RideLust

The record setiing STI. Image: Subaru

The Isle of Man is home to what, arguably, is the most insane motorcycle race in the world. Each year, riders from around the globe converge on the tiny island, located directly between England and Ireland, to contest for top honors in the Isle of Man TT. Unlike motorcycle races in the rest of the world, the Isle of Man TT is held on closed village roads, with little thought to safety other than the occasional hay bales. Crash hard, and there’s a good chance of serious injury or death, as the island has see 231 rider fatalities since 1907. Read More…

Seeking to prove that electric cars can be practical for long distance road trips, a trio of Dutch friends set out to drive 779 miles in 24 hours. Picking a route that provided ample Level III chargers (which will replenish the Leaf’s batteries to 80% of capacity in around 20 minutes), the group achieved their goal. What does it prove? Not a lot, really, except that you can take the Leaf on road trips as long as you have access to Level III chargers after the initial 73 mile full battery range is depleted, and then every 58.4 miles (accounting for an 80% charge from a Level III station) thereafter. Don’t plan on speeding, either, since the best range is achieved by speeds between 62 and 74 miles per hour. You’d best like coffee (or have a weak bladder), because every 59 miles of forward progress demands a 20 minute recharging stop. Win or fail; you decide after watching the video below. Read More…

Image: HotRod

Some nannies are young, pretty, glorified babysitters, irresistible apparently to half of Hollywood husbands.  Others have nasal voices that drive most of you insane.  Still others are reliable and practical like the HBIC Mary Poppins.  But this post isn’t about them.  This post is about the bane of a gearhead’s existence: the automotive nannies that car makers insist on shoving into their offerings in ever-increasing numbers year after year.  If, like me, you read the interwebz for your daily auto news fix, you’ve likely noticed the proliferation of articles dedicated to reminding us the Apocalypse is surely nigh, because how else can one explain the need for half of these devices? Read More…

To a lawyer, there's no such thing as a minor accident. Image: David Shankbone

Let’s face it – no one ever plans on getting into an accident, and most of us are over-confident in our driving ability. If you spend enough time behind the wheel, sooner or later the odds just don’t play in your favor. It’s like the opposite of a trip to Vegas, with the jackpot replaced by a roadside call to the police that none of us ever want to make. Accidents are stressful enough, but these days it’s rarely over after the police report is written. If you’re at fault, plan on being sued, which will cost your insurance company (and, potentially, you) serious money to fight in court. If the court finds in favor of the plaintiff (the guy suing you), expect to lose a substantial part of your income, possibly for a long, long time. Read More…

Ouch. Image: Paulo Ordoveza

If you’re like most Americans, chances are good you’re heading out on the roads over the Memorial Day weekend. Oddly enough, gas prices seem to be coming down instead of taking their usual skyward trend on the first weekend of the summer vacation season. That may be a good sign, but gas is still damn expensive; in fact, it’s doubled in price since 2009, and I’d be willing to bet that most of our incomes haven’t kept pace. Short of trading in your current ride for something more fuel efficient, what can you do to reduce your gas bill as much as possible? Below are five tips that can save you money at the pump. Read More…

Atlanta traffic on a Sunday afternoon. Image: flickr user AirBeagle

We all know that gasoline prices are up, since the news media rarely goes a day without reminding us. Despite the fact that gas is edging on $4.00 per gallon (and will probably blast clean through that ceiling by Memorial Day), demand really hasn’t changed significantly from last year. Sure, we’re using less in 2011 than we did in 2010, but overall consumption in the United States is down by just 2 percent. As you’d expect, some cities use a lot more gas than others, regardless of the price. Below, in ascending order, is a list of the 10 U.S. cities with the highest gasoline consumption, as researched by the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Read on to see if your hometown made the list. Read More…

Image: Fábio Pozzebom, Agência Brasil

Mike and I are just back from One Lap of America. In case you’re not familiar with the event, it involves driving ten or so events at about eight different tracks over an eight day period. Race tracks in the United States are not conveniently located next to one another, and part of the One Lap Challenge is the transit legs. One leg in this year’s event involved driving nearly 700 miles after racing two events; in other words, you don’t even start the drive until mid-afternoon. Technically, you can go from event to event driving the posted speed limit (as some teams do), but you forgo a significant amount of sleep. It comes down to this: you need to push hard enough to get as much rest as possible, without jeopardizing your license or becoming a temporary resident of some backwater county jail. Read More…

Travelling in style on the PCH. Image: Dayvroy

If you live on the left coast, chances are good you have your own list of favorite driving roads. The West has some of the best roads in the country, but it also has massive overpopulation (Los Angeles), earthquakes, wild fires and more annual rainfall (Seattle) than any place outside of Borneo. Maybe it all balances out, because on those rare occasions when you can run your ride of choice down your road of choice, the experience can be epic. I’m absolutely certain this list of best-west-coast-roads (as logged by AMA members) just scratches the surface, so feel free to send me your own personal favorites. Read More…

Route 212 near Beartooth Pass, MT. Image: Phil Armitage

The Midwest is best known for things like corn and tornados, neither of which are often associated with good roads or enjoyable driving. In fact, anyone who’s ever driven across Nebraska back when the speed limit was 55 knows that hell isn’t filled with lakes of fire, it’s filled with a single asphalt ribbon bisecting acre after acre of cornfields. The good news is that the Midwest also has truly entertaining roads, some spectacular scenery and some of the best local food you’ll find anywhere in the country. If you never thought of the Midwest as a road trip destination, here’s hoping the roads below will change your mind. Read More…

The Tail of the Dragon, Deal's Gap, NC. Image: William Klos

A while back, the American Motorcyclist Association asked members to list the best roads in the country. From hundreds of submissions, their staff distilled the list down to fifteen roads, stretching from the Northwest to the Southeast. Geographically, six of the roads are in the West, six are in the Midwest and only three are from the East; having lived in the East for the past nineteen years, I can tell you that we have a whole lot more than three good roads, especially in the Northeast. Read More…