You never know what you'll find as the Cover Story of Friction Zone. Here is a sample of Cover Stories from the last six months. If you would like to order the magazine in which an article appeared, please fill out the subscription form indicating which issue(s) you'd like to receive.
Remember when packing for a motorcycle trip meant stowing a good five pounds of paper on the bike? There were maps of course, and perhaps a dog-eared atlas or two, as well as a tour book and maybe even a cheap paperback to read in the hotel at night. Add to that insurance papers and a notebook for trip notes and well, sure glad the tankbag was expandable
In this day of high-horsepower, high-speed motorcycles, 60 mph seems downright slow. But 60 mph on a 240-pound dirtbike quickly turns into a jaw-tightening, lung-pressurizing, vision-blurring sensationit's like piloting a jet at supersonic speeds. Throw in a maze of ruts, loose sand, jumps, and a chicane or twoall of this on a track that's both asphalt and dirtand the result is supermoto
At one time or another, everyone has suffered the affliction of 'the bad holiday gift.' Whether it was Aunt Doris' lovingly knit neon purple sweater or, from the office wag, the moose head that sang "Sweet Home Alabama," everyone has received that cringe-inducing present. Who hasn't opened a gift and thought "Will this fetch anything on ebay?" even as we smiled too broadly and said, "Love it! Thank you!"
The fast-growing adventure-touring segment has a strong new playerYamaha's 1200cc Super Tenere. This versatile model has been sold in Europe for several years, and now it's available stateside. For you trivia fans, Yamaha's first bike to carry the Super Tenere moniker was the 1989 XTZ750 twin, which won the trans-Saharan Dakar Rally six times. And in case you were wondering, Tenere (which is pronounced "tay-nay-ray") is the Tuareg (a nomadic tribe that resides in the Sahara desert) word for "desert."
It was the late 1960s and Dave Hansen of Ventura, California was living the life he had all planned out for himself. He was studying to be a civil engineer at the local college and playing football (as a fullback and defensive end) on the school's team. Additionally, he had a job working with a civil engineering firm as they worked on a big project to lay some local municipal water lines. As he puts it now, "My goals were to play football and become a civil engineer."
Like most riders of luxury touring bikes, I had waited with great anticipation for a couple of years to see if the BMW "Concept 6," first announced in 2009, would ever actually come to pass. Even more importantly, could BMW deliver on the hinted-at levels of power, handling, comfort, and amenities that would seemingly redefine the class? Well, rather than make you wade through my entire report for the bottom-line answer, it is "Yes! And then some."
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