Motorcycling Down the Information Superhighway How would you like regular doses of trip reports, conversations, service tips, photos, advice, and mail about motorcycling? How about the opportunity to be in daily contact with hundrededs of owners of the exact same make and model of motorcycle that's sitting in your garage? The good news is that all of this and more is possible from anywhere in world right now for the price of a computer, modem, access to a phone line, and about twenty bucks a month. Welcome to the Information Superhighway. I've been cruising down the electronic white line on a daily basis for about two months now. Best of all, there's no gumball-topped police car around to write me up a speeding ticket. Many of us have put our motorcycles away for the off-season, but can't help thinking about cruising and touring. We reminisce about past trips, and dream and plan the next ones. But now, there's this other stuff called world wide communication that makes motorcycling even more meaningful. Maybe you get through the winter by subscribing to several motorcycling magazines and club newsletters. But now there's much more available to tap into. It's coming through the Internet, or the 'Net for short. The 'Net is the world's largest computer network with most of it running through standard telephone lines. How big is it? It started through the efforts of the US Defense agency in the 1960's and combines academic, military, business, and government networks of their own. Current estimates are 40 to 50 million people in more than 160 countries with access or at least e-mail addresses. The number of people accessing the World Wide Web, a service on the 'Net, is doubling every two months. A lot of that information is from motorcyclists to motorcyclists. Pulling up to the On-ramp You will need a computer, a modem, and communications software to get rolling. It doesn't matter what brand of computer you use, although newer models are easier to run, and faster microprocessors make the job quicker. A modem is a device that allows you to connect your computer to a telephone jack and then converts the data so that it can connect with another computer. Buy the fastest modem you can afford, a minimum of 14,000 b.p.s., but ideally a 28,000 unit- it saves money over the lifespan of the modem, as the high speed hookup puts you on-line for less time. You need to sign on with a service provider, which can be a private company, your employer or a university that you may be lucky enough to be affiliated with. Some of the large commercial services are America Online, Compuserve, and GEnie. All these companies provide direct hook up to the Internet as well as specialized forums, shopping malls, and bulletin boards. They also allow e-mail to be passed on to the 'Net. I live in rural Maine, and recently signed on to a local private Internet provider. For $20 a month I get several family e-mail addresses, 20 hours of connect time and a local telephone access number. You even get to think up your own address. Mine is balrog.midcoast.com. Lot's of people have e-mail addresses. President Clinton's is: President@White House.gov(no period at the end). When you get connected, do me a favor and drop President Clinton a line thanking him for his approval of repeal of the national speed limit. And would someone who is reading this please send me the E-mail address for Montana? I plan to apend some bucks in a State with no speed limits. In early September I wrote a column for Motorcycle Tour and Travel requesting help from readers in using the Internet to help me plan for an upcoming trip I'm taking to Alaska and the Yukon. As I write this article in December, I've got a pile of more than 100 pages of tips, places to go and stay, recommended gear and routes, and personal reports from motorcyclists who have "been there and done that". How did readers from all over North America reach me? Through e-mail. They wrote their messages to me off line, typed in my address and connected via phone line to their server. Then they downloaded their message to me and probably picked up their own incoming mail, all completed within a minute's time. Usenet Groups I use Newswatcher software with my MacIntosh to log onto the most popular area of the Internet. Your connection hooks you up with the choice of checking out over 13,500 possible interests. Check out rec. motorcycles. The last time I cruised over there I found 274 people asking and telling about topics as wide ranging as body armor, winterization, motorcycle oil grading, riding a salad shooter (Ural/Russian combination), RF900 vs. VFR 750 pros and cons, James Bond film motorcycles, Latin American Honda dealers, and requests for information on '70's vintage Hondamatics. If it ain't on the list, then put anything you want on there and someone's gonna start to gab about it. A good plan is to hang out for a week or so to get the gist of what goes on and post your question. I posted a question about about motorcycling to the Yukon. More mail my way. Lists Lists are interest groups that are comprised of groups of like-minded folks that have a common area of interest. There are many, many Listservs that are connected with motorcycling interests. I have subscribed to several, and now subscribe to the BMW R1100 and BMW GS groups. These two lists provide me with ten to forty messages a day. Subscriptions are free and consist of messages that are passed on to the e-mail addresses of all the subscribers on the list. Some messages are collected and sent to subscribers in digest form, others are listed as they come in, on a daily basis. There are dozens of specific free motorcycle interest group to subscribe to. One person who has made a great effort to collect and update the lists is Carl Paulkstis. A 'Mailing List Roundup', listing all the many motorcycle-oriented mailing lists on the Internet, is maintained by Carl Paukstis (carlp@ior.com) and available via the Web at http://mom.isc-br.com/WL/mmlo.txt". Feel free to contact Carl for the latest full list. An example of Carl's attention to detail is the recent summary of messages for November that Carl sent to all members of the BMW-GS motorcycles mailing list. There were 243 messages consisting of 7,811 lines, with a listing of who they were sent by, with their return e-mail adresses. World Wide Web The World Wide Web or WWW for short is the most advanced, intriguing and potentially the most expensive avenue on the Internet. Bolt a supercharger to your high peformance sportbike and you get the idea. Unlike the typewritten copy of the lists and e-mail, the WWW combines print, graphics, photographs, sound, and even movies that you access through specialized software such as Netscape. Would you like to check out sound clips from a road test of a Harley Davidson VR 1000, before H-D patents the sound of their big twins? No problem. Moving through the Web is a mixed bag. The heavily graphic nature of the Web calls for increased memory on the part of your computer. Check with your service provider to determine the minimum hardware requirements to access the WWW. You browse through the Web by using links, created through a special language called Hypertext Markup Language. Addresses are given for Homepages. Homepages are similar to the table of contents in a book. Click on boldface or highlighted words and read information pages in that "book" or jump to other "books" that are linked electronically to the homepage. You very quickly get off and running. My experience is that you quickly a mass interesting sites to visit. You then click on Bookmarks to set up files of places you may want to return to at a future time. One place to start is Motorcycles Online magazine at http://motorcycle.com/motorcycle. html( no period). Choose between services, parts/accessories, vendors, manufacturers' row, and even recent bike reviews. Check out the 1996 sneak previews including the latest information and pictures of yet-to-be released motorcycles. I found a road test of the BMW R1100R complete with color photos. The BMW review was top notch, even better than in the national news stand motorcycling press. There's a Daily News section, and evenclassifieds with hundreds of free ads for motorcycles and parts. Motorcycles Online asks for a donation of $10 from lucky sellers. There is even a Bulletin board that allows you to post questions to other motorcyclists about diagnostic information, or mechanical procedures. Motorcycles Online alone would keep you occupied for a long time. But don't stop there. How about a electronic motorcycle magazine from the United Kingdom called BikeNet? Check it out on the following home page with thanks from Juliana Holm, a savvy canyon carver of the electronic sweepers- http://www/bikenet.co.uk/html/gbikenet.html. This electronic mag is reached by readers in over 50 countries throughout the world. There is very amusing stuff where ever you happen to land. I couldn't resist checking out Gravel Rash, where readers report their favorite crash stories. Talk about British humor- it's right here! The writers I encountered were immensely amusing-"Anyhow, back end steps out, front end leaves for planet Zog, and I end up trying to snog the mastic." Check out Nutty Slack, an online cartoon strip. If you refuse to spend money on gaudy, overpriced day-glo tat at proper bike shops, and want to stay warm this winter, I'd suggest you read "The Misplaced Yorkshireman's Guide to Staying Warm on a Bike This Winter". You get the idea. This stuff sure beats one more rerun of Knots Landing. For more interesting stuff- check out one of the more offbeat biker gangs around- the Denizens of Doom. The Doomsters hang out at http://www.cerritos.edu/dod. So, now you know that the Information Super Highway stretches it's way to your house. If you have a computer in the den, you may want to dust it off, pick up a faster modem and click onto the phone line. Throw a leg over the saddle and start cruising. I'll see you on the 'Net.