RoadRUNNER May/June 2007
Shamrock Tour
Shamrock Tour®: Boise, Idaho
Departing from the heart of Idaho's capital city of Boise, you can be riding the open road in about 10 minutes. Since the state's principal claim to fame is its potatoes, you might expect to find yourself among potato plants. But those farms are elsewhere. You'll either be among the sagebrush and scrub of the high desert or climbing into the foothills...
National Tours
Part I: New York Waterways
The last glacial period in upstate New York left behind a lush landscape of rivers, lakes, gorges, waterfalls, and fertile land. Navigable waterways instrumental to exploration of the area by pre-colonial Europeans took on strategic importance as France and England laid claim to the territory. Forts were built and armies clashed, including those of...
Washington: In the Horse Heaven Hills
If you've never heard of Bickleton, Washington, don't feel bad; you're not alone. Little more than a general store, a tavern, and a 90-student K-12 school, the town lazily straddles a quiet county road (the grandly named Bickleton Highway) in the baked brown hills above the Columbia River. However, in the brilliantly plumed realms of ornithology, Bickleton...
Texas: Wandering the Wide Open Spaces
As I spur the big Heritage Softail® west out of Abilene, the light mid-morning traffic allows me to take an earnest survey of the immensity unfolding in every direction. Only smatterings of manmade structures and distant clumps of trees mar a limitless horizon that wouldn't budge the bubble in a carpenter's level much off dead center no matter where...
International Destinations
Turkey: Scenic, Safe and Sensational
There is much to be said for seeing Turkey on a motorcycle. The roads, ease of traveling from the U.S., the unequalled historic and archeological wonders, and the excellent hotels and restaurants make it as convenient as touring in Europe. But the best reason for coming here is to meet the warm and considerate Turkish people, who readily convey a genuine...
Canada: British Columbia, Coast to Cariboo
"Ho-hum," a friend of mine remarked, tongue-in-cheek, as we stood looking across British Columbia's vast Shuswap Lake, "just more mountains, forests, rivers and lakes." Well, for once, he was right. Southern BC is mostly forests, rivers, lakes and mountains. And as motorcyclists know, these geographical features usually indicate something other than...
Canada: Newfoundland - To Terra Nova
We couldn't recognize much of what the attendant was saying as English, nor did we understand him when he smiled and rattled off a rapid-fire warning, "Yobettagedyoassoutofhere!" But we quickly got the message as the big truck approached. The man's dialect, we later learned, unmistakably identifies him to the rest of Canada as a resident of Newfoundland....
Riding Impressions
Harley-Davidson FXDCI Dyna Super Glide® Custom
There's no telling what tomorrow's assignments will bring. We might be exploring a great new road up in the mountains, riding off to a rally or charity event, or leaving at sunrise on another tour that's likely to eat up a thousand miles or better. Our needs change from day to day and it's nice to have the key to Harley-Davidson's Dyna Super Glide®...
Kawasaki Vulcan® 900 Custom
Just mention Austin, Texas, and I'm ready to head that way. A vibrant, college-town atmosphere, great food, innumerable live music venues, and some great riding make the Lone Star State's capital one of the coolest towns around. So when I recently received an invite to come to Austin and join Kawasaki for a day of riding on their new Vulcan® 900...
BMW R1200R
An elegant new member of the naked community, the BMW R1200R is a very worthy successor to the extremely popular R1150R....
Ducati Multistrada 1000DS
If you want to stand out in a crowd, Ducati certainly has the answer. That's my first thought as I ride into a parking lot full of big, bad chromo-cruisers on a bright red Ducati Multistrada. The Duc's avant-garde bodywork and trellis frame give it the look of something that might have fallen off a passing spacecraft, while the retro-Wurlitzer styling...
Super-sized Scooter
In the burgeoning maxi-scooter market, Piaggio's BV500 is more classically styled than the company's X9 or other more sportbike-inspired competitors. The front exhibits classic scooter design cues, but the rear has been transmogrified into a touring motorcycle. Is this the ingenious creation of an enlightened product development team, or has someone...
Chronicles
The Rock Store
West of the San Fernando Valley, a slew of riders regularly head for a 1910 stagecoach stop that has become one of the most famous biker hangouts in the world. Nestled in the tree-lined canyons of the Santa Monica Mountains, on Mulholland Highway, arguably the most famous stretch of back road in the world, the Rock Store is about 35 miles from the...
Scooters to the Rescue!
If you ask the scooter faithful, they’ll tell you that their fun, hip, economical rides can go a long way toward making the world a better place by curing the social ills of traffic congestion and global warming. Now, there is some solid scientific evidence to back that contention. Data from a new traffic model released this past spring demonstrates...
Tired and Confused?
Unless you are lucky enough to live somewhere that escapes winter's icy grip, there is a special set of hazards everyone else has to deal with to keep rolling year-round: the cold, the dark, the precipitation, and changes in traction. And winter conditions are a potential hazard on high mountain passes all year. Put them all together, and make way for...
Product Reviews
Sidi Doha Boots
Wearing boots while motorcycling is a no-brainer. Feet are very vulnerable to injury while riding and they should be properly protected at all times. But full-length boots can often be cumbersome and uncomfortable, especially around the office or if your ride leads you to an attraction that requires a bit of walking. Thankfully, there is a reasonable...
BMW ProRace Gloves
As with everything else at BMW, it’s all about the quality and engineering. Their ProRace Gloves are made entirely of very fine but strong kangaroo leather; the inner hand is pre-formed to ensure a non-folding grip; and the extremely flat seams eliminate pressure points. Knuckles and wrists are protected by tough, light, good-looking carbon fiber...
British Motorcycle Gear (Belstaff) Challenger Jacket/Pioneer Pants
When combined, the pieces of British Motorcycle Gear’s all-weather riding suit exceed the sum of their parts. In fact, this outfit is so weather-resistant and comfortable that with the removable quilted liner installed in both pieces, an adventurous rider might trade in his or her two-wheeler for a dogsled and race the Iditarod in relative comfort....
BMW Rallye 2 Pro Jacket Santiago Pants
“Wow!” That was the reaction of a certain lady the first time she saw me wearing this jacket. Great appearance obviously isn’t the primary attribute of enduro riding gear, but when it comes along in a high-quality package that fits and feels great, it’s definitely appreciated. Once out on the road, the rugged Cordura® 500...
First Gear Sierra Jacket and Pant
Testing motorcycle-related products is almost always lots of fun, except when it comes to rain gear. But, as any traveling motorcyclist will attest, wet happens, and it’s best to be prepared when it does. First Gear has long been known for top-quality riding apparel and their rainproof Sierra Jacket and Pants are no exception. Both garments proved...
SportVue® MC2
If you’ve spent any time at all watching those Discovery Channel programs about jet fighters (and what motorcyclist hasn’t?), then you’re familiar with the high-tech, heads-up information displays the pilots use. Well, thanks to the folks at SportVue®, this radical technology is now available to motorcyclists in the form of their...
Moto Classic Slip-on Mufflers
Moto Classic Slip-ons are O.E. style replacement mufflers that impart a bigger, deeper sound and improved performance on your Kawasaki VN900 and other metric V-twins. The 3 1/2-inch diameter muffler canisters are similar in appearance to stock, feature removable baffles (optional quiet and performance baffles available), and come in a choice of interchangeable...
Horizons Unlimited The Achievable Dream
While traveling around the world on two wheels like RoadRUNNER’s own Uwe Krauss and Ramona Eichhorn is certainly not a new idea, it is one that is becoming more popular. Thanks to groups like Grant and Susan Johnson’s Horizons Unlimited, surveying the world from the seat of a motorcycle is a pursuit undergoing a process of demystification....
Mac Automotive Foldable Storage
Not everyone has a garage, and constant exposure to the elements can turn a beautiful, new motorcycle into a regular old bike in no time. But now riders don’t necessarily have to use a throw-over cover. The Foldable Storage “Chopper Topper” from Mac Automotive is a neat new item that provides many of the protections of a garage without...
