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From time to time I get the opportunity to chauffeur someone on the back of my bike, and sometimes that person will not have ridden before. One of the great pleasures of doing this is that it gives me the chance to experience riding for the first time all over again through the eyes of that...

I've long been a fan of the Pirelli Angel GT. I strongly prefer it to the Michelin PR, as well as any other ST tire I've tried. Yeah, I know lots of folks love the PR, but for my tastes it has always felt sluggish compared to the Angel GT. I love the quick turn-in of the Pirelli. This is a...

We just completed another BARF rally season with the 10th annual Rydther Rally, and it was wonderful. There are friendships you can make and build and confirm at rallies that are hard to achieve any other way. You can get to know and respect fellow BARFers better at rallies then in almost any...

I just returned from a long ride to visit my sister in northern BC. The whole trip took 17 days, 9 of them riding days, and covered ~4200 miles. There are a few observations worth sharing. We have it good here in California. Lots of folks would argue against that, but we have lots and lots...

Those of you who know me will also know that I rarely miss an opportunity to slag KTM. Whenever friends with KTM's have problems, I offer that their experiences make me feel prudent for owning Italian bikes. So it may be surprising to learn that I admire what they're doing. Mark Twain is...

Way back in February at Motoproponent's Sausage Fest a plan was hatched that was just completed last week. Dr_SLO mentioned that he had to be in the UK for a conference in late June, and he asked me if I had any thoughts about riding over there. Oh boy, did I! I told him we should hit the...

I was just looking at Climber's Bay Area CHP Motorcycle Incident page. It was chaos out there today, including two listed fatalities, one of which I came upon during the aftermath. There's no prize money on the line out there, not even any trophies. The goal of any ride needs to be to ride...

I ran across some interesting stuff on YouTube this week. You may have seen the video of James Hillier busting the sump of his bike at Lower Barregarrow, followed shortly by Michael Rutter having a big moment on the resulting oil spill. I just saw this compilation of the onboard footage of...

Saw a downed rider on WB 92 this morning. It looked like it had been a lanesplitting incident. I have no idea what happened, though Climber's link indicates the rider's injuries were minor, so that's good. The rider may have done everything perfectly, and still gotten hit, but there are...

It's a good article for the general public, even if some of the details aren't quite right. Plus, it's about my favorite racer!

Dan Kneen was an IOM local, and he always struck me as a class act. Scored his first podium last year. Riding for Tyco BMW this year, and recently turned a 132 mph lap in practice. He passed today in a practice crash. :rip Dan. Long may you run. gr4AFBYEmz0 Just a few days older than my...

Published this year based on public voting. There is only one choice I really disagree with, but I'll leave it to you. It's a fun list. h3n-zdtdmh8

Italian exotic with Japanese reliability? Yep! Smooth and comfy with a rorty motor, and "look at me!" styling. What is it? You could consider it as Aprilia's answer to the Multistrada. Upright riding position, tall suspension, 17" wheels. Sharp handling, great ride. What's it got...

With my two longstanding favorite TT riders out this year (McPint and Anstey), I will be rooting for others this year. How about you? As talented as Michael Dunlop is, he's just too much of a dick about things to be enthused about him. So what's the option? I'm going with the 4 H's: Let's...

Okay BARF hive mind, let's see what you've got. Let's say you wanted to live 3-4 hours from the Bay Area in the Sierra foothills. Above 1000 feet of elevation, but below the snow line (3000 feet?). Further, let's say one is looking for property (lot or small home) at prices well below BA...

Yeah, blinding glimpse of the obvious - I has one. The PitHo Rally was the reminder, and here's the glimpse: there is nowhere I feel as comfortable and at home as I do on a motorcycle, and icing on the cake is if it's on a road I'm riding for the first time. That road last weekend was the road...

Roadracing great, Bruce Anstey looks unlikely to race this year. Apparently, he has multiple tumors plus a blood clot in his lungs. Bruce is one of my favorite racers ever, and one of the true greats of the TT. Check out a couple of minutes of one of his record breaking laps to see what I...

Pushed to Sunday!!!! There will be three, and this is the third one, the Marin edition. The last one before the BARF Spring Rally to give you time to get tuned up to be ready for the rally. What's a n00bie ride? It's a ride at a pace, and a level of technical challenge that a rider with...

Putting this in General rather than Group Rides because the details aren't set except in broad strokes. Stefan and I are taking in the Southern 100 in July. If you don't know, the Southern is another "real roads" race on the Isle of Man, but on a shorter course at the southern end of the Island...

There will be three, and this is the second one, the Berryessa edition. There will also be one up in Marin, and another down south. All three will be complete before the BARF Spring Rally to give you time to get tuned up to be ready for the rally. What's a n00bie ride? It's a ride at a...