beatnikbiker.com

Gearing Up in Sturgis

Ronn — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:57:28 +0000

Just got this pic of downtown Sturgis which was taken at about 8:40 pm, CST, today.

As you can tell, there are already quite a few bikes there.

Looks like the party has already started, although I guess it doesn’t ‘officially’ begin until tomorrow.

This pic was taken by Lisa who is attending her first Sturgis Rally. She made the trip with her dad. They met just north of Odessa, TX at 6;00 am yesterday and started their journey by traveling about 600 miles or so to Burlington, CO where they spent the night. Then they were up and at it again early this morning before finally getting to Sturgis, or rather near there, where they set up camp around 6:00 pm today. Then they headed into town.

If you are headed that way, travel safe!

Pin-up Girl Artwork By David Uhl To Be Auctioned Off at Sturgis

Ronn — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:48:27 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Artwork to be Auctioned at Three Sturgis Rally Benefits

STURGIS, SD - Photojournalist-promoter Jeff Bartucci captured motorcycle artist David Uhl at work in Myrtle Beach 2008 just as his paint brush was “tickling” the legs of a pin-up model in a painting that pays tribute to legendary artist Gil Elvgren. A limited edition canvas print of “The Tickler” signed by the photographer and artist at work will be auctioned off during the First Annual Legends Celebrity Charity Ride at Sturgis 2008.

Two others will be auctioned during Top 50 Rally Park’s “Every Woman Counts” Charity Bike Ride (Aug. 7) and the Sturgis Kids & Chrome Benefit Dinner (Aug. 6.)

The completed painting by Uhl is part of a Vintage Pin-up Series that pays homage to the “American Pin-up Girls” illustrated by Elvgren in the mid 1930’s through 70’s. “The series is selling out within days after each new print is released,” said Uhl.
Bartucci has also donated a limited edition canvas image of bike builder Roger Bourget seated on his bike during opening ceremonies, and the singing of the American anthem last year at the 20th annual Florida Toys Run in Ft. Lauderdale. The image, titled “Goose Bumps” was captured by Bartucci just after Bourget turned to him and said, “Tell me this does not get to you.”

The two images are stand-outs for Bartucci, who shoots literally thousands of pictures at motorcycle events throughout the year. “Those were both very lucky shots, right there in the moment,” said Bartucci. “And the resulting canvas prints are unbelievably beautiful.

The Legends charity ride and auction will originate at high noon, Aug. 7 in the town of Deadwood, South Dakota and include a 50-mile ride to attend concerts at Buffalo Chip.

Legends Ride participants, including celebrities and industry icons will be entertained at Deadwood Tobacco Company and enjoy an exclusive appearance by the Playboy Playmates at The Silverado-Franklin Gaming Complex, followed by an escorted ride through the beautiful “Hills of Dakota.”

Food, drinks and two main stage concerts await them at the Legendary Buffalo Chip – featuring the red hot country duo, Sugarland and rock and roll hall of famers ZZ Top.

The charity event, presented by the legendary Buffalo Chip and sponsored by the City of Deadwood, has already raised over $30,000 for the Kids & Chrome Foundation, which in turn benefits the Children’s Home Society and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.

Tickets for the Legends Ride may be purchased for $150 online at Legends Ride or for $200 the day of the event. Participants will receive a souvenir gift pack which includes an official event T-shirt, poster and other sponsor items, plus food, drinks and concert admission.

The 3rd Annual Kids & Chrome Benefit during last year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally raised more than $100,000 and was an eclectic mix of fun, food and festivities. Kids & Chrome began as the brainchild of Jim Burgess and his partners at Black Hills Harley-Davidson and continues this year with the 2008 Kids & Chrome Benefit Dinner and Auction, Wednesday, Aug. 6 at the Spearfish Holiday Inn & Convention Center. Details and online dinner reservations can be found at http://www.kidsandchrome.com/.

This year, Top 50 Rally Park’s “Every Woman Counts” charity ride will benefit Brenda Fox, a motorcycle journalist and spokesperson for women in motorcycling.

Brenda has been battling breast cancer and rising medical bills. This year’s ride and charity auction proceeds will assist her in getting through this difficult time, allowing the industry to give back to the woman who has helped so many motorcycle builders and parts manufacturers.

The ride begins at Noon and promises to be an off-the-beaten-path adventure through the Black Hills region. Registration begins at 10 a.m. The cost is $15 per person. Take I90 exit 46 and follow the signs to Top 50 Rally Park. For details or to make a donation, visit http://womenmotorcyclist.com.

FOR MORE INFO CONTACT:

Jeff Bartucci
Jeff@BikerDATA.com
863-412-3309

2008 West Texas Blackgold Rally Begins Today

Ronn — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:58:52 +0000

The 2008 edition of the Blackgold Rally begins today in tiny Goldsmith, TX (just a little northwest of Odessa) with registration (and the Beer Barn!) opening at 5 pm.

This year’s Blackgold Rally will feature that usual assortment of biker games as well as a bikini bike wash, a wet t-shirt contest and a wet boxer contest and entertainment from some quality, local bands as well as headliners D.B. Bryant Band (appearing later this year at Sturgis as well at the HD 105th Anniversary Party) and Back in Black (AC/DC Tribute band).

Benefiting the Bynum School of Midland, a local school school helping to educate youngsters with special needs, the rally is becoming a fixture in West Texas and a “don’t miss event” for bikers.

For more information, check out the rally site here or click on the thumbnail below for a view of the rally poster.

Blackgold Rally

Beatnik Biker Now on Alltop

Ronn — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:54:50 +0000

Have just been informed that Beatnik Biker has been selected for inclusion within the motorcycle section of Alltop. You can get to the motorcycle section by followiing this link.

Here is how Alltop describes their site:

We help you explore your passions by collecting stories from “all the top” sites on the web. We’ve grouped these collections — “aggregations” — into individual Alltop sites based on topics such as environment, photography, science, Muslim, celebrity gossip, military, fashion, gaming, sports, politics, automobiles, and Macintosh. At each Alltop site, we display the headlines of the latest stories from dozens of sites and blogs.

Beatnik Biker should show up there within the next few days, so be on the lookout for us!

Alltop

Motorcycle Section at Alltop

2008 ROT Rally - Off To A Good Start

Ronn — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:00:34 +0000

We arrived in Austin late yesterday afternoon, our trip was delayed in Arlington due to some loose spokes on my rear wheel, and got checked-in. From there, we proceeded to downtown Austin to get ready for the annual bike parade that travels from the rally site to it’s grand entrance on South Congress Street.

Bikes of all shapes and sizes, traveling two abreast, were funneled down South Congress for well over an hour. Engines revving. Horns honking. Thunderous applause and shouts from the crowd at times. It was quite the show!

A good portion of South Congress and most of the famed Sixth Street between the interstate and South Congress were blocked off to traffic. That is, unless you were on two wheels. In which case you were free to continue to try to navigate the throngs on Sixth Street. Have heard one, unsubstantiated report that there was somewhere around 250,000 people at this ‘party’ last night!

Part of the fun was an outdoor concert with the stage set up at the intersection of South Congress and Sixth Street. The rest of the fun was in the many bars and clubs on Sixth Street and the surrounding area.

We actually made it to the legendary Maggie May’s to see a performance by Andy Macintyre and the Primal Groove. We have had the good fortune to have done some work with Andy in the past and thoroughly enjoyed his live performance. Very Stevie Ray Vaughn like.

We head back out to the rally site today to make our way through the fun and festivities there today and and to possibly see some of the great live entertainment that they have line up. Especially looking forward to seeing Joe Ely as I think he puts on a very good live performance.

Be safe in your travels and riding!

2nd Annual Hawgs N Hills Rally - Thunder Roads Article

Ronn — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:07:08 +0000

A recap of our experiences with the 2nd Annual Hawgs N Hills Rally can be found in the attached article, ‘Rally Wrap Ups’, which is in the June 2008 edition of Thunder Roads.

In addition to our recap of the rally, Thunder Roads also used a few of the photos we took.

Our recap of the Hawgs N Hills Rally begins on page 22, or the third page of the pdf file.

Rally Wrap Ups [PDF, 628KB]

2008 Texas State H.O.G. Rally Recap - Thunder Roads Article

Ronn — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:59:17 +0000

A recap of our experiences with the 2008 Texas State H.O.G. Rally can be found in the attached article, ‘Rally Wrap Ups’, which is in the June 2008 edition of Thunder Roads.

In addition to our recap of the rally, Thunder Roads also used a few of the photos we took.

Our recap of the H.O.G. Rally begins on page 17, or the second page of the pdf file.

Rally Wrap Ups [PDF, 628KB]

Riding the Hill Country - Thunder Roads Article

Ronn — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:48:59 +0000

The following is a recap of a ride through the Hill Country that Lisa and I took in early May.

We were fortunate enough to have the article published in the June 2008 edition of Thunder Roads, ‘The Oldest Motorcycle Magazine in Texas’.

In addition to ‘Riding the Hill Country’, we also contributed to Hill Country Faves. And Thunder Roads even used a few photos we took as well.

Riding the Hill Country [PDF, 240KB]

Overrun By ‘In’-convenience Stores

Ronn — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:43:05 +0000

I have just about sworn off of 7-11’s for good now!

The reason, 99.9% of the time, that I stop (or rather stopped) at a 7-11 was for gas. And every one of those gas pumping machines had the capability of printing a receipt. However, it appears that there is no one employed at any of the local 7-11’s that is able to place the receipt paper in the pumps.

I wonder if it is a ploy by the owners of the stores to get you to go inside with the hopes that you will buy additional items such and a coke and a snack? The problem here is that it is awfully inconvenient to drink that Big Gulp while I am traveling down the road on my bike!

And on top of that, it seems that every time I go inside for a receipt, I get behind a guy who is buying a pack of obscure cigarettes that the clerk cannot readily locate and then said guy wants to spend the rest of his weekly paycheck on scratch off lottery tickets… And then proceed to stand at the counter and scratch them off… And redeem his one, winning $3 lottery ticket for more lottery tickets… So he can continue to stand there and scratch them off…
There is also a certain ‘in’-convenience store in nearby Big Springs that, outside of an emergency, I never plan to visit again.

I stopped there for gas earlier this week while riding my bike to Snyder. Pumped the gas, asked for a receipt and… Was informed by the machine that the cashier had the receipt. So I head inside and get treated so rudely by the clerk, WHOM I APPARENTLY INCONVENIENCED, by asking for a receipt which caused him to have to stop counting his money and visiting with his buddy ‘Bubba’ about who knows what.

In case that guy is reading this (very doubtful), here is a piece of advice. If you don’t want to be ‘bother’ by customers asking for a receipt for gas, then get off your butt and make sure there is paper in the printer on the pumps outside!

MBI 2008 Riders Choice Awards - Winners

Ronn — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:42:02 +0000

Motorcycle Bloggers International (MBI) 2008 Awards For The Motorcycle Industry

(PRWEB) March 19, 2008 — Motorcycle Bloggers International (MBI), announced the winners of the 2008 Riders Choice Awards. The awards, voted by thousands of motorcycle riders in 77 countries, recognize significant achievements and serious lapses in judgment during 2007 by motorcycle and related product manufacturers, persons and organizations. This years winners are:

MBI Riders Choice - Star Awards

- Object of Lust — Ducati Desmosedici RR
- Best Concept Motorcycle or Scooter — Honda Evo 6
- Best Manufacturer’s Website — BMW Motorrad
- Best New in 2007 Scooter — Piaggio MP3 400
- Best New in 2007 Motorcycle — Triumph Street Triple 675
- Most Environmentally Friendly Motorcycle - ElectricMoto Corporation Blade XT
- Wish We’d Thought of That — KTM Bread Toaster
- Women Riders Booster of the Year — Lois Pryce (20,000 mile solo ride, Alaska to the tip of South America on a 225cc bike)
- Thumbs Up — Ewan McGregor/Charlie Boorman ( Enhanced image of motorcycle riders)

MBI Riders Choice - Fallen Star Awards

- Most Disappointing Motorcycle - Suzuki B-King
- Thumbs Down — Loud Pipes Save Lives
- What Were They Thinking — Babecage
- Worst Manufacturer’s Website — Cycleport/Motoport

The Riders Choice Awards are unique in that the nominees and winners are chosen by every day riders around the world, not by professional journalists. The awards reflect the judgment of the motorcycle buying public, not motorcycle industry insiders.

Anyone could vote, there was no restriction on age, gender or country. Even non-riders could vote. No registration, nor email addresses were required. However, a system of storing and analyzing IP addresses was put in place to minimize duplicate voting.

About MBI
MBI (whose motto is “Riding and writing is what we do”) is a group of 161 international motorcycle weblog authors from China to Chile.

Membership is open to any motorcycle rider who maintains an active motorcycle-related Internet weblog or news web site with original commentary. With a combined readership over 5 million readers per month, the awards represent a true feeling what lives amongst the biker communities. The awards are not given by professional journalists, commercial publications or companies, but by the public.

More information about MBI, its members and the complete list of nominees will be found at the MBI web site http://www.mbiweb.org/.

MBI Website: http://www.mbiweb.org/
MBI Awards 2007: http://www.mbiweb.org/2008/
Interview Contact: Mike Werner
Telephone: +33-2-35297230
Email: mwerner@mbiweb.org

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Motorcycle Bloggers International (MBI) 2008 Awards For The Motorcycle Industry [via PRWeb]