Want Better Power and Performance In Your Powerstroke? Get It With Ford Diesel Performance Parts

Ford visualized it all; the power and thrill you felt every time you put your foot on the pedal. The aftermarket industry had the same vision through the extension of Ford diesel performance parts to enhance the performance and power of your truck.

Once the Ford Powerstroke engines rolled out of the assembly with improved fuel economy features and serious towing capacities, the aftermarket industry took over, tuned it up and gave it that little bit of extra Oomph for the true Ford enthusiasts.

Ford diesel trucks are truly America's favorite. Ford, by design, has created a truck that Americans love. Sure, Ford has its imperfections found in various models, but that's where diesel performance parts come in and perfect the overall design.

Want Better Power and Performance In Your Powerstroke? Get It With Ford Diesel Performance Parts

Today, Ford's popularity remains strong, but with the economy down and prices for diesel fuels rising, folks are constantly looking for ways to be more economically efficient. Performance mods can help diesel engines perform better on mileage especially when compared with gas truck counterparts.

Fuel economy is everybody's favorite and obviously first choice of a good upgrade. There are several factors that effect fuel economy, but one of the most cost effective is installing a regulated return. This is a sure way to improve both ride and mpg's.

Performance chips also play a role in fuel economy functioning in various ways, all which can be customized for your personal needs and requirements. You can have these upgrades in the form of handheld tuners that you can simply plug into your trucks' diagnostic port located under the dash. It then loads up new programs of your choice into the system. You can tweak your Ford diesel engine's performance through the power settings feature, whether you want to power it up for your trucks' cross-country trekking functions, or if you would just want it for a cruising adventure on the highways with the occasional tugging of boats or trailers.

If you are conscious about the possible savings you can squeeze out of your fuel expenses, then you can go for the economy setting that allows your engine to increase the fuel efficiency. Such upgrades can also allow for real-time monitoring of important engine parameters, which can be handy.

Another great idea for a fuel-efficient upgrade would be the installation of a cold air intake. This particular intake system is a large filter sealed away from hot engine air. Since cold air is dense and takes up less space than hot air, it makes it possible for more air to get into the engine. This will mean that your diesel engine is now capable of burning fuel more efficiently.

The best way to shop for diesel performance parts is online where you can fairly quickly compare prices, terms and shipping. Some diesel performance sites even have very detailed parts installation guides for free download.

Want Better Power and Performance In Your Powerstroke? Get It With Ford Diesel Performance Parts
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Clay Note is the owner operator of Riffraff Diesel Performance Parts, one of the internets premier diesel performance parts websites. Clay specializes in Ford diesel performance parts and Powerstroke parts for Ford Diesel Trucks.

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How to Clean a Motorcycle Carburetor, The Right Way

I get asked about Carburetor Cleaning regularly both from readers and from friends offline. So I've decided to write a definitive guide for cleaning carbs the RIGHT way. So put your tools down for a minute, grab a beer, and give this a read. You might just save yourself a lot of headache and sweat.

Carbs come in many shapes and sizes. Single carbs, dual carbs, racks of 3, 4 or 6, V racks, carbs with ticklers, carbs with accelerators, carbs with asynchronous designs, and carbs that operate vertically. While working on some carburetors is more difficult (due to design) than others, they all share the same basic components, and the process of cleaning those components is generally identical.

Motor Oil Kit

BEFORE YOU START

How to Clean a Motorcycle Carburetor, The Right Way

Make sure that dirty carbs are actually your problem. Lots of things can make a bike run poorly or not start. Weak battery, corroded electrics, old spark plugs, bad timing, low compression, mis-adjusted valves, dirty air filter, and plugged exhausts can all cause poor running. I'll write an article eventually on how to diagnose poor running conditions shortly, but for now - lets just deal with the carbs.

OK, SO YOUR CARBS ARE DIRTY

Once it has been determined that the carbs are the problem it's time to get to it. Some racks of carbs are easier to remove than others. If you're working on a newer model bike the rubber boots from the airbox to the carbs and the manifold boots from the carbs to the motor should be relatively soft and pliable. On older bikes however this is rarely the case.

First remove the fuel tank, seat, and side covers. Depending on your model of bike other parts may need to be removed too. For many single cylinder bikes the carb can often be removed without removing any body work at all.

The bike below is a 1983 Yamaha XJ750 Seca with 4 inline Hitachi carburetors

You'll want to loosen the circle clamps on all of the rubber boots. Sometimes I'll even take them all right off (carefully, without bending them too badly) so that they aren't in the way.

Inspect the airbox. On many bikes it is bolted in place to tabs on the frame. Remove those bolts and try to create as much space as possible for the airbox to pull backwards.

Next, put the bike on it's centerstand and straddle it facing forward. Put your right hand on the right-most carburetor and your left hand on the left-most carburetor and get ready to sweat. Sometimes you'll be able to pull the carbs straight backwards nice and easy, but that is pretty rare. I usually end up rotating them up then rotating them down as best I can while pulling backwards furiously. This can really take some work and time, especially if you've never done it before. In real extreme cases where you simple can't get the carbs to pull backwards out of the manifold boots I have a couple tips. These tips should only be used in extremely difficult cases when you have been struggling for an hour and simple can't get the carbs to pull backwards out of the manifold boots.

Tip 1: Ratchet Straps - This is sort of a last resort, but it has worked without fail for me when I'm pooling sweat on the garage floor and the carbs aren't budging. Wrap a ratchet strap around one of the outer carbs and put the hooks somewhere on the rear of the frame. Then slowly ratchet the carbs right out of the boots. Be careful not to pull them too cockeye'd or you could damage the boots. Attach a second ratchet strap to the other side if necessary. (Note: you can do this in the opposite direction to force carbs back into the boots once they are clean.)

Tip 2: Full Pull! - You should do this before you do the ratchet strap method above. Sit down on your butt along one side of the bike. Wedge one of your feet up between the forks and the front fender, then put both hands on the same outermost carb and PULL PULL PULL! This might not work so well if you're short! Ha.

Ok, So The Carbs are pulled back

Chances are the airbox boots are all crammed up now. Do your best to rotate the carbs up and out from the boots and pull them out one side of the bike. Sometimes it's easier to pull the carbs out one side than the other, so have a look to see if there are frame elements, motor elements, or hoses that may block the carbs from coming out on one side.

Also keep note of the throttle cable(s) and choke cable (if there is one). Now may be a good time to loosen the nuts that hold them in place and disconnect them.

Struggle just a couple more minutes wriggling the carbs out the side.

Ok, You have the carbs off the bike

Make sure you brush off any loose dirt or grime, then flip the carbs over and remove the screws from the corners of the carburetor. Some carbs won't have bolts in the corner and instead have a wire latch over top which can just be forced over.

Remove the bowls.

If the carbs are real gummed up the insides might look like this:

It's obvious that these carbs are all clogged up. Some carbs might not look so bad, some might be a lot worse. It's always a mystery what will be inside the bowls.

Now it's time to remove the floats. It's generally a good idea to drench everything in carb cleaner (available at any autoparts store). Sometimes the pins will practically fall right out, sometimes they'll be so stubborn you won't think they'll ever come free. But they will! Carefully push on the pin from either side. Sometimes a nail and a gentle tap from a hammer is helpful. **BE CAREFUL**, using force to remove a stuck float pin can break off the pin tower. If they are really stuck and you can't seem to work them free here are a couple tips.

Tip 1: Heat - Adding a little flame to the float pin towers can help. **Don't Burn Down Your Garage!!**

Tip 2: Pliers - Using pliers to gently clamp the end of the pin and push it through has worked well for me in the past. **Don't break the towers!!**

Once the float pin is out you can remove the floats, the float needle, and unscrew the float jet screen.

Set everything aside. Next remove the main jet, pilot jet, and idle jet (if there is one). They should come out easily with a flathead screw driver.

Set them aside.

Next flip the carburetors back over and remove the caps. Underneath the caps is a rubber diaphram with a spring. Sometimes the caps have a tendency to shoot off the top, so be very methodical when removing the screws. Other times the cap tends to stick down until you start to pry at it, then it shoots off, again, just be cautious and don't loose any parts.

Next you'll want to gently pull the slides up out of the carburetor body. You can gently pull on the rubber diaphrams, but be very careful not to tear them. If they don't come up easily stick your finger into the carb intake and push the slide up with your finger. You can also gently pry it with a screw driver (gently). If it doesn't want to budge don't force it. Instead finish reading this article and pay attention to the boiling tips further down.

Now your carbs should be pretty well emptied out. If the throttle on the bike moved fluidly and smooth there is little reason to do much to the carb bodies themselves. However, if the trottle was real sticky or frozen there are a few things you can do to free it up. Sometimes just drenching all the throttle components on the carbs and letting it soak is enough, other times it is not. I generally try to break racks of carbs apart. It isn't often necessary and can be confusing to put everything back together in the right places. Also, the little rubber connector hoses and o-rings have a tendency to crack or leak if you mess with them. If you can't work the throttle back and forth until its smooth have a look at the boiling tips further down.

Keep it Neat

Organization pays off.

Clean the Main, Idle and Pilot Jets

Hold each jet up to the light and see if you can look through it. The idle and/or pilot jets have extremely small holes so make sure you are looking through them straight. If you can see through the jet it isn't clogged. There could be a little gunk built up around the edges so spray them down with carb cleaner and let them sit a bit.

If you can't see through the jet it is clogged and needs to be cleaned. Always try the easiest things first. Here's an ordered list of a few things you can do to clean the jet.
Blow through it. - Rarely works, but hey, who knows.
Compressed air. - Force 100 pounds into it. Works occasionally. Make sure to hold the jet tightly so it doesn't go flying across the garage. You might put the jet back into the carb body to hold it in place for this.
Soak it in cleaner. - When I first started cleaning carbs I thought carb cleaner would be the magic answer. It isn't. In fact, I hardly ever use carb cleaner any more, because it simply doesn't do a very good job of anything but removing varnish from the bowl and slide. But try this.
Poking it through. - Collect a few different diameters of needle like objects. A wire from a steel bristle brush works well, a bristle from a broom works well, a baby pin, small sewing needle, etc. Very gently try to poke it through the jet. If you are using a metal needle use caution, brass jets can scratch and deform easily.
Boiling! - This works better than anything. Toss the jets into a pot of boiling water and let them bounce around for a couple minutes. When you pull them out blow some compressed air through them and you'll most likely be good to go.

Some idle jets can be real tricky and never seem like they'll be cleaned out . . . Just keep working at it, I've never met a jet that couldn't be cleaned.

Cleaning the Choke and Air Mixture Screw

Air mixture screws have a tendency to strip or break. If the carbs were real gummed up you might find that the air screws are stuck. Don't force them, if they don't want to come out, just leave them for now. It is fairly rare that these screws will need to be cleaned because they are above the float level. If you can get them out just wipe them down with carb cleaner and spray some through the jet.

Cleaning the Slide and Needle

These are easy to clean. Squirt them with a bit of carb cleaner, wd-40, or anything similar, then wipe them down with a rag. Once the varnish is gone they're good to go. Sometimes they get heavy varnish on them which I will scratch off carefully with a piece of plastic. Scratching the slide and needle is a BAD thing, use caution.

Cleaning the Carb Bodies

Use the same squirt and wipe method noted above. Most of the time the other pressed jets and passages in the carburetors won't be clogged. But if the bike has been sitting a real long time with squirrels in the airbox it is certainly possible. Us a compressor to blow some air into every passage you can see. Listen for the air coming out the other side. If no air compressor is available use a can of WD-40 with a straw attachment.

If some of the pressed jets are clogged it can be difficult to open them up. There are a few things you can do.
Carb Dip - Most autoparts stores sell carb dip. It comes in a can similar to a paint can and is a VERY harsh cleaning agent. Soak the entire carbs in this dip. This dip can eat at rubber and plastics if they are submerged for too long, so try and remove everything you can from the carb bodies before soaking them. Once you pull them out swish the carbs around in a bucket of water to clean off the excess dip, then hose them down with WD-40 to get rid of the water.
Boiling in Water - Not many people do this but it is by far the best way of cleaning carburetors. Dropping the carbs into a pot of boiling water will instantly free up stuck slides, throttle plates, and other frozen parts. It will also loosen the dirt and grime clogging up pressed jets and other passages. Just make sure to dry the carbs thoroughly with compressed air or the sun afterwards.
Boiling in Lemon Juice - There is NOTHING BETTER at cleaning carbs than a giant pot of boiling lemon juice. The acidity from the lemons eats through everything; gas varnish, oil build up, dirt, grime, etc. Sometimes I won't even bother doing anything but this - I'll just remove the bowls, remove the caps, then drop everything into the pot and let it sit for 20 minutes (rotate them a few times). The one caveat to doing this is that you'll want to wash the lemon juice off the carbs as soon as you pull them out. So have a bucket of water ready, or a can of WD-40 to hose them down. Also note that the acidity has a tendency to put a dull finish on the aluminum bodies of the carbs. This isn't a problem in most cases, but if you must have everything shiny be prepared to do a little scrubbing and polishing afterwards. It may sound weird, but trust me, I just saved you LOTS of time. (Most dollar stores sell 1/2 gallon jugs of lemon juice, so buying a few gallons will only cost you . Plus you can put it back into the bottles afterwards and save it for next time.)

Cleaning the Bowls

This is pretty straight forward. Use any of the methods above to transform your varnished bowls.

Most carb bowls are simple, just clean them up and they are good to go. But I picked this Hitachi's for photos because they have a jet built into the bowl. You can see the 'fifth' hole along the edge of the bowl, that is actually a thin passage that extends to the bottom of the bowl. This is for the idle jet and is extremely important. If these passages are clogged, the bike won't stay running, period. Use the same poke, soak, and boiling methods outlined elsewhere in this article. Not all bowls have these passages, only some, if your's don't - good for you!

Once Everything is Clean

Now that everything is clean it's time to put it all back together. Take your time and make sure you put everything back where it came from. WD-40 is your friend. When screwing in the jets don't over do it, they only need to be seated and snug, do NOT use any force putting the carbs back together.

If the bowl gaskets got goobered up you can put a little RVT on them. So long as the float needles are still in good condition leaky gaskets shouldn't be an issue. However, prudent carb tinkerers may want to order replacements if necessary.

Once the carbs are back together stuff them back into the bike!

Extra Notes
Rebuild Kits - This guide did not mention rebuild kits until now. Rebuild kits (consisting of new gaskets, jets, needles, etc) can be purchased for nearly any bike, both old and new. 95% of the time these are NOT needed. I have rebuilt enough carbs to block off main street, and only once have I used new parts. ONCE!
Carburetor Adjustment - Carburetor adjustment, setup, jetting, and synchronizing is a whole encyclopedia waiting to happen. Those topics are not covered in this article, but I will address them in future articles.
Carburetor Polishing - External carb asthetics will be important to some, and not to others. Cleaning is all I am covering here, this will be addressed in the future.
Work Space - Make sure you have lots of space to keep organized. I also like to work on a wooden surface because it absorbs the spilled gas and cleaners rather than pooling.

That's it! You're Done!

I'll continue to write a couple more related articles about diagnosing carburetion issues as well as the proper way to adjust, jet, and tune your carbs.

How to Clean a Motorcycle Carburetor, The Right Way

Written by Evan Fell.

Read the original article complete with photos: http://cycles.evanfell.com/2008/09/how-to-clean-a-motorcycle-carburetor-the-right-way/

Visit http://cycles.evanfell.com for more how-to's and articles about motorcycle maintenance.

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Auto Shop Safety

In today's auto shop there are many potential hazards to the fragile human body. In order to have a safe and productive work environment, there are simple steps that need to be taken in order to insure the physical safety of everyone in your automotive service shop. There are many tools and pieces of equipment in use that can potentially seriously injure someone. The first step is to take census of your auto or mechanical shop and locate machinery and tools that can be potentially hazardous. Any machine or tool that can cause a serious injury must be safeguarded. For example, a band saw is common tool in a mechanical shop and has the ability to cut off fingers and limbs. This piece of equipment needs to be safeguarded and all applicable safety features should be correctly installed. It is all too common to the plastic safety guards removed on a table saw because they are in the way of the operator. Safety cannot be sacrificed for convenience.

But remember machinery is not the only hazard, you need to be aware of in the shop. The power cords and air hoses that power equipment also presents a tripping hazard. Many auto shops have several air hoses and power cords stretched all over the place and most of them are not even being used at the moment. To combat this problem and help keep your shop floor clutter free we recommend using an air hose reel. Air hose reels are mounted on the shop walls and are usually self retracting. When a mechanic finishes working with his air tools, the air hose can be retracted and stored with a quick tug on the hose. There are similar devices for extension cords as well. Lets face it, a mechanic is much more inclined to keep his air hoses and power cords retracted if its easy and an air hose reel makes it easy. Also, spilled grease oil and oil can collect on a shop floor and produce a slipping hazard. It is inevitable that motor oil and grease will end up on the concrete floor. Most auto shops have containment spill kits that can contain the oil spill and aid in cleaning it up the minute it happens.

The next level of safety is the person. Once the auto shop is a safe and secure environment, you will need to consider the mechanics and other workers in the area. Eye protection should be worn at all times. There is almost always some type of work going on that is a potential hazard your fragile eyes. For example, grinders and needle scalers are capable of throwing debris a long way from the point of contact. People working in the same area are in just as much danger is the operator using the tool. Also, chemicals and gasoline can be splashed onto unprotected eyes causing anything from mild discomfort to blindness.

Auto Shop Safety

Hand and feet protection is usually fairly obvious. Most mechanics wear gloves to prevent burns and cutting while working on automobile. But gloves are also needed for a variety of other tasks as well. Do not handle chemicals and solvents with out wearing gloves and remember to remove watches and other jewelry as well. Always be aware of where you fingers are especially when lifting heavy objects. It may seem obvious but it is all too common to crush your fingers by letting a heavy object down on them. Mechanics gloves are a great choice when you need to work with small parts and tools. Mechanics gloves are light and tight fitting on your hand. This allows you to feel the parts and tools and still maintain protection. For your feet, there are advanced mechanic shoes that help you gain traction on oily floors and boots with steel toes to protect you from heavy objects.

Safety in the auto shop requires some basic common sense and attention to detail. A safe work environment is a combination of both the work area and the workers themselves. It is everyone's responsibility to make sure the proper safety gear is worn and the rules are followed.

Auto Shop Safety
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Jason has been in the construction equipment and industrial sales business for over 10 years. He owns and operates Red Hill Supply to better serve the automotive and industrial industries. - Automotive Tools

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How to Prepare Your Custom Motorcycle Components For Powdercoating

After completing the mock-up phase of a custom bike-building project, many custom motorcycle builders send their frame... or even possibly some of their sheet metal components out for powder coating.

Essentially, powder coating is a thin durable, oven-baked plastic coating. And, after it's applied, does not require any further finishing like paint does. It's also a lot stronger than paint so it will resist road dings.

There are some techniques you may want to consider for prepping your components before sending them out. But, first, there are a few situations where powder coating might not be the way to go.

How to Prepare Your Custom Motorcycle Components For Powdercoating

Take a gas tank or fender for instance. If those components have been filled with "putty" or some other kind of plastic fillers or compounds, you can not use the powder coating process. The reason is, all that filler stuff is going to melt in the curing oven. So you need to keep that in mind if you're thinking about doing your fenders or tank or any other sheet metal parts.

Prepping Your Components For The Powder Coating Process:

Specifically, what we're talking about here is your frame. So, the first thing that will need your attention is making sure you've removed any bearings, races or bushings from the neck and swing arm etc. And, you have to make sure you remove any other components that may be attached to the frame because the powder coating cannot get in between any of those parts that haven't been removed.

Once you've got everything all pulled apart, any old finish... or any other kind of crap on the parts that are to get powder coated, needs to be cleaned up. You may want to consider doing the prep work yourself to save some time and money, and there's nothing wrong with that. But, keep in mind, you want to do a good complete job with this procedure because good prep work is what separates a quality powder job from one that sucks... and prep work is what separates a "real" powder coating shop from the pretenders.

There's a few ways of getting the metal ready and they include sand blasting, glass beading, using a wire wheel and chemical stripping. A few thoughts on sandblasting...

This process has a tendency to leave a "profile" on the metal. That's when the force of sand removing finite pieces of metal creates a series of valleys and peaks. If you were blasting your heads or barrels, sand blasting really wouldn't be a problem due to all the imperfections in those parts anyway... plus there are no flat surfaces.

After sand blasting a frame, you may want to take a piece of medium to fine grit sandpaper, to smooth out the surface and break down any "profiles" caused by the process. Keep in mind that too much blast material or too much air pressure can easily damage any "thin areas".

Glass bead is probably the more preferred method because of its less aggressive nature and will leave your metal surface a whole lot smoother. But, if the surface you're trying to clean up has some real caked on crud, sand blasting is probably the best choice.

Now that you've decided which method you're going to use, you'll need to mask off the areas... such as bearing races... with duct tape so those surfaces don't get all chewed up when you do your blasting.

Simply lay the tape down on the area you want to protect then take a razor blade and cut the excess off. Double check to make sure any... and all... holes are sealed also. Take your time with the blasting and work it slow and methodically.

Don't Forget About Those Thin Areas!

After you've got your blasting done... give all the surfaces a shot of compressed air and then remove the duct tape. Shoot all the pieces again with some air and pay special attention to small holes and threaded areas. Check it over real good and if you find any chunks of old finish you might have missed (like up in a tight corner) use a wire wheel in a drill to get rid of it.

Here's a little tip... try to stay away from chemical stripping. If chemical residue gets trapped in a hole or a small crack, it then becomes a contaminant and can screw-up your finished powder coat job.

A quality powder coat job can really make the difference in how your finished custom motorcycle or Chopper shows.

How to Prepare Your Custom Motorcycle Components For Powdercoating
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Mike Mathews has been producing Custom Bike Building Motorcycle DVD tutorials along with various other award winning informational creations, seminars and many other cutting edge custom motorcycle builder products for over 13 years. His works have been featured on the Internet... in numerous motorcycle publications... and even on TV. Thousands of savvy custom bike builders from all over the world have been trusting and using this information for various bike building projects and business applications. He currently owns and operates the only accepted and recognized custom motorcycle appraisal service in the industry which is used by insurance companies who specialize in custom motorcycle insurance policies along with many finance companies.

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How to Clean a Motorcycle Carburetor, The Right Way

I get asked about Carburetor Cleaning regularly both from readers and from friends offline. So I've decided to write a definitive guide for cleaning carbs the RIGHT way. So put your tools down for a minute, grab a beer, and give this a read. You might just save yourself a lot of headache and sweat.

Carbs come in many shapes and sizes. Single carbs, dual carbs, racks of 3, 4 or 6, V racks, carbs with ticklers, carbs with accelerators, carbs with asynchronous designs, and carbs that operate vertically. While working on some carburetors is more difficult (due to design) than others, they all share the same basic components, and the process of cleaning those components is generally identical.

BEFORE YOU START

How to Clean a Motorcycle Carburetor, The Right Way

Make sure that dirty carbs are actually your problem. Lots of things can make a bike run poorly or not start. Weak battery, corroded electrics, old spark plugs, bad timing, low compression, mis-adjusted valves, dirty air filter, and plugged exhausts can all cause poor running. I'll write an article eventually on how to diagnose poor running conditions shortly, but for now - lets just deal with the carbs.

OK, SO YOUR CARBS ARE DIRTY

Once it has been determined that the carbs are the problem it's time to get to it. Some racks of carbs are easier to remove than others. If you're working on a newer model bike the rubber boots from the airbox to the carbs and the manifold boots from the carbs to the motor should be relatively soft and pliable. On older bikes however this is rarely the case.

First remove the fuel tank, seat, and side covers. Depending on your model of bike other parts may need to be removed too. For many single cylinder bikes the carb can often be removed without removing any body work at all.

The bike below is a 1983 Yamaha XJ750 Seca with 4 inline Hitachi carburetors

You'll want to loosen the circle clamps on all of the rubber boots. Sometimes I'll even take them all right off (carefully, without bending them too badly) so that they aren't in the way.

Inspect the airbox. On many bikes it is bolted in place to tabs on the frame. Remove those bolts and try to create as much space as possible for the airbox to pull backwards.

Next, put the bike on it's centerstand and straddle it facing forward. Put your right hand on the right-most carburetor and your left hand on the left-most carburetor and get ready to sweat. Sometimes you'll be able to pull the carbs straight backwards nice and easy, but that is pretty rare. I usually end up rotating them up then rotating them down as best I can while pulling backwards furiously. This can really take some work and time, especially if you've never done it before. In real extreme cases where you simple can't get the carbs to pull backwards out of the manifold boots I have a couple tips. These tips should only be used in extremely difficult cases when you have been struggling for an hour and simple can't get the carbs to pull backwards out of the manifold boots.

Tip 1: Ratchet Straps - This is sort of a last resort, but it has worked without fail for me when I'm pooling sweat on the garage floor and the carbs aren't budging. Wrap a ratchet strap around one of the outer carbs and put the hooks somewhere on the rear of the frame. Then slowly ratchet the carbs right out of the boots. Be careful not to pull them too cockeye'd or you could damage the boots. Attach a second ratchet strap to the other side if necessary. (Note: you can do this in the opposite direction to force carbs back into the boots once they are clean.)

Tip 2: Full Pull! - You should do this before you do the ratchet strap method above. Sit down on your butt along one side of the bike. Wedge one of your feet up between the forks and the front fender, then put both hands on the same outermost carb and PULL PULL PULL! This might not work so well if you're short! Ha.

Ok, So The Carbs are pulled back

Chances are the airbox boots are all crammed up now. Do your best to rotate the carbs up and out from the boots and pull them out one side of the bike. Sometimes it's easier to pull the carbs out one side than the other, so have a look to see if there are frame elements, motor elements, or hoses that may block the carbs from coming out on one side.

Also keep note of the throttle cable(s) and choke cable (if there is one). Now may be a good time to loosen the nuts that hold them in place and disconnect them.

Struggle just a couple more minutes wriggling the carbs out the side.

Ok, You have the carbs off the bike

Make sure you brush off any loose dirt or grime, then flip the carbs over and remove the screws from the corners of the carburetor. Some carbs won't have bolts in the corner and instead have a wire latch over top which can just be forced over.

Remove the bowls.

If the carbs are real gummed up the insides might look like this:

It's obvious that these carbs are all clogged up. Some carbs might not look so bad, some might be a lot worse. It's always a mystery what will be inside the bowls.

Now it's time to remove the floats. It's generally a good idea to drench everything in carb cleaner (available at any autoparts store). Sometimes the pins will practically fall right out, sometimes they'll be so stubborn you won't think they'll ever come free. But they will! Carefully push on the pin from either side. Sometimes a nail and a gentle tap from a hammer is helpful. **BE CAREFUL**, using force to remove a stuck float pin can break off the pin tower. If they are really stuck and you can't seem to work them free here are a couple tips.

Tip 1: Heat - Adding a little flame to the float pin towers can help. **Don't Burn Down Your Garage!!**

Tip 2: Pliers - Using pliers to gently clamp the end of the pin and push it through has worked well for me in the past. **Don't break the towers!!**

Once the float pin is out you can remove the floats, the float needle, and unscrew the float jet screen.

Set everything aside. Next remove the main jet, pilot jet, and idle jet (if there is one). They should come out easily with a flathead screw driver.

Set them aside.

Next flip the carburetors back over and remove the caps. Underneath the caps is a rubber diaphram with a spring. Sometimes the caps have a tendency to shoot off the top, so be very methodical when removing the screws. Other times the cap tends to stick down until you start to pry at it, then it shoots off, again, just be cautious and don't loose any parts.

Next you'll want to gently pull the slides up out of the carburetor body. You can gently pull on the rubber diaphrams, but be very careful not to tear them. If they don't come up easily stick your finger into the carb intake and push the slide up with your finger. You can also gently pry it with a screw driver (gently). If it doesn't want to budge don't force it. Instead finish reading this article and pay attention to the boiling tips further down.

Now your carbs should be pretty well emptied out. If the throttle on the bike moved fluidly and smooth there is little reason to do much to the carb bodies themselves. However, if the trottle was real sticky or frozen there are a few things you can do to free it up. Sometimes just drenching all the throttle components on the carbs and letting it soak is enough, other times it is not. I generally try to break racks of carbs apart. It isn't often necessary and can be confusing to put everything back together in the right places. Also, the little rubber connector hoses and o-rings have a tendency to crack or leak if you mess with them. If you can't work the throttle back and forth until its smooth have a look at the boiling tips further down.

Keep it Neat

Organization pays off.

Clean the Main, Idle and Pilot Jets

Hold each jet up to the light and see if you can look through it. The idle and/or pilot jets have extremely small holes so make sure you are looking through them straight. If you can see through the jet it isn't clogged. There could be a little gunk built up around the edges so spray them down with carb cleaner and let them sit a bit.

If you can't see through the jet it is clogged and needs to be cleaned. Always try the easiest things first. Here's an ordered list of a few things you can do to clean the jet.
Blow through it. - Rarely works, but hey, who knows.
Compressed air. - Force 100 pounds into it. Works occasionally. Make sure to hold the jet tightly so it doesn't go flying across the garage. You might put the jet back into the carb body to hold it in place for this.
Soak it in cleaner. - When I first started cleaning carbs I thought carb cleaner would be the magic answer. It isn't. In fact, I hardly ever use carb cleaner any more, because it simply doesn't do a very good job of anything but removing varnish from the bowl and slide. But try this.
Poking it through. - Collect a few different diameters of needle like objects. A wire from a steel bristle brush works well, a bristle from a broom works well, a baby pin, small sewing needle, etc. Very gently try to poke it through the jet. If you are using a metal needle use caution, brass jets can scratch and deform easily.
Boiling! - This works better than anything. Toss the jets into a pot of boiling water and let them bounce around for a couple minutes. When you pull them out blow some compressed air through them and you'll most likely be good to go.

Some idle jets can be real tricky and never seem like they'll be cleaned out . . . Just keep working at it, I've never met a jet that couldn't be cleaned.

Cleaning the Choke and Air Mixture Screw

Air mixture screws have a tendency to strip or break. If the carbs were real gummed up you might find that the air screws are stuck. Don't force them, if they don't want to come out, just leave them for now. It is fairly rare that these screws will need to be cleaned because they are above the float level. If you can get them out just wipe them down with carb cleaner and spray some through the jet.

Cleaning the Slide and Needle

These are easy to clean. Squirt them with a bit of carb cleaner, wd-40, or anything similar, then wipe them down with a rag. Once the varnish is gone they're good to go. Sometimes they get heavy varnish on them which I will scratch off carefully with a piece of plastic. Scratching the slide and needle is a BAD thing, use caution.

Cleaning the Carb Bodies

Use the same squirt and wipe method noted above. Most of the time the other pressed jets and passages in the carburetors won't be clogged. But if the bike has been sitting a real long time with squirrels in the airbox it is certainly possible. Us a compressor to blow some air into every passage you can see. Listen for the air coming out the other side. If no air compressor is available use a can of WD-40 with a straw attachment.

If some of the pressed jets are clogged it can be difficult to open them up. There are a few things you can do.
Carb Dip - Most autoparts stores sell carb dip. It comes in a can similar to a paint can and is a VERY harsh cleaning agent. Soak the entire carbs in this dip. This dip can eat at rubber and plastics if they are submerged for too long, so try and remove everything you can from the carb bodies before soaking them. Once you pull them out swish the carbs around in a bucket of water to clean off the excess dip, then hose them down with WD-40 to get rid of the water.
Boiling in Water - Not many people do this but it is by far the best way of cleaning carburetors. Dropping the carbs into a pot of boiling water will instantly free up stuck slides, throttle plates, and other frozen parts. It will also loosen the dirt and grime clogging up pressed jets and other passages. Just make sure to dry the carbs thoroughly with compressed air or the sun afterwards.
Boiling in Lemon Juice - There is NOTHING BETTER at cleaning carbs than a giant pot of boiling lemon juice. The acidity from the lemons eats through everything; gas varnish, oil build up, dirt, grime, etc. Sometimes I won't even bother doing anything but this - I'll just remove the bowls, remove the caps, then drop everything into the pot and let it sit for 20 minutes (rotate them a few times). The one caveat to doing this is that you'll want to wash the lemon juice off the carbs as soon as you pull them out. So have a bucket of water ready, or a can of WD-40 to hose them down. Also note that the acidity has a tendency to put a dull finish on the aluminum bodies of the carbs. This isn't a problem in most cases, but if you must have everything shiny be prepared to do a little scrubbing and polishing afterwards. It may sound weird, but trust me, I just saved you LOTS of time. (Most dollar stores sell 1/2 gallon jugs of lemon juice, so buying a few gallons will only cost you . Plus you can put it back into the bottles afterwards and save it for next time.)

Cleaning the Bowls

This is pretty straight forward. Use any of the methods above to transform your varnished bowls.

Most carb bowls are simple, just clean them up and they are good to go. But I picked this Hitachi's for photos because they have a jet built into the bowl. You can see the 'fifth' hole along the edge of the bowl, that is actually a thin passage that extends to the bottom of the bowl. This is for the idle jet and is extremely important. If these passages are clogged, the bike won't stay running, period. Use the same poke, soak, and boiling methods outlined elsewhere in this article. Not all bowls have these passages, only some, if your's don't - good for you!

Once Everything is Clean

Now that everything is clean it's time to put it all back together. Take your time and make sure you put everything back where it came from. WD-40 is your friend. When screwing in the jets don't over do it, they only need to be seated and snug, do NOT use any force putting the carbs back together.

If the bowl gaskets got goobered up you can put a little RVT on them. So long as the float needles are still in good condition leaky gaskets shouldn't be an issue. However, prudent carb tinkerers may want to order replacements if necessary.

Once the carbs are back together stuff them back into the bike!

Extra Notes
Rebuild Kits - This guide did not mention rebuild kits until now. Rebuild kits (consisting of new gaskets, jets, needles, etc) can be purchased for nearly any bike, both old and new. 95% of the time these are NOT needed. I have rebuilt enough carbs to block off main street, and only once have I used new parts. ONCE!
Carburetor Adjustment - Carburetor adjustment, setup, jetting, and synchronizing is a whole encyclopedia waiting to happen. Those topics are not covered in this article, but I will address them in future articles.
Carburetor Polishing - External carb asthetics will be important to some, and not to others. Cleaning is all I am covering here, this will be addressed in the future.
Work Space - Make sure you have lots of space to keep organized. I also like to work on a wooden surface because it absorbs the spilled gas and cleaners rather than pooling.

That's it! You're Done!

I'll continue to write a couple more related articles about diagnosing carburetion issues as well as the proper way to adjust, jet, and tune your carbs.

How to Clean a Motorcycle Carburetor, The Right Way
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Written by Evan Fell.

Read the original article complete with photos: http://cycles.evanfell.com/2008/09/how-to-clean-a-motorcycle-carburetor-the-right-way/

Visit http://cycles.evanfell.com for more how-to's and articles about motorcycle maintenance.

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Outstanding Traffic Fines - How to Get Them Cancelled Legally

In South Africa outstanding traffic fines have become a major issue, the police are arresting people in random roadblocks all over the country. The Metro police are out to cash in on the speeding fines as it is easy and a good revenue of income from the public.

One problem, what if the traffic fine issued is invalid? Irrespective if you are guilty or innocent of the traffic offence, the police need to act according to the South African law when issuing fines. Recently in the news media and in the news papers, the abuse of power has been highlighted. Mnet's Carte' Blanche and SABC3 Special Assignment have done cover stories on this very debacle. How valid are your outstanding traffic fines? Clearly this is all about making money by any means.

So what makes a speeding or Traffic Fine invalid?

Outstanding Traffic Fines - How to Get Them Cancelled Legally

There are so many things that are ignored by the police, its about collecting money, not enforcing the law. These are typical points that are ignored by the Metro Police,

Making sure the fine is posted to you within the 30 days from offence date Checking that the fines don't have irregularities before sending them Ignoring procedures (law) setout by the Director of public prosecution when speed trapping. Using faulty or un-calibrated speed measuring equipment Using equipment with out training or knowledge, which is against the law Speed trapping in areas or zones with out the prosecutions authority Tampering with photographic evidence to make you look guilty Disobeying prosecutions guidelines for setting up speed traps. Not keeping or logging information required for prosecution when issuing fines. Arresting people on invalid and illegal summonses served
Before you pay for your Outstanding Traffic Fine..
These are just some of the hundreds of issues the public needs to be aware about. Before paying for your outstanding traffic fines which could be invalid, did you know that irregularities like the above would never make it to court as they are inadmissible and illegal to use.

It is reported that around 80% -90% of traffic fines issued in South Africa when speed measuring devices are used have some form of irregularities found on them. This is a shocking statistic.

Note that none of the above irregularities listed stop the Metro Police from sending you a notice of infringement AARTO traffic fine. Sadly this is not regulated and seems to be condoned. If you have "admitted guilt" and paid for a speeding ticket for an outstanding traffic fine, you would not be able to claim a refund if the courts ruled that your traffic fines issued were invalid.

Where's the justice in that. The public need to get informed, join forums and newsletters that educate them of their rights.

Outstanding Traffic Fines - How to Get Them Cancelled Legally
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Learn how to get your outstanding Traffic Fines cancelled. This is 100% legal and ethical.

Don't pay for another invalid fine ever again, learn your rights! Be aware of the law.

Visit our website http://www.trafficfinelaw.co.za for more information on South African Traffic Fine laws.

Leave your comment on our BLOG about illegal outstanding traffic fines, what is your view?

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Income at Home - Why Most People Never Make Income Online - 1 of These Mistakes & You Won't Either

To be able to generate income at home is a very attractive alternative to a regular 9 to 5 job and with this economic crisis that we're facing, more and more people are trying to make money online. However, most of the new comers will never realize even a single profit online. The reason is simple; they make terrible mistakes when they start. I will show you some of the usual mistakes beginners make and how you can avoid them.

First the facts: Thousands of people are actually generating tons of income at home, including me. That said; the reality is that most of the newbie's never get to make money on the internet. There are many common mistakes that almost all beginners make and that most of the time will lead to an online failure. I make many of them, and my journey was painful and very expensive.

I'll give you a briefly overview of some of this mistakes and hopefully you don't make them.

Income at Home - Why Most People Never Make Income Online - 1 of These Mistakes & You Won't Either

Go for income at home systems or programs that don't work: You will be tempted bi some offers to try to make money on the internet filling surveys online, or filling questionnaires. You should never try this. These kinds of programs only make money to the guys who promote them.

Other types of programs that you should stay away are those programs that let you build a website on their domains to generate leads or customers for them. Many of these programs fall in the category of MLM or Multi-Level Marketing. If you are offered these kinds of programs run fast.

Shop to earn programs is another common scam you should avoid: These are income at home programs where you generate income through your shopping and through your friends shopping's. They claim there's not sales involve, but you usually have to come up with about 0 to get started. My friend thrust me on this; if you ever read the words 'shop to earn' in a website, close your browser, and if possible delete your cookies.

Never pick a system that involves CPA, PPC or PPV: CPA is when you get paid to generate leads for a vendor. A lot of money could be made with CPA but is not suited for beginners. PPC and PPV refer to pay per click and pay per view. These are ways to generate traffic where you pay for the click of for the view. You should stay away of programs that advise on these, at least for the first year.

Chose a great system and don't follow it persistently: many folks get lucky and stumble up on a good system or program to generate income at home but they never work hard enough on the system to make it work for them. You have to be persistent and work hard until you start seeing some profits, thrust me, it is worth it.

Generate income at home Infomercials: Be an adult; 99% of infomercials about how to make money online don't work. Use your TV to watch something of more value

Get overload with information: Many beginners allow themselves to get overwhelmed with information. When you star your income at home journey you will continuously and insistently be bombard with many different offers to make income at home, and you will read their sales letter and probably think on give a try to that program too.

This is the most common receipt for failure. Concentrate only on one system and don't pay attention to the hundreds e-mails that you are going to receive about the latest system to make massive amount of money online. This is the only way to succeed on the internet.

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A lot of money can be made on the internet; it's not hard once you know how things work. I've been doing it for 5 years now and even on this recession I've managed to pull over ,000 each and every month. Obviously, you'll need a sound Course, Program or System to follow.

Nowadays, trying to make money online is even more confusing than it used to be. There are so many programs on the market to choose from, most of them are garbage or scams, and unless you have the time and money to test them all out, you're basically going to go round in circles, and potentially lose a lot of money.

This is the exact reason why, after being continuously asked to do so for 2 years, I decided to reveal all the secrets techniques and strategies I use to create the multiple streams of cash that flows my bank accounts each and every day 24/7 on autopilot. If you really want to learn to generate tons of internet income, go to my website RecessionProofInternetIncome.com. There, I lay out a complete blueprint of my methods. Click here: Income At Home.

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Bike Riding for Weight Loss - Tips for Beginning A Bicycling Plan

If you are one of those people who leisurely pedal around the block or over a flat stretch of scenic road, you've probably been riding for sheer pleasure. Riding bikes for pleasure is a good form of aerobic exercise. But unless you map out a plan to "push yourself," you probably won't lose much weight.

I really get sick of hearing people say, "No pain, no gain!" But the old adage is true when it comes to riding bikes to lose weight. By pushing your cycling distance or speed, you are sure to feel some pain in your leg muscles, your hands, wrists, and your derriere-- even some pain in your throat and lungs as your body tries to accommodate your increased demand for oxygen.

HEALTH TIP: Stretching exercises prior to exercising are helpful in preventing injury!

Bike Riding for Weight Loss - Tips for Beginning A Bicycling Plan

GETTING YOUR BICYCLE READY...TO ROLL OFF THE WEIGHT

Your first concern will be outfitting your bicycle. If you need an excuse to purchase a new bike, this is an excellent opportunity! I went from a 3-speed bicycle for leisure riding, to a 24-speed bicycle for more committed exercising. Once I learned how the different gears worked, I was very thankful for the extra speeds. They make my ride faster and the hills a lot easier to handle.

We've found the guys at the bicycle shop to be very helpful, and concerned for our unique cycling needs. Rather than simply steering us toward the most expensive bicycle available (as I had expected), they asked how much riding we would be doing, whether we were trying for speed or leisure, and whether we would be riding on paved roads or dirt trails. When you honestly share your goals and level of experience, the sales clerks can match you with exactly what you need. They want you to be successful in your biking venture!

Some state laws require bicycle lights. But if you will be riding anytime from dusk to dawn, common sense demands that you have lights on your bicycle. These little accessories are battery-operated and last a long time. There are a variety of lights to choose from. My tail light has different blinking speeds, and is designed to make my bike visible to cars approaching from both the rear and the sides. Check for brightness before you buy one. Install the light where it makes the most sense.

We held off on buying a speedometer and odometer unit for our bikes, but once we got serious about losing weight and getting in shape, this feature became a "must have." You simply cannot track your progress without knowing how far and how fast you're riding.

If you already have a bicycle, take it to the bike shop for a safety inspection each season. They should check the gears, tires and brakes to make sure everything is working properly. They can adjust your seat to fit your height and adjust the handlebars to fit your reach, making your ride more comfortable. If you're lucky, they might even clean and polish your bike!

If you want to save money in the long run, you can find books and videos that teach you how to care for your own bicycle. It's always a great idea to know how to change your own flat tire and adjust a loose chain.

Another must have is a bicycle pump. Ask your bike dealer how many pounds of air pressure to put in your bicycle tires. Check the tires each time you get ready to ride! We guessed at the air pressure one summer day, and lived to regret it. We rode the bikes to the swimming pool, not realizing that one tire was too full. While we were cooling off in the water, the hot sun was rapidly expanding the air in the tires-one tire blew as it sat in the parking lot. The day in the sun was not so fun, once the pool closed and we had to wait for a truck to haul us home!

HEALTH TIP: Talk with your doctor first, and get his or her blessing before you increase your rate of physical activity!

STAYING COMFORTABLE ON YOUR BIKE

Sitting for long periods of time on a bicycle seat can cause pain, discomfort, and even serious blood circulation problems in avid bicyclists. At your local bike shop, you'll find a variety of bicycle seats made specifically for your comfort and health. The salespeople at our local bike shop encouraged us to try out new seats on our bikes for a few days. My husband found the split seat to be more comfortable for himself, while I opted to keep my old gel seat. Someone has even invented seats that look more like a bird perch than a bicycle seat!

HEALTH TIP: Get off your bicycle seat and walk around every 25 minutes or so to get the blood flow to important unmentionable parts of your body.

Think about your clothing...you don't have to have padded biker shorts and special clothing to start riding bikes. There are actually scientifically engineered fabrics designed to pull sweat away from your body in the summer and to keep you from getting hypothermia in the winter. But for now, just wear layers of comfortable sports clothes.

Make sure your clothes aren't so tight that you are miserable trying to pedal. But they shouldn't be loose enough to become entangled in the bicycle chain, either! If you become overheated, strip off a layer. If you get cold, add a layer. Wear light or bright colors to allow drivers to see you easily.

It really helps to have a small cargo rack on the back of your bike. Mine looks like a little shelf over the back tire. It has two bungee cords to keep any cargo securely fastened to the bike. I've used it to tote a small picnic cooler, a shopping bag or extra clothes.

I had the bike shop attach a water bottle holder to the bike under my seat. I can grab a quick swig as I ride or pour some water over my pulse points to cool off a bit. Take small sips of water when needed during your bike ride, rather than chugging huge gulps.

A helmet is almost a must. Life is filled with hazards-and biking has its share. Be smart. Wear a helmet. You can buy a cool rear-view mirror for your helmet. The mirror helps you see when it's safe to turn and lets you observe traffic coming up from behind.

I recommend wearing sunglasses-both for the sun and for bugs! At certain times of the year, the air is thick with flying insects. Getting a tiny bug in your eye is a painful event. For contact wearers, carry a contact case and lens cleaner on bike rides for just that reason. Some day you'll be glad you did!

HEALTH TIP: Shake your hands downward frequently to get the blood flowing and to prevent pain or numbness in your arms and hands.

MAPPING OUT A WEIGHT LOSS PLAN

You will want to keep a record of your daily diet and food intake, your weekly body measurements and weight, as well as your bicycling miles and time.

The web site http://www.OpenFitness.net is an excellent way to track your progress. It is very easy to use-simply type in your information you wish to track. As the only community fitness web site of its kind, you'll find it to be a fantastic motivation tool that will print out charts and graphs to show how much progress you've made in a few days, a week, or a month!

It keeps track of your food, vitamin, and supplement intake. Thousands of foods have already been analyzed by experts for number of calories, fat, carbs, and protein. You simply select the foods you ate from a pull down feature, and the daily total is tallied for you. Make sure you don't exercise when you've just eaten, or when it's almost meal time. Both times will slow you down.

No matter how humiliating it is, measure your arms, legs, chest, waist, neck, hips and thighs once a week. The software keeps track of your weight and body measurements. The thrill of seeing those same inches melt away in the coming weeks will be worth the effort. It's especially impressive seen as a graph!

Consider investing in an instrument that actually measures body fat-there are inexpensive pincer-type instruments that measure fat by pinching you, or buy a set of bathroom scales that cost more but calculate body fat quite painlessly.

Try to ride 4-6 days per week. When you map out your weight loss plan, your short-term goals will change as you change. You'll quickly develop stamina for longer distance. As fat turns to muscle, your speed will increase. Each week, try to increase either your mileage or your speed.

You know how far you've been able to ride, thus far. Start keeping track of the exact route you are taking, the total mileage, and the length of time it took you. Make notes in your records for special circumstances. Did it get dark outside so you were forced to cut your ride short? Did the road crews dump a layer of gravel on your normally paved road?

What was the weather like? Was it dangerously hot? Was it windy? The wind can be your friend or your enemy. When the wind is behind you, your ride is a breeze...but coming from any other direction, be prepared to huff and puff. Accept any length of time as a job well done and simply get the ride accomplished!

Finally, add an upper body workout three times per week. Bicycling works your legs, but to get the rest of your body firm and trim, you'll need to exercise your upper body, as well. The http://www.openfitness.net web site, created by a certified personal fitness trainer, has excellent features which allow you to design and track this portion of your fitness program, as well.

Bicycle riding is a fun, inexpensive form of aerobic exercise-it's good for every part of you. But be warned-you will need to buy a whole new wardrobe for the thinner, more beautifully fit body that emerges!

Bike Riding for Weight Loss - Tips for Beginning A Bicycling Plan
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Sharyl Calhoun

See our 9 Day Cleansing & Fat Burning Program page at [http://www.fastandnaturalweightlossprogram.com]

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Impact of Social Media on Society

"Do you have Facebook?"
"Yes, of course. But I don't think you can find me, as there are too many people who have the same name as me. Try searching with my surname as well."
"Hey, you celebrated your birthday in K-Box, right? I saw the photos in your Facebook."
"Bro, I saw your comments about the YouTube video that I've posted in my blog. I'm happy that you are also deeply moved by the 'Dancing Peacock Man' as well."

Social media or "social networking" has almost become part of our daily lives and being tossed around over the past few years. It is like any other media such as newspaper, radio and television but it is far more than just about sharing information and ideas. Social networking tools like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and Blogs have facilitated creation and exchange of ideas so quickly and widely than the conventional media. The power of define and control a brand is shifting from corporations and institutions to individuals and communities. It is no longer on the 5Cs (e.g. condominium, credit cards and car) that Singaporeans once talked about. Today, it is about the brand new Cs: creativity, communication, connection, creation (of new ideas and products), community (of shared interests), collaboration and (changing the game of) competition.

In January 2010, InSites Consulting has conducted an online survey with 2,884 consumers from over 14 countries between the ages of 18 to 55 years old on social networking. More than 90% of participants know at least 1 social networking site and 72% of participants are members of at least 1 social networking site. On the average, people have about 195 friends and they log in twice a day to social networking sites. However, 55% of the users cannot access their social network websites at work. In the past, not many adults were able to make more than 500 friends, but with social media, even a child or teenager can get to know more than 500 people in a few days by just clicking the mouse. Social media has devalued the traditional definition of "friend" where it means trust, support, compatible values, etc. Although we get to know more people, we are not able to build strong bond with all the people whom we met as our available time is limited. Hence, there is an upcoming social trend of people with wider social circles, but weaker ties (people we don't know very well but who provide us with useful information and ideas).

Impact of Social Media on Society

Social media also influences people's buying behaviours. Digital Influence Group reported that 91% of the people say consumer reviews are the #1 aid to buying decisions and 87% trust a friend's recommendation over critic's review. It is thrice more likely to trust peer opinions over advertising for purchasing decisions. 1 word-of-mouth conversation has an impact of 200 TV ads. With the prevalence use of social media, there is numerous news related to it from the most viewed YouTube video on "Armless pianist wins 'China's Got Talent'" to Web-assisted suicide cases (e.g. New Jersey college student who killed himself after video of him in a sexual encounter with another man was posted online). Thus, does social networking make us better or worse off as a society?

Positive Effects of Social Media

Besides having opportunity to know a lot of people in a fast and easy way, social media also helped teenagers who have social or physical mobility restrictions to build and maintain relationships with their friends and families. Children who go overseas to study can still stay in meaningful contact with their parents. To a greater extend, there is anecdotal evidence of positive outcomes from these technologies.

In 2008, President-elected Obama won the election through the effective use of social media to reach millions of audience or voters. The Obama campaign had generated and distributed huge amount of contents and messages across email, SMS, social media platforms and their websites. Obama and his campaign team fully understood the fundamental social need that everyone shares - the need of being "who we are". Therefore, the campaign sent the message as "Because It's about YOU" and chose the right form of media to connect with individuals, call for actions and create community for a social movement. They encouraged citizens to share their voices, hold discussion parties in houses and run their own campaign meetings. It truly changed the delivery of political message.

Obama campaign had made 5 million "friends" on more than 15 social networking sites (3 million friends on Facebook itself) and posted nearly 2,000 YouTube videos which were watched over 80 million times. At its peak, their website, MyBarackObama.com, had 8.5 million monthly visitors and produced 400,000 blog posts. In order to ensure that their contents were found by people, the Obama campaign spent .5 million on Google search in October alone, 0,000 on Advertising.com, 7,000 on Facebook in 2008, etc. Currently, Obama's Twitter account has close to 6 million followers.

In 2010, after the earthquake happened in Haiti, many of the official communication lines were down. The rest of the world was not able to grasp the full picture of the situation there. To facilitate the sharing of information and make up for the lack of information, social media came in very handy to report the news about the affected area on what happened and what help was needed. Tweets from many people provided an impressive overview of the ongoing events from the earthquake. BBC covered the event by combining tweets from the work of its reporter Matthew Price in Port-au-Prince at the ground. Guardian's live blog also used social media together with the information from other news organisations to report about the rescue mission.

It has been two years since CNN officially launched iReport as a section of its website where people can upload video material, with contact information. During the Haiti crisis, CNN had published a range of social media material but not all the materials were verified. The editorial staff would vet the reports from the citizen journalists and labeled them differently compared to unverified contents. On Facebook, a group, named "Earthquake Haiti", was formed to show support and share updates and news. It had more than 14,000 members and some users even pleaded for assistance to the injured Haitians in the group. Using email, Twitter and social networking sites like Facebook, thousands of volunteers as part of Project Ushahidi were able to map reports sent by people from Haiti.

The most impressive part of the social media's impact on Haiti is the charity text-message donations that soared to over million for the victims in Haiti. People interested in helping the victims are encouraged to text, tweet and publicize their support using various social networking sites. The Global Philanthropy Group had also started a campaign to ask wealthy people and celebrities, like Ben Stiller and John Legend to use Twitter and Facebook to encourage others to give to UNICEF. An aid worker, Saundra Schimmelpfennig, allowed the advice from other aid workers and donors to post on her blog regarding to choosing which charitable organisations to support. In the meantime, donors were asking questions in Twitter, Facebook and blogs about their donations and endorsements of their favourite charities. After every crisis, the social media for social cause becomes a more effective medium to spread the word.

Negative Effects of Social Media

There are always two sides of every coin. Social media is just a tool or mean for people to use. It is still up to the users on how to use this tool (just like a knife, can help you to cut food or hurt others). Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and Elon University's Imagining the Internet Center conducted a study on "The Future of Online Socializing" from the highly engaged, diverse set of respondents to an online, opt-in survey consisted of 895 technology stakeholders and critics. The negative effects presented by the respondents included time spent online robs time from important face-to-face relationships; the internet fosters mostly shallow relationships; the act of leveraging the internet to engage in social connection exposes private information; the internet allows people to silo themselves, limiting their exposure to new ideas; and the internet is being used to engender intolerance.

Some respondents also highlighted that there will be development of some new psychological and medical syndromes that will be "variations of depression caused by the lack of meaningful quality relationships", and a "new world society". The term, "Social Networking", has begun to deceive the users to believe they are social creatures. For instance, spending a couple of hours using Farmville and chatting with friends concurrently does not convert into social skills. People become dependent on the technology and forget how to socialise in face-to-face context. The online personality of a person might be totally different from his/her offline character, causing chaos when the two personalities meet. It is apparent in online dating when the couple gets together in face-to-face for the first time. Their written profiles do not clearly represent their real-life characters. It is more enticing for people to type something that others want to hear than saying the truth.

Besides the "friendship", creators of social networking sites and users redefine the term, "privacy" in the Internet as well. The challenge in data privacy is to share data while protecting personally identifiable information. Almost any information posted on social networking sites is permanent. Whenever someone posts pictures or videos on the web, it becomes viral. When the user deletes a video from his/her social network, someone might have kept it and then posted it onto other sites like YouTube already. People post photographs and video files on social networking sites without thinking and the files can reappear at the worst possible time. In 2008, a video of a group of ACJC students hazing a female student in school on her birthday was circulated and another video of a SCDF recruit being "welcomed" (was hosed with water and tarred with shoe polish) to a local fire station made its way online.

Much news has been reported about online privacy breach in Facebook and Facebook is constantly revising their privacy policy and changing their privacy controls for the users. Interestingly, even when users delete their personal information and deactivate their Facebook account, Facebook will still keep that information and will continue to use it for data mining. A reporter asked whether the data will at least be anonymized. The Facebook representative declined to comment.

In the corporate world, human resource managers can access Facebook or MySpace to get to know about a candidate's true colours, especially when job seekers do not set their profiles to private. Research has found that almost half of employers have rejected a potential worker after finding incriminating material on their Facebook pages. Some employers have also checked the candidates' online details in Facebook pages to see if they are lying about their qualifications. Nowadays, younger generations have a complete disregard for their own privacy, opening doors to unwelcome predators or stalkers.

Impact of Social Media on Society
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Founder & Trainer of Leader's Wheel LLP

Having strong interest in personal development and helping others.

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You have gone to the work of creating a site, but nobody is visiting! This is a common problem that many people have when they create their first website. The truth is, you are going to need to find out how to improve your website traffic. Below are some simple things you can do to improve the traffic you get daily.

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How to Improve Website Traffic Fast

Try out different marketing techniques. There are many free techniques you can use like article marketing, forum marketing, social marketing and so on. Try out various forms of marketing until you find the one that works best for your website.

Make your site user friendly. Nobody wants to go to a site that takes forever to load or has text so small they can't read it. Take some time to make your site more presentable.

When you want to know how to improve website traffic, following the above steps will definitely help you achieve that goal. Remember that there are a lot of sites out there, and you will need to make yours stand out from the crowd.

How to Improve Website Traffic Fast
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