They are one of the greatest sport touring accessories ever made that you can no longer buy - until now. The guy who built all the zen-rails has a stack of old stock that he wants to get rid of and he's offering it through us. If you are not familiar with these guys, they bolt behind the passenger pegs and create a resting place for soft luggage the prevents anything from coming into contact with your precious paint or delicate plastic bodywork.
Since we've been consistently recognized for our support of female moto riding, we felt compelled to pass on information about the International Female Ride Day, coming May second. The event is a synchronized day, worldwide, where women motorcycle riders "JUST RIDE" -- demonstrating their enjoyment and in most cases, passion for motorcycle riding. The campaign was created with the aim of highlighting the number of women who ride and building female rider awareness -- encouraging other women to take up the activity. So if you are one of the fairer sex, mark your calendars now, and prepare to get out and ride on May Second. (Thats a Friday by the way). More Information is available at motoress.com »
From the Department of There's-No-Way-We-Could-Make-This-Up, a recent interview with the famous actor known best for his role as Captain Kirk, the swashbuckling captain of the Starship Enterpise, William Shatner retold a motorcycle crash story. Directly quoting a StarPulse.com article; "[Shatner] refuses to pad up and rides around the state wearing just beach clothes - even after a crash that could have killed him. He explains, 'I think leather, and helmets and protective gear is foolish, in the hot California weather. I ride with sandals and shorts and a t-shirt.'" The article continues with the story of his crash and subsequent bleeding, near-naked ride. Don't believe us, (we don't blame you) but read the article for yourself »
It's taken us almost six months to compile everything from out two-week adventure to Alaska into our newest trip report. Brace yourself, this one is absolutely epic! Which means the report is rather lengthy. Give the page a moment to load, as we've added dynamic embedded maps that slow down load times, so we think its worth it. We also realize that there are books shorter than this ride report, so stay tuned for an "abridged" version that will be more time friendly. But since so many of you love the detailed reports, we've offered the full version in all of its glory. Hope you enjoy it. 4430 Miles to Alaksa »
Welcome to the world of the Long Way Marketing Empire! Producers of Long Way Round, Race to Dakar and Long Way Down have announced the beginning of Charley Boormans own adventure titled "By Any Means" will take him from Wicklow in Ireland all the way down to Sydney, Australia. Rather than being another motorcycle adventure, Boorman will make his way using any transportation mode he can come by. Be it motorcycle, car, train, boat or camel. Things start off on the 15th of April and Boorman has invited all the motorcyclists to ride the first leg with him. For more infomormation visit LongWayDown.com.
Leave it to a tiny motorcycle manufacturer in California to come up with probably the best hybrid car concept we've seen yet! Using only three wheels (one drive wheel in the back) and using comptuer fluid dynamic technology to create a slippery aerodynamic shape, the Aptera is getting upwards of 1000mpg! The farther you go, battery energy is depleted and the frequency of the gas engine running is increased. At 75 miles the MPG is closer to 400 MPG. Just over 100 miles the car gets just over 300 MPG. After 350-400 miles at highway speeds it eventually plummets to around 130 MPG where it will stay all day until you plug it back in and charge it up for two to four hours. Vehicle of the future you say? Why no! The Aptera is currently in production and selling (in California only) for around $30k. Visit the Aptera Website for more information »
Most of us have rode around in blue-jeans feeling guilty for not wearing something more appropriate to cover our lower extremities. If you are like us, you may have even tried some of the riding pant options available on the market, and if you are like us, never really fell in love with them and soon were riding around in blue-jeans once again. The best safety gear in the world does no good if its too uncomfortable for you to want to wear it. Even Peter Egan dedicated a page of Cycle-World to this problem. Enter what we believe to be the greatest riding pants we've ever tired and the subsequent review. We started our product testing in 2006 to give you the best possible opinion on what may possibly be considered a "controversial" pair of protective riding pants. More »
Its been nothing more than a pipe dream since the very beginning of CanyonChasers, but the additional workload required from making maps was too much for our riding-obsessive-personalities, so for the longest time the Treasure Map section sat mostly dormant. But now, we are thrilled to announce the all new CanyonChasers Treasure Map section with a newly implemented road rating system that rates roads on how technical they are and the condition of the road itself. Visitors to the site, such as you, can then rate the road from one to five stars based on your own experience riding that same route! Is that nifty-cool-neato or what? Right now we have mostly posted roads nearest to us, but expect the section to grow as we continue to rate more roads. See all the Treasure Map glory for yourself »
Oregon based company Brammo Motorsports may have come up with an electric motorcycle that may actually be viable. Badged the Enertia (with an 'E'), this little 270 lb electric bike pumps out as much horsepower as a Ninja 250 only with almost double the torque (you-know, the stuff that makes you move forward). Three different power settings allow the rider to choose how much power they want or how economical they want to be. At the lowest power setting, the bike can go 50 miles between charges! Thats about half the distance an average scooter can go on a tank of gas, only the Enertia can travel up to 50mph (our Yamaha Zuma is lucky to hit 40mph going down a steep hill). Prices start at about $12k and go up to $15k for the limited "Carbon" model. More information is available at Brammo.com or EnertiaBike.com
Devon. Its a region in South-West England, and their latest road safety video from Devon County Council encourages motorists to look out for motorcyclists. Motorcycling is as popular as ever but motorcyclists are among the most serious casualties on the roads.they have released a great motorcycle awareness campaign. Moto-friendly ads are not all that common, so we try our best to bring as much attention as possible to the goods. View Video »
In a move thats not so surprising, the Dakar Rally has been permanently canceled - as in, no more, kaput. Well, at least for now. As a result of jihad/terrorism in the area, the 2008 rally was canceled in January after ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation) revealed that "direct threats" had been leveled at the race by terrorist organizations. Patrice Clerc, president of the Dakar Rally organizing body ASO, has confirmed the 2009 race, however, will take place in South America. Clerc admitted the move away from Africa was "a bit of a gamble" - but not necessarily a permanent switch. "When in January we were confronted with the cancellation of the race our thoughts naturally turned to South America," he told L'Equipe. "We will not forget the African continent. Africa is where the Dakar has its roots, the race will return there."
With motorcycle forums and blogs being in just about every corner of the internet, finding credible bits of motorcycle information can sometimes mean searching through scads of pages. Thats why one bloke, Raymond, has organized a plethora of road motorcycle riding techniques into one great website with graphs and charts to illustrate many of the tips. He even has the information organized by which side of the road you ride on in your part of the world. The information he has compiled is great for experienced riders needing a gentle refresher and for new riders looking to improve their road riding skillset. Visit Motorcycle Riding Techniqes »
...I come before you with this bit of information. My father, a man whom I've only ever known to ride either full-dress Harley's or 883 Sportsters, has purchased a Buell Ulysses. For years he's been saying that he just wasn't enjoying riding like he used too, and for the past month, more phone traffic has flown between father and son than all the phone conversations of the last two years. (The bike wasn't even unloaded from his pickup when this image arrived in my email). So, while the Uly still meets my dads most strict caveat of "Made in the U.S. of A," this marks a huge step, no... leap forward in his motorcycling resume. He also plans on joining us for this years annual Memorial Day Adventure. Congratulations dad!
Its winter, and the vast majority of us are stuck shoveling driveways and doing winter maintenance projects on our bikes while only dreaming of adventure. Well, here is a great deal for you. Sam Manicom has published two books that detail 8 years and 200,000 miles of riding. First with "Into Africa" where, brand new to riding, the adventurous Manicom sets out and before he's even done with the first leg of the journey, he finds himself stuck in an African jail cell. From there, the adventure really kicks off! And when you get to the end of that book and are ready for more, guess what? You pick up the second book "Under Asian Skies" where Manicom sets forth into Australia, India and then the deep recesses of the Far East! What a great way to spend a dreary winter! More about Into Africa and Under Asian Skies »
It's not that often that we get to toot our own horn, but we were pretty excited when Hemmings Motor News found our fair site worthy of some attention. In October 2007, author Craig Fitzgerald dedicated some media space to CanyonChasers. We e liked it best when Fitzgerald said "Considering that most motorcycle magazines have 600cc sportbike shootouts on every third cover, it's refreshing to find a site that covers the bikes that the rest of us are riding." If you would like to read the hemmings article its just a quick link away. Read Motorcycle touring on some less-than-common bikes »