Riding season has finally arrived. After a long, cold winter and a lethargic season of couch-sitting and watching Netflix, my old, well-worn and comfortable BMW Summer3 pants (Men’s Size L) mysteriously shrunk in the closet. I’ve worn the Summer3 pants since 2012, and they quickly became my favourite riding pants.  […]

I’m a little obsessive-compulsive about how my bikes look.  I want them in as near perfect condition, with the proviso that I ride my bikes, and they are definitely not in the Garage Queen class of revered objects of art. My 2014 BMW R1200RT was beginning to show some aging.  Even though […]

I admit I’m slightly obsessive-compulsive about treating my leather motorcycle gear. Usually, at the beginning and end of each riding season, I give my custom, leather covered Rich’s saddle and Aerostich Combat Touring Lite riding boots a serious treatment using Obenauf’s Leather Oil. I’ve used a countless array of waterproofing […]

It’s relatively late for the first ‘official’ ride of the 2018 season.  Sure, most of us have been out and about on our bikes, but today, a group of friends gathered for breakfast and undertook a nice little 2-hour ride west and north of Edmonton. Our troop of a dozen […]

While digging through a box of old motorcycle parts, I found this leather tank bag, which I had used on my 1977 Montesa Cota 247 Trail in 1978 or thereabouts. This is definitely old skool!  It’s all leather; there’s not one millimetre of manmade textile like tank bags today. When […]

Our 1977 Montesa Cota 247 Trail’s refurbishment is now complete! Last fall, I contacted old friend Harry Pytel, who I’ve long known through the vintage motorcycle community.  Pytel, now the principal of D&L Motorcycle Parts Corp., has immersed himself in countless ‘vintage’ motorcycle projects.  At one time, he had a […]

  Wednesday, April 18, 2018.  1:30 pm, MDT. After a late Spring snowfall a few days ago, we’d lost all hope that Spring would arrive any time soon. But today, the sun is shining, and it’s a relatively balmy 8 degrees Celsius. I fired up our old, 1983 Mercedes-Benz 300D, […]

Oh, man, has it been a long winter! Today, Wednesday, April 18, 2018 the snow has finally melted from our cul-de-sac. The Optimate battery charger has been hooked up to the RT all winter, and it’s time to roll the bike out, check the tire pressures an prepare for the […]

Here in Canada’s western Prairies, motorcyclists often feel we’re stuck in motorcycle hell. Surrounded by flat terrain, any rider with a hankering for bending a series of turns has got a long way to ride before anything resembling a set of twisties is reached. While we may moan and groan […]

Some time ago I was in the accessory department of a local powersports dealership, looking at new helmets.  I asked the clerk if the cheekpads were replaceable with a thinner ones to accommodate my fat face. She whipped out a black, oval shaped rubber ‘donut’, placed the helmet upside down […]