It would take a lot to convince me to ditch the maps, go digital and add yet one more thing to the cluttered dash of my bike, until Garmin sent me their newest motorcycle focused GPS system, the Zumo XT3 motorcycle specific navigator, abounding with features like smartphone connection, trip planning, lean angle sensor, group ride tracking and drag race timer. Drag times? Hmmm…
Read More
I remember how it felt the first time. At nine years old I threw a leg over a Honda Trail 90 and basked in the discovery of power, speed, wind and freedom, like God was pedaling my Schwinn Stingray, thrusting me forward with each twist of my mighty right wrist. I explored fields, streets and Pacific Northwest mountains just outside my back door with my smelly metal missile that opened up the world. Any motorcycle that recaptures that feeling of youth, the reason why we ride in the first place, is worth every cent. I never thought I would find it in a Honda Rebel.
Read More
In my hand I hold the last issues of each magazine, the July-August 2019 issue of Motorcyclist and issue #4 of Cycle World printed in fall of 2020. Both magazines stopped their presses then but continued to exist online until this past July,when their owners at Octane Lending shut down Cycle World and Motorcyclist completely, along with Dirt Rider, Motorcycle Cruiser and other ATV, UTV and electric bike publications. Advertising dollars that shifted away from print and killed their paper publications continued their shift and pulled away from their websites, making them no longer viable.
Read More
A few weeks ago, Honda North America dropped off a 2026 Rebel 1100 DCT SE at my front door. It was at my asking actually, to compare the revised 2026 model year’s new dash, seat and riding position to the previous model. I was not prepared for what happened next. Not at all.
Read More
We all have to get to work somehow, but its more fun when you do it on a motorcycle.
Deciding to ride the bike to work is a simple choice when your bike is easy to ride, nimble, and attractive. A relaxing ride that can slice through traffic makes you more likely to ditch the keys to the cage and throw a leg over the motorcycle. Honda solved that dilemma for me when they dropped off a 2026 Rebel 1100 DCT SE at my garage a few weeks ago. Since then I have piled on hundreds of commuter miles and along the way discovered that the Rebel, while designed as a cruiser, just might be the perfect commuter bike.
The Pacific Northwest produces a multitude of wonders: thick forests, majestic mountains, abundant wildlife and bugs. Yes, bugs. I get more bugs on my motorcycle in thirty minutes of riding in the Northwest that I do in a week in California. Bugs populate here by the billions: giant bugs, tiny bugs, biting bugs, stinging bugs, green bugs and those yellow ones that taste like battery acid. I hate those. Ride here for an afternoon and you will get a grasshopper in the throat, a bee in your helmet or plow through a crowd of gnats like a boat leaving a wake. Or all three at the same time.
Read More
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?
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
Recent Comments