THE RIDE

All Things Motorcycle

THE RIDE

All Things Motorcycle

Crossroads

The bike rumbled beneath me. As we so often do on motorcycles, I sat at an intersection. But if I chose to, I could sit at this one all day. No traffic lights, no cars, no civilization. A desert crossroads, presenting itself at the moment I needed it.

Ahead the heat shimmered along the stark bright desert floor. Some shrubs, no Joshua trees. It seemed the same in all directions. Maybe my eyes weren’t sharp enough to see the differences.

I’d ridden into the desert to ponder reinvention. If you are Gen X, a younger Boomer or even an older Millennial, it’s crucial to see the world for what it is—in flux…

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The Perfect Ride

I’m on the bike, sweeping and flowing through the curves, the engine beating a rhythm as I make the millions of subconscious decisions necessary to remain in that perfect, intuitive zen-like motorcycle experience. And yet—

The mind wanders.

We’ve all experienced it in so many facets of our lives, not just motorcycling. You’re in the moment, and then you’re not. You’ve exited what many refer to as flow, and what I think of as “motorcycle zen.”

READ MORE

Motorcycle Airbag Smackdown: Dainese Smart Jacket vs. Alpinestars Tech-Air 5

El Diablo Run, the biennial ride from Biltwell’s HQ in Temecula, California, to the beach town of San Felipe, Mexico, may seem an odd place to begin a cage match between the leading airbag devices on the market—Alpinestars’ Tech-Air 5 vs Dainese’s Smart Jacket—but given this was to be my first long(-ish) ride with Alpinestars’ Tech-Air 5 airbag “system” after riding with the Dainese Smart Jacket in all conditions for over a year, it struck me as perfect…

READ MORE

Crossroads

The bike rumbled beneath me. As we so often do on motorcycles, I sat at an intersection. But if I chose to, I could sit at this one all day. No traffic lights, no cars, no civilization. A desert crossroads, presenting itself at the moment I needed it.

Ahead the heat shimmered along the stark bright desert floor. Some shrubs, no Joshua trees. It seemed the same in all directions. Maybe my eyes weren’t sharp enough to see the differences.

I’d ridden into the desert to ponder reinvention. If you are Gen X, a younger Boomer or even an older Millennial, it’s crucial to see the world for what it is—in flux…

READ MORE

The Perfect Ride

I’m on the bike, sweeping and flowing through the curves, the engine beating a rhythm as I make the millions of subconscious decisions necessary to remain in that perfect, intuitive zen-like motorcycle experience. And yet—

The mind wanders.

We’ve all experienced it in so many facets of our lives, not just motorcycling. You’re in the moment, and then you’re not. You’ve exited what many refer to as flow, and what I think of as “motorcycle zen.”

READ MORE

Motorcycle Airbag Smackdown: Dainese Smart Jacket vs. Alpinestars Tech-Air 5

El Diablo Run, the biennial ride from Biltwell’s HQ in Temecula, California, to the beach town of San Felipe, Mexico, may seem an odd place to begin a cage match between the leading airbag devices on the market—Alpinestars’ Tech-Air 5 vs Dainese’s Smart Jacket—but given this was to be my first long(-ish) ride with Alpinestars’ Tech-Air 5 airbag “system” after riding with the Dainese Smart Jacket in all conditions for over a year, it struck me as perfect…

READ MORE