The Mother Road Ride/Rally NEWS

What better reason to get your registration in for you and your Valentine to The 4^th Annual Mother Road Ride/Rally®?

Where it All Began

Downtown Chicago had enough confidence in its street names to carve them in stone. Route 66 started - back in the 1920's - here, at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Jackson Blvd. As the years went by, Jackson became a one way street, eastbound. Route 66 moved one block north to Adams. Now it is Adams, a few feet west of Michigan where you will see the 'Begin Route 66' sign. Many Mother Road Ride/Rally people feel the smart move is to get a picture at that beginning sign then take the next two left turns and ride Jackson over to Lake Shore Drive, then go south to Interstate 55. The 'original' Route 66 goes through some pretty tough sections of Chicago and over two grid bridges. Those grid bridges have all the charm of grooved pavement with less traction.

Moto Guzzi to Up Production

MG has announced that they plan to increase production from the 6,000 bikes of 1997 to 20,000 within four years. They cited positive responses to their new models at some recent trade shows.

Suzuki expects to sell 544,000 bikes in 1998, a 3% increase and Harley-Davidson projects production of 145,000 1998, up from 131,000 in 1997. HD's new plant in Kansas is expected to do a bunch of those 1998 models as The Motor Company marches toward their goal of 200,000 units by 2003.

Newriders Becomes Easyriders

This is kinda complicated, but interesting. A large public company, Newriders, Inc. intends to buy Paisano Publications, Inc. Paisano publishes Easyriders Magazine and franchises motorcycle shops, apparel stores and cafes under the Easyriders name.

It is kinda a case of a minnow eating a shark. Paisano does about $40 million in business each year, Newriders about $5 million. But, because Newriders already operates Easyriders Cafes - presumably under franchise from Paisano - it is a natural association.

Newriders is going to change their name to Easyriders. We've told you all that to be able to tell you that with the muscle of a public company, you're going to see a lot more Easyriders stuff around. And anything that brings more of the 'quality' motorcycle life to the attention of the general public is definitely good for motorcycling.

We'll be 'taking the pulse' of Easyriders to see if they would like to become involved with The 4^th Annual Mother Road Ride/Rally®.

New Video Production

We are in the final stages of producing our first motorcycle video. It will take viewers on a trip around the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Some people are surprised that there are such terrific motorcycle roads in and around the 8^th largest city of the United States. They are there and we ride 'em with camcorder in hand. We've priced the video at $14.95+$3.00 shipping and handling. We'll be shipping by mid February. Later, of course, we'll be adding videos on Route 66 and we also plan a series on the great rides available in Texas and the surrounding states. Stay tuned!