Passing the Race
I was given the opportunity to race a Multistrada 1000 in the upcoming Ducati Cup here in Canada, and I’ve surprised myself by passing on this opportunity. Undoubtedly, it would be fun. It would make a great series of articles, but as much as I dream I’m not a racer. The Canada Thunder Series, especially Part I, marked in my [...]
A Historic Ducati Moment in Bologna
Bologna, Italy – “This is factory is for some like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.” Truer words could not be spoken by Livio Lodi, in regard to our Ducati Factory tour, as our herd follows in Livio’s expository wake. Today though, the factory is more than a fun land of high-end components, slick paint jobs and [...]
Caveat Lector: Critically Reading Press Launches
The motorcycle manufacturer’s representative is very candid about the press launches, “Really, not a lot of riding gets done. There’s a day of track time, and then the next day three or so hours of street riding if you’re lucky. Often that’s lead.” Neil Graham, in “Confessions from a Press Launch” [April 2006 Cycle Canada], [...]
Divorce and the VTEC VFR
Divorce has been on my mind of late, but it seems I’m not alone. Frederick and Hamel (1998), for whom the topic seems so all consuming, it has become work as well as past time, cautiously estimate that “almost one in every three Canadian couples (31%) who married in 1991 will eventually split up if [...]
On Bikes, Snakes and Travel
Snakes on a Plane is at best a stale collection of B-movie cliches cobbled together into the semblance of a movie and propelled skywards by meme-happy bloggers and a hyperactive marketing machine, but as a barometer of the American psyche it could not be more telling. Steven King, a man not unfamiliar with shock-slock, posits [...]
Killing the Laguna Seca MotoGP Slowly?
After a morning of franticly trying to source a hotel room, floor space or tree to sleep under for MotoGP, I can’t help but wonder if the greed of local hoteliers is going to kill the Laguna Seca MotoGP slowly. At the low end I’m looking at about a grand Canadian for a dodgy two-star [...]
Sometimes the Spirit Moves You
I’ve been out testing the Burgman 650 Executive since Friday and the weekend saw us out “scoot-touring” for an upcoming article, but last night I went out on the local bcsportbikes.com ride for giggles. The turn out was awesome and better yet the roads for the ride back co-operated, with traffic being stopped in two places for construction. [...]
Traveling Solo But Never Alone
Traveling solo it seems you are never alone. Boiling around a corner and onto a straight stretch east of Rock Creek my line wavers at a surreal scene. On this lonely stretch of the Crowsnest Highway set against a verdant backdrop of rolling Okanagan ranchlands lush with unseasonable rain and shot through with rocky outcroppings, [...]
Glass Houses
The saying is that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. I had that witticism reiterated for me during my first day back in Vancouver last Friday. While executing a turn in my beloved, yet dodgy, Isuzu Rodeo a Honda Civic plowed into the Green Beast’s front passenger side corner. My original blog for today [...]
The “Girlie Drink Theory” of Motorcycle Journalism
I finished the “day job” in tech last night with a suitable number of drinks. This celebration was not for my departure so much as the complete death of my common sense, which once merely beleaguered has been beaten to a mash by my passion and curiosity. I have a huge “need to know”, and [...]
Editor’s Blog: A Wrench in the Works.
I’ve been out on the GSX-R 750 for the better part of a week and I have to admit the bike or at least the suspension is getting my goat. There’s a multitude of adjustments possible here and I’ve just about got it right, except for the rear preload. The manual says that you require [...]
Road Fitness
There is the crunch of gravel under rubber, but this time it’s different. I’m travelling under my own power and the rubber… it’s the sole of my runners and not a front tire as you might have expected. It’s an experience I’m thankful for. Almost a year ago I had an accident that had the [...]
