Motorcycle

Two wheels and a motor ... or mobile life

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Category: Motorcycle
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I have often wondered if there was any fact-based evidence that light colors and/or high visibility clothing on motorcyclists had any impact on safety. Well now I found some evidence. A 2004 study1 (data collected between Feb 1993 and Feb 1996) conducted in Auckland New Zealand by researchers from the University of Auckland and funded by Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation produced some meaningful results.

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Category: Motorcycle
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Hotel Seven Crown Centro in La Paz

Another moto trip to Baja. This time the focus was on La Paz, where we spent five days enjoying the city and exploring.

We traveled on the Kawasaki Versys 1000 LT as a last second selection. Our Triumph Tiger 800 XC was carefully prepared and packed in the week leading up to the trip only to find, much to our surprise, the counter-shaft sprocket nut gone when we climbed on to leave. No idea how this happened. But, no time to fix. About 30 minutes later we re-packed onto the Versys and were off. One of the benefits of multiple bikes in the garage!

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Category: Motorcycle
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Russell's friend (Oatman AZ)

With the continuing COVID travel restrictions still in place, we set off on another social distancing USA motorcycle tour. This time a late March visit to Arizona on the, new to us, Kawasaki Versys 1000LT.

This turned out to be, on average, the coldest that I've ever experienced in southern Arizona. But, as you've no doubt heard, there is no "too cold", only poor choices in clothing, which we do not make. Enjoyed the trip.

See pictures here.

And the route map here.

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Category: Motorcycle
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Ready to Ride

I was hoping that we would tour PEI and Nova Scotia by motorcycle in the summer of 2021 but COVID interfered. No entry was possible into Canada. So instead, we road to the New England states to visit family and stopped at many museums along the way.

Our initial target was Great Falls Montana to attend the BMW MOA Rally—an annual national event we've been to many times in the past. In the days leading up to the trip, we spent more than our typical time preparing and packing. There is a lot to consider when packing two people into the limited space on a motorcycle for a nearly two month long trip. When launch day finally arrived, we were up early in the cool morning twilight, quickly dressed for cool riding, rolled out the already loaded bike and hit the starter ... to hear a click and nothing more. Dead battery! Hard to understand why but there was no doubt. The battery had so little voltage that the lights would only illuminate dimly and the instruments computer(s) would not initialize.