Mark Barnes – BMW Motorcycle Owners of America

The Hitch Clamp quiets those noisy trailer rattles

Mark Barnes — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 15:35:19 +0000

Anyone who has ever pulled a trailer or used a receiver-mounted rack knows how annoying it is to hear the incessantly repetitive clanking and rattling of the hitch or rack shank as it’s jostled around within the receiver’s loosely fitting tube, especially on trips that last hours or even days. A bouncy, empty trailer is typically the worst offender. When there’s a motorcycle or other hefty payload…

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Geometrical Pocket Tripod: Moto selfies made easy!

Mark Barnes — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 16:29:00 +0000

What’s that you say? You keep missing magazine-worthy photo-ops of yourself, sporting your finest gear atop your gorgeous motorcycle in front of breathtaking scenery, all because there’s no one with you to take the shot? You don’t want to strap a full-sized tripod on your bike, and even those smaller, more portable ones require additional hardware to hold a smartphone instead of a regular camera…

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MachineArtMoto’s MudSling

Mark Barnes — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:32:34 +0000

You’re probably already aware of New Jersey-based MachineArtMoto’s ingeniously designed convertible handguards and svelte valve cover armor, but you may not know about another highly effective piece of kit they offer, the MudSling. Similar in concept to the extensions available for front fenders to increase protection from debris thrown up by the front tire, the MudSling creates a barrier…

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BugSlide! (does this cleaner/polish really work?)

Mark Barnes — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 22:08:37 +0000

At every MOA National Rally, I’m vigilant for new products that might be worth a report to the membership–preferably something clever and unexpected. I especially appreciate “better mousetraps” that meet a familiar need in an unfamiliar way. I found just such a surprise offered by one of the vendors in Lebanon, Tenn., this year: BugSlide spray, touted as a multi-function, waterless…

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JACO ElitePro-X Tire Pressure Gauge

Mark Barnes — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 13:21:50 +0000

Tire pressure may be the most neglected maintenance procedure in all of motorcycling. Back when I was regularly attending AMA races, tire vendors would sometimes go down a long row of parked bikes with a gauge, taking a survey of sorts to see what percentage of riders had inflated their tires properly. It was always a minority, maybe 30-40%, with many tires reading 15 pounds per square inch (psi)…

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Klim’s Baja S4 Mesh suit for warm weather riding

Mark Barnes — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 12:50:48 +0000

The last time I reviewed a full riding suit, I was touring with IMTBike in Europe, enjoying Klim’s updated Latitude model on an R 1250 GS (also in the March ’24 issue of BMW Owners News). I was thoroughly impressed with both the suit and the motorcycle, with the latter proving to be an absolutely stunning street bike, its prodigious ADV capabilities notwithstanding. Similarly…

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Book review: My Heart Has Been in It From the Start, by Steve Larsen

Mark Barnes — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 16:12:47 +0000

Full disclosure: Steve Larsen and I both contributed to Motorcycle Consumer News back in the day, so anyone who read that magazine and remembered our contemporaneous bylines might imagine we were part of a close-knit cadre with an enduring camaraderie over the decades, one that should prompt me to recuse myself as unable to deliver an impartial review of his new book. That fantasy would be…

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Suburban Machinery DL7N footpeg lowering kit (R 1250 RS)

Mark Barnes — Sun, 30 Mar 2025 14:55:35 +0000

Back in April 2021, I reviewed Suburban Machinery’s DL-9 footpeg lowering kit on my 2013 F 800 GT. I was impressed with that setup’s clever design and meticulous craftsmanship, and enjoyed its ergonomic benefits throughout the remainder of my tenure as that bike’s owner. Several years ago, I replaced the GT with a 2020 R 1250 RS. As was the case with the GT, I haven’t had any real complaints about…

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Installing a Cardo comm system in a Schuberth C4 Pro

Mark Barnes — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 19:26:59 +0000

If you’ve ever wondered about alternatives to Schuberth’s proprietary comm systems, wonder no longer! Mark Barnes decided to put a Cardo PackTalk Black into his Schuberth C4 Pro and thoughtfully took photos of each step along the way … photos which we’ve turned into this handy-dandy instructional video. Enjoy Mark’s soothing, comforting voice in a walkthrough that’s easy to pause and use as a play…

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Fixing a flat on the go, Part 2: Inflation devices

Mark Barnes — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 15:23:00 +0000

In Part One of this article, we checked out a sampling of tire repair kits a rider could easily carry and use to plug a flat mid-ride. Of course, that’s only half the solution; the repaired tire must be re-inflated to become operational again. A manual pump can provide an endless source of pressurized air, but conventional varieties are too large for storage on a bike and they all rely on muscular…

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