Year: 2017

  • California Dreaming

    California Dreaming

    …On such a winter’s fall day Back in September I spent five days in Los Angeles at the 2017 Open Source Summit. I’d never been to California before. I wasn’t sure what I’d make of it. My wife thought I might hate the endless, dusty sprawl, but I had a certain fascination with the place…

  • As Much As I Hate Winter…

    This really put a smile on my face. Do i bring bike in't house at end of November & trim it up for Christmas again 🎄 or keep it on the road & hope for a mild winter ? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/HUpqiyPK1q — Mucky Bandit (@Yorkshirebandit) November 2, 2017 There’s always somebody with a delightfully cheery…

  • The Ninja 400 is here

    The king is dead. Long live the King! It had to happen sooner rather than later. The Ninja 300 has had a five year run, and now Kawasaki has thrown another 100CC at the formula (in what is apparently a new engine, not the re-sleeved ER-6 650cc that has been around for a while.) Photo…

  • All Engines Great and Small

    All Engines Great and Small

    You Always Want What You Don’t Have I spend all of my riding time on small bore bikes, by US standards. My Ninja 300 at 296cc and the CSC TT250 weighing in at 229cc. The Ninja will – realistically – pull to about 75mph easily, above which there’s a tardy roll-on to about a top…

  • Our Friends Electric

    With apologies to Gary Numan… I’ll make no bones about it: My dream garage would definitely include a Tesla Model S and a Zero SR. I think they’re brilliant. Electric motorcycles are in the news cycle again, thanks to some YouTube and written reviews. Here’s Motorcyclist Magazine executive editor Zack Courts on the Zero SR.…

  • Summer Blues

    Summer Blues

    August 8th, 2017 I’ve been riding a lot, but I haven’t been writing a lot. It’s definitely not been due to a lack of things to say; but time’s played a part. I’ve been spending a lot of quality time with my kid, and Summer’s been pretty fun outside of problems with my bête noir,…

  • Sebastian Vettel On His Way To Work

    Silverstone, England Seb’s a cool bloke. Here he is riding his Suzuki GT750 ‘water buffalo’ to work:

  • Be Paranoid

    Be Paranoid

    If you think they’re out to kill you, it’s because they behave as if they are. The tunnel monster is real Riding to work this morning on my dual sport, I negotiated this blind corner and came upon a stationary utility truck (the type with the dorsally-mounted crane) head-on smack in the middle of the…

  • The Perfume Road

    April 28th, 2017. Late Spring’s a glorious time to ride. The sun comes out, mornings are cool and bright, and the olefactory system gets bombarded with a range of pleasant distractions. It’s still cool enough that the asphalt doesn’t get heated to the extent your senses are overpowered by hot tar and exhaust fumes.Cut grass,petrol,…

  • A Place, A Time

    A Place, A Time

    Kiski Junction Railroad, Pennsylvania, June 26th 2016. I’d taken my family to ride this little railroad just the week before. On the road down I’d noted the last few miles would make a good bike ride, and so one week later I took my Ninja 300 there. It was a boiling hot day, but a…