So I had to take a long trip yesterday on business that didn’t involve my bike and despite the weather, I still saw a fair amount of guys out riding. Bundled up, facemasks, you know the look. And then I started seeing some special riders. Guy on a Goldwing in a head-to-boot orange jumpsuit. Just […]
Well, even here in the south we’re in a deep freeze. Yesterday, the high never got above 38 degrees and I’ll tell you, driving the old diesel was a relief. It may not be anything like what some of you guys are used to north of the border, but we truly don’t have the gear […]
This Spring I wrote about the wildfires that were ravaging northern Alberta and while my friends up North were dealing with all of that tragedy, I remember thinking how rare wildfires are here in the southern United States. Oh, we get the occasional brush fire that takes out a few acres, maybe a structure fire […]
Last week, like the good boy I am, I got the whole family cleaned up and went to visit my parents for the Thanksgiving holiday (Yeah, we have it a little later than our Canadian friends). We ate too much, we laughed, and when the feast was finally done and the second piece of pie […]
Now, we’ve certainly discussed winterizing your ride time and again, but as that magical time of year draws near (and already has for some of you) I wanted to add in a little final thought about the whole thing. Now that we’re about to be suffocated with Christmas Carols and holiday cheer, make a different […]
Well, well, well. Here we are at the end of the motorcycle drag racing year and as usual, Harley was in the hunt. Specifically, Andrew Hines and Ed Krawiec were in the hunt with the bikes that Mother Davidson has helped them to ride to victory again this year. Personally, I’m convinced that you could […]
By now, almost everybody knows that I live way down south in the United States where “cold” is very relative and I have the luxury of riding year ‘round. On the other hand, just about ALL of you guys live north of me and for most of you, that means that you have winterized your […]
Well, as much as I hate to discuss politics, I would like to say a few words about the election here in America. I know a lot of our regular readers are Canadian, but news of Donald Trump’s win in his bid for the U.S. presidency is potentially world shaping, so here goes… What does […]
So last weekend I had a chance to help a buddy of mine resurrect a seemingly ancient Kawasaki that had been sitting in a shed for 22 years. It had not been “put away” for long term storage, it had been parked, literally. Gas tank was about 3/8 full of nastiness, oil in the crankcase […]
Well, it was bound to happen and I guess it did. After three decades in and around motors and motorcycles and nearly four around firearms, I’ve officially lost some hearing. How’d it happen? Honestly, I’m not sure. When it came to firearms training, I was always the guy wearing hearing protection on the range. Nevertheless, […]
Alright, far from just picking on the corporate talking heads at Harley-Davidson, I figured I’d pick on a few of the other big companies that build big cruisers overseas. I’m not talking about small shops that are just really just one-offs of Harley and their overall production and market saturation is really dependent on Harley […]
Now, I’ve been called a lot of things over the years, most of them unpleasant. More than a few times, depending on what exactly it was that I said, people have told me that I’m biased, ignorant, and some more colorful things that you can’t repeat in polite company. A few folks have, from time […]
Now that life is getting back to something approaching normal here, let me tell you about my latest escapade chasing electrical gremlins – and how they could sneak up on you, too. Most of you guys may remember that I’ve got a 1994 Sportster that has been running an upgraded wiring harness from a DOA […]
Just a newsflash… I know that the lion’s share of our readership is north of the border, and with that, I want to wish you guys a belated Thanksgiving. While my Canadian friends were giving thanks for the blessings they have, I had a Thanksgiving of my own here in the last week. You see, […]
Now that Fall is here and we begin our own little migration to the switchbacked mountain roads to look at leaves but really, we just want to corner aggressively and have a fun day, we need to talk about something. Plenty of newer riders have no idea how to corner aggressively in a big V-twin. […]
Well, for the first time this riding season, the threat of snow is tickling the higher elevations in parts of Wyoming and Nevada and it was noticeably less hot (as opposed to “cooler”) here in South Georgia this morning. Guess what? While you’re reading this, somebody is thinking about putting up their bike for the […]
Alright guys, I’ve got a little idea for some of you. As we start to look at putting our bikes up for the winter, a lot of us start thinking about go-fast goodies and bolt-ons to increase performance and add a little custom flair. Some of us will be thinking about this from a pure […]
Well, here we are again. Autumn is almost officially here, or will be probably the day you read this, and while we’ve had some great weather to ride down in the Deep South, my local road department has taken it upon themselves to re-pave the road that runs in front of the house. Now, bear […]
In the last two weeks, I’ve had a couple of chances to buy some old bike parts and in all three of the situations, what would have been a great engine was ruined by doing the wrong thing. Simply put, the owners didn’t think about how to store an engine for long-term survivability and in […]
Hard to believe that 15 years ago our lives here in the Western world were changed forever by a few extremists and a misguided view of our freedoms. September 11, 2001, everything changed. Like Kennedy’s assassination a generation before, we will all remember where we were on that day. In the end, for a lot […]
A couple of posts ago, I wrote about the new Harley Milwaukee Eight engine and how it was a “clean sheet” engine that Mother Davidson was going to be rolling out in their big bikes in 2017. It’s not without a little irony that on the heels of that announcement, Harley casually dropped the news […]
Well, as I’m writing this, the remains of Hurricane Hermine are rolling across South Georgia and my game plan for a speedy escape this evening and a couple days on the bike are somewhat stymied. Not to worry, though, I’ll be on it by Labor Day at the latest – it just depends on if […]
Earlier this week we talked about the new engines that Harley-Davidson will be dropping into their touring bikes and a few CVO chassis’, and with the unrest in Milwaukee over the police, another, quieter story came slipping out. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, one of those pesky watchdog groups that seem to stir up […]
Sorry for the bad pun from 1970’s advertising, but just last week, Harley Davidson finally owned up to the worst-kept secret in company history. They’ve got a new engine. Not to worry, it’s still a V-Twin, but the new “Big Eight” or “Milwaukee Eight” has taken a step in a different direction from the past […]
It was bound to happen, and it did. Riding down some forgotten two lane blacktop in south Nebraska, I came up on a fellow Harley rider broke down. Barfly was his name, and like me, he’d been riding for the better part of his life. He’d gone a lot of different ways than me – […]
Well, Sturgis is in the books for another year. I had a helluva good time, met some old friends that I hadn’t seen in years, made some new ones that I probably won’t see for a few more, and now am taking the scenic route back from South Dakota to Georgia. What do I think […]
Alright, I’ve been in town for two days and it is insane. One thing is for sure, rallies like this will make you fat! I swear, every time I turn around, somebody has a breakfast, a concession stand, or an excuse to get something to snack on. Maybe that’s why there are so many fat […]
You know, I’ve been keeping a little diary of this road trip from South Georgia to South Dakota and trying to share a little bit of the journey and, with the exception of the heat and the traffic in Atlanta, Georgia and a suicidal bluejay in Missouri, it’s been a fun ride. Sure, I’m a […]
