Roundtrip Tour Premium Content 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
Shop Talk How Much CAN Can a CAN Bus CAN? It seems everything has become increasingly computerized in the past decade or so. We have everything from network-connected refrigerators to pet feeders you can monitor from across the globe and cars that drive themselves (until they don’t). Naturally, our motorcycles have followed suit. Gone are the days of cleaning
Letter from the Editor Premium Content Technology Ebbs and Flows—A Letter From Florian Not that many years ago, every time I ventured out on a motorcycle tour for the magazine, I brought along a dizzying array of tech. Most importantly (at the time), my Garmin had the planned route, and if something came up along the way, it didn’t take me long
Alaska Premium Content Alaska: Exploring the Kenai Peninsula Alaska is a bucket-list type of place and, motorcycle or not, it’s been on ours for many years. The Last Frontier is filled with nearly endless gorgeous mountain ranges, giant creeping glaciers, deep picturesque bays, and wildlife that can’t be found in the lower 48 states. It’s
Classic Roads Premium Content Florida’s Green Mountain Scenic Byway The Green Mountain Scenic Byway is a 36-mile series of roads in central Florida that showcases the state’s history, culture, and natural beauty. Close enough to Orlando for easy access, yet far enough away to escape the theme park hustle and bustle, the roads and landscapes can make you
Speed The Wheel Premium Content Speed the Wheel: A Father, a Son, and a Motorcycle The object of my adolescent desires and unflinching obsession was the Honda Trail 70. A photo collage of the bike adorned the wall above my bed. But how were I to acquire the funds needed to purchase said motorcycle at the age of 12? My father solved that puzzle by
Classic Roads A Bucket List Road—The Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway plows through the longest linear park in the U.S., stretching over 469 miles from near Waynesboro, VA, to US 441 in North Carolina along the Blue Ridge Mountains. Those hundreds of miles include some of the most stunning views you can find in all of
Roundtrip Tour Premium Content A Mindful South American Journey As motorcycle enthusiasts, we must acknowledge that our passion for nature and adventure has a significant environmental impact. However, selling our bikes isn't the solution. This journey through Chile and Argentina aims to describe both epic adventures and simple acts with the potential to create a positive impact. It's not
Classic Roads Gold and Antiques: California SR 49 Locals and historians call California SR 49 the Golden Chain Highway. It runs north to south and is in the middle of the state on the western side of the Sierra. Touring it is another excuse to see the area around Yosemite National Park. Technically, SR 49 starts in the
Roundtrip Tour Premium Content Tuscan Tryst: Exploring Europe with a Zavorrina Lesa and I have always traveled unconventionally. We began married life with an eight-month backpacking honeymoon adventure that included renting a BMW K 75 in Sydney and heading up into Australia’s Blue Mountains with a tent strapped on the back. We often joke that we’ve been on t
Classic Roads Premium Content Ride The Beautiful Texas Bluebonnet Trail Pardon my waxing poetic for a moment, but the Texas bluebonnet season is like life—it’s a beautiful affair that’s over far too quickly. That’s precisely why you should grab your handlebars and motor to the Bluebonnet Trail to enjoy both life and the flowers while they
Shop Talk Premium Content Keep Your Bolts Bolted It’s truly a marvel that the clockwork cacophony of motorcycle parts—all designed, manufactured, and arranged so precisely—hold together and continue to function for thousands and thousands of miles. However, something as simple as one bolt coming loose can absolutely wreck your engine or other critical system on
Motorcycle Review Review: 2023 Harley-Davidson CVO Street Glide/CVO Road Glide The year 1903 was an auspicious one for mechanical invention. The Wright Brothers achieved motorized flight at Kitty Hawk, NC, while Harley-Davidson was founded in Milwaukee, WI. These two endeavors shared several traits. Each involved unique machines using the relatively recently invented internal combustion engine, and each began humbly in
Roundtrip Tour Premium Content Baja California—Monkey Business With the picnic tables dotted among the ponderosa trees of Arizona long gone, we rode onto what looks like a nose-diving dragon—775 miles in body and 200 miles in girth—from Mexicali in the north to Cabo San Lucas in the south. The Baja peninsula, or Baja California, is
Classic Roads Premium Content Explore the Northern Rainforests—Olympic Peninsula Loop The Olympic Peninsula in Washington State marks the most northwestern reaches of the contiguous U.S. It sports some of the most majestic sights in the country, from the rocky seaside to tranquil mountaintops and the depths of the rainforests. It comes as a surprise to some, but many of
News The Triumph Factory: Holy Ground of Motorcycles Tucked away in the middle of England, about halfway between London and Manchester, sits the town of Hinckley. It’s unclear when it was founded, but its recorded history goes back to Anglo-Saxon times, which ended in 1066. A bit more recently, in 1988, Triumph Motorcycles Ltd set up shop
Destinations Visit Oklahoma's First State Capital—Guthrie On the morning of April 22, 1889, Guthrie, OK, was still just a dusty prairie stop known as Deer Creek on the AT&SF Railroad in the Unassigned Lands of Indian Territory. By the same evening, it had become a tent city with approximately 10,000 residents. The new residents
Classic Roads Premium Content Discover North Carolina on US 70 Opened to traffic in 1926, US 70 quickly earned the nickname Broadway of America for its significant role as one of the main highways connecting the U.S. East Coast to the West. Although its western terminus has moved several times, its eastern end in North Carolina has stayed mostly
Motorcycle Review BMW R Nine T 100 Years: An Inspiring Take on a Modern Classic I only ride motorcycles. Some people don’t believe me when I tell them that I don’t know how to drive a car. “Isn’t that the first step to becoming familiar with the road?” they wonder. “Well, not for me!” I proudly respond. Motorcycles have always been my
News Kawasaki Ninja 7: The World’s First Hybrid Motorcycle Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are old news, with hybrid cars having been around for ages. In the two-wheeled department, though, we’ve had to settle on hybrid scooters. Kawasaki is now changing that. The Japanese moto maker has officially launched the 2024 Kawasaki Ninja 7. It is the world’s
Destinations Why Not Visit This Small Town—Whynot, NC Behind every name, there is a story. Take your bike to Whynot, NC, and you’ll discover a place whose origin story will surely resonate with any rider who has attended an overly long meeting that just never seems to end. Whynot is a small place of only around 100
Motorcycle Review Review: 2023 Zero DSR/X My initial reaction was to scoff at the Zero DSR/X. An electric ADV bike… Seriously? How adventurous could the DSR/X be when half its battery capacity will be discharged during an 80-mph freeway ride across Southern California to get somewhere vaguely resembling adventure? Then I flew to rural
Motorcycle Review Review: 2023 Honda Gold Wing The Gold Wing. A machine that Honda has been meticulously refining since 1974. Over those 49 years, it has matured into something very different from the original, but from the beginning, it quickly became the gold standard for touring motorcycles. From drum brakes to supercomputers, the Gold Wing has stood
Destinations Fort Ross: Russia’s Stronghold in America Touring Russia by motorcycle has always been on my bucket list. I enjoy the country’s literature and the Russians I have met have been great people, which is partly why I have wanted to see it. Sadly, the political climate over my lifetime has never really been right for
