Op/Ed Articles
Mad Men and Motorcycling
Oh how bubbles burst. We North Americans are used to the popping sound that accompanies the sudden destruction of a previously cherished truth. We understand the consequences of calling bullshit when we see it, like Bostonians did in 1776 when some perky English tax collector tried to justify his work; or when Coca-Cola finally admitted that New Coke was not the revolution it promised, despite wha...
07 September 2012
News
Motorcycle racing is money wasted
It’s time for the motorcycle industry to have a serious think about its priorities, because they're looking bizarrely skewed right now. The classic mantra tells us that winning on Sunday sells on Monday, but is this really true, or indeed relevant? If ever there was the perfect time to drive up the decimated sales figures of bikes and scooters, this is the time. Fuel is gaspingly expensive and ...
02 August 2012
An XS650 love story
Some of the commenters from my last article asked, where's the love? That's a fair enough question. It's great to be cynical and sarcastic, but that's not really why we're here. We're here — on HFL, on the road, in our garages — because of something we love. This is a story about that. Take a look at this picture. That's my brother on the Yamaha, circa 1982. I'm in the background playing catc...
08 July 2012
News
Danger: BABi on Board
WARNING! There is a menace on the streets, Mr. and Mrs. America! A two-wheeled peril prowling your very neighborhoods. These marauders of menace bring a new meaning to TERROR ON THE TARMAC. What is this new threat? Young hooligans and their high-spirited hijinks? Pistol-packing gangs with a devil-may-care attitude? No, these are the new horror of the highway. These are the BABis: the Born-Again ...
26 June 2012
News
A continuing discussion on electric motorcycles
Last wednesday, I participated in a discussion in the comments section of HFLʼs last installment of the Life Electric series, something that lead to a very spirited exchange between myself, designer JT Nesbitt and a bunch of regular readers. The crux of the article concluded that electric motorcycles, while interesting and fun, have not arrived to a point of development which makes them practica...
09 May 2012
News
Michael Czysz on MotoGP: it's lost
500 > 990 > 800 > 1000 > CRT > ? In an era where it is more important then ever for companies to innovate and differentiate themselves from the competition, the race track, for a motorcycle company, should be as central to their operation as the boardroom. If companies no longer deem racing essential, it is because the formula is no longer relevant. Worse, if racing classifications are not clear...
02 April 2012