Chris Myers

Nov/Dec '06 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Lexington, Virginia

According to the road signs, we're closing in on Natural Bridge, Virginia. Normally, it's a good thing to be nearing the night's comfort zone, especially after nine hours of riding on a hot summer day. But this evening is different. Kathy and I are

Nov/Dec '06 Premium Content

Italy: Two By Two Through Tuscany

"The traffic rules in Italy aren't so much rules as suggestions," our tour guide says at our pre-ride briefing. "You can pass cars anywhere, just do so safely. Drivers here don't care; in fact, they expect it of you." Despite my lingering

Nov/Dec '06 Premium Content

Classic Roads: Highway 191 - Utah

As the remaining miles of Arizona's claim to Highway 191 dwindle to single digits, we look back on all we've seen. From its cool, high-mountain passes to sweltering, wind-blasted deserts, the Copper State has presented some of the most imposing scenery we've ever encountered

Nov/Dec '06

Yamaha FJR1300A/AE

> That is the question facing potential buyers interested in the 2006 edition of Yamaha's exceedingly popular FJR1300. Laurel-resting certainly wasn't on the year's agenda over at Big Blue. And topping the list of cool refinements on the sport-touring world's top dog

Nov/Dec '06

Honda 599 - Long-term Evaluation

> When you're caught up in this whole motorcycle touring business, it's really easy to get spoiled. After all, only a fortunate few are given the first crack at riding the latest models of such fine purpose-built mounts as the Gold Wing, Ultra Classic, Concourse, and

Sep/Oct '06 Premium Content

Classic Roads: 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

Sep/Oct '06 Premium Content

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.

Sep/Oct '06

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

Jul/Aug '06 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Grand Rapids, Minnesota

My first view of Mille Lacs Lake is an impressive one indeed. The bright midmorning sun is laying a shimmer across the wind-blown surface, creating a near blinding electric caper of refracted light that, even in broad daylight, puts the Vegas strip to shame. Another half-mile of asphalt passes beneath

Jul/Aug '06 Premium Content

Roundtrip Tour: Circling Pittsburgh

The bar in the sports-crazy college town of Morgantown, home to West Virginia University, had one of their televisions tuned, oddly enough, to the Weather Channel. Gnawing away at the wing of some unlucky flightless fowl and sipping from a stein of suds, I found myself paying more attention to

Jul/Aug '06 Premium Content

Florida Scooter Tour

In the grand scheme of things, February in North Carolina is not all that bad. We could ride year round, but few of us choose to do so. Our long, hot summers condition us to opt for the extra two wheels once the leaves take leave. Sure, the daytime highs

Jul/Aug '06

Kawasaki Vulcan 1600 Nomad - Long-Term Evaluation

> Oddly enough, it's on a four-lane highway somewhere outside of Danville, Virginia, that it dawns on me. This bike's moniker really fits. A nomad is one who doesn't stay in the same place very long, a wanderer if you will. And while the

May/Jun '06 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Austin, Texas

It must be after one o'clock. I can tell because the hunger pangs are starting to hit with a consistency matched only by the Heritage Softail's staccato, V-twin thump ricocheting off the warm Texas asphalt. According to a friendly reader I met at the Fort Worth

May/Jun '06

Ducati 749S / Suzuki GSX-R750

> I have to be honest with you, folks. My boy-racer days are well behind me. Though I still covet a brisk pace across endless stretches of tasty twisties, there are usually packed saddlebags and often the world's greatest copilot along for the ride. Yep, these days I&

May/Jun '06

Honda FSC600A3 Silver Wing

> Remember the original Silver Wing? It wasn't a scooter; it was a motorcycle. Honda used the CX 500 transverse-mounted V-twin platform to launch their version of a slenderized touring machine, the GL500 Silver Wing Interstate. A sort of Gold Wing "lite" if you will. After

Mar/Apr '06 Premium Content

North Carolina: Slow Down, Look Around

We never stopped at South of the Border when I was a kid. Dad was one of those psycho travelers. Bladders could be emptied only when fuel tanks were filled. Motels were always dark places and I only saw them during midnight check-ins and pre-dawn check-outs. Mom was sympathetic about

Mar/Apr '06 Premium Content

Virginia: Spirit Roads and Ghosts In Grey

Have you ever been somewhere that seems to speak to you? You know, a special place that feels so comfortable and so right that you can't help but feel you belong there. Staying away is impossible and with each return the mystical region's sweet refrains strengthen

Mar/Apr '06

Let's Get It On

> No punches pulled, it's the stuff of which classic fights are made. In one corner we have the thoroughbred champion, a machine many regard as the finest road-going sport bike in the world today. Its clean, svelte bodywork transmits a menacing sense of purpose and a stylistic

Mar/Apr '06

Harley-Davidson FLHTCUI Ultra Classic Electra Glide - Long-term Evaluation

> My first ride on the 2005 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic was one of those dreaded, droning highway runs on I-95/85  -  from the H-D factory in York, Pennsylvania, to the RoadRUNNER offices in North Carolina  -  and although the plush seat and excellent sound system certainly eased the boredom

Mar/Apr '06

Victory Hammer

> Riding a motorcycle is cool. We all know that to be true. But riding a motorcycle that truly turns heads, that adds a whole new dimension to the feeling. Blasting down the highway somewhere outside of Minneapolis on Victory's '06 Hammer, I'm noticing the

Jan/Feb '06 Premium Content

Eastern Arkansas

The light slanting through the slit in the blackout curtains seems to indicate the day has dawned bright and sunny. Slowly, like a tortoise, my dream-fogged head extrudes from the dark shell of the motel room at the door and swivels in the outside world. Yes, it's a

Jan/Feb '06 Premium Content

Old Salem to Williamsburg via Virginia Highway 40

Ah, vintage motorcycles  -  No matter how well you plan and prepare, nothing seems to quell the mischievous nature of the little gremlin that seems to reside in all things carbureted. An irksome imp whom I oh-so fondly call #*@%^$ occasionally visits my 1978 Kawasaki KZ650C. Unfortunately, the little rat decided

Jan/Feb '06

Honda CBR100RR / Kawasaki ZX-10R / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / Yamaha YFR-R1

> The best of the best, cream of the crop, and pick of the litter are all phrases used to denote the outstanding single example of a collective. And when surveying the four 1000cc supersport models parked in the hotel parking lot, it quickly becomes apparent that picking the "

Jan/Feb '06

Honda GL1800A Gold Wing (ABS) - Long-term Evaluation

> I've never liked Gold Wings. For years they were objects of derision. The characterizations I'd hurl in their direction included too big, too clumsy, too heavy, and the ever popular "it's nothing but a car on two wheels." On top of

Jan/Feb '06

Who You Callin' Scooter?

> In America, more is more. Size matters. We like things big  -  upsized, super-sized. From Jumbo Jets to Jumbotrons, we're Dumbo for humongo. We relish taking everything to the next level. Did you ever think the Big Gulp® would get bigger? Me neither. Well, now you can