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Harley-Davidson and Indian). In other words, there is lots of source material about the places and the period where motorcycles were a leisure time toy for the middle class, or a symbol of freedom and rebellion for a subculture that developed after WWII. There needs to be a lot more said about motorcycles as a practical means of transportation for people who aren't in love with speed or expressing their individuality, or any nonsense like that — they just need to get somewhere and can only afford two wheels. But until more source material is published, there's not much
Knowledge can do about it.
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715:, government policy, and the editorial bent of mainstream motorcycle magazines. It's a point of view I happen to share. Those who oppose wearing helmets or requiring rider training are poorly represented on Knowledge, which is kind of odd given the libertarian bent of so many Wikipedians, Jimmy Wales not least among them. Since I have so much trouble understanding their beliefs, it's hard for me to do them justice in an article.
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or simply republish manufacturers' press releases. I've tried to include citations from my fairly limited personal library. Unless it's a sensational crash, wider-interest publications such as mainstream newspapers don't frequently cover motorcycle related topics, with a few exceptions such as the recent obituaries for
723:, but the logic of his argument is lost on me. As with the outlaw motorcycle clubs, the people best able to speak for this point of view seem to have a hard time understanding and conforming to Knowledge's rules, and they often get blocked from editing before they can learn how to contribute constructively.
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is a rather sorry article that I hope will some day serve as a reference for the many articles about motorcycle models, because I think readers are currently given a bunch of statistics about horsepower, torque and so on from diverse, conflicting sources, with little explanation for where this data
574:
The number of truly independent written sources for new model information (reliable power and top speed figures in particular) is fairly limited; we seem to cite 4 or 5 industry magazines very heavily. There are a few web sites that I consider reliable but many are either highly opinionated blogs,
456:
was mostly the work of the
Bicycling and Physics WikiProjects. The biggest challenge now for WikiProject Motorcycling is gaining experience with getting one article all the way to GA or FA status. Once we've learned how to do that we can probably do more; I'm imagining it isn't really as difficult
517:
The project's page includes lists of frequently used books and magazines formatted for use in citations. How do the sources used in motorcycle articles compare to those of other kinds of articles? Do you feel it is easier or harder to find reliable sources and historical information on motorcycles
802:
There is lots of virgin territory in the motorcycling space. I'm often amazed at those who talk about
Knowledge as if it were "done" and merely in maintenance mode. There are so many unwritten articles about Ducati singles of the 50s and 60s, or the full history of Honda motorcycles, or the the
549:
argues that
Chinese products are made in a manner comparable to Knowledge articles! I'm hoping a Chinese speaker will take a strong interest in the motorcycling project, because it's a country that is becoming extremely important to motorcycling and will probably be dominant in the future. You
646:
articles. I often wish we could hand over all of these articles to them, or to anyone, since working on them can be so thankless! You can't really say much about motorcycle gangs without offending somebody and starting a debate, and motorcycle clubs don't really have much to do with actual
538:
I think the main problem with motorcycling sources is that they focus heavily on the post-WWII industrialized west, and ignore the developing world, especially Africa, China and India, and they ignore the US and Europe prior to the 1950s (other than an obsessive dissection of the history of
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would be appreciated, especially in the formatting of the optional dry weight parameter. In broader terms I'd like to see our coverage a little less USA and Europe focused, one thing we could use is expanded coverage of
Chinese motorcycles and scooters; laws, training and customs
553:
There is little written about the culture of the packs of young men who zip around on sport bikes, speeding and doing stunts, with most of the attention given to the older outlaw biker culture. Most of what has been written about the custom scene focuses on Harley-Davidson style
542:
The
Chinese motorcycling industry makes more motorcycles than any other country, but it is organized much differently than the discrete manufacturers and brands we are familiar with in the West, and solid source material on Chinese motorcycles is hard to come by. The book
587:
To add to the above, certain historic motorcycles have a disproportionate amount of coverage, but it's amazing how difficult it is to find the basics on other models, even popular ones. It's really difficult to determine what material has been published from a
359:
that I wanted to restore, but I found out you can't really work in your garage while trying to watch a toddler. So instead I worked on
Knowledge articles while watching the baby (I'm a stay at home dad). At first I only wanted to expand coverage of Ducati's
465:
are probably too large in scope to be good candidates, and the motorcycle gang articles, while prominent, are too controversial. There are a number of articles on models of
British bikes and BMWs that might be good candidates, and I'm hoping that
417:
I suppose with less than a dozen highly active participants in motorcycling, there isn't a pressing need to split off into special interest groups. If more editors join the motorcycling project, and then perhaps the groups will become more
408:
The project maintains four "Special
Interest Groups" for British, Italian, and Japanese motorcycles as well as motorcycle sports in general. How successful have these groups been? Would you suggest this country-based approach to other
110:
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We definitely don't "deserve" claiming that as a GA. Thankfully, the two-wheeled worlds are very similar, so we benefit from the shared enthusiasm that is seen in the dynamics article. That same sort of crossover is hinted at in the
681:
I would be thrilled if an experienced editor who had worked on GAs and FAs would take pity on us and help us choose a candidate article and see it through to at least GA status. One of these days I'll probably come knocking on the
174:
592:, rather than simply republishing a press release. Most of the magazines suffer from this. I think we have learned to be skeptical of quoted numbers (weight and horsepower, for instance). Some of it comes back to the
562:. There is a huge scene around custom Japanese motorcycles, associated with the African American community, and other minorities. But I've found it hard to find extensive source material, though that is improving.
426:
Agree with
Dbratland that national SIGs haven't really seemed to pay off for us (yet). The project's editors seem to have pretty wide ranging interests and so we really haven't formed enclaves around particular
565:
But if you want to write about motorcycles and motorcycling in the mainstream culture of the developed world during the last 30 or 40 years, there is lots of source material, and a good deal of it is online.
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comes from or how to evaluate the merits of the data. It needs an expert in mechanical or automotive engineering with access to good source material on testing methodology. Similarly, I hope someday
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filled in with a number of books and magazines I was citing over and over in different articles, and I decided that I might as well share it on the project page in case anyone else could use it.
399:
before that; initially my interest was mostly in these brands and comparing specs between similar models. Lately I've become more interested in a variety of international models, especially the
435:
The number of active editors is too small for SIGs. They are a good idea, as they represent the major categories of motorcycles to the US/UK viewpoint, but they aren't global and aren't active.
307:
has, I contribute when I see interesting magazine articles explaining an interesting motorcycle topic. Occasionally I'll collaborate with others, like the cluster of articles related to the
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and related bikes. They are massively popular everywhere except North America and Europe. Finally, we're short on good copyeditors and wordsmiths, which doesn't require specific knowledge.
249:. Started in October 2006, the project has grown to include over 3,000 articles and 88 members, although only a fraction of the members are active. The project maintains a lengthy
73:
512:, but we didn't create Hurt's biography until a few days after he died. That article was a collaboration between 5 of us over a few days, as well as some great outside help.
403:. This fascinates me in the way that the industry is experiencing its own unique evolution of bike models, making research for the articles a learning experience in itself.
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more than anything: so many of our articles are unsourced, so the occasional collaboration that occurs is delightful and something we can be proud of.
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could get within reach of GA before too long. My biggest challenge personally is that I get distracted by other things and don't stay focused.
660:. The latter group allows for a fantastic division of articles: we don't have to worry about keeping abreast of rule changes and standings in
367:, within only the scope of the Italian motorcycles group. I realized that you couldn't really explain that history without explaining who the
757:
We're certainly short on template help, but.. pick a task! Whatever interests you. We have topics ranging from motorcycles ranging from the
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596:, especially if it's a matter of sorting through differing numbers. A good example of the variation and distrust of numbers can be seen at
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What motivated you to become a member of WikiProject Motorcycling? What kind of motorcycle-related articles do you like to work on?
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for anyone researching or sourcing articles about motorcycles. The project's tongue-in-cheek "Collaboration of the Century" is the
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was. Somehow from there I got drawn into wider motorcycling subjects. Now my goals have changed, and I'm more focused on the
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is filled with redirects and redlinks. It goes on and on and on. There's lots to do for anyone who wants to help.
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is larger and better developed than motorcycling, and it provides us with a lot of policy guidance, for example on
444:). What has been the greatest challenge to getting motorcycle articles up to GA status and maintaining that status?
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and the Top and High importance articles — at least the ones that are actually about motorcycles and not so much
831:(but not for too long lest Knowledge succumbs to vandals and trolls). Until then, explore other projects in the
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is available to generate lists of unreferenced biographies of living persons relevant to a specific project
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article too. I think we have a productive handful of editors who are more concerned with improving the
368:
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has 3 FAs and 10 GAs, but they could double those achievements with a little help from new contributors
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I'm a motorcyclist. I've travelled via bike from North America to South America, minus the impassable
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Submit your project's news and announcements for next week's WikiProject Report at the Signpost's
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What are WikiProject Motorcycling's most pressing needs? How can a new contributor help today?
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to new motorcyclists. So I'm very interested in most aspects of motorcycles and motorcycling.
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needs help recruiting new members, creating articles, and improving articles about the
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Has your project developed particularly close relationships with any other projects?
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In the next WikiProject Report, we'll step away from the computer screen and go
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I agree, there is some overlap between the Crime, Automobiles, and especially
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Also, I think we'd be lost without all the work done creating and maintaining
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After some reassessments, WikiProject Motorcycling only has one good article (
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novels is seeking new members and help with improving stubs to start-class
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While I don't have a library of motorcycling books like others such as
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Another area that takes time and involves headache are the various
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can be used to spark the imagination, as well as our list of
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List of motorcycles in The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition
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will become a tool that helps maintain other articles.
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were the others involved significantly on this project.
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an entirely different motorcycle, also called the F650
289:, where we hired a drunk boat captain to sail us from
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is looking for new members and help with getting the
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his groundbreaking study of motorcycle crash factors
939:If your comment has not appeared here, you can try
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719:has an essay against helmet laws in the book
148:
732:Maybe this is too specific, but cleanup on
457:as it appears to the novice. The articles
950:No comments yet. Yours could be the first!
739:Freeway motorcycling restrictions in Asia
664:, and they don't have to worry about the
711:mostly reflect the point of view of the
662:2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
500:A great example of our collaboration is
261:article. We interviewed project members
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658:Knowledge:WikiProject Motorcycle racing
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773:to military history articles like the
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452:It was before my time, but I think
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689:Motorcycle testing and measurement
373:most popular motorcycling articles
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526:I just had this text file with
454:bicycle and motorcycle dynamics
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311:- which as an amusing study in
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721:Harley-Davidson and Philosophy
550:could say the same for India.
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694:List of motorcycle milestones
401:domestic motorcycles of India
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765:to TV/film articles such as
713:Motorcycle Safety Foundation
18:Knowledge:Knowledge Signpost
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815:'s G. H. Curtiss Mfg. Co.
344:the great cannon in the sky
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833:WikiProject Report archive
369:Berliner Motor Corporation
476:The Art of the Motorcycle
247:WikiProject Motorcycling
245:This week we focused on
68:WikiProject Motorcycling
614:WikiProject Automobiles
332:outlaw motorcycle clubs
220:article up to GA status
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853:"WikiProject report" →
809:Roper steam velocipede
644:outlaw motorcycle club
508:created an article on
213:Geocaching WikiProject
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590:neutral point of view
253:and provides helpful
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932:To follow comments,
845:"WikiProject report"
598:Talk:Suzuki Hayabusa
518:than other subjects?
225:DASHBot/Wikiprojects
907:Features and admins
743:Motorcycle training
705:Motorcycle training
472:Kawasaki Ninja 250R
200:39 Clues Task Force
927:Discuss this story
912:Arbitration report
902:WikiProject report
887:Sanger allegations
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761:to the high-speed
734:Infobox motorcycle
340:Hunter S. Thompson
165:
65:WikiProject report
42:← Back to Contents
37:
943:purging the cache
805:Daimler Reitwagen
783:unreferenced BLPs
709:Motorcycle helmet
701:Motorcycle safety
640:WikiProject Crime
357:Ducati 125 Bronco
299:motorcycle safety
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47:View Latest Issue
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874:12 April 2010
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813:Glenn Curtiss
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175:A task force
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1003:Suggestions
897:In the news
763:Concours 14
594:sixth sense
560:Cafe racers
321:User:TimTay
800:Dbratland:
611:Dbratland:
577:Harry Hurt
546:Wikinomics
524:Dbratland:
504:. In 2007
502:Harry Hurt
459:Motorcycle
450:Dbratland:
418:important.
415:Dbratland:
353:Dbratland:
287:Darien Gap
259:motorcycle
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218:Geocaching
79:Share this
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