Why Don't We Have Tiered Licensing?

There are few things that brings more worry to someone working at a dealership than someone who steps into a dealership and announces they want a liter bike.  Talk to anyone who has been working at a dealership long enough and they will undoubtedly be able to tell you about the guy who comes strutting into a dealership without a motorcycle license who is dead set on purchasing a liter bike because their friends all ride "thousands" or they are too big to ride anything smaller.  In many places outside of the United States, there is a system of tiered licensing which forces new riders to spend time on easier to ride machines before being allowed to freely purchase the bike of their dreams.  Unfortunately, the idea of such restrictions begins to tread into controversial waters.

Big Fun In Little Packages

It seems to be the norm to define motorcycles in terms of size and dimensions.  How big is your motor?  How wide is your tire?  How big is your fuel tank?  For some reason, it always seems to follow that the bigger anything is, the better it is. However, there was a time when small capacity bikes were sought after not only by beginners, but also by those who wanted a fun little machine to bop around town or just because they enjoyed all that came with riding around on a small bike.  Over the years, bikes got bigger and bigger and somewhere along this progression the small capacity bikes somehow got phased out from the mainstream.  Perhaps it's due to the evolution of the biker image or maybe it's simply increased machismo and ego that keeps us believing that we have to lug around a nine-hundred pound tourer or a two hundred mile per hour missile to truly enjoy riding, but recent trends seem to show that there's room for the revival of the small motorcycle.

Motorcycle Safety Foundation: Basic RiderCourse - Just Do It

Motorcycling has steadily become more and more "mainstream" in recent years as the stigmas associated with riding have been shed through good press as well as a general increase in understanding.  Movies like "On Any Sunday" and "Why We Ride" have helped to spread awareness for riders and various ad campaigns from around the world have pushed to try and make the general public aware that motorcycle riders are still people.  Although many still think of images from "The Wild One" and "Sons of Anarchy" when thinking of "bikers", one can see that the general consensus about motorcycles is changing every season.  For many of those who have discovered riding, motorcycling has becomes less to do with criminal association and more about all the positive aspects.  Where once there was only danger and mischief is now an association with freedom and a proper code of conduct.  Students, professionals and intellectuals alike are coming around to motorcycling and it's very possible that we are coming into a golden age of motorcycling.

Whatever Happened to "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday"?

As some of you know, the Daytona 200 took place this past weekend.  Surrounded by the yearly Daytona Bike Week, this event often marks the start of the season for many of us in the colder states.  Thanks to some last minute deals, the race was broadcast on Fanschoice.tv and those of us who couldn't pry ourselves away from the daily grind to make it down to Florida could still enjoy the action.  Although the track has been reconfigured several times and the class structure for the motorcycles has been swapped a countless number of times through the years, the race on the speedway has endured since 1961 and racing on the beach even further back since 1937.  Although the popularity of Bike Week has increased over the years, it seems attendance at the race has been waning through the years.  Although it would provide some comfort to believe that this was a singular phenomenon surrounding the Daytona 200, but paying attention to trends over the last few years might make one believe that this may be indicative of motorcycle racing culture in the United States as a whole.

A Friendly Reminder: Pre-Season Checks

 The optimistic among us are exclaiming, "It's finally here" and can feel the freezing cold behind us as the temperature inevitably begins its ascent.  As spring rapidly approaches, a rider can't help but start to try to finally break away from the aches of cabin fever by occupying the space between here and "riding season" with something to reacquaint him or herself with our two wheeled obsessions.  Unfortunately, as exciting as this time is, this is also a time when I see a lot of bikes being crashed.  Often in our haste, we tend to overlook certain basic things and end up "jumping the gun" so to speak.

Why I'm Buying a Quad

I know, I know.  So what if quads have two too many wheels?  It doesn't mean they can't still be a ton of fun.  You can think about an ATV as a motorcycle's bigger, kinda slow, but friendly and lovable cousin.  When talking to a lot of my motorcycle buddies, quads seem to be as foreign to them as street bikes are to a majority of the non-motorcycling public.  It's understandable when I consider that I probably wouldn't have a clue about them if I didn't learn about them through working at a dealership.  Fortunately, I had the chance to do some snow plowing with a Honda Foreman Rubicon yesterday and am now more convinced than ever that they are the answer to the winter-time blues.. given you have some place to ride one.

Cross Country Movie Night: Idaho Back Country Discovery Route

As winter is hopefully coming to a close, Cross Country Cycle hosted yet another movie night featuring the fifth installment of the Backcountry Discovery Route organization series that covers a route put together for dual sport and adventure bike travel exploring Idaho.  Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments were served including the well renowned Cross Country dirty water hot dogs and freshly popped popcorn.  If you're interested in the movie, check out the trailer after the jump. Further information can be found at the IDBDR homepage.