Ken and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance » bmw

Motorcycle movie: Silver Hawk

Ken — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 03:39:48 +0000

Writing this blog has got me more keen in spotting and looking at motorcycles. Being the weekend, I picked up the movie Silver Hawk.

I watched this movie before in 2004, the first movie I watched in a Shanghai cinema and with my girlfriend (wife to be).

The Chinese title 飞鹰 should really be “Flying Hawk”. Michelle Yeoh (of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame) is the lead actress.

It is an action movie with lots of stunts often compared as Hong Kong’s Tome Raider. Go watch to movie or read reviews on Amazon if you want to know the story line.

We are more interested in the bikes.

Reputedly BMW sponsored 16 motorcycles and some cars for the filming. Six of the motorcycles were wrecked in stunts like jumping over the Great Wall. Check out more of the jump photos here.

Can you identify the BMW that appears in the movie?

Italian Motorcycle Makers

Ken — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 17:22:11 +0000

As I was looking around at motorcycle websites, I realised that a number of well-known motorcycle brands are from Italy.

We just met Ducati in the last post and also Moto Guzzi. You must have also heard of Aprilia, Cagiva, Paiggio and Vespa.

I not sure about other part of the world, from where I came from the typical stereotype of different motorcycle makers are as follows.

The Italian bikes are known for their heart stopping design and pricy price. Japanese bikes for their cost and fuel efficiency. BMW for technology and Harley for the bad boy, rebel image.

Will take a look at them soon.

Take a look at Wheels of Italy

Harley-Davidson Enters China

Ken — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 05:02:38 +0000

The latest buzz in the motorcycle circle, at least in China, is that Harley-Davidson had just opened its first shop in China, Beijing.

The excitement may soon be forgotten as they come face to face with the reality of China. Do not expect to see any people cruising around China on a Harley very soon except for some crazy lauwai willing to fork out the ransom.

Ask BMW. They are apparently handled by the same distributor, FHL, the only one that is smiling to the bank.

More news around the motorcycle blogsphere and the net:

Motorcycle Manufacturers’ Chinese Name

Ken — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 01:58:17 +0000

I’m picking up some Chinese names for motorcycle manufacturers so I can get into conversations with the locals.

Honda 本田
Yamaha 亚马哈, 雅马哈
Suzuki 铃木
Kawasaki 川崎
Harley-Davidson 哈雷
BMW 宝马
Ducati 杜卡迪