Stumbling Forward on Road to Baja 1000

October 16th, 2009

“The road to Ensenada is plenty wide and fast” says Lyle Lovett but he wasn’t speaking about the preparations for the Baja 1000 currently underway with the race team I’ll be accompanying.

First off, if you don’t know what the Baja 1000 is you really ought to view this trailer to the definitive Baja 1000 movie, Dust to Glory.

I’m riding down to Ensenada, on the Baja Peninsula of Mexico, with Rsenal Racing to write about the event and the team’s efforts for the variety of motorcycle publications I write for. The race itself starts Nov. 19 but we’ll be down there in advance to get ready.

Chuck Shortt is the driving force behind this adventure, and what I’m coming to understand about Chuck is that he is a big idea person who then frequently turns to others to make his big dreams become reality. If the dream is improbable but the person succeeds, that’s fantastic, they’ve really accomplished something. If they don’t succeed, oh well, good idea that didn’t work. Move on.

This is not a criticism of Chuck or a bad thing; it is something useful to understand about him.

For instance, when he first told me about this thing, Chuck told me they would have satellite uplinks and wanted to livecast the event via the Web. He asked me if Examiner or RumBum might be interested and able to carry the feed. I agreed to ask RumBum.

Happily, RumBum said they were very interested and their tech guy, Tobias, would contact me to work out details. In the meantime, Chuck told me to hook up with John, the team’s tech guy. Well, it seems that having a satellite hook-up was not in the game, but Tobias suggested that if the team could supply video segments periodically, that would be fine and even easier than a live link.

I figured that before I pushed this any further I needed to check in with Jeff and Sydney Mikelson, the photographers on the team, to see what they felt they would be capable of in terms of supplying RumBum with segments. Surprise, surprise. Sydney told me they had no video editing software, and were planning to bring their raw footage home and turn it over to a friend who is a video editor. So nothing at all available to RumBum unless they wanted raw footage.

Then we learned that the non-satellite internet connection Jack was hoping have set up was not going to be within the team’s price range so the whole matter was really moot. And then Sydney called me to say that she and Jeff had had to opt out of the trip due to financial considerations. Totally moot.

OK, so that’s where we stand. The rest of us are still going, and I’m hoping to have some great pictures and terrific stories to tell. Coming soon.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Harley rider covers 30K in 30 days for MDA

Biker Quote for Today

Competition, once it gets in your blood, you can’t get it out.

Tags:
Posted in motorcycle racing | No Comments »

30K Harley Rider Does Iron Butt Extreme

October 13th, 2009

My timing couldn’t have been better. I called Jim Campbell at home just 10 minutes after he had completed a 30-day, 30,000-mile ride to raise money for muscular dystrophy. He was still unloading the bike, a 2008 Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle Ultra Classic.

sport bikes
    Stopped in Wyoming by snow and ice. Photo: Jim Campbell

If that seems impossible to you, there are definitely other doubters. One person commenting on the story I first published on Examiner.com said simply, “I just don’t believe it. He did it for a great cause, but I just don’t believe it is possible to do 1000+ miles a day continuous for 30 days.”

Now, I wasn’t there for it all but I believe Jim. As he said in a rebuttal in the comments, “For all who care..I have all the logs, gas receipts, and signed journal from around the country for the 31 days… I can’t believe that I did it either, and not be ‘taken out’ by a car, or Semi truck…( my biggest worry ).”

Jim’s wife Beth adds in her own comment, “I can tell you firsthand that he DID indeed do all those miles & did them consecutively. It is amazing to me as well and went without sleep a lot, didn’t stop for weather when he probably should have, & in many cases risked life & limb to complete his goal (don’t try this at home kids). He is a very driven guy, to say the least, which is probably one of the reasons I married him.”

He also has the numbers on his odometer and verification from Harley dealers all across the country. I think it’s legit. Not to mention amazing.

I just lucked into this story because a friend of Jim’s discovered my Examiner page and sent me an email saying he had a friend who he thought deserved some publicity. Hey, I’m an ex-newspaper guy. I know a good story when I find it under my nose. I jumped all over it.

There’s no sense in my repeating the story here, it’s all available on Examiner. Here are the links:
Harley rider covers 30K in 30 days for MDA
Tales from the road: 30K in 30 days for MDA
Magic spud and more tales from the road of 30K for MDA Harley rider

And if you want to add your donation to the $20,000 Jim has raised for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, you can donate on his FaceBook page. You can also follow his whole trip there on the FaceBook page.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Planning a US motorcycle tour: A Brit’s recommendations

Biker Quote for Today

danger + survival = fun

Tags:
Posted in motorcycle touring | 1 Comment »

New Motorcycle Safety Study Apparently Moving Ahead

October 8th, 2009

The last I had heard, the new motorcycle safety study that had finally been authorized was in jeopardy. Apparently, in this case no news was good news because I see in a recent issue of American Motorcyclist that things are moving along.

I knew that a pilot study had been set up and was functioning, with the intent of determining which factors the overall study should focus on, as well as helping determine methodology. The hang-up had been over costs. The amount originally projected was looking inadequate and there was reluctance to get started without full funding assured.

I still don’t know if full funding has been assured, but according to American Motorcyclist, “The full study is expected to begin soon and will take several years to complete.”

The article also states that “The federal government earmarked up to $2.8 million for the research, provided that the motorcycling community came up with another $2.8 million. The AMA immediately pledged $100,000 for the effort and AMA members kicked in money. Also, the motorcycle industry committed to provide $2.8 million through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, making the new study a reality.”

So actually, I guess that’s it right there. The money may not all be in hand but someone, somewhere committed to getting the money one way or another.

Great. Let the project begin. This can only do good for those of us who ride.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Planning a US motorcycle tour: A Brit’s recommendations

Biker Quote for Today

I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol!

Tags:
Posted in Motorcycle Safety | 1 Comment »

The Only Difference for Deaf Bikers Is They Can’t Hear

October 5th, 2009

Deaf riders see no difference between themselves and other bikers

This is another back story post. I’m working on a feature article on deaf motorcyclists and in the process of doing so I’ve been finding out something a bit surprising. Deaf riders don’t see themselves as any different from those of us who can hear, they just can’t hear.

In the picture above, we see Jasmine Bluecreek-Clark (left) conversing with Cody Weese (second from right) during a motorcycle mechanics training class, while Roger Clark and Tom Crawford (right) observe. Cody is completely deaf and Jasmine is 80 percent deaf in her left ear. Tom is mostly deaf and has been riding for 35 years. Jasmine taught Cody to ride 2 years ago.

Now think about this for a moment. In rider training courses the instructors use hand signals. Why? Because with the noise of the bike, and all students wearing helmets, it can be hard to hear what they’re saying.

And it’s no different on the road. Unless we have bike to bike communication systems, we tend to use hand signals a lot. If anything, deaf riders have an advantage over the rest of us in that regard because hand signing is their native tongue.

But what about when an ambulance, fire truck, or police car comes screaming up behind you with lights flashing and siren wailing? Well, there is that part about the lights flashing. Deaf riders depend far more than the rest of us on their vision. They are far more focused than we are on checking their mirrors and being visually aware of their surroundings. And of course, one aspect of that is that if they see other traffic pulling over then they know they probably ought to do so as well, even if there are no flashing lights to be seen.

Many people wonder how it is that deaf people can even be allowed to drive but again, think about it. Nancy Soccermom drives around in her SUV with the radio blaring, the kids screaming, perhaps talking on her cell phone, with the windows rolled up and the air conditioning on. It’s not as if she’s going to hear much going on outside either, is she? Plus, she’s probably not paying anywhere near as much attention to her driving as deaf people do.

So this is an interesting story. I’m still researching it so it’s not ready for publication yet but I’ll let you know when it is.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Mods and Rockers roll again in Colorado Springs

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycling is an ego-driven venture. Whether it’s our quest for freedom and the open road, the need for speed, group riding or solo, motorcyclists are living life on the edge and know it. Some revel in it. The trick for any rider is to find a healthy balance between that drive to live on the edge, and the sensibility to step back from the edge before it’s too late.

Tags:
Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »

Me On A Harley? The “Convince Me” Challenge

October 2nd, 2009

Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve never been a Harley guy. Rather than spend big bucks on a loud, expensive bike with the pegs way out in front, I have always preferred the cheaper, quieter bikes with the pegs underneath so I can stand up on bumps.

Well, sometimes you have to make sacrifices. For me, as someone who writes about motorcycles, I sometimes have to ride Harleys. Just have to, you know? There’s no escaping it. Dirty job and all that.

Harley-Davidson Road KingThis is just a heads-up that I’m going to be making the ultimate sacrifice in the coming weeks and I’ll be spending a lot of time on a variety of Harleys. I was talking the other day with Troy Terranova, the finance manager over at Rocky Mountain Harley-Davidson, and he’s going to try to change my mind.

As Troy puts it, he believes Harleys are hands-down the best motorcycles in the world and if money were not an issue the vast majority of riders would own a Harley–just that simple. For my part, I acknowledged that I’ve rarely ridden Harleys and have never spent any real time on one. For obvious reasons, Troy can’t put me on a new bike for an extended period but with used bikes it’s a different matter. He’s going to set me up to spend some real time on a selection of Harleys, in the hopes that I’ll fall in love.

Troy’s motivation here is simple. Rocky Mountain H-D gets publicity, and it would be especially good publicity if he does in fact convince me. My motivation is to see for myself what is behind the Harley mystique that I have never experienced before. Plus, of course, it gives me good stuff to write about on all my various gigs, such as Examiner.com and RumBum.com.

So stay tuned, I think this is going to be very interesting.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
ZZ Top to headline in Sturgis next year

Biker Quote for Today

It’s a fast Harley…but a slow motorcycle.

Tags:
Posted in Harley-Davidson | 1 Comment »

A Motorcycle Guy Ends Up Interviewing A Musician (And Biker)

September 29th, 2009

The best thing about being the National Motorcycle Examiner for Examiner.com is the doors that are constantly opening for me because of it. One of the odder opportunities to come my way recently was the question, would I like to speak to singer/songwriter Andy Chase. And oh yeah, Andy is a motorcycle lover.

Andy Chase on motorcycle in Times SquareMind you now, I’d never heard of Andy Chase, of Brookville, which is what he calls himself in his solo project, or Ivy, in which he is part of a threesome that includes the bassist from Fountains of Wayne. I thought it was pretty odd to get this email but, because music is another passion of mine, I figured what the heck. The worst I could do would be waste an hour of my time, and in the meantime, it might turn into something really interesting. Not to mention different. I like different.

So we ended up setting yesterday as the day to talk. The date is significant because Andy’s latest Brookville release came out today and tonight he’ll be in San Francisco playing the first gig in his tour to promote the new album.

Tracy, Andy’s publicist, had suggested in her initial email that she’d be happy to “set up a time to chat with Andy Chase about his bikes, and how the lifestyle affects his art.” OK, I figured, my first question to Andy would be along the lines of, “How does your lifestyle affect your art?” I mean, I’m a motorcycle guy, writing for an audience of motorcyclists. Make me care. Make my readers care.

Andy’s short answer was simply, it doesn’t. OK, think fast Ken, what do you ask now?

Fortunately I thought to ask him if there were any interesting and/or amusing stories to tell from the taping of his video for “Great Mistake,” the first single from this album, “Broken Lights.” Bingo. I was in the money. You can read his amusing tales of the shoot in the Examiner piece, “Talking motorcycles with Brookville’s Andy Chase.”

We talked about riding, too. Andy has a Ducati ST4S, a Moto Guzzi Stone, and a BMW 650 GS. The bike he’s riding in the video is the Guzzi, but don’t spend too much time watching the video to get a good look at. Andy told me they weren’t sure if there would be issues using a recognizable bike in the video so they put the tape together with shots that make it nearly impossible to tell what he is in fact riding.

Although he grew up riding dirt bikes, Andy told me he has gotten into road riding primarily due to the traveling he has done with bands over the years. He’s a New York kid and I guess he didn’t see too much of the country. Once he started seeing the whole U.S. he wanted to see more, and started doing motorcycle touring so he could really see it. The Ducati is his tour bike of choice.

All in all, it was an interesting conversation and it gave me some good material. As a writer, good material is one of the best things you can have. Who knows. Maybe I’ll start doubling as a music critic. I’m already getting emails from his publicist about other acts. Thank you Examiner for opening another door.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Model on-highway sound legislation drafted by AMA–if only cities will use it

Biker Quote for Today

Every time I start thinking the world is all bad, I see some people on motorcycles, it makes me take another look–Steve McQueen

Tags: , ,
Posted in Miscellaneous, motorcycle touring | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »