Rob Brooks

Gems Among Junk: Motorcycle Swap Meets

Posted by Rob Brooks | Oct 8, 2025 | Nuts & Bolts, Ride Life |

Roaming the seemingly endless aisles at the swap meet during this year’s 20th annual Barber Vintage Fest, I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. Some decorative old part or tool for my garage, maybe a pair of plastic turn signal covers to replace a couple of old glazing ones on my 1978 KZ650, or some vintage sign to hang in my basement man cave. Each booth was either a feast or a famine- dusty, discarded old parts, or beautiful classic motorcycles in need of a new home. Stacks of old motorcycle magazines no longer in print, dog-eared owner’s manuals for antique bikes, even some black & white signed photos of once famous racers and riders, the swap meet is the place to slow down, take your time, and browse until you find something that strikes your fancy.

2025 Middleweight Matchup: Honda CB750 vs Yamaha MT-07

Posted by Rob Brooks | Oct 1, 2025 | Bikes & Gear |

Over the summer, we had the opportunity to sample the new Honda CB750 Hornet, and earlier the 2025 Yamaha MT-07. Both of these are fantastic, affordable middleweight naked sportbikes, and we loved them both. We got the bright idea of riding them together, side-by-side and nose-to-tail, since they are comparable in size, displacement and rider triangle. After pitching the idea to Honda, who wholeheartedly jumped at it, Yamaha must have read our twisted minds, and preempted us by calling and offering one once they saw we had the Hornet.
Thus we began the bout.

Why I Ride

Posted by Rob Brooks | Sep 18, 2025 | Ride Life |

On a motorcycle, the rider is not contained in a sealed compartment. We are out in the elements, wrapped around a motorized, moving two wheeled machine, hurtling headlong through time and space, completely exposed to the environment. We feel the wind, road irregularities, temperature changes, the vibrations of the mechanical monster we are riding.

Rob’s Monthly Musings- The Tie That Binds Us

Posted by Rob Brooks | Sep 11, 2025 | Ride Life |

As Neale and I talked, he made a beautiful observation- “Think about our Road Dirt crew and community. We’re as diverse as they come. Some of us are people of faith, some of us are not. Some of us lean a bit left, others a bit right. We come from across the country and around the globe. We come from all kinds of backgrounds and lifestyles. We ride all kinds of motorcycles, and we’ve ridden in all kinds of conditions. We are quite the diverse lot, I must say. And yet the tie that binds us all together is our collective love for motorcycles, and the love of riding them. Whatever our differences, that’s our common love, so therefore, our common love for each other.”

PREVIEW: Honda CB750 Hornet vs Yamaha MT-07

Posted by Rob Brooks | Aug 28, 2025 | Bikes & Gear |

I must state from the start, I have a great affection for both of these bikes, having ridden them both pretty extensively over the last year. I love middleweight twins in general (heck, I own a Triumph Bonneville 900), and these motorcycles are an absolute thrill to ride. We have ridden every current iteration of Yamaha’s 689cc engine, in their Tenere 700, R7, XSR700, and last year’s MT-07, and that “CP2” crank is a torque monster for its displacement. Then my recent stints with the new CB750 Hornet have sold me on Honda’s new little beast, and their 755cc Unicam stinger mill that powers it.
This will be fun, to say the least.

Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450: Roadster Redefined

Posted by Rob Brooks | Aug 22, 2025 | Bikes & Gear |

Riding west out of Milwaukee, we hit I-94 and lit out for Wisconsin’s historic Kettle Moraine Trail region. After navigating around then out of the city, we opened up the throttles of the Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 motorcycles and shot over to the passing lanes. Running up through the gears, I was once again amazed at the power the Sherpa 450 single can make, this time in a street-oriented roadster style motorbike. Pinning it in every gear, I was shifting at 8-9K rpm, and found myself doing 92 mph by the time I caught the lead group of riders. And I still had throttle left. “Geez, will this ‘do the ton’ if I stayed on it??” I wondered aloud.
Impressive.

EAGLERIDER Motorcycle Rentals- Go Ride

Posted by Rob Brooks | Aug 13, 2025 | Bikes & Gear, Ride Life |

The idea for EagleRider was birthed in 1992, in the imaginations of two AT&T employees, Chris McIntyre and Jeff Brown. The coworkers and friends wanted to take sabbaticals from their jobs and travel around the country on Harleys. At the time, neither owned a motorcycle yet, so they tried renting bikes from dealerships, unsuccessfully. Discovering there were no rental services across the country, the two had the idea to start their own. As they both put it, “We saw demand, but no supply!” They figured that plenty of men and women riders, when traveling, would jump at the chance to rent a motorcycle when away from home. They figured correctly. Chris and Jeff were soon joined by Peter Wurmer and Robert Pitts, and the friends opened their first rental shop in Peter’s garage in San Pedro, CA, with four motorcycles the guys purchased themselves.
And to quote English historian John Wade, “The rest is history.”

Gear Review: REV’IT! Sand 5 H2O Riding Pants

Posted by Rob Brooks | Aug 4, 2025 | Bikes & Gear |

We’ve long been fans of REV’IT!, whether it be their backpacks, riding jackets, gloves, or pants. I’ve personally never owned a piece of gear from them that failed me, yet. So when REV’IT! USA reached out to us about their new Sand 5 H2O line of adventure gear, I jumped at the chance to sample a pair of their riding pants.

Rob’s Musings- The Family of My Heart

Posted by Rob Brooks | Jul 10, 2025 | Ride Life |

Born from MacKenzie and Davidson roots, MacKenney reunions on my mother’s side, in memories of my childhood, were always filled with laughter, hugs, games, and lots of food. And they were always held outside, in an expansive backyard under towering oak and willow trees overlooking the Charles River, or by the waters of Hamblin Pond, a small bay near Falmouth Harbor on the Cape.