Issue #232 High Tech Ride Month | Have, Now, Own, Some, Those

You are here: Home

Issue #232 High Tech Ride Month

Written by Len Creed
Thursday, 12 July 2007
June is the month for riding. Yes I know some of us start well before that, but this month kicks off the “Ride for Sight” events across Canada. There’s also July 18, when you’re encouraged to “Ride your Bike to Work” and there are other national rides in July you might want to join. As for the “High-tech” part of this column’s headline, you’re starting to see very sophisticated microchip technology show up in the offerings from the major motorcycle manufacturers these days—fly-by-wire throttle (Yamaha), electronically adjustable suspension (BMW), push-button power modes (Suzuki); the motorcycle industry is now chockablock with technical advances. There are also some low-tech motorcycles coming from overseas and you might get what you pay for. Still, two wheels are where it’s at. However, I’m feeling a little Old School these days as some of this techno stuff is really getting to me. Twenty years ago if you had told me about the stuff I’m doing now with computers I would have thought you were out of your mind. Now, here I am, learning more tech every day, not just looking over my mechanic’s shoulder watching him download a fuel mapping program for my fuel injected motorcycle, with the hope of getting it to run better and faster. Now jump from there into the average biker such as myself trying to learn more about computers and the internet. I bought my first computer way back in the mid-1980s and started doing typesetting and paste-up for the magazine. Then my staff got larger and better at the job and now we have it all done by computers and design firms. This brings me back to the internet. Some years ago (12 or more) Canadian Biker went online and the self-taught staff in those days had to write and code everything along the way. Today I find myself trying to do more of it as I try to retire but end up doing the time and learning more everyday as things change. (Boy do they change!) Not without help, I learn more of the ins and outs of page building on the web. During the course of all this, I’ve discovered people using Canadian Biker’s name or something very close and that really bugs me. It seems I can’t do much about the situation unless I’m willing to spend many dollars in court costs and legal fees to fight copyright infringement. Just when I get close to one door, another opens somewhere else and chasing people is not that much fun. I could use your help. There is only one real Canadian Biker magazine and I own it, and if you are reading this you should know that. There is only one legitimate website called canadianbiker.com and I own that as well. We have spent a lot of time and money developing these media over the years, yet there are people out there who worry about copyright infringement about as much as they would a mild sniffle. If you see something out there that is close to those two names please let me know. Even better, drop those sites or magazines a note to grow up and get their own identity (and feel free to use your own words for that as well). But give them a blast from me. And that brings me around to inviting you to visit our redesigned website. I hope you’ll drop by for a look, sign in and contribute to it as we try something new by building a network of riders across Canada. For those of you who don’t have access to the internet let us know how you like the magazine and take it on your rides this summer. Have a great trip wherever you may go! Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.