This time of year always reminds me of a Merle Haggard song. "White Line Fever" connects me with the feeling of springtime because that's when I first got hip to the melody, but it also gets me with its endless-road vibe. Merle's tune basically laments how old and creaky he's feeling, but if you don't listen too closely, it's a great road-trip ditty. At least I've always thought so-the idea of the road constantly defining your life's moments is especially appealing to a motorcyclist.
What is it about a road trip? You can feel that overpoured cocktail of optimism, anxiety and adrenaline stirring the ol' synapses weeks before you're ready to stab the starter. It seems motorcyclists are hardwired to seek out new sojourns; if we weren't inquisitive types, we probably wouldn't have chosen two wheels as our primary mode of transport. Weirdly enough, all the stuff we encounter along the way-the greasy gloves, the bad coffee, the white-line fever-somehow conspires to make a road trip ultimately one of the most relaxing things you can do on a bike.
My latest relaxation treatment came in preparation for this issue, on a jaunt to Utah's canyon country for our "Favorite Rides" touring section. That ride was a tonic for all the stresses life in the Big City has hurled my way in the last few months. (But that's a subject for another column.) The months-old accumulation of road rage had completely melted off by the second day of my tour. (Obviously, the rides we touch on here only scratch the surface of destination possibilities, so feel free to send us your favorites too.)
My Southwestern saunter was realized on a Harley-Davidson Road King, but it occurred to me that I could have done it just as easily on any one of the bikes we flogged for this issue's cover story. See, 1300cc is plenty of bike; it's not really enough to call 83 cubic inches a middleweight anymore. (We're open to suggestions.) Their overall proportions are far beyond those of entry-level contenders, but the 1300s manage to be infinitely more manageable than the heavyweights-and more than enough for most riders.
The new "cruiserweights" aren't the only fresh faces in the Motorcycle Cruiser stable-another one is our new associate editor, Evan Kay. Evan was born and raised right here in sunny Southern California and has been riding motorcycles for more than 20 years, with 10 years of that spent on the race circuit.
He's also familiar with the industry at a dealer level. No question he's got the chops, unquenchable enthusiasm and fresh outlook necessary for the job, so I'm stoked to have him aboard-so much so, in fact, that I'm willing to cut him some slack about the fact that he's spent the last few years working as an attorney up in Northern California. The fact that the guy found time to ride and race (and read motorcycle magazines) in between all that ambulance-chasing clearly means he's got tons of energy-energy that we have every intention of harnessing here. (That's the kind way of saying, "Kiss your weekends good-bye, newbie.") Evan's personal scoot at the moment is a Yamaha YZF600R (yeah, we can call it that), but we're looking to get him on something flaunting a Star badge in the near future.
Meanwhile, the riding season is in full swing, so I've got travel on the brain. In fact, I'm already finalizing the checklist for my trip next month with Zimmerman, back East. I believe it's time to cue up the Merle Haggard CDAndy Cherney
Send your cures for road-trip maladies to andy.cherney@primedia.com