0 0 8 custom alchemy for 2011 riding the beat in ... - Harley-News

Editor
My $100 Ride
“Where you going?” he asked as he sidled up to my Buell ®
Ulysses ® on the shoulder of the Interstate.
“Back home to Milwaukee,” I answered politely.
“Coming from Indianapolis?
“Yessir.”
“What were you doing down there?
“Working at the GP race,” I replied, stretching the truth a bit.
“Where do you work?
“Harley-Davidson.”
“Then why are you riding a BMW?”
“Uh, it’s a Buell, sir.”
“Hmmm. Been drinking tonight?”
“Nope,” I said, which was the god’s honest truth.
“Okay. Wait here.”
The Indiana State Trooper who stopped me for doing 70 in a 55 at 11:30PM on I-65
had no idea how close he came to blowing my $100 Ride down to the Indy GP, but quick
thinking and a little bit of luck saved the day.
Five minutes later after grilling my riding partner with similar questions, we were back on
our way, ticketless, on the last leg of a 23.5-hour, 605-mile jaunt down to the Indiana Mile flat
track race and the Indy GP MotoGP race. Between tolls, gas, cheap seat tickets to both races,
and five or six cans of Red Bull, my itemized expenses came to about $86 for the whole deal.
For less than a hundred bucks, I definitely got my money’s worth of racing memories.
A few highlights include leaning against the guardrail in Turn One at the Indy Mile with
flat track legend Gary Nixon, getting pelted with rocks and dirt as the bikes flew by at
about 140 miles per hour lap after lap – until we finally got shooed away by AMA officials;
seeing Nicky Hayden, a former dirt tracker and 2006 MotoGP World Champion, take a few
exhibition hot laps around the Mile; and rooting for Screamin’ Eagle ® Harley-Davidson ®
factory flat track rider Kenny Coolbeth, who finished third in the main event. I even got
a blurry photo of the great Valentino Rossi at the speedway to prove we were both in the
same place at the same time!
With more than half the hours of the trip spent blasting down a concrete slap, the riding
itself was hardly memorable, but the stories become more epic with each retelling … if only
in my own mind. Like the drunk we saw at a remote gas station in the middle of the night in
Who-Knows-Where Indiana who had no idea who or where he was. I felt almost as sorry for him
as I did the cop who showed up to sort it all out and found out the guy got dumped there by
a cop from another county. Nothing much good ever happens at 3AM, as the old saying goes!
The last couple hours of the ride home were a bit of a blur, and the sun was just starting
to pop over the horizon when I rolled back into my driveway a half hour short of a full day
since I’d left. Thanks to that lenient trooper, I still had 14 bucks left from the C-note I’d
started with and a pretty decent story about a motorcycle trip that cost less than $100.
If you have a $100 Ride story of your own, send it to us at hogmagazine@harley-davidson.com
or share it with a million-plus Harley ® fans on our Facebook page. We’d all like to hear it.
copyright 2010 H-D
ON THE COVER: The 2011 CVO Road Glide ® Ultra features
a powerful 110 cubic-inch Screamin’ Eagle ® engine and
all the accessories you could ever dream of. Learn more
about the entire 2011 CVO lineup starting on Page 34.
Photography: Kevin Netz
Director, H.O.G. and Consumer Events
Kris Schoonover
Executive Editor
Paul James
Editor
Matt King
Design and Production
GS Design
Visit Harley-Davidson Motor Co. on the Internet at
www.harley-davidson.com.
We care about you. Ride safely, respectfully, and within
the limits of the law and your abilities. Always wear
an approved helmet, proper eyewear, and protective
clothing and insist your passenger does too. Never ride
while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Know
your Harley ® motorcycle and read and understand your
owner’s manual from cover to cover.
HOG magazine is published by Harley-Davidson for
owners of Harley-Davidson ® motorcycles and anyone
interested in news about the Motor Company, its
products, and activities. Subscriptions are limited to
the U.S.
We reserve the right to edit all submissions for
publication in HOG.
All submissions become property of Harley-Davidson
Motor Co. If you’d like your photo returned, please send a
self-addressed stamped envelope with your submission.
All H-D ® and Buell ® product illustrations, photographs,
and specifications mentioned in the publication are
based on the latest product information at the time
of publication. The right is reserved to make changes
at any time in prices, colors, materials, equipment,
specifications, and models and also to discontinue
models. Some vehicles in this publication are shown with
available equipment.
HOG will not intentionally publish fraudulent or
misleading advertising. HOG does not endorse any
advertiser or its products, and cannot be responsible for
advertisers’ claims. Some advertised products are not
available outside the U.S.
To order HOG or change mailing address, e-mail us
at hogmagazine@harley-davidson.com or write: HOG,
Harley-Davidson, Inc., P.O. Box 453, Milwaukee, WI 53201,
or visit: www.harley-davidson.com/hog.
When requesting a change of address, include your
mailing label from the back cover.
To advertise in HOG, e-mail John Sandberg at jsandberg@
integraonline.com.
HOG may allow others to use its mailing list. If you
do not want your name included, please write: HOG,
Harley-Davidson, Inc., P.O. Box 453, Milwaukee, WI 53201.
No part of HOG may be reproduced for any purpose in
entirety or part without the express written consent of
Harley-Davidson.
Harley-Davidson, Harley, H-D, HOG, and the Bar & Shield
logo are among the trademarks of H-D Michigan, LLC.
Matt King
10 HOG