A Tiger in California

Greg Drevenstedt

There’s something about testing a motorcycle on familiar soil, on roads we’ve ridden so many times that we know exactly where a particularly nasty pavement crack is around a blind corner or where to expect rockfall from dynamited road cuts towering above the pavement. It’s not quite the same as turning dozens of laps on a track, but you know where you can get on the gas, where to proceed with caution, and where certain bikes seem to unlock a hidden “hero” mode.

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Patrick Garvin

Back in the early 2000s, I owned a motorcycle shop. The reality is that most of the time spent working on bikes is pretty run-of-the-mill stuff, though I did build the occasional custom and tuned a race bike here and there.

But the larger part was chewing the fat with customers about regular old mechanical issues or upgrades. Nothing wrong with that, but man, do you get some ear beatings. Among those ear beatings is a treasure trove of horse shit. By that I mean tall tales, home remedies, recommendations from someone's uncle who's been riding for 77 years and other nuggets of "wisdom."

 

The Back Story of 

Motorcycling's Most Famous Cager

Driver: “Man, I wish I was you.”  [This is often quoted as “Well, I wish I was you.”  It’s impossible to tell which word Klitsner says.]

Bronson: “Really?”

Driver: “Yeah.”

Bronson: “Well, hang in there.”

But, who was that man in the station wagon...?

1999 Yamaha YZF-R7 OW02