Motorcycle Misadventures

Six Outrageous Fantasy Motorcycles

Motorcycles that are fun to look at - 6 Badass Motorcycles.

Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig

Mark Richardson writes about cars and motor­cycles for The Toronto Star. In 2004, feeling cramped by his children’s Hot Wheels and Pokémon cards, he saddled up his trusty 1985 Suzuki DR600, added a GPS device and Butt Buffer gel seat pad, and set out along Pirsig’s route from Minnesota to San Francisco, to arrive on his 42nd birthday. “It’s undeniable,” Richardson writes, “that if his book could open so many ­readers’ eyes to more of life’s qualities, then there’s a good chance his actual journey can open my own eyes wider still.” Read the full New York Times review of Zen & Now. Click the image below to find the Zen & Now website. (By the way, I downloaded the pdf of the first chapter and found it very interesting and well written.)

Riding Boots! 7 Things To Look For

Riding Boots! 7 Things To Look For

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Motorcycles in Art: Visiting 49 Geary in SF

Today I met Lyn Bishop at 49 Geary in San Francisco to cruise the galleries there, a one-stop shop for art, four floors of gallery after gallery, many innovative techniques using paint, photography, found objects. It's so much fun to look at art with an artist. There were even a few paintings that featured motorcycles. (See one, below.) Lyn and I met after we both were in China - at the same time - and came home to find articles about each other in the local media. I contacted her and we became fast friends. She's a digital and fine artist and created some fabulous travelogues using flash and multimedia on the web., very ahead of her time. Check out A Digital Artist on the Road in China. You'll love it, guaranteed!

Self-publishing workshop: March 21st with Carla and Lisa

I'll be co-leading a writing workshop in Mill Valley, California, with my friend and colleague Lisa Alpine on self-publishing. This is a $95 day-long workshop with a tasty lunch in a fabulous, supportive environment.

Catch me on Side Stand Up tonight 6:15 PT (live podcast with chat)

The motorcycle weekly Side Stand Up is on at 8-10 pm EST, 5-7 pm PT tonight. I'll be on at 6:15 PT for my regular monthly talk about motorcycle travel writing. Last week we talked about great motorcycle travel books. This week we'll talk about blogs -- some good motorcycle travel blogs that are going on out there right now (email me if you have recommendations), as well as some how-to for those of you who want to create a realtime blog for your trip. I'll go over choosing a blog tool, writing your intro, setting realistic expectations for yourself and your readers, and storytelling (can you say "narrative arc?"). A blog can be a great start for creating a more polished works -- like articles -- or even a book. Join us on the air and in the chat room!

Meantime - check out the list of motorcycle travel books we talked about last time.

The Top Ten Motorcycle Day Trips from the San Francisco Area

I just posted what I think are the top ten motorcycle day trips from the SF Bay Area. Do you agree? It's just a start, and I'd like to invite you to vote on and edit this list.

I've also drafted top ten lists for these categories, and would also welcome votes and edits:

• Motorcycle Weekends from the San Francisco Bay Area
• Motorcycle Rides in California
• Motorcycle Roads in the USA
• Motorcycle Rides in Europe
• Epic Motorcycle Rides

International Female Ride Day, May 1 2009

International Female Ride Day is May 1st, 2009, along with Labor Day in a lot of countries, I guess. So if you're not laboring, ride!

Getting Loaded: 6 Tips

Unless you've learned the hard way (you'll know if you did), most riders don't know how to pack gear on their motorcycle the properly. Stability and steering, not to mention safety, are seriously compromised when you load a bike improperly. Here are 6 tips for packing properly on WomenRidersNow.com.

GearChic has a new forum!

Joanne Donn, the founder of GearChic, has created a forum for women to discuss motorcycle gear. It's brand new, and I started out by asking for advice on hot weather gear for Morocco. Share impressions, photos, buy and sell gear in the For Sale/Wanted thread, find meetups, and get answers at http://www.gearchic.com/forum/. Thanks Joanne!