Freedom

The holiday week is almost upon us!  Hurry up, Week, we are ready to set off some fireworks!

Among all the activity, it is easy to lose the focus of why we have the 4th of July to celebrate.  Independence Day.  The ability to enjoy our freedom, which in many cases is expressed in our opportunity to ride our machines.  Freedom of the road, the dirt, the water.

Yet, in many cases, our freedoms to do just that is under constant assault.  There are many who would like to have us off the road, off the dirt, off the water.  That premise always seems odd to me as the very people who berate our freedoms to enjoy our machines still drive, eat, and spew out crap.

Plus, it seems that our politicians also seem to have targeted what any blog is about; free speech.  Or, now many of the laws that allow snooping into our calls, our mail, our email, and activities on the internet. How is it our elected representatives vote for these laws?  Don't believe us?  We recently received a letter saying that our phone calls were listened to by a government agency.  For what reason, we don't know.  Even that is somewhat frightening.  Vote accordingly and write to express your views on legislation.

On this holiday of freedom, we encourage you to remember the fundamentals of existence of the United States.  We have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights to protect now.  We have our rights to access to protect.  
That requires involvement and even some money for groups like the AMA, Blue Ribbon Coalition, WOHVA, and other riding groups.  So, maybe this holiday weekend, send a group a few bucks instead of blowing up another bottle rocket.

Have a great one.

KTM Party

KTM knows how to throw a party...well, at least for a motorcycle enthusiast.  They roll out their line up of bikes and let us loose on a national track.  Not only that, they have their team riders and managers checking us through to enter the track.  I'm sure the pro riders had plenty of laughs as many of us ran around the track.

Then, laughing no more, they jumped on bone stock bikes and proceeded to shred the track.  All we could do is look on in appreciation of how it can be done and how we mortals are just that, mortals. Plus, in a cool event that combined the pros, some dealership folks, and KTM employees, they held a team relay race.  The start looked like a national moto! The pros, folks like Ryan Dungey, Mike Brown, Marvin Musquin, and Ken Roczen, blew out of the whole in a serious lap!

Still, you can't take the smile off our faces after riding all day and lying all evening about how fast we were.

Idle

I'd like to slug whoever said "idle hands are the devils playmate."  What does "idle" mean in that statement?

Idle to me is something smooth.  It means my machine is purring like a fat cat being petted, a subtle sound that all is good in the motor world.

It's okay to have idle hands, at least in the sense that you are not having to put in a ton of work when you have some time off.  There's times where my hands hurt more from gardening than a good ride.  It is acceptable to be idle if that means you are doing something you want to.  It's all in how you defend "doing nothing."

Wishing

Do you ever wish for an escape?  A "get me out of here" moment?

No, not a "I'll just stay home and putter" escape, but a real, I can't clean, do chores, weed the yard, nope, nada, type of an event.

Every now and then, those moments come up.  I'm outta here.  I'm going to get on a machine and take a ride.  No where in particular is one objective.  Or, perhaps a lot of laps on the track.  New places, new faces.

One ride day is coming up and I'm going to get to it.  Lots of laps in this case.  It will be more a test for the body, as my mind is willing but my training is weak!  If there is trouble with the ride day, the problem is its too short.  (Said now when a bowl full of Aleve is likely to be required after.)  I am wishing for that escape that lasts awhile.  I'm sure most all of us wish for that.

Let's all throw a penny in the fountain for that wish.

The Sure Thing

It's a sure thing!  Heard that before?  You can't lose on this stock investment! It's perfect! We have the best deals ever!  Many claims, few real results.

We just went through a sure thing with an airline ticket.  Less money for the ticket if can wait until the last minute to see if you can get a seat. (known as stand by to many weary travelers)  It was a sure thing on the flight out.  No problems.  But then, on the day of the flight back, unfortunate reality set in.  The flights were oversold.  One full flight begat the next full flight.  Before you know it, the day was slipping away.  And, honestly, an airport isn't hell to hang out in, but you can see hell from the airline gate.

Fortunately, a flight late in the evening was found, and one tired traveler got home.

What, you may ask, does this have to do with a motorcycle or ATV?  Good question.  How many times have you seen a price in the paper or one of the "trader" publications that just beats the pants off of every other dealer's price? Or, some website screams of the best deal ever?  It's kind of like the standby airline ticket to me.  You only know at the last minute.

Is it worth it to drive an extra distance to possibly save some money?  We've certainly heard where the opposite has occurred.  It also depends what your time is worth.  Does a mail order deal really turn out to be the best purchase when the item is wrong, doesn't fit, or is defective?  What does the time to ship things back cost you?  How does that compare to the service of someone right in front of you, or their reputation of excellent customer service and consistently good prices?  Like the standby ticket, is the wait worth it?

Brapppp.

During the course of the day, we see a lot of kids.  Little guys and gals who come in, see a motorcycle or ATV, and immediately start making engine noises.  Barrumm, Brappp!  The looks on their faces are great.  Big saucers for eyes, huge smiles.  "Daddy, daddy, look at the motorcycles!  Brappp! This one fits me!"

It's great to see the future riders.  Some get a chance to start now, some later.  Or, some of the "big" kids, the adults who have waited a bit, start when they get a chance.  After all, there is typically some kid in all of us.  There's some sheer joy in taking a look at the machines, the sparkle, the BRAAP!

We hope you never lose that feeling.

Gas cloud

It was an exciting start to the day with an emergency; a local company had a release of apparently toxic gas. (No, it was not from a bad experience at a Mexican food restaurant.)  The authorities recommended people evacuate a several mile radius!  Roads were closed, even to the point of local police and sheriffs standing point in our parking lot.

This brings to mind the concept of getting out of Dodge.  If the roads are closed, the house not immediately available, I had to think about what bike I would hop on to do a cross country run.  First thought, Yamaha Super Tenere or KTM Adventure.

Of course, the gas from the plant dissipated, the emergency lifted, and things are back to whatever is perceived as normal.  But, the thought of taking off cross country remains!

Fathers Day is rapidly approaching.  The day is a contrast to Mothers Day, as I think most of the husbands and sons are not as good in planning as the wives and daughters.  Proof you say?!  Just go to Walmart on Mothers Day weekend and Fathers Day weekend and go to the card section.  That section is jammed with guys on Mothers Day.  Much more empty on Fathers Day.

Honestly, though, cards are an after thought anyway.  I'd much rather get a hug from my daughter and son than a foofy card.  It's much more fun to talk with them face to face, have a bite to eat, and enjoy why one is a father in the first place.

I no longer have the luxury to give a card to my Mother or Father.  All I can do is send them a thought.  If I had a gift to receive, it would be for extra time to ask them questions about them, about family, about life.  On Fathers Day, I'd ask my dad to go for a ride, or a walk, or maybe just have a couple of glasses of lemonade.  I'd probably get him to latest cool baseball cap, something from FMF, since he used to talk to Donny Emler years ago.  And then we would bench race, with me embellishing how fast I'm going these days.  Which is true, life is too fast,  and I'm going 100.

What are you going to do for Pop on Fathers Day?

Big City Costs

I recently heard someone say they wanted to shop in a big city.  "You can get a better deal in a city."  I'm not sure how that works out.  Ask someone who lives in a big city what the taxes are.  Sales tax is more, there are more fees, property taxes are higher, the cost of getting around is more.  In fact, almost everything with more population means it costs more to just be there.

There's something to say for being in a smaller community.  It just costs less for most everything.  And, usually takes less time. Like the commute that takes 2 hours in the city versus a nice drive down the road.  It's the same translation for what you can buy something like a motorcycle or atv for.  And, the fact that you can ride a street bike, dirt bike, ATV, Jet Ski, or Side by Side in just five minutes after you leave our doors.  Now, that is value!

Fabulous prizes!  Free gifts with every purchase!  Get an Ipad with purchase!

Wow.  These are advertising lines we see.  While that would be quite wonderful to do, it always pays to do some math.  As far as we know, gifts and giveaways are not really free.  It comes as part of the price one pays when they buy something.  Beyond that, did a giveaway improve your knowledge about the item you are purchasing?  Did you feel like you received great service during the transaction?

All we can suggest is that when something is offered for free, figure out what it cost on the bottom line of your purchase.

D-Day

Today is the anniversary of D-Day.  It's something that I cannot imagine.  Charging onto a beach or behind enemy lines under a constant barrage of fire.  The bravery of that moment, knowing that life is in the balance is something I can only honor, because only those brave soldiers are the ones who experienced it.  Thank you to them and all that serve.

In our own ways, we each have to balance that one moment, the one place in time, that we each live.  Depending on the situation, it sometimes takes bravery to just get up in the morning, to take on a problem, or live through an experience.  Then, there's also those good moments, the rush of a bike ride, when you throw a leg over your machine, or just plain have a smile on.  Or, for those brave survivors of D-Day, the fact that you lived through the day to tell about it.

June

June!  June?  The months move quickly when you look back.  Why, it was just February when I was thinking about that oil change.  No, make that March.  Note to self, buy oil and filter in April.  May, where is that note I wrote to myself?

June is a great month to ride.  Typically not too cold and not too hot.  Is your machine ready to go?