BACKLASH

Hello,

Hope you guys got out for a ride this weekend. Thanks for the Vics Wayside Inn recommendation. Cool place.

Drew Baskin

Good morning Brian,

Thank you for sending me the article on Nova Scotia. I am sitting in my cottage in Cape Breton Island as I write this. I received the magazine just before I left and enjoyed reading the article very much.

History is lled with such sweet and then tragic events. The relationships and peacefulness created by the Acadians and the local native tribe is a testament to how humans can exist and coexist together. The Acadiens are still here as well as the Mi’kmaq (pronunciation Mig Mow) tribe which actually has quite a strong presence here thankfully.

So much of the truth of history is buried by the conquerors who tell it how they see it. It’s pretty cool how archaeologists can unbury the past tragedies and bring truthful history to light.

Cheers!

Best,

Paul Moulins

Dear Backroads Test Rider,

I recall Fred Rau’s article on this topic and would love to read it again. His conclusion was none worked as advertised covering all the necessary variables.

Met a guy on a trike last week. Knows Fred and claims the electronic Hornet works. I think Fred tested both passive and active units.

The operative word and phrase are “May” and “Driver awareness is required” (duh ;-) to get to 70% effectiveness…. and cover their butts otherwise lawyers would have a eld day.

Chuck Potzer

The return trip may be in late summer. Any advice would be appreciated but I am particularly interested in the route, suggested gear, and whether you feel my bike is adequate for the journey over the terrain recommended. I am riding a 2009 Yamaha Vstar 650 Silverado with 9k+ miles that I have at my older daughter’s home in TX. I have ridden that bike a few 500-1000 mile trips in Texas. It has new tires and has been recently tuned. (BTW - I am 76 years old. I have only been riding for the last 4 years.) I have (maybe foolishly) taken long journeys on my NY bike, a 2012 Hyosung GV250. In 2018, I rode from NY to ID and then IA to MT before the chain broke. Last year, I spent 5 days touring the New England states. Thanking you in advance for your consideration & help.

Thomas

Chuck,

I have talked with Fred a number of times about this and, to my knowledge, he has never tested a Hornet.

Wind operated deer whistles…? Feh! We know they are BS.

We and many riders we ride with use The Hornet constantly and SO FAR.... SO Good.

We think The Hornet is like an electronic Rabbit’s Foot and we have seen, MANY TIMES, deer and even a moose once move away from the bikes with Hornets operating.

Still, no deer has ever answered my survey, so... our thought...

Better to have it than not.

If you order, order direct from them.... As a Backroads reader they will give you the more manageable MC harness for free. xp3hornet.com/

Brian & Shira,

After reading your article on riding 519 we had to do it from the beginning outside Lambertville, what a day – 90 degree sun, 10 hours, 276 miles, did ALL of Route 519 from Lambertville up to Highpoint. Awesome roads, lunch at Zeeks in Harmony, back down Clove Road to ice cream and a car show at Jumboland and River Road to basement Mexican dinner in Frenchtown and home again! Thanks for the idea Brian. p.s. Them tar snakes are vicious up there.

Anthony Dipietro

Shira Kamil, in a recent publication, discussed a reader’s request for advice on a cross country trip. I was hoping you could provide some advice to me as well. I would like to ride from Austin TX to Los Angeles to visit with my daughter, a student at UCLA. Thomas,

It looks like you have taken some nice long jaunts on your NY bike so assume that you have the proper gear for the trip from TX to CA. We are strong proponents of ATGATT (all the gear all the time) which include full riding suits (textile or leather), full face helmet, at least over the ankle but preferably higher boots and gloves. For warmer riding there is the option of mesh gear, but you’ll have to deal with the rain factor so either liner or rain gear. Next Page

As for the capability of your Yamaha, that is up to your inspection. New tires are a must, so you’re good there. But a good going over from top to bottom should be done before you take off, even if it’s by a good mechanic.

Your route is, again, in your hands. How long will you take to get there, how many miles can you ride in a day, sightseeing, visiting, etc. For us, route planning is almost as much fun as the ride itself. We always say that Rand McNally is our favorite author.

As for routes, we have been using a GPS for many years now and nd it helpful – almost essential – especially when taking long trips. It can help you route, reroute, nd lodging and gas and just be a security blanket when in an unknown area.

From a quick Google route, it seems to be a straight ride of about 1400 miles via highways. There are certainly places along the way that might be interesting for diversions, but again, that is up to your time schedule. If you haven’t ridden through Joshua Tree, we highly recommend it.

There are sites, such as motorcycleroads.com, which highlight some of the better roads through an area. Butler Maps have a great series for motorcyclists as well.

You have a month until your planned departure: take a gander at the maps, see if anything strikes your fancy, and point your front tire in that direction. Enjoy the ride, be safe and have fun. ,

FREE WHEELIN’ (Continued from Page 4)

Some, and I include myself, have bikes that are festooned with stickers from various roads and faroff destinations that I have been to, but not necessarily on that bike.

Yes, I am posing as a poser – with a touch of gravitas I hope.

Shira’s top case, which bounces between her Suzuki V-Strom 650XT and her now venerable 2002 Honda 919, has a Heinz 57 amount of stickers. Some destinations, some serious, some funny, and all something she felt compelled to put on the case.

At the MotoGP in Texas, there was one machine that was completely covered with appliques.

For me, I enjoy studying how creative some riders can be; and a quick lap around the BMW MOA Rally this Spring gave me ample opportunity.

What a rider puts on their bags tells a lot. Who they are, who they think they are, and what is both funny and important to them. I say… sticker away! , WHATCHATHINKIN’ (Continued from Page 5) In addition, she crossed the pond to race in the bLU cRU 300 series out of the World SuperBike paddock. What were her impressions of racing in Europe? “My expectations for the rst season are to develop a very good pace, to learn all the new tracks here in Europe and have a lot of fun,” she said. “My rst impressions of the Yamaha R3 is that they look fast, like they handle well, and it looks like they’re a lot of fun to ride.” Quite the busy season for this young lady. 2022 saw Kayla move to Altus Motorsports’ Kawasaki Ninja 400 in the MotoAmerica Junior Cup. She has been consistently giving the boys a run for their money with her con dence, stamina and outbraking in the turns, which has brought her four podium nishes. I believe she was robbed of a rst place in Atlanta but that didn’t throw her off one bit. She came back strong and determined and the weekend of her 15th birthday at Ridge Motorsports Park in Washington, she took the top podium and became the rst female to win in MotoAmerica. She now stands just eight points behind the leader, Gus Rodio, and with ve rounds left on the calendar, there is every possibility that Ms. Kayla Yaakov will hold the Junior Cup title for 2022.

The best quote after winning… “Obviously, you have Ana Carrasco and Mario Herrera and Melissa Paris and Elena Myers. But for me it’s always been Nicky Hayden. I live by a lot of his mottos.”

Dad Dave will have his hands full, as Kayla has inspired her 5-year-old sister to start racing. Her zest, passion and determination has certainly paid off for her and she has become, at such a tender age, quite the inspiration for women young and old (do I sound just a little star-struck?) I look forward to following her career for many years to come and cheering her on the weekend of September 9-11 at New Jersey Motorsports round of MotoAmerica. Kayla, I’m sure that Nicky would be super proud of what you are doing, we all sure are. ,