Every few years, I head high up into the Rocky Mountains, ostensibly to go hunting for a few days with some old friends, but also, to visit with distant family from my enlisted days. Usually, these treks involve a protracted series of flights to Denver, Colorado or Cody, Wyoming, then a few hours one way […]
For years now, we’ve watched as Harley-Davidson has wrestled with the average age of its riders. The most recent statistics say the same things they’ve said all along: The average age of Harley’s customers is getting older – over 50 now, to be exact. And that’s a problem. A big one, in fact. Harley […]
It’s interesting that news coverage – which so many times focuses on blood, gore, and shock tactics – has given so little coverage to the fact that over 460,000 bikers descended on Sturgis for the 80th Annual Rally. In all that, only a handful of COVID-19 cases have been confirmed. The real irony is that […]
We see you. Yeah, you. The guy with the old helmet, figuring to get one more season out of it. Look, motorcycle helmets have a shelf life, and when they get too old, they need to go away. Not be sold, be destroyed. Retired to the shelf above the bar, nailed to the ceiling of […]
Now, this is not a waxxer post. And it’s not really for bar hoppers, either. Not in the least. We like all bikes, but the ones that can chew up hundreds of miles in a weekend are, in our eyes, the real winners. Sure, there are some beautiful bar hoppers being built, but more than […]
Last week, we sort of opened a can of worms when we began a (really brief) discussion on helmets, universal helmet laws, and why the United States CDC would worry about motorcycle riders and whether or not they choose to wear a helmet. There are a LOT of opinions about helmets, and nearly as many […]
If there’s one thing I’ve come to realize, it’s the older I get, the less I want to be governed, no matter which side of the aisle is telling me how they’ll do it for my own good. Stay out of my bedroom, my refrigerator, my garage, and my gun case, and there’s a better-than-average […]
Let me go ahead and warn you: I’m not going to talk about COVID-19. Or civil unrest in our cities and towns. Or the silliness of Americans thinking about “defunding” police departments. If you want any of that, turn on the news or check out social media – the “experts” will tell you exactly what […]
Let’s be honest – there’s a lot of folks who are what my grandfather used to call “butt-hurt” out there. Some of them have good reasons to be, some have an ax to grind, and still others just seem to want to be ornery and choose the exact opposite of whatever you like. Everybody’s got […]
For months now, we’ve been consumed by bad news, strange news, weird times, and a media that keeps shoving terms like “the new normal” down our throats. Let me give you some good news for a change… besides the fact it’s riding season. The Bikers’ Den is promoting some new boots. For you. …And the […]
The simple truth is this: all over the world, folks are hurting. Some countries aren’t telling anyone how bad it sucks (like China, for example) and others, it seems like there’s a morbid curiosity to see how many victims they can claim. No matter what, as we all collectively try to get back to work, […]
In the last eight weeks, we’ve gotten a shot of realism, that’s for sure. We’ve seen how folks can’t figure out what to do, so they panic (and that goes for our politicians, too) and do nothing – or do stupid crap that puts lives in danger. I don’t know where you lie on the […]
One of the biggest complaints I have when I’m on a bike is eye protection. Undoubtedly, the safest you can get is a full face mask, but we both know that looks way out of place for a Harley rider. On the other end of the spectrum are those guys wearing the little bitty “John […]
I’ll be the first one to get in line for all this crap to end. Seriously. Despite that, and despite an old lady who has seriously curtailed a lot of the fun stuff we’d normally be doing this time of year, I guess the good news is the weather’s been pretty good in this part […]
Alright! It’s drying out down here and, according to my friends up North, a lot of ya’ll are chomping at the bit to get on the road. Let’s get riding season off to a good start… First of all, long before you try to turn that engine over, take a look at the battery. If […]
For one of the first times in my adult life, I think I can finally “get” what you guys up North go through. See, it’s like this: down here in the South, we get a few cold days, we complain, then it’s 70 degrees in the middle of December. We’re never really that far from […]
“You See, What Had Happened Was”… Man, I got that line so many times as a young cop on weekend nights in bad parts of town. One guy would give us one version of the truth, his old lady, another, and the other perp would tell the story completely differently. We won’t even get into […]
Ah, winter. When motorcycle owners wander around poorly heated garages and dream of warmer weather. It’s also when a helluva lot of mistakes get made in “tune ups” and “performance upgrades” that simply won’t work. The biggest challenge, of course, is the temperature. For example, if you push timing too far out, you’re going to […]
