Phoenix Police pick a new police motorcycle
Posted by Slarsen in Motorcycles on December 20th, 2009
For this story which ran in the December 2009 issue of Motorcycle Consumer News, I spend more time researching than any other story I’ve ever written. I reviewed three years of repair records (nearly 10,000 total), on over 240 police motorcycles. I talked with officers, instructors and mechanics. In the process, I was able to come to a deep understanding of not only the experience the various agencies had when switching from the Kawasaki police motorycle to the Honda, Harley or BMW, but also, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various 3 platforms for police work. The article is here. Enjoy! This is Part 1. Part II comes out in Jaunary of 2010.
The absolute “right way” to change cooling fluid on a motorcycle
Posted by Slarsen in Motorcycles on December 20th, 2009
If you are the sort of motorcycle mechanic who does your own work because you know you can do a better job than most local shops, the uView 550000 is for you.
One of the best reasons to live in Phoenix if you are a Goldwing owner is Stu Oltman. He’s the senior technical editor for Wing World Magazine, the Gold Wing Road Riders Association’s monthly publication. The more difficult and harder a problem is to solve, the more he seems to enjoy it. He’s also a great source for new product ideas – especially ones involving the repair and maintenance of motorcycles. I saw him demonstrate the uView 550000 at one of his famous “Garage Days at Stu’s” and so I ordered one. When it came in I took it over to Stu’s garage to make sure I did everything right. That also left my hands free to make notes and take some photo’s.
This review is the result.
F4 Customs Speedglass Windshield
Posted by Slarsen in Motorcycles on December 20th, 2009
While on a ride in Turkey several years ago for RoadRunner Magazine I met Dan Moore, an accomplished entrepreneur from Cleveland. Dan’s an irrasible, irreverant, charming 70 year old with more potential for trouble and excitement than half a dozen 14 year old boys. He’s also managed to create more high-value businesses than anyone I’ve ever met, and I’ve met a few.
Six months after our ride he called me about his friend, Don Frank, who had created a company to build and sell high quality motorcycle windshields. Don sent me one, I put it on my bike and used it for 18 months. It is pretty incredible. Here is the review I wrote about it which appears in the December, 2009 issue of Motorcycle Consumer News.
Death Valley article finished
Posted by Slarsen in Motorcycles on August 31st, 2009
Smith on her Purple VFR - and her dog, Diddle
Finishing an article on a Death Valley ride I contacted the woman I wrote about. Our group had met her briefly in Shoshone, CA. I called her to confirm what I’d remembered about our conversation. She sent me this photo of her riding the purple VFR which will figure in the article. Frequently her dog, Diddle, rides along with her and her boyfriend on their rides. Notice the doggie goggles!
Remembering Nick Givotovsky
Posted by Steve Larsen in Uncategorized on July 8th, 2009
We met in the fall of 1996 at a retreat outside Philly. Jerry Michalski had convinced Ester Dyson (his editor at Release 1.0 and producer of PC Forum at the time) to pull together a small group of people from diverse disciplines who had, in the past year, said or written something that had made him say, “Aha.” (Photo courtesy of Doc Searls)
It was a magical time – a sense that things were shifting and moving, like tumblers in a great lock. The “conference” was unstructured, just over 50 people in northwest Philadelphia at Eagle Lodge and in an amphitheater where everyone could see each other. Alex Goldman of Internetnews.com reminded me today in his blog that I’d included a poem that Nick had written on the occasion when I chronicled my experience there and my ride back from that event with Chris Locke.
Nick and I stayed in contact over the years. He was wicked smart and a deep-thinking man, but more than anything else, kind — and that is how I will always remember him -intensely kind. I did not know his wife or two children, only that he talked with me about them all the time, so I felt I knew them. He was so, so proud of each and every success they had, no matter how small. AT 44, he passed away too soon.
Mogollon Rim Road
Posted by Steve Larsen in Motorcycles on June 12th, 2009
Christa from Road Runner magazine (a terrific publication, by the way, and if you don’t subscribe you absolutely should) was here a few weeks back and asked me about riding the Mogollon Rim Road. It is a 55 mile forest service road from Forest Lakes to Show Low, AZ and runs 5-10 miles south of Hwy 260 right along the rim. At the time (early spring) reports said it was too damp, too rutted and nasty for motorcycles, so she passed.
However, I was curious about it so I did the ride on Wednesday. Round trip from the house was 396 miles so it made for a long day (of course, the route I chose was partially responsible). However the intensity of the Rim Road ride and especially the last 7.7 miles would lead me to recommend this as “the” primary ride of the day and not to try and put too much before and certainly, not too much after you get off this road – as you will be beat. Here is a more complete description of the road and some more photos. Let me know what you think: mogollan-rim-road
Best bike for this would be a dual sport oriented more toward off-road. I was on my Wee-Strom and would have much preferred a 1200GS or any KTM.
Terrific review of a 1969 Lotus Elan
Posted by Steve Larsen in Cars & Msic, Motorcycles on May 28th, 2009
Leno’s review of this iconic sports car is especially sweet given that I have a 1969 Lotus Elan SE sitting in my driveway. /> And even more sweet is the fact that I purchased the car in 1973 and am only the second owner. It has never been “restored” and everything that has ever been done to this car – which is very little – has been done by me.
Wake me up New York
Posted by Steve Larsen in Uncategorized on May 7th, 2009
New York City has been on my mind for some reason this week. Maybe it is because I remember what an incredible time the month of May is in the city. Being in the city as it wakes up from the rotten winter weather never failed to put me in a great mood. Seeing the trappings of heavy winter garments give way to the lighter and brighter spring fashions on the beautiful women who walk New York streets really lifts ones mood.
A visitor from New York left a house gift of some wonderful coffee. See picture. While it is made in Dallas, it reminded me of New York. And the next thing was this fabulous aerial virtual tour of the city. Now the music accompanying these amazing photo’s is not what reminds me of New York, but the photos are stunning. Enjoy.
Do these socks make my feet stink?
Posted by Steve Larsen in Motorcycles, Publishing on April 28th, 2009
Last year at the Motorcycle Show in Northern California, Mansoor Shafi of Roadgear asked me to try a pair of his new riding socks. He promised I could wear them ten days in a row, never wash them, and they won’t stink. I thought this was incredible and began thinking about how to test them. In true Motorcycle Consumer News tradition, I found a way to put them to the test and the article is here.
The hardest part was convincing friends to test them with me. First, to not only wear these socks for seven days without washing them, but then to participate in blind sniff tests each night. What we don’t do for readers.
You should meet Annette Birkmann
Posted by Steve Larsen in Motorcycles, Publishing on April 22nd, 2009
Last spring Kari Prager, co-owner of the BMW/Triumph dealership in Mountain View, CA sent me an email saying a rider traveling from the southern tip of South America to New York would be stopping at his shop and did I want to meet her? I would and I did. Her name is Annette Birkmann and she may be the only person to ever abandon a legal career in Denmark to become a motorcycle mechanic in Argentina. She is likely to be one of the few women to ride solo though from the South American continent.
I wrote about her adventures for Motorcycle Consumer News. A copy of the article is here. You may find her “Top Ten Mistakes: Either in life or motorcycle adventures,” very interesting. Let me know what you think.