Missing the Moto Show

If you know me or have read this blog for a while, you probably know that I go to Chicago for a motorcycle show nearly every February. This is a great way to break up the winter and get a little motorcycle fun, even if it isn't riding. This year I didn't go, which is a bummer. A work deadline came up and I just couldn't break away that weekend. Chicago actually ended up getting a foot of snow that day, so it may have been a good thing that I didn't even attempt the trip.

So, since I can't share anything from this year's show, I'll share some of my photos from years past. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trading Motorcycles

Sometimes, especially if you have a motorcycle that’s considered cool by a large number of people, someone will offer to trade bikes with you for a bit. Should you agree? That depends. Here’s some things that you should consider before agreeing to trade.

 

1. Do you know this person?

 

2. If you don’t know them, have they demonstrated somehow that they’re an experienced rider?

 

3. What is the motorcycle that you’re getting in the trade?

 

4. How long will the trade last and how far does this person plan to go?

 

If you know the person, this tends to be an easy decision. If one of my riding buddies asks to trade bikes for a bit, I’ll tend to agree. I’ll already know the answers to the other questions. I will say no if I know that my bike is a little too powerful for them or if they have a bike that’s worth a fortune (I’d hate to be responsible for wrecking a bike that’s worth more than my house).

 

If you've just met this person, at least have a conversation with them. Unless you’re dealing with a sociopath, you can tell fairly quick if a person is experienced with motorcycles. This is also where you’ll get the answer to question 3. If your motorcycles are the same type (say you both have sport bikes or cruisers) chances are that a trade will be pretty safe.

 

The last question is no brainer. If a guy asks to trade bikes for a week, you might want to ask where he’s going. If he says he plans on riding across the country and back while you’re staying home, I’d definitely advise to say no to the trade. At the end of the day, a lot of this depends on how you feel about letting others use your stuff. I tend to lean towards being happy to share, while my wife tends to be a little leery of letting others use something that belongs to her. This ends up working well for us, as we will reel each other in when we’re erring to far one way or the other. If you’re on the fence, ask yourself the four questions above and you should get the right answer.

 

“When Donald Duck traded his wings for arms, was he trading up or trading down?” - Douglas Coupland

Motovloggers in Winter

 

A great way that I found to alleviate some of my winter blues is watching motovlog channels on YouTube. A motovlog is a vlog that is done while riding a motorcycle. A vlog is a video blog. Motovloggers attach a GoPro (or similar action camera) and a microphone to their helmet and share their thoughts, experiences, or stories while riding. I’ve even watched one motovlogger discuss local history while riding.

 

While a lot of the discussion on these videos can be quite engaging, I like to focus on the riding. This is especially true nowadays since I haven’t been on a motorcycle since November. It’s sort of like virtual reality, being able to experience the ride through the motovlogger’s eyes. For me this is an outstanding stress reliever.

 

I have to admit that quite a few of these channels tend to be geared toward a younger crowd. Some of the guys will ride up to girls and talk to them which leads to tons of likes and comments from introverted teenage boys (not hating....I used to be one too). The comments are basically something like this, “This is EPIC!!!!!” This kinda stuff gets pretty old to those of us in our thirties pretty quickly. However, if you ignore stuff like that and just watch the riding footage, these videos are awesome!

 

“The problem with winter sports is that - follow me closely here - they generally take place in winter.” - Dave Barry

Motorcycle Wisdom

Today I had a discussion with a colleague about using brand new software vs. older versions. Another guy, who recently graduated from university, saved a file using the latest version of a software. When I or my colleague tried opening the file, we received an error. It took a few tries for us to realize that we needed to use the latest version of the software to open this file. We had a bit of a laugh and realized that both of us default to using the oldest version that we have. This habit is created from experience. A lot of the time, clients or other companies do not have latest versions of software and are unable to open files if you do not create them with the same version or a previous one. After experiencing issues enough times, you figure out ways to avoid them.

 

I walked away from my colleague and began to think about how this related to motorcycling. With experience, a rider will learn little tricks that make riding a little easier. These can include roads to avoid, how to ride in different types of weather, ways to avoid fatigue on long rides, and much more. You can improve your riding abilities with these tricks without necessarily improving your riding skill.

 

A great way to get this wisdom a little early is to ask an experienced rider. Ask them which roads are bad, or which gas stations have terrible fuel. Use their knowledge to make your riding experience better. My dad used to try to educate me on some of these when I was younger, but like most youngsters I didn’t heed much of his advice. Be smarter than me, listen to your elders! Well...listen about riding tricks at least.

 

“Young men have a passion for regarding their elders as senile.” - Henry Adams

Scrambler Talk

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is interested in buying a motorcycle before riding season starts. He’s really into scramblers, which I think are awesome as well. We texted each other Craigslist ads of scramblers and photos of scramblers that I have taken over the years. After our exchange, a question crossed my mind. Scramblers look really cool, but are they nearly useless?

 

If you don’t know what a scrambler is, I’ll try to briefly describe one. If you take a street motorcycle and put some knobby tires on it along with stripping excess weight from it (bobbing the fenders, removing unnecessary electrical components, mirrors, etc) you’d essentially have a scrambler. You see, in the past there was no such thing as dirt bikes, so people would change their motorcycles into scramblers to ride off-road. Then, factories picked up on the trend and created their own scramblers. That went away for a while, but in recent years scramblers have become incredibly popular again. You can buy one straight from a dealership or buy a kit to convert your bike.

 

Now, back to my question. Nowadays, there are a huge variety of off road motorcycles to buy. Motocross bikes, enduros, dual sports, and adventure tourers will outperform a scrambler in the dirt without question. So, what would be the point of owning a scrambler? Well...they look cool!

 

I wouldn’t recommend a scrambler for someone’s only bike if they planned on doing some serious riding, but if you’re going to ride once a week or so, or need a daily commute motorcycle, go for it! I do have to say that buying a brand new one might be a little excessive cost wise, but if you have the money to spend and will enjoy riding, then more power to you!

 

“Back in the day, there were no "dirt bikes"; you had to build your own out of a regular road bike, and that's how the scrambler genre was born.” - Aaron Cortez

Proper Gear for the Temperature

This article is a pretty good one. It details an experienced rider’s insight into things he wishes he would’ve known when he started riding. I’m only going to discuss the first on on the list, “Dress Warmer (Or Colder) Than You Think You Need To.”

This is something that I’m ashamed to say that I still haven’t quite gotten right. I do have cold weather riding dialed in, however. I dress as if it’s winter if the temperature is below 50 degrees Fahrenheit and that serves me well. I never complain about being too warm in these situations. From 50 to 80 degrees, I also am fairly good about wearing proper apparel. Usually this entails my riding jacket with no liner.

The temperatures that I tend to be ill prepared for are those above 80 degrees. Usually, if I wear my typical riding gear, I’m too warm. This is especially true if I'm riding in traffic. If I strip down to just a shirt, I tend to be too cool (not to mention unprotected). I do have a couple of thin motocross chest protectors that I’ll wear in the summer that’ll save me from taking bugs and rocks in the chest, but this also tends to overheat me when the temperature is above 88ish. Also, my arms will still be unprotected.

I guess my advice to all of you (and myself) is to wear as much protective gear as you can bare in the summer months. Asphalt hurts just as much when it’s hot as it does when it’s cold.

“It's so damn hot... milk was a bad choice.” - Ron Burgundy in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Beginning of the End for Printed Motorcycle Magazines

I’m on an airplane right now, bored out of my mind. I might as well blog, right? The problem is that I don’t have a topic...Well motorcycles is the topic, but I’m not exactly sure what to write about. I did read that Cycle World magazine is moving to a quarterly printed version instead of monthly. In my opinion, Cycle World is the pinnacle of motorcycle magazines, so this move must really be pointing to a huge shift toward online content.

 

I’m not sure how I feel about that. I know that sounds funny from a guy who creates online content about motorcycles, but I grew up reading and subscribing to Cycle World. This was my source for a perspective on all types of motorcycles. Also, most reviews at least seemed to be objective and unbiased. I really didn’t see that from others. Either they’d be specialized or tend to be biased for or against certain brands.

 

I also read that the quarterly issues will be more of a coffee table book format, which could definitely be a positive change. Online content will still be available as well, so the brand isn’t going anywhere yet. More than anything I’m awaiting what the outcome of this change will be because I’d be willing to bet that the rest of the motorcycle journalism world will be affected whether it’s good or bad.

 

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss