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Elena Filatova

Elena Filatova

Elena (Lena) Filatova (Russian: Елена Филатова, born 1974) is a Ukrainian motorcyclist who gained Internet fame in 2004 under the nickname KiddOfSpeed after her web site was mentioned at Slashdot and other online news sources. On her web site, she posted photographs of her alleged motorcycle trips in the area around the Chernobyl nuclear plant, 18 years after the nuclear accident there. She mainly visited the virtually abandoned city of Pripyat, Ukraine. The photos are arranged in the form of a story presented as an account of a trip by a biker who somehow got a permit to travel alone in the radiation zone. The accuracy of that story has since been questioned - not least because motorcycles are specifically forbidden inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, which can only be accessed through permanently manned checkpoints. It has been alleged that Filatova visited the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone only as part of an organized tour ([http://www.uer.ca/forum_showthread.asp?fid=1&threadid=8951 "Urban Exploration Resource"]). Nevertheless, the value of Elena's story is not her degree of personal involvement, nor her narrative, but her photos. While some of them could have been staged to a degree (one of the points of criticism - it is noticeable that there are no photographs of her motorcycle inside the abandoned town of Pripyat), she obviously could not have staged the whole ghost town. While there are numerous accounts of the consequences of the catastrophe, Elena presented it to the world in a way never done before. Recently Elena's original homepage was replaced with a new photojournal about the Serpent's Wall near the city of Kiev, her home. The new journal contains photos of Elena's exploration of an ancient wall and more modern World War II fortifications built among its remains.

References

- [http://www.uer.ca/forum_showthread.asp?fid=1&threadid=8951 "Urban Exploration Resource" thread], May 2004 (claiming that Filatova's story is fabricated)

External links

- [http://www.kiddofspeed.com/ Elena's homepage] (KiddOfSpeed)
- [http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/ Elena's original homepage] at AngelFire
- http://www.elenafilatova.com/
- [http://www.mojasd.prv.pl/strony/ghosttown Polish mirror of Ghost Town]
- [http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/05/2127221 First Slashdot story]
- [http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/25/1441232 Second Slashdot story]
- [http://www.theserpentswall.com/ Elena's documentation of the Serpent's Wall] Filatova, Elena Filatova, Elena Filatova, Elena Filatova, Elena

Russian language

Russian (Russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, ) is the most widely spoken language of Europe and the most widespread of the Slavic languages. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages, and is therefore related to Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin, as well as the modern Germanic, Romance, and Celtic languages, including English, French, and Irish, respectively. Written examples are attested from the 10th century onwards. While it preserves much of its ancient synthetic-inflexional structure and a Common Slavonic word base, modern Russian exhibits a large stock of the international vocabulary for politics, science, and technology. A language of great political importance in the 20th century, Russian is one of the official languages of the United Nations. NOTE. Russian is written in a non-Latin script. All examples below are in the Cyrillic alphabet, with transcriptions in IPA.

Classification

Russian is a Slavic language in the Indo-European family. From the point of view of the spoken language, its closest relatives are Belarusian and Ukrainian, the other two national languages in the East Slavic group. In many places in Ukraine and Belarus, these languages are spoken interchangeably. The basic vocabulary, principles of word-formation, and, to some extent, inflexions and literary style of Russian have been influenced by Church Slavonic, a developed and partly adopted form of the South Slavic Old Church Slavonic language used by the Russian Orthodox Church. Many words in modern literary Russian are closer in form to the modern Bulgarian language than to Ukrainian or Belarusian. However, the East Slavic forms have tended to remain in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with slightly different meanings. For details, see Historical Sound Changes and History of the Russian language. Outside the Slavic languages, the vocabulary and literary style of Russian have been greatly influenced by Greek, Latin, French, German, and English.

Geographic distribution

Russian is primarily spoken in Russia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics of the USSR. Until 1917, it was the sole official language of the Russian Empire. During the Soviet period, the policy toward the languages of the various other ethnic groups fluctuated in practice. Though each of the constituent republics had its own official language, the unifying role and superior status was reserved for Russian. Following the break-up of 1991, several of the newly independent states have encouraged their native languages, which has partly reversed the privileged status of Russian, though its role as the language of post-Soviet national intercourse throughout the region has continued. In Latvia, notably, its official recognition and legality in the classroom have been a topic of considerable debate in a country where more than third of the population is Russian-speaking, consisting mostly of post-World War II immigrants from Russia and other parts of the former USSR (Belarus, Ukraine). Similarly, in Estonia, the Soviet-era immigrants and their Russian-speaking descendants constitute about one quarter of the country's current population. A much smaller Russian-speaking minority in Lithuania has largely been assimilated during the decade of independence and currently represent less than 1/10 of the country's overall population. In the twentieth century it was widely taught in the schools of the members of the old Warsaw Pact and in other countries that used to be satellites of the USSR, especially in Poland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. However, younger generations are usually not fluent in it, because Russian is no longer mandatory in the school system. It was, and still is, widely taught in Asian countries such as Laos, Vietnam and Mongolia due to Soviet influence, and is still used as a lingua franca in Afghanistan by various tribes. Russian is also spoken in Israel by at least 750,000 ethnic Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union (1999 census). The Israeli press and websites regularly publish material in Russian. Sizeable Russian-speaking communities also exist in North America (especially in large urban centers of the US and Canada such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Miami, and Chicago). In the first two of them, Russian-speaking groups total over half a million. In a number of locations they issue their own newspapers, live in their self-sufficient neighborhoods (especially the generation of immigrants who started arriving in the early sixties). It is important to note, however, that only about a quarter of them are ethnic Russians. Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union the overwhelming majority were Russian-speaking Jews. Afterwards the influx from the countries of the former Soviet Union changed the statistics somewhat. According to the United States 2000 Census, Russian was reported as language spoken at home by 1.50% of population, or about 4.2 million, placing it as #10 language in the United States. Significant Russian-speaking groups also exist in Western Europe. These have been fed by several waves of immigrants since the beginning of the twentieth century, each with its own flavour of language. Germany, Britain, Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, and Greece have significant Russian-speaking communities totaling 3 million people. Two thirds of them are actually Russian-speaking descendants of Germans, Greeks, Jews, Armenians, or Ukrainians who either repatriated after the USSR collapsed or are just looking for temporary employment. But many are well-off Russian families acquiring property and getting education. Earlier, the descendants of the Russian émigrés tended to lose the tongue of their ancestors by the third generation. Now, when the border is more open, Russian is likely to survive longer, especially when many of the emigrants visit their homelands at least once a year and also have access to Russian websites and TV channels. Recent estimates of the total number of speakers of Russian:

Official status

Russian is the official language of Russia, and an official language of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukraine) and the unrecognized Moldovan Republic of Transnistria. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a popular choice for many of the both native and RSL (Russian as a second language) speakers in Russia and many of the former Soviet republics. 97% of the public school students of Russia, 75% in Belarus, 41% in Kazakhstan, 24% in Ukraine, 23% in Kyrgyzstan, 21% in Moldova, 7% in Azerbaijan, 5% in Georgia received their education only or mostly in Russian, although the corresponding percentage of ethnic Russians was 80% in Russia, 11% in Belarus, 27% in Kazakhstan, 17% in Ukraine, 9% in Kyrgyzstan, 6% in Moldova, 2% in Azerbaijan, 1.5% in Georgia.

Dialects

Despite levelling after 1900, especially in matters of vocabulary, a large number of dialects exist in Russia. Some linguists divide the dialects of the Russian language into two primary regional groupings, "Northern" and "Southern", with Moscow lying on the zone of transition between the two. Others divide the language into three groupings, Northern, Central and Southern, with Moscow lying in the Central region. Dialectology within Russia recognizes dozens of smaller-scale variants. The dialects often show distinct and non-standard features of pronunciation and intonation, vocabulary, and grammar. Some of these are relics of ancient usage now completely discarded by the standard language. Also cf. Moscow pronunciation of "-чн-", e.g. "булошная" (buloshnaya - bakery) instead of "булочная" (bulochnaya). The northern dialects typically pronounce unstressed clearly (the phenomenon called okanye оканье); the southern palatalize the final and aspirate the into . It should be noted that some of these features are also present in modern Ukrainian, indicating a linguistic continuum or strong influence one way or the other. Among the first to study Russian dialects was Lomonosov in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth, Vladimir Dal compiled the first dictionary that included dialectal vocabulary. Detailed mapping of Russian dialects began at the turn of the twentieth century. In modern times, the monumental Dialectological Atlas of the Russian Language (Диалектологический атлас русского языка ), was published in 3 folio volumes 1986-1989, after four decades of preparatory work. The standard language is based on the Moscow dialect.

Derived languages

- Fenia or Fenka, a criminal lingo of ancient origin, with Russian grammar, but with distinct vocabulary.
- Surzhyk is a Ukrainian-Russian pidgin spoken in some rural areas of Ukraine
- Trasianka is a Belarusian-Russian mix (sort of pidgin) used by a large portion of the rural population in Belarus.
- Russenorsk is an extinct pidgin language with Russian vocabulary and Norwegian grammar, used for communication between Russians and Norwegians in Svalbard and Kola Peninsula.
- Runglish: Russian-English pidgin.

Writing system

Alphabet

Runglish publication describing the "Slavonic" language.]] Russian is written using a modified version of the Cyrillic (кириллица) alphabet, consisting of 33 letters. The following table gives their majuscule forms, along with IPA values for each letter's typical sound: Old letters that have been abolished at one time or another but occur in this and related articles include or , і , and or . The yers ъ and ь were originally pronounced as ultra-short or reduced , (conventional transcription, not IPA). For information on an informal approach on transliterating Russian into English, see the article Transliteration of Russian into English.

Orthography

Russian spelling is reasonably phonetic in practice. It is in fact a balance among phonetics, morphology, etymology, and grammar, and, like that of most living languages, has its share of inconsistencies and controversial points. The current spelling follows the major reform of 1918, and the final codification of 1956. An update proposed in the late 1990's has met a hostile reception, and has not been formally adopted. The punctuation, originally based on Byzantine Greek, was in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries reformulated on the French and German models.

Sounds

The phonological system of Russian is inherited from Common Slavonic, but underwent considerable modification in the early historical period, before being largely settled by about 1400. The language possesses five vowels, which are written with different letters depending on whether or not the preceding consonant is palatalized. The consonants typically come in plain vs. palatalized pairs, which are traditionally called hard and soft. (The 'hard' consonants are sometimes said to be velarized, but this is only the case for /l/.) The standard language, based on the Moscow dialect, possesses heavy stress and moderate variation in pitch. Stressed vowels are somewhat drawled, while unstressed vowels (except /u/) tend to be reduced to an unclear schwa. Russian syllable structure can be quite complex with both initial and final consonant clusters of up to 4 consecutive sounds. Using a formula with V standing for the nucleus (vowel) and C for each consonant the stucture can be described as follows: (C)(C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C)

Consonants

Russian is notable for its distinction based on palatalization of most of the consonants. While /k/, /ɡ/, /x/ do have palatalized allophones , only might be considered a phoneme, though it is marginal and generally not considered distinctive. It should be noted that palatalization is a phonological concept, and not all 'soft' consonants are phonetically palatalized. The velar and labial consonants are truly palatalized, which means that the center of the tongue is raised during and after the articulation of the consonant. The coronal stops, however, are phonetically laminal. In addition, in the case of /t/ and /d/, the tongue is raised enough to produce frication, thus making affricate-like. (There is no contrast between frication and no frication, though, as /ts/ is never palatalized.) are postalveolar with a flat tongue (laminal retroflex).

Grammar

Russian has preserved an Indo-European synthetic-inflexional structure, although considerable levelling has taken place. Russian grammar encompasses
- a highly synthetic morphology
- a syntax that, for the literary language, is the conscious fusion of three elements:
- a polished vernacular foundation;
- a Church Slavonic inheritance;
- a Western European style. The spoken language has been influenced by the literary, but continues to preserve characteristic forms. The dialects show various non-standard grammatical features, some of which are archaisms or descendants of old forms since discarded by the literary language.

Vocabulary

Western European See History of Russian language for an account of the successive foreign influences on the Russian language. The total number of words in Russian is difficult to reckon because of the ability to agglutinate and create manifold compounds, diminutives, etc. (see Word Formation under Russian grammar). The number of listed words or entries in some of the major dictionaries published during the last two centuries, and the total vocabulary of Pushkin, are as follows: Philologists have estimated that the language today may contain as many as 350,000 to 500,000 words. (As a historical aside, Dahl was, in the second half of the nineteenth century, still insisting that the proper spelling of the adjective русский, which was at that time applied uniformly to all the Orthodox Eastern Slavic subjects of the Empire, as well as to its one official language, be spelled руский with one s, in accordance with ancient tradition and what he termed the "spirit of the language". He was contradicted by the philologist Grot, who distinctly heard the s lengthened or doubled.)

The language of abuse and invective

Main article: Mat (language) Apparently, the ability to curse effectively has always been recognized as a form of art not only in certain quarters of society, but even by the more conservative-minded literati. For example, as far back as in the nineteenth-century naval yarns of Staniukovich, "artistic invective" (артистическая ругань ) keeps coming out of the sailors' mouths, though it is never spelled out. The ability to agglutinate has produced the so-called "three-decker curse" (трёхэтажный мат ).

Proverbs and sayings

Main article: Russian proverbs, Russian sayings Russian language is replete with many hundreds of proverbs (пословица ) and sayings (поговоркa ). These were already tabulated by the seventeenth century, and collected and studied in the nineteenth and twentieth, with the folk-tales being an especially fertile source.

History and examples

See also: Reforms of Russian orthography The history of Russian language may be divided into the following periods.
- Origins
- The Kievan period (9th-11th centuries)
- Feudal breakup (12th-14th centuries)
- The Moscovite period (15th-17th centuries)
- Empire (18th-19th centuries)
- Soviet period and beyond (20th century) See also:
- Examples of literary language (12-20th century) Judging by the historical records, by approximately 1000 AD the predominant ethnic group over much of modern European Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus was the Eastern branch of the Slavs, speaking a closely related group of dialects. The political unification of this region into Kievan Rus, from which both modern Russia and Ukraine trace their origins, was soon followed by the adoption of Christianity in 988-9 and the establishment of Old Church Slavonic as the liturgical and literary language. Borrowings and calques from Byzantine Greek began to enter the vernacular at this time, and simultaneously the literary language began to be modified in its turn to become more nearly Eastern Slavic. Dialectal differentiation accelerated after the breakup of Kievan Rus' in approximately 1100, and the Mongol conquest of the thirteenth century. After the disestablishment of the "Tartar yoke" in the late fourteenth century, both the political centre and the predominant dialect in European Russia came to be based in Moscow. There is some consensus that Russian and Ukrainian can be considered distinct languages from this period at the latest. The official language remained a kind of Church Slavonic until the close of the seventeenth century, but, despite attempts at standardization, as by Meletius Smotrytsky c. 1620, its purity was by then strongly compromised by an incipient secular literature. The political reforms of Peter the Great were accompanied by a reform of the alphabet, and achieved their goal of secularization and Westernization. Blocks of specialized vocabulary were adopted from the languages of Western Europe. By 1800, a significant portion of the gentry spoke French, less often German, on an everyday basis. The modern literary language is usually considered to date from the time of Alexander Pushkin in the first third of the nineteenth century. The political upheavals of the early twentieth century and the wholesale changes of political ideology gave written Russian its modern appearance after the spelling reform of 1918. Political circumstances and Soviet accomplishments in military, scientific, and technological matters (especially cosmonautics), gave Russian a world-wide if occasionally grudging prestige, especially during the middle third of the twentieth century. Since the collapse of 1990-91, fashion for ways and things Western, economic uncertainties and difficulties within the educational system have made for inevitable rapid change in the language. Russian today is a tongue in great flux.

References

The following serve as references for both this article and the related articles listed below that describe the Russian language:

In English

- B. Comrie, G. Stone, M. Polinsky, The Russian Language in the Twentieth Century, 2nd. ed. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1996
- W.K. Matthews, Russian Historical Grammar, London, University of London, Athlone Press, 1960
- T.R. Carleton, Introduction to the Phonological History of the Slavic Languages, Columbus, Ohio : Slavica Publishers, 1991
- A. Stender-Petersen, Anthology of old Russian literature, New York, Columbia University Press, 1954

In Russian

- Иванов В.В. Историческая грамматика русского языка. "Просвещение", М., 1990.
- Цыганенко Г. П. Этимологический словарь русского языка. Киев, 1970.
- Т. Н. Михельсон, Рассказы русских летописей XV–XVII веков. М., 1978
- Н.М. Шанский, В.В. Иванов, Т.В. Шанская. Краткий этимологический словарь русского языка. М. 1961.
- А. Шицгал, Русский гражданский шрифт, "Исскуство", Москва, 1958, 2-e изд. 1983.
- Л. П. Жуковская, отв. ред. Древнерусский литературный язык и его отношение к старославянскому. М., «Наука», 1987. Many further references are listed in the books above.

External links

- [http://www.declan-software.com/russian Russian language learning software]
- [http://www.russianlessons.net/ Online Russian language lessons]
- [http://www.dicts.info/dictlist1.php?k1=81 All free Russian dictionaries]
- [http://overstuffed-closet.net/russian The Russian Language Fanlisting]
- [http://www.speakrus.ru/dict/ Free downloadable vocabularies of the Russian language]
- [http://RusWin.net Cyrillic (Russian)]
- [http://www.masterrussian.com MasterRussian.com - vocabulary words and phrases, tips, hand-picked links]
- [http://www.ifstudio-translations.com/ Free Russian translations.]
- [http://tinyurl.com/5lhlp Vasmer's Etymological Dictionary of Russian language]
- [http://www.masterrussian.net/mforum Russian Language Forum. A large community interested in Russian]
- [http://www.gramota.ru "GRAMOTA". An educational/reference site on the Russian language, supported by the Russian government. (In Russian)]
- [http://www.lib.ru "Moshkov's library". A large collection of classical and modern Russian e-texts. (In Russian)]
- [http://www.languagehelpers.com/Russian/TheRussianAlphabet.html Russian alphabet with sound (languagehelpers.com)]
- [http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/language/ Reference Grammar]
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Russian-english/ Russian - English Dictionary]
- [http://www.lorem-ipsum.info/_russian Generator for Russian typographical filler text]
- [http://www.andaman.org/book/reprints/weber/rep-weber.htm G. Weber, "Top Languages"]
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=rus SIL Ethnologue Report for Russian]
- [http://www.linguarus.com Russian for Everybody (Self-Learning)]
- [http://www.applelanguages.com/en/learn/russian.php Russian courses]
- [http://dmoz.org/Science/Social_Sciences/Linguistics/Languages/Natural/Indo-European/Slavic/Russian/ ODP Russian Language category]
- [http://www.language-usa.com/ Russian Translation USA]
- [http://runglish1.narod.ru Runglish]
- [http://www.orlandorussians.com/ Russian Language Groups in America]
- [http://www.russki-mat.net/ Multilingual Russian slang dictionaries]
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Russian-english/ Russian English Dictionary] from [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org Webster's Online Dictionary] - the Rosetta Edition Category:Languages of Belarus Category:Languages of Finland Category:Languages of Russia Category:Languages of Ukraine Category:Languages of Kazakhstan Category:Languages of Georgia Category:Languages of Armenia Category:Languages of Azerbaijan Category:Languages of Turkmenistan Category:Languages of Uzbekistan Category:Languages of Moldova Category:Languages of Tajikistan Category:Languages of Kyrgyzstan Category:Languages of Estonia Category:Languages of Latvia Category:Languages of Lithuania Category:Languages of China Category:Languages of Mongolia Category:Languages of Afghanistan Category:Languages of Bulgaria Category:Russian language Category:East Slavic languages ko:러시아어 ms:Bahasa Russia ja:ロシア語 simple:Russian language th:ภาษารัสเซีย

Ukraine

Ukraine (Ukrainian: Україна, Ukrayina, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the northeast, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest and the Black Sea to the south. The territory of present-day Ukraine was a key centre of East Slavic culture in the Middle Ages, before being divided between a variety of powers, notably Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Austria, Romania and the Ottoman Empire. A brief period of independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917 was ended by Ukraine's absorption into the Soviet Union and the republic's present borders were only established in 1954. It became independent once more following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Name

Etymology
There are three main versions of the Slavic etymology for the name, all of them ultimately stem from the slavic root
- kraj- with the meaning 'cut'. Opinions vary as to the immediate derivation.
- By one theory the name is directly translated as 'borderland, frontier' (cf. Russian окраина/okraina 'outskirts' or Serbo-Croatian Krajina; this would be a semantic parallel to -mark in Denmark, cf. Marches).
- Another one associates it with the Ukrainian word країна/krajina 'country' (cf. also Belarusian краіна/kraina; these words can be compared to Polish kraj 'country'; this is also one of the meanings of Ukrainian and Russian край/kraj).
- Still another one derives the name directly from the Ukrainian verb краяти/krajaty, meaning 'to cut', indicating the land the Rus' (or Ruthenians or Ukrainians) carved out for themselves.

Ukraine or the Ukraine?

The country is often referred to in English with the definite article, as the Ukraine. This usage is now deprecated by many media organizations (compare "the Lebanon" and "the Sudan") and partly because of the implication that Ukraine is merely a region rather than an independent state. There was, however, no change in Ukrainian or Russian usage with Ukraine's independence, as there are no articles, definite or indefinite, in either language. However there is a parallel concerning the usage of the preposition na or v with Ukraine, both in Ukrainian and in Russian. Traditional usage is na Ukrayini (loosely, "at Ukraine"), but recently Ukrainian authorities have been using v Ukrayini ("in Ukraine"), as this preposition is used with most other country names. While in Ukrainian the newly introduced usage of v Ukrayini took hold, the usage in Russian varies. Russian language media from within Ukraine are increasingly using this form. However, the media in Russia mostly uses traditional na Ukraine, maintaining that it remains a proper usage and questioning the authority of the Ukrainian government over the Russian language. (See also Kiev or Kyiv for a similar debate).
History
Human settlement in the territory of Ukraine has been documented into distant prehistory. The late neolithic Trypillian culture flourished from ca. 4500 BC to 3000 BC. In antiquity, the southern and eastern parts of modern Ukraine were populated by Iranian nomads called Scythians. The Scythian Kingdom existed in Ukraine between 700 BC and 200 BC. In the third century, the Goths arrived, calling their country Oium, and formed the Chernyakhov culture before moving on and defeating the Roman empire. In the 7th century Ukraine was the core of the state of the Bulgars (often referred to as Great Bulgaria) who had their capital in the city of Phanagoria. The majority of the Bulgar tribes migrated in several directions at the end of the seventh century and the remains of their state was swept by the Khazars, a Turkic semi-nomadic people from Central Asia which later adopted Judaism. The Khazars founded the independent Khazar kingdom in the southeastern part of today's Europe, near the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus. In addition to western Kazakhstan, the Khazar kingdom also included territory in what is now eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, southern Russia, and Crimea. During the tenth and eleventh centuries the territory of Ukraine became the center of important state in Europe— Kievan Rus laying the foundation for national identity of Ukrainians, as well as other East Slavic nations, through subsequent centuries. Its capital was Kiev, the capital of modern Ukraine, ruled by Askold and Dir in the late 800s. According to the Primary Chronicle the Kievan Rus' elite initially consisted of Varangians, or Vikings, from present-day Scandinavia. The Varangians later became assimilated into the local population of Rus' and gave the Rus' its first powerful dynasty, the Rurik Dynasty. Rurik Dynasty Rurik Dynasty For the etymology of the terms Rus and Russia, see Etymology of Rus and derivatives. Kiev and Kievian Rus' were the seat of the Grand Prince of the Rurik Dynasty. The ruler of Kiev was also in effect the ruler of all the Rus' principalities. Kievan Rus' was fragmentated after Mstislav the Great's death in 1125. The term "Rus'" was originally applied to the inhabitants of all Rus' principalities, today comprising Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. After the fall of Kiev, and until the eighteenth century, the term "Rus" was self-applied by the members of all three East Slavic nations, but the latinized version, "Ruthenian", was used to designate inhabitants of Ukraine only; while the ancestors of modern Russians were usually referred to as Muscovites or Muscovite Russians by the name of their state that Poland called Muscovy. Kievan Rus' became weakened by internal quarrels and was destroyed by Mongol and Tatar invasions. On Ukrainian territory, the state of Kievan Rus' was succeeded by the principalities of Halych and Volodymyr-Volynskyi, which were merged into the state of Halych-Volynia. In the mid 14th century it was subjugated by Kazimierz IV of Poland, and after the 1386 marriage of Lithuania's Grand Duke Jagiello to Poland's Queen Jadwiga, was ruled by the Lithuanians as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed in 1569 Union of Lublin, significant part of Ukraine was moved under the Polish administration, as it was transferred to the Polish Crown. Under the cultural pressure of polonization much of the Ukrainian (or rather Ruthenian) upper class converted to Catholicism as such transitions was beneficial for achieving the political influence within the state, e.g. one of the Wiśniowiecki's even became king of Poland. At the same time the common people (peasants) retained their old ways (including the Orthodox religion), which led to the increasing social tensions, visible in such events as the 1596 Union of Brest, created by Zygmunt III, who attempted to bring the Orthodox population closer to Catholicism. This move failed to achieve its goals. The new "intermediate" religion was unnecessary for the upper class, much of whom turned directly towards Catholicism. Thus, the Ukrainian commoners were deprived of their native protectors and turned for the protection to the Cossacks who remained fiercely Orthodox at all times. In the mid of the 17th century, a Cossack state, the Zaporizhian Sich, was established by Ukrainians and others fleeing Polish serfdom which formally belonged to Poland. Located in central Ukraine, it was an autonomous military state, initially allied with the Commonwealth. However the suppression of the Ukrainian free farmers by the Polish nobility, further imposition of serfdom and the suppression of the Orthodox church pushed the allegiances of Cossacks away from Poland. Their aspiration was to have a representation in Polish Seim, recognition of Orthodox traditions, which was vehemantly denied by Polish kings. They turned toward Orthodox Russia, which was one reason for the later downfall of the Polish-Lithuanian state. In 1648 Bohdan Khmelnytsky organized the largest of the Cossacks upprising, against the Commonwealth and the Polish king Jan II Kazimierz. This uprising finally led to a partition of Ukraine between Poland and Russia. Left-Bank Ukraine was eventually integrated into Russia as the Cossack Hetmanate, as a consequence of the Treaty of Pereyaslav in 1667. After the partitions of Poland by Prussia, Austria, and Russia at the end of the eighteenth century, Western Ukraine (Galicia) was taken over by Austria, while the rest of Ukraine was progressively incorporated into the Russian Empire. The treaty of Pereyaslav was abolished and Ukrainians never received the freedoms they were hoping for from Tsarist Russia. Ukrainians played an important role in the frequent wars between East European monarchies and the Ottoman Empire, they rised to the highest offices of Russian state (e.g., Aleksey Razumovsky, Alexander Bezborodko, Ivan Paskevich), and dominated the Russian Orthodox Church (e.g., Stephen Yavorsky, Feofan Prokopovich, Dimitry of Rostov). During the first world war austro-hungarian authorities in territory of Galicia subject to repression Ukrainians, sympathizing Russia. Over twenty thousand supporters of Russia are arrested and placed in the Austrian concentration camp in Talerhof, Stiria, and in fortress Terezien, Czechia. Following the Russian Revolution in 1917, Ukraine was briefly independent in two states, then united by cruel war, in 1920. In the period when the independent Ukrainian government was headed nationalist leader Simon Petlura (1919), there were numerous Jewish pogroms. By 1922 Ukraine was split between Poland and the Soviet Union. Also in 1922, most of Central and Eastern Ukraine became a constituent republic of the USSR as the Ukrainian SSR. In 20s years the communist leaders realized a policy of Ukrainization (коренизация), introduction of the Ukrainian language and culture in Russian-speaking Ukrainian cities. To satisfy the state's need for increased food supplies, the Soviet industrialization program called for the collectivization of agriculture, which had a profound effect on Ukraine, the nation's breadbasket (see Collectivization in the USSR). In the late 1920s and early 1930s the state compounded the peasants' lands and animals into collective farms and state farms. Although the program was designed to affect all peasants, the plan met particularly heavy resistance from the wealthiest peasants, the kulaks, and a desperate struggle of the peasantry against the authorities ensued. The idea of collective farming was foreign to Ukrainian farmers where emphasis was always made on individual achievements. Peasants slaughtered their cows and pigs rather than turn them over to the collective farms, especially in Ukraine, with the result that livestock resources remained below the 1929 level for years afterward. The state in turn forcibly collectivized reluctant peasants and deported kulaks and active rebels to Siberia. Within the collective farms, the authorities in many instances exacted such high levels of procurements that starvation was widespread. In some places, famine was allowed to run its course; and millions of peasants in Ukraine starved to death in a famine, called the Holodomor in Ukrainian. An estimated 3-6 million people died in this horrible manmade famine ([http://rg-new.w-m.ru/Anons/arc_2003/0917/5.shtm]) similar to the Russian famine of 1921. The disaster also has captured many regions of southern Russia. During World War II, some elements of the Ukrainian nationalist underground fought both Nazi and Soviet forces, while others collaborated with the Nazis. In 1941 the German invaders and their Axis allies initially advanced against desperate but unsuccessful efforts of the Red Army. In the encirclement battle of Kiev, the city was acclaimed by the Soviets as a "Hero City", for the fierce resistance of the Red Army and of the local population. More than 660,000 Soviet troops were taken captive. Initially, the Germans were received as "liberators" by many Ukrainians. However, German rule in the occupied territories eventually aided the Soviet cause. Nazi administrators of conquered Soviet territories made little attempt to exploit the population's dissatisfaction with Soviet political and economic policies. Instead, the Nazis preserved the collective-farm system, systematically carried out genocidal policies against Jews, and deported others (mainly Ukrainians) to work in Germany. Under these circumstances, the great majority of the Soviet people fought and worked on their country's behalf, thus ensuring the regime's survival. Total civilian losses during the war and German occupation in Ukraine are estimated between five and eight million, including over half a million Jews shot and killed by the Einsatzgruppen, often with the help of Ukrainian collaborators. Of the estimated eleven million Soviet troops who fell in battle against the Nazis, about a quarter (2.7 million) were ethnic Ukrainians. Ukraine is distinguished as one of the first nations to fight the Axis powers in Carpatho-Ukraine, and one that saw some of the greatest bloodshed during the war. After the Second World War, the borders of then-Soviet Ukraine were extended to the West (as stipulated in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, see also Curzon line), uniting most Ukrainians under one political state. The expellation of the Poles began in 1942-1943 with the massacres of Wolynia, where more than 40.000 people where killed by Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Over one million Poles were expelled from Ukraine. In 1954, Crimea was transferred from the RSFSR to Ukraine. This decision of Nikita Khrushchev, intended to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav, seen in Soviet historiography as the 'union of two fraternal peoples', led to tensions between Russia and Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Independence was achieved in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Ukraine was a founding member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Government and Politics
Commonwealth of Independent States Commonwealth of Independent States Ukraine is a democracy under a semi-presidential system with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The President of Ukraine (elected by popular vote) nominates the Prime Minister, who must be confirmed by the 450-seat parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. The President (on advice and consent of the Prime Minister) appoints members of the Cabinet of Ministers, as well as heads of all central agencies and regional and district administrations. Laws, acts of the parliament and the Cabinet, presidential edicts, and acts of the Crimean parliament (Autonomous Republic of Crimea) may be nullified by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, when they are found to violate the Constitution of Ukraine. Other normative acts are subject to judicial review. The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the main body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction. Local self-government is officially guaranteed. Local councils and city mayors are popularly elected and exercise control over local budgets. In practice, the scope of local self-government is limited. Ukraine has a large number of political parties, many of which have tiny memberships and are unknown to the general public. Small parties often join in multi-party coalitions (electoral blocks) for the purpose of participating in parliamentary elections. See also:
- Ukrainian presidential election, 2004
- Foreign relations of Ukraine
Subdivisions
Ukraine is subdivided into twenty-four oblasts (provinces) and one autonomous republic (Crimea). Additionally, two cities have a special legal status. See also regions of Ukraine.
Geography
regions of Ukraine The Ukrainian landscape consists mostly of fertile plains, or steppes, and plateaus, crossed by rivers such as the Dnieper, Seversky Donets, Dniester and the Southern Buh as they flow south into the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. To the southwest the delta of the Danube forms the border with Romania. The country's only mountains are the Carpathian Mountains in the west, of which the highest is the Hora Hoverla at 2,061 m, and those in the Crimean peninsula, in the extreme south along the coast. Ukraine has a mostly temperate continental climate, though a more mediterranean climate is found on the southern Crimean coast. Precipitation is disproportionately distributed; it is highest in the west and north and lesser in the east and southeast. Winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland. Summers are warm across the greater part of the country, but generally hot in the south.
Economy
Precipitation Precipitation Precipitation Formerly an important agricultural and industrial region of the Soviet Union, Ukraine now depends on Russia for most energy supplies, especially natural gas, although lately it has been trying to diversify its sources. The lack of significant structural reform has made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. After 1991 the government liberalised most prices and erected a legal framework for privatisation, but widespread resistance to reform within the government soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to less than 40% of the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. The current government has pledged to reduce the number of government agencies, streamline the regulatory process, create a legal environment to encourage entrepreneurs, and enact a comprehensive tax overhaul. Reforms in the more politically sensitive areas of structural reform and land privatisation are still lagging. Outside institutions—particularly the IMF—have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms and have threatened to withdraw financial support. The GDP in 2000 showed strong export-based growth of 6%—the first growth since independence—and industrial production grew 12.9%. The economy continued to expand in 2001, as real GDP rose 9% and industrial output grew by over 14%. Growth was undergirded by strong domestic demand and growing consumer and investor confidence. Rapid economic growth in 2002 - 2004 is largely attributed to a surge in steel exports to China.
Demographics
2004 2004 Ethnic Ukrainians make up 77.8% of the population. The minorities include significant groups of ethnic Russians (17.3%), Belarusians (0.6%), Moldavians (0.5%), Crimean Tatars (0.5%), Bulgarians (0.4%), Hungarians (0.3%), Romanians (0.3%), Poles (0.3%), Jews (0.2%), Armenians (0.2%), Greeks (0.2%) and Tatars (0.2%) [http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/]. The industrial regions in the east and south-east are the most heavily populated, and about 67.2% of the population lives in urban areas. Ukrainian is the only official state language. Russian, which was the official language in the Soviet Union, is still used by many people, especially in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian is considered to be a native language by 67.5% of the population and Russian by 29.6% (according to the 2001 census). It is sometimes difficult to determine the extent of the two language, since many people use a mixed language (Surzhyk) containing elements of both, while thinking they speak Russian or Ukrainian. Standard literary Ukrainian is mainly spoken in western and central Ukraine. In western Ukraine, Ukrainian is also the dominant language in cities (e.g. Lviv). In central Ukraine, Ukrainian and Russian are both equally used in cities (including Kiev), while Ukrainian is the dominant language in rural communities. In eastern Ukraine mainly Russian and Surzhyk are used. In the Autonomous Republic of Crimea practically all of the population speaks Russian and Ukrainain is virtually unused. Both languages are official within the autonomous republic. The share of students receiving their education in Russian has significantly declined from 41% in 1995 to 24% in 2004, in favour of Ukrainian-language education. Still, many urban Ukrainian schools are de facto Russian-speaking, especially in the east and south. Russian continues to be the language of international communication for many Ukrainians and is generally understood throughout the country.
Religion
de facto The dominant religion in Ukraine is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which is currently split between three Church bodies. The distant second is the Eastern Rite Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which practices similar Liturgical rite to Eastern Orthodoxy, but is in communion with the Catholic see and recognizes the primacy of the Roman Pope as head of the Church. There are also smaller Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim communities.
Culture

- List of famous Ukrainians
- Music of Ukraine
- Ivan Kupala
- Sports in Ukraine
Miscellaneous topics

- Chernobyl accident
- Communications in Ukraine
- List of cities in Ukraine
- List of newspapers in Ukraine
- Military of Ukraine
- Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)
- Scouting in Ukraine
- Tourism in Ukraine
- Transportation in Ukraine
- Ukraine at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Ukrainian cuisine
- 2005 Eurovision Song Contest
References

- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/up.html CIA World Factbook - Ukraine]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1102303.stm Country profile: Ukraine], BBC's Country Profile on Ukraine.
- [http://www.economist.com/countries/Ukraine/index.cfm Country Briefings: Ukraine], by The Economist
- [http://eb.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=oneclick&country_id=980000298 Executive Briefing: Ukraine], by Economist Intelligence Unit.
- [http://www.guardian.co.uk/ukraine Special Report: Ukraine], ongoing coverage by Guardian Unlimited
- [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3211.htm Background Note: Ukraine], the U.S. Department of State website
- [http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/european/ukraine/ua.html Ukraine], Portals to the World, Internet resources selected by Library of Congress subject experts
- [http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20031/4 "Ukraine: Briefly about Her Past and Present"], in Welcome to Ukraine, 2003, 1]
External links

- [http://www.president.gov.ua/en/ Official presidential site of Ukraine]
- [http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en Government Portal of Ukraine] - Official governmental portal
- [http://www.rada.gov.ua Verkhovna Rada]—Official parliamentary site (in Ukrainian)
- [http://www.archives.gov.ua/Eng/ Archives of Ukraine]
- [http://www.ukrtelecom.ua/en/offers/web_cam/ Web cam shots for selected cities across Ukraine]
- [http://www.infoukes.com Infoukes]—General info on Ukraine's History and Politics
- [http://myukraine.info My Ukraine]—General info on Ukraine's culture and geography.
- [http://www.kyivpost.com Kyiv Post]—Kyiv News in English
- [http://www.ukraina.at Ukraina.at]—Ukraine Fanpage from Mr. Bartosch (in German)
- [http://pages.prodigy.net/l.hodges/ukraine.htm Ukrainian Language, Culture and Travel Page]
- [http://guide.kyiv.ru/ Kiev and Ukraine Travel Guide ]
- [http://www.skrobach.com/ Information about Independent Ukraine] Category:Black Sea countries zh-min-nan:Ukrayina als:Ukraine ko:우크라이나 ms:Ukraine ja:ウクライナ simple:Ukraine th:ประเทศยูเครน fiu-vro:Ukraina

Motorcyclist

/1949]] 1949 1949 A motorcycle is a two-wheeled vehicle powered by an engine. The wheels are in-line, and at higher speed the motorcycle remains upright and stable by virtue of gyroscopic forces; at lower speeds continual readjustment of the steering by the rider gives stability. The rider sits astride the vehicle on a seat, with hands on a set of handlebars which are used to steer the motorcycle, in conjunction with the rider shifting his weight through his feet, which are supported on a set of footpegs which stick out from the frame.

History

astride The inspiration for the earliest motorcycles, and arguably the first motorcycle, was designed and built by the German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Bad Cannstatt (a city district of Stuttgart) in 1885. It was the first petroleum-powered vehicle ever and, but for the provision of a pair of stabilizing wheels, a motorized bicycle, although they called their invention the Reitwagen ("riding car"). They had not set out to create a vehicle form but to build a simple carriage for the engine which was the focus of their endeavours. However,if one counts two wheels with steam propulsion as being a motorcycle, then the first one may have been American. One such machine was demonstrated at fairs and circuses in the eastern US in 1867, built by one Sylvester Howard Roper of Roxbury, Massachusetts. There is an existing example of a Roper machine, dated 1869. It's powered by a charcoal-fired two-cylinder engine, whose connecting rods directly drive a crank on the rear wheel. This machine predates the invention of the safety bicycle by many years, so its chassis is also based on the "bone-crusher" bike. In 1894, the Hildebrand & Wolfmüller was the first motorcycle that was available for purchase. In the early period of motorcycle history there were many manufacturers as producers of bicycles adapted their designs for the new internal combustion engine. As the engines became more powerful and designs outgrew the bicycle origins, the number of motorcycle producers reduced. internal combustion engine Up until the First World War, the largest motorcycle manufacturer was Indian. After that, this honour went to Harley Davidson, until 1928 when DKW took over as the largest manufacturer. After the Second World War, in 1951, the BSA Group became the largest producer of motorcycles in the world. The German NSU was the largest manufacturer from 1955 until the 1970s when Honda became the most prominent manufacturer, a title it retains to this day. British manufacturers held a dominant position in some markets until the rise of the Japanese manufacturers (led by Honda) in the late 60s and early 70s who were able to produce designs faster, cheaper and of better quality. Today, the Japanese manufacturers Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha dominate the motorcycle industry, although Harley-Davidson still maintains a high degree of popularity in America. Recent years have also seen a resurgence in the popularity of many other brands, including BMW, Triumph and Ducati.

Construction

Variations

Variations exist:
- There are two basic forms of motorcycles: offroad and street.
- Some motorcycles have floorboards instead of footpegs.
- Some motorcycles can be fitted with a sidecar, this converting it into a 3-wheeler or "hack".
- There are other 3-wheeled variations, commonly referred to as a trike or motortricycle.
- Motorcycle manufacturers often also produce All-terrain vehicles or ATVs. These have two or more back wheels, usually two front wheels, an open driver's seat and a motorcycle-type handlebar. (Early models had a single front wheel, but these were prone to rollovers.) ATVs are used off-road for utility and recreation. However, a proper motorcycle has fewer than four wheels in contact with the ground.

Chassis

The chassis (or frame) of a motorcycle is typically made from welded aluminium or steel (or an alloy) struts, with the rear suspension being an integral component in the design. Carbon-fiber is used in a few very expensive custom frames. Some motorcycles include the engine as a load-bearing (or stressed) member; this has been used all through bike history but is now becoming more common. The fuel tank is usually mounted above the engine. This tank is generally made of stamped, brazed or welded sheet metal, or blow molded high-density polyethylene. At least one motorcycle manufacturer (Buell) offer models that use a hollow frame as the fuel tank, and various manufacturers offer designs which use part of the frame as an oil reservoir. The wheel rims are usually steel (generally with steel spokes and an aluminium hub) or 'mag' type cast or machined aluminum. Performance racing motorcycles often use carbon-fiber wheels, but the expense of these wheels is prohibitively high for general usage. A plastic or fiberglass shell, known as a fairing, is placed over the frame in some models to shield the rider from the wind. Drag is the major factor that limits motorcycle speed, as it increases at the square of the velocity, with the resultant required horsepower increasing with the cube of velocity. As can be seen from the streamlined appearance of new performance motorcycles, there is much aerodynamic technology included in the design, but unfortunately no one has been able to overcome the effect from the turbulence caused by the spinning front wheel which disallows the motorcycle from cutting a clean path through the air. Another problem is the fact that no designs have been discovered that can improve aerodynamic performance without unacceptably compromising the rider's ability to control the machine. In the absence of a fairing or windshield, a phenomenon known as the windsock effect occurs at speeds above 100 km/h, where the rider becomes a major source of drag and is pushed back from the handlebars, tiring the rider. However, these motorcycles still effectively push their way through the atmosphere with brute force. Cabin cycle solved the problem of aerodynamics by isolating driver from outside air. Cabin cycle

Chassis stability

There could be three kinds of stability problems with motorbikes:
- Capsizing is well known in low speeds, and easy to overcome by going a bit faster.
- Wobbling ([http://www2.ee.ic.ac.uk/cap/cappp/projects/2/files/wobble_0_65.avi AVI movie]) is a high frequency (7-9 Hz) oscillation of the front wheel. It is often relatively harmless but annoying (and quite frightening if previously inexperienced). It can appear at moderate speeds.
- Weaving ([http://www2.ee.ic.ac.uk/cap/cappp/projects/2/files/weave_0_65.avi AVI movie]) is a low frequency (2-3 Hz) oscillation of the whole vehicle. It can become unstable at higher speeds with fatal results. Based on [http://www2.ee.ic.ac.uk/cap/cappp/projects/2/files/simosthesis.pdf The control and stability analysis of two-wheeled road vehicles]:
- The weave oscillations damp out once the rider reduced the roll angle.
- Tyre (tire) characteristics and inflation pressures are important variables in the behaviour of the motorcycle at high speeds.
- From a stability point of view it is desirable to make the lateral stiffness as large as possible, with the possibility of an optimum value for the torsional stiffness of the rear frame.
- Common levels of lateral stiffness at the wheel spindle deteriorates the wobble mode damping substantially with significant changes in the wobble frequency as well, and slight reduction in the weave mode damping at high speeds.
- Lateral distortion should be opposed as much as possible by locating the front fork torsional axis as low as possible.
- The largest contribution to the weave damping came from the cornering and camber stiffnesses and relaxation length of the rear tyre and not so much from the same parameters of the front tyre.
- Amongst others, stiff frames, a long wheelbase, a long trail and a flat steering head angle were found to increase weave mode damping.
- Degraded damping of the rear suspension, rear loading and increased speed amplifies cornering weave tendencies.
- Rear load assemblies with appropriate stiffness and damping were successful in damping out weave and wobble oscillations. Wobbling

Suspension

Modern designs have the two wheels of a motorcycle connected to the chassis by a suspension arrangement, however 'chopper' style motorcycles often elect to forego rear suspension ("rigid frame"). The front suspension generally consists of sliding steel tubes with long springs inside called forks which use hydraulic fluid for damping shock absorbers. The front fork is the most critical part of a motorcycle. The angle of rake determines how controllable the steering is. The rake should be chosen so that precessive force from countersteer and body steering slightly overbalance the leaning forces from the weight of the bike, at a speed near the running speed of a person. This is the speed at which the rider's feet can no longer be safely used to balance the bike. The rear suspension supports the swingarm, which is attached via the swingarm pivot bolt to the frame and holds the axle of the rear wheel. The rear suspension can consist of several shock arrangements:
- dual shocks, which are placed at the far ends of the swingarm
- traditional monoshock, which is placed at the front of the swingarm, above the swingarm pivot bolt
- 'Softail' style monoshock, which is mounted horizontally in front of the swingarm, below the swingarm pivot bolt

Brakes

There are generally two independent brakes on a motorcycle, one set on the front wheel, controlled by the right hand lever, and one on the rear controlled by the right foot. In older motorcycles the rear may be on the left foot. However, several models have "linked brakes" which apply both at the same time, although one more than the other. The front brake is generally much more powerful than the rear as roughly 2/3rds of stopping power can come from the front brake when properly applied and in some cases 100% depending on the model of motorcycle and operator; rear wheels can generally lock and skid much more easily than the front due to weight distribution dynamics. Brakes can either be drum or disc based, with disc brakes being more common on large, modern or expensive motorcycles for their far superior stopping power, particularly in wet conditions. There are many brake performance enhancing aftermarket parts available for most motorcycles including brake pads of varying compounds and steel braided brake lines. Some manufacturers have created Antilock braking systems (ABS). In virtually all cases, 70% to 90% of total braking force should be applied by the front brake when operated on a hard surface such as tarmac, with the remainder being simultaneously applied to the rear brake. Riders fear that aggressive use of the front brake will stop rotation of the tire and cause loss of control, or a skid, and therefore often fail to use the front brake to its full potential. Another common misconception is that application of the rear brake will cause motorcycle instability. The phenomenon known as a "stoppie" may only be achieved if the front brake is used aggressively with no application of the rear brake; if sufficient force is applied to the front brake, the rear of the motorcycle chassis will lift off the roadway, while the bike continues to move forward on the still-rotating front wheel. This is a highly skilled (and generally illegal) maneuver which requires practice to perfect. Trailbraking is a term used to describe carrying the braking action of a vehicle past the turn entry, allowing the rider to adjust speed all the way through a turn to the apex. Another variation of brake use can be seen at top level motorcycle roadracing and motorcross events. The technique of steering the motorcycle in a high speed turn (or lower speeds on a dirt course) using the rear brake is called "backing it in" (or "turning" on dirt). Racers while hard on the front brake will feather the rear brake just enough to start a controlled rear slide, thus rendering a sharper turn angle. Note: This technique is not recommended for public road use.

Engine

Motorcycles have, over time, been powered by an extraordinary array of engines, from very early models powered by steam, to the ubiquitous gasoline engines of today. For a complete discussion, see the main article: Motorcycle Engines.

Transmission

The transmission is controlled by a clutch lever under the left hand in standard configurations, a twistgrip throttle on the right handlebar and a gear lever at the left foot. The gear lever operates by shifting gears when it is pressed or lifted. A normal street motorcycle is put in first gear by pressing the gear lever, while second and all further gears are reached by lifting it. Downshifting is done by pressing the gear lever. Neutral sits between first gear and second, so a small lift out of first causes the gearbox to change into neutral, but a large movement causes the gearbox to change into second gear. In contrast, racing motorcycles have all gears arranged "below" the first gear, thus pressing the gear lever always shifts up, while lifting it shifts down. Modern motorcycles normally have five or six forward gears. Only the largest touring motorcycles (most prominently, the Honda Goldwing) and a few models that are routinely used with a sidecar are fitted with a reverse gear. The clutch is typically an arrangement of plates stacked in alternating fashion, one geared on the inside to the engine, and next geared on the outside to the transmission input shaft. Whether wet (rotating in engine oil) or dry, the plates are squeezed together by a spring, causing friction buildup between the plates until they rotate as a single unit, driving the transmission directly. A lever on the handlebar, through a cable or hydraulic arrangement, uses mechanical advantage to release the clutch spring, allowing the engine to freewheel with respect to the transmission. The most commonly used transmission is a sequential gearbox. From neutral, you may select either first or second gear, but higher gears may only be accessed in order - you may not shift from second gear to fourth gear, without shifting through third gear. Internally, a rotating cam on the shift lever operates cogs on two counter-rotating shafts carrying a variety of gears. One shaft is geared to the final drive mechanism, and the other to the clutch. Operating the shift lever slides individual gears on one shaft, to intersect with a matching gear on the other. The small mass of the whole arrangement allows for extremely quick gear changes. Also, gear synchronizers typically found in passenger cars with manual transmissions are not necessary. The two shafts are always geared together (except in neutral), always spinning at a speed nearly approximating the next higher or lower gear ratio. Aided by beveled edges on the gears, shifting gears is simple for novices - no double clutching or grinding of gears. Advanced drivers can perform "full-throttle upshifts" on racing mounts, but this risks both the warranty and mechanical integrity. Final drive from the gearbox to the rear wheel is typically accomplished with a chain, which requires both lubrication and adjustment for elongation (stretch) through wear. The lubricant is subject to being thrown off the fast-moving chain and results in grime and dirt buildup. Chains do deteriorate, and excessive wear on the front and rear sprockets can be dangerous. Many motorcyclists replace the chain and both sprockets as a set to maintain efficiency and safety. Many manufacturers offer cruiser models with final drive options of a belt, or a shaft. A belt drive is still subject to stretch, but operates very quietly, cleanly, and efficiently. However, belt drives are limited in the amount of power they can transmit. The belt is frequently toothed. A shaft drive is completely enclosed, the visual cue is a tube extending from the rear of the transmission to a bell-housing on the rear wheel. Inside the bell housing a bevelled gear on the shaft mates with another on the wheel mount. This arrangement is superior in terms of noise, cleanliness, and is virtually maintenance free. However, the additional gearsets are a source of power loss and add to bike weight.

Tires

Motorcycles use pneumatic tires ('tyre' in the UK) which come in many configurations, the most important part of any being the contact patch. That is the small area that is in contact with the road surface while riding. There are tires designed for dirtbikes, touring, sport and cruiser bikes. Dirtbike tires have knobby, deep treads for maximum grip on loose dirt, mud, or gravel — such tires tend to be less stable on paved surfaces. Touring tires are usually harder rubber and last longer but provide less grip (significantly less grip while cold, and the heavier rubber takes longer to warm up), while sport/performance tires provide amazing grip but may only last 1,000 miles (1,600 km) or less. Cruisers and "Sport Touring" tires try to find the best compromise between grip and durability. Some cruiser tires have raised white lettering on the sidewalls as a "retro" detail. Tires should be maintained at the proper air pressure at all times; tire pressure is critical, the difference of a few PSI can have a dramatic impact on the handling and longevity of the tire. Tires usually have an average life expectancy of about four to five years from date of manufacture; as mentioned above, mileage is also a factor, with many street tires having a service life between 3,000 and 10,000 miles. Small cracks on the sidewall or bald spots on the tread are an indicators of the need to replace the tire. Motorcycle tires can also be found in "race compounds". However, race compound tires should NOT be used in street applications. Race compounds are designed specifically for the short life and few heat cycles of a race environment, where street tires are designed for multiple heat cycles and use in a street environment. In most cases street riders will actually achieve higher levels of performance using street tires than race compounds. If a tire loses grip or goes flat, the rider may crash and make contact in a rather forceful (and very possibly a painful) manner with the road or other obstacles. The motorcyclist must, therefore, consider proper motorcycle attire such as helmet ("full-face" providing the most protection), gloves, boots, and leather or synthetic protective clothing. Wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals on a motorcycle is not advised. The use of an approved helmet is required by law in many countries (or individual localities therein).

Performance

sandal The most efficient way to improve the handling and speed of a motorcycle is via increased operator skill. By attending riding schools and increasing rider education levels, a motorcyclist will be able to ride more skillfully and, thus, more safely. Even experienced riders can benefit from top-level instructors helping to fine-tune their skills, as well as the opportunity to practice crash-avoidance techniques in a more controlled environment (and without risking one's own motorcycle). The next-most-common cause of loss of speed is one of the easiest to remedy: rolling resistance. The right tires kept at the proper pressure will contribute to both speed and safety. On the engine, keep the air filter and drive chain (or drive belt) clean, use high-quality lubricants and fuel with precisely-tuned spark plugs, air / fuel mixture, and timing. This is obvious, but often neglected. Engine modifications can yield appreciable performance improvements, but this is often costly and very time-consuming. Improper attempts at tuning can yield benefits in one particular part of an engine's power band, while impairing performance everywhere else, provoking a net loss of power or handling. Blueprinting, or meticulous restoration of an engine to (or beyond) factory tolerances can help to improve an engine's efficiency and restore power that would otherwise be lost. Enlarging cylinder head ports, while common practice amongst many tuners, is often unnecessary (unless a big-bore kit has been fitted) to the extent that many engines benefit from decreasing the volume in the cylinder head. Done correctly, this increases the velocity of the fuel / air mixture entering the cylinder, packing more mixture in per revolution. More usable improvements can be had by improving and upgrading suspension components. Suspension is typically the one element of the motorcycle that will receive the least amount of engineering attention from the factory. Replacing stock shocks and fork springs as well as changing damping and valving rates will result in dramatic improvements in motorcycle stability and increased speed and rider confidence as a result. Another way to increase performance is to install a tuned exhaust system. This helps evacuate the exhaust from the engine more rapidly, and permits a longer power-stroke. However many modern production bikes already have tuned exhausts. A "custom" tuned exhaust will often operate only at a narrower range of engine RPM, and therefore more suited to more specialised applications, usually racing (road or drag). Aftermarket exhaust systems are usually louder, by varying degrees, than stock systems. Most countries have limits on how much noise can legally be produced by vehicles, however this usually does not deter motorcyclists from fitting louder exhaust systems. There is even a school of thought that louder systems are safer, as they attract the attention of (car) drivers, who might otherwise have failed to notice the motorcyclist. One of the most effective ways of increasing power is forced induction. Turbochargers are generally more effective than superchargers because turbos spin using the exhaust gases while a supercharger uses engine power to spin it directly (usually via a belt system), robbing power. Since more air is being forced into the engine, the air/fuel ratio must be changed to prevent the engine from running lean [and potentially destroying itself]. On low boost settings, the turbocharger can increase power and fuel range. Engine internals such as pistons and connecting rods must be replaced with stronger ones for all but the smallest boost. In addition, the compression ratio must be considered and adjusted accordingly, as an "overboosted" engine will destroy itself as well. However, due to the special motorcycle dynamics, turbochargers are rarely used on production bikes. With great care, an engine can be helped to "sprint" by injecting small amounts of nitrous oxide (N₂O). The main benefits of nitrous oxide are three-fold —
- More oxygen is introduced into an engine's combustion chamber
- As nitrous oxide is stored in liquid form, it is still very cold when it evaporates and is mixed with fuel. This chilling effect raises the density of the mixture, packing more fuel and oxygen into the combustion chamber.
- This colder mixture helps to keep the engine running cooler, which is very useful as nitrous oxide is almost exclusively used in stressful, high RPM situations, primarily drag racing. Engines using large amounts of nitrous oxide need precise mixtures and/or configurable timing and carburation. It's very easy to blow the head gaskets or burn the valves of the engine with careless nitrous oxide injection. Using methods like nitrous oxide are fine on dragstrips, but while not illegal, can be very dangerous on the street. In any case, a canister of nitrous oxide is rapidly expended, and impractical for sustained use on a road-going bike by any sane rider.

Instruments

Almost all motorcycles have a speedometer and odometer and almost all have a tachometer. Fuel gauges are becoming more common, however traditionally a reserve tank arrangement has been used with a petcock on the side of the motorcycle allowing the rider to switch to a reserve fuel supply when the main fuel supply is exhausted; this is typically done while the vehicle is in motion. There is not actually a separate reserve tank, the intake for the petcock has two pipes, one extending higher into the fuel tank than the other, when fuel no longer covers the long pipe the rider switches to the shorter pipe. Riders without a fuel gauge usually learn how many miles / km they can do with a full tank of fuel, and then use a trip meter if available to judge when they must refill the tank.

Motorcycle types

Motorcyles have been built in myriad different models for innumerable different purposes. For a complete discussion of contemporary motorcyle types, see the main article: types of motorcycle

Safety

Motorcycles have a far higher rate of crippling and fatal accidents per unit distance than automobiles. According to the US Highway Safety Authority, in 2002 20.9 cars out of 100,000 ended up in fatal crashes. The rate for motorcycles is 66.7 per 100,000. Given that motorcycles cover less distance than cars per year on average, the figure per unit distance is likely to be much worse. Most of these accident are caused by car drivers though who tend to underestimate the speed and acceleration of motorcycles or simply overlook them. For a complete discussion, see the main article: Motorcycle Safety

Culture

Gangs and counter-culture movements

Across the world, and both past and present, motorcycles have been associated with subcultures of society. Some of these subcultures have been loose-knit social groups such as the Cafe racers of 1950s Britain, and the Mods and Rockers of the 1960s. Others are purportedly fraternal organizations, the most well known of these being the Hells Angels. Most motorcycle organizations have law-abiding and peaceful members, and many raise money for charities through organized events and rides. Gangs represent far less than 1% of motorcyclists.

Risk taking

Motorcycles are typically more agile, can accelerate quicker, and are generally perceived to be more fun to ride than an average car. Because of this, they sometimes attract people — typically, but not exclusively, young men — with a propensity to take great risks or behave dangerously and anti-socially. These people contribute significantly to the fatality and injury rates of motorcyclists. See also: Squid_(motorcycle) Hooligan Risk taking on a motorcycle can't be avoided because its a risk just getting on one. Dirtbike riding does come with injuries and death. You have to decide if your willing to take that risk. You really can't predict what the bike will do. The U.S, U.K. and Europe are also seeing a surge in motorcycle ownership, thanks in large part to an older demographic, people in their 40's and 50's. Many of these riders are either new to the sport, or have not been on a motorcycle for many years; they would benefit from rider training as much or more so than any new rider. A substantial increase in the number of riders (regardless of age) indicates a greater number of inexperienced riders, who are more likely to be involved in accidents. See Born again biker. It has been theorized based on data, that humans have some innate need for risk. The upsurge in extreme sports and hobbies coincides with the upsurge in workplace and home safety.

Public perception

In less developed nations, motorcycles are often the only motorized transportation affordable to the majority of the population. In much of the developed world, motorcycles are thought of as a cheap and efficient means of transportation, but they are tainted by a stereotype of riders as anti-social and reckless, even though the majority are safe and law-abiding. This is because the very small number of events where a non-motorcyclist is offended by a motorcyclist (perhaps by excess exhaust noise, reckless behaviour, or news reporting of a motorcycle gang incident) are amplified in popular thought. This phenomenon is known by sociologists as availability error, and all minority groups in society tend to fall afoul of it. In American speech, the term biker has come to be associated with members of the gangs described above. Many of those who ride motorcycles prefer the more neutral terms "rider" or "motorcyclist." In Australia and New Zealand the word "bikie" is used instead of "biker".

Clannishness and brand loyalty

Like most minority cultures, motorcyclists in developed countries "stick together." Most cities have several bars and hangouts where riders congregate. When riders pass each other in the opposite direction, riders often wave or nod. Riders will sometimes stop and help if another rider has broken down. Within motorcycle culture, people congregate around brand names, type of bike, and individual models.

Brands

There are many brands of motorcycles currently produced. Some of the popular brands are
- Aprilia
- BMW
- Buell
- Ducati
- Enfield
- Harley-Davidson
- Honda
- Kawasaki
- KTM
- Moto Guzzi
- Suzuki
- Triumph
- Vespa
- Yamaha Most manufacuturers subsidize a club to foster a sense of community between, provide services to, and make money from the owners of their bikes. Such clubs include:
- [http://www.yamahaclub.com/ Yamaha Owners Club]
- Harley Owners Group (HOG)
- [http://www.kawasaki.com/html/default_frame.asp?strContentURL=/kawasaki_aux/rok/benefits.asp Riders of Kawasaki] (RoK)
- [http://www.hoc.org.uk/ Honda Owners Club]
- [http://www.intruderalert.com/ Suzuki Intruder-Boulevard Owners Club] Groups also organise themselves to offer support and advice.
- [http://www.katriders.com Katriders] BMW Motorrad has no national owners clubs, but, uniquely, has many independent clubs in different countries, such as [http://www.bmwmoa.org BMW Motorcycle Owners of America] (BMWMOA) and [http://www.bmwra.org BMW Riders Association] (BMWRA).

Types

Many interest groups form around a particular type of riding or style of bike:
- Track Racing (sport bikes)
- Classic Racing (Racing bikes from an earlier era)
- Street Racing (sport bikes)
- Cruising (cruisers, or motorcycles that resemble Harley-Davidson models)
- Touring and Motorcycle camping (touring and dual-sport bikes)
- Extreme Distance Events (competitive long distance riding, including [http://www.ironbutt.org/ Iron Butt] events)
- Adventure Touring (dual-sport bikes)
- Minibikes or Pocket-Bikes as used in Pocketbike racing

Models

Some individual bikes almost develop a cult following:
- Kawasaki KLR650
- BMW F650 GS
- BMW 5 Series
- Honda Goldwing
- Norton Commando Ultimate Twin Cylinder
- Vincent Black Shadow
- Honda Hawk NT650 GT(Honda NT650)
- Yamaha XT 500
- Yamaha SR 500

Rallies

- Daytona Bike Week [http://www.bikeweek.com/]
- Laconia Motorcycle Week [http://www.laconiamcweek.com/]
- Port Dover Friday the 13th [http://www.pd13.com/]
- Sturgis Motorcycle Rally [http://www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com/]

External links

- [http://www.clarity.net/~adam/hurt-report.html Hurt Report] — Motorcycle accident analysis
- [http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/clasqm/homepage.html Motorcycle Road Tests] — Collection of over 3000 online road tests
- [http://www.usenet-replayer.com/webrings/motorcycle.html Pictures of Motorcycles] published on Usenet and archived with a search function.
- [http://www.bikepics.com Bike Pics] - Collection of user submitted photos of most makes and models of motorcycles
- [http://www.bikenut.com.au/blog Bike Blog] - Motorcycle News and Information ja:オートバイ

2004

2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the:
- International Year of Rice (by the United Nations)
- International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO)
- 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization)
- Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in 2004 for a description of the state of the world in this year. See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.
Events

January

- January 1 - Pervez Musharraf gets a vote of confidence from an electoral college consisting of Parliament and the provincial assemblies, confirming him as President of Pakistan until 2007.
- January 3 - Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, killing all 148 aboard.
- January 4 - Mikhail Saakashvili wins the presidential elections in Georgia.
- January 4 -NASA's MER-A (Spirit) lands on Mars.
- January 8 - Queen Elizabeth II christens the RMS Queen Mary 2 cruise liner, currently the largest ocean liner in the world.
- January 13 - An Uzbekistan Airways plane crashes in Uzbekistan's capital of Tashkent, killing 37.
- January 22 - The European Union bans the import of poultry from Thailand, as bird flu spreads throughout Southeast Asia.
- January 24 - NASA's MER-B (Opportunity) lands on Mars.
- January 27 - The British government narrowly wins a House of Commons vote on the proposed introduction of tuition top-up fees in British universities.
- January 28 - The findings of the Hutton Inquiry are published in London. The British Government is found not to have falsified information in the "sexed up<

Elena Filatova

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