Columns

A collection of 136 posts

Columns

Loretta Lynn: The Matron of Motocross

Loretta Lynn was more than just a legendary country music singer and songwriter. The coal miner’s daughter stood as a symbol of hard work and resilience throughout her career, telling her inspirational story through her powerful voice and sometimes-too-real lyrics. She was an example of what it takes to

Sidetracked

Thirdendary Roads

> “Daddy, where is that car going?” My son spoke those words to me three decades ago as he stood tiptoe, looking out the window of our home on the edge of town. The curiosity of a child has inspired many an adventure. They are an elusive lot, adventure riders.

Jan/Feb '10

Shopping For A Used Motorcycle

Buying a used motorcycle intelligently requires considerably greater effort than just walking into a showroom and selecting a new one. There are both risks and rewards with a previously owned machine. You can get far more bang for your buck, while letting the original buyer take the big depreciation loss.

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Road Rash: Sweet Dreams!

I’ve always been envious of people who could sleep while lying next to an Atlanta freeway. I’m not one of them. I have enough trouble sleeping well at home, and strange accommodations usually exacerbate the problem when traveling. The pillow is too hard or soft, the air conditioner

Columns

3D Printing and Motorcycles: Your Parts and Tools Factory at Home

The world marveled when the crew of the USS Enterprise used a replicator machine to create solid objects seemingly out of thin air in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The year was 1988 and the device seemed like something that could only exist in science fiction. But at that point,

Columns

Speed the Wheel: Insects and Taxes

Benjamin Franklin is often credited as saying: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” For a motorcyclist there is an additional certainty. Whenever you take the time to thoroughly clean your face shield, a big old bug is going to splatter itself across

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

Columns

Arai Replica Helmets: The Colors of Racing Legends

Today, the name Arai is synonymous with racing. The Japanese helmet brand has a presence in virtually every form of motorcycle racing, from motocross to the vaunted MotoGP Championship (and within the ranks of auto racing as well). Regarded as an innovative company that revolutionized safety helmet technology through its

Do Good

Biker Down: Motorcycle Accident Help

When you’re out on a ride and you have a fall, who you gonna call? BikerDown! Well, you should actually probably start with the emergency number. But BikerDown is there to help riders recover after being in an accident. For more than a decade, the non-profit organization has harnessed

Columns

AHRMA MotoFest Monterey: Remembrances of Things Past

It was a beautiful fog-free weekend at Laguna Seca in Monterey. The American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) had staked out a motocross track on the rolling hills above the famous circuit, cut a small flat track oval out of the grass infield, and built a trials section, creating the

Tips

Time to Re-Tire?

Life's too short to only own one motorcycle, right? But we can only ride one at a time. If you own a bike that only does a couple of thousand miles a year, should you wait until the tires [https://imp.i104546.net/9W9yBW] are worn out before

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The American Motorcycle Jacket

Before we talk about the traditional American motorcycle jacket, we should agree on its design features. Unfortunately, that is a tough topic. While Schott NYC started the motif in 1928 by swapping buttons for zippers, prior to 1953, there just wasn’t one predominant style that most American motorcyclists wore.

Do Good

Yamaha Hands Out $145,000 in Aid for Outdoor Recreation

Yamaha does more than just build motorcycles. The brand also supports locations and initiatives that provide riders with places to ride. To this end, Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiatives (OAI) has granted awards totaling $145,175 to improve access to public land for motorcycling. Yamaha said these second quarter grants went

Tips

Touring Tips: Riding Loaded

One of my favorite television shows as a child (and I realize this hints at my age) was The Beverly Hillbillies. The opening shot was of the Clampett clan driving down a palm-lined boulevard in Beverly Hills; an ancient flatbed truck piled high with possessions dangling from every spare inch

Columns

Time of the Motordromes: When America Fell in Love with Speed

Motordrome. The name conjures visions of a futuristic arena for motorized death games in a Road Warrior sequel. In fact, it’s a relic from a bygone era. Motordromes sprang up across America at the dawn of the 20th century to accommodate the public’s insatiable fascination with a byproduct

Tips

How to Make Your Motorcycle Last Forever

Motorcycles are made better than ever. Their design, materials and machining are more accurate and precise – and reliability is greater than it’s been before. To that end, here are some tips on how to keep your motorcycle going as long as you want and save money too. The three

Tips

Traveling Solo: The Benefits and Risks of Riding by Yourself

I like sharing long-distance motorcycle travel with one or two other riders, but no more than three; more than that and group management becomes burdensome and potentially contentious. Two of the benefits of traveling with fellow riders are the conversations at mealtimes and the help when there is a mechanical

Columns

T.E. Lawrence: A Love Affair with Speed

I have long mused that perhaps the most challenging task for a motorsport journalist is how to adequately describe to a non-rider what it feels like to ride a motorcycle. To those of you reading this, you are probably already indoctrinated to the soul-seducing capabilities of motorcycles. So, in essence,

Columns

Bell Helmets: An American Original

One of the most revered names in helmets, Bell, emerged quite humbly out of the back of an auto parts store in California in the early 1950s. The famous brand was the result of a confluence of several key elements of inspiration. In 1945, Roy Richter, a race car driver

Sidetracked

Rain on an Old Tin Roof

Thunder roared in the distance as I ducked under the rusty, corrugated sheet-iron structure. I was a lone 16-year-old boy wearing a faded Levi’s jacket, tight, high-water 501s, and a white T-shirt. Three hundred miles into the day’s journey, my 4 a.m. departure was taking its toll.

Tips

Touring Tip: Coping With Severe Weather, Part 1 - Lightning

Riders traveling by motorcycle are much more vulnerable to severe weather conditions than passengers in an automobile.  Some riders are under the mistaken impression that a motorcycle’s rubber tires will protect them in the event of a lightning strike.  A car, with its steel frame, usually conducts a lightning

Do Good

Do Good: All Kids Bike

Riding a bike is an incredibly useful skill to have, and we’re not just talking about motorcycles. A bicycle gives children both valuable exercise and greater freedom to travel. Unfortunately, too many kids don’t learn how to ride a bike these days. All Kids Bike helps children get

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Brave New World

Necessity: The Mother of Invention In the early years of the 20th century, Popular Science Magazine was filled with artists’ renditions promising a future of electric vehicles. They appeared with the same frequency as sketches of airborne men wearing jetpacks and commuters whizzing around modern metropolises in flying cars. We’

Zen Motorcyclist

Zen Motorcyclist: Never Lost

> "Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." —John Muir In my last column, I mentioned my former fear of being lost.

Sidetracked

Adventure Riding: What's it to You?

Adventure: A bold, unusually risky undertaking or hazardous action of uncertain outcome. "Where’s Kurt?” I ask, as Disco pulls his bike up beside mine. “I passed him a couple miles back. He won’t be riding that KTM anytime soon. His rear wheel spun clean off the hub.