Motorcycle Nation Podcast

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…..

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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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2009 will be leaving us in mere hours and I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for listening to the podcast and reading the blog. I would appreciate you sharing with anyone who has a love of two wheels and let them join us as we tackle 2010.

The economy made this year tough on everyone. Starting with us, the riders, and moving it’s way up into the mom and pop shops, the dealer network, and the manufacturers. This in turn hurt the riding gear market and aftermarket parts business. Let’s hope that the new year starts off with a true rebirth of the motorcycle market.

Everyone have a safe and happy New Year’s evening and may all your resolutions and wishes for the new year come true.

Ride Safe
Steve

…terrible time of the year. The terrible time that I speak of is that time leading up to Indiana’s historically worst months for snowfall, January and February. With the snowfall comes the realization that the motorcycle will probably not be coming out of the garage for the next sixty days as the snow remains on the ground and the possibility of black ice forming on the road is great. I have never truly been a big fan of the snow anyway but when my true passion for motorcycling materialized I found an even stronger hatred for it. The cold does not bother me. If you own the right gear riding can be enjoyed nearly year round, except those months that road conditions may prohibit it.

So, I have to find things to fill my days during the winter. I do quite a few things to keep motorcycling in front of me. Most of you know that I teach motorcycle safety and we have things going on throughout the off season that keep us at our best. I also subscribe to a couple of print magazines that I spend time reading over the winter. During the summer, with my normal job, teaching, and my kid’s sports practices and games I don’t get the opportunity to read those mags on a regular basis. The cold winter months give me plenty of free time to study what I missed all summer. I spend time doing this blog and the podcast and I listen to other motorcycle podcasts. And, of course, I spend alot of time on the internet reading all the motorcycle related sights. Thank goodness for the net.

So, as the East coast is getting hammered this weekend, I ask you…what do you do in the winter to fuel your need for two wheels? Leave us a comment and tell your friends to listen to Episode 15 to take them away to paradise on two wheels.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Steve

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Ever had the urge to take a motorcycle tour? I have been wanting to for quite some time and the first one that I will take is one offered by MotoCaribe Motorcycle Tours. Read the blog, sign up for email, updates, watch tour video and more at the MotoCaribe Motorcycle Tour blog. This tour is in the Dominican Republic and is one of the most affordable tours that I have found. The DR offers it all from mountains, to tropical rain forest, to arid desert regions, to the finest aqua blue water beach views around. Take a two wheel tour and explore a land widely untouched by the urbanization of the Western world. You can follow the link above or reach Ed to book a tour at 877-MOTOFUN ext. 100. This episode we talk with Ed Denzler, owner and lead rider of MotorCaribe.

We move into a mention of the FX show Sons of Anarchy. This is by far my fave show and one of the very few that I watch. It draws you in to the created world and makes you feel a part. There are two SOA podcasts that I have recently stumbled upon that I enjoy listening to. Check out Watchers of Anarchy and SAMCRO: A Podcast for the Fans of Sons of Anarchy. Give them a listen. After all, it is a long time until Season 3 starts. If you have been watching the show, listen in on the past episodes and you will discover show info that you missed.

Condolences to the Hurt family on the passing of Harry Hurt, the author of the famous Hurt Report that shaped motorcycle safety programs all over the nation and world. Harry passed away November 29th of a heart attack.

In the opening show dialogue I mentioned that we would cover recalls tonight. The MotoCaribe interview was going too well to shut it down and we went long. We will cover recalls in episode 16 coming out soon.

I have email addresses available for anyone interested. If you would like to have a You@mcnationpodcast.com email shoot me an email at steve@mcnationpodcast.com Include the name you want and I will set it up and contact you when complete.

Visit my friend Cliff Ravenscraft, The Podcast Answer Man for all your podcast equipment needs or for podcast consulting. Check out the bigger community Cliff has at GSPN.tv

Check out SideStand Up and find the links to the TalkShoe show that they do. If you are there on Tuesday nights from 7-9 pm you can participate in chat while the show is being recorded. It is available via iTunes and rss as well.

Music used on this episode are from musicalley.com Our opener was Ride by Adrenaline Factor and our closer was by Little Fish Big Pond called Velvet Sky.

Happy Holidays from The Motorcycle Nation Podcast!

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I am a huge fan of Sons of Anarchy and I plan on speaking a little bit about it in the next podcast episode that I plan on putting out sometime in the next week as time permits. I was very sad to see the season finale come as it seems that season 2 just began and it was over. The finale was so full of twists and turns and has left so many questions unanswered. I am dying to get on with the show and see what is going to happen next. Stahl is an animal and has really put Gemma in a bad situation. Cameron has really signed his death warrant if Jax and the boys can get to him. That prick Westin has been done in and I can’t wait for Zobelle to get his because I don’t think that Clay will let this go and he will make Zobelle’s murder his top priority. Rarely have I felt so much a part of a show that I felt true hatred towards a character when I saw them on screen. Westin and Zobelle are easy to hate. This show is gonna rock next season as well.

If you have not been watching the show I urge you to check it out. It is not for everyone and there will even be motorcyclists that have no interest in it but you should watch one episode and give it a shot. Hulu has many past episodes and you can also buy season 1 on DVD. Season 3 will start in September of 2010. Check it out, you won’t be sorry. I also ran across two podcasts that are SOA fan podcasts that I enjoy listening to. I just discovered them last night and have been listening to the episodes all day today trying to catch up with all of them. Check out Watchers of Anarchy and SAMCRO: A Podcast for the Fans of Sons of Anarchy

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Episode 14 covers on the continuing struggles of the motorcycle industry and focuses on Harley Davidson as they seem to be the worst off. We also cover the cancellation of the Love Ride and KTM pulling out of MotoGP 250cc class racing due to the economy. We give some new bike releases to look for and also provide news about recalls on Ducati, Triumph, and BMW motorcycles.
We also talk about the upcoming Motorcycle Cannonball, a run for pre 1916 motorcycles that starts in San Francisco and ends in New York. The run is Sept. 10-22, 2010. Link is posted below.
Paul Teutel Sr. a singer? Check out Paul and the OCC band on their new CD OCC Rocks. You can sample the music over at Amazon.com
And, sadly, the end of Biker Radio Magazine has come. This was the best motorcycle podcast that ever hit iTunes or the internet. Ken Venus recently recorded and released episode 100 and the show has come to an end. To listen to past episodes follow the link at the end of the show notes.

SHOW LINKS
multistrada.ducati.com
motorcyclecannonball.com
bikerradiomagazine.com

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My friend Cliff Ravenscraft is a blogger, podcaster, new media consultant, and salesman of recording/broadcasting equipment. Some of you go far enough back with me to know that what you see in front of you is the second round of me trying to make this blog/podcast work. I tried this about a year before this attempt and failed miserably. Failed to the point that I gave up totally. Then in December 2008 I decided to try again. I found a service online that handled all the behind the scenes techie stuff that allowed me to get my podcast online and into podcatchers like iTunes. But you have controls and limitations using those services and I wanted to own my content, to be in charge of A to Z. I started to research how to do this and this is where Cliff and the Generally Speaking Production Network entered the picture.

Through Cliff’s guidance and a valuable 3 hour consulting session you are able to see this blog on my own domain and listen to or download the podcast from the site or from many podcatchers out there. He set up all my RSS feeds, guided me on choosing a host for the media files, and taught me how to get the podcast over to the website. I plan on using him in the very near future to redesign the website to make it more exciting. So, in a sense, I am following my passion….to a degree.

You see, Cliff is all about following your passion. No, I should really rephrase that. Cliff IS LIVING following your passion. You see, Cliff left an insurance job that paid very well for the chance to follow his passion by starting this network. Cliff stepped out and, with the support of his wife, quit that insurance gig and followed his passion. Cliff is an inspiration to anyone who feels the need to pursue their passion. Is that you?

What is your passion? Do you desire to be a custom bike builder? Want to start your own motorcycle repair shop? A parts store? Mine is motorcycling in general. I found a way to mix my passions of motorcycling and geek stuff by doing this blog and podcast. I would love to pursue doing this as a career. Maybe do some writing for a magazine or something. I will work on that. But, this is about you. Do you desire to get away from your dead end career and follow your passion? I urge you to listen to a podcast that Cliff did on his journey to living his passion. The Podcast is called Pursuing A Balanced Life and the episode is 425 Follow Your Passion and the Money Will Follow. You can listen directly from the page or download it to your player. Trust me, you will not be sorry. If you choose to take this journey I congratulate you and wish you the best. Please share this post with everyone you know. Life is too short for us to not live our passion.

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Riding with Gov. Mitch Daniels.
Motor Company moving manufacturing to Indiana?
Competition Accessories leaving Ohio for SC.
Billy Lane is sentenced.
MotoGP in Indy this weekend
Other news and recalls.

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Indiana motorcyclists are proud to have a Governor that not only rides a motorcycle, but is willing to get out and ride with the citizens of Indiana. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels leads a few rides a year that travel the state making stops in small towns all over. The most recent ride, August 14th, was on a beautiful day and surprised many of the first time riders with the route snaking us through some Southern Indiana backroads that had enough curves you would have thought you were on the Tail of the Dragon at times. The best part was that this ride was escorted start to finish by the Indiana State Police Motorcycle Unit. Thank you Gents!

Indiana State Police Electra Glides provided escort.

Whoever ordered the weather up for this ride did well but could have turned the temperature dial back about 10 degrees. I am not sure how many miles were covered as I left after the second stop so I could get back to Indy in time to see the Colts preseason game. The two stops that I did make were Milan and Madison. Milan is famous for their 1954 winning of the state high school basketball championship. The small town team beat the largest high school powerhouses that year and was the team behind the movie Hoosiers. The second stop that I made was in Madison, a really neat town on the Ohio River that looks across into Kentucky. This town also has a famous side as it is the host of the Madison Regatta, a hydroplane racing event held annually on the river.

Ohio River at Madison, IN

Riding with the Governor is free and we had over 400 waivers signed for the ride. If you are in the Hoosier state I encourage you to come out next time and ride with us. No matter what your political party of choice is, it is encouraging to have a rider in charge. The motorcycle rides that the Governor puts on are about motorcycle awareness and when a reporter questioned him on Friday about helmets he made a great statement. He told them that he chooses to always wear a helmet but that education, not mandatory helmet laws is what will save lives. Way to go Governor!

Staging at the State Capitol building.