Build Your Own FreeBSD-powered Motorcycle

Durt_b1ker writes "Check this link out for a highly mobile FreeBSD computer with obligatory pics and video."

Comments

So...

[Anonymous Coward]

Does this mean you have to have the daemon on your back and be a hells screen prompt?

Re:So...

[Douglas Simmons]

Sort of, but whereas BSD is very secure, you'd have to be in a full leather body suit with no holes except the zipper mouth (like The Gimp from Pulp Fiction).

Hey, could someone link a Fahrenheit 9/11 .torrent? Thanks.

Re:So...

[and by]

Come on, now. Pay to see the damned movie. Whether you agree with Moore's politics or not, you will probably agree that the US could certainly stand to have some seriously different views brought to light. By paying for the movie, you'll give studios an incentive to make more politically risque films.

Re:So...

[firstadopter.com]

haha... so funny. the logging thing is kind of cool though.

Re:So...

[JPriest]

If I had to pick an operating system to power a motorcycle I am driving at 140 mph, I think I would have to pick BSD. Windows is too complex to be good at simple tasks, and Linux is too, well second rate.

Penguin on a fork anyone?

Re:So...

[Brandybuck]

Fuck you, you should get cancer and die already.

Michael? Michael Moore, is that you?

Re:So...

[UniverseIsADoughnut]

No, sounds like Mike Savage to me, just differant form of death.

Actualy your comment was just plain stupid, but your head is probably up your ass, so you'll probably never read any responses.

Re:So...

[psiphre]

the US could certainly stand to have some seriously different views brought to light

I think you misspelled "deceitful".

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

ou Slashdot zipperheads make me sick with your Open Source bullshit and you one-way morals.

Step 1: go somewhere else.
Step 2: stop judging large groups of people based on a few people's statements.
Step 3: come up with your own comments instead of simply criticizing what other people say.

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you serious? Linux is far superior to BSD nowadays.

Are you serious? Do you have any facts to support your words?

Re:So...

[TheRaven64]

Linux is too, well second rate.

+3 Insightful.

Linux is far superior to BSD nowadays. (From a reply)

-1 Troll.

You've got to love the /. moderation system...

Re:So...

[Brandybuck]

I do read my responses. You are right though, it does sound an awful like Mike Savage. I hate that asshole as much as I hate Michael Moore. Their personalities are much the same.

Re:So...

[44BSD]

Actually, the mascot of rec.motorcycles is Chuck Rogers'"geeky", himself likely derived from/inspired by McKusick's BSD daemon.

Re:So...

[phorm]

I don't know about the "insightful" mod for the linux-bashing comment, but to bash BSD in a BSD article is well... inciting a good flaming, and thus flamebait.

Yes...

[Anonymous Coward]

But does it run Linu... does it wheel Linux?

Not Windows

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, at least you won't be getting a blue screen of DEATH!

Re:Not Windows

[tuxq]

Haha! If he tries using that thing going down the road it'll be the Red Puddle of Death!

Re:Not Windows

[Mick Ohrberg]

Does it have to support SMP for a V-twin?

Chuckle.

Re:Not Windows

[sploo22]

Of course he will. Remember, BSD is dying!

Re:Not Windows

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but you'll be dying for the next two decades...

Re:Not Windows

[sploo22]

Sheesh. Some people just can't take a joke. Remind me to use tags next time.

Deceptive Headline

[lazuli42]

FreeBSD powered motorcycle? What balderdash. This thing still requires gasoline, same as most other bikes.

Now maybe it's FreeBSD-enabled, or perhaps its computer control system is run on FreeBSD...

I understand that it's knit-picky, but sometimes slashdot headlines sound really silly.

Re:Deceptive Headline

[endx7]

I understand that it's knit-picky, but sometimes slashdot headlines sound really silly.

nitpicky.

Re:Deceptive Headline

[lazuli42]

You owe me $5 worth of karma for the beautiful setup.

Re:Deceptive Headline

[Anonymous Coward]

sometimes slashdot headlines sound really silly

It's called consistency - usually the article is fucking stupid too.

Looks like he used his motorcycle...

[mOoZik]

...to host his web site. No comments and it has already crashed. Literally.

Re:Looks like he used his motorcycle...

[focitrixilous P]

No comments and it has already crashed. Literally.

Nah, that's usually the sign of FreeBSD.

Sorry. Couldn't help that one...

Just for fun or did he have a reason?

[Anonymous Coward]

I mean if he did it simply to amuse himself I say "cool." It is a nifty project. That said is there any practical use to mounting a computer on a motorcycle? A car I could understand, but not a motorcycle.

Re:Just for fun or did he have a reason?

[tuxq]

I was thinking he re-programmed the computer for the actual motorcycle with fbsd... WTF? What's the point of this? What is he going to do? Chat in IRC going down the road?! WTF?!

Re:Just for fun or did he have a reason?

[Nasarius]

The site is Slashdotted, so I can't see what he says. But one potential use is GPS mapping.

Re:Just for fun or did he have a reason?

[Karamchand]

What's the use of this? Well, provided the correct software exists you don't need to go to your car/motorcycle dealer to get your engine chip-tuned - you just write a shell script to do this task ;-)

Re:Just for fun or did he have a reason?

[markbo]

Okay, so I actually read the article before it was slashdot'd. And while I saw all the pictures installing it, I didn't see any output devices. The bike runs BSD but what's it do exactly?

Re:Just for fun or did he have a reason?

[Johnny Fusion]

From the site:
-----
Why:
But dear god why?
The PC currently only logs videos off a helmet cam:

[IMG of CAMERA duct taped to a helemt]

Wait, before you comment about the duct tape, this was a temporary setup to
see if it would work. The camera will be mounted using velcro when its finished.
Next I will have it log tracks from my Garmin GPS V, as well as power my iPod.
Eventually I'd like to find a way for it to interconnect with the ECU to do PowerCommander like work
------

So now you know.

Re:Just for fun or did he have a reason?

[Nasarius]

I should clarify:
When I said GPS mapping, I meant tracking and recording your GPS coordinates for use later. Not real-time mapping or something.

Wait a minute...

[metalligoth]

...since BSD is dying, this is one motorcycle I'd never want to ride!

Mods: Have a sense of humor here. Seriously. I run a server with BSD at my company.

Re:Wait a minute...

[Anonymous Coward]

I know I wouldn't want a general purpose operating system like BSD actually running my bike. Of course that's not what's happening here, but still.

Re:Wait a minute...

[Anonymous Coward]

postings with moderation orders just suck

Re:Wait a minute...

[gstoddart]

Yeah, but he'll have such stability and uptime he'll never even need a kickstand again. ;-)

Re:Wait a minute...

[metalligoth]

Well, my friend, some people just have NO sense of humor these days. *sigh*

Whoop de do

[Anonymous Coward]

A computer on a $RANDOM_OBJECT

Motorcycle

[g-to-the-o-to-the-g]

Perhaps the motorcycle running their webserver is out of gas?

really, what is the point of this

[the_y_man84]

I really fail to see any reason to build a machine this powerful into your motorbike, what exactly does all this processing power go towards? Or, what is the purpose of this project?

Re:really, what is the point of this

[rasz]

>kldload bktr, this loads the Brooktree driver that the PCI capture card uses

well, guess what that CAPTURE CARD is doing in his motorcycle .. mm maybe its swimming ? or perhaps making sandwiches ? ... :/

Re:really, what is the point of this

[aauu]

Did you see the reference to the camera and the brooktree driver. He is capturing video while he rides. This seems to be an extremely ornate solution to the need for a camcorder mounted on the bike. On the other hand a camcorder wouldn't be on the front page of /. like a UNIX implementation. It is possible for him to upload the video via wireless when he finds a hotspot so perhaps this is more functional than a camcorder in that respect.

We all know that motorcyles are dangerous...

[Anonymous Coward]

...they have a higher fatality rate than other vehicles.

Oh but hang on this is BSD - so it is used to DYING.

Re:We all know that motorcyles are dangerous...

[richie2000]

...they have a higher fatality rate than other vehicles.

I know you were making a NetCraft/BSD dying joke, but fact of the matter is that motorcyclists have almost the exact same fatality rate as cagers (in Sweden). The trend has gone from approximately 25 deaths per 1000 motorcyclists 20 years ago to 5-6 deaths per 1000 motorcyclists now and those are the same numbers as for cars.

Yes, I realize that the numbers for the US are drastically different (both are higher), but still. It goes to show that it does not have to be inherently more dangerous to ride a bike than drive a car.

Incidentally, the deaths for bikers show a much larger ratio of drunk rider/stolen bike than for cars, meaning that if you stay sober and on your own bike, you're actually safer than in a car - statistically speaking.

Re:We all know that motorcyles are dangerous...

[msim]

Regardless of the stats, the grandparent poster just makes me want to reach out and touch them...

With a shovel to the back of their head.
Almost akin the the temporary citizen comments i get now and then. my usual response is either to seethe in anger or outright tell them to piss off.

Speed

[fracex]

Nice, but how fast does it go?

Re:Speed

[XBruticusX]

According to this usually reliable site, Motorcycle USA pre mods he can depend on around 120 hp, which translates to at the least 140MPH on the street.

What about safety?

[thewiz]

Look, I'm all for putting computers in everyday objects, but how does this guy use his computer? I'd rather he keep both hands on the handlebars than trying to ride and use the computer.

I hope he remembers to wear a helmet to prevent head crashes!

Re:What about safety?

[Anonymous Coward]

RTFA!

Watching a live slashdotting

[Twid]

Heh, I've never watched a friend get slashdotted live. Ben's trying to move the gallery links off to a static page right now! :)

18:27 <@toast> ben: your machine can't hold up :(
18:27 <@ben> go to slashdot
18:27 <@toast> oh wait, it's on /. front page
18:27 < twid> toast: nope
18:27 <@toast> omfg you got mentioned on slashdot you are so cool!
18:27 <@ben> yes.
18:27 <@ben> its the top hit
18:27 <@ben> on the front page
18:27 < twid> OMG BEN
18:27 <@toast> ben: CAN I BE YOUR FRIEND?!?!
18:27 < twid> omg the site is down already
18:27 <@toast> ben: your server lasted for like 3 seconds, GOOD JOB :)
18:27 < twid> hahahahah
18:27 <@ben> last pid: 47359; load averages:
28.51, 20.60, 9.57 up 11+00:33:58 18:23:52

Re:Watching a live slashdotting

[Anonymous Coward]

OMG! like, for sure!

Re:Watching a live slashdotting

[Anonymous Coward]

omfgwtfbbqHI2U!!!!!!!!11

Re:Watching a live slashdotting

[Twid]

omg get on the LOLLERCOASTER!!!!!!!!11eleven

We don't talk like that in real life. Well, ok, sometimes.

Re:Watching a live slashdotting

[Toast]

FWIW the reason the box died so quickly was due to gallery and uberperformanceful PHP. Once he got the images on a static page apache happily served up 40mbps. We have a NetScreen firewall in front of the box and it hasn't even blinked yet. 3% CPU usage and less than 1% of the sessions used. Is this the best slashdot has to offer? :(

Re:Watching a live slashdotting

[1110110001]

It's not PHP. It's bad written PHP code not meant for high load. You could write such code in every language. BTW mmcache helps a lot if PHP is to slow for you.

b4n

Re:Watching a live slashdotting

[kinzillah]

way to pimp netscreen.

hugs

Raising Hell

[karniv0re]

How long before the FreeBSD Hell's Angels start a war with the Linux Banditos?

Re:Raising Hell

[Kurt Russell]

I owned a 77' Kz1000, that bike ran like a raped ape! I got drunk and traded it for a harley sportster. What a major mistake, that bike was a pile of dung. The Banditos out of Corpus Christi, Texas did me a favor by stealing that pile. I think we sould cut the guy a break he's a biker and a nerd.

Nerds tinker it's what we do. :-)

FreeBSD-powered Motorcycle

[dj245]

The site is toast, but presumably the bike is still petrol powered but has a computer on board.

Unless of course the system writes to /usr/propulsion on a continous basis...

Re:FreeBSD-powered Motorcycle

[Anonymous Coward]

you mean /dev/propulsion

Start Up

[davidmandle]

What happens if the computer is on while he starts his bike? When a car starts, the radio goes silent while the engine cranks over. What happens to the powersupoply to the computeR?

Re:Start Up

[kfg]

When a car starts, the radio goes silent while the engine cranks over.

Maybe you should try kick starting your car.

KFG

Re:Start Up

[Ribald]

It does that on a car because it's generally hooked to a circuit that gets disconnected when the starter is energized, so the starter has the most power possible.

Hook it to the right circuit, and it will still get power, though maybe not enough to keep the DCPS from dropping offline. Depends on its design, the kind of battery on the bike (usually small), starter draw and cranking time...

He might manage to keep it going, but those batteries _are_ pretty small...

--Ribald

Re:Start Up

[HoneyBunchesOfGoats]

The soluion to that problem is to put a sufficiently large capacitor in parallel with the voltage source.

Re:Start Up

[bcmm]

Er, actually, my family have a small boat. And the lights don't go out when the starter fires, they dim. The only reason they don't crash is that light bulbs are not delicate electronic components that like a nice stable supply.

Re:Start Up

[Shanep]

The soluion to that problem is to put a sufficiently large capacitor in parallel with the voltage source.

Practically speaking, how large a capacitor are you going to get!? I have some massive 50,000uF 50V caps, that wouldn't last so much as a second if I tried to draw a constant amp from it.

You would be better off with a similar sized battery.

If you bothered to RTFA

[Anonymous Coward]

You would of noticed the section where he talks about "video loss due to power failure" and instalation of the PCI video capture card.

Woot!

[kuzb]

This is a great way to ensure that you get mercilessly slashdotted back in to the stone age - make a post that doesn't give any real information besides a link to a site.

Wait...

[dysprosia]

Does this mean FreeBSD beat NetBSD to a motorcycle port? "Of course it runs NetBSD...except if it's a motorcycle"?

This has been tried with MacOS X.

[UncHellMatt]

Unfortunately whenever they'd start the motorcycle it would bounce uncontrollably.

AOL maybe

[Alien54]

but then, there are those commercials with overpowering motorcycles with AOL High Speed technology. In that case, I'd rather run the bike on NT. but ....

Let's face it, You don't want an OS that crashes running a motorcycle.

Here's a Copy 'n Paste:

[karniv0re]

I grabbed it seconds before it went down. Here's a copy 'n paste of the technical specs for the computer:

Technical:
Wait you said it ran UNIX, what exactly did you mean?!
The PC itself runs FreeBSD 5.2.1, the best operating system in the world, let the flames begin.
Custom modifications made to it:
/etc/rc: Added fsck -y before mount/check filesystem line. This ensures no 'unable to fsck press enter' problems.
/etc/fstab: Added 'sync' option to / FS. Causes all writes to be unbuffered. Helps prevent video loss from a power failure.
/etc/rc.local: Contains two lines: kldload bktr, this loads the Brooktree driver that the PCI capture card uses
streamer -o mjpeg.avi -f mjpeg -i Television -t 3:00:00, this program is part of XawTV and is what records the video off the camera/capture card to disk
More info on the Brooktree driver which comes installed by default.

Parts:
Shuttle SV24 Flex-ATX motherboard
256MB RAM
1Ghz P3 Coppermine CPU
PW-200 DC PSU
ITPS voltage regulator/ignition integrator 40GB HD
ATX extender cable
Brooktree based capture card(I believe this one was made by AverMedia, didn't come with docs)
Sun Camera
The Capture card and Camera came from the best surplus store known to man WeirdStuff. If you live in the Bay Area, they are a great place to visit.
Extra Bright LEDs for checking HD and Power status, in the sun.
Jumper connectors to plug cat5 cable into reset button/hddled/pwled on motherboard
I buy all my electronics parts from the coolest parts store in the world HSC

Cables:
Long RCA for camera
Long cat5, runs LED and reset button leads up to dash
Cat5 for ethernet to download video
Garmin GPS V cable, to log GPS routes on the PC
ATX extender cable, needed to put the DC PSU somewhere other than directly attached to the board

why would i want a subject?

[compwizrd]

guess you have to be a member of the wheel group to mount it.

Length of post

[Turn-X Alphonse]

Nice to see Slashdot is now writing for the people who lack reading skills. With the site being slashdotted a little more text to explain WTF was going on with the article rather then "here read this" would of been nice

bad analogy

[Douglas Simmons]

So you think this isn't powered by FreeBSD, or at least that to say so would be balderdash. But do you remember how back in the day at the bottom of websites there were all those Powered by Apache/BSD/(whatever) logos?

By the logic you're using, those websites weren't powered by Apache, they were powered by the Generel Electric coal power plant a few miles away. So nit-pick this, buddy. Parenthetically, I'd consider laying off the thesaurus... Balderdash... who says that.

BTW, someone link a Fahrenheit 9/11 .torrent please.

Re:bad analogy

[lazuli42]

By the logic you're using, those websites weren't powered by Apache, they were powered by the Generel Electric coal power plant a few miles away.

Of course. Didn't you check my previous comments to see me complaining about that very thing in past Slashdot threads?

Balderdash... who says that.

At the minimum, avid fans of the Balderdash family board game. Of course.

Article Text

[distroJunkie]

You've reached bike.owns.com! This page is about my motorcycle:

2003 Kawasaki Z1000
Beware, the following was created with vi *:)
Jump to:
Specs
Modifications
Links
How
Technical
Parts
Pictures of the bike
Pictures of the computer installation
Videos
Contact
Specs:
Displacemen t 953cc
Fuel capacity 18 litres (4.0 gallons)
Dry weight 198 kg (437 pounds)
Horsepower 116@rear wheel.

Modifications:
The How and Technical section include information about the biggest modification I've done. Heres the small stuff:
* Bosch compressed air horns:
* PIAA Fog Lights:
* CRG LS bar end mirrors:
* Renthal bars, I also had them anodized to match the forks, and stock bars. PK Selective did the anodizing. They did a great job, I love them.
* Corbin seat:
* A fender eliminator, I can't remember what brand, but it doesn't matter because you don't want it. It didn't fit very well, and uses zipties.
* KisanTech H4 headlight modulator, they call it a 'pathBlazer'. No pic, its a blinking light for pete's sake.
* Sprocket Specialists 42 tooth rear sprocket, no pics.
I no longer ride on the Bridgestones that came with the bike, I tore them up in about 3000 mi. I ride on D208 race pull offs now, *duck*.
I also use synthetic oil(Silkolene)
As of 6/22 the bike has 14,800 mi on it, and is 7 months old.

Links:
Official Kawasaki Z1000 page
Page dedicated to parts/pics of Z1000s
Cool Motorcycle forum Onyerbike Z1000 page

How:
So, why did I create a whole webpage about my motorcycle?
It runs UNIX!

I removed the charcoal can, and cut out most of the plastic casing to install a Shuttle SV24 Flex-ATX motherboard in the tail section. I cut off the rest of the case except for the bare minimum required to bolt in a PCI card on the riser, and all 4 motherboard mounting screws.

I've upgraded the CPU to a P3 Coppermine 1Ghz and added 256MB of RAM. Beneath the 'case', or whats left of it anyway is a 40GB Seagate hard drive.

To make it work with the bike I had to buy a 'PW-200' DC-DC PSU from http://www.mini-box.com/.
I also picked up an ITPS from them as well, it handles voltage regulation and startup/shutdown of the PC.
I bought these as a combined unit on eBay from a seller named 'audioforge'. Shipping was very fast, and he was very nice to deal with. I'd recomend him to anyone.
He said he hopes to have a website up soon.
You can see the ITPS in this picture. It's the small board mounted beneath the case.
The PW-200 can be seen here. It's the small board the ATX connector plugs in to.
If you are wondering what the big red can is, it drives these.

Technical:
Wait you said it ran UNIX, what exactly did you mean?!
The PC itself runs FreeBSD 5.2.1, the best operating system in the world, let the flames begin.
Custom modifications made to it: /etc/rc: Added fsck -y before mount/check filesystem line. This ensures no 'unable to fsck press enter' problems. /etc/fstab: Added 'sync' option to / FS. Causes all writes to be unbuffered. Helps prevent video loss from a power failure. /etc/rc.local: Contains two lines:
kldload bktr, this loads the Brooktree driver that the PCI capture card uses
streamer -o mjpeg.avi -f mjpeg -i Television -t 3:00:00, this program is part of XawTV and is what records the video off the camera/capture card to disk
More info on the Brooktree driver which comes installed by default.
Parts:
Shuttle SV24 Flex-ATX motherboard
256MB RAM
1Ghz P3 Coppermine CPU
PW-200 DC PSU
ITPS voltage regulator/ignition integrator
40GB HD
ATX extender cable
Brooktree based capture card(I believe this one was made by AverMedia, didn't come with docs)
Sun Camera
The Capture card and Camera came from the best surplus store known to man WeirdStuff. If you live in the Bay Area, they are a great place to visit.
Extra Bright

Re: New Mirror

[Anonymous Coward]

Mirror (Semi, still trying to wget): http://tmorton.dyndns.org/~taj/bsd-bike/bike.owns. com/

Man attaches computer to an object. Wow.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is what passes for news here? Maybe I'll submit a story on how I'm gonna attach a Gameboy to my scrotum.

Re:Man attaches computer to an object. Wow.

[Inthewire]

Don't try to patent it.
I've got video of prior art.

Microsoft!

[firstadopter.com]

Let's just say this will crash less than those Microsoft OS cars. lol

FreeBSD - Born to be Wild

[bXTr]

Getcha kernel runnin
Head out on the highway
Hackin for adventure
and whatever comes our way

BORN TO BE WILD!

Re:FreeBSD - Born to be Wild

[Anonymous Coward]

So close.

Everyone knows it's "Bourne to vee eye".

Sure it runs UNIX, but...

[dulles]

is he hosting the website on his motorcycle? With 802.11?

Gates and Balmer Overdrive

[StuWho]

Bourne 2 Beos Wireless Interface Linux Distribution

Records from a webcam taped to his helmet !

[TheUncleBob]

Really, no joke, theres a pic of the camera, I've never seen so much duck tape!
I'm sure theres an easier way - video camera mounted on bike perhaps?

We geeks do enjoy reinventing the wheel the hard way.

Re:Records from a webcam taped to his helmet !

[snellgrove2]

"Wait, before you comment about the duct tape, this was a temporary setup to
see if it would work. The camera will be mounted using velcro when its finished."

it says on the site. :)

Re:Records from a webcam taped to his helmet !

[bcmm]

Duct tape. Not duck tape. Although the two Ts run together a bit.

Re:Records from a webcam taped to his helmet !

[randomencounter]

Don't be too sure of that.
There is a brand of duct tape called "Duck Tape", and it is one of the more common brands out there.
I'll bet lots of people find this confusing ;)

That's a shame...

[Nimrangul]

You know it's a shame they used a Motorcycle. You see, it's official now; Motortrend confirms it, Motorcycles are dying.

One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered cyclist community when Kawasaki Motors Corp confirmed the motorcycle marketshare has dropped yet again, now down to less than 18 percent of Americans owning a motorcycle. Coming on the heels of a recent Motortrend survey which plainly states that motorcycles have lost marketshare, this news serves to confirm what we've known all along. Cycling is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent frontal impact test.

You don't need to be David Hasselhoff to talk about motocycling's future. The piss is on the snow: cycling faces a dark future. There won't infact be any future at all for cyclists because the industry is dying. Things are looking very bad for cycling. As many of us are already aware, motorcycles continue to lose market share. Red ink flows like a moon cycle.

Harley-Davidson is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of the Easy Rider generation. The sudden and unpleasent departures of long time Harley users Ricky L. Phillips and Gerald Smith only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: Motorcycling is dying.

... Ok, I'll stop now.

Re:That's a shame...

[Anonymous Coward]

My God, what do you have against motorcycles? Where is this bitterness from? Have you never ridden one? You know someone who got hurt/killed on one? Are you one of those guys who bought one, put a hundred miles on it and got rid of it?

Motorcycles scare a lot of people. No shame in that, it certainly requires courage to ride, and even courage to let a loved one ride. Motorcycles are not dying. Anyway, by your reckoning, cars are dying, to be replaced by SUVs. (SUVs account for 50% of all vehicles sold in the states right now. I get 60mpg on the highway on my Yamaha 650. I think those SUV buggers have to stop and fill the tank between stop signs.)

Re:That's a shame...

[Nimrangul]

Supposed to be a joke, for you see whenever there is a post about any BSD there are dozens of "BSD is dying" posts.

I thought I would mock the people that post them by making one of my own.

The part that should have made it relatively obviously a joke was my David Hasselhoff and piss in the snow parts, not to mention there being a couple of the BSD trolls already made.

Re:That's a shame...

[Anonymous Coward]

One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered cyclist community when Kawasaki Motors Corp confirmed the motorcycle marketshare has dropped yet again, now down to less than 18 percent of Americans owning a motorcycle

Come to London. Motorcycles are exempt from the congestion charge (which is like an automatic 5 pound toll for entering central London) and sales for motorcycles and scooters are way up. Since the congestion charge is considered a huge success, you can assume it will be adopted in other large cities, including the center-of-the-universe there.

Re:That's a shame...

[MajorDick]

Hmm I hope this is a joke ?

What is losing massive market share are the large road slugs that the Japs have tried to pump out in volume to drown the Harley, they are nice pretty but well theyre not a Harley, there are a LOT of reasons for the harley mystique, 1 is its TOTAL lack of technological dependece. I can but a new Harley, throw in an aftermarket cam, heads, swap the carb and tinker with it to my hearts desire. Try that with a Jap bike....yeah right.

That said I am not a fan of any of those large bikes, what is however gaining ground are the smaller utility bikes, like the japanese sold like nuts in the late 60's and early 70's oddly many of those bikes are being imported and sold en-masse from China, heck I just bought my sone one for christmas, a 50cc electric start monoshock , brand new for $450 DELIVERED !

Motorcycles are far from dying, far from it , take it from someone who has been on 2 wheels since he was 9 , personally I could care less who rides and who dosent, I ride for myself.

Cycling has had its ups and downs in the 20's and 30's there were an absurd amount of compaines making bikes, only the strong and luck survived, the 50's were the same as the 70's as the early 90's as now.....Cycling dosent DIE its tastes just change from time to time.

I own a rare Honda (yes there is such a thing) it was one of only 1200 made and mine was the ONLY one with this color it was special ordered and one of the last 10 off the assy line. I also own a rice rocket a newer FZR600 . I dont own and never will any road hogs, my GPZ1100 and ELR were my only beasts .

Know a little about what youre talking about before you parrot "Cycling is dead"

UNLESS It was a joke and in that case it was very funny indeed

Re:That's a shame...

[psiphre]

FWIW:
the parent was satirizing the Netcraft confirms it "BSD is dying" troll. it WAS meant to be a joke.

on an unrelated note, power to the bikers. those on two wheels truly shall inherit the earth (after gas prices are too outrageous for anyone to drive on four wheels anymore).

Re:That's a shame...

[MajorDick]

Lol, well let me tell you a little about that, bikes get good gas mileage on the highway , my CB500TR gets about 50 mpg, my FZR about 35-40, in the city ? forget it I've never really checked but I swear my FZR gets about 10 in the city, I had a GPZ1100 granted it was 150 horse fuel injected J motor with aftermatket cams and pistons it REALLY did get 10 in the city and never more than 25 on the highway. gas stations become an all to often sight when you can only carry a couple of gallons, although I am sure being 6'2" and 260 lbs dosent add to the aerodynamics.

As I said as a joke it was a good one :)

Re:That's a shame...

[Shanep]

I am sure being 6'2" and 260 lbs dosent add to the aerodynamics.

Your weight takes power when you accelerate and your frame takes more and more power the faster you go. It's your frame that contributes to the aerodynamic drag, not your weight.

juice it up!

[swimfastom]

"40GB HD" Imagine the potential if it had a larger hard drive, say 160GB. Users could hook up a small LCD screen in between the handle bars and watch divx movies! Or listen to mp3's. All this, in addition to recording course turns via GPS!

Re:juice it up!

[alvin]

well i'm not sure i'd want to watch divx movies while riding but hey, clarion or alpine could go into the business of making helmet-back lcd's... so at least your pillion will stop asking 'are we there yet?'

chronicling bad riding habits

[b-lou]

The first video i watched shows this guy squeezing by a car waiting to turn left like he's a bicyclist, not a motorcyclist. Bad, bad, habit. That's the sort of behavior that entices car drivers to open doors as you pass with only six inches clearance.

Save that video. it's going to be excellent footage for the MSF on what not to do if you'd like to have a long life of motorcycling.

Re:chronicling bad riding habits

[Emperor Tiberius]

His driving is pretty bad, he almost hit that one Mercedes, only to cut another vehicle off. Although, he could just be doing a few stunts for the camera.

Re:Anyone want a gmail account?

[Anonymous Coward]

Mod this dude +5 Helpful... I finally got a Gmail invite. =]

Posting this on the web shows...

[DieByWire]

that he's not mature enough to be ashamed of his driving. Flame me if you've ridden for 20 years accident free.

Re:Posting this on the web shows...

[lp-habu]

Flame me if you've ridden for 20 years accident free.

Anyone who has done anything for 20 years accident free has had a mortifyingly dull existence.

Re:Posting this on the web shows...

[Anonymous Coward]

But he might dent his big ugly BMW cruiser if he doesn't drive like he's in a Volvo :(

Re:Posting this on the web shows...

[Anonymous Coward]

Agreed. It was mildly entertaining, for a while, particularly the endless wait at the traffic light, but later, after he cut around cars not once, but twice, my thought was "What an ***hole!". I suppose the whole "look at me, I modded my bike and put up a webshite" is a big hint about this guy's personality, though.

Connecting to the ECU

[carcosa30]

This would be totally fatuous were it not for the plans he mentioned of hooking the computer up to the bike's engine control CPU. I don't know enough about that sort of thing to know if there's any point to it. Possibly overclocking your engine to a dangerous degree when you need to go very fast, but why...?

Pretty neat nonetheless. Computer controlled neon lights, et cetera...?

Re:Connecting to the ECU

[Anonymous Coward]

A friend of mine (a mechanic) did something similar with his Corvette. He was able to dynamically control the ignition timing and the fuel system. He had very aggressive settings for racing, but very mild settings for the rest of the time, improving his drivability.

Re:Connecting to the ECU

[catch23]

This is nothing too new. You can get a PowerCommander device that does this for more of the newer fuel-injected bikes (like my 2003 yamaha r6)

You can put a setting on the power commander to make flames come out of your exhaust if you really wanted to, but why go through the trouble? most people get the power commander so that the power output is more linear since some bikes only reach their full power band around the 10,000 rpm range which is much less used in normal street usage. Manufacturers build the bike for track usage, and usually don't keep in mind that 80% of the bikes are never going to be on the track.

Re:Developer laments: What Killed FreeBSD

[Anonymous Coward]

Heh, yeah, funny thing about that...
Mike Smith now works for Apple, who's OS is based on BSD.
Check it out: http://www.lemis.com/~grog/msmr.html

people who lack reading skills

[Anonymous Coward]

"...the people who lack reading skills."

I'm sorry, but I have to do this.

"...rather then" should be "...rather than"
"here read this" should be "here, read this"
"would of been" should be "would have been"

Wow! Imagine...

[WarMonkey]

a Beowulf cluster of these! :)

Re:Wow! Imagine...

[Anonymous Coward]

Done. :)

Re:Wow! Imagine...

[msim]

damn, you fergot to mention
"May possibly not be worksafe" :P
Now i gotta get onto the proxy ;-)

I'm working on something similar

[Chairboy]

I'm in the planning phases of doing something like this with my Bandit 1200.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t =2 7133

For the interface, I plan to fabricate a fighter plane style MFD to replace my gauges, and also do the video logging that he does, except using a camera built into the fairing. I've done video on bikes before, and vibration is a big problem, so among other things, I'm hoping to find or adapt some video stabilization code.

I've already got a computer in my car, the only things I'm waiting for before I start buying is:
1. Nano-ITX Epia motherboard (4.7" squared)
2. An LCD screen that's daylight readable and affordable.

For power supply, I'll use an Opus 90 (this guy should have used the Opus 150, it has a shutdown controller built in) like the one in my car.

Fixed link using makeashorterlink

[Chairboy]

Whoops. Maybe the lameness filter should be 80 chars?

http://makeashorterlink.com/?N246317A8

Re:Fixed link using makeashorterlink

[TheRaven64]

One of the interesting features about HyperText Markup Language (some would say the defining feature) is that it supports hypertext. Did you know, for example, that with the addition of an <a /> tag you can provide a link that people can just click on, rather than having to copy a URL to the address bar.

Re:Fixed link using makeashorterlink

[antdude]

Chairboy, how about just using HTML tag like here? ;)

BTW, nice bike! I hope to see it soon.

Bikeshed?

[Brandybuck]

But what color is the bikeshed?

Re:Bikeshed?

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL! The sad part is that very few of the moderators even know what that reference is to. I think that it is the funniest of all the comments. For those of you that lack understanding, here is what the bikeshed is referring to.

The website is back up - the videos are shocking

[klasikahl]

Watch the gas->home video and go about 1/3rd through it, and watch this guy pass on the dotted white lines while driving on the freeway with cars on either side of him. He weaves right in between cars with 1 foot of clearance on each side at speeds close to 60-70mph... This guy is nuts!!!

Re:The website is back up - the videos are shockin

[klasikahl]

Oh wow that's not the end of it... He also passes cars on one-lane exit ramps and roads.

I wouldn't post those videos if I were him

[Yonder Way]

This guy epitomizes an inconsiderate motorcycle rider. He's cutting people off, running red lights, passing people on the inside during a turn. Riders like this make it that much harder for responsible riders to get along with the cars on the road.

Re:I wouldn't post those videos if I were him

[Polo]

Now you got me curious, and I watched all the videos.

I just didn't see it the way you did. He didn't seem to be speeding, he didn't run any red lights (although I might have seen a pause on red), and as for passing people -- "lane sharing" is legal in california. It's pretty much accepted that motorcyles pass cars on the freeway and pull up to the front of intersections. I expect to someone from another state it would be something to get used to.

Re:I wouldn't post those videos if I were him

[shrewmy]

"He didn't seem to be speeding"

Every other car was just going unusually slow? :) At first I just attributed it all to the stop-motion-like of the video, but once he hit traffic it was more apparent. There wasn't one car he overtook without ease.

(Moreso to the OG post:)
I wouldn't say he did anything "road-rage-worthy" though I only did skim through the 19meg video.

I don't really consider a bike changing lanes in front of me when I'm in my car "cutting me off" as they aren't the ones that try and squeeze their car in between you and the car in front of you, then when they finally get over slam on their breaks because they're too close to the car in front of them. Usually when they get over they're way ahead of you a few seconds later.

There's truely some a-hole motorcycle drivers out there but I doubt this qualifies as one of them. And this is coming from someone who's had some pretty bad 'road rage'.

Re:I wouldn't post those videos if I were him

[Yonder Way]

Something like that would be grounds for a big fine and probably loss of license in Pennsylvania.

Re:I wouldn't post those videos if I were him

[edinho]

You can be totally legal, or arguably legal, and can still ride like an ass. This guy rides like an ass.

Overtaking in a turn, into a parking lot with people walking around, maybe grabbing a prime parking spot. Lane splitting and squeezing just to get ahead of a queue that is three vehicle deep. These actions tend to annoy cagers. I am a daily motorcycle rider, and I would have sighed and shook my head if I had seen any rider doing that. He does no one no favor.

Cheers,
e.

The hard drive will break

[vegetasaiyajin]

He should change the hard drive for a flash memory based drive. The vibration and outdoors ambient will break it. The same applies to the CPU fan. He should go with a low power CPU that can be cooled with only a heatsink.

Re:The hard drive will break

[Taurim]

There is not a lot of vibrations on an inline 4 cylinders like this Kawasaki.

If it were a Harley, he should not only use a solid state drive but he should also glue the CPU to the socket :-)

a lot of states that's 100% legal (on a bike)

[caveat]

"lane splitting" is legal in quite a few states (no, i'm not going to check...i do know it's ok in NY, it'd be insanity to ride the LIE otherwise). it's usually pretty safe to split two cars side by side, since the drivers won't go swerving at each other; trying to zigzag through a passing situation is much stupider, i knew a kid who got pasted on the LIE when the guy in the left lane cut right (in front of the other car) a little earlier than he was expecting...i guess the fall didn't hurt him that badly, but the bumper-to-bumper traffic going 45, well, that was a different story...

Re:a lot of states that's 100% legal (on a bike)

[NivenHuH]

I concur.. it's completely legal in California and most of the drivers on the road are aware of it.. they move out of the way/realize that you're going to be pulling on side of them..

Re:a lot of states that's 100% legal (on a bike)

[mec]

What's legal in California is:

The traffic is moving 15 mph or less.
The delta between you and the traffic is 15 mph or less.
You don't cross the white line (you are sharing the lane).

That's what it was the last time I checked the California Vehicle Code. Yes, I used to ride motorcycles in California. Yum!

It's been a while though, so the laws may have changed.

Re:a lot of states that's 100% legal (on a bike)

[ross.w]

Legal or not, it's 100% stupid if the traffic is moving. Plenty of people have been cleaned up doing this.

You knew it was coming....

[Anonymous Coward]

Can we make a beowulf cluster of motorcycles? You could keep computing seti units with a power outage...

Dimensions of the setup..

[NivenHuH]

It would be nice to have the physical dimensions of the setup so I might be able to fit a similar setup in the back of my bike.. :D

So, this would be a...

[mpthompson]

Unixycle?

Ouch! There goes my karma...

That's nothing...

[bugmenot]

I mounted a Sun Fire E25K server that I had laying around the house on the back of my motorcycle to listen to my mp3 collection. It's a little bit harder to keep my balance, but I'm getting used to it.

Congrats!!

[Anonymous Coward]

this is the first BSD article I've seen in a while where "the motorcycle is DIEING!!!" wasn't the first post....I think we've entered a new era in slashdot history!

Santa Clara.

[Anonymous Coward]

Lets hope he has eyes in the back of his head around Santa Clara (I live there too) ... what with all the Indians and Asians terrible driving.

Before I get flamed, I ride a bike a hekuva lot, and I've noticed that if someone does some stupid driving then around here the chances are it's an Indian and Asian.

I call it how I see it.

wow

[jr748]

now everyone can watch you be a dick and cut off cars like every other biker.

Re:wow

[zmollusc]

It's even better! Now the cops can see the dangerous illegal manouvres of the car that killed you.

So it's ethanol based then?

[SuperKendall]

After all, it's powered by kernels...

Looks familiar

[Anonymous Coward]

Some dude I once knew named Hiro Protagonist had one of these---he called it a bios (built-in operating system).

There's a name for guys like this...

[tokabola]

When I was a Military Police we had a name for guys who rode like this. We called them STATISTICS.

As in "87% of all motorcycle fatalities are caused by reckless riding" or " So far this year we've scraped 14 motorcyclists off a bumper"

Re:There's a name for guys like this...

[Anonymous Coward]

I wish more people knew about these stats. This guy rides like he's going to die, but mostly it's absent minded car drivers and bikers who don't leave themselves an "out"

In this area (Northern CA) I see it all. Women on cellphones doing makeup while doing 90 on the freeway. Guys reading the paper, shaving and drinking lattes.

I'm from the UK originally (8 years ago) and I'm disgusted by the level of driving skills here. Based on skill the speed limit should be 10mph on the freeways.

If I were in charge I'd make some changes, here's my 10 points.

1. Ban the phones, you SHALL use a handsfree set. $1000 penalty and points and have your phone disconnected. Thou shalt learn !

2. Stiffer driving tests. If you're warm blooded and can make it to the DMV you've already passed here in CA. Make sure they really can control a car.

3. Recurring 5 yearly tests, make sure they've retained what they've supposedly learnt. Test has minimal cost, no excuse there.

4. Don't give kids cars or bikes, make em go on courses and prove they are safe to be out before letting them loose.

5. Don't give people big bikes, build em up gradually through smaller bikes before giving the liceneses for larger capacity bikes.

6.If you don't have insurance, you're getting suspended for two years. 50% of california drivers don't have insurance, this sucks because it means I have to carry uninsured motorist insurance of my own. Why isn't the law enforced ? $3000 fine. If you can't pay your wages are garnished and your car used as (part) payment of the fine. If you are caught again (see 7) then you go to jail for 6 months.

7. Random stops, yes, random. If you're not drunk, on drugs and have insurance what are you worried about ?

8. Variable speed limits. Slow the traffic in peak times (advise people to stay in lane) and speed it up when it's quiet. Speeding during peak times gets you a fine of $1000

9. Have an regular state sponsored vehicle check every year. This would include a brake check, tire check and suspension check. I'm amazed how many people have bald tires and the back wheels are bouncing off the road on the freeway. Car taken off road if not road worthy. Cars on the road in bad condition can be impounded, max fine $3000. Educate the dumb about car condition.

10. Red Light cameras, lots of them, until it gets through to people that red means stop on your side, it also means it's green on the other side, meaning go... I see too many mid intersection crashes just because someone decided they could "make it"
Max fine $3000, If it's more than 2 seconds red, your car is taken away from you too.

Ok, I said 10, but here's 11.

11. Get rid of the commuter lane. It doesn't work. Never saw the sense in shutting down a lane during peak hours. It seems no-one cares about it here anyway.
I know it's supposed to encourage ride sharing, but it has failed. Get over it.
It also creates a hazzard. When traffic is stopped in the other 3 lanes and the commuter lane is moving at 80mph, I consider this unsafe. People pull out. I also see that all the time.

Re:There's a name for guys like this...

[tokabola]

The 87% figure was specific to Ft. Carson at the time (it's in Colorado Springs, Dad Driving Capitol of the World) and most of those accidents were partly the cars fault too. The fourteen is what I remember, vaguely, meant to make my point, not be definitive.
As an MP (and later a cab driver) I drove a lot (ussually 8 to 12 hours/day) for ten years, in US, Korea, and Germany. I agree on a lot of points but think the fines are excessive for first offenses. Flat out opposed to random stops, Police abuse their autority enough as it is, I should know.
Variable speed laws are a Bad Idea, as many accidents are caused by difference in speed as are by difference of direction, and Some people will always "fudge" the clock, same as they "fudge" red lights.
Most states aslready have a "two hands on the wheel", it's just not enforced. Neither is the "slower traffic keep right" law.
All for the vehicle inspections. I've known people who drove for months with broken power steering or only emergency brakes.
And yes, it's far to easy to get a liscense in this country.

Re:The website is back up - the videos are shockin

[jm92956n]

Lane splitting at 60mph is nothing; I've done it on my motorcycle at higher speeds.

There were two videos floating around the web at one point that would amaze you if you think this guy is dangerous. One was taken by a guy who owned a Ferrari F50 (their last generation supercar). He approached speeds close to 200mph on public roads. The other was of a guy on a motorcycle who drove the outer loop around Paris in 18 minutes. He passed trucks like they were standing still. Rumor has it he died on a subsequent attempt.

I'm unable to find a link to either at the moment. Maybe someone else has one?

FP

[flamelord]

fourth poosst. wohooo!

no

[peterjm]

I asked a cop about this (who was in process of pulling me over b/c my plate would sometimes hide itself, who knew?). You're not going to find, "splitting lanes" or "lane splitting" anywhere in the ca. vehicle code. It's considered sharing a lane, and there are no defined rules. You could get a ticket for going 5 mph faster than surroudning traffic if the cop felt you were being unsafe.

but, if you can find something, i'd be more than happy to eat my words. This was just what the cop told me when I asked him directly if splitting was legal.

Re:no

[potat0man]

http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/answers.html

It's not a link to the law. But chp.ca.gov is pretty close ;). I wonder if you could reference this if you were taken to court for it...

Re:no

[peterjm]

probably, but it's still up to the cop as to what consitutes safe and prudent.

E450 on a Goldwing?

[stripyd]

How long before someone combines two recent /. posts and sticks an E450 in their goldwing's top box to play MP3s?

bungeeing a bbc micro to my Triumph has always worked for me...

Re:E450 on a Goldwing?

[msim]

how about no.

I was thinking along the lines of a E10k ;-)

Can I Run Panther Too?

[Anonymous Coward]

Or would I have to settle for Carbon and Core Services?

Firewall

[PsychoAlienDog]

This brings new meaning to "stay behind a firewall". I wouldn't close all of the ports though, you need some ventilation, you don't want to get carbon monoxide poisoning.

Re:Anyone want a gmail account?

[DonnieD701]

If you have any left, how about sending one to icon_donnied "at" yahoo "dot" com? I would love to have a gmail account!!!!

Cant believe Slashdotters are skipping THIS

[Provocateur]

just because it's BSD.

You know what this means? That our motorcyclist has to drive cross country, fighting crime and solving mysteries with the aid of his deck. And for continuing adventures for one season, he has to pursue the M$ Bus of Mi$information, going by tips from strangers about bus sightings. Can anyone here say, Hassellhoff?

Re:The website is back up - the videos are shockin

[msim]

do a search for ghostrider or ghostrider 2, in divix it is about 700meg.

I've heard similar rumors, but they are just that until proven

DARPA Challenge

[Performaman]

As I remember, one of the contestants for the DARPA challenge was/is a motorcycle/dirt bike with a dual Athalon-64 driving it.
All this guy needs now is Kismet and a wireless card.

Re:Anyone want a gmail account?

[daringone]

hook me up! gmail at daringone dot net