Moto ‘Camping’ Columbus Day 2019

Posted on 10/15/201901/17/2023 by Jake Breinholt

Columbus Day is one of those weird holidays. When I say “weird” I’m not even referring to the controversy surrounding the question of why it is even a holiday anymore. I’m talking about the fact that, even though the federal government and the banks are closed, only some businesses observe. Further, is the fact that the weather could go either way in the northeastern US. Some years it is still beach weather on Columbus days. Other years, there is snow on the ground. This year was one of those rare times when Columbus Day weekend in the tri-state area had exactly the weather that one would expect it to have; it felt like fall.

One of the local Brooklyn motorcycle shops (Union Garage) put together a ride to rural PA for an overnight glamping trip. I had been on a few rides organized by these guys before, so I knew that I could expect a mellow, no a-hole type of crew. I roped in my buddy Mike (from this ride), who also rides a Monster, to join in.

We met at the shop in Red Hook around 7 AM on Saturday and rode all day, taking back roads and enjoying the fall foliage. We even did a few surprise offroad miles. It wasn’t ideal for the people riding bikes with aging street tires, but everyone made it back to the pavement in one piece and it definitely made for some great stories. Mike and I skipped the last section of the local route and opted for highway, since daylight was fading and he only had a very tinted visor. Mike and I rolled into the campsite with about 30 minutes of daylight to spare. We were the first ones to arrive, and as result, were able to tap the keg and enjoy the sights and sounds of the rest of the group rolling in.

Dinner was prepared and served by the camp owners. This was followed by a bonfire, and a super legitimate firework show. A lot of the guys did full-on tent camping. Others (including myself) opted for the bunkhouse. In the morning, we woke up to the first frost, and it was a thick one. There was a nice coat of ice on everyone’s saddle. After breakfast, the crew split off into smaller groups and headed back east. We had a really great time. It was a great way to cap off the 2019 riding season. I hope I can do it again next year.

Some of the photos from the trip–

British Invasion (of Red Hook)

Posted on 10/22/201805/05/2024 by Jake Breinholt

Union had a gaggle of classic Norton’s on display over the weekend. I managed to pop by on Saturday evening to swoon over them a bit. I’m not sure how I would do with the shifter on the “wrong” side, but the bikes sure are nice to look at. Here are a few of the snaps. As with many things in life, the devil is in the details.

The design of the speedo and tach in the photo below really drew me in. They reminded me a lot of the instrument cluster on my old man’s Honda XL 350 from the same era (although, if I remember correctly the background on XL’s dials was blue not black).

All of the race bikes had dry clutches like the one in the photo below. Super cool looking, and probably sound gnarly as well.

Really digging the “NYCNorton” stamped header hardware on the bike below.

The 2017 Commando (below) was super cool. It has all of the original Norton swagger, but is updated with modern tech and design notes. Notice that the shifter and rear brake lever have also migrated to the “normal” sides.

Union Garage X Roland Sands

Posted on 09/25/201810/14/2019 by Jake Breinholt

Because apparently Jake.news is all moto all of the time these days…. Here is a cool little vid that a local Brooklyn shop, Union Garage, made during a recent group ride. The ride was partially to promote their pop-up with Roland Sands Design, and partially an excuse to get a bunch of riders together for a chill Saturday morning cruise. We started from the shop in Red Hook and rode out to the Rockaways by way of Bennett Field (see above aerial shot from their drone). The ride finished a few blocks from my house at Root Studios Brooklyn, where the Brooklyn Invitational was underway. You can see me flashing deuces at the 1:40 mark of the vid. The rest of the footage is also pretty good, hehe. I met some great people and had a really enjoyable time despite the iffy weather. Peep the vid below-

Union Garage X Roland Sands Design Shop Ride from Union Garage on Vimeo.

Harriman State Park by Moto

Posted on 09/17/201809/16/2018 by Jake Breinholt

I brought a real camera with me last weekend for an early AM ride through Harriman State Park. It was perfect riding weather. Early morning, there was hardly any other non-motorcycle vehicular traffic (unless you count pedal bikes). Can’t wait to get back up there when the leaves are changing. I rode with my friend who also has a monster. Got some snaps similar to some from last year around this time.

Complete with obligatory timer selfie-

Split’n Lanes Dodgin’ Gutters Recap

Posted on 08/19/201808/19/2018 by Jake Breinholt

About half of the weekends that I have spent in NY this summer have been rained out. This weekend fell squarely into the rainy category. I meant to ride Saturday AM, but Thor had other ideas. Sunday evening was equally soggy. Despite the precipitation, BK Bowl hosted the above referenced classic bike exhibit. I went. I took my cam and got some pics, despite the weird BK Bowl stage lighting. It’s funny how after only 1.5 years as a resident of Brooklyn, I’m seeing so much overlap at these shows. Whatever. I would gladly peep these bikes again over sitting home watching the rain come down. Here are a couple of snaps from the event-

Midsummer Moto Report

Posted on 07/21/201807/21/2018 by Jake Breinholt

It’s hard to believe that we only have one month of summer left. I feel so much pressure every summer to make sure that I take advantage of all of the nice days, and make the best of the ones that aren’t so nice (because they are still nicer than the best day in winter). Summer is B’s busy season, including weekends, which leaves me with a bit of free time on at least one day of the weekend. I have been getting a bit of moto riding in, and bought a cheesy bar mount for my old skool gopro hero3. I have been experimenting with it a bit, mounting it in a few different spots on the bike. The vid below is a little slice of one of my usual weekend rides. The segment at the beginning- getting out of the city is sped up to 20x. It slows down to normal speed when I get to Harriman State Park. I have unfortunately been riding solo for most of this summer because everyone is having babies, etc.. Hoping to get the right camera situation dialed in before the next ride with my crew, and possibly upgrade to a gopro that shoots better than 1080p. I feel like that footage would be a lot more interesting to view. Anyway, for those who have 9ish minutes to spare, here’s a nice cross segment of city and country riding–

Basic NYC Weekend Moto from Jacob Breinholt on Vimeo.

Columbus Ride

Posted on 10/09/201710/09/2017 by Jake Breinholt

Three day weekends are golden. Unfortunately for those who were in the tri-state area over Columbus day weekend, the weather was all over the place. Saturday (the only day of the three that did not have rain), I got on the bike and headed out of the city while the sun was still rising. My friend and I rode up through Rockland County to Harriman State Park, where the leaves are kind of changing, but not really. I’m guessing because it still hasn’t really gotten cold. It felt more like August than October the entire weekend. Anyway, riding through the woods, it was all foggy and seemed kind of twilight zoney. We stopped on Seven Lakes Drive to take these snaps. The last one was a timer shot from the bushes across the road. The bushes framed it nicely, IMO.

De la Weekend – Bear Mtn. Ride

Posted on 08/21/201708/19/2017 by Jake Breinholt

Saturday morning was one of those rides where I wish I would have had my real camera with me. I saw so much good stuff. It was a little hotter than ideal, but the visibility was really good and the sky was loaded up with cartoon looking clouds. Anyway, here are a couple of images that I managed to snap with my celly.

#TBT GS to Lake Placid

Posted on 06/22/201706/22/2017 by Jake Breinholt

Three years ago, this month.

Indian Larry’s

Posted on 09/19/201610/04/2016 by Jake Breinholt

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I stopped by the Indian Larry’s rally in N. Williamsburg on Saturday. There were a lot of really cool custom builds. I snapped a few that I thought were the most eye catching. I’m blown away by the attention to detail that goes into some of these bikes. It is probably because I usually don’t pay attention to non-sport bikes. But I could definitely appreciate the craftsmanship that was employed on these builds.

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