Roadside Reading: The Essential Guide to Motorcycle Travel

It's good to check out other people's ideas, even if you think you already know what to do. That's why I picked up Dale Coyner's motorcycle touring book even though I'd already read Gregory Frazier's "Motorcycle Touring."


Both books cover much of the same territory: Keeping yourself comfortable and safe, equiping your bike for the long ride, tools and repairs to consider before you leave, managing contingencies.

Coyner even mentions Frazier in his book, so you know he's always looking for new ways to do things well. He owns Open Road Outfitters in Virginia, selling and installing motorcycle trailers, lighting and electronics. So it's only natural that he talks about these things in detail, where Frazier basically eschews such stuff. Coyner says, for example, that he loves his satellite radio and MP3 player to help keep him alert on long, boring stretches of road. It's clear he's more tech saavy than Frazier, who said he never needs a GPS or computer on the road. Coyner, by contrast, advises not to plan on working with a laptop on a long trip, but he does like his cell phone, and "once in a while I'll bring along a laptop to keep up with e-mail."

He does carry a large, professional-looking camera with him, and I have to say that is one reason why I carry my laptop — to download photos and videos while I'm on my trip.

Coyner's a little more techy in his charts and tables, too, showing wind chills and matching temperature ranges with the clothing he carries.

He encourages padded bike shorts for skinny butts (like my Ironman's), as well as Anti Monkey Butt Powder, and he delves into electric warming vests as well as lower-tech cooling options such as a wet towel tucked into his touring jacket. Yes, a touring jacket in hot weather. He points out that taking it off actually made him tired faster, because the sun was heating his skin, rather than his suit.

He also explains how wicking works, and why different wicking clothes require different treatment to keep them working for you. After reading these two books, I laughed to think how we looked down our noses at polyester during the leisure-suit era, and now I check labels to make sure I'm buying moisture-fighting poly.

Another area he addresses in depth is electrical power draw from all the gadgets you want to carry. He includes a table showing in general the peak electrical output of various bikes. One of those is bike-to-bike and driver-to-passenger intercoms, which I personally find very useful. Here again, it's about point of view: Coyner travels with his wife, while Frazier prefer touring alone.


The books complement each other. My co-rider and I are planning a long-distance spring trip, and after reading both of these books (and spending a few hundred bucks on new equipment for me and my bike), I feel much better prepared.


"The Essential
Guide to
Motorcycle
Travel: Tips
Technology,
Advanced
Techniques,"
by Dale Coyner,
Whitehorse Press,
176 pages, $24.95.

I give it 5 Revs out of 5

Friday Film: 'The Wild One'

Johnny and the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club on the road to ruin.

The movie opens on an empty road, then the bold words: “This is a shocking story. It could never take place in most American towns — but it did in this one. It is a public challenge not to let it happen again.”

Well ... meh ... not THAT shocking.

Marlon Brando is the moody bike gang leader, Johnny, riding a Triumph. His club breaks into the middle of a motorcycle road race. They don’t race, they just show up to disrupt things.

They make smart remarks, mocking the proceedings, and a state trooper — a head taller than Brando — tells them to “hit the road.”

But it’s just the beginning of the shenanigans.

More cops roll in on Harley-Davidsons as the bikers consider their options. They decide to move on.

A racing official complains, “I don’t even think they know where they’re going. Termites, nutty. Ten guys like that give people the idea everybody that drives a motorcycle is crazy.”

But the owner of Bleeker’s Cafe and Bar is happy to see them ride into town. “Better put some more beer on ice,” he says, counting the money in his head.

The boys decide to drag-race for beers. Riding into the center of town, they freak out the elderly driver of a Ford Model A, who drives into a post and damages his car. One of the bikers, Crazy, injures his ankle in the accident, too.

Then Johnny spots Kathie, a waitress at Bleeker’s Cafe. He’s interested. She’s not.

Kathie asks where Johnny’s going. “Man, we just go," he tells her. "The idea is to have a ball. If you want to stay cool, you got to wail.”

The bikers must wait for Crazy to get medical treatment, so they hang out and amuse themselves. They drink beer, play music, dance and play with the locals’ heads.

One woman, dancing with a biker, asks what their colors, “BRMC” over a skull and crossed pistons, stand for. “Black Rebels Motorcycle Club,” her jeans-and-leather clad partner says.

“Isn’t that cute,” she says. “Hey, what are you rebelling against, Johnny?” Brando delivers the immortal line: “What’d you got?”

Funny, people never recall an equally telling line that Kathie (Mary Murphy) renders later, describing her feelings on riding for the first time: “I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle before. It’s fast. It scared me. But I forgot everything. Felt good. Is that what you do?”

When Johnny discovers she’s the daughter of the local sheriff, he heads for the door. But then Chino (Lee Marvin) and his club ride into town. They look more like rebels than the Rebels do.

In fact, Chino looks so much like Ron Perlman as Clay Morrow in “Sons of Anarchy,” it’s uncanny.

Lee Marvin as Johnny's rival, Chino.

“I love you, Johnny,” Chino says. “I’ve been looking for you in every ditch from Fresno to here, hopin’ you was dead.”

Now Johnny has something to rebel against.

Sonny Barger says in his autobiography, “Hell's Angel,” that he was highly influenced by the film, but that he identified with Chino, not the presumed hero of the story, Johnny.

It’s a fact that Chino seems to be having a much better time, and he’s much more fun to watch than the angsty, uptight Johnny.

The story is based on the so-called Hollister riot of 1947, made famous in news articles and photos published by Life magazine. In the incident, the small town of Hollister, Calif., was overwhelmed during a Fourth of July motorcycle rally sponsored by the American Motorcyclists Association.

Some 50 bikers, including members of the Boozefighters motorcycle club got drunk and were arrested for fighting, reckless driving and public intoxication. At least one of the photos, of a biker with beer bottles piled up around him, reportedly was set up by the Life photographer, adding fuel to the fear.

Infamous Life magazine photo.

The term “one-percenter” came from this incident, when supposedly the AMA issued a press release stating that 99 percent of motorcyclists are law abiding and only 1 percent is outlaws. The AMA has denied this and said it had no record of such a comment being made by its organization.

Alvy Moore as
Hank Kimball

A curiosity for vintage TV fans: One of the bikers, Pigeon, is played by Alvy Moore, better known as Hank Kimball in the 1960s comedy show, “Green Acres.” You might also recognize Robert Keith (Sheriff Bleeker) from reruns of the “Twilight Zone” episode “The Masks.”

“The Wild One” is an iconic motorcycle film, but to a 21st century audience it doesn’t have the impact it had when it was released in 1953. Compared to the violence of modern movies, it’s more an amusing curiosity than a serious warning of social menace.


“The
Wild
One,”
1953,
starring
Marlon Brando,
Mary Murphy,
Lee Marvin,
79 minutes,
not rated.

I give it 3.5 Revs out of 5

The 1972 Chopper Project

My cousin is a collector of motorized vehicles. In fact, we jokingly refer to his home as "George's Garage," because there's more in the garage than in the house.

People tend to give him motorcycles. Last summer at a get-together, he said he had this old '72 Yamaha that a buddy had left in his garage maybe 15 years ago. He said if his buddy didn't want it anymore, he'd give it to my hubby. This excited my Ironman, who is a welder by trade, but never chopped a bike before. He was dreaming about it and eagerly said yes, he'd be happy to take it off George's hands, whatever the condition.

The bike is a 650 cc. It had no title — the owner had lost it — and was missing some parts. Like fenders, lights, mirrors ... oh, and it didn't run. Also, there were plastic Yamaha brand badges on either side of the tank that had warped and cracked with age. Those were beyond replacing, so he made new metal plates.

So Ironman inherited a dusty, rusty classic with a dented gas tank and a lot of fixing up to do. He ordered parts, made his plans and set to work. It's hardly finished, but here are a couple of shots of it in the original condition and after the first part of the project.

First, he ordered a new cafe-racer type seat to replace the double seat that came with (not on!) the bike. Then he ordered lights and fenders and some brass parts for a distinctive look. Then he chopped down the frame, built a new battery box and made a new linkage, side covers, foot pegs and brackets — with the lower frame his feet wouldn't have fit where they used to go anyway — and made new handlebars.

The 1972 Yamaha SX650 as it stood when we got it.
The gas tank and seat were not attached to the
frame, and there were no lights on it at all.

About a month later, with new fenders,
new handlebars,  lowered single seat, new
battery box, new a headlight and tail light.
Note the brass accents on the tail light and
headlight mount.

Since the second photo was taken, he took the bike apart and painted it flat black. The frame was powder coated and the tank, fenders etc. he painted himself. Then he put antiqued brass plates where you see the steel temporary ones on the gas tank.

He also replaced the tires and tubes, and is still looking for some parts to complete the bike. We haven't taken new pictures yet, but I'll put them up when I get them.

He also needs to work on the electrical system, and get the motor running properly. He did manage to get it running last fall, and what a scream that was! He kicked his ass off trying to get it to turn over, and when it did, the carburetor blew right off the bike. I did get some video ... coming soon, I hope.

Roadside Reading: Chicks on Bikes

I love picture books. Even though I'm a writer by nature, I fully believe a picture is worth a thousand words.

That's why I love this picture book of women riders, "Chicks on Bikes."

Christina Shook is a beautiful motocycle rider herself, and a professional photographer who spent 10 years photographing women riders, mostly around her hometown of San Francisco. Her work paid off in a stunning collection of photos and stories of women she met on the road, on the track and in the garage.

Here we have Devil Dolls, members of a club associated with the Hells Angels, and ordinary women who just like to ride.

Some are wrenchers. Some are racers. Some are girly-girls in high-heeled shoes. They are members of clubs and members of families. All of them love their bikes as much as they love life itself.

The photos are revealing, and the stories poignant. Particularly the story of Melinda Moore, known to her friends as "Big Red." Moore was a member of the Bay Area Menstrual Cycle Club, who went riding every 28 days. (Cute, huh?) She suffered pain and scarring in two major bike crashes, but remained generous and lived with humor, the book tells us. "Riding was not just a sport or transportation for Big Red, it was her way of life. And in the end it was her death as well. At the age of 40, she drove over a cliff on a beautiful sunny day in the breathtaking glory of Highway 1 on the California coast."

Samantha Morgan is another rider who wouldn't give up her bike even when it nearly killed her. This Wall of Death rider broke her back three times and was burned in a Wall of Fire. "When I am on the Wall, I feel free, and it's the only time when all my pains and the pains of the world go away," she told Shook.

Alexandra Elinchoff "is as good with a wrench as with a bottle of nail polish," the book tells us of the motorcycle racer.

Melissa Shimmin also races competitively. She previously competed in ice skating, but, "It was nothing like the rush of neck-and-neck motorcycle racing. 'If you've ever raced, you know what I'm talking about,' " Shimmin says.


Some women aren't identified, and Shook asks readers to share information if they see someone they know.

A woman uses the chrome on her wheel
as a mirror for applying lipstick.
All photos by CHRISTINA SHOOK

Shook's introduction tells us to "face it," and admit that motorcycles are sexy. Her feeling comes through clearly but subtly in her cover photo — a damaged seat that looks so much like the female anatomy that goes there. You know what I'm talking about.

Shook plans to visit Michigan on a promotional tour this July. I'll let you know when I find out dates and times.

There are few books about motorcyclists that will make you smile and bring a tear to the eye as this one does. It's a masterpiece.


 
"Chicks on
Bikes:
Words 'n pics,"
by Christina
Shook,
Paper Wings
Publishing,
154 pages,
$24.95.

I give it 5 Revs out of 5.

Friday Film: The Motorcycle Diaries

Alberto (Rodrigo De la Serna) and Ernesto
(Gael Garcia Bernal) in "The Motorcycle Diaries."

Not really about a motorcycle, this movie is about the way traveling changes a person. In fact, the tagline on the poster is "Let the world change you ... and you can change the world."

The story based on a journal of the trip taken by Ernesto Guevara de la Serna and his friend Alberto Granado  — who died recently at age 88 — from Argentina to Venezuela from January to July 1952. Ernesto was 23, his friend soon to turn 30.

The 1939 Norton motorcycle they ride, known affectionately as "The Mighty One," breaks down about halfway through the trip — and halfway through the movie — leaving them to walk and hitchhike the rest of the way. Also along the way, the men argue and struggle with opposing goals — Ernesto's to give to others, and Alberto's to get laid as often as possible. Another difficulty is Ernesto's asthma, which leaves him in near-fatal condition a couple of times.

The film demonstrates examples of social inequity that deeply affect Ernesto, leading him to become the Marxist revolutionary known as Che. That period of his life, however, is not part of this story.

On their trip, they saw segregation of the poor and the ill, how wealthy landowners forced the indigenous people to wander in search of work and organize to fight for their human rights. Ernesto, a medical student, and Alberto, a biochemist, spent three weeks at the leprosy treatment center (it's now known as Hansen's disease) in San Pablo, Peru, where Ernesto treats the patients as equals, works with them building housing and earns the respect of the lepers and staff alike. There, he notes the solidarity and cameraderie of those forced into isolation by public fear.

Ernesto tells his friend at the end of their trip that he has been changed, and has much to reflect upon. "So much injustice," he tells his companion. But the movie treads lightly on matters of politics, only contrasting the privileged, callow young men on their lighthearted but penniless adventure with the desperation of the homeless people who have no choice but to struggle in their poverty.

Che Guavara,
revolutionary icon

A postscript tells how Che became Commandante Guevara, "one of the most prominent and inspiring leaders of the Cuban Revolution," and went to fight for his ideals in the Congo and Bolivia, where he was captured and killed with the help of the CIA in 1967 at the age of 39.

Told entirely in Spanish with English subtitles, the movie was filmed entirely in South America with a native Spanish-speaking cast. Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal stars as Ernesto, Argentine-born Rodrigo De la Serna plays his friend, Alberto. Photos of the actual young men act as endpieces for the film.

The real Alberto and Ernesto

And of course, breathtaking views of South American landscapes dominate the background, including a visit to the ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu.

A view of Machu Picchu

Extras on the DVD include deleted scenes, "A Moment with Alberto Granado," "A Moment with Gael Garcia Bernal" and an interview with music composer Gustavo Sanaolalla.

It is a gentle, touching film about friendship, love and how the kindness of others can ease suffering.

 

"The Motorcycle
Diaries,"
directed by
Walter Salles,
2004,
124 minutes,
rated R for
adult language
and situations.

I give it 5 Revs out of 5.

A community of motorcyclists

Buddhists believe you need a community, called a sangha, to support you in your spiritual life. Christians join a church, Jews attend a synagogue, Muslims a mosque.

They know that their spiritual life is nourished by being in the company of other believers.

Motorcyclists have their own spiritual communities. They're called motorcycle clubs.

Not every biker has a club, certainly. But many find that being in the community of fellow riders helps them when they need assistance, advice or just someone to hang with. It adds to our sense of purpose to be with like-minded individuals.

This week, I took that step and applied to join a club; the Lady Riders of Michigan. Specifically, the Wind Chasers chapter of Oakland, Livingston and Washtenaw counties.

I'm not sure how much participation I can really look forward to, with my two jobs and husband who needs my attention. But I like the idea of belonging. And I really like the ladies I've met so far. I hope to add to their experience of motorcycling with my own unique gifts to offer.

P.S. Ironman is my "support member" — isn't that GREAT??

Roadside Reading: 'Biker Chicz of North America'

JoAnn Begey Bortles of Connecticut is a custom motorcycle artist.

Is it a coincidence that most of the 22 women profiled in Edward Winterhalder and Wil De Clercq's "Biker Chicz of North America" are unusually beautiful and involved in very public occupations?

Probably has something to do with wanting to sell books. Can't blame 'em.

The women featured in these pages are adventurers, racers, photographers, musicians, actors and mothers, some of them are all of those things.

Gevin Fax (right) with a couple of pals, has been a motorcycle
mechanic, movie stuntwoman, musician (with Klymaxx)
and phys-ed teacher; now she's studying Native-American healing.

So can you blame me for being a little envious of these gorgeous females who have accomplished so many amazing things in their lives? OK ... that's something personal that I need to work on.

The writers say that: "global studies indicate that 12 to 18 percent of motorcycling enthusiasts are women. The number of women motorcycle riders in North America has increased exponentially since the early 1990s, and that exciting trend continues. American Motorcycle Industry Council statistics indicate that over one million new motorcycles were sold in the United States in 2008. Of that impressive number more than 100,000 were sold to women."

For these 22 profiles, they selected women from the United States and Canada who ride Harley-Davidsons because of the myth of the "all-American motorcycles."

"... Harley-Davidson remains the only genuine American motorcycle on the planet," they say in their introduction. Uh ... what about Minnesota-based Victory Motorcycles — founded in 1997? (But we'll leave that debate for now.)

“Our original intention was to focus on mainstream women motorcycle riders who are more or less the average girl next door," Winterhalder said in a press release. "But somehow we ended up with women whom we consider to belong to the current royalty of North American female bikers. The only criteria we were looking for was that they had inspiring stories to tell and that they rode a Harley-Davidson. We are not Harley snobs by any means, but because Harley-Davidson motorcycles are the most identifiable and representative of the biker culture, we chose ‘America’s Freedom Machine’ as a common thread to lend continuity to our narrative.”

The women include Cris Sommer Simmons, who co-founded Harley Women Magazine and wrote the book "The American Motorcycle Girls 1900-1950"; Mandy Rossmeyer Campbell, manager of the world's largest Harley dealership in Daytona; Sasha Mullins, author of "Biker Lady: Living and Riding Free," and "The Chrome Cowgirl Guide to Motorcycle Life"; Becky Brown, founder of the Women in the Wind Motorcycle Club and three-time Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductee; Laura Klock, who holds land speed records with her daughters; Vicki Roberts Sanfelipo, founder of Accident Scene Management; Meg McDonough, the first female officer of the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club, which originated the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally; and Gloria Tramontin Struck, one of the original members of the Motor Maids motorcycle club.

Several of them also have been featured in TV documentaries about women riders.

The book is new, just published in December by Blockhead City Press, of Oklahoma. The cover, layout and design were created by Barb Gunia of Sans Serif Book Designs in Saline, Mich.

Each profile is brief — about 10 to 15 pages apiece — and brightly positive. They give background, biographies and quote them on their philosophies and motivations. Each is illustrated with black-and-white photos of the women and their bikes.


Some have suffered difficulties in their relationships because of their dedication to motorcycling. All of them share an independent spirit that keeps them on the road to their own dreams.

It's the kind of book you can keep at your bedside and read for a few minutes before turning in each night. Something to fuel your own open-road dreams.


"Biker Chicz
of North
America,"
by Edward
Winterhalder
and Wil De Clerq,
Blockhead
City Press,
291 pages,
$24.95.


I give it 4 Revs out of 5.

Friday Film: 'Chopper Chicks in Zombietown'

Ride like a Slut.

Undertaker Ralph Willum (Dan Calfa, "Weekend at Bernie's") and his dwarf buddy Bob (Ed Gale) are killing the people of the town of Zariah (pop. 128 and falling). 

Sidekick Bob Littleton changes the population
tally on the town's welcome sign.

But he's not just slaying them, he's turning them into zombies.  He does this somehow by drilling into their skulls and placing some kind of batteries inside, then leading them to the influence of some "nuke-ular stuff" in a cave. Everybody knows radioactivity is what turns dead people into zombies. Or viruses, depending on whose mythology you subscribe to.

The Cycle Sluts arrive in town, looking for "meat."

Anyway, when the Cycle Sluts happen upon these doings, well, they have no choice but to kick some zombie ass. That is after they convince their leader, Rox, with their fists.

Oh, and there is a busload of blind orphan kids stranded out there in the night also being terrorized by the monsters. But don't get scared — this isn't a real horror movie. It's a Troma comedy. That means we're supposed to laugh at the gore and absurdity. Heads roll, balls roll, and these sluts really roll.

Some of the jokes are lowbrow, of course, and others a little hipper, as when one Slut corrects another for her pronunciation of "coitus." (Who knew it was actually co-EAT-us?)

It's all very silly, but good for a laugh. And the chicks get to be heroes. What could be better than that? Plus, the Sluts look pretty good in their oddly unmussed hair and biker accoutrements.

Lloyd Kaufman, Troma-meister.

The movie is presented by Troma Madman Lloyd Kaufman, who with Michael Herz started Troma Entertainment in 1974 to produce and distribute independent films. It's famous for earlier groundbreakers as "Toxic Avenger" and "Tromeo and Juliet," as well as for low-budget, high-farce productions. Kaufman wrote several books about how to make low-budget pictures: "Everything I Need to Know About Filmmaking I Learned From the Toxic Avenger," "Make Your Own Damn Movie," "Direct Your Own Damn Movie"  and other "... Your Own Damn Movie" guides.

This was the first film role for Billy Bob Thornton, who won an Academy Award — but not for this movie, of course. Former MTV veejay Martha Stewart also plays a fed-up townie, and Hal Sparks, who briefly hosted "Talk Soup" and co-starred in "Queer as Folk," plays one of the blind kids.


The DVD contains many extras, including a stupid intro by Lloyd Kaufman and feature commentary by director Dan Hoskins. Hoskins explains that the movie was written as "Cycle Sluts vs. the Zombie Ghouls," but the filmmakers thought it would get a better chance with a more respectable title. The MPAA also told them they could not use the term "slut" in the title. You'll notice the IMDB still calls it "Chrome Hearts," a title under which is was distributed in Japan. Obviously too sweet a name for a movie like this.


Harley-Davidson passed on the opportunity to get a product placement in the film, he says. Apparently, Harley was too classy for this venue.


Jamie Rose, who played Dede, and Catherine Carlen (Rox), in a "Memories of Zombietown" featurette discuss learning how to ride the Harleys in the film. Rose says she got a call a few days before shooting began, and was offered the job, so she had to "go down for a three-day intensive" to get her cycle endorsement. When it came to test time, her cone weave "was cone, cone, cone, light pole, light pole ... and I flunked the test!" Then she started making the film.


Another feature adds the infamous "penis bite" scene from the Japanese version.

There's also an Easter egg in the DVD. If you want to find it yourself, go do it. But if you're lazy like me, follow this: From the main screen, go to "Zombietown USA" then select "Chopper Chicks in Japan" and press the "right" button to highlight the word "zombie" and press enter. What you'll get is Lloyd Kaufman's short film "Cannibal Lesbian Hoedown," which as you might guess, is a gory porn music video backed by a bluegrass band.
 


"Chopper
Chicks
in Zombietown,"
1989,
89 minutes
Rated R
for sexual
references,
coarse language
and comic violence

I give it 3 1/2 Revs out of 5.

++++++++++++++

Next week I plan to review "Motorcycle Diaries," but I'm running low on motorcycle movies I want to review. Are there any good ones out there that I missed? Leave a comment.

Dressing for Spring

Don't you just LOVE being able to track packages on the Internet? I've been glued to my computer for the last couple of days, trying not to obssess, but rejoicing at every change. It's in Kansas, It's in Indiana, It's in Ohio ... It's almost here!

My new touring jacket and pants are coming!

I saw this jacket at the motorcycle event in January in Novi. It was an Olympia brand and I was encouraged that my Ironman noticed and endorsed it as a good touring coat.

Olympia Womens AST 2 for 2011

It is longish — down to the hips — and highly visible in garish neon yellow. Truth is, I like the sand color better, but went after the yellow. 

I wanted something waterproof and warm. And as I was reading "Motorcycle Touring," I came to the author's point of view. Leather is heavy; hot in warm weather and chilly in cold. So waterproof/breathable textile and wicking materials sounded good to me.

He also said he paid more for his equipment than he did for his bike.

So I rationalized, but the cost, $330, was not chump change.

I started to wonder if I could find last year's model, as I had done last year when I bought my warm-weather Joe Rocket mesh jacket. That means shopping BEFORE you need the stuff, because finding what you want in your size is a challenge.

So I started looking for my jacket online. I first found that Olympia does not ship directly to customers. Only two stores in Michigan were listed as carrying the brand, and the closest was about an hour away. I wanted to try it on, but getting there was a problem.

As the weather started getting more springlike, I began thinking about touring and the possibility of nasty weather on the road.

Obnoxious or visible?

The Olympia AST is reflective on the back,
with 8 pockets including a fanny pocket

Here's the pewter color

... and very attractive sand

I got all excited when I found last year's jacket on Revzilla.com. It was only $200, $100 off the regular price. Alas, they had only a small, and I'm not a tiny girl. I read the reviews, and the manufacturer said it was built a little large, so I decided to take a chance.

Revzilla was great. No shipping charge, and FAST delivery within two days. But unfortunately, when I tried it on, it was too tight in the arms. I toyed with the idea of keeping it, but knew that without freedom to move my arms I'd be miserable any time I wore it.

So, with regret in my heart, I started my search again. And I realized my haste was to blame for this mistake. I should have spent just a few more minutes searching elsewhere instead of rushing to the "Order" button.

So I Googled "Olympia Womens AST" (All Season Touring) and found Motorcycle Closeouts, which offered lots of deals on last-year's equipment. There I found a medium, as well as the ProMax overpants that are designed to go with the jacket. Normally I wear a 10, but the closest I found was a 12. Revzilla had nothing smaller than a 16 left. So I ordered both at MoCloseouts.

Ladies ProMax pants

with reflective piping

I still hadn't learned my lesson of patience — oh, no. I hit the "Order" button after finding the jacket and went back for the pants as an afterthought. That meant double the $12 shipping price. And I had a little trouble getting hold of them to combine my orders. My fault entirely.
But in the end, we got it all straightened out and my package is due to arrive today.

Can't want to try them on the road!

Roadside Reading: 'Let's Ride'

Sonny Barger knows motorcycles and how to survive on them. At age 70, the former president and co-founder of the Oakland, Calif., chapter of the Hells Angels still rides every day.

“My goal it to make you a lifelong motorcyclist,” he says in this book,  a fine and friendly guide to selecting, buying , equipping, riding and taking care of your bike.

His advice is practical. He warns not to buy too much bike to start out with — he says if you are a beginner and buy the bike you really want you’re probably not ready for it.

Too much weight and too much power may either cause you to develop bad habits, or avoid riding, he says.

His book gives detailed info about how motorcycles work, breaks down the various types and outlines strategies for defensive driving. Best of all, he emphasizes IN BOLD TYPE that any beginner, or any experienced rider who was taught by a friend or family member, should take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation RiderCourse and pass it.

It’s easy to read, and the authors end each chapter with bullet points showing the least you need to know from each one. The only thing I can complain about is the lack of illustrations that would have enhanced understanding of the material. Types of bike styles, for instance, are somewhat nebulous and misunderstood. So for me to see a dual sport vs. a cruiser vs. a sport-tourer would have been helpful.

This is one of the best and simplest motorcycling guides I’ve read.

Incidentally, Barger, long associated with Harley-Davidson, makes it clear that he rode them for 52 years because they were the only all-American made bike. "I've always considered them to be the bottom of the technology piler" he says. Now he chooses Victory.



“Let’s Ride:
Sonny Barger’s
Guide to Motorcycling;
How to Ride the
Right Way — for Life”
by Sonny Barger
with Darwin Holmstrom
William Morrow,
2010,
268 pages

I give it 5 Revs out of 5.

Friday Film: 'Evel Knievel'

Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel, 1938-2007

Is this a biopic or parody?

George Hamilton seems a bit of a strange casting choice to play the world's most famous motorcycle stunt rider. Hard for me to know if he pulls it off well. One bio of Hamilton notes that he was born Aug 12, 1939, in Memphis, Tenn., and though his perma-tan and playboy persona made hm the butt of jokes, his career included nearly a hundred films and TV shows as actor, director and producer.

It's been also been noted that he did this film to change his image from handsome lightweight to serious actor.

Hamilton's Evel is a pompous, fast-talking, self-centered self-promoter whose ego rivals that of Charlie Sheen. Not a guy who's easy to live with. He's a Johnny One-Note and not sympathetic.

But he did something no one had ever done before. He set records for jumping a motorcycle farther than anyone had. And he influenced a generation of daredevil riders. He packed in sold-out audiences to watch him jump buses and lines of cars, dressed in his red-white-and-blue jumpsuits and capes.

“I want you to note, there is not a Volkswagen or a Datsun among them,” he says in the film. All-American.

George Hamilton as Evel Knievel, at the
introduction of the film, holding a walking cane.

The movie opens with a speech: “Ladies and gentlemen, you have no idea how good it makes me feel to be here today. It is truly an honor to risk my life for you. An honor.”
So he's doing it for OUR glorification.

“Important people in this country, celebrities like myself, Elvis, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, we have a responsibility," Hamilton, as Evel, says in a final speech. "There are millions of people that look at our lives and it gives theirs some meaning. People come out from their jobs, most of which are meaningless to them, and they watch me jump 20 cars, maybe get splattered. It means something to them. They jump right alongside of me, they take the bars in their hands and for one split second they are all daredevils.

“I am the last gladiator in the new Rome. I go into the arena and I compete against destruction and I win. And next week I go out there and I do it again.

“And this time, civilization being what it is and all, we have very little choice about our life. The only thing really left us is a choice about our death. And mine will be ... Glorious!”

Although people liked to say he'd broken "every bone in his body," that wasn't a fact. However, he did hold a record for breaking the most bones, 35. And it's true the pain hounded him for the remainder of his life. There's a weird site that shows exactly which bones he broke.

The film manically flashes between past and "present," showing his reckless antics, romance with wife Linda and one of his more spectacular crashes. A final note clarifies that "this motion picture is based on incidents in the life of Evel Knievel. However, certain events, characters and firms depicted in this motion picture are fictitious," etc.

It ends on a shot of the Grand Canyon, implying that he would eventually jump it. It was his ambition to jump the Grand Canyon, but he was denied permission. He tried and failed to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho with a rocket-propelled vehicle that doesn't quite count as a motorcycle. The failure began with the premature deployment of the vehicle's parachute. But what spectacle!

Here's a video of Evel at the Snake River Canyon, with the real Evel dramatically narrating.

Evel died in 2007 at age 69. He had been suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis, and in 1999 had a liver transplant to treat near-fatal hepatitis C, which he may have contracted via blood transfusion. His obituary is available at the New York Times Website.

Although the movie "Evel Knievel" does little to enhance his image, his feats made him immortal. You can still buy Evel Knievel action figures on collector sites.

Note the bloody leg ...

... and the bloody arm, back ...

My favorite: A stunt toy set.

And his own website is alive and well to this day at http://evelknievel.com/

"Evel Knievel,"
1971,
Directed by
Marvin J. Chomsky,
starring George
Hamilton and
Sue Lyon
88 minutes,
not rated




I give it 2 Revs out of 5