Editorial

Strip away the speed, horsepower and expensive support from The Long Way Down and you get Gaurav Jani, riding an 18-horsepower Enfield Bullet from Mumbai to the Changthang Plateau — that’s northern plateau in Tibetan — 3100 miles north on the Tibetan border. That’s like getting from Los Angeles to ...    Read more

They already have the Alps, Guinness Extra Stout—celebrating its 250th birthday on September 24th—McLaren, Misano and Yamaha’s MT-01. Now this: The MT-01 SP.Essentially nicely tarted-up version of the 1670cc post-modern sumo-sport that’s been stomping around various countries other than this one for the last four years, complete with Öhlins suspension ...    Read more

You might not have noticed John McGuinness taking his 15th win in the 2009 Isle of Man Superbike TT, or that Mike Hailwood is now the second best Englishman in TT history Snaefell Mountain Course. You might have missed his 130.442 mph record lap on the HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR, ...    Read more

I just finished 128 miles of great roads on the sort of Harleys that people like me can’t tell people like you about. Not those of us who’d like to remain gainfully employed anyway. All will be revealed soon enough. Meanwhile, I was talking to one of my friends from ...    Read more

 It’s the usual drill after a long day and a longer commute. Get out of the riding gear and onto the couch, then slip something promising into the DVD player while the neural circuits cool. The Blockbuster kid gave me a dim sort of Golden Retriever look when I asked ...    Read more

Every once in awhile we do what you think we’re doing every day; take off at 9:00 a.m. on a motorcycle for no particular reason. No specific destination, either. Just ride. There’s a semi-plausible explanation involved— just in case—for those in the corporate flow chart who ingest and secrete pure ...    Read more

My Editor at the time was the best writer ever to put words in a motorcycle magazine. So I listened to what the man said, even if he did have the sort of austere, mid-western work ethic that kept him awake nights worrying that somewhere, someone was having fun. When ...    Read more

I didn’t trust that plywood ramp, but the Morton twins thought it would work. This did nothing for my confidence. I didn’t trust them either. Chuck the Dot did his best Steve McQueen, convincing no one. At least “Oh Boy” Bob was supremely confident. Eight 31-gallon galvanized-steel garbage cans wedged ...    Read more

Ride a motorcycle long enough and somebody with M.D. after his name will say you can’t. At least for a while. Such Official Admonitions are sometimes imposed by more compelling things than a prescription and that look they only teach in medical school. Excruciating pain. Mothers. Fathers. Older sisters. Significant ...    Read more

Feel free to call me a heretic if it makes you feel any better. Call me Ishmael, or a Luddite or just generally soft in the gums. But the maximum four-cylinder carnivores perched atop our sport bike food chain have evolved into a frustrating sort of obselescence.Maybe it’s different in ...    Read more

It was the sort of high desert morning that can bite you: Cold, with a phalanx of dirty nimbostratus teeth grinning down from the south and east. But saddling up for another lovely 70-mile ride down to the Boss Angeles, I thought they were bluffing.      It was the sort of ...    Read more

There are three words I'm training my doctor not to use, but they still lead off most of his monologs on caffeine, porterhouse steak, dirt bikes and dragging one knee on the ground. "At your age..." he says. The guy gets paid out of my checking account and the limited ...    Read more

There's always something else. Especially around this joint, where everyone wants everything yesterday. It's all singing, all dancing, all the time. Redline seems to be the requisite engine speed. Maybe it's the same where you live, especially if you're like me and live at work. When you make a living ...    Read more

I rode a scooter home last night. Emphasis on night, as in dark, as in nobody saw me. You can't prove it. That wasn't me. This kind of thing can put a serious crimp in your credibility.I didn't really mean to. But like other questionable pursuits carried out under cover ...    Read more

So what about the numerous model codes that we have also become acquainted with over the years, such as R, RS, S, CS, C, CL, GS, RT, RS, GT and LT? The first time that ‘R’ was communicated was with the R 100 R of 1991. It means ‘Roadster’ ...    Read more

The decision of BMW to produce motorcycles with in-line engines saw the bikes in these model series receive a totally separate designation.The development designation ‘K’ was adopted as a series badge. As with the boxer models, the ‘K’ was followed by a number derived from the displacement of the in-line ...    Read more

BMW took the new instructions as the signal to introduce a new internal naming system.As the numbers 100 to 199 had already been assigned to aero engines, motorcycles were given the range from 200 to 299 and cars the 300-to-399 band. The existing motorcycle models were integrated into the new ...    Read more

BMW acted to simplify the system in the mid-1920s. The references to the number of cylinders and model series were abandoned. Now the only entry in front of the project number was to denote an engine (‘M’ = Motor), transmission (‘G’ = Getriebe), a frame for motorcycles (‘R’ = Rahmen) ...    Read more

Ever wondered how BMW motorcycles get their names? The history of the nomenclature for aero engines, motorcycles and cars is marked on the one hand by enduring lines, and on the other by surprising twists and turns. As the company started out building aero engines, it was ancient history that ...    Read more

Can you hear me now? These revamped WWII-era field phones come with no frills, fees or frustrations. Just wind up the generator, dial the number and you're good to go."Bob ate a what?" "Did you say bar-b-que underpants?" Never get cut off or miss important calls like these again. No ...    Read more

In Brian Catterson's "Cat Tales" column in our March 2007 issue, he asked readers to sign the petition to save the fabled Autodromo di Monza. Here's a link to that site (and yes, we realize it's in Italian). http://www.petitiononline.com/m0nz4/petition.html And here's a more irreverent version translated into English. http://www.petitiononline.com/monza/petition.html Thanks ...    Read more

Fast-Acting cure for the common commuteWORDS: Tim CarrithersMilwaukee is only cranking out 1400 of these warmed-up Screamin’ Eagle V-Rods to commemorate 23-year-old A. Hines Pro-Stock drag racing dominance. His 160-inch air-cooled two-valve pushrod version is presumably quicker (6.968 seconds @ 197.45 mph) and stronger (360 lb/feet of torque, measured at ...    Read more

Most of you probably don’t know this (we sure didn’t), but recently crowned MotoGP World Champ Nicky Hayden is bit of a basketball fan.WORDS: Mitch BoehmMost of you probably don’t know this (we sure didn’t), but recently crowned MotoGP World Champ Nicky Hayden is bit of a basketball fan. "Nicky ...    Read more

Interceptor, Hurricane, Ninja, Katana… WORDS: Aaron FrankInterceptor, Hurricane, Ninja, Katana… During their infancy, pretty much every sportbike built was gifted with a bold, vaguely sinister name intended to strike fear into the heart of riders everywhere-especially those riding bikes from competing brands. Remember Honda's famous ad tag line, "Even the ...    Read more

"Only passions, great passions can elevate the soul to great things."-Denis Diderot WORDS/PHOTO: Luke DunphyThere is a common expression amongst self-proclaimed "gearheads" (those who are inexplicably passionate about automotive machines) which goes tothe effect of, "I'm geared just right." Encompassing the desire to achieve maximum speed as quickly as possible ...    Read more