Chronicles
The 2008 Triumph Urban Sport Models
It’s not often that motorcycle manufacturers choose to debut their latest models on the east coast. So when Triumph asked if we’d be interested in joining the coming-out party for their latest Urban Sports models in the Great Smoky Mountains, our response was immediately affirmative....
Ride Like a Pro
An often neglected motorcycle riding skill is fine low-speed control. You know, what we need to do in parking lots or on narrow streets where we have to make a U-turn in 20 feet. But due to lack of practice, most of us just aren't comfortable with these maneuvers and learning by trial and error is hard on the chrome and paint. So how does one acquire...
The Centenary Isle of Man TT
In the film It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey says the three most wonderful sounds in the world are "airplane engines, train whistles and anchor chains." You won't catch me arguing with that sentiment, but of course I need to add one other sound that intimates a promise of places unknown: motorcycle engines. And while I'm at it, why not hoof clops...
Gettin Started in Motorcycling
Motorcycling used to be just another way of getting around, but now it's one of a growing number of "powersports" that may also lay claim to major portions of your discretionary spending: ATVs, personal watercraft, snowmobiles, and any number of four-wheeled and water-based diversions. However, for me, motorcycle touring is still much closer to bicycle...
2006 KLR 650
I've never owned a car or motorcycle that didn't prompt me to "make it better" by modifying the original machine with a few – OK, many – aftermarket parts. Annoying as it sometimes is to others, it cannot be helped. This "I can't leave things well enough alone" compulsion probably took up residence in my psyche long before I could speak,...
2007 AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction
Take one motorcycle museum, mix in a Hall of Fame induction ceremony and host a vintage motorcycle display, and you're all set for a weekend of motorcycle nostalgia, social networking, and reminiscence....
Say what?
It was a beautiful late spring day. I had just crossed the border from California into Arizona, piloting a big, bad cruiser: Yamaha's Road Star Silverado. Riding toward me, a bunch of bikers, all bandanas, dark glasses, leather vests and chaps. Arizona has no helmet law, so I thought I'd give their look a try – the wind in my hair, that is. I...
Sport Bike Track Time
You don't have to be someone like Nicky Hayden to enjoy the racetrack experience. In fact, competition is not even on the agenda with Sportbike Track Time. The enterprise isn't a racing school, or even a venue for racing preparation. The goal of this Ohio-based organization is to allow individuals the opportunity to participate in a quality, closed-course...
2007 Tour de Pink
Inspired by the exploits of Tour de France legend Greg Lemond and other Americans racing in Europe, I was a rabid, but not very rapid, cyclist in the 1980s. It was exotic stuff to me – wiry cyclists battling over impossibly brutal Alpine passes, the frenzied crowds threatening to swallow them whole, and then in the last possible moment, a motorcycle-mounted...
Storm Watch 101
Three of us rode out of Palm Springs on a coolish March morning – me, the Electra-Glide and Doris, my chatty Garmin GPS. Cool is 70 degrees in Palm Springs, so I'd dressed in Draggin' Jeans, an Olympia leather jacket and summer gloves. I was heading for Idyllwild, the hippie town in the San Jacinta mountains, and then on to the Anza-Borrego Desert....
