In 1963, when I was learning to ride my new 80cc Yamaha YG-1, I discovered the value of metal bits that bent instead of broke whenever I managed to screw up and drop the bike again, usually in a rock-strewn streambed or sandy wash. I grew fond of that little rotary-valve two-stroke engine, which always restarted easily after I untangled the bike and myself from whatever mess I’d gotten us into. And I grew even more fond of the simple and rugged construction of the cycle parts as I bent back the brake pedal or the clutch lever after a low-side someplace.

You’d think, reasonably enough, that the take-away message would have been the most basic from Motorcycle 101—“Don’t crash.” But, in fact, the one I took most to heart was its corollary: “When—not if—you do crash, make sure you’ve got the tools to repair the bike and get going again.” Said tools being not just the onboard toolkit but the knowledge and skill to use it.

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Photo by Mark Wernham

This Mark Wernham photograph of Nicky Hayden braking at Silverstone is dramatic but also counterproductive. What’s important is what BMW factory rider Leon Haslam told me at Miller Motorsports Park this past May during the World Superbike race weekend: “If rear braking is lost, the rear will rise and overall braking will suffer.”

We can find out the brake torque required to lift the rear wheel by measuring the wheelbase and multiplying it times the weight on the rear tire. The rear tire lifts when braking force, multiplied times the overall center-of-gravity height, equals rear-wheel load multiplied times wheelbase.

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Cycle World Managing Editor Matthew Miles told me the other day that he never expected his work in motorcycle magazines to include embedding video in a road test. Nevertheless, he, like everyone at the magazine, knows the importance of trying to capture more and more of the motorcycle experience in images. Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousand words.

That’s why, back in June of ’79, when I was at Cycle Guide, the staff and I cobbled together an angle-iron frame to bolt onto the BMW R100T we had for a couple of weeks as part of a comparison test with a Honda Gold Wing. Dave Clark, our art director, and I saw the potential of getting a dynamic still photo of the BMW’s cylinder head and crashbar virtually on the ground in a turn with the road rushing under the footpeg and rider’s boot, and the horizon tilted crazily ahead in the picture, drawing the viewer’s eye into it and creating the impression of speed and the unique kinesthetics of riding.

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