High Road's Blog

Here on our blog you can find information on:

– Upcoming events

– New product Announcements

– Current & Upcoming promotions

– High Road’s Customer reviews and journeys

– Resources for our Riding Community

Planning and doing a multi-day trip on an adventure motorcycle is all about having fun.  After riding the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route a year or two ago, as well as numerous other multi-day moto camping trips, Oregon had been on our minds and our “wish list”.  It was time to just go do it.

After owning, riding and loving a 2010 F800GS for the past 9 years and 45,000 km, I wanted to update my ride to a newer version.  There had been many changes in the 8 generations of GS’s after mine and the new 2019 850GS was yet another big leap ahead of my current bike.

The winter weather of the Northwest of North America can be a challenging environment to deal with at the best of times let alone riding a motorcycle in it. But, as the saying goes: “There’s no such thing as bad weather… as long you have the right equipment”.

Ever wanted to go for a ride but had no one to go with? Or go for a road trip and all your buddies are busy? Well, what is stopping you?

Christmas is right around the corner and if you are reading this you might be a motorcyclist yourself or looking for gifts for your motorcyclist friends. Here’s our comprehensive holiday gift ideas that would help you make this holiday season a tad bit better:

The time has finally come to put the motorcycle under the covers, bring out the hot chocolate mugs and fantasize about the new modifications your going to do over the winter. Don’t let a surprise replacement battery be one of them. Often motorcycle batteries suffer reduced lifespans, neglected during storage. Improper charging & parasitic draw both have an impact on your battery’s life. But it doesn’t have to be that way; how long your battery lasts, is up to you.

“The man hunched over his motorcycle can focus only on the present… he is caught in a fragment of time cut off from both the past and the future… he has no fear, because the source of fear is in the future, and a person freed of the future has nothing to fear”

The brake system, specifically the brake fluid in your motorcycle plays a critical but often overlooked role. We riders expect a firm pull on the lever to decrease our speed in less time and distance than it took to generate it.

The craziness and buzz that is our daily routine stretches our patience, builds anxiety and puts us into the path with the rest of the sheep clocking another day of existence.  In our fast-paced society that we now live in, it’s important to take a pause, slow things down for a few minutes and actually enjoy life.

Before the end of World War II, Ducati had not been involved in the motorcycle world but instead had developed a lot of different technologies including radio transmissions and home radio units as well as several other mechanical and electronic devices from adding machines, cameras and film equipment, to razors for men.  You can see all of this at the Ducati Museum in Bologna, Italy.

Innovation and development was simply a way of life for Ducati.  However, motorcycles became their sole passion driven through competition providing them with world wide admiration.

Backpressure refers to anything that opposes the positive flow of exhaust gases from the engine. This can be baffles, tight bends in the exhaust piping or ‘pinch points’ where the diameter of the tubing tapers down. A high back pressure system will suffer from increased fuel consumption and decrease in horsepower output due to its restrictive design. So why is it that Billy felt he lost all his low-end power when he installed his 5-inch straight pipe exhaust?

It can be a daunting task trying to figure out what bike to buy, especially if it is you first bike.  We all have a bike we want or think we want, but it is best to talk with sales professionals and get their professional opinion on it as well. Magazines and internet can only tell you so much. You need to actually go see, touch and sit on the bikes

Track days are a fun and effective way to improve your skills, and the perfect environment to learn to ride safer. You can test the boundaries of yourself and your bike, and not worry about having your 1199 impounded on the Sea to Sky!!

I would err on the side of safety and probably ensure that my helmet is the highest current standard for this type of activity. Until they perfect brain transplants, I would take care of that skull!

“Why do motorcyclist crash?”, different people have different answers to this question. Some believe the crashes occur due to the recklessness & carelessness of the rider whereas some blame external influences such as the weather.

Let’s look at the 4 main reasons why motorcyclists crash:

Tires, round black and sticky, done! Or maybe not so simple.

To choose the tire that best suits you, ask yourself what kind of riding you will be doing and how long do you want the tire to last?

No matter what kind of motorcycle vehicle you ride, it transmits every throttle, steering, and braking input to the ground through rubber hoops filled with air, and the relatively tiny contact patches they roll on.

Ever look at someone skilled in their art form and wondered how they became so talented?  Often times, if you ask, it’s due to some serious amount of training and concentrated practice that has provided them with the skill set to set them above the crowd.

For track days we want you on the track and understand that you most likely will be riding your bike to and from the track. As such, we offer a minimal bike preparation:

How to decide on a motorcycle is the first question that comes up every time you speak to a new rider. For some it is an impulse decision whereas for others it’s a dream. To get their first bike of a certain brand or a style is truly a wish come true. There are many options out there when choosing your first motorcycle and for first time riders it can be a bit overwhelming.