Archive for the ‘motorcycle touring’ Category

Godzilla and Relay Rally Across America Coming to Colorado

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Old Bike Ride 8

Having fun and riding motorcycles is what life is all about, isn’t it? Cheers then to the guys on the Single Over-Head Cam 4 Forum for the little relay rally they’ve put together, which will be passing through Colorado probably some time in May. If you ride an SOHC 4 you may even want to join in, although even those of us on DOHC bikes and others are welcome.

It all started out with a post on the forum by a member with the handle of MyCB750K6, who wanted to get the group to organize rides as it had done in years past. The original idea was a 1,000-mile ride but it quickly grew to become a relay rally through all 48 continental states. And then to add some whimsy, someone came up with a little plastic Godzilla that will be the token passed along from rider to rider.

The first riders will be leaving Daytona on March 12. They’ve divided the country into regions and each region has its team. The initial Team Southeast Coastal will hand off to Team Southeast, to Team Southwest, to Team California, to Team Central Rockies, to Team Central, to Team Mid Atlantic . . . Dates are in place for part of this but not for the Central Rockies, yet, thus my lack of specificity.

The idea is taking off. Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum has signed on as a sponsor and the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club has pledged its support.

The guys at the forum make it clear this is NOT a race. Says the moderator of the group, “The premise here is to organize a ride where as many members as wish can be a part of a group effort to promote and take pride in SOHC4.com, to meet and interact with other members, to enjoy amazing riding and provide others with what they have accomplished, to benefit charitable organizations, to accomplish our goals, to ride as little or as much as they want and just have a safe and fun time doing so.”

The hope is that it will become an annual event and continue to expand. The plan has already expanded to now include Canada. Next the world? We’ll see.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
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Biker Quote for Today

There are old racers, and there are bold racers, but there are no old, bold racers who don’t walk funny.

Yes, That’s My Mug In Rider Magazine

Saturday, February 5th, 2011

If you read Rider magazine you may have gotten a bit of a shock when you opened the latest issue (March 2011) that arrived this past week: There’s a picture of me in it, and it ain’t pretty.

section from a page of Rider magazineYou can see it in this section of one page that I scanned and have included here. That’s me and Klaus Herder, who is with Motorrad magazine, at dinner on the last night of the EagleRider media tour we went on in October out in California.

We were sitting across the table from Donya Carlson, who is an editor at Rider, and who had been on the tour as well. She shot this picture and later sent it to me, with no hint that she actually planned to use it with her article. What a surprise when I saw the article!

Of course, we both made it into another picture as well, because it’s a group shot and we’re all in it. And then there’s the matter of one of my pictures also being used in the article. The day we rode along Big Sur I went ahead and waited for others in the group to come along so I could get pictures. I was waiting on the far side of a bridge and Donya came along with Simon Weir, who writes for RiDE magazine in England. I got a good shot of them on the bridge and sent it to both of them later. Donya contacted me to ask if they could use it with her article, so at least I knew about this one.

So anyway, it’s a silly picture of us but that’s OK. Everybody gets a laugh. And thank you, Donya, for the fun. Not to mention the opportunity to get published in a major national magazine. I usually pass my magazines along to my friends after I read them but in this case they’re going to have to buy their own copies–I’m hanging on to this one.

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Delay of lead law enforcement gives kids’ bikes a breather

Biker Quote for Today

You want me to go where??? On that???? OOOOKKKKKAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Work Work or Play Work, a Choice I Need to Make

Friday, December 10th, 2010

Motorcycles up on Red Mountain Pass

My life got complicated yesterday. I’ve been in touch with Ben Hochberg at ABATE of Colorado about taking their motorcycle trainer training so I can work as an MSF instructor teaching new and experienced riders to be better riders.

My interests are numerous. First, I’m trying to make a living as a motorcyclist, primarily by writing about motorcycling for any publication that will pay me. Being an MSF instructor doesn’t pay a lot but I’m in an every-little-bit-helps situation, trying to piece together a bit here and a bit there to equal a living wage.

Also, being an instructor would undoubtedly provide me with a lot of material for my writing. Heck, just taking the training course will provide me with material even if I never teach a class. Plus, taking the training and teaching the courses would inevitably make me a better rider myself.

And third, I enjoy teaching. I’ve had a few jobs over the years where part of what I did was to train others and I find it very rewarding.

So what’s my dilemma? Well, Ben told me yesterday the dates of the class, two weeks in June, and those are the same two weeks in which I was planning to do a motorcycle trip to California with some friends. Dang!

Of course that trip would also be fodder for my writing, and I don’t take vacations, so I’d be cranking out articles for Examiner.com and RumBum.com and others the whole while I was gone. But it would still be play as work, whereas doing the training would be more work as work. And who wouldn’t rather play than work?

I know the logical choice here is to stay home and do the training. Both the training and the trip would cost me money, some of which I would recoup through my writing, but the potential earnings of becoming a trainer far outweigh what I’d earn from the trip. And paying the bills is a nice thing to be able to do.

But I’d rather go on the trip. Wouldn’t you? Gosh, it just sucks to be me, doesn’t it? Don’t I wish I just had some job sitting at a desk and pushing papers all day! Yeah, right.

So anyway, if you have any thoughts to offer me on this decision I’d be happy to hear them. It just had to be those two weeks, didn’t it?

Biker Quote for Today

I’m a highway junkie! Lord, I love a white line!!!

Know State Motorcycle Laws When You Travel

Monday, November 29th, 2010

The OFMC at a stop

We were coming down from the Black Hills and had been in Nebraska for about an hour when we stopped at a table along the road. There was another guy there, in a car, and we struck up a conversation with him. Along the way he mentioned, “This is a bucket state, by the way.”

Oh really? We hadn’t known that and we had been riding without helmets on. Oops. We had done the same thing a year or two earlier when we rode into Nevada for the first time. Somehow we got all the way to Las Vegas before we learned they required helmets.

Of course that was a long time ago, before the Internet, and we could be excused our ignorance. Back then it wasn’t easy to know what different state laws are. And if a state does require helmets, why the heck don’t they put up a sign at the border that says so?

There’s no excuse anymore for being ignorant of the laws in a state you’ll be riding to. The Internet does exist now, and one excellent place to check up on all states is a handy page on the American Motorcyclist Association’s website. You go there and there’s a map of the U.S. Click on the state you want to know about and it takes you to a listing of what they require and forbid.

The very first item on the list, presumably because this is the most common question, is the helmet requirements, if any. Other information includes the following:

  • Safety Helmet
  • State Funded Rider Ed
  • Eye Protection
  • Daytime Use of Headlight
  • Passenger Seat
  • Passenger Footrest
  • Passenger Age Restriction
  • Helmet Speakers
  • Periodic Safety Inspection
  • Mirror Left(L) Right(R)
  • Radar Detector
  • Turn Signals
  • Muffler
  • Maximum Sound Level
  • State Insurance Requirements
  • Handlebar Height
  • Rider-Education
  • Accept Motorcycle Endorsement From Other States
  • Accept RiderEd Completion Card From Other States
  • Motorcycles operating two abreast in same lane
  • Lane Splitting
  • Lemon Law Coverage

I’ll bet you didn’t even know that some states have requirements or prohibitions in some of these areas. Heck, you might even learn something about your own state laws.

Any by the way, the page also has separate legal requirements for off-road bikes. All in all it’s a lot of good information.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Fly and be groped or ride and have fun: Your choice

Biker Quote for Today

Remember when sex was safe and motorcycles were dangerous?

Round-the-World Ducati Rider Hitting Denver

Monday, November 8th, 2010

Paolo Pirozzi, on his Ducati Multistrada

The word from Erico Motorsports is that Paolo Pirozzi, who is riding around the world on his Ducati Multistrada 1200, will be coming through Denver this weekend and they’re rolling out the red carpet for him.

According to the blurb, Paolo has mapped out a 90,000 kilometer route that is taking him from Europe to Russia, Asia to Australia, then on to North American and North Africa, ending up back home in Italy. Ducati gave him the Multistrada for the ride but the Ducati community is taking car of everything else.

In Denver, there will be a meet and greet at Erico on Saturday from 2-4 p.m., after which he will be given a tour of the sights of Denver on a bus loaded with the first 20 to sign up. (“Yes, free beer on the bus,” says Erico.)

When the bus returns to Erico at about 5:30, the party will move to Vintage Moto at 2762 Walnut for a private viewing of Jim Dillard’s vintage motorcycle collection. Then the local Denver Ducati Owner’s Club will be taking the guest of honor out to dinner.

The entire event is open to anyone, although the bus is expected to fill up quickly. For more information, contact Erico at 303-308-1811.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Honda adventure bike challenges BMW’s GS

Biker Quote for Today

Adventure is not the road we travel, it’s the obstacles we overcome.

Butler Motorcycle Maps Adds Southern California

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Just a quick note here to let you know that Butler Motorcycle Maps has just added Southern California to the list of motorcycle-touring maps it offers. Already available are Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and Montana. They will also soon have a Rocky Mountain states map combining all five of those mountain states in one map. These things are sizable already so I’m wondering if that one is going to be huge.

Butler Motorcycle Maps - CaliforniaI’ve written previously about these maps so I’ll just recap here. In addition to being tough and waterproof, these maps have all the best motorcycle roads in each state highlighted and detailed. I know they’ve done a good job of this because I have ridden extensively in the Rocky Mountain states and there isn’t a road I would add that they don’t already have. And they have a few I’m not familiar with. I’d say that’s a pretty strong recommendation.

As for this new one, Southern California, this is where it really gets interesting for me. I don’t know California very well, and I especially don’t know SoCal. I look at this map and I think, “Oh man. Look at that. And that. And that. I want to go there.” But you know, without something like this map, if I did go there I wouldn’t have any idea where to go. Clearly the main strength in these maps is cluing in people who are unfamiliar with an area as to what the area offers.

For instance, I was riding in SoCal just a couple weeks ago, and while I was on a tour where I couldn’t just split off and go somewhere else, I see from this map that we were very close to some really nice roads. Not that the roads we were on weren’t nice, mind you. We did, after all, ride Big Sur, and go to Yosemite, and ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. But I had no notion that there were some other very good motorcycle roads that we just went right past. Next time I have a chance to get out that way I’m definitely taking this map.

I will make note here, for purposes of full disclosure, that I have an ongoing relationship with the folks at Butler. They have paid for one small ad on 1 page on my 100+ page website, and they do give me these maps for free, with the hope that I’ll write about them. Rest assured, though, that if I thought these things were crap I’d say so. But you won’t hear that from me because it’s not true.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
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Biker Quote for Today

Don’t die wondering, die wandering.