John M. Flores

Travel Guide

Things to Do In and Around Weston, WV

Weston, WV, (population 3,943) is the county seat of Lewis County. Weston is a quiet town with a compact, walkable downtown with a handful of interesting shops, restaurants, and museums. The Weston Downtown Historic District has a bit of that time-machine feel, as if time stopped moving about 70

Roundtrip Tour Premium Content

Costa Rica: Cruisers in Paradise

The Great Getaway is BMW Motorrad’s organized trip to locations chosen specifically for the R 18 cruiser. With tours in Portugal, Costa Rica, and Oregon, BMW is partnering with local tour companies to lead these trips. These aren’t intense ride-rinse-repeat type tours (which can be great) but rather

Jul/Aug '24 Premium Content

Weston, West Virginia Shamrock Tour®

Sometimes you bring the quiet with you on a trip. Sometimes, it’s already there. Sometimes it’s both. I brought a little quiet with me on this tour, that I’ll admit. But in this part of West Virginia, nestled in the hollers around Weston, there was also a

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2024 BMW R 1300 GS

In 2004, the Yamaha FJR still had that new car smell, the Honda VFR was still a contender, and the Ducati Multistrada 1000S DS had bodywork from the future. Then, like a meteor, Ewan-Wan Kenobi and his pal Charley took the long way around on a pair of BMW R

Columns

Vanson Leathers: From Versailles to Fall River

Back in the mid-1900s, most any gathering of motorcyclists would be dominated by leather clad riders. Leather offered warmth, abrasion protection, and style. The epicenter of Euro-centric leather motorcycle style was the Ace Cafe in London, where ton-up boys on their BSAs, Triumphs, and Nortons wore now-iconic leather jackets. Starting

Tips

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

We’ve all (hopefully) been there, out on a mountain ride and feeling absolutely gobsmacked by the scenery. So, you stop and snap a photo, hoping to capture the power and grandeur of the mountains. But when you look at your picture the mountains look tiny (like hills at a

Tips

Great Bike Portraits in Five Steps

You know you've met a fellow rider when they take out their phone to show you a picture of their ride. Most have a snapshot after a wash or while on a trip. But if you want to be the person with the awesome photo of your bike

Product Review

Review: Vanson Baja Ventilated Jacket and MK3 Streamliner Vest

The Vanson Baja ventilated jacket is a classically styled, hip-length coat designed for warm weather. The thick, roughly textured mesh is 1000 Denier Cordura, while 1010 Duck waxed cotton adorns the shoulders, elbows, front-button storm flap, pockets, and back. Brass zippers and snaps, leather trim on sleeve cuffs, and a

Sep/Oct '23 Premium Content

ZenMoto Part 4: Oregon to California

It takes just one day off the bike for all of my gear to leap out of the bags and be strewn all around the room. It’s been a good day off in Jacksonville, OR, but it’s time to gear up for the final stretch. Ocean It’s

Jul/Aug '23 Premium Content

ZenMoto Part 3: Idaho to Oregon

Motorcycle travel connects you to the land in a unique and singular way. You sense the size of the world as it rolls beneath your wheels. You feel the massive forces shaping the terrain as you traverse it. You acknowledge the footsteps of native tribes and settlers that came before.

Tips

Selfie Confidence: Documenting Your Next Ride

It’s the craze that’s sweeping the nation! Here’s a selfie of me with friends! Here’s a selfie of me in the bathroom! Here’s a selfie of me in front of a thing that I saw! Here’s a selfie of me with a bacon cheeseburger!

May/Jun '23 Premium Content

ZenMoto Part 2: Montana to Idaho

Motorcycle travel is, conceptually speaking, very simple—wake up at Point A, aim for a bed or campsite at Point B, and refuel the bike and the body along the way. It’s not always easy but, compared to the complexities of adulthood, this rhythmic simplicity may be part of

Mar/Apr '23 Premium Content

ZenMoto Part 1: Minnesota to Montana

It takes about an hour before I leave behind the exurbs of Minneapolis, MN. The riding is easy—lots of straight roads and not a lot of traffic or navigating. There is space in my head to scroll through the 50 million things that one thinks about on the first

Roundtrip Tour Premium Content

Maine: Exploring Lighthouses and Mountains

Hewn from bedrock and shaped by glaciers, Maine’s landscape is unique, from its rugged coastline dotted with lighthouses to its pristine lakes and deep woods. Maine has always attracted individualists and adventurers, from lumberjacks and hunters, to fisherman plying Georges Banks, and to Henry David Thoreau and motorcyclists. Lighting

Jan/Feb '23

ZenMoto: Kickstand Up

In 1968, a technical writer from Minnesota left Minneapolis on his 1966 Honda CB77F Super Hawk with his 11-year-old son Chris as pillion. The two had a pair of Harley-Davidson beetle bags and a mountain of gear strapped to their 305cc, 28 hp motorcycle. This was the start of a

Columns

Tarform Motorcycles: Back to the Future

Walk into Tarform Motorcycles in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the vibe is that of a custom bike shop. Employees are getting stuff done at their stations, parts wait patiently on metal shelves, and music bounces off the industrially-high ceiling and hard concrete floor. Founder Taras Kravtchouk fires up the

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2021 Honda Trail 125 ABS

The 2021 Honda Trail 125 ABS is a ridiculous motorcycle. Its 125cc thumper motor is underpowered and slow. Its centrifugal clutch is clunky. It’s only got four speeds. Its suspension is crude: I have kitchen stools with thicker legs than the forks and rear swingarm on the Trail. Did

Sep/Oct '22

City Escape: Boston, Massachusetts

The White Mountains of New Hampshire and roads like the Kancamagus Hwy get all the attention. But there are some fine roads and thinly-settled areas to explore when heading from Boston, MA, to southern New Hampshire. The region is filled with quiet roads to nowhere and crossroads with little more

Product Review

Review: Array Solar Backpack

The Voltaic Systems Array Backpack [https://amzn.to/3PLUTBe] is a solid backpack with a solar panel and storage battery attached. The pack has a main compartment with mesh sleeves, a padded laptop pocket close to the wearer’s back, and two small zippered side pockets. It is not weather

Camera Gear

Product Review: Insta360 One R Action Camera System

This is the Insta360 One R, a GoPro action camera competitor with a twist. Built like Lego, the One R consists of pieces that can be assembled in a number of fascinating ways. The key pieces are the battery, the core (with a tiny touchscreen, USB-C connector, Micro SD memory

News

Klim's Gore-Tex Material Technology

It wasn’t that long ago when riding gear was defined mostly by one material: leather. Early synthetic gear was often coarse, stiff, bulky, and barely breathable. But we’re in a golden age of gear now, with a wide selection of fabrics and styles available to suit most any

Sep/Oct '21

Review: 2022 Suzuki Hayabusa

> When the original Suzuki Hayabusa was introduced in 1999, it was the fastest kid on the block and wasn’t shy about it—remember those “Ultimate Predator” ads? But times have changed and we now have touring bikes making more than 150 hp, 1,000cc sportbikes pushing 200 hp,

Sep/Oct '21 Premium Content

New England

It’s 2020 and the world is upside down. Life as we know it—the carefree travel, the large gatherings, the simple act of blowing out candles on a birthday cake—is over. In the shadow of the pandemic, my riding partner and motojournalist friend Moshe and I head up

Sep/Oct '20 Premium Content

Seven Springs, Pennsylvania Shamrock Tour®

The old and weathered Allegheny Mountains run through north-central Pennsylvania and portions of neighboring Maryland and West Virginia. The range was once the furthest reaches of a young nation, and within the mountains' wrinkles lie stories and tales that, like tree rings, reveal the past. History It's

May/Jun '20 Premium Content

New York: Adirondack State of Mind

Moody morning fog shrouds the woods around Fort Ticonderoga, but by the time Cameron and I climb the short, steep hill up to Mount Defiance, the August sun has burned away the morning mist. We have a clear eastward view across narrow Lake Champlain to Vermont and the Green Mountains.