The Rider’s Digest Issue 188 – Spring 2015
Here we go folks, here’s the brand new Issue 188 of The Rider’s Digest – just in time for that post-winter shakedown and cobweb removal (of the bike, that is). Continue Reading
Beach Boys
Margate. Or should I say ‘Margit’ in deference to my dad? I remember it well. As a kid we used to have our family holidays there. A 100 mile round Continue Reading
Motorcycle Live 2013
I ought to sue Honda for intellectual property theft. There I am, thinking I’ve got first call on the whole ‘riding as a form of meditation’ thing, and now here’s Continue Reading
The Gathering of Biker Chicks in Ireland
Into the West – A tour of the rugged west coast of Clare 18th & 19th October 2013 The day had finally arrived for our adventure into the west. Across Continue Reading
Gentlemen and Ladies (Dressed Like Gents) Start Your Engines
A few years ago I was chatting to Mark Wilsmore, the Ace Cafe impresario, and I asked him why there were so many four-wheel events at a biker caff. Mark Continue Reading
ISSUE 184
If you decided to invest the princely sum of one pound sterling on the PDF version of issue 184 you will be getting no less than 236 beautifully laid out Continue Reading
Hey, I’m With The Team
Club-level motorcycle racing has an odd relationship with the media. You’ll see race reports and lists of results, but not much else. Some of it has a regular slot on Continue Reading
From the Editor ~ 180
Greetings, I don’t know how the weather’s been down your way but I’ve got to tell you it’s felt pretty damn summery in London for the last few days. Unfortunately Continue Reading
HUBB UK 2013
The Horizons Unlimited (HU) website and forum for overland travellers was started way back in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson, a couple of Canadians who had spent 11 years Continue Reading
Riders’ Lives – Iain Banks
1.What was your first motorcycling experience? Discounting Honda 50s and 90s, a Suzi GT185 that I was loaned for a few months back in 1976. Electric start, let me tell Continue Reading
Oval Motorcycle Centre
Doing it yourself is more satisfying and rewarding than having it done for you – surely a statement wide open for a passionate discussion. When applied to motorcycle maintenance however Continue Reading
Paddy’s Perspective
A view from the high ground I’ve just been out for a bottle of water and walked calmly through a street that doesn’t appear to have any traffic rules, certainly Continue Reading
Mr Sheene
Sometime around the middle of May I spotted an Internet link to an article about one of my all time heroes so naturally I clicked on it. The photo tribute Continue Reading
Paddy’s Perspective
Which Way Now? It’s something to ponder: Where’s the Bike Industry going? Chasing a GP dream or embracing environmentalism? Are the marketing men leading, or are consumers demanding change? Is Continue Reading
Meet and greet the police (the painless way)
When PC Graham Pierce rang me to talk about writing a regular column in the Digest, I saw the appeal immediately. As laudable as his stated mission to cut down Continue Reading
Ask a policeman
I’d like to start by saying I’m not a writer, a reporter, or a journalist. I’m not highly educated and I possess very few literary skills, (thank goodness for smell Continue Reading
Funky Mopeds
There was a time, many years ago, when some of the contributors to this august journal had long hair, pimply faces and flares, when there existed a sub culture Continue Reading
The Ace Cafe, Café Racers, and Racing Aces – Book Review pt. 1
It is doubtful that there is anyone involved in the world of British motorcycling whose life is not touched directly or indirectly by the Ace Cafe. A visit here, an Continue Reading
The Ace Cafe, Café Racers, and Racing Aces – Book Review pt. 2
The world of the contemporary café racer in the United States is more properly addressed in Seate’s Café Racer: the Motorcycle (2008). For the past five or so years Seate Continue Reading
From the Editor ~ 177
As many of you will be aware, I tend to leave me editorial until the very last thing. This is partially to lend it a degree of immediacy in recognition Continue Reading
The Boy Biker – sees the light
A recent excursion led me down a path, which having emerged the other side unscathed, gave me a lot to think about, biking and otherwise. Last month I was Billy Continue Reading
Paul Sample: The Interview ‘Everyone chooses their own destiny; mine’s a bike’ – OGRI
Whitchurch 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 explore with Continue Reading
Portraits of the TT 2012
It had been 10 years since my first and last visit to the Isle of Man for the TT races, back in 2002 I had just changed jobs, as I Continue Reading
Book Review – Spies and Samurai
Critics and reviewers get asked a lot of questions. The range goes from the absurd – do you actually read the books or see the movies you review? (Yes) – Continue Reading