Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2023 i Motorcycle Mojo Magazine

Well, it seems like we are back to some sort of normalcy after the strangeness of the past few years. This past January we attended the International Motorcycle Supershow in Toronto — our first motorcycle show since the pandemic shut everything down. Our last show previous to this was the Montreal Motorcycle Show at the beginning of March 2020 with, I believe, one Covid case in Montreal. Two weeks later the country — and the world, for that matter — had shut down. It was really nice to be back at a motorcycle show again and speaking with a few hundred like-minded people. While talk of the pandemic and the last three years did come up here and there, the conversations revolved almost exclusively around new models coming out and…

Have you ever looked back on a crash you have had and tried to analyze how it happened? By thinking about it, maybe you can learn what caused it, what things you did wrong, and what things you did right. I started riding at a very young age on a tall bike on which I couldn’t touch the ground. Dozens of my first tip-overs were at a stop, or simple tip-overs. My first almost-big crash, though, happened when I was 11 years old. The spring rains had hammered down for three straight days, and when they’d finally subsided, I was really excited to get my dirt bike back out onto the old country backroads and trails. All the roads near my home were gravel, and I had been putting around…

Caution: Caribou Migration in Progress. It was a road sign I had never seen before, so I was on high alert. I counted six white-tailed does, one buck, and a bull moose in the span of thirty minutes. When I came upon a black bear with two cubs casually walking up my side of the road, they were so wide-eyed and innocent that I had to remind myself that cuddling them would not be the cozy experience I imagined. The watched-for caribou remained elusive. Any disappointment was soon forgotten, however, as I crossed into British Columbia on Highway 2. I was heading for Dawson Creek and Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. This was historic. Before the Second World War, the Canadian Northwest had been decidedly isolated and largely unknown.…

If you’ve been a loyal Mojo subscriber lo these last few years, you’ll know that I’m a little conflicted when it comes to airbag jackets. Oh, of the protection they offer, there can be little doubt. I’ve been beaten with a baseball bat while wearing inflatable protection, tried denting their “armour” with other blunt instruments and have rigorously — some would say religiously — studied the data detailing their protective abilities. I am convinced that airbag clothing is, by far, the best protection offered to the motorcyclist, bar none. No passive armour comes even close. The only problem — the conflict part of the introduction above — is that airbag garments have not been the most comfortable nor the most versatile. Early versions were positively huge, weighing as much as…

Honda’s CRF1000, when it was originally launched six years ago, was a bit of a rebel. Powered by what was then unique (as in no one else dared produce a big-bore engine in the supposedly lesser parallel-twin format) it was a poke in the eye to the then Boxer and V-twin orthodoxy that dominated big-bore adventure touring. Completely ordinary in concept — that’s me trying to say “bland” politely — it was also modest on the spec sheet: the 2016 Africa Twin boasted but 94 hp, not exactly class-leading even six years ago. Fast forward seven short years and Honda’s once pilloried parallel-twin is now mainstream, BMW’s mid-sized GS is starting to sell in numbers, KTM’s high-powered twins are gaining much respect and Suzuki has just launch its first all-new…

Riders today have it easy. There was a time when riding a motorcycle was much more demanding; a time when the rider performed many of the tasks that a modern bike’s ECU, or computer, performs while riding, and before even starting it. Many more — ahem — experienced riders will remember a time when going for even a short ride was preceded by a complex ritual. Fortunately, those days are behind us, and riding a motorcycle has become mechanically much simpler. If you own a modern motorcycle and want to go for a ride, you just turn the key, push the start button, and off you go. Heck, some riders don’t even need to turn anything on; with the key fob in your pocket, just hop on and push the…

Over these past three years, the bike industry has seen an influx of new motorcycle riders, but it’s hard to put it in perspective until you see it in person. Recently, at the International Motorcycle Supershow in Toronto, I was elated to meet so many new riders who were experiencing first-hand what riding gear is offered and meeting others in the bike community. I had a few people ask various questions about gear, riding schools and safety. And while I can’t tell you what the best jacket or helmet is or tell you what bike you’re going to have the best time on, and there’s no real way to determine what school will make you the absolute best rider, I can give you a few tips to help you make…

INVALUABLE RESOURCE The Milepost was first published 75 years ago when the Alaska Highway initially opened. It’s an annual, up-to-date, 650-page travel guide for the Alaska Highway and much more. It includes accommodations, camping, fishing, gas stops (most important to know in the far north), restaurants, attractions and services with mile-by-mile descriptions of more than 24,000 km of highways and byways in Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, British Columbia and Alberta. The Milepost is available for USD$39.95 (which also gives you access to a digital edition) at themilepost.com. SIGN POST FOREST Located at Mile Post 635 of the Alaska Highway sits the famous Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake, Yukon, where travellers from around the world bring signs to mount onto a sign post for the world to see. What began…

LONG HAUL A round trip from Ottawa to Duluth and back is approximately 3,300 km. To do that in five days takes some endurance for an adult who is used to riding, but that’s hardcore for an 11-year-old. THE BIG LAKE Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes, and the coldest; the average water temperature is between 2 and 4 C. With a length of 560 km and a width of approximately 260 km, Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, at 82,000 sq. km. And with an average depth of 147 metres (and a maximum known depth of 406 metres), the water contained in the lake could cover all of North and South America in 30 cm of water. DULUTH Duluth,…

Somewhere between the time Honda introduced its torsion springed CB450 in 1965 and when the last Triumph Bonneville rolled off the Meriden production line in 1983, the parallel-twin became motorcycling’s powertrain pariah. Indeed, for those who actually lived — and rode — through motorcycling’s four-cylinder revolution, vivid is our recollection of parallel-twins as junkers. Kawasaki’s 440 LTDs and the Honda CB 450 Nighthawk were the worst of our industry, pumped out without passion or purpose. Seriously, if a 440 LTD were the last bike on earth, I’d have to decide whether I wanted to continue motorcycling. Fast forward a decade or two and my, oh my, how the times have changed. Litre bikes have become so powerful that few can ride them and even fewer can afford their high-techery. Four-cylinder…

If you grew up modifying motorcycles sometime in the 1970s through the 1990s, you’ll remember Koni shock absorbers. Konis were high-quality shocks that featured progressively wound springs and adjustable damping at a very reasonable price, making them a popular choice among bike builders at the time. They are also completely rebuildable, giving them excellent longevity. While the company still exists in the automotive industry, the motorcycle division was shut down in 2000. A long-time distributor of Koni motorcycle shocks in Australia, however, bought the rights to produce Koni shocks under a different name (so as not to be confused with the automobile company), and Ikon Suspension was born. Ikon shocks are not only faithful reproductions of the previous Koni shocks, they are the real deal, renamed and manufactured in Albury,…

When coaching for the California Superbike School, I’ll meet students briefly on the line before they head out onto the track, and then sit somewhere and wait for them to go by. Once I see the student I’m teaching go by, I’ll take off, catch up, and then follow them for a few corners to see what they are doing right or wrong. I’ll then get in front of them and lead, and demonstrate the correct line and the right way to execute certain techniques. I did this recently while following a student at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This particular student was busy. By busy, I mean that in the three or four corners that I followed him, he must have shifted gears four times, moved his body about 17…

Growing up, John Kerfoot was surrounded by old British machines. “My dad was a mechanic in the British army during the Second World War,” he says. “After we came to the Brampton, Ont., area in 1957, our driveway was always full of leaking old British stuff, including cars and motorcycles.” It’s no surprise then that Kerfoot’s first motorcycle was a 1967 Triumph Tiger 500, and it represented the beginning of a long riding career aboard many other British-made machines. Eventually, however, he came to appreciate Japanese bikes, and in particular, Yamaha’s XS650. “SALOONATIC IS A NOD TO HIS FASCINATION WITH THE THREE STOOGES SLAPSTICK COMEDIES” A Venerable Platform Introduced in 1969 with sales commencing in 1970, Yamaha’s XS650 featured a 4-stroke parallel-twin engine with overhead cam and 5-speed transmission. Updated…

LEGENDARY SET OF CURVES Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard of the Tail of the Dragon, Deals Gap and US129. This famous stretch of road encompasses 318 turns in just 11 miles, or in metric money, 17.7 km — the number of turns, however, remains the same. OTHER LESS FAMOUS ROADS There are many other entertaining roads in this area of the Smoky Mountains but just aren’t as famous as the Dragon. With names like Moonshiner 28, Foothills Parkway, Smoky Mountain Loop, Devils Triangle, The Gambler NC209, Diamondback 226, Devil’s Staircase, Six Gap North Georgia and The Snake are sure to entertain even the most discerning corner carver. BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAINTOP SCENERY The Cherohala Skyway is a National Scenic Byway that was completed in 1996 after 34 years…

These three words are used synonymously when it comes to classifying older motorcycles, but the terminology is often confusing as there are no real clear-cut definitions. However, the most common trait between the three categories is that all classic, vintage, and collectable models are considered such if they are at least 25 years old. “Classic” is not an official term, and its use can indicate more than just the age of a motorcycle. In some cases, it is even used to describe a new motorcycle that has a certain look or style and has the simplicity of an older bike. A good example is a Harley Davidson Heritage Classic, which is considered a “Modern Classic.” “Vintage” is more of a descriptive word for motorcycles than a category on its own.…