I was jazzed at the opportunity to test the new 2005 BMW R 1200 GS, but not particularly impressed by the choice of venue: Las Vegas. I don’t really gamble and have a hard time sitting still through a stage show, though that last Siegfried and Roy show may have been interesting. More importantly, I…
Author: N.J.
Motorcycle and automotive, travel and adventure writer, when I'm not being an alpha geek, coder, or technical project manager.
2003 ST4s ABS – Yes, It is supposed to sound like that Officer
The Italians, they’ve brought us Lamborghini, Ferrari, and well… Fiat. What they aren’t known for are their sensible four-door sedans, which when you get down to analogy is a bit what a sport-tourer is all about. A sport-tourer is sensible, comfortable, handles well enough, and goes quick enough to be fun… which brings us to…
OWD Roadshow: Ridge Crest to Las Vegas
130 mph is indicated on the speedo as the bikes shoot arrow-straight across Death Valley’s floor. The road may be linear in direction but the warning signs of dips are not to be disregarded. Over one rise the bars begin to wobble a bit indicating an oncoming tankslapper. The VFR, it seems, was never set…
OWD Roadshow: Buttonwillow to Ridge Crest
It’s 0 Celsius, we’re navigating though the occasional bout of slush and the bikes are now thoroughly coated with sand, gravel, salt and road spray. I haven’t had time to plug in the heated vest, I’ve been too busy working the bike and that’s warmed me up naturally. No, I’m not having flashbacks to a…
OWD Roadshow: San Francisco to Button Willow
It’s 7:20AM and we’re burning down the freeway with Evan Leung, OWD contributor and friend, in the lead. Our destination for the day is Buttonwillow, CA, but for the moment we’re more concerned with Mission Motorcycles in Daly City, just outside San Francisco. The shop is the starting point for the Top of the Hill…
OWD Roadshow: The City by R1200GS
Life moves pretty fast in “the City”, or so I’ve concluded. Charlie Rauseo is on the phone, aside from that little Paris-Dakar thing he attempted recently he’s been a contributor to OneWheelDrive.Net on a few occasions. The words “meet for coffee” vaguely sink through my hangover and the dodgy cell reception. So do “Just back…
OWD Roadshow: Streets of San Francisco
It’s an all-out sprint… actually it’s more than that. It’s an all-out chase, through traffic with lane splitting, in the dark, on fresh tires, at periodically baffling speeds, and the only thing it needs to be cinematic is a scene heading down a one-way street in the wrong direction and sirens. This is our introduction…
OWD Roadshow: Vancouver to Ukiah and then Some
It’s dark out on the fourth day of the trip and we’re still riding. It’s all part of a hastened “push” to reach Ukiah, California, but still night riding has its own charms. Everything changes at night; sight diminished you end up having to trust your bike more. In fencing we called it the…
The ’04 BMW R1200C Montauk – Cruising Exemplified
On a motorcycle we are titans, roaming a new and beautiful world, unsuspecting, innocent, and uncaring of the changes we will see, moving forward along interlaced roadways, and existing in the now of travel and motion. Nowhere has this been truer than riding the BMW Montauk; it is the bike that has given explanation to…
599 or 919, Judgement is Served… with a nice dessert wine.
In truth there can be no call between the two; it’s a mater of individual preference. I had an amazing amount of fun on the 599 – proper hooligan fun at times. The 599 demanded to be ridden hard all the time, turn that loud handle, rev that engine, grab those brakes, lean forward on…
All Abuzz Part II – The Honda 599/Hornet 600
I’m in the middle of a decreasing radius corner and I’m wondering if I’m about to get stung. No, there’s not a wayward bee in my helmet, but from the buzzing in my crotch there’s no doubt I’m on a 600; the Hornet 600, or Honda 599, depending on which part of the globe you’re…
All Abuzz Part I – The CB900F, 919, Hornet 900
Sibling bikes; comparing them is a lot like comparing white wine to red. They both may come from the same vineyard, they may even come in the same shape of bottle, but really that’s about as far as it goes. Right, fine, no point in doing it then – or is there? In the real…
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