Going Loopy for New Mexico: Motorcycle Travel Feature
Bill Stermer
April 2, 2012
At an overlook near Cumbres Pass (elevation 10,022 feet) north of Chama, New Mexico, I parked the 2011 Victory Cross Country to take a break. Soon I was joined by a man in a cowboy hat who had climbed out of his pickup truck to stand on a granite outcropping and peer through binoculars. He explained... Read more »
2013 Victory Judge – First Ride
Bill Stermer
March 18, 2012
Victory Motorcycles introduced a new model called the Judge to the press in Palm Springs, California, in February. It is a model that joins the Cross Country Tour and Hardball as the latest in its line. The Judge is the first of the 2013 models from this Medina, Minnesota, company that is a division... Read more »
2012 Harley-Davidson V-Rod 10th Anniversary Road Test
Bill Stermer
March 1, 2012
I’ll never forget the first time I rode a Harley-Davidson V-Rod. It was in the summer of 2001, just after the 2002 models had been introduced. I had ridden it up to Santa Barbara, California, and was just rolling along a surface street when a motor cop on a Harley dresser, coming the other way, made... Read more »
Buyers Guide: Heated Riding Apparel
Bill Stermer
February 7, 2012
This Buyers Guide: Heated Riding Apparel was originally published in the March 2012 issue of Rider magazine] It was cold. Colder than a banker’s heart. Colder than a letter from your ex-wife’s lawyer—I mean it was cold! I was riding to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, it was March, and patches... Read more »
2011 Aprilia Mana GT ABS Road Test
Bill Stermer
January 25, 2012
This 2011 Aprilia Mana GT ABS Road Test was originally published in the February 2012 issue of Rider magazine] Back when I learned to drive, most cars had a stick-shift transmission and drivers came to understand the relationship between clutches, gears and shifting points…which came in handy if they... Read more »
2008 Victory Kingpin 8-Ball Road Test
Bill Stermer
February 5, 2008
If you play pool, you know that the 8-ball is black, with a black numeral against a white circle. And you also know that—in the game of the same name—if you sink the 8-ball unintentionally, you’ve lost; sink it at the right time, however, and you win. It’s an important, dangerous orb, and if... Read more »
2007 Suzuki Bandit 1250S Road Test
Bill Stermer
July 3, 2007
When an existing motorcycle model is revamped, I hold my breath. Who will win in the corporate tug of war: The bean counters or the moto enthusiasts? How will they “improve” it? How much higher will that “new and improved” price be? For these reasons I was concerned when I heard... Read more »
2007 Harley-Davidson FLSTC Heritage Softail Classic Review
Bill Stermer
March 19, 2007
Anyone who has ever owned a vintage motorcycle understands the deal. You pull your old iron out of the garage and dust it off, tinker with it, try to start it, tinker with it some more and then maybe, maybe, get it running and ride on down to the roadhouse. There, the guys on their high-tech bikes and... Read more »
2007 Moto Guzzi Griso 1100 Road Test
Bill Stermer
March 2, 2007
An experienced street rider will approach a motorcycle and immediately begin sizing it up as to type and affixing certain expectations to it. It’s usually obvious whether a bike is a tourer, sport tourer, dual-sport, sportbike, cruiser or naked bike; we decide that as easily as a cat categorizes... Read more »
