The Motorcycle Obsession

Motorcycles, motorcycles, and occasional other stuff.

[chriscope]

What I Can Afford: 2003 Triumph Speed Four

My friend, Dale, had a Triumph Speed Four many moons ago. He was particularly influential in my journey as a motorcyclist, patiently answering the stupidest questions in the world as I made my slow return to riding more than a decade ago. He loved his Speed Four, so, although I’ve never really had interest in owning an ugly, streetfighter-styled 600cc bike that you have to rev the nuts off of to…

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Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello – Ride Review Round-Up

You would think this sort of article could be written by AI. I mean, it’s a simple enough task: identify a number of other people’s articles on a given subject – in this case, Moto Guzzi’s stylish and niche V100 Mandello sport tourer – then have AI software collate that information to create a more well-rounded, more useful assessment of the motorcycle than a single review might offer. But,…

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Farewell, Evans

The universe can be so deeply unfair at times. Evans Brasfield has died. A member of the Motorcycle.com team for roughly 10 years, he was killed in a riding accident earlier this week. I had the privilege of hanging out with Evans a number of times over the years at press events, always making sure I was sitting near him at dinners so as to be able to engage in conversation. At least a few times…

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2023 Suzuki V-Strom 1050/1050DE – Ride Review Round-Up

Once upon a time, I owned a second-generation V-Strom 1000. I rode it to Italy and back, and liked it. I didn’t love it, though, ultimately choosing to replace it with a top-heavy Triumph that had more power than I needed and an unhelpful attraction to the ground when off pavement. With the benefit of hindsight, my criticisms of the V-Strom 1000 – chiefly that it lacked character – may have been…

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All the Way Up – Four Points Ride Part IV

Better late than never, I suppose. Two years after the fact, here's the final installment of the Four Points ride: traveling to Britain's furthest points on a @Harley_UKI Sport Glide

I read the other day that the cost of petrol in some parts of the United Kingdom has hit £2 a liter. That’s $11.25 a gallon, for those of you playing along in the Colonies (EDIT: It’s actually $9.30. See comments section). It is also double what petrol cost two years ago, when I rode a Harley-Davidson Sport Glide to Britain’s furthest points east, west, south and north.  Normally, when I write…

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[chriscope]

All the Way Up – Four Points Ride Part IV

Better late than never, I suppose. Two years after the fact, here's the final installment of the Four Points ride: traveling to Britain's furthest points on a @Harley_UKI Sport Glide

I read the other day that the cost of petrol in some parts of the United Kingdom has hit £2 a liter. That’s $11.25 a gallon, for those of you playing along in the Colonies. It is also double what petrol cost two years ago, when I rode a Harley-Davidson Sport Glide to Britain’s furthest points east, west, south and north.  Normally, when I write road trip-type articles I like to put everything in…

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[chriscope]

Attempting a South Downs Way Thru-Hike – Part 2

Day 2 of my attempt to hike @SouthDownsWayNT was more enjoyable but forced me to realize I wouldn't be completing its full 100 miles.

At some point in the night I wake up, step out of the tent and have one of those wonderful/surreal camping experiences of peeing and gazing at the stars with the sort of lost, disconnected wonder that comes from still being half asleep. I struggle to find my tent again in the dark but eventually cocoon back inside and sleep until my alarm goes off, half an hour before sunrise. It’s Day 2 of my…

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The Nightster is Back. Is That a Good Thing?

Harley-Davidson has revealed its new Nightster Sportster (or is it Sportster Nightster?) I kinda like it and I kinda don't.

There is nothing “entry-level” about the new Harley-Davidson Nightster. Publications that suggest otherwise are unintentionally showing that they have lost touch with the motorcycling world. Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad to see H-D has brought back one of its more iconic Sportsters. The original Nightster (XL1200N) was a 1200cc air-cooled machine introduced in 2008 (I think; feel free to correct…

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Attempting to Thru-Hike the South Downs Way – Part 1

Last summer I decided I would backpack 100 miles in four days, despite not having gone backpacking in 16 years. Wanna guess how things went? Here's part 1.

One hundred miles isn’t that much. This is what I’m telling myself in the days before setting off to thru-hike the South Downs Way. Packing and repacking my bag, checking the weather forecast, staring at maps and apps, lamenting the fact my boots are old and the rest of my gear older, it never really occurs to me that walking 100 miles through Southern England might be, you know, challenging. In…

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The Electric Revolution is Not as Thrilling as I'd Hoped

The future is here, with @YMUKofficial @indianmotocycle and @DucatiUK all having released electric two-wheelers in the same week. But...

I would have thought we’d be further along by now. Seven years ago, I was writing articles claiming that electric motorcycles had “arrived” and the only hindrance was the need to get our tiny minds around the idea of riding something that doesn’t consume Russia’s No. 1 export (petroleum). On some level, I’d say that remains true but it’s worth noting that two of the manufacturers I referenced…

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A Drive in Summer

A road trip in summer 2010 from Minnesota to Texas that reminded me of the importance of being connected.

Ostensibly I did it to save money. Using a car’s air conditioner burns extra fuel, so I decided to drive the 1,276 miles from Bloomington, Minnesota, to Lake Jackson, Texas, with the windows down. If you’re not of a certain age, nationality and social status you won’t have heard of Click and Clack, hosts of “Car Talk.” It was (is?) an automotive-related radio program broadcast in the United…

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Triumph Completes Electric Prototype, Readies for Testing

@OfficialTriumph has unveiled one of the best-looking electric motorcycles I've seen in a while and my question is: When can I buy one and how much will it cost?

Triumph Motorcycles this week announced that it has completed work on a prototype electric motorcycle and is ready to move into the testing phase of what it calls Project TE-1. Coming almost exactly three years after Triumph first began testing the waters of consumer reaction to an electric vehicle, the TE-1 prototype is a collaboration between a number of British entities, including Triumph…

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I Am Hoping This Laziness Speaks of Something Amazing on the Horizon

The new Indian Scout Rogue is effectively a bike from 2014. So what is Indian really doing with its time?

Last week Indian Motorcycle unveiled the all-new Indian Octane Scout Rogue, which it describes as “the most aggressive iteration” of its Scout platform, and which the rest of the world would describe as “the Victory Octane with a different badge.” The Victory Octane, for those of you with memories that struggle to retain information for more than five years, was an 1179cc V-twin cruiser made by…

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A Point-By-Point Analysis of Why the Honda CBF1000 is a Better Bike Than the Triumph Bonneville T120

Fifteen years ago @HondaUKBikes was making machines that are still better than many modern offerings.

This isn’t the dumbest bike comparison ever written. But it’s up there. The two contenders are a 2006 Honda CBF1000 bought for £1,200 with 38,000 miles on the clock vs. the 2019 Triumph Bonneville T120 that I ‘bought’ (via financing) new. That’s apples and oranges, man. The prize for dumbest comparo, by the way, goes to RiDE magazine for an article that pit a Honda CBF125 against a Kawasaki…

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The Time I Felt I'd Won

Grab a cup of coffee and read the somewhat longish story of how I'm an idiot but still managed to stick it to the man. Sort of.

This is a long story. It starts with good intentions, as most failures do, I suppose. Roughly 15,000 to 17,000 individuals declare bankruptcy each year in the United Kingdom. That’s not to be confused with the roughly 14,000 companies that also face some sort of insolvency. I’m just talking about individuals here – people – most of whom probably started out with good intentions.  One of the…

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2022 Suzuki GSX-S1000GT – Ride Review Round-Up

I've read and watched every review I can find for the new @SuzukiBikesUK GSX-S1000GT and the opinion is unanimous. Suzuki's on to a winner.

At my current rate of saving it would take a little more than three years to put together enough cash to buy Suzuki’s new GSX-S1000GT; and according to all the reviews I’ve read and seen, it would be worth the wait. Suzuki’s new moto grabbed my attention when it was revealed back in September. A traditional sport tourer that bucks the modern trend of creating sport tourers with adventure bike…

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Boring or Brilliant? The Honda NT1100

Not sure the @HondaUKBikes NT1100 is the coolest-looking bike in history but I am all in.

Although it shares the same letter designation as the Deauville, can we please acknowledge that Honda’s new NT1100 looks like an updated CBF1000? Not that either comparison is necessarily what Honda wants to be at the forefront of riders’ minds when considering this new parallel-twin-powered ‘middleweight’ tourer. The NT700V Deauville (2006-2015) was infamously uncool, almost exclusively the…

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