Volume Three Number 4
Daytona Trip
I'm just back from my first Bike Week @ Daytona Beach. It was a great trip, but maybe still a little early in the "touring season." I was too cold every morning until close to lunch. Daytona itself was packed with bikes - many who subscribe to the loud pipes save lives school of thought. In the narrow streets of Daytona Beach it was pretty noisy. Met some terrific folks I'll be telling you more about in the months ahead.
Registration Spurt
While I was out of town we picked up another group of registrations for The 3nd Annual Mother Road Ride/Rally®. Lots of people will be joining the run along the route. To tell the truth, the major reason people tell us that they don't register for the run is the time/distance involved. To date more people are doing Route 66 in segments than the whole run at one time. (See the back of this newsletter for the join up points. Ride as much as you like this year, do another segment in the years ahead.)
Show Time
We're indebted to Jack Bellinoff of Burnet,
Texas for getting us into our first "bike show"
with a booth devoted to The 3nd Annual Mother
Road Ride/Rally® and Motorcycle Guide to
Route 66. Jack - as you may have read in
Motorcycle Consumer News - produces an award
winning first aid kit designed for motorcyclists
(1-800-583-2260). He has been making these
shows for some time and told us it would be a
good place to get the word out on the run. Saw
lots of folks, many with interesting recollections
of their personal experiences on Route 66.
Sea-Doo on Wheels
Polaris Industries,
Inc., of Minneapolis,
a maker of snowmobiles and personal
watercraft, says it will
build cruiser-class
motorcycles. The
Victory motorcycle will be available in limited
quantities in the spring of 1998. Editor's Note:
These are the SeaDoo 'personal watercraft.' A
dealer friend here in Texas told me last year that
watercraft sales exceeded bike sales for their
dealership for the first time. Polaris said that
"entering the motorcycle market is a logical
extension of our diversification strategy."
Which causes us to wonder why personal
watercraft wouldn't be a logical extension of
bike makers product line. Particularly since
they already have a dealer network in place.
Early Birds on Route 66
Hank Hallmark advises us
that the High Desert ABATE
Chapter 44 has set their annual Route 66 Charity Run
for May 31, 1997. Sign in at
8AM at Victorville, CA's
Route 66 Museum, 6th & D
Street. Call 619-948-2186 or
619-245-7840 for more info.
Run benefits the High Desert
Homeless Services.
What's your opinion? Now and then we see
some critical comments regarding the MSF
(Motorcycle Safety Foundation) training
courses. Our sense is that there is a lot about
riding motorcycles that you can learn in both the
basic and advanced course(s). Information that
would be hard won in day to day riding
I've repeated the joke about "being fully trained to ride any vacant parking lot . . . ." but the bottom line is: It's worthwhile and everyone can profit from the material. Just call the 800 number for the location near you.
