Happy New Year!

There are some pretty obvious resolutions to make this year: ride my motorcycle more, take an adventurous road trip vacation, fix my old DR600 to get her back on the road. But I have some less obvious ones, too.

• Pay less for insurance. Why does my insurance go up every year, even though I’ve never had an accident, never made a claim in 35 years, and I have a clean driver’s licence? This month, I’ve just been quoted $1,249 for comprehensive insurance by TD Insurance for my 10-year-old Harley Low Rider. That’s an increase of $118 over last year, or almost 10 per cent. So this year, I’ll be visiting the insurance booths at the motorcycle shows to find a fairer deal.
• Read more motorcycle books. No, not How To books or shop manuals – books that tell stories about bikes and let you escape into someone else’s reality for more than just the five or 10 minutes that it takes to read a website story. We run some longform articles at CMG and they’re less popular than the quick hits, but they’re far more worthwhile if you can see them through. Same thing for books. Top of my list is Mondo Enduro, and then Far and Wide, by Rush’s Neil Peart. And when it’s time for just a quick dip, I’ll pick through Why We Ride, Mark Barnes’ excellent collection of analytical columns from Motorcycle Consumer News.
• Make Canada Moto Guide even better. We have a more generous budget and a supportive owner in Trader Corp., so there’s no reason at all why we can’t do all the things we’ve wanted to, but could never find the time or the money. Canada is our oyster! We’ve got plenty of ideas of our own, but if there’s something specific you’d like to see, just drop us a line and let us know.