Musings from one who writes, and rides…
Originally published in On the Level, the magazine of the BMW Riders Association. They say if you find a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. I’ve had a bunch of jobs that I liked well enough, but I only loved them if I rode a motorcycle to get there. I spent…
Over the years I’ve done hundreds of oil changes, valve adjustments, brake bleeds, and tire swaps. I’ve hunted down and exterminated electrical gremlins, changed fork seals, built and trued spoke wheels, replaced bearings, flushed radiators, and even done nut-and-bolt restorations of vintage bikes. Sadly, along the way I’ve also rounded off a hardware store worth of bolt heads, dropped the errant washer down a spark plug hole, and smashed enough knuckles that my wife doesn’t even comment on the bloodbath anymore. This long and messy apprenticeship has elevated my stature from “incompetent” to merely “hamfisted.”
Originally published in On the Level, the magazine of the BMW Riders Association. “I can’t believe we’re actually doing it!” The refrain rings out through the intercom as my wife, Meredith, and I get underway, echoing the famous words of Charley and Ewan as they begin their 18,000-mile odyssey in “Long Way Round”. The difference,…
Originally published in RoadRUNNER magazine. Imagine you’re ready to upgrade your motorcycle to make it go faster or farther. Thoughts immediately go to aftermarket parts, or maybe just replacing it with the latest wunderbike. Now imagine simply picking up your phone, opening your motorcycle-specific app, and giving it a couple of swipes. You pay a…
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…