The dual-sport market has plenty of choices, which can make it tough to pick the best one for you. The fine gentlemen at Half Throttle Motorsports have come up with a quick test to help you pick the perfect two-wheeled exploration tool:
Off-Roading with a Yamaha FJR1300
From r/motorcycles comes this very impressive video of a talented rider who would ask, “who needs a GS?” The FJR weighs 637 pounds wet and doesn’t have what one would call tremendous ground clearance, so it’s a joy to see this rider at work. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it seems (at least from the end of …
Video Intermission – Kickstart Drag Racing
Reader Mike A. passes along an interesting video of Kickstart Drag Racing at Conesville Dragway. The short story? Before you can run your bike down the strip with the throttle pinned…you’ve got to kick it over. Enjoy it here:
Video Intermission – The John Penton Story
John Penton is a legend in the off-road community and was deservedly admitted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998. He was influential not only in motorcycle design, but even in apparel (boots) and in growing the business of racing. Reader Mike A. just let me know about a documentary that’s about to come out, which should chronicle …
Bamboo Harley
Ok, it’s not an actual motorcycle, but it’s definitely worth a closer look. This Harley-Davidson replica is built completely from bamboo! Not much else to say – it’s just been sitting as a display model in a body shop. It’s about 40 inches tall and 73 inches long, and you can find it for sale in Towaco, New Jersey with …
BSAOCSC – All British Run – April 27
Reader Mike A. has just given me a heads up that I wanted to share with those of you in the Southern California area: On Sunday, April 27th, the BSA Owners Club of Southern California is honoring their founder Barry Smith with an “All British Run” at Hansen Dam. For more information, check out this flyer. And drop me a …
Video Intermission – 1930’s California Hillclimb
Reader Mike A. showed me this video of a hillclimb even back from the 30’s that I thought you all would appreciate (might want to mute it, though). As I was told, “real racers have footboards…and side valves.”
Picture Intermission – Clubmans All British 2014 Award Winners
Many moons ago, before I started bike-urious, I was still goofing around the internet constantly searching for interesting bike sites. One of my favorites is still “Craig’s Two Wheeled Toys“, the blog of a guy who’s got an incredible bike history and the patience to share his experiences with all kinds of different bikes. Though I highly recommend you check …
Video Intermission – 90 Years of BMW in 90 Seconds
From Mike A., a reader with an incredible motorcycling history, comes a tip about this video recently published by BMW. As the German firm says, “Experience 90 years of passion, 90 years of innovation, 90 years of unstoppable performance…” It’s not a video I can embed, so head on over to BMW’s site to check it out.
Video Intermission: Romaniacs Slo-Mo Suspension Study
It’s back to Red Bull Romaniacs for this entertaining video of motorcross bikes getting pushed to the limits of suspension travel throughout the challenging course: Sit back and enjoy – and if you’re a fan of AWOLNATION, you might as well turn the volume up, too!
Video Intermission – Helmet Pinstriping with Skratch
Gizmodo recently did a feature on Skratch, a veteran pinstriper who I saw at the Long Beach International Motorcycle Show: Thanks to Gizmodo, enjoy this brief video of Skratch doing what he does best: improvising his pinstriping work on a Bell:
Video Intermission – BikeEXIF for Dummies
I’ll start this off by saying I love BikeEXIF – I subscribe to their daily email and I link to them on my “Want More?” page. I guess anything successful is easy to make fun of, so here’s a laugh at the expense of sites like BikeEXIF that are instrumental in spreading the word about some of the world’s best …
Video Intermission – How Triumph Builds the Rocket III
Someone on r/motorcycles posted this in a comment thread, and I had to share. Enjoy this 100% accurate documentary on how the Triumph Rocket III is built. Choice quote? “Argument juice is added from the argument lobe of the female brain allowing the finished bike to change direction in an instant, improving handling.”
Video Intermission – Austria to Egypt on KTM 500EXC’s
As if you didn’t feel bad enough that you’re not out on the road right now, feel free to be jealous (or get inspired) by this:
MotoGP Qatar
I know I don’t cover motorcycle racing, but: 1.) MotoGP is back! 2.) This weekend’s MotoGP in Qatar was one of the better races in a while, especially with the battle between Marquez and Rossi in the last 2-3 laps. If you missed it and want to check it out, go to thelp2008 for the whole race in 720p! Whether …