The Rider’s Digest Issue 187 – Winter 2014
This is it! After nearly a year away, the brand new Issue 187 of The Rider’s Digest is now available to download for FREE via the online shop either here Continue Reading
Elefant Escapades
On a whim I call my fellow conspirator Andy and ask him if he fancies doing the Elefant Rally. Typically, he replies that he can’t see any reason not to Continue Reading
Globe Girdlers Six
Hard to believe, but circling the world on a motorcycle goes back more than a hundred years. It did not start with Ted Simon, despite what many still believe (Simon, Continue Reading
Me & Harley McDee
The title of this piece is an affectionate nod to the ‘road’ classic most famously — not to mention most emotively and passionately — delivered by Janis Joplin. Although “Me Continue Reading
From the Old Editor
The heading of this editorial, as with so many things I write, can be taken more than one way (well the way I see it, there’s no point in having Continue Reading
From the (New) Editor
There’s a big difference between contributing to a publication and editing it; between adding a voice to the choir, and conducting it. Maybe I hadn’t thought it through during the Continue Reading
DCT – The ideal automatic transmission?
In the beginning, there was only a single speed and a crude ‘chain’ of linked pieces of leather to transmit power from a motorised bicycle’s engine to the back wheel. Continue Reading
Road – The DVD: An Update
‘Road’ is an in-depth study of the legendary Dunlop dynasty. A documentary about two sets of Northern Irish brothers whose name has become synonymous with motorcycle road racing; Joey and Continue Reading
BSMC 111 – Cafe Society
Anyone who read ‘The Posh Boys Bike Club’ and ‘Underneath the Arches’ (issues 179 and 184 respectively) will be familiar with the ‘Bike Shed Motorcycle Club’ (BSMC), a virtual meeting Continue Reading
The Tale of Harry the Bastard
I’ve become known as a patient person, with a lot of spare time on my hands, so people often come to me with their problem cases in the hope that Continue Reading
Horsepower at High Beech
Being a cultured sorta chap, I instantly recognised the ad for Miller’s Tea Hut as the first line from The Teddy Bears’ Picnic, so naturally I assumed I was in Continue Reading
Chasing Sunsets – A Faerie Tale Tour
My Ireland trip proper was due to begin in Anglesey at 09:20 the following morning but before I could roll onto Irish Ferries Swift Service to Dublin, I needed to Continue Reading
Twist & Go, Go, Go!
Many commentators have questioned who the current crop of larger capacity super scooters are aimed at? Well, rather than providing a definitive answer, the GP800 – replete with its 839cc V-twin Continue Reading
A Fine Romance
I worked for a campaigning charity in whose office Sheila stood out like a swan amongst mostly ducks. Most staff at best, shopped at M&S, but frequently wore T-shirts and Continue Reading
Bikes for softies
We started printing pictures of indoor motorcycles in the letter pages of the last issue and it’s clear from the response we received that there are quite a few of Continue Reading
Beginnings: Fits and Starts
Where, oh where, to begin discussing Ashes to Boonville by Geoff G. Thomas? I could begin with why it wasn’t reviewed in November as originally planned. Or I could begin Continue Reading
A Flock of Goldwings
When I hear the word Goldwing, I immediately think of two things: one being that it sounds like the name of some exotic bird (of the feathered variety!) that only Continue Reading
Where’s Your Head At?
Your entire personality and core essence as an individual is nothing more than a bunch of semi-random electrical impulses firing off inside the big grey wetware in your skull*. It Continue Reading
Paul Sample ~ The Interview
Whitchurch in Shropshire is one of those places that encapsulates the essence of Englishness with all its half-timbered houses, red bricks and stone-built churches. It’s a theme I want to Continue Reading
A swift commentary on motorcycle racing commentary
Why does everybody involved have to mention the sponsor EVERY time they mention the bike when they have their names splattered across everywhere? It discourages me from watching. Once upon Continue Reading
HOG in St Tropez
Long before Brigit Bardot and the jet set celebrity pack put St Tropez on the map, it was just a sleepy little fishing port where the calloused hands of old Continue Reading
More American Motorcycles
What’s the difference between the editor of The Road and the editor of The Rider’s Digest? While Mutchie gets to hang with the HOGs in the South of France, I Continue Reading
Fear & Loathing in LA LA Land
Everyone knows that we live in dangerous, lawless times; so anybody who rides an expensive or highly desirable motorcycle has to deal with the reality that there are hordes of Continue Reading
The Origin of the Species
The Origin of the Species
Spaceship Awareness
It’s all too easy to dismiss that thing you do on your bike, as nothing more than a traffic-choked, soul-destroying grind; particularly when you consider that for what seems like Continue Reading