I recently dropped off my ’18 Audi A4 for it’s annual winter tire swap, and this 2021 Audi e-tron fully electric SUV was provided as a ‘loaner’ for the day. I hate to say this, but I was impressed. As a (mildly) ‘traditional’ car guy, I LIKE raucous gasoline engines. […]
Right on schedule, my 2-year itch kicked in. It only takes about 24 months or so for my eyes to begin scanning the news on the latest, newest, hottest 2-wheelers to satiate the never ending quest for motorcycle satisfaction. By late summer 2021, I’d had my ’19 Honda Gold Wing […]
Chinese restaurants in small towns are as ubiquitous across Canada as toques are in winter. While it’s common knowledge that the spread of Chinese restaurants followed the construction of Canada’s national railway system in the 1880s, it was journalist Ann Hui’s book Chop Suey Nation (2019) that described the outward […]
2021 was another strange year for motorcycling. Lock downs, closed restaurants, and limited access to essential businesses restricted recreational travel for much of the year. That didn’t stop motorcycle enthusiasts from riding entirely. A few friends ventured outside the province and into B.C. and Saskatchewan a few times, all within […]
Chinese restaurants in small towns are as ubiquitous across Canada as toques are in winter. While it’s common knowledge that the spread of Chinese restaurants followed the construction of Canada’s national railway system in the 1880s, it was journalist Ann Hui’s book Chop Suey Nation (2019) that described the outward […]
Alliance is a village in Central Alberta, population 154, according to one website. 154 people isn’t many people. Heck, my immediate family, uncles, aunts and first cousins count about the same number. My motorcycle friends recently found the Alliance Valley Inn Restaurant, run by Sunny and Allen Choi. Our first […]
The Covid pandemic has unquestionably disrupted long distance motorcycle touring. But forced to stay close to Edmonton, we were limited to motorcycle day trips. That gave us the opportunity to explore nearby towns, and with that, we’ve ‘discovered’ a handful of exceptional small town eateries. We’d heard through the grapevine […]
How cold is too cold to ride a motorcycle? Here in Western Canada, motorcycling means having to face cold weather, even in the middle of summer. It’s not uncommon in mid-July for the early morning temperature to be a bracing 7 degrees Celsius. But by Canadian standards, 7 C isn’t […]
I recently dropped off my ’18 Audi A4 for it’s annual winter tire swap, and this 2021 Audi e-tron fully electric SUV was provided as a ‘loaner’ for the day. I hate to say this, but I was impressed. As a (mildly) ‘traditional’ car guy, I LIKE raucous gasoline engines. […]
The horn button on Honda’s latest generation 2018+ Gold Wing is the subject of much handwringing and complaint on owners’ forums. Honestly, the horn button is an ergonomic miscue. Located just above the turn signal button, small and flat – not large and concave shaped to fit one’s thumb, and […]
My foody friend, Richard, sent me a photo of Burek, what he and his wife were having for lunch that day. “Burek??”, I texted. Burek is something I’d never heard of before. Apparently, Burek’s origin is Turkish, a savory pastry filled with meat, cheese or ingredients like spinach, wrapped in […]
I picked up my bike last week. I filled the tank and rode it to storage on November 1, last year. Now, 5 months later, with friend Rick, we pulled the nylon bike cover off, unplugged the battery tender, and removed the strategically placed Bounce sheets from the dash, saddle […]
We thoroughly enjoyed our very first visit to Turquaz Kebab House. When I mentioned Turquaz to my friend Fatima, who is of Lebanese origin, she immediately said it was one of her favourite dining haunts. That made it a solid recommendation for me. Fatima is a foody, just like us. […]
2020 will go down in history as one of the strangest, most memorable years we’ll likely experience in our lifetime. The COVID pandemic has affected each of our lives, the activities we participate in, and the social interactions we cherish. Misses COVID-19 wreaked havoc with with travel plans for many […]
’19 Honda DCT Tour Gold Wing vs. ’14 BMW R1200RT In Part 1, we gave a broad-brushed overview of the strengths and weaknesses of arguably the two finest touring motorcycles available – the Honda DCT Tour Gold Wing (2018-’20) and BMW R1200RT (2014-’18), both essentially unchanged motorcycles for their production […]
My 2019 Honda Gold Wing DCT Tour is within spitting distance of 19,000 km, some 16 months since I bought it new in June, 2019. Readers of CarandRider.com will know my beloved 2014 BMW R1200RT experienced an electrical fire caused by a failed rectifier in June last year. The BMW […]
Real world gas mileage intrigues me. Even though few motorcyclists barely give fuel consumption a second thought, tracking fuel usage is one way to compare a vehicle’s performance to another’s. When the current generation of Honda Gold Wing (model year 2018) was launched, Gold Wing forums were filled with cries […]
Thick fog mixed with heavy smoke from forest fires in the U.S. greets us as we load our panniers early in the morning. It’s cold and the ride north towards home is going to be less than pleasant. Our room is in a separate building away from the main motel […]
It’s early morning in Nelson. As usual, the crew have loaded their bikes, , set their GPSes, and are geared up, and ready to roll. We’ve decided to find breakfast ‘on the road’, and ride south on Highway 6 to Salmo and connect with the Crowsnest Highway 3, the major […]
Chinese restaurants are as common in small town Western Canada as, well, Ford F150 pickup trucks. The proliferation of Chinese restaurants across Canada is well documented in the excellent book, Chop Suey Nation: The Story of the Legion Cafe and Other Stories from Canada’s Chinese Restaurants, by Ann Hui. During […]
From our “value-priced” motel in Kamloops, it’s now Day 4 of our tour. Our group has fallen into a comfortable, easy going rhythm. Everybody is up early, fettling their motorcycles. There’s a layer of morning dew to wipe off the bikes, GPSes to be mounted, and panniers to be packed. […]
We ‘car guys’ are particular. We park our cars at the vacant end of the lot to protect them from those infuriating door dings, we keep our cars’ interiors surgical operating room clean, and the concept of ‘patina’ showing wear and tear simply does not compute. We pride ourselves in […]
Not everyone has the luxury of a 3-car garage or a multi-bay workshop in which we can store motorcycles out of the weather when we’re not riding. When I bought the GL1800 Gold Wing in June, 2019, I was using a battered, weather beaten 11 year old Nelson-Riggs half cover. […]
2021 was another strange year for motorcycling. Lock downs, closed restaurants, and limited access to essential businesses restricted recreational travel for much of the year. That didn’t stop motorcycle enthusiasts from riding entirely. A few friends ventured outside the province and into B.C. and Saskatchewan a few times, all within […]
Right on schedule, my 2-year itch kicked in. It only takes about 24 months or so for my eyes to begin scanning the news on the latest, newest, hottest 2-wheelers to satiate the never ending quest for motorcycle satisfaction. By late summer 2021, I’d had my ’19 Honda Gold Wing […]
New tires for motorcycles are controversial. There’s much debate on motorcycle forums as to which tires are ‘best.’ Years ago, Car and Driver magazine, long my enthusiast automobile ‘bible’ since I was a teenager, ran a feature story on tire technology. An unnamed engineer for one of the big tire […]