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ADVENTURE AWAITS

Edelweiss Bike Travel continues to come up with new and exciting vacation ideas for its motorcycling customers. In addition to more than 40 current tours, the company has four new options for 2009. The Race Track Tour will have participants spending three days riding from Munich, Germany, to the Baden-Baden race circuit in the Black Forest, where a full day of training will be provided by professional instructors, followed by two additional days of twisties on the return to Munich. If off-road riding suits your fancy, explore the border region between Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic for three days on the way to a two-day school at Enduro Park Hechlichen, where participants will receive instruction from professional enduro riders, followed by one more day of street riding on the return to Munich. If you’ve never explored the southeastern United States, nine days in the Smoky Mountains might be a way to experience roads like The Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap with its 318 curves packed into just 11 miles! For the rich and jobless, there’s always the 20-day Patagonia Scouting Tour from Osorno, Chile, to the southernmost tip of Argentina. For more information, visit www.edelweissbike.com.

TRIUMPH BRINGS IT DOWN

Call it the “Underbird.” Triumph announced the MSRP for the 2010 Thunderbird 1600 cruiser and it’s actually priced lower than what they told us it would be. Yep, the new T-bird is $12,499, with the ABS version costing an extra $800. The big parallel-Twin is expected in dealerships this summer.

PEBBLE BEACH AND BIKES?

Motorcycles will finally make their way beyond the gated kiosk at Pebble Beach this August 16, as the Concours d’Elegance has invited bikes to participate for the first time. A select group including Vincents, Brough Superiors, Nortons, BSAs, Velocettes, Triumphs and Ariels will debut on the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links, joining the beautiful Bentleys, Bugattis and Ferraris that the event is famous for displaying. In its inaugural year, the focus will be on British bikes built through 1959. “International interest in collecting classic motorcycles is on the rise, and we want to celebrate them and do all we can to support their preservation and restoration,” said Sandra Kasky Button, chairman of the Pebble Beach Concours. “These motorcycles will both complement and contrast the automobiles on our field. In a very real way, they expand on the history of the car; many early automakers started by making twoand three-wheelers-and some still do!” Entries will include two legendary Vincent HRD V-Twins, the 1947 works racing machine know as “Gunga Din” and the “Bathing Suit Bike”(pictured) made famous by Roland “Rollie” Free. For more information, visit www.pebblebeachconcours.net.

LIVEN UP YOUR LID

Valentino Rossi is known for showing up at home races on Italian soil sporting special one-off helmets. At the 2008 MotoGP event at Mugello, Rossi had everyone bent over in laughter by a helmet painted with his likeness-wide-eyed and mouth agape-on top. After selling out of the special-edition lid, Rossi’s helmet sponsor, AGV, is offering consumers the opportunity to personalize their own helmet with an image of their choice. Visit www.italianlegend aryprotection. com and follow the instructions to complete your own unique design. Cost for the GP-Tech helmet and service is $999; expect delivery in about 10 weeks.