America’s newest motorcycle show, AIMExpo, has opened its doors at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. Offering more than 300 vendors and manufacturers such as Erik Buell Racing, Suzuki, and Yamaha, the American International Motorcycle Expo is striving to become the industry’s largest show in North America, taking on established events such as the touring International Motorcycle Shows and the struggling Dealer Expo. Motorcycle.com has a booth at the show while Editor-in-Chief Kevin Duke and our video crew are reporting on location with the hottest new products being introduced at AIMExpo. Keep checking this space through the week for the latest updates. And if you’re in Orlando, attending the show, stop by the booth for a visit at display 1724 near the Kymco display.

This MotoGP season has developed an air of inevitability. Not that Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez is going to win the 2013 title; that’s pretty much in the bag. It’s entirely possible he could win the next six or eight world championships. The young Spaniard may do for MotoGP what Michael Schumacher did years ago for Formula 1 – turn it into his personal playground, at the cost of much of its popularity.

For factory Yamaha double world champion Jorge Lorenzo and the Repsol Honda duo of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez, Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix was going to be a statement race. Lorenzo’s intent, clear from the outset, was to beat rookie Marquez at any cost. Pedrosa, the victim of plain bad luck at Aragon, looked determined to prove that he was still a force at the top of the MotoGP food chain. And Marquez, on his way to the 2013 title, wanted the world to know that his brain is bigger than his balls.

MotoGP‘s annual Pacific do-si-do begins this week in oppressively hot Sepang, Malaysia, home to the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix. Combining high-speed racing and mind-numbing heat, it is the Pacific Rim’s answer to biathlon, the ridiculous Nordic merger of downhill skiing and sniping. Irrepressible soon-to-be World Champion rookie Marc Marquez needs only to hang around close to the front and stay on the podium from here to Valenciana to rule the big bike class of MotoGP in 2013.

The Northwestern United States has made it abundantly clear that its motorcycling culture is dominated by the adventure segment. Every BMW F800 and KTM 690 Enduro rider has bestowed upon us their wisdom of riding without a chase vehicle and letting the excitement of the ride dictate the adventure.

The Vikings believed Valhalla was a warrior Heaven where only the greatest and noblest of fallen warriors went. It was a place where the most honorable became immortal and sat with the God Odin. Well, if there was a motorcycle Valhalla full of only the greatest and noblest of rides, worthy of Odin himself, who probably rides a chopper with ram horns, then I feel confident in saying several of the roads in Northwestern Ontario reside there.

Years from now, when racing historians ask, “Was there an identifiable moment when Marc Marquez made it clear he would become one of the all-time greats in MotoGP?” many people will answer, “Lap six of the 2013 Aragon GP.” Determined to go through on Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa at Turn 12, he grazed the back of Pedrosa’s rear tire, stood his bike up, and watched as Pedrosa lost control in a violent highside. With Pedrosa done for the day, Marquez went on to track down Yamaha #1 Jorge Lorenzo for the sixth win of his rookie year.

The 2013 MotoGP championship chase has now come down to the annual Pacific Swing, sandwiched between Aragon and Valenciana. A mere five rounds left for all the marbles in the premier motorcycle series on Earth. Seven weeks for Honda little big man Dani Pedrosa or defending Yamaha champion Jorge Lorenzo to erase the 34 point gap Repsol rookie Marc Marquez has built over the past six months. Good luck with that.

On a cloudy day in the hills above the Adriatic Riviera, factory Yamaha #1 Jorge Lorenzo demonstrated why he is a double premier class world champion. In the second of seven consecutive “must win” races, he never trailed the Repsol Honda duo of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa in a decisive Yamaha vs. Honda beatdown. Now, all he must do to maintain a faint chance for his third world championship is run the table for the rest of the season.

You can’t get much more of an American icon than Harley-Davidson. Ranked among the most recognizable brands in the world, along with the likes of Coca-Cola and Apple, the manufacturer has overcome its fair share of ups and downs over the years but is still here to tell the tale. Needless to say it has certainly earned the right to celebrate a century and a decade of building two-wheeled freedom machines exclusively in the U S of A.

While the triumph of Idaho may have been unexpected, Oregon is truly the best kept secret in sport riding. If it wasn’t the riders in surrounding states warning us of jail time for speeding, it was the lack of route information that almost had us slabbing straight to Northern California. It wasn’t until we started talking to some local sport riders at the gas stations, situated few and far between, that we realized the benefit of having some insider knowledge.

Factory  Yamaha kingpin Jorge Lorenzo kept his faint 2013 title hopes alive in Britain last time out with a stirring, come-from-behind win over rookie Repsol  Honda wunderkind Marc Marquez. That Marquez was competing with a dislocated shoulder on a track perfectly attuned to the YZR-M1’s characteristics makes his 20 point day almost beyond belief. Marquez’s teammate, pre-season favorite Dani Pedrosa, was reduced to spectator status on a day that put the 2013 season in sharp focus.

With season five of Sons of Anarchy cranking up, there’s advance word of some radical shakeups in the storyline and famous characters meeting their fates.

Factory Yamaha titan Jorge Lorenzo gave a clinic in grand prix racing today in front of a huge crowd of soccer hooligans, out-racing Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez to the flag in an instant classic. That Marquez was in the chase at all today constitutes a minor miracle after he dislocated his left shoulder in the morning warm-up practice. Repsol Honda #2 Dani Pedrosa completed the all-Alien podium in a result that was more style than substance.

If someone told me that the best sport riding in the West was going to be in Idaho, I would have laughed, called them crazy, and booked my ticket to Colorado. Yes, the scenery in some of the other states will attract attention with Facebook posts showing pictures of incredible twisting roads scaling epic mountains, but this trip is for true riders, not just bragging rights between friends. This is for the kind of riders who would rather get after it on a racetrack with a blurred desert than look over a cliff on a weather-beaten switchback while the bike strains for air at 12,000 feet.

As Round 12 of the 2013 MotoGP season looms, it becomes easier and easier to imagine the unimaginable – a rookie winning the premier class title. Repsol Honda phenom Marc Marquez continues to defy expectations with the composure and confidence of a seasoned veteran. Back in 1971, French humanist Rene Dubos observed, “Trend is not destiny,” but this Spanish rider may be the exception to the rule.

Repsol Honda wonder Marc Marquez won today’s Czech Grand Prix by 3/10ths over teammate Dani Pedrosa, with Yamaha double-champion Jorge Lorenzo another two seconds behind. Once again making it look easy, Marquez now leads Pedrosa by 26 points and a disheartened Lorenzo by 44 with seven rounds left in the 2013 season. Had the rookie not crashed out of the lead at Mugello back in June, this thing would be over already.

Fresh off his fantasy weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, rookie Marc Marquez leads Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa and the rest of the grid to eastern Europe for the bwin Grand Prix České republiky. Between 2007 and 2011 the winner here went on to win the premier class championship. Pedrosa put an end to all that last year, edging eventual factory Yamaha champion Jorge Lorenzo by 2/10ths of a second. Will the race revert to its historical pattern in 2013?

Let’s be clear. Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez is the new king of MotoGP. His decisive win at Indianapolis in Sunday over teammate Dani Pedrosa marked his third consecutive win for the 2013 season. It marked his third consecutive win in Indianapolis, having topped the last two Moto2 tilts here. And, lest we forget, it marked three wins in a row in the U.S., following Austin and Laguna Seca. Sunday’s win made it a veritable hat trick of hat tricks for the precocious Spanish youngster.

Within Wyoming lies some of America’s finest roads and scenery. As home to both the first National Park in our system as well as the landmark made famous as a hidden spaceport in the 1970’s classic Close Encounter, Devil’s Tower. Mountain peaks to grassy plains, cowboys to Indians, this state is quite remarkable and worthy of a circumnavigation tour before heading South to home.

If you are looking to experience all types of America’s riding in one state, Utah is your destination. We started at Utah Lake State Park, which is centrally located three hours from the barren red desert of Moab and an hour from the green forest-covered mountains of the Nebo and Alpine Loops. In between the two extreme environments lie classic desert plains, which lead to the fascinating flats of Bonneville. Just north is the city of Salt Lake. If you are traveling from outside of the States and want to see the entire American backdrop in one week, nothing compares to the diversity of Utah.

Repsol Honda mighty mite Dani Pedrosa was quoted last week as saying he thought the 2013 MotoGP championship would be decided in the next three rounds. His teammate, rookie Marc Marquez, sits squarely in the driver’s seat, leading Pedrosa by 16 points and factory Yamaha stud Jorge Lorenzo by an imposing 26. Should young Marquez avoid DNFs over the next three weeks and record a win or two, the 2013 title appears to be his for the taking.

The motorcycle party of the year, Harley-Davidson‘s 110th Anniversary celebration, is coming up at the end of August. If you are lucky enough to be heading to Milwaukee to take it all in, we’ll do our best to make sure you get the most out of your trip.

The 73rd Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has come to a close, and after a week of bikes, babes, booze, fire and rock, initial reports predict both attendance and revenue were up over last year’s event.

One week in Colorado just wasn’t enough, and if I have to blame it on the average 19 mph uphill speed of our truck and a long detour through Wyoming’s Route 80 to avoid the mountain passes of I-70, then so be it. But ask anyone riding a motorcycle here, and they’ll agree we made the right decision. With the idea that some of us might decide to call this place our post-adventure home, a second week gave us a chance to experience everything that Colorado has to offer. No flukes or honeymoon effects here, just real, raw Colorado.

The Black Hills Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, SD, is the only place I want to be each August. The ride there, however, should not be overlooked. So load your saddlebags with gear, your smartphone with a few helpful apps and clear your camera’s memory cards, there’s a ton of America to see along the way. Kickstands up boys and girls, lets ride!

If you know how to ride a motorcycle, book your next vacation to Colorado. Immediately. It’s the mecca for riders of all kinds, attracting adventurous riders from around the world to ride above mile-high elevations in epic scenery, and endless twisties. It’s undoubtedly lived up to its hype.

A possible 530 miles, 99 riders started, 76 finished, two didn’t finish because of a not-so-small deer problem, and one ended up in a ditch. It wasn’t about speed, but how mad you were, and yes, there’s a fine line between mad and stupid.

After the ride of my life in the Ozarks, New Mexico was expected to be a pass-through state as we made our way to Pikes Peak and the hype that is Colorado. With rumors of strict traffic law enforcement, a reputation for hot, flat desert, and a drastic change of scenery from the green mountains back east, expectations were set fairly low. But never have I been so wrong.

Once the “marine layer”, the stuff you and I call fog, burned off at the Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway on Sunday morning, it became obvious it was going to be a great day for Honda Racing Corporation. Having placed three bikes on the front row of the qualifying grid, the only impediment left would have been the weather; the RC213V likes it hot. And hot it was, as Repsol rookie Marc Marquez continued his amazing first season by becoming the first rookie ever to win the U.S. Grand Prix.

The biggest event in American motorcycle racing goes down this weekend, as the MotoGP circus comes to our shores for the USGP at Laguna Seca near Monterey, California. As a primer, Yamaha invited us to its corporate headquarters for a Q&A session with its GP riders.

One month, $2800, 6000 miles and 13 states later, we concluded the first half of our cross-country voyage in Missouri, on arguably the best all-around road in the region: Route 125.  Now some may argue that the long hillside sweepers of West Virginia hold the blue ribbon, or that the tight mountain switchbacks on Route 16 in Virginia take the cake.

For defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo, the approach of the U.S. Grand Prix at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca circuit in Monterey is fraught with peril. Fate, and the powerful Repsol Honda duo of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez, have conspired to put the bright star of Yamaha Racing in an incredible bind. Having injured his left collarbone twice in two weeks, a crash in Monterey could jeopardize the rest of Lorenzo’s career. But by sitting out, he effectively surrenders the 2013 title to one of his rivals.

Repsol Honda rookie phenom Marc Marquez took the flag in today’s German Grand Prix, a rather anti-climactic end to a brutally dramatic weekend in Saxony. With series leaders Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo both sidelined with injuries suffered in practice, this was clearly Marquez’s race to lose. After a poor start, he took the lead on Lap 5 and never looked back. The composed Spaniard again leads the series in his rookie season, with an opportunity to make more hay in California before summer vacation.

I have to admit, when I was asked to cover The Bikers Reunion in New Liskeard for the third year in the row, I had to ask myself “What’s the point?” A hot, sweaty mess in the public campgrounds, into the wilds of Northern Ontario, with gangs of chromed-out Harleys and faux-tough bikers getting even sweatier in “tent city” was not my idea of a good time. And I’d been there twice before. My first year, in 2011, I got there late and hid in my RV with the AC on full blast. I walked around, but was pretty skeptical of the “refugee palace” where locals and bikers alike were “partying” on Canada Day. My second year, I had 24 hours with a photo and video crew to get to the bottom of the event that I’d dismissed the year before (follow this link for that story.) I’d ridden over from Sault Ste. Marie on Highway 64 (one of my favorite roads) with just enough time to sleep, miss the start of the first group ride, eat some deep fried pickles and head back to the Soo.

Spanning 12.42 miles in length, with 156 turns and a climb of 5000 feet to the 14,100-foot summit, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is one of the most spectacular and dangerous motor races in the world. Runoff is nonexistent, the cliff drops straight down, and the only objects to break your fall are trees or jagged rocks. Racers have been tackling the mountain since 1916, and while some have met their demise on the mountain, far more have successfully crossed the finish line, with many famous names listed among the winners.

On the way back from the Grand Canyon of Arkansas and a 300-mile tour of some of the best roads in the Ozarks, we ended our day’s route careening down a mountain, crouched tightly behind windscreens in one of the most nail-biting rides in motorcycling. Miles of switchbacks and sweepers painted the Mona Lisa of Motorcycle roads on Route 123.

Two weeks ago at Assen, we witnessed the re-birth of factory Yamaha legend Valentino Rossi in what was easily the most exciting race of the year thus far. Adding to the drama was the gutty performance of his teammate, defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo, who defied logic, common sense and the advice of his surgeon on his way to a brilliant 5th place finish that kept him in the hunt for the 2013 title. Sunday’s eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland offers a great opportunity for the Repsol Honda duo of Dani Pedrosa & Marc Marquez to strike back.

Ah, Tennessee, my favorite state. There was something about crossing the border into The Volunteer State that melted the stress of Virginia away and put me into the motorcycle zen I knew this trip was about. With the second episode out and the team in a good routine of riding and shooting, the relatively minuscule problems related to a trip like this became faint memories.

MV Agusta is on a bit of a roll, most recently with the introduction of the F3 800, a third variation of the company’s three-cylinder platform we reviewed recently. Production has quadrupled over the past four years, jumping from just 2,000 bikes up to 8,000 in 2012. And 2013 production is up 27% thus far. 

It was a thoroughly hectic weekend for factory Yamaha kingpin Jorge Lorenzo at the 2013 Dutch TT Assen. Broke his collarbone in a routine highside in FP2 on Thursday afternoon, chartered a jet to Barcelona that day, had a couple hours of surgery early Friday morning, grabbed a bite to eat, flew back to Assen, slept a little on the plane, started 12th and finished 5th in the race. Had to be helped off his bike at the end. Ho hum.

Waking from a restful night’s sleep, I could have been in the Garden of Eden. There was a sense of complete peace. The fresh, crisp air carried delightful bird serenades. A mist hung over the serene valley as the sun began to peak over the ancient mountains. Everything was green, lush and bursting with life. All was well. I had to bring myself back to the present and remember I was at The Inn at Mountain Quest, in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, with my motorcycle parked outside my door.

Our second segment in the trip is the Virginias. We were met with an idyllic American farmer landscape of rolling hills tattooed with freshly paved curves that lasted for miles. Although we had little traffic to interfere with the ride, the twists and turns proved to be both a mental and physical exercise for the motorcycle muscles, not to mention the first crash of the trip.

MotoGP correspondent Bruce Allen previews the seventh round of the 2013 season at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands. Check back on Saturday for the full report of the Iveco TT Assen.

Harley-Davidson sure knows how to throw a party. For its 110th anniversary, the Motor Company has spread its celebration through the year and around the world, with events in 11 countries and six continents. Each event drew hordes of Harley faithful and countless V-Twin motorcycles together to celebrate their shared passion.

This is the first installment of “Escape the Apple,” an idea hatched by Eric Guidice who, at 28, decided he needed to take an epic motorcycle road trip to disengage from the drudgery of normal life. Click this link to read the setup to this nine-part series that will be seen on Motorcycle.com.

Factory Yamaha #1 Jorge Lorenzo won a number of battles today at the Gran Premio Aperol de Catalunya. He beat challengers Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez to the finish line for his second consecutive win of 2013 and his second in a row at Montmelo. He beat the Spanish summer heat that had a number of riders seeing stars. He beat the racing surface itself, which was hot, greasy and abrasive. So why does he seems destined to finish second in 2013?

Every year since 1915, Harley-Davidson has put aside one example of each of its models. Call it foresight on behalf of the founders, but today we’re glad they did. It may be hard to believe, but prior to 2008, all of these bikes, along with other historical remnants of the company’s past, had been spread out between H-D’s corporate office, dealerships, private collections and even sheds tucked away in rural America. Sadly, but inevitably, some pieces have also been lost to father time.

Child admission applies to children ages 6-11. Children 5 and under may enter for free. Click the city name for detailed information about the show.

This is a place where you can try on helmet models from various brands, look at different tire models side by side, and talk with manufacturer representatives and expert staff about which products will work best with your motorcycle and riding style. If you find a product you would like to buy, they can tell who may be selling it at the show or give you the location of a dealer near you.

These demo rides provide a valuable tool when it comes to shopping for a new bike as you can Try before you buy. Brands vary by market but are scheduled to include BRP, Buell, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, KYMCO, Suzuki, Victory and Yamaha.

Legend has it that the Superstition Saloon was established by Jacob Waltz, "The Dutchman," who was either the man who discovered the Mother Lode (the "Lost Dutchman Mine") in the surrounding Superstition Mountains, or was one of history's greatest liars.

Whichever the case, we know that he didn't really start up the Saloon, as its true history has it first being established as a stagecoach stop on the route from Mesa, Arizona, to the site of Roosevelt Dam.