February 2016

Transcription

February 2016

February 2016
MOTUS
Moto−Love, American Style
More Women Motorcyclists • We Finally Get Around To The Ninja 300
What We Learned Searching For Ed Cavanaugh • Part Of The Solution: The Unification Rally
Bull-It Jeans • Nexx R2 Helmet • Kangaroo Naughty Bits • Bay Area Stupid-Moto
News, Clues & Rumors
Volume XXXIII, Issue 2
Publication Date: January 18, 2016
On The Cover:
Lee Conn and Sam Devine head towards The
Junction on Mines Road
Photo: Max Klein
Contents:
NCR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Locals Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Uneasy Rider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Pitstops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
New Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Ladieez Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Rigor Motus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Three Hundred . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Last Lesson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Devine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Doc Frazier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Maynard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Hertfelder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Stankflapper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Last Page Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Affordable American Motorcycles . . . 29
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Michael Campos on the Sunday Morning Ride
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Editor in Chief & Jackass of All Trades: Surj Gish
1/4/16 1:16 PM
Master of Puppets & Layout: Angelica Rubalcaba
Senior Editor: Robert Stokstad
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USA
©2015 BMW Motorrad USA, a division of BMW of North America, LLC. The BMW name and logo are registered trademarks.
Authorized Dealer
Contributing Editors: John Joss, Will Guyan,
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The Ultimate
Riding Machine®
Chief of the World Adventure Affairs Desk:
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Staff Photographers: Robert Stokstad,
Angelica Rubalcaba
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February 2016 | 2 | CityBike.com
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Otto Hofmann, Jon Jensen, Bill Klein,
David Lander, Lucien Lewis, Larry Orlick,
Jason Potts, Bob Pushwa, Gary Rather,
Curt Relick, Charlie Rauseo, Mike Solis,
Ivan Thelin, James Thurber.
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Adam Wade
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Photo: Scott Wilson
Photo Of The Month: Bo To Be
Wild
that the American Diabetes Association
does.”
“TP” took the reins of the storied Dudley
Perkins Company from his father, Dudley,
Jr., almost 20 years ago, overseeing moves
Several on the team were friends of Ed’s, or
Last month’s Last Page Photo catapulted
from the cramped Page Street location
young Bowen Wilson into local moto-hero assisted in the search for him when he went in San Francisco to a spacious South Van
celebrity—everyone knows that appearing missing. If you’d like to help out by making Ness building (now the SF D-Store) to the
a donation, go to CityBike.com/lov(Ed)
in CityBike is the first step to going pro,
current South City showplace. The hardy
and it’ll redirect you to the team page.
after all. Unlike so many young stars who
business suffered and thrived across those
immediately begin to develop uh… bad
2 decades of change, with ever-smiling
If you’re interested in
habits… Bo is
Tom and his wife, Janet, steady at the helm
joining any Lov(Ed)
handling the
gh
au
an
through it all.
av
C
team
(Tour
De
Cure,
Ed
limelight well.
or Tahoe ride through
Their son, Chris, was groomed from a very
Seen here
JDRF.org) contact
early age to learn what made the store tick.
autographing
Chris Coleburn at
He led the New Year’s Ride and will now
copies of January
[email protected].
front the widely known family enterprise,
2016 CityBike—his
as well. Dudley’s, one of Harley-Davidson’s
Goodbye, Tom
issue—Bo hasn’t let
oldest retail outlets, is now a 4th-generation
his new-found superPerkins
example of how perseverance and service
stardom go to his
Two weeks after his
(to customers and the general community
head, and still puts
sad passing from
alike) produce a vibrant establishment.
his boots on one at a
pancreatic cancer,
time, just like the rest
Stories abounded at TP’s Memorial, with
58-year old Tom
of us. But smaller.
many attendees exclaiming, “I didn’t
Perkins’ dealership
know that…” All the more so amongst
family led their
Dumb Mistakes
HOG members (who served the food
300-strong Harley
We used to call this
lines for 500 celebrants), investment
crew on Dudley’s
kind of stuff errata,
bankers, SFMC-ers, magazine publishers,
35th annual New
because that nicely
Red & Whites and other patch wearers,
n Clever Year’s Day Ride,
Photo: Christia
obscures the reality
SFPD personnel, although formal MoCo
a round trip to
of “hey, we screwed
representation was absent. For example,
Half Moon Bay
the pooch” behind
Tom’s recovery from a debilitating traffic
breakfast that ended with a warm, tearful
fancy foreign language. But Latin-esque
accident in his teens sparked many years
early afternoon memorial gathering for
obfuscations aside, we’re more like a
Tom back at the South San Francisco H-D of toy drives, financial aid to SF General
monkey with a proverbial football than
Hospital, and more. Supporting our
dealership and museum.
literary uh…literate person.
veterans was also TP’s constant personal
and business hallmark.
Case in point: Tom Spinks, winner of the
“coolest” Dirtbagger at the 2015 Dirtbag,
While most
actually goes by the name Tony Spinks,
present were
largely because that’s his actual name.
customers or
We’re sorry, Tom, err, Tony, that we
blood family, all
managed to get your name wrong, even
shared both the
though we talked at length about your bike
lament of Tom
and all the cool shit you did to it.
Perkin’s too-early
demise and a
Tour de Cure, Team Lov(Ed)
determination to
A team of cyclists have come together
to help raise funds in the fight against
diabetes in memory of Ed Cavanaugh:
“We ride because we hope to stop Diabetes,
and in the memory of our fallen brother Ed
Cavanaugh. Ed had Type 1 Diabetes and
Photo: Dudley Perkins H-D
tragically passed away in July of 2015. We
have come together in his passing to carry on
his beautiful legacy and to support the work
Locals Only
follow his direction to “look forward and
move ahead”.
The note goes on to say thanks to a long list
of people, including Cary Littel:
- Curt Relick
“A special note of thanks to Cary Littell for
his help in getting the shop up and running
as well as providing me with tech help during
the first couple of years. RIP Cary, you are
missed.”
Another “Driver” Actually
Charged
24 Hour Marten-izing!
Holy shit—two in a row!
Photo: Sam Devine
By Sam Devine
Phots by Sam Devine & Surj Gish
Justin Martens has a motorcycle problem—he keeps running out of space for them.
The Minnesota native has only been wrenching on motorcycles since 2013, but he
and fellow builders Jason Lisica, and Eric McDougald have recently set up shop in
half an airplane hanger in Marin. His very questionable KTM-traption took home
multiple awards at the 2015 Dirtbag, and he and McDougald’s 1980 CM400 chop
won best motorcycle at the 2014 Any Two Wheels event.
So where’s your Dirtbag bike?
“It’s at my house in the living room.”
Does it have Christmas lights on it right now?
“No, we have a tree also. When we first moved here, we had no room for anything.
We had a parking spot that was taken up with motorcycles. I don’t know why I kept
buying ‘em, it was dumb.
You appeared in The Rattler, Paolo Asuncion’s second documentary about the
Dirtbag Challenge. How’d you like that?
“Dude, that was such a sweet movie! It was so cool! It was fuckin’ hilarious! I loved it!
Going to see it in the theater was so awesome. It was a long time ago that he had done
the interview. And I didn’t remember what I said. People were saying, ‘oh, is it going
to seem like you when they edit it together?’ And yeah, it was cool. It was me and
McDougald. I like how he had it on our porch. Cause that’s where we built the bike.
That’s where we built ‘em before we had this [space].”
Did you go to school to be a mechanic?
“I went to Universal Technical Institute… I went there because I built a ‘71 Mustang
when I was in high school. And I was like, ‘Aw fuck I wanna build cars.’ So I went to
Arizona, lived there…while in school I was working on diesel trucks—and the school
was so easy and such bull shit. And one of the guys I worked with had graduated from
there… and I was like, ‘Ok, how much are you paying for your schooling still, like
debts and shit?’ and he’s like ‘Yeah, dude, I wouldn’t do it.’ So then I went to college
back in Minnesota, did a two year school, got my associates degree. And then I started
working construction.”
When did you start riding?
“When I was like 18… The first time I ever rode a motorcycle… my brother had some
shitty Kawasaki 400… I was helping him work on that… and I rode it like a block.
And then my dad had this bike and it was in my grandparents’ house in Northfield…
which would be like to go to San Jose. It’s through Minneapolis, obviously the traffic
isn’t as gnarly as here, but it’s northern suburbs to, like, the country down south.
So my buddy gave me a ride and the first time I drove a motorcycle was this 1100
Shadow… on the highway.”
Did you drive stick already?
“Yeah, that was the same thing with that. When I learned how to drive stick I’d
bought a car that was manual and figured it out.”
So it’s kinda been a life of just figuring it out for you, basically?
“Exactly.”
Photo: Surj Gish
We reported last month that road-raging
crazy lady Darla Renee Jackson had been
charged with second degree murder after
she chased down and killed 39-year-old
Navy chief petty officer Zachary Buob.
We’re happy to report that the stupid
asshole who goes by the name William
Sam Crum, best known for his video debut
in which he seemingly intentionally ran a
rider and passenger off the road in the great
state of Texas.
A Hood County grand jury indicted
68-year old Crum on January 8th on
two counts of aggravated assault for
intentionally hitting the motorcycle being
ridden by Eric Sanders with his girlfriend
Debra Simpson riding pillion. Crum says
was caused by an insect bite that caused
him to swerve.
When interviewed by NBC 5, Crum said
he would apologize
to Simpson, but not
to Sanders. “No… he
was doing something
illegal.” Crum
also says he’s been
harassed as a result
on the “accident.”
How’s that work,
William? Is that like
when you’re riding
along and some
nutjob harasses
your ass right off
the road?
Sanders isn’t
exactly helping
us motorcyclists
Photo: Bob S
tokstad
look good in this
case, though.
He was ticket (obviously) for
passing on a double yellow, and also for
riding with an invalid license.
Come on, dude. That’s just plain stupid.
Marin Moto Works Closed
Marin Moto Works has closed up shop,
as of December 18th. Owner Mike Nield
posted a note on the MMW Facebook
page and at the shop to say thanks and to
provide some closure on the closure. Here’s
an excerpt:
“After much consideration and lengthy
discussions with my family I have decided to
close Marin Moto Works effective December
18th. I gave myself 5 years to get the shop up
and running and after that time I was going
to assess where I was with the place and if I
wanted to continue. Although I have had a very successful 5 years
of running Marin Moto Works, I feel it is time
to move on and pursue other avenues. I have
been blessed with some of the best customers
one can have in Marin County and I am
grateful for all the support I received while in
operation.
Mike plans to sell the shop, so if you’re
interested, shoot him an email at mike@
marinmotoworks.com.
The Junction Closing January
31st
Lots of bad news this month. We’ve
dropped a few snide remarks about riding
out to The Junction recently, because every
time we go out there it’s basically us and
the squirrels. It’s not exactly Point Barrow,
people!
Turns out we were unfortunately prescient
in our worries—The Junction posted a
note on their Facebook page on January 8th:
“Dear friends of The Junction, we are sad to
announce we will be closing on Jan. 31. We
have met so many wonderful people and made
great friends over the last 2 years it will be
hard to say goodbye. Thank you for all your
support and friendship. We will be helping
The E-motorcycle Federal Tax Credit was
included in the tax extenders deal approved
by Congress and signed by President
Obama (Thanks, Obama!) on December
18th. You can get up to 10% of the purchase
price back up to a maximum of $2,500. An
additional tax credit was approved which
covers electric motorcycle chargers with a
30% tax credit up to $1,000. These credits
apply to street legal motorcycles that can go
over 45 mph, and are applicable in all fifty
states. The purchase price credit applies
retroactively to bikes purchased in 2015
and of course in 2016.
In Dainese’s quest to make the perfect
protective gear they had done a
considerable amount of research in how
the body moves—or more importantly—
doesn’t move. This research begat the
Biosuit.
Dainese
figured out
that there are
“lines of nonextension”
that refrain
from
stretching or
What this means in real dollars is you can
contracting
save something like $850 to $1,600 on a
when the body
Zero and around $2,000 on a Brammo
moves. These
Victory Empulse, and at least a few
lines on the
hundred bucks on charging gear.
Biosuit can be
pressurized
We’d still like better range from electric
mechanically
bikes, but the range of bikes like Zero’s SR
to compress
is good enough for a lot of daily commuters,
against the
and can be extended with the optional
astronaut
uh… “tank” thingy. If you’re looking to
without any
walk the zero emissions talk, or maybe just
loss of mobility.
bank some karma to balance your other
If NASA has
internal combustion sins, now’s the time.
their way, this
suit will be on
Dainese Probes Space
the surface of
Programs
Mars by the
Dainese already had a bit of experience
Year 2030.
with their suits spending some time in low
On the other side of the pond, Dainese
earth orbit (we’re looking at you, 2009
was hired to solve another problem by the
Jorge Lorenzo) so it totally makes sense
that they would get into the spacesuit game. ESA (think of it like NASA’s equivalent of
Pairing up with MIT, Dainese has whipped EuroDisney, but with WAY better rides).
Turns out that the lack of gravity has can
up the world’s most bitchin’ compression
cause astronauts to have herniated discs
suit for NASA.
after extended trips amongst the satellites.
Since the human spine was not designed to
elongate, Dainese created the Skinsuit.
From top down, a soft but rigid padded
canvas in the shoulder area is combined
with a four-way stretchy elastic mixed with
two non-compression yet elastic vertical
nylon bands. These
bands are the spaceage technology,
precisely measured
for each astronaut
at hundreds of
points and adjusted
to come up with
a collective 1g of
downward force
from shoulder to
foot, all without
reducing range of
motion. Think of it
as a gravity suit.
Interestingly,
Dainese claims
that their logo is
a devil head, but
it’s always looked
like an alien to us
here. Yes, we’re
paranoid, why do
you ask?
Anyway, combine
that with their newest suits, their “Inspired
by Humans” slogan and the fact that a
number of MotoGP “Aliens” have sworn
by their product and well, let’s just say we
won’t be surprised if Mulder and Scully are
on the case.
- Max Klein
readers to head to Sacramento to observe,
and still no one showed up.
We’re marginalizing ourselves.
What Happened To Us?
to find the new owner and get them up and
running as soon as possible, so let us know if
you are interested in being the next part of
The Junction’s history.”
We spoke to Mashelle at the Junction about
the impending end of The Junction as we
know it, and she added that they’re hoping
The Junction will be up and running under
new ownership by Spring.
Here’s another opportunity for someone
with some money to turn part of the Bay
Area moto-culture into a destination.
Maybe we’ll pass a virtual hat around and
crowdfund us a CityBike clubhouse. None
of us can really cook, sure, but that’s better
than just listening to the usual chorus of
“Man, I used to love that place but I haven’t
been there in years. Such a shame it’s
closing.”
Pay Less For Zero
If you’ve been thinking “Man, I’d sure like
one of them there newfangled ‘lectric bikes,
but they’re just so damn expensive!” we’ve
got good news for you.
I fly pretty frequently: down to SoCal to
pick up bikes, to conferences and client
meetings for my “real job,” sometimes
even for vacation. In the last couple years,
I’ve tried to do less of the glued to the
laptop thing, since I do that all the time
anyway, and instead use the unavoidable
airport down time and still oftendisconnected flight time as “paper time.”
In other words, I read books, magazines,
whatever—anything unaffected by the
pilot’s slightly drawling, “Well folks, it’s
uh… time to turn off your devices.”
on planes?) they were now nowhere to be
found.
These merchandising decisions are
undoubtedly driven by sales. It’s possible
that motorcyclists are so dedicated to twowheeled travel that we ride everywhere,
instead of flying, and that’s why there are
no moto-mags at the airport—there are
no motorcyclists to buy ‘em.
California is arguably the best goddamn
motorcycle state in the Union, with close
to a million registered bikes. Yet we
scarcely leave a mark—never mind what
hardcore environmental groups say about
dirtbikers destroying the planet.
I have coffee now and then with a local
German moto-businessman with a very
German name, and he often laments the
apathy of American riders. We’re afraid
to go to job interviews on our bikes
For Whom The Buell Tolls
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported
January 14th that Walworth County Circuit
Judge Phillip Koss had approved the sale of
Erik Buell Racing to Liquid Asset Partners
for $2 million.
First, two million bucks? Seriously,
guys—surely we have a surplus of technerd millionaire bike enthusiasts ‘round
these parts that could have banded
together to buy EBR. After all, running in
the red towards a dubious goal is a classic
entrepreneurial “business plan.”
Imagine this: “We’re building the EBR user
base at a loss so we can leverage our data to
monetize those users at a later date. How?
We’ll figure it out eventually. Maybe.”
Anyway, back in the real world, Liquid
Asset Partners owner Bill Melvin
was quoted by the Journal Sentinel as
saying, “We will not be manufacturing
motorcycles, as Liquid Asset, but we will be
working to put together a plan with a team
that can be successful in doing that.”
But then he followed up with this: “Their
bikes, out of the box, can go head-to-head
with the top Italian race bikes. Our sale
process will enable the proper exposure of
the company and price flexibility that may
better fit a new owner.” That assertion,
which is questionable at best, or as we say
here in the native tongue of CityBike-istan,
“total bullshit,” makes us question how
astute and truthful Mr. Melvin is being
with us when he says stuff like, “Our hope
is that someone will continue to make
these amazing motorcycles.”
because we might not get hired. We accept
municipalities limiting our abilities to
do business because we aren’t desirable.
We aren’t concerned that transportation
committees and legislators completely
ignore us, if they’re not actively looking to
limit us.
People—we’re motorcyclists. We choose
a form of transportation that falls over if
we’re not actively engaging with it. We
ought to be applying that same hands-on
approach to everything we touch—not
going gently into that good night, into the
tragic mediocrity of respectable existence.
Yeah, right.
More likely, this is just another example
of our marginalization as a segment of
society. I talked about this in my speech
at this year’s Unification Rally, how we’re
I’ll often see what airport convenience
such a small group that we’re in danger of
stores and bookstores have to offer. Again, being run over, legislatively and physically,
it’s a forced break from the norm: “I’m
by the majority. Most likely, the folks that
gonna read something, and I have to
run airport bookstores know they can
choose from this crap. What are my best
make more money filling the spots next to
options?”
the pseudo-porn with vapid fashion mags
It was during one of these “don’t they have or those stupid car mags.
anything worth reading?” bookshelf stare- But it’s more than just the airport.
downs that I realized I had stopped seeing Look at the CMSP advisory committee
motorcycle magazines in the airport racks. meetings—there are usually 5 or 6
I’m not sure when this happened, but
civilians in attendance. Sure, the CMSP
once I saw it, I couldn’t un-see it. Where
does a shitty job of informing the public
moto-mags used to be next to the softcore there’s a meeting coming up, but this
girlie mags (do people really read Playboy year we made a point of encouraging our
Photo: Angelica Rubalcaba
Frankly, we never much cared for cows,
and that Bambi was a real asshole—so
we’re happy to swaddle our paws in their
skins. But have you seen a kangaroo
punch? We’re not inclined to mess with
those tough sons of bitches.
Bay Area Stupid-Moto
From the desk of our “Can’t You Guys Be A
Little Less Stupid In Public?” department,
we have this story of a dramatic
mainstream media exposé, in which a
diligent reporter digs up some very dirty
dirt on a bad, bad man. Sounds about like a
typical CityBike story, right?
Look, we really dug the EBR bikes, and
we’d love to see EBR keep on keepin’ on.
But the market is gonna need more than
just another fast bike to buy in—potential
customers are likely gun-shy as a result of
the last attempt going Buell-y up so fast.
Stay tuned for more information as this
story develops. Meanwhile, we’ll keep
cruising Craigslist for sweet deals on old
tubers, because those are gonna be real
classics some day!
PhD Of Motorcycle Adventure
Back On The Road
CityBike Chief of the World Adventure
Affairs Desk, Dr. Gregory W. Frazier, has
entered The Great Around The World
Adventure Rally, having qualified for
the South American stage as #9. He’ll
start from Bogota, Colombia on his selfsponsored, self-modified Honda, an ’83
GL650.
His first checkpoint will be in Colombia,
where he hopes to console Miss Colombia
for her having been briefly crowned Miss
Universe in December of 2015, only to
have her crown immediately stripped and
given to the real winner.
Dr. Frazier said on January 1, 2016, “Miss
Colombia and Valentino Rossi both
suffered unfairly in my opinion. I hope to
embrace Miss Colombia, possibly offer her
a few days of empowering adventure by
joining me the same as I would Rossi.”
Intermittent but enlightening
rally reportage can be found at:
RTWMotorcycleAdventureRally.
blogspot.com.
Dirt Bikes Save Lives
The Reno-Gazette Journal reported in
early December that a missing woman
had been found—safe but thirsty—by a
dirt rider taking the long way home, just
exploring.
Kevin Walker was riding his XR400 home
to Joshua Tree from Vegas, baby, when he
came upon a Kia Optima high-centered on
a hump in the road.
That right there is a story worth reading—
we were simply not aware that Kias were
likely to be high-centered. This is why you
don’t buy rental cars, folks—you never
know what people have done with them.
Anyway, Walker had found Joan Scolari,
73, who’d been reported missing after
telling her family she was driving to Lake
Havasu a few days earlier.
Now that you’ve finished laughing, here’s
the deal. We’re reticent to even mention
this, really, because it’s been the subject
of much internet arguing and quite
frankly, we’re already weary of it. But it’s
Look, there really isn’t much of a story
here, in spite of all the hand-wringing going
on within the motorcycle community.
It’s a classic stupid games, stupid prizes
situation.
First, we keep telling you guys that the
general public doesn’t differentiate “types
of riders” the way we do. Bikers are bikers
in the eyes of the normies.
Similarly, the vast majority of people can’t
tell the difference between Bayview bad
guys riding stolen bikes and BASM. Who
can blame ‘em? Both groups are breaking
the law and riding like tools in plain sight.
Hell, even moto-mainstream media like
Lanesplitter.Jalopnik.com got it wrong,
basically taking the KPIX reporting at
face value and lumping BASM in with 12
O’Clock Boys-style “gangs.” Solid reporting,
Sean McDonald.
When asked what she thought about
Walker’s bike, Scolari replied, “You meet
the nicest people on Hondas.”
Yes, we made up that last part.
Kangaroo Naughty Bits
Kangaroo leather had been legal in
California since 2008, thanks to legislation
that temporarily removed the prohibition
of kangaroo parts and skins. That
legislation sunsetted at the end of 2015,
meaning that as of January 1st this year
importing, possessing with intent to sell or
selling kangaroo parts can result in fines
of up to $5,000 or even up to six months in
jail.
Since kangaroo hides are kangaroo “parts,”
gloves that include these hides are officially
no bueno in the Golden State. Off the top of
our heads, that includes gloves from Held,
Icon, Dainese, Scorpion, Rev’It and other
companies—but so what? In our opinion,
some of the best gloves in the world are
made right down the way in Fremont, by
Helimot, and they’re made of deer and cow
hides.
motorcycles, and the Bay Area,
so here we go.
CBS KPIX 5 reporter Betty Yu discovered,
by way of an anonymous (chickenshit, bu
not that Chicken Shit, maybe) informant
that one of the Bay Area Supermoto guys
was in fact a Marin County Sheriff’s
Deputy by the name of Zack Schlief. Not
surprisingly, young Zack is no longer a
deputy.
Some riders are eager to
defend Zack, saying he’s not
really doing anything wrong,
and that’s a fair point—
wheelies and such are largely
harmless, unless things go
awry and a one-wheeled
rider hits a pedestrian. In
other words, don’t fucking do
that shit in a major city, duh.
Others have pointed out
that public servants such
as law enforcement officers
ought to be held to a higher
standard, or at least be
smart enough to not break
the law on video that they
then post on the internet.
Also a fair point, although
we have plenty of other
video evidence that some
public servants can’t even
be trusted to not brazenly
kill innocent people on
video.
Photo: Doc Fra
zier
Second, yes, Betty Yu’s reporting was
representative of typically abhorrent
mainstream “news,” with its overwrought,
alarmist language. On the other hand,
“potentially putting lives at risk” doesn’t
sound so crazy when taken in context of
the recent death of a pedestrian hit by a
motorcyclist in San Francisco. Are we
really surprised by this story?
We hope you learned your lesson, Zack.
Thanks a bunch for bringing some
unnecessary scrutiny down on the rest of
us, bud.
New Laws For 2016—The Man
Keeps On Keepin’ Us Down
assuming an opportunity to turn off arises
sooner than an opportunity for the vehicles to
pass safely.
Assembly analysis from August 2015 states
that this is due to a need for clarification
that Section 21656 “applies to any vehicle,
including bicyclists,” even though everyone
using a vehicle on public roads should
already know that the vehicle code applies
to their vehicle:
Section 27400 of the vehicle code has been
amended as follows:
That said, could a cop see the flashing blue but it’s a damn shame there weren’t more
light on your helmet and hassle you about
regular old motorcyclists.”
your headset? Certainly. Is it likely? Maybe,
That’s a simple way to put it, actually:
Not really, actually. But here’s some stuff
maybe not.
This
bill
aims
to
provide
clarification
to
Bikers and Motorcyclists. We’re all bikers,
you all should be aware of, that you might
ensure
that
this
requirement
applies
to
any
We
haven’t
heard
much
about
this
sort
of
we’re all motorcyclists, but never mind that
not have read if we’d said “Stay Informed
vehicle,
including
bicyclists,
who
may
be
thing,
and
the
existing
vehicle
code
would
that for now.
About New Legislation.”
operating on a narrow road but still impeding already allow for this sort of unwarranted
Going into the Fall of 2015, I began
Bikes Are Vehicles Too, Duh
faster-moving traffic because drivers cannot
harassment. But concern about these sorts
thinking of the 2016 Unification Rally
of laws and consequent misapplication
Bikes, the ones with people pedaling them, safely provide three feet of passing distance.”
as something of a test. At first, I wanted
is just another reason we need to band
now have to get the hell out of the way.
So, in a nutshell, if you’re riding in the
to see if the organizers would do more
together as riders and speak up about
We’re actually being truthful here, sort of.
twisties, and you’re too damn slow, you
outreach outside of the Biker world,
legislation that might affect us in a negative
gotta
get
out
of
the
way,
even
if
you’re
on
a
whether they could successfully draw more
You know how slow-moving vehicles have
way. Speaking of speaking up...
bicycle.
Motorcyclists to the Capital. A short time
to use a turnout or otherwise get out of the
later, however, I decided that CityBike had
way when there are five or more vehicles
How does this affect us motorcyclists, and
the power to help solve this “lots of Bikers,
stacked up behind ‘em? And you know
why have we dedicated so many paragraphs
not a lot Motorcyclists” problem. Our
how bicycles are vehicles under the vehicle to it? Well, we motorcyclists love to bitch
“Ride Friday Give Back” charity ride had
code and are supposed to following the
about cyclists taking up space on the back
laws of the road just like cars, trucks and
roads we love, and now there’s actually
United States Of
The Budman speaks.
motorcycles? And you know how people
some very specific language in the vehicle
‘Fication
keep saying, “We don’t need more laws, we code to support that point of view, even if
just need to enforce the ones we have?”
CityBike as attended and
there already was.
covered the last couple of
So yeah, we already had a law that said
But, since some riders (both motorcyclists Unification Rallies, and we’ve
slow-moving vehicles have to get out of
and bicyclists) are assholes (see practically been vocally critical of the lack
the way, but because of the “Three Feet for every News, Clues and Rumors ever for
of attendance by “other” riders.
Safety Act” apparently some clarification
supporting evidence), we’ll point out that
Previous rallies have been very
was required. AB-208, which passed last
this doesn’t mean you should enforce this
MC / cruiser / Harley folkyear, made minor changes to Section 21656 yourself. It’s really a moot point, as is damn
oriented—these are the people
of the Vehicle Code, which now reads:
near every complaint about cyclists from
the organizers are connected
motorcyclists. Even with the three foot
to. A couple years back (“An
“On a two-lane highway where passing
rule,
a
bike
and
a
bicycle
ought
to
be
able
MC Of One” – News, Clues
is unsafe because of traffic in the opposite
to
fit
in
the
same
lane
with
zero
issues,
if
and Rumors, February 2014),
direction or other conditions, any vehicle
everyone
would
just
be
cool.
I commented, “Organizers
proceeding upon the highway at a speed less
estimated attendance to be
than the normal speed of traffic moving in
The Sound Of Semantics
‘at least 5,000’—the best
the same direction at that time, behind which
Since the law requiring usage of hands-free turnout since 1992, when the
five or more vehicles are formed in line, shall
systems by drivers has worked so well at
California helmet law took
turn off the roadway at the nearest place
Photo: Sam Devine
ending the scourge of distracted driving,
effect. That’s a lot of bikers,
designated as a turnout by signs erected by
legislators
decided
to
add
an
additional
the authority having jurisdiction over the
highway, or wherever sufficient area for a safe provision: headphones aren’t hands-free
devices, at least if you put ‘em in or on both
turnout exists, in order to permit the vehicles
ears.
following it to proceed.”
“California law has long required that slowmoving vehicles turn off the roadway when
safe to do so if five or more vehicles are behind
them in order to allow faster-moving traffic
to pass. This law applies to cars as well as to
bicyclists and other road users.
In 2014, the Legislature passed and the
Governor signed AB 1371 (Bradford),
Chapter 331, Statutes of 2013, which requires
drivers to provide at least three feet of space
between their vehicle and a bicycle when
passing the bicycle. If a driver is unable to
provide the three feet of passing distance, he
or she must slow to a reasonable and prudent
speed and pass only when doing so will not
endanger the bicyclist’s safety.
The author introduced this bill because
of concerns about the difficulty of drivers
providing three feet of passing space on
many narrow rural roads that are popular
with bicyclists. On these roads, lines of cars
may end up forming behind a bicyclist as
drivers slow to a safe speed and wait for an
opportunity to pass safely. In theory, in such
a situation it would be incumbent upon the
bicyclist to turn off at the next available
opportunity to allow the drivers to pass safely,
“A person operating a motor vehicle or bicycle
may not wear a headset covering, earplugs in,
or earphones covering, resting on, or inserted
in, both ears.”
The previous language was:
“A person operating a motor vehicle or bicycle
may not wear a headset covering, or earplugs
in, both ears.”
So the difference is the addition of
“earphones covering, resting on, or inserted
in…”
Note that use of earplugs as hearing
protection is covered in exclusion D, as it
was previously:
“(d) A person wearing personal hearing
protectors in the form of earplugs or molds
that are specifically designed to attenuate
injurious noise levels. The plugs or molds shall
be designed in a manner so as to not inhibit
the wearer’s ability to hear a siren or horn
from an emergency vehicle or a horn from
another motor vehicle.”
But what about all those Bluetooth
headsets clamped on so many of our
helmets? Can’t those speakers be
characterized as covering or resting on
the ears? In our opinion, as non-lawyers,
they’re not really covering the ears, and
they shouldn’t be resting on the ears if
installed correctly.
been moderately successful, and I decided
if I could use the same “ride with CityBike”
incentive to entice some Motorcyclists to
ride to the rally.
So we invited our readers to our “Part Of
The Solution” ride in our January issue, on
Facebook, and on BARF:
“It doesn’t matter if you agree on the issues,
or even think the issues
are real, it matters
that you—we—we
show up. Make
no mistake, future
legislative sessions will
concern us as riders.
Get off the couch, out
of the Starbucks, out of
your shell, and ride to
Sacramento with us.”
On the ride to Sac, I considered tossing
my “Let’s reach across the aisle and unify
our voices” speech in favor of a stern, come
to Jesus reprimand after watching a small
group of Harley-mounted knuckleheads
enter the freeway in such assholish fashion
that damn near every car braked hard to
avoid them. We’re our own worst enemy
quite frequently, after all. But that wouldn’t
still not drowning out the stupid-loud, ain’t
savin’ shit pipes.
Come on, y’all. Get real. All y’all.
Here’s the come to Jesus talk I mentioned
earlier.
The rally and / or involvement in
motorcycle issues in general isn’t about
universal agreement on
a single point of view—
that’s impossible. It’s about
showing up, engaging,
discussing, arguing,
getting involved.
Cylinder Head
Specialists
• Flow Bench Testing • Competition Valve Jobs •
• Valve Seat & Guide Replacement • Race Prep •
If you’re upset that the
rally is “just a bunch of
bikers shouting about
helmet laws,” if you feel
like your opinion on
issues that are important Devine: Rally Ho!
Not surprisingly, it
to you isn’t wellrained. Surprisingly,
It was odd, really. Here we were at the
represented by existing
we had a hell of a time
Capitol building on a rainy Saturday,
MROs (motorcycle
getting people to show
surrounded by patch clubs. Screamin’
rights organizations), you
up. I think we ended
Demons, Satan’s Sons, Lord’s Prospects,
can solve that problem by
up with a paltry fifteen
ine
Saxon Creed, Marines, Sober Riders,
Photo: Sam Dev
adding your voice to the
riders at Middle Harbor
Boozefighters, Gorillas, Rogue Militia,
conversation, rather than
Shoreline Park the
Valley Vixens, Bay Biznez, Iron Workers,
standing back, bitching under your breath,
morning of the rally,
Azorean Brotherhood, and Hells Angels,
not doing a damn thing.
have gone over well, and anyway, it wasn’t
including Roger, who rode his CB500F
just to name a few.
from Modesto to Oakland instead of going my show, so I stuck to my script:
I personally disagree vigorously with
The rally was relatively short and sadly,
straight to Sac, so he could ride with us. A
some of the POVs put forth by some of the
“The thing about us riders is that we’re a
not very well attended. Fifteen of us had
few more joined us along the way, but all
MROs; for example, it’s time to give up
minority. A tiny minority, actually. I ride to
ridden out from the Bay Area, including
in all we only added about twenty riders to work every day, year-round, and there are
fighting the helmet law in California. That
Lane Splitter in Chief Surj Gish and BARF
the crowd at the Capital, including our own days in the winter when I might see one or two ship has sailed, and we’ve got other issues
captain Budman, who both spoke. Editor
Road Scholar An, who waited by herself in other riders amongst the thousands of cars.
to focus our limited resources on. Does
Surj had pressed the issue that it’s mostly
the rain at the end of the Yolo Causeway,
that stop me from showing up, from getting
Even in the summer, I see 20,
patch clubs that show up to the Unification
swooping in to join our high-viz pack for
maybe 30 bikes?
the last few miles.
The Part Of The
Solution pack at
Middle Harbor Sh
So we’re vulnerable.
oreline Park.
These riders that waited alone along the
Vulnerable to being run over
way so they could ride in solidarity warmed by inattentive drivers, and
my heart almost as much as my heated
vulnerable to those same carliner. It’s a pretty rad feeling to recognize
centric people thinking they
a rider along the freeway, like Chris on
need to manage our lives
his orange camo KTM, and see that rider
for us, for example, how we
slip into the back of the group—it felt like
should split lanes. As if they
we were riding with a purpose. Which we
know.
were. I’m immensely grateful to the riders
We’re vulnerable to be
that showed up and joined our little band
of brightly-colored bikers. You guys are the overrun by the much
larger population, so we
real deal, all of you.
need to make our voices as
But the lack of interest in the ride, and
powerful as possible.”
some dismissive opposition, really
Photo: Zack Kond
This is important—the
bothered me. When I was added to the
o
involved? Hell no!
Biker vs. Motorcyclist distinction is an
speaker list two days before the rally, this
In
fact,
it
makes
me
more
involved—I
want
idiotic waste of time. Even worse, there’s
disinterest served as the foundation of my
Rally, but I expected there to be at
an awful lot of hypocrisy from both “sides.” to add my voice, my opinion, help shape
speech.
least a few independent sportbike types, as
the things we’re working on. Together.
Motorcyclists talk about how the Bikers
I had seen at IMS.
are only in it for the “lifestyle,” how they
We need numbers. Here in California,
But no, it was almost exclusively black
don’t actually ride. Funny thing is, this
• Porting • Polishing •
no one even blinks an eye at the “no
leather vests for days.
horseshit often spews forth from lowmotorcycles” rule on 17 Mile Drive. Yeah,
mileage coffee shop posers who haven’t
Drawing a direct line from the podium,
it’s a private road, but imagine if they said
themselves been in the mountains and seen “no bicycles.” You bet your ass there’d be a through the Christmas tree, I found a red,
that an awful lot of the riders actually riding spandex storm at the gates of The Drive.
white and blue bike from the Marines
are
Bikers.
Never
mind
that
the
weather’s
Motorcycle Club. A star-spangled helmet
In Business Since 1978
never been conducive to riding to previous This is official notice: CityBike has run out on the handlebars seemed to be looking
All Makes
of patience for excuses like “I’m too busy”
rallies, and it rained almost all day this
defiantly at the State Capitol building.
or “those guys don’t represent me.” We’ll
year. The Bikers managed to show up, in
All Models
I approached one of the Marines club
spite of supposedly not riding much, while be riding to other events that matter, both
members, introduced myself, and said I
All Years
big and small—stay tuned to our Facebook wanted to talk to the guy with the patriotic
everyone else was typing bullshit excuses
page (facebook.com/CityBikeMag) and
from the warmth of their homes.
cycle.
of course the pages of the mag for details.
Similarly, Bikers talk about how those
“Hmmm,” he said looking around.
We’re also doing a lot of thinking about
damn sportbike guys ruin it for everyone
“Lemme see if I can find him...ok, you
how
we
can
do
more
to
help
inform
and
ENGINE DYNAMICS, LLC
by
splitting
too
fast,
almost
like
they’re
ready?”
engage
folks.
Phone 707-763-7519
quoting one of those goddamn antiFax 707-763-3759
“Yeah,” I said as he pointed back up the
I sincerely hope you’ll join us.
www.enginedynamics.com
splitting “news” articles. Yeah, I’ve never
granite steps.
seen a Hawg do that, stereo cranked and
- Editor Surj
2040 Petaluma Blvd. N.Petaluma, CA 94952
“Ok, you see that speaker? Ok, see that bald
guy to the left of it? See the pony tail next
to him? Ok, now see the guy in the red hat,
looking towards us?”
“Yep, that’s him.”
The second-to-last speaker is K.O. Joe of
the Sick Minds MC, who regaled us with
his tale of police profiling while returning
from last year’s rally. He encouraged us to
check out the video on YouTube—search
for “Stockton Police Officers Profiling Sick
Minds MC.”
“Great, thanks,” I said, stifling a salute.
Say what you want about the Marine
Last up is Rodney, President of the
Modified Motorcycle Association of
“Yeah, with the sunglasses?”
way into Sacramento. It wasn’t all that
rainy, really—drizzly and cold, yeah, ok,
but not bad.
Would I have rather stayed in bed? Yeah.
But my silent resolutions to myself this year
were: 1. Ask for help when I need it, and 2.
Get more involved.
For this year’s Unification Rally I did both.
I didn’t get any help since not a single
Sacramento rider joined me, but I asked. I
was there, I got involved, and I’m good with
that.
- An DeYoung
New Stuff
Nexx, Please: Nexx X.R2 Trion
By Sam Devine
Photo: Surj Gish
Corps, they know how to get shit done.
As I walked towards the man in the red
hat, I realized I was surrounded by mostly
tattooed white men that are doing a lot of
the physical work for this country. Whether
in the armed forces or on construction
sites, these folks are literally the boots on
the ground.
California, who criticized the light
attendance: “We shouldn’t see the lawn
out there. Sorry to be the downer, but if
we want to change things we gotta fill this
alley all the way to the bridge.”
- Sam Devine
DeYoung: Unification Of What?
On the steps of the capital, I talked with
Get up early on a rainy Saturday to ride
Sean, who turns out to be the President of
over to the State Capital and stand around
the Marines Motorcycle Club’s Sacramento with a bunch of bikers? Sign me up!”
Chapter. He’s been coming to this thing for
…said no one I asked.
years. “I’m hoping this year is better than
last years,” he says. “It’s been hit and miss.
This is a problem.
We’ll usually get people from the whole
state. They would really love to get a lot of The sportbike, dirtbike, ADV bike guys
see “Ride to the Unification Rally with
independents to come out to this, too. A
CityBike” alongside a photo of a sea of black
lot of independents are a little leery about
being around clubs for whatever reason. It leather and Harleys and say, “No thanks,
makes it hard, but what independents don’t I’d rather go for a ride. Somewhere else.” If
they don’t say, “But it’s raaaaining!”
realize is that what we come here and talk
about and go over, it affects them just as
Well, who wouldn’t rather go riding, rain
much, too. The laws that get put into place, or no? The Harley guys would probably
all that kind of stuff, affect
the independents just as
Editor Surj at the podium.
much as it will affect the
clubs.”
The presentation
started with the pledge
of allegiance and an
invocation. The speakers
asked mostly that we be
involved and vote.
Most speakers talked about
the unification and forward
movement of motorcycling,
but it’s striking how much
underlying contradiction
there is. Marines and
Rogue Militia, Sober
Riders and Boozefighters,
Satan’s Sons and Lord’s Prospects. But
that contradiction even under this one
subculture of motorcycling seemed to
underscore how necessary this rally
actually is and how important it is that
more non-club-affiliated riders and bikers
turn up. We see ourselves differently, and
in a lot of ways we are. But at the end of the
day, as Surj said in his speech, we are a very
small fraction of the populace. If we don’t
state our desires, no one will.
Holy moly you guys! How do I tell you all
about this helmet?! Are you lugging the
same old lid you wear on the highway to
the track? Get this helmet. Do you have a
buddy that just started track riding? Well
tell him (maybe her?) to get this helmet!
The only massage I’ve ever paid for was at
the track because I was getting my neck
jerked back by my cheapo daily rider brain
bucket.
For the price, the Nexx X.R2 (in Trion
red, white and black) is fantastic. Several
hundred dollars less than many trackworthy helmets at $439.95, this is the
Portuguese company’s flashy, ready-to-race
fiberglass and carbon composite shell. It
has a snappy, if brand-heavy, paint job and
a number of unique features that make it
wonderfully motorcycle specific.
For instance, almost everything you
might care to operate with gloved fingers
on this dome-piece comes to an easily
manipulable point. The chinstrap is your
typical double-D ring, but the end of the
strap comes to a point rather than the
usual rounded edge. This makes it the first
helmet I’ve been able to easily get on and
off while wearing gloves.
Now, when you first pick
up the X.R2, the most
noticeable thing about it—
besides “NEXX” in bold
letters on four sides—is
how light it is. The declared
weight is 1,350 grams
(2.97 lbs), but my medium
weighed in at 3.13 lbs
(1,419 grams) on my local
grocer’s scale—that guy’s
probably been over-charging
me for produce for years!
Fiddlesticks.
to get CityBike
delivered to your door
by the meanest, most
psychotic, well-armed
branch the Government
has to beat you with.
That’s right! we’ll send the man
to your mail hole once a month
for an entire year delivering the
latest issue of CityBike.
Just send a check for $30 to:
PO Box 18738
Oakland, CA 94619.
be sure to include your name,
address, & phone number!
or use Paypal!
[email protected]
the X.R2 seems as you point your brow into
the wind.
The other thing that becomes apparent is
that this helmet is hard to get off. Which,
Whatever, it’s almost as light for a main drawback, is a double edged
Photo: Sam Devine as they come. For another
sword. I seriously dread removing it,
especially with ear plugs in. But the last
$100 you can drop 300
thing you want should you ever actually
rather go for a ride too, but they show up
grams and get the X.R2 Carbon. I’m used
crash at high speed is a helmet that comes
to rallies in high numbers, often, and if you to heaving around a 3.76 lb HJC, which
off easily. And it does have quick-release
haven’t noticed, they also have the loudest may not sound like much on paper, but in
cheek pads for getting the helmet off in
voice—and pipes, but we’ll come back to
a head-wind, the difference is a noticeable
an emergency situation. It’s pretty easy
that. These are are the people that show up treat.
to imagine myself using the emergency
and get things done.
The Nexx is designed for a chin-down track releases to escape after the last session of a
Why don’t we join them? Why don’t the
position. The helmet handles the wind best long day at the track.
rest of us help and make that voice louder? when it feels like you’re looking through
Though it’s very snug around the neck, it’s
your eyebrows. With the chin up, the
I got up early and rode out across the
helmet vibrates a little bit but not much. Or spacious once you get your head inside.
causeway to meet up with the CityBike /
rather, it’s remarkable how steady and quiet At speeds above 80 mph, as wind elevates
BARF “Part of the Solution” ride on the
the helmet, the space between the top of
the head and the X.R2 is apparent. Nexx
includes several pads of different thickness
so you can customize your X.R2, get things
fitted just right. But there’s real guide as
to how to decide which pads to use. Start
with the smaller ones. If that doesn’t work,
use the thicker ones.
Where? Learn as
you go.
to stay in place during normal use, while
say, hanging from an elbow.
All in all, Nexx’s X.R2 is a great helmet,
especially for the track. It wouldn’t be my
first choice for touring or commuting, but
will be my go-to for fun rides
The polycarbonate
lexan visor feels
sturdy and is
remarkably clear. It
also resonates if you
whack the helmet
with the visor up:
buwong! Fun! I’m
incredibly lazy about
cleaning my visors, but
the Nexx does seem
clearer than most. Its
operating tab is also
centered above the
chin, rather than on the
left side, which does
come in handy while
Photo: Max Klein
holding in the clutch at
a stop light, making for
on the coast. If you can find a cheaper,
easier right-handed operation.
lighter helmet, let us know.
It also has a unique “locking” system.
Unlike others where you press a lock
button or lever, usually on the left side, the
Nexx just takes an extra downward push
to click into a position that is quite difficult
to pry open without both hands. This is
great for the track, but can be fearsome on
heavily trafficked streets.
$399.95 and up—$439.95 as tested. Learn
more and find out where to get your own at
NexxNorthAmerica.com.
Revved: Obsessions Of A
Midlife Motorcyclist
By Surj Gish
Another nice feature is the visor’s
stiffness—at nearly any speed, the Nexx
visor can be left in almost any position and
Actaully stay put. I’ve become accustomed
to leaving a half-inch gap open for venting.
This is great for riding in the rain, allowing
the helmet to vent off humidity while
blocking water droplets.
Two days before a scheduled flight to
Portland, I received a review copy of
Stuart A. Kirk’s Revved. I often read actual,
physical books (quaint, I know) on flights,
because I can put in headphones and just
read, during takeoff and throughout the
flight, if I’m not feeling like dragging out
my laptop and working. So I tossed it in my
go-bag.
The vents are easy to find with gloved
hands but not noticeably effective. It took
looking directly at the vents to determine
which way was open. But cracking the
visor a half an inch supplies plenty of fresh
air, anyway, while keeping wind out of the
eyes.
Christmas morning, I take off out of
Oakland with Revved (the book) in
hand, and “Revved” (the song) in my
headphones. Yes, on purpose. I thought
it’d be a nice way to kick off the book, and
Chuck Ragan’s “Till Midnight” is a soulful
album of songs well-suited to traveling.
The chin curtain and breath guard are the
best I’ve personally experienced, easily
removable but flexible and sturdy enough
Revved is a collection of essays, starting
with “Crash Landing On Reentry,” a
version of which was originally published
in CityBike. There is another Revved, which
Come Have Fun At
Our Season Opener
February 22nd!
you may find if you search Amazon for this
book; an adult contemporary romance
about a female race car mechanic, Andi,
with one rule: no dating drivers. She meets
Carrick, “The bad boy of Formula One,
with a face and body that melts panties on
sight.”
Hard to decide whether to read
this certain gem or watch Torque.
Maybe we’ll come back to the
romance novel Revved (April
is coming) but let’s get back to
motorcycle Revved.
The book tells the tale of Kirk’s
sudden, unexpected decision
to start riding again after
many years away from bikes.
It’s a pretty typical American
story—youthful moto-love,
responsibility ruins it, and then
years later, the once-and-again
rider buys a Harley. In this
case, though, the rider bought
a BMW K75, and promptly
crashed it.
Some of the most interesting
parts of the book involve
Kirk’s subsequent move to Southern
California, and his desire to find like
minds to ride with and
learn from. Much of
the description of his
later years of riding is
about the experience
of developing a riding
group. It’s not purely
social—they actually
ride a lot—but it’s a
more social version
of motorcycling than
I’m familiar with,
as someone who,
70-80% of the time,
prefers to just go
ride alone.
He covers a lot
of ground: lane
splitting (even
referencing ye
olde CityBike),
justification for
crossing “autocentric” double-yellow
lines, transitioning to dual-sport riding,
and even leaving California—turns out
they ride bikes in other states too. A lot of
the geographical and cultural references
will be very familiar to California riders,
which adds to the overall charm of the
book.
By the time I’d landed back in Oakland the
day after Christmas, I’d finished Revved—
it’s a reasonably quick read; engaging,
enjoyable stuff, with an intellectual but not
overbearing tone. Grab a copy for yourself.
$16.96. Softcover, 202 pages, 8” x 5”. Learn
more at CorkscrewPublishing.com and get
your own (paperback or Kindle) at Amazon.
com.
Bull-It Ladies SR4 Slate Jeans
By An DeYoung
Years ago, I contacted Bull-it as part of
my never-ending search for a decent pair
of moto jeans, in hopes of ordering a pair.
At that time they were only available here
M
GARAGE
Vintage / Modern
Motorcycle & Scooter
Service Specialists
(Pre-1975? Come on in!!)
Moto Garage
415-337-1448
112 Sagamore St, SF, CA. 94112
direct from US distributors, the closest
one being in Texas. While I love the sound
of “You can all go to hell, and I will go to
Texas,” I kind of lost interest after that. Too
much work. Couldn’t try them on first, and
so on.
Fast forward to my new position as gear
whore at CityBike—with Editor Surj doing
all the work, I finally got my hands on a
pair or SR4 Slate Jeans! They’re actually
available to order online now too, which I
discovered when I went
looking for a size
chart.
By the way, that
size chart is pretty
spot on, which is
important for us
ladies that come in
all shapes and can’t
just go for a simple
waist number and
have everything fit
like you guys.
Out of the box,
they’re heavier than I
expected, the denim
is a good, substantialfeeling weight. They
are also thick; actually
it’s the Covec-lined
areas that are thick.
Covec is a textile with
a high abrasion and cut
resistance. It also has a low friction heat
transfer, and won’t break down with
regular washings, accidental oil baths,
and other “normal” wear, which means it
should last. There are charts and detailed
research results on the Bull-it website if
you’re really interested in learning more
about this fascinating NASA-tested fabric.
Covec seems to be a good insulator, too—
all the lined areas stayed comfortable
during a 38 degree night ride, and I
returned home without frost bitten knees.
I do wonder how comfortable I’ll be when
Sacramento hits 100+ though.
My SR4 Slates pair has 4 seconds of
abrasion resistance (SR4 = Slide Resistance
4 seconds). The seams feel solid, triple
stitched in the important areas, with
pockets inside for knee and hip armor.
There’s a sturdy YKK locking zipper.
Outer pockets are properly sized on the
back, and I can actually get my hands in the
pockets on the front—at least they’re not
as shallow as
many women’s
jeans. The
belt loops are
big enough to
accommodate
my wide, spiky
rock & roll
belt. There are
3 belt loops
center rear,
which works
for jacket
attachment, if
your jacket is
so inclined.
I got the
longest inseam
the Slate is
available in,
33”, and while
other models
are available in
extra-long, the
length of these
is pretty much
perfect—they
are long enough
to cover my
ankles. I know
bodies are
different, but
I could use a
couple extra
inches of
Covec.
Rise is mid-ish,
not too high,
not too low.
They’re wide
enough to wear
Interestingly,
over boots,
these jeans
Photo:
Angelica
Rubalcaba
but narrow
boast a water
enough to tuck
repellent finish.
in (my preference). Bull-it’s website also
I decided to use the CityBike “Part of the
says the fabric has 2% stretchiness, which
Solution” ride to the Unification Rally to
isn’t much. So don’t expect them to still be test this claim. While it wasn’t pouring, and
comfortable if you decide to eat a whole
I only ended up riding in about 20 minutes’
pizza.
worth of sprinkles, I did notice the water
beading up on the surface of my thighs
More on fit: I have this problem with just
when we stopped at lights on our way to
about every pair of women’s motorcycle
Tower Café for post-unification chow.
pants because I am nearly 6ft tall, but the
When we got there, everything felt fairly
Covec stops just past my knee. If I’m seated
dry. Later, I came out to a puddle on my
on my bike, my knee is only about half
motorcycle seat, which I opted to just sit
protected. If I add knee armor, it’ll end
on—the things I do in the name of product
up nearly on my thigh when I assume the
testing. I arrived home without feeling like
riding position.
I’d peed my pants, so the repellent claim
stands up to California “winter.”
All in all, Bull-it’s Slate SR4 jeans are a safe main plot line is helping a poor map maker
bet—get it?—and the price ain’t bad either. in his fight against Butch, the rabble-rouser
round these-a-here parts.
$179.95. Learn more and find out where to
get a pair for yo’self at Bull-It.com.
The game clips along nicely, letting you
complete levels without really trying too
New Frontiers
hard. Crashing is no big deal and you start
back pretty much where you crashed.
By Sam Devine
But you have the option of restarting
Yep. It’s winter all right. I know because
completely if you want to improve.
I’m inside playing video games instead of
Basically, if you feel like becoming good at
tooling around on
the street, fending
of a cold instead
of tending a cold
one. And while
fighting a cold,
I downloaded a
free side-scrolling
video game called
Trials Frontier.
And it’s the most
moto-video fun
I’ve had since
Excitebike.
Remarkably, for
a game that can be played for free on
your phone, it’s very responsive. Out of
every motorcycle video game I’ve tried, this
one gives the most illusion of controlling
a bike. It offers just four control options:
accelerate, decelerate, and lean forward or
back. The leaning controls make a huge
difference in how the bike performs.
The courses are a bit outlandish, as are
some of the characters of the game’s small
western town (the mechanic is basically
Hulk Hogan) but hey, this is a game on a
phone, not a Ken Burns documentary. The
this game you can, and if you
feel like just pressing some buttons to get a
sense of accomplishment, you can do that,
too.
And to keep things nice and unrealistic,
there’s and explosion or a forced-crash at
every finish line.
Free for iOS and Android—hell yeah!
Learn more and download at trials.ubi.
com/trials-portal/en-US/games/trials_
frontier.aspx.
2016 Aprilia
Tuono 1100 Factory ABS
In stock NOW. $16,999 plus fees.
$1,500 down, $299/month.
CALL 510.594.0789
© Piaggio Group Americas, Inc. 2016. Aprilia ® is a U.S. and worldwide registered
trademark of the Piaggio Group of companies. Obey local trafﬁc safety laws and always wear a
helmet, appropriate eyewear and proper apparel.
Daily Commuter? Weekend Rider?
Poser?
SUPPORT
LANE SPLITTING
DAYTONA BOOTS
Boot PRICES
are Upside
Down, too!
$419.95
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STICKERS - NEWS - RESOURCES
LaneSplittingIsLegal.com
HELIMOT
45277 Fremont Blvd #7, Fremont CA
510-252-1509
www.helimot.com
April 24, 2016: Pacific Coast Dream
Machines (Half Moon Bay Airport,
Half Moon Bay, CA)
“The Coolest Show on Earth” runs
from 10 AM to 4 PM at the Half Moon
Bay Airport, just 20 miles south of
San Francisco. DreamMachines.
MiramarEvents.com/index.php
May 14, 2016: The Quail Motorcycle
Gathering (Quail Lodge & Golf Club,
8000 Valley Greens Drive, Carmel, CA
93923)
The 8th annual Motorcycle Gathering
celebrates the 40th anniversary of
Superbike and feature pre-1916
motorcycles, BMW classics, along with
the usual categories such as Japanese,
British, Italian, competition bikes, and
more. 10 AM to 4 PM on Saturday, May
14th. General admission tickets are $75.
SignatureEvents.Peninsula.com/en/
Motorcycle/Motorcycle.html
May 21, 2016: Hanford Vintage
Motorcycle Rally (Kings Fairground,
801 South 10th Ave Hanford, CA
93232)
Head to the 48th annual Hanford
for 150+ vendors of fun at one of
California’s premier vintage motorcycle
events. ClassicCycleEvents.com
May 21, 2016: Sacramento Mile (Cal
Expo, Sacramento, CA)
EVENTS
February 2016
2nd Sunday of each month: Santa Cruz
Scooter Club Monthly Group Ride
(Fin’s Coffee, 1104 Ocean Street, Santa
Cruz, CA 95060)
Representative, Don Van Zandt at
707.557.5199.
January 30, 2016: Monster Energy
Supercross (O.co Coliseum, 7000
Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA 94621)
Supercross comes to the East Bay. Doors
Meet at 11:00 AM. Route depends on who open at noon for practice and qualifying,
main event at 6:30. Tickets start at $15.
shows, the weather, and how much time
SupercrossLive.com
folks have. Rides will be cancelled due
April 2, 2016: San Jose Pro Indoor
to rain. SantaCruzScooterClub.com /
Short Track Races (Santa Clara County
facebook.com/SantaCruzScooterClub
Fairgrounds, Exposition Building, 344
3rd Sunday of each month: Northern
Tully Rd. San Jose, CA 95111)
California Moto Guzzi National
Owners Club Breakfast (Putah Creek
Cafe, 1 Main St, Winters, CA 95694)
MGNOC members and interested Guzzi
riders meet at 9:00 AM for breakfast
and good times. More information:
contact Northern California MGNOC
10th annual pro short track on polished
concrete. Handlebar bashing, elbow
to elbow racing in a “cage.” Tickets
are $25, not a bad seat in the house!
SanJoseIndoor.com
AMA GNC flat track action in The Sac.
Take the river road to Sacramento to
avoid the drone of 80. There’ll even be
free motorbike parking! Tickets start at
$29; reserved grandstand seats are $60.
SactoMile.com
June 20, 2016: Ride To Work Day
(Everywhere, damnit!)
Ride to work on the 25th annual Ride To
Work Day (and hopefully some other
days too) to
help increase
public and
governmental
awareness about
the benefits
of motocommuting and
riding in general.
Stay tuned for
some kind of
contest from
your friends
here at CityBike.
RideToWork.org
AFM Season
The AFM has
released its 2016
schedule. If you
like racing, put
these dates on your
calendar! Get more
details at afmracing.org/schedule.
By Michele Appel
Round 2: April 30-May 1 Sonoma
he Motorcycle Industry Council
released the first section of results
from their most recent, and most
detailed survey of 48,000 American
motorcycle households last month. In it,
they said that the percentage of women
motorcycle ownership rose from 8% in
their last survey (2008) to 14% today. The
percentage gets higher for Gen X and Y-ers,
at seventeen percent, and drops to near2008 levels, 9%, for older women.
Round 3: May 28-29
Thunderhill
Round 4: June 25-26
Thunderhill
Round 5: September 3-4
Sonoma
Round 6: October 1-2
Thunderhill
Round 7: October 22-23
Buttonwillow
July 11-16, 2016: International Norton
Owners Association (Plumas-Sierra
County Fairgrounds, Quincy, CA)
The Northern California Norton Owners
Club (NCNOC) will host the 41st
gathering of the INOA July 11th-16th in
Quincy. The fairgrounds venue offers
tent camping, plenty of bathrooms and
clean showers. There’ll be the usual rides,
food, coffee, beer, rally shirts, Norton
tech sessions, speakers, field events, and
even live music. NortonRally.com/inoarally-2016
Want your event in our calendar? Send a
note to [email protected] with details
like who, what, when, where, why and we’ll
add it. Maybe. If it’s something cool. Sendw
your stuff early—more notice is better.
Photo: Steve Synder
1st Sunday of each month: North Bay
4th Monday of each month: Sacramento
All brands and models of motorcycles are welcome. Get
more information at NorCalDoc.com.
6:30 to 9:30 PM at Benissimo, 18 Tamalpais Dr, Corte
Madera.
6:00 to 10:00 PM at Hot Italian, 1627 16th Street,
Sacramento. More information: 916.444.3000.
1st Monday of each month: Mill Valley
2nd Monday of each month: South Bay
4th Monday of each month: Mid-Peninsula
6:00 to 10:00 PM at The Cantina, 651 E. Blithedale
Ave, Mill Valley. More information: 415.378.8317.
6:00 to 10:00 PM at Pizza Antica, 334 Santana Row,
#1065 San Jose. More information: 408.557.8373.
5:00 to 10:00 PM at Sixto’s Cantina, 1448 Burlingame.
More information: 650.342.7600.
Women motorcyclists
on the rise but can we see them?
Round 1: March 19-20
Buttonwillow
Ducati Bike Nights!
1st Wednesday of each month: San Francisco Ducati 2nd Tuesday of each month: East Bay
Bike Night
6:30 PM till whenever at Pizza Antica, 3600 Mt Diablo
Blvd, Lafayette. More information: 925.299.0500.
6:00 to 10:00 PM at Pier 23 Seafood Cafe, Pier 23,
The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94111. More
3rd Wednesday of each month: Emeryville
information: 415.362.5125.
6:00 to 10:00 PM at Hot Italian, 5959 Shellmound
Street, No. 75, Emeryville. More information:
510.652.9300.
Higher Viz?
4th Friday of each month: Concord
6:00 to 10:00 PM at Lazy Dog Café, 1961 Diamond
Blvd, Concord. More information: 925.849.1221.
4th Saturday of each month: Novato
6:00 to 10:00 PM at Boca Pizzeria, 454 Ignacio Blvd,
Novato. More information: 415.883.2302.
Photos by Michele Appel
T
I talked to the MIC about their
methodology and without boring you
with the details, trust me, it’s random. And
thorough. Basically, they cold call and mail
households around the U.S., with the help
of an international survey company. They
don’t ask outright about motorcycles, but
when they do find out a household has one,
they follow up with more questions and
usage and ownership. They share results
by region, but not by state. It is interesting
to note that, despite what we believe about
being able to ride
365 out here in the
drier, western region,
survey says women,
and people in general
ride about the same
amount of mileage, no
matter where they are.
Michelle Dunn, a
long-time rider, who
actually had a guy
at a bike night say to
her “It’s cool that you
ride. But wouldn’t you
rather be a passenger?”
now owns Meteor
Motorbikes in West
Oakland, where she
also wrenches. She
agrees with Joliffe,
“There are really so
many options out
Maggie Beck outside Scuderia in SF.
there on the machine
found them in Curve Unit. She doesn’t
side of the equation.”
She added, “Now if the gear manufacturers feel like she has to be a women’s ride
cheerleader, but she does appreciate the
would just read that memo...”
attention to detail, fewer shenanigans and
Maggie Beck, who works in the gear and
one-upmanship she sees riding with men.
apparel department of Scuderia in San
Francisco doesn’t feel the change is enough. “Not that women aren’t competitive,” she
hints with a mischievous grin. She would
“So, we went from one drop in the bucket
recommend to any new rider out there to
to two drops?”
go and find a group as well, but to also be
From a socio-cultural perspective, there
careful they are taking the right steps to
is undoubtedly a steady increase in
gaining skill and community. Like signing
up for rider training, or signing up for a
track day, or taking the time and money
to get the right gear, versus donning
certain jackets and party pants and vapid
battle cries. To go for content over form.
Many in the industry
would like to take
credit for the rise in
women’s motorcycle
A recent ladies’ night at Scuderia.
ownership, with
various retailers
and manufacturers
the number of financially and socially
claiming they recognized a need to broaden independent women year after year who
the market base, and women accounted for recognize the freedom, economy, glory,
a relatively untapped well of enthusiasm.
and just plain fun of riding two-wheels. But
Manufacturers are tweaking bikes, offering how?
customization through free replacement
parts, like Kawasaki’s Vulcan S (“Kawasaki They’re connecting, especially via the
internet, the bane and boost to all of us here
Vulcan S, Which We Suppose Stands for
in Tech Zombieland. The web, has done for
Sporty” - October 2015) and producing
motorcycling what it did for so many other
entirely new models to fit a larger variety
subcultures; brought the random lone sheof bodies. But, Tim Buche, President and
wolves together. Some would argue this
CEO of the MIC and MSF said he thinks
it might be the other way around. “Women wore down the hard-spun fibers of each
unique collective and degraded the quality
kind of work around the problems [of
over time, or argue against the superficial
ill-fitting bikes and ineffective gear] and
then the numbers grow. The market sees a proliferation of style and attitude, without
a whole lot of serious riding to substantiate
growing trend and responds.”
the claim. After all, you ultimately have to
Josh Joliffe, of Carl’s Cycles, a family
get off the internet to meet real humans
owned powersports dealer in Boise, Idaho, and do real things.
said “Without really paying attention, we’ve
For example, whereas Beck rides to and
seen a steady increase in women coming
in.” Meaning, though they and other shops from the East Bay into SF every day, goes
to the track regularly, and is generally
I talked to hope to start hosting more
surrounded by things motorcycle and the
events—such as ladies’ nights—to talk
about women-specific gear and issues, and people that ride them, she said she never
rode with a woman until recently because
they have been stocking a wider range of
bikes, they haven’t had to try too hard. The there just aren’t that many out there. When,
finally, she decided to go online and look
new wave came on steadily and strong.
for a group, she was pleased to say she
On top of the recommendation to find
a riding group, Beck recommended
Scuderia, of course, for gear and apparel
and general questions, (they sell Rev’it,
one of her favorite brands) but also said
she has had great luck at the Dainese
D-Store in SF, and at Road Rider in San
Jose.
In only two years of riding, I can’t tell you
how many women have asked me for help
buying a bike, or for advice on how to get it
going again, or even where to get gear (that
isn’t pink) because they can’t really find
the answers anywhere else, or don’t know
where to start getting acquainted with the
nuts and bolts of riding in general.
That’s a bummer because there are
resources out there. It’s just that sometimes,
“Nice bike for a girl,” gets old.
When I asked Buche what would result
from more women on the road, he said, “I
love it when anybody buys a motorcycle.
But especially a woman. Because I
think women are better at sharing their
experience with others. And go a better job
of getting into motorcycling the right way.”
The rise in women motorcyclists
means many things. It is part of a rise in
motorcycling in this country overall, and
speaks to many economic, social, political,
and environmental issues. But I’ll spare
you the academics—the most important
effect of more people on the road is more
diversity, and more diversity is the lifeblood
of successful populations.
Every rider out there has an opportunity
to encourage and admit a whole new
cadre of characters, styles, perspectives,
and intelligence to our growing tribe of
two-wheelers, just by being there with
information and perhaps a little time. And
not just by encouraging the women you
know to ride, but anyone with a penchant
and some mettle in their mug.”
Michele Appel likes to make stories, tell
stories, and ride on two wheels. You can find
her almost anywhere, doing so.
Helibars adjustable handlbars.
MOTUS with the Mostest
Photos by Max Klein
W
e’ve been watching Motus
since well before the bikes
were actually bikes. The early
drawings showed a sliding topcase concept:
forward when riding solo, to keep the
weight from hanging off the back like an
unfortunate lever; back to make room
for hauling two asses instead of one. As
a topcase-only moto-commuter nerd, I
was pretty excited about this idea, even
mentally mocked up some half-ass hackjob versions for my own bike at the time, a
2000 VFR800.
Normal people were more interested in
the engine, and I thought it was pretty cool
too, with its promises of GDI and pushrod
simplicity and reliability. But I had my
doubts about the bike and that baby block
ever being real. Unlike so many other pipe
dreams, though, Motus was serious—
not just some crowd-funded bullshit
experiment—and when I saw a video of the
bike running, I was smitten. The 1650cc
V4 was serious rock ‘n’ roll.
The Motorcycle Gospel
According to Lee Conn
By Sam Devine
We’re sitting at a bustling Mexican
restaurant in a Livermore strip mall.
Between bites of burrito, Lee Conn
expounds the virtues of the Motus.
Snappily dressed in leather Motus riding
gear and Icon boots, he’s affable with short
black hair and an ever-present grin. The
confident and practiced salesperson, he
speaks convincingly in straight-forward
terms.
“The bike is really designed to excel in
performance, comfort and range,” he says.
“Those are the only things we really care
about. Is it comfortable? Is it fast? And can
you go far on it?”
much philosophy from that, and cook it
into a motorcycle. You can go to Italy and
they’ve got Ferrari’s and Lamborghinis
and Ducatis. You can go to Germany and
they’ve got BMWs and BMWs. You can
go to Japan and they’ve got GTRs and
Hondas. You go to the US, you’ve got
Corvettes, Camaros, modern Mustangs
and where’s the bike?”
“Eric tried,” says Max. “With Buell.”
“But there’s nothing American about that
bike,” says Case. “It’s got a Rotax belt drive
motor. There’s nothing American about
that. You had to have something that was
instantly iconic American.”
The Motus screams American muscle.
Shoot, even its alternator is ridiculously
powerful, pumping out 720 watts at idle
and 950 watts at speed, arguably enough
Though I know I’m being sold a product,
to power a Marshall stack. After pressing
I’m enjoying it and becoming a convert.
the starter button, just before the engine
Then comes the warning:
cranks, the click you hear is the same noise
“If you crash the bike, if either one of y’all
you find on Harleys and big block V8s.
crash the bike, you pay for it. That’s just the The whoosh you hear when the engine
way it works. So don’t crash and everything fires up can be experienced with the
Shortly after I fell in love with the sound of will be fine. It’s real easy to ride. No special aforementioned vehicles, or by leaving
that motor, I snuck out of work early one
tricks. It’s a motorcycle, you know what I
a barbecue’s gas valve open and flicking
day and rode down to Alice’s to see the
mean? It’s not a spaceship or anything.”
matches at it until ignites. It’s not the safest
bikes the Motus crew was riding around
idea, but it’s damn fun.
Sure. No problem. I’m good for $36k,
the US, loaded with sensors, collecting
if it’s spread out over several years and
And just like the Fourth of July, the Motus
data, testing reliability. I sat on one, and
after
liquidating
my
motorcycles
and
Pez
is damn fun but not necessarily the safest:
marveled at how natural it felt.
dispenser collection. I’ll soon be bumping no traction control and no ABS.
Sure, it was likely to cost something like ten along Mines Road on a beautifully
“Every sport-touring bike out there, and
times what I’d paid for my VFR. Sure, GDI clear Wednesday, warning words from
and that bitchin’ topcase setup weren’t in
California Speed Sports ringing in my ears: even a lot of the sport bikes now, have
traction control, wheelie control,” prompts
the cards. But on paper the bike was near“We had four wrecks in one day on Mines
Max.
perfect for me, and sitting on it validated
and we said, ‘No more.’ We don’t do test
that. I wanted one.
rides there anymore.”
“A lot of guys love all that stuff,” replies Lee.
Ironically, I didn’t get to join Sam and Max Better enjoy this chicken taco, it may be my
“I’ve found it useful on the track on
to ride the MST and MSTR with Lee Conn last.
occasion,” says Max. “Like the R1, without
and Brian Case, co-founders of Motus.
its traction control and all its multi-access
“It’s really simple what we did, what
And I just found out I didn’t win that
crap, I would’ve thrown it away a couple of
Brian did really,” says Lee, nodding to
mega-Powerball lotto thing, which means
times.”
co-founder Brian Case. “Which was take
I’ll have to continue to not ride Motus
the best engine platform ever devised by
motorcycles a little longer, but read on for
“There is a very specific application for
humankind—which is a modern Chevy
Sam and Max’s take on the bikes.
those kinds of technologies. But our
small block engine—and try to borrow as
philosophy is very different. What we want
- Editor Surj
to do is build a bike that gets at the essence
of why we started riding motorcycles in
the first place. Right? It’s this connection
between your wrist and that rubber on
the road. And we’ve really tried to deploy
technology when it makes the bikes more
fun to ride.”
We get on 580 and head towards my
certain financial doom. Max is leading us
sensibly on his KLR in the far right lane
when I decide to see what this thing can do
on an American super-slab highway.
“It’s an interstate machine,” Lee had said.
“You’ll find you don’t put it in sixth gear
under about seventy, seventy-five.”
Falling back behind a big rig, I come
sweeping around its left side (as you picture
this, feel free to sub a an Imperial Cruiser
and the Millennium Falcon). The MST
glides over the two lanes easily, and as I get
near the nose of the Star Cruiser—err, I’m
mean, semi truck, there’s a minivan just
ahead of me going just a little too slow for
an easy lane shift. The gap is closing.
This seems like just the sort of thing to try
with a giant V4. It’s now or never! I rev the
throttle and lean, and the Motus handily
blips between the truck bumper and
grocery getter. “Great shot, kid!” I give the
throttle another big twist and suddenly I’m
slowing down, the truck looming. Must be
that rev-limiter. Right. I whack the shifter
up and we’re back in business.
“The cruising revs are three thousand to six
thousand,” Lee had warned. “It’s a big, wide
area in there. You don’t want to be luggin’ it
at two thousand but you don’t wanna be on
the rev limiter past about seven thousand
much, either. There’s just so much torque
under there, you don’t need to be up that
high.”
The Motus V4 supplies power unlike any
motorcycle I’ve ridden. I’m used to herkin’
large sport-tourers around. But every bike
I’ve ridden before had a power band that
peaked noticeably somewhere. The gentle
curve of the Motus torque output, as well as
it’s nearly linear horsepower curve, give it a
remarkably smooth power delivery. It takes
some getting used to, but in fourth gear
on a big sweeper this smooth controlled
cruising feeling is where the Motus
really shines: like sailing, like digging a
snowboard edge into fresh powder.
pissed off and they’re kicking
the ground and ‘the traction
sucks and we can’t hook up’
and we were just ‘kuhhhhhh’
all the way down because
the motorcycle has a 1-4-3-2
firing order, it’s an odd fire,
and it has a 75 degree crank.”
the bike. The transmission spins contrary
to the crank and transfers to a chain final
drive, which helps eliminate almost all
“I compare it more to a modern Vette or a
But shee-oot, whut does thems numbers
of the rightward leaning tendencies that
CTSV than I do other motorbikes,” says
mean? The Motus has a “Big Bang Engine.”
afflict Motto Guzzis and BMWs. As Max
Lee. “It just has a different feel to it. I have
snaps pictures of the bikes, Lee comes over It’s not just large—it fires all its cylinders
a hard time making a connection to other
in rapid
and gives me
bikes the more I ride it.”
succession,
some advice.
Your instructor today is Lee Conn
followed by
Truly, the Motus reminds me more of the
“I don’t do too
a period that
full-size American cars and trucks I’ve
much body
allows the tire
owned—not in how it handles, but in how
English on it,”
to bite again.
it delivers power. As we go down the road
he says. “You
The engine
I find myself getting nostalgic for my old
can mostly do
basically kicks
F-150 and even my long-gone ’65 wagon.
your push-pull
as hard as it
It’s the kind of engine that thwumps when
countersteering
can one instant
you goose it instead of ringing out like a
on the
and then gives
dental drill.
handlebars.”
the tires a little
But despite low revs, the Motus delivers.
breather, so
The bars on
In fact, the MSTR is still the world’s fastest
gravity gets a
the MST are
production pushrod motorcycle after the
little longer to
adjustable for
Bonneville records it set in 2014. But the
force the tire
height, reach,
thing also gets great gas mileage, thanks to
into the ground.
and angle.
both fifth and sixth gears being overdriven.
Which means
“Everybody
“The applications of the tall fifth and sixth you can set it
likes to talk
really are range,” says Lee. “The tank’s five to be upright
about their
while cruising
and a half gallons. If you’re just thrashing,
big bang, that
I-80, then crank
I mean we’re beating the stuffings out of
damn thing
these things, there’s 220 in a tank. If you’re things down
is the biggest
lower for when
just riding it on the interstate, just riding
bang. It’s the
you cut off to
seventy-five, there’s 270, 280.”
biggest bang
49. Conn says
we could figure
Holy fuel consumption, Batman! That
after a long day, he’ll move the bars one
out
how
to
put
in
it,”
says
Conn.
“It has a
means the MST is getting mileage as good inch back to go another hundred miles in
340
degree
revolution
before
it
hits
again.
a small Honda!
comfort.
So what that really means is the same thing
That’s right, Boy Wonder, and sounding
He switches bikes with me, putting me
better doing it. Pow!
on the MSTR, which has a setup closer
to my sport bike. The MSTR is equipped
After sailing through the farmlands and
with BST carbon wheels and Brembo M4
gentle curves northern Mines, we start up
the hill and I start getting worked. Grooves Monoblock brakes.
rutted in by cars are nearly invisible in the
“They’re practically MotoGP brakes,”
grey asphalt. The adjustable Progressive
warns Conn. “Try ‘em out on the flat here
rear monoshock on the MST I’m riding has before we get going.”
apparently been cranked as tight as possible
and the bike and I are bouncing all over the Almost instantly more at home, I suddenly
find myself forgetting about the price
place. I’m trying to be aware of my body
positioning, trying to keep up with Max on tag and lack of ride by wire fail-safes.
a road he knows well, all while getting used Surprisingly, at no point over the day do I
to the feel for a bike that is unlike anything really feel like I need them. The Motus has
been designed around the idea of traction
I’ve ridden before.
management.
We get to a large gravel turnout that Max
has chosen for photos. I run back and forth, “What we really learned at Bonneville
wasn’t about speed,” says Lee. “It was
finding u-turns on this little goat path
about traction. Everybody there was so
surprisingly easy despite the large size of
that flat trackers have figured out, and
what stock cars have figured out, and why
they run all these weird cranks, because
that’s what gives you inherent rear wheel
traction.”
We shoot in two more locations; Lee and I
zipping back and forth, flipping around on
the narrow road. We get into an unspoken
game of seeing who can bust the smoother
u-turn while Max and Brian take pictures.
Then we line up for dual shots and finally
Brian joins us for a three-bike formation.
Lee waits for Max as I follow Brian up the
hill to breath-taking, high-speed sweepers
that make me forget that there’s anything
else in the world besides rolling hills at
sunset. And, while attempting to keep
up with Brian Case, I ponder this quiet,
brilliant man. He worked for Confederate,
a boutique manufacturer that makes
motorcycles for moviestars. You may recall
the Confederate Wraith, with its Hossack
suspension. On the rare instance that Case
speaks, he’s a fervent razor of intelligence,
frustrated to have to explain something
that should probably be remarkably
obvious to us: they’ve designed and built a
new, independent, American motorcycle.
It speaks to the country’s bombastic style
as well as being comfortable and fun. And
though it’s expensive, it will run circles
around a similarly priced Harley. Really, we
shouldn’t be amazed at how much it costs,
we should marvel at how inexpensive it is.
Few other hand-built vehicles in the world
cost this little.
But it’s no longer enough to invent the
wheel, no, now you have sell it, too. And
with a high price tag and the stigma of
being hand built, the Motus engineer
chose to borrow from the technology of the of an MST for a vehicle, motorbike, car or
Chevy small-block.
otherwise.
the motor starts rumbling in a way usually
reserved for Sixties muscle cars.
Motus says “hold the special sauce, our
bike is good enough, and so are our
customers.” This bike is obviously not
“It’s the architecture of what a Chevy small Mo’ Money, No Problems: Max
If you’ve spent any time in such a car, you
aimed at inexperienced riders or even
block is,” says Brian. “Which is a ninetymight be wondering why this power plant
seasoned Starbucks posers, but rather
Rides The MSTR
degree bank angle, push rounds, single cam
is in a distance-oriented machine. Sitting
riders that want to be 100% responsible for
in the valley instead of an overhead cam or By Max Klein
there at that first stoplight I was right there
their inputs. It was built for riders that pick
dual overhead cams. It’s all designed from
The Motus drew me to it back in 2014. I
with ya, blipping the throttle, feeling the
a destination a day’s ride (or more) away
the architecture that we borrow because of was out at the Bonneville salt flats covering whole bike torque sideways, thinking, “No
and get there by way of some faster paced
its qualities: it’s torque producing qualities, the Motorcycle Land Speed Trials in my
way this can be comfortable bike, even with
twisties and *gasp* the interstate.
its reliability, its maintenance, hydraulic
fairly new role as a CityBike contributor,
these slick adjustable Helibars, Sargent
lifters, no valve adjustments ever.”
and ran into Lee and Brian from Motus.
seat, and Öhlins.”
The freeway miles simply disappear,
They were out there to chew gum and set
thanks to overdriven fifth and sixth. Sixth
On top of this, one of the largest investors
Then the light changed, and so did my
land speed records on what I referred to
gear is nearly vibration-free, even at a pace
of the company is Pratt and Miller, better
mind.
back then as “Bitchin’ Hotrod Motorbikes”.
frowned upon by CHP. Having ridden
known as the GMC Race Team. As a result,
Once you get going, it starts to make sense. some “more touring than sport” sportall the components in the Motus—coils,
Spoiler alert: I never saw Lee or Brian
You don’t notice the torque; other than how tourers, there is nothing really unusual
injectors—are GM parts, hard proven
chew any gum, but they did set records in
it motivates the rear wheel. And no matter about that, and the 565 pound Motus could
pieces tested over and over in the work
two 1650 production pushrod classes. If
be mistaken for some of the 700+ sortahow early I twisted the go-stick exiting
cycle of modern cars.
you are not impressed with their 163.982
sporty tourers. until you exit the highway
corners, I was never left tractionless. Lee
and start ripping the canyons.
“We used the most
told me this was due
commonly available
to the 1-4-3-2 firing
Make the machine dance and it suddenly
oil filter on the planet,”
order allowing a brief
feels much lighter. You don’t have to throw
says Lee. “You can buy
lull in in between
your weight around, Ricky Racer-style to
it at NAPA for about six
power strokes. Think
change directions—just countersteering
bucks.”
of this “bigger bang”
with subtle upper body adjustments got
as built in traction
me transitioning corners with precision
Over the afternoon, the
control, making the
accuracy.
subject of the Motus
lack of electronic
being expensive and
traction control on
Fourth gear sweepers at 5,000 RPM is
American-made comes
such a beastly motor
probably where all those dreams you have
up a few times.
not seem like an
are born. You know, the ones that you feel
oversight.
slightly dirty about having once you wake
“We like making things
up. The ones you think about for days after
that work,” says Lee.
Wait? No traction
and wish for again as you fall asleep. The
“If we don’t start doing
control?
ones that you can’t discuss in public. Yes,
things like this, in
it’s that good.
America, it’s not going
You heard me.
to end well.”
There are probably
Yeah, it’s expensive, and appending that R
people arguing on
and 165.813 MPH records (in some really,
to your MST adds six grand, but you get
A few days before the test ride, I’d been
the internet as you read this, suggesting
really bad conditions), the fact that they
all the stuff that many people want to add
walking down Divisadero with a friend,
that building a $30k+ motorcycle without
bolted their mirrors back and rode home
to their lesser-priced machines. Öhlins
checking out the high-brow trinket shops
traction control and ABS, or any acronyms
should grab your attention.
suspension, BST wheels, Sargent saddle,
that have sprung up. One shop had an ax
really, beyond MOTUS itself (Motorcycle
those sweet adjustable bars, and even
for sale at an exorbitant $300. Looking at
The Motus is America’s perfect sportOf The United States), is like making a
(gasp!) the ever-elusive centerstand that
it, we discussed how there’s this schism in
touring machine, built with American
hamburger without adding ketchup and
seems to be an optional afterthought on so
the American Marketplace. You can buy
parts, only offshoring when performance
mustard.
many supposedly touring-oriented bikes.
a shitty ax at the hardware store down the
mattered, not for cost considerations.
street for forty bucks, or you can get one
Lee and Brian don’t agree, opining that
Think of it as pre-upgraded.
It oozes Americana, the good kind. The
that your grandchildren will inherit. But
traction control and ABS (or any other BS)
motor is essentially half of a small block
there’s nothing in between.
on their motorcycle would be like adding
Max is the SF Chapter Director of the AFM,
Chevy V8, scaled down a bit. Thumb the
ketchup to a perfectly grilled steak. Sure
and thinks anything that doesn’t burn or leak
The Motus unfortunately speaks to that
starter: there’s a click, a slight hesitation,
you can do it, but if the meat is prepared
more than a quart of oil per thousand miles is
schism. It’s out of the price range for most
and then the hair on your arms stands up as right, you really don’t need to add anything. a touring bike.
of the country. But really, its price tag
is not that outrageous. High end H-Ds
cost as much, but can’t compete with the
performance of the Motus.
Really, the fact that this is a hand-built,
made-in-America vehicle that only costs
$30k is remarkable. If you can but any
hand-made vehicle for this little, snatch it
up.
When I first heard about the Motus, I
wanted to hate it. It was probably another
loud, high-priced, large displacement,
macho trophy that could surely be
outperformed by an SV650. But the MST
and MSTR turned out to be better than
I could ever have imagined, making this
review oddly hard to write.
As I mulled over this bike, I kept getting
hung up not on anything that was wrong
with the Motus, but on what’s wrong with
America. We shouldn’t be asking why
the Motus is so expensive, we should be
wondering what’s wrong with America that
most of us can’t afford one.
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Sam is CityBike’s newest columnist, and
has never paid more than 1/20th of the cost
Shifts were butter
smooth thanks to the
FCC clutch. The clutch
has an “assist” feature
which reduces fatigue by
making it significantly
easier to pull, and slipper functionality
which increases confidence by reducing
rear wheel chatter if you are one of those
aggressive downshifters. I did have a
couple of occasions at the track where it
felt like I might have hit a false neutral
on a downshift as there was zero engine
braking—the downside of those two
features being used at the same time. With
easy lever travel and a slipper-ish clutch it
is easy to “overpower” the engine braking.
Fortunately, this seemed to only happen
occasionally, and only at the track for me.
This is a budget minded, entry level bike
so the suspension, as expected, is the
antithesis of luxury. The 37mm forks and
their 4.7 inches of travel are not adjustable.
The shock steps up to the plate with 5
preload settings and an additional half
inch of travel. This low-rent setup works
well enough for the average beginner
to learn on and is not scary on the track
either. Even with minimal adjustments
available, my 6’ 1”, 180-ish carcass did
By Max Klein
pining for the loss of her Li’l
Ricky. The Ninja 300 is down
Photos by Max Klein
five horsepower and almost
ot too long ago there was
seven pound-feet of torque on
one choice if you wanted
the RC. It fares a little better
a small displacement
on paper against Yamaha’s
sportbike. Kawasaki built an
R3, only giving up two in
empire with the Ninja 250.
each category. So despite its
From ‘86 on, it was the go-to for
pedigree, the Ninja 300 had
new riders that wanted sporty
some work to do to win me
style and racers that didn’t mind
over.
having to work a bit to get some
speed out of it. A couple of years
Our test bike was a 2015
ago Honda popped in (again)
model—the 2016 bikes are
with their own two-fiddy, and
the same, but available in red
more recently their own 300.
or gray, instead of the classic Kawi green
The floodgates opened: Yamaha or striking white. Pricing stays the same:
showed up with the R3, KTM
$4,999 to start, $5,299 with ABS.
birthed their fraternal 390s...
I first rode a Ninja 300 at Thunderhill
ok, floodgates may have been a
Raceway in my second race of the 2015
stretch, but for the first time in
season. With the exception of the bars
a very long while (ever?) the li’l
Ninjette was threatened. Or was and—thank your supreme being(s) of
choice—tires, it was bone stock. My only
it?
other race at that track was a year prior on
Kawasaki had over 27 years (30
the Ninja 250 and what a difference a year
if you count the first Japan-only
(and 10 HP) makes.
version) of data to get the Ninja
$4,999 gets you a 296cc parallel twin that
300 pretty close to perfect right
out of the box when it introduced puts out just shy of 35 HP, and compared to
the Ninja 250 it is an absolute rocketship.
the new Ninjette in 2012, as a
I welcomed the extra ten horses when it
2013 model. And it had to be.
came time to climb up the hill into turn
As you may have noticed
nine, and I didn’t have to downshift over
we waited to review the tiny
the slight crest exiting turn one. I was able
grandfather of the beginner
to get the wee Ninja into the triple digits at
bikes until we’d ridden some of
the end of the front straight even if I got a
the newcomers, and in doing so,
bad drive out of the last turn, while a bad
we’ve given it some pretty big
drive on the 250 felt like a fast walking pace
shoes to fill. Remember those
in comparison. I never thought I would be
KTMs? We sure do—An’s still
stoked to have so much of so little power.
N
not completely outweigh the suspension’s
abilities, making most of my time on the
bike quite enjoyable. At 357 pounds, with a
30-inch seat height the 300 is really easy to
maneuver for riders of all sizes.
The stock tires were obviously designed
to last forever, what with them being made
of rubber-colored granite. I found them to
be the most limiting factor on the street.
Again, not unusual for an entry level bike.
are nowhere near felony territory—at least
if you’re entering the freeway. Honestly, just
thinking about that makes me smile.
So how does the littlest Ninja size up
against the mild onslaught of motorcycles
sent to overthrow the king of the itty-bitty
budget bikes? Quite well, thank you very
much.
I’m not going to get all “business
intelligence” with charts and graphs to
compare them all because, let’s face it,
nobody rides a chart or graph. Motorcycles
exist to play with your emotions, to
make your heart flutter when you see the
machine, to make you feel something and
long for your next moment together, to give
you the proper ratio of thrills to “I got this.”
Not an easy task for a budget bike like the
Ninja, but it pulls it off.
The little Ninja is a very good looking bike,
often mistaken for its bigger, more badass
siblings at first glance. My heart didn’t skip
a beat when I looked at it, but I did smile
every time I saw
it in the garage
while I had it.
Close enough.
Check.
It has just
enough
performance to
make me want
to ride another
one. I had
almost as much
fun running
to the bank as
I did racing.
In fact, when I
think back to
my time both
on the track
and around town I get a little sentimental.
Check.
And that ratio I talked about? A novice
rider will love the thrills: lightweight
flickability and accessible power, 100%
usable. That same combination will inspire
the confidence needed to progress as a
rider.
On the track, not much is more thrilling
than losing the front at 60mph, and
The brakes are equally uninspiring;
nothing says “I got this” like saving that
however the addition of ABS ($300 extra) tucked front off your knee. Extreme
lets new riders get a little more stabby in a
example, sure, but it shows that even with
panic with less chance of falling down. The stock suspension (and a tire upgrade) you
front two-piston caliper grips a 290mm
can have a ton of fun. Check.
single disc while the rear grabs onto a
Somebody (damn near everybody) once
220mm disc.
(just about always) said it is more fun to
The best part about the brakes is you really ride a slow bike fast than it is to ride a fast
don’t need to use them all that much. At the bike slow. The Ninja 300 proves this to be
track you don’t want to slow down through true.
most turns as riding little bikes fast is all
Max is the SF Chapter Director of the AFM,
about corner speed. On the street you can
wind out fifth gear, click into sixth, and you and figures his matching white leathers gave
the littlest Ninja at least another two ponies.
Gwynne-ja 300
By Gwynne Fitzsimmons
Kawasaki’s Ninja 300 looks like a real
motorcycle; a real pretty motorcycle. Ours
was pearl white and quite striking. It took
me by surprise when someone in a parking
lot stopped me and asked about it.
I had fun addressing his questions. What
did I know? Cylinders? Two. Horsepower?
I don’t know, suppose I could look it up
on the Internet—but it feels like plenty.
Does it go fast? Yes, especially on a twisty
road, faster than my own bike. How does it
handle? Good, although the tires feel like
recycled seconds from the rubber bullet
factory. Easily addressed.
Do you like it?
Hmm. I stop to think. Do I like it?
It delivers smooth acceleration, easy
shifting, and enough power to scoot down
the road at a fairly reasonable clip. It’s
predictable, with no twitchy glitches to
upset a newer rider, and it isn’t terrifying
entering traffic on congested Bay Area on
ramps.
The skinny tires are mounted on 17 inch
rims. I find them a bit disconcerting,
as they seem to fall perfectly into those
asphalt ruts gouged into the lane by
overloaded semis. The 300 is easy to
Suspension is much like the rest of the bike:
ready to go. Racers and more aggressive or
bigger riders would want to customize it,
but for me it was just fine. Not too stiff, not
spongy.
So… do I like it? Yep. And for what it’s
worth, the Internet says it has 39 horses in
that parallel
twin.
Gwynne has
the cutest,
tiniest riding
purse. She’ll
kick your ass
in the dirt,
too.
Little
Victories
By Sam
Devine
The first
time I got
on the li’l Ninja, I was in Pinole at the the
Antlers Tavern. Max and I were trading
bikes. I’d been riding the giant Caponord
Rally 1200 around for a week, which made
the Ninja 300 feel pretty much invisible.
My girlfriend called to see if I’d returned
“Mall Rats” and “Torque” to Le Video.
“I was going to take them back tomorrow.”
“They’re closing forever
tonight!”
“I thought they closed
tomorrow. They said they
were closing on December
1.”
“Yes, but their last day in
business is today.”
rescue from undesirable situations a rider
may force it into; however, if one chooses
this bike as his / her primary commuter,
heightened awareness of road surface is
necessary.
It has enough pep off the line to
occasionally unconsciously loft the front
wheel a few inches, a gesture that says “I’m
a happy little bike, let’s have fun!” Riding
Sonoma twisties in the rain, the Ninja 300
shows me its stuff: sweepers or goat trails,
the bike is happy on either.
Sad but true: Le Video, the
second-largest collection
of films on the west coast
was closing forever in about
40 minutes and, due to a
semantic misunderstanding,
I was at least a half hour
away. So I called my roommate, who said
she could return the videos for me. Great.
Max and I continued our conversation and
finished our libations. Fifteen minutes
later, my roommate texted, explaining that
she had eaten a “pot thing” and couldn’t
handle being in public.
Shit. I was about to own a copy of Torque,
like it or not. For those of you not in the
loop: Torque is baaaad. It’s worth watching
once for a laugh, but it’s not kitschy enough
to elicit watching time and again like
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
Going downhill on Clement Street, I
was surprised to find a front-end wobble
while trying to stand up hands-free. But
that’s understandable on a bike this size
and could probably be fixed with minimal
tweaking.
With about ten minutes left between
me and
involuntary
ownership
of quite
possibly
the worst
movie that
Ice Cube
ever made
(which
is saying
a lot), I
called my
girlfriend’s
roommate,
who said he
would try to
save my bacon.
Other than that, the li’l Ninja continues
to be a bike that rises to well-established
expectations. Other models are still largely
based off the Ninjette. Yamaha’s R3 has
about the same top speed, but I found its
rear end a little washy. KTM’s RC 390 has
a surprising amount of torque for a bike
its size—it’d absolutely beat the Ninja off
the line and would likely pull ahead on the
straight. But it doesn’t yet have the proven
reliability of the Kawi.
Meanwhile, I rode the Ninja back to town,
reminding myself not to rush. There was
little I could do, really. Perhaps if I had lit
out of Pinole twenty minutes earlier there’d
be half a chance in hell. But with 25 miles
to span in around 400 seconds, I decided to
enjoy the ride.
More than anything, though, the Ninja
300 took the least amount of thought to
operate. There’s something immediately
familiar about its handling, power-delivery
and ergonometry that one can only get
from a bike with thirty years of refinement;
thirty years of Kawasaki basically building
this same bike, more or less.
Sure,the younger set may be alluring and
capable, but the Ninja has experience
doing the job. And in a world that’s largely
unreliable, there’s a comfort in a machine
that does just what you’d expect, no more,
no less.
Once I’d abandoned all
hope, I was happy to find
the Ninja handled just
as I anticipated: nimble
bordering on delicate.
Compared to the massive
Italian adventure-sporttourer, it was like walking a
Chihuahua instead of being
in a bar fight.
The Ninja can hold a steady
80 mph, going up and down
hills, although there isn’t
much left to squeeze out of it
after that. Max claims triple
digits are doable. Passing
was hard work, but it did get
the job done.
Remarkably, I made it back in about 20
minutes, proving the Ninja a capable
highway vehicle, (at least with someone
around my medium-to-small size).
Over the next few days, I took it around
town, hitting the usually urban twisties.
Oh yeah, and by the way, the videos got
back on time. “The deed is done,” said the
text I received. “It officially takes a village
to return a movie.”
Sam is CityBike’s newest columnist, and
perhaps our most rabidly enthusiastic little
bike advocate.
Open 7 Days a Week
275 8th Street,
San Francisco, CA 94103
area for the most part except for a few areas
that the Kings fire swept through last year.
We had a huge area to cover.
d Cavanaugh was a friend,
gentleman, educator and
2. Confirm your safe return. Be sure to
inspiration; a Dirtbag builder,
touch base at the end of the day to make
surfer, generous pie maker, a stone and
sure you both made it back safely.
wood worker. He was a teacher in Costa
At about 11 PM on Thursday, July 23rd,
Rica, and for nearly 20 years with the San
I awoke from dreams of non-stop text
Francisco public schools as a bilingual
messages to find it was not a dream—
Spanish elementary teacher, as well as a
wilderness instructor with Urban Pioneers. my phone dings (again) and I discover
Most recently he taught math, literacy and a dozen messages asking when the last
time anybody spoke to Ed was. Most say
leadership skills through an experiential
Thursday, but nothing after that. My gut
education project at San Francisco
starts churning when I realized it’s already
Downtown High School working with
been almost seven days. A week?!
troubled, last-chance kids that others
had given up on. He taught some of them
I quickly posted a message on Facebook,
survival skills during 10-day survival
asking for all available
quests in the forest, and boat building
skills to others. As an
experienced Wilderness
ntinues.
Emergency Medical
The search co
Technician he was well
equipped to survive,
yet he left us few clues
to find him when he
vanished into the massive
wilderness.
The day he went missing, July 17th, was
scorching hot and he’d started the day
riding with a friend. Together they rode
toward the Eastern zone trails, which are
only open for a short time each year and
had been the focus of our exploration
during our last few trips to the cabin. They
parted ways at the entrance of the trail 7
network at about 1 PM, leaving plenty of
time to look for sweet single track before
sunset around 8 PM. Ed had talked about
exploring Slate Mountain and looking for
the ruins of the old Bret Harte hotel in the
past, but didn’t clearly state what his plans
were that day.
He was not discovered missing until July
23rd. Here are some of the lessons we
learned while searching for him; hopefully
these will prevent this from happening to
you or a Lov(Ed) one.
www.SFMoto.com
415-255-3132
By Jason Potts, with special thanks
to Matt Hartford
Ed was an avid mountain
bike and dirt bike rider
with an explorer’s heart.
We spent many days
together riding and
exploring the foothills near
our group’s “clubhouse”
in the El Dorado National
Forest.
The bars are just low enough to give the
rider a sporty posture without upsetting
his / her position on the bike in turns or
while braking. It’s light enough to give
it that flickable feeling so desirable in a
motorcycle.
Brakes are good—like the rest of the
bike they’re neither extreme nor lacking,
suited to the bike, friendly enough for
newer riders. With enough of a stomp I
was able to briefly lock up the rear wheel
but the bike was reluctant to slide or drift
out of control. Locking up both ends
simultaneously produced a smooth short
skid—it’d take a lot of input to upset this
bike while braking.
The Teacher’s Last Lesson
E
1. Share your plans. If you part ways
when riding with a friend or a group, be
sure you to tell each other your plans in
case something goes wrong. This helps
the search and rescue teams to narrow
down the search area, and can shorten the
rescue time. If you’re hurt and need help,
shortening the time it takes to find you
can mean the difference between life and
death.
In the Sierra foothills, there are nearendless fire roads and single track trails
that snake up and down canyons, over
rocky mountain peaks, and down across
streams and rivers. It’s a heavily wooded
moved our search over to
the Eastern Zone.
3. Leave breadcrumbs.
If you’re going out solo,
or even with a friend for a
ride, leave a note describing
your intentions for that
ride. Even while riding
with a friend, you can both
get lost or stuck at the
bottom of a canyon. A note
can help searchers zero
in on your location much
faster, and like I said before,
shortening the rescue time
can mean the difference between life and
death.
Over the next week and a half,
we searched with help from the
Sherriff’s department, the local
Search and Rescue ground
pounders, motorcycle Search
and Rescue teams from Mount
Shasta, dog teams, helicopters
with FLIR (Forward Looking
Infra Red) technology and
even a Reaper drone, not to
mention many locals on foot,
horseback, mountain bikes, and
motorcycles.
We searched in vain. By day
eleven, we’d covered almost
hs
fit
rif
G
m
all the trails on the map as
To
:
Photo
well many unmapped trails,
without finding any trace of
Ed or his Yamaha YZ250. We were holding
dirt biker to come help search, and made
on to hope—but Ed was a type 1 diabetic
a few calls to find someone that could
and we didn’t know how much insulin
accompany me on the three-hour drive up he’d packed, not to mention that his water
that night. We were on the road within an
supply would probably be very low, if not
hour.
gone by this point.
th
July 24 , 2:40 AM. We arrived at the cabin The next day I would have to leave the
to find Ed’s truck parked in the driveway,
search and go back to work. By then we
his stuff spread across the table on the back would have covered all the trails both on
patio. Inside, we find
the coffee pot still on,
the coffee burnt to a
Final restin
g place.
crispy sludge, burnt to
the bottom of the pot.
There’s a book on the
table with his reading
glasses sitting on it.
He’d forgotten to put
the mayo back in the
fridge after making a
sandwich.
We searched the
rest of the house
and found his
Pelican case, with
his diabetes meds
in it.
3:30 AM. We
made our plan for the morning, and
decided to attempt a little sleep before we
begin the search. I woke at 6:00 AM to the
sound of my phone—again. Another friend
had just arrived and together we geared
up and began our search of the immediate
area. We returned an hour later to pick
up a few others that had just arrived, then
Photo: Heather Thompson
It was like a personal roadmap for me
to decipher. Thank you psychic friends!
Honestly, we never would have found him
without those clues. Ironically, they’d been
telling us to look on the first trail we had
searched, what all of our “gut feelings” had
been pointing all along.
It was with much relief, yet great sadness
that we found Ed the next day, Tuesday
August 4th. It seemed that he’d passed
away suddenly—apparently diabetics
can die quickly from a combination of
low blood sugar, dehydration and a being
overheated.
I hope that the lessons we learned while
searching for our friend Ed Cavanaugh
may help prevent this from happening
to you or anybody else riding solo in the
future. Even though these things may not
have saved Ed’s life, they could have greatly
improved our ability to find him in the one
hundred square miles that we searched—
almost two thousand miles of trails and fire
roads.
To summarize:
1. If you go riding alone, please leave a note
detailing the ride you are planning that
day, and stick to your plan. If you leave a
vehicle at the trailhead, put the note on
your dashboard.
2. Text a few friends your
plans, and the time you plan
to be back so they can get
help in case you don’t return
in time.
3. If you part ways on the trial,
be sure to touch base at the
end of the day.
4. Get a SPOT or similar GPS
tracking device, and actually
carry it, with spare batteries.
Photo: Jaso
n Potts
bike, and then
on foot, and to be honest I didn’t
know where to tell everybody to continue
the search. As I prepared a friend to take
my place as search coordinator, we started
to look at the leads on the “psychic friends
board” mostly because we had exhausted
all other leads.
5. Always pack lots of snacks,
water, a safety blanket and a
whistle—in case of dehydration,
you can blow a whistle even when
you can’t talk.
Ride fast and take chances, yes,
but be smart too.
Jason Potts is a two-wheel weekend warrior,
Baja guide, moto-journalist, photographer
and proud father of two. He used to be an
AFM, AMA and Score International Off
Road racer as well as a Keith Code California
Superbike School Instructor.
sam DEVINE
W
hile swimming sidestroke, I
sometimes find myself thinking
about Jim Hoogerhyde. It’s not
because he’s a fast, sexy man—as those
of you who purchased the 2011 Dirtbag
calendar well know. He comes to mind
because of breathing.
Stating your acceleration ambition is akin
to driving a ten penny nail through your oil
pan. They’d rather set the vehicle aflame
than share their numerical goal.
really fucking fast requires a little bit
more than just slamming the throttle and
screaming like Ahhnold diving away from
an explosion: “Git to dah choppah!!!”
But the tidbit that’s really stuck with me—
and the one that often occurs while I’m
swimming—has to do with breathing. You
see, when you climb into a big-wheeled
banana boat
with training
wheels for
front tires and
several fire
extinguishers
mounted around you, the gajillion-point
harness has a tendency to compress
your ribs and lungs like a birthday cake
beneath a bowling ball. Compounding
that is the fact that the thermometer is
hitting triple digits and you’re wearing
more layers than a Taco Bell burrito.
No, no, no. You have to focus in, narrowing
your thousand-yard gaze to a point that’s
actually a thousand yards away. You have
to reach inside and control your breathing,
“You tell yourself that it’s 110 degrees
outside your suit and only 97 degrees
You see, one winter afternoon several years inside, so really the suit’s keeping you
cooler,” said Hoogerhyde. “But it doesn’t
ago, the mercurial Talbot DeVille and I
found ourselves the only befuddled puds to really work like that.”
turn up to a “group” ride. So we decided to
But it’s the breathing thing that I
putt on over to the Hunters Point industrial
come back to time and again. While
park and happened upon the world-speedI’m suiting up at the track. While
record setting Hoogerhyde tinkering on his
I’m swimming, wrenching, or riding
latest four-wheeled rocket. And he divulged
Highway One.
to us a good deal about the process of going
fast in a straight line and having it recorded. “You gotta go all Zen,” said Hoogerhyde
of the torso-crushing safety belts. “You
“How fast are you hoping to go?” I asked.
can only take shallow little half breaths.”
“Oh, I don’t know, man. We’ll find out,”
I’m recalling his words as best I can, so
he responded. It is said that high-speed
forgive me if his particular patois doesn’t
hunters are an oddly superstitious bunch.
feel present. But the point is that to go
turning violet, Violet!” And Willy Wonka
just shakes his head.
While good, steady breathing can keep
you relaxed, hyperventilating can get you
as high as you’ve ever been. Burning Man
Rangers deal with drug overdoses as often
as maids deal with dirty floors. And these
raveland sentries go through a training
that requires them to
breathe as fast and as
dr. gregory w. FRAZIER
Chief, World
Adventure
Affairs Desk
I
ronbutt Hal, I knew, was trying to pry
professional motorcycle adventurer
secrets out of me by using beer with
chasers of vodka. At the same time, I
wanted to loosen Ironbutt Hal’s lips about
long distance rider personal exhaust port
secrets, the truth of how the motorcyclists
in his niche dealt with not making pit stops
to relieve bladder and colon build-up.
The long distance motorcycle specialist
was my gracious host for an overnighter at
his house, providing numerous bottles of
cold beer with a side bowl of ice and two
shot glasses for my minimal contribution
of a half bottle of vodka.
Illustration by Sam Devine
keeping it shallow, like doing a backstroke.
Exhale too deeply and you’ll sink. Hold
your breath too long and you’ll tense up.
On a cold day, approaching a blind right on
Highway One, I exhale deeply, fogging my
visor. It means I’ve held my breath for too
long, tensed up. And tensing up will kill
you. The good money is on light and swift
action: a slight twist of the wrist, a saccade
of the eyes—no freezing like a cheerleader
in a horror movie. And steady breathing is
the key to good action.
“When you focus on breathing and form,
everything else fades away,” says Mark
St. Peter, of Dynamic Balance, a physical
rehabilitation center. “You can start by
having a three count. Inhale for three
seconds, hold for three, exhale for three.
The idea is to exhale on exertion… and you
want to inhale on relaxation.”
Everyone needs to breathe. Opera singers
know when and how long to hold their
breath. Even classical violinists scribble
“breath marks” on their music, telling
them when to reset their bows. Weight
lifters exhale as they push. Women practice
Lamaze during birthing. Swimming forces
a consciousness of breath because there
are only certain times that it’s possible to
inhale without sucking in a gulp of water.
Swimmers work on breathing and form
because that’s all the input they really get—
form leads to breathing and breathing leads
to form, one improving the other.
We train ourselves to ride. We learn the
motions. Push the bar, drop the elbow,
raise the eyes, straighten the back, feel
the outside peg, slide to the right, twist
the foot, push out the knee. And then
you realize you’re as stiff as a board and
as purple as a blueberry. “Violet! You’re
deep as they can for about five minutes.
Try it. If you’re not seeing spots and can
still remember who the president is, give
yourself a hearty pat on the back—just
don’t try to stand up.
But when we’re breathing right, it’s sweeter
than a cold glass of water on a hung-over
morning. It calms the mind and loosens
the muscles. The worst thing we can do is
dwell on how long things are taking, how
little time there is left. We’re all running
out of time, trying to beat the clock. It’s not
said enough that the one of the best things
we can do is remember to breath.
Try it the next time you’re coming hot into
a corner. Breathe out and see if that turn
doesn’t just cool off.
Sam is CityBike’s newest columnist. He lives
in SF, teaches motorcycling and kitesurfing.
Get a copy of his book, “Fifty First Rides,” at
SamDevine.com.
He’d recently returned from several weeks
of motorcycling in Europe which included
some of the best passes and roads in the
Italian Alps and on the surface of our
swilling was anxious to share tales of his
newly acquired Italian driving experience
and language skills. However, as bottles
emptied and names were dropped, we
did a tighter verbal dance around the
real hardball questions we wanted to ask
while pretending to focus on the subject of
Italian motorcycling.
The gloves came off when Ironbutt Hal
tried to defend his friend who critically
shoots arrows into my professional
adventure motorcycling back. I suggested
the jealous back-shooter had an obvious
soft motorcycle travel lifestyle with a
working wife bringing home the meaty
pay check for the mortgage, groceries and
health insurance while hubby flitted to and
from motorcycle promos and free
packaged motorcycle tours with
a publisher compensating him
comfortably afterwards.
Contact CityBike to place a
classified or business
advertisement and reach
thousands of Bay Area
motorcycle enthusiasts.
Ironbutt Hal’s defense
imploded and sank after I
explained how the backshooter’s style of motorcycle travel differed
from that of several of us motorcycle
adventure junkies who have to save money
for months, or years, to make a journey
that might result in a few pitiful dollars
from pimped words and photographs
after we had licked our adventure seekingwounds and paid unanticipated bills that
accumulated while we were on the road.
For the professional adventurers the
donkey, known as travel money, came
before the cart, known as the journey or
adventure. For Ironbutt Hal’s pal there was
no donkey or cart, his travel often being
an all expense paid magic carpet ride that
was later sugared by considerable financial
compensation for words and images.
[email protected]
415-282-2790
“OK, I see the vast difference between the
two forms of motorcycle travel” Ironbutt
Hal said as he wallowed in the swilled
ADVERTISING
it works!
Illustration by Mr. Jensen
failure of his defense, “but if you’re such
a professional share a professional toilet
secret with me.”
“Ahhh, not until you address what I’ve
heard about your 1,000 mile-aday buddies; that some are
rumored not to waste time
with pit stops, toilet paper,
others even opting for a
wedged diaper do the lefthanded job?”
Ironbutt Hal pondered my
response for a few moments, and
then said, “I don’t know if you’re
telling me a secret or pulling my chain
for trying to defend the back-shooting
critic, but let’s toss these shooters back in
the good Italian sense of adventure.”
“Cin cin,” I said in my best Italian for the
word ‘cheers.’
The vodka chasing beers had
loosened his lips. He said,
“You ever hear of The Texas
Catheter?”
Ironbutt Hal laughed, clinked his glass to
mine, and then said in his newly acquired
Italian speak, toasting my possibly
proffered professional secret, “Salute to
Signore Adventure Rider Very Important
Paper.”
“Nope, but when
I hear the word
catheter, Texas
or anywhere,
I immediately
experience physical and mental
shrinkage.”
He described how he had
designed a distanceriding catheter to
eliminate urinary
pit stops. The liquid
would run down the
rider’s leg inside a
plastic tube and, with
the help of gravity and
wind suction from speed,
dribble onto the highway
as the long distance rider
motored along.
“Not bad,” I replied. “The
design seems far better than
sitting in a wet diaper for several hundred
miles. But what about a #2?”
Dr. Frazier’s new all-color coffee
table book, DOWN AND OUT IN
PATAGONIA, KAMCHATKA AND
TIMBUKTU, available at mototorbooks.
com, is the first-ever first-hand chronicle
of a never-ending motorcycle ride by “the
world’s most cerebral motorcyclist.” It is
highly “recommended” by Grant Johnson,
horizonsunlimited.com adventure travel
book guru, and for dream riding armchair
and keyboard adventurists.
He nodded,
emptied another bottle
and then prodded, “So where
is this adventure rant going?”
“To the latest adventure riding product
I’ve heard about as a globe wandering and
inquisitive truth and tale seeker, the new
adventure rider toilet paper.”
“Nope, you have to share some professional
Rising to my presented bait while
adventure rider secret first.”
uncapping another beer he said, “OK,
I’m open for this revelation.”
I conjured several insider secrets, but
decided to have some fun leading
him down our beer and vodka oiled
conversation for a few minutes. I chafed at
the word adventure being used to advertise
five-star luxury guided motorcycle tours to
reel in customers as the “epic and ultimate
adventure of a lifetime.” Then I lamented
how some of the motorcycling industry
have prostituted perfectly good street and
sport motorcycles as adventure models
hoping to sell what they could not as the
models they were. Finally, I listed how
there were adventure helmets, adventure
underwear, adventure boots and adventure
seats; all products now wearing the
adventure badge to slyly market them to
the growing market segment of adventure
dreaming motorcyclists.
I filled two shot
glasses, but before
toasting him and our
knocking them back,
said, “Hal, the name
for the Adventure
Rider Very Important
Paper is easy to
remember, it’s the same name as
your Italian friend who likes to diss
me whenever he has a chance.”
I told him the product was
similar to a small moistened
paper wipe, in a sealed
package, except there were
two wipes in each package instead
of one. The adventure rider could
use the first with a left hand to cleanse
their back end after doing their business
and the second wipe was for cleaning
their left hand when done. The wipes
were environmentally friendly, so could
be tossed away anywhere and would
disappear within days. The packaging was
biodegradable, adding to the concept of
leaving no motorized foot print. A dozen
packets were marketed as “Adventure
Rider Very Important Paper,” and sold by a
design company from Italy.
“How much per packet?” asked Ironbutt
Hal.
“$1.00 for each.”
“OK, I’m in. I’ll order a couple. What’s their
name?”
Will those bikes be ridden next by someone
answering a Craigslist ad?
maynard
HERSHON
M
y wife and I live in a high-rise
in the middle of Denver. There
are motorcycles all around us:
the gloss black Sportster parked at the curb
across from the bottom of our driveway; a
clean, naked Buell two spaces away in our
parking garage; an old, undistinguished
(and unmuffled), low-bar Honda twin,
maybe a 400, in the space just across from
ours; another Sportster in the space next
to the Honda, and a couple of Japanese
cruisers ten steps away.
above freezing. You can ride here in
the winter.
for that one. Someone who actually likes
motorcycles should have bought it.
The black Sportster across the street
has been parked there for three
months, motionless. Uncovered.
Snow falls on it, freezes at night and melts
during the day. No telling what rain and
snow and high-altitude sun are doing to
that bike. It’s a late-model, 21” front wheel,
I believe. Is it a ten-thousand dollar bike?
After all, all over the world men and
women are saving and studying brochures
and dreaming of owning a shiny black
Harley like the one across the street…
that never moves. Because of parking laws,
someone pushes it 20 yards every-so-often
to another curb. Probably, at this point it
won’t start.
Whatever it is, it is ignored and exposed.
Abandoned, you could easily think. I don’t
care much about Sportsters, but I feel sorry
All those bikes in our parking area, and
I have never heard any of them running.
They spent the spring, summer and fall
right where they are now. I saw the Honda
missing from its spot only once. I don’t
know if it was ridden out of our basement
or hauled out in a pickup.
We’ve lived in the building for nine
years, and this is the most motorcycles
we’ve ever seen in our underground
parking area. I’m pro-motorcycling.
Why don’t I rejoice?
It’s winter, but most
winters I can ride
my bike a few times
a month. We’re at
5,000 feet, so the
sun is powerful,
warm enough to
melt the snow
on plowed
roads even
when the
temps are
hardly
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Only once in the years we’ve been here in
our 100-unit building have I encountered
another individual in an elevator carrying a
motorcycle helmet. Who are these people,
who own (in most cases) expensive, coolish motorcycles—and never ride them or
take care of them in the most fundamental
ways?
If we’ve been riding for years, we love
motorcycles. We look at gleaming new
ones left outside in the elements and we
are baffled. Who would do that? What, not
even a cover? Covers are thirty dollars…
There are no electrical outlets in our
parking garage, no 110 for the use of the
tenants. So none of the motorcycles there
are connected to battery chargers. Maybe
some of the batteries have been removed
and taken up to their owners’ units and are
trickle-charging as I type this.
I suspect that they are not. I suspect that
those batteries are sulfating as I type
this. Each of those bikes will require
a new, $75 plus-or-minus battery, and
someone competent to appear and
install it, if its owner feels the urge to
ride the bike come spring.
We know, I think, how the guy or gal who
bought that black Sportster is supposed to
feel. There’s a disconnect here somewhere.
Something is missing.
All those bikes save the Honda are
500-pounders, their weight resting
on tires that have not been inflated
for months. You can almost hear the
sidewalls cracking. A new battery may
help them start next spring, but will it
make them safe?
We stock a large selection
of heavy duty jackets ,
pants, chaps, & bags.
Except for the Honda, which appears to
me to be without value, the other bikes
are respectable rides. Buells are a matter
of taste, but the one downstairs looks fine.
The Sportster and the cruisers are late
models, certainly rideable and desirable
to many. Who owns them? Got me. Who
cares about them? Evidently, no one.
Maybe we don’t want a new Sportster with
a tall, skinny front wheel. I certainly don’t.
But we know what motorcycles mean to us,
the sacrifices we’ve made for new (or not)
bikes and the satisfaction of caring longterm for a machine that seems somehow to
care for us in return.
That $75 may be all it takes to
keep the bike motionless for
another year.
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ed HERTFELDER
Evidently, people who would not have
bought bikes in the past are buying them
now. Maybe some of these motorcycles are
owned by people who commuted by car or
bicycle, bought motorcycles expecting to
fall in love with urban motorcycling, and
simply failed to do so.
I’m sure people have done that since there
have been motorcycles, but they generally
sold their motorbikes, didn’t they? They
didn’t just forget them and park them
curbside in the snow.
We cannot imagine life without
motorcycles, and we are grateful to our
bikes for enhancing our lives as they so
richly do. Because we want our bikes to
continue to enhance our lives, we park
them out of the weather. We check our tires
and maintain our batteries and change our
oil.
Our bikes, we realize, have transported us
to levels of pleasure we seldom achieve in
other areas of our lives. Maybe those levels
are increments of speed or lower lap times
or rides with friends or visits to places we’d
only dreamed we’d see.
My bike has taken me in the last few years
to Indy for the MotoGP and to Duluth
for Aerostich’s Very Boring Rally. To
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. To a
tiny town in Wyoming. And for simple
rides in the country past grazing horses
and weathered old barns to… oh, to the
Rhubarb Festival in Pine Valley, Colorado.
My motorcycle does all those things for
me. Would I roll its rear tire to the curb,
kick down its stand, walk away and forget it
while late summer became late December?
Would you?
I
n August, southern New Jersey
is deserted. To escape the lifethreatening combination of heat
and humidity, everyone with a Visa card
that is not maxed out takes to the hills or
the seashore. Vinyl tops on hundreds of
cars are torn to shreds by sharp-edged
lawn chairs strapped down by with cheap
twine, loose slip knots and hope. Twenty
inch bicycles slipping off rear bumpers
are often ground down to 10 inches by
concrete highways. Whining children are
trapped and immobilized in compact cars
by mothers who insist they look nice “when
we get there.” Howard Johnson employees
gather lifetime supplies of left-behind
sunglasses, and untended lawns grow high
enough to hide tigers.
cut the hairs loose I found it could lift
the plastic but couldn’t get out of ground
effect. When I folded the plastic into a
wing shape—to give it more lift—the
mosquito turned into the wind and took
off nicely.
It was climbing about ten inches a minute
when it impacted., violently, Rich Ragosa’s
left cheek. Rich, still sound asleep,
smashed the bird into oblivion with an evil
smile of satisfaction.
The question is, was it
pilot error—flying
into elevated
terrain—or was
There are no burglaries in August because
it’s too hot to carry off a portable color
television set with sweaty arms, plus the
summer re-runs are so bad that “fences”
can’t hardly give the things away.
The Beehive might not be the
toughest event in terms regarding
terrain, but in terms of ferocious
heat it’s second to the surface
of the sun and two degrees
cooler than hell.
Many drivers arrive wearing nothing
above the waist and precious little below. I
remember one lard-ass driver exiting a van
wearing nothing above and below the waist.
The memorable thing about the incident
was the tuck-and-roll seat design embossed
on the fellow’s considerable butt, which
resembled a walking TV test pattern.
Surrounded by swamps, the Beehive
area develops trophy class mosquitoes,
ferocious beasts with the ability to drill
deep into meat through the thickness
of a $47 dollar sleeping bag. Last year, I
remember, I was awake at 6 AM engaged
in a scientific experiment. One monster
sized mosquito had drilled into a plastic
Band Aid I had on my wrist and must have
trapped his drill bit on the sticky underside
like a nail in a self-sealing tire. Using the
pair of folding scissors I use to carve route
sheets into strips, I began to trim the Band
Aid to see what payload the bug could lift.
It could almost get off the ground with a
dime-size piece and two wrist hairs. After I
I passed a dozen riders returning from the
spring with big smiles on their grimy faces
before the spring came into view. It was a
double bed size rusted by ten years of rain
after the incineration.
Until the “mercy stop” there had been
very little brush raking my face. Earlier
riders had been bending it out of the way
but now I was “eating” it by the
baleful. Keeping your head up
and paying attention means
you can thread your face past
the vegetation at a reasonable
speed. Go too fast and start
ducking under some of it means that,
sooner or later, you will lift your head
right into something covered by bark
thorns and stapled that used to hold a
“danger” marker.
A mile and four-tenths out I ducked under
something that was either a vine or a
strand of barbed wire—hard to tell the
difference sometimes—and looked up
to immediately get a tree branch just
below my goggles that went under the
side of my helmet, then broke off just
before it unscrewed my head. My
motorcycle continued on for six
feet without me as I sat on the
ground pulling the branch
out from under my helmet,
relieved to find that there
was no ear impaled on it.
And this is when they run the Beehive
Enduro.
Contestants usually
arrive at the Beehive
after sundown on Saturday
because their stripped, nooptions vans have the 255 model air
conditioning: 2 windows open, 55 miles an
hour.
I found my can and refueled as I emptied
my canteen of water, half down my throat,
half down my collar, then drove off down
the trail past a sign that said, “Bring your
camera our lovely spring 300 yards ahead.”
it loss of power due to overheated chest
muscles?
I suppose we’ll never know.
Anyway, due to the heat the Beehive is
never laid out as a “killer” enduro. This is
well known and reflected by the extremely
large turn-out of riders, sometimes
hundreds more than any other in the area
and often as many as any in the nation.
Consequently, with more luck than good
planning, and being “pushed” by faster
riders almost climbing over my rear wheel,
I arrived at the mid-point “mercy stop” at
the actual time I was supposed to arrive. A
definite shock as so seldom happens to me.
In fact, I don’t recall it ever happened
before.
Riders on earlier numbers were taking
advantage of the thirty-minute layover by
submerging themselves, fully dressed, in
a shallow lake alongside the area where
everyone’s spare fuel can was lined up in
numerical order.
When I got going again, the
brush thinned out and opened up onto
a sunken road with a greasy looking mud
bank on each side. Riding this slop requires
your rear wheel in the water and the front
wheel partly up the bank in a maneuver
that keeps your engine out of the water
and your heartbeat in the upper rev range,
up where you can count beats in your ear
drums.
The flooded stretch was two hundred
yards long with a dry, higher, section near
the middle. When I reached this I stopped
to get my wind back and my heartbeat
slowed to where it wasn’t hurting my ear
drums too bad. I noticed a man standing at
the far end of the mire, pointing to the left
side and almost jumping up and down with
excitement: obviously he was telling me to
keep on the left side.
Sometimes you can trust a single person
but I learned long ago that a group of
people with cameras will always indicate
the worst possible track so they can capture
more drama in their photos. They prefer
water splashing high with, preferably,
steam. A bit of fresh blood would also be
nice.
For some reason having to do with balance
or muscles or something, I can’t do the
crossed-up front wheel maneuver nearly as
well on the left side of the trail. My right leg
is either too short and I topple over to the
right, or it’s too long, drags in the muck and
pulls me off the motorcycle.
Whenever I got it right I was gaining ten to
twenty feet before stopping with the engine
stalled. Each time this happened I had to
reach down in the muck tickle the shifter
into neutral then kick the engine back to
life.
The motorcycle was supposed to start in
gear but the drag of the clutch plates made
it just too hard to kick over with just the
clutch lever pulled in.
So I just continued the stalling, starting,
and ramming the motorcycle along the side
of the muck until I got within twenty yards
of the fellow where I could hear his shouted
words but just couldn’t make them out.
I was sure it was encouragement of the best
kind and I was thankful for it.
Finally, I rushed the last few yards all
crossed up and out of shape and dropped
the whole works almost at the fellow’s feet.
He neatly moved to one side to avoid a
bucketful of vicious mud flung toward him.
“I’ve been trying to tell you”, he screamed,
“you missed a turn back there, you dumb
shit!!”
Get Ed’s latest book, 80.4 Finish Check on
Amazon.com!
TOWING
Enter these contacts into your phone now, while you are thinking about it, so that
you will have them when you need them.
Cycle Tow
you, and you need them. The
Internet won’t change your oil.
The Internet won’t stay open an
extra 20 minutes so you can buy
a tire so you can ride on Sunday.
If the apparel you buy doesn’t fit,
you have to pay for shipping to
try a different size…each way,
every time. Plus, you meet real,
live people, not some keyboard
cowboy from another time zone.
Your local shop is an
endangered resource!
Proper care and support
is required, or they die.
510-644-2453(BIKE) Est 1988 24hr emergency service.
Reasonable rates.
We tow all makes of motorcycles, sidecars and trikes.
We also network with many other motorcycle tow services throughout
the entire Bay Area. If we can’t get to you quickly, we can find you a tow
service that’s closer. We are based in Berkeley, CA.
H
ere at CityBike, we
strongly believe that
while the Internet
is great entertainment, it’s a
terrible place to buy stuff. Your
Local Motorcycle Shop needs
Screw The Internet. Support your Local Motorcycle Shop.
CLASSIFIEDS
SAN FRANCISCO AND BEYOND:
DAVE’S CYCLE TRANSPORT
The Old Man
The Old Truck
Dave is working
Dave’s Cycle Transport
San Francisco-Bay Area and Beyond…
24 Hour Service
(415)824-3020 — www.davescycle.com
Motorcycle & ATV Hauling
Sonoma, Marin, Napa & Mendocino Counties
24 hour Roadside Pickup
707-843-6584
Insured & Licensed
California Motor Carrier Permit
www.mcmotorcycletransport.com
[email protected]
DEALER CLASSIFIED
Dubbelju Motorcycle
Rentals / Storage
All advertised vehicles are technically and operationally sound and
factory original. Components which show even a trace of wear or fatigue
are replaced. You get a motorcycle which, while it may have some miles,
has been routinely, expertly maintained.
2012 BMW R1200GS 45k miles (Titan Silver) 110hp, 1170cc, 6 Speed,
shaft drive, braided steel brake and clutch hoses, computer, heated
grips, BMW Vario panniers, centerstand, LED rear light, luggage rack,
adjustable levers, hand protectors, adjustable windshield, adjustable
seat, cast aluminum wheels, recently serviced, CA tags till Jun 2016.
Only asking $9,500 or best offer!
2013 KTM 1190 Adventure (Grey/Orange) 148hp, 1195cc Liquid
cooled Twin, 6speed, chain drive, hydraulically operated PASC antihopping clutch, Recently serviced, CA tags till Mar 2016. Only asking
$10,550.00 or best offer!
J&M Motorsports LLC
2243 Old Middlefield Way
Mountain View, Ca 94043
650-386-1440
www.jm-ms.com
We are a licensed dealer owned and operated by people who love
motorcycles. When you call or visit, you’re talking directly with noncommission team members who are passionate about getting you the
bike you desire! We specialize in newer, low-mile, affordable bikes, and
offer in-house financing—visit our website to apply today! Looking to
sell your bike? Consignments are welcome!
BMW
2007 BMW F650GS ABS - $5,995
Can-Am
2014 Can-Am Spyder RT Limited - $18,495
Ducati
2012 Ducati Hypermotard 796 - $7,995
2013 Ducati Monster 796 ABS - $7,995
2013 Ducati Multistrada 1200S Granturismo ABS- $15,995
Harley-Davidson
2007 Harley Davidson FLHR Road King - $9,995
1998 Harley Davidson FLHT Electra Glide - $9,995
2011 Harley Davidson FLHTK Electra Glide Ultra Limited - $16,495
2012 Harley Davidson FLHX Street Glide - $16,495
2014 Harley Davidson FLSTFB Fat Boy Lo - $13,495
2012 Harley Davidson FLTRU Road Glide Ultra - $18,995
2008 Harley Davidson FXDBI Dyna Street Bob - $8,995
2010 Harley Davidson FXDB Dyna Street Bob - $11,495
2015 Harley Davidson FXDB Dyna Street Bob - $13,995
2015 Harley Davidson FXDL Dyna Low Rider - $14,495
2004 Harley Davidson XL883C Sportster 883 - $4,995
2014 Harley Davidson XL883N Sportster 883 Iron - $7,995
2014 Harley-Davidson XL883N Sportster 883 Black - $8,495
2003 Harley Davidson V-Rod Anniversary - $7,995
2009 Harley Davidson VRSC V-Rod - $9,995
2014 Harley Davidson V-Rod Night Rod Special - $13,995
Honda
2005 Honda NSS250 Reflex - $2,995
2013 Honda CBR500R - $5.495
2005 Honda CBR600RR - $5,995
2006 Honda CBR600RR - $5,495
2006 Honda CBR600RR - $5,995
2010 Honda CBR600RR Leyla Edition - $7,995
2002 Honda Rebel 250 - $2,795
2001 Honda VT750 Shadow 750 ACE - $3,995
2008 Honda Shadow 750 Aero - $4,795
2002 Honda CR125R - $2,495
2004 Honda CRF250R - $2,995
2007 Honda CRF250R 290cc Big Bore - $3,795
2013 Honda CRF250F - $4,995
2014 Honda CRF250L - $4,495
2012 Honda CRF450R - $5,495
Kawasaki
2015 Kawasaki KX450F - $6,495
2014 Kawasaki Ninja 300 - $4,995
2013 Kawasaki Ninja 300 - $4,995
2015 Kawasaki Ninja 300 ABS - $5,495
2007 Kawasaki Ninja 500R - $3,995
2012 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R - $8,495
2006 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636 - $5,995
2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636 - $8,995
2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R - $7,495
2012 Kawasaki Z1000 - $6,995
2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic - $4,495
KTM
2013 KTM 1190 Adventure - $14,495
2003 KTM 450 SX - $3,495
2014 KTM 690 Duke - $7,995
2008 KTM 990 Super Duke - $8,495
Polaris
2015 Polaris Slingshot SL - $22,995
Suzuki
2005 Suzuki GSX-R600 - $5,995
2009 Suzuki GSX-R600 - $7,495
2009 Suzuki GSX-R600 - $7,995
2012 Suzuki GSX-R600 - $8,995
2013 Suzuki GSX-R600 - $9,495
2007 Suzuki GSX-R750 - $6,995
2011 Suzuki GSX-R750 - $9,495
2009 Suzuki GSX-R1000 - $9,495
2012 Suzuki V-Strom DL1000 - $6,995
2011 Suzuki Boulevard C50T - $3,995
2006 Suzuki Boulevard M50 - $3,995
Triumph
2013 Triumph Thruxton 900 - $8,495
2014 Triumph Street Triple R ABS Team Empire Special Edition - $9,495
2014 Triumph Street Triple R ABS Team Empire Special Edition - $9,495
2013 Triumph Daytona 675 ABS - $9,995
2012 Triumph Tiger Explorer - $10,995
2014 Triumph Thunderbird Commander ABS - $11,995
Yamaha
2015 Yamaha YZ250F - $5,995
2006 Yamaha YZF R6 - $5,995
2006 Yamaha YZF R6 - $6,995
2008 Yamaha YZF R6 - $6,995
2012 Yamaha YZF R6 - $8,995
2009 Yamaha FZ6R - $4,495
2012 Yamaha FZ6R - $5,995
2015 Yamaha FZ-07 - $6,495
2011 Yamaha FZ8 - $5,995
2012 Yamaha FZ8 - $7,495
2005 Yamaha V-Star 650 - $3,995
2002 Yamaha V-Star 1100 - $3,995
2008 Yamaha V-Star 1100 - $4,995
CityBike Classifieds
Santa Rosa BMW / Triumph
800 American Way, Windsor CA.Open Tue-Fri 9-6, Sat 9-4:30.
Phone 707-838-9100 x 2. After-hours text 707-837-6121
SantaRosaBMW.com
We proudly offer some of the best used motorcycles in the area. We’re
fussy about the condition of the machines we take in for resale and make
sure all the maintenance is up to date before offering them to the public.
USED INVENTORY
2011 BMW R1200RT – Only 7.9k miles, loaded with factory options, plus
BMW Top Case! Recently serviced, ready to go. Just $14,000.
1999 BMW R1100RT – Only 36.4k miles! Lots of nice extras, too. Runs
like a top! Only $4,400.
2013 BMW R1200GS Adventure Triple Black – One-owner machine, just
12k miles. Loaded with factory options, all 3 BMW aluminum cases and
BMW’s excellent GPS. Just $17,800.
2011 BMW F800ST – Excellent condition, mechanically and
cosmetically. 20,750 miles. Comes with numerous factory options as
well as BMW Sport Cases, Akrapovic exhaust. $7,600.
2006 BMW R1200RT – Runs phenomenally well. 57k miles. Plenty of
factory-installed options plus BMW top case, comfort seat, etc. Just
$7,900.
2013 BMW R1200GS Adventure 90 Jahre Edition – One owner who
barely rode it. Only 1.3k miles! Very nice condition, just $16,900.
2015 BMW F800R Demo – Only around 1k miles! Comes with ABS and
Traction Control (ASC). Nearly 3 years of factory warranty remain. Only
$8,900.
2015 BMW R1200R – Includes almost every factory option you can
get and resplendent in Light White livery, this zero-mileage machine in
perfect condition is just $16,190.
2014 BMW F700GS – Only 250 actual miles. Pristine condition. Comes
with ABS + ASC, Electronic Suspension Adjustment (ESA II), Tire
Pressure Monitor (TPM), Heated Grips, Center Stand, Vario Top Case.
Warranty good ‘til 8/19/2017. Just $8,900.
2010 Triumph Thunderbird ABS – Set up for comfortable long-distance
travel with several nice extras such as Triumph saddlebags, windscreen,
floorboards, “Comfort” seat with rider backrest, and more. Has the
factory 1700cc big-bore kit. A few minor cosmetic blems but in nice
shape overall. Only 16.5k miles. Just $7,500.
2014 Ducati Diavel Strada – 4.8k miles and in showroom condition!
Thousands of dollars in extras from Ducati Performance, Rizoma, Sato,
Clearwater, et al. Looks stunning! Just $15,750.
2014 Triumph Bonneville 2-TONE – Only 3,250 miles and in tip-top
shape! Extras include Triumph Sport Silencers and chrome Luggage
Rack. Only $6600.
TRIUMPH SPECIALS
We have a number of NEW ’14 and ’15 Triumph motorcycles that need
to find a new home NOW! Prices are ROCK BOTTOM, and cannot be
combined with any other manufacturer or dealer incentives. Freight and
Prep charges are included in all prices below. Delivery available!
2014 America 2-Tone – $9,644, now $7,585!
2014 Commander 1700 – $16,744, now $13,280!
2015 Speedmaster 900 – $9,444, now $7,600!
2015 Thunderbird LT ABS – $18,494, now $14,800!
2015 Rocket Touring 2300 – $18,544, now $14,900!
2015 Street Triple 675 ABS – $10,444, now $8,400!
2015 Speed Triple 1050 ABS – $13,844, now $11,000!
2015 Dayton 675 ABS – $13,044, now $10,400!
2015 Daytona 675 R – $15,044, now $12,000!
2015 Tiger 800 XRx – $13,544, now $11,160!
2015 Explorer 1200 – $16,944, now $13,740!
2015 Explorer 1200 XC – $18,544, now $15,000!
2015 Trophy SE – $20,544, now $16,680!
2015 Bonneville Newchurch – $9,744, now $8,480!
2015 Bonneville T100 2-Tone – $10,644, now $8,400!
Prices shown do not include taxes, DMV fees/electronic filing, doc, CA
tire fee. All motorcycles are subject to prior sale, so do not delay!
SF MOTO
275 8th Street at the corner of Folsom
San Francisco - 415-255-3132
www.sfmoto.com
USED INVENTORY
All used motorcycles come with a 3 month warranty / 12 month roadside
assistance. We thoroughly inspect our used inventory. If brakes are worn
over 60%, new pads are installed. If tires are worn beyond 60%, new
tires are installed. If chain & sprockets have too much play, we install
new chain & sprockets.
BMW
F800R with ABS, 2012, Silver, 8,890 miles, $7,998
S1000 RR, 2014, White, 1,521 miles, $13,998
S1000 RR, 2013, White, $12,998
Ducati
Monster 1100 Evo, 2013, Black, 3,137 miles, $10,498
Multistrada 1200/S ABS, 2013, Gray, 21,553 miles, $14,598
Panigale 899, 2014, Red, 2,200 miles, $13,998
Streetfighter 1099, 2011, White, 6,790 miles, $10,998
Monster 1200 S, 2014, White, $13,498
Monster 696 ABS, 2013, Black, $8,498
Monster 696, 2009, Red, $6,998
848, 2010, Black, $9,498
Monster 796, 2014, Red, 7,578 miles, $9,498
Monster 796 ABS, 2014, Red, 4,529 miles, $9,498
Hypermotard 821, 2015, Black, $11,495
Honda
CBR250R, 2012, Red, 274 miles, $3,998
Reach thousands of Northern California motorcyclists. Just $15 for 25 words, 25¢
each additional word. Photos add $25. Industry classifieds are a higher price. Free
25-word listing for stolen bikes. Deadline is the 3rd of each month. Just fill out the
form, or copy and send it with your check, payable to CityBike PO Box 18738,
Oakland, CA 94619.
Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
e-mail:
CBR500R, 2013, Black, 3,242 miles, $4,298
CBR600RR, 2012, Black, 4,018 miles, $9,998
CBR250R, 2012, Blue, $3,295
CRF230M, 2009, Black, $4,998
CBR250, 2011, Red, 3,369 miles, $3,498
CBR250R, 2012, Blue, 274 miles, $3,498
CBR500R, 2013, Black, $5,298
CBR300R, 2015, White, $3,998
CBR500R, 2013, Red, $5,998
CB500F, 2013, White, $5,198
NT700V, 2010, Silver, $4,998
CBR500F, 2013, Black, 750 miles, $5,498
PCX150, 2015, Black, 1,393 miles, $2,998
CBR500R, 2013, Black, 1,507 miles, $5,498
Kawasaki
Ninja 250 EX250 EX-250, 2010, Red, 13,159 miles, $3,798
ZX600 Ninja 600, 2011, Black, 824 miles, $8,498
ZX636-F, 2013, White, 167 miles, $9,998
Ninja 250 EX250 EX-250, 2010, Green, $3,498
Ninja 300, 2014, Black, $5,298
Ninja 300, 2013, Black, $4,998
Ninja 300, 2014, Black, 444 miles, $4,698
Versys 650, 2013, White, 868 miles, $6,498
Ninja 300, 2013, White, $4,495
Ninja 300, 2015, Gray, $4,998
Versys 650, 2013, White, 884 miles, $6,498
Vulcan 500, 2007, Black, $4,498
Ninja 300, 2014, White, $4,698
Ninja 650 EX650, 2007, Blue, 849 miles, $3,998
Lance
PCH125, 2013, Orange, 663 miles, $1,898
PCH150, 2014, Red, 1,274 miles, $1,998
Suzuki
GSX-R600, 2013, Blue, 948 miles, $9,498
GSX-R600, 2014, Blue, 700 miles, $9,998
GW250, 2013, Black, 449 miles, $3,498
V-Strom 650 DL650 Touring bike, 2011, Black, $5,998
GSX-R600, 2013, Blue, $9,998
GSX-R750, 2014, Black, $10,498
LS650 S40, 2011, White, $4,498
Gladius SFV650, 2009, White, 3,281 miles, $4,998
V-Strom 650 DL650 Touring bike, 2013, Blue, $7,998
SYM
HD200, 2006, Blue, 13,000 miles, CALL
Triumph
Bonneville, 2013, Black, 1,802 miles, $7,998
Bonneville, 2013, Purple, 1,922 miles, $7,498
Bonneville, 2014, Black, 3,715 miles, $8,495
Daytona 675, 2014, Black, 1,679 miles, $9,998
Speed Triple ABS, 2012, Red, 7,939 miles, $8,998
Bonneville, 2013, Orange, $7,198
Daytona 675R, 2014, White, $11,998
Street Triple R, 2010, Orange, 11,158 miles, $6,998
Street Triple R, 2012, Black, 6,992 miles, $8,498
Daytona 675, 2014, Black, 3,705 miles, $9,998
Daytona 675, 2012, White, 4,472 miles, $10,998
Dyatona 675, 2013, Black, $9,498
Yamaha
FJ09, 2015, Gray, 2,660 miles, $9,898
FZ09, 2014, Gray, 4,689 miles, $7,298
FZ8, 2011, Black, 6,469 miles, $5,998
Zuma 125, 2014, Gray, 84 miles, $3,198
FZ1, 2006, Silver, $6,498
YZF-R6, 2015, Blue, $10,495
FZ09, 2014, Red, 975 miles, $7,498
FZ6-R, 2013, Blue, 1,509 miles, $6,498
FZ07, 2015, Gray, CALL
NEW INVENTORY
Honda
CB300F, 2015, Red, $3,999
CB500X, 2014, White, $5,498
CB500X, 2015, Black, $5,998
CBR1000RR, 2015, Red, CALL
CBR600RR, 2015, Black, CALL
CBR650F, 2015, Black, $8,499
Lance Powersports
Havana Classic 125, 2015, Black/Blue/Red/White, $1,899
Havana Classic 150, 2015, Black/White, $2,198
PCH 125, 2015, Black/Red/White/Yellow, $1,899
PCH 150, 2015, Green/Red/White, $2,198
SYM
Citycom 300i, 2015, Gray, $4,898
Citycom 300i, 2015, Red, $4,699
Citycom 300i, 2015, White, $4,698
Fiddle II 150, 2015, Black/White, $2,595
Fiddle II, 2015, Black/Blue/White, $2,295
Fiddle II, 2015, Red, $2,298
HD200 driven across the USA!, 2010, Blue, CALL
HD200 EVO scooter, 2015, Gray/Orange/White/Yellow, $3,495
HD200, 2015, Gray/Red, $3,495
Symba, 2015, Blue, $2,349
T2 250i, 2015, Black, $3,799
T2 250i, 2015, White, $3,798
Wolf Classic 150, 2015, Black/Red/White $2,999
ZERO Motorcycles
S 12.5, 2015, Yellow, CALL
FX 5.7 Demo, 2015, Black, 320 miles, $9,998
DS 12.5 Demo, 2015, White, $12,995
SR 12.5 Demo, 2015, Red, 450 miles, $14,995
CRF100F, 2013, Red, $2,498
CRF250L, 2015, Red, CALL
CTX1300, 2015, Black, CALL
CTX700N, 2015, Silver, CALL
Forza, 2015, Red, CALL
GL1800 Goldwing Valkyrie, 2015, Red, CALL
GL1800B Goldwing F6B, 2015, Blue, CALL
Grom 125, 2015, Black, $3,199
Metropolitan, 2015, Not Specified, CALL
NC700X, 2015, Black, CALL
NM4 Honda Bat Bike, 2016, Black, $10,498
PCX150, 2015, Not Specified, CALL
Ruckus, 2015, Not Specified, CALL
Shadow Aero VT750, 2015, Red, CALL
Silver Wing ABS, 2015, Black, CALL
ST1300 ABS, 2015, Black, CALL
VT1300 Fury, 2015, Black, CALL
VT1300 Interstate, 2015, Black, CALL
VT1300 Sabre, 2015, Black, CALL
VT1300 Stateline, 2015, Blue, CALL
VT750 Shadow Phantom, 2015, Black, CALL
VT750 Shadow RS, 2013, Black, CALL
VT750 Shadow Spirit, 2015, Black, CALL
XR650L, 2015, Red, CALL
GL1800 Goldwing, 2015, Red, $0
CTX1300, 2014, Black, $14,498
CB1000R, 2014, Black, $10,998
VT750C2F, 2012, Orange, $7,298
CTX700, 2014, Burgundy, $6,998
VFR800, 2015, White, $12,498
CBR300R, 2015, Red, $4,898
Grom 125, 2015, Yellow, $3,199
Grom 125, 2015, White, $3,199
CBR500R, 2015, Gray, $5,698
CBR500R, 2014, Black, $4,999
CRF125, 2014, Red, $3,199
CRF110, 2015, Red, $2,099
CRF50, 2015, Red, $1,399
CB500F, 2015, Red, $5,698
CB500F ABS, 2015, Red, $6,198
PCX150, 2016, Silver, $3,499
Kawasaki
Concours 14 ABS, 2015, Green, CALL
KLR KL650E, 2015, Green, CALL
KLX250, 2015, Black, CALL
Ninja 1000 ABS, 2015, Green, CALL
Ninja 650 EX650, 2015, Green, $7,599
Ninja ZX-10R ABS - 30th Anniversary Edition, 2015, Green, CALL
Ninja ZX-10R ABS, 2015, Green, $14,299
Ninja ZX-6R 636 - 30th Anniversary Edition, 2015, Green, $12,999
Ninja ZX-6R 636, 2015, Black, $12,699
Versys 1000LT, 2015, Black, CALL
Versys 650 ABS, 2014, Green, $6,998
Versys 650 ABS, 2015, Green, CALL
Versys 650LT, 2015, Green, CALL
Vulcan 1700 Vaquero, 2015, Green, CALL
Vulcan 1700 Voyager, 2015, Black, CALL
Vulcan 900 Classic LT, 2015, Black, CALL
Vulcan 900 Classic, 2015, Black, CALL
Vulcan 900 Custom, 2015, Black, CALL
Vulcan S ABS, 2015, Green, $6,999
Z1000 ABS, 2015, Green, CALL
ZX-14R ABS 30th Anniversary Edition, 2015, Red, CALL
ZX-14R ABS, 2015, Green, $0
ZG1400 Concours, 2013, Black, $11,999
KX65, 2013, Green, $2,998
EN650 Vulcan S ABS, 2015, Black, $7,298
KLR KL650E, 2016, Gray, $6,899
Ninja 650 EX650, 2016, Red, $7,599
Ninja 300, 2015, Green, $4,999
Ninja 300, 2015, Black, $5,098
Ninja 300, 2014, Green, $4,798
KLX140L, 2015, Green, $3,298
Ninja 300, 2016, Red, $4,999
USED MOTORCYCLES:
Two Beemers and a CT
2006 K1200S - Mint, all optons
2000 1150GS - Mint, Ohlins
1977 CT90 - Good
Contact [email protected]
MOTO TIRE GUY
www.MotoTireGuy.com
Motorcycle Tire Services
San Francisco - Bay Area
(415) 601-2853
Order your tires online, Zero CA sales tax plus
Free UPS Ground, then have a Preferred Installer
in your local area do the installation and save! Please visit website for details.
MOTOR WORKS BMW PARTS
Take a European trip this year!
Visit www.motorworks.co.uk
• Huge range of new and used parts and accessories for all models from
1970 onwards
• UK’s largest independent, 25 years experience
• Competitive prices, fast shipping
• Expert and friendly advice available
• Trade customers welcome
Ed Meagor’s BSA
BSA 500 Single Empire Star
Cheap $10,000 Firm
Call Old Ed Meagor at 415.457.5423
That’s right! Ed sent his phone number, so if you’ve been wanting to give him
a call about his sweet BSA, now’s the time!
-CityBike Classifieds Editor
PARTS AND SERVICE
Quality Motorcycles
235 Shoreline Hwy.
Mill Valley CA
(415) 381-5059
We’re not afraid of your old bike.
RIDING SCHOOLS
ADVANCED CYCLE SERVICE
*Motorcycle Service and Repair*
• Tires • Service •Insurance estimates
Monthly bike storage available
Come check us out
1135 Old Bayshore Hwy
San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 299-0508
[email protected] — www.advcycles.com
DUCATI SUZUKI KAWASAKI YAMAHA
Bavarian Cycle Works
EXPERT Service & Repair
Bavarian Cycle Works specializes in new and vintage BMW, modern
TRIUMPH and select motorcycle models. Our staff includes a Master
Certified Technician and personnel each with over 25 years experience.
Nearly all scheduled motorcycle maintenance can be completed within a
one day turnaround time. All bikes kept securely indoors, day and night.
Come see us!
Devils Detail Motorcycle Detailing
Detailing vintage, classic, modern motorcycles
415 - 439 - 9275
www.thedevilsdetailing.com
[email protected]
established 2007
Greatness can be in your detail!
Sierra Dual Sport/Dirt Bike Rides,
Rentals and Training
Come and ride the Sierras! No dirt experience needed! Dual Sport and
dirt bike rentals. Guided or map your own course. Skill building classes
also available.
Easy access from Highway 50 south and west of Tahoe, this side of the
hill in Camino, CA.
Free secure storage of your car or bike onsite, or we can deliver bikes to
many all day riding areas (additional fee applies for delivery).
Well-maintained bikes and a rider-owned company makes us a great
adventure for the day, weekend or longer.
ASK ABOUT OUR SPECIAL $200 3-HOUR INTRO TO DUAL SPORT
RIDING TOUR/INSTRUCTION! ALSO SCHEDULING WOMEN’S DIRT
AND DUAL SPORT TRAINING CLASSES! **WE OFFER LOWERED DUAL
SPORT BIKES!
530-748-3505- www.sierradualsport.com
EVENT SERVICES
ANNOUNCING: “DUFFYDUZZ
Promotions”
If you’re planning a M/C event of any sort, whether an Open House, a
Special Sale Event, a Competition Event or even a Rally, a “pleasant but
not pushy” voice (and your choice of music) can make a huge difference
in the excitement and remembrance of your event. Have P.A. / Will Travel...
I have been “The Voice” of Ducati Island at Moto G.P. (‘98 - ‘06) the
Wilseyville Hare Scrambles (‘98 - ‘12) ...Most recently; La Ducati Day, La
Honda, MOTORAMA Car Show, Lafayette, sub’ Announcer at Continental
Sports Car Challenge Laguna Seca, Santa Rosa flattrack for Circle Bell
Motorsports... and more... References and resume available. Find me
on FaceBook: “Duffyduzz Promotions” for all contact info - or - call 510292-9391 - or - E/M: [email protected]
Michael’s Motorsports
BMW Motorcycle Service, Repair, Restoration
Air heads, Oil Heads, Hex heads, K Bikes, F Bikes
880 Piner Rd. Ste 46
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
(707) 575-4132
FREE HELP WANTED ADS
In our ongoing effort to support and promote local motorcycling
businesses that we rely on, all motorcycle industry help
wanted ads will be listed in the CityBike Classifieds Section
for free.
Contact us via email: rftc.citybike.com
Some dude name Brian, from San
Francisco, wrote about the Dron Buell
(“Dron With The Wind” – January 2016).
I was lucky enough to
see the machine
just weeks after
its completion. It
was a show stopper.
At that same time
I owned an S2
Buell. Both bikes
were a delight to
the eye and I even
remember the evercaustic Bill Boyd
limping towards it on
a Sunday Morning
ride and drawling,
“Damn that’s one fine
looking machine.”
And they continued to be, but for only a short
while…
My machine’s color was officially titled
Parkway Blue, but was much closer to a rich
purple and with creamy white Marchesini
rims—it was tits. My daughters, who were
used to passing by our test bikes in our North
Beach garage on their way to school told me
it was the most beautiful motorcycle they had
ever seen.
Had Buell embraced Dron’s vision—craft
them like jewels, give them extravagant paint
jobs and who cares if they’re slow as long
as they sound fast. Charge lots too, sell the
sizzle. You just bought a Rolex,
some reason, we all cracked up at that. So
here’s to you, Tootsie from Humboldt.
I hope the Geary St parking SNAFU is a oneoff issue.
Not only do I love reading the articles and
editorials, your publication is far and away
the best newsprint paper for starting the
kindling in my woodstove.
We do too, Ed, although as we noted last
month, we’ve run into this ourselves. But
we’d rather be riding anyway. Parking
garages that allow motorcycles are just The
Man’s way of keeping us down!
Kudos, your #1 fan in Humboldt County
We’re glad to hear it, Tootsie. It may
surprise some to hear that we do extensive
testing of any potential paper, to ensure
the highest levels of effectiveness at
utilitarian tasks like soaking up cat piss,
catching bird shit, and as you know from
experience, starting fires. Makes an ok
shop rag too, or so we hear.
Nor-Ton Up!
Glen Kohler sent us a note after happening
on to an old black and white negative of his
1974 Norton Commando Mk II. We said
sure, we like Nortons.
Here then is the ‘Unapproachable Norton
Commando’ (a decal applied to the stainless
steel rear fender). I bought it used with
3,500 miles for 900.00 in 1978. Note the
Parks, No Recreation
flat bars (in black chrome) with cushioned
Ed Schnaars wrote in about Mike’s letter
grips, Dunstall exhausts, vibration free
Photo: Jeff Ebner
about parking prejudice (“You Don’t
bar-end mirrors. Rear brake pedal is on the
Belong Here” – Tankslapper, January
left—the four speed shift lever on the right,
2016) in last month’s ‘Slapper.
now show it off. Elegant Buells sold in small
an arrangement that took getting used to
numbers like Bimotas might still be being
at first. It was good for 115 mph anytime,
manufactured and sold to the high end.
but the separate,
$900 and a time m
achine gets you th
unitary crankcase
is
sw
ee
t ride.
Dron’s lifelong contemporary and friend
and
transmission
Arlen Ness had that all figured out
meant
you were wise
decades back… He became so famous
to
respect
the primary
that when you asked somebody about
chain
adjustment
when
their fine machine and who did it, they
accelerating
in
first
would simply say “Arlen.”
gear. My Commando
And no Arlen Ness bikes were ever
let me change lines
cheap. Cheap and unique rarely meet.
in a turn without an
argument.
I put the idle
PS: The other other direction Erik
down
to
a
steady
and
Buell could chosen as sales lagged,
reliable
500
rpm.
would have set the entire industry on
fire. Buell should have purchased the
rights to the Britten. Can you imagine
showing up on The Ride with a Buell/
Britten!? The regulars would shit their kecks.
Now THAT was an engineering masterpiece.
Just a quick reply to this month’s letter
regarding bike parking discrimination; I
have been parking at the ABM /Ampoc run
parking garage at 75 Howard Street, SF
for over 12 years. (Along with a lot of other
bikes).
If you’re thinking, “This guy sounds
familiar… Brian who?” you’re on the right
track. Our Dron/Buell/Britten fan is none
other than CityBike’s founding father, Brian They could not be better to Bikers. (well
Halton. Thanks for writing, Brian—always maybe if they handed out a morning coffee)
good to hear from ya.
- They keep the bike parking areas clean.
Lighting Up In Humboldt
It wouldn’t be cool to include this person’s
email here, but it includes “tootsie” and for
- They tapes notes on car windows when the
encroach on the bike parking areas.
- They have never raised the rates.
Reliable, timely service at
reasonable rates on all
makes of motorcycles
You hear that, you
clueless hipsters paying
$4,000 for a seventies
CB with flat bars, AKA a “café racer?” You
coulda had a Norton freakin’ Commando,
the real deal, for $900.
38 years ago. Then you’d be authentic.
Yell at us (or just say hey) at editor@
citybike.com or talk to us on our Facebook
page at facebook.com/CityBikeMag. You
can also send us an old-timey paper letter,
which we think is pretty damn cool. Those
go to CityBike Magazine, PO Box 18738,
Oakland 94619.
Extra points for crazy / creative shit. What do
those points get you? Let us know if you find
out.
Send Us Your Stuff
Visit our new shop:
LLY
HO
IN
DU
ST
RY
NT
U
CO
415-970-9670
D
OL
From 3:14 Daily
Valencia @ 25th
990 Terminal Way, San Carlos
RI
AL
101
L
NA
MI
TER
AN
ITT
BR
[email protected]
PO Box 18783
Oakland, CA 94619
Motus founders Brian Case (left) and Lee Conn (right) sweep Mines Road with Sam Devine.
Dron Song
Photo: Max Klein
Tankslapper
BMW MOTORCYCLES OF SAN FRANCISCO
790 BRYANT STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107
WWW.BMWMOTORCYCLE.COM
415-503-9988
BMW MOTORCYCLES OF WALNUT CREEK
1255 PARKSIDE DRIVE
WALNUT CREEK, CA 94596
WWW.BMWMCWALNUTCREEK.COM
925-938-8373

February 2016

Transcription

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