52.931423,-3.810654
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Forget the Pacific Coast Highway and do this
Minimal trac on California's Pacific Coast Highway (PCH)? Sorry Felix ( Bike, Nov 2019), I know better.
It’s not far from me, but I never ever go because I hate PCH. It’s like Yellowstone, unmatched natural beauty with enough trac to plug them skinny lanes tight.
So if the PCH is the ass of the Earth, where should you go? Anywhere east of Highway 97. It's pine forest and desert all the way to Idaho. Any kind of road, plenty of free camping, friendly locals and little trac. And the further east you go, the better it gets. The Columbia Gorge is awesome. The Blue Mountains are great. Hell’s Canyon is the best, and thanks to its isolation, has the least trac. Idaho is nice too. Pendleton’s a cool little town and so is Baker. And a lot of others too. The smaller places can’t support a bar and restaurant both, so they combine – if the bar is open they can feed you. The reason the riding is good is because the population is small. Don’t expect a wide variety of goods and services. Small gas stations usually only have a regular or diesel. For rentals it’s Portland or Boisie, Idaho.
Camping out, I would pick late Julyearly August. It will be hot, but this is high country and the nights are cool. There are really nice days in September, cool mornings and drop dead gorgeous afternoons. Hell's Canyon and Idaho are high elevation, I would want to be out of there by the middle of September, just to be safe. Yellowstone even more.
Floyd Rogers, email
Pearl of wisdom
I’ve found it, a genuine emergency tool kit that will fit pretty much any job, or issue. I have got an XT1200Z Super Ténéré and it can tighten 90% of the bike and the case also has room for additional items or debit/credit cards. Bits fit in both ends like a screw driver or ratchet. Search for the Blackburn Silver Mini Bike Tool Kit in all the usual places. £17. Lea Cocks, email
Same is as same does
It seems that more and more manufacturers are coming up with more and more electric-powered bikes. But surely, they are signing their own death warrants?
BMW are known mainly for horizontally opposed flat twins, the Japanese for howling high revving four cylinder in lines, Guzzi for their transverse V-twins, Triumph triples and parallel twins, Harley and Indian for massive V-twins.
Each of these engines has different power delivery characteristics so when all manufacturers are offering battery powered bikes surely they will all feel much the same.
Roger Martin, email
Guzzi love 1
Many riders now wear their bikes rather than ride them, and the desired image of the tough lone hero who has been round the world on a Sunday afternoon is now trending. In the belief that the success of the GS is due to form over function, everyone in the adventure bike fashion seems to be competing to produce the ugliest. Meanwhile in true Italian tradition, Moto Guzzi have attempted to produce a genuinely attractive vehicle that marries form and function ( Bike, January 2020). Maybe this could set a new fashion, and long may it continue. Grahamelliott, email
Guzzi love 2
Sitting on the train, I’m reading the adventures section of Bike and dreaming about circumnavigating before I get too old. But what bike to take? A small single? A lot do, but too underpowered. A big single? Again a lot
do, but big thumpers are not my bag. I want something that can take on poor roads and dirt tracks, but not the likes of a giant GS. The middleweight world has many competent adventure machines but one stands out to me – Moto Guzzi’s V85 TT. It’s the shaft drive, accessibility and simple servicing that ticks my boxes. It’s also reasonably light, very comfortable and has a decent tank size. On and on I ride across mountains and deserts on my trusty Guzzi, until a sudden jolt wakes me up as I arrive at London Bridge station. Nick Brewer, email Be loud and alive
An interesting article on the psychology of vehicle drivers pulling out of side roads in front of bikes by John Naish ( Bike, January 2020). However, adjusting your position on the road and attempting to look into the eyes of the driver, although positive actions, just does not cut it on today’s crowded roads. After 53 years of solid motorcycling and numerous near misses in my youth, I have a foolproof solution to prevent being T-boned by cars: use your horn. All my bikes (I am on my 95th) are retro fitted with a powerful mega-loud horn and if I have the slightest suspicion that the a vehicle in a side road has not seen me, I slow down hit the horn and stay loud until I have passed the danger. It has not failed me yet, so be proud, be loud and live.
Chris Devine, email Scotland: the rave
Reading through Bike February my heart was lifted by the stunning photograph of the Applecross pass, a place I rode in June 2019.
After years of fairly local riding I set off for the Simmer Dim Motorcycle Rally on Shetland – I can’t recommend
the rally and the people enough, but I probably shouldn’t because I want to go back and capacity is limited. Planning the trip I started looking at the North Coast 500. My wife said do it as it’s a long way up country so make the most of it. After getting off the ferry at Aberdeen, post rally, I embarked on Scotland’s great road trip. And what a trip: the weather was variable but the scenery stunning. You don’t have to go abroad to get amazing motorcycling although my trip did include two 12 hour ferry crossings. In all I clocked 2300 miles in two weeks. I am planning my return trip as I write.
Paul Aylward, email
Dakar heroism
The combination of the story about the 1987 Dakar Rally, and Simon Hewitt's piece about preparing for the 2020 event ( Bike February) inspired me to follow this year's event online, and it's only midway through as I write. I've never paid much attention before, though I remember the stories in Bike about Simon Pavey competing back in the 1990s.
The death of Paulo Goncalves was tragic, and the energy drink fuelled circus around the event and the sense of it being a giant PR exercise for a dodgy regime in Saudi Arabia annoyed me, but still it really got under my skin. The bike racers are amazing, and the commitment of privateers like Simon Hewitt is astonishing. It must have been heartbreaking for him to have to drop out mid-way through (p122). I just wanted to say thanks for doing it, so the rest of us don't have to.
Peter Haig, email