Rider articles from January 2007

Rider archives from January 2007

The breakup: parting is such sweet sorrow ....(One trackmind)
January 1, 2007... Although our bidding paddle went safely down on the floor under my chair as soon as we sat down and stayed there throughout the auction (hands also remaining firmly glued to our sides), there was no lack of excitement on our parts just being in...

Response; Character Sport.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... "Whether you look at it as a comfy sportbike or racy tourer, the R1200S is a complete package" (Character Sport: 2007 BMW R1200S, November 2006). I disagree. As much as I like the more powerful engine and lighter weight of the R1200S, to make...

Response; nothing's changed.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... "If you wanted a touring bike 25 years ago, you bought either a BMW or a Moto Guzzi"? (November's Sport-Touring Rider, Norway Via Italy): Kevin Ash must have lived in either Germany or Italy, because in the good ol' US of A the vast majority of...

Response; Norge.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... I love your magazine. It is one of my favorites. I liked the article in the November issue about the new Moto Guzzi Norge. I just can't stop laughing every time I see the name of that bike, though. Back in the '70s or '80s, Saturday Night Live...

Response; Beach Alps Tour.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... I enjoyed Clement Salvadori's article in the November issue on the Beach's Alpine Tour. I have taken Beach's Alpine Tours and enjoyed all of them. Riding with Rob Beach is a lot of fun. If you get a chance to take one of these tours, by all...

Response: life's simple things.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... Although James Thurber is correct about a "flaw" with the weather integrity of the Breva's four-way flashers (Reader Response, November), with the complicated machinery we ride today an occasional glitch seems almost certain. If this is a...

Response; proven tips.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... Bill Stermer's tips in the November issue, Tips & Tricks: Roadside Emergencies, omitted one important item: Tow insurance should be on everyone's list if they travel. As a life member of the AMA, I find its moto insurance a bargain! My bike had...

Response; war dispatch bike.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... Regarding Mark Tuttle Jr.'s November editorial, Going Postal, I just noted a possible typo. The 1918 Cleveland A2 is described as being a dispatch bike in World War II. I don't think so; there was that other World War; it was World War I. ...

Response; short statures.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... I would like to add my endorsement to Mike Tillotson's letter (August 2006) about shorter women riders (and maybe some men, too) and the problem of finding appropriately sized bikes. Too often the solution is a cruiser with a requisite lower...

Response; purchasing memories.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... I have always enjoyed Clement Salvadori's writing, as does my best friend and best riding buddy--my husband. His November column, The Bikes We Buy, really struck a chord with me. I'm 42 and didn't start riding until I was in my 30s. This was on...

Response; faithful reader.(Letters to the Editor)
January 1, 2007... I should have done this before, but I'm a procrastinator: I first came upon an issue of Rider in the mid '80s at Larry's Market here in Seattle, Washington. I have been a faithful reader since then. Thank you for a magazine that addresses my...

Response; late-bloomers.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... Reading Manley "Lee" Lease's letter in Rider's October issue took me back 11 years when I thankfully made a similar decision. It was either get that bike or scrub that dream. So with a 1984 Gold Wing Aspencade, an MSF certificate and a...

Response; eastern coverage.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... First off, as a long-time subscriber, Rider is by far my favorite bike magazine. My wife and I enjoy sport touring on our BMW R1100RT and no other mag does such a thorough job of adding to the sport. Terrific job. Living in New York, we also...

Response; whatcha smoking?(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... Regarding Tech Q&A in the November 2006 issue, I agree with Chris Sidah on most points, but he overlooks one obvious aspect. It's a well-known fact that British standard smoke particles are 0.00032-inch larger than American ones. Clearly, the...

New for '07.(Kickstarts)
January 1, 2007... DUCATI For 2007 a new version of the Monster S4R Testastretta, powered by the same low-sump L-twin engine in the 999 Superbike, gives the S4R a claimed 13 horsepower gain--from 117 to 130--over its predecessor. The exotic Ducati's front...

Keeper cruiser: 2007 Suzuki Boulevard C50T.(RIDER TEST)
January 1, 2007... Very interesting. I'd just gassed up the Suzuki Boulevard C50T for the first time, and when I went to reset the tripmeter it read 110.8 miles, but the odometer only read 109. This is exactly the kind of inexplicable weirdness that keeps me...

A second opinion: a second rider was needed for the photo shoot and back-to-back rides, and he was Bob Reichenberg, long-time chief instructor with the MSF, cofounder of streetmasters motorcycle workshop and dyed-in-the-gore-tex motorcycle buff.(RIDER TEST)
January 1, 2007... On paper and on the road the BMW K1200GT and Yamaha FJR1300 are very similar motorcycles. Both bikes are a great ride, but there is nothing like swapping rides back and forth to bring out the irritating flaws. BMW's servo-assisted brake system...

The salt: the 2006 international motorcycle speed trials by BUB.
January 1, 2007... I know that you have all read or said that "It's about the ride, not the destination." This article is not about the ride. This time the destination was the focus, but my experiences, observations and the people I met over the course of the...

Blammo.(TECHQ&A)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... Q: I RECENTLY BOUGHT A 1993 YAMAHA VIRAGO 750. IT HAS 16,000 MILES ON IT. LATELY I HAVE NOTICED WHEN I APPROACH A STOP AND BEGIN TO DOWNSHIFT THAT IT SOMETIMES BACKFIRES. IS THIS A TIMING ISSUE, OR MAYBE PLUGS AND WIRES? Calvert Reading,...

More H-D juice.(TECHQ&A)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... Q: I have a 1986 Harley-Davidson FXST that I bought new, right off the showroom floor when I was stationed in the Philippines. Yes, they sold Harleys on base! I installed a simple voltage meter so that I would know if something went wrong with...

Hot sprint.(TECHQ&A)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... Q: I recently purchased a 2006 Triumph Sprint ST and I love the bike. However, there are two nagging problems that the dealer has not been able to fix. First, the liquid-cooled bike consistently overheats in any type of riding other than on the...

Mean Mean Streak.(TECHQ&A)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... Q: I own a 2000 Kawasaki Mean Streak with the 1,500cc engine. Lately it has developed an annoying vibration right at 3,000 rpm. I can downshift and stay at the same speed and the vibration goes away. It seems to subside a bit the longer I ride....

Noisy lifter.(TECHQ&A)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... Q: I have a bone-stock 2005 Harley-Davidson Road King with 13,000 miles on it. Generally I've been very happy with the bike, but lately (within the last 1,000 miles or so) it's developed what I think is a noisy lifter when starting the engine....

Worn seats.(TECHQ&A)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... Q: I've got a Suzuki 1500 Intruder which I bought new in April 2001. It now has more than 75,000 miles. At about 10,000 miles I installed Cobra Low Boy Shotguns and a jet kit. After about 30,000 miles or so, the bike started running badly. I...

Faulty TPS.(TECHQ&A)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... Q: The last time I rode my stock '94 BMW K75C it behaved normally. I put it away for about a month and then started it up. It idled normally, but when I applied throttle, it died immediately. If I let it idle for several minutes I can "milk it"...

APE cam chain tensioner.(GEARLAB)
January 1, 2007... IN HIS BOOK ADVANCED ENGINE TECHNOLOGY (LONDON: SAE INTL., 1998) HEINZ HEISLER PROVIDES A FIRST-CLASS EXPLANATION OF THE WORKINGS OF AN OVERHEAD-CAM MOTOR AND THE METHODOLOGY FOR KEEPING ITS CAMSHAFT(S) RUNNING TRUE AND TIGHT. In fact, 794...

Product spotlight.(NEW&COOL)
January 1, 2007... ALL OF THE GOODS AND SERVICES LISTED IN NEW & COOL ARE CHOSEN BY RIDER'S EDITORS BASED ON THE INTEREST TO READERS. THE FOLLOWING SECTION IS PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE TO VENDORS OF MOTORCYCLE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. WHO BEAR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR...