A couple of weeks ago I wrote a story about bike builder friends in Arizona that had a disastrous fire at their shop…everything was lost…except their spirit. Kelly and Jason are wonderful people and have a great circle of friends. This group of riding friends are circling the wagons to help rebuild Hellcat Customs.

Poker runs are generally really fun…you get to ride with like minded people for a good cause, a little competition…hey wait…the next million dollar idea here…have SpeedTV do a series on competitive Poker Runs!!! Yeah, that’s the ticket…travel around the country, do poker runs, make money, meet people…nah, it’ll never work…we’d all get stuck in Laughlin, Nevada and forget what day it is and where we’re supposed to be…and Speed wouldn’t do it anyway because it’s not NASCRAP…I mean NASCAR…oh well, it was a good thought.

Anyway…if you live somewhere in the Southwest United States or you live in the ‘Frozen North’ United States and need to escape…I have a ride for you. If you can’t make the ride…which is probably going to be much more fun than going to the mall Christmas shopping…you can help Jason and Kelly here…http://motorcycletravelamerica.com/page.php?id=152

Christmas is the time for giving, so instead of buying Sarah Palin’s new book help rebuild a custom bike business…however, I do reccommend Biker Billy’s Cook books…wait…that might be a bit insensitive at this time??

The ground shakes almost to the point of having to hold onto something, your heart pounds as the sound vibration goes through you and even wearing earplugs doesn’t deaden the decibel level that much. Welcome to NHRA Drag Racing.

I decided to go out to Pomona for the season Finale of the NHRA / Full Throttle drag races because, well, hey…we are called The Moto..WORLD…and I figured I need to get away from just focusing on road racing don’t you think? I lined up a couple of interviews for our podcast, set up some video cast time with a friend on another website, loaded up my ‘studio in a bag’ and off to the drags I went. Oh yeah…Southern California traffic…at the Pomona Drag Strip, 1/4 mile takes a few seconds…on the 210 Freeway that 1/4 mile takes about a day and a half. Maybe I’ll get there before dark.

I go to motorcycle races all the time, usually they are two to three day events and the first day is generally just racers going through practice and qualifying and if there are fans there, it’s because they’re collecting unemployment and have nothing better to do or they’re part of the media…wait, they’re one and the same…Not so with drag racing. I arrived at Pomona Raceway to a full parking lot, stands packed and people walking the pits and vendors row like it was main event day. All I could think was this is very cool, and…it’s only Thursday!!! What is Sunday going to be like?

At most big time motorcycle races you need to buy a pit pass (or trade one back and forth with your friends) to get anywhere near the race bikes…actually seeing the racers is a rare added bonus. Here at the drags, your ticket in put’s you within touching distance of 300 MPH cars, 200 MPH motorcycles and the pilots of these machines. No wonder the fans love it. I was caught up in the whole atmosphere the minute I walked in.

As I walked around looking for my friends, my neck and my camera were getting a serious work out, so much to see and hear. Everytime a dragster was being fired up a crowd would gather, everybody putting their hands over their ears and holding their nose. If you have never been six feet away from the exhaust pipes of a Nitro Methane fuel burning, 7000HP…yes, I said ‘Seven Thousand’… horsepower motor… well, you just haven’t lived…and, now your sinuses are cleared for life.

After wandering, I found the Harley Davidson Screaming Eagle pits but my friends were nowhere to be found…I was a little late…remember LA traffic??…well, I made the best of it and spoke with racer Andrew Hines, son of Vance and Hines performance parts co-founder Byron Hines. The Hines family has quite a history in drag racing. Byron and partner Terry Vance won many National Championships, Byron’s older son Matt won more and now young Andrew is keeping the family dynasty alive. We had a great visit with promises to get the whole family together for a podcast interview.

I couldn’t wait any longer, I had to go over to the track. Ok, it’s only a quarter mile of asphalt…big deal?? Well, yeah it is. I got there in time for Pro Stock Qualifying, Alcohol Qualifying ( by the length of the lines at the Budweiser stands, I think most of the race fans qualified) and the reason I was there…Pro Stock Motorcycles. Walking through the staging lane at Pomona reminded me of the time I had Deja Vu’…Hmmmm…Ive been here before…but last time it was on salt not asphalt. It seems to me that the choice of motorcycle to go fast in a straight line whether it’s the quarter mile or a flying mile, comes down to two…a big Harley or a big Suzuki. I got a chance to speak with pilots of both and the feeling is the same for both…it’s the adrenaline rush baby.

Being a racer, I know the adrenaline rush…you spend days or weeks preparing for a race…the bike, your body, your mind…all you want to do is be on the track. Racing is what you live and breath for, your significant other either embraces it…(read, finances it…), accepts it…(how much was that part??!!) or maybe just tolerates it …(Ok fine go racing just don’t get hurt…) but it’s in our blood and it doesn’t go away. While standing in the staging lane and on the starting line, my heart started racing, my brain was focused and I could feel my clutch hand twitching. God I love racing.

I got news this morning that friends I have not met, Jason and Kelly of HellCat Customs in Mesa Arizona had a disastrous fire yesterday at their shop. As Jason put it, ten years worth of work gone in minutes. The good news is that the only human casualty is Jason got some singed hair.
My friend Rob Dale of Bikers Church has set up a donation program through his site www.robdale.ca
Kelly and Jason have a great custom bike building biz and a wonderful family, they could use everyone’s help and prayers as they rebuild Hellcat Customs.

Every now and then everyone needs our help, if you are part of the biker community, this is the time to step up and help. www.hellcatcustoms.com

I have spent the vast majority of my life on two wheels. From riding a Schwinn Stingray to school, throwing newspapers onto porches pedaling that same Stingray…well…sometimes the paper ended up on the roof or in the shrubs…”sorry Mrs Cleaver…”. I wish I still had that Stingray…do you know much that would be worth on eBay right now??!!

My first experience on two wheels and not having to power it myself was when my dad came home from Vietnam in 1966. What were the first things he did…buy a new car and a motorcycle. The car; 1966 Chevy Impala SS, the bike; a brand new Honda CB160. Looking back I wonder…why did he buy a big Chevy with a really big motor, I think it was the either the 396 or the 427 and then buy a ‘little’ motorcycle? If you’re goin’ big, go BIG…he could have gotten a Triumph, BSA or a Harley…in the words of the late John Belushi…”Butt Noooooooo” he had to buy a little Honda.??!!

I was fourteen years old and I was spending a few days with my dad when he took me on my first driving lesson out at the Marine Corps base…I didn’t get to drive the Chevy, I drove my step moms VW…oh well, you’ve got to start somewhere. But then…but then… it was “you want to ride the Honda?”… “gee dad, let me think about this a while, YEAH!!!” I may have called that Honda 160 ‘little’ but when you’re fourteen, sitting on that bike was better than kissing the prettiest girl in school. And what did I do??…I promptly rode into the rear bumper of my dad’s new Impala…and that begs the joke..” I Impaled the Impala”…sorry dad. A rather auspicious start to a long motorcycle career don’t you think?

I was fourteen years old when I started riding motorcycles, started racing at sixteen and you know what I’ve learned of late? I was a late bloomer.

In my job as a Moto Journalist I have had the opportunity to interview and spend time with every type of rider. Racers, travelers, industry types, photographers and everyday riders…it’s a great job. There is always one common denominator, the love of riding a motorcycle, it just feels natural to us. But, where does that love come from? Usually it’s dad, an uncle or a big brother…sometimes all three and occasionally it’s a friend. Most women I have talked with got the bug from a boyfriend or husband…they got tired of looking at the back of his helmet or, probably more often, thinking they can ride ride better than him.

I spent last weekend at the AMA Grand National Flat Track races in Pomona, California doin’ my job…talkin’ to racers. I usually don’t spend too much time on race reports, I like to get to know the racer and the question I ask of every one I talk with is…”how old were you when you started riding motorcycles?”. On the way home from the race, I was mentally editing the interview’s and one common thread came through…nearly all of the riders I spoke with started riding very young.

Somewhere between Pasadena and Fillmore I started reviewing all my roadracing interviews and I came up with the same thread. I worked through my interviews…MotoGP, World Superbike, AMA Superbike, AMA Flat Track, Motocross and here is what I found, most of these champion racers were barely out of diapers when they started riding and racing. Take a guess, how old to you think most of these guys were when they first threw a leg over a motorcycle? If you said ‘four’, you win the prize… that’s right, four years old. At four years old pretty much all they could spell was PW50 or JR50 which, were the two most common bikes all these racers started on.

So what have I learned from all this research? I was a racer of no renown because I started ten years too late and that I’m going to have get my new grandson a PW50 in four years.

I have never been a chopper kind of guy,I didn’t have the look when I was younger and I certainly don’t now..but, yes,I do have a tattoo… that probably wouldn’t let me into the ‘chopper club’ though would it?

In the early ‘70’s a good friend of mine built a a very nicely done chopped Honda 350…yes I did say Honda 350…hey, he did a good job and rode it all over California.

I was much more into the Cafe’ Racer style…I can blame my stepfather for that. Over the years I have built a couple of Cafe’ Racers…or Cafe’ styled bikes. My first was a ‘69 BSA Lightning 650, then next was a ‘72 Kawasaki H2750. Drop the handlebars, get a bum-stop seat, a custom exhaust, maybe a small windscreen..modify the foot controls, better suspension, some grippy tyres and you’ve got a Cafe’ Racer…well, maybe…

My good friend Erik of www.ilovecaferacers.com and I have a contest going on, we’re both building Honda 350 Cafe’ Racers…the contest is to see who can get the bike done first and then put it to a vote as to whose is a real Cafe’ Racer. I have feeling he’ll win the contest…but I’m sure I’ll like mine a lot better.

While working on my plan for the little 350 I decided to broaden my bike building horizons and I have come up with a great idea..a ‘Cafe’Bobber’. The concepts are the same, strip the bike down to it’s bare essence…lighter, faster and better (?) looking…remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As I searched for inspiration I realized that I was right on…different views to a similar end. A strong engine, a gas tank, seat, throttle and down the road you go. I might want to consider upgrading the brakes..nah, they’re good enough.

As I look at these pictures, I think my little Honda will become the first SL350 “Cafe Bobber’. This winter project is getting more fun by the day. Now, let’s see where’s my cutting torch???

I’ve been around motorcycle racing for far too many years than I care to admit sometimes. From desert racing as a teenager to showing my AARP card while signing up for a roadrace. When you love racing, it stays with you for life.

Over the years I have learned that motorcycle racing, no matter what the form, is a community. We all help each other..” I need a clutch lever for a Bultaco Pursang..anybody have one?” …someone shows up in about five minutes with it. Over the PA system comes “rider number 112 needs a clutch pulling tool for a GSX-R750..if you can help he’s behind the garages in a green Dodge truck”…five minutes later, you got a tool. Racers are good people.

The generosity of racers towards one another is a beautiful thing, but I think there is something that binds us together even more closely. No, it’s not the risks of racing, it’s not the kind of bike we ride or the type of racing we do and it’s not sharing tools and parts…it’s our pit bike.

Yes, the lowly pit bike. Never washed except when it’s left outside and it rains…at the track it’s always left laying on it’s side outside the trailer, hasn’t had new tyre’s since the Truman administration, the gas in the tank has been in there since your dad was a kid and it was his pit bike and when somebody asks you what it is, you say..”Uh..I don’t know”.

The late comedian Rodney Dangerfield epitomized the ’Pit Bike’…” I don’t get no respect”…but what would we racers do without our pit bikes? How would we go get new tyres mounted at the Dunlop truck? How would we go visit friends almost a half mile away in the desert?…and most importantly…how would we go get lunch???

So today, go out to your barn, garage, shed, under the plastic tarp…pick up your little pit bike and give it some love. Wash it, you might want to even think about checking the oil…we’re going to call Oct 22nd official pitbike appreciation day

Feelings… we all have them. No, this is not about getting in touch with my feminine side, or getting my feelings hurt when a woman didn’t like what I made for dinner, it is however about intimacy. The closeness we motorcyclists share with our bikes.

Currently I have a friend riding around the country over roads he has never ridden, weather conditions he has never experienced, towns he has never seen and people he has never met. The one constant is his motorcycle, the bike he has ridden for years and trusts completely. His journey is and will continue to be great.

The other day I was preparing to leave on a short trip up the California coast then over the Sierra’s and home through the desert, my idea of a perfect ride. I loaded up my relatively new to me BMW, donned my riding gear, pushed the button and….pushed the button…and…damn. Change of plans…change of ride.

Sitting in the corner of our barn is my Triumph Daytona, battery tender still attached. Take the blanket off, turn the key, hit the button and…the growl of the three cylinder motor fills the barn. “Baby..we’re goin’ for a ride!!” Change the luggage from the BMW hard bags to the old soft saddlebags..eliminate a few things…”let’s see, do I really need a rain suit?…uh yeah”…it went like that for a few minutes and packing was done. Set tyre pressures, check the oil and chain adjustment…it’s time to go.

Roll the Triumph out of the barn, kiss Heather goodbye, climb on the bike, hit the button, pull in the clutch, click into first gear and head out onto the road. I know this feeling. I have spent nearly 100 thousand miles on this bike, I know this feeling very, very well.

The feeling you have when you know something so well is so unique and so special it is hard to describe but it’s there. The feeling of each corner of your favorite road, the curves of your favorite wife…wait…better be your only wife…and the feeling you get when you ride a motorcycle that you have traveled many, many miles on.

On this trip we rode familiar roads where everything just flowed, the lightest push on the handlebar moved my Daytona just where I wanted it to go, just the right amount of throttle and brake kept everything under control. On new roads my comfort on the bike made the ride easy and enjoyable. On our way home, knowing my motorcycle became more important than I could have imagined.

Highway 395 here in California is actually not a boring ride; mountains, lakes, valleys and deserts…if you have to ride up and down this state, 395 is a good ride. Normally. This time we encountered hurricane force winds that scared the bejeebers out of us. It was a very hard long ride home. For nearly three hundred miles it was a fight…me and my Triumph against the wind. We won.

Once home and completely beat, I started to think how grateful I was that I was riding my Triumph on this trip. Under the worst of conditions I was on the motorcycle I knew best. I know everything that bike will and won’t do. There were times I was truly scared of getting blown off the road, but knowing just how much input to give the bars, throttle and brakes because of the intimate connection I have with this motorcycle, I got home safe and sound…worn out, but home.

Have you ever thought about ‘divine intervention’? or whatever you might call something happening for a reason you can’t explain? Well, the thought came to me during the ride in the wind…I was planning on riding my BMW which we have only spent a couple thousand miles together, but it decided it didn’t want to go on this ride. So, I rode the Triumph instead. I honestly believe that because of my closeness with my Daytona I made it home without incident. If I had been on the BMW the trip may have ended differently.

Final thought for the day…The BMW didn’t want to risk itself being tossed on the ground, so it decided not to go. You know how I know this…it started just fine this morning. Who says motorcycles don’t have feelings?

We have all seen Star Wars more times than we would like to admit…hold up your hands…how many have seen it more than once? more than five times? have a Darth Vader costume ready for Halloween? The first step in recovery is admitting your problem, congratulations. Do remember the scene where Luke Skywalker is telling Yoda he’s not afraid then a very menacing Yoda says “You will be..You will be…” ?

In my over forty years and hundreds of thousands of miles of riding motorcycles, I have ridden in every condition imaginable and survived..inspite of some really stupid decisions. Rain doesn’t bother me,I have a rain suit; snow makes me wish I had warmer gear; nine million degree heat in the desert sends me looking for water…and ventilated riding gear; fog…well, fog makes me nervous…I can’t see all too well and drivers in cars can’t see me at all. I, like all of us, have had plenty of the “OH SH*T,…OH SH#T…OH SH^T…WHEW…saved that one moments, but I have never been afraid riding a motorcycle. Until yesterday.

I was on my home from a quick ride up the coast of California and back down through the desert…pretty normal for my friend Jeff and I. We came from Lake Tahoe over to Highway 395 above Walker, California. A very fun ride…if you have little regard for those signs that tell you how fast you can go…Nice weather, no traffic, great scenery…I think the yellow lines on the road at speed are great scenery, don’t you? A perfect start to a blast home.

A quick gas stop in Bridgeport…$4.09 a gallon for premium!!?? My Triumph and Jeff’s BMW have expensive tastes in petrol…those Europeans. After the gas stop our ride changed. A lot. From Bridgeport you head towards the Virginia Lakes and Conway Summit. The Conway Summit has a beautiful view of Mono Lake and one of the most fun sections of road along Highway 395 you’ll ever ride. Not today.

As we started up the summit the wind picked up. We have all ridden in windy conditions, headwinds wear you out and ruin your gas mileage, tailwinds help gas mileage and crosswinds…well, crosswinds make you ride at a funny angle and wear one side of your tyres out faster than the other. I had never experienced anything like the crosswinds we had that day. Coming down from the summit the gusts got so violent I was pushed across the road no matter how hard I tried to stay in my lane , or even the next lane, on coming traffic was getting way too close for comfort. Trying to navigate a long downhill right hand curve while you are being pushed across the road…not my idea of fun.

I made it to the bottom of the summit still on my side of the road, but the gusts were getting even more violent. At the bottom there is a sign saying “Subject To Strong Crosswinds”, all I could think of to say was “no sh*t”…attached to the sign is a bright orange windsock standing not just straight out but almost pointing upwards as well. I had slowed my speed down to about fifteen miles per hour for fear of losing control of my motorcycle. I was riding on the shoulder of the road trying to stay out of traffic’s way, while still getting blown all around. The gusts would hit so hard it felt like the handlebars were being ripped out of my hands. It got so bad I finally pulled off the road and stopped out of sheer fear.

After checking to see if I needed to change my underwear, telling my motorcycle how much I loved her and doing some serious praying, I continued on…albeit at a much slower pace. Jeff and I met up in the town of Lee Vining. These were hurricane velocity winds, eighty to one hundred miles per hour. We debated on whether to keep going or maybe wait it out, we both wanted to get home and we figured it had to ease up somewhere. We got a couple of breaks along the way but for nearly three hundred miles along the Sierra Mountains and the Mojave Desert we fought crosswinds like we had never experienced before. Even the strongest winds while racing at Willow Springs were mere breezes compared to this.

The last fifty miles home were thankfully wind free, but we were so beat up from the days ride it was hard to hang on to the handlebars. Every muscle in my body hurt, even my fanny hurt from being puckered up for hours. All I wanted to do was get home and sit in the hot tub.

For the first time ever I was actually afraid riding a motorcycle. I spent all the hours telling my trusty Triumph that between the two of us we would get home just fine and praying heavily. Both things worked and we arrived home safe and sound. My motorcycle and my faith in God never left me. Maybe a little riding skill and a whole lotta luck played a small part as well.

I wrote an article a while back titled, ‘The Parade Mentality’ it was about a group of riders riding two by two, side by side slowly down the road holding up traffic. The riders finally pulled off the road to the delight of the mile long stretch of motorcycles, cars and motorhomes behind them. Think about how embarassing it must be know that on a motorcycle, you’re holding up a motorhome??!! Anyway, this version of ‘The Parade Mentality’ is a bit different. Sadly.

A good friend of mine, Steve McQueen ..not the dead one but the very alive one, is a Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor(www.motorcyclenationpodcast.com) and a rider with years of experience. He can teach you much. One thing that all motorcyclists should know, either from being told by ridinig friends, reading your DMV test booklet or taking the MSF course from my friend Steve( or his counterparts, wherever you may live), is how to ride in groups.

Steve teaches basic riding skills and, working with other organizations, more advanced skills. One of the advanced skills is how to ride in groups. The group may only be three or four riders, it may twenty or more but the same basic rules and skiills apply. Riders are taught to ride in a staggered formation, never side by side nor too close together. And there is a good reason why.

Here is what happens when ‘The Parade Mentality’ gets in the way of safe and common sense riding. A dozen riders off to the hospital, some with serious injuries, a major interstate closed down for hours and all because one or two riders couldn’t stop fast enough..hit the cars ahead of them and the rest of ‘The Parade’ ran into them…instead of being cool, how about being smart.

What is a ‘Biker’? A good and sometimes confusing question. Is a ‘biker’ a Harley rider with a leather vest and a pudding pot helmet, or is it someone who simply rides a motorcycle?

The other evening, over green chile crab enchiladas and cold beers my friend Rob Dale from Canada and I pondered the question. Rob is spending a month riding around the US visiting friends and taking in the sights. Rob is Senior Pastor at the Bikers Church in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and by his own description, a ‘biker’. Rob does ride a Harley, and yeah he wears a leather vest and a pudding pot helmet, but his description of a biker is quite different than what most people would think.

When I told someone once that I rode motorcycles, the first comment was “So, you’re a biker,” followed by the question, “Do you have a Harley?” My response to both was “No, I do ride motorcycles but I’m not a ‘biker’ and no, I don’t own a Harley, I ride a Honda.” I remember the look on the person’s face as almost disappointment.

Back to the question of what is a biker? Most of us equate ‘biker’ with the Marlon Brando character in the ‘Wild One’, or Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in ‘Easy Rider’, the guy…or gal, that rides past you on a very loud Harley Davidson scaring the bejeebers out of you. Big boots, lots of leather, tattoos and attitude…that’s a biker. Well, maybe not.

Years back, I was riding a little Triumph Daytona 500 up in the Los Padres National Forrest and wouldn’t you know it, just as I was about ready to turn around and head home..it quit. English hunk o’ junk. There I was on the side of the road with a dead bike, wonderful, just freakin’ wonderful. Now this was in the days before cell phones; hell…this was still in the days of rotary dial phones..so I am stranded. Then the road started to rumble.

Earthquake? Well, sort of… a group of riders heading up the road on big bikes and wearing jackets that I recognized from a rather well known and not necessarily well liked motorcycle club. A few went by then a couple stopped a ways ahead of me and then a few more and I was surrounded. As you can imagine, I was a little more than nervous. One rather large guy came up and asked if I was Ok and what was the problem? I wasn’t sure of the problem. Another equally large guy came up and said he worked on Triumph. To make a long story short, within about twenty minutes my little Triumph was running great, I mean better than it had for a long time. After thank you’s were said and well wishes for a good ride the ‘bikers’ headed on and I headed home.

Rob and I talked about ‘bikers’ for quite a while. He called me a ‘biker.’ Me? I ride an old BMW, a kind of old Triumph and a little old Honda 350. Marlon Brando or Peter Fonda I’m not. I’m not even Rob..but in his eyes, I’m a biker. But why? Well, we came to the conclusion that the motorcycling community is a big family if you want it to be. I was helped on the side of the road by motorcyclists I didn’t know. I invited a fellow rider I didn’t really know into my home for the night. Riders often wave at each other on the road and non riders ask why? My answer is, well, we’re a small part of society and we have a unique bond.

So, if waving at each other on the road, helping some poor guy stuck on the side of the road or inviting a fellow rider over for supper makes me or you a ‘biker’..I’m proud to be a ‘biker’.

Thanks Rob