Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2019 i Motorcycle Mojo Magazine

I hope you’ll find this issue very diverse. First off, we bring you the new BMW R1250GS and R1250RT – a couple of the finest bikes on the North American motorcycle market. While the article mentions the changes to the bikes for 2019, the real news is in the updated engine. BMW has developed something it calls ShiftCam technology, which can shift the intake camshaft sideways to provide alternative lobes to open and close the valves depending on engine rpm and engine load. It’s quite amazing and works flawlessly. This update not only allows the opposed-twin to pass the stringent upcoming Euro 5 emission standards, but also significantly increases horsepower and torque for the famous boxer engine. Also in this issue, we take a ride on the 2019 Harley-Davidson FXDR…

Aah … sunny, balmy Palm Springs, California. We’re here for a couple of days to ride the 2019 BMW R1250GS and the R1250RT, in a combined media introduction. The climate here is normally hot, dry and mostly desert-like. However, Mother Nature seems to be in a bit of a fit lately, and the Golden State has recently experienced unseasonal cold in the north, drought and fires through the middle, and heavy rain in the south. Some of that weather has been altering the landscape, quite drastically in a few cases. A week before we arrived here for the launch, a record rainfall dropped 94 mm of water on Palm Springs within a 24-hour period. Typically the area receives an average of 100 mm of rain a year. Almost a year’s…

When the first Harley-Davidson Softail hit showrooms in 1984, I was working as a technician in a Harley dealership. This was just a few years after the company split from AMF, a sporting-goods company that bought Harley in 1969, and through the 1970s had attempted to make the Motor Company more profitable by cutting costs and increasing production. Unfortunately, combining those measures was rather counterproductive, and the result had a detrimental effect on product quality. I remember the Shovelhead-powered Harleys I worked on at the time as being unreliable; they also leaked and vibrated so hard that parts broke. The Softail changed all that. With twin shock absorbers hidden beneath the bike, it featured a hardtail look, and also introduced a then all-new engine, aptly called the Evolution. The engine…

With the growing emphasis on the health hazards and environmental impact associated with the increasing emissions of carbon dioxide, fossil fuels are becoming the modern-day tobacco. Manufacturers of all types of vehicles are therefore exploring alternative fuels. This includes motorcycle makers. The most prominent energy source to emerge thus far is battery electric power. There is a problem with battery electric power, however, and that is energy density. Currently, no other fuel source, at least not a practical, affordable one, contains the energy density of gasoline. That means that no other fuel source contains the energy potential for a given volume of gasoline. We can easily see this in electric cars, which are mostly composed of batteries, yet offer only a fraction of the range of their internal-combustion counterparts. Compounding…

I leave central Vancouver Island mid-August on my 2013 KTM 990 Adventure Baja, heading south and over to British Columbia’s mainland. This kicks off a 13-day roundtrip adventure through the southwest coastal mountains, north up the Fraser Canyon, west through the Cariboo Chilcotin region to Bella Coola, and returning to northern Vancouver Island via ferries and weaving my way south back home. The trip will consist of roughly 1,100 km of gravel roads from maintained double-wide to deactivated single track, 800 km of various paved roads and 400 km of ferries on three different vessels and routes, and I’ll be tested by changing road conditions, gear failure, forest fires and temperatures between 3 C and 33 C. The Fraser River Canyon offers remote, rugged beauty with its impressive carved slopes…

2019 YAMAHA NIKEN GT Yamaha takes a leap of faith with the introduction of the multi-wheeled leaning Niken GT. We give it a whirl in what should have been sunny California, and discover that compared to a motorcycle, this unique vehicle has a few subtle differences, and one big one. Find out what they are in the next issue. NEW ORLEANS While heading for home from the Deep South, Jeff Davison decides on an impromptu side trip to New Orleans, where he discovers and explores a variety of interesting sights like the French Quarter, with its unique cemeteries and historic cotton plantations, before making his way north on the Natchez Trace Parkway.…

The KTM Ultimate Race 2019 put 12 riders from around the world through six days and over 1,000 km of harsh riding on equally prepared KTM 790 Adventure R motorcycles. Canadian riders did us proud – Radek Burkat finished in second place, while Vasile Scurtu placed eighth in the tough competition. Scott Myers from the U.S.A. took the desert by storm and, in so doing, also took first place, becoming the winner of the first-ever KTM Ultimate Race. The Ultimate Race is a special class at the Merzouga Rally held in Morocco, very similar to the main event, riding most of the same route; however, instead of being on 450 dirt bikes, the 12 riders raced on the 790 Adventure Rs. The rally consists of five stages throughout six days,…

NOBODY’S PERFECT Just read Misti [Hurst]’s article in the April issue (“Race Academy”). I loved it! It was fun, and funny, and I always find it so encouraging hearing professionals talk about their own areas of weaknesses, fears and continued learning. Clinton [Smout] often does the same in his column. Misti’s “SH*T F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK” moment was a terrific case in point! JEFF DAVISON VIA EMAIL WHEN THEY COME OUT WITH THE CODGER VERSION I WILL DEFINITELY CHECK INTO THEM POPULARITY SHIFT I’m an avid Mojo reader and have been for years, but I would never send in a comment unless something really got me sideways. Love the magazine, particularly the format. I sure have seen a shift in the popularity of motorcycle types in the past while. At…

The people who annually make the trek to Daytona Beach to cruise the streets call it Bike Week, while those who go for the racing call it Speed Week. Which is right? I think the official term is Bike Week, and the event’s history is traceable as far back as 1937, when riders would come to race on the beach. The racing on the big banks of the Speedway is why I go. As a photographer, I love the challenges that this expansive track presents. I also like the challenge of trying to find a new and interesting photo that is different from those of the photographer standing next to me. The challenges I don’t care for are the strict rules and the long walks with heavy telephoto lenses to…

This is a story about my motorcycling journey: how I started, why I left and how I was able to come back to ride with greater joy and sense of adventure than I’d ever had before. On a sunny day in June, the midday traffic on the Metropolitan Autoroute in Montreal was pretty typical. It was moving along briskly – until it wasn’t. It was during one of these “until it wasn’t” moments that an elderly lady missed the changing pace of traffic and rear-ended a BMW motorcycle. The rider spent the next six months in the hospital, four of which he was in a coma. That event would change the course of my motorcycling career. When I was 15, a family friend asked me if I wanted to climb…

My uncle Garnet Compton and aunt Mildred (Millie) Compton of Kingston, Ont., aboard Garnet’s 1946-47 Indian Chief. Picture was taken in Watertown, New York, while out on a ride. Garnet was a member of the Riders of the Night motorcycle club in Kingston. The group picture was taken on the corner of Regent and Princess Streets in Kingston, where Harvey’s is now located. Submissions to Remember When? are always welcome. If your photo(s) is printed we will send you $25.00 High resolution digital photos are acceptable as well as prints. If you wish the print back please include a self-addressed stamped envelope. Send to: editor@motorcyclemojo.com…