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AGV Backmarker: Getting My Groove Back
November 19, 2009 by Mark Gardiner
Filed under Backmarker
About the time the racing season ends, the launch season begins. That means that over the fall and winter, I get my turn on the track—at least I do if I get invited to launches.
AGV Backmarker: Sniffing Out Roadog
November 12, 2009 by Mark Gardiner
Filed under Backmarker
Is there such a thing as “the most famous motorcycle?” If you’re sitting in a tavern anywhere in the American Midwest, it's probably Wild Bill Gelbke’s “Roadog.”
AGV Backmarker: Ctrl+Alt+Del
November 5, 2009 by Mark Gardiner
Filed under Backmarker
Is the recession really over? I explained the rule of thumb about two consecutive quarters of decreasing GDP but have to admit that it certainly doesn’t seem to have ended in the motorcycle business...
AGV Backmarker: The Art of the Motorcycle (Mechanic)
October 29, 2009 by Mark Gardiner
Filed under Backmarker
Last week, I wrote about the sculptor Chris Burden and his sculpture, The Big Wheel, which will soon be on public display at the Geffen Contemporary, a branch of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. The motorcycle in that sculpture is, itself, over 40 years old. Thirty of those years, [...]
AGV Backmarker: The Art of A Motorcycle
October 22, 2009 by Mark Gardiner
Filed under Backmarker
About a year ago, I was flipping through the Los Angeles Times and saw an article about the permanent collection of the L.A. Museum of Contemporary Art (aka MOCA)...
AGV Backmarker: Sanctioned. Or Not.
October 15, 2009 by Mark Gardiner
Filed under Backmarker
“Remember in the story Dune, how they just had a sense that something was underfoot,” my friend said, “and then a sandworm would appear? That’s what this feels like to me.”
AGV Backmarker: This Writer’s Life
October 9, 2009 by Mark Gardiner
Filed under Backmarker
I think I might be setting some kind of record for late-filing of this column. Sorry, editor! I’ve got a great excuse, but I can’t come clean for a little while yet….
AGV Backmarker: Leno Helps An Old Friend
October 1, 2009 by Mark Gardiner
Filed under Backmarker
“Make sure you don’t take any pictures of that red bike in the background,” was almost the first thing Jeff Palhegyi said as I prepared to snap a photo of Leno’s V-Max...
AGV Backmarker: Fat Like Me
September 24, 2009 by Mark Gardiner
Filed under Backmarker
A few weeks ago, Triumph offered me the use of one of its brand-new Thunderbird cruisers, suggesting that I might want to ride up the coast with the bike’s designer, Tim Prentice, of Motonium.
AGV Backmarker: Electrifying Season on The Salt
September 17, 2009 by Mark Gardiner
Filed under Backmarker
Last night, when I should have been working on a column, I was instead watching the Missouri Rep’s amazing performance of Into the Woods...
