Editor’s Note:What appears below is a guest blog post from veteran biker Jeff Maddox, who regularly holds court over at the JMAdog blog.

Winter was a long one – for sure! For those of you who have had to sit and look at your motorcycle from the shop stool in the garage, you may have been taking mental notes of the spring and summer to come: where to go, when to go and who might be coming with you have crossed your mind while patiently waiting to pull the bike back onto the highway. It will be a great summer if you just let it. Be patient, relax when you … Continue Reading

Editor’s Note: Joan Krenning purchased her first motorcycle, a brand new Harley-Davidson Softail Custom in 1986. In February of this year she launched on a 36-month motorcycle tour of America that she calls, the Glory US-A Freedom Ride. Riding a 2013 Street Glide wrapped in graphics of the Constitution of the United States, the Declaration of Independence and quotes from Abraham Lincoln about equality, her purpose is three-fold: to promote the purchase of all made in American products, to passionately defend our Bill of Rights and the rights of all Americans and to inspire hope.

Joan is the founder and CEO of DesignWraps Brands, a product line and brand … Continue Reading

Editor’s Note:What appears below is a guest blog post from veteran biker Jeff Maddox, who regularly holds court over at the JMAdog blog.

We bikers are a friendly bunch. You’ve seen it a million times during riding season-a wave with the left hand in a show of unity, and as a symbol of the sport we all love. I will say that in the surrounding miles of a rally where motorcyclists gather, the wave can get a little over-done. But I also think that a wave from seasoned riders can be a good thing for new riders who have just started their adventure in motorcycling. From the seat of our motorcycle we … Continue Reading

Editor’s Note:What appears below is a guest blog post from veteran biker Jeff Maddox, who regularly holds court over at the JMAdog blog.

It is the season. The season of giving, caring and everything else we should be doing all the time instead of just the last few days of the year. I’m not sure if it’s the colorful lights or the cold temps, but something changes in all of us. I remember as a kid growing up in White City looking out the window of the house at night with the REAL Christmas tree in the living room all lit up with the big bulbs ( the ones … Continue Reading

Editor’s Note:What appears below is a guest blog post from veteran biker Jeff Maddox, who regularly holds court over at the JMAdog blog.

Where did the summer go? As we get just that much closer to November and December I realize that most folks are putting their bikes up for the season. I’m not sure if I could take the thought of not riding and that’s probably why I keep mine out of hibernation. We all know it’s a little ridiculous to ride in 10 degree weather, but it doesn’t turn that cold overnight (at least not here in Kansas). Why is it that 40 degrees in the spring … Continue Reading

Friedrich Nietzsche said, “He who fights with monsters should take care, lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes long into you.” This quote has always inspired me, and reminded me of the dangers of travel.

In ancient Asia, places that had not been explored were marked on maps with a dragon. I have always viewed the unknown as some form of monster, and to travel into the unknown was to fight with that monster. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. I always come away from the experience as a slightly different person.

Nietzsche reminds me, though, that as … Continue Reading

Editor’s Note:What appears below is a guest blog post from veteran biker Jeff Maddox, who regularly holds court over at the JMAdog blog.

Sturgis 2012 – wow, what a trip to make and memories to share! Coming home from this amazing rally, I had time to reflect on exactly the randomness of it all. Heading to Sturgis, as usual, there is excitement and anticipation of a long ride mixed with a few butterflies of what might happen along the way. I love the ride there and back as you meet so many people heading in the same direction and all of us are all going to share our love … Continue Reading

Editor’s note: Jack Bethel is on an approximate 8,000 mile journey through Canada and down the East Coast. He has agreed to share his adventures through a series of blogs to J&P Cycles. Bethel left Mount Vernon, Iowa on Sunday, July 22. Here, he provides his first series of trip updates from the road.

I sit now in the beautiful reading room at the library of Middlebury College, in Middlebury, Vermont. The clean luxury here is a stark contrast from my last week of travel.

Beginnings
Leaving from Mount Vernon, Iowa, I headed north through eastern Iowa and into Wisconsin. My first night I camped out behind a small backwoods … Continue Reading

Editor’s note: Jack Bethel is embarking on an approximate 8,000 mile journey through Canada and down the East Coast. He has agreed to share his adventures through a series of blogs to J&P Cycles. This is his first, an introduction. Meet Guest Blogger Jack Bethel.

Hello, I’m Jack. I am a 23 year old college student from Colorado. In my free time I work as a bartender and manage a small cycling shop. I have been infatuated with all things two wheeled from a very young age, and bought my first motorcycle at 19 (the 2001 BMW F650gs that I will be riding on this trip).

I originally began … Continue Reading

Editor’s Note: One thing we really love here at J&P Cycles is a good motorcycle story with a great ending. This story was submitted to us by Tony Colombini, of Garden Grove, Calif., whose son Billy inspired his family, friends and many others.

Billy’s Story

By Tony Colombini

 Twenty years ago at age of 18, Billy was a passenger in a truck that overturned on a back road in upstate New York. For more than three hours he lay in the darkness in a ditch waiting for help. As he waited, like anyone of us, he tried desperately to get himself up and out of the ditch. But even as … Continue Reading