The Harley-Davidson Museumâ in Milwaukee is gearing up for an exhibit dubbed “Weird Wild Wonders,” which will showcase exotic motorcycling oddities and secret prototypes. Artifacts will include experimental motorcycles that never made it to market to weird products that were sold. The exhibit will cover about 8,000 square feet and will also include rare films [...]

The Catalina Grand Prix, which returned to California in 2010 after a 52-year hiatus, has not been approved by the Catalina City Council for 2011. The Santa Catalina Island Co. and city of Avalon, however, have announced that there will be a greatly expanded Catalina Grand Prix for 2012. The event is slated to be [...]

I’ve had a new set of tires for my Kawasaki KLR™ in the garage for about six months, but I’ve been procrastinating taking the bike and tires to my mechanic for mounting. Along comes the No-Mar tire changer for testing, which seems like the perfect solution for my tire-changing indolence. After UPSâ deposits the package [...]

Japan’s major earthquake and tsunami affected Honda’s motorcycle production and killed at least one worker at the Tochigi R&D facility. Honda donated $3.7 million toward relief and recovery and provided 1,000 portable generators and fuel to those affected by the disaster. Other companies have stepped up as well. The Harley-Davidson Foundation has made a $250,000 [...]

My campground neighbors must have enjoyed the show, watching the idiot, yours truly, wander over to a small coffee pot sitting on the ground, lift the lid, and peer into it every couple of minutes. They were probably somewhat bewildered as I poured steaming water into two cups, brewing some Starbucks instant coffee for my [...]

Cyclecars were popular 100 years ago because of their light weight and sporting performance. Morgan is the only remaining company that manufactured them, and it has announced that it will sell an updated version that is approved for U.S sale. The machines are powered by a 115-horsepower S&S V-twin, through a five-speed Mazda transmission with [...]

Motorcycle racer Max Bubeck died peacefully April 8, 2011, at the age of 94 in Palm Springs, CA. Bubeck was famous for winning races on Indian motorcycles during a career that lasted from the 1930s to the 1970s. He also built and raced speed-record Indians. In 1948 he set a speed record of 135.58 mph [...]

Adventure, challenges, sweat – that’s what GS motorcycles stand for and what the Trophy is all about. November 2010 marked the second anniversary of the legendary competition for amateur GS riders. Once again the scene of action was Africa’s big sandbox. The scope of the event expanded from five teams in the 2008 edition to [...]

After sitting for months motorcycles need attention before returning to service, which can also help avoid breakdowns and ensure safety. Refer to the owner’s and service manuals for inspection lists before giving your bike a thorough going over. Look for any signs of leakage, such as stains underneath that indicate problems. Check steering head bearings [...]

On a recent visit to Berlin, Germany I happened upon a quirky, esoteric museum that must be the only one of its kind: a collection of motorcycles, scooters, and motorized bikes only from the former Iron Curtain country of East Germany, or DDR. On display are more than 140 motorcycles, scooters and mopeds by little-known [...]

It’s funny how the mind files insignificant bits of information away, sometimes to be retrieved decades later for the strangest reason. I once watched a movie called Quigley Down Under, a Western set in Australia starring Tom Selleck as Matt Quigley. One scene shows Quigley packing for a trip into the Outback by assembling a [...]

Eric Trow and Pete Tamblyn are the instructors for Stayin’ Safe, an advanced motorcycle-training program. A third rider, Ryan, an instructor in the making, rides mostly sweep and keeps a watchful eye on the group. They have countless years and miles on two wheels, but most importantly they have a drive to make motorcyclists better [...]

Lyrics of Foreigner’s “Feels Like the First Time” were bouncing around in my head, compliments of my cerebral sound system, as I rode south toward the Ohio/West Virginia border one evening in August, 1983. A fitting occasion for the song, I thought, as this was my first out-of-state motorcycle camping trip. My Friday evening ride [...]

Not even a year after I found the passion for riding motorcycles, my best friend Ron and I began discussing plans to take a small two-day test drive starting from a campground in Tecate to San Felipe, Mexico. Lucky for me, he was motorcycle-savvy with years of experience riding and repairing motorbikes. We tried to plan ahead, [...]