Caleb McInturff

Shop Talk

Motorcycle Tire Construction: Know How Your Rubbers are Made

Whether you like off-road riding, cruising the Pacific Coast Hwy on a slammed bagger, or racing on road tracks, you need tires. But not all tires are made equal for all types of riding. Picking the correct tire requires you to answer many questions before you pull the trigger. Where

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6 Spooky Motorcycle Noises You Shouldn’t Ignore

Motorcycles are complex machines that require regular maintenance to continue operating properly. Over time, component wear can lead to various noises, each hinting at a specific issue. To many riders, these spooky noises may sound like the makings of a horror film. No need to be scared, understanding these sounds

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Motorcycle Drive Systems Explained

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Should You Warm Up Your Bike Before Riding?

Many of us are in the habit of irritating our neighbors by warming up our engines before we leave for a ride. Much like an athlete warming up before competition, it only makes sense that our engines require the same treatment. Allowing the engine components to heat up and oil

Shop Talk

Basic Motorcycle Maintenance

Unfortunately, you can’t just hop on your bike and ride without performing proper maintenance and checks. If you do, you shouldn’t. Pilots check their aircraft before takeoff to mitigate any chance of an unscheduled landing. Motorcycle pilots should be no less diligent. A catastrophic failure on a motorcycle

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Riding Gear Care

So many of us spend time and money cleaning and maintaining our motorcycles. But what about the protective armor that keeps you safe while astride your steel steed? Your riding gear is something you hope you never need. It’s easy to ignore gear maintenance, especially if you’ve never

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New vs. Used Motorcycles

There are a ton of things to consider when buying a motorcycle. The list is long and you have to ask yourself all kinds of questions. What sort of riding do you want to do?  What size engine do you need? What seat height is too tall? What’s your

Shop Talk

How Much CAN Can a CAN Bus CAN?

It seems everything has become increasingly computerized in the past decade or so. We have everything from network-connected refrigerators to pet feeders you can monitor from across the globe and cars that drive themselves (until they don’t). Naturally, our motorcycles have followed suit. Gone are the days of cleaning

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Keep Your Bolts Bolted

It’s truly a marvel that the clockwork cacophony of motorcycle parts—all designed, manufactured, and arranged so precisely—hold together and continue to function for thousands and thousands of miles. However, something as simple as one bolt coming loose can absolutely wreck your engine or other critical system on

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Honda Gold Wing

The Gold Wing. A machine that Honda has been meticulously refining since 1974. Over those 49 years, it has matured into something very different from the original, but from the beginning, it quickly became the gold standard for touring motorcycles. From drum brakes to supercomputers, the Gold Wing has stood

Product Review

Review: Haven Tents

For years, my wife has loved hammock camping, and she suggests using hammocks on nearly every trip we go on. However, we almost always end up packing the tent because I have difficulty getting a good night’s sleep in a hammock. No matter how much I adjust and fiddle,

Mar/Apr '23 Premium Content

Getting High in Colorado

Riding in central Colorado is a treat, no matter the time of year, but doing it in the fall is something everyone should experience. The aspen trees are bunched in groves varying in thickness all over the mountains and they begin to explode into a wildfire of color in mid-September.

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KTM SM-T: A New Generation of Touring Travel

In 2009, eager to stuff their LC8 V-twin into more motorcycles, KTM gave us the 990 Supermoto Travel or SM-T. It was more supermoto than traveler, but the upright riding position and perfect ergos meant you could absolutely crush the miles connecting twisty roads. The SM-T didn’t quite fit

Roundtrip Tour Premium Content

Fall in Appalachia: Abundant Turns and Autumn Tones

October is probably my favorite month in general, and it’s definitely my favorite time to ride a motorcycle. As such, Marisa and I were excited to get on the road and had turned in early the previous night. To our dismay, we woke to drizzling rain. Fortunately the temperature

Product Review

Review: DJI Pocket 2 Camera

Nearly every day, there is a new gadget hitting the market that makes capturing memories easier. Cameras have gotten smaller, cheaper, and so, so much better over the years. Today, most of us are carrying several professional-grade cameras on our smartphones. Small Yet Mighty Enter the DJI Pocket 2 [https:

Jul/Aug '22 Premium Content

Racing Thoroughbreds From Tennessee to Kentucky

We are lucky, living in the Nashville area, to have so much spectacular riding within a few hours of our house. Regardless of the type of bike we may be on, there are options to suit. While usually finding ourselves on dual-sport styled bikes capable of off-pavement exploration, we also

May/Jun '22 Premium Content

Exploring the Vermont Countryside: Local Favorites and Covered Bridges

We had been riding for several days and had been fortunate with the weather. It’d been absolutely gorgeous, and clear days and perfect temperatures had welcomed us to the Northeast. But this particular morning, that warm welcome came to an abrupt end. We woke to find the mercury in

Helmets

Product Review: HJC RPHA 11 Pro

The first thing I noticed about the RPHA 11 Pro was how light it is. It weighs significantly less than helmets in the same price bracket, as well as helmets that cost over $200 more. HJC offers three shell sizes, but in each size the RPHA 11 weighs in at

Tires

Product Review: Michelin Anakee Wild

The Michelin Anakee Wild [https://imp.i104546.net/6bDDab] is a recent addition to the adventure bike tire lineup. I’ve had the tire set on my KTM 990 Adventure for 2,000 miles and I’ve ridden on just about every surface. So far, it’s performed admirably on

Camera Gear

Product Review: Nikon D850

Nikon released the D850 in September of 2017, and it has remained a heavy-hitting flagship in their product lineup since. This full-frame professional DSLR has established itself as one of the titans of its domain despite its relative age and is considered one of the best pro cameras money can

Racing

2021 Tennessee Knockout Hard Enduro

We humans have always enjoyed watching people perform tasks with extreme proficiency. This seemingly unique quality has been studied by psychologists and helps explain the advent of spectator events in virtually every society that we know of. Whether it’s the Tokyo Olympics, the gladiators of ancient Rome, or an

Mar/Apr '22

Review: 2021 Can-Am Spyder RT & RT Limited

> In case you’ve not seen one in the wild, the Can-Am Spyder RT is a three-wheeled machine biased toward touring and travel with enough storage for two—especially on the RT Limited. In a nutshell, both of them are capable and very comfortable touring machines. The 2021 Spyder

Nov/Dec '21

Comparison: Yamaha Ténéré 700 vs KTM 990 Adventure

> There are varying approaches to designing a motorcycle, and naturally, there are people that prefer each approach. Some prefer sport bikes, while others prefer cruisers, but regardless of the flavor, it’s becoming common to see motorcycles equipped with more and more technology. Many are equipped with a slew

Sep/Oct '21 Premium Content

Galena, Illinois Shamrock Tour®

We woke to clouds and drizzling rain. We waited and studied the forecast to see if it would relent. No such luck… Marisa and I decided that — since we were riding Can-Am Spyders with wind protection comparable to a convertible—we’d hit the road despite the precipitation. Our quick

Mar/Apr '20 Premium Content

Kentucky Adventure Trail: Backroads of Appalachia

Our starting point is Pine Mountain State Resort Park in Pineville, KY. It’s mid-March, and the mornings are expectedly chilly. Marisa and I quickly find ourselves shedding additional layers of clothing as the sun warms the Kentucky hills, but as we descend into deep, wooded valleys, where the morning