RoadRUNNER September/October 2006
Shamrock Tour
Shamrock Tour®: Palm Springs, California
I have a theory that most males are fascinated by either wheels or spheres. The latter group spends much of their recreational time chasing a ball or watching someone else do the same. The "true" wheel guys share a passion for transportation, and they couldn't care less about RBIs, touchdowns, dunks or golf. It's well known that Palm Springs and its...
National Tours
Northeastern Michigan: Bay City and Presque Isle County
The opposite ends of this tour take in two different worlds connected by great scenic roads. In Bay City, you can stay busy sightseeing, shopping or sampling the night life. And over in Presque Isle County where the simplest pleasures hold sway, you can stroll in settings of undeveloped serenity along the Lake Huron shoreline or sit beside an inland...
North Dakota Roundtrip
“Throttle up and start cruising,” the North Dakota motorcycle map recommends. Sage advice I conclude while steering the Gold Wing out of the small town of Williston. The vast prairie does beckon in a beguiling manner, yet one can’t help but feel a slight sense of unease upon departure. You see, in this part of the United States, leaving...
Classic Byways: US Highway 191 - Arizona
A little north of Tombstone, the coyote (Roadrunnerus digestus) emerges from the low scrub brush on the dusty shoulder of Arizona's Route 80. He stops mid-trot and watches with apparent nonchalance as our RoadRUNNER Gold Wing (Burn-em-upus asphaltus) breezes by. But I'm not fooled by his insouciance – years of Saturday mornings have taught me...
North Carolina Mountains
In my younger, more impetuous days, my old buddy Rich and I were known for embarking on road trips that often defied logic in their timing and execution. Never sticklers for details, we'd throw caution to the wind and, on a whim, hit the road with reckless abandon. Not all of our sojourns were great successes, but none could ever be considered complete...
International Destinations
Canada: Call of the Yukon - Part Two
It's the great, big, broad land 'way up yonder, It's the forests where silence has lease; It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder, It's the stillness that fills me with peace.— Robert Service Around the midpoint of the Second World War, oil-rich Alaska was threatened by Japanese invasion. At least that was the horrific scenario military planners...
Basic Bolivia
"Welcome to Coca Country" could well be the most fitting name for the Bolivian exhibition hall at the next World's Fair or maybe for some future installation at Six Flags over South America. Admittedly provocative (unless the soft-drink giant underwrites its construction), nevertheless the hall might tell a very different story from the tales of torment...
Riding Impressions
2006 BMW R1200ST
As I conducted my initial walk-around of the BMW R1200ST at the Palm Springs press intro, my first impression was that the bike offered three good sides and one that only a Bavarian mother could love. Appointed in the most appealing of its available color combinations (red with black trim), from either side, the ST's lines flowed energetically from...
Kawasaki Ninja 650R
Poised to inject serious fun into the bargain-blaster segment of the market, the new Kawasaki Ninja 650R is a street hip, super sharp, smooth operator that flashes the boulevard with a most affordable price tag. Designed with the rider in mind, the bike's comfortable ergonomics, useful wind protection and energetic twin cylinder engine are part and...
Suzuki M109R
Shaping up for a "Battle of the Titans" in the heavyweight cruiser class, Suzuki entered the arena this year with their new M109R Boulevard. Going toe to toe with Kawasaki's Vulcan 2000 and Yamaha's 1854cc Roadliner, the pre-fight buzz has Suzuki claiming the most powerful V-twin cruiser in the class....
Kymco People 250
Let's see, my driveway is right at ten miles from the parking lot here at the palatial RoadRUNNER towers. Simple math indicates that I'll ride Kymco's People 250 right at 100 miles every week just to get to my keyboard. Throw in a couple of errands and an occasional long-way-home jaunt and I may actually burn close to an entire tank of high test in...
Chronicles
City Portrait - Knoxville
All motorcyclists covet great roads, and everyone has their favorites. But when it all boils down, certain common denominators remain. The twists, turns, sweeps, and swoops of lonely two-lanes snaking their way through the mountain ranges across the land usually comprise the cream of the collective crop. And every motorcyclist who can't resist the...
BMW Mendoza
Motorcycling on one's own is perhaps never wise, but often it is inevitable. There was a time when I intentionally scouted routes alone, but I have since learned how much more enjoyable it is to share the experience, good or bad, with others....
New York's Scooter Scene
New York, New York. So nice they had to name it twice. The Big Apple. Gotham, the city that never sleeps, is an unlikely place to find two-wheeled communion, plagued as it is with manic cabbies, potholes that swallow small children, and suburban sprawl that pushes any scenic back roads well beyond the city limits. But like dandelions growing in sidewalk...
