bikes

mattighofen is a small rural community in upper austria, not too far away from where i was born & grew up. it seems surprisingly remote, given how densely populated austria is on the whole, and it isn’t really connected to any of the main arteries that cross the country. arriving there, it appears no more…

john wick said it best: consequences. you may remember we recently did a little work (we cannot speak about precisely what incredibly complicated engineering and expensive tooling this involved for fear of enticing otherwise innocent but absolutely not internet-savvy teenage boys of trying something similar) to unleash the beast that is the tt-r 250. we…

freedom is such a loaded word. the ‘home of the free’ comes to mind, the place many thought of as the shining city on the hill until, on closer inspection, it became clear that it’s really a dumpster fire. they are big on freedom over there: the freedom to tell those who are not quite…

it’s been a while since i sold my last dirt bike. i was planning to remain dirt-bike-free while i was going to be busy growing old, but, as we have seen before, plans change. to be fair, i wasn’t looking to buy a dirt bike for myself (although i admit, as soon as i swung…

yesterday the nomad retired and donated her parts to the new bike: the megatower. i’d be the first to admit that that’s probably not a name i would have chosen. i understand that they wanted to make sure people understood that it was a significant improvement to the hightower (again, not a great name, has…

all good things must come to an end; that’s not me being negative, it’s a fact of our physical universe. it really is. the fact that my trusty nomad is being sent off to the big flow trail in the sky – or more likely a wall in my study – has more to do…

organ donor is such a terrible description of what is about to happen here, even if it is technically correct. after six years it is time for one of the most iconic bikes ever made to be retired: i am about to replace my original 2015 nomad 3, painted in the unmistakable ‘miami vice’ colours,…

20 years ago i upgraded from a yamaha yzf 600 to an aprilia rsv 1000 mille. 20 years ago! she seemed like the most amazing bike i could imagine then, and i can’t say i’ve changed my mind ever since. the mille was a massive step up from the yamaha, in every way, and until…