Motorcycling through snow to get over the pass. A cold Bike Week in Daytona. A ride to the tip of South America aborted. A new motorcycle crash study launches without funding from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.
These were all among the top stories covered here this year. What's a late December without a recap? Let's get started.
Elephant Ride assails snowy mountain pass on motorcycles
What do you get when you mix deep snow with motorcycles? A lot of fun and camaraderie if it's the Elephant Ride, held each year in Colorado. The goal is to cross Guannella Pass from Grant to Georgetown. Who cares if you don't make it; it's trying that counts.
Daytona Bike Week 2010 in pictures
My man Friggs was in Daytona to send a first-hand report on festivities down there. You could sum it up in one word: Cold! For once there was more leather than skin to be seen, but that didn't stop thousands and thousands of bikers from having a good time.
MotoAdventureGal update: Hard decision not to go to Ushuaia
Alisa Clickenger, aka MotoAdventureGal, started out from the U.S. with the intention of riding to the southern tip of South America, and we followed her along, thanks to the wonders of Skype. Adventures were many, mishaps also, and ultimately the dream had to be let go. She still did a lot more than most of the rest of us will ever do.
Motorcycle crash study will proceed without MSF money
For years the effort continued to launch a new study of motorcycle crashes to update the 30-year-old Hurt Study. Finally it was ready to go, at a scaled down size due to greater expense than anticipated. Then the Motorcycle Safety Foundation announced it would not kick in the amount it had set aside for the purpose because the MSF did not feel the reduced study would be adequate.
The study leader, Dr. Samir Ahmed, said his group would move ahead anyway, and the study is now ongoing.
MSF President Tim Buche discusses motorcycle safety studies
After withdrawing the funding it had planned to use for Dr. Ahmed's study, the MSF announced it would fund its own "naturalistic" study that will provide data on safe riding skills and near-misses in addition to crashes.
On the road to the Laughlin River Run
It was a dirty job but it needed to be done, so I headed out to the Laughlin River Run in Nevada, one of the first rallies of the year. Getting there, being there, and getting home were all adventures of their own. Thank goodness the snow held off till the day after I was home.
Does your motorcycle have two wheels, three, or four?
How do you make a simple question complex? Make the answer a basis for government policy. How do you garble data on motorcycle safety and crashes? Lump all sorts of vehicles, not just the two-wheeled kind, into the classification of "motorcycle."
Cushmans come to play where the big boys play: Sturgis
What could be more fun that flooding the streets of Sturgis, SD, with scooters, many of them rigged up to look just like miniature Harleys. This was too good to miss out on, so I didn't. Of course I shared it with everyone else. You're welcome.
Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge generates controversy, skepticism
First prize for the story the most people got sick of, including me, was the badly organized and executed Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge. Don't tell that to anyone who actually rode in the thing, however, because they loved it. Except for the two guys who died, of course, and even the relatives of one of them said they were happy he died doing what he loved.
Race day at Pikes Peak starts early, concludes with enthusiasm
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb has a long and storied history. We followed a rookie Pikes Peak racer and a pair of sidecars as they prepared, practiced, and ran. A splendid time was guaranteed for all.
Destination Sturgis: Joining the motorized river
More dirty work needed doing, this time in Sturgis. We checked out the baddest baggers, the customs, the trikes, and a lot more, including PeeWee Herman on his own little two-wheeler.
What would it be like to park the bikes and the car for a week and go everywhere on a 49cc scooter? I had to find out. Bottom line: It can be done, and you can have a lot of fun doing it.
Dual-sporting high in the Rockies
Can you easily call to mind one of the very best days you've ever had on a motorcycle? I can. It was just this fall when I spent a day on a Suzuki V-Strom riding a rugged pass in the Colorado mountains. Tell me how it could possibly get better than this!
Load up a bunch of writers and photographers on a bunch of Harleys, plus a BMW and a Honda, and what do you get? An EagleRider tour up the California coast and inland to Yosemite. You get four days of great riding. And honestly, if you're EagleRider, you get a lot of very good press.
Ranks of electric motorcycles continue to grow
Naysayers may have their doubts, and they may never accept for their own rides a silent motorcycle, but electric bikes are definitely coming. The numbers are increasing, the batteries are getting better, and you're going to be seeing more of them, not less.
Comments
Yep, these were good articles but my favorites were 'Only a biker knows . . .: Motorcycle wit and wisdom'
I'm glad you have made this subject continuous - always adding to it. It never gets old.
I remember them all! And looking forward to your articles for 2011.
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