Here we are just about half way through the winter and I trust you are about as sick of cold weather riding as I am. Well, at least here in the Southeast we get to run ‘em all year round. I tell my boys who ride about six or seven months (tops) up in New…

Well, I’ve done my share of Iron Butt runs, but my ride up the Blue Ridge last month took the cake. Out of the garage on Friday morning, back by sundown on Saturday. I hit seven states, did most of the Blue Ridge Parkway, traveled through the middle of Atlanta, Chattanooga, Roanoke, Washington, Charlotte, and…

We all have great biker stories of the people we have met and the places we have been. This is what makes this biker lifestyle so exciting. You never know whether the guy in that diner on Route 66 in Vega, Texas is really Elvis or just an impersonator. You never know if the guy…

I am a biker. It is 2016. I thumb my starter and go. I can cross a continent for the price of a few tanks of gas. Effortless, —–relatively. My phone tells me how to suit up for weather I’ve not stepped foot in. My GPS tells me where to turn and where there’s traffic,…

I hope that if you are reading my stories you understand who Hunter S. Thompson was. I say was, as he departed this earth on February 20th, 2005 at the age of 67, by his own hand (which happened to have a .357 revolver in it!). An act that surprised me then, but makes perfect…

As a human race, we are constantly advancing in achievements of medicine, art, technology, sciences and yes, motorcycles. We bikers likewise benefit from the evolutionary process that hurls us forward. Dynamic suspension, traction control, electronic ignition and much more, give us reliability and comfort never imagined just a decade before. I trust as a subspecies,…

My friend and mentor Judge Daniel Lalor told me once “Home is where you buy a burial plot.” A thousand variations of the “Home is…” proverb exist and I’ve even heard it said “Home is where your HOG chapter is”! I guess it depends on which chapter you belong to? Mine is Killer Creek Chapter,…

How many of you have ever picked up a hitchhiker? Responded to the universal sign of right thumb out, side of road, facing traffic, right shoulder? Hitchhiking is a social phenomenon that has become far less prevalent in the past few decades. I don’t know why nor have I fully investigated its demise but you…

It seems to me that helmet laws are an exercise in ‘natural selection’. A quick reference in any scientific journal sets forth the proposition that natural selection is the process by which natural genetic variations within a population or organism may cause some within the populace to survive and reproduce, and some to die off. …

I head west at dawn on state route 14 between Sheridan and Cody Wyoming across a magnificent landscape and the bike putts along nicely. I’ve crossed 15 states and I’ve had no mechanical issues. If I had an odometer it would probably show about 3,000 miles crossed in the last week. The August weather is…

It’s about 50 degrees and the sun is setting. A perfect autumn ride: leaves peaking in the Northern United States, temperatures dipping in deference to the impending winter. We’re crossing a mountain ridge where we know the temperatures drop 15 or 20 degrees topside. My friend, Kevro, calls this stretch of road “nipple pass” as…

We pull up the driveway past the old mailbox, past the pond, past the grandchildren scurrying happily, not grasping the gravity of the day. First gear chugga, chugga, chugga and lean left, kickstand down, motors sputter to a halt under the car port, then quiet. The quiet strikes me. Apropos. We are at our friend…

Have you ever noticed that despite generally being a law abiding citizen, whenever you see a police cruiser while riding, you instinctively roll back off the throttle a bit? Or, perhaps pull your foot off the gas when in your car? Thereafter, you check your speedometer in hopes of being within acceptable limits. We’ve all…

Here I am, sitting on my garage floor, gearing up for Friday’s big trip. I am in a place as I sit here, that all bikers figuratively and literally love to be. It’s a great place not just in my garage but in my mind. I’m going through my luggage in anticipation of the next…

God protects drunks and children. Have you ever heard this saying? I have. Though I am not sure where. It’s lodged in the recesses of my childhood memory. Stated perhaps by an adult standing at a bar with me and adolescent peers scampering about in the bar room sawdust. I was for all intents and…

There is something about a pair of motorcycling gloves. Ones that grip the throttle and conform to you hands and give you that ready for action feeling, and look. Old enough to be worn and scuffed and hold the shape of your hands when pulled off and laid on the seat of your bike. I…

Ever since I’ve been collecting bikes I’ve always wanted the not so ubiquitous ‘36 knucklehead. It has been the year and model that has eluded me. I am not sure why this year and model is so esteemed by collectors but it may have to do with aesthetics. It may have to do with form. …

As I threw a leg over my bike outside Bodock’s Pub in Canton, Georgia, I felt an early summer warmth that made me smile after a long winter of bundled and zippered riding. It was one of those nights that made you realize that southern living is sometimes a blessing that Alaskans or Canadians or…

Who amongst us does not hold their first bike in reverence? The Honda 305 Scrambler, the Triumph Trophy, that Harley Sportster, maybe even a dirt bike like a CR 125 or a YZ 80. Whatever your initiation into “the life,” that particular bike is parked in the shadows of your imagination forever. Occasionally, when you…

Got a call from some of my old college riding buddies wanting to come down and ride the ‘Tail of the Dragon’ next week. I thought it was a great idea as the weather has cooled and I had not ridden with these guys in a while. The Dragons Tail, as if you didn’t already…