They're running the Daytona 200 on Friday night this year. None of my friends want to watch, but I feel obligated. The new guys are trying so hard!

Brakes convert the kinetic energy of motion into heat, slowing your bike and heating the discs, calipers and, eventually, the air. Can that energy, instead of being wasted as heat, make you go faster? Can you store some of that energy and use it later to accelerate?

Baja couldn't beat him. Anyone who talked to Bruce Ogilvie for five minutes knew the desert never really had a chance. Starting with an overall win in the 1975 Baja 500--teamed with an 18-year-old Larry Roeseler on a hand-built Harley-Davidson SX250 two-stroke that few expected would even finish--Ogilvie added victories in every significant motorcycle race run between Mexicali and Cabo San Lucas. His racing résumé includes back-to-back wins in the legendary Baja 1000 and even three ISDE medals. He was faster than most. And when it came to going fast in the desert, Bruce Ogilvie knew more than just about anybody else. But he was more than the only guy ever to punctuate four decades of Baja racing with 11 overall wins.

There is an old proverb that states, "What you don't know can't hurt you." I disagree. In this Information Age, not knowing is unforgivable. When no one knew there was anything to know about riding, perhaps errors could have been forgiven. But things have changed; now what you don't know can hurt you.

These are the first-ever photographs of the long-awaited, next-generation Honda VFR, shown here undergoing hot-weather testing at an undisclosed location in the American Southwest. Continuing its evolution as an all-around, GT-style sport-touring machine (rather than an aggressive, MotoGP-derived race replica, as earlier rumors hinted), this new-from-the-rims-up VFR looks bigger and brawnier than ever before. This suggests a return to CBR1100XX Blackbird-level speed and stamina, capable of challenging the BMW K1300S, Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa and Kawasaki ZX-14 for the supersport-touring crown.

PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is encouraging the country's millions of street riders to demonstrate the social benefits of commuting on two wheels on the 18th annual Ride to Work Day, Monday, June 15.

It was the sort of high-desert morning that can bite you: cold, with a phalanx of dirty nimbostratus teeth grinning down from the south and east. But saddling up for another lovely 70-mile ride down to the Boss Angeles, I wasn't worried. They're probably bluffing.

Riders crash on both road and track. Often it is a single-vehicle accident explained as "loss of control." That means the rider concocted his very own set of circumstances that led to the crash. From a technical perspective, citing "loss of control" is about as useful as teats on a bull. There is always an inciting cause for the incident and it isn't always obvious.

It's so inane, it approaches brilliance.

Last summer, when the price of oil was bouncing off the rev limiter and a gallon of regular was putting $4-plus holes in our wallets, we wondered if it would continue, and what we would do if it did. The slide in oil prices has been the best news that consumers have gotten all year. But will low fuel prices continue?

A cloud of speculation surrounded Ben Spies in the days preceding his World Superbike debut in Australia. Pressroom pundits and pit wags alike wondered openly if the three-time AMA Superbike Champion had the mettle to compete against the world's best riders. There were many variables to consider: a new team (the Italian-based Yamaha World Superbike squad), an all-new bike (the Crossplane-crank YZF-R1), new and unfamiliar tracks, and none of the friends and family that served as his support system in the States. As the only American in the international series, Spies admitted just before the event that he was feeling "a little bit disconnected." I have a feeling we're not in Texas anymore...

Q: Did you hit Disneyland to celebrate your Daytona 200 win?
A: In my dreams, maybe! That race was an endurance event in more ways than one. It started at 7:00 p.m. with the rider's ceremony, the race wasn't over until 11 and press went past midnight. I didn't get back to my hotel until 1. Nikki opened a bottle of organic blueberry wine and I was crashed out before it was half gone!

Wild File
Want a jet bike? You could go the easy route and order a turnkey, $150,000 Y2K from Marine Turbine Technologies. Or you could take the low road and consider Orlando, Florida-based powerboat racer Tony Pandolfo's solution. Go dumpster diving for a small jet turbine motor at your local aerospace outlet and then spend seven years grafting it into a 1992 Suzuki GSX-R1100 chassis. The end result might lack the Y2K's sexy carbon-fiber bodywork and chi-chi rearview camera, but it'll melt the front bumper of a tailgating Escalade just as well-or better, since Pandolfo's JETSX-R1100 is equipped with the afterburner that the Y2K machine critically lacks.

Whatever happened to...
It's been over a year since Pierre Terblanche parted company with Ducati, after more than a decade as the Bologna bike builder's design director. Following a short stint at Volkswagen in Germany, the South African began his motorcycle design career at the Cagiva Research Center (CRC) in San Marino, working as understudy to the legendary Massimo Tamburini. When Cagiva offloaded Ducati to the Texas Pacific Group in 1996, Terblanche went along as design director. He'll be remembered for creating the instantly iconic Supermono, Hypermotard and SportClassics, but also for more contentious creations such as the Multistrada and 999 Superbike. Terblanche left his post in Borgo Panigale during the last days of 2007 to launch his own independent design studio. He wanted to create more and manage less, and explore other design challenges-perhaps boats, he said at the time. We don't know if his nautical aspirations were ever satisfied, but we have learned that he is currently consulting with Moto Guzzi. Is it possible that Terblanche could take over styling responsibility for the struggling Italian icon? No official announcement had been made at press time, but he is reportedly "very excited" about the work. If parent company Piaggio could just tie down Terblanche, then reassign Luigi Dall'Igna (Aprilia's engineer responsible for the RSV4 Superbike) to update Guzzi's ancient, air-cooled V-twins, we'd have some new Guzzis to get excited about.

Every few days someone E-mails to inquire the whereabouts of our intrepid, oft-intoxicated contributor Dan Walsh, and ask when his delightfully deranged writing will return to our pages. Until recently, we remained clueless too-for all we knew, he finally grab-assed the wrong transvestite in Panama, or succumbed to typhoid in some squalid Soweto squat. Then, a few weeks ago, we received an E-missive from the ever-charming Walsh stating that he had returned to civilization in the U.K., and wondering if we had any assignments for him? And perhaps we could secure him a press bike? Maybe some walking-around money, too?

Mat Chambers remembers the exact moment his vision for Confederate Motors took shape. "It was the night I graduated from law school," he says. "Me and my best buddy were driving down Highway 61 from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, around midnight. This was in the mid-'70s, and a bunch of Sons of Silence guys blew by us on skinny, stripped-down Shovelhead choppers. They looked so cool, and the sound of those old Shovels, right on the edge of blowing up ... I never got that image out of my mind."

When Motorcyclist ran a revealing feature on the Atlantic Beach Bikefest in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina last year, some readers blanched at our coverage of the annual celebration of 'Busas, bling and bare backsides. Turns out they weren't alone: The Myrtle Beach Sun News has reported that several of the town's city council members have moved to end the event once and for all. Citing complaints of traffic and noise caused by the 200,000 riders who converge on the beach resort each Memorial Day weekend, Mayor John Rhodes told residents, "We don't need these rallies. We can fill all the hotel rooms without bike weeks."

There's nothing like an Iron Butt attempt, chasing your odometer down endless miles of interminable Interstate, to drive a man back to the mountains. That was the case for John Metzger, who loved the idea of endurance rallies but blanched at boring scenery and dull roads. Inspired by the famed Italian Centopassi (100 passes) enduro, Metzger and friends instead organized the Boulder, Colorado-based Cinquantapassi (50 passes) ride, featured in our November 2006 issue. Now they are expanding on that idea with the newly formed Motomarathon Association, which will host its inaugural event June 12-15 on Colorado's Front Range.

Slated for Saturday, June 12th-smack-dab in the middle of Isle of Man TT weekend-the inaugural TTXGP, billed as the world's first clean emissions motor vehicle race, is certain to be a history-making event. Held on the same 37.733-mile Snaefell Mountain Course on which internal-combustion machines have raced for more than a century, zero-emissions vehicles will compete in three classes: Pro, featuring sophisticated prototypes with corporate backing; Open, limited to machines converted or constructed with off-the-shelf components; and Free, an exhibition for amateurs and emergent technology. British entrepreneur Anzar Hussain, who created the event, hopes to "set the benchmark in environmentally friendly racing excellence, and to support scientific and technological innovation." More details at www.ttxgp.com.

What's the most iconic Honda ever made? An original CB750K0? The first Gold Wing? An oval-piston NR750? Mike Hailwood's RC166 six-cylinder Grand Prix racer? Those are all bellwether bikes, but none can challenge the humble Super Cub. Just consider the numbers: Now in its 50th year of continuous production, more than 60 million-yes, million-Super Cubs have rolled off Honda assembly lines. By any conceivable measure-longevity, utility, profitability, or even style, in its own oddball way-the Super Cub comes out on top. It's one of the most successful consumer appliances of all time, wheeled or otherwise.

These never-before-seen patent drawings are our first glimpse of the Buell dirtbike that should have been on sale as you read this. The firm's first-ever off-road machine was announced in March 2007, with plans for it to arrive in dealerships in early '09. But just months later, in September '07, development was halted so the company could focus on the liquid-cooled 1125R sportbike.

Sorry, traditionalists, the Iron 883 is not a return to the Sportster's pre-Evo, Ironhead glory days. The cylinder heads on this Sporty are 100 percent non-ferrous, and the catchy name only refers to the wrought-iron aesthetic of this newest addition to Harley-Davidson's popular Dark Custom line. Merging the strong-selling Nightster 1200's styling with a more accessible (and inexpensive) 883cc powerplant, the Iron 883 is the ultimate entry-level Harley.

Rider: Dennis Kanegae
Then: Ascot Park Contender
Now: Owner, NineFiftyOne ad agency

Eco-freaks can babble about environmental benefits 'til they're green in the face, but motorcycle enthusiasts aren't going to listen until electric performance approaches that of conventional internal-combustion machines. Zero emissions is an admirable idea, but at scooter speeds? Not in our garage!

What's got four wheels, eight legs and 13 AMA national championships under its kidney belt? The Spirit of Daytona Racing team's drivers for the Rolex 24, America's toughest car endurance race.