosh, pilot, sport pilot license, US

    


18 Oct 16:31

Cree $99 LED streetlight could come to a city near you

by Christopher MacManus
City planners across the U.S. are dropping the streetlights of yesteryear for brighter, more energy-efficient lights. Here's the scoop on a super-cheap LED streetlight that could come to your city sooner than later.

Originally posted at Crave

14 Oct 07:00

Christopher Columbus was awful (but this other guy was not)

by Matthew Inman
Christopher Columbus was awful (but this other guy was not)

Happy Bartolomé Day.

View
14 Oct 06:06

RMR: Rick's Rant - Government Shutdown

by MercerReport
Rick's Rant for October 8th, 2013.
Views: 90304
1193 ratings
Time: 01:42 More in Comedy
16 Sep 00:16

Amazing ERO Concrete-Recycling Robot Can Erase Entire Buildings

by Lidija Grozdanic

ERO Concrete Recycling Robot, Omer Haciomeroglu, concrete recycling, demolition robot, building material recycling, concrete reuse, energy-efficient building demolition, waste-free demolition, rebar reuse

Demolition is a messy business—not only does the process require heavy machinery and produce clouds of dust, but it also results in giant piles of rubble that often head straight for the landfill. Omer Haciomeroglu, a student at Sweden’s Umeå Institute of Design has designed Ero – a robot that recycles concrete in an energy-efficient manner and separates it from rebar and other debris on the spot. The project won the 2013 International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) in the Student Designs category.

ERO Concrete Recycling Robot, Omer Haciomeroglu, concrete recycling, demolition robot, building material recycling, concrete reuse, energy-efficient building demolition, waste-free demolition, rebar reuse ERO Concrete Recycling Robot, Omer Haciomeroglu, concrete recycling, demolition robot, building material recycling, concrete reuse, energy-efficient building demolition, waste-free demolition, rebar reuse ERO Concrete Recycling Robot, Omer Haciomeroglu, concrete recycling, demolition robot, building material recycling, concrete reuse, energy-efficient building demolition, waste-free demolition, rebar reuse ERO Concrete Recycling Robot, Omer Haciomeroglu, concrete recycling, demolition robot, building material recycling, concrete reuse, energy-efficient building demolition, waste-free demolition, rebar reuse ERO Concrete Recycling Robot, Omer Haciomeroglu, concrete recycling, demolition robot, building material recycling, concrete reuse, energy-efficient building demolition, waste-free demolition, rebar reuse ERO Concrete Recycling Robot, Omer Haciomeroglu, concrete recycling, demolition robot, building material recycling, concrete reuse, energy-efficient building demolition, waste-free demolition, rebar reuse


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Post tags: building material recycling, concrete recycling, concrete reuse, demolition robot, energy-efficient building demolition, ERO Concrete Recycling Robot, ERO robot, landfills, Omer Haciomeroglu, rebar reuse, recycling robot, waste-free demolition, zero landfill waste








15 Sep 21:18

The Sages Of Cyberspace

by Andrew Sullivan

Henry Farrell considers what it means to be a public intellectual in the Internet age:

Many of these new public intellectuals are more or less self-made. Others are scholars (often with uncomfortable relationships with the academy, such as Clay Shirky, an unorthodox professor who is skeptical that the traditional university model can survive). Others still are entrepreneurs, like technology and media writer and podcaster Jeff Jarvis, working the angles between public argument and emerging business models. These various new-model public intellectuals jostle together in a very different world from the old. They aren’t trying to get review-essays published in Dissent or Commentary. Instead, they want to give TED talks that go viral. They argue with one another on a circuit of business conferences, academic meetings, ideas festivals, and public entertainment. They write books, some excellent, others incoherent.

In some ways, the technology intellectuals are more genuinely public than their predecessors.

The little magazines were just that, little. They were written for an elite and well-educated readership that could be measured in the tens of thousands. By contrast, TED talks are viewed 7.5 million times every month by a global audience of people who are mostly well-educated but are not self-conscious members of a cultural elite in the way that the modal reader of Partisan Review might have been.

In other ways, they are less public. They are more ideologically constrained than either their predecessors or the general population. There are few radical left-wingers, and fewer conservatives. Very many of them sit somewhere on the spectrum between hard libertarianism and moderate liberalism. These new intellectuals disagree on issues such as privacy and security, but agree on more, including basic values of toleration and willingness to let people live their lives as they will. At their best, they offer an open and friendly pragmatism; at their worst, a vision of the future that glosses over real politics, and dissolves the spikiness, argumentativeness, and contrariness of actual human beings into a flavorless celebration of superficial diversity.

Previous Dish on the subject here and here.


15 Sep 20:54

What Works Against Terrorism?

by Andrew Sullivan

We haven’t a clue:

The Afghanistan war has cost $657.5 billion so far, we spend $17.2 billion in classified funds a year fighting terrorism through the intelligence community, and the Department of Homeland Security spent another $47.4 billion last year. And we have very little idea whether any of it is preventing terrorist attacks. …

It’s scandalous that we spend billions every year on counterterrorism but barely spend any effort on evaluating whether what we’re doing works. The federal government is showing slightly more interest than it once did. “We’re lucky because there’s a criminologist in DHS who helps the partnership along a bit,” [criminologist Cynthia] Lum tells me. But the scale of the efforts pales in comparison the efforts to build evidence on health, education, social welfare, or crime policy. That has to change.

And I think that’s underlying public discontent with respect to Syria. The cost-benefit analysis of the last decade makes – and should make – anyone shudder at the thought of anything like those policies being continued. Obama, for the most part, has avoided them. But the huge budgets for the NSA and DHS and the post-9/11 Pentagon have no serious accounting for them in terms of benefits to the American people. I suspect Washington’s political class need to address this question – and answer it thoroughly – before they will ever get backing for war again.


15 Sep 20:53

Face Of The Day

by Andrew Sullivan

Aging before your eyes:

Christopher Jobson explains how the incredible video was made:

Last Thanksgiving, [filmmaker Anthony Cerniello] traveled to his friend Danielle’s family reunion and with still photographer Keith Sirchio shot portraits of her youngest cousins through to her oldest relatives with a Hasselblad medium format camera. Then began the process of scanning each photo with a drum scanner at the U.N. in New York, at which point he carefully edited the photos to select the family members that had the most similar bone structure. Next he brought on animators Nathan Meier and Edmund Earle who worked in After Effects and 3D Studio Max to morph and animate the still photos to make them lifelike as possible. Finally, Nuke (a kind of 3D visual effects software) artist George Cuddy was brought on to smooth out some small details like the eyes and hair.


26 Aug 07:33

Josh Fox Talks Gasland 2, Natural Gas Fracking, Methane Leakage, & More On The Daily Show (VIDEOS)

by Zachary Shahan
Russ

Staggering...

Below is a wonderful interview with Josh Fox on The Daily Show. It’s split into 3 parts. I recommend watching all of them. Under each one are some key quotations I think are worth noting.

Methane / Natural Gas Leakage Makes Natural Gas Worse Than Coal

“They say, ‘we burn cleaner than coal’ — and that’s true, 50% cleaner. But methane is 105 time — methane, natural gas — 105 times more potent in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, and they’re leaking huge clouds of methane off these well sites, it’s leaking in the distribution systems…”

“… and any more than 1% leakage means that natural gas development is worse than coal for the climate.”

“[We're seeing] 7 to 17 percent leakage in the field. That means it’s worse than coal.”

“Transitional Fuel”

“We’re told two things about natural gas and fracking natural gas, and that is that, one, it’s a transitional fuel,… which is kind of the language of a drug addict…. ‘It’s a recreational fuel.’ And secondly that this gives us energy independence… it’s hard to throw that needle when you are exporting natural gas because you can get more money for it, I don’t know, elsewhere.”

“What is this? It’s not energy independence. This is the classic exploitation model that has been done in the developing world for 100 years. Go in, exploit a place, toxify it, cause human rights violations, civil rights violations for the population there, and then sell the product overseas and say goodbye. ‘It’s all about our profits.’ These are multinational corporations — a Canadian company, Royal Dutch Shell, BP…. These are foreign multinationals, that are coming in, and they would exploit Americans. And why isn’t our government standing up for them?”

“We saw the science of each one of those [EPA] investigations come back, yes, contamination has happened from the gas industry.”

Back To Leakage

“Society of Petroleum Engineers says 35% of the wells in the world are leaking right now. 35% of 1.8 million oil & gas wells are leaking and, uh oh, we don’t know how to fix the problem.”

Aside from the above quotations, there’s a lot of good (and funny) stuff in the interview above that I think are worth spending some time on. Enjoy! And share with your friends! :D

Josh Fox Talks Gasland 2, Natural Gas Fracking, Methane Leakage, & More On The Daily Show (VIDEOS) was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

25 Aug 04:19

Columbus

And thus was smallpox introduced into the previously Undying Lands.
18 Aug 22:05

Southlands Residence Deftly Straddles an Urban Oasis in Vancouver

by Bridgette Meinhold
15 Aug 06:22

Harley dual sport motorcycle

by Chris Hunter

Dual sport motorcycle
Jim Carducci is an engineer with a passion for dual sport motorcycles and the Harley Sportster motor. So he’s put the two together and created the Carducci Dual Sport SC3 Adventure.

It’s not quite as improbable as it sounds, and the amount of engineering on the finished product is quite remarkable. But the question remains: why? “I had a vision of how I could somehow transform a Sportster into a viable dual sport motorcycle,” says Jim. “Others have built variations of the idea, but none suited my eye. And few were truly capable off-road dual sport bikes.”

Dual sport motorcycle
To set the benchmark, Jim rode BMW GSs, KTM 950s and other big dual sport bikes. After almost 10 years of thinking about it and talking about it, he started developing the SC3 prototype. “The Sportster motor was the key,” he says. “It produces tractable low-end power and is loaded with torque. Both of which are ideal for dual sporting. Plus, I just love the sound, feel, and look of its V-Twin motor—it has lots of soul!”

Jim bought a 2003 100th Anniversary Sportster “donor” bike—one of the last ‘hard mount’ Sportsters, with a lighter motor than the newer 2004+ model rubber-mounted motors. He then created 2D AutoCAD layouts to lock down the geometry of the frame, motor, suspension, wheels and rider position.

The goal was to get the optimum rake and trail, plus 8+ inches of rear wheel travel and 10+ inches of front wheel travel. The instantaneous force center is now well below the combined CG of the bike + rider—needed for the rear suspension and the traction to work well under acceleration.

Dual sport motorcycle
With the basics sorted, Jim began a 3D solid-model detailed design. He built a full-scale 3D Styrofoam model of the aluminum 6-gallon gas tank (which was hand formed by Evan Wilcox). He also created a billet aluminum swing arm, triple clamps designed to integrate a Scotts steering damper, and vibration-isolation bar risers. Next came a GPS mount, foot controls, a rear fender sub-frame and rack, a crash bar, a fly screen and a skid plate. And last but not least, a kickstand. Corbin made a seat to Jim’s specs.

Dual sport motorcycle
The Sportster motor was upgraded with an NRHS 1250cc kit and Andrews N4 cams. The rest of the components are high-spec too: Öhlins forks and rear shocks, configured to handle the Harley’s weight, plus 18” and 21” wheels from Buchanan’s, with Sun rims and a Talon front hub. The exhaust system is from Supertrapp, Biltwell supplied the 1” diameter handlebars, and the foot pegs are from Joker Machine.

Dual sport motorcycle
Two and a half years later, the bike is more than ready to ride, but Jim isn’t quite finished yet. “I’m currently designing a new exhaust, to make standing up for long periods easier on the rider. I’m also formulating an idea for panniers.” San Jose Harley-Davidson has approached Jim to build bikes for customers, and he’s teaming up with the dealership to get more SC3 Adventures out onto trails and roads around the world.

Top marks to Jim Carducci for going where few others have dared. The Carducci Dual Sport might not be an ‘official’ bike, but there’s nothing amateur about this build.

For more on the SC3 Adventure, head over to the Carducci Dual Sport website. Images by Neil Hanshaw.

Dual sport motorcycle

© Bike EXIF 2013. The world authority on custom motorcycles, brought to you by Icon 1000.


14 Aug 06:40

Australian Scientists Develop Catalyst to Turn Seawater Into Hydrogen Fuel

by Timon Singh

University of Wollongong, seawater, hydrogen fuel, hydrogen fuel cell, clean energy, australia, catalyst, light assisted catalyst

A team of scientists from Australia’s University of Wollongong have developed a way to turn sea water into hydrogen in order to produce a virtually unlimited clean energy source. They believe that their system would allow five liters of sea water to produce enough hydrogen to power an average-sized home and an electric car for one day.

University of Wollongong, seawater, hydrogen fuel, hydrogen fuel cell, clean energy, australia, catalyst, light assisted catalyst University of Wollongong, seawater, hydrogen fuel, hydrogen fuel cell, clean energy, australia, catalyst, light assisted catalyst,


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08 Jul 03:57

BMW K100 by Robrock

by Chris Hunter

BMW K100
This raw and brutal BMW K100 was built, very aptly, by a master blacksmith and metalworker. Faced with a long German winter, Marc Robrock decided to enliven his evenings and weekends and build himself a bike. “After 25 years of riding bikes, I felt I was missing something,” he says. “And life is too short to have un-customized stuff.”

Robrock started to look for a ‘nice’ bike but soon switched direction. “Why take a nice bike and rebuild it? Why not take an ugly one? So I chose the ugliest bike I know: The BMW K100.”

BMW K100
Marc found a 1984 model and stripped it down, removing everything that was not necessary and cleaning what was left. But not too much—he was keen to retain the patina of three decades.

BMW K100
After weeks of grinding, cutting and welding, the BMW K100 took shape. Everything was done with an eye to TÜV approval: no sharp or open-ended parts, small aluminum fenders were added, and the original exhaust pipe retained.

BMW K100
Marc added a new aluminum subframe to support a custom-made seat unit, and mounted the Bosch ignition and tiny gel battery underneath. The rims, forks and a multitude of smaller pieces were sandblasted and powdercoated black. Then the bars were replaced with an aftermarket item, again resized to fit.

BMW K100
Marc calls the machine the BMW K-fé, and it took him five weeks to complete. TÜV certification took longer—six weeks. But the BMW is road-legal.

Now that Marc has all the paperwork sorted, he has just one job left to do—replace the exhaust system.

Images courtesy of Thomas Riese. Marc is at Robrock.de [German language only].

BMW K100

© Bike EXIF 2013. The world authority on custom motorcycles, brought to you by Icon 1000.


08 Jul 03:45

Virgin Galactic’s First Rocket-Powered Flight Breaks Speed Of Sound

by Timon Singh

Sir Richard Branson, spacecraft, space tourism, space flight, Virgin Galactic, SpaceShipTwo, New Mexico, spaceport, commercial spaceline, virgin space, spaceflight

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic – the world’s first commercial spaceline – just announced that its SpaceShipTwo (SS2) successfully conducted its first rocket-powered flight. The test, which saw the rocket-powered spacecraft break the sound barrier, marks Virgin Galactic’s entrance into the final phase of vehicle testing prior to launching its commercial service from New Mexico.

Sir Richard Branson, spacecraft, space tourism, space flight, Virgin Galactic, SpaceShipTwo, New Mexico, spaceport, commercial spaceline, virgin space, spaceflight Sir Richard Branson, spacecraft, space tourism, space flight, Virgin Galactic, SpaceShipTwo, New Mexico, spaceport, commercial spaceline, virgin space, spaceflight


Read the rest of Virgin Galactic’s First Rocket-Powered Flight Breaks Speed Of Sound


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Post tags: commercial spaceline, New Mexico, Sir Richard Branson, space flight, space tourism, spacecraft, spaceflight, spaceport, SpaceShipTwo, virgin galactic, virgin space

    


02 Jul 04:35

Last Night's #Blogchat Rocked! Thanks for Joining Us!

by noreply@blogger.com (Kelly Hungerford)
HUGE #Blogchat last night on content curation for companies, possibly the biggest this year, here's the transcript - beta.hashtracking.com/ht-pro-rpt/mac…
— Mack Collier (@MackCollier) December 3, 2012
Thanks to you and the #blogchat community, and according to Mack himself,  last night's #Blogchat was possibly the biggest this year! You can read his analysis and stats breakdown on his latest post. It's a really interesting read!

For those of you who missed it, the topic was "Curation in the Workplace". The turn-out was  spectacular and we had an awesome time chatting and mingling with everyone. Tips, tools and great advice were in abundance and it was a great learning exchange for everyone.

We really loved seeing you all there and would like to say thank you to everyone who participated. We'd also like to give an extra shout-out of appreciation to Swiss Paper.li publisher Evren Keifer who made the 3am CET wake up call to join for #blogchat... that's early!

For those of you who couldn't join in last night, here are a few places where you can go to get the skinny on the chat:
  • The #Blogchat transcript: provided by the folks at Hastracking. Yes, that's correct. 27.2 million impressions within one hour!
  • The #Blogchat Storify: you'll find some great quotes for presentations, new folks to follow and good resources to dive into. 
  • Mack's #Blogchat paper: discover the urls shared during the chat. While you're there, pre-order Mack's new book "Think Like a Rock Star". He explains what it takes to make fans out of followers and that probably has something to do with how he's successfully grown one of the strongest communities on Twitter...
Save the date! The Next chat is Sunday, December 9th, 8pm Central Standard Time (U.S)!

The topic is "Email and blogging" and with both topics topping the charts as two of the most effective content marketing tactics, you won't want to miss it!

We really look forward to seeing you there. Tweet me @KDHungerford for any questions and let me know if you'll be joining! The team and I look forward to greeting you!
30 Jun 03:15

The Rundown - Commission adopts shelter ordinance

The Rundown is prepared by the City of Newton Public Information Office to summarize the City Commission meeting and does not represent official Commission minutes. 7 p.m. May 14, 2013, Newton City Commission meeting At Tuesday’s meeting, the City Commission adopted an ordinance establishing...
30 Jun 03:13

National Geographic Traveler Magazine: 2013 Photo Contest

The National Geographic Traveler Magazine photo contest, now in its 25th year, has begun. There is still plenty of time to enter. The entry deadline is Sunday, June 30, at 11:59 p.m. Entrants may submit their photographs in any or all of the four categories: Travel Portraits, Outdoor Scenes, Sense of Place and Spontaneous Moments. The magazine's photo editors showcase their favorite entries each week in galleries. You can also vote for your favorites. "The pictures increasingly reflect a more sophisticated way of seeing and interpreting the world, making the judging process more difficult," says Keith Bellows, magazine editor in chief. (The captions are written by the entrants, some slightly edited for readability.) As always, you can take a look at some of last year's entries and winners.. -- Paula Nelson ( 40 photos total)

OUTDOOR SCENES - Portrait of an Eastern Screech Owl - Masters of disguise. The Eastern Screech Owl is seen here doing what they do best. You better have a sharp eye to spot these little birds of prey. Okeefenokee Swamp, Georgia, USA. (Photo and caption by Graham McGeorge/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)
    


29 Jun 19:19

The Pace of Modern Life

'Unfortunately, the notion of marriage which prevails ... at the present time ... regards the institution as simply a convenient arrangement or formal contract ... This disregard of the sanctity of marriage and contempt for its restrictions is one of the most alarming tendencies of the present age.' --John Harvey Kellogg, Ladies' guide in health and disease (1883)
30 Apr 03:20

Is It Worth the Time?

Don't forget the time you spend finding the chart to look up what you save. And the time spent reading this reminder about the time spent. And the time trying to figure out if either of those actually make sense. Remember, every second counts toward your life total, including these right now.