RoadRUNNER Winter 2002
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Shamrock Tour
Shamrock Tour®: Paducah, Kentucky
"Paducah?" My friends at our neighborhood bar ask. "Paducah!?" Maybe they just like saying it—but, yes, having accepted an invitation to visit their Summer Festival, the HOG - Rally, and to ride the regional roads, I'm bound for Paducah....
National Tours
Southwest Texas
This land is beautiful and cruel. Cacti and creosote dot the ground and bloom from the road’s edge to the far horizon. Long, sharp spines flare from the waxy stems, ready to draw blood....
New York: The Finger Lakes
Hot, so hot. Gusting winds keep leaning the bike over, but provide no relief. It's open country. The pavement just keeps rolling over hills and across valleys and I catch myself starting to nod off. I have to find a place to stop that's out of the sun and get something cold to drink. Ironically, these gently rolling hills on this expansive plateau were...
Baja California
Baja. In the world of off-road racing and riding few words conjure the kind of reverence associated with this legendary peninsula. For almost 40 years Baja has hosted one of the greatest off-road races in the world, the Baja 1,000. Located on the western coast of Mexico, the state of Baja California is bordered on two sides by ocean, the Pacific on...
International Destinations
Canada: Nova Scotia
The warm June sun that sparked the smiles behind our visors when we picked up our bikes in New Jersey has abandoned us. Between Portland, Maine, and Saint John in New Brunswick, our constant, dour companions are pouring rain and cold temperatures....
Riding Impressions
Honda 919
To compete with Yamaha’s FZ1 and Kawasaki’s ZRX1200R, Honda brought out the 919 this year. Big Red’s nimble, naked bike comes with a fuel-injected engine and a design concept crammed with high-tech goodies....
MZ Baghira Street Moto
Concept & TranformationAfter the German Reunification in 1990, the nationalized companies in the eastern part of the country (formerly the German Democratic Republic) were no longer sheltered and suddenly acquired new perspectives of good and bad. “Live or die” was the motto. MZ, the brand from Zschopau, tried to move forward but it...
Moto Guzzi California Stone
In model year 2002, Moto Guzzi debuted the California Stone to succeed the Jackal. Now with several improvements from Aprilia, the new owner, the bike is better – easier to ride and much more user-friendly....
Chronicles
City Portrait: San Francisco Fascination
Eleven in the morning when the plane drops through the clouds, I can see the first sparkling outline of San Francisco below. A special feeling always overcomes me, arriving in this breathtaking town. People from all over have chosen San Francisco for their home and so have I – but, sadly, only for the next three days....
Honda Hoot 2002
What do you get when you put almost 200 vendors and 14,000 riders together in a big southern city with lofty, green peaks, a national park, crashing white-water rapids, and twisties more crooked than Richard Nixon? A real big Hoot. That's what.Honda pulled off another great event this year in Knoxville, TN, proving yet again that the southern Appalachians,...
The BMV MOA International Rally
The weather was terrific, remaining clear and not too warm throughout. Over 5,600 people attended from all four corners of the continental US, including participants from Anchorage and Vancouver. And unlike some other rallies, the only trailers in attendance belonged to the vendors and those being pulled by BMW bikes. National rallies of this type are...
Laguna Seca
Honda's International Superbike Classic and the AMA Superbike Championship....
Intermot 2002
1,070 companies and distributors from 38 countries presented their latest motorcycle products at the Munich INTERMOT....
Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School - Steering Techniques
There seems to be a debate these days over whether counter steering or lower-body steering is the most effective way to steer a motorcycle. The extremists who think it has to be one or the other are missing the point – using the upper and lower body together is by far the most efficient way to steer a motorcycle. We discussed proper body position...
Washington State:
Bonnie and the others invited along for a week of laid-back motorcycling – cruising Washington's beautiful Mount Rainier and the Cascades – had commitments at home in New Jersey. As for me, I was as free as Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson in the 60's classic Easy Rider. Free to soar on a Harley-Davidson plucked from Cruise...
