Motorcycle Nation Podcast

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This episode we talk to Jensen Beeler of Asphalt & Rubber, one of the best sites for motorcycle industry news that I have found. Jensen has created an awesome site and his business background and a recent trip to the electric motorcycle manufacturers makes for some great conversation. You can also find Jensen on Twitter as asphalt_rubber and on Facebook. The Facebook link is on his website.

The recalls section is back and we run through them. Or, maybe I should say it. The only recall we have right now is for the BMW f650 GS and the f800 GS. The model years covered are 2008 thru 2010. During operation the a ventilation hose could draw water vapors into the charcoal canister allowing it to mix with the air-fuel mixture and cause the motorcycle to stall. The recall was set to begin this month, January 2010. If you have not heard from BMW you can call them at 800-831-1117.

There are a couple of news stories that are quickly covered so that we are able to jump right into the interview with Jensen. We close out the podcast with music from old friends Eclipse. I just had to hear “Ride Through the Badlands” again.

If you get a chance, review the podcast in iTunes so that we can move farther up the chart. If you would like to help cover the costs of keeping the site on the net and help us cover storage costs and bandwith, we have added a donate button on the right sidebar. Any amount would help from a dollar to whatever you want to give. Anything would be appreciated.

Remember our friends at MotoCaribe Motorcyle Tours. When you are ready to take a trip you can ride paradise on two wheels in the Dominican Republic. Give Ed a call at 877-MOTOFUN ext. 100 or visit the website by clicking their name above.

Until next time…Ride Safe

Right-Click Here To Download

I have always had the desire to travel on two wheels. My dreams have taken me to the Cherohala Skyway along with Deal’s Gap and all up and down the Blue Ridge Parkway. In further REM states I have hammered across the Seven Mile Bridge and enjoyed the sunset, beaches, and nightlife of Key West. Many daydreams have found me out West running through Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. And I have heard that Oregon is perhaps one of the most beautiful states to ride in. Sign me up for all of them.

Some people are fortunate enough to be able to spend a major portion of their year on the road. Their tales have given me inspiration to take that next step and look into many more road trips than I have had the opportunity to take to this point. So far, my longest road trip to date has been to Milwaukee to visit the Harley Davidson plant. I have been to Daytona Bike Week a few times but our bikes were trailered down and back for that one so that is not a road trip.

I have drawn the inspiration to make a long trip from family and internet friends. In the relative area, I have a cousin and his wife that make an annual trip with 2 to 3 other couples. Ask them where they are going and you will get only the direction. West. South. Who knows. Their ride consists of each couple having the directional choice of the day. They rise early and get on the road and stop around 5 or 6 PM each evening. After finding lodging and getting a meal, they bed down and start over the next morning.The couple who has rights for the day leads off in whatever direction they have chosen. No planned stops and no agenda. That sounds like a plan to me. A trip a couple of years ago led them through sixteen states in nineteen days.

Then, we have some friends of the podcast that also have the opportunity to travel. Carla King, a motojournalist based in California, has taken a trip that she circumnavigated the border of the United States on a Russian made Ural motorcycle. This trip is chronicled in her book “American Borders” which is available from her web site. I am currently reading this book and will be doing a podcast with Carla in the near future.

Perhaps the freest spirit that I have stumbled upon in my motorcycle travel research has got to be Ara Gureghian. Click on his name, after you finish reading this of course, to be whisked away into a dreamland of free. Ara, who travels with his trusted companion Spirit in his sidecar, lives a fantasy day in and day out. Ara has an amazing past but the last few years are what draws me to his site. You will be met with amazing photography and well written posts about their current location and pictures. You can even follow the travels with a device called SPOT which is a satellite locator that will show you the most recent visited location and current location on a Google Map. There are various items available in his store along with the opportunity to purchase copies of his pictures. Trust me, you will see the beauty of our great country in a new light by looking at his photography.

If you want to read and see what freedom is all about, go ahead, click the link. You won’t be sorry!