The Last Word Archives - Page 3 of 4

The Perfect Seat… From an Unlikely Source

I’ve found the perfect seat. Or, at least, I’ve found the perfect seat for my bony ass. It’s positively exquisite. Just the right shape with a nice “dish” to the seating area, a width...

Swappable Batteries

Honda was recently the first of major manufacturers to unveil its “swappable” battery for lightweight motorcycles and scooters. Part of a consortium also comprising fellow Asian giants Yamaha,...

Shake Up For MotoE

It should have been blockbuster news. Energica, long time supplier of electric motorcycles to MotoGP’s MotoE class, is bowing out of racing. Hot on those heels came the announcement that Ducati was...

High-Tech Chain Mail

As strange as it may seem, Sir Lancelot and his boys ’round the table may have been on to something that could save the modern motorcyclist. No, I’m not suggesting we all attach a jousting lance...

Adaptive Cruise Control

Judging by the discussions I’ve seen on the blogosphere, we motorcyclists remain quite technologically conservative. Neanderthals, really. According to my ad hoc survey — which comprised reading...

Conveying the Right Message

Usually, the only time you read about motorcycles in the mainstream media is when someone dies. Such was the case during this year’s Mugello Grand Prix. Jason Dupasquier, a young Swiss man —...

Change is Hard to Deal With

Valentino Rossi should retire. In fact, he probably should have retired last year. I say that as a lifelong fan who still views 2015 as an injustice that has gone too long unpunished. Nonetheless,...

Our Riding Future Could Be in Your Hands

Every Thursday night in the summer, bikers gather in a parking lot in Toronto’s tony Lakeshore district to show off their rides. For the longest time, the event was a typical show ’n shine, fat...

Seen But Forgotten

New(ish) research out of England sheds new light on why car drivers cut us off so often. According to the study – The “Saw but Forgot” Error: A role for short-term memory failures in...

Looking After Our Own

With apologies to Hamlet, I think age is what makes cowards of us all. We’ve all experienced enough random derailments to realize that diligence is not foolproof, that armour, no matter how...

The Future of Safety

As you can read elsewhere in this issue, I’ve been spending a lot of time wearing airbag-equipped jackets of late. In fact, during last year’s COVID-infused riding season – which actually had...

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

Joan Mir is the 2020 MotoGP world champion, Suzuki’s first since 2000, when Kenny Roberts Junior followed Senior’s footsteps to become MotoGP’s only father/son world champions. And, just so you...