Charles Fleming - RoadRUNNER

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Charles Fleming

The Hard Road to Vegas—LAB2V

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The Hard Road to Vegas—LAB2V

A bunch of riding friends and I had spent years talking about the famous LAB2V, an annual desert group ride between Los Angeles and Las Vegas that has been held since 1983. Among California dirt bikers and dual sport enthusiasts, it is legendary. LAB2V (Los Angeles-Barstow-to-Vegas) covers 400 miles over

City Escape: Los Angeles, California

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City Escape: Los Angeles, California

The little-known village of Santa Paula, CA, sits just east of the more familiar Ojai and Ventura, and is twice as charming. It’s home to a fascinating history of the local oil business and a bronze statue that honors two heroic motorcyclists. This tour starts and ends at the

Aging Men in the Wild

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Aging Men in the Wild

It was time to get the band back together. Finally, a reunion ride! Our first group rides were around Los Angeles, CA, consisting of all-day loops out on the Angeles Crest Highway, Angeles Forest Highway, Big Tujunga Canyon and Little Tujunga Canyon. That is, when we weren’t carving Malibu

Kernville, California Dual Sport Shamrock Tour®

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Kernville, California Dual Sport Shamrock Tour®

Southern California’s Kernville is a four-season tourist town nestled between the southern end of the Sierra Nevada and the north shore of Lake Isabella, one of the state’s largest man-made reservoirs. A destination for white water rafting, boating, fly-fishing, mountain biking, hiking, and other outdoor activities, the town’

Quail Motorcycle Gathering

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Quail Motorcycle Gathering

David Coffey and I met en route to The Quail Motorcycle Gathering a decade ago and have attended it together every year since. This year, we added another David: My younger brother, a lifelong motorcyclist whose birthday was approaching and who knew nothing about the Carmel Valley motorcycle experience except

Aether Rally 2024

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Aether Rally 2024

Cuba: A Land of Promises and Problems

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Cuba: A Land of Promises and Problems

Only 10 minutes after giving the safety briefing, my motorcycle slipped on a piece of greasy road and I fell. Another 10 minutes after our guide told us the rain was gone for the day and we didn’t need rain gear, we were in a monsoon. Near the end

Japan—40 Years Later

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Japan—40 Years Later

In October 1984, I took the Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Hiroshima, totally unprepared for what became a three-year adventure of living in Japan. In October 2023, almost 39 years to the day after my first arrival, I got off the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Okayama. This time, I

Review: REV’IT! Echelon GTX

Review: REV’IT! Echelon GTX

It sounds nuts, but I was disappointed that it didn’t rain harder in Japan. I was on a recent ride around the country’s southwest, testing the new REV’IT! Echelon GTX jacket and pants. I’d already been able to determine the suit’s effectiveness in cold, damp,

Happening Now: Riding Past Current SoCal Road Closures

Happening Now: Riding Past Current SoCal Road Closures

The classic California combination of an earthquake, a brush fire, and a landslide often imperils the best riding roads in the state. That has never been more true than at the present. Wet weather, following wildfires, took some of the most popular routes out of commission for most of 2023—

Alpinestars Latest ADV Riding Gear | RoadRUNNER Motorcycle Touring & Travel

Alpinestars Latest ADV Riding Gear

The recent 2023 Alpinestars Adventure Tour in Big Bear, CA, dramatically underscored the Italian sports gear company’s deepening commitment to the ADV and dual sport motorcycle space. Case in point, the company’s owner and CEO Gabriele Mazzarolo was there, as well as Dakar champions Ricky Brabec, Toby Price.

Review: REV’IT! Sand 4 H2O Adventure Riding Suit

Review: REV’IT! Sand 4 H2O Adventure Riding Suit

The REV’IT! Sand 4 H2O suit is a multi-season outfit meant to fall in the catalog between the time-tested Poseidon 3 GTX and the relatively new Offtrack2 H2O. I wore the Sand 4 H2O for a seven-day, 1,000-mile ride through Colombia. The journey included a virtual smorgasbord of

Moto Guzzi to The Quail

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Moto Guzzi to The Quail

The plan had been on the books for a full year. Ride from Los Angeles to the 13th annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Carmel Valley, CA, on Thursday, enjoy the Quail Ride on Friday and the show on Saturday, then ride home Sunday. The plan didn’t include bad weather,

Review: REV’IT! Sand 4 H20 Suit

Review: REV’IT! Sand 4 H20 Suit

The REV’IT! Sand 4 H2O suit is a multi-season outfit meant to fall in the catalog between the time-tested Poseidon 3 GTX and the relatively new Offtrack2 H2O. I wore the Sand 4 H2O for a seven-day, 1,000-mile ride through Colombia. The journey included a virtual smorgasbord of

An Épico Adventure in Colombia

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An Épico Adventure in Colombia

Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDR) was having a fundraiser that included auctions of goods and services. I saw a nine-day tour of Colombia, threw in a low-ball offer, and suddenly, I was headed for Santiago de Cali and Épico Moto Adventures’ Seven Wonders Tour. The extremely genial host Ricardo Congote greeted

Lost Sierra Roundtrip Tour | RoadRUNNER Motorcycle Touring & Travel

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Lost Sierra

It was the most exciting newspaper story I’d read in a long time—a group of outdoor enthusiasts had gathered sufficient capital and government support to begin carving 600 miles of multi-use, single-track trails through the Lost Sierra. To me, this was catnip. I already had a friend connected

Motorcycling Iceland: The Land of Fire and Ice | RoadRUNNER Motorcycle Touring & Travel

Jan/Feb '23 Premium Content

Iceland: The Land of Fire and Ice

It didn’t start very well. After two days in Reykjavik—which included eating whale, hiking to a live volcano, getting accustomed to 20 hours of daylight, and soaking in the Blue Lagoon hot pools—two friends and I traveled to nearby Selfoss to begin a six-day off-road motorcycle tour

Cape Breton: The Road to Gampo Abbey

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Cape Breton: The Road to Gampo Abbey

It was just a sign by the side of the road. We wouldn’t have seen it. But we stopped because the day was hot and the road was long and we needed a break. The sign read, “Gampo Abbey, 9 km.” My wife Julie and I were in the

RoadRUNNER Motorcycle Review: 2023 Zero DSR/X | Photo by: Jenny Lindquist

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Zero DSR/X

Zero Motorcycles has unveiled what it calls “the first true electric adventure motorcycle in the world.” Purpose-built to compete with big-bore ADV bikes in what Zero has identified as the fastest-growing motorcycle segment, the all-new 2023 Zero DSR/X is in a class of its own. The DSR/X began

A Solitary Quest From Anchorage, AK to Portland, OR

Jul/Aug '22 Premium Content

A Solitary Quest From Anchorage, AK to Portland, OR

It wasn’t supposed to be a solo trip. A group of three or four of us had decided we’d ride from Anchorage, AK, to Portland, OR, taking advantage of the tour company MotoQuest’s seasonal transporter special offer. By agreeing to ride MotoQuest bikes from Alaska to Oregon,

California Sierra Motorcycle Tour: The Glorious Roads of the Golden State

Nov/Dec '20 Premium Content

California Sierra: The Glorious Roads of the Golden State

As is usually the case with larger motorcycle groups, we were a motley crew that had come together in unlikely ways. Chris and Steve were decades-old friends and had ridden and skied together everywhere. Mike was a sports photographer they knew from Park City. Rod also had a house in