#book

Well it’s not always about me. Or is it? One of the first things I remember seeing after I’d finally busted out to California, up there on the beautiful Presidio of Monterey, was my first Ducati. It was January 1981, and a pale baby blue, so it must’ve been one of the very first 500 SL Pantahs. Exotic place (for the Army, anyway), exotic bike. So exciting.

When I was a kid I had a neighbor who, every weekend, would roll his dirt bike out from the garage and kick it to life. It usually took two or three kicks before that two-stroke would fire up. Then he’d just let it sit there for a few minutes, blipping the throttle as two-strokers tend to do. Ring-ding-ding. Ring-ding-ding. Ring-ding-ding. Eventually he would lift it up off the milk crate, throw a leg over it, and roar down the block. My neighbors probably hated him for it, but I remember I would stop whatever I was doing and watch that bike go flying by. 

By Peter Jones

What makes pro riders pros, is their talent, their fearlessness, and perhaps more than anything else, their ability to feel. That skill applies to Freddie Spencer in more ways than one. A legend on two wheels, he had the magic touch, but he also had a feeling that led him to take a chance on Honda. And now he’s telling his story in his aptly named bio,  Feel.

Inspiring younger riders to get into motorcycling is perhaps the biggest buzz subject in the moto industry, as kids and young adults aren’t filling the two-wheel hole being dug by Boomers and Gen-Xers aging out of the activity we all adore. Pundits observe that children are less exposed to motorcycling than they were in generations past when motorbikes were emblematic for adventure and fun.

Saturday, May 14, 2016 will mark the eighth annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering at the Quail Lodge and Golf Club, and while we’d rather be riding than looking at motorcycles, we have to admit, “The Quail” is a really cool event. We recommend you make the journey to Carmel to attend, especially if you’ve never been before. With less than a month to go before the event, let’s take a look at what you can expect at The Quail.

Motorcycling has never enjoyed a surplus of international ambassadors, for a number of reasons. Cost probably tops the list for most people, but language barriers, shipping logistics, insurance, border issues and political/ethnic disputes also figure in. And, of course, time.