One of the things I enjoyed so much back in “my day” was going on motorcycle runs. A motorcycle run was an event put together by an association like the Southern California Motorcycle Assn or maybe an individual club. They were either one day or overnight events.
A place or area for the destination would be chosen and set up by the sponsoring club. They would be advertised well in advance so a lot of riders would know and attend. We would go on a lot of local one day runs but the most fun were the overnighters to places like Death Valley, Bakersfield, Julian, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and the list goes on.
You would pack up your bike with a tent, sleeping bags and whatever you needed to sleep out overnight. Our club, the Road Toads, would usually have a member whose bike was broken or couldn’t ride. That person would drive the backup truck. Members could put their stuff in the truck if they didn’t want to carry it. The back up truck would always have food and lots of beer to make the evening party good.
The events would have games too! They had one where you rode slowly under a hot dog smothered in mustard on a string and your passenger had to take the biggest bite they could with no hands. There were slow races and slow handling competitions. Another one was you had to ride on a 2” x 6” board and see if you could ride the whole length keeping both wheels on it. The board had grease smeared all over it to make it even more difficult!
There were other games too like gunny sack races. It was a kind of a carnival atmosphere. They would give trophies to game winners and others like to the person who rode the furthest to attend the run. My favorite was the oldest rider to ride to the event. There was always someone there in their nineties! I was in my early twenties thinking, WOW, I can ride for at least 70 more years!
Our world of motorcycling has so many ways to enjoy not only our bikes, but the friendship and camaraderie that goes along with it. I am so privileged to have been riding motorcycles for over 56 years, and hopefully I have a bunch more years to enjoy my passion for riding. The summer is almost here, so let’s get out and ride!
MOTORCYCLE NEWS
Marc Márquez to Join Francesco Bagnaia in The Ducati Lenovo Team Until 2026
Ducati Corse is pleased to announce that an agreement with Marc Márquez has been reached for the next two years. At the end of the current season, which sees the Spanish rider riding aboard the Desmosedici GP machine of the Gresini Racing MotoGP team, the eight-time World Champion (31 years of age) will join the Ducati Lenovo Team alongside Francesco Bagnaia, where he will ride the Borgo Panigale-based team's red bike until 2026.
2025 Triumph Trident Triple Tribute First Look
An homage to Slippery Sam.
When Triumph released the new Trident for 2021, it revived one of the most famous model names in its history. To pay more respect to its glorious past, Triumph is now releasing a special-edition Trident that pays homage to Slippery Sam, the works production-racer T150 Trident that claimed five consecutive production-class victories at the Isle of Man TT from 1971–1975.
The 2025 Triumph Trident Triple Tribute features a Slippery Sam–inspired white, blue, and red color scheme, in addition to a bellypan, color-matched fly screen, and a bidirectional quickshifter as standard. The Trident Triple Tribute will be produced for one year only. At $8,595, it’s—amazingly—the same price as the current base model.
Suzuki's V-Strom 800DE Takes On the NORRA Mexican 1000 Rally
Suzuki's V-Strom 800DE is an adventure bike not a rally race bike, right? Well Cycle World Executive Editor Justin Dawes thinks it is both and set out to prove it. After extensive racing modifications, Dawes put the V-Strom 800DE to the ultimate test racing down the entire Baja peninsula over six days in a competitive roadbook rally called the NORRA Mexican 1000 Rally.
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