Today is January 5th, or the day after the expiration date of General Motors’ offer to dealers of $7,000 for every new Pontiac or Saturn that is moved to rental-vehicle or service-vehicle fleets. What does this mean? It signifies that now there should be no more Pontiacs or Saturns for sale that aren’t classified as “used” — even if the dealers end up reselling undriven vehicles from those fleets — as the dealers would technically be the first owners.
In other words, Pontiac and Saturn are essentially dead. Kaput. Gone. No más. Continue reading »
With its light weight, torquey motor and centralized mass, the Buell Blast is a fun and agile small-displacement sportbike. The stock handlebars, however, are several inches higher and rearward than a typical crotch rocket’s or streetfighter’s and puts the motorcyclist in an almost cruiser-like riding stance. A solution, then, for riders wanting a more aggressive position befitting the sporty nature of the bike is to swap out the handlebars. Continue reading »
Blame it on Peter Egan, one of my favorite writers and author of Leanings
. Or the motorcyclists who kept passing me along the Continental Divide during last year’s Tour Divide mountain bike race as my weary legs hammered away day after day. Or even the folks on motorbikes in the sea of chaos on the streets of Vietnam. I had always wanted to do a long motorcycle trip, and Oklahoma gave me the perfect opportunity to do so. Continue reading »
Considering how many fewer parts motorcycles have compared to cars, one might suspect they are easier and less expensive to maintain. This may be true, but there are also a lot less motorcycle repair shops and many of those seem to be closed on Sundays and Mondays. In addition, one cannot ride his motorcycle into the local Jiffy Lube, hand over $30 and get an oil change within 10 minutes. The technicians would just look at you as if you had just brought in a space ship from the disgraced planet of Pluto. Continue reading »
Logbook entries for the ’03 Buell Blast. Continue reading »
“Maybe you could join us for lunch at one o’clock tomorrow,” I suggested to my dear friend as we cruised back from Thanksgiving dinner. “Before then, I’ll be at a motorcycle shop to check out the bikes and meet some celebrities.”
“Motorcycle celebrities?” asked Tori.
“Well, not exactly,” I replied. “Um, er, Playboy celebrities.” Continue reading »
 "The Pontiac Solstice Coupe was the last new sports car design by Pontiac before the company’s death. (Photo: Pontiac)")
