The Wildest Biker Bar Decor Ever! ??

Tim Kessel searches for mysteries along the Colorado River. (Photos by the author) There is something truly awe-inspiring about standing in the presence of art created by an ancient civilization, especially when that creation holds a particular mystery. Having grown up on an Apache reservation in eastern Arizona, I have always had a curiosity about, and a respect for, all things Native American. It is with that lifelong intrigue that I packed my BMW GS and headed for the Colorado River near the borders of Nevada, Arizona, and California in search of the mystifying art of the ancients.  Scan QR code above or click here to view the route on REVER After a night at a high-rise casino hotel in Laughlin, Nevada, I pulled away from the bustling modern town seeking things from a quieter, more enigmatic time. It was a late-November morning, and this often oven-like region had a chill in the air.  The Grapevine Canyon Petroglyphs are more than 700 rock engravings on Spirit Mountain near Laughlin, Nevada. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. My first destination was the Grapevine Canyon Petroglyphs. After riding northwest on State Route 163, I turned right on Christmas Tree Pass Road, where my trek continued on a graded road that’s a mix of dirt, gravel, and sand. The GS’s long suspension was perfect for this foray, but with care this road can be navigated on most motorcycles. At about the 2-mile mark, I saw signage for Grapevine Canyon. A short access road brought me to the trailhead that leads to the petroglyphs. There were no other vehicles in the small parking area. Just the kind of solitude I was hoping for.  With the kickstand down, I shed a layer of gear and navigated the sandy and beautiful quarter-mile walk to the petroglyphs. It was one of the most peaceful and well-preserved prehistoric sites I have visited. Other than shoeprints in the sand, there was little evidence of modern man. The well-defined stone drawings cover the rocks in every direction.  Grapevine Canyon Petroglyphs The animal, human, and stylized geometric figures were reportedly created between 1100 and 1900 AD by the native Mojave peoples who have inhabited the Colorado River region for centuries. While a great number of the glyphs are readily available for viewing, many of them now sit 40 to 50 feet under the blown and shifted sand. The meaning and purpose of the glyphs are unknown. Back on the highway, where the views of the Colorado River Valley are stark and expansive, I turned south on Needles Highway. This stretch took me through rocky crags, below pastel desert vistas, and near the banks of the Colorado River. After passing into California, I crossed the river into Arizona on Interstate 40, then took a southern exit onto State Route 95 and rode along the eastern bank of the river. One of the many colorful murals that adorn various walls in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. This one is “Farm to Table,” created by Rachel Keiser. Soon I arrived in Lake Havasu City, which is famous for being the home of the relocated London Bridge. But I had a different focus for my visit: the city’s large and vibrant outdoor murals, which are painted on roadside retaining walls and local businesses. They provided a colorful, modern contrast to the ancient murals I saw earlier. After lunch, I continued rolling south until I came to one of the most important stretches on the Colorado River, the Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge. The unique, naturally regenerating wetland area is a rarity in the desert Southwest. The blue waters, tall green reeds, and variety of waterfowl were visually stunning.  The Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge is an oasis in the desert. After leaving the refuge, I made my way through the striking red rock canyons of the Parker Strip before taking Agnes Wilson Road back over the Colorado and into California again. A southern turn onto U.S. Route 95 took me toward the final ancient intrigue of this ride. This stretch is a great mix of undulating road, with long sweeping turns as it follows the flow of the Colorado south through the beautiful, stark desert.  Signs indicated I was approaching the Blythe Intaglios. A short dirt ride brought me to a series of huge desert drawings that are protected by low chain-link fencing. These massive human, animal, and spiral geoglyphs, the largest of which is over 170 feet long, are dated from 900 BC to 1540 AD. They were rediscovered when a pilot spotted them in 1932. Interestingly, none of the Colorado River tribes claim to have created the intaglios. The mystery remains unsolved.  A bird’s eye view of one of the Blythe Intaglios, which are so large they’re difficult to view from ground level. (Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons) After a long day of riding and discovery, I made my way back across the Colorado River to a tiny cabin in Ehrenberg, Arizona. As I enjoyed a post-ride stroll along the banks of the river, I contemplated the intrigues I found upstream along this vital Southwestern waterway. See all of Rider‘s touring stories here. Colorado River Motorcycle Ride Resources Nevada Tourism Laughlin, NV Arizona Tourism Lake Havasu City, AZ Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge California Tourism Blythe Intaglios Tim Kessel is a lifelong resident of Arizona. With 50-plus years of motorcycling and 30 years of teaching English under his belt, he has melded those two passions into a gig as a motojournalist. Maybe that’s why there is always a permanent, satisfied smile under his full-face helmet. The post Art of the Ancients: Colorado River Motorcycle Ride appeared first on Rider Magazine.

Locking your arms out during turning movements hinders the bike’s ability to turn. Let’s fix it. (Photos by Kevin Wing) If you’re under 40, hey, good for you. Seriously, congratulations on yet another effortless day of frolic and sunshine without knee pain, muscle strain, spontaneous vertigo, vision issues, and the ongoing struggle of getting one’s pants on in the early morning haze of yet one more day of being over the hill.  Let me set down my Theragun massager for a second and say I honestly had no idea how overcome with defeat my body was going to become after years of motocross, football, triathlons, SWAT, and raising a kid. And to take just a little bit more oxygen out of the room, I’ve noticed that over the years I need more riding hacks just to enjoy what limited riding time I have. I’ve had to come up with hacks for mounting, dismounting, picking it up, setting it down, starting it, stopping it, and just about everything in between. Not great. Now, all my sunny positivity aside, I have one riding hack that doesn’t take much at all on your end to easily peel 25 years off your “felt age” when you initiate and execute tight slow-speed turns on the bike. Even better, it will help generate far better dexterity with your controls in the process. The only downside is that you’ll first need to throw on your gear without throwing out your back. But let’s be honest here: What other options do we really have at this point? We might as well give it a try. Getting your body forward increases dexterity, comfort, and range of motion when turning the handlebar. Okay, here’s the deal. Right now, your ability to comfortably and repeatably execute tight slow-speed turns is limited, in large part due to your arms’ limited range of motion (ROM). What I mean is your arms are prematurely extending to the point of being locked out due to your current body position, effectively stopping the handlebar from turning any farther, even though it still has more range available. This means the motorcycle could turn tighter and wants to turn tighter, but your arms aren’t allowing that to happen. To make things worse, this causes far worse control and dexterity with the throttle, clutch, and front brake because it creates a pulling force from the bar at the point it binds up from your arms. This situation also contributes to pulling your body off balance, which can have a negative effect on overall chassis stability and rider comfort. Make sense? Now grab two ibuprofen and some orange Jello and meet me in the garage. Oh, and bring my knee wrap. First, we are going to do a static exercise to get a baseline. If you have a centerstand, engage it; if not, just sit on the motorcycle naturally, put the kickstand up, and keep both feet on the ground. From this initial position, take a moment and look straight down at your tank. Now draw an imaginary line directly from your chin to your gas tank, and mark that spot with painter’s tape. Next, with both hands on the grips, move the handlebar full lock to the right and keep it there. Now examine your left arm and see how much bend is in it. Is it totally locked out with no bend at all? If so, did your head position get pulled forward? Look straight down and pay close attention to that painter’s tape we marked earlier and use it as a reference to see if your upper body moved forward at all. If so, we want to readjust our upper body forward enough to eliminate the locking-out of that arm. Move the bar from center (pointing straight) to full-lock right a few times, and confirm that you can maintain control and balance and still have bend in your left arm. Once you find that spot, look straight down at your tank. This position will be your new seated position. Mark it with a second piece of painter’s tape and remove the first piece. You should note that this second piece of tape is closer to the handlebar than the first. Off-duty motor officer Jason Coleman maintains an unlocked arm position for smooth, consistent slow-speed tight turns. Do the exact same thing with your right arm and repeat the process with the bar moving between center to full-lock left. The updated painter’s tape position should be a solid reference point for a comfortable and stable range of motion when the bar moves to full-lock left as well. If not, rinse and repeat the process, making subtle adjustments to the position of the tape until both directions are free of any arm lock-out. Work the bar’s full range of motion and confirm your arms always stay loose and comfortable and still maintain a slight bend at all extremes. Well done. Take a breather while I stretch out in my van and rest my eyes. Now we’re going to do the same thing but with the bike in motion. Note: It does not matter if you don’t execute full-lock turning maneuvers with your motorcycle. You gain the benefit of this new body positioning because it minimally interferes with the handlebar’s range of motion (and your body position), regardless of how large or small the movement of the bar might be. Find a clean, empty parking lot and set out two cones approximately 60 feet apart. We are going to work on U-turns in a figure-8 pattern, and these two cones will be our turnaround spots. Now, with the painter’s tape on the tank, confirm your upper body is positioned in the proper place to keep your arms bent, no matter how far the handlebar is turned one way or the other. Ride this figure-8 nice and slow in 1st gear, ensuring your upper body remains in a neutral and comfortable position as you execute U-turns and that the handlebar moves back and forth freely. Keep in mind your handlebar may start turning farther and at a more rapid steering pace than you are currently familiar with because nothing is infringing its movement. For this reason, take this exercise slowly. One last thing: If you have a short inseam and ride a tall motorcycle, you probably opt for a low seat. This makes sense, because you need to get closer to the ground to start and stop. But this can have the negative effect of moving your upper body away from the controls on the motorcycle. When that happens, your ability to manipulate the controls can suffer as you move the handlebar through its range of motion. One solution is to lower your suspension (Race Tech offers this service), which gets your feet closer to the ground for safety and comfort but also enables you to maintain the stock bar-seat-pegs ergonomic triangle, so you retain that good forward position with the controls. Those are big gains. I sure hope my little riding hack improves your ride the next time you get out there on the motorcycle. But just in case it doesn’t, remember: It’s never too late to throw on a sun hat and blow out your knees with a few rounds of pickleball. See me demonstrate this technique in the below video from my YouTube channel. Quinn wears Schuberth helmets and Lee Parks Design gloves. Find out more at Quinn’s website, PoliceMotorTraining.com. Send feedback to rider@ridermagazine.com. See all Motor School with Quinn Redeker articles here. The post Motor School with Quinn Redeker: Improving Your ROM appeared first on Rider Magazine.

I love leather – jackets, gloves, boots, belts, you name it. I love the feel, the heft of the thick hide, the undeniable style, the unparalleled crash protection, and the rich, earthy smell. What I hate, or at least neglect to do regularly, is taking care of leather. I’m a ride-it-hard-and-hang-it-up-wet kind of guy, which is another way of saying I’m lazy. Sure, for a while you can get away with just wearing leather, allowing it to break in and conform to your body and doing nothing else. But eventually the leather’s natural oils and the chemicals used to tan and treat the hide will dry out. The leather will go from supple to stiff, and if left for too long, it will crack and tear. My Joe Rocket Classic ’92 jacket before using the leather care kit. One of my favorite leather jackets is the Classic ’92 by Joe Rocket. It’s made of thick cowhide that’s dyed black, and it has timeless speedster style with exposed zippers, ribbed padding on the shoulders, and a pair of small white stripes on each upper arm. I’ve had my Classic ’92 jacket for years, and I’ve used it and abused it. Back in 2019, I wore it on the press launch for the Indian FTR1200 down in Baja, Mexico, and it got dirty and dusty during a 40-mile ride on a sandy road along the coast. When I got home, I hung it up and went on with life. During a podcast with Greg Sermabeikian, owner of Anthony’s Leatherworks, I told him about my bad habits with leather. He said leather care doesn’t have to be labor intensive as long as you have the right tools for the job. Sermabeikian sent me his company’s proprietary Leather Care Kit, which includes three treatments: spray-on De-Salter, which softens and refreshes dry (and sometimes funky) leather; brush-on Easy Cleaner, which creates a sudsy foam that removes dirt; and spray-on Total Leather Cleaner & Conditioner, which keeps leather soft, pliable, and healthy-looking. After using the leather care kit. First, I sprayed De-Salter all over the Classic ’92’s outer leather and let it dry for 2-3 hours. Next, I poured some Easy Cleaner in a bowl and used a small scrub brush to work it into the leather, then I hung up the jacket to dry for 24 hours. Lastly, I sprayed on a liberal amount of Total Leather Cleaner & Conditioner and used a soft rag to work it into the leather. Total hands-on time was about 20 minutes, and very little elbow grease was involved. Now my jacket looks great – better than new because the leather is broken in and more supple than ever. The Leather Care Kit is available directly from Anthony’s Leatherworks for $51.95. You can also buy the three leather treatments individually: De-Salter ($17.95), Easy Cleaner ($17.95), and Total Leather Cleaner & Conditioner ($21.95). Anthony’s Leatherworks also sells a Suede Care Kit ($45.95), which includes Easy Cleaner, Water & Stain Repellant, a 4-in-1 Suede Brush, and a Suede Eraser to remove stains. Shop for Anthony’s Leatherworks Leather Care Kit The post Anthony’s Leatherworks Leather Care Kit appeared first on Rider Magazine.