Motorcycle Misadventures

Free Roadside Assistance with AMA Membership

I enjoy the benefits of being an AMA member, and as a member I can make my voice heard on issues I care about. Now they're offering a great deal: AMA Roadside Assistance with American Motorcyclist Association membership. Click here to take advantage of it.

Encourage Motorcycle Racing Class for Women by AFM

American Federation of Motorcyclists members have proposed adding a women's motorcycle racing class. AFM is one of the oldest and most prestigious local roadracing clubs in the country. They say that in 2008 there were only 7 women racing with the AFM compared to around two or three hundred men. Based on the conversations they've had in the community, it is their belief that the creation of an AFM women's class will help bring more women to the track. Do you agree? To add your name to the list of supporters, go here.

Thanks to Leslie Kaye of UrbanMoto for this info.

Auction Benefits the AMA's Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum

The 2008 Leather and Ice Online Auction opens for bidding on October 31, 2008 at 6:00 AM EDT. The goal is to raise $25,000 to support the AMA's Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. 325 items are up and new items are being added to the catalog for  to preview as the auction date approaches. You can put a "watch" on your favorites, so that you'll know as soon as bidding begins!

Photo Gallery of Annual Sidecar Rally, Griffith Park, LA

Photographer Andy Takakijan has posted a photo gallery of the Griffith Park Annual Sidecar Rally 2008. Enjoy the slideshow!

Club of the Week #4: San Diego Adventure Riders

Ooh ooh! Check out the San Diego Adventure Riders, a group of street-legal dual sport riders who do trips to cool places like the Anza Borrego Desert (which I experienced in full bloom a few years ago, and despite getting a cactus thorn in my butt - don't ask - enjoyed very much).

Great weather, fabulous terrain, and looks like a bunch of nice folks to hook up with. They have a forum where you can check out what they're doing next.

Calling All Sidecarists! 2009 National Rally in Lake Tahoe

Thanks to organizers Bob Fleischer and Penny Fairfield Fleischer for this early-breaking news. Bookmark this page for updates: http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/USCARally2009.htm

MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND RESERVE YOUR CAMPING SPOT! The United Sidecar Association will have its 2009 National Rally at South Lake Tahoe, California, on June 25-29, 2009. It has been twenty-five years since the 1983 USCA National Rally was held at Lake Tahoe.

Helmet Hair's Top Ten Women's Motorcycling Events This Summer

Helmet Hair Magazine offers: As our numbers grow as women motorcyclists, so too do the events that celebrate our existence. We gather from near and far to learn from one another, to share our stories, to help out our fellow human beings and simply to connect with other sisters on the road. Here are the rides and rallies that have made that happen over the years. Check the list for one near you.

Progressive at Sturgis: Get a free t-shirt, or win a bike by mail

Gia at Progressive Motorcycle Insurance just told me they're giving away t-shirts in the Thunder Road vendor area at Sturgis Bike Week and a chance to win a fabulous motorcycle, too.

For the t-shirt, go to the Progressive website now, download the coupon and pack it in your saddlebags so you won't forget to take it with you. Just hand over the coupon to get your shirt at the Progressive booth.

And you can win the motorcycle whether you go to Sturgis on not! Enter at their booth or by hand print your name, complete address, phone number and email address on a postcard and mail it to the address below.

Good luck!

Progressive Motorcycle Sweepstakes
PMI Station
PO Box 3547
Southbury, CT 06488-3547
 

Sidecar on the Darian Gap? Give it a miss.

In July I blogged about Scott Schidler's idea to tour on a Ural sidecar motorcycle from Prudhoe Bay to Tierra del Fuego. Some old sidecar hands replied with some wise advice, and everyone agreed that, dreams or no dreams, giving the Darian Gap a miss is the best idea.

But Scott hadn't even tried the Ural yet. Once he did, he wrote: "Although I knew that it would be different, I never imagined it would have been what it was! . . . turning was a monster effort! I had to dig deep within myself to understand why I would consider driving such a piece of machinery at all, let alone for a long trip."

Alan Karl wrote, "from what I can tell Eric Cleveland opted to fly over the gap to Bogata as I did a couple years back. It's a treacherous piece of real estate and not for the tame of heart. There are primitive tribes, drug runners, terrorists and who knows what else. Why didn't I do it? Well I was alone and if you see the pics in Helge's book, it doesn't look like a lot of fun."

I thought the toe-in might have been a bit off, and suggested getting advice from a sidecar forum. James Barnwell wrote in to advise reading the manual Driving A Sidecar Outfit and to practice the exersises suggested in the manual, and to take a sidecar safety course. "The pullin-drifting on acceleration/deceleration is normal," says James. "You will get used to it. Thank goodness you have not flown the chair-yet! Good luck! Urals are the most fun you can have on three wheels."

I agree. It doesn't handle like a motorcycle -- there's none of that leaning, flying feeling. It's more like driving a handicapped sportscar, one with three wheels and handlebars instead of four wheels and a steering wheel. Why do I love it, then? Well, that's a complex question. For now let's just say it's that je ne sais quoi.

Motorcycles at Burning Man

 

Yep, Burning Man is coming up again, and bikes are there in a big way. Most are heavily artified (create a mutant vehicle and get your license at the DMV) but if you're just riding to the event, unartified, there is still an event for you: The Caustic Mass of the Motorcycle Detail on Thursday, August 28th rides out at 7:00pm sharp from Spike's Inferno Stage at Center Camp. For more info. 

If you're an airhead (yeah, you know who you are!) there's probably going to be another airhead theme camp this year though it's not listed yet. Maybe somebody will send in details.