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Known for their relatively inexpensive, fuel efficient cars and trucks, Honda has far more to offer. You may not know that Honda is also one of the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturers. Better yet, their motorcycles are some of the finest made.

As early as 1949, Honda began turning out high quality bikes. By the year 2005, there were manufacturing plants in more than twenty countries and more than 150 million bikes were sold to eager riders. As years passed, their bikes became better and better. Many of the best motorcycle models were created at the hands of Honda.

Perhaps the greatest of all Honda models, the Valkyrie offered a six cylinder, inline engine. Liquid cooled with a 1520cc boxer, the bike soon became a top selling model. There was no V Twin design here. Instead, Honda went for power by using six different carburetors and lining the cylinders up in opposite directions instead of at angles.

Unfortunately, the great engine noises and smooth idle was not enough. In 2004, the final Valkyrie model, the limited edition “Rune” was sold. Only used Valkyrie’s remain on the market, otherwise you must choose from other excellent bikes.

Honda offers both large and small motorcycles. Their bikes are also suited for both street or off road biking. The CR85R, with its 85cc engine, is an excellent starter bike for a teen. Off road models like the CRF50 or XR650L also deliver strong performance and a powerful ride. Meanwhile, the Interceptor is a dream bike for handling daily traffic. If a larger bike is more to your liking, the Goldwing is the man’s bike with plenty of size and power.

Beginners are probably best on the CRF50. The 49cc engine and automatic transmission offer a great bike for honing skills. With three speeds, a 21 inch seat, and a weight of around 100 pounds, youth riders will soon have the training they need to tackle larger motorcycles.

XR650L is a much larger off road bike. It is a single cylinder model that delivers plenty of torque and a low rpm. No bike can beat the XR650L at hill climbing and hairpin turn performance.

The aforementioned Interceptor is an award winning bike and has not lost its title for eleven years. It is one of Honda’s motorcycles that are currently on display in New York’s Guggenheim Museum. Even without awards, that does not stop millions of riders from relying on Honda for their riding pleasures.

Regardless of your needs, big or small, on road or off, Honda is sure to have a model that suits your fancy. You are guaranteed many years of top notch performance at a price you cannot resist. With a Honda, you know you are in for a real treat.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as Honda motorcycle parts at http://www.motorcycleaccessoriesplus.com

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A hybrid car is such a car in which two types of motors are synchronized to provide power to the wheels. The most popular combination is the one in which the gasoline engine is assisted by the electric motor so that the gas engine is periodically shut off in order to reserve fuel.

Usually hybrid cars are subdivided into two major categories.

In the first type, only the use of electric motor propels the engine at very low speeds. The electric motor has the inherent ability to assist the engine when more power is required. It helps out the gasoline engine even while climbing or passing a steep road. The Ford Escape Hybrid and the Toyota Prius fall into the initial category.

The second of its kind requires extra horsepower for its gasoline engine to drive while in rapid acceleration or when moving up the hill. It utilizes that excess power only from the electric motor to assist the internal combustion engine. The Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid are ideal examples of the second category. These two engines do possess some resemblances as well.

When electric motor is used to assist the gasoline engine, both of the hybrids extract power from the battery depleting power, which in turn gets simultaneously self-recharged from the gasoline engine. Hence a hybrid car does not need to be plugged into a power source to recharge its battery, which is the most important aspect of hybrid cars.

Hybrid cars usually utilize sealed nickel metal hydride batteries, a technology which is popularly used in laptops and cell phones. These batteries are easy to make, cost effective and long lasting thus making it ideal for a higher valued car.

Hybrid engineers more than often have opted for unconventional design facets to maximize aerodynamics inside the engine, giving rise to its slim structure. These car units originally have very low (ultra low) drag coefficient due to sleek configurations, which make the cars slippery. All car makers strive to reduce drag, as a vehicle with less drag requires less power as well as fuel to move.

The electrical system is monitored by an on board computer system. The system is program controlled in such a way that when the vehicle is coasting downhill or the brakes are applied, polarity of the system is automatically reversed as the motor actually turns into an energy generating unit. This process is popularly known as regenerative where the conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy stores up power into the battery.

All hybrid cars normally shut the gasoline engine off during road signals so as to conserve fuel reserve. The phenomenon is called idle stop characteristics. It cuts electrical consumption down during idle condition other than fuel saving and emission reduction. On pressing the accelerator paddle, the gasoline engine resumes work getting assistance from electric motor. The process being silent and seamless, the loss or delay in overall performance during this time is almost negligible.

The hybrids are manufactured by a special forging process termed as shot peeing, which reduces friction in the sidewalls of the cylinder thus increasing efficiency.

Hybrid cars, thus, by virtue of their technological advancement, exceptional fuel economy and marginal gas emissions, can be easily termed as the next generation cars

Tyson J Stevenson writes on a wide variety of automotive related subjects, most often with valuable news & reviews. Expect to see his name often.

A related resource is Affordable Hybrid Cars

Further information can be found at HubbuH

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At last count, Honda offers nearly 40 varieties of the 2005 Honda Civic.
It’s a perennial best-buy, and with the Ford Focus and Toyota Corolla,
the Civic is one of the most visible vehicles on the road today.

And there’s little argument Civic’s popularity isn’t warranted. Honda has
capitalized on the compact car’s success by presenting three body
styles and the notable options of a gas/electric hybrid and two-door
hatchback. But does Honda really need another option in the Civic line?

Apparently it does, considering my test drive for the week, the Special
Edition, 4-door, EX model. It’s an effort in some ways to make the Civic
something it’s not a sports car or an economy vehicle with high-end
standard features.

The Special Edition features include a leather-wrapped steering wheel,
a AM/FM 6-Disc in-dash CD, with six-speakers, MP3 playback capability
and an equalizer display function, 15 or 16-inch alloy wheels and a rear
wing spoiler. And while many of the features are perfectly fine, what
really is the point of a spoiler on a Civic? Just how much can it possibly
help a vehicle that features a 1.7-liter, 16-valve, 4-cylinder, 127-
horsepower engine with an automatic transmission?

Nevertheless, beyond its special edition features, the 2005 Civics offers
plenty of what has made the car what it is a reliable, economical
vehicle with myriad standard features, few weaknesses, good resale
value and the availability to suit budgets beginning at $13,000 and
continuing to nearly $21,000.

In my weekly drive, the Civic performed to satisfaction and featured one
of the nicest colors I’ve seen on the road. While red and white are still
manufacturers’ favorites, the Civic is available in a deep blue offering
called Eternal Blue Pearl. The color provides the Civic with a small dose
of sophistication despite its economy car status.

The Civic performs as well as any economy vehicle. Its lack of
acceleration and restrictive rear-seat headroom are low points. But
those are acceptable shortcomings, particularly since Civic owners are
likely looking for different attributes, most notably, fuel economy. The
Civic has estimated ratings of 31 (city) and 38 (highway) mpg, and that’s
a strong enough characteristic to persuade many potential buyers.

But the Civic also offers a nicely designed interior, including well-
arranged controls, well-conceived space allotment (with the exception of
the aforementioned rear-seat limitation), a comfortable, if not particularly
quiet ride, and solid steering and handling. Seats are cloth in all models
and leather is not an available option.

Air conditioning, 60/40 rear-split back seat, power windows and door
locks, cruise control, various map and cargo lights, 12-volt power outlet,
power moonroof, rear window defroster are all standard.

With an offered special edition discount of $400, my test vehicle priced
out at $18,660, the fifth most expensive Civic. Considering the entire
line’s standard feature of no scheduled tune-up maintenance for
110,000 miles, it’s hard not to praise the Civic.

It’s likely the best economical vehicle on the road today. But it would do
just fine without a spoiler.

2005 Honda Civic (Special Edition)

Safety features - Dual-stage driver and front passenger dual-
stage front airbags. Antilock brakes.

Fuel Mileage (estimates) - 31 mpg (city), 38 mpg (highway).

Warranty - Bumper to bumper, 3 years/36,000 miles; Power
train, 3 years/36,000 miles; Corrosion, 5 years/unlimited mileage.

Base price - $18,660.

James Raia is a Sacramento, Calif., journalist who writes about sports,
travel and lifestyle topics as well as the automotive column, The Weekly
Driver Review. To read more of his content, visit the web site: ByJamesRaia.com

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