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.

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Special thanks goes out to Biker Radio Magazine host Ken who is going to work with me to make this podcast sound as professional as possible. Visit Ken’s site and listen to a true professional.

The feature is a discussion with John Adamo, jack of all trades at the Electric Motorcycle Forum among others. John’s blogs are listed below:

http://ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

http://PlugBike.com

http://Othermakes.com

http://korider.com (Hyosung Owners/Enthusiasts)

When he has an extra minute you can find him guest blogging at http://asphaltandrubber.com which is a blog owned by Jenny Gunn. John is also on Twitter and can be found at http://twitter.com/skadamo

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Saturday begins the Miracle Ride with six Poker runs that leave various dealers across the state. The final stop for each poker run is a location somewhere in Indianapolis. If the riders from the farthest Poker Run origin point were to go straight to Indy without hitting the stops to pick up their cards it could take them 2-1/2 to 3 hours. So, some of these people put in some serious hours on the way to the capitol. The Poker Runs are a large part of the fundraiser and this year was no exception. The preliminary figure that were announced Sunday morning during staging for the organized ride was $220,000 just for the Poker Runs. For the eleventh year, Harley Davidson of Bloomington won the award for the most money raised on the run. They set a new record in ‘09 with $75,000 raised. Congratulations Owners Jeff and Carol Stevens and General Manager Jim Markham.

Sunday brings all the Poker Run participants along with those who just want to do the Sunday police escorted ride to the registration point which changed this year to Lucas Oil Stadium. During registration and staging there are some festivities going on such as Bob and Tom from the nationally syndicated radio program, The Bob & Tom Show, usually get up and get people laughing. The Indianapolis Colts offensive line usually gets up on stage too to tell people why they enjoy leading this ride. By the way, they left their bikes at home this year and Victory motorcycles brought out some of their models and let the guys ride those. And we also get a show from the Indianapolis Metro Police Motorcycle Drill Team.

Most people come to this ride for one reason. To help the kids. The ride kicks off and leaves the registration point and always makes its way over to Riley Hospital where some of the children line the sidewalk and watch all the bikes go by. From past experience it is very moving and tough to go through with dry eyes. From there, it continues through the streets of near downtown Indy to the world famous 16th Street, the same street that holds the Yard of Bricks. For those who wore a helmet there is a lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track. Some people come for this. It is fun and you don’t realize how much banking there really is on that track. After leaving the track they reach the end of the ride where there is entertainment, food, raffles, silent auctions, and four or five motorcycle giveaways. Yes, four or five.

Early figures for 2009 indicate that the ride raised around $375,000 for the kids. If you ever thought about traveling and hitting a charity ride, come on over to the Hoosier State and join us on the Miracle Ride. Tell them the Motorcycle Nation Podcast sent you. You won’t be sorry.

Ride safe and ride with a purpose.

September 14-16 brought the world renowned MotoGP motorcycle race to the historical Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This was the inaugural race and with the history of the Speedway and the fact that this would serve as only the second venue in the United States to witness MotoGP racing, there were high expectations of huge crowds. I was pretty excited about the opportunity to go to the race and see what it was all about. What did I know about GP racing prior to this time? Three things. High cost bikes. Rossi. Hayden. That’s it.

Fortunately for me, I am active in ABATE of Indiana and I am close to the leaders and staff. The relationship that I have built with them over the years allowed me to be included on a list of people asked to actually work during the race. Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) officials were calling out their usual safety crews, mostly firefighters and medical personnel, that they use for any other race. In addition, they wanted “experts” on motorcycles as not all of the normal crew had experience with motorcycles. IMS called upon ABATE of Indiana and requested one person for each turn to work on the recovery teams. Our job, get the motorcycle off the track, shake it out if it hit the gravel traps, and either return it to the rider or take it behind the barriers for pickup if the rider was unable to return to competition.

Sixteen members of ABATE, one for each turn, were lucky enough to work this race. We had to go to training where we had to prove the fact that we could physically do the job. We started off watching information videos as to how to handle the riders (DON’T) and what the flags meant. Then we used four man teams to load a bike into the back of a pickup truck. After we passed that test, we went to the gravel trap and used a strap through the front and rear rims to lift the bike and remove it from the traps. Once the bike cleared the trap we lifted the rear and shook rocks out of the lower fairing and repeated the task lifting the front. We started out trying to roll it through but found it was faster to lift the entire bike up and carry it. Our last test was to push start a motorcycle. We all passed and we were ready to go.

Part 2 of this post will discuss the practice days and the race days. Thinking about this again is making me ready for the 2009 version. Come back and let me tell you about the wild weekend. Part 2 coming soon.

Stay Safe
Bullitt