For specifics on BMW’s future bike, go read the article about it on Lanesplitter. No need to reinvent the wheel, even though BMW literally did for this bike. Andrew P. Collins goes over the major features and gives his opinions on how feasible they are for future production, most of which I agree with. But I want to look at this subject at a higher level – not specifically at BMW’s concept (though it is a good starting point), but how bikes will fit into society, what roles they might play, and what the motorcycling scene in 100 years would be like.

Future Or Retro?

As society slowly but surely moves toward welcoming our autonomous four wheeled overlords, there’s the question of how bikes will fit into this autonomous future. Will they, too, benefit from the features that motoring autonomy will make commonplace? Or will they be our final stand against the machines, where humans and humans alone are in control without electronic nannies coddling our every move?

I think the answer is both. Racers already apply the latest and greatest technology to improve the performance of their bikes. Modern 600cc sportbikes make more power than the liter bikes of not too long ago. Motorcycles have been slow to adapt electronic aids, but anti-lock brakes and the aids that come with it, like traction, stability, and launch control, can be applied to motorcycle applications. In the end, I think sportbikes will continue to embrace technology to push the performance envelope as far as they can. We may see 300mph sportbikes by 2116.

But at the same time, there’s a huge retro appeal for motorcycles as well. Look at the massive success of Harley-Davidson. Most of their bikes don’t look much different than what they made in the 1950s. Many would joke that the technology isn’t much different either, but that simply isn’t true. Fuel injection has been available as an option on some of their bikes since 1996, while many bikes made today are still carbureted. I appreciated not having to fiddle with a choke on the Street Glide I rented in Florida one cold morning. And their new Milwaukee Eight motor is a thoroughly modern design despite its retro appearance. Aside from Harley, Indian has returned, Victory has appeared, and the Japanese have been imitating big American cruisers for years. Harley even sued some of the Japanese manufacturers over their bikes resembling Harleys too much, one of which was my very own Honda Shadow ACE 1100. Even BMW is getting in on the big cruiser game, which seems antithetical to the high tech performance machines that BMW is all about. The bottom line is that cruisers are extremely popular and are here to stay. Designs will evolve slightly, like the V-Rod did, but remain quite similar to the cruisers we ride today.

I don’t think riders will have to make a choice between futuristic or retro bikes. Both will be widely available. Those who prefer the latest and greatest technology can have it, while others can keep riding old style bikes with subtle, incremental technology additions that add to, rather than diminish, the more raw experience.

Alternative Fuel

What will bikes even run on in 100 years? Gas? Batteries? The blood of our vanquished enemies? Who knows. But I think electric bikes are the way to go as gasoline gets more scarce. It can be generated from numerous energy sources. Storage and range have always been the biggest issues with electric vehicles, but many auto manufacturers are starting big pushes into electric car technology that can carry over to bikes. In another 100 years range anxiety will be a thing of the past, between improvements in the size and shape of batteries and the implementation of a standardized recharging infrastructure. Modern electric cars are already nudging the 200 mile range mark. In another 100 years recharging should be as fast and easy as refueling your bike with gas is today.

An added bonus of the switch to electric motors is their enormous powerband. You’ll need some form of launch control, because maximum torque is available immediately from a dead stop rather than a narrow RPM range. In fact, the Arcimoto SRK already limits power from the maximum its motors can handle for exactly this reason. Gears may even become a relic of the past, as electric motors may handle a wide enough RPM range to make them unnecessary. Electric bikes are already tearing up the Isle of Man TT Zero. The class record time, set last year by John McGuinness, is 18:58.743, an average speed of 119.279mph around the 37.733 mile circuit. That’s ten seconds quicker than his 250cc record set in 1999, and just fifteen seconds off the SuperTwin record that James Hillier set last year on a Kawasaki 650. These electric racing bikes are serious business, with serious lap times by serious riders to prove it.

Unfortunately, the sounds our modern gas motors make will fade away into history at the expense of the electric whir. Whether you prefer the scream of a sportbike or the lope of a V-twin, electric motors are quiet, which will certainly annoy the “loud pipes save lives” crowd.

Self Supporting

Google made an April Fool’s joke video about their new self-driving bicycle, but other videos demonstrate that the technology to keep a bicycle from falling over already exists.

Given 100 years to refine it, I see no reason why motorcycles couldn’t incorporate similar technology to help the rider control the bike, prevent crashes, and even eliminate the traditional kickstand. I’d still want to have a wheel stand for working on the bike while it’s powered down and not supporting itself.

Sensors And Telemetry

Like it or not, autonomous cars are coming. Even if they’ll have to pry your steering wheel from your cold dead hands, the technology of autonomous cars can provide advantages to non-autonomous motorcycles.

BMW’s concept includes a heads-up display integrated into a pair of riding goggles. This isn’t far fetched at all. The technology is basically there today. It could be standard equipment in 100 years, and even eliminate the traditional gauges and warning lights as BMW predicts. It’ll be just like Iron Man.

But it gets even better. Some modern cars already use a variety of cameras and sensors for their semi-autonomous functions, like adaptive cruise control and staying in their own lane better than their human drivers seem able to. Rather than control the bike for you, this information can be sent to your heads-up display, warning you if someone is in your blind spot or if traffic ahead is suddenly stopping. Infrared cameras can display heat sources in the dark, making that pedestrian wearing black at night light up like a Christmas tree on your display.

I have absolutely no issue with having these sensors and making as much information available to the rider as possible – as long as the rider remains in full control and able to make their own decisions based on that data. That’s what riding is all about.

Safety Gear

One of BMW’s claims with their future concept is that the electronic safety systems will be so good that traditional riding gear and even helmets will be unnecessary. Indeed, we’ve seen this attitude before with the BMW C1.

Between the seat belts and roll cage, BMW claimed that helmets weren’t necessary with the C1. Only a few governments agreed. (Arcimoto uses a very similar roll cage and dual seat belt system as the C1, but makes no claim to fall into the autocycle category that Elio has pioneered that wouldn’t require helmets or motorcycle licenses.) Like Honda’s motorcycle for people who don’t ride motorcycles, the PC800, the BMW C1 didn’t sell well and was soon discontinued.

Despite BMW’s claims, I believe there is no way that helmets and safety gear can be eliminated from motorcycling without eliminating the protection they provide. Assume that bikes in 100 years really can stop and swerve and avoid collisions all by themselves, contrary to my personal desires. So there you are, riding along enjoying a quiet back road away from traffic, with the wind in your hair and the sound of nothing but the wind and the whirring of your electric motor.

Suddenly, a deer pops out of the woods, previously invisible to you. Your infrared camera registered its presence and location long before you could see it and relayed them to your heads-up display, but couldn’t predict that it would suddenly jump into the middle of the road directly in front of you. The bike calculates its options faster than the blink of an eye. Swerving in either direction won’t avoid the deer if it randomly jumps in that direction, but with excellent brakes and ultra grippy tires it can stop before impact, so that’s exactly what the bike does.

Unfortunately, you, as the rider, weren’t expecting this. As a great philosopher once said, “Captain, ye canna change the laws of physics.” The bike stops, but you keep going, tumbling over the handlebars at 60mph. The bike comes to a safe stop and gyroscopically balances on two wheels, escaping without a scratch. But you sustain much worse damage than the deer after literally flying off the outside of the turn and smacking solid objects with no protection whatsoever. Your ride is over – permanently.

Consider the state of safety gear 100 years ago, and what’s available today. Harley and the Davidsons showed us the early days of motorcycle racing. The gear they wore then was practically useless, and fatalities were common. Today, gear can allow us to walk away with a few bruises after a crash that otherwise would’ve killed us, like the situation I just described. Those who don’t like wearing helmets and gear complain that they’re too heavy, too bulky, and too hot. In 100 years, these issues can be worked out. We could have riding gear that’s even more protective than what we have today, but feels almost like we’re not wearing gear at all. Hopefully more people will be willing to wear it by then.

What If I’m Wrong?

Who cares??? The beauty of science fiction is that the ideas it generates inspire tomorrow’s science fact. Jules Verne wrote about going to the moon 104 years before we got there, and he got many details right. Star Trek communicators led to flip-phones, which are so five minutes ago now. But Richard Hammond made a good point in his review of the Morgan Aero 8 that predictors in the past are doing so from the point of view of their own time. Futurists of the 1930s may have gotten a lot of things right, “but the aeroplanes are biplanes, and the robots are rubbish.” No doubt some of my predictions will end up being “rubbish” as well. One small consolation is that in 100 years I probably won’t be around for people to tell me “your an idiot” – a phrase that will, much to my editorial dismay, probably be accepted as grammatically correct by then.

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A single headlight is all that’s legally required for the front of a motorcycle, but there are disadvantages. Amber running lights on either side clearly proclaim “I am a motorcycle” rather than “I am a car with a burnt out headlight.” Additionally, a single point of light makes it difficult for others to determine how close I am and how quickly I’m approaching. I’ve definitely been cut off more frequently after removing the faulty light bar, whose running and driving lights made it much easier for others to judge my distance. I’d wanted to replace my temporary turn signals with Lowbrow Customs’ amber dual filament bullet lights to match the red ones I already put on the back of my bike, but they’ve been out of stock for a while, and when I asked when they’re getting more they said they didn’t know.

I was watching various motorcycle videos on YouTube the other day, and the title of a suggested video caught my eye: “How to have a turn signal and running light in 1.” This is quite relevant to my interests, so I watched it.

He faced a similar issue, where his fancy new LED mirror/turn signals could only be turn or running lights, not both. He demonstrated that by connecting the power wires for the turn signals and running lights together, the single light would serve both functions. The problem was that this fed running light power back through the turn signal circuit to light up the rear signals as running lights as well. Amber running lights are illegal on the rear – they have to be red. So he added diodes to the circuit to only allow power to flow in one direction. The fronts remained combination turn/running lights, and the rears were turn signals only.

But wait – I’ve already changed my rear turn signals from amber to red. I tapped power off the license plate light for the dim filaments to make them additional red running lights, and wired the normal turn signal wires into the bright filaments. On a recent New England Riders group ride, my group’s sweep rider politely informed me that these rear turn signals weren’t particularly visible to her, and suggested that I might want to see to that. Over the winter I planned to run new running light wires from the front to the back of the bike so that they, too, would shut off when the turn signals were on, just like the front. But I realized that if I simply connected the run and turn wires together without the diodes shown in the video, my rear turn signals would become running lights, using the bright rather than dim filament for added visibility. Since they’re already red, they’d be legal tail lights, unlike the bike in the video. So rather than adding wiring, I removed the custom running light wiring I’d already added to turn off the dim filaments in the back. The bright filaments are even brighter running lights, and located far enough away from the run/brake light to not obscure it when I’m braking. When I signal for turns they flash on/off rather than bright/dim, solving the visibility issue. I’m not using the dim filament at all now, but that’s OK. The dual filament lights were the same price as the single filament ones, so it’s not like I wasted money.

I spent more time undoing my wiring with the rear lights than I did modifying my front lights to serve double duty. That was maybe a five minute job for both sides since I already knew how that wiring worked. After doing one side, I, too, had the issue shown in the video where the turn signal indicator was constantly on, but after doing both sides this was no longer the case, at least on my bike.

Since this modification affects the rear turn signals too, no additional wiring is necessary. If your rear signals are red, you’re done. If not, you may be able to swap from amber to red lenses, or use red tint on your amber lenses. I understand that a contrasting color like amber is more clear as a turn signal than red. But my tail light isn’t huge, and I’m willing to make the color trade-off to gain two additional tail lights that double as turn signals.

This also means I no longer have to wait for Lowbrow Customs’ dual filament amber bullet lights to come off of indefinite backorder. Instead I bought a pair of single filament units to replace my temporary turn signals up front. (I got the last two they had in stock, which is why I jumped on them immediately.) They’ll match my bike better, and are larger and more visible than the dinky little lights I have now (the NER ride leader also mentioned he had trouble seeing my front signals – hopefully this will fix that too). They’ll also serve as both running lights and turn signals, now that I’ve figured out how to tweak the factory wiring slightly to enable that functionality.

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I have a lot of respect for anyone who can ride like these guys do. But I find this race even more entertaining to watch. Particularly the blatant cheating at times. All in good fun, of course.

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There are two things I take away from watching this. One is how excellent riding skill can make an old bike go seriously fast. But the other is that a 1935 BMW isn’t exactly a slow bike to begin with. Like many riders I recently watched Harley and the Davidsons. If you haven’t, I recommend it – whether you love Harleys or hate them, it’s an important piece of American motorcycle history. While the bikes in the show were reproductions, it still amazes me just how fast old bikes were. It’s also scary, considering that at first they were basically bicycles modified to have an engine, rather than machines purpose built to handle the speeds they were ridden. Let’s not even talk about the complete lack of modern riding gear, which claimed many lives on those old, fast machines.

Still, amazing stuff.

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The Story So Far

I may have only had the bike for a week so far, but I already dove in and tweaked some things. As you do on any project bike to make it truly your own. Unfortunately, not all of the modifications have been by choice.

Handlebar Adjustment

This is the first thing I did after rolling the bike into my garage. The previous owner either had longer arms than me or liked to lean forward, so the handlebars were too far forward for my comfort. Four 6mm Allen bolts loosened it up and let me swing it back to where my hands naturally fell to the controls.

Rear Turn Signals

The previous owner got the bike with the aftermarket hard bags already installed. He did not get the original rear turn signals, which had to be removed because they interfered with the bags. I got the bike with a license plate frame that had two nearly invisible amber strips on the sides substituting for turn signals. Even better, they didn’t work.

I pondered numerous solutions for this, including adding a pair of trailer lights to the hard bags and a trailer light converter to make them run/turn/brake lights. But I was hesitant to drill holes in the perfect bags. As I continued researching, I learned that I would have to remove the rear fender to access the wiring, which runs underneath it. I pondered reusing the rear turn signals from our Suzuki Savage parts bike, but they would be similarly difficult to remove.

Digging through my toolbox I found a set of tiny turn signals I’d removed from my Suzuki GS1100L something like seven years ago. I’d replaced them with real turn signals right after getting the bike, partly because they didn’t work, and partly because I want turn signals that’ll actually be seen. But they worked on the Shadow, so as a temporary measure I picked up a pair of stainless steel L-brackets at the hardware store and bolted them in with the license plate frame. It wasn’t great, but it was a good short term solution, and I admit the small lights actually look pretty cool.

As a more permanent solution, I ordered up a pair of these from Lowbrow Customs. They’re larger, and since they’re dual filament I wired them up as running lights as well as turn signals by tapping power off the license plate light. That’ll make me more visible from the rear at all times, not just when I’m signaling for a turn.

The Driving Light Fiasco

On my first night ride two things became clear very quickly. One was that the LED headlight bulb was rather good. The second was that my driving lights, which have halogen bulbs, were aimed WAY too low. I had no trouble seeing what’s directly ahead of my front wheel, but they needed to be tilted way up to actually be effective.

At first I could see no way to do this besides bending the mounting bracket, but McMike on Oppositelock pointed me to the owner’s manual, including aiming instructions. I had to remove the turn signal to gain access to the driving light mounting hardware, which I could then loosen and adjust. Unfortunately, with the power wire to the bulb running through the middle of the bolt and limited space, there was no way to adjust the lights while they were actually on and tighten them up to a point where they’d actually stay put.

But that ended up not mattering. I blew my turn/brake/horn fuse as well as my brand new rear turn signal bulb, and traced the problem back to a stripped turn signal wire inside the light bar. Again, there was so little space to work with that I was unable to get inside, cut away the ripped insulation, and tape it up so it wouldn’t short out. This also prevented the spring loaded base of the socket from springing back and making contact with the turn signal bulb.

In the end, I decided that as much as I love the looks and potential performance of this light bar, it was more trouble than it was worth. It had to go. Removal was fairly simple. It was bolted in with the same two bolts that hold the headlight on. Since wiring was screwed up anyway, I had no issue cutting and removing it. Bye bye light bar, and my shorting out woes were gone. Unfortunately, so were my turn signals, and I had no way to mount new ones.

After a couple of trips to the bike shop and hardware store, I ended up buying, cutting, and bending a pair of L-brackets to fit. This is similar to what I did on the back, but there was more customization involved. My dinky little turn signals left over from my GS1100L didn’t draw enough current for the flasher to work correctly, so I bought a pair of generic turn signals, mounted and wired everything up, and it worked again. These signals are only single filament, not dual, so in addition to losing the driving lights I also lost the running lights. But at least they work, and don’t short out and blow fuses and bulbs. Speaking of, I couldn’t find any replacement bulbs at local motorcycle or auto parts stores, so I had to search and order it online. I bought two to have a backup.

Exhaust Patch

The Shadow ACE is loud. Sure, any bike will seem loud compared to my PC800, which sounded like a sewing machine at idle. The Shadow ACE, in particular, is designed to sound like a Harley with its single pin crank, unique from other Shadow versions, and is supposed to have a nice lopey rumble. But in addition to having aftermarket pipes, one of them was loose, and there was a leak before the muffler. I value my hearing, as well as favorable relations with neighbors and law enforcement. I’m also not a believer in the “loud pipes save lives” philosophy, and felt like a hypocrite for running loud pipes myself. So I had to do something about it.

Tightening all of the bolts on the exhaust helped, but didn’t solve the problem. I decided to try one of those exhaust wrap patch deals from the parts store. The one I got was designed to apply when cold, then tighten down with baling wire to hold it in place temporarily. I was then forced to ride for a while to heat up the exhaust and make the patch essentially shrink wrap itself around the affected area. It was a tough job, but I fell on that sword. I didn’t expect much, but darned if after about 20 minutes or so the “blat blat blat” of the leaky exhaust faded away to a more respectable rumble, only getting loud when I gave it a lot of throttle as designed.

I’ll admit that the patch isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing thing I’ve ever seen, but it’s not bad, and more importantly it does the job. I may or may not replace the exhaust someday.

The To-Do List

Of course, a project bike is never done. Here’s what’s left to do.

Matching Front Turn Signals

Lowbrow Customs sells an amber version of the dual filament bullet lights I used on the back. With the light bar gone, I’d like to pick up a pair of these to put on the front. They’ll match the rear lights perfectly since they’re exactly the same except for the lens color, and they’ll match the bike better than the arrow shaped turn signals I just added. I’ll also get my running light functionality back. No fancy wiring required like the rear lights – the Shadow is already wired for front running lights from the factory.

Unfortunately these lights are out of stock at the moment, so I’ll have to wait on ordering them. The single filament version is in stock, but I want my running lights, especially since I also lost my driving lights. Speaking of which…

Driving Lights v2.0

There was no problem with the wiring for the driving lights, so I simply cut it, coiled it up, and stuffed it away for later use. I need to figure out what to do about that. Can I find a better way to install the driving lights from the old light bar? Or should I try something entirely new, perhaps mounted to my crash bars to avoid blinding oncoming drivers? I had good experience with these lights from SuperBrightLEDs on my PC800. Even better, they also sell clamps for this exact application. The photos even demonstrate the same driving light I’d use mounted to them. About $130 would get me the complete setup for both sides of the bike.

I do agree with Andrew P. Collins’ review on Jalopnik that halogens are better for throwing light far down the road, but these particular LED lights are a solution I’ve already used with great success. Plus I need a solution that will also allow my turn signals to remain, and preferably not be hidden by the brightness of the driving lights. Or maybe I can find some brackets that will let me mount the halogen lamps from the light bar somewhere else. I have to figure it out. Fortunately, the wiring is all there and ready to go, complete with a handlebar switch, so I just need to figure out the physical stuff.

Black Reflective Tape

My bike is black. Black means it doesn’t show up at night very well, because the night is dark and full of terrors. My hard bags obscure the stock reflectors below the passenger seat, making the problem worse. But I like how the bike looks dark and badass during the day, and I don’t want to spoil that. The answer is black reflective tape. It’s black-on-black during the day, but it shines at night when lit up by headlights. A stripe or two on the side and rear of the hard bags ought to do the trick. Maybe I’ll put some on my helmet as well.

Passenger Backrest

The driver gets spoiled with a nice cushy Mustang seat and backrest, but the stock passenger backrest remains. It’s showing its age with a little frayed stitching, but beyond that it’s uncomfortable for my wife. She wants the option of riding with me in addition to riding her own bike, so we’ll have to upgrade that at some point.

OEM Heel-Toe Shifter

The Shadow ACE came standard with a heel-toe-shifter, like a Harley. The previous owner cut off the heel portion of the shifter. After adding the floorboards he couldn’t operate the shifter properly with the limited mobility of his steel toed work boots. The shifter is quite usable in the normal up-down manner, but I kind of liked being able to push down on the shifter in both directions on the Harley Street Glide I rented in Florida. It’s an easy swap to another OEM part. I found this one on eBay for $50. But it’s a low priority right now, especially since I’ve already spent a little extra on repairs than I intended so soon after buying the bike. This will most likely be an over-the-winter upgrade if I stumble across one for a good price.

A project is never done, and cruisers just beg for customization. As funds allow, little by little, I’ll work my way through these minor tweaks and fixes to make the Shadow uniquely my own.

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You may be thinking I’m crazy. Here I have a comfortable sport tourer which, despite a few hiccups, has been extremely reliable and low maintenance. There’s nothing wrong with it. So why change? I could say that it’s because it’s set up well for long distance touring, but I don’t do that these days and want something more appropriate for just putting around. That’s partly true, but the truth is that I’ve simply gotten bored with riding it. My quick test blasts on my wife’s Savage have left me wanting a more visceral experience while I’m riding. The Savage is too small for me, but it reminded me of the Harley Street Glide I rented in Florida. I was anti-Harley for a long time, an opinion I’ve changed after meeting a bunch of cool Harley riders and putting 500 miles on that Street Glide in two days. No, it wasn’t a corner carver. But it was quite comfortable, sounded awesome, and was generally quite cool. It put the cruiser bug in my ear.

I’ve been commuting regularly on my PC800, and it’s worked well for that. That’s what it was made to do. But it doesn’t give me the drama or the sensations that a cruiser does. It’s quite refined, especially for a design dating back to 1989. The exhaust note sounds more like George Jetson’s flying car than a motorcycle when I’m going down the road. Kate Murphy told me it sounds more like a TIE Fighter bombing down the front straight at Palmer, which is pretty cool, but that’s not what I hear. It also gets pretty warm behind that windshield on a hot summer day. It may have a vented Clearview windshield, but opening that vent all the way doesn’t seem to help.

I liked the Harley, but Harleys are expensive. I started looking at used metric cruisers. That was more like it. I was open to any of the Big Four – Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, or Yamaha – but I fell for the Honda Shadow ACE 1100. It’s about the most blatant Harley ripoff you can get, so much so that Harley Davidson actually sued Honda over it. The ACE variant even switched from the Shadow’s standard dual pin crank to a single pin to get the lopey Harley sound at the expense of 10hp. I don’t care – I’m not racing this thing. As long as I can squirt into traffic with a satisfying BRAAAAAAP, I’m happy. It’s big enough that I can take a passenger without a problem. Plus it has the speedometer on the handlebars, not on the tank like most cruisers. I hate how far you have to take your eyes off the road to look straight down to see it. Best of all, it looked like I could get one of the more basic, affordable Shadow ACEs for around the same price that I’m asking for my PC800. The idea was to turn one bike into another with little or no additional outlay of cash.

Then I found it on Craigslist – a black 1995 model, right at the top end of my price range but in there, and already equipped with more than all the accessories I’d want. Twenty-two pictures showed off all of these features – hard bags, removable windshield, driving lights, footboards, back rests… It seemed too good to be true, especially at that price, but there it was. She said that if I really wanted it, we could splurge for it out of savings and replenish the piggy bank when my PC800 sold. I have the best wife ever.

I went to look at it. I’d been holding myself back from truly falling in love with it. There will be other bikes, so if this one isn’t as good than the pics and the ad make it out to be, I can walk away and try again later. It wasn’t as good as in the pics – it was better. Nearly everything works perfectly. It looks great, sounds great, and feels great. The guy even let me take it down his quiet road and back. Test rides often aren’t an option when buying a bike, so of course I took him up on that.

The Mustang seat is extremely comfortable. The forward foot controls will take some getting used to. The handlebars and their controls were a bit too far away for my comfort, but that’s an easy adjustment. I didn’t let ‘er rip too much in the quiet neighborhood, but I gave it a couple of quick blasts and it responded well. The brakes, too, were surprisingly good after the lackluster reviews I’d read of them.

It’s not quite perfect. The stock rear turn signals disappeared when the hard bags were added by the owner before the seller. In their place is a license plate frame with two tiny amber strips on the sides, which weren’t working during my test ride. He’s been lucky to pass inspection with those. But that’s also cheap and easy to fix.

I’d rather have the hard bags than stock turn signals anyway. The irony of picking up this particular bike is that I haven’t given up my ability to tour after all. The bags are huge, and though there’s no top trunk, there’s a rack behind the sissy bar that I can strap stuff to. I’d just need to pack things a little differently than I have in the past and I can still go away for multiple days at a time if I have the chance to do that again someday.

So that does it. I’m a cruiser guy now. I think it’ll suit my more relaxed riding style better. The quick release windshield will keep the wind off me when I want to, but let me catch the breeze when the weather is warm. It needs a few adjustments, but nothing I can’t handle. The short wait to fix these issues and get this thing on the road legally will definitely seem longer than it is, but it’ll be worth it.

My PC800 is for sale, if you want it – $2,895.

I discovered this app by asking the same question myself after seeing some track videos with amazing telemetry. I used to do track days in cars regularly, and picked up the hobby again last year with my Subaru BRZ. I got some decent video with my GoPro, but especially since I’d be sharing my videos on our sister site Right Foot Down, I wanted to do something special. After upgrading to an iPhone 6s (an Android version is also available) with lots of memory, I splurged $27.99 for the Grand Prix Edition of Harry’s Lap Timer.

There are different versions available, for different prices with different features. The Rookie Edition is the most basic version for $8.99. It doesn’t support video, but it does give you access to all of the extensive telemetry features. That includes top speeds, corner speeds, lap times, split times, and all kinds of good stuff. The Petrolhead Edition will run you $19.99 and is where you gain video overlay capabilities. Basically the app simply records video at the same time as telemetry, and later gives you the option to mash the two together to make videos like the ones I made. The Grand Prix Edition is the big kahuna, enabling additional camera overlays. I intended to use my phone in my car for forward facing video, plus a GoPro on the back bumper for a picture-in-picture rear view. You can also overlay a reference lap on top of any lap to compare where you were faster and where you lost time.

At The Track

Obviously you’ll need to mount your phone quite securely to your bike, both to satisfy the technical inspectors and so that your precious phone doesn’t go skating down the track at 110mph. I use a Ram Mount X-Grip for my everyday riding, and it works great for that. I added a zip-tie to keep it shut and keep the phone attached to the bike on the track. I also plugged in external power, since the app drains the battery pretty quickly by using the GPS and camera constantly.

There is a little bit of configuration involved before you hit the track. First, you have to define the user (your name) and your vehicle information. You don’t have to fill out every last detail, but the more information you provide, the more accurate and interesting your telemetry and video will be. Once that’s done, you load the track where you are are running. Unless the track is brand new, there’s already a file containing GPS coordinates for all of the turns, the start/finish line, and other key locations. If you’re on a brand new track that isn’t listed, fear not – you can create it. Once that’s set, you’re ready to “race!” Even if you’re just lapping and not racing.

One of my least favorite parts about recording track video is that you generally have to manually start recording before you get on the track so that your attention is on driving/riding rather than fiddling with the camera. This problem is even worse when you’re wearing gloves and recording on your phone, which doesn’t react to the presses of your gloved fingers. You end up with several boring minutes of video showing people standing around the grid doing nothing before finally entering the track. But not with Harry’s Lap Timer! After you configure your session and tell it to “race,” it will go into a standby mode until you cross the start/finish line, then begin recording automatically. Ignore your phone. There’s no need to stab at your phone at triple digit speeds while riding – it’s got this. You will need to manually stop recording at the end of your session, but that’s OK – there’s no rush, and you can just trim the last minute or two off your video like I did.

Within the app, you can watch your video and telemetry overlay as soon as you’re done recording. If you’re racing or time trialing, this can give you immediate feedback as to where you can go a bit faster, or where you’re going a bit too fast and giving up some control. At Tony’s Track Days’ event, I had very little time between my track and classroom sessions, so I just recorded everything for later review. Well, almost everything – I chose not to record my first session, which was slow follow-the-leader laps to familiarize ourselves with the track. And something went wrong with my fourth session that made it not record properly. I’m not sure what, but my fifth and sixth sessions recorded perfectly, so it was probably a one time error. This was also my first time actually using the app at the track, so the error could well have been my own.

At Home

After the event, no doubt you’ll be wanting to show off to your friends – I mean, analyze your telemetry in detail to see where you can improve next time. While you can view the overlay video within the app immediately, to share it with the world you’ll need to render a new video containing it and save it to your phone. My full sessions, roughly 16 minutes of video, are about 3GB each, so you’ll want to make sure you have some decent memory available on your phone before recording or rendering video. Also make sure you have some time on your hands. My 128GB iPhone 6s is no slouch for processing power, but it did take several minutes for each video to render, as well as a big chunk of battery for the large amount of processing power required. Plug in your phone and make sure you won’t need to use it for a little while before starting this process.

The resulting video is then available just like any other video file. I used iMovie to add fades, titles, and crop the end of the video back to where I pit in. Then I had to render the video all over again. You can see how this can eat up a lot of memory after a while. After that, I switched to the YouTube app and uploaded each video from there. You’ll obviously want to be on a WiFi connection for that so you don’t blow through your monthly data allotment in one shot.

These are the first videos I have ever shot, edited, and uploaded entirely from my phone. Normally I download the raw footage to my laptop, edit it in Adobe Premiere Elements, and upload it from there. Basic video editing like this was actually easier to do on my phone. I find that amazing, considering that I actually went to college for video production and writing. My phone can do more than all the equipment in the TV studio could.

The Bottom Line

If you already have a smartphone with a good camera and a decent amount of memory, you’re 95% of the way there. For the average “track day bro,” I’d recommend the $19.99 Petrolhead Edition, which gives you video telemetry overlays without the more fancy features. But you can get as simple or fancy as you want to with Harry’s Lap Timer.

Best of all, now you, too, can have the entire internet asking you, “How did you get that telemetry overlay?”

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Until now. With nothing more than my existing RAM Mount, plus a well placed zip-tie as extra security to keep my phone from falling out on the track, I recorded most of my sessions from last week’s non-sportbike track day at Palmer Motorsports Park. It wasn’t until I was setting up the app at the track that I realized it even had some motorcycle specific features, like measuring lean angle. I didn’t bother setting up a rear facing GoPro this time, so you can get the functionality you see here with the less expensive Petrolhead Edition.

I skipped recording the first follow-the-leader session of the day by choice, and my fourth open session didn’t record at all for some reason. I think the dog ate it. But it recorded everything else just fine. It took a bit of time to render, trim, and upload the video, but here it is.

Session 1

Session 2

Session 3

Session 5

Session 6

Even I haven’t watched all this yet, and I created it. But here I can watch what I did and how I improved, analyze what worked and what didn’t, and give myself a refresher course before returning to Palmer the next time Tony’s Track Days runs a non-sportbike track day at Palmer. Because I will.

Ever since I started riding, I’ve noticed just how much kids seem to love bikes. There could be many reasons why. Maybe it’s the chrome and the noise of a Harley with straight pipes. Maybe it’s because it’s a bigger, faster version of the bicycles most kids ride until they’re old enough for something powered by an engine. Or maybe there’s something they can sense about the feeling of freedom you get when you’re riding a motorcycle.

One of my earliest childhood memories is from when my dad had a Honda 450 of some kind in bright 1970s orange. That bike was cool. I remember the time my mom and I had to drive across town in her VW Super Beetle to go rescue him when he ran out of gas. But more than anything, I remember the time he sat me in front of him on the bike and took me for a couple of very slow laps around the house. There’s a lot I don’t remember from my childhood, but I remember that very clearly. That experience, plus watching way too many episodes of CHiPs at a young, impressionable age, convinced me for life that motorcycles are cool.

I’ve never really been one for kids, myself. I don’t hate them, but I’ve never been comfortable around them, either, and certainly never had any desire to have my own. I’m kind of like Star Trek‘s Captain Picard that way, only not as good looking. But as I’ve gotten older, more and more friends, then girlfriends, then finally the woman I married, have had kids of their own, so I’ve had to learn to deal with it. Which is perfectly fine, just as long as I can give them back to their parents afterward.

There were many kids at the apartment complex I used to live in. When I came home from a ride, they’d all flock over and start talking to me. Sometimes they’d ride their bicycles alongside me, trying to be as cool as me. On one occasion I even “raced” one of them across the parking lot. In reality I just gunned my engine a lot but calibrated my speed precisely so that the kid would beat me by a nose. He got a thrill out of that. The neighbors didn’t even complain.

My wife’s kids are no different. I’ve taken each of them for rides on the back of my bike a few times. This past summer, she bought them a Baja Warrior, a little 200cc minibike to go putt-putting around the yard on. I cleared enough brush next to the propane tank for them to do complete laps around the house. It wasn’t until I was writing this that it occurred to me the parallel between that and my dad taking me for a couple of laps around the house all those years ago.

Truth be told, I like the minibike too. Those wide knobby tires dig into the dirt without tearing up the lawn, except where it’s already so sandy that no grass will ever grow there anyway. If I’m lucky I can get a little bit of a slide going in those places with my monstrous 6hp engine. It’s all too easy for me to take that bike up to its maximum governed speed. I know I need to leave it alone for the kids, but sometimes I want to remove the governor and see what it can really do. Maybe the extra speed would let me catch some air off that bump between the back yard and the driveway. OK, so I become a bit of a kid on this thing, too. Full circle, just like those loops around the house.

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1. The pavement is a cheese grater

Yes, it’s true that if you’re the stereotypical Harley rider, wearing no helmet, a leather vest, and jeans – or the stereotypical squid, wearing a full face helmet, shorts, flip-flops, and nothing else – the road is going to do very nasty things to your body if you lay ‘er down and scrape across it. That’s why we ATGATT – all the gear, all the time. Decent gear will help prevent the cheese grater effect on your skin and bones. It could make the difference between riding your battered bike home, or taking a ride in Max’s ambulance instead.

2. Falling down hurts more than you think it does. Seriously. Especially at 65 mph.

Again, true. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had the urge to fling myself out of a car flying down the road at 65 mph. I imagine the results would look very much like this.

3. Cars are extremely heavy, and the people who drive them are oblivious.

I can’t agree with Max enough on this one. That’s why it’s absolutely necessary to ride within your limits and maintain situational awareness. Just assume that ” the other guy” is going to do the stupidest thing they possibly can, and have a plan of action to avoid a crash. When – not if – they do, you won’t lose precious seconds panicking or figuring out what you should do.

4. Highway dividers

Just because highways are relatively safe doesn’t mean you’re free from the risk of a crash. I’ve seen pictures and X-rays of a friend just after she had a highway crash and bounced off the divider. Again, not all crashes are avoidable, but many are. You can make sure you don’t ride directly next to cars or trucks, particularly in their blind spots. You can keep your eyes open for debris on the road that might cause you problems. You can, and should, keep your bike in top condition so that you don’t get a flat tire on the highway, because that really really sucks. Ask me how I know. (Fortunately I didn’t crash. Either time.)

5. Animals are not your friends

Many of my best friends are animals, but you don’t want to run into them, literally, on the road. Even close to my home I’ve seen deer, moose, and even a bear. I’ve also hit a deer on the highway in a pickup truck. My radiator resembled a potato chip afterward and all the coolant leaked out, disabling it. You’d be disabled, too, if you hit one of these. Even a pre-squashed squirrel on the road could take you down. Sorry to be crude, but roadkill is slippery. But once again, you can usually avoid these types of crashes if you keep your eyes open and ride at a speed appropriate for the conditions.

We do accept a certain level of risk every time we get on a motorcycle. Though we try not to think about it, every time we head out on a bike, we may never come home again. The same is true of a car, but the chance is greater on a motorcycle.

But I’d hazard a guess that the cases that Max sees are mostly those who didn’t take every precaution they could. They weren’t wearing protective gear, or they went into a corner too hot, or they didn’t notice that patch of sand or the car turning left in front of them until it was too late. We choose to accept the risks of riding, but we can, and should, also choose to minimize those risks as much as possible so that we’ll make it back home, each time, every time.

While I have no doubt that the stories Max tells are true, I also think he’s talking about the worst scenarios he’s seen. If what he’s seen is enough to make him choose not to ride, that’s perfectly fine. He’s not willing to accept those risks, and that’s a choice every rider (or non-rider) has to make for themselves. But there are plenty of emergency service personnel who do choose to ride. We’ve all seen motorcycle cops, and perhaps been escorted or pulled over by them. The Red Knights are an international motorcycle club of firefighters. They have certainly seen what Max has seen in the line of duty, but they’re proud to ride despite the potential consequences that they know even better than we do. I won’t try to talk anyone into riding a motorcycle who hasn’t already decided that they’re interested, but I also won’t try to talk anyone out of it the way Max does.

And now, here are five wonderful reasons to ride a motorcycle, according to our own Andrew Fails:

They’re awesome.
Kids love them.
The slowest ones are still faster than 90% of cars on the road.
You’re actually doing something.
They’re awesome.

You may have already read what Jason Macierowski had to say about it. I, like Jason, was riding on a track for the first time, and in the fast run group as well. But I had an advantage that Jason and most of the other riders didn’t. This wasn’t my first rodeo at Palmer Motorsports Park. Last year I spent two days driving this track with Chin Motorsports in my Subaru BRZ. I already knew where to go.

Though this was my first time taking a bike to the track, I’ve done about fifteen track days in cars, as well as countless autocrosses, ice time trials, and even two days of training at Team O’Neil Rally School. Because of this, I’ve long considered myself a rather good driver, yet a merely adequate rider. I’ve pondered taking the MSF Advanced RiderCourse at some point, but never quite got around to it. I’ve known about motorcycle track days, but I ride for the enjoyment and experience of riding, not for speed. Besides, racing leathers are expensive, and my Honda PC800 isn’t designed for the track at all.

I totally blame Kate Murphy for changing my mind about this, partly because of her article about it. Her Yamaha Super Ténéré is no more a sportbike than my PC800, yet she had a blast at one of these events at Thompson Speedway last year. Additionally, although we’re riding on a track, the emphasis is on skills for the street rather than racing. So with all that in mind, I decided to divert my track day fund to the bike instead of the car.

I’m SO glad I did. Again, read Jason’s article for a good overview of what it’s like and what you get out of it. I, too, feel like my riding skills have improved by quantum leaps after the track experience. But I’m equally surprised by just how many of the techniques I learned from performance driving translated over to the bike, many of which I’d already started using before the track day.

What Was The Same

The racing line is the racing line, regardless of what you’re driving or riding. I first learned how to pick the proper line through corners during my teenage bicycle racing days, before I even had a driver’s license. It’s been more years than I care to admit since I last raced by pedal power, but when I ride my motorcycle on the street I follow the outside-inside-outside line through the curves while staying in my own lane. That’s much of the fun of riding for me, in fact. I don’t need to be going fast or on a track to get the thrill of nailing my line through a tough corner, because it just feels right when you get it.

My previous experience at Palmer in my BRZ helped, too. Though some techniques on a motorcycle were different, I already knew where the track went, unlike most people there who were seeing it for the first time. In fact, one CBR rider told me after a session that since I’d driven here before, he’d tucked in behind me for a while specifically to follow and learn my lines. His bike is much faster than mine, but this isn’t a race, and there’s nothing wrong with slowing down to try something different.

We often talk about weight transfer when it comes to performance driving. Though side-to-side weight transfer works differently when you only have two wheels, the same theory still applies between the front and back wheels. It’s far more effective to squeeze on the front brake than to jam on it instantly, since more of the bike’s weight has a chance to transfer to the front wheel and give you more traction as you add more braking. Similarly, you want to roll on the throttle when leaving a corner, rather than whacking it wide open, so that weight will shift to the back wheel and give you more traction to handle the power you’re adding.

Along with weight transfer comes trail braking. In the past, on a bike, I’ve typically done my braking in a straight line, released the brakes, then turned into a corner. I’ve been afraid of exceeding my traction limits by asking the front wheel to turn and brake at the same time. But part of the classroom instruction focused on trail braking on a bike. The process is really no different than a car. You start to let off the brake as you start to turn in, blending from braking to turning rather than stopping and starting like I’d been doing. During one particular session I struggled to get the bike turned into the apex of turn 7. I was probably carrying more speed into the turn than earlier in the day, and I couldn’t seem to get the bike closer to the apex than the center of the track. Then we discussed trail braking. I tried it during the next session, and doggone if it didn’t work beautifully. Just a little bit of trail braking added enough weight and traction to my front tire to turn the bike more effectively and clip the apex just like I should.

In a car I heel/toe downshift. It’s the process of blipping the throttle in the middle of a downshift to match engine speed to wheel speed in a lower gear. My heels and toes don’t perform the same functions on a bike, but the general concept of rev matching my downshifts worked well. It’s a more advanced technique that they didn’t even cover in classes geared toward street riding rather than racing skills, but it helped a great deal. The bike reminded me of this one time when I messed up my rev match, let the clutch out too quickly, and engine braking caused the back wheel to lose grip for a second. That was a pucker moment, but I knew exactly what I’d done wrong and didn’t repeat it.

What Was Different

That leads to the biggest difference between driving a car and riding a bike on the same track – there’s so much more room on a bike. The track obviously hasn’t grown larger, but it feels larger on a smaller vehicle. There’s much more room to work with. As a result, I was actually more willing to take some chances with different lines and techniques on the bike than in the car. There was more room for error. And I made a few big errors. In class we talked about double apexing turn 7 rather than using a single late apex. I tried it, but I couldn’t get that line to work for me at all. I actually ended up pretty close to the outside of the track when I was supposed to be at the “real” apex near the end of the turn – a classic early apex result. But in a car, the same mistake would probably have put me at least into the grass, and possibly into the wall, because a car is so much wider. In my case, yeah, I screwed up big time, but I had enough space on the track to slow down and compensate for my mistake without incident. I can’t say the same about my favorite twisty back roads. Another technique that doesn’t translate is countersteering and leaning into turns. This is how I learned to ride in the MSF course, and I’ve been riding this way ever since. But never before had I leaned so hard into the turns. There are too many hazards on the street for me to commit to a corner at the edge of my personal riding skill, with nothing in reserve. But as Tony’s Track Days‘ slogan says, “No cops, no cars, no limits!” Plus I was hitting the same turns every two minutes and forty seconds or so, over and over and over again, so even though many of Palmer’s turns are blind, I knew exactly what was on the other side and could commit to them safely. Plus I had a lot more room for error if I didn’t nail every apex every time, which I assure you I didn’t.

One of the major differences I had to get used to was passing. At track days in a car, passing is tightly controlled. The faster car is not allowed to pass the slower, leading car until given the proper signal, a point-by that tells the faster car to pass and on which side. Then it’s up to the faster car to make the pass safely. But here, passing was only prohibited between turns 1 and 2 (with the track narrowed by cones to create more runoff area for safety), and after a rider tipped the bike in toward the apex you were not allowed to pass on the inside. That’s it. Plus, our mirrors had to be either removed or taped over to force us to focus on what’s ahead of us, not behind. There was no way to know if there someone about to pass, so it was 100% up to the passing bike to do so safely. I was probably the slowest bike in the entire group, so I got passed frequently. I got passed on the outside of turns regularly.

Someone coming from track days for cars might think this is ludicrous, especially with newbies thrown into the fastest run group with basically open passing. But it worked. There was plenty of room on the track for everyone, and since bikes accelerate more quickly than cars we were side-by-side for only a short time. In fact, this avoided the issue I always see at track days for cars where there’s “that guy” who’s going slow and won’t give a point-by, causing a long line of faster cars to get stuck behind him. I was “that guy” here, and it was no problem at all.

Finally, the instruction here was different, by necessity. You’re not going to take an instructor as a passenger on your bike as you would in a car. Instead, instructors – experienced racers on sport bikes – rode with the rest of us. Sometimes they’d follow someone and watch what they’re doing before zooming by. Sometimes they’d tap the back of their bike as a signal to follow them. This is exactly what happened to me when lead instructor Ken Condon caught up to me during my second open session.

The Bottom Line

What amazed me most was how many techniques from performance driving I’d already carried over to the bike, and that they were right. If anything, I needed to apply even more of them, like trail braking, to improve my riding further. Having track experience in cars definitely helps on the track, but it’s still a very different experience on two wheels. Plus, without a metal cage around you, there is a higher element of risk if you should crash while testing your limits. That’s why full riding gear, head to toe, is absolutely mandatory. But I didn’t see any yellow or red flags all day, which meant that everyone rode more cleanly than they drive at the automotive track days I attend. Maybe being inside a car gives some people a false sense of security that leads to spins and off-track excursions. Everyone I rode with was well in control of their bikes, and rode intelligently enough to leave a margin for error when trying something new.

The final piece of knowledge I took away from this event was that I don’t have to worry about having to choose between being able to attend more events like this or my current desire to buy a cruiser. There was an entire run group for cruisers, and it inspired me to see all those flashy Harleys, Victories, and such out there on the track doing their thing. Cruisers are the slowest of the three run groups, but that doesn’t matter to me. I’m not out here to go fast. I’m out here to learn, and I can learn on a cruiser just as well as a PC800 or any other bike.

I’m already looking forward to going back for more next year, whatever I’m riding by then.

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The Harley riders, meanwhile, were in it for the image, not the experience. It was middle aged men and women getting a midlife crisis cruiser so they could feel young and badass again. They’d buy anything they could get with a Harley logo on it, which is practically anything at all. They were the ones who pulled over at state lines between helmet law and no helmet law states to put on or remove their helmets as required. They wouldn’t wave at anyone wearing a helmet, or anyone who wasn’t riding a Harley. They weren’t real bikers. They didn’t get it.

When I decided to take myself someplace warm and ride a motorcycle for a couple of days one January, I was surprised to find that the least expensive rentals from EagleRider were Harleys. I didn’t expect that, since they’re so expensive compared to many other models, and especially the cheap old bikes I’m used to. So I figured why not see how the other half lives, and rented this Street Glide for two days. I proceeded to put over 500 miles on it. You can read about that trip here.

It wasn’t the bone shaking, oil spewing, terrible ride that the stereotypes had prepared me for. Sure, it loped and shook at idle, but it was designed to, because it’s a Harley. Once we actually got underway, it smoothed out instantly and was quite comfortable. It steered like a cow, but cruisers in general aren’t designed for corner carving, whether they’re Harleys, Indians, or Suzukis. In fact, the Street Glide turned out to be an excellent choice for the relaxed type of riding I was doing.

I started to meet more and more Harley riders who weren’t the stereotypical Harley riders I described above, but actual bikers who actually get it. They choose to ride Harleys instead of Hondas, but they respect the Hondas and BMWs and Triumphs. If you’re nice to me, I’ll be nice to you, and here were these Harley riders being nice to me, so cool.

The barriers were breaking down between the two communities, and not just in my own head. More and more, especially over the last few years, I’ve seen the motorcycle community become more inclusive of everybody. It doesn’t matter what you ride – it matters that you ride. The online biker groups I’ve been involved with lately welcome everyone, regardless of bike. The Northeast Vintage Moto Society bike nights welcome everyone, whether your bike is vintage or modern, regardless of make. I’ve seen a few Harleys there, among the Hondas like mine, the classic Triumphs, and a modern Gixxer. It doesn’t matter. And it’s not like I think any less of my old friend Bob because he rides a Harley now instead of the Shadow he learned to ride on.

I’m happy to see both groups coming together. And I’m glad I tried the Street Glide in Florida. I’m actually pondering swapping my PC800 for a cruiser these days, since I don’t do long tours anymore and I’m not one to drag a knee in the curves. Have I become the middle aged man who wants a midlife crisis cruiser to feel young and badass again? I don’t think so. I just want to try something different, and the more relaxed riding style of a cruiser appeals to me as something new to try. Though whatever I choose will probably be Japanese and used, rather than a Harley, to keep the price down, I’ve got nothing against Harleys anymore. I get it.

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Bob is asking those who follow his adventure to make a donation to the Addiction Referral Center in Marlborough, MA. Why the ARC? Because Bob is a recovering alcoholic himself. He hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol in the entire time I’ve known him, and motorcycling is a much healthier outlet anyway. “If you drink or smoke or gamble and it’s not a problem, fine,” he says. “Have fun, be safe. We’re still friends. Except for that Pokemon thing. Once I know what that is, I will probably hate it.”

You can follow his progress, and make a donation, on the ride’s Facebook page. “There will be photos of my bike at weird places,” Bob assures us.

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No one at this event knew Gillette Stadium as well as Gronk – Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots. He was the Grand Marshal of the event. Of course, it had been transformed from the immaculate gridiron he’s familiar with into a tight dirt track full of bumps and jumps.

It was a great show, with plenty of fireworks – literally. When they lit up the huge torches I could feel the heat all the way back in the middle of the stands. There was plenty of commentary between races as well as during them, and explainers on how the event worked, including the flags and such. There were plenty of ads and blatant product placement, too, but it’s how they pay the bills, so I’m OK with that. I like how there are many levels you can watch the race on. People like me can enjoy analyzing the passes and the different lines the racers took. Others who are more interested in the overall spectacle can just sit back and enjoy the huge jumps and crashes.

Because yes, crashes happen. The great thing about being there, as opposed to watching it on TV, is that you can see all of the track all of the time. If there’s a crash in the back of the pack, or an intense race for sixth place while the podium positions are already pretty well set, you can watch those instead of the leaders that the cameras focus on.

I was super impressed by 250SX points leader Malcolm Stewart. He placed third today, and was one of the best sports about losing that I’ve ever seen. While of course he wants to keep his points lead, his whole attitude is basically “I’m just happy to be here, man.”

The 450SX race went similarly, with points leader Ryan Dungey also taking third place.

Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac fought their way past Dungey fair and square. I ride motorcycles but have never tried dirt, and I learned a bit by watching these guys. For example, Roczen is way off the traditional racing line here, but by dropping his wheels into the ruts he can literally corner like he’s on rails, maintaining a higher speed despite the less optimal line. Slower riders tended to clip the apex in a more traditional line.

I had a great time. Watching Supercross on TV is fun, but being there is well worth it. You can see so much more of what’s going on, and you can watch what you want to watch, not just where the cameras happen to be pointed. Even if you’re just a casual fan like me, I recommend checking one out sometime.

(Originally published on Oppositelock. Reposted with permission of the author, who just happens to be me.)

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The Cabot Trail is a 185 mile (or 298km, as they measure it there) loop around the northern part of Cape Breton Island. I’ve heard it called the Pacific Coast Highway of the east coast, and one of the most fun roads in the entire northeast corner of North America. It’s a pretty lofty claim, but I wanted to see for myself someday. In July, 2013, a somewhat expected loss of a job suddenly gave me a lot of time, and my planning for that loss gave me a fair bit of savings. On sort of a spur of the moment, I decided to take a trip to experience the Cabot Trail for myself before diving into the search for a new job, since I was unlikely to take a summer vacation after I started working again.

One If By Land, Two If By Sea

When I took my trip in 2013 there was no ferry service between Portland, ME and Yarmouth, NS as there had been in the past. Maine and Nova Scotia have had an on again, off again relationship with a couple of different service providers over the years, and this was one of those off times. But this year The CAT is back, which will drop you at the southwest corner of Nova Scotia for US$115 one way (slightly more for sidecars and trailers). This will let you explore the entire length of the province on your way to Cape Breton Island. I would’ve much preferred to do it this way, but since the ferry wasn’t an option at the time, I made the entire journey by land across Maine and New Brunswick.

If you go by land, there are two main routes you can take. You can superslab I-95 all the way to Houlton, ME, then take Trans-Canada Highway 2 across New Brunswick. The speed limit on I-95 has increased to 70mph through most of southern and central Maine, and 75mph north of Old Town (the canoe place just past Bangor). If you want to make fast time on deserted highways, this is the place to do it legally. It’s the highest speed limit in the US east of the Mississippi River.

Or, you can do what I did, which is take Route 9 out of Bangor through the middle of nowhere. Literally – many towns don’t even have names. This will lead you to Calais, which is pronounced “KAL-us” rather than “ka-LAY” just to irritate the French speakers. There are two border crossings to Saint Stephen, NB – a small, older one near the center of town, and a newer, larger one on the outskirts that handles all commercial traffic. I took the small one in and the large one out, and had no problems or delays in either direction.

From there, you can take secondary roads across NB. These roads are not in very good shape, though, so I eventually changed course toward T-Can 2 and took the superslab through Fredericton and Moncton. Then I turned onto NB 15, hung a left onto 955, and pulled into Murray Beach Provincial Park, my first overnight stop, just after 6pm. Check-in was a breeze since I registered online. The guy even called me by my name when I walked into the office. He must’ve seen the Massachusetts license plate on the bike as I parked – an unusual sight in these parts, I’m sure. He also gave me directions to nearby gas in one direction, and food in the other – a ramshackle food hut with a million dollar view.

It turned out that I hadn’t needed to worry about getting my tent up before dark at all. I crossed into the Atlantic time zone at the border, and sunset was at 9:15pm, much later than home. So I relaxed and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the Northumberland Strait.