By Kurt Sunderbruch The long, cold, wet winter has passed. It’s time to clear those cobwebs out of your head, out of your skills, out of your motorcycle, and get out and ride. Spring is my favorite season for riding. The natural world is blooming. The days have gotten longer, and the sky has
Ride Report – A Road Trip Autopsy, Part 3
By Ryan McNerney Pulling into Bakersfield after what felt like hours in the rain, I realized that I had, in fact, spent hours in the rain. My pace down 178 from Lake Isabella clocked in somewhere between “slow as cold molasses” and “glacially slow,” but I had made it into town safe and sound,
Ride Report – A Road Trip Autopsy, Part 2
By Ryan McNerney “Riding? You’ve got thicker skin than I do; my KTM is hibernating until it gets warmer,” one of the locals told me as he filled his truck’s tank. The air temperature had been steadily dropping as I approached Lake Isabella on 178, and I was glad my Olympia jacket and pants
The Allure of Distant Roads
By Kurt Sunderbruch Do you have a local go-to road? Yeah, me too. I’m lucky enough to live in a place where some really fun roads are within a mile or two of my house. Roads I know well. Roads I feel like I can rely on like old friends. Roads that (almost) always deliver
Ride Report – A Road Trip Autopsy, Part 1
By Ryan McNerney “What’s that they say about the best-laid plans of mice and men?” I thought to myself as I listened to the patter of the rain on the roof of my tent. I was supposed to be camping in Death Valley at that point; I found myself instead at a KOA campground
Moto-Life Imitating Art
By Dennis Dumapias In the past year alone, I’ve pulled off the following two-wheeled good deeds: Stopped to help a stalled car in the middle lane of a busy commuter freeway. The driver said the car just died, and not only was he not able to restart it, he couldn’t get it out of
Morgan Territory Ride Report
By AJ Jacobsen In California we are blessed with a wide variety of mountain roads, with pavement, trails, and tracks that can appeal to pretty much any riding style. As part of my riding club, Curve Unit, we host monthly rides in various areas, providing members and attendees with new scenery and different roads
The Power of Synchronicity
I’ve always been kind of lucky. Not “behind an armored car that lost all its money out the back” lucky, but I have had fortunate timing; in part by coincidence, and part observation. So it came to pass that Hootie II, the second iteration of my boxer twin R65, started running rough one morning. I
Swiss Alps Tour – Part 3
We got a really good nights sleep, which was great since we were tired from the long day yesterday. We woke up to blue skies, and it was crisp and cold with a light frost. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the Hotel. The European breakfast of sliced meats, cheeses and breads can grow on
Swiss Alps Tour – Part 1
By Bill Harr Riding the Swiss Alps was a bucket list ride for me. I was surprised and pleased that my wife wanted to make the ride with me. Last year I stopped and checked on rental motorcycles at the two dealers in Basel Switzerland. The Suzuki-Triumph dealer had several bikes that would work for
Favorite Tahoe Rides
While I am not from the Lake Tahoe area, I love gambling, skiing and enjoying the outdoors. The great thing about Lake Tahoe is that the area offers two very distinct seasons, though in summer in never gets really hot. For me, this makes it a great summer and early fall riding destination. Here are
Beginnings of Adventures
Since I started riding I’ve wanted to go for longer and longer rides. Once you get to a 10+ hour ride, you start to think about spending the night somewhere so you can really go far. And of course that leads to week long trips, and month long trips, and then you’re going the wrong
Ride Hard….With a Vengeance! Part 2
Apparently the Boozefighters who came in later encountered difficulties. One group was profiled by SD County sheriff deputies, who pulled them over for doing the speed limit, held them for a while, then let them go. Another group rode in an hour after us, and the leader said he was unnerved by the sand dunes,
Ride Hard….With a Vengeance! Part 1
It’s been a while since my accident two years ago. The bike was down for a year as I scrounged for money to buy parts. Then, when it was all back together, I went on a 6 hour ride down into the desert with the BMW shop guys. After that one ride, the bike started
Three of my favorite Southern California Rides
As more of a “weekend warrior”, I don’t really spend much time commuting to and from the office. I work from home most days, and I usually just ride my bicycle to the office when I do go in. This is great for me, because once Saturday comes, I am ready to get on my
Beach Days for Bikers
Beach days are the best days. At least that’s a strong belief I have. I’ve spent my entire life around water, so when I started riding a motorcycle I wanted to make sure I’d still be able to spend time at the shore. I’ve had a few years to perfect my technique, and I’m pretty
Everywhere You Go….
Everywhere you go, there’s something you haven’t heard of yet. Over the last few years, I’ve spent a lot of time riding the same old routes that I know are amazing. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I’m looking to branch out a little bit. I spend plenty of time at the racetrack, so