Nuts & Bolts
Simple How-Tos, Maintenance, Repairs, & Upgrades
2025 Sport Touring Tire Test Wrap-Up
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.
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Gems Among Junk: Motorcycle Swap Meets
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.
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Motorcycle Gear Review: Garmin Zumo XT2
Garmin has built guidance systems specially made for hurling ourselves into the the wind with no need for real maps or even a sense of direction. The Zumo XT2 is Garmin’s latest platform for telling us how to get from A to B, the fast way or the scenic way, with pretty much every conceivable convenience stop along the way while also alerting us to sharp curves, state helmet laws, speed cameras, traffic conditions, ETA and probably a few more things I haven’t figured yet.
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Dunlop RSIV vs Bridgestone T33- Midsummer Observations
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.
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Summer Tire Test 2025- Dunlop Roadsmart IV vs Bridgestone Battlax T33
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.
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Spotlight: Local Motorcycle Shops
There’s something special about the small, privately owned “mom & pop” motorcycle shops. The true essence, the heart and soul of our motorcycling culture and lifestyle can really only be tasted in these local shops. Our friend Ryan Richardson, the North Georgia rep for Law Tigers, knows this very well.
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Moto Misfortune
First published years ago by Rebecca Dudley of the News-Tribune, she shared the story of a biker who pushed his motorcycle from his front patio into his living room, where he began to clean the engine with some rags and a small bowl of gasoline. When he finished, he sat on the bike and decided to fire it up, to make sure everything was in running order.
Yes, in the living room.
Gear Review: Peak Design Motorcycle Bar Mounts, Part 1
Over the weekend I was able to do an installation and test ride using the Peak Design Qi2 cell phone mount with charging capabilities, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.
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Honda’s New E-Clutch Technology
Honda’s all new E-Clutch system really makes these bikes very versatile. You essentially get two motorcycles in one. You can engage the hand lever clutch and ride manual, or engage the E-Clutch and simply tap up/down through the gears. We sampled the CB650R about a year ago, and for my size, it was the perfect fit (not to mention the sexiest pipes in the industry). So Honda’s installing the E-Clutch system in this and the sport model makes this bike even more inviting, not just to younger, new, and potential riders, but also to somebody like me. I loved it.
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