The recall concerns Yamaha FJR 1300 motorcycles which were made between February 2006 and March 2009. The problem concerns a faulty electrical system and according to an article on Ultimate Motorcycling by Sam Sims, Yamaha have said the recall affects 9,850 motorcycles.

The problem concerns the ground joint connector of the wire harness, which may overheat and go out of shape. If this happens it could cause an intermittent ground wire connection, and if this occurs the whole electrical system or other electrical components could fail. This would in turn cause the motorcycle to suddenly stall.

If you are in a car and it suddenly stalls is bad enough, but will be even worse on two wheels. For the units that are affected a Yamaha dealer will install an extra wire sub-lead, if the unit has already been damaged they will provide and install a complete new wire harness. There of course is no charge to the owner for this service.

The recall will start this month, and owners can contact Yamaha direct on 1-800-962-7962. Alternatively they can also ring the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Safety Hotline on 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153).

Meanwhile in New York a rider protesting against the compulsory use of crash helmets tragically died following an accident. He was part of a group of around 550 riders and lost control of his Harley-Davidson and was flipped over the handlebars. State troopers have said if he was wearing a helmet he may have survived, according to an article over at Forbes.com.

The protest rally which was organized by ABATE encourages riders to use helmets, but don’t like the mandatory helmet laws. The person who died in the accident wasn’t a member of ABATE but had at least thirty years of riding experience.

Many motorcycle riders around the world want to have the choice of wearing a crash helmet, even though they decide to wear them. In some countries such as the UK it has been compulsory to wear helmets since the 1970s, and there has even been talk recently of bringing a similar law in for cyclists.

Do you think motorcyclists in all US states should be made to wear a helmet?

According to an article on Phones Review, the cost of the new Lava handset is Rs 5,499, by my calculation that converts to around $122 – not bad for a handset. Looking at the specs you get a 3-inch IPS display, making it much easier to view the screen at a wide-angle view.

Other specs include a 3-megapixel camera with LEC Flash, along with a Yamaha PA system and a range of pre-installed games. Mobiletor seems to think that they are reviewing a car when they talk about the design of the Lava A10 saying, “Sharp ascents and sophisticated gunmetal chassis.” That has to be one of the best descriptions I have read about a smartphone for a while now.

The Lava A10 has a number of things going for it, such as easy access to Facebook and Twitter, and that low price tag. However, with no details on processor or RAM, I wonder if the handset could be a little on the slow side? I know one thing, it will not compete with the rumored CDMA version of the iPhone coming to India.