Motorcycle Milepost Newsdesk

This edition of the Motorcycle Milepost looks at 3 totally different items...even though each is part of the motorcycle lifestyle.

Mandatory Day-Glo Riding Apparel

An Australian  country policeman has started a national struggle over the possibility of compulsory hi-visibility clothing as part of a bid to make riding safer and reduce the toll of about 200 deaths a year from motorcycle accidents.
This is likely to start a national rebellion against forcing motorcycle licence holders, including the 750,000 who use their machines every week, into day-glo safety wardrobes.
Anger over the proposal for mandatory protective clothing is nearing the level of fury reached when daytime headlight use was pushed as a safety measure 25 years ago.

A Victorian Government road safety inquiry will consider the hi-viz option and, if adopted, other states could be expected to follow.
  . The public debate began when the fluoro idea was pushed by Senior Sergeant Bill Gore of the Wangaratta Highway Patrol, a 35-year police motorbike veteran.

The Best of the Bike Builders

The annual AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building has come and gone once more – showcasing a host of the planet's maddest, weirdest and most intricate modified machines.

It seems that there's a bit of a steampunk bent in the world of custom bikes, with the top three finalists all displaying plenty of brass where traditional customs might use chrome, as well as shunning modern technology like disc brakes. Or even front brakes for the 2nd and 3rd place bikes.

1St Place Winner

Thunderbike, of Hamminkeln, near Essen in Germany, was chosen by fellow competitors and selected VIP judges to have built the stand-out 'class of 2012' custom motorcycle with 'PainTTless', a hand crafted one-of-a-kind tour de force that oozes stunning design and engineering craftsmanship from every angle.

Using a restored and modified 1000cc Harley-Davidson Ironhead Sportster engine in a one-off, hand-built custom swingarm frame, Andreas Bergerforth and the dedicated team at Thunderbike (www.thunderbike.de) have cemented their reputation as being among the world's foremost motorcycle customizers, following up on their multiple AMD European Championship wins and AMD World Championship top-five placings.

2012 Sturgis is in the Books

The final figures aren't in yet, but an early estimate sugggests that more than 500,000 people participated in the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that ended Sunday.

Traffic numbers were up over 2011, according to the South Dakota Highway Patrol.

Sadly, nine people died in rally-related motorcycle accidents, the Highway Patrol said,  including an Oakes, N.D., woman who was killed Friday when her motorcycle struck a pickup truck driven by a Colorado man.

Police said 50 people were injured in accidents during the rally, down from 80 last year.

Statistics released Sunday show that

• 251 people were arrested for driving drunk during the event, up from 235 last year. 
• Misdemeanor drug arrests were up from 149 to 185. 
• Felony drug arrests were down from 43 last year to 34 this year. Altogether, the Highway Patrol issued more than 900 citations.