Peter Rae: Writer

Sometimes the easiest solution to a motorcycle repair problem – as with much in life – is simply to spend the money and get it sorted. So it proved with the long-running saga of my Suzuki V-Strom and its broken magneto rotor. Having had no success whatsoever with trying to source a secondhand rotor, I bowed to the inevitable and decided to buy a new one....

V-Strom on the road again at half the price Sometimes the easiest solution to a motorcycle repair problem – as with much in life – is simply to spend the money and get it sorted. So it proved with the long-running saga of my Suzuki V-Strom a…

The motorcyclist in me is never far from the surface, even when I’m on a (rare) non-biking holiday. We’ve been spending a few weeks in Dubai, a former stomping ground, and I’ve been surprised by the explosion of bikes on Dubai’s roads since we left – and by the dearth of bikes on Dubai’s roads! The explosion has been caused by the massive increase in food and grocery delivery services, all courtesy of hundreds if not thousands of 125cc Hondas and their Chinese derivatives....

Where have all the Dubai bikes gone? The motorcyclist in me is never far from the surface, even when I’m on a (rare) non-biking holiday. We’ve been spending a few weeks in Dubai, a former stomping ground, and I’ve been surprised by th…

The news from the motorcycle repair shop wasn’t good. The battery charging issue with the V-Strom, they said, was down to the flywheel, not the regulator, but they couldn’t get their hands on a second-hand example anywhere. A new flywheel would set me back R7,810, plus VAT, plus labour. Oh, and flywheels were back-ordered and delivery would take six to eight weeks....

The unattractive truth about loose magnets The news from the motorcycle repair shop wasn’t good. The battery charging issue with the V-Strom, they said, was down to the flywheel, not the regulator, but they couldn’t get their hands on a sec…

I’ve always loved out-of-season motorcycling. The earliest example I can remember was attending the Honda CX500 launch in the south of France in December ‘78. I seem to recall it was snowing back in the UK when we left, but warm and sunny in France. The same thing happened two months later with the launch of the Honda CBX at the Vallelunga race circuit near Rome....

The joys of warm-weather riding when it’s cold at home I’ve always loved out-of-season motorcycling. The earliest example I can remember was attending the Honda CX500 launch in the south of France in December ‘78. I seem to recall it was snowing back i…

It’s official(ish) – I’m not losing the ability to ride a heavy touring bike, two-up, with luggage, at low speed. Phew! Readers may recall my mentioning that I found the Honda Valkyrie harder to manage at very low speed in traffic during our Scandinavian odyssey this past summer. It felt like a pendulum, the back end wanting to sway and me wrestling with the handlebars more than I ever had to do before....

Stiffer shocks sort low-speed weave It’s official(ish) – I’m not losing the ability to ride a heavy touring bike, two-up, with luggage, at low speed. Phew! Readers may recall my mentioning that I found the Honda Valkyrie harder to ma…

Every motorcycle tour teaches me something, which I then try to incorporate next time to make the whole experience even better. You’d think that after 46 years, with some time off for other pursuits and more conventional family holidays, I’d have it all sorted now, but either I'm a slow learner or you never stop learning. One innovation we tried this year was to bring very few clothes....

The Norway trip: stuff that worked, and stuff that didn’t Every motorcycle tour teaches me something, which I then try to incorporate next time to make the whole experience even better. You’d think that after 46 years, with some time off for other pursuit…

When it comes to First World problems, choosing the best satnav device for motorcycling must be right up near the top of the list. For decades, my idea of motorcycle touring was to plan a route on a good paper map, write down the names of the towns I needed to pass through, place the sheet of paper inside the plastic case on my tank bag, and go....

Sat-nav: a blessing or a curse? When it comes to First World problems, choosing the best satnav device for motorcycling must be right up near the top of the list. For decades, my idea of motorcycle touring was to plan a route on …

Is it time to wave goodbye to our beloved Honda Valkyrie and try something smaller, lighter, more modern? I mentioned when writing about our Norway trip that I’d found my Valkyrie a bit of a handful at low speeds in heavy traffic. It hadn’t been a problem before – was it me, or was it the bike? When we got home, I weighed our luggage equipment....

Time to consider a change of touring bike? Is it time to wave goodbye to our beloved Honda Valkyrie and try something smaller, lighter, more modern? I mentioned when writing about our Norway trip that I’d found my Valkyrie a bit of a handfu…