Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2021 i Motorcycle Mojo Magazine

Welcome to our ninth annual world travel issue. This is an issue that — judging by previous newsstand sales and what we’ve heard in person at Canada’s motorcycle shows (remember those?) — our readers really look forward to all year. We don’t for a second mean to imply you give up on riding in Canada as our retailer, restaurant and accommodation industries need us to travel here, as well. If there is one thing so many riders have discovered this past riding season is that we have an abundance of excellent riding and some pretty amazing scenery right here in the Great White North. This issue is just to help you keep in mind that there is a great big world out there to be discovered. It appears that the…

editor@motorcyclemojo.com THE CORNERSTONES OF SKILLED RIDING A heartfelt “well done” to the crew that produces MM. It seems to get better with every issue. I’ve owned my AdMore Park-N-Move (August 2021 product review) for a few years. Life without it would be a challenge now. I use it to simplify my use of the garage all riding season. It makes moving my motorcycle in and out of the garage and around my little cage possible. The Park-N-Move spent last winter as the work stand for a rebuild project and it looks like it’ll be spending this winter as the work stand for a significant motorcycle repair job. Also in the August 2021 issue, the Motion Math and Motorcycles article addresses two cornerstones of riding (and driving) skill: patience and defensive…

“You would be dead in one hour,” said a nice visitor at the Vancouver motorcycle show a couple of years ago, “You people cannot ride!” That gentleman, who was from Mumbai, India, was interested in learning more about the BMW G310GS. I told him that the bike was actually made in India, and mentioned that I had always wanted to ride there. That’s when he smiled and predicted that I would see my demise within 60 minutes of trying to ride in Indian traffic. If you watch videos of traffic in India, or many other congested non-Western cities, you’ll see what looks like absolute chaos. That’s why, if you are going to travel internationally, you should prepare for different traffic rules. Traffic signals and painted lane demarcations can have different…

As soon as I entered Bolivia I wanted to leave. The border leaving Brazil was different to most I had experienced, as it lacked the usual line of trucks belching diesel fumes in my face. It did, however, have the usual flow of cars loaded with family members, bags, and the odd crate of live chickens. Foreigners on motorbikes were unusual, particularly those from the U.K. riding the world’s largest capacity production motorcycle, a Triumph Rocket X, but eventually the paperwork was completed, and I was permitted to say goodbye to Brazil. Rio de Janeiro had become a favourite city on my Round the World trip. I rode around the corner toward the no man’s land that usually accompanies border posts and could scarcely believe what I saw. An expanse…

After numerous road trips in North America, discovering its southern counterpart was the obvious next step. We were drawn to the Andes, Patagonia, the Strait of Magellan and the call of the open sea — and, by the way, we were not at all against the idea of trading burgers for empanadas. It was early January — the middle of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Leaving Toronto in -30 C was easy, as was landing in 30 C temperatures after my Air Canada flight to Santiago, Chile. Thanks, austral summer. At the hotel I met up with Pascal, my old buddy with whom I’ve already travelled across Western U.S., Northern Canada, Alaska, and the Sahara Desert when we were younger. After a good night’s sleep, our rental company was on…

The acronym M.O.L.L.E. (pronounced “Molly”) is a military acronym for Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment. Such equipment was created by the U.S. Armed Forces to help attach necessary things to their kit while in the field. It allows different accessories to be attached anywhere on your bags with PALS (Pouch Attachment Ladder System) webbing, which consists of heavy-duty nylon that is stitched onto the pouch. To install, weave the webbing through the M.O.L.L.E. system, alternating from the bag to the pouch, and secure at the bottom of the pouch with a snap. The installation can be tedious if you’re new to the system, but when done correctly the pouch is safely attached to your bags during even the roughest rides.…

It should have been blockbuster news. Energica, long time supplier of electric motorcycles to MotoGP’s MotoE class, is bowing out of racing. Hot on those heels came the announcement that Ducati was taking over the single marque electric motorcycle racing series. Like I said, headline news. But why? Or perhaps, more appropriately, why now? Well, when in doubt, I always follow the numbers. And the first thing to know is that despite its MotoGP affiliation as well as projections of fantastical growth, Energica remains a tiny company. Electrek estimated its 2019 global sales at 140 units and preliminary says they only sold about 250 units in 2020. Again, that’s worldwide. The company’s gross revenue is barely $10 million (resulting in a loss of about $9 million). Not exactly a company…

Road Trip Bar & Grill Located at 24989 on State Route 16 in the central California town of Capay, the Road Trip Bar and Grill is an old-time haunt themed around the two-wheeled crowd, but is not exclusively for them. The extensive menu consists of comfort food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is lots of seating indoors as well as outdoors on the expansive patio, and there is live music on most weekends. Service is top notch, and you can’t get a bad meal there. This is the perfect spot when out for a ride and hunger strikes — or when you need an ice-cold brew. Got a favourite restaurant or pub? Send us an email to editor@motorcyclemojo.com and tell us why.…

Things got weird over these past couple years, there’s no questioning that. Borders have closed, travel has become restricted, living expenses have skyrocketed and, in a world that was on a fast-track to total connectedness through travel, things suddenly stopped. However, we persevered and travelled locally, finding new appreciation in the diverse landscape that our country offers. It reminded us that, even through local travel, the value and feelings we experience from a trip are still the same. Having not gone on any big trips this year, I spent more time in the dirt, taking my 790 Adv R for short day trips, mostly on gravel. My most recent three-day trip was with Holly and Kyle, two good friends of mine. They purchased a Triumph Tiger 800XR and a Suzuki…

BELIEVE ME, LIGHT, LOW AND NARROW ARE THE TRAITS YOU WANT IN YOUR MOTORCYCLE I am not religious. Oh, I try to abide by the Ten Commandments. But I seek no spiritual guidance from above, find no solace in the hereafter and cannot believe that anyone, at least sentient, believes that someone like Creflo Dollar — the professor of “prosperity theology” who has managed to bilk two Rolls-Royces and a private jet out of his followers — is on speaking terms with a deity who claims to rule the universe. All that said, if a revivalist were to have any hope of converting me to the flock, their best bet would be a church perched atop the Grimsel Pass. Or, truth be told, the Furka. Ah hell, if you are…

If you own a big touring bike, chances are that it’s already equipped with a bunch of amenities that make long-distance travel more comfortable. Probably the biggest single factor that affects long-term comfort — aside from the riding position — is how well you are protected from the elements. A touring bike is equipped with a large, protective fairing, but its weather-beating arsenal might not end there. It might also have heated grips, a heated seat and an accessory outlet into which a rider can plug heated riding gear. If you own a fairing-free motorcycle, adding a windshield will greatly improve its weather-beating capabilities. I recently bought a Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE, and while it handles pavement and dirt exceptionally well, and its riding position is long-haul approved, it offers…

Different countries have taken different stances on motorcycling. Here’s a few laws from around the world we found quite interesting for motorcyclists. • In France, riders and drivers must carry a breathalyzer test with them at all times. This law came into effect in 2010, although it was never taken too seriously and by 2013, the government postponed fines for this law indefinitely. • In China, it’s actually illegal to stop for pedestrians, and you can be fined for disrupting the flow of traffic if you do. It’s best to just keep going and hope the person jumps out of the way before you hit them. • In Indonesia, it is against the law to hold onto a male rider for support while on a bike. Couples are also not…

If you ride a motorcycle, then I have a feeling that somewhere, floating around in the back of your mind, is an idea for some kind of motorcycle road trip. Don’t question whether or not you should go, whether it will be worth it, whether you can afford it, or whether a better option might come along. Just take the trip. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. You only have a limited number of years on this planet, and you never know when your time will be up. So seriously, stop putting it off; stop waiting for the perfect time to travel. If I listened to my inner voice, the one that says “You don’t have the money to travel. Your kids are too young. You might miss something at home. Now…

For me, the beginning of a road trip starts when I’m aimlessly looking at a map and something in my mind clicks, thinking, ‘That could be an interesting trip.’ For the next few months, the idea will develop from a simple destination to a vague loop around an area, and then into a detailed itinerary that branches off to places of interest and detours along epic roads. It’s not long before I’m packing my passport into a fully loaded tank bag and setting off on an adventure. I knew very little about the Balkans. My only knowledge of the place came from seeing it on the news during the devastating conflicts of the early ’90s, and I was too young to know (or care) what any of that meant back…

Having been prevented from entering Tajikistan when half a mountain collapsed onto Kyrgyzstan’s Taldyk Pass moments before we reached it, blocking it for ten days, my son Gareth and I had two options: attempt to negotiate a 150 km-long donkey track across the Alau Mountain Range, or take a six-day detour around the rock fall. Predictably, high up near the snow line, the donkey track ended in deep scree that tumbled into a river hundreds of feet below, and we had to turn back — but that’s another story. So, it was the long detour, then… We continued steadily along fairly good roads, although the fierce heat was a constant and unwelcome presence. We finally crossed into Tajikistan and began climbing the first of two mountain ranges above 3,000 metres…

With the idea of big adventure often comes big decisions on how to pack, best practices and gear to use to keep you and your belongings safe while on a trip. I recently started using TitanStraps for various packing purposes on my trips, and found exceptional versatility with the product in almost every area. I first saw TitanStraps used by skiers. They’re a popular product for cinching your skis and poles together for carrying. I’ve seen them available in most outdoor stores, but never in a motorcycle shop; the product wasn’t made with motorcycling in mind. Cameron Lawson, the inventor of TitanStraps, created these industrial use straps to use on a 480-km packraft and bicycle trip through the remote “Lost Coast” of Alaska in 2010. Since then, TitanStraps has created…

I grew up with motorcycles as my dad rode a Harley and my mom was a passenger. When I was 16, I purchased a 1938 500-cc BSA with some parts missing that were held up in a shipping strike. I finally had lights installed when the parts arrived. My next bike was a 1947 Triumph Tiger, which was faster and much more comfortable. I later bought a 1948 Triumph Tiger with rear suspension from a member of the “Riders of the Night” motorcycle club that I belonged to and rode that Tiger until 1953. The “Riders of the Night” were from Kingston, Napanee and Belleville. These pictures were taken on Geddes St. in Belleville, Ont. Submissions to Remember When? are always welcome. If your photo(s) is printed we will send…