YAOGBB

Just like the real motorcycle blogs YAOGB test drove the brand new Indian Chieftain  as resurrected ( for the umpteenth time ) now it is Polaris' turn.   Based on my ride, this attempt may have a future. A tweet from Cycle Works, the Edmonton Alberta Indian dealer announced that the demo fleet would be here on September 20th and 21.  I dropped by about 1:30 on Friday,  there was hardly anyone there, no problems signing up, the ride, we left 10 minutes later, just me one other demo rider, the lead rider and the chase. Before we left I looked all the bikes over.   Polaris certainly got the looks right.  Just as an unblinged Heritage Soft Tail has captured the looks of the hard tail Pan Heads of the 1950's, and Road King that of the  Electra Glides of the 1960's, Polaris has matched the look of the last Springfield Chiefs. If Hank Williams came back from where ever he might be, he would recognize it immediately never realizing that the la...

When I was 15 or so I fell in love with the Honda S90, I wanted one.  It was affordable, unintimidating, had a top speed that matched the then maximum speed limit, or so they said.  For my 15 year old self it represented freedom.  In my daydreams I rode that S90 everywhere with my imaginary GF on the pillion.  Life got in the way, I never did get that S90, my motorcycle career had to wait until I was 18, but the hook was set. Motorcycles had no interest for me BISH (Before I Saw the Honda).  My Dad, who I listened to up till I was 15, had frequently pointed out that motorcycles were large, dangerous, noisy and ridden by thugs and criminals.  I knew this was true, because all the bikers I saw were greasy, tattooed, scary individuals.  The papers were filled with the antics of the BDRs (Black Diamond Riders), and their infamous president, Johnny Sombrero. Honda's genius was to suggest to people...

(thanks wingnuts ) I recently read a great story on the internet by this retired guy who was riding in Mexico with a group of riders , who narrowly avoided 'un robo' when gun toting bandits  ambushed them all when they left town.    I was never got robbed during my six months on the road aside from having a few things taken from my room when I stupidly left it unlocked.   Horror stories make interesting tales to tell after you are safe at home, whereas my story was more boring, but boring is probably better when you are actually on the road for six months. I might just have been luckier, but I intentionally took precautions to keep me out of this kind of trouble. I mostly avoided tourist destinations or districts. I took Spanish lessons, and carried dictionaries and some MP3 recorded common phrases that would be useful to me. I chose a motorcycle and gear that I thought was going to be similar to what the local motorcyclists would have. And I travell...

Collecting stuff is a disease for which there is no cure.  Motorcycles are a favorite collectible,  they don't take a lot of room compared to say, military tanks or airplanes , but they do need more space than stamps or buttons .  Whatever, if you have a garage, you have room for a few bikes. If you are going to be serious about collecting, you need a theme.  You can't just randomly collect stuff you come across, you need to apply discipline lest you be confused for a hoarder.  I have pretty much always had a bike collection.  I used to collect British bikes when they were practically giving them away in the late 1970's.   For quite a while I concentrated on 1985 Yamahas, great bikes that had bottomed out resale-wise when I got them.    My first bike I think I paid 50 bucks for.  It had been stripped of most of its parts, but it still ran, but not for long. See the  theme here - they were all cheap cheap cheap. That first b...

What? ~90 unpaved kilometers of mostly unmolested North Saskatchewan River valley. Why? Finding gravel roads near Edmonton is not a problem, but finding interesting gravel roads is nearly as difficult as finding hen’s teeth.  Your typical road here is arrow straight  flat enough to put the horizon  about as distant as tomorrow.  This is OK for a while, but for those who crave variety, it does get tiresome.   One happy exception that does not require many hours droning down  overly crowded highways filled with morons just to get to an interesting road is Victoria Trail.   At this point Edmontonians might be saying What!?....  No, no, not the Victoria Trail lined with strip malls and newly planted suburban neighborhoods between the Yellowhead and 153 Avenue, but the original Victoria Trail between Edmonton and Victoria Settlement, 100 kilometers downriver on the mighty North Saskatchewan . Before railways  and highways p...

Alberta's Forestry Trunk Road (FTR) is the mini golf version of the Bolivian death road, the drops are just meters, not thousands of meters, no macho speeding bus drivers on the FTR,  but watch for the macho speeding pickup truck drivers. The Forestry Trunk Road is nearly as challenging as its (very) distant Bolivian cousin, but the penalty for errors is much lower.  Best of all, a ride on the FTR is only an hour or two from Alberta's major urban centers, not the 15,000 or so kilometers to Bolivia.  Alberta adventurers can ride the FTR and sleep in their own bed.  Or not, from end to end the FTR is over 1,000 kilometers of mostly gravel from Coleman to Grande Prairie, with plenty of campgrounds and nearby motels.   Much of the Forestry Trunk Road is unpaved, some bits are 'unimproved' meaning little if any road maintenance, especially in Winter.  Paved are the 60 km Kananaskis Highway, between Peter Lougheed  Park to Highway 1 (The Trans Canada ...

The dead do come back to life.  Zombies,  vampires  ghosts and Frankenstein monsters are mythical but the dead really do come back to life in the motorcycle industry. The best example of the motorcycle that refused to stay dead is Indian.   Numerous parties have  to revived Indian from the day the final clod of dirt landed on the company casket.  The Indian sold today is a moto  Frankenstein monster, cobbled together with bits of this and that, including a fake Harley Davidson motor made by S&S.  When the real Indian motocycle (not a typo) went under in 1953, its famous name was  bought, sold, stolen, fought over,  by scammers and a few mad financiers who believed they could breathe life into the dead brand.  This past year, Polaris, the maker of the so far semi successful Victory brand of motorcycles have taken over the Indian name, which might be its best chance yet. Norton stopped large scale motorcycle production...