Most states have laws that require the use of a helmet while riding a motorcycle, with very few states having no such regulations on the books. This means that, chances are, you’ll need to have a helmet on while you’re riding.

Of course, not all helmets are equally safe to use. Let’s discuss the features you’ll want to seek out in your helmet to keep yourself as protected as possible.

Amongst my friends, I'm the PackTalk pusher. I'm always trying to get my friends to get one so when we ride, we can talk. I also end up upgrading them for a lot of my friends when they stop over to Fiona's (Our Man Cave) before a ride. I figured I'd put this post together for the folks who want to do it themselves.

As motorcycle enthusiasts, we know that Cardo Packtalk devices are like the trusted sidekicks we never knew we needed. They keep us connected with fellow riders, provide GPS directions, and let us rock out to our favorite tunes while cruising. To keep your trusty sidekick in top form and access the latest features, it's essential to update your Packtalk firmware. In this blog post, I'll guide you through the process of updating your Cardo Packtalk firmware, so you can enjoy smooth communication during your rides.

Step 1: Getting to Know Your Firmware's "Age"

Before updating, let's find out your Cardo Packtalk's current firmware version. Turn on your device and press the "Phone" and "Intercom" buttons simultaneously for a few seconds. The device will reveal its firmware version like a proud toddler announcing their age. Alternatively, you can check the version in the Cardo Connect app under the "Device Settings" tab.

Step 2: Download the Cardo Update Tool – The Magic Wand

Group rides are a great time—not only are you doing something you love, you’re doing it with a group of equally passionate, like-minded peers and friends. With this in mind, it’s crucial that you follow the proper etiquette while you’re on this kind of ride.

There’s nothing quite like a ride in the summer, the warm sun balancing out the breeze of the open road. Of course, that isn’t to say that you don’t need to be mindful of just how warm that sun is, and how well you’re equipped to actually ride.

Getting out on the open road is an exhilarating experience… until you start feeling the miles as they go by. In order to keep these aches and pains from ruining your experience as a rider, we wanted to offer a few tips that can help greatly reduce them.

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times: while riding is a great and thrilling time, it's also something that requires you to pay a lot of attention to safety for both you and the others on the road. We wanted to take a few minutes to go over a system for riders to use to maintain a safe level of awareness, known as the SEE system.

Are After Market Mufflers Still Legal?

On October 29, 2021, the New York State Stop Loud and Excessive Exhaust Pollution Act (or SLEEP Act) was signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul. Let’s go over what this law establishes, and why—even without factoring in our bias as riders—it is a bad idea and implemented poorly.

Safety should be, above everything else, a rider’s first priority. While this month is officially the month to be especially aware of rider safety while out on the road, we wanted to review a few tips for other motorists to keep in mind while they are in their vehicles.

Riding is only fun if everyone gets home safely, so I wanted to very briefly share a few essential tips to help keep everyone safe.

May is here, and hopefully (but who knows with the weather here for those of us in Upstate New York) spring is in full swing—and with it, the weather should be consistently good enough for some rides. However, May is also important to riders for another reason… It's Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. As we get back out on the roads, we wanted to reinforce some safety measures that we hope all of our fellow riders will follow.

It should come as no surprise that safety is a huge priority for our organization. After all, as fun as it is to get out there and ride, it can quickly become hazardous to you and those around you if your motorcycle isn’t in the condition it should be. To help prevent accidents, we recommend that you check out your bike before each ride for some key indicators of an issue.

Boy, these were hard to choose. There are really so many good songs, not all the songs on this list are my speed but they are cute or iconic. Something for everyone! 

WALR 25.9 is the American Legion Riders Post 259 fictitious radio station and no authority on the subject. So.. before we get started there are a couple of honorable mentions that didn't make the list. You may be upset they didn't make the list, so am I, but some of them I forgot about until the list was almost done. :) They are at the bottom, check them out.

DryRuns and DryRuns.org is not a part of the American Legion Riders. DryRuns.org is a separate initiative built to help all motorcycle organizations, promote responsible riding to save lives worldwide.

My name is Chris Chase, I am the Assistant Director of the American Legion Riders Post 259 in Oneonta, NY as well as the Assistant Director for New York State, District 5 & 6. I'm here to talk about "Dry Runs"!! Whew, what a controversy lately. I'm using this blog post to get my full thoughts down on this topic and to explain exactly what a "Dry Run" is at the time of this post. The reason I say "at the time of this post" is to note that this is something that will change and evolve. I am hoping to promote "Dry Runs" throughout the American Legion Rider Community Nationwide. We will be working with New York State Director Bob Wallace for the American Legion Riders and Julie Dostal who is a leading alcoholism and addictions expert in our area from LEAF (Leaf Council On Alcoholism | www.leaf.org) on developing the educational campaign and content for the public and Rider Chapters to use as they see fit. We've also developed an easy to recognize logo for the program. 

We know we don’t have to tell you how exhilarating it can be to ride… we also shouldn’t have to tell you how dangerous it has the potential to be. Studies have shown that this danger is largely due to other vehicles on the road. We want to make sure that anyone new or returning to riding know how to be best prepared to be as visible as possible to other vehicles on the road.

Traditionally, spring is the time we all commit to cleaning up our homes, garages and work spaces from the long winter months. Spring also means the roads are clearing up, so it's time to ride! After a long winter nap, your bike can use some springtime attention, too.

Below are some spring cleaning tips to help you get your ride ready to hit the open road!

This blog is going to cover everything I've learned about riding a motorcycle with your dog. I really like writing blogs that saves my readers money or time, since I've done a ton of research on this and purchased and tried lots of products, maybe I will save you some time. If you feel I have, leave a comment below and share this post!

First of all I never thought I was a little dog kinda guy until we got Pixel. We always had big dogs and as they started to get older we started looking for another dog. We found Pixel and we immediately fell in love with her. We think she is a Long Nosed Chihuahua, Rat Terrier Mix (in case you're wondering). You might be asking yourself, if we love her so much why would we put her on a motorcycle? Well trust me there are debates on the internet about this and certainly my own internal struggle with letting her ride or not. But if you only knew how much she truly loves riding, you could not deny her. She literally freaks out when she sees my Harley, demands to get on it and only shuts up when you put her on it. I actually think she needs the wind in her face as much as I do. I should point out that normally Pixel is kinda shy and timid and gets scared and starts to shake over random things, but not the bike, she's a natural.