Stop me Before I buy a Buell… - CityBike

March 2012
Stop me Before I buy a Buell…
Inside: Suzuki’s V-Strom gets better

News, Clues & Rumors
Volume XXIX, Issue 3
Publication Date: February 20 , 2011
On The Cover:
On the Cover: Two disinterested Buell XBs
watch as Editor Ets-Hokin publicly humiliates
his Triumph Street Triple R by threatening to
sell it to the SFMTA to convert into a parkingenforcement
trike. Photo: Alan Lapp.
Contents:
NCR .............................. 3
New Stuff .......................... 8
Events. ........................... 10
2012 Suzuki V-Strom ................ 12
Supercross: Oakland ............... 15
Buell-ing for Dollars ................ 17
Vegas Auction, Baby ................ 19
Ed Hertfelder ...................... 20
Maynard Hershon. .................. 21
Dr Gregory W Frazier ................ 22
Marketplace ....................... 23
Classified ......................... 24
Tankslappers ...................... 26
Movie Review: Lumbago ............. 29
CityBike Staff:
PO Box 10659 Oakland, CA 94610
Phone: .................415/282-2790
E-mail: .............info@citybike.com
Find us online: ....... www.citybike.com
News ‘n Clues: ...................Staff
Editor-in-Chief:. .........Gabe Ets-Hokin
Senior Editor: .......... Robert Stokstad
Contributing Editors: .........John Joss,
Will Guyan
Chief of the World Adventure
Affairs Desk:. .......Dr. Gregory Frazier
Staff Photographers:
— Robert Stokstad
— Gary Rather
Art Director: ................ Alan Lapp
Advertising Sales: .........Kenyon Wills
Contributors:
Dan Baizer, Craig Bessenger, John Bishop,
Joanne Donn, John D’India (RIP),
Mike Felder, Dr. Gregory Frazier,
Will Guyan, Joe Glydon (RIP),
Brian Halton, David Hough,
Maynard Hershon, Ed Hertfelder,
Harry Hoffman, Otto Hofmann, Jon Jensen,
David Lander, Lucien Lewis, Ed Milich,
Courtney Olive, Larry Orlick, Jason Potts,
Bob Pushwa, Gary Rather, Curt Relick,
Charlie Rauseo, Mike Solis, Ivan Thelin,
James Thurber, Adam Wade.
CityBike is published on or about the third Monday of each month.
Editorial deadline is the 1st of each month. Advertising information is
available on request. Unsolicited articles and photographs are always
welcome. Please include a full name, address and phone number
with all submissions. We reserve the right to edit manuscripts or use
them to wipe our large, fragrant bottoms.
©2012, CityBike Magazine, Inc. Citybike Magazine is distributed
at over 150 places throughout California each month. Taking more
than a few copies at any one place without permission from CityBike
Magazine, Inc, especially for purposes of recycling, is theft and will
be prosecuted to the full extent of civil and criminal law. Yeah!
CityBike magazine is owned by CityBike Magazine, Inc and has
teams of sleep-deprived, coke-addicted attorneys ready to defend
it from frivolous lawsuits, so even if you see Lucien Lewis doing
one of his wheelies on the cover and decide you want to do that too
and then you hit a parked car and your bike is wedged under a van
and it catches fire and the Vallejo FD has to come and extinguish
the resulting blaze and four cars and your bike are melted into
slag and you suffer permanent trauma including a twisted pinkie,
sleeplessness and night terrors, it’s not CityBike Magazine Inc.’s fault
and we don’t have any assets so just suck on it. You know better.
METERING
JUSTICE
Some developments in
the parking-meter story
we started covering
in our February, 2012
issue (“Porking Meters”
by Ed Milich). It seems
the SFMTA held a
public hearing, and
discovered to its great
dismay that people don’t
like parking meters
sprouting up all over
their neighborhoods
like mushrooms in
Publisher Wills’ laundry
hamper. Ed Milich
reports:
“On January 30th
I attended a public
meeting in the Mission
District regarding SF
Park/SFMTA’s SF
Metro parking meter
plans. Over 100 people
gathered to express
their concerns about
SFPark/SFMTA’s
plan to add meters to
Dogpatch, Potrero
Hill, and the Mission.
A long line of residents,
business owners and
community members
waited for their chance
to speak out to the
attendees, which
included SFMTA
Executive Director
Ed Reiskin, SFPark Project Manager
Jay Primus and City Supervisors David
Campos, Malia Cohen and Jane Kim.
“The tone of the meeting was defiant. The
vast majority of community members who
spoke voiced their displeasure with and
distrust of the new metering plans. Minutes
into the meeting, it was clear that youthful
SFPark Project Manager Jay Primus was
overwhelmed by the negative response to
his pet parking meter project.
“Just prior to this meeting, I also learned
that SFMTA hearing officer John Newlin
had rescinded his prior approval of the
SFPark parking meter initiative for the
Mission and 17th area. This was a blow to
the SF Park project as it sent them back to
the drawing board before installing new
meters in that area.
“Another surprise. On February 9th, the
parking meter in front of Werkstatt on
17th and Capp was removed! Time will
tell if this is permanent or not. We’ll soon
see whether SFPark/SFMTA have learned
a lesson from the recent parking meter
debacle. We’ll also see if they’ve learned
how to better include community members
in their parking plans. We’ll see if the
SFPark program will stick firmly to their
stated goal of improving traffic for San
Francisco residents instead of just creating
more hassles for them.”
March 2012 | 3 | CityBike.com
A note—days after the meter’s mysterious
removal and a nice email from Werkstatt
owner Jennifer Bromme thanking him
for removing the offending machine,
Primus had his minions bring the meter
back, reporting it had just been out for
repair. Seems that somebody damaged
the locks—now why would anybody want
to go and hurt a defenseless little parking
meter?
FOR SALE: DUCATI
Got an extra $1.34 billion dollars in your
checking account? Already have your own
400-foot carbon fiber sailboat and put a
down payment on your moon-base condo?
Why not buy a certain Italian motorcycle
manufacturer? According to the Financial
Times, the 86-year-old company is for sale,
just six years after its purchase by private
equity group Investindustrial.
Investindustrial’s Chairman Andrea
Bonomi told the Times “Ducati is now a
perfect company but the further growth it
requires needs the support of a world-class
industrial partner...this year, we will work
towards that partner.” In 2011, the group
looked into taking the company public,
but the story posits selling it to a rival
manufacturer or automotive group would
be the “more likely way to internationalize
the brand further.” Is “internationalize”
another way of saying “we can’t raise a
billion Euros with an
IPO?” Whatever it
means, Bonomi told the
Times he expects his
family-owned group
to realize three times
its investment in the
company.
So who has that kind of
dough? Various sources
report Volkswagen
would like to enter the
motorcycle market,
Indian industrial giant
Mahindra may prick up
its ears, and of course
BMW is always a
suspect in this kind of
thing, although BMW
firmly stated it isn’t
interested in buying
other brands when
the Italian financial
newspaper Il Solo 24
Ore asked. We can
also rule out Harley-
Davidson. Bonomi said
a “handful” of industrial
groups in Asia, Europe
and the U.S. were
interested, but he
wouldn’t name names.
Would it be a good
investment? According
to Ducati and Bonomi,
of course. It has very
low debt for this kind
of company—just
1.7 times it earnings
of 480 million Euros
a year—has been experiencing sales
growth in a global recession, and enjoys
9 percent of the world sportbike market
(we couldn’t confirm those numbers, or
get an explanation of what Ducati meant
by sportbikes; we assume that means
sportbikes over 600cc). We wouldn’t be
surprised if a large Chinese or Indian
company snapped it up, but we’ll have to
wait in see what the future holds for the
storied brand.
Photo: Bob Stokstad
GUZZI NEWSIE
The just-completed Piaggio dealer meeting
in Italy resulted in the publication of photos
on the web of two new models, including
an Aprilia Caponord and the Moto Guzzi
California 1400 cruiser featuring a new
air-cooled motor.
The California 1400, an homage to Guzzi’s
manly cop bikes and cruisers of years
past, has been a while in the making. A
beneficiary of Aprilia/Piaggio’s multi-

million dollar design center, the new
machine looks more like a finished product
than the prototype shown last year. It’s
laden with mondo-futuristic details like
frenched-in taillights, remote-resorvoir
rear shocks, digital instrumentation and
cool cast wheels designed to
emulate spokes. If it’s a true
1400, that’ll be the biggest
meatball Guzzki has
built and should
provide plenty of
oomph, especially
if it’s mated
to the new
four-valve
cylinder head.
Overall, the
bike has a cool
retro-Decostreamliner
vibe
that will make it
different from
all the
photo: Steve Burton
The old Aprilia
Caponord was
1000cc—new 1200
will be lighter, faster,
yadda, yadda.
THE QUAIL MOTORCYCLE GATHERING
carmel california maY 5, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
The Quail Motorcycle Gathering
10:00am – 3:30pm
Celebrating the Evolution of the Motorcycle
Friday, May 4, 2012
The Quail Ride
Vintage and modern motorcycles welcome
Early Bird Departure / Regular Departure
Featuring parade laps at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
other cookie-cutter cruisers that dominate
that market. Of course, no word yet on
pricing or availability
Of more interest to CB readers is the
Aprilia Caponord 1200, also shown at the
dealers’ meeting. Apparently, this bike was
shown to
dealers as a
prototype
last year but
could go into
production
Tickets and information
Phone: 1 (831) 620-8887 Toll-free: 1 (877) 734-4628
thequail@quaillodge.com www.quaillodgeevents.com
immediately,
as it appears to
photo: Hana Krulova
share not only the engine but the chassis
of the Dorsoduro. However, instead of
the supermoto 17-inch-wheel setup of
the Dorsos, the Caponord has a more
off-road oriented wheelset, longer-travel
suspension, and more rugged styling, along
with all the luggage and accoutrement of
the hardcore adventure rider. Expect it to
run in the $15,000 range to compete with
the BMW GS and other big adventurers.
HONDA GOES ELECTRIC
RACING
Still don’t believe electric motorcycles are
here to stay? Tell that to Honda-linked
Mugen racing, which announced it would
compete in the upcoming electric TTXGP
event
at
the
Isle of Man
this year. “We
are keen to use
this excellent event to
educate and prepare
the engineers of
the next generation
for the use of future
technology,” said Mugen’s
Satoshi
Katsumata in a press release. “We are very
excited about adding to the long history
of Japanese manufacturers on the Isle of
Man.”
Mugen is better known for tuning racecars,
but it does have a history of producing
racing parts and building racebikes.
The company was founded in 1973 by
Hirotoshi Honda, son of big man Soichiro
Honda, and though the company has
been closely associated with Honda,
it has never been owned or controlled
by the automotive behemoth. Still, the
involvement of Mugen signals some kind of
big-factory interest in electric roadracing,
the first sign of such a commitment. Will
photo: Steve Burton
it be in the form of the RC-E prototype
Honda showed off at last year’s Tokyo Auto
Show? Or something totally different?
We wouldn’t be surprised if some of the
other big OEMs—or their performance
divisions, like Yamaha’s GYTR or BMW’s
M—jumped into the mix this year or the
next. Building a competitive e-racer is
expensive for a privateer, but a rounding
error for a huge automotive concern, and
the payoffs in publicity and green image
gi-normous. And don’t be too surprised
if some of these companies have Chinese
names, either.
PEOPLE V. STENSON PART XIV:
THE PHANTOM MENACE
Oh, it sure has been a long time since
our old friend Felecia Stenson, alleged
driver of drunk and smasher of scooters,
has seen the inside of a courtroom. She’s
re-hired defense attorney Rob Amparan,
master of stalling trials, and it’s paid
off—he managed to secure yet another
continuance, allowing Felecia a few more
sweet months of drunken carousing or
whatever it is she feels is so much better
than spending time in a woman’s prison.
In spite of this, the wheels of justice keep
on grinding along, like a rusty old CX500
with a bad cylinder.
To wit, this was posted recently on
Bay Area Rider’s Forum:
“Though it will soon be three
years since a drunk driver (with
prior DUIs with injury!) hit
Astrid Molzow-Gunter as
she returned home from
an SFMC meeting on
her Honda Silverwing
Sylvie, resulting in the
loss of her leg, the case
is still dragging on.
“The next hearing is
scheduled for Friday,
February 24, at 9:00
am at 850 Bryant Street,
Room 22 on the Third
Floor. The purpose of
this hearing is to decide
whether the trial will
proceed on Tuesday,
February 28, or if there
will be yet another
delay. Some of us have been showing up
at previous hearings, and the prosecution
believes it makes a strong impression on
the judge to see members of the two-wheel
community in the courtroom. So if you can
attend even a portion of the hearing, show
up in gear—you can bring your helmet
into the courtroom. Our support is much
appreciated, not only by the D.A., but by
Astrid.”
We here at “News, Clues” will try to make
it to one of these hearings, and we’d like to
see our readers there, too, so we will give
away CityBike “Ride Fast Take Chances”
t-shirts to the first 5 readers at the hearing
who repeat this secret phrase: Five Single-
Malt Scotches. We have ladies’ t-shirts, too,
by the way. Let’s get this person put on trial
so justice can be served.
ROAD-RAGE FUN
The Contra Costa County D.A.’s office
has told CityBike that the county is
pressing charges against the driver of
the white Honda Civic hybrid involved
in a road-rage incident with motocommuter
Michael Carbiener. We told
you about the incident in “Scariest Rides”
(“Tankslappers,” January 2012), but at the
time the disposition of the case was still
unknown. To re-cap, Carbiener motioned
to the driver to put down his cell phone,
which prompted the man (what happened
to the mellow hippie hybrid driver?) to
attempt to hit Carbiener and run him
down. Carbiener followed the Honda to
get his plate, which made the Honda driver
continue to attempt to hit Michael.
If you’re pumping your fist and saying
“yes!” you may be let down a little by the
news that the it’s a misdemeanor reckless
driving charge, not the attempted murder
rap Carbiener and many of our readers
wanted. This may be confusing: after all,
Michael had two witnesses and the CHP
pulled over and talked to the driver, so
what’s the problem, Justice?
Well, it turns out that things aren’t that
simple. The car may have had evidence on
it of striking Carbiener or his motorcycle,
but there could be a reasonable question of
whether Michael was
hit—or if he kicked the
car. CoCo County ADA
Jerry Chang told us the
witness statements
conflicted and there
was just too much
doubt about what
happened to risk going
to trial. Instead, he sent
it to the misdemeanor
department—let’s hope some kind
of justice is served, even if it isn’t
the drawing-and-quartering we
were hoping for.
AFM IS DEAD! LONG
LIVE AFM!
If you’re a fan of the nationallevel
skill and colorful, eclectic
machinery of AFM, Northern
California’s roadracing club (and
the oldest in the country), you may
have been surprised by the article in the
March issue of Sportrider magazine (read
it at sportrider.com) wherein Steven
E. Holt tells us the recession
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds
Saturday Night
March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
- Open Practice 2-6 P.M.
- Need current AMA Cards
- Optional BBQ After Practice
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- Opening Ceremonies - 5 P.M.
- Races - 6 P.M.
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Yamaha Demo Rides Sat March 10, 10:30-3pm
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March 2012 | 4 | CityBike.com
March 2012 | 5 | CityBike.com

is a “a sad time in amateur roadracing” as
revenues dry up, attendance shrinks and
grids thin out. “For example, the once
mighty California-based AFM has had a
reduction of participants (and associated
attending spectators) from a high of
750 racers down to 200 this year alone.”
He blames competition from trackday
providers, who let you get your speed on at
a much smaller cost than racing.
Of course, the story was probably written
in early January, when membership
renewal had just started. Since then, AFM
Generalissimo Berto Wooldridge says,
“while not at our membership numbers for
AFMers Neill O’Reilly (902) and Dan Sewell
(19), both mounted on Suzuki SV650s, battle it
out at Thunderhill. Photo: Gary Rather.
last year (well over 500—ed.), we’re getting
close and this is all before the first round at
Buttonwillow in the
middle of March.
We usually pick
up a considerable
quantity of
members in
between when
registration opens
and the actual race
date.”
Berto also pointed
out that while
roadracing clubs are
suffering, trackday
organizers are too.
Holt’s story suggests
that “the racing
organizations are in
direct competition
with the track days for customers and
each one is taking money from the other.
Maybe if they can both work together in a
symbiotic relationship, having track days
on the Fridays prior to races to allow racers
to get in practice...”
Well, duh, Holt. That sounds like the
relationship AFM has had with track-day
organizers for many years. In fact, at any
given trackday, you’ll see a dozen or more
AFM or CCS numberplates whizzing
past you in the ‘A’ group, indicating that
trackdays would have a hard time existing
without racing organizations, and viceversa.
It’s a symbiotic relationship, not a
competitive one.
One concern I did bring up with Berto is
all the old-timers we still see getting their
wrinkly old asses on podiums—where are
the young guns? “The real problem with
younger riders is they use club racing as a
stepping stone and then move
to a national or European
series. In fact, my thinking
has inverted…I believe the
strength in the AFM lies in its
older membership, not the kids.
They have the financial means
and maturity/ consistency
which really benefits us year to
year. I never thought that’d be
true, but it seems to be. I almost
think that may be the problem
for other clubs; too young a
base.”
FLAT-TRACK
WRONG
Correction:
sometimes we
forget to pay the
power bill, and the
power gets shut
off, resetting the
Photo: Karen Gould
office WayBack
machine and
transporting parts
The great indoors: San Jose’s Indoor flat track is a must-do event for Bay Area motorcyclists.
of prior issues
into present ones. JAM TO THE JAM, MAN
high-level big names deliver some awesome
That’s what happened to the
riding—six main events total.
Speaking of can’t-miss-it racing events,
San Jose Indoor Flat-Track ad have you heard the myths about AMA Pro That’d be enough for the cost of the $50
in the February issue, which Racing? That the roadracing is fixed, or two-day pass ($30 for a single day), but
was actually the ad from 2011. boring, or not worth going to? Well, we’re wait, there’s more. You can wander up
This year’s ad (on page 5) is the here to tell you that’s a bunch of kaka, and the hill to the Karting Center and watch
correct one, with the proper date—March here’s why: AMA racing is now friendlier Supermoto USA action, go to the paddock
30 and 31.
to privateers and new faces than it has been and get free demo rides on the latest
Here’s the thing. The event organizers for years, and the competition has been 2012 motorcycles from the major OEMs,
shouldn’t have to advertise (though we are pretty fierce. There have also been a lot of autograph sessions, ogle hot chix strutting
local racers, like Cameron Beaubier, Elena around in spandex suits and there’s also
Myers and Bobby Fong to root on, and the
very glad they do, to be sure). It’s a fantastic
event, with a Friday-night banquet, a full
day of Saturday practice, and something
like 4 hours of the most intense racing
you’ll ever see (at least inside a building).
Imagine AMA pro racers mounted on
450cc flat-trackers, hunks of carpet taped
to their boot soles, banging elbows and
bars as they slide around on a tiny polishedconcrete
oval. It’s some serious craziness,
and you’re out of the rain and cold, all snug,
gettin’ yo’ snack on and enjoying a big
ol’ frosty Michelob or some other cheap
but refreshing beer. Tickets are $20, and
there are also two kick-ass bike shows at
the pavilions next door—Classic Japanese
and All-British Clubman show. How could
you miss it? Answer: you can’t. And if you
do, you can’t read CityBike for six months.
We’ll be checking...
Go to the Events section in this issue for more
information, and look for us at the races.
Five things riding a bike lets you get
away with:
#5 Splitting lanes
At least in California, it is legal (or
at least it’s not really illegal) to split
lanes. That means never having to
wait in traffic and always getting to
work on time.
#4 Being dirty
Riding a bike is dirty. You’re out there
in the elements, your gloves get dirty,
you’re kicking up dirt and burning
rubber. Embrace it!
#3 Parking anywhere
You can park on the sidewalk, you
can park between cars, and if you find
motorcycle parking, the meter is a
lot cheaper. You can get a ticket for
obstructing pedestrians depending on
where on the sidewalk you park, and if
you share a space with a car and their
meter runs out, you can get a ticket
as well, but there are definitely more
options when you ride on two wheels.
#2 Farting in public
No one is going to notice you farted
when the wind is whipping by. Not
even your passenger. So go ahead, fart
with abandon, nobody will care.
#1 Wearing leather pants
Unless you’re Steven Tyler or
Tommy Lee, leather pants are
probably not the best fashion
accessory for you. There are few
exceptions to that rule, and riding a
motorcycle is one of best. You get to
look like a rockstar and save yourself
from road rash at the same time.
Submit your Moto5ive to info@citybike.com
March 2012 | 6 | CityBike.com
March 2012 | 7 | CityBike.com

TTXGP electric motorcycle racing, which
is fascinating in its own geeky way.
So don’t miss it this time! We’re going—
CityBike is organizing a group ride to the
Jam with several Bay Area motorcycle
clubs; we’ll ride from a yet-to-bedetermined
start point to the raceway
Sunday morning May 6th. Fans who
ride with us will get discounted tickets
and other goodies. Stay tuned or head to
infineonraceway.com/citybikeride or our
Facebook page: tinyurl.com/Facebook-
CityBike
STOP AT NOTHING
...If you’re heading to Addiction Motors
(4052 Watts St., Emeryville) Sunday March
4th. That’s where Combustion Event
(combustionevent.com, 510/606-0383)
is putting together what promises to be a
really good afternoon for the moto-literati.
If it was just Melissa Holbrook Pierson,
author of The Perfect Vehicle and The Man
Who Would Stop at Nothing reading and
talking about her excellent books, that’d
be enough, but, as they say, there’s more.
The subject of The Man Who Would Stop at
Nothing, John Ryan, who holds the record
for riding from Prudhoe Bay to Key West
(86 hours, 31 minutes) is riding 8000 miles
(really!) to attend, and moto-photographer
Christina Shook (Chicks on Bikes) will
be there, and Ed Milich, moto-poet and
CityBike contributor will also be on hand.
There will also be food, drink, vendor
booths (including Good Vibrations of all
things), a raffle and book signings. The
event starts at 1:00 pm, but there’s talk of a
The Ultimate Sport-Urban-Adventure-Tourer
150 horsepower
15,000 mile service intervals
Traction Control
Plus available ABS
Electronic Suspension
Luggage System
Call to schedule a private demo ride
412 Valencia, San Francisco
www.munroemotors.com
(415) 626-3496
3600 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz
www.motoitaliano.com
(831) 462-6686
morning group ride to the event, so check
in with Combustion to get more info.
NEW STUFF
MASK YOUR FEELINGS
Get ready for a hot, dry spring and summer,
if the early warm weather we’re having is
any indicator.
That
1289 W. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale
www.hondapeninsula.com
(408) 739-6500
means you may need a dust-mask for your
on or off-road excursions, and RZ
Mask (rzmask.com) may have
an answer. The neoprene
mask uses replaceable
activated-carbon
filters to keep
99.9 percent
of dust
and
other particulate out of
your mouth, nose and lungs.
There are lots of cool colors and
patterns to choose from, including
camouflage, skulls, plaids and
American flags. Just $30 at your local
moto-shop.
SHOEI NEOTEC
I’ll come out and say
it: I really don’t
understand why
you’d want
a modular
(flip-front)
helmet. I ride
with a fullface
helmet,
period, so why
would I want the
option of flipping the
front up? All it does,
I’ve found, is add a lot of
weight to the lid, weight
that tends to make the helmet
feel off-balance. It also makes the helmet
noisy, and in a lot of cases, less safe—
flip-front helmets don’t get a Snell rating
and oftentimes the front section is flimsy
plastic with no impact liner, just a fancy
faceshield, really. You can keep ‘em.
That’s why I balked at first when Shoei told
me it wanted to send me its new Neotec
modular helmet to test. But all-new for
2012, the Neotec seems to take on all of
my issues, which is why I just had to try it.
The front part is both light and safe, using
a new 360-degree pivot locking system
to keep the lid shut and locked tight (the
latch mechanism on Shoei’s Multitech,
the helmet the Neotec replaces, failed 17
percent of the time
in U.K Department
of Transport
SHARP testing).
The Advanced
Integrated Matrix
shell comes in 3
sizes, the comfort
liner is removable,
and the impact
liner is made of
dual-density foam
for enhanced
impact protection
and the ability to
run ventilation
channels deep
between the layers
of foam. Other
niceties include an
injection-molded
flip-down sunscreen, removable pads for
headphones, and some of the biggest
vents I’ve seen on any helmet sold in
the USA.
It’s been a while since I’ve
tested a helmet with this
level of build quality. It’s like
having a tiny luxury car on
your head, right down to
that sweet new-car smell.
The latches and levers work
with liquid smoothness
and the paint is flawless.
On my head, the liner is
soft and comfortable, and
the fit was just right for me—
notable, as the last Shoei I had
(an X-11) was too tight.
It’s a very good helmet, by far the
best flip-front I’ve tested. It’s light for
a modular (3 pounds, 11 ounces on the
CityBike
postage scale) ,
especially one
with an internal
sunscreen. It’s
also got a nice
balanced feel—
not too much
weight fore or
aft—whether
the front is up
or down. It’s
quiet; not as
quiet as the
best full-facers,
but quieter, by
far, than the
drafty turds I’ve
tested in the
past. It’s also
airtight and very
comfortable—
mine needed no
break-in. The
vents bring in a
lot of air, even at
lower
speeds, without being
too noisy and the
earphone
pockets
are the
most useful
I’ve tested—the
surface sticks well to Velcro
and there’s ample room for positioning
your speakers perfectly, important for
helmet-mounted sound systems. My only
complaint is the faceshield, which isn’t
quite as easy to swap out as other brands,
but fine once you get the hang of it.
The Neotec did what a dozen modulars
have failed to do—show me it’s possible
for a flip-up helmet to be as comfortable
and practical as a full-facer. I still don’t
really appreciate the utility, but I know
there are a lot of you who do. At $663 it’s
not cheap, but it really is a Mercedes of
flip-up helmets and worth it for touring or
commuting riders who spend more time
riding than they do talking about riding.
—Gabe Ets-Hokin
MOTOJONES
Get your art on at motojones.com, a
website dedicated to motorcycle art and
photography. Large-scale prints of famous
motorcycles and motorcycle moments,
like the image below of Reg Pridmore and
Cook Neilson chasing after each other at
Riverside Raceway, c. 1976, are available
for sale, and eventually the site will host
other motorcycle art, video and writing.
STORZ
Feast your eyes on what happens when
Harley flat-track guy Steve Storz jumps
on the cafe-racer bandwagon—not bad,
eh? He’s developed a line of road-racy
accessories for 2004 and up Sportsters, and
he’s showing them off on this SP1200RR,
which is loaded to the nines. It’s got a
gorgeous hand-formed aluminum tank,
road-race style tail section, clipons, 55mm
inverted Ceriani fork, Öhlins shocks and
a zillion other treats. There’s something
deliciously wrong about passing squids on a
Sportster, but these bikes are pretty capable
once you get rid of the conchos, tassels and
ape-hangers. Check it out at storzperf.com
or call Steve at 805/641-9540.
March 2012 | 8 | CityBike.com
March 2012 | 9 | CityBike.com

Intensely Good
Graphic Design & Illustration
I’m Alan Lapp, a 25-year veteran designer & illustrator.
Companies you know and trust, such as CityBike, Lee
Parks Design and RaceTech choose Level Five Graphics
because I offer a great price & performance value.
Your business can benefit from my experience and
commitment to customer satisfaction. View my portfolio
on-line, and contact me to start solving your design
needs. Great work to follow.
510-295-7707 • www.levelfive.com
EVENTS
First Monday of each month
(March 5, April 2):
2:30 – 10:00 pm: Northern California
Ducati Bike Nights at Benissimo (one
of Marin’s finest Italian Restaurants),
18 Tamalpias Dr, Corte Madera.
NorCalDoc.com
6:00 pm: American Sport Bike Night
at Dick’s Restaurant and Cocktails,
3188 Alvarado Street, San Leandro.
Bring your Buell and hang out with
like-minded riders. All brands welcome!
Our meeting of Buell and Motorcycle
enthusiasts has been happening the first
Monday of the month for the last 12
years, without ever missing a meeting.
We have had many local and national
celebrities from the Motorcycle world
grace our meetings. It has been fun and
exciting. americansportbikenight.net
6:00 pm: California (Northern, East
Bay) NORCAL Guzzi Bike Night at
Applebee’s at McCarthy Ranch Mall,
off 880, in Milpitas, California. All
MGNOC members, interested Guzzi
riders, and all other motorcycle riders
always welcome. More information,
contact Pierre at: 408/710-4886 or
pierredacunha@yahoo.com.
Second Tuesday of Each Month
(March 12, April 10)
6:30 pm to 10:00 pm: East Bay Ducati
Bike Night at Pizza Antica (3600
Mount Diablo Blvd., Lafayette, 925/299-
0500) Bike parking on the street right
in front of the restaurant, indoor and
heated outdoor seating, excellent wine
list. All moto brands welcome. Bring your
appetite and a smile, be prepared to make
new friends.
Third Sunday of each month
(March 18, April 15):
9:00 am: California (Northern)
Moto Guzzi National Owners Club
(MGNOC) breakfast at Putah Creek
Cafe in picturesque Winters, California
(Highways 505/128) MGNOC members
and interested Guzzi riders meet for
breakfast and a good time. The Putah
Creek Cafe is located at Railroad Avenue.
More information contact: Northern
California MGNOC Rep, Don Van
Zandt at 707-557-5199.
Evenings: Moto-Sketch at Tosca Cafe:
come and sketch a live model draped over
a custom bike. $7 to sketch, free to just
watch. Tosca Cafe, 242 Columbus Ave.
in S.F.
First Saturdays of each month
(March 3, April 1)
Mission Motorcycles (6292 Mission
St. Daly City, missionmotorcycles.
com 650/992-1234) has Brown Bag
Saturdays: 15% off all parts and
accessories you can stuff into a brown
paper sack.
Every day through April 28, 2012
Moto Bellissima Exhibit at SFO
The Italian propensity for artistic design,
historically demonstrated in a wide range
of manufactured goods, has perhaps
never been better exemplified than in the
beautiful motorcycles that graced Italy’s
racetracks and roadways in the 1950s and
1960s. Over the course of two decades,
an unprecedented number of Italian
firms, many of them lost to history,
produced a dizzying array of smallsized
motorcycles for a country with a
desperate need for mobility after World
War II. These machines were created at
a time of impoverished resources, but
consistent with a characteristically Italian
insistence on producing, and demanding,
objects of extraordinary design and
beauty. Nineteen motorcycles, ranging
from singularly produced racers such
as Carlo Ubbiali’s 1951 Mondial 125cc
Bialbero Grand Prix to 50cc production
bikes from the late 1960s, demonstrate
that while necessity breeds invention, the
results can be truly stunning.
Moto Bellissima: Italian Motorcycles from
the 1950s and 1960s is located presecurity
in the International Terminal
Main Hall Departures Lobby, San
Francisco International Airport. The
exhibition is on view to all Airport
visitors from November 5, 2011 to April
28, 2012. There is no charge to view the
exhibition. For more information, please
visit flysfo.com/museum.
Saturday, February 25th
6:00-11:00 pm: Gallery Moto SF (275
8th St., Second Floor, S.F.) and Bay Area
Vintage Riders presents Unfinished
Projects 2012, a show displaying
moto-projects in various stages of
completion as well as motorcycle-related
art produced by local artists. It’s a really
great show—CityBike attended the first
year and was greatly entertained by some
great art and interesting bikes. DJ and
craft-brewed beer will be on hand. You
should really just go.
Sunday, March 4th.
1:00 pm-5:00 pm: Combustion Events
is hosting a book signing for Melissa
Holbrook Pierson, author of The Man
Who Would Stop at Nothing which will
be attended by her and John Ryan, the
protagonist of the book who has set some
amazing long-distance records—he’s
a guy who rides more in 48 hours than
many of us ride in a year.
Meet the duo at Addiction Motors
(4052 Watts St. in Emeryville,
510/4-REPAIR or addictionmotors.
com) along with special guests Christina
Shook (author of Chicks on Bikes) and
Ed Milich (CityBike contributor and
author of poetry collections Wrenched
and Fueled) The event is just $15 and
includes food and a reading, or $25
if you want a t-shirt, or $45 gets you
grub, the reading, a shirt and a signed
copy of what’s really a terrific book.
Buy tickets online at combustionevent.
com or call 510/606-0383. You can also
RSVP on Facebook: facebook.com/
events/277068255680583
Saturday, March 17th
11:00 am: San Francisco Motorcycle
Club AMA District 36 St. Patrick’s Day
run. Meet at the SFMC clubhouse (2194
Folsom St., S.F.) and be prepared for a
good ride, food and a raffle. Contact the
SFMC (415/863-1930 or sf-mc.org) for
more info.
Friday, March 30th to
Saturday, March 31st
Indoor Flat-Track Racing at the Santa
Clara County Fairgrounds (344 Tully
Road San Jose) Indoor motorcycle racing
on concrete is back in San Jose. Come
see one of the most exciting races of the
year! The machines are 450cc flattrack
bikes tearing up the fairgrounds in San
Jose. Handlebar bashing, elbow-to-elbow
racing in a cage.
Friday: Practice and optional barbeque.
Practice starts at 2:00 pm and runs till
6:00 pm, then the barbeque will follow.
Invite all your friends to join us for
practice, dinner and a night of bench
racing and remembering the “Good Old
Days.”
Saturday:
2:00 pm-10:00 pm: Calling all spectators:
don’t miss this; come out to see 3-4 hours
of close racing inside the Expo Building
at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds
Saturday, 6:00-9:30 pm. Experience Pro
Racing at its best! Spectator’s seats will
make you feel like you’re almost on top of
the action.
Pit pass: $30, Spectators: $20. Riders: $30
for Friday practice, $50 to race first class,
$35 for each class after that.
Info: sanjoseindoor.com or call Pete at
408/249-4336 or email: heartoncl@aol.
com.
8:00 am-4:00 pm: Clubman’s All-
British Weekend, also at the Fairgrounds
(see above). An amazing all-volunteer
show that attracts over 150 pristine
classic machines competing for trophies
in various classes, motorcycle celebrities,
vendors, a swap meet and throngs of
adoring fans. This all-indoor show is the
largest All-British Motorcycle Show West
of the Mississippi. And it’s right here in
our backyard, in San Jose.
This is a great opportunity to see so
many rare and interesting classic British
motorcycles all in one place. These
include vintage machines all the way
back to the turn of the last century,
pre-war and post-war classics, military
machines, racers, customized choppers,
bobbers and cafe racers, and some
modern-day British classics. It’s all
under one roof, the bikes are gorgeous,
the people are friendly, and they even
serve food, beer and wine.
For more info, go to classic-britishmotorcycles.com/clubmans-all-britishweekend-2012.html
Admission is only
$5 (and kids under 12 get in free).
8:00 am-4:00 pm: Classic Japanese
Motorcycle Club 4th Annual
Motorcycle Show and Swap, also at
the Fairgrounds (see above). Terrific
displays of all kinds of classic Japanese
rides, from the ‘40s through the ‘80s.
Editor Ets-Hokin may even display his
feared CB350 Cafe Racer, so don’t miss
it. Contact the CJMC at cjmc.org or call
Allen Siekman at allen@ebold.com or
by phone: 831/336-3621.
Sunday, April 1:
10:00 am: What could be better than
viewing scads of classic Japanese and
British motorcycles? Only one thing:
riding them! So, at 10:00 am the
following Sunday morning, the faithful
gather in nearby Los Gatos for “The
Morning After Ride” through the
Santa Cruz Mountains, the Redwoods
and the Coast. Both the BSAOCNC
and CJMC are riding—contact those
clubs (see above) for meeting places and
times.
Saturday, April
28th and
Sunday, April
29th:
10:00 am-4:00
pm both days:
22nd Annual
Pacific Coast
Dream
Machines Show
(Half Moon Bay
Airport, 9850
N. Cabrillo Hwy
on Hwy. 1, 5
miles north of
Hwy. 92) Half
Moon Bay’s
spectacular
showcase of
motorized
mechanical
marvels from
throughout the
20th and 21st
centuries—
more than 2,000
beautiful flying,
driving and
working machines on display for public
viewing—motorcycles displays include
everything from antique turn-of-thecentury
models, high-performance sport,
racing and off-road bikes to the hottest
custom bikes of the modern era.
$20 ($30 for 2-day pass) for adults, $10
($15 for 2-day pass) for ages 11-17 and
65+, and free for kids age 10 and under.
for more info call 650/726-2328 or visit
miramarevents.com.
Friday, May 4 through
Sunday, May 6
AMA Pro Road Racing West Coast
Moto Jam at Infineon Raceway
(Highways 37 & 121 Sonoma) The twowheel
excitement of AMA Pro Road
Racing returns to Infineon Raceway
for the West Coast Moto Jam, May 4-6.
Celebrate your Cinco de Mayo weekend
with the ultimate motorcycle fiesta! In
addition to six AMA Pro Road Racing
main events on the road course, you’ll
be treated to Supermoto USA on the
karting track and the return of the TTXGP
Electric Motorcycles. And, don’t miss free
demo rides in the expanded Motorsports
Midway, appearances by the Infineon
Raceway Girls, autograph sessions and
more!
Sunday:
Sunday, May 6 th - 9:00 a.m. (Time and
meeting place subject to change)
CityBike Magazine’s Ride to the
Races: Ride with CityBike contributors,
staffers and members of the major Bay
Area motorcycle clubs to the West
Coast Moto Jam at Infineon Raceway,
featuring the best in AMA Pro Road
Racing and Supermoto USA. Purchase
your Race and Ride Ticket now and save
$15, call (800) 870-7223 ext. 161 or visit
infineonraceway.com/citybikeride.
50th Anniversary
YZFR6s are here!
Come in to see how far they’ve come!
Always wear a helmet, eye protection, and protective clothing.
Please respect the environment, obey the law, and read your owner's manual thoroughly.
BERKELEY YAMAHA
735 GILMAN STREET
BERKELEY (510) 525-5525
www.berkeley-yamaha.com
Tues.-Fri. 9-6, Sat. 9-5 — Sun.-Mon. Closed
March 2012 | 10 | CityBike.com
March 2012 | 11 | CityBike.com

2012 Suzuki V-Strom
By Neale Bayly, photos by Suzuki.
As we carved through the beautiful
mountain roads of western North
Carolina, Mother Nature burning the
surrounding countryside a blaze of fall
Repair & Service
Simply the Best
colors, I worked out how I’d vote if anyone It’s hard to accept it has already been a
asked me to pick
decade since the
my favorite
first V-Strom hit
motorcycle
showroom floors,
ridden in
but in that time
2011.
thousands of them
With no
have rolled out.
traction
Over the years little
control,
has been changed,
mind-
for good reason.
bending
Displacing 645cc
and producing what
seems like a modest
65-70 horsepower,
in the real world of
speed limits, stop
signs and large,
semi-conscious
four-wheeled
road users,
it’s actually
plenty. So for
2012 Suzuki has
refined the venerable
V-Strom, not
revolutionized it.
acceleration,
I whole-heartedly
or MotoGP-
applaud.
spec brakes,
how could a
Leaving my
simple 650cc
hometown of
V-Twin, with
Charlotte, North
simple, low-cost
Carolina, heading
components, be my top
for two days of
choice? Well, while riding
riding in the nearby
with friends on some of the
mountains, it
most beautiful roads in America,
took no time to
as fast as I’ll ever want to travel
get settled in and
on a public highway, I realized that
feeling comfortable.
in our complex world it was clear that
The sensible riding
with the new Suzuki V-Strom 650, less is
position, new seat
actually more.
and wide, upright
bars keep your back
straight and your
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Tue–Fri 10–6 Sat 9–5
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feet low enough to remove strain from the
knees. Quickly hopping onto the interstate
to get us out of town, we settled on a lawabiding
70 mph, which put the analog
tachometer around the 5000 rpm mark.
With peak power not arriving until 8800
rpm, and redline a little past this at 10,000
rpm, the V-Strom had plenty in reserve for
passing duties.
The short highway blast was perfect for
feeling the effects of the new windshield.
Suzuki has spent considerable time refining
it, and by moving the windshield back
30mm the engineers have eliminated a lot
of wind noise. Adjustable up and down, as
well as forward and back, you can tailor it to
your own preference. Additional accessory
windshield pieces further improve this
performance, and I experienced this on the
better-equipped Adventure model, much to
my approval.
The ride took us on some beautiful
secondary roads and by the time we
stopped for a coffee break we had been
riding long enough for me to know this is
one seriously comfortable motorcycle. The
new seat is narrower, to make it easier to
place your feet flat on the ground; it is firm,
but not too firm. Standard seat height is
32.9 inches, or you can purchase a higher
(33.6 incher) or a lower (32.1-inch) version.
I tried all three, and at around 5-foot 11
inches with a 30-inch inseam, the standard
sweeter, harder-pulling motor—everything
the old V-Strom was, and more.
indicator shows average consumption on
the fly, helpful when planning fuel and rest
or tall worked best for me. Whichever
stops on tour.
option you choose, the combination of size
These changes improve fuel efficiency,
and padding will be perfect for long days on
so the gas tank has been reduced to 5.3 Speaking of touring, one of my first
thoughts when I pulled away on the
the road.
Adventure model was “let’s load
For 2012, the engine has been updated
by using the power plant found in
the slightly funky Gladius. It’s still
essentially an SV 650/V-Strom power
plant, with a 81mm bore and 62.6 mm
stroke, worked over to give it more
bottom-end grunt. New pistons and
up and head out across country.” It
looks and feels ready to take a long,
adventurous ride. With the touring
windshield with seven-way adjustable
spoiler, aluminum side cases, engine
crash bars and top box, it has all the
right equipment.
rings run in new cylinders, with an
These options add $1500 to the $8300
updated intake camshaft that is largely
price of the standard V-Strom, but you
responsible for this boost lower down
can buy the standard version and add
the rpm range. Clean-up work in the
accessories as you go. The side bags
combustion chambers adds efficiency,
come in two choices, aluminum or
and mechanical loss is reduced by
gallons from the previous 5.8 gallons.
composite-resin, but the matching top box
using single valve springs instead of the Long-distance riders will still get the same
is an accessory. Also available as options
previous doubles. There have also been range between fill-ups due the improved
are heated grips, crash guards, a belly pan,
minor crankshaft changes, and it’s really a fueling—with an easy 50 mpg, close to
center stand and power outlet, all useful
sum of the parts here adding up to an even 250-mile range is typical. Suzuki’s mileage
From 3:14 Daily
Valencia @ 25th
415-970-9670
Service & Repair
While we are well-known
for our work on Ducatis, we
provide outstanding service
on all brands and all models!
Plus, it’s a friendly place...swing
by on a Saturday for a cup o’
coffee and some bench racing.
Nichols Sportbike Service
913 Hanson Court
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 945-0911
For Ducati product info, please go to:
www.nicholssportbike.com
March 2012 | 12 | CityBike.com
March 2012 | 13 | CityBike.com

accessories for the hardcore
adventure-touring
rider. One nitpick I had
was the luggage, which
rattled a bit, and while
garage time could damp
this out, when added to
stiff locks and hinges, it’s
something I would rather
Suzuki or my dealer
address before I took the
V-Strom home.
Another useful feature
for adventure riders is
the cockpit warning light
that lets you know when
the temperature has
dropped to 32 degrees
by flashing. A digital
speedometer joins an
analog tachometer,
and a switch in front
of the left handlebar
lets you scroll through
the bike’s functions
on the digital readout. There are two trip
meters and average fuel consumption on
the right. If you hold the button for at least
a second, you can switch between time
and temperature. The gauge cluster has an
adjustable backlight for brightness with
all warnings lights on the right. From the
rider’s eye view, it’s clean and functional
and easy to interpret on the move.
One of the best parts of our two-day test
was the number of corners we traversed
following our guide, Bill Kniegge. Bill is a
good friend and neighbor, so I knew when
Suzuki asked him to design a route that it
would be fantastic: I just hadn’t factored
in how much better the V-Strom would
make it. The wide bars make tipping the
bike into turns almost telepathic, though
you might think a 19-inch front wheel
would slow things down. Mated to a
more conventional seventeen-inch rim in
the rear, with a modest 150/70R profile,
the bike not only turns in and finishes
corners quickly, it’s extremely stable midcorner
and encourages crazy lean angles.
Improved suspension helps keep the tires
in contact with the road longer over bumps
and is a nice balance between sport and
touring: not too soft and not too hard.
The conventional front fork has a pre-load
adjustment and this will be useful when
the bike is heavily loaded. As ridden, with
just me in the saddle at around 185 pounds,
there was no unwanted dive under hard
braking, though the fairly generic twopiston
calipers
won’t stress it
unduly. The
twin disc brakes
are as good as
they need to be,
safely slowing
the bike without
overwhelming
the fork. Good
additional
stopping power
comes from
the rear brake,
but it’s easy to
activate the anti
lock brakes on
the rear, so you
can lose braking
power on
corner entrance
if you are
overenthusiastic
with your foot, learned by experience. This
year’s standard ABS incurs a 13-pound
weight penalty, raising my one real gripe:
you can’t turn the ABS
off for riding in the
dirt.
With a portion of
our ride on fabulous,
twisting Jeep-style
trails, we made
fairly steep descents,
dropping off the
Blue Ridge Parkway.
Knowing that the
V-Strom ABS was
operational made
my descent more
cautious—switching
it off would have been
a lot more fun, and,
I think, safer. If you
have seen an ABS
demonstration in the
dirt, it’s shocking how
much longer it takes to
stop if it’s in use—the
opposite of how it
performs on the road.
Parking the V-Strom for the last time, I
stood back briefly to collect my thoughts.
Style-wise the bike has undergone a minor
revamp, with sharper looks and a tighter
stance, thanks to a shorter exhaust pipe
and the fairing pulled closer to the center of
the bike. The changes are pleasing visually,
but the bike
retains its
familiar look.
It has gained
power where
it’s appreciated
most, picked
up a few new
functions,
while losing
lost none of its
charms. As the
most affordable
adventuretouring
motorcycle on
the road, or
in base form
at $8300 a
stone-reliable,
comfortable
commuter,
the new 2012
Suzuki V-Strom is simply my bike of the
year for these simple reasons.
Story and Photos by Bob Stokstad
James Stewart must love Oakland. He
won here last year, and again this year.
After a poor start at Anaheim I and
Phoenix, Stewart landed his first 2012-series
win at the Coliseum. His sweat-stained face
radiated joy on the podium.
The fans love Oakland, too. They began
arriving at the Coliseum in the early
afternoon to watch timed practice laps
and wander the paddock. By opening
ceremonies at 7 pm, the place was full.
The paddock shows the money. Racing
ain’t cheap, not with the shiny, humongous
tractor-trailers that cruise from city to city
as the series moves across the USA. Not
with the team of managers, mechanics,
shops and crew backing a single rider like
Stewart (now sponsored by Toyota), or
Reed, or Villopoto or Dungey—the current
series contenders. Don’t forget the Monster
Energy girls, who happily pose with
little kids or paunchy dads while moms
and wives snap photos. All this costs, of
course, but it’s all included with the ticket.
Everybody has a good time, from families
that sit together in the stands down front
to the teenagers huddled in the $10 seats at
the very top, where the scent of Humboldt
County’s harvest
permeates the
breeze.
A Supercross track
is itself an amazing
creation. Dumping
hundreds of
tons of dirt onto
a manicured
baseball diamond
would not occur
to anyone who
has ever pushed a
lawnmower, but
there it is, covering
the whole ball field,
piled in torturous
ways that become
the ultimate test of
a rider’s skill and
endurance. Double
jumps, triple
jumps, whoops and
turns come in combinations that change
from race to race. A company aptly named
“Dirt Wurx” piles it up during the week and
trucks it all away the day after.
Supercross in the Coliseum
Tomac celebrating with a victory jump
Stewart Shows his Stuff
Opening ceremonies take half an hour.
Fireworks, flames, flares and Monstergreen
light beams showcase the top riders
as they circle and wave to the crowd. This
and six heat races are the warm-ups to the
main events—
first Supercross
Lites (15 laps and
20 riders) and
then Supercross
(20 laps and 20
riders)—that
begin at 9:00 pm.
Eli Tomac ran
away with the
Lites main event,
slipping ahead
on the third lap,
then steadily James Stewart roosts
extending his
margin until he finished 12 seconds ahead
of French motocross champion Marvin
Musquin. Musquin generated most of the
excitement as he passed eight riders on his
way from a bad start to the number two
spot on the podium.
Coming into Oakland, Ryan Villopoto,
Ryan Dungey and Chad Reed had each
won one of the three previous races,
while James Stewart’s best was a thirdplace
finish the previous week in Los
Angeles. Things
weren’t looking
much better
this evening, as
Stewart started
fourth, well
behind Reed, on
holeshot. Reed
looked as if he
might lead the
whole race, like
last week, but
Stewart caught
and passed him
by the third lap
and then stalked
Reed, looking
for an opening.
(It must be
psychological
torture to be
leading yet
know that, right
behind, someone is waiting for just the
right moment to slip past. You don’t know
when that will happen until it happens,
then it’s too late.) This drama went on for
seven more laps until Stewart managed
to get inside Reed on a 180-degree turn.
From that point Stewart led the race,
slowly but steadily pulling ahead. Reed’s
only hope was that Stewart would stall
or fall. He didn’t. Two seconds after
Stewart, Reed crossed the finish line, then
Villopoto, then
Dungey.
Stewart has
moved up to
fourth place in
series points but
lags the leaders –
Reed and Dungey
each have 86
points – by 13.
Villopoto is a
close third with
84. But Stewart
couldn’t have
been happier
with this win. (There was a somber note as
he dedicated the evening to Mark Adams,
Stewart’s team mechanic, who had been
killed two days before, hit by a car while
he was helping a motorist stranded at the
roadside.) Stewart’s sponsors were pleased,
as they saw their brands brandished on the
podium. The Italians from Pirelli were in
the stands to see the first Supercross win
on their tires and hear Stewart praise their
surefooted character on a greasy track.
So now it’s one win apiece for the top four
contenders. Rounds 5 and 6 in Anaheim
and San Diego will surely break the
symmetry established at Oakland.
Check out the exciting video from Stewart’s helmet
cam. tinyurl.com/oaklandsuperX
Ed note: Ryan Villopoto won both events and
Stewart is now a distant fourth, 32 points behind
front-runner Villopoto.
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March 2012 | 16 | CityBike.com
By Gabe Ets-Hokin
Photos by Alan Lapp
Some people are just never happy.
Here I am, owner of what may be the
best all-around sporting streetbike
on the road today, Triumph’s fun, funky,
feisty Street Triple R: a hundred horses
pushing you forwards, right around 415
pounds full of gas, and a motor that’s
torquey on the bottom, free-revving
through the middle, then spins to 13,000
rpm-plus and enjoys every minute of
it. Top it off with brakes that feel like
they’ll stop a runaway F-18, top-notch,
adjustable cartridge suspension from the
675 Daytona, relaxed, upright ergos and a
humane seat, and why would you need any
other bike? Seriously, why?
Well, aside from my self-esteem issues, the
Strippler has its faults. Like most Triumphs,
it’s sort of spendy to maintain. It returns
lackluster fuel economy for a middleweight,
has an absurdly sensitive throttle and
styling that’s...well...it’s not the kind of bike
you’ll want to stare at when it’s parked in
your garage or write poetry about, let’s
put it that way. I also realized the bike was
worth more than I had paid for it, so I was
thinking, shucks, why not cash out, get
something equally fun and interesting, and
apply the extra dough to something fun,
like funding my kid’s college fund?
Why not? Well, the problem is finding
the bike that will fill the Triumph’s shoes,
performance and value-wise. A comfy,
sporting standard, lightweight and torquey,
for around $4000. What was out there?
Well, I’ve always admired the fuel-inframe
Buell XB series. About 18 months
ago, my pal Ivan emailed that he bought
an XB9S, bringing back memories of
how much I enjoyed riding theses bikes.
Erik Buell intended them as true allaround
streetbikes—comfortable, great
handling, light and fun to ride. I mentioned
on Bay Area Rider’s Forum (BARFbayarearidersforum.com)
I was thinking
about selling the Trumpet and buying a
Buell. Before you know it, some friendly
BARF-ers offered up a pair of XBs to ride,
then AD Alan Lapp wanted to ride, and
then Ivan heard about it and wanted to
come with his friend Dennis (who rides a
‘97 Buell X1 White Lightning), so I had to
have John Joss come along as well—just
to keep it real. Suddenly, we had a story on
our hands.
through 250 Harley-Davidson dealers,
but are also much cheaper than Japanese
or European brands. Maintenance is also
pretty reasonable—the Sporty-derived
Handling isn’t what you’d expect, given
the chassis numbers and relative low mass
of the bikes, but at an 7/10ths pace, they
are so easy to ride—stable, predictable
motor uses hydraulic valve adjusters and and balanced. Comfort is also remarkable
What have you heard about the XB series?
final drive is by a non-adjustable belt for this kind of bike; relaxed seating
Here’s what I know. Introduced in 2002,
Buell claimed would last the life of the position, comfy seat and smooth running
the bikes use an exotic, made-in-Italy frame
bike (but is easy and cheap to replace if for a 45-degree V-Twin.
it doesn’t). Icing
That motor won’t dazzle you unless you’re
on the cake—fuel
moving up from a Ninja 500 or a cruiser,
economy is in
but it’s still really fun. It’s not a lot of power,
the 50-plus range
but it’s there everywhere, in every gear,
if you baby it,
even more so on the 12, which is like riding
40-plus if you
some kind of automatic wheelie simulator.
don’t, fantastically
The bottom end of the rev range is so burly
efficient compared
to my gas-guzzling
Triumph, which
returns 35 only if
you ride like you
ingested too much
cold medication.
that puts fuel in the frame spars and oil in
the swingarm. The motor was a first for
Buell—purpose-built for the brand, it uses
architecture similar to the Sportster mills
used before, but with new cases and just
about everything else. The 984cc version
makes about 75 horsies at the wheel, add
12-15 for the manly-man 1203cc XB12.
Front suspension is an inverted 41mm
fork (43mm after 2004), and braking is by
Buell’s ‘ZTL’ braking system, featuring
a single rim-mounted 375mm disc and
six-piston caliper. Wheelbase is a tidy 52
inches) and the bikes weigh in around 425
pounds with the 3.7-gallon ‘tank’ filled up.
That’s some serious tech, right? Given
the bike’s history and quirkiness, you’d
think they’d be rare collector’s items,
with high resale values. Not. A Craigslist
scan showed you can buy Buell XBs by
the metric tonne in the $2500-$4000
range, and they have a pretty good
reputation for reliability, believe it or
not. Spare parts are not just available,
Stop me Before I Buy a Buell
Is good enough good enough?
My memories
of testing these
bikes when I
was a big-shot
motojournalist
were rosy—
probably because
I was riding
brand-new,
carefully prepped
machines. The two machines BARFers
Chess and Mandy own—a 2003 XB9S and
a 2004 XB12S—were in good condition
for decade-old bikes with five digits on the
speedo, but still felt used. Ivan’s 2003 XB9S
had the most miles, and was the most
tired, but all three still felt a lot better than
your average high-mileage machine and
would have felt like new with some TLC;
with fresh suspension and brake rebuilds,
maybe some bearings and bushings, and
you’d have new bikes, essentially. Judging
from the loyalty of Buell owners, the last
generation of the 126,000 bikes produced
by Buell are solid, reliable rides that will
probably outlast most of their owners.
So what are they like to ride? For a
motorcycle in that price range, excellent.
Let’s start with the good stuff—torque
and handling. Even the revvier (but
softer) XB9 mill has more power available
right off idle—hell, at 500 rpm—than
anything short of an electric motor.
March 2012 | 17 | CityBike.com
you start to think about how incredible
it would be if the powerband went on to
10,000 rpm or more. Instead, it peaks at
around 7000 and is bouncing off the limiter
around 8000. Still, for regular riding on
bumpy two-lane roads at 60-80 mph, it’s
clearly a great mill, an elegant pairing with
that special chassis.
In the ‘fail’ box are two niggles: power and
brakes. Torque is great, but sometimes you
just need that top-end hit, maybe to break
the law with a little more style, or when you
want to relax a bit at a trackday and not be a
hazard in the B group. The Buell mill—9 or
12—just doesn’t quite cut it compared to

ikes you can pick up for just a few hundred
bucks more.
And finally—brakes. If there’s one thing
Erik B. deserves a ho’-slap for, it’s that
silly engineering-for-engineering’s sake
brake system. At best, the hula-hoop disk
and huge caliper work almost as well as a
conventional setup, but at the cost of slow
steering and interference with trail-braking
fun. Even worse, the system seems to need
more attention than a regular one, and all
three bikes I rode needed love, showing
weak initial bite and requiring much more
squeeze to slow down. Luckily, the bike
is kind of slow and doesn’t need a lot of
braking, except in an emergency, in which
case you’re on your own.
So would I buy one? If I only had $4000 to
spend on a used bike, absolutely. The Buell
lacks power, and the brakes are goofy, but
what bike is perfect? Not one I’ve ever had.
For the money, you’d have to get really
lucky to get this kind of fun, handling,
economy, style and well-engineered
quality. If you’ve got a Buell XB, hang on
to it to give to your kids. If you want one,
consult your motorcycle-sales professional
or Craigslist if you think a Buell might be
right for you.
Second Take: Big Al Lapp
I’ll own up to being an import motorcycle
guy. I grew up riding mostly Suzuki and
Honda, I currently own three Kawasakis
and in over 35 years of riding have owned
just one Yamaha. My current daily driver
is a KTM dual-sport bike, but back
in the mid-90s I actually considered
buying Buell’s first ‘regular’ production
motorcycle, the S2 Thunderbolt. However,
I wasn’t impressed with the essentially
unmodified Sportster motor.
Imagine my pleasure when Gabe invited
me along on his Buell fact-finding mission.
I was to shoot, ride and provide opinions of
the XB series—which are quite affordable
on the used market. I rode an XB9S.
So, I’ll start by saying that the thing I liked
most about them 15 years ago is the thing
that I now like least: it’s a tiny little sport
bike . Eric Buell was said to have modeled
the chassis geometry for his original bike
after the TZ250, a successful track-only
roadracing bike. This is possibly an urban
legend, but believable. When I pulled up
next to CityBike Publisher Wills’ Honda
SuperHawk, the Buell is visibly and
significantly shorter in both wheelbase and
seat height. Chess, the owner of the XB9S,
said I made it look like a pit bike.
So, being taller, I had to fold up my legs
pretty severely to get my feet on the high
pegs. I don’t expect borrowed bikes to
be set up for me but aside from the usual
lever problems I was surprised to find that
the suspension worked quite well for my
weight, having about the right amount of
damping to provide a plusher ride than
I’d have expected, yet provide thoroughly
confidence-inspiring control.
Bottom line: would I buy it? There are pros
and cons to a Buell: adequately muffled,
they sound great, and I’m even a fan of
the (somewhat polarizing) styling. On
the road, they’re a nice experience—the
torquey motor pulls sweetly and now that
I’m older and slower and ride a thumper,
provides adequate thrust for real-world
riding. The true stars of the show are the
chassis and the brakes. They’re both user
friendly and provide good feedback. Heck,
the seat is even comfortable enough for
long rides if you can figure out how to fit
luggage. The answer: no, I’m too tall. If I
were shorter than 5’10” or had creepy short
legs, I’d probably say yes.
Third Take: John Joss
Why should Editor Ets-Hokin buy a Buell?
Why not?
Get right down to it, each of us has a
different way to get from here to there:
walk, ride a bicycle, take a bus, hitchhike,
even—choke, gasp—drive a car, as a last
resort, if all else fails.
But we don’t do any of the above.
We ride… a motorcycle. Not any
motorcycle. We who have been riding
for a while and who have sampled a few
different motorcycles come down to
this: which should it be? Then: what
should our next one be? Last: can we
afford it?
Buell is a logical choice, a technical choice,
an emotional choice and—in the case of
Erik Buell’s Harley-Davidson-engined
machines—a financial choice. In short,
Erik Buell gets it. He has given us special
gifts with his machines. And they are there,
economically, for the taking.
He’s in select company. In the last 100-
odd years since the motorcycle was
invented, many brilliant designers have
tried to capture the platonic essence
of ‘motorcycle.’ They strove to create a
machine that could go, stop and handle,
one that could work reliably year in and
year out, that could be maintained at
reasonable cost, that could please our
minds and emotions. Machines with
character, class and style, machines that
we would live for and live with and love.
Machines with soul. Think a Vincent-
HRD, a Moto-Guzzi, a bevel-drive Ducati,
an air-head BMW, a flat-head Harley or . . .
a Buell. Erik Buell lives in the pantheon of
the great, original designers.
Every time I ride a Buell, I sense that soulmoving
effect. It’s in the bike’s DNA: a big
motor that delivers monster torque and a
stirring V-Twin rumble, short wheelbase
that encourages the inner child with its
incipient wheelies, a sensible front brake on
the wheel periphery, where it works more
efficiently and one disk is as good as others’
two, fuel in the frame, oil in the swingarm.
Just look at it: there isn’t a boring line in it.
Should he buy one? He could do a lot
worse.
Words and Photos by
Lorin Guy
I’ve said it year after
year: this is the best
motorcycle show on the planet, and
this year it got better. With three major
auction houses competing, it’s a three-way
duel in the desert between
Mid-America, RM-Auctions
America and Bonham’s. Tell
me where else you can see 1100
classic, vintage and antique
motorcycles, some the most
collectible in the world, and
go home with one should you
have a fancy? Nowhere, baby—
nowhere but Vegas.
Don’t get the wrong impression
or let the town intimidate you,
this show is for everybody.
From the high-rolling ‘whales’
to the bottom feeders, Vegas
has something for everyone.
Come with just a few grand
in your pocket (or get lucky at
the tables) and odds are you’ll
head home with something:
this year bikes
sold from a
few hundred
dollars to over
$100,000.
This is family
fun at its
best. How
can your wife
and kids—
into bikes or
not—resist
the lure of
Vegas shows,
museums,
art exhibits,
spas, fine
restaurants
and luxury
surroundings? What’s not to like?
The top weekend sales went to Mid-
America at $278,000 for a 1915 Iver-
Johnson Twin. Bonham’s moved two
Vincents at $122,500 each. RM’s top sale
was $81,200 for a claimed ex-Walter Villa
Ducati F3 single. But don’t be discouraged
by the high numbers, because on the
bottom-feeder end of the scale a fully
restored 1970 Triumph Daytona sold
for $3800 and a 1982 CBX—low miles,
one owner—was given away at $3900.
How about a 1970 Bonneville, original
condition, clean runner at $7000, or a very
cool Honda 350-Four in dazzling red paint
at $1400z. The OMG find of the weekend
was a sweet Francis Barnett with bathtub
for $600.
Bonham’s auction was Thursday, with
Mid-America and RM starting Thursday
night and continuing through Saturday.
Mid-America is the top dog in Vegas, now
in their 21 st year. The show is all the glitz
and glamour you’d expect in this town,
where the RM-Auctions America has the
resources, and it showed, in a professional
display of bikes and personnel. For
Duel in the Desert
The 2012 Las Vegas Motorcycle Auctions
Bonham’s, on the other hand, despite all
it has learned in 300 years in the auction
business, vintage motorcycles seems like a
new avenue. Bonham’s very British style is
precise and direct, and dry as hell; wake me
when the hors d’oeuvres are passed.
From the outset this was an amazing
weekend for enthusiasts; so many
incredible bikes in about every condition
imaginable. All three houses brought
the rare one-offs, factory racers, custom
builds, production classics and antiques;
it’s unbelievable what you can see at Vegas.
The cameras were clicking and all the
usual suspects were there to see it happen,
both buying and selling. This event pulls
attendees from all over the world: Italy,
Japan, South America, Australia, the UK,
collectors, museum curators and just
motorcycle guys like us.
The often heard complaint was that the
events were so far away from each other,
getting to and from them was annoying if
you had no wheels or didn’t want to pay the
$40 cab fare—opportunity is knocking
here for a shuttle-bus service.
So what do three of the major motorcycle
auction houses bring to Vegas besides
fantastic bikes? Egos, accusations, issues,
rumors and innuendos. The comment
about “buyer’s/seller’s loyalty” to one
house or another is simply poppycock:
the almighty dollar rules. Faithfulness is
Clockwise from left:
Not vintage, but pricey! Chaz Davies’ World
Supersport-winning Triumph Daytona A1,
signed by Sir Richard Branson, sold for
$131,000.
This incredible 1915 Iver-Johnson Twin is
new, original, never started—and sold for
$280,000.
There were
some incredible
bargains to
be had. This
1980s-era
Hickman-framed
Yamaha 350
dirt-tracker has
a freshly rebuilt
motor and was
snapped up for
just $1600.
a not a passion many can
afford in this situation—it’s
about the deals. Rumors
about one auction house or
another running someone
out of town are, well silly. This town, more
than any other in America, is big enough
for all comers. I say to the
house owners, deal with it,
and do what you do well.
There is enough product and
consumers to handle two and
half auctions in Las Vegas on
the same weekend. The players
all believe it and for the most
part, so do the buyers/sellers.
To sum it up, Vegas is just lots
of fun. If you are a buyer or a
seller or just went because it’s
a motorcycle event, Vegas is a
good time. Three houses may
just make the market stronger.
They bring their faithful and
entice others who might not
have attended by bringing a
huge gathering of rare and
collectible rides. Works for
me: it was one crazy bunch of
motorcycles.
All auction results are posted on the respective
houses websites:
Bonham’s: bonhams.com
Mid-America: midamericaauctions.com
RM-Auctions America: rmauctions.com
March 2012 | 18 | CityBike.com
March 2012 | 19 | CityBike.com

HERTFELDER
An enduro rider usually describes
an event in one of two ways.
Either “it was a piece of cake” or
“I don’t think anyone finished the damn
thing,” depending on the rider’s personal
performance at the event. Gene Esposito,
one of the best and almost certainly the
toughest enduro
competitor ever, put
a lid on it when he
said: “A bad enduro
is one where you
get stuck; the rest
are just a ride in the
woods.”
There can never be
a perfect enduro
layout, because there
is just too much
variation in riding
ability. Anyone
who doubts this should attend a nationallevel
enduro and watch those riders carve
between the trees and outpace the shadow
of a light plane flying overhead.
It seems that the best we can ever do is to
lay out a rideable trail, use sensible speed
averages and put in mileage resets that
keep the bad riders from hour-ing out and
confounding the experts.
New Jersey’s Meteor Motorcycle Club
has been sponsoring the Sandy Lane
…a competitor in his late 50s died
of a heart attack. It appeared to
be relatively painless, as he was
found sitting against a tree with
his motorcycle shut down, upright
on the side stand.
Enduro since 1934 and admits to having
run Sandy Lanes so horrible that nobody
finished. However, the infamous Candy
Lane was so ridiculously easy it could have
been traversed by a 1977 Plymouth Volare
with bald tires. The Candy Lane had more
perfect scores than a postal bowling match
with mail-in scoring.
Can I say that a recent Sandy Lane Enduro
has to rank with one of the best ever? Sure,
I’m prejudiced because of my personal
involvement with this event,
but there are things that
prove my point.
They not only took points
from three ISDE medalists,
but a C-level rider, whose
total dirt riding experience
was one 12-mile ride,
finished the event inside
his hour and took home the
coveted Low Score Finisher
award with a 345.
Actually, he was so whoofed
out that he left without it, but it’ll be mailed
to him one of these days.
Besides their remarkable layout and
series of resets, the Meteor Club officials
loosened its collective heartstrings a bit and
surprised themselves with just how good it
felt to do it.
You see, during the Sandy Lane, last year,
a competitor in his late 50s died of a heart
attack. It appeared to be relatively painless,
as he was found sitting against a tree with
his motorcycle shut down, upright on the
side stand.
Two of this gentleman’s sons asked to ride
this year’s Sandy Lane on row 62, the same
row their dad had been riding when he
passed away, and who could say no?
When the permission was given, no one
could know that attendance would be
down a bit and that the last entries would
complete row 51, leaving a gap of 10
minutes and a 10 minute interruption at all
the checkpoints down the line.
Believe me when I tell you that it was
a semi-tearjerker at the start line with
the noise, and dust, leaving smoke and
commotion as the early riders left along
with their cheering sections leaving two
courageous young riders blinking back
their grief and a start crew with lumps as
big as basketballs in our throats.
What it amounted to was that these two
boys and the Meteor Club (unknowingly to
be sure) had given their Dad ten minutes of
silence at the start and at every checkpoint
all the way down the line. The boys finished
with good scores and did their Dad proud.
That fellow with the whole 12 miles of
dirt riding experience came wobbling into
the section that Norm White and myself
were ‘sweeping’ looking like he was ready
to swap his motorcycle for 10 minutes of
sleep on a hard rock. We showed him the
shallowest channel across our mud hole
as he mumbled that he would never make
it and asked for the shortest way back to
the start. I told him it was only about four
miles to the finish. I lied, it was 7.4 miles.
We later discovered that at least ten Meteor
members had told him his remaining
mileage was less than advertised.
Maybe we stretched the truth to rider 44A,
but I suspect he’ll also be stretching the
truth every time he tells his buddies that “it
was a piece of cake.”
For a copy of Ed’s latest book, 80.4 Finish Check,
send $29.95 with suggested inscription to Ed
Hertfelder, PO Box 17564, Tucson, AZ 85731.
maynard HERSHON
After my perfectly satisfactory first
bike, a 1962 Honda CB72 (called
a 250 Hawk in the States), I spent
the rest of the ’60s on European bikes—
British, Spanish and
Italian—because...
well, I’m not sure why.
When I bought that
Honda, I’d owned an
850 Mini, ill-suited
to US roads—and
an XK 120 Jaguar
Fixed-Head coupe that I
couldn’t nearly afford to
maintain. I can’t imagine
that I’d formed anti-
Japanese sentiments. I had
never owned a Japanese
car, nor had anyone I knew.
Somehow though, without
exposure to marketing, I became
convinced that real riders shunned
Japanese bikes in favor of purer-blooded
European mounts. Granted, until the
mid-’60s and the 450 Honda twin, most
Japanese bikes were smallish, but oh my
did they run....
In those days I believed unexamined—as
many of us did—lots of things that were
based on prejudices from earlier years or
decades, passed down from guys who knew
even less than we did. For instance:
Multi-grade oils and detergent oils were
commonly available in the ’60s. Most
motorcyclists believed that using either
invited mechanical disaster. You heard that
using slippery oil early in your engine’s
life would prevent the rings from seating.
Detergent oils would surely foam (hey, they
contained soap, right?) in your crankcase
or oil tank and refuse to circulate, starving
your engine of lubrication.
Where did we get those ideas? Who
knows?
In the U.S., many of us were wary of Shell
products, fuel or oil. We saw that the
makers of our British bikes recommended
Shell products—in the owner’s manuals or
by decals on our oil tanks. But we were sure
that U.S. Shell products were different and
harmful to our Triumphs and BSAs.
If we were running low on fuel and a Shell
station appeared, we bought just enough to
reach a station whose fuel we could trust.
No kidding.
I remember a persistent story about a rider
who’d had a car turn suddenly across his
path. Instead of braking, he’d “laid ’er
down,” meaning flopped his bike down
on its side, as if a low-side were the most
effective way to scrub off speed.
You never heard it called
“layin’ it down,” just
“layin’ her down.”
Maybe “layin’ her
down” was felt to be
more effective than braking only the rear
wheel, for fear that a hard application
of the (puny) front brake
would somersault you over the
handlebars. Or maybe putting
both the motorcycle’s wheels
between you and the crash might
help somehow. You still see this in movies,
maybe because it seems ‘spectacular.’
As with many of these moto-legends, no
one knew anyone who’d actually done
any of this. No one knew
anyone
who’d blown an engine with Shell
in it or multi-grade in it. No one knew
anyone who’d hit a car because he’d used
brakes to stop instead of the damned
crash bars.
Perhaps most strangely, I remember
hearing that a few guys knew how to make
any motorcycle go faster than other guys
could, even the bikes’ owners. They knew
something mysterious, those guys, about
how to operate a bike’s twistgrip. Wizard
throttle-twisters, they were.
Like Nigel Tufnel in Spinal Tap, whose
amp dials went to 11, these guys knew how
to open the throttle further than merely
against the stop. The secret, as I recall, was
in how they gripped the throttle or rolled
it on. How they managed to turn it to wide
open-plus, or ‘WFO.’
Some of this ‘lore’ came to us riders of
imported bikes from our Harley-riding
friends. In those days, Harleys had
push-pull twistgrips with stiff wire innerthrottle
cables. The cable ran inside the
bar, I believe. Maybe it took two and a
half full turns to get your old 74 Overhead
wide open.
Maybe it took a wizard in a yachting cap
and gloves with fringed gauntlets.
As I think about these old fables and old
Harley riders, I’m reminded that still
widespread in this great land is the idea
that we are safer riding without helmets.
Helmets, we’re told, especially those
proven to have protective value, limit our
vision and hearing ability and weigh so
much they can break the neck of the person
they were bought to save.
Imagine being told by your home state that
you have to wear such a thing.
And while wearing our helmets we feel
so bulletproof we ride over our heads,
crashing far more often than smarter riders
who choose to go without. As you know,
I’m not making any of this up.
But not everything has changed. I
remember
a cartoon in
Cycle
World, the first
sophisticated
motorcycle
magazine published
in the U.S. Joe
Parkhurst,
R IP,
started
Cycle
World in
his kitchen
in 1962, I’m
told,
about the
time I bought
that 250 Honda.
For a period in the ’60s
Cycle World featured a
cartoonist whose stuff
was described to me by
a psych-major friend as
“the work of a schizophrenic.”
If you have a collection of old CWs, and
you recognize this cartoon from my
description, please photocopy the page and
the mag’s cover and send the result to me
care of this magazine.
I remind you that this cartoon was drawn
in the mid-’60s, before anyone knew what
a poseur was, decades before designer
customs or the Ducati Diavel.
In the drawing’s pen scratches we see
a couple on an old ’Glide, windshield,
leather bags with conchos and fringe, big
ol’ hinged dualseat, lots of lights. They are
attired identically, in black horse-riding
trousers and high boots, black waist-length
jackets with white piping and black yacht
caps with white bills.
They appear to be stopped at a
lonely country crossroads. He’s
looking over his shoulder and
speaking to her. He says:
“Darn it, Charlene-
Louise, we must be lost.
Ain’t nobody seen us in
hours.”
A scan of the cartoon in question
will net the sender a CityBike
T-shirt and a year’s subscription.
Send it to info@citybike.com.
March 2012 | 20 | CityBike.com
March 2012 | 21 | CityBike.com

dr. gregory w. FRAZIER
Big headlights. That was what it took
one motorcycle seeker of fame
and fortune to ride in Antarctica,
making possible a record-setting cold
adventure.
While much of Europe and North
America was suffering the worst cold since
temperatures were first recorded, I was
using a motorcycle to wander around a hot
and humid part of the Philippines.
In the small town of Binmaley, Art
Cunanan, operations manager for the
Bangsal Restaurant and Suites, approached
my table to ask what I was doing riding the
‘big’ motorcycle (600cc) he had seen me
arrive on. I told him I was poking around
the Philippines for a few weeks and gave
him a business card.
He studied it briefly, then said, “I once
met a woman riding around the world on
a motorcycle. She took it to Antarctica. I
can’t remember her name, but she had big
…” while extending his hands in front of
his chest, far out.
Cold Adventures by Big Headlights
I smiled, and suggested a name.
He said, “Yes, that was her! How did you
know her?”
I thought for several seconds, then said,
“I showed her how those big … (here I
extended my hands in front of me) would
get her and her motorcycle to Antarctica.”
He wanted to know more.
I recounted how the woman had used me
and my USA base while trying to seek fame
and fortune on her motorcycle trip around
the world. At first she thought she could
score both, by being the first person to ride
a motorcycle in Antarctica. I
popped that bubble when I told
her that a Japanese man named
Shinji Kazama had already done
that, and more. In 1987 he had
ridden a 200cc Yamaha to the
North Pole, then in 1992 tagged
the South Pole.
She then seized on the
opportunity that she could
gain notoriety by being the first
woman to ride a motorcycle in
Antarctica. After considerable
time and use of my international
contacts, this plan was thwarted
when the tourist boat on which
she booked passage for her
and the motorcycle said that
approval had to be granted from
the International Association of Antarctica
Tour Operators. The IAATO said “no” to
her plan.
There ensued a long crying jag with the
much-pursued fame and perceived fortune
seen as slipping from her grasp. This was
when her physical endowments acquired a
role in the motorcycle adventure.
Having been to Ushuaia, Argentina before,
I knew that numerous tourist boats took
on customers in Ushuaia. I told her to
complete her trip to Ushuaia, take a few
days’ rest while searching along the docks
for a tourist boat going to Antarctica, but
one that did not play by the rules of the
IAATO. I said something like: “When you
find one, take off your riding jacket, wear
a tight- fitting shirt and go to the captain.
Tell him what you want to do and let your
large assets be the hook.”
She followed my advice. The captain rose to
the bait and not only agreed to her proposal
but did not ask for the $2000 or more the
other tour operator
wanted for passage
for the motorcycle,
thus saving her that
considerable expense.
Upon arriving in
Antarctica, the ship’s
crew off-loaded her
motorcycle from the ship onto a small
inflatable craft, then ferried it to a rocky
shore where the other 100 or so of the ship’s
passengers were walking as their Antarctica
adventure. The crew manhandled the
motorcycle off the inflatable onto the
beach. The woman then purportedly
climbed on, started the engine, put it in
first gear and drove less than 50 feet in the
loose rocks, then shut the motorcycle off.
Then the ship’s crew loaded the motorcycle
back onto the inflatable and returned
her and the motorcycle to the tour ship,
where it was hoisted back aboard. She then
claimed to have been the first woman to
ride a motorcycle in Antarctica and the
much-sought fame followed.
Recounting the tale as I knew it found
Cunanan nodding his head in agreement.
When I asked him how he knew it to be
true, he told me his side of the event.
He was employed on a tourist ship, the
MS Disco, one of several Philippine service
workers on the ship that ferried the woman
and her motorcycle to and from Antarctica.
I can’t remember
her name, but
she had big …
He said he and the other male workers
were falling over themselves to spend time
with the woman and her big… (here he
extended his hands
in front of his chest
again). He was one of
the crew who helped
load and manhandle
the motorcycle, though
it was not part of
his job description.
He explained that the crew spent most of
their time on board the ship and seldom
had female travelers they could get caught
looking at or possibly touching.
Days after meeting Cunanan and realizing
how small the world had become, I received
an inquiry from a motorcyclist wanting
to know whether I had crossed to Russia
by motorcycle, after reading about my
motorcycle adventures out of Nome, Alaska.
The inquirer described an attempt to cross
the Bering Sea when it was frozen, wanting
to become the first to do so on a motorcycle.
My immediate response was to write back
saying that it could not be done because the
ice in winter was not smooth, but had steep
up-and-down hills that would make travel
on two wheels difficult. But then I thought
about Shinji Kazama and his assisted trip
to the North and South Poles, using gas
dropped ahead and snow-machine support.
I then thought about the snow machines that
likely could drive across to Russia from the
far North and started to believe that maybe a
crossing on the ice could be done.
The easiest way would be to find a snowmachine
company, pay the big money
to break ground across the Bering Sea
and follow the machine’s tracks on a
motorcycle. It would be expensive but
could be done. I wrote back, “It would be
tough, and I suspect it may already have
been done.” But first I pondered writing
back: “Do you have big headlights?”
Marketplace
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ADMISSION & RIDE OUT
Sacramento Drive-In – Sacramento, CA
MAY 20 & JULY 22
(800) 762-9785 • WWW.TOPPINGEVENTS.COM
Serving the
Bay Area’s
motorcycle
needs
since 1988
Award-Winning Customs
Full Service Department
Paint • Parts
Fabrication
Insurance Work
All Makes Welcome
56 Hamilton Drive #A • Novato, CA 94949
415.382.6662 • CustomDesignStudios.com
• Valve Seat & Guide Replacement • Race Prep •
• Porting • Polishing •
Cylinder Head
Specialists
In Business Since 1978
All Makes
All Models
All Years
ENGINE DYNAMICS, LLC
Phone 707-763-7519
Fax 707-763-3759
www.enginedynamics.com
CustomDesignStudio@SBCGlobal.net
• Flow Bench Testing • Competition Valve Jobs •
2040 Petaluma Blvd. N.Petaluma, CA 94952
(Dr. Gregory Frazier says, “I’m no chauvinist,
I am a realist. As a motorcycling economist I
admit to being conservative. If guilty of a slant,
it would be towards bait that catches fish versus
fishing with some that does not.”His latest
book, Motorcycle Adventurer, can be found at
motorcycleadventurer.com)
March 2012 | 22 | CityBike.com
March 2012 | 23 | CityBike.com

CLASSIFIEDS
CLUBS
Ride with other local sport bike riders in the Bay Area.
• Mostly sport bikes
• Routes go to ALL parts of the bay area and focus on the
“twisty’s”
• We set a quick pace and newbies may get left behind ;)
• Group riding experience is highly recommended, as is
proper riding gear
• We also do track days, drag races, motorcycle camping,
and attend motorcycle racing events
http://www.meetup.com/BayAreaMotoGroup/
Leave your husbands, boyfriends or significant other
at home.
This is a place for women to ride with no ego’s present or
male testosterone to get in the way. Head-to-Toe gear is
strongly preferred, leather if you got it. And if you need gear,
then ask GearChic aka Joanne to help you find some.
• Mainly sport bikes.
• Scooters welcome, as long as they’re freeway legal (over
150cc)
• All skill levels welcome.
• We don’t allow crashing - so please ride within your limits.
• Our parent group is BAMG (Bay Area Moto Group).
http://www.meetup.com/BAMGirls/
BSA Owners Club
The BSA Owners’ Club of Northern California was formed to
promote the preservation and enjoyment of the motorcycles
produced by the Birmingham Small Arms Company in
England. Founded in 1985, the Club now has over 500
members, and has produced the monthly newsletter, The
Bulletin, since the Club’s inception. Rides and activities are
scheduled each month in addition to two major activities:
The Clubman’s All British Weekend in the spring, and the
Northern California All British Ride in the fall. Membership is
open to all BSA enthusiasts.
For more information: www.bsaocnc.org
The Classic Japanese Motorcycle Club is dedicated to the
celebration and preservation of the Classic and Vintage
Japanese motorcycle. We have rides, meets, shows, swaps
and can help you find and sell parts, bikes and motorcyclerelated
services. Members make the club function!
www.CJMC.org.
The Ducati Vintage Club was founded to assist vintage
Ducati MC (1987 and older) owners with information and
resources to preserve, resurrect and bring these MC’s back to
the road! Owners and enthusiasts are welcome to join. We meet
once monthly at the Ducati Bike Night event and we sponsor
the annual European Motorcycle Show and Swap held in March
at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, the La Ducati Day
Concorso held in LaHonda each October and more.
Visit us at www.ducativintageclub.com
Homoto is a queer and queer-friendly motorcycle club based
in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our rides are sport-focused with
an emphasis on safety and camaraderie.
For more info: http://www.homoto.us
Email: ride@homoto.us
Facebook: http://facebook.com/HMCSF
Twitter: http://twitter.com/HomotoMC
The Northern California Norton Owners’ Club (NCNOC) is
dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of the Norton
motorcycle. Membership is open to all British Motorcycle
enthusiasts and is currently $25 per year, you can join online.
Our monthly rides, meetings and tech session and events are
open to all members and guests see our web site calendar at
www.nortonclub.com.
Now celebrating our 40th year!
OMC
The Oakland Motorcycle Club is the fourth-oldest club in
the nation and celebrated 100 years of continuous operation
in 2007. The OMC is dedicated to supporting the sport
of motorcycle riding. We are a diverse group of male and
female riders with a wide variety of motorcycles, including
street, dirt, and dualsport bikes. We sponsor and organize
the following annual events to which all riders are invited:
Sheetiron 300 Dualsport, held in May; Three Bridge Poker
Run, held in July; Jackhammer Enduro, held in October.
Regular club meetings are held every Wednesday at 8:00
p.m. Guests are welcome. 742 – 45th Avenue, Oakland. (510)
534-6222. www.oaklandmc.org.
San Francisco Motorcycle Club
San Francisco Motorcycle Club, Inc., established 1904, is the
second oldest motorcycle club in the country!
Our business meetings are Thursday nights at 8:30pm, and
guests are always welcome. Our clubhouse is filled with
motorcycling history from the last century, a pool table,
foosball and pinball games, and people who currently
enjoy motorcycles, dirt riding, racing, touring, riding and
wrenching. Check our website for events such as club rides,
socials and events, and come visit us, no matter what bike
you ride!
San Francisco Motorcycle Clubhouse is located at
2194 Folsom St, @ 18th St in San Francisco.
www.sf-mc.org
415-863-1930
IRON HORSE
Consistently maintained by certified mechanics, SHOWROOM
QUALITY
2008 Harley Davidson DeLuxe, Model: FLSTN,
Price:$16,599.00 Description: Leather wrapped lockable
bags, luggage rack, removable windshield, 1934 miles.
Color: Crimson Red
2003 Honda VTX 1300S, Model 1300S, Price:
$5,999.00 Description: BUB Exhaust, Lindby Bar, Mustang
Seat w backrest, Floorboards. This is a beautiful bike that’s
ready to ride, nothing left to do. 20347 Miles Color: Black
2004 Harley Davidson Road King, Model: FLHR, Price:
$13,499.00 Description: Pro-Pipe, Hi-Flow, Removable
backrest, Corbin Seat, Hard Bags, Miles: 26,055, Color:
Black
2001 Harley Davidson Road King Model: FLHR, Price:
$14,199.00 Description: Vance&Hines, Hi-Flow, Touring
Seat w rider backrest, removable chopped tour pak. Too many
extras to list, come see it in person. 28692 Miles- Color:
Concord Purple
2002 Harley Davidson Custom WideGlide Price:
$13,999.00. Color-Red, White, and Blue on Silver. Miles:
5673, 95” Motor, Screamin Eagle heads, 211 Cams, 111 HP,
114 Ft/Lbs
2008 Harley Davidson, “1200 Custom” Model:
XL1200C Price: $7395.00 Description: ThunderHeader.
Hi-Flow, Removable backrest 6287 Miles
2001 Harley Davidson, “FatBoy” Model: FLSTF Price:
$11,999.00 Description: Chrome front end, Windshield,
removable backrest, Corbin seat, 1350 miles
2004 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Classic, Model
FLHTC. Price $14,499.00. Description: 95”, Flowed Heads
by Hannan, S&S 585 Gear Drive Cams, Rineharts, S/E
Clutch, Progressive 440’s, Racetek frontend, Too Much to
list. 48957 Miles
2003 Yamaha V-Star Model 650-Price: $3499.00
Description: Windshield, Saddle bags, 11805 Miles
2011 ATK, Model GT 250R- Price:$3995.00. Description:
27 HP, Carb, Dual Disc front, single disc rear brakes, free flow
exhaust, 5 speed. 1 year warranty. Sales Tax, Freight/Setup,
License and Doc. Fee additional.
2003 Harley Davidson Dyna Wide Glide, Model
FXDWG-Price:$11,499.00. Description: Pipes, Hi-Flow,
Bags, Removable windshield, Passing lights, 6 spoke split
wheels, Chrome Frontend Miles:34646, Color: Silver & Black
Anniversary
2010 ATK, Model GT 650R-Price: $5,595.00. Description:
80HP, Carb, Dual Disc front, single disc rear brakes, free flow
exhaust, 6 speed 1 year warranty Demo unit. 441miles.
2010 ATK, Model: GT250- Price: $3,995.00 Description:
250cc, 70+mpg,Color: Maroon 1 year warranty Demo unit.
870 miles.
2001 Harley Davidson Road King Custom Model:
FLHRCI- Price: $14,299.00 Description-95” Motor, Hi-Flow,
203 Cams, Pipes, Corbin Seat, with backrest, Tour Pak.
40,938 Miles
1998 Harley Davidson Fat Boy- Price: $10,299.00
Description- S&S Super B, Python pipes, Turquoise and
white custom paint on Fat Bob tanks, Bag Stand Offs.
2002 Harley Davidson Softail, “Deuce”, Model FXSTD-
Price: $17,499.00 Description Custom Paint, V&H Sweeper
Pipes, Hi-Flow, Legend Air ride, Ness Wheels, 6 Speed,
23895 miles
1995 Harley Davidson Custom Fat Boy Model FLSTF-
Price: $11,499.00 Description: Hi Flow/Thunder Header PM
Breaks, and Rotors, PM Pulley, Billet Dash, 12,467 miles,
Recent Full Safety Inspection, Fluid changes. Color: Black
and Brown with Gold outlining flames.
2008 Harley Davidson Street Glide- Price: $17,499.00
Description-Pearl White, Rinehart pipes, Hi Flow, Chrome
Front End, Profile Wheels, 12,409 Miles.
2006 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 Low-.Price:
$7199.00 9431 Miles –Description: Forward Controls,
Carbureted, Hi Flow, Thunder Header, Dakota digital
Information Center, Billet Grips and Mirrors, Removable Sissy
Bar. Color: White, Black, orange striping.
2000 Heritage Softail Custom- Price- $13,999.00 Pearl
white with hard back kit added, Hi flow pipes, 95” motor, wind
vest shield, Custom Tach. 8,200 miles
2004 Custom STX- Price: $14,500.00 110 Rev Tech motor,
less than 1,000 miles Color-Red, white black and gray
2001 Harley Davidson Deuce- Price: $10,500.00 – Black
and burgundy or red, 25k miles. 95”two into one pro pipe, hi
flow, wind vest shield, custom Tach. Lic. Plate# 15N8298
2007 Sportster 883 Low- Price: $8,999.00- Added 1200
kit, Buell heads, 551 Cams, Screaming Eagle Exhaust, Heavy
breather. Color-Brown. 5859 miles
2011 Street Bob- Price: $13,999.00- Color Black- Stock.
Only 10 miles
J&M Motorsports
1931 Old Middlefield Way
#201
Mountain View
www.jm-ms.com
650-386-1440
Good-used-motorcycle/Fair-price specialists—Sportbikes,
Cruisers, & Dirt Bikes
We are a licensed operation run by two brothers who love
motorcycles and specialize in newer, low-mile, affordable
bikes that are worth owning. We have in-house financing and
a wide variety of bikes all in one place.
Looking for your first bike? Your 10th? Come by and see why
people like us: Easy to deal with and we really enjoy our work.
J&M is not a giant dealership. When you call or visit, you’re
talking directly with the owner.
Come by and take a look! Open Mon-Sat - Closed Sunday
We buy (nice) used bikes. Trade-ins and consignments are
almost always welcome.
$4,995 2006 YZF600R Yamaha 5,541 miles
$7,995 2009 YZFR6 Yamaha 1,297 miles
$3,795 2003 Yamaha Vstar 650 Custom 4,974 miles
$4,995 2007 Yamaha Classic Vstar650 Silverado 3,840
miles
$7,495 2008 Suzuki GSXR600 7,552 miles
$7,495 2008 Suzuki GSXR600 4,006 miles
$5,295 2009 Suzuki DRZ400SM 2,322 miles
$3,295 2001 Suzuki SV650 7,280 miles
$4,995 2007 Suzuki SV650S 9,469 miles
$2,995 2006 Kawasaki EX250R Ninja 763 Actual Miles
$3,995 2009 Kawasaki EX250R Ninja 51 Original Miles
$3,995 2009 Kawasaki EX250R Ninja 6,030 miles
$3,995 2010 Kawasaki EX250R Ninja 1,688 miles
$3,995 2011 Kawasaki EX250R Ninja 4,376 miles
$3,995 2010 Kawasaki KLX250SF 1,457 miles
$4,995 2009 Kawasaki EX650R Ninja 12,646 miles
Warranty
$6,495 2009 Kawasaki ZX6R Ninja 12,954 miles
$4,995 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan VN1500N 9,402 miles
$5,995 2007 Kawasaki ZX10R Ninja 10,830 miles
$2,695 2007 Honda CRF150RB big wheel
$5,795 2009 Honda XR650L 20 Actual Miles!
$2,495 2004 Honda CMX250 Rebel 2,237 miles
$2,995 2009 Honda CMX250 Rebel 4,223 miles
$2,995 2009 Honda CMX250 Rebel 5,310 miles
$3,995 2007 Honda VLX600 Shadow 5,748 miles
$3,495 2002 Honda CB750 Nighthawk 5,191 miles
$5,295 2009 Honda VT750 Spirit 2,078 miles
$5,495 2005 Honda VTX1300S 6,758 miles
Mission Motorcycles
6232 Mission Street Daly City, CA 94014
(650) 992-1234 www.missionmotorcycles.com
1 st Saturday of the month is BROWN BAG SATURDAY! Get
it in the bag and get 15% OFF! Any Parts or Accessories in
stock are 15% off the marked price! One bag per customer,
so get as much stuff as you can and Have Fun while Saving
Money!
Our factory-trained technicians in our Service Department
have decades of experience. Rely on us to keep your bike,
ATV, scooter or generator in tip top condition whether it’s
for regular scheduled maintenance, crash repairs, or for any
accessory installation you may be thinking about. We will
check your tire pressures for free.
NEW BIKE SPECIALS
2012 Zero Electric Motorcycle S and DS have arrived.
Imagine where you can go with up to 114 mile range and a
top speed over 80 mph. Plug in and get charged with a
standard household outlet. Street models are eligible for the
$900 CA Clean Air Vehicle Rebate. Call for a Demo Ride and
mention Citybike.
2011 ZERO Electric Motorcycles savings available here at
Mission Motorcycles. Get Plugged In! The UX (Urban Cross)
and MX (Motocross) models are $1000.00 OFF!!! Plus,
select ZERO Motorcycles qualify for a $900 CA Clean Air
Vehicle Rebate! Call (650) 992-1234 for a Demo Ride.
March 2012 | 24 | CityBike.com
GET DIRTY! Wide selection of new and used motocross
and trail bikes in stock now! The rain is finally here, it’s time
to ride. Get your kids or significant other riding! Easy to ride
and fun for all.
2011 Kawasaki ZX-6R $9,499. New Supersport
Motorcycle! This bike has fully adjustable front and rear
suspension, excellent handling, and cornering capabilities.
Avalible in Black, Green and Blue!
2011 Yamaha FZ1 $9,990 Silver. Want a comfortable ride,
but don’t want to give up sport performance and handling?
This is the ride for you.
2009 Honda CBR1000ABS $12,999. Spectacular engine
performance with solid, confidence inspiring, handling.
Feels like a 600cc in the tight turns, yet open the throttle and
feel the acceleration of a liter class bike. Red/Black.
2009 Yamaha V Star 650 Custom $6,090 Blue Flame.
Perfect for the freeway or getting around town. Easy to
handle and big value for the price.
PRE-OWNED VEHICLES
2010 VICTORY KINGPIN $11,999 Only 460 miles! Twotone
Ocean Blue/Sandstone, Kingpin cruising with an Arlen
Ness Stage 1 Kit Installed! Stock # U1114
2005 Honda VTX1800F $7,699 Only 9,553 Miles! This bike
has it all! Comfort, performance, great handling, and it looks
great! Comes with a windscreen and saddlebags installed!
Stock # U1150
2009 Yamaha VMax $15,999 Just 1,663 miles on this
limited edition power cruiser. This is #275 of 2,500. Can
you handle this 197 hp bad boy?
2009 Yamaha FZ1 $6,799 Only 2,361 Miles! Two-Tone
Gray and Black, all stock! Stock # U1149
2009 Honda CBR600RR Limited Edition Phoenix $7,299
with 11,446 miles and ready to go! Leo Vince Exhaust,
adjustable levers, aftermarket mirrors with LED turn signals,
and fender elimination kit. Stock # U1154
2007 V-Star 1300 in Blue $6,299 with 27,286 miles This
is a great bike to tour around the country on or just around
the city! Comes with cobra pipes, power commander,
saddlebags, passenger back rest and rear rack. Stock #
U1121
2007 Vulcan 900 Classic LT Black and Silver Only
$4,999 with 41,024 miles. Comes complete with
windscreen, saddlebags, engine guards, highway pegs,
corbin seat with rider back rest, Passenger back rest, and
cobra exhaust pipes. Stock # U1146
2007 HONDA SHADOW 750 SPIRIT $4,599 Barely ridden
with 4,123 miles. Equipped with saddlebags, short pipes,
and jet kit. Stock # U1135
2005 Honda XR650L $3,999 The dual sport that does it all
with comfort and reliability. 11,072 miles. Stock #C470
2004 Honda Silverwing 600 in Silver $4,499 7,983 Miles
Great all around scooter! Great for commuting in the city or
crusing down the coast! Stock # U1144
2010 Vespa GTS 300 Super Pearl White $4,599 only
1,504 Miles! Scoot around town or down the freeway in style.
Stock # U1147
2003 HONDA REFLEX W/ ABS $2,499 21,878 miles and
awaiting more! Plenty of power for two-up freeway riding
with Antilock Brakes, lots of storage with an extra Givi trunk.
Stock # C442
1988 Honda Elite 250 Black $2,199 Only 9,821 Miles
Classic, freeway legal scooter. Smaller, compact frame than
most freeway legal scooters, makes this scooter easy to
maneuver. Stock # C469
2007 Kawasaki KLX110 Take your kids riding with this
three speed dirt bike. Easy to ride, just twist and go. Very
low hours.
Prices do not include government fees, dealer freight/setup
fees (new vehicles only), taxes, dealer document preparation
charges or any finance charges (if applicable). Final actual
sales prices will vary depending on options or accessories
selected.
Check out and compare our bikes online at
www.missionmotocycles.com!
THE MOTOR CAFE
Big savings on all new 2011 and older inventory.
Financing specials as low as:
3.99% from Honda
3.95% from Kawasaki
5.99% from Ducati
3.99% from KTM
Sample of our current used inventory:
’03 Ducati ST4S 22,150 mi. $6,499
‘04 Ducati MTS1000S 7,437 mi. $6,499
‘06 HD Nigthrod 6,909 mi. $9,999
’07 HD Road King 15,810 mi. $12,499
‘02 Honda 1100 Sabre 26,650 mi. $3,499
‘07 Honda Spirit 750 8,534 mi. $4,999
‘10 Honda VFR1200 2,000 mi. $10,750
‘01 Honda XR400 street plated $2,899
‘08 Honda Goldwig 52,667 mi. $13,999
‘01 Kawasaki KX100 green sticker $1,495
’10 KTM Duke 690 500 mi. $8,499
‘06 KTM 950 SM 2,032 mi. $7,999
’07 Suzuki GSXR750 13,596 mi. $7,299
‘06 Suzuki C90 13,752 mi. $6,999
‘09 Triumph Spd trpl 3,063 mi. $8,299
’09 Yamaha WR250X 5,086 mi. $4,799
’07 Yamaha Star 950 32,210 mi. $6,399
’07 Yamaha R6 3,929 mi. $7,799
‘03 Yamaha YZ450 OHV $2,399
SF MOTO
255 8 th Street at Folsom in San Francisco: 415/255-3132,
www.sfmoto.com. Located in the SOMA (South of Market)
neighborhood in San Francisco, California we provide
the bay area with new and used motorcycles, scooters,
service,and gear. We have an overflowing inventory of
used sportbikes, cruisers, supermoto, and scooters. Lots
of options for financing as well. Our Service department
has INCREASED operating hours. Every weekday morning
service now opens at 8:00 a.m.
We also offer motorcycle storage! Includes battery tender to
keep your bike ready to ride! Call for rates.
What’s New:
In the Service
department:
Please remember that our service department opens early
every weekday morning at 8:00 am.
Now we have a direct phone line into the service dept:
415/861-7196
LoJack is on SALE. Buy the LoJack anti theft system at SF
Moto and SAVE $250. (While supplies last or till August 31th.
2011.) Come in for details.
The Sales department
says:
We buy used motorcycles and scooters, we can also help you
sell your ride with our no cost consignment program.
Bring your bike, title (or loan statement), owners handbook
and keys. It’s OK if you still have a loan on your bike we can
still take care of you.
We will provide the safest way for you to get cash for your
motorcycle or scooter. It only takes about 20 - 25 minutes.
Sign up on our mail list to get NEW INVENTORY
NOTIFICATIONS in our weekly e mail newsletter.
MOTORCYCLES! BEST
USED SELECTION IN
S.F.!!!
2009 SYM Mio 50 scooter, $1999
2009 SYM RV250 Scooter, $3588
2010 SYM HD200 EVO scooter, $3399
2010 HYOSUNG GT250R, $4199
2010 SYM SYMBA (Honda Cub) scooter, $2398
2012 Hyosung GV250 Aquila, $3999
1981 Vespa P200E P200 VSX, $2499
2006 HONDA CBR CBR1000 CBR1000RR, $5895
2007 VESPA GTS250 i.e., scooter $3995
2010 SYM Fiddle II scooter, $2298
2007 Yamaha Majesty 400 YP400 maxi scooter, $4295
1969 Vespa Primavera ET3 scooter, $2495
2008 HONDA Shadow 750 Spirit VT750, $4995
2007 YAMAHA V-star 650 Silverado, $4895
2007 KAWASAKI Vulcan 900 Classic VN900 VN-900,
$5295
2007 HYOSUNG GV650 GV 650 Avitar650 Avitar, $3895
2009 SYM Citycom 300i scooter, $4595
2008 SUZUKI DR200 DR 200 200S 200SE 200 S E, $3395
2002 BMW R1100S R1100 S R 1100, $5995
2003 KAWASAKI KLX400-A KLX400 KLX 400, $3895
2009 KAWASAKI ZX600-P ZX600 ZX6R ZX 6R Ninja 600,
$7895
2012 SYM Wolf Classic 150 WolfClassic, $2999
2012 SYM HD200 HD 200 scooter, $3399
2012 SYM Fiddle II, $2299
2008 Vespa 150S S150 150 S, $3395
2005 SUZUKI DR200SE DR200 SE DR 200, $2895
2007 HONDA VT1100C2 VT 1100 VT1100 C2 Shadow1100
Shadow Sabre, $5695
2009 HONDA Shadow 750 Spirit VT750 VT750C2F $5895
2009 SUZUKI GSX-R750 GSXR750 GSXR 750 GSXR-750,
$9495
2005 KAWASAKI Vulcan 800 Classic VN800, $4295
2007 SUZUKI V Strom 650 DL650, $5295
2009 YAMAHA R6 R6s YZFR6S, $6895
2009 YAMAHA R6 YZFR6, $8599
2008 YAMAHA FZ6, $4995
2007 BMW F800S, $6995
2006 HONDA Shadow 600 VT600 $3795
2011 SUZUKI GSX-R750, $10899
2010 Vespa GTS 300 Super scooter, $5499
2009 KAWASAKI EX250-J EX250 Ninja 250 Ninja250,
$4295
2009 KAWASAKI ZX600-P ZX600 ZX6R ZX 6R Ninja 600,
$7895
2006 SUZUKI V Strom 650 DL650, $5395
2007 KAWASAKI EX650A EX650 EX 650 Ninja650 Ninja,
$4995
2003 YAMAHA R6 YZFR6, $4295
2009 YAMAHA R6 YZFR6, $8495
2009 HONDA Rebel 250 CMX250, $2995
2009 YAMAHA FZ6-R, $5895
USED MOTORCYCLES:
2006 Suzuki DRz 400 SM 9000 miles. Very tricked out:
436cc big bore, cams, carbs, exhaust. The suspension is
re-sprung and re-valved for a 250lb rider. Lots of spares,
18/21” dirt wheels available. $4400. Al at 510-295-7707
Honda cbr1000rr. Showroom condition.less than 100 miles!
Must sell asking 11690.00. Title in hand. Extras included.
Rae.SJSU@gmail.com
Magazine collection - Cycle/Cycle World $800
Motorcycle Magazine Collection for sale. Cycle, Cycle World
from ‘60s to ‘90s. Also have Motorcyclist, Dirtbike, others,
$800/all. Email: frisbeedad@aol.com
Honda 90 Trail Bike – Yellow color – Low Miles.
$985 OBO
510-387-2624 or 510-893-4821
2003 Suzuki SV1000S, silver. One original owner, still
on first set of tires! Just 3000 miles, like new. Other items
available. $4500. Ask for Otto: tthrnndz@yahoo.com
1999 Yamaha R1, blue, 4.6K miles, Öhlins, Race Tech,
Graves rearsets, V&H slip-on: $3950. Also, ‘97 Aprilia
RS250 & ‘99 R6 track bikes: prices negotiable. 408/343-
0381/921-9689.
1969 Ossa Pioneer Lots of new, original parts, matching
numbers, $1000 as is. Owen at 831/426-5107.
CITYBIKE BACK
ISSUES!
For sale: Old CityBike mags! From Early ‘90s to current
(some years incomplete). $0.50 each. Call (916) 203-7526
(Davis). Also available: Friction Zone and the other SF
motorcycling publication.
PARTS AND SERVICE
ADDICTION MOTORS
4052 Watts St @ 40th
Emeryville, CA
510.473.7247
www.addictionmotors.com
Addiction Motors is proud to present the latest addition to
our team, Ian Armstrong! Ian’s reputation as an experienced
and certified Harley-Davidson technician spans several years
throughout Florida and the San Francisco bay area. With a
focus on general maintenance, accident repair, accessory
installation and after-market performance enhancements,
we are pleased to offer his vast expertise as we continue with
our commitment to provide our clients with a full range of
motorcycle services. Please stop by our shop and join us in
welcoming Ian to our team of motorcycle experts.
Addiction Motors is a full service motorcycle repair and
maintenance cooperative in Emeryville CA. In addiction to
motorcycle service, we offer seminars, classes and events
of interest to the motorcycling community. Check out our
website for upcoming events.
Cycle Wizard, Bobby Simon
Full service on most Japanese and European makes and
models. I’m Bobby Simon, formerly of Subterranean Cycles
giving you excellent service in the East Bay.
LG MOTO, Lawrence Giardina
Servicing for dealerships since 1996, Lawrence Giardina has
likely kept your finer motorcycle running well for years. See
LG Moto for the experience you deserve.
SpaMoto, James Roberts
Let James at SpaMoto give you that Look, that Sound, that
FEEL. SpaMoto - Motorcycle accessorizing and detailing at
Addiction Motors in Emeryville.
ADVANCED CYCLE
SERVICE
*Motorcycle Service and Repair*
• Tires • Service •Insurance estimates
Monthly bike storage available
Come check us out
1135 Old Bayshore Hwy
San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 299-0508
jim@advcyles.com — www.advcycles.com
DUCATI SUZUKI KAWASAKI YAMAHA HONDA
AMERICAN CUSTOM
MOTORCYCLE PARTS
Large Parts Inventory for American V-Twins
Full service on all American-made bikes
Machine Shop & Welding
925-689-9801
2395 H Monument Blvd, Concord
Custom Design Studios
Mind-Blowing Custom Paint Since 1988
Visit Our Showroom!
V-Twin Service, Repair, Parts, & Fabrication.
Harley Factory Trained Tech.
DNA Motor Lab, LLC
DNA specializes in affordable scooter/motorcycle repair
(including Chinese) in the SF Bay Area. We provide services
on-site or pickup.
510-473-7349
www.dnamotorlab.com
DUBBELJU
MOTORCYCLE STORAGE AND
RENTALS IN SAN FRANCISCO
Never worry about theft, vandalism, weather damage or parking
tickets. DUBBELJU MC RENTALS, San Francisco’s oldest
motorcycle rental shop, offers safe storage for your bike in our
shop at 689A Bryant St. Not only is it a great shop to store your
motorcycle but we have cool rental bikes as well; BMW, Triumph,
Harley, Honda, Suzuki, and even Yamaha scooters. Keep us in
mind when your bike is in the shop or you have a friend come in
to town. Be sure to check out our web site: www.dubbelju.com
and see all the things we have going on. 415/495-2774.
FRISCO VINTAGE
Vespa Service &
Repair
2-stroke shifty only. 30 years experience. Great rates.
No job too small. In San Francisco. By Appointment.
info@friscovintage.com
Galfer Braking
Rotors, Brake lines, Pads, Street, Race, Off-road, Super-Moto
PashnitMoto is one of the largest Galfer Braking dealers in the
USA. Colored brake lines, custom lengths, Wave Rotors. 50
Pages of part numbers.
www.GalferBrakes.net or call 530/391-1356
Since 1956
Knucklehead
Panhead
Iron Sportster
Shovelhead
Evolution
Twin Cam
Multi Valve 450cc and up
Cyl. boring on H.D. only
21050 Mission Blvd. Hayward, 94541
(510) 581-5315
Have an old Japanese
moto collecting dust
in the garage ?
Let HONYASUKA MOTORCYCLE REPAIR put it
back on the road , Doesn’t matter how long has been sitting
there. No job too big or too small . 30 years experience,
plenty of parts hanging around here, too.
We charge $65 dollars per diagnostic. Hire us to do the
repair, and we’ll credit this amount to the final bill.
530 Peralta St, West Oakland
Just off 7th St , between the Post Office & Bart Station
Manuel (510) 712-3411
Introducing
Marin Moto Works!
Aprilia, KTM, and BMW Service and Repair
Located at 44 Harbor street, San Rafael
Open Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm
(415) 454-RIDE
MOTO GIO
Motorcycle Performance Parts, Accessories, Services.
Low price on Tires!!!
We will PRICE MATCH with any store.
Phone : 408-298-8887
1391 N. 10th St
San Jose CA 95112
Email: info@motogio.com
www.motogio.com
Please mention this ad and you will receive an additional 5%
off on your purchase.
MOTOSHOP
Use our shop workstations, lifts, & tools to fix your own
motorcycle!
We offer mechanical classes that teach new tricks and selfsufficiency.
Find out more online!
www.BayAreaMotoShop.com
(650) 873-1600
325 South Maple #20
South San Francisco, CA 94080
MOTO TIRE GUY
www.MotoTireGuy.com
Motorcycle Tire Services
San Francisco - Bay Area
(415) 601-2853
Order your tires online, Zero CA sales tax plus
Free UPS Ground, then have a Preferred Installer
in your local area do the installation and save!
Please visit website for details.
Quality Motorcycles
235 Shoreline Hwy.
Mill Valley CA
(415) 381-5059
We’re not afraid of your old bike.
RABER’S BRITISH MOTORCYCLE PARTS AND SERVICE
We offer parts and service for Triumph, Norton, BSA, Amal, Lucas.
In-house cylinder boring, valve jobs, surfacing and much more.
1984 Stone Ave.
San Jose, CA 95125
Phone (408)998-4495
Fax (408)998-0642
Tues-Fri 11-6, Sat 8-5
www.rabers.com
ROCKRIDGE TWO
WHEELS
Need new rubber? Rockridge Two Wheels is offering a $50
mount and balance with the purchase of two tires. Factory
techs. 40+ years experience. Full service facility.
510/594-0789
vespawalnutcreek.com
925 938 0600
rockridgetwowheels.com
510 594 0789
For all your Bay Area Vespa / Piaggio / Aprilia needs
March 2012 | 25 | CityBike.com
CityBike Classifieds
Reach thousands of Northern California motorcyclists. Just $15 for 25 words, 25¢
each additional word. Photos add $25. Industry classifieds are a higher price. Free
25-word listing for stolen bikes. Deadline is the 3 rd of each month. Just fill out the
form, or copy and send it with your check, payable to CityBike PO Box 10659,
Oakland CA, 94610
Name:
Address:
City: State: Zip:
e-mail:
Scotts Valley
Motorcycle Service
Center
All aspects of motorcycle service and repair
4865 Scotts Valley Dr., Scotts Valley
(831) 438-6300 Tues.-Sat. 10am-5pm
MOTORCYCLE TOWING
Enter these contacts into your phone now,
while you are thinking about it, so that you
will have them when you need them.
AMBROZ TOWS
24/7 Service
650, 408, and 925 area code specialist
Jump Starts • Gas Refill • Tire plugs & fills • Motorcycle
Storage
Emercency Parts Delivery • Designated Driver • Easy-Load
truck
510-385-2374
650-260-2157
www.ambroztows.com
SAN FRANCISCO AND
BEYOND: DAVE’S CYCLE
TRANSPORT
The Old Man
The Old Truck
Dave is working
Dave’s Cycle Transport
San Francisco-Bay Area and Beyond...
24 Hour Service
(415)824-3020 — www.davescycle.com
Motorcycle & ATV
Hauling
Sonoma, Marin, Napa & Mendocino Counties
24 hour Roadside Pickup
707-843-6584
Insured & Licensed
California Motor Carrier Permit
www.mcmotorcycletransport.com
mcmotorcycle@att.net
THE UNDERTAKER
Motorcycle towing system. No trailer, no tires, no tags. No
parking or storing. Check it out at www.TowYourBike.com.
925/413-4103. Dirt Bike or Cruiser.
HELP WANTED
Lightning Express
Stories Request
Messengers ride in legend! Soliciting tales of Lightning
Express, 1983-2010. Contact Allan Slaughter, (650)-364-
3403, thanatoscycle@att.net.
Small independent used motorcycle dealership located
in Mountain View is seeking an experienced, well
rounded full or part-time employee. We only sell gently
used bikes at fair prices, and do not have a service or parts
department. This position requires strong communication
skills, since you’ll be the sole point of contact with customers
(-we’re that small) when you are on duty. Verifiable sales
experience and current motorcycle licence seem like a
no-brainer to us, but we’re willing to listen to reason and
really want a good fit more than anything. Must be able to
perform general maintenance and minor mechanical tasks
on motorcycles. For questions please call: 650-386-1440.
For best results: submit a resume to: sales@jm-ms.com.
RIDING CLINICS
Supermoto USA was formed in 2001 as the new sport of
riding small, light, flickable dirtbikes with slick tires and
firmer suspension on asphalt came into its own. Running
on small-format (kart) tracks all over the west, we offer
easy-going classes and rental bikes to introduce people this
amazing, affordable, and really exciting blend of dirt and
street technologies. See www.supermotousa.com if you
like doing fun stuff on a motorcycle.
WHEELS AND DEALS
ACCIDENT OR INJURY?
Call 415/999-4790 for a 24-hr. recorded message and a
copy of the FREE REPORT
EAT AT REDS JAVA HOUSE, SF.
“IT’S REALLY GOOD FOOD”
SAYS CITYBIKE MANAGEMENT.
EBAY SALES eBay sales. Specialist with vehicles, 12
years experience, and 5000+ positive feedback rating. Flat
listing rate. I can produce auctions with 20+ large format,
gorgeous, high quality pictures with my dealer account and
pro-grade camera. Dr. Hannibal Lechter reminds us that “we
covet what we see.” Let me show people what you have and
why they should pay top dollar for it! Interested in larger lots
of identifiable, good-quality motorcycle and car parts to buy
as well. imperialist1960@yahoo.com or 415/699-8760.
FOR SALE: GODSPEED
MOTORCYCLES IN
OAKLAND!
* As seen on the Discovery Channel *
5532 San Pablo Ave
Oakland, CA 94608
Features
+/- 5,000 square foot building
Two Fully Built-Out Businesses in One Location
Bar plus Small Cafe
High Performance Motorcycle Repair & Gear Shop
Check out GODSPEED at: www.godspeedoakland.com
Asking Price and more info: call Mr. X at 415/730-8268
SELL YER STUFF IN
CITYBIKE!
Yes, you can do that—it’s easy. Easier than calling your
grandson, having him post a Craigslist ad, then ask you for
$20, which you wind up giving him because you decided to
go riding instead of going to his high school graduation and
you feel guilty. We here at CityBike understand your guilt
feelings, so we will run your ad (25 words or less, please)
‘till sold for just $15. Add $25 bucks to run a photo of your
ride so people believe you’re really selling something and
not just lonely.
Subscribers get a free ad every month! Maybe you should
subscribe, eh cheapskate?
FREE
HELP WANTED ADS
In our ongoing effort to support and promote local
motorcycling businesses that we rely on, all motorcycle
industry help wanted ads will be listed in the
CityBike Classifieds Section for free.
Contact us via email: info.citybike.com

Tankslapper
AIR HAWK
To the editor,
We love CityBike up here in the mountains
of New Hampshire. Yup, that’s right, been
reading it for years and love every issue.
Just couple of things about your recent
review of the AirHawk R seat cushion. You
seemed to have missed a point or two.
The AirHawk has been made for ages in
several sizes and shapes to fit most any
motorcycle. There’s the Small, Medium,
and Large Cruiser, as well as the Small and
Large Pillion. The AirHawk R which you
tested is a new, very special model. The R
stands for Relief. It was designed to address
issues of prostatitis, general discomfort
in the sacrum and coccyx, as well as areas
under the prostate and scrotum.
It’s specially shaped to address issues
“down under” and I don’t mean Australia.
As for the additional height issue, you’ve
(like most new users) put way too much
air in it. You need only put enough air so
your butt is almost grazing the actual seat
surface in the center. That way you’re
floating in a minimalist puddle of air which
actually is decidedly self-centering. You’re
floating but feel sucked securely into the
seat. No wobble or weave between you and
the bike. For office chairs? Hell, yes. Jack it
up all the way. I’m sitting on mine right now
and it’s full.
Although the AirHawk isn’t cheap it’s very
good. For most of us who are on a tight
budget, now there’s the AirHawk 2. Same
cushion, made in PVC material vs. heavy
gauge rubber for about half the money.
AirHawk 2 can be had in the small or
medium cruiser shape as well as the large
pillion.
Keep up the great work!
Jeff Adams
Whitehorse Gear
Jeff is right—this is a product that must be used
correctly, and we may not have done so. In our
defense, when we tested the AirHawk R, we did
follow the enclosed instructions, which tell the rider
to deflate the seat until the rider is 1/2 inch over the
seat, and to quote, “you should be able to feel the
air transferring beneath you slightly.” We did this
and that translated into movement during agressive
riding, but didn’t feel it was a negative—just let
more air out and you’re sitting on your regular seat.
At the end of the twisties, re-inflate a bit and you’re
ready for the long drone home.
CityBike has the new AirHawk 2 and is submitting
it to a rigorous testing regimen involving a travelling
clown show and a seltzer bottle.
Reliable, timely service at
reasonable rates on
all makes of motorcycles
890 Second Ave.
Redwood City
CA 94063
92
84
280 880
101
237
85
HOURS:
Tuesday–Friday 9am-6pm • Saturday–9am-5pm • Sunday & Monday–closed
650-367-9000
March 2012 | 26 | CityBike.com
March 2012 | 27 | CityBike.com