The Backroads Report February 18th 2023 #253

Published: Sat, 02/18/23

The Backroads Report

Motorcycle, Travel & Adventure News

From Around The World

Shira Kamil's

Whatchathinkin'

Taking Stock!

Each year, Brian and I do our best to attend some sort of riding class. For the past very many years, it has been a ride to the southern tip of Virginia to attend Reg Pridmore’s CLASS at Virginia International Raceway. In the beginning we did just the one day but learned that doubling down was the best way to get the most of what Reg and crew had to offer.

Sadly, while Reg is still offering his fine tutelage, it is in limited quantity and only in California. Sure, we can take a flight and continue our learning experience, but the point - in my mind at least - is to do these on your own personal ride, to get comfortable in your own skin, as it were.

Whatchathinkin'

Honda Navi

This $1,807 scooter just might be the game-changer motorcycling needs.
In today’s rapidly changing business vocabulary, the term “mobility” is used to embrace anything that deals with human transportation. The rapid rise of alternative means of mobility, such as ride-share and bicycle/ebike/electric scooter rental apps, coupled with a pandemic that has encouraged making those trips solo, has challenged the traditional urban/suburban transportation model.

It would be easy to assume that this scenario would also propel ICE (internal combustion engine) scooter sales. And for the most part, it has helped boost sales in the category to their first double-digit growth in decades. But the American public is a long way from wholesale acceptance of scooterdom, which most still consider a minor niche by the US motorcycle industry despite the outsized role it plays in other world markets.

Honda is hoping to change that perception with its Navi.

Cycle World

Gravestones of Famous Celebrities

https://en.culturess.com/view/?id=celeb-tombstones-cul&src=gdn&utm_source=gdn&utm_medium=wabcradio.com&utm_campaign=cul_d_us_celeb-tombstones_nitzan_d_1-6_content-17_tv100&utm_content=644144896207&gclid=CjwKCAiA_vKeBhAdEiwAFb_nrQJqHl-i3ay0Io3XPs5fCIqIJz9BBlArYthyiJM6KLmpP2spzqHIfBoCbXMQAvD_BwE&page=19

Death doesn’t mean we have to lose our sense of humor. Celebrity epitaphs attract lots of fans each year. They’re places where we can visit to feel a sense of connection to our beloved authors, musicians, actors, and others who have passed on, and also draw inspiration. But they’re also places to have a good laugh while we’re at it. Here are some of the most memorable gravestones of the rich and famous.

Famous Graves

Progressive

From Moonshine to NASCAR

In the early 20th century, some of the most thrilling car races to watch were the ones where trippers raced illegal liquor to cities and mill towns, outrunning authorities in the process. The stakes of these races against the law were high, but many early NASCAR drivers got their start tripping whiskey down dirt roads in the South. While NASCAR downplayed it for generations, these are the sport’s roots. Names like Junior Johnson or Lloyd Seay are almost as synonymous with NASCAR as they are with white lightning and bootlegging.

Moonshine & NASCAR

Backroads' Grand Tour!

https://backroadsusa.com/backroads-events

It's Time for Conversation Street...

As Richard Hammond might say on The Grand Tour…

“Let us downshift a gear or two, find a spot, and put the kickstands down on Conversation Street.”

Let's talk about a serious journey.

August 9th through 18 - We will be having one of the biggest Backroads Road rallies ever... over 2,500 miles.

Our Grand Tour! A Grand Finale Rally!

Well, at least for as "Monster Road Tour" like this one...

Fourteen days … Eight States… Eight Hotels… Three Free Days in three separate and awesome motorcycle riding regions! A Major League Baseball Game at THE Great American Ball Park and then a couple of optional days at the races with MotoAmerica!

All the details can be found on the link...

Grand Tour

Home Hacks

Just as brilliant today as they were 100 years ago...

These tips and tricks for the home have been passed down from generation to generation, but do they still hold up today?

You better believe it!

Family Handyman

RIDER Insider!

Join the editors of Rider magazine for informative, behind-the-scenes podcasts from the world of motorcycling. They get the inside scoop from moto-travelers, industry icons, executives, movers, shakers, and assorted ne’er-do-wells from the motorcycle industry. Their informal, unfiltered conversations bring you “Motorcycling at its Best,” wherever and whenever you want!

RIDER Insider

Bluebird of Bitterness

Horizons Unlimited

Song of the Week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhijZuIWNUA

Billy Joel & Itzhak Perlman

DownEaster Alexa

This superb track, recorded on Billy Joel's album Storm Front, was written about an impoverished fisherman on Long Island and the surrounding waters who, like many of his fellow fishermen, is finding it increasingly hard to make ends meet and keep ownership of his boat, a type known as a Downeaster. Alexa is Billy's daughter's name.
We have all heard this track - but did you know one of the greatest violinists on the planet, Itzhak Perlman, played the solo on this track? Here is the master and the Piano Man doing this live!

DownEaster Alexa

Coming Soon to Shops and Mailboxes...

March forth.... ride right into the new season with our March edition of Backroads - America's #1 Regional Motorcycle Touring Magazine!

This issue is positively packed with information.
So, get ready - here comes 2023.

Ride far, Ride smart...Ride the Backroads!!

Backroads

Nolan Helmets presents:

The Escape of the Week

U.S. Route 412

Guymon, Oklahoma

Is this 47.7-mile stretch of highway the

longest straight road in the United States?

The Longest Straight Road in the United States isn’t the famous Route 46 in North Dakota (the longest straight section of which runs for just over 27 miles).

There are two separate sections of the same highway in the Oklahoma Panhandle that surpass Route 46’s length by a substantial margin. From Boise City to just west of Guymon, Highway 412 runs razor’s-edge straight for 47.7 miles. And as if that wasn’t enough, when Highway 412 resumes its straight and narrow ways 24 miles to the east, it proceeds to run perfectly straight through the farmlands of western Oklahoma from Hardesty to just east of Slapout for another 65.5 miles.

On a sad note, there are many abandoned homes and farmhouses along the route, nevertheless, a wonderful, peaceful road to travel.

Atlas Obscura