Canadian Biker - June 2013
The June 2013 issue of Canadian Biker is rolling off the press. With the help of Canada Post it should be in mailboxes across the country next week. With a little help from the freight company, it will be on newsstands about the same time give or take a few days.
On the cover is the Ducati Panigale R. When this story was pitched to us, some were a bit more excited about the location of the launch than the bike itself although the Ducati R is one of the few bikes that could take full advantage of the location. The launch was one of the first events to take place at CotA. CotA? An acronym for Circuit of the Americas. At first glance that might seem like a grandiose title - akin to opening a new pub in Moose Jaw and calling it “Bar of the Americas” . But get a few Texans together in Austin, wrangle up half a billion dollars and you get a pretty grandiose racetrack - one that may even worth the name. We ride the Ducati Panigale R and visit this new and latest shrine to speed and money - complete with red and blue stripes and giant stars painted on the ground. With a nod to Sergio Leone and considering the fistfuls of dollars, showmanship and machinery involved perhaps we could have called the story "Italian Western".
Speaking of speed. Did you ever wonder if your bike can see the right (wrong?) side of 200 mph? Chances are, probably not - unless there happens to be a Kawasaki ZX-14 in your garage. Yes, the ZX-14, descendent of the mighty ZX-12 that did heroic battle with the Hayabusa in the heady days of the new millennium for top speed honours among street bikes. Where have those carefree days gone? Wild and crazy ideas like limiting bikes to 299 kmh because it sounded so much safer than 300 kmh. The Hayabusa lives on but the Kawasaki has changed over the years though it does still have the speed. The question is how much? A couple of Vancouverites head to the Mojave Desert for the speed trials there to see if the very bikes they rode to California will hit 200 mph on the Mojave Mile. It has the all the ingredients of a madcap adventure - mistaken identity, celebrity and horsepower. Seems that the Bonneville Salt Flats get most of the speed attention but not this time. Let’s hear it for the Mojave Mile!
BMW is celebrating 90 years of building motorcycles. We take a look at what the company has accomplished in those 90 years. Sure they have gone from air to air/oil to liquid cooling for boxer engines but that only begins to tell the story. 90 years of attention to detail has lead not only to improvement to the German brand but improvements to all motorcycles.
After all that speed and technology, we hit the road for a respite. The destination is the Yukon. Who doesn’t want to go to the Yukon? Gold, dancing girls and moose. Isn’t that the very definition of a good time?
And after that there is still more. Enjoy!
