Motorcycle Views - Smartphone Access and the Future

As time goes on, more and more people are using smartphones to access Motorcycle Views.

I noticed recently that my Forum on Delphi can be accessed using a smartphone but the layout of the forum is different when using a smartphone. This is nothing I did. It's Delphi recognizing that the visitor is accessing my forum from a smartphone and then switching to a mobile version of my forum that is tailored to the smartphone being used. Pretty neat.

Just yesterday I was looking at another Blogger blog from my smartphone and noticed that its output was of a different layout. It too, was tailored to my smartphone. I never saw this same layout when I tried to access my own Blogger blog on my smartphone. I went to the Blogger control panel and noticed that they showed that I had not enabled a smartphone version for my Motorcycle Views blog. I never even saw the option as many times as I go to that control panel. So, I selected a style for smartphone use and activated it. Now, anyone using a smartphone who tries to access my Blog on the menu that appears on every page of my Motorcycle Views website, will see a new tailored version. Also, pretty neat.

I'd also like to mention that my Kindle Book, Getting Started Riding a Motorcycle, contains my Glossary/Dictionary, my How To's, and my Packing List. That book can be downloaded to a smartphone using a Kindle App just like any other Kindle book on Amazon. So, you can quickly access the three items mentioned above through an internal Kindle search once you own the book and load it on your smartphone. Pretty neat again.

It's hard to tell where the electronic revolution is taking us. It does seem to be allowing us to load up our smartphones, which we carry with us everywhere, with very useful information.

Now, I've been talking about smartphones so far. Most of these features can also be obtained on our tablets. Apparently, the tablets are a little bit behind right now. For example, my Kindle Fire (and also the new HD model) does not give the smartphone layout for either my Forum or my Blog.

I've been thinking about trying to convert my main Motorcycle Views website for smartphone use. However, currently, only about 25% of my visitors use a smartphone to access my site.

I have converted two of my other websites for smartphone use. One is for the Polar Bear Grand Tour. The converter I used does produce a version that works well on both my smartphone and my Kindle Fire tablets. I ran into a lot of difficulties when I converted the Polar Bear site. I had to process every HTML file on the site to use a new side menu on each page. There also were numerous situations where the converter simply jumped right over sections of my code and refused to convert them. I fully expect that I will have to anguish over the Motorcycle Views site to convert it. The size of the site is much larger.

I also have both Motorcycle Views and the Polar Bear Grand Tour on separate Facebook pages. I post every Blog post on Facebook as well as my weekly newsletter. I also use Twitter to announce everything I post on my Blog. Similarly, I use YouTube for all my videos, especially ones I take for the Polar Bear Grand Tour.

Sorry, I gave you so much to read. I just want you to be informed about my progress in trying to stay current with the technology.

Feel free to discuss in the Comments anything I've said here. All suggestions and comments are welcome, as always. -- Walter

Pinterest - Motorcycles

I'm not quite sure how Pinterest works but there are a lot of motorcycle pictures there that lead all over the place. I promise to check out Pinterest and start including it in my thinking. For the time being, here's a Search for Motorcycles on Pinterest.

How to Stay Dry While Riding in the Rain (Video)

I think most of us have learned how to deal with rain when we ride our motorcycles. Some riders just don't deliberately ride off on their bikes when it's expected to rain. However, most riders know that you can't take a long trip and not expect it to rain.

You're riding along and see the increasing darkness ahead of you. It gets darker and darker. You see cars approaching you with their lights on and then you see wipers going. The wind picks up. You begin looking for a temporary shelter where you can change into your rain gear. You finally stop and get as far off the road as you can in a sheltered place. You get your rainsuit from your saddlebags or trunk and fight it over your jacket, pants, and boots. Hopefully you have some special rain gloves or even a pair of yellow dishwashing gloves. Some even have rubber rain boots to slip on over their boots. Of course, you also have a fullfaced helmet to encase your head and keep driving rain out of your eyes. You are ready for the rain and cautiously ride off. Of course, an extremely heavy rain with puddling, lightning, and thunder should cause you to give up on your riding and seek some semi-permanent shelter to wait out the passing storm.

On the other hand, some riders ponder over better ways to keep dry in the rain. Here are some pictures and a video from core77.com that document one man's attempt to stay dry. You may or may not agree with his approach or want to buy his product. Take a look.

Custom Motorcycle Engineer, Shinya Kimura (Video)

Here's an interesting video about a japanese custom motorcycle engineer and how he got that way. It's a short video from highsnobiety.com. Learn more about Shinya Kimura (Video).

Motorcycle Picture of the Week - Rolf Beger

Here are my Pictures of the Week as displayed on the Motorcycle Views Website. These pictures are taken from the Moto Pic Gallery. See Rolf Beger's 1993 Honda Gold Wing SE Special Edition w/Trike Conversion under Trikes Only. There are no Men on Motorcycles, Women on Motorcycles, or Bikes Only this week. Send your picture in. For details, see Motorcycle Pictures of the Week.

Polar Bear Grand Tour to the Chatterbox, Augusta, NJ on March 17, 2013

Check out pictures of the 21st motorcycle run of the 2012-2013 Polar Bear Grand Tour season to the Chatterbox, Augusta, NJ on March 17, 2013, St. Patrick's Day.

Motorcycle Picture Gallery Updates - Harley-Davidson, Shadow, Sportster, Gold Wing, BMW, and Indian

I have added many more pictures to my motorcycle picture galleries to bring them up to 2013 models:

• 100 Years of Harley-Davidson
• 21 Years of Honda Shadow
• 47 Years of Sportster
• 29 Years of Honda Gold Wing
• 81 Years of BMW
• 58 Years of Indian Motorcycles

Check out these motorcycle picture galleries and see if you can contribute a picture of your own bike to help build out a gallery.