There are many different kinds of motorcycles and it can be a challenge for a bike publication to cover them all properly. Most mags are staffed by either frustrated racers or laid-back Harley types and rarely do they find common ground. I remember chatting in a pub long ago with a staffer for what was then Canada’s leading motorcycle magazine: “For me, a cruiser is basically a boat anchor – that’s all they’re good for,” he said. “But I have to ride them and review them anyway because somebody’s got to do it. I hate them so much.”
He may have hated them, much preferring to put on his leathers and touch a knee down on the track, but plenty of riders love them and would never want to speed up their riding lives on a sportbike. And few riders have much interest in reading about bikes they wouldn’t want to own, especially if the stories are prepared by writers who are forcing themselves to ride the bikes.
At Canada Moto Guide, we believe there’s a bike for everyone, but no one person is going to want to ride them all, let alone be proficient with every style. This is why our contributors run the course from truly fast riders like Costa and truly adventurous riders like Zac, to old farts on a Harley like Willy and myself. In the middle, we’ve got riders of all stripes to explain their different likes and dislikes for us all to better understand their passion.
We’ve never really done true dirt bikes, but this week’s preview of the new Honda CRF250R changes all that. The truth is, we love watching MX bikes pop and power through a motocross track, but we’re not much good at actually riding them. So when Honda invited us to try out the new CRF, we went looking for somebody who was and found Kate McKerroll, a talented rider and writer who was happy to go to California to test the bike. Like, really happy, and who can blame her. Her story has me now wanting to go for a few jumps myself.
We’re expanding at CMG, slowly but surely, now we have the backing of our corporate parent AutoTRADER. We plan to ride everything there is and report on everything that we think you’d like to know about in the two-wheeled world – including the many new bikes we’ll see this week at the world’s largest motorcycle show. That’s a lot of motorcycles to cover but hey, somebody’s got to do it, right?
This is awesome news. I wish I could own one of every type of bike. They each have their own purpose and use. I’ve ridden many different bikes over my 30 plus years of riding and teaching. There really isn’t a one bike does it all and I’d love to be able to ride the bike that fit my needs on a particular day. As a roadracer I tend to lean toward sportier bikes, but I’ve done many miles on a Harley Dresser and it does that job excellent. I got to ride on a motocross track for the first time a couple of weeks ago thanks to the folks at the MX101 school near Richmond Ontario and now I want a dirt bike. So many choices….