Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2025 i Motorcycle Mojo Magazine

TRIP PLANNING Every year, I take several long-distance trips so I was most interested in reading Jeff Davison’s article on the planning process (Nov/Dec 2024). Allow me to add a few observations. I love maps, only using GPS as I approach a town where I have a reservation; I avoid throughways; and have no idea where the next gas station or the next restaurant is. Essentially, I do it the old-fzx0ashioned way, which brings on its own anxieties, which are all part of the overall exploring experience. Every trip has specific routes and sights to see and ride; I just have to connect the dots. There are a few significant changes that have occurred, which have had a huge impact on my itineraries. The independent “local” inns and motels as…

If you wanted to buy a big-bore BMW GS Adventure in 2024, you had to settle for the R1250GSA. I say “settle” because it was based on the previous-generation platform, and not on the completely redesigned and improved R1300GS. The GSA model is the dressed-up GS: it’s better equipped for longer excursions on and off the road with a bigger fuel tank, larger windshield, crash protection, and standard semi-active suspension, among other things. Despite being bigger, heavier and pricier than the standard GS, it has proven hugely popular, representing about half of the big GS’s sales — and the BMW GS is the biggest-selling ADV bike globally. GS riders have been patiently waiting for the adventure-friendly follow-up to the R1300GS, and the wait is finally over with the 2025 R1300GS…

Several years ago, on a tour north of Lake Superior, I met a couple — perhaps the handsomest I’d ever seen — riding equally gorgeous Harleys. During our small talk, I asked if they used helmet communicators. “No,” they said. “That’s the secret to our happy marriage!” After the laughter, they went on to tell of a near-fatal accident they’d had. Riding in front, he had pointed down to warn her of a pothole on the right. But she misinterpreted his gesture and thought he was directing her that way. Their miscommunication had her cartwheeling down the highway. Miraculously, only the bike was destroyed, but I couldn’t help thinking that, while many of us cherish the solitude in our helmets, a helmet comm could have averted her near tragedy. Having…

2025 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN 1200 Triumph refreshes the Speed Twin 1200 for 2025, giving it a few modern highlights, a few more useful features, new suspension, and a touch more tech. We liked this modern classic before; do the changes to the new bike still garner our affection? Find out in the next issue. THE GIRDER RIDE What possesses a group of people to ride cranky, noisy, smelly, oil-spitting motorcycles that are older than we are? Because they are beautiful and fun to ride, and there’s always a story to tell afterward. The prerequisite for this particular ride is that the bike must have a girder front end, which pretty much eliminates anything from the second half of the 20th century.…

On November 29 last year, KTM’s parent company, Pierer Mobility, entered a 90-day, court-supervised self-administration process, and presented a restructuring plan to pay off creditors in an effort to avoid bankruptcy proceedings. What was initially reported by Pierer Mobility in a press release to “amount to a high threedigit million (euro)” debt, has since been revealed to be closer to 2.5 billion euros. Compounding the company’s financial woes are floundering stock prices, which dropped in value from their peak of about $143 CDN in 2022, to about $11 by November 2024. Shares have climbed to just over $27 as of this writing. Documents released by KTM’s law firm, AKV Europa, following a January 24 court hearing for creditors revealed that there are 3,534 claims against KTM AG, including 2,347 claims…

Sometimes we don’t see the beauty that’s available to us. Living in Victoria, B.C., limits our local riding to north or a short southern route, and because of this, we ride the same roads all the time. So, what I have started doing now is to look for the beauty of the road and to appreciate it. For example, you won’t find many roads in North America any nicer than this one: North of Victoria, the Malahat starts with a slight downhill with a right-hand sweeper into a narrow passage with very large trees and a river beside you. From here it snakes along until the road starts to climb up the side of a mountain with sweeping curves on wonderful pavement. Once at the top, the view is of…

There’s been much anticipation for the new Can-Am Pulse and Origin electric motorcycles, but in an industry where gas-powered machines are still so prevalent, can Can-Am change our minds? Can-Am originated in 1973, with the introduction of its first motorcycle. It dominated off-road racing for its first three years but struggled competing with the larger production Japanese brands that had entered the scene. After ceasing production in 1980, the brand looked for other avenues into the motorcycle market and soon built a relationship with Armstrong. The company started building bikes again in 1982, and production lasted until 1987 when it closed its proverbial doors on motorcycling for good … or so we thought. Until 2022, we imagined Can-Am production would continue to be confined to its Spyder line as its…

Electrification, if you haven’t noticed, hasn’t been nearly as successful in motorcycling as it has been for the automotive industry. Oh, scooters and small city bikes have seen some moderate success with battery power. And there’s a good chance that motocrossers will follow suit, what with their need for instantaneous torque and fairly short duty cycles. Big road-going motorcycles, however, have proven much more difficult to electrify. Zero is virtually the only success story, and even its numbers are paltry. That said, there’s little question that motorcycles, like other forms of mobility, must reduce their carbon footprint. All motorcycle manufacturers are looking for ways to reduce tailpipe emissions, be it with bio-fuels, synthetic fuels made from sequestered CO2 or swappable batteries. One of the manufacturers at the forefront of these…

“Made in China” too often gets a bad rap here in North America. “Poorly built” and “not very functional” goes the xenophobia, usually wrapped up in a flag and lots of wistful remembrance of past industry domination. So, here’s the thing. Not only is this product — which just happens to be made in China, of course — the most useful motorcycle product/accessory I tested in 2024, it is also, by quite some margin, the best-built electronic aftermarket gadget for bikes I’ve ever seen. Probably the most thoughtfully engineered, too. INCREDIBLY WELL-BUILT In fact, the Chigee AIO-5 Lite may be the most conscientiously manufactured electronic product for motorcycles I have ever seen. Everything from the five-inch waterproof screen to well-insulated wires made of TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer) clamped by amazingly robust…

10 Marking 10 years of the Kawasaki Ninja H2, this bike made waves in the industry when first released as it was the only supercharged production motorcycle made at the time. 450 Ducati has unveiled its much-awaited motocross bike, the Desmo450 MX. This new model will be available to order early this year and is expected to be in dealers by July. 3 Triumph took third place in the AMA Supercross 250SX recently held at Anaheim’s Angel Stadium. Jordan Smith, team rider for Triumph, fought hard on the TF 250-X throughout the race, sustaining a tip over and racing his way back from sixth place to the podium. This is a milestone for Triumph, which is now in its second season of Supercross with its dedicated motocross motorcycle. 95 The…

“Today’s ride will be on a road race course, and we’ll be riding in the opposite direction than the racing cars,” I said to Gwen. “Wait, what do you mean? We’ll be riding toward the race cars? How does that make sense?” she responded with apprehension. Gwen’s cause for concern was valid. She has always been a bit averse to racetracks. However, closed-course racetracks are relatively safe for a number of reasons: the traffic goes in the same direction, there are no driveways or intersections, you can almost always see through the turn, the track is clean of debris, and other reasons. But she knew the road race I spoke of wasn’t on a closed course and didn’t have any of those built-in safety features. It was an automobile rally…

The large photo above is my grandfather, Henry Lund (DOB, Sep 18, 1909). By my best estimate, this photo was taken in 1936, making him about 27 years old. My local Harley-Davidson dealership helped me identify the bike, which they think is almost certainly a 1934 HD RL (also Clark Gable’s preferred ride). My grandfather passed away when I was 16, and I got my motorcycle licence when I was 17. We never talked about bikes in a particular way, as I didn’t discover these photos until many years later. I wish I could go back in time and talk to him about that time in his life. It was a real treat to discover the photos and to learn that maybe my passion for this sport came a little…