Flossie, the Castrol robotic motorcycle 'rider'...: Photo courtesy of and copyright by Castrol

The uber-techs at Castrol have been hard at work perfecting a bad-ass robotic test "rider". Well, it doesn't really ride, but it can sit atop the motorcycle and do all the throttle, clutch, and shift actions that a human rider does.

Among the many stated benefits:

• Flossie can be fitted onto any bike or scooter for testing on a chassis dynamometer.
• Flossie can act like a new rider, learning how to operate all the controls, gaining proficiency over time.
• Flossie will perform the same gear change or the same acceleration time after time.
• Flossie doesn't get tired or saddle sore
• Flossie doesn’t mind the excruciating noise of the bike in the chamber as its engine screams away
• Flossie doesn't worry about riding in extremes of temperature
• And, most importantly, Flossie is a safe rider

(Source: Castrol)

Of course, I think this is complete bull. Castrol engineers built Flossie because it was just a wickedly-cool looking 'bot!

Here's a short YouTube video showing Flossie in action and one of the techs giving background details...

Harley Davidson sales slump continues

Well, I'm sure it won't come as much of a surprise in this economy: Harley-Davidson reports second-quarter profits are off by 91% over the same quarter in 2008. Revenue declined 27 percent to $1.15 billion. Hard times are expected to continue into 2010 as the economy remains weak.