Courtesy of Champions For A Cause

University of Tennessee Associate Head Basketball Coach Holly Warlick and University of California, Los Angeles Women’s Head Basketball Coach Nikki Caldwell are proud to announce the third annual Cruisin’ For A Cause presented by FedEx Office – a long haul motorcycle ride dedicated to raising funds and awareness for a cure for breast cancer – as part of their partnership in founding a new charitable organization, Champions For A Cause.

“Our goal is pretty simple,” said Warlick. “We want to ride thousands of miles to raise thousands of dollars to recruit thousands of people to join the fight against breast cancer.” Also a passionate crusader for breast cancer awareness and research, Caldwell noted, “More than 185,000 women are diagnosed and more than 41,000 women die from breast cancer every year. This ride is one of our advocacy efforts to encourage the health community to advance their work on finding a cure for this life threatening illness.”

Cruisin’ For A Cause begins in Knoxville on Sunday, May 3, with Warlick, Caldwell, the Cruisin’ Crew and an entourage of supporters, who will ride their bikes on a 1500-mile round-trip along the Natchez Trace. Warlick and Caldwell will stop to host fundraisers and meet fans along the route, including planned events in Nashville on Sunday, May 3 at the Hard Rock Café (7-10 p.m. CT) and New Orleans on Thursday, May 7 as special guests of the Inaugural Bike Week New Orleans.

They’ll kick off their Big Easy visit as riders in the Inaugural Bike Week New Orleans (9 a.m. CT) with a stop at the Convention Center steps, where they will join Bike Week New Orleans Organizers and Mayor Ray Nagin in a 10 a.m. CT news conference to talk about Cruisin’ For A Cause. Their day continues at 2 p.m. CT, when they visit the Children’s Hospital to meet, greet and hang out with their youngest fans. Fans are also invited to visit Champions For A Cause at the Hampton Inn Hotel and Convention Center for the Easyriders V-Twin Bike Show, from 10 – 6 p.m. CT. Warlick and Caldwell will drop by the booth as their schedules permit.

To celebrate their return to East Tennessee, Regal Entertainment Group is sponsoring Cruisin’ HOME for a Cause¸ a free concert and welcome home party with special musical guest, SellarsWray, in Knoxville’s Market Square from 6 – 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 9. Cruisin’ For A Cause will also make stops and hold impromptu events in Tupelo, Miss. (May 4); Jackson, Miss. (May 5); and Birmingham, Ala. (May 8).

Throughout the ride, fans and supporters can follow Warlick and Caldwell on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and www.championsforacause.org. Past Cruisin’ For A Cause events include the inaugural round-trip ride from Knoxville to Los Angeles and last year’s round-trip from Knoxville to Key West, Fla. Since 2007, the Cruisin’ Crew has traveled more than 6,000 miles and the annual event has contributed to the nearly $100,000 raised by the charitable organization, Champions For A Cause.

Based in Knoxville, Tenn., Champions For A Cause is a non-profit (501(c)-3) fundraising organization started by UT Associate Head Basketball Coach Holly Warlick and UCLA Head Basketball Coach Nikki Caldwell, with the mission to advance and support the cause of charitable organizations who advocate and act to better the quality of life and health for individuals at risk or in need. Champions For A Cause has raised and donated nearly $100,000 to help support the fight against breast cancer through its signature events: Cruisin’ For A Cause – a long haul motorcycle ride, Links Fore The Cure – a women’s golf tournament, and b3 – bikes, basketball & breast cancer – a dinner and auction. The money raised through these events supports efforts such as the University of Tennessee Breast Health Outreach Program, Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund, and The Wellness Community of East Tennessee. These organizations have provided thousands of mammograms, countless treatments, and hours of education for those who could not otherwise afford these life saving services.

This is a great cause folks. If you are in the area, I strongly suggest you participate! Ride safely!

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BMW, Buell, KTM and Kawasaki issued recall notices with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in April. Bridgestone also issued a recall notice for Triumph Rocket III Touring tires.

Bridgestone is recalling 1,018 Exedra G850G motorcycle tires which come standard on Triumph Rocket III Touring motorcycles. High levels of torque may cause the affected tires to degrade, resulting in inner liner cracking and a slow air leak. Affected tires may begin to vibrate at moderate speeds. This issue affects tires size 180/70R16 77H with DOT Tire Identification Number ENCEDAM.

Triumph dealers will replace the affected tires with Metzeler ME880 tires. The issue only affects rear tires but Triumph will replace both the front and rear tires.

Buell is recalling 2008 1125R sportbikes as well as the 2009 Firebolt XB12R and Ligtning XB12Scg. The front brake line of the affected motorcycles may come in contact with the front tire. Tire friction may wear a hole in the line, causing it to leak brake fluid and render the front brake ineffective.

Buell dealers will re-route the front brake line to prevent contact with the tire. If the brake line has been damaged, Buell will also replace it at no charge. Potentially 3,316 motorcycles are affected by the recall notice.

KTM is recalling select 2009 690 Duke and 690 SMC Supermoto bikes because of a fault in the front forks. Fork inner tubes used in Dukes produced Dec. 11-12, 2008 and SMCs produced Dec. 10-12 did not receive proper heat treatment. The affected forks may develop cracks during use, causing the inner tube to separate from the axle clamp.

KTM dealers will inspect and replace front fork tubes at no charge to consumers. The recall affects 99 Dukes and 138 SMCs.

BMW is recalling 2008 R1200GS and R1200 GS Adventure motorcycles. The electrical systems on the affected motorcycles may emit signals which may interfere with the pressure sensor signals of the Anti-lock Brake System control unit. The interference may cause the ABS system to switch off. Normal braking would not be affected by the fault.

BMW dealers will inspect affected motorcycles and repair or replace the necessary components at no charge. BMW of North America did not specify how many motorcycles are affected by this recall notice.

Kawasaki is recalling certain aftermarket saddlebags sold for use on 2008 and 2009 KLE650 Versys motorcycles. The hard saddlebags, manufactured by Givi and sold as Kawasaki Genuine Accessories, may cover the rear side reflectors on the Versys. Obscured reflectors are a violation of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108.

The safety recall affects 546 sets of saddlebags. Kawasaki will install reflectors to the affected saddlebags to comply with Standard 108.

Stay safe folks!

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What’s going on guys? With Dave in the Czech Republic (spreading the good word of IPM, of course), the Speed Triple is back in my garage. Before getting into trouble with it around town, I thought I’d jazz it up a bit with some rim stripes.

Seeing as how the special edition has red rim stripes (see Matty’s article), I thought I would go with something a bit different. As it happened, the good folks over at RatedRParts dot Com, sent us some white stripes all the way from Australia. Thanks mates! Check them out!

Dave will have to wash the rest of his wheels when he gets back, and the rest of the bike for that matter. There’s a difference between the grunge look, and just plain neglecting your bike. Overtime, dirt, oil, and other corrossive crap from the road just starts to eat through the bike. Even dirt bikes get washed! And, I gotta tell ya, there’s nothing like the feeling you get when you blast past people in a gleaming black Speedy!

Stay tuned guys! Rated R Parts sent us two more colors. Guess which bikes they’ll go on!

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The Philips screw is notorious for stripping, a result of being purposely designed to strip, or cam-out, its name in the screw and driver industry. This particular screw in question is the one that attaches the bottom left corner of the lower fairing on my Ninja 250. Due to some over-zealous tightening by a former owner, I received the motorcycle with the screw head pre-stripped, and massively over torqued.

Previously, I did not have the means to remove it, try as I might have with various sized Philips, JIS, and other screwdrivers. Today instead, we utilized various workarounds to first remove the fairing. Then we proceeded to complete the job properly using a drill and Easy Out screw extraction kit.

This particular screw extraction set needs to be hammered into the drilled out head of the screw for optimal results, then simply twist counterclockwise using the handle for easy extraction.

I chose to replace the screw, and its mate on the other side, with stainless steel hex screws. They are the same size as the gas tank’s hex screws to streamline fairing removal. Additionally, they will resist stripping if anyone carelessly over tightens them in the future.

Be sure to check back at Inline Performance Magazine for more updates.

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What’s up everybody? I recently put a fresh set of tires on Project Fireblade and I want to talk about their characteristics and why I will never go back to a 190/50 tire again! The tires I put on are Michelin Pilot Power 2CT’s. The 2CT designation stands for 2 compound technology, meaning there is a harder rubber compound in the center of the tire to increase mileage and a softer compound around the edges for maximum grip at hard lean angles, and man do these things grip!

I also switched the profile of the rear tire from a 190/50/17 size to a 190/55/17 which is basically a higher profile tire. The difference between the two could not be more profound. The 190/55 tips into turns much faster than the 190/50, it also makes transitions and tight turning a breeze. My old tire had a bit more straight line stability as it was a lower profile tire, but took much more effort to turn into corners. With this new ratio I have a lot more confidence entering turns and that allows me to take them at higher speeds which is also an added bonus!

The Michelin’s should also give me a bit more mileage and life out of them than my previous set, due to the harder center compound. We will have to wait a few weeks to test out their rain capabilities. As you saw in the video, i had to take it easy breaking them in. Until then, ride safe!

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