Ted Edwards

Introduction: 2026 Honda Rebel 1100 DCT SE

Posted by Ted Edwards | Jun 1, 2026 | Bikes & Gear |

Honda must read Road Dirt and, unlike me in high school chemistry, actually listen and take notes. For 2026 they addressed the Rebel’s riding position, revised the dash with a new TFT display, smartphone connectivity and introduced a factory custom SE trim. The net effect of a series of small tweaks on a motorcycle can sometimes exceed their sum. Do the Rebel’s small tweaks improve the package? If so, how much? Would it be worth it to upgrade from the older model?

Analog- 1993 Honda VFR 750

Posted by Ted Edwards | Dec 23, 2025 | Legendary Bikes, Ride Life |

In a digital world driven by touchscreens, scrolling menus and artificial intelligence there lives a Unicorn, a 1993 VFR 750. In this electric world measured by binary strings of 1s and 0s she is a deliciously analog endangered species driven by feel, a deft but heavy touch, proper feel at the levers. Her cockpit is full of spinning number odometers and sweeping white needles on black numbered faceplates that don’t disappear when the bike turns off. When I feel saturated by screen time and need to unplug and return to the heart of motorcycling, the core of who I am, I ride The Unicorn.

2025 Sport Touring Tire Test Wrap-Up

Posted by Ted Edwards | Oct 31, 2025 | Bikes & Gear, Nuts & Bolts |

We ask everything of motorcycle sport touring tires. Unlike narrow focus tires dedicated to track-only performance or mud-slinging off-road roost chuckers, we expect sport touring tires to be a jack-of-all-trades and master of everything. They need to stick like sap, munch massive miles, conquer Colorado heavy rain showers and handle like MotoAmerica track refugees. Oh, and they need to last forever. Tire manufacturers attempt to work miracles with modern tires by engineering ways to expand a tire’s envelope in all these directions at once. A rare few sport touring tires do this, succeeding in all areas at once. Others fall short. Some fall way, way short.

Ted’s Op-Ed: Why They Don’t Ride

Posted by Ted Edwards | Sep 16, 2025 | Legendary Bikes, Ride Life |

Splitting the wood took all day and made me horribly thirsty so I kept the garden hose running and drank often, which helped wash the beer out of my mouth because when we went woodcutting that was what my dad brought us to drink. When the wood was split I fired up the old Honda Trail CT-90 and rode down the street to the nearby empty field for a celebration run. Sometimes I wore a helmet, sometimes not, because of all the things I did as a kid growing up, riding a motorcycle was probably the safest.

Tire-d Ruminations

Posted by Ted Edwards | Sep 2, 2025 | Bikes & Gear |

Much trust is placed on those black donuts, much more when compared to automobile tires. Whereas a motorcycle has two oval contact patches roughly a credit card in size, passenger cars have four square contact patches, each about the size of 4” x 6” picture, or larger, and consequences for motorcycle tire failure are more disastrous. No driver has ever lowsided their Ford F150 after tucking the front end while trail braking into a corner. No driver has ever highsided their Honda Accord with too much throttle application on corner exit.

Dunlop RSIV vs Bridgestone T33- Midsummer Observations

Posted by Ted Edwards | Aug 11, 2025 | Bikes & Gear, Nuts & Bolts |

Bridgestone’s new for 2025 T33 Battlax is here to take on Dunlop’s Roadsmart IV for bragging rights as King of Sport Touring Tires. It is a big task. Nothing so far has been able to unseat the Dunlop as the best all around sport touring tire on the market.

5 Questions with Miranda Cain

Posted by Ted Edwards | Jul 23, 2025 | Industry & Racing, Ride Life |

Royal Enfield’s all female “Build.Train.Race.” program started with a ladies flat track exhibition race in October of 2020. Road racing was added in 2021 and the series joined the MotoAmerica race series full time in 2022. During MotoAmerica’s stop at The Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington recently, I enjoyed a conversation with Miranda Cain, who is in her second year with the program.

Summer Tire Test 2025- Dunlop Roadsmart IV vs Bridgestone Battlax T33

Posted by Ted Edwards | Jun 24, 2025 | Bikes & Gear, Nuts & Bolts |

However, while some of these claims are true, some are not. Our years of testing has shown that even in this age of technological advancement you can go wrong with your tire choice. Over the past three years and tens of thousands of miles of testing we have found differences both subtle and massive among the sport touring tires. Fellow tester and tire geek Dave Wensveen and I have seen it all from brilliant handling and amazing wet grip to tires that degrade after only 2,000 miles. There are brilliant tires out there, really good tires and absolutely bad tires. Road Dirt is here to help you make an informed choice.

The Worst Road In The World

Posted by Ted Edwards | Jun 9, 2025 | Ride Life, Rides & Roads |

Two weeks deep into my journey through the west I am passing through Tonopah to overnight at Ely and eventually ride the Bonneville Salt Flats. Highway 6 connects Tonopah to Ely, a 168 mile stretch of highway dissecting the hot gut of Nevada. There are no services on the road, no towns, no stops, no gas stations, no civilization, not a damn thing. One hundred and sixty eight miles of empty. This crappy Subway restaurant is the last oasis on the way to nowhere, and my last taste of electricity, indoor plumbing and air conditioning. At least the employees here are friendly, or trying to be.