Never trade the thrills of living for the security of existence
I did not take the big drive to Columbus to see the Easyriders Motorcycle Show, but lucky for us, Nick went down and sent me some pictures. I really don’t get that interested in choppers, but I would have gone if it had been closer to home. Round trip I am looking at 6 or 7 hours of driving to go to that one, and I am not really interested enought to spend the time or the gas money to make the trip.
I have to say that Ride Ohio is a huge success! We have a great group of folks on the forum and I can honestly say it is my favorite forum on the interwebs!
If anyone out there has interest in starting a forum similar to this for the state they live in send me an email and I will set something up for you. In order for something like this to work you will need to have some good folks to act as moderators.
Recently many of the forums on the internet have been purchased by companies looking to make money off them. This really disturbs me because I do not feel the forum is actually owned by the administrator of the forum. The thing that makes these forums valuable is the information that is posted in them, and that information was posted and created by the users of the forum. If these forums are sold, it is the users that should profit from the sale.
If these companies continued to operate the forum the same as they had been operated I would have not problem with it, but they plaster the board with advertisements. I don’t mind a few banner advertisements if it supports the operation of the site, but these guys always go way overboard on the advertising and it becomes very distracting. Of course, their goal is no longer just to provide a forum, it is now to make a profit.
The most amazing thing about the internet to me is the fact that it gives a voice to most anyone who wants to speak up. For the first time in the history of free speech we all actually have the means to use this right. The idea of companies and corporations purchasing these forums puts us right back where we used to be, with corporations having control of our free speech.
This is always the first motorcycle related event of the year and it is something I always look forward to. It is usually my first chance to take a look at all the new models each year. There are always some customs mixed in as well as many historical bikes. All in all it is an excellent way to spend a cold winter day.
Above is one of the customs at the show. Now for me I would never really want to ride a bike like this, and I guess nobody really rides bikes like this. You do have to be impressed with it. It just sparkled like a diamond and the paint job was very complex and well done. Not really my cup of tea, but still an impressive motorcycle.
Here we are in the deepest, darkest bowels of winter.
This is the worst time of year for folks like us. Nothing really to do but watch the calendar and wait for summer to come back.
There is one point of light on the horizon: the Cleveland Cycle World International Motorcycle Show. This gives us a chance to at least go out and see some motorcycles.
This year there will be 19 manufacturers at the show: Aprilia, BMW, Buell, Ducati, Harley Davidson, Honda, Hyosung, Kawasaki, KTM, Kymco, Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta, Piaggio, Star, Suzuki, URAL, Vespa, Victory and Yamaha. If you ask me that list cheats a little bit. I don’t see Star and Yamaha as being different manufacturers, but why get picky about it?
There is a little something for everyone at the show no matter what you ride or what type of riding you do. I’ll be there so if you miss it you will feel bad when you see what a great time I had!
I got an email a few days ago from a guy who had crashed his V-Strom. He saw the story of my bike on the V-Strom forum, and contacted me because he wanted to buy my old bike.
I called Geico and found out that my old bike was sold at auction on January 3. In a way it makes me kind of sad that some unknown person has my old bike, but I just have to remind myself that it is just a motorcycle. It is crazy that you can get attached to something like a motorcycle. I hope whoever the new owner is can put it to good use. My worst nightmare is for the Orange County Chopper guys to get it and turn it into some kind of a stupid chopper.
