Charles Hennekam, technical co-ordinator and Motorcycle Homologations Officer for the FIM, confirms in an email that it "Is possible to enter FF designs" in the new FIM formula that replaces E-GP.

He goes on to note the "Daunting" challenge of incorporating E-power into race motorcycles without factory support, something that all entrants will have to deal with.

Proving that time changes everything, the FIM have issued rules for their new E-power bike race series that don't actually ban FFs!

I have a problem i need to fix. My workshop "Nest of Dragons" is 150 km from my home. The road is notorious for its trafficjams. I hate paying all that fuel. So ...i need a electric motorbike that can do about 200 km at topspeed, because the roads are all mostly highways.

New problem: no electric motorbikes do that at this time.

My solution: buying a electric motorbike, adding more batteries (in exchange for loosing the passenger), adding fairings to have it more streamlined.

Here's some news to warm your heart!

TTXGP (AKA E-GP) is joining up with the FIM to form a 'unified' series. Other people just call it 'selling out' although I doubt the FIM paid anyone.

Question is, Will the FIM continue to apply the E-GP rules that permit FFs? Really, you only have to ask the question!

Although the FIM lifted the E-GP rules more or less complete (breaching my copyright)when they started 'TT zero', apparantly allowing FFs, they also left in their old rule about max. seat hump height (seat backs in English) of 150mm, outlawing FFs as defined.

With the t-max project slowing down and the prospect of another summer coming and going without an FF to ride – and that summer being in the south of France, I decided it was time to build something – anything (with a low COG and seat-back) – to get me on the road.

When we left Ireland and the truck came to take our stuff to France, I had been planning to sell the GPZ that I had been riding while the T-Max was off the road being FFed, but at the last minute there was room for it, so to France it came.

Hi All,

My name is Roger Dunkley, I live in Wellington, New Zealend and I have been building my enclosed motorcycle for about 3 years now. I have recently tested it at the closest racetrack, this was the first time I have been able to really test it out and I was very happy with the results, rewaching 174 km/h about half way down the main straight with no instability and getting to about 45 degrees of lean round the corners.

February 1987 article in Motorcycle Sport about the Steaming Mango, Gold Wing based, Phasar.

On the last Saturday before the Festival of 1000 Bikes at Mallory Park, this is what the bike looked like. Naked and lying in the sun - a good way to enjoy summer in Provence.

What you can't see is the closed fuel tap. I found that on the main highway.

A Voyager owner takes his HF BMW 650GS parallel twin to the Alps and back in company with two Honda Varaderos.
Size and quality

This is my new motorcycle! I will be sculpting a radical body for it over the next year that looks like the Akira motorcycle (Manga animation).

http://youtu.be/jytYbSLdDio

I thank http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jeffs-Projects-By-Monroe-County-Customs-MCC/160837117318428 for producing the motorcycle (Jeff England).

Should I be here? I see a comment suggesting that this stuff should be elsewhere? No probs with that, and if the Moderator (or whoever…) suggest that I dump this to some other place, please give me a link and I’ll do that. Not sure I was needing feedback…really just posting in case others wanted to know…what not to do! In the meantime, I always thought of the old site as just that…’old’…and this was the newer, preferred one. And since this one prominently said ‘Blogs’ on the LHS, I assumed I was in the correct place…but I’ll take advice…

Out of sequence…

I’ve a couple of bits written, but it’s still ‘lead in / whimsy’ stuff, which might work if you are patient, killing time or like a meander…but might be boring as sin if you want to get to the greasy bits…so I’ll ditch some of the run-in stuff this post and add it in next time, flipping between the two genres in subsequent posts, until we are exclusively in garage + welder territory…

My Early FF Attempts

After sitting in a garage for over 8 years I was surprised it started at all, never mind on 2 cylinders. A bit of tweaking by Pete Munden and some fresh petrol, all 4 cylinders fired up. I've now replaced the oil, oil filter, plugs, rat/mouse chewed HT lead and air filters and it starts on all 4 cylinders. I've rubbed down the rust and painted. Passed its MOT 20/8/2011 and is now back on the road. Still plenty of work to do to fix some of the dash clocks/lights and sort cold starting. Bought another 1982 VF750 so I can diagnose what need fixing on the Quasar.

It only gets interesting when things go wrong. I suspect Tom would rather this thing had not gone wrong.
(pictures under Touring)

4 riders: destination Portugal
St Malo to Bordeaux on the first day, and there is plenty of decent riding to be had on the N- and D-Roads. Only excitement that night was managing to lock a room key in the restaurant when the owner had left us late-night chatting. A bit of burglary solved that.

After initially building a seat mock-up to check ergonomics, I designed the seat sub frame in two parts.

Last night I lowered the seat 3" and adjusted the Trailing Arm (front swingarm) pivot back .700" thinking my low speed handling problems are the result of too much trail.
Also went to Deadwood and got a license plate. Have to correct my earlier Blog, the LT is a year 2000 not 1999, also I have 45 years riding experience not 35. Fuzzy math going on when I wrote that (35 years).
Can't wait to try the new setup.
Doug

I should preface the following with the information that I live out in the country, my driveway is gravel and a 1/2 mile long.

Took the machine out for the first test drive today, kind of exciting.

Doug writes: "Here are some pictures of my FF project. Have been working on this for a few years (off and on) but more time lately and getting ready for a de-bugging ride. Built from a crashed 1999 K1200LT."
I have created a new folder for Doug's photos, and shrunk them to a suitable size for web use. See the folder for Doug's KLT-engined 'Beast' in the 'OneOffs' section of the image galleries here:
http://www.bikeweb.com/image/tid/123
PNB

Here is a link to my build blog for my AKIRA Kaneda's bike replica. I will be adding more info and pictures as the build continues so check back every once in a while to get updates. http://tinyurl.com/6fejcbb