Motorcycles, gear & tech
Bike reviews, ranked comparisons and the practical stuff nobody puts in a brochure — for riders getting back on.
Every bike I learned on had a kick lever. No button, no fuss. Fold it out, give it your weight, and pray.
They almost never caught on the first kick, but nobody panics at the first one. It’s the second that tells you what kind of day you’re going to have. If it catches, the bike is happy and you’re going for a ride. If it doesn’t, your heart sinks a little because now you’re a mechanic, and that ride will have to wait.
Life doesn’t always follow the path we planned, and sometimes it gives us an unexpected chance to start again. Second kickstart is about embracing that new beginning and seeing where the road leads.
The current adventure lineup ranked on real-world usability rather than spec-sheet superlatives — what it weighs loaded, what it costs to keep, what breaks.
Street-legal dirt bikes ranked for riders who want one machine that commutes on Friday and rides singletrack on Saturday.
Why two engines of the same size can feel nothing alike — firing intervals, the shake they leave behind, and what engineers bolt on to cancel it.
Oil, chain, air filter, brake fluid — the jobs that pay for themselves with a torque wrench and an afternoon, and the ones where a shop’s tools and lift earn their money.
Editor & presenter
The Sierras of Northern California are at the end of my driveway, so the bikes I review don’t just get evaluated in a garage or on a spec sheet. They get ridden where they’re meant to be ridden.
Second Kickstart runs on three things I specialize in: engineering, finance, and art. A bike can be correct on paper and still be joyless to ride, or worse, break down in the middle of nowhere. So I go after what the specs won’t tell you: value, reliability, risk, aesthetics, why bikes are designed the way they are, how well they actually work, and most importantly, whether they are fun to ride.
I care about how equipment holds up when it leaves the showroom. I’ve spent years depending on equipment in places where it genuinely has to work, on motorcycles, mountain bikes, skis, hiking boots, and climbing ropes. When it comes to bikes and gear, I know what really matters when you’re miles from home.
The tank bag is where the good stuff rides: the map, the snacks, the tool you’ll need later. This is the site’s version.
Explainer
Why a Ténéré 700 sounds like a Ducati, why a boxer barely shakes, and why the engines riders trust in the dirt don’t keep perfect time. Pick engines, press play, and watch.
Open the explainer →
Explainer
Thirty jobs, sorted by what they cost, how hard they are and whether a shop should be doing them instead. Filter the table to just the ones you can handle in an afternoon.
Open the explainer →
Story
I bought my first bike when I was twelve, a yellow YZ100F, and the first thing I did was take it apart.
Read the story →No manufacturer, dealer or advertiser pays for placement. If a bike is supplied, an event hosted or a video sponsored, it’s disclosed on screen and in the description.
Press imagery and footage are used under editorial permission, credited on screen and in the description, never altered or used in advertising.
Using a manufacturer’s press materials doesn’t mean they endorse this channel, its reviews, or where their bikes land in a ranking.
Spec errors and factual mistakes get corrected in the description and acknowledged in a pinned comment. Write to the press address and it gets fixed.
Requests for media-site access and asset permissions come from press@secondkickstart.com. Happy to supply whatever your accreditation process needs, and to send a finished cut for review before it publishes.
