Every authentic automotive enthusiast has at least heard of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and/or Monterey Historics that happen each year in mid-August on the Monterey Peninsula. But if you've been following (and/or attending) those events for any length of time you know it's gotten a bit too big for its britches. What started as a pure car-guy weekend has, largely, become another corporate tool. For example, it's no longer the Monterey Historic Race event that it started out as in 1974, it's the ROLEX Monterey Historic Races presented by TOYOTA. And it doesn't just happen at Laguna Seca raceway, it happens at MAZDA RACEWAY, Laguna Seca.

The Pebble Beach Concours hasn't officially sold its name or location to a corporate entity since its 1950 genesis, but during the long weekend leading up to the Sunday car show just about every automotive-related company tries to get in on the action with sponsored events, vehicle introductions and general corporate posturing. If you can fight your way through the traffic, crowds and paid signage (much of it made up of clearly non car folks or subject matter) you might catch a glimpse of some of the best vehicles on the planet, both racing at LAGUNA SECA and displaying on the 18th green of the Pebble Beach golf course.

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I spent last Thursday and Friday at the California Superbike School, riding a Kawasaki ZX-6R around the Streets of Willow racetrack. I've wanted to take this school for almost 20 years, after first seeing the advertisements for it in motorcycle magazines around 1990. The idea of getting personalized instruction in a safe environment, and from an accomplished motorcycle racer like Keith Code, sounded almost too good to be true.

This post isn't just an excuse to show off my new bike (that's purely a bonus effect). Instead, I'm going to use the Honda RC30 to illustrate one of my favorite examples of "racing improves the breed."

See, this is the first Japanese motorcycle I've ever purchased. It has nothing to do with not liking Japanese products or trying to "support the home team," it's simply because I've never really liked the "feel" of most Japanese motorcycles. I grew up driving big block Mopars, with my first real car (after several glorified junkers) being a 1969 Plymouth GTX, powered by a 440 (7.2-liter) V8. That car taught me the beauty of torque, and I've been addicted ever since.

But, generally speaking, Japanese motorcycles aren't about torque. They are about multiple cylinders, sky-high rpms and horsepower. In terms of technical prowess, this philosophy is superior to using lots of cubic inches and fewer cylinders to create torque. In terms of riding (or driving) fun, torque still rules. I once heard it put this way: Horsepower is what you read about, torque is what you feel.

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Exactly one week after deciding to sell my 1973 Saab Sonett III, it was sold. I give ebay all the credit, though it didn't officially sell through ebay. I placed an ad for the Sonett (first car I've ever tried to sell on ebay) on March 8th, one day after deciding to sell it. Last Friday, the 14th, I came to an agreement on price with a gentlman who saw the ebay ad and flew from Seattle to Los Angeles to view the car in person. I had stated clearly in the ebay ad that "I reserve the right to end the auction early if I find a buyer serious about purchasing the car."

The Sonett represented something of an enigma in my car collection. It was the only truly "foreign" car I owned, the only V4 engine in my fleet, and the only car with a market value well below what I'd spent on it. After 7 years and 7,000 miles I took about a $7,000 loss on the car. The moment I decided to replace the engine and equip the car with the original, dealer-installed air conditioning I knew I was in "over my head" in terms of expenditures versus market value. That was three years ago, and now that the Sonett is sold I'm facing the facts of my prediction.

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Here it is -- the latest (and last, I swear) toy. The story behind this motorcycle is a bit convoluted, so stay with me (though if you bail before I finish I won't blame you). It's called a Triumph Legend, and in the strictest sense it is a "tuner" bike because Triumph didn't officially build it. However, the man who did build it, Les Williams, was a key engineer and race manager for Triumph from the 1950s through the 1970s. He (along with thousands of other folks) lost his job when Triumph collapsed in 1976, but he immediately started a "spares" business in England to support all the BSA (Rocket 3) and Triumph (Trident) triples that were made between 1968 and 1976. The business, called L.P Williams, not only supported existing triples but set about building "hop up" parts (like dual front disc brake kits and Mikuni carb conversions) to keep the triples competitve with other bikes of the time period. Williams also used his many spare parts to build race replicas of Slippery Sam -- the most famous British triple of all time and winner of five Isle of Mann races from 1971 to 1975.

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There are those folks out there, cynical types mostly, who think the system doesn't work. They feel like the government and the police have gone too far in the direction of "revenue generation" and lost sight of other, basic goals -- like public safety and prosecuting real criminals.

Well these people obviously weren't in Malibu this past Sunday, where a battery of police vehicles (cars, motorcycles and even a big RV with "CHP" painted on the side) were stopping every car and motorcyclist on Mulholland just west of The Rock Store. Yes, every motorist that passed -- at least until their ability to process folks was maxxed out, then they'd let a few vehicles slip by until the next slot in their mobile prosecution center opened up. Your speed didn't matter, nor the operating condition of your bike or car (though they were gunning people as they came up the hill, so if they could get you for speed they would).

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What started out as a "let's see if the Triumph is still running right" ride, one I expected would last 20-30 minutes, turned into a full-fledged two-wheeI outing, with a stop at the Rock Store and a ride along PCH (traffic was snarled due to holiday beachgoers -- thank god for lane-splitting).

The Rock Store was rockin', with plenty of other Independence Day riders enjoying the slightly toasty (for L.A.) temperatures. I rode beween 9:30 and 11:30, avoiding the worst heat of the day. The Triumph Hurricane was basically running the best it ever has. This was a most welcome change, as it's been experiencing intermittant reliability (to say the least) over the past 12 months. But the 65 miles I put on yesterday were near perfect bliss. Still a tad twitchy on throttle response when you first roll into it, I suspect a slightly-too-advanced timing setting. But that's nit picking (especially for a 35-year-old British bike). It was fast, it made those magical-mystical British triple noises, and it elicited several thumbs up from other motorcyclists -- and even from a few four-wheeled folks. Best of all, it got unprecedented fuel mileage, a sure sign of a proper tune.

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Honda recently invited a group of journalists to view a collection of historic Honda vehicles. The collection started out as just some random vehicles that the company was saving because...well, they knew they should. This included vehicles like the first scooter sold in the U.S. (1959 Honda C100 Super Cub), or the 1971 Honda Z600 that predated the Civic. Both models, along with historic race cars and a wide spectrum of Acura models, have been sitting in a warehouse for years. But now Honda has created a sort of Honda Museum with the cars arrayed in a well lit room with clean tile floors. So far only the race models are placed on elevated display stands, but soon an elevated terrace for displaying up to 30 motorcycles will line the walls.

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As a follow up to Tuesday's suggestion that plug-in hybrids and solar (or wind) energy represent the realistic solution to our energy problems I'd like to introduce the Killacycle. This is a motorcycle that does zero-to-60 in 1.4 seconds -- without burning a drop of gasoline. It's powered by $12,000 worth of lithium-ion batteries that run hot enough to boil water while pulling 4000 watts/kg and offering at least 10,000 charge/discharge cycles. They come from A123 Systems and seem to be the "Spartan" of lithium-ion batteries in terms of strength and durability.

I know there's something of a gulf between racing motorcycles and powering commuter cars. But if right now -- today -- $12,000 worth lithium-ion batteries can make a two-wheeled vehicle go 152 mph in the quarter mile (over an 18-month period with no battery failures) I'm betting a functional, $20,000 plug-in hybrid isn't that far off. Hell, I'd happily buy one even if it could only muster a 7-second zero-to-60 time. Plenty of people will insist there's no "great breakthrough" coming in battery technology. I agree. The breakthrough has already occurred. Now we just need to ramp up production and cut costs.

Funny how doing one will pretty much ensure the other.