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This episode covers the recent rumors, or Trouble in Paradise?, of the Motor Company. There have been recent rumors of Harley Davidson being sold and we give a little info here. Most interesting is the spin the Todd B. Wilson, cohost of the Motorcycle Radio Network, takes. See his blog post here. Not all the trouble in the industry lies in Milwaukee though. We talk about the final sale of American Ironhorse and the sale of Ridley Motorcycles. Find out what will happen with them.
We also bring a little MotoGP news and provide you a link on how to get your chance to ride with the big boys in World Superbikes and World Supersport at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. There are wildcard spots to be filled if you feel like you have what it takes to get off the porch and compete. You can find out the requirements and fill out an application by clicking right here. In addition, we give information on an upcoming endurance ride, The HokaHey Challenge, that you can join. It is a run from Key West, FL to Homer, AK and covers some 7,000 miles.
Our final story comes from the UK and involves alcohol and riding. You gotta listen to this one.
As promised the interesting video on how sound checks are done on motorcycles courtesy of YouTube.
There may be trouble in Milwaukee Paradise but there is still plenty of true paradise in the Dominican Republic. Call my friends at MotoCaribe Motorcycle Tours and book your trip to fun in the sun the two wheel way. 800-877-MOTOFUN ext. 100
We have exciing interviews coming up with the creators of some unique products aimed at the motorcycling community and based on riders. Make sure you come back soon and check us out. Subscribe to the podcast at iTunes or the Zune store or just listen right here on the website. Show recommendations are always welcome at Steve@mcnationpodcast.com
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In this episode we discuss some quick news. We mention the Vegas Bikefest and let you know that Jay Leno is auctioning off his 200hp V-Max to help a friend. We joke about Sen. Lautenberg from NJ helping to push a helmet law in Uganda (purely a joke). Motorcycle sales are down and we let you know just how bad the outlook is and we mention a study by the Freedonia Group that says that internationally, motorcycle sales are expected to rise 8% per year over the next 5 years.
The return of Casey Stoner to MotoGP this weekend and the trade off from World Superbike to MotoGP and vice versa of James Toseland and Ben Spies is mentioned as well. The majority of this episode involves the alarming trend over the past years of returning war vets losing their lives on motorcycles and what the Department of Defense has done in an attempt to stop these tragedies.
We close it out by mentioning friend of the show Adrian Blake, creator of the motorcycle show Ride! over on BlogTalkRadio. I urge you to go give Adrian a listen at Ride! Finally we close out the show by mentioning some interviews that we have in the works. Dwayne from Cycle Outfitters here in Indy will be joining us soon to talk about cold weather riding gear. Dwain DeVille, author of “The Biker’s Guide to Business” will promote the book on the Motorcycle Nation Podcast. This is a unique look at the world of business through the eyes of a biker. And we are in the process of setting up an interview with Jensen Beeler, Editor-in-Chief of Asphalt and Rubber, a website providing the latest motorcycle industry and racing news to the web. You won’t want to miss anything that is coming up!
Finally, we send you out with the song Ride by Adrenaline Factor. You can find this song and additional band information at MusicAlley.
I am starting this post as I begin to get ready for the race. I have not attended any of the practice sessions or qualifying up to this point because I was playing Mr. Mom the past few days. So, my stepson and I will be making some of the practice this morning and then on to the racing. All I know right now is that the front row will be Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Rossi. Spaniard Pedrosa scorched the Brickyard track on his Repsol Honda with a pole position record breaking run of 1:39.730. Indy is the closest thing to home for the Kentucky Kid Nicky Hayden and he has turned in his best effort on the factory Marlboro Ducati qualifying sixth while temp rider Mika Kallio crashed in qualifying and took a fifteenth spot. This is good news for Nicky as he has struggled all year on the Desmo and needs some good shows to keep that ride for 2010. But, if it ends up that he is forced from Ducati it is looking like the Rizla Suzuki bikes may be open. It will be interesting to see who ends up where next year. It is time to get moving and drive to Indy. Speed, spills, and thrills await!
Well, it has been a couple weeks since the race was ran and we had a great time. We had tickets in the first turn but only stayed there for the 250cc race. For the 125cc race we met up with friend of the show Dan Lo from CornerSpeedPhoto Below is a pic of me and Dan outside turn 2. You can tell that neither me or my son are photographers.
Me and Dan Lo outside Turn 2 at Indy MotoGP 2009
We walked around the track and ended up on the hill outside of turn 10 for the Premier class. From this vantage point you can see the pack leave turn 9 and motor down the back stretch. From there you have an open view of them braking for turn 10 and running through the 180 turn 11. Throttling out of 11 we could see them pick up speed for turns 12 and 13 where they dropped behind a rise in the track and we could get a glimpse of the bikes running through 14. 15 was out of sight but we could catch them as they motored out of the final turn and hit the front stretch headed for home.
We saw some pretty good racing early on but the race was pretty much over after both front runners Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda and Valentino Rossi on the Fiat Yamaha crashed out on the front side of the circuit. From there, Rossi’s teammate at Yamaha, Jorge Lorenzo pretty much only needed to stay on the motorcycle to ride to the win. The only excitement after that point was the battle for the final spot on the podium. Second place Alex DeAngelis ran a good race and slowly pulled away from Nicky Hayden leaving Nicky to battle off Andres Dovizioso for third. This was a favorable podium as Indy is considered Hayden’s hometown track. Track attendance was estimated at 76,000+ spectators so motorcycle racing is definitely welcome in Indiana.
Get your tickets for the 2011 Indianapolis Red Bull MotoGP now. Indianapolis puts on a great show and you won’t be sorry.
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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.
We left off last time after we had taken the training required to work the race. Then all we had to do was wait for the race. I did forget to mention one thing about the training day in the last post and that was where we were issued our jumpsuit that we would be wearing during the 3 days in September. We got full coverall jumpsuits that we wore and we were also required to provide our own gloves. The funny thing that we observed was that the jumpsuit had elastic cuffs on both the wrist and ankle area. It was understood that there was some safety reason for this but could not imagine how we were going to survive the heat of early September in Indiana. The firefighters let us ABATE guys, and gals, know that the normal suits they were required to wear during Indy and the Brickyard were much worse. I can’t imagine.
Anyway, September 14th came and ABATE of Indiana was well represented. Besides the sixteen that were working corners, we provided further personnel to “man” some other responsibilities. During the festivities in the downtown area and around the track ABATE was ready to provide transportation to anyone who had been drinking. The person was provided a ride after their motorcycle was loaded onto a trailer. This was a free benefit as the idea was to protect the race and motorcycling community from bad publicity. ABATE personnel also manned motorcycle parking on the backstretch of the Speedway. Perhaps the biggest hit with the crowd though were the gear check stations. Different locations around the track were provided for riders to check in their riding gear so they did not have to carry it around. How many rides have you been on where this would have been a welcome benefit? I can think of quite a few.
Anyway, working the corners was a great experience. We arrived at the track around 6 to 6:30 every morning and made our way to our assigned areas. I was in turn 11A which was in the 180 just off the backstretch. I saw some great racing from this vantage point. This turn is situated just behind the main bleachers on the inside of the front stretch. We had alot of fans standing behind us as you could walk around in this area and it provided a great vantage point. Many photographers stationed themselves along the fence to get that perfect shot of the riders coming off the backstretch out of turn 10 and barreling towards us in 11A and followed them through 11B. Turns 10 and 11B saw action as they had many riders leave the track in their areas but 11A had a pretty uneventful weekend.
If any of you watched the practice and the race, you know what type of weekend we had. It was a rainy mess. If you have ever participated in a motorcycle safety class you were taught that you slow down and reduce your lean angles on wet pavement. Somebody forgot to tell these guys! I was amazed at the speeds and lean angles even in pouring rain at times. True professionals with truly great equipment. The rain tires stuck perfectly and they put on a show. Race day was the worst weather day of the weekend and caused the MotoGP race to run with fewer laps than normal. Nicky Hayden on the Repsol Honda was putting on a show while being chased by Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner. You could sit back and watch Rossi slowly reel the Kentucky Kid in and a small mistake by Hayden allowed Rossi to pass and run away with the win. What a great weekend.
Hopefully the 2009 show will see better weather. On race day the wind got so bad that the Yamaha tent blew over and injured some shoppers browsing inside. We hope that everyone recovered and returns for the show this year. When you park your bike or check your gear this year, thank that person working because they have volunteered to make your MotoGP experience in Indy a great one.
**I apologize for this post being so late. This week was filled with visits to my Mom in the hospital and the death of my wife’s grandmother. We are back on track now and hope to stay that way. Thank you for your support.
This post will take us back to mid September 2008. I was going to write this then but I was still frustrated over my inability to navigate the roads that lead to podcast creation and I just did not get the job done. I have wanted all along to cover this event and share it with you and even though there is alot to do with the blog and podcast move I have some idle time on my hands today as I am sitting in the hospital while my mother has back surgery. She won’t be out for the next 3 to 4 hours so I will take this opportunity to bring this post to you.
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.
