Nebraska probably isn’t the first place you think about when it’s time for a nice motorcycle ride. Maybe that’s what makes it such a cool destination: Neither does anybody else.

This original Motorcycle.com editorial content was sponsored by American Honda.

If you didn’t already know it was there, you’d never know it was there. The brick retail/office courtyard suggests maybe a cheese shop, an insurance agency or a jewelry store. Or a Brooks Brothers clothing store, which it once was.

This original Motorcycle.com editorial content was sponsored by American Honda.

In a déjà vu of Assen two weeks ago, chaos reigned at the start of the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring. Hard rain was quickly giving way to clearing skies, and crews were rolling the dice on tire choices. After the sighting lap, 14 bikes started from pit lane after changing from wets to slicks, including all four of the factory Honda and Yamaha machines. At the end of the day, though, it was Marc Marquez leading a Honda 1-2, joined on the podium by Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Going back to 2007, the Repsol Honda team has won five of the last seven MotoGP events at The Sachsenring, Ground Zero of German motorsports. Dani Pedrosa enjoyed a hat trick here between 2010 and 2012, while teammate Marc Marquez, for whom we have officially run out of superlatives, won last year, the first of four consecutive wins that would culminate in his claiming the 2013 premier class title. There exists no credible reason to believe the top two steps of the podium will not be draped in Repsol orange, red and black on Sunday afternoon.

This original Motorcycle.com editorial content was sponsored by American Honda.

We all love a little trackday fun, but the truth is they can be expensive. It’s at least a C-note to get you in, plus the early wake-up call and long drive to the track. There’s gotta be a better way. Supermotard (Superbikers if you’re really old-school) is the answer. Essentially dirtbikes with street tires, they’re virtually bulletproof, and tires last way longer. Additionally, kart tracks – where their torque-happy engines are better suited – are closer to civilization and much cheaper to enter than full-size racetracks. It was the perfect solution for Tropical Fishtank editor, Tom Roderick, and myself to spend a day outta the office.

The conditions confronting the riders and teams at the 2014 Iveco Daily TT Assen couldn’t have been worse. It had rained off and on all weekend, and race day featured everything from bright sunshine to hail (hail!) prior to the Moto2 tilt. The MotoGP teams were confounded by tire choices as the flag-to-flag contest unfurled. But when the rain and smoke cleared, Repsol Honda sophomore Marc Marquez had made it 8-for-8 in 2014.

Repsol Honda God-child Marc Marquez leads his team and the rest of the MotoGP grid to Assen, which has been hosting motorcycle races in one form or another on the last Saturday in June since 1925. During this period, the race has morphed from the Dutch TT to the Dutch Grand Prix, from a road race to a closed-course tilt, and from motorized bicycles to the fastest two-wheeled racing machines on earth. Revered by fans and riders, Assen would be a fitting place for Marquez to set yet another modern day record.

The TT racing at the Isle of Man is one those rare events that you have to see to believe. Racing on public roads at speeds approaching 200 mph is spectacular on a level that’s almost unbelievable. Or, to some, sheer lunacy.

Billed as “The Ultimate Bucket List Motorcycle Ride,” the 20th-annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America covered 2,800 miles in a coast-to-coast trip across America. Indeed, this year’s Ride from Carlsbad, Calif. to Daytona Beach, Fla. was about as “across America” as any ride could be.

As the bikes lined up for the start of the 2014 GP Monster Energy de Catalunya, the racing gods appeared to have had enough of Repsol Honda upstart Marc Marquez. His first crash of the season at the end of qualifying relegated him to the third position at the start, ending a string of seven straight poles. Teammate Dani Pedrosa looked ready to rumble, and storm clouds were building to the west; the smell of a flag-to-flag fiasco was in the air. Would his 2014 winning streak come to an end in the rain at his home track?

Round 7 of the 2014 MotoGP season thunders into northeastern Spain, home to the historic Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and, as luck would have it, Repsol Honda boy wonder Marc Marquez. Growing up 70 miles west of here, Marquez considers Montmeló his home track. Sunday is likely to be Friends and Family Day in Catalunya.

The Isle of Man TT has seen great growth over the last several years, and visitor figures suggest TT 2014 is the most successful since the centenary festival in 2007. Steam Packet boats will have carried more than 12,000 motorbikes and about 40,000 passengers to the island during the past two and a half weeks.

The 2014 Isle of Man TT fortnight concluded on a beautiful, sunny Friday afternoon, with Michael Dunlop propelling himself into history by winning the big one, the PokerStars Senior TT race. This was the second-consecutive year that Dunlop has won four races in a week, giving him, at only 25 years of age, 11 career TT race wins. His uncle, the late, great Joey Dunlop, eventually went on to win a record 26 TTs.

Attend a typical motorcycle race, and you will buy a costly ticket, take a seat and watch the racing from a grandstand, often hundreds (thousands?) of feet from the action. Not so at the Isle of Man TT. It may not be cheap or easy to get here, but the racing cost’s zilch, and the vantage point is unlike any other motorsports event on earth.

Not five miles away from where I sit on a small bench overlooking the beautiful, fly fishing-friendly Injebreck Reservoir in the village of Baldwin on the Isle of Man, tens of thousands of visitors are here for the TT. They fill the pubs, crowd the stores, and rip around the Mountain Course at up to 150 mph on their motorbikes. Yet, all I can hear is the bleating of sheep.

If you’re Marc Marquez, it just doesn’t get much better than this. The young Spanish champion brought his amazing game to Mugello, where team Yamaha has had its way for most of the last decade. Jorge Lorenzo, having won the last three races here, led 21 of 23 laps this afternoon. But when the checkered flag fell, it was Marquez and the Honda, making it six in a row in 2014 and looking invincible.

The 2014 edition of the legendary Isle of Man TT is underway, and MO has a man on the scene to give us insight into the competition held on wildly fast public roads on an island in the Irish Sea off the west coast of England. American fans of the TT are blessed with race coverage on the Velocity network beginning Saturday, May 31. Our correspondent, Andrew Capone, looks into how Velocity delivers same-day coverage to the colonies, and he’ll be delivering reportage during the event that runs through June 6. –Ed.

Mugello, one of the friendliest of the Yamaha-friendly circuits on the tour, hosts Round Six of the 2014 MotoGP world championship. In Italy, the Scarperia shrine sits just a notch below Assisi and The Sistine Chapel on the holiness scale. Since 2002, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, the Bruise Brothers of the Movistar Yamaha team, have won 10 of the 12 races held here. If, as expected, they get pierced again on Sunday by Repsol Honda phenom Marc Marquez, the party is truly over.

Now in it’s sixth year, the Quail Motorcycle Gathering just gets bigger and better. But not too much bigger. More than 250 machines were assembled on the green grass carpet at the Lodge, and between participants and spectators, there were some 2500 attendees. While not quite at capacity, there was still sufficient space to move about, and just enough time to fully enjoy the panorama of motorcycles and people. And both in such variety! Think Renaissance Faire for motorheads.

Under a flawless blue sky in northwest France, 88,000 MotoGP fans witnessed the laying of another brick in the wall of fame being built by Marc Marquez. The 21-year old Spaniard overcame a dicey start to become the youngest rider in this history of the sport to win five premier class races in a row. Having shattered the all-time lap record at Le Mans in practice, the Repsol Honda phenom is re-writing the record books every time out. Today, it appeared, was just another day at the office.

Repsol Honda #1 Marc Marquez sits atop the grand prix motorcycle racing world with expectations growing at a geometric rate. Heading into Round 5, he has captured the last five poles, dating back to Valenciana last season, and has won every contest in 2014. He has topped the timesheets in most of the practice sessions. Aside from his boyish good looks, all he has going for him is timing, balance, reflexes, intelligence and a really good bike. The only hope for the rest of the grid this weekend is rain and plenty of it.

Before you roll your eyes and skip over reading this article, I ask that you give it a second thought on behalf of your mother, sister, wife, daughter, or lady friend in your life that shares the same passion for motorcycling that you do.

The annual Bud Ekins Memorial Ride (formerly Steve Wright’s Pre-16 Ride) rolled into Atascadero, Calif. last weekend. Sadly, Steve had died a few weeks earlier, but his pals thought it fitting to carry on in his memory.

On a picture-perfect Sunday afternoon in southern Spain, Marc Marquez took care of business, becoming the first polesitter to win in Jerez since Nicky Hayden in 2006. He is the first rider to win the first four races of the season since Valentino Rossi in 2002. He checked off Jerez on his list of Tracks Where I’ve Won Races, the last venue on the 2014 tour to make the list. He is undefeated since clinching the world championship at Valencia in 2013. In short, at age 21, he is the bomb-diggity of the MotoGP world.

There are still, as the late Gordon Jennings once observed, no willows at Willow Springs. Nor any springs. There is, after 61 years in operation, still a fast, challenging, relatively safe and often wind-blown roadracing circuit. Which, for the last 19 years, has hosted the annual Moto Corsa Classica staged by the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) and the Garage Company of Inglewood, Calif.

In order to understand what we are currently witnessing in MotoGP, it is necessary to examine some semi-recent history in Formula 1 racing. (You know, the four-wheel set.) I am reluctant to do this, in that I believe contraptions with four wheels should be going 400 mph to match the terror of traveling 200 mph on two wheels, which F1 most certainly does not. But a short primer on F1 between 2000 and 2004 will shed some light on what we may have to look forward to for the next few seasons.

The 2014 edition of the legendary Isle of Man TT races is set to begin later this month. The TT is perhaps the most awe-inspiring road race in the world, as the course is a 37.7-mile loop on public roads around a quaint island in the Irish Sea off the west coast of England. The fastest riders average lap speeds of more than 130 mph, so describing this century-old event as epic isn’t mere hyperbole.

Repsol Honda crown prince Marc Marquez recovered from a confusing start to win the inaugural MotoGP chase at the picturesque Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo. After slipping briefly into seventh place from pole position at the start, the charismatic Catalan sliced his way through the field, spent 13 laps in second place giving leader Jorge Lorenzo the heebie-jeebies, and went through Lorenzo’s Yamaha easily on Lap 17. Cruising to the flag from that point, he became the first premier class rider to start the season with three wins from pole since Giacomo Agostini in 1971.

There predictably comes a time each and every year when my feelings toward the cold greyness of the winter season transition from mere apathy and disdain to pure, unadulterated loathing. The timing may vary from year to year, but the record-breaking plethora of snow and sub-zero temperatures this particular winter had me climbing the walls and looking to escape Mother Nature’s icy wrath before I went postal.

MotoGP returns to Argentina for the first time since the 1999 season finale, when Kenny Roberts, Jr. flogged his Suzuki RGV500 to the win, two seconds ahead of a trio of Yamaha s headed by Max Biaggi, Norick Abe and Carlos Checa. (At the peak of his career, Roberts would win his only premier class world championship the following year.) In October 1999, the last go-round for the Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez in Buenos Aires, the 3rd place finisher in the 250cc class was a brash 20 year old Italian by the name of … Valentino Rossi.

My favorite thing to do on motorcycles used to be see how fast I could fly through places like Texas. Lately the theme seems to have shifted to understanding that the motorcycle is the perfect vehicle for getting from one interesting place to the next within a given geographic area. Maybe the cruiser crowd has always known that? As it turns out, there are a lot of interesting places in Texas within an hour or two of Houston’s George Bush International Airport.

Any doubt that Repsol Honda wonder Marc Marquez is giving Movistar Yamaha star Jorge Lorenzo anxiety attacks was erased roughly two seconds before the start of today’s Grand Prix of the Americas. Lorenzo, desperate to regain some momentum after a disastrous performance in Qatar, jumped the start as badly as a teenaged bridegroom on his wedding night. Confusion at the start gave way to a fairly predictable outcome in this, the season of Jorge Lorenzo’s discontent.

When last we saw our helmeted heroes in action – it seems like months ago – Honda’s brilliant Marc Marquez out-raced grizzled Yamaha veteran Valentino Rossi to the flag in a riveting season opener in Qatar. Rossi’s teammate and two-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo lost his marbles on Lap One, ending up in the kitty litter, any chance he might have had for a third premier class title vanishing in a puff of smoke and a shower of sparks.

After a shocking offseason, in which the MotoGP world appeared to have been turned on its head, it was mostly the usual suspects occupying the podium as the big bikes of MotoGP kicked off 2014 in fine style under the lights of Losail. Defending world champion Marc Marquez, six weeks after breaking his leg, barely held off a resurgent Valentino Rossi for the win, with Dani Pedrosa sneaking onto the podium in third place. Double world champion Jorge Lorenzo, who has been singing the blues for months, crashed out of the lead on Lap One and landed squarely behind the eight ball.

Just because the likes of Ferdinand Magellan and Christopher Columbus helped map the world and make this big blue marble feel so much smaller and accessible than it did hundreds of years ago doesn’t mean the age of the explorer is over. But the job description has changed. It’s no longer about exploring completely unknown regions. Rather, it’s about simply sharing experiences that may seem unattainable for the masses and making them feel very much within reach for the motivated.

As we previously noted, Kawasaki organized a “Bike Nite in the Daylite” on Friday, March 14th at the Daytona Int’l Speedway. With around 40 bikes assembled for the four prize category, all those involved with the show felt like it was a success.

The MotoGP World Championship is back, and so is our correspondent Bruce Allen to analyze the changes from the off-season and offer a look ahead to the 2014 season. Qatar kicks things off this weekend, so check back in this space for the full race recap.

The 73rd Daytona Bike Week is now part of motorcycling history, and by all accounts it was a success, with both vendors and attendees leaving happy with the week. After a slow start, most likely due to cold weather on the first two days, the crowds picked up mid-week and reached the usual epic proportions by the time Friday night rolled around. In the latter half of Bike Week, although breezy enough to blow riders around on the interstate, the exceptionally warm high temperatures made for perfect weather to enjoy riding both in and outside of Daytona proper.

A rainy day seems like a good time to wash the stinky socks that have been collecting around the hotel room and update the MO faithful on what’s been going on here at Daytona Bike Week. As MO readers, you’re probably already aware I’ve been testing new motorcycles during the first half of Bike Week. Just in case you’ve been slacking for the past few days, here’s the executive summary with a little local flavor thrown in.

Among the many things I still didn’t know about riding motorcycles is that you can get stuck riding downhill.

Not even the ice and below-zero temperatures could keep the crowds away from the 14th Annual V-Twin Expo in Cincinnati. The event was hosted downtown in the Duke Energy Convention center where over 180 exhibitors from California to Denmark showcased hundreds of new industry products across 200,000 square feet of motorcycle-loving floor space.

The Mojave desert ain’t nuttin to mess with. Intense UV radiation, gale-force winds, 120+ degree summers, but ironically well-below freezing last night. In other words, it’s an off-road enthusiast’s paradise, a Martian terrascape resplendent in blasted rock, jagged peaks, and tight boulder-filled canyons. Quite simply, this is a place that breaks humans and machines of every stripe.

Yamaha loves its racers. From dirt to pavement, Yamaha understands its past champions played a major role in putting the Tuning Fork brand on the racing map. So when the company holds its year-end champions celebration, it’s kind of a big deal.

Strolling into the scorching day market in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam there was a vendor selling old American G.I. Zippo lighters from the war. I picked up a rusty one and had a look at its engraving, “Vietnam is the land that God forgot, but we were there, and we remember.” It was a small moment, but it would ring in my head throughout my ride in Vietnam.

It’s 4am. My eyes are heavy and the pillow beside me is calling my name. Instead, cold and sleep-deprived, I cinch the straps on my Bell, throw a leg over Jeff Clark’s Zero FX, and head out on the Willow Springs kart track for another stint. The bike had already been racing nonstop for 14 hours. All I had to do was last 30 minutes.

My adventure into Ontario‘s Algoma Country began very close to the spot where Rock legend Neil Young’s journey once ended – near Blind River off of the epic Highway 17.

With 13 points separating defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo and rookie challenger Marc Marquez heading into the 2013 finale in Valencia, the tension leading up to the race couldn’t have been cut with a machete. Unforced falls by leaders in the Moto2 and Moto3 tilts served as a reminder that, as Yogi Berra once observed, “it ain’t over ’til it’s over.” When it was over, however, Yamaha icon Jorge had won the race and handed over his crown to Repsol Honda’s boy wonder Marquez. It feels like the beginning of a new era in grand prix racing.

This fall I was invited to ride a newly created motorcycle route in the Explorers’ Edge region of Ontario, Canada, with three other riders.

For the first time since 2006, and only the second time in over two decades, the fast movers of MotoGP head to the season finale with a championship on the line. Against all odds, Yamaha rider and defending champion Jorge Lorenzo has a puncher’s chance of repeating, the first rider to do so since teammate Valentino Rossi won the championship in 2008 and 2009. The problem facing Lorenzo: Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez who, at age 20, looks ready to dominate the premier class for the next decade.

The motorcycle industry descends once again upon Milan, Italy, for EICMA, the world’s largest motorcycle show. All of the major manufacturers will be there to reveal all-new models, concepts and their 2014 product lineups.

Faithful readers of Motorcycle.com may recall reading how much I enjoyed completing the Lake Superior Circle Tour last summer aboard the BMW K1600GTL. After deciding to take a much needed vacation and ride rather than fly to Harley-Davidson’s recent 110th birthday celebrations in Milwaukee, I figured there would be no better way to decompress than to revisit the greatest of the Great Lakes – this time on a 2013 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Limited.

Sick of all the attention the racing gods were getting in the run-up to this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, the weather gods put on a show of their own. They sent Typhoon Lekima barreling toward the island on Thursday, summoned a 7.1 earthquake on Friday night, and topped it all off with Typhoon Francisco on Saturday, making a shambles of the weekend practice schedule. Undeterred by the weather, defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo ran a perfect race on Sunday, winning against all odds, and setting up a meaningful season finale in Valenciana. Take THAT, weather gods!

In all likelihood, Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez thought he would cement the 2013 premier class title in Australia. The well-publicized fiasco surrounding the tires and the mandatory mid-race pit stop put that vision on hold for a week. How fitting would it be for the boy wonder to recover from the embarrassing Australian flap by winning his first 1000cc championship in front of the factory brass on their home turf?

This fall, I borrowed a Street Triple from Triumph Canada to ride the streets of Toronto, Ontario in a desperate bid to figure out how to enjoy this city on two wheels. (And yes, as the photos attest it rained on me the whole time. I’m that dedicated.)

It was a celebration of heritage past, present and future, as Alpinestars invited about 500 of its closest friends, family, athletes and the media to celebrate its 50th anniversary at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on October 17.

Round 16 of the MotoGP 2013 world championship was all about the track. The new racing surface, installed at the cost of millions, provided outstanding grip for the riders, but was chewing up tires at an alarming rate during the practice sessions leading up to the race. Race Direction was putting out one-time rule changes at a dizzying rate. The last of these ensnared Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez, resulted in his disqualification, and left the title up for grabs for at least another week.

BikeFest returned to Sin City for its 13th edition, gaining attendance, adding vendors and featuring headliner bands for the first time in its history. An estimated 40,000 enthusiasts rolled in from surrounding states and points unknown, covered in desert dust and thirsting for a good time. The event delivered, with a little help from nearby vice and persuasion.