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By Elizabeth Castillo
Riding Season
Riding season is finally here…ride safe. 26% of
motorcycle fatalities have no motorcycle endorsement on their license and many no licenses
at all. And alcohol, do I even have to go there. The
opportunity to participate in motorcycle stuff that
will be including alcohol is great, don’t ride and
drink .ride safe. Keep a good attitude in traffic, (and
that can be a lot to ask at times) . Crazy drivers are
everywhere and they will continue to be . Be
aware, alert, and keep a good space cushion between your ride and the traffic and enjoy the riding
season.
***
Ice Wheelie World
Champion
At a whopping 109.5 MPH Ryan Suchanek is
now in the Guinness World Record book for the
fastest wheelie on ice, he set this record on February first 2014. He won this record on a 2004
Kawasaki ZX-10R at Lake Koshkonong in Wisconsin. There is video on the internet of the event. But
that awesome high speed wheelie is only part of
the story. In 2007 while riding his motorcycle Ryan
was hit by a car suffered a coma and left leg amputation yet 6 months later he was back on a bike
doing demos in China.( This guys motivated to
ride). Watching the video was pretty cool, it looked
cold and dangerous. They had difficulties to work
thru like the fuel freezing and the studs flying out of
the front tire and punching holes in the radiator.
Pretty amazing stuff.
***
Smart Helmets
By the time you are reading this, smart helmets
will probably be available. I read about two of
these helmets the Nuviz and the Skully with prices
between $599 and $1,500. Amazingly these helmets offer HUD, head-up display; this puts a projection on to an adjustable prism inside the
helmet. You would have a visual on GPS directions, phone pairing, 180-degree rear view, music
streaming and riding telemetry from a built in accelerometer and gyroscope.
***
Cannonball Rides Near
Cannonball ride 2014 is a ride across America
on old bikes. This September 5th they leave Day-
98 Wide Open
tona Florida and will be in Cape Girardeau, Mo. on
the 9th, then on to Sedalia, Mo the 10th stopping
at Yeagers Harley Davidson. I am hoping to meet
up with them and follow on the 11th riding to
Junction City, Kansas. The riders have a free day
the 12th of September in Junction City. No motorcycle on this ride will be newer than a 1936 model
and they have to be very close to stock to participate. www.motorcyclecannonball.com
***
Free Parties
Free parties. . .that is what you will find in the
Midwest. Lots of free motorcycle happenings and
many are listed in the back of the magazine under
Upcoming Events, check it out .
***
Ride to Work
June 16th,2014 is Ride your motorcycle to
work day, so put this date down and tell another
rider you know and lets see how many of us ride
that day.
***
Indian Goes Radical
Radical is the latest word out of the Indian motorcycle Co. The Indian big Chief Radical Custom is
available. This new model with its billet-aluminum
girder fork with a 23 inch wheel is really a pretty
good looking machine. I like the hunched down
look of the front end and the solo seat and I also
like the 2 in one exhaust. The skirted back fender
is not a favorite of mine, but that “ trademark “ look
of Indians and it just isn’t for me ., tire exposure is
my preference.
***
Motorcycle Only Stop
Checks?
Yes , you read correctly , motorcycle only stop
checks . Apparently this has been something that
has been occurring the past 2 years and now a
few interested people are pushing to get it
stopped. The AMA, American Motorcycle Asso ciation is actively on this. Statements have been issued requesting senators to put a stop to this and
the AMA is saying that the funds this has taken
(approximately half a million dollars) could have
been used in a better way. I am all about funds
being used to support the individual states mo-
torcycle safety program. Apparently the first state
to do MOC (motorcycle only check points) was
New York. Information I read about it indicated that
the state of Georgia used funds from the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration in March
2011 to conduct motorcycle –only checkpoints
on riders going thru their state on the way to Daytona bike week. There was other motorcycle –
only check points found to have taken place in
Virginia and Utah. The Utah MOC was during a
large motorcycle road race. This is just another
reason to be involved in an active motorcycle
rights protection group like AMA.
***
Why We Ride
The AMA, American Motorcycle Association
has released in March a documentary film promoting motorcycling. I read that the film includes
interviews with riders, racers, and parents in the
sport. Apparently it is a real nice “feel good “film
about motorcycling. View the trailer at
http://vimeo.com/75545684
***
Austin GP
Motorcycle Races
GP (Grand Prix) motorcycle racing will be at the
new track in Austin, Texas April 11-13. It’s an
amazing thing to see. I went last year and it was a
great track, and a great time. If you go to the races
go a couple days ahead of time and take advantage of ll the pre-race parties in the city. Last year
on 5th street downtown they had a great art show
and several businesses had party’s leading up to
race day. I and a few friends went to the Ducati
shop the Thursday evening before the race weekend started and they had Kevin Swartz there giving
a very informative talk about the track. It was fun.
GP motorcycle racing is over the top entertainment, if you have never seen it , you should go at
least once.
***
May is
Motorcycle Month
National motorcycle awareness month is May
and the National safety council will have information in many places. Look twice and save a life. Motorcycles are everywhere.
***