Myths Or Not?
Thursday, November 30th, 2023
I found a lot of points of interest in this particular issue of Rider.
I don’t usually write about what is published in magazines but in the case of the November issue of Rider there were just too many things that caught my eye. So I diverge from my norm.
It started right off the bat with the magazine cover. It’s a picture of a Can-Am three-wheeler on a dirt road, kicking up a lot of dust, and with one of the front wheel off the ground (see photo). I thought it was a terrific photo, especially with the rider flying that wheel.
I was also interested in the machine because while I’ve long been familiar with the Can-Am Spyder, just recently I had seen a couple of these much smaller ones and had wondered about them. They are called Ryker and they’re much smaller and sportier. I test rode a Spyder and did not like the handling but was wondering if these would be different.
Well, reading the article about the Ryker answered my question and confirmed my impression from the Spyder: “On the street, the Ryker Rally is quick and responsive, but it requires muscle and aggressive body positioning when tackling curves at speed.”
By “aggressive body positioning,” in my experience, this means when you turn you have to brace your outside foot against the rear-set peg and then lean your body to the inside forward and across the machine. Otherwise it wants to throw you off. I guess that hasn’t changed.
Another item of interest in this issue was one by a woman, Ellie Cooper, who rode her 2009 Royal Enfield Machismo 350 across India from north to south–solo. Yow! I would be seriously skeptical of doing something like that and she has the added disadvantage of facing the hazards that men don’t face but that are all too well known to women. I’m sure it helps that she has apparently lived in India for a long time, and thus is vastly more familiar with it than me, but I’ve got to say, this lady has guts.
And then there is an article by Steve Larsen titled “19 Motorcycle Myths.” These generally include the well-known bits like “Loud pipes save lives” and “I had to lay it down” as well as some I hadn’t heard, like “Real riders never wash their bikes.” But one in particular struck me: “Raingear keeps you dry in the rain.”
In this bit of discussion he says, “My experience, however, is that rain almost always soaks into small cracks or seams, and before I know it, I’m soaked.”
What? That’s a myth? Says who? I have rain gear and I don’t mind riding in the rain for the simple reason that . . . drum roll . . . it keeps me dry. Sure I get a bit of spray at times up around my neck where there is space between my helmet and the collar of my rain jacket, but that’s all. Steve, maybe you need to invest in some better quality rain gear.
I’ve been reading Rider for about as long as I’ve been riding motorcycles. At this point it’s one of the few motorcycle magazines that have both survived and continue to be put out on paper. Keep them coming fellas.
Biker Quote for Today
Riding is my addiction, and I’m a savage at it.
