Motorcycle Nation Podcast

The VTwin Expo is going on right now in Cincinnati, OH and as you can probably tell I am not there. I had my media credentials along with the recording equipment and camera ready to go only to wake up this morning to blowing snow. Yesterday we received a little over five inches and even more overnight. The roads here in central Indiana are passable at a slow rate but some of the counties that I would have to pass through to get to the Duke Energy Center have travel advisories and the state police are asking motorists to stay home.

So, the show is on hold for me until 2011. I could actually attempt the trip on Sunday but being the Indianapolis Colts fan that I am, how can I be gone during the Super Bowl? I was really looking forward to this show as it would be my first opportunity to cover a major show and the biggest names in the VTwin market are exhibiting there. I am very curious to see what new, innovative ideas the manufacturers have managed to come up with during their winter hibernation period. I guess if I can’t bring the show to you first hand we will have to get the information from our favorite magazines that cover this market segment. I will be looking through IronWorks Magazine, a friend of the podcast, to get any information that I can. We will be attempting to bring you some of the new product information straight from the mouths of the creators themselves. Time for me to start the research. Happy Super Bowl weekend and if you are able to ride this weekend then I am jealous. Be safe.

The Motorcycle Nation Podcast will be one of the featured guests this evening, Tuesday February 2nd, on Sidestand Up - The World’s Only Motorcycle Radio Roadshow. The show is from 7 to 9 pm Eastern on Talkshoe. You can join in the chatroom there and chat with other motorcyclists while you listen to the amazing guests that host Tom Lowdermilk and crew bring to the show week after week. If you can’t make it for the live show it is available on the SideStand Up website where you can also download via RSS. If you are an iTunes subscriber you can find the show there as well. Hope to see you there this evening.

The month of February is known for a few things, most notably Valentine’s Day and Groundhog’s Day. Valentine’s Day is pretty cool but I want to talk about Groundhog’s Day. Today, February 2nd, 2010 Pawksatawny Phil was pulled from the tree trunk and looked around. As hundreds stood out in the fifteen degree weather and watched, he looked around and saw his shadow, dooming us for another six weeks of this cold, nasty winter. Now I don’t know about you but I am a firm believer that snow is just another four letter word. I don’t mind riding in the cold as long as the nasty white stuff is not on the roadway.

Riding in the cold is just as enjoyable as riding in the warm weather if you have the right gear. I have accumulated some nice cold weather gear over the years and can stay pretty toasty. With the purchase a few years ago of a Cortech Advantage riding jacket I was able to get rid of my Widder heated vest. I let the gloves go with it and bought new Tourmaster Synergy electric gloves. So, I do still stay warm.

But, I still hate cold weather. I know, if you don’t like it move. Wish it was that easy. Since I have to put up with this for the time being, I think that next year we should hire a groundhog sharpshooter and pop that thing between the eyes before he can see his shadow. Ooops. I hope that none of my readers are members of PETA. Let me rephrase that. I don’t want anyone to shoot a poor defenseless animal. So, maybe the rotten varmint can become roadkill next February and we can all be sipping tea in the sun on one of our stops along the ride.

Until then, don’t put that cold weather gear away just yet. Happy riding…brrrrrrr…..

Today is ABATE Day at the Statehouse. The legislators here in Indiana know this day well as they are annually welcomed to the Capitol on this morning with coffee and pastries passed out by motorcyclists from the organization. As they walk the halls on this day they will be greeted by leather vest wearing, smiling two wheel enthusiasts that love freedom. Hopefully everyone stopped long enough this morning to remove the bugs from their teeth,

Seriously, the legislators know that once a year they will hear from a group of riders that are passionate about maintaining their rights, both as motorcyclists and citizens. They know quite a few by name as our members stay in contact with their individual legislator throughout the year. We have been called the greatest, most powerful grass roots lobby organization in the State. We have had many victories over the years. From the repeal of the discriminatory add on motorcycle registration fee that called upon two wheel enthusiasts only to aid in funding spinal cord injury research to beating the many attempts to force mandatory helmet usage upon us.

We have accomplished this with dedication to the cause at hand. There is truth in the saying strength in numbers. There are people willing to spend a day at the Statehouse for the right to stand up and be heard. This is not only needed for motorcyclists. It is needed for all citizens. Assaults on our rights don’t only come from our states, they come from our federal government as well. We are being slammed in Washington right now and we need to stand up and be heard there as well.

On two levels I urge you to get involved. As a motorcyclist, join your state motorcyclist rights organization. Also join the AMA and / or the MRF. Just because you don’t live in DC and can’t lobby in person does not mean your voice can’t be heard. That is what the AMA and MRF are all about. They maintain a daily presence inside the beltway on our behalf. As a citizen, write and call your legislator on issues that you want heard. We put them there and they are supposed to work for us. We need to do our best to keep them honest and sitting back watching TV and complaining is not the answer. Keep them on their toes and let them know that you expect them to do the job you hired them to do. We need to take America back!

STAND UP AND BE HEARD MOTORCYCLE NATION

I hope you did not expect to come to this post and find some great blues song about a bike being down and a rider drowning in his beer over it. The song is not here but this post is about looking at your bike knowing it is not running and you can not do anything about it. It is one thing if you are strapped for cash or you don’t have the time. It is something altogether different when you have the time and your credit card has already been provided but you can not get the part.

We always try to promote using your local shop to help boost the economy but there are times that the deal at the online retailer is so good that we make the decision to purchase it online. Many times you can save hard earned cash by purchasing from the online parts house even if you have to pay shipping. The problem is that you have such a wide variety of shops to choose from in the vast world wide web world that you have no idea who is legit or who is true to their word.

You are sitting back in your chair right now wondering why I am ranting on about this subject aren’t you? Well, I have been listening to the continuing saga of a coworker who ordered a simple part online to save $7. He placed two orders online approximately 55 days ago, one with Bike Bandit and the second with another retailer to be left unnamed at this time. My buddy owns a mid 80’s (I believe) Yamaha Venture and it is hard to locate parts to keep this motorcycle on the road. The part he ordered from Bike Bandit was at his door within 4 days. The part he ordered from the anonymous retailer is yet to be delivered even though the website said that it ships within 5 days. After numerous phone calls around the 25 day mark he was told that the part should be shipping in 1 week as it was backordered. It never came. So, he made another phone call last week and had to leave a message with the newly installed automated phone system.

Today, he received a phone call from one who claimed to be the owner saying that he was looking over the orders list and that he noticed this order being so late. He wanted to apologize and said that he had good news. It looked like the ordered part would ship in 4-5 days. My buddy said he wanted to tell the guy, “Excuse me for not getting excited.”, but he just told the guy if it is not here next week he could keep it.

There is nothing worse than having a ride that is down and in this down economy we are all looking for a break on the cost of maintaining our bikes. It is understood that sometimes things happen but two months to get a part that says it ships in 7 days is ridiculous. If you find yourself down make sure to do your homework. Either buy it from the local shop that you can deal with face to face or get on some forums and track down that reputable parts dealer that won’t leave you stranded. If the owner turns out to be stretching the truth then I will reveal the name of his company on the blog as one to avoid. After all, I don’t want anyone in the Motorcycle Nation Podcast family to live with the Bike Repair Blues.

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This episode we talk to Jensen Beeler of Asphalt & Rubber, one of the best sites for motorcycle industry news that I have found. Jensen has created an awesome site and his business background and a recent trip to the electric motorcycle manufacturers makes for some great conversation. You can also find Jensen on Twitter as asphalt_rubber and on Facebook. The Facebook link is on his website.

The recalls section is back and we run through them. Or, maybe I should say it. The only recall we have right now is for the BMW f650 GS and the f800 GS. The model years covered are 2008 thru 2010. During operation the a ventilation hose could draw water vapors into the charcoal canister allowing it to mix with the air-fuel mixture and cause the motorcycle to stall. The recall was set to begin this month, January 2010. If you have not heard from BMW you can call them at 800-831-1117.

There are a couple of news stories that are quickly covered so that we are able to jump right into the interview with Jensen. We close out the podcast with music from old friends Eclipse. I just had to hear “Ride Through the Badlands” again.

If you get a chance, review the podcast in iTunes so that we can move farther up the chart. If you would like to help cover the costs of keeping the site on the net and help us cover storage costs and bandwith, we have added a donate button on the right sidebar. Any amount would help from a dollar to whatever you want to give. Anything would be appreciated.

Remember our friends at MotoCaribe Motorcyle Tours. When you are ready to take a trip you can ride paradise on two wheels in the Dominican Republic. Give Ed a call at 877-MOTOFUN ext. 100 or visit the website by clicking their name above.

Until next time…Ride Safe

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It is all over for 2010. As expected, Frenchman Cyril Despres was the winner in the bike class. Despres bested nearest competitor Ullevalseter (NOR) by 1h02′52″. Chilean Contardo finished third about 7″ behind Ullevalseter. As well as Despres rode in this rally I feel that the most impressive ride has to go to Spaniard Mark Coma. After a huge penalty midway through the rally that cost him six hours and another twenty-two minutes on top of that Coma rode to a fifteenth place finish 6h32″42″ behind Despres. Take away the penalty time and Coma would have placed second only ten minutes off the winning pace. I would call that some very skilled riding. What a disappointment for Coma.

American Jonah Street did the Stars and Stripes proud bringing home a seventh place finish. Street maintained the seventh place position from Stage 5 on. His best finish was in Stage 11 where he raced to a fourth place honor. The other American finisher, Ludovic Boinnard, completed the rally in fortieth position nearly sixteen and one half hours off the pace. The ladies were led across the line by Sweden’s Annie Seel 18h45′ behind Despres while Giannetti (67th) and Meier (85th) rounded out the female scoring.

One hundred fifty motorcycles started this grueling rally and whether for mechanical or rider problems sixty-two failed to complete. Off seasons will be spent trying to make the bike problem proof and the riders more tough. Some riders will be lamenting about all the what ifs that could have made them more competitive. We hope they don’t cry in their beer too long. Dakar 2011 is closer than you think!

Family and work responsibilities called me away for a couple of days which means that I have missed out on two days of the rally. As I check in today, fifty-three motorcycles have checked in for Stage 11 and there are some new faces showing up there. Of course, the current order may change once the race stewards validate the results but the leader of the stage, Netherlands Frans Verhoeven (51st overall after stage 10) surprised everyone crossing the line in first. US rider Jonah Street shows in second for the stage while the normal faces we see, Contardo (5th), Despres (7th), and Coma (9th) finish in the top ten.

We will check back in after the results are validated.

Talk about bad decisions. Spain’s Mark Coma has consistently found himself at the top of the overall standings throughout the first half of the Dakar Rally making it to the rest day in second overall with two stage wins under his belt. On rest day, he was handed a very harsh penalty of 6 hours for accepting help during a non race portion of a stage. Coma had a new tire installed prior to Stage 7 which is viewed as a major advantage. After the penalty was handed down, Coma was said to be considering withdrawing from the rally.

But, as the riders began Stage 8, Coma was lined up and ready to go. He must have taken some aggression out as he finished the stage 42″ behind Chile’s Lopez Contardo to place second for the stage. Overall rally leader Cyril Despres finished 6′01 behind Coma in fifth position. Amazingly, Coma’s finish brought him five spots up the overall leaderboard to nineteenth.

Jonah Street completed the stage in thirteenth position holding on to seventh overall. Ludovic Boinnard hangs out in forty-fifth overall as he continues to plug along. The ladies remain in the rally. Meier is in 89th position, Giannetti in sixty-eighth, and Seel in fiftieth overall. Stage 9 is under way as I finish this post up and you will see it either tonight to tomorrow. Stick around as competition heats up on the race back to Buenos Aires!

Stage 7 set up a long run down the coast of Chile that will end closer to Santiago but today took the participants from Iquique back to Antofagasta. It was another stellar run by Spaniard Mark Coma who led the bike class out of Iquique but found himself dropped to as low as twentieth position. At km 355 he had fought back to fourth position, km 448 found him in second, and he was back in the lead by km 509 ending the stage in second position 29 seconds behind stage winner Cyril Despres.
Frenchman David Fretigne spent some time at the front of this stage as well and has been riding strong since Stage 3 where he found himself in twentieth position. He completed Stage 7 in the seventh overall position. Jonah Street, riding for the Stars and Stripes, completed the stage in sixteenth position 42′06 off pace which leaves him in the top ten overall at number eight. Fellow rider Boinnard remains towards the middle of the pack reeling off forty-fifth position.

Annie Seel completed the stage in sixty third position which places her in the forty-third position overall. The other lady riders, Giannetti (70th overall) and Meier (89th overall) are well out of contention but must be commended on their riding ability and stamina. As of this writing, only 90 bikes have checked in which means the class has lost sixty bikes since leaving Buenos Aires. Anyone still riding must be considered tough.

Stage 8 will commence on Sunday with a run from Antofagast to Copiapo. Tomorrow will be a welcomed rest day for the riders and their equipment as well. We will check back in with the rally Sunday afternoon. See you all back here.

(Picture of Cyril Despres used under Creative Commons from Flikr)