What does your appearance say to others?
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. We express our personality and lifestyle through what we wear. What we wear affects how we feel and how other people respond to us. These are some of the basic principles that form the foundation of the fashion industry today.
Now, where on earth am I going with this?
Last week we talked a bit about track day experiences. To participate in a motorcycle track day, you need a fair amount of the appropriate safety gear to wear. You may also remember from my first blog entry back in February this year I am a former motorcycle road racer, so I understand the function of this safety gear from many on-track experiences. An age-old motorcyclist adage is it’s not a matter of if you will ever fall off your bike, but when.
Jarrod, our other blogger here at redbullindianapolisgp.com, shared with you his recent encounter with a local “cruiser” on an all-white GSX-R motorcycle. The fact this guy was wearing a helmet is pretty rare around the Indianapolis area. The typical route of Broad Ripple, Monument Circle and the Greenwood Shell station can be a more treacherous route than all the hundreds of miles of twisty, curvy roads in southern Indiana.
The typical “dress” or attire you see many local motorcycle cruisers wearing usually consists of blue jeans, T-shirt and tennis shoes. Many times you’ll see a perfectly good full face helmet strapped to the back of the bike, protecting the seat; but little use to the rider’s most vulnerable appendage, his head.
Whenever I swing a leg over any one of my motorcycles, I always take the few extra moments and put on all my safety gear, regardless of the length of the ride. I was running some errands today and was particularly aware of the supportive comments I received from a bank teller, the lady at the post office and a guy at a gas station about the appearance I made to them as a motorcyclist fully dressed to impress.
It’s actually kind of funny how observant a non-motorcyclist can be of the importance of wearing the right gear and the impression this makes to others. I also know that Jarrod understands this concept, as I’ve never seen him riding around without the right gear on. Now evidently he feels differently about ATVs down on the farm!
Motorcycling is inherently a dangerous form of conveyance, but using the right gear could ultimately give you a second chance at many more experiences.
See you all next week at redbullindianapolisgp.com.
Greg
Life in the fast lane
NEWS FLASH! Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) executive wins local motorcycle track day event! Riding his Suzuki GSXR 600, Mel Harder sweeps the expert class at Putnum Park Road Course.
Now how’s that for a motorsports news line! Actually, there is a very large contingent of weekend warriors who participate in a wide variety of motorsport events all over the state of Indiana every weekend. If you remember back in January of this year, The Experience participated in a celebration of racing in Indiana hosted by IMS at the Indiana State Museum, “Racing in Indiana: Gathering Before the Green Flag.”
This past weekend, the Northeast Sportbike Association (NESBA) hosted a motorcycle track day at Putnum Park Road Course in Mount Meridian, Ind. This type of event is an opportunity to explore the capabilities of a sport bike in a controlled, non-competitive environment and experience the thrill of speed.
“Power without precision is pointless.“
“Speed without skill? Scary.”
“Riding wild instead of wise? Worthless or worse.”
The charter of NESBA and many other track day organizations around the world is to offer an opportunity for sport bikers to ride to their fullest potential without the limitations, distractions and hazards of the street. They believe riders can and should do both in a structured environment, free from the free-for-all mentality of the street or the dogfight mentality of racing. NESBA offers track days across the United States providing helpful instruction and safe, structured track time for motorcycle riders at all levels of skill.
Mel Harder, senior VP of Operations at IMS, is one of several motorcycle enthusiasts at the Speedway that also includes fellow Red Bull Indianapolis GP blogger Jarrod Krisiloff. Like many of us, Mel occasionally feels “the need for speed,” and an organization like NESBA offers a safe and controlled environment to satisfy these primordial urges.
After a full day of running laps at the road course, Mel ended a very successful and satisfying experience of speed, dropping his lap times into a very respectable realm for a weekend warrior.
Maybe sometime in the future we can get Jarrod out to a track day with his new Triumph Scrambler to experience this thrill of speed.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com.
Greg
Motorcycles level the playing field
It’s pretty amazing the people you meet in the world of motorcycle enthusiasts. When you’re with a group of riders enjoying a beautiful day, who you are outside this circle of friends becomes almost irrelevant to the sharing of common motorcycle experiences.
What has become a bit of a tradition on a sunny Saturday morning is a trip up to Ducati Indianapolis to enjoy a good stiff shot of espresso and hang out with a great group of true motorcycle enthusiasts. If the shop gets busy, I’ve been known to help out with a demo ride or help a customer select one of the many choices of accessories available in the store.
This past Saturday, I ended up assisting Travis, parts & accessories manager at Ducati Indianapolis, in selecting a proper fitting set of street leathers for a customer who recently took delivery of a new Ducati 1098 motorcycle. As you may have noticed over the course of this blog, I am a stickler for wearing full safety gear whenever I ride, so helping a fellow enthusiast pick out the perfect-fitting set of leathers and safety equipment was a no-brainer for me.
This avid motorcycle enthusiast turned out to be Nick Harper, who played for the Indianapolis Colts from January 2001 through their Super Bowl-winning 2006 season. During the course of helping Nick settle into a great set of Ducati street leathers and selecting a good back protector, we compared notes on our Ducati 1098 models we both ride. Nick is an avid motorcycle enthusiast who has enjoyed riding since he was a kid, and he related his son’s enthusiasm and anticipation of getting his first bike.
Meeting Nick Harper was a great honor for me last Saturday afternoon, but sharing our common experiences as motorcycle enthusiasts was an even greater pleasure for me. Professionally, we may work on very different fields, but when it comes to bikes, we are definitely on the same playing field with many common experiences to share and talk about.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com
Greg
Not all Mondays are blue
After all my confessions last week about my fair-weather riding tendencies, central Indiana was finally blessed with a beautiful spring weekend. The mornings were still crisp, but that ideal 50-degree point was quickly surpassed, giving forth to a couple ideal spring riding days.
After such a glorious weekend, Mondays can really be a major drag, especially when the forecast is a continuation of the first bright spring weekend of the season.
Not so on this particular Monday!
April 7, 2008 marked the first major track event of the upcoming Red Bull Indianapolis GP with the first motorcycle laps on the new 2.620-mile, 16-turn road course at the Brickyard. Nicky Hayden, the 2006 MotoGP world champion from Owensboro, Ky., piloted a recently restored bright red 1908 Indian around the new course, complete with vintage racing regalia, at a blistering speed of 45 mph. This amazing piece of racing machinery made its first laps around the original Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 14, 1909. Check it out here.
Shortly after this first historic lap, Nicky jumped into a telephone booth and emerged 100 years later in modern day motorcycle racing gear, trading the 1908 Indian for a 2008 Honda CBR1000RR roadracing machine sporting special livery for this event. The ensuing laps were a bit quicker on this World Superbike spec machine. Nicky put on a spectacular show for hundreds of enthusiasts who gathered around the south end of the facility by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.
After Nicky’s series of hot laps around the new course, a small group of guests were afforded the opportunity to experience their own lap of the new Brickyard road course. Since red seemed to be the color of the day, my ’06 Ducati 999R Xerox seemed the logical choice for my first lap of the new course. Jarrod, my co-blogger here at redbullindianapolisgp.com, myself and 30 or so other lucky guests took a leisurely lap behind a pair of our city’s finest from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department motorcycle division.
Unfortunately, all good dreams have to come to an end, and now Tuesday feels more like Monday. But oh, what an experience to remember.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com
Greg