Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2017 i Motorcycle Mojo Magazine

First off, I’m stoked to introduce a new contributor to Motorcycle Mojo. Jamie Elvidge is a renown photojournalist who has worked with a number of large motorcycle magazines south of the border. She can ride anything, anywhere and has a vast amount of motorcycle knowledge, having been involved in the motorcycle and magazine industries for many years. Whether writing about a press launch, test ride or travel adventure, she can deliver the goods in an entertaining and informative article. In this issue, Elvidge gives us the lowdown on the Kawasaki Versys-X 300 from the press launch held in beautiful Utah. Apparently, she had so much fun on the small dual-sport Kawi that her teeth are now a reddish dirt colour from smiling too much. Also in this issue, she jots…

editor@motorcyclemojo.com It Rhymes Motorcycles... Two wheels versus four More gears on the floor Fresh air all around New experiences abound Those that ride certainly agree Motorcycling really can set you free V-twin, flat-twin, three cylinders or even four All running in harmony with a wonderful roar Japanese, British, American, German and more No judgment needed once you head out the door Commuting, travelling all with pleasure These are occasions for one to treasure Stacey James Quartermaine via email A WINNING COMBINATION I want to congratulate you on your June issue. Well-written stories and great photos go a long way to making Motorcycle Mojo the best of the Canadian motorcycle mags out there. I plan to let my subscriptions to the other two major biker mags lapse and just peruse the…

What’s that saying again? It’s all about the journey, not the destination? But really, what if you want both on your next riding adventure? How does someone go about finding those hidden gems and must-see places known mostly to locals? Some people join travel websites, search online, read articles and study maps to find out what they can about a location before setting out on their next big ride. Planning does have its advantages, but if you don’t know about something, how can you plan? Sometimes, it’s only after you’re on the road that you stumble onto those hidden gems. During one of our trips to the U.S.’s Blue Ridge Parkway, Ang, Cathy and I had just finished a stellar day of riding and checked into a hotel, which we…

Alan Cathcart brings us the most lust-worthy bikes from around the world Only 500 Superleggeras will be built, and even if you were willing to part with about 85 large, they are already sold out. It’s become a bit of a cliché to call something a mechanical work of art, but if ever a motorcycle deserved that accolade, it’s the Ducati 1299 Superleggera. Dripping in carbon fibre, replete with titanium and flaunting endless examples of technological innovation found on nothing else with two wheels and an engine, the whole clothed in bodywork of stunning beauty – this is the latest testament to Ducati’s ability to combine exquisite looks with a stellar level of performance sourced from winning countless races and championships. The Superleggera was launched at the EICMA Milan Show…

I’m the kind of person who believes that things happen for a reason. I also tend to jump at opportunities regardless of whether I think I’m capable of handling them or not. You know, I sometimes subscribe to the fake-it-’til-you-make-it mentality. So when editor Glenn Roberts emailed me to ask if I wanted to interview Freddie Spencer about his new book, it took about a split second to type my reply: “Yes! Of course I want to interview racing legend Fast Freddie about his new book, Feel: My Story.” After agreeing to do the interview, though, I did experience a few days of self-doubt. That little voice of doubt in my head started getting louder. “You’re not qualified to interview one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time!” it…

Since that Ohio ride, I’ve learned the magic number is 34. Below 34 C (93 F), it’s fairly easy to stay cool as long as you’re moving fast enough to get some wind against your skin for convective and evaporative cooling. Mesh gear or good venting works great. But above 34, the wind is no longer your friend. Think of a hot hair dryer. Although it may be counterintuitive, stripping down as I did is exactly the wrong thing to do. Rather, like a traditional Bedouin wrapped head to toe in the desert sun, you now need to minimize your body’s exposure to direct windblast. Doing so actually reduces the amount of heat your body must lose through evaporation (sweating), allowing you to use less water, which, in tandem with…

Go to our Youtube Channel to see Mojo’s first ride on this streetfighter. https://goo.gl/6j6oix We’re encountering a renascence of sorts in the sport standard segment at the moment: a return to responsibility rather than restriction; a dialling back of the nanny state in favour of more affordability and fewer dash-enabled menus. Several competitors in this class are currently offering sportbike performance at a bargain, and it’s the lack of advanced electronics that’s helping to make it possible. If any manufacturer was likely to give riders the benefit of the doubt, it was Team Green. After all, look at what it’s given us in the past: The 1972 Z1 was originally planned as a 750 cc machine, but had its production delayed by a couple of years after the introduction of…

When an abstract idea becomes a concrete creation, we call it art. From Jean- Michel Basquiat to Vincent van Gogh, interpretation of the presentation is in the eye of the beholder, and the range of reactions can be extreme. Masterpieces or not, in early May, close to 40 hand-built motorcycles rolled into Calgary’s Christine Klassen Gallery for the third edition of the IFK Kickstart Show. Celebrating the garage-based builder working with metal, grinders, welders and a variety of hand tools with the motorcycle as the medium, Kickstart is all about gasoline and spark plugs. “There’s a great sense of satisfaction when you put together a motorcycle – the machining, the fabricating, the welding – and then when it’s all done, you can take it for a ride,” says Kickstart co-coordinator…

It just makes sense that most of us want to be protected while we’re out riding – those who ride wearing shorts and flipflops can turn the page now. There are a number of riding pants on the market designed specifically for motorcycle safety that wouldn’t look out of place at a social hangout or even walking down the aisle in the grocery store. But not all riding pants are created equal. Most use regular denim and are lined with a material that’s designed to withstand a slide on pavement, such as Kevlar. You know how they say TV adds 10 pounds? Well, so do some riding jeans. It’s that protective lining that adds to the bulk of many of the riding jeans on the market today. Saint’s Unbreakable Jeans,…

On more than one occasion, we’ve made mention of Alta Motors (previously BRD) and its promising Redshift electric supermoto, its competitive motocrosser and even its work with the U.S. military. Now, word has surfaced the company has secured US$27 million in funding through the sale of preferred stock to expand R&D and production. At present, this relatively small company possesses the most energydense battery pack in transportation. Alta Motors’ reports indicate its current battery pack produces 185 Wh/kg, with plans for a 225 Wh/kg commercial unit by 2020. The company’s board of directors and list of chief investors include names like that of legendary racer and founder of Fox Racing, Bob Fox, along with several other well-respected members of the investment world and even academia. And perhaps most impressively, through…

I recently sold a bike that marked the end of an era for me, and I’m a little sad. My friends who don’t ride don’t get it, but I get attached to my bikes. This particular motorcycle was a 1990 Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke that I purchased very used but in mint condition in 1998. The gentleman who sold it to me was sad to see it go, too, but he had switched to racing bicycles. I love buying vehicles from meticulous people, and Derick was definitely meticulous. For an eight-year-old motocrosser that was raced, the YZ was very clean and came with lots of spares, including a headlight, since Derick had made his own lighting coil. Depending upon the racing conditions, he would set up the gearing and carb jetting…

Wouldn’t it be great if you had a place to store your bike, work on it and use that same place as a social hangout for your bikeriding friends, summer or winter, all at a reasonable cost? Or, even if it weren’t your own place, it would still be quite convenient to have access to a bike lift, tools and equipment to perform your own simple maintenance or more involved repairs, possibly saving you a costly trip to the local shop. This would be especially helpful if you own an older bike in need of repairs, the cost of which might exceed the bike’s value if you were paying the full hourly rate at a professional service department. Well, you can consider getting yourself involved with a communal motorcycle shop.…

September/October 2017 2017 HARLEY-DAVIDSON STREET ROD 750 We’re off to Marbella, Spain, to view, ride and understand the new Harley-Davidson Street Rod. This well-priced, stylish performance motorcycle is designed to attract younger customers to join the Harley-Davidson family, and we’ll be riding and testing it along some of Europe’s finest and most demanding roads. 25 YEARS OF JOE ROCKET Lawrence Hacking provides us with an inside look at the humble beginnings of the Joe Rocket brand and its founder, Bruce Parker. From its first clothing line, with those in-your-face but unforgettable names like Joe Schmo and Joe Highside, to its most current product lines, Joe Rocket has continuously evolved to meet the needs of riders around the world.…