May/Jun '18 - RoadRUNNER

RoadRUNNER

May/Jun '18

May/June 2018

City Escape: Asheville, North Carolina

City Escape: Asheville, North Carolina

City Escape: Eugene, Oregon

City Escape: Eugene, Oregon

> This loop southwest of Eugene includes forests, rivers, lakes, state parks, and stirring views of the Pacific Ocean. Southwestern Oregon is filled with stunning scenery and this escape is a good sampler of what the region has to offer. This ride is best taken from late spring through early

Expedition Idaho: Motorcycle Adventures Where Memory Lane Isn’t Paved

May/Jun '18 Premium Content

Expedition Idaho: Where Memory Lane Isn’t Paved

Going the distance can mean so many different things. For wanderers, it typically refers to making a trip longer than expected, by choice, or sometimes, by forces beyond our control. For others, it just means that you’ve gone, or are going, as far as you can. Last year I

Italy Motorcycle Tour: Smoke on the Water

May/Jun '18 Premium Content

Italy: Smoke on the Water

Mt. Etna, the largest of Italy’s three active volcanoes, commands the view to the east of Enna, an ancient town built atop a hill in the middle of Sicily. A few miles farther and 2,000 feet higher on the road climbing out of the Dittano Valley, the smoking

Japan Motorcycle Tour: A Rider’s Secret Paradise

May/Jun '18 Premium Content

Japan: A Rider’s Secret Paradise

Believe it or not, being a motorcycle journalist is hard work. Especially under trying circumstances. There are rarely second chances. It’s run and gun, get the moment now—or never. I had the time of my life working this project in Japan, and now, here on the plane, I’

Motorcycle Tour in Rome, Georgia - RoadRUNNER Shamrock Tour®: High Spirits in the Southern Appalachians

May/Jun '18 Premium Content

Rome, Georgia Shamrock Tour®: High Spirits in the Southern Appalachians

The Southern Appalachian Mountains dominate the landscape of North Georgia and Northeast Alabama. These ancient mountains have been the upland home of Native Americans and have borne witness to their life and death struggles from the earliest traces of human habitation (12,000 to 15,000 years ago) into the

Riding an Electric Motorcycle in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York: In the Tire Tracks of a Pioneer, Pt 5

May/Jun '18 Premium Content

Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York: In the Tire Tracks of a Pioneer, Pt 5

The home stretch. With the mountains and deserts and most of the country at his back, riding from Chicago to New York City should have been the easiest part of the trip for Wyman. It wasn’t. Against all odds, George A Wyman had crossed the Sierra Nevada, the Great

Review: 2018 Royal Enfield Himalayan

Review: 2018 Royal Enfield Himalayan

A Brand New, Old School Adventure Bike > Like many others, I’ve been drooling over photos of the Royal Enfield Himalayan since they first began circulating around the internet a couple of years ago. A retro-styled, middle-weight adventure bike off-the-shelf. Did they make this just for me? How did

Review: 2018 Yamaha Star Eluder

Review: 2018 Yamaha Star Eluder

Eluding Convention > Elude: to evade or escape from, as by daring, cleverness, or skill. The allure of escape has always been synonymous with motorcycles. The appointed destination of any trip often holds less importance than the act of traveling the roads between points A and B. A motorcycle will

Comparison: 2017 Honda Africa Twin CRF1000L & 2017 KTM 1290 Super Duke GT

Comparison: 2017 Honda Africa Twin CRF1000L & 2017 KTM 1290 Super Duke GT

Jim’s Riding Impressions 2017 Honda Africa Twin CRF1000L This Africa Twin had the Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT), which allows either completely automatic gear shifting or pushbutton sequential shifting. The combination of a torquey two-cylinder, liter-sized engine and the DCT’s propensity for upshifting at relatively low RPMs, when in