A friend of mine recently moved from Georgia to Colorado. He loves it, but has found one problem: "It's costing me a fortune with new clothes for the different climate."

And so it is with classic motorcycle riding. There are few things more enjoyable than riding a classic motorcycle on a beautiful summer's day. Unfortunately, perfect weather days are few and far between, so we, too, have to buy lots of different clothing if we want to ride year round.

The good news is that manufacturers are continuously coming up with improvements to motorcycle clothing. From elasticated panels that are designed to make a full set of leathers easier to move in, to undersuits for hot weather riding, manufacturers are coming up with ways to help us feel more comfortable when the weather changes.

Undersuit manufacturers MOTO-D recently sent me one of their products to test. The company claims the suit helps to keep the body cooler during hot weather riding and I'll be testing it here in Georgia in the summer--- so it better be good! I'll let you know.

It's that time of year again when many classic motorcycle shows take place. And one of the best in Florida, if not the US, is held annually at the World Golf Village near St. Augustine.

For classic bike photographers, the picturesque surroundings complement the wonderful display of more than 300 classic and vintage motorcycles of all types displayed around a lake.

This year's event is on the 18th and 19th of May and is sure to attract a large following of classic enthusiasts.

The Ride into History event is a registered charity supporting the Wounded Warrior Project. So far, the event has donated over $250,000.

The first time I rode a motorcycle with the gear change on the wrong side (we Brits always think that way) was in the early 70s when I bought a CZ 250 MX bike. To complicate matters further, the gear change and kick start lever was one and the same! And just to add to my confusion, the gear change was one down and three up.

As with most learning, practice makes perfect (at least I stopped crashing after a while) and I soon lost preference for the right side change. My learning process included telling myself: "If in doubt, pull the clutch lever in and press both foot levers at the same time!"

Today, many bikers who grew up riding with a left side change will find old British bikes in particular a challenge to ride. But as with learning to ride a motorcycle for the first time, getting used to a lever on the wrong side is all about practice. So if you bought an older British classic and haven't ridden it yet, the best advice is to find a quiet place and go practice. Of course this may mean having to put the bike on a trailer to get it to a quiet place, so you may also have to learn how to drive with a trailer.

Oh the fun of classic bikes!

There's no denying it, Italian bikes are different. They have a certain style, a certain aesthetic appeal, and some are just drop dead gorgeous--888, or 916 anyone?

But there's something else about Italian bikes: mechanically, they are often unique. From Ducati's desmodromic valve actuation system to Moto Guzzi's horizontally apposed V-twins; the Italians cannot be accused of same old, same old.

The uniqueness of Italian bikes is one of the reasons they have been so successful in the United States. It was sales in the US that kept Moto Guzzi afloat through some of the hard times many of the European manufactures experienced.

So if you are looking for a classic motorcycle with a certain Italian flare, perhaps a Moto Guzzi is just what you need.