Motorcycle Views

My memoir, Normal Secrets, has been released and is now available on Amazon as a paperback edition and a Kindle edition. An Audible audiobook edition is planned for summer 2017.

I started thinking about this memoir more than a year ago and have been writing almost fulltime on it for all of 2016 and part of 2017. It covers much of my life and reveals family secrets that had been hidden from me. It took the death of my father to set me in action trying to dig out the secrets and either prove or disprove them. It took me seven years to prove the biggest secret of all. I was 61 years old at that time.

You'll also find out how fate changed my course in life many times as I struggled to find out who I was, what I wanted to do, who I would love, how I came to become both a motorcyclist and a moto-journalist, and how I came to become an author in my late seventies.

It's a true story, loaded with secrets, that begins in the Midwest and spans more than a hundred years. I didn't think I had any secrets in my life, but I was wrong. Maybe reading this memoir, you will begin to wonder if there are also secrets in your life. You'll read how I uncovered my secrets. I wish you good luck, patience, and fortitude if you have to do your own search. (Hint: Make sure you talk to as many family members as you can and try to find at least one family member who has kept a family tree.)

Click the cover to see the book on Amazon. You can then read the first five chapters by clicking "Look inside."

• Strategic Sports Recalls Zox Nano Motorcycle Helmets Since They May Not Adequately Protect the Wearer In the Event Of a Secondary Head Impact
  

• Polaris Recalls 2017 Slingshot, Slingshot SL, and Slingshot SLR vehicles. Three Of the Bolted Connections Between the Steering and the Front Suspension May Have Been Insufficiently Tightened, Possibly Resulting In a Reduction Of Steering and/or Front Suspension Performance
  

• Tegol, Inc. Recalls Outlaw V-5 Motorcycle Helmets. These helmets may not adequately protect the wearer in the event of a head impact and may not stay secured to head during a motorcycle crash.
  

• Zero Motorcycles Recalls 2017 DS, FXS, and S Motorcycles For Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) Hydraulic Control Unit (HCU) That May Have the Wrong Vehicle Model Information
  

• H&H Sports Protection (H&H) is recalling certain TORC T-55 V2 low profile half helmets, sizes XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL. These helmets may not adequately protect the wearer in the event of a head impact and may not stay secured to head during a motorcycle crash.
  

I have a picture gallery of women motorcycle riders and their motorcycles as submitted by women visitors to the Motorcycle Views site. It's called Women on Motorcycles. Women riding motorcycles now comprise about nine percent of all motorcyclists. This gallery has grown over the years but currently needs more pictures. If you are a woman rider, please send us a large picture of you with your motorcycle and we will include it in our gallery. The diversity of women motorcycle riders in our gallery is apparent.

Please view the Women on Motorcycles Gallery and consider submitting a picture of you and your bike.

I am now collecting more true motorcycle stories to use in a new book, 50 More Wild Motorcycle Tales. Click the cover to learn more about what was included in the first book. If you have any motorcycle stories that you have written about your own experiences, send them to me for consideration.

I am featuring five (5) of my Motorcycle Terms in each issue of the newsletter.

• Beater
• Fairing
• Motocross
• Shovelhead
• Trike
  
  
• All Motorcycle Terms

Motorcycle Picture of the Month - April 2017 - 1995 Honda Shadow ACE VT1100C2:
See the latest Picture of the Month and previous pictures. If you'd like to be considered for Picture of the Month, send me a picture and description of your bike. Submit Picture.

See the latest received pictures by category. (Send me a picture and description of your bike.)



"This is my 2015 Yamaha FZ07. It has a Piug windscreen, SW Motech Handguards, and . . . more. -- Grandpa Jim Conway"

I hope you will take a look at my five books, available in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.com. My new book, Normal Secrets, is a memoir. The other four books are motorcycle related. These books make great, inexpensive gifts. In fact, you can purchase all five for less than $40 total (less than $15 if you buy the Kindle editions). I have reduced the price of my five Kindle editions to $0.0 (FREE) IF you also first purchase the corresponding paperback edition. That way you can always have the book with you if you have a tablet or smartphone with you. None of the paperbacks has color pictures in them owing to the high price of producing a book with color. However, every Kindle edition has color pictures, so Normal Secrets, Getting Started Riding a Motorcycle, and Motorcycle Haiku Poetry Kindle books have full-color pictures (excepting original black-and-white pictures).

My book, Normal Secrets, is a departure from my previous four motorcycle-themed books. I started thinking about this memoir more than a year ago and have been writing almost fulltime on it for all of 2016 and part of 2017. It covers much of my life and reveals some secrets that almost no one knows about me. In fact, many secrets I didn't even know myself until recently. You'll also find out how fate changed my course in life many times as I struggled to find out who I was, what I wanted to do, who I would love, how I came to become both a motorcyclist and a moto-journalist, and how I came to become an author in my late seventies. It's a true story that begins in the Midwest and spans more than a hundred years. The book is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. An Audible audiobook is planned. Click the book cover to learn how to buy it on Amazon.com.

My fourth book (released December 1, 2015), Motorcycle Kick-Starts, also available on Amazon.com in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook (Audible) editions, contains a condensed view of motorcycling for new and returning riders. It's designed to whet your appetite for more while sticking to basic motorcycle information without overpowering you with details. The book starts out telling you what motorcycles are and showing you how you might learn to become an active, safe rider. Then ten short motorcycle stories, written by actual motorcyclists, are presented. These stories allow you to observe some unusual things that happen to people who ride motorcycles. Between stories, some practical advice about motorcycles is given in the form of ten motorcycle How-Tos and ten motorcycle Tips that you will need to know to become a proficient rider. Click the book cover to learn how to buy it on Amazon.com. The Audible audiobook edition is also available for immediate download on iTunes and Audible.

My book, 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales, contains a collection of stories that originally were only available on my website. Fifty of these stories were selected, intensively edited, and compiled into the book. I wrote five of the stories. The book is available on Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook (Audible) editions. Click the book cover to learn how to buy it on Amazon.com. The Audible edition is also available for immediate download on iTunes and Audible.

My book, Getting Started Riding a Motorcycle, was first published in 2011 but only as a Kindle edition. It was revised in 2014 and also made available in a paperback edition. Click the book cover to learn how to buy it on Amazon.com.

My book, Motorcycle Haiku Poetry, also available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle editions, contains haiku poems about motorcycles. Haiku is a simple poem of three lines with five syllables in the first and last lines and seven in the second line. Each of the nearly 60 poems is coupled with a motorcycle picture and description related to the poem. I wrote seven of the haiku poems. Click the book cover to learn how to buy it on Amazon.com.

• Motorcycle Salvage Yards: Where you can find motorcycle parts.
  
• Motorcycle Seat Heights: Lists seat heights by motorcycle make.
  
• Famous Motorcycle Movies: The great motorcycle movies are discussed.
  
• 2017 Motorcycle Models: We give links to major motorcycle model pictures and specifications.
  
• Motorcycle Recalls: Gives all motorcycle recalls for the last ten years by make and year.
  
• Women on Motorcycles: These women ride their own bikes.
  
• 10 Ways to Be Safe on a Motorcycle: This article could save your life.
  
• 10 Motorcycle Myths: There are many myths about riding.
  

I now have a Motorcycle Views Newsletter Archive to store all my newsletters. The archive gives the year, month, day, and subject for each newsletter. Each newsletter contains many links to the Motorcycle Views website. A link to the archive will also be included on the Home page of the site and on the page where users can join the newsletter list.

Visit the Motorcycle Views Newsletter Archive

Are you relying more and more on your cellphone or tablet and less and less on your PC or MAC? Remember that all that great motorcycling information on Motorcycle Views is as near as your cellphone. It's also in a new format designed to fit your portable screen. Check us out anywhere you need motorcycle information.

See me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Since the last Newsletter, the Polar Bear Grand Tour has completed four more runs, the latest to the Chatterbox Drive-In, Augusta, NJ. Click this link (or the picture) to see some of the pictures as they appear on Facebook.

All the pictures and videos for these four runs can be found by clicking the following links:

Bahr's Landing - Mar. 5, 2017
Lighthouse Tavern - Mar. 12, 2017
Long Valley Pub - Mar. 19, 2017
The Chatterbox Drive-In - Mar. 26, 2017

The Polar Bears consist of 550 riders from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware, who ride each Sunday to a different prescribed destination where they sign-in and receive points. There is, usually, a restaurant at or near the destination. It gets cold, windy, and snowy on these rides. I've been a Polar Bear member for more than 20 years, and I built and continue to maintain their website.

The picture to the right was taken at the Chatterbox Drive-In, Augusta, NJ.

The Motorcycle Views Website is here for you. We encourage you to submit a story, picture, poem, salvage yard recommendation, user review of your own bike, tattoo, YouTube video you made of your bike, motorcycle tip, etc. These will be evaluated for inclusion into one of our major features. Send us a submission today and share part of your motorcycling experience with our many readers. Read how to make a submission.

Thanks again for coming along for the ride in this edition of the Motorcycle Views Newsletter. -- Walter

Please understand that the Motorcycle Views Newsletter is NOT the Motorcycle Views website. The newsletter provides a few links to content on the Motorcycle Views website. Once you click a link in the newsletter, you'll be getting access to content on the Motorcycle Views site.

If you'd like to view any of our past newsletters, just go to the newsletter archives page.

Thanks for signing up for the Motorcycle Views Newsletter. Using this Newsletter, I'll keep you up-to-date with what's going on in the Motorcycle Views Blog, the Motorcycle Views Website, and the Motorcycle Views Forum. Not sure what a blog is? It's like a daily readout of what I'm thinking about, similar to a diary at times. Most often, I'm using mine right now to tell my visitors what has been added to the Motorcycle Views site.

See me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube.

The Motorcycle Views Website is also on your Smartphone or Tablet:

Are you relying more and more on your cellphone or tablet and less and less on your PC or MAC? Remember that all that great motorcycling information on Motorcycle Views is as near as your cellphone. It's also in a new format designed to fit your portable screen. Check us out anywhere you need motorcycle information.

END OF NEWSLETTER