Musings from one who writes, and rides…
Originally published in On the Level, the magazine of the BMW Riders Association. What has been learned in 50 years of motorcycling? Unless you have experienced it, there is no way to know that a sunset is infinitely better from the seat of a motorcycle; or that the fine edge of traction exists in the…
The other evening, I was surveying the wreckage that is otherwise known as my garage, and realized that those fun-loving folks in Munich have siphoned off a good portion of my lifetime earnings. Across the decades I have owned an airhead, an oilhead, a hexhead, and a waterhead. Plus an assortment of BMW automobiles. If…
Originally published in “On the Level,” the official magazine of the BMW Riders Association. My friend James has owned a succession of “perfect” motorcycles—a couple dozen, at last count. You’ve never seen such a parade of perfection. With each new acquisition, he’ll call and say something like: “You can’t believe this bike I just bought: the suspension,…
Originally published in “On the Level,” the official magazine of the BMW Riders Association. The common perception is that when it’s time to die, motorcyclists go in great, dramatic bursts of fire and smoldering metal. In my experience, the truth is far more mundane, and involves CT scans, insidious cell reproduction, and shelves of prescription drugs.…
Originally published in “On the Level,” the official magazine of the BMW Riders Association. This afternoon, I went to the gym, just six miles away. Naturally, this was via Alice’s Restaurant, a two-hour ride each direction on relentlessly twisty roads with broken pavement. And yesterday, I had a special mission: the post office. This took the…
I Used to be So Hip I Was Practically on Fire. Now I Look Like I’m Going to a Fire. I’ve seen you on the corners and cafes, it seems.Red hair and black leather, my favorite color scheme. -Richard Thompson, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning Originally published in “On the Level,” the official magazine of the…
This Could be the Most Fun-per-Dollar Motorcycle I’ve Ever Owned This article was originally published in the November/December issue of “On the Level,” the magazine of the BMW Riders Association. Not long ago, having decided that my motorcycling life is entirely too sanitary, I bought a Honda CRF250L dirt bike on Craigslist, for $2,000. A…
Originally published in the October 2018 issue of Rider Magazine. I’m accustomed to giving the classic “V” sign to other motorcyclists on the road, and getting similar props in return. In California at least, it’s a thing. But as we ride around Tasmania, I’m crushed to discover I’m getting no such love. Initially I attributed…
Originally published in RoadRUNNER magazine. Halfway between the Northern California coastal towns of Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay, at the nexus of some of the best motorcycle roads on the planet, lies the somnolent town of Pescadero. It just might be the coolest coastal burg that no one has heard of. So please, don’t go…
Originally published in Rider Magazine. Recently I visited one of my favorite cafes, a short ride up the Pacific Coast from my Santa Cruz, California, home. Called Downtown Local, the place is a syrupy mix of old motorcycles, vintage gas tanks stacked on shelves like cordwood, and decades worth of vinyl, which sound a little…