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If you like retro scooters then you might have heard of this little company called Genuine that’s been importing brand new PX150’s made in India to the U.S. Continue Reading »

The cool thing about motorcycles is that you actually don’t need a good sense of balance to ride them.  Twist the throttle, and the magic of gyroscopic forces does its work keeping you on a vertical plane.  But when the wheels start to slide (and also for tight low speed maneuvers) your sense of balance is what keeps you from hitting the ground.  Ever see someone catch an unexpected slide?  How did she do that?  It happens too quickly to think about what to do.  The only way is if your steering, throttle control, and sense of balance are in sync to save your butt from the pavement. Continue Reading »

Most people don’t realize Puma makes motorcycle gear. And although the Puma store in Union Square had a Monster 696 in the window at one point, I don’t think they actually sold anything other than Ducati branded clothing… right next to their Ferrari branded clothing… which was really cool when I was like 11.

From what I read online the boots are supposed to be good stuff – but I’ve never seen anyone wearing Puma gear. Have any experience with Puma gear? Let us know!  Anyway, here’s Tyson Beckford showing off the perks of being a male supermodel on a Ducati track day.

The backpack: It’s arguably the easiest and most natural way to carry a moderate amount of gear on your motorcycle.  Motorcycle luggage, panniers and top cases may be best everywhere else (and still great for storing gloves and jackets and helmets) but they are less convenient for transporting your everyday stuff when parking on city streets.  But doesn’t the bag get heavy? You generally don’t feel the weight of the bag when you’re riding, and you don’t lose any time installing or uninstalling anything. Continue Reading »

Here’s something you won’t see at the Bike show. Saw this on Visordown.

[Here's a great way to work on throttle control during the winter riding months]

In order to corner well, control traction, get an unruly bike to behave, you only need one finely tuned skill: throttle control.

• In order to stabilize a bike while leaned all the way over in a corner, you need a small amount of throttle.  Too much and you’ll be on your butt.  Too little and the bike will push toward the outside, not turn or be able to handle bumps as effectively.
• Also, in order to get a slide or a misbehaving suspension under control, you need throttle control.  Abruptly turn off the gas during a slide will only make it worse and contribute to a crash.  Doing nothing and continuing to roll on throttle when the rear wheel is slipping will make it worse and cause a crash. It takes a good amount of skill to hold the throttle until traction is restored to then roll on or slow down…

So how do you develop your throttle control skills? Continue Reading »

You might have seen this already, but I thought it was cool…  From the director of the classic MotoGP documentary “Faster”… a documentary of the TTXGP from the Isle of Man last year…

What do you think?  The mirror system is ingenious!  But I’d prefer something using a digital screen that could be installed on the helmet of your choice.

For me this is it.  I’m not a Ducati-snob, I actually like my Japanese made bikes… And as long as Honda makes bikes like the 600rr, I’ll do my best to own one.  I also happen to love the gurgling sound an inline four’s make when they’re running a little lean (go figure!)…  But I think the v-4 in the Desmo sounds amazing.  What do you think…?  Am I being suckered by the price tag and rarity of this high priced collector’s bike, or is it really a thing of beauty?

What’s the best sounding bike you’ve ever heard?  [BTW - I've only seen one of these on the street once - near the 59th bridge on the Queens side.]

Turn the sound off for this video, you don’t want to listen to it, trust me.

Okay maybe a piece of hardware can’t actually TEACH you to turn faster – but it CAN help you learn faster…  This is another gratuitous gymkhana video: And the winner here is not the smaller displacement bike, which is often the case and makes for a good story – but in this case the 600 won…so big woop.  But what’s interesting is to watch closely and see precisely WHERE the 600 was faster here.  It wasn’t the straights that the 600 pulled ahead here, but the turns.  The rider was noticeably faster on the turn-y bits. Continue Reading »