Neale Bayly

Neale Bayly Rides: Falling, Rising, & Perfect Moments in Ecuador

Posted by Neale Bayly | Jan 2, 2024 | Ride Life, Rides & Roads |

In the saddle of my BMW F700GS riding with my mad buddy Christian Scranton and our Ecuadorian friend Erik, I can’t keep my eyes off of her today any more than I could 21 years ago. Rising up out of the lush, green farmland, capped in brilliant white snow, and against a piercing blue sky, Cotopaxi stands majestic as she overlooks the city of Quito. This incredible 19,300-foot volcanic mountain, then as now, symbolizes a time in my life when riding the wild places of the world would mend my broken soul.

Neale Bayly Rides: In This Moment

Posted by Neale Bayly | Dec 1, 2023 | Ride Life |

An hour or so out of Sedona, Arizona, the red rock ridgelines provide a natural border to the sharpest and clearest blue sky I can remember. Purple wildflowers announce spring in the high desert, and the cool morning air delivers their sweet fragrance, stimulating dormant parts of my technology-anesthetized senses. My physical body is doing what it was designed to do, embracing the low temperature by pumping extra blood (adrenaline, perhaps?), and the high is clean and the dialogue honest. Out here you can’t escape yourself, even though the landscape stretches to a horizon that is further than a man can walk in one day.

Motorcycle Gear: REV’IT! DIRT Series Apparel

Posted by Neale Bayly | Nov 24, 2023 | Bikes & Gear |

With my 2016 Husqvarna FE350 having gone through a complete make over recently, including being finished off with my own custom graphics, it was time to get rid of my old, very worn out riding gear. Having been fully equipped by REV’IT! last year with their adventure gear for my ride in Ukraine, I put a call in to see if they could help me not only look better, but make sure I was as protected as I need to be in the trails.
Well, REV’IT! didn’t disappoint.

Neale Bayly Rides: Orbits

Posted by Neale Bayly | Nov 1, 2023 | Ride Life |

In my mirror, a fellow sojourner was also enjoying the alpine-fresh air and soul warming sunshine as we unhurriedly made our ascent. A chance coffee stop in the mining town of Leadville earlier in the morning had introduced us, and the result of our conversation was some company for my ride to Aspen. Showing the telltale sunglass lines and wind burned cheeks of the road, my new friend Dave had been heading in the opposite direction when we met. His journey was nearing its end but he had no desire to stop riding, so it was a natural decision for him to change direction and join me.

Neale Bayly Rides: What Once Was Lost

Posted by Neale Bayly | Oct 2, 2023 | Legendary Bikes, Ride Life |

I will never forget that frigid winter afternoon the 1924 JD Harley-Davidson was unceremoniously dragged from the back of a semi-truck. Dull, lifeless, rusty, and forgotten, somewhere around five decades had slipped by since the bike was last ridden. Heading for the workshop behind the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, museum owner Dale Walksler had been entrusted with the task of breathing life into this then 80-year-old motorcycle. I was there to document the story, and didn’t know I was about to be taken on an adventure: an adventure that would journey deep into my soul, as Dale and I traveled back through ours.

Neale Bayly Rides: A Moment of Weightlessness

Posted by Neale Bayly | Sep 1, 2023 | Ride Life |

Paralyzed by perception, the call confirming I would be riding Valentino Rossi’s 2005 MotoGP bike sent seismic waves across the phone lines, rocking and shaking the fabric of my known world. Seconds turned to hours, minutes to days, as every heartbeat began ticking down the time till I would take the ultimate motorcycle challenge. How could one motorcycle strike so much fear in my heart, and so categorically undermine every component of my life that represented stability and security? Not cut from the same cloth as Rossi, nor possessing the heart of a lion or the courage of David, there was no machine I had ridden that could have prepared me to ride Vale’s personal MotoGP bike.

Neale Bayly Rides: Knickerbockers, Hells Angels, & Two Miss Alaskas

Posted by Neale Bayly | Aug 1, 2023 | Ride Life |

So, dear reader, if you can, cast your mind back to 1986. If you weren’t born yet or were in kindergarten or similar, ignore that bit. At the time, I was living in Fairbanks, Alaska, the town of Ester to be more precise. Some of you might know Ester because of the world famous Malamute Saloon (or at least Kurt said it was famous) and as he was the cook at the restaurant who made sure that my traveling partner Karen and I always had breakfast, so for the sake of this story I’ll believe him.

Neale Bayly Rides: What Dreams Are Made

Posted by Neale Bayly | Jul 3, 2023 | Ride Life |

It was one of those typical British summer evenings that live in the rose-tinted glass reflections of my life as a young motorcyclist growing up in a seaside town in South Devon, England (home of “Fawlty Towers” for any of you John Cleese fans). Warm, dry, and with the long lingering daylight that wrapped itself around the summer solstice, our small town’s pavements were packed with holidaymakers. As they meandered along the busy streets, the sounds of pinball and slot machines floated through the air, accompanied by the smell of cotton candy and popcorn. In the saddle of a battle-weary Yamaha XT500, on a night like this, my threadbare existence seemed to matter not, as the whole town was alive and I was out on the prowl.

Neale Bayly Rides: Neale’s Gonzo History Tour

Posted by Neale Bayly | Jun 1, 2023 | Ride Life |

We lived to ride and rode to live. We partied through the night, raging at parties till dawn. At the zenith of our insanity, Wibbly rode a Norton 850 Commando, and I was welded to the seat of a battle-weary 1978 Laverda 1200 Mirage, hopped up with Jota cams, bars, and pegs. Three trashcan-sized pistons sucked 105-octane gas and damp, rain-saturated air through filter-less Dellorto carburetors with the sophistication of a cement mixer, before hurling the exploded remains through a chrome Harris 3-into-1 exhaust.