Philly Cops Don't Get It, Student Says

OFF THE WIRE
By ANDREW THOMPSON 

PHILADELPHIA (CN) - Philadelphia Police unconstitutionally arrest and maliciously prosecute people for filming officers making arrests, though the Police Department acknowledges that the activity is legal, an arrested student claims in Federal Court. 
     "Observing police officers' behavior in public is activity protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," the complaint states. "It is not a crime. Nevertheless, notwithstanding a widely publicized department policy endorsing these principles, Philadelphia police officers, due to serious deficits in training, supervision and discipline, have routinely punished civilians who observe or record police activity by filing false criminal charges against them.
     Richard Fields sued Philadelphia, its police Officer Sisca, and a John Doe officer, on Thursday, July 24.
     Fields, an undergraduate student at Temple University, was arrested in September 2013 for using his iPhone to photograph about 20 officers removing people from a house party near campus.
     Fields claims Officer Sisca asked him, "Do you like taking pictures of grown men?"
     Upon replying that he was on private property, Fields says, Sisca "bumped Mr. Fields with his chest," then took his iPhone and threw it to the ground, cracking the screen.
     Fields was handcuffed and placed in a police van for 20 to 30 minutes, then cited for obstructing justice.
     It's the fourth time in less than two years that the ACLU has sued Philadelphia police for arresting people for photographing police activity. The first three were filed in January 2013.
     Fields claims the responses of Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and department policymakers have been half-baked attempts to change an embedded culture.
     In September 2011, Commissioner Ramsey returned from a conference with other large-city commissioners and issued a memorandum to the department reminding them that the practice of photographing officers is legal.
     After more reports of arrests, Ramsey supplemented the memorandum, telling officers that they should expect to be photographed.
     Aside from these memos, no further action was taken to change department practice, Fields says in the complaint.
     "Notwithstanding this notice, PPD policymakers took no action to remedy the continued failures of police officers to comply with directives providing that citizens have a constitutionally protected right to record officers in the performance of their duties other than providing copes of Directive 145 to be read to officers at roll calls," the complaint states.
     "PPD policymakers, including Commissioner Ramsey, are well aware that long directives and other policies are often not read in their entirety at roll call, and are often not read as many times as they are ordered to be read.
     "Further, PPD policymakers were aware that merely reading some or all of the directive at roll call was inadequate to change the officers' view that they could arrest citizens who record police - a view that was reported to the commissioner's legal adviser in 2011."
     Fields seeks an injunction and punitive damages for violations of the First and Fourth Amendments, retaliation, false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.
     He is represented by Molly Tack-Hooper with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. 

AUSTRALIA - Motorcyclist Craniofacial Injury Patterns

OFF THE WIRE
http://www.bikersrights.com/statistics/cooter/cooter.html

RODNEY D. COOTER MB, BS, (Adel)
Registrar
The Australian Craniofacial Unit
Adelaide Children's Hospital and Royal Adelaide Hospital
Australia
DAVID J. DAVID AC, MBBS (Adel), FRCS, FRCSE,
FRACS
Head of Unit
The Australian Craniofacial Unit
Adelaide Children's Hospital and Royal Adelaide Hospital
Australia

---

ABSTRACT
Craniofacial fracture patterns were investigated in hospitalized patients and fatally injured subjects to determine the influence of helmets, spectacles, and dentures. Standardized clinical and radiographic assessment techniques were developed and fracture patterns were recorded at operation or necropsy. All fracture data were encoded into an alpha-numerical system for analysis.
From the hospitalized group interesting associations emerged of naso-ethmoidal fracturing with spectacle wearing and maxillary fracturing with denture wearing. Hospitalized motorcyclists who had worn open-face helmets, or full-face helmets with flexible face-bars, had sustained facial fracturing but minimal brain injury. In contrast, motorcyclists killed from anterior craniofacial impact whilst wearing full-face helmets with rigid face-bars had sustained fatal skull base fracturing in the absence of significant facial trauma.
It was therefore postulated that impacts to the face-bar of a full-face helmet may be transmitted through the mandibular rami and mandibular condyles to the skull base with subsequent fracturing of the middle cranial fossa, the integrity of the mid-facial skeleton being preserved.
Helmet deformation patterns, as delineated by computed tomography, provided support for the proposed mechanism of energy transfer to the skull base. Independent neuropathological examinations of the brains of the fatally injured motorcyclists revealed a high incidence of ponto-medullary disruption. This further strengthened the postulate because separation of the robust pons from the slender medulla may result from axial traction imparted to the brainstem by an upward fracturing middle cranial fossa shelf. Furthermore the skull base fractures traversed the mid-line through, or near to, the spheno-occipital synchondrosis which has an heterogenous morphology and is part of a potential 'fault line' across the skull base. That such a skull base fracture can occur from upward impaction of the skull base by column loading of the mandibular ramus has been noted in reports of judicial hangings in which the knot was placed beneath the mandibular angle.
From this study it was concluded that objects worn at impact on the craniofacial region may influence significantly the final craniofacial fracture pattern and this may be detrimental for some motorcyclists wearing full-face helmets.

INTRODUCTION
The labyrinthine architecture of human facial bones provides a propensity for their collapse at impact and they may thereby act as an effective energy absorber by preventing injury to the brain.⁽¹⁾ This concept is frequently reinforced by clinical observations of patients who have severe facial fracturing but only minimal overt brain injury. The cushioning potential of facial fracturing was recorded by Le Fort in 1901⁽²⁾ whilst reporting on his experiments to delineate the lines of mechanical weakness in facial bones. In a similar way, in the 1940's, Cairns and Holbourn⁽³⁾ noted the sparing of brain injury in helmeted motorcyclists who had sustained facial fractures. In contrast to the present-day surgical enthusiasm to devise new reparative techniques for facial fractures, only scant attention has been given to an analysis of observed fracture patterns and their potential mechanisms of production. One area that has remained void of investigation has been the influence on subsequent craniofacial fracture patterns of objects fitted to the craniofacial region ; in particular, objects such as helmets, spectacles, and dentures. This is surprising because these are commonly worn by people sustaining facial trauma. Whilst considering that facial fractures may actually play a protective role for the brain by absorbing impact energy, it is interesting to note that motorcycle helmet manufacturers have determined to produce helmets that incorporate a face-bar which is designed to prevent facial trauma. So popular have full-face helmets become that over 80% of motorcyclists wear them.⁽⁴⁾ However, disturbing international reports are now emerging of inexplicable skull base fracturing in fatally injured motorcyclists wearing full-face helmets. ^(5-9)

OBJECTIVE
With the foregoing in mind, one objective of the present study was to compare and contrast the patterns of fracturing within the craniofacial region of surviving motorcyclists with those of fatally injured motorcyclists in an endeavour to elucidate a mechanism responsible for the fatal skull base fracturing that has been reported in full- face helmet wearers.

METHODOLOGY
To effect an analysis of fracture patterns with due regard for the complex anatomy of the craniofacial region required the formulation of an accurate method to code numerically the bony disruption. An alpha-numerical coding system was devised⁽¹⁰⁾ and this was employed to analyse fracture data obtained from a variety of sources including clinical examination, radiographs, and operative, as well as post-mortem examinations.
A systematic method was developed for the clinical examination of the traumatized craniofacial. region of 50 hospitalized patients. Furthermore an optimal combination of radiographic imaging was ascertained and computed tomography (CT) was found to be the single most informative mode of imaging. Using the clinicoradiographic methods so devised, the fracture information of clinical patients was then coded into the alpha- numerical system. Road accident details were also collected and the influence assessed of objects fitted to the craniofacial region. Interesting associations emerged. High numerical scores of fracturing in the naso-ethmoidal region were associated with the wearing of heavy framed spectacles by four patients who had sustained lateral or oblique impacts. High numerical scores of fracturing in the maxillary region were associated with the wearing of upper dentures by six patients who had received impacts to the upper lip region. These preliminary studies demonstrated that the alphanumerical coding system was an effective method for the analysis of a wide range of fracture variants and also that the chosen clinical and radiographic techniques were providing accurate data efficiently, and that road traffic details could be incorporated with clinical details to generate meaningful associations about simple objects fitted to the craniofacial region.
Equipped with these techniques it was then considered appropriate to examine a series of 24 fatally-injured subjects, with particular reference to motorcyclists. With permission from the State Coroner, road traffic accident victims were examined with the palpation sequence of the systematic clinical examination method developed for clinical patients. If the clinical examination suggested the presence of craniofacial fracturing and other selection criteria were met, then the cadaver was transferred to a CT scanning facility and scanned according to the protocol devised for clinical patients. The cadavers then underwent a routine postmortem examination after which a formal facial dissection was performed using standard surgical approaches. Anthropomorphic landmarks were measured on the skull-base and the physical distances to fracture lines ascertained. In addition, the helmets worn by motorcyclists were uniquely examined with a CT scanning sequence that was developed for this project⁽¹¹⁾.

FINDINGS
When compared with the hospitalized group of motorcyclists the alpha-numerical coding of the fatally injured group revealed a statistically significant difference between their craniofacial injury patterns. The hospitalized group had high scores of facial fracturing but low scores of cranial fracturing. In contrast, fatally injured motorcyclists who had received impacts to the facial region whilst wearing full face helmets had sustained unsurvivable skull base fracturing (Figure 1), but low scores of facial fracturing were recorded. Indeed their observed skull base fractures traversed the middle cranial fossa just posterior to the underlying temporo-mandibular joints (Figure 2). Post-mortem, anthropomorphic data and dissection information of the cranial base and computed tomographic reformats of the craniofacial skeleton distraction patterns provided a foundation for a postulated mechanism to explain the fatal skull base fracturing.
It was proposed that an impact to the face bar of a motorcyclists' helmet may load the chinstrap, which is mounted at the rear of the facebar, and that this would transmit the force to the mandibular condyles and such force - loading would be sufficient to cause fracturing of the skull base^{(l 2)} -(Figure 3).Helmet deformation patterns observed using computed tomography provided further support for the proposed mechanism.
These findings stimulated further investigations to test the validity of the proposed mechanism of injury production. Routine neuropathological reports were retrieved of examinations of the brains of the fatally injured. In the sample studied, a high incidence of tearing at the junction of the pons and medulla further strengthened the proposed sequence of face bar - chin strap - mandibular condyle - skull base force transmission because it was anticipated that fracturing of the clivus with upward distraction of fracture edges should cause brain stem damage. This became the catalyst for a thorough independent search (co-ordinated by Professor Simpson - Neurosurgeon, The University of Adelaide Road Accident Research Unit) for ponto-medullary trauma in fatally injured road accident victims⁽¹³⁾.
From a consecutive series of 988 brains from autopsies on road accident victims there were 36 cases of unequivocal gross brain stem tearing. The proportion of motorcyclists was double the expected figure and of the 15 motorcyclists, 13 were known to have been wearing helmets at impact and 11 of these wore full face helmets. Furthermore, the principal impact point was the face or helmet face bar in nine of the motorcyclists.
The possibility remained that these injuries could still have been the result of severe cervical hyperextension rather than an upward impacting force through the mandibular condyles to the skull base. From a review of the craniofacial fracture patterns of people who had sustained an upward impacting force to their mandible it was interesting to note that the victims of judicial hangings in which the knot was placed beneath the angle of the mandible (thus imparting to the skull base an upward impacting force) could sustain fatal skull base fracturing of a similar ipsilateral pattern to that observed in the motorcyclist series. This contrasted significantly with the judicial hanging injury pattern observed in those victims who were hanged with the knot placed beneath the chin (thus providing a severe cervical hyperextension force) as they sustained fractures of their axis⁽¹⁴⁾.
Another potential source of support for the postulated mechanism of skull base fracturing relates to the spheno-occipital synchondrosis as it was through, or near to, this zone that the fractures traversed the clivus. The motorcyclist group (and most victims of judicial hangings) are usually males in the age range of 17 to 25 years. In this age group the spheno-occipital synchondrosis may be a weak zone because it is undergoing ossification and often has heterogeneous morphology. Interestingly two children who were investigated in this study after receiving fatal injuries from facial impacts at the mandibular level had both disrupted their spheno-occipital synchondrosis.

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE IMPLICATIONS
So from this investigation a mechanism has been postulated for the generation of fatal skull base fracturing in motorcyclists who sustain impacts at face level whilst wearing full-face helmets. To arrive at this postulate a new method has been developed for the coding of fractures in the craniofacial region, a systematic clinical examination process has been formulated, and an optimal sequence was derived for the radiographic imaging of craniofacial trauma. These techniques have been applied to a sample of clinical patients with fracturing and by incorporating road accident information, associations were then made between the wearing of simple objects (such as dentures and spectacles) and the final fracture patterns. From the application of these methods to a group of fatally injured motorcyclists a postulated mechanism has been advanced to explain the disturbingly high incidence of skull base fractures observed internationally in motorcyclists killed whilst wearing full-face helmets. Support for the postulate has been drawn from the CT scanning of helmets and also from an independent study of ponto-medullary injuries as well as reported observations of the injuries sustained by judicial hanging victims.
From this study it was concluded that objects worn. at impact on the craniofacial region may influence significantly the final craniofacial fracture pattern and this may be detrimental for some motorcyclists wearing full-face helmets. The positive correlation of full-face helmet wearing with fatal middle cranial fossa
fractures and ponto-medullary injuries, in the absence of facial fractures, raised questions about the efficacy of rigid face-bars. Conversely, the lack of significant neurotrauma in cases suffering facial fractures provides support for the beneficial energy absorbing role of facial fracturing. It is therefore recommended that energy absorption properties be incorporated into the face-bar Of a full-face helmet to overcome the paradox of facial injury prevention at the expense of fatal skull base injury propagation.

Figure 3a - Impact to a helmet face bar may be transmitted to the chinstrap and then to the mandibular condyles.

Figure 3b - Subsequent impaction of the skull base by the mandibular condyles causes fracturing across the middle cranial fossa.

Figure 3c - The middle cranial fossa fractures traversed the sphenoid in the region of the spheno-occipital synchondrosis.

Figure 3d - Upward distraction of fracture edges imparts a longitudinal fraction on the brainstem.

Plain & Simple.They're Maggots.

‘Land a State Job and Become an Instant Millionaire’

OFF THE WIRE
According to the comments on this article, it appears Ken Mandler may just be a liar and a con. So the question is, when he attacked the lane splitting guidelines who is he in bed with. Those of you in others states who have used CA as an example to bring lane sharing into your states; you had better pay close attention to this new Safety Nazi fiasco going on in CA.
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2008/10/land-a-state-job-and-become-an-instant-millionaire/

By

Larry Gilbert

As we read earlier this month the following story appeared: “SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, alarmed by the ongoing national financial crisis, warned Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson on Thursday that the state might need an emergency loan of as much as $7 billion from the federal government within weeks.”
Let me now share a report from fellow activist Jack Dean who a few years ago received the prestigious “Faces of Freedom” recognition from the OC Register. Jack is former southern CA Vice Chair Libertarian Party.
‘Land a State Job and Become an Instant Millionaire’
By Jack Dean
In 2004, I read an article by Ken Mandler in the Capitol Weekly promoting his seminars on how to land a job with the State of California. I was astounded at what I read and began to investigate the world of public employee pensions. This website and its companion e-mail list was the result (Pension Crisis News Headlines is a daily headline summary that now goes out to more than 1,100 members of the media who write about pensions and benefits).

Last week, Ed Ring at EcoWorld used the article as a basis for his excellent editorial “Abolish Public Employee Pensions” and I’ve been receiving inquiries about it ever since. So I decided to print the piece in its entirety right here so you, too, can be astounded. As an interesting aside, Ken Mandler has become a good online friend and regular correspondent on this issue.
Following is a more recent version of Ken’s amazing article as it was published last year in August (reproduced here with his permission):
Land a State Job and Become an Instant Millionaire By Ken Mandler
It’s a tough job saving for retirement. Most of us have difficulty even putting away $500-1000 a year in our retirement accounts. And when the car breaks down — that money goes as well!
Others have access to 401(k) programs at work and employers sometimes match the contributions with up to $4-5,000/year. Then again, during bad profit or no profit years, the employers utilize that ubiquitous phrase subject to change” and provide no match. Or they merge and change the “plan”.
But California state government employees have an employer who regularly and by law provides a $40-50,000 contribution to each employee’s pension account — year in and year out — good budget times and bad. (And in bad years they borrow the money!)
The California state government provides a “defined benefit” pension plan to each of its employees. Such “defined benefit” pension plans are far more generous than any 401(k) or defined contribution pension plan available from any other employer in the state! In fact, the plan is so generous that it makes the average state employee a millionaire after only 22 years of work!
Here’s how it works. Say you start working for the state at age 41 and retire at 63. The average state employee makes $55,625/year in salary — and that’s before benefits! At the age of 63, you’d be able to retire on 55% of your pay rate — 67.5% if you purchase 5 additional service years at a pretty nominal cost.
That’s 67.5% of your final pay. Let’s say you retire at the average state employee pay rate of $55,625/year — your annual pension for life would be $37,546/year. Currently state employees are saving $1.8 billion of their money in the State’s Pooled Money account which pays only 2% per year in interest. However, Let’s say you were able to earn an interest rate of 3% on your retirement account — how much would you have to have in that account to yield an annual benefit for life of $37,546?
Here’s how you calculate that amount — you divide $37,546 by 3% ($37,546/0.03= $1,251,562). To provide this level of annual pension on your own would require you to save $1,251,562 during your 22 year working career between the ages of 41 and 63. Could you do that on your own?
It would require putting $56,889 ($1,251,562/22 years = $56,889) into your 401(k)/IRA or other retirement account every single year during those 22 years! When you work for the state, the state does this for you!
Is the state’s pension plan overly generous? The Sacramento Bee and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger have been whining about it lately — are they jealous? The state’s own Legislative Analyst has determined that California’s pension plan provides nearly twice the benefit of the next highest state.
Other comparisons are in order. The vast majority of American corporations have now eliminated “defined benefit” pension plans — only 6% of Americans in the private sector have access to such plans.
American companies have terminated over 17,000 such plans in the last 20 years. IBM, one of the bluest of the blue chip companies, terminated its “defined benefit” pension plan in 2005.
Hewlett Packard, a major California employer, followed by terminating its plan later that same year.
You’ve seen the headlines this year about possible changes in the state’s pension plan. However, that shouldn’t stop you from signing up today as your pension is guaranteed the moment you land a state job.
They can change the benefit for future employees — but not you!
Landing a California state government job is not an easy process as everyone wants to be a millionaire! And you are a millionaire the moment you land a state government job. Capitol Weekly’s How to Get a State Job Workshop provides valuable insights into landing a California state government job. Sign up for the August 28th class today!
Ken Mandler teaches a monthly workshop on How to Land a State Job.
The workshop focuses on a variety of tactics and strategies designed to make the state job process an effective one for you. The workshops are 3 hours and include over 400 pages of information for your review. The cost is $84. You can sign up at www.statejobworkshops.com or by calling Ken Mandler at (916) 443-6788 today. You can e-mail Ken Mandler at ken.mandler(at)capitolweekly.net.
Jack Dean is president of the Fullerton Association of Concerned Taxpayers and editor of PensionTsunami.com.
Juice readers. My apology for a post filled with FACTs and numbers but the efforts of Jack to expose this pension benefit clearly shows why we are in such a deep hole.
Eighteen months ago Dr. Keith Richman made the following statement:
“The LAUSD’s own study estimates that the district owes $10 billion in retiree health care costs. In order to pay off that $10 billion it will cost every LAUSD student $2,000 per year for the next 30 years. That’s 20% of the entire operating budget to cover retiree health care.
“On the state level. California annually pays $3 billion for pensions and $6 billion for retiree health care. That’s $9 billion – equal to the amount we spend each year on higher education. California has a total of $250 to $300 billion in unfunded liabilities to pass on to its children.” This comes at a time when the state requires $150 billion in infrastructure improvements.
Our “ship of state” is drowning in fixed obligations forcing Arnold to call Washington for a life preserver.  Look at the LA Unified School District obligation as some want us to throw MORE of our revenue for education.
It’s not a revenue problem we face, it’s a spending problem.
That’s my thoughts and we welcome yours. 

How To: Fix 5 Common Bike Issues

OFF THE WIRE
By Paul Leonard
No matter if you have EFI or Carbs, a Harley or a Honda, here is a list of 5 common problems and triage steps you can take to diagnose the nature of a mechanical issue. Even if you can’t fix it, you don’t have to blindly trust your hard earned cash to the honesty of the nearest “reputable” mechanic. Get your tool box out it’s time to lift the tank!


Stuck Cables
For many of us the only issues we’ll ever have with a bike are of our own making. Most bikes have at least two cables that can go bad and cause headaches, the throttle and clutch cables.
The throttle cable normally lets you know it’s going bad by refusing to snap back the throttle grip when it is turned and released. Never ride such a bike, because they call that a “suicide throttle” for a reason. It’s also a wise idea to get in the habit of checking now and again to see that your choke or throttle isn’t affected when you turn the handlebars completely from side to side.
The clutch cable is far sneakier, and creeps into your perception as perceived clutch slippage. What really happens is that it moves less and less inside the sheath and eventually the cable and sheath as a whole start to fuse into one nasty mass that overpowers the return spring. This doesn’t allow the clutch to release all the way and causes it to slip.
The three main causes of cable woes are wrong routing, it’s too short after changing handle bars or crashing and, most often, not properly maintained.  The best thing to do is use a purpose made cable lube attachment available at the local power sports store; still in a real pinch, a cable that has recently stuck can most times be salvaged by:
1. Remove the cable from the bike
2. Twisting it around your arm or a wide pole to separate the wire from its sheath
3. Apply a readily available spray lubricant from a gas station like WD40 and work the inner cable up and down in the sheath
I’ve even seen people create makeshift funnels out of silly putty and soak the cable overnight in liquid wrench on the way to Sturgis with OK results. Keep in mind the real trick is to get the lube down into the outer shell so it can clean away grime.
If all else fails you can ride without the clutch

Running on Empty
It’s a sinking feeling when you give more gas but the bike sputters out and dies anyways. Naturally the first thing you want to do is get safely out of the way. Then check that you didn’t hit the kill switch and the battery can still turn the engine. If it can’t, you most likely have a charging or battery issue and need to call AAA. If the engine spins over, then these are the steps to take.
First, make sure that there is gas in the tank and the petcock is set to On, Reserve, or Prime. I helped a very embarrassed young man out the other day and the issue was pretty obvious and covered by our basic motorcycle safety courses in California. It helps if it’s set to “ON.”
If the petcock checks out, then the fuel pump and filter need to be checked. Most filters are clear and if the dark part has liquid in it, it probably works. Pumps can be tested by putting a finger on them and clicking the ignition from off to on. You should feel the pump “click” as it primes. If there is no click check the fuses. If it clicks more than 4 times, it’s likely being starved by a jammed filter, kinked line or it’s going bad. You can find the pump by tracing the lines and it most often is easily accessible for a quick check.
If you’ve checked the petcock and don’t have a fuel pump, heck even if you do, give the tank a shake so any gas stuck in the sides of the tank is pushed towards the rear and the fuel petcock. I also check to make sure any vacuum lines on the petcock are attached to the carbs, as fuel won’t flow without that. You have to actually look because sometimes you have a vacuum control but still say ON and OFF like the older petcocks that didn’t.
On California and newer emissions controlled motorcycles, I see a lot of cases where the bike runs out of power and stalls. Once pulled over, they restart ok, and then stall again 3 miles later. In these cases, try running with the gas cap open! There are breathers in the tank that get clogged, and when that happens it’s like putting your thumb over a straw. The gas can’t flow out. Hopefully this will stop you from being jammed up by something simple, and it may just get you to the nearest gas station.

False Idles 
If your bike isn’t idling right, warm it up and take note of if adding choke (making the mix richer) or cracking the throttle ever so slightly (making leaner) makes the bike change behavior. Even Electronicly Fuel Injected motorcycles reveal a lot by “blipping” the throttle. Rich bikes are getting too much gas, so they idle high but lose power when given initial throttle because they can’t burn all the gas. For carburetors that suddenly show signs of being in a rich condition, gently whacking the bottom of the carbs to make sure the floats (tiny little pieces that control gas flow like the rubber piece in the back of your toilet) are free. Also check that the choke cable works. After that, solving a rich condition gets more involve such as checking the spark plug gap or fuel bowl levels.
Lean running engines tend to “hang up” at high rpms when the throttle is let go, and they also rev down slowly after the throttle is closed. A key clue is that the issue gets better as the bike warms up or that you are running hot. Extremely lean motors can also stall out completely when given some light throttle. Another signs of lean running is the “hunting idle” where the motorcycle revs up randomly, changes RPMs or takes forever to come down to idle.
First, start simple and look for a loose or open vacuum hose. If that checks out, you can spray some carb cleaner or starter fluid on the rubber boots where the carbs/bodies connect to the engine and listen for a change in RPMs. Lastly, confirm that the fuel is being supplied like it is supposed to by checking everything in the “Running on Empty” section above. If it is, lean running is the number one sign you need carb work but it can also indicate you’ve really gone a long ways between tune-ups.
For EFI specifically, much of the old-fashioned carburetor malaise is done away with. Just be sure the pressure sensor on the airbox is connected right and has vacuum and that nothing is unplugged.
You can check EFI for vacuum leaks the same way you do carbs, so ignore “educated” bikers who scoff at you for not knowing “they don’t make those anymore” when you pull out the carb cleaner. EFI bikes also all have a handy “self-diagnostic mode” which will flash out a numeric code through the gauges. A simple web search reveals both how to activate this feature and translate most codes and even resolve the issues.

Dude! Where’s my ignition!?
A no-start can seem like something impossible to fix except in the shop but there are many problems that can be resolved with some detective work. First, ensure the battery is good and that the engine turns over. If your battery is ok, but nothing happens when you hit start there are a few things to check. Make sure the batteries black ground cable is solidly connected to both the battery and grounding point on the engine (that is where the big black battery cable connects to the engine) and that the fuses on the main switch (connected to the big red battery cable in most cases) are good. Clutch switches, kickstand switches and the neutral light can all break to cause this type of problem. Try starting with the kickstand up, clutch in, and bike in neutral and see if the motor spins. If not, these switches can normally be bypassed with a paperclip pressed into both ends of the connector one at a time. Some of the connectors are easy to find, like the electrical thing pluged into you kickstand is the kickstand switch, but others may be really elusive without a schematic on a newer motorcycle.
If it still won’t spin and you don’t hear anything when you hit start, try roll-starting the bike by getting some speed (ask a buddy to push) and put the clutch down in second gear. If it starts, somethings wrong with the starter system, check the connections.
Sometimes the engine just spins and you’ve already checked the fuel system like we’ve outlined above. In this case you need to ensure you have spark.  Rotate the wire ¼ a turn in both directions before you pull it to help prevent the connection from breaking. Whatever you do, do not yank at it! In a pinch or if you don’t want a special tool you’ll hardly use, set the wire against the engine with a metal screwdriver in it and look for a blue flash.  Because there are fire risk and real big electrocution risk, I suggest that it is better to buy tester for 10 bucks. If there is a spark, check the plug gaps. If there is no spark, and the connections are tight you’ll have to do some in-depth troubleshoot on the coils, crankshaft pickup and wiring harness. Not a light job.
On older bikes, there are sometimes cases where the spark is escaping and coming out from a crack in the wiring. This is only really visible in the dark; luckily, it is normally also audible as a regular crackling while turning the engine.

The Big Ones
Sometimes the motorcycle breaks in a big way. While you can’t fix these you can diagnose them. They don’t tell you about these major failures when you buy the thing, and motorcycle safety courses I guess figures you won’t ride a bike like that… but I guess they’ve never heard of YouTube and I’ve had a person ride to meet me on a motorcycle with a spun rod bearing thinking it was a bad gear or something.
Diagnosing the difference between valves and bearings is a bit of an art on a motorcycle because the whole thing vibrates throughout the frame. In general the rules are as follows:
Valves lifters when they tap are a very “plinky” tap at idol and tend to get better if the bike is turned off and on, you correct the oil level, or the bike heats up. If your noise is like that, you probably just need an oil change. On a bike without hydraulic lifters, you need a tune up.
Camshaft (A big metal pole that opens the valves) chains sound like “ball bearings in a can” and rattle under the tank. Cam chain rattles need to go to the mechanic but are normally not horrible in cost to fix. If the plink doesn’t get better with topping of fluids or heat, it’s something that will need to get fixed.
Valve issues on the other hand tend to “suck.” No literally! Sticking valves cause suction on the tailpipe and Valves are also often the cause of black smoke.
Major engine troubles on motorcycles sound like a metal scrape. Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s the transmission just because the sound goes away most the time when the bike is put into gear or revved. Engine heat doesn’t make much difference with these noises, and a low oil pressure light is a dead giveaway.
A rod, piston or serious knock is not subtle and you can change the noise by manipulating the throttle. The real thing to look for in all engines are a marked “rattle up” or “rattle down” noises that follow the throttle. You should not run bikes making noises like this at all.
Transmissions are easier to decide if it’s a little or big problem. If it spits you out of gear, jams in gear or just won’t go into gear, than there’s very little hope that anything but a total rebuild will fix the issue (for most motorcycles). But if the transmission “sputters,” rattles or pulses as you put it in or out of gear it’s normally just the clutch. The best thing you can do for your transmission is to always make the full shift, the gears are mostly damaged by half shifts. A clunky gear box, which sometimes makes a metal punch noise doesn’t usually mean much except that it’s designed to shift fast and take abuse. It seems transmissions can shifted quietly or fast, but physics gets in the way of making it do both.
Parting Thoughts
I designed this guide to help people clear up the “simple fixes.” You need gas and spark to run any engine and good controls to use it. This story evolved from being about choosing the right mechanic to bike fixes, because identifying what’s wrong with your bike before you get the mechanic will help you pick the right one.
Ultimately, when it comes time to take it to the shop, give plenty of details and make sure that you’ll receive detailed information in return. Ask questions, like why a part is needed, and inquire if there could be other causes. If there are repairs to be done, ask the expert what these repairs will work. If a technician isn’t willing to give you five minutes of their time to do that, then why give hours of labor to their business? Don’t feel bad walking away from a bad shop, because it’s much worse to walk away from a basket case bike or to not walk away at all because of an overlooked mechanical falt.

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