Rob Brooks

Legendary Bikes: “Captain America” Goes To Auction

Posted by Rob Brooks | May 19, 2021 | Legendary Bikes |

I still remember the first time I viewed the movie, “Easy Rider”. The grand, sweeping scenery, the memorable soundtrack, and those motorcycles piloted by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, absolutely captured my imagination. Riding through wide open spaces has since become a joy I’ve experienced myself many times over the years. For all of the movie’s faults and foibles, those two motorcycles took on personalities themselves in the minds of riders everywhere, as much as their riders did in the film. “Easy Rider” effectively captured the essence of the 1960s hippie culture, as well as it’s bitter end. The movie has since grown beyond cult-classic status to downright movie icon, at least in the motorcycling culture.
But whatever became of the famed “Captain America” bike in the film?

Night Rider

Posted by Rob Brooks | May 7, 2021 | Nuts & Bolts, Ride Life |

There is a group of motorcyclists in our area, known as the Night Riders, who enjoy carving up the country roads outside of town after sunset. I hear them many warm, spring-summer evenings, their sport bikes howling through the dark, engines revving, clicking up and down through the gears as they slice their way along the curvy blacktop that snakes around our north Georgia home. Sometimes I just stand outside and listen, trying to count how many there are, guessing which roads they are running- and occasionally, wishing I were riding with them.

Wielding a Trident

Posted by Rob Brooks | May 5, 2021 | Bikes & Gear |

Small, simple, and very approachable, the Trident is nonetheless a rowdy little hooligan bike, built rock solid, that will immediately respond to a throttle dare and hurl you into a thrill ride. The bike possesses that same “What do you want to do? Well let’s go!” attitude, which I picked up on the first time I turned the key, thumbed the starter, engaged 1st and launched out down the rural roads surrounding my home in the north Georgia hill country.

Dancing With A Hot Italian

Posted by Rob Brooks | Apr 23, 2021 | Bikes & Gear |

Italian women are often portrayed in pop culture as sophisticated, sensuous, and svelte. They are also frequently portrayed as hot-headed and mercurial, quick to slap the crap out of you should you press your luck. And yet who among us guys, at some point in our lives weren’t gobsmacked at some Italian beauty we beheld, on screen or in print? We desired her, dreamed of her, even if we knew we might never have her.
Such is often our reaction to the sleek Italian motorcycle brands, and their exotic models. Beautiful yet volatile, alluring yet threatening, they beckon us to take them for a ride, dare us really, and yet are more than prepared to smack us down should we misbehave with them.

Legendary Bikes: 1967 BSA Spitfire Special MKIII

Posted by Rob Brooks | Apr 14, 2021 | Legendary Bikes |

I’ve long harbored a fascination and great affection for the classic British motorbike brands. I grew up on and around my father’s Triumphs, and have owned a series of them myself over the years. Yet the Grand Marshal of the Brit parade to me was always the BSAs. With their polished tank medallions, exquisite paint schemes, compelling names (Gold Star, Rocket, Lightning, Spitfire, Bantam, etc.) and racing pedigree, the BSA brand for years has been, as fellow writer Ted Edwards might quip, my “unicorn.” I’ve longed for and lusted after them, but have never owned one. Yet.

Struck By A Meteor

Posted by Rob Brooks | Apr 6, 2021 | Bikes & Gear |

An admission up front- as much as I’ve been looking forward to sampling this brand new offering from Royal Enfield, I didn’t have high expectations. Heck, it’s a single thumper 349cc for Pete’s sake, making all of 20 horses to the rear wheel, and would be the smallest street bike I’ve ever ridden. I planned to ride it mildly, and report on it as the small displacement stepping-stone bike to their 650cc Twins that I perceived it would be. Talk about mistaken first impressions!

The Little Guys

Posted by Rob Brooks | Mar 29, 2021 | Industry & Racing, Ride Life |

While the large dealerships have so much to offer, not only in bikes, but in apparel, accessories, parts, and great service, I admire and applaud the small shops, the family and individually owned establishments, for their passion, dedication, and personalized attention to detail. The big enterprises get all the attention, but these “Little Men” as Alan Jackson once immortalized in song, are in many respects the backbone of American motorcycling, and certainly of our national economy. My father, before giving up riding in 2019, always carried his ’03 Harley Heritage to a small one-man shop in Sparta, Georgia, owned by Mike, a retired certified H-D mechanic, when he needed service or parts. They’ve become friends, and Pops completely trusted his bike to Mike. “I’ll never take my Harley to anyone but Mike,” Pops once declared.

Strider & All Kids Bike

Posted by Rob Brooks | Mar 22, 2021 | Ride Life |

As a kid growing up in south Florida and later north Georgia, my bicycle was my life. I’m unsure what my first starter one was, and my parents can’t remember either, but I perfectly recall the bike that defined my childhood. It was a metallic blue Schwinn Stingray with a pearl white banana seat, a high back “sissy bar”, and a serious ape hanger handlebar, at least for a 2nd-3rd grader. I’d clip playing cards (always the Jokers) to the forks and frame, fore and aft, so it would clatter against the wheel spokes and mimic the sound of my dad’s Triumph TR6. No hand brake, but slowed/stopped by reversing the pedal action. I rode that bike all around our small community, through the woods behind our home, and took quite a few spills on it, always getting back up and rolling on. I remember teaching our own girls how to ride, each when they turned about 5. And like their father, they rode those little bikes all over the neighborhoods we raised them in.

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Posted by Rob Brooks | Mar 17, 2021 | Ride Life |

I’ve parted company with my beloved “Bertha” after nearly two decades. I feel as though I’ve sold out my best friend. You’ve heard of “buyer’s regret”? I think I’m feeling “seller’s remorse”. And yet, deep down, I know it was time. The older I get, the heavier that bike feels. The more years and miles she accumulates, the more attention she needs- old parts need replacing, more tune-ups are necessary, more tightening and wrenching is required. For someone not very mechanically inclined, this would eventually become a challenge.