Cult of Dualsport

The URL of this site is changing

Within a few days, I expect to change the URL of this site. Instead of visiting www.cultofdualsport.com, you'll have to get here through TypePad: http://cultofdualsport.typepad.com.

There will be no more posts to this site for the forseeable future. All the posts should be preserved, but if there's a problem you can probably figure out how to reach me. :)

The design will change,  but I'm not exactly sure what will replace it. I'll try to keep the three columns and the arrangement of blogrolls. Some of the plugins might also disappear, but I'm going to bet that won't matter.

It's been a pleasure working on this site. Thank you for reading and commenting. Keep the rubber side down.

Update: Cancelling the Pro account at TypePad removed the tag cloud, blogrolls and other custom features. If you're looking for something in particular, use the Search box to find it.

The End of the Cult?

Probably. New projects and a more satisfying home life have kept me off the trails for almost two years exactly. On Jan. 1, 2009, the Big Red Pig and I went instantly separate ways, just off Lowell Hill Road, and my left shoulder took a piece of the action.

Since then my current novel has taken up more and more of my interest, to the point that I now have little desire to continue this blog.

It's been a lovely time, writing about armor and bikes and trails and mud, but 1645 is so much more interesting. It has everything but the bikes; plus weapons and murders, intrigue at the Peace of Westphalia, a journey from the Baltic to Constantinople (and back again), and ...

Well, I hope that you'll be able to get the book someday, if only to find out what happens to the widowed young fisherwoman on the island of Saaremaa.

The postings I've made here will remain for the forseeable future, but might disappear at any time. If someone else has an interest in taking over the blog, let me know. (Hey, it could happen! Truth is stranger than fiction, or so they say.)

Long story short about dual sport bikes on the Great Divide

The Adventure Cycling blog has a good, short article about dual sport guys riding the Great Divide.

Now, while I would hate seeing the Great Divide get overrun with motorized vehicles, I don't think the occasional dual-sport motorcycle rider is anything to get upset about. After all, these guys and gals are not Hells' Angels; in fact, they share a spirit of adventure much like the one possessed by long-distance bikepackers.

2010 250cc Dual Sport Comparison

Motorcycle USA has their 2010 comparison of what they're calling "quarter liter dual sports". (I posted on this awhile back, noting that the results weren't in yet.) Only the Kawasaki has any changes for 2010. The bikes being compared are:

• Suzuki DR200SE
• Honda CRF230L
• Kawasaki KLX250S
• Yamaha WR250R

If you don't want to read all the play-by-play, go right to the results.

The first great test

The year was 1972. The president was Richard Nixon. He had just signed Executive Order 11644, establishing policies and procedures "that will ensure that the use of off-road vehicles on public lands will be controlled and directed so as to protect the resources of those lands, to promote the safety of all users of those lands, and to minimize conflicts among the various uses of those lands."

The American Motorcycle Association published an alert for its members.

Motorcycling Needs You

As motorcyclists enter the political frontier in earnest they face their first great test in the form of Executive Order 11644 ... your response to this challenge will determine the future of off-road riding. Beyond this specific issue your response will determine the political strength of the entire sport, affecting the future influence of off-road cyclists and road riders alike.

Write a courteous, but firm letter to the President.

Sign a petition circulated by the AMA or the MIC.

Encourage others to join the AMA.

Register to vote.

Become politically active.

Fast forward to the present day. Here are a few headlines:

Carnegie OHV State Park Freedom Day - A Call to Action

According to the plaintiffs' petition, pollution caused by off-road use was killing fish and something had to be done. There was, however, one problem with this ruling. There are no fish in the stream running through Carnegie.

Documents reveal ‘monumental’ plans for land by BLM

Broad swaths of western land, equivalent to the size of Colorado and Wyoming combined, should be considered “treasured lands” and managed without regard to state lines or other jurisdictional boundaries, according to an internal Bureau of Land Management document.

BLM Letter Reveals OHV Land Closure

Recently revealed documents show that a federal land management agency has been talking about changing land-use designations on public land that could close from 35 million to 140 million acres to off-highway riding, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

"This memo doesn't read like a draft document," Moreland said. "It reads like a playbook for shutting the public out of land-use decisions."

Congress Passes Massive Omnibus Legislation

By a 285-to-140 vote, U.S. House members on March 25 approved a bill that closes more than 2 million acres of public land nationwide to off-highway motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and all other motorized vehicles, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

Without the AMA, off-road riding might be a sport for the history books. To take action on issues the AMA is following today, go here.

Update: Following my last post, I wonder if the Hardy Boys would thank you for supporting the AMA. But with the leftward shift of culture in general, and the media in particular, how can one be sure what Franklin W. Dixon thinks anymore? Today, Frank Hardy probably rides a unicycle and eats tofu at every meal.

The Speed Demon

When I was a kid, I read a lot of Hardy Boys books. But I don't remember reading the very first one, titled, "The Tower Treasure." Today I was helping my wife set up her 4th grade classroom for the new school year and I found the book on her shelf. The first chapter is "The Speed Demon" and it starts like this:

Frank and Joe Hardy clutched the grips of their motorcycles and stared in horror at the oncoming car. It was careening from side to side on the narrow road.

"He'll hit us! We'd better climb this hillside -- and fast!" Frank exclaimed, as the boys brought their motorcycles to a screeching halt and leaped off.

"On the double!" Joe cried out as they started up the steep embankment.

Needless to say, they don't get hit. They do things like this, though, and this sounds distinctly like dual sport riding:

The boys scrambled back onto their motorcycles and gunned them a bit to get past the intersecting road in a hurry. They rode in silence for a while, gazing at the scene ahead.

On their right an embankment of tumbled rocks and boulders sloped steeply to the water below. From the opposite side rose a jagged cliff. The little-traveled road was winding, and just wide enough for two cars to pass.

I could swear I've ridden that road, except that Frank and Joe live on the East Coast somewhere and I live on the West Coast.

Just then, above the sharp put-put of their own motors, the two boys heard the roar of a car approaching from their rear at great speed. They took a moment to glance back.

"Looks like that same guy we saw before!" Joe burst out. "Good night!"

At once the Hardys stopped and pulled as close to the edge as they dared. Frank and Joe hopped off and stood poised to leap out of danger again if necessary.

The car hurtled toward them like a shot. Just when it seemed as if it could not miss them, the driver swung the wheel about viciously and the sedan sped past.

"Whew! That was close!" Frank gasped.

 

They don't look like dual sport bikes, but they do look suspiciously like the bikes in this post, so I have no doubt they were dirt worthy.

I haven't finished the book yet, but plan to read it this weekend. I'm already sure that I'll be transported back in time, perhaps to the day when I was first transfixed by motorcycles...

You can get the book here if you like. The Tower Treasure (Hardy Boys, Book 1). Or you can visit the Hardy Detective Agency, check out the Encyclopedia, and even play the game.

I'd rather ride the bike. Does anyone know what it is?

Bike sales still down for 2010

Motorcycle USA reports on the latest stats from the Motorcycle Industry Council. The bad news? Sales are down by 18% from last year. The good news? Dual sport sales are down the least, with only a 3.8% drop.

Off-Highway vehicles and dual sports, which actually sported a promising sales growth in March to end Q1, were unable to continue the trend and are year-to-date down 14.4% and 10.5% respectively. However, the dual sport category (which is less than a tenth of the total On-Highway volume) appears to be the closest segment to stabilizing with just a 3.8% drop in quarterly sales compared to 2009.

Jesus would ride a dualsport

The guys at MISSIONmoto were interviewed by the West Seattle Herald recently. My favorite quote?

"Jesus would drive a dual-sport ... You can get anywhere."

America's Great Outdoors

A post over at Motherlode Dualsport has information on the Obama Administration's "national dialogue about conservation in America."

Save The Trails, ARRA and American Landrights teamed up to post alerts recently asking people to VOTE for IDEAS to help ensure the President's Great Outdoor Initiative was about keeping public lands open to all forms of recreation, including Off Road Recreation.

If you want your opinion to count, visit the AGO site and create an account. Then vote for or against -- "promote" or "demote" -- the ideas that have been posted by others. Or, you can also create your own idea for others to vote on.

Save the Trails has posted quite a few pro-OHV ideas and listed them here. Please promote or demote these ideas, as you see fit.

To be quite honest, I'm not convinced that the President or his administration will take pro-OHV ideas seriously. But AGO seems to be an open forum, and at least there's someplace where we can register our opinions.

Nice roundup of electric motorcycles

Popular Mechanics has a buyer's guide for plug-in bikes. I've blogged about the Quantya, Brammo and Zero, but there are a few others here that I haven't heard of. Like the Ultra Motor A2B Metro below, which is cool but clearly not offroad capable ... well, not in my hands, anyway!

When it comes to electric propulsion, motorcycle companies are way ahead of carmakers. While electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf are still in the development phase, there are around a dozen credible e-bikes on sale today that offer a lot more than just green credentials: near-silent operation, running costs that amount to pennies per week, low insurance rates, little maintenance and uniquely fun performance.