Articles by Grant Ray
Dailies
PSA: The end of subscriptions
Recently, there have been comments that HFL is changing, and that's true. Such is the life of a small, growing online company. Some of you have also noticed the subscriber-based pay wall has actually been non-functional for some time now. In fact, it came down just a little while after the last PSA I put up. I promised I'd follow up once I had some concrete to give you, and while I could bore the ...
Dailies
RideApart season finale: Weekend adventuring with the Triumph Bonneville
What does it take to go on a proper motorcycle adventure? Does "proper" always mean weeks of preparation, loads of gear, huge budgets, a giant touring machine and far-away destinations? Determined to prove otherwise, Jamie Robinson hops on a modern Triumph Bonneville cafe racer with no more than a Kriega bag, a Butler map and 48 hours to get out of LA and as lost as possible in the back roads of t...
Dailies
RideApart 11: Hell On Wheels Moto Rally
From ratty old motorbikes built out of swap meet parts to well polished classic beauties, there's a racing class for it in the Annual Hell On Wheels Moto Rally. Ever keen to have a go on anything with two wheels and an engine, Jamie Robinson shows up with nothing and manages to snag a go on a vintage 70's Yamaha, lining up on the grid for a day of dirty action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS4s...
Dailies
RideApart 9: The booming Triumphs of Garage Company
Vintage British bikes are the ultimate fantasy for many older bikers as well as those pesky whippersnapping hipsters, especially the stylish and loud twin 650s by Triumph. And a visit to see the incredible collection at Yoshi Kosaka's Garage Company in LA is better than Disneyland. Jamie Robinson and Adey Bennett snag two of Garage Company's finest vintage Triumphs and head to the Malibu canyons t...
Dailies
The best Hammarhead photo shoot ever
Everyone who reads HFL knows how much we adore Hammarhead bikes. Back in June 13, 2011, James Hammarhead hired me to shoot all three models in one very special location. The shoot was for an outside project that never materialized, leaving the photos to languish on my hard drive. Finally, James has decided to release the images and has even given HFL an exclusive of his reflections on that day. I ...
How to gear up for adventure
While the idea of heading off into the wilderness on a bike armed with nothing more than a knife, blanket roll and a can of beans may seem awfully romantic, the truth is that’s a good recipe for getting stranded or never coming back. Best case scenario? You’ll simply be miserable. Instead, building a comprehensive adventure touring kit can make things easy, comfortable and safe. There’s no w...
Gear: Scorpion EXO-900 Snow Ready
There was a time when I saw Scorpion helmets and turned up my nose, assuming it was so cheaply made I’d invariably break a lid just by trying one on. However, the EXO-400 I purchased for our Labrador expedition opened me to a brave new world. Somehow, that $130 Scorpion managed to be nearly as comfortable and functional as the much more expensive AGV GP-Tech I was wearing at the time, except I d...
2012 Honda Rubicon Utility ATV is working for the hoon
When Honda invited me last week to ride ATVs on the trails around Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino range, I didn’t hesitate. I thought it would be like past trips riding sport quads in Moab or Hungry Valley, so I didn’t care if the temps would be in the upper 20s with high winds and maybe snow. Then I got the itinerary listing Honda’s “ATV Utility” line. Ugh. Don’t get me wrong, my...
Dailies
Honda thinks maybe it's better in Thailand
Details are still thin, but Honda seems to be preparing to shift manufacturing of several models over 400cc out of Japan and into Thailand, citing the growing strength of the Yen and a need to attend to emerging markets. Don't worry, flagship models such as the CBR1000RR, CBR600RR, and Goldwing will most likely remain under Japanese-only production. But, bikes like the 599 and 919 Hornets, plus ...
Dailies
Ride of the Century, or This is why cops hate sport bikes
You can love or hate the stunter scene as much as you want, but just like the crews in Baltimore and New York's Fastest, this is what's happening in motorcycling on the streets right now. This particular Ride of the Century included hundreds of bikers pouring in from all over the country overwhelming the streets and Interstates of St. Louis, MO. The result is a video featuring boatloads of evidenc...
Ural M70 Anniversary Limited Edition: Ceci n'est pas une Cruiser
Ural is launching 2 new 70th anniversary limited edition M70 models that pay homage to the M72, the first Ural. Only 30 of the anniversary M70 sidecars will be built and an even tinier run of 10 M70-Solo anniversary bikes will be produced. To be clear, the M70 is not so much an all-new machine as it is a repurposing of the older and somewhat clumsy model known as the “Retro” cruiser. Much like...
Dailies
Bikers are mean, Belgians are gutless and other stereotypes
Carlsburg Beer's Belgian ad agency filled a movie theater in Brussels with a bunch of burly tattooed outlaw biker-types. Except for two seats right in the middle. Those were left open for supposedly unsuspecting "innocent couples" to occupy if they dared. Couples who sat got cheers and a Carlsburg for their bravery. Those who bailed? Well, they got what they deserved for signing the release forms....
Dailies
Claudio Castiglioni 1947-2011
Founder of Cagiva, former owner of Ducati and the man who revived MV Agusta, Claudio Castiglioni passed away in Varese this morning after battling an unspecified illness. Responsible for bringing two of the most beautiful motorcycles ever — the Ducati 916 and MV Agusta F4 — to market, Castiglioni was viewed both as a savior and an incredibly cunning businessman. His most recent triumph came ju...
Dailies
Introducing the HFL Shop
After way too long, I'm incredibly happy to present Hell For Leather's online store, the HFL Shop, which is officially open to the general public. Granted, right now our store is so tiny that it's more like a cubby hole and it's only selling a pair of small-batch-produced stickers, but just squint your eyes and see a bright future of wide aisles, subscriber specials and an upcoming platform for se...
MV Agusta F3 Serie Oro, minus the photobombing random dudes
MV Agusta just released two official images of the 2012 MV Agusta F3 Serie Oro. That swingarm that Wes was hoping was magnesium? Nah, it's just paint, silly. And those wheels that Wes also hoped were magnesium? Yeah, also paint. They're actually forged aluminum wheels. Wait, so why is this thing expected to cost €24,900? Well, it does have a TTX shock and steering damper, radial Monobloc Brembo...
Dailies
Wes fall down go boom. Again.
As some of you may have seen of his Facebook page, Wes had himself yet another epic bender sometime Saturday afternoon. I wasn't there and Sean is currently occupied taking Wes to a specialist, but after a good bit of texting and confirmation via IM, I've been able to piece together a story of what went down. Wes, Sean and Sean's buddy went camping around Big Bear this weekend, above Lake Arrow...
Dailies
They call him Fast Freddie
Freddie Spencer was so precociously gifted as a racer that by age 19 he had several film crews following his every move as he dominated the AMA's fledgling Superbike class. The combined footage is an incredible time capsule of American racing seen through the perspective of the mild-mannered Louisianan, crammed with interviews and fantastic battles with past giants like Wes Cooley and Eddie Lawson...
Dailies
KTM quietly faces the ugly truth about bikes
KTM is utterly desperate for the youth market. So desperate, in fact, that KTM Nightlight Session is a two minute video that has almost nothing to do with the KTM 125 Duke that the video is supposed to be promoting. If it wasn't for the beginning credits, nobody would guess it's even a KTM project since all of the visible branding in the first half of the video is for pinkpark and Scott. Neither ...
Dailies
Guy Martin on the TT: 'if you get it wrong, you're dead'
You'll probably have to watch the interview several times before you have a clue about what Guy Martin said at the premiere for TT3D Closer to the Edge. I still can't figure out what he says he does for a living besides racing, but the faces he makes are priceless when he tries to remember how many years his dad raced the TT. Sadly, there's still no word about the film coming to the States, so co...
Dailies
Austin scores MotoGP in 10 year deal
Dorna has just announced that Austin, Texas will be hosting all three MotoGP classes starting in 2013. The race will be held at the USGPF1 circuit now being called the "Circuit of the Americas" which is currently under construction just a few miles from the city's international airport. The deal was signed between Dorna Sports, 3FourTexas MGP and Full Throttle Productions. So far, not much is be...
Dailies
Why you should be excited about Zero Motorcycles
The most interesting thing about the 2011 Zero launch wasn’t the bikes. Yes, the company has beefed up the components, restyled the existing line, added street versions of the dirt bikes as well as the new and very tiny XU model. Yes, the new management team has veterans plucked from Triumph, KTM USA and the remnants of Buell. Yes, Zero just scored $26 million in additional financing. That’s a...
Zero's new motorcycles don't ride like bicycles anymore
When I first rode the Zero X two years ago at Glen Helen, I was basically riding a weirdo chassis stuffed with a giant battery box, then fitted with bicycle parts and an electric motor. When we tried out the Zero DS and S models in Brooklyn last year, Zero had just figured out how to get the throttle response to act with the same kind of variable input as an ICE, steady throttle finally equalled s... Handcrafted in Chennai will make you crave the hipster Harley
Hands down as emotively powerful as the epic Impossible Dream commercial for Honda by Weiden+Kennedy's London office, Royal Enfield's Indian-produced Handcrafted in Chennai is a visual masterpiece of storytelling in slow motion. Seriously, I got goosebumps watching this thing. Every scene is so perfectly framed that I had to edit down my shots for the gallery. If it sounds like I'm smitten, that's...