Episode 47, in which we go motelorcycling with Andrew Beattie

My guest in Episode 47 is Andrew Beattie. A Canadian.

If you’re still reading, thank you 🙂 Seriously, though, Andrew is from Ottawa and rides his motorcycle all over North America seeking out the funkiest, hole-in-the-walliest motels he can find. He digs these places so much he is writing a book about them called Sleeping Around in America: Revisiting the Roadside Motel.

To wrap up the book, Andrew is undertaking a 50-night trip this summer to visit the 50 motels detailed in his book. He’s done all the prep work, now it’s down to the final steps. I’m looking forward to reading the book and – even more so – visiting some of the motels he puts in its pages. To find out more about Andrew’s journey after you listen to the show, visit his website, The Motelorcycle Chronicles, which has tons of info and a blog, too.

If you’re interested in helping Andrew get copies of his book printed, you can get in on the Kickstarter campaign for Sleeping Around – and just to show you I put my money where my interest is, I’ve already backed Andrew’s campaign and am greatly looking forward to receiving my copy in December. “Check In” (when the campaign starts) is officially tomorrow, but you can arrive early by checking it out today. You have until 6 May to Check Out. Hopefully Andrew’s campaign will hit his stretch goals – I for one would totally listen to a podcast called Pillow Talk!

Oh, by the way, if you’ve ever wondered exactly what poutine, is, I wrestle that info out of Andrew. Consider it one of life’s great mysteries, solved for you by Chasing the Horizon.

In The News, we revisit Episode 37 (Fred Rau) in a way by looking at the trike market. On the eastern side of the Atlantic, he European Union is forcing lots of manufacturers to update their engine designs with its implementation of the Euro 5 emissions control standards for motorcycles, and as you’ll hear, Yamaha and their popular R1 are no exception. From there, we take a look at ongoing preparations for the arrival of Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire electric motorcycle and the official release of the Lightning Strike (in three trim and spec levels) as well as rumors about and prototype EVs from Triumph and Honda.

You may notice something missing from the news, though – that’s right, while we were sleeping, Utah became the second state to legalize lane splitting, or filtering as it’s known is some (most?) parts of the world. The new law takes effect on 14 May 2019, so clearly they’re not delaying implementation – but they built in a safety valve with an expiration date on the law of 1 July 2022. It’s up to all riders who travel through Utah to be responsible and obey the new rules for filtering, but it’s also up to all drivers in Utah to respect motorcycles and also obey the new rules.

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Chasing the Horizon is sponsored by Dunlop Motorcycle Tires

Those rules are: the speed limit must be 45 mph or less; the road must have at least two lanes going in the same direction; traffic must be completely stopped; and the motorcycle may not travel more than 15 mph. You can read the full text of the new law (it’s a lot of legislative mumbo-jumbo, but maybe you’re into that) if you like, or just check out the RideApart article on it.

You may be wondering why I didn’t mention it on the show – and that’s fair. Well, I’m trying to get somebody from the Utah legislature on the show to talk about it, so I didn’t want to go on about it in the news segment and then make you listen to it all over again in a future episode. I’m including the links here for you in case it’s the first you’ve heard of it and you’d like to read up on it a bit.

Please visit our sponsors on the web – the BMW MOA and Dunlop Motorcycle Tires. Also check out Chasing the Horizon on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram and the email list. (PS If you’re not already signed up for the email list, please jump on that – I’ll be doing a giveaway soon and the only way to qualify is to be on the mailing list!)

That’s it this time around – see you out there on the road somewhere … or off it! Ride safe.

1 thought on “Episode 47, in which we go motelorcycling with Andrew Beattie”

  1. Wes,
    Great show…best yet. And thanks for passing on the web site and the Kickstarter link.

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