Hey Glenn,

I just finished leaving the Harley Dealership. I tried Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, the only bike to match my short ass (with comfort and trade-in value) were the Honda 750 Spirit or the Harley 883 low Sportster. I bought the Sportster. My bike course is May 23 so I will have my M-2 by the first of June, and I hope to get to Barrie sometime afterwards for a visit. I want to thank you. Your articles have been a inspiration and partly the reason I have finally got off my butt and made this come true. My Mom passed away last May and she said for me not to have any regrets. If I never rode a bike I know I would regret it. Your magazine has shown me I can do this – short ass and all. Besides, when you spend thousands of dollars they give you a cool T-shirt LOL. I get my bike May 1st (pewter -colour) so I am excited. I look forward to a ride with you this summer.

Take care. Jupe, Owen Sound, ON

 

Hi Gwen and Glenn,

We just received our first copy since subscribing, and I must say congratulations! It’s not easy surviving in the magazine industry, so I’ve heard, and you guys are rockin’ Way to go!

I don’t know who is shooting the photos, (I know Glenn has done some as I met him at Mosport Vintage Festival recently with camera in hand) but they are among the best in the industry, without a doubt. I pound through glossy Vintage British Motorcycle rags voraciously so I think I can qualify that statement.

The latest issue featuring the Yamaha Raider is exceptional print and photo quality, and such variety of article topics too…something for everyone in our ever growing motorcycle fraternity.

Kudos to you both! Hoping to catch up to you on the road soon.

Chris and Janet Ness, Barrie, ON

 

Thanks Chris and Janet,

It’s been a few years since we rode together, I believe we were antique hopping. Emily will be getting her license this year…yikes! Hope to see you soon.

Gwen

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Hi Stu, RE: 07 Musings (Nov./Dec. 07)

If you wake up to the “Three Sisters Mountain in Cranbooke” then we are all in big, big trouble cuz, in the current epoch, the best view of The Three Sisters is from Canmore, Alberta. Cranbrook, British Columbia, is about 300 km as a roadbound snake slithers across to the western side of the Rockies. An honest mistake if you’re blasting through the mountains on a bike, non-stop. Tom Hocking

Lantzville, BC (Vancouver Island)

 

Hi Tom,

When I got your email I actually got laughing so hard I had to stop and thumb out a response on a Blackberry. This one is going to hurt and last longer than a grade A+ hangover. I know the Three Sisters, I spent almost two weeks out there and was always in total awe of them. However, when I wrote the article I suffered a major brain fart that almost needed medical intervention and caused me to re-write a couple of bazillion years of geography. Oops. I apologize to every single person in Alberta for that and shall never change Provinces around for the heck of it.

Thanks for noticing, I need readers like you to keep me honest. Ride safe, ride far! Stu

 

Hello Stu:

Great article on the ride with the Golden Helmets in the Sept/Oct. issue.

It just happened that a friend had given me the magazine for the first time, and this article was there.

As a former OPP motorcycle officer (eastern Ontario, Ottawa-Quebec border), I found the article outstanding!

It stirred up fond memories of sunny warm days on the Harley, cruising the TransCanada Highway #17 between Ottawa, along the Ottawa River to Hawkesbury.

Imagine! 8, 10, 12 hours a day, riding the Harley, and getting PAID for it! It didn’t get much better than that.

Your article mentioned your ride from Sherbrooke, Quebec to Columbus, Ohio…another ha ha. Having grown up in Lennoxville, Quebec, with family still there, the article again brought back many memories.

Thanks for the wonderful read, the great job you did on the Golden Helmets”, and the photo shots! I just saw myself once again riding tandem along that Intersate in the photo on page 69.

Thanks again! A still proud former OPP Harley Rider…and still riding….

G. Wood Mississauga, ON.

 

About our Canadian Custom Showcase

Good Evening Glenn!

Let me start off by thanking you for the level of professionalism you allocated to the Canadian Custom Showcase edition. It is a fine work of art in it’s own rite, never mind the talent level within it’s pages. I totally agree with you that we have a unique gene pool when it comes to bike building in Canada. We, collectively, need to figure out a way for our US neighbours to see it too.

Attending this year’s CBBO 3 has turned out to be the best decision I ever forced the owner into, and he’s coming to terms with the intense pressure I had on him to be there at all cost! Randy, Vern, Liz and company treated us like royalty even though we were unknowns.

Winning the event was just icing on the cake. The Alien has seen it’s share of awards & magazine pages, but not as much as it has since being crowned CBBO 3 Champ!

As Georges’ voice (he no habla English!), I try my best to promote his incredible talent, but can only give him very little time out of my very busy career.

It is with great pride and humbleness that I wish to thank you, on behalf of Georges and our crew, for the elegant writing style and quality of your final product. Your magazine puts a lot of US publications to shame and we wish you great success in the future!

Please, never hesitate to drop me a line if you plan on coming in the area, I will gladly arrange to give you a tour of the shop and the area. Heck, I might throw a burger and a pint (or 2, 3…) down your throat! Hope to see you in Cincinnati, at the V-Twin Expo Cheers!

Patrick Dubois,

Concept & Design Cycles, Mirable, QC

 

Hi Glenn,

Thanks for “Canadian custom showcase” great idea on your part, It really hit home for me as I looked at what we can do here in Canada, I immediately started to draw more plans for the Saskatchewan bike, Your mag has reignited the fire. I really liked that story on the course you took for metal works (Jan./Feb. 08) etc, I would enjoy that also. I think you’re going places my man, keep it up. Marcel Trudel, SK

 

About our Judge and Jury Editorial

Glenn,

I read with interest your Editorial which mentioned that a motorcyclist had been charged under the new anti-streetracing legislation for standing on the footpegs of his bike and not having his posterior on the motorcycle’s seat.

I would just mention that “rising in the saddle” so that most of the rider’s weight is on the footpegs is a standard technique for improving a rider’s control of the motorcycle and was part of the official curriculum and training program for Canadian Army motor-cyclists in World War II. I happen to have an original copy of the 1941 Army motorcyclist training handbook which outlines the use of this riding technique in some detail.

As you probably know, while the Canadian Army WLC Harley-Davidson was equipped with forward-mounted footboards, it also was fitted with a pair of footpegs (in addition to the passenger footpegs) intended for the driver to use to more easily “rise in the saddle” to control the motorcycle.

It is my understanding that the Ministry of Transportation included the requirement for a driver to be seated while driving in order to prohibit the practice of “ghost driving” – where a driver is outside the car or truck while driving and not “behind the wheel.” What will they think of next?

My congratulations on the new size and layout of “Motorcycle Mojo”

Allan Johnson

 

Hi Glenn,

I enjoyed reading your Crossroads article in the Jan-Feb 08 issue of Motorcycle Mojo and while on the congratulatory topic, kudos for the inclusion of the Canadian Custom Showcase magazine. Further proof we Canadians can produce custom bikes to rival the American counterparts.

While I wish I was writing to request my subscription renewal, I regret I have temporarily abandoned my two wheeled infatuation to rekindle my affair with the four wheeled “cages,” specifically an old Corvette and herein is my purpose in writing.

As your article suggested, I too have a huge problem with the present “speeding” legislation and I dare say many who have taken their car or bike up to or beyond the legal limit believe this present law is just plain wrong. It paints the occasional speeder with the same brush as the street racer and I believe the legislation was aimed at, and garnered support on its premise to punish street racers.

A more equitable law would differentiate between the street racer and the young man thinking he was a victim of a possible crazy driver as your article alluded. What is wrong with giving the throttle an extra twist on a dry, empty, straight road on a beautiful spring morning? So you hit 50 over – the bike can handle it and it feels good. If a smokie happens to nail you on a rise, you get what you deserve. Pay for your burst of speed on a fair, equitable graduated scale and move on. Under the present climate, we would have our rides ripped from underneath us.

I feel powerless and your editorial has been a shining ray of hope. Perhaps you’d like to build on your concluding remarks…what kind of democracy IS happening in Ontario? Cheers,

Darryl Carpenter, Goderich, ON

 

Hi Glenn,

First, let me complement the magazine. It is very well written, classy, and the presentation is great. I’ve been on-board since the humble beginning.

On that topic, please let me comment on the waste of print in the Jan/Feb. ‘08 issue.

In “Judge And Jury,” the innocent story of a confused boy who had no choice but to speed to 50km over the limit, escaping a possible road rage incident is crap! Every, open road has enough room to accommodate two cars, even if it’s tight. If he truly thought he had no option of pulling over, even a little, he shouldn’t be driving anyway. If the road was so tight and too dark to recognize a cop 15 feet behind him, why the hell would he do 50km over? Come on…give us a break!

The kid screwed up and told his parents the same story most kids would tell their parents, in a similar situation.

“Take Your Lumps” should be the title of an article that encourages common sense, responsibility, and respect for the laws of the road. Ride Smart & Have Fun!

A. Della-Gatta, Welland, ON

 

Glenn,

While I completely agree with you about racing and stunting need to be kept off the roads, it turns out even the over 50 rule has it’s problems as well. Worst still, it hasn’t stopped the idiots on sport bikes doing wheelies at 160 kph down the QEW in heavy traffic.

When they opened the new section of Highway 410 north to Mayfield Road, they put in two signs far too close together for most to see them, changing the speed limit from 100 – where most of us do 110 -120 to 80 to 60 in less than 100 metres. Miss those signs because you’re looking at the new road and for its ending and they have you for 110+ in a 60. A friend drove by there just after they had opened it and the cops had confiscated more than 70 cars. This is out in the country, five kilometers or more from anything.

One of the cars confiscated this winter had a dad and three toddlers left to find their way home without help from the police on an evening when the temp was about -12°C. The poor guy didn’t have a cell phone to call for a taxi – if he could have afforded one – and the police just said “not our problem.” Fortunately my friend, a biker in his car, picked them up and took them home.

In my opinion those police should be charged with Reckless Endanger-ment. I can only hope that when those cases come to court – in a year or two – the judge feels the same way.

Richard Dinning, Mississauga, ON