Did You Know...
…On May 18, 1992, the former president and chairman of Harley-Davidson Motor Company, William H. Davidson, died at the age of 87. Davidson joined Harley-Davidson as a factory worker in 1928, and succeeded his father Walter as president in 1942, a post he held until 1971. He then served as chairman for two years. Davidson was an avid rider and competitor, and won the 1930 Jack Pine Enduro. During his career, Davidson served as an officer of the AMA as well as the Motorcycle, Scooter, and Allied Trade Association, forerunner of the Motorcycle Industry Council. He was posthumously inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.
…That Bill Baird, one of the greatest off-road champions ever with seven consecutive U.S. enduro championships, was born on May 5, 1929? Baird was also one of the founders of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. Read about this great living legend here!
...Efforts by the motorcycling community to establish Motorcycle Awareness Month can be traced back to the early 1980s, shortly after the release of the landmark “Hurt Study” conducted by Hall of Famer Professor Hugh H. "Harry" Hurt in 981. Though the title was a little cumbersome -- “Volume I: Technical Report, Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures, January, 1981 - Final Report” – the report set the benchmark for motorcycle safety research in the U.S., if not the world.
…That April 26 is the birthday of legendary tuner and Hall of Famer Bill Werner? Werner-tuned Harley-Davidson motorcycles carried Gary Scott, Jay Springsteen and Scott Parker to a total of 13 AMA Grand National Championships. Inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000, Werner is also a former member of the AMA Board of Directors. Read more about his amazing career here.
…On April 24, 1887, Eleuthere Paul duPont was born – the Hall of Famer ran the Indian Motocycle Company from 1930 to 1945. DuPont took over the reins of the struggling firm in the early part of the Great Depression, yet managed to put Indian on better financial footing by the end of the 1930s. Read about him here!
...Linton A. “Lin” Kuchler, 94 of Mount Dora, Fla., died April 18, 2011. Kuchler served as the AMA’s executive secretary from 1958 to 1965 and then, after serving as a top executive for NASCAR for 13 years, he returned to head the AMA for a second time in 1978, retiring in 1981. During both of his terms, Kuchler helped steer the AMA out of financially troubled times and set the AMA on a path that led to growth and stability. Here’s a look back from the pages of the November, 1978 issue of American Motorcyclist magazine, courtesy of Google Books.
...The Motorcycle Industry Council announced this week that in the first quarter streetbike sales were up nearly 7 percent? Other bright spots for the quarter were scooters and dual-sports: up 50 percent and 24 percent, respectively. Read more here.
…Leff Moore, one of the key contributors to the creation of the Hatfield-McCoy trail system in West Virginia, died on April 20, 2004 – but not before he pioneered a public-private partnership model for trail system development around the country. To read about it, go to the Google Books archive of American Motorcyclist magazine at http://tinyurl.com/Leff-Moore-Hatfield-McCoy.
...There’s less than one week to submit videos for the AMA Kids Just Want to Ride! video contest?
The contest is an opportunity for young riders to share their passion for riding in a fun and creative way, and the top three video entries will win great prices. Most importantly, the winning video will be a key component of the AMA Family Capitol Hill Climb on May 26.
The video submission deadline is Sunday, April 24. Question? Contact the AMA's Grassroots Team by phone, (202) 742-4310, or e-mail at grassroots@ama-cycle.org.
…That the late Mike Traynor and his wife Dianne Traynor started the Ride for Kids program in Atlanta, Ga., in 1984? A friend's child was diagnosed with a brain tumor, so the Traynors organized a ride of their friends to raise funds for the brain tumor clinic at a local hospital. Since that first ride, the Ride for Kids® program, sponsored by the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, has raised more than $54 million for childhood brain tumor research and family support programs.
During AMA Get Out And Ride For A Cause! Week, we’re highlighting the incredible philanthropy of motorcyclists, who have a long history of opening their wallets and raising funds to benefit the motorcycling community and support needy community causes.
…April 15 may be well known at “tax day,” but it also happens to be the birthday of Motorcycle Hall of Famer Jay Springsteen, who was born in Flint, Michigan, on April 15, 1957. Happy 54th Jay!
...The first AMA-Chartered Club was the New Jersey Motorcycle Club, chartered in 1924?!
...On Sunday, April 10, 1960, U.S. Army soldiers got to enjoy some first-class motorcycle racing up close and personal right on base? Here's an excerpt about this spectacular event, starting on page 10 of the May, 1960 edition of American Motorcycling magazine, archived on Google Books!
The 82nd Airborne Division, whose home is in Fort Bragg, N.C., went all out for promotion of a first-class motorcycle scrambles on a brand new, all-clay half-mile track. Built by Army engineers, the 60-foot wide track had a beautifully constructed jump midway up the homestretch, and swung gracefully around to a gentle slope enhanced with curves sharp enough for interest but constructed for safety… The All American had what is probably the largest number of spectators ever to see a scrambles event. The Army set up bleachers for 6,000…
…The 2011 AMA Grand Tours with KOA Along the Way are off and rolling? AMA Grand Tours are a great way to get to know more about your state and country, and an excellent excuse to go riding! Keep up with us on the AMA Grand Tours Facebook page! Details below...
Check out the AMA Right to Ride Grand Tour (Ride for your Rights!). Illustrate the latest issues affecting with photographs. Bonus points will be awarded for having your bike sound-checked and for pictures with elected representatives with your adventure flag, as well as other fun things.
Then there’s the SCMA Four Corners Grand Tour. The four (4) official checkpoints are: San Ysidro, California; Blaine, Washington; Madawaska, Maine; and Key West, Florida. You may visit the four checkpoints in any sequence and by any route that you desire, and you do not have to return to the first checkpoint to finish this event.
How about the Midnight Riders Travel the USA with KOA Grand Tour? Submit 30 pictures to the Midnight Riders (any combination) of cities, towns, counties, or KOA campgrounds containing one of the selected “travel names” to complete the tour. Just click here for rules and sign-up information.
The tastiest AMA Grand Tour has got to be Eddie’s Road & Team Strange Airheads Smoke Chasing 2011 Grand Tour. This self-paced barbecue Grand Tour combines your love of motorcycling and barbeque while supporting a great cause: Eddie’s Road, a charitable foundation helping abused and neglected youth.
What are you waiting for?! Sign up now. And if you complete all four 2011 AMA Grand Tours, you will receive a “2011 Master Grand Tourer” certificate from AMA Road Riding!
...That German mechanical engineer Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) is credited with building the first internal-combustion motorcycle in 1885? And that, nearly 20 years earlier, Sylvester Roper invented a steam-powered motorcycle? One of Roper’s later designs from 1894 is on display at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio on the campus of the AMA -- come see it for yourself!
...That the AMA is hosting a video contest and wants to hear from you on why 'Kids Just Want to Ride!' ??? That's right... The 'Kids Just Want to Ride!' video contest is as easy as 1-2-3, and it's being conducted in conjunction with the AMA Family Capitol Hill Climb on May 26.
The video contest submission deadline is Sunday, April 24, 2011. Then, on Thursday, May 26, at the nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C., the winning video will be announced at the AMA Family Capitol Hill Climb -- where as scores of motorcyclists will gather to meet with their congressional representatives and urge support for the Kids Just Want to Ride Act. The legislation, if approved by Congress, will exempt youth-model motorcycles and ATVs from the CPSIA.
For details on the 'Kids Just Want to Ride!' video contest and the AMA Family Capitol Hill Climb, just click here.
...Here's a Bonus Challenge to get you in the mood to ride. Where was this picture taken? You could win a $100 BikeBandit Gift Card, just follow the AMA Get Out And RIde! Facebook page for details.
...On April 4, 1915 Motorcycle Hall of Famer Otto Walker gave Harley-Davidson its first national victory when he won the 300-mile road race national held on the streets of Venice, California. Read Walker’s Hall of Fame bio here!
...That 76 percent of AMA members ride on-road, 40 percent ride off-road, and 26 percent ride both on-road and off-road? And when it comes to competition, 23 percent report that they race off-road or motocross, and 5 percent are roadracers.
Source: 2008 Readex survey of AMA members
...On April 3, 1982, Minnesota became the seventh state to enact self-funding rider education legislation.
...According to a USA Today Snapshot published in the summer of 2010, 29 percent of adults surveyed by BMW responded that riding a motorcycle was on their “bucket list!”
...On April 1, 1983, President Ronald Reagan adopted a plan recommended by the U.S. International Trade Commission to save the American motorcycle manufacturing industry from extinction. Although enacted on April Fools’ Day, it was no joke and today American motorcycle manufacturers are well established in the marketplace.
...If every car was replaced by a motorcycle for just one day, we could save nearly 250 million gallons of gas that day? At $3.50 per gallon, that's about $875,000,000 in fuel cost savings!
That's because the United States consumes about 400 million gallons of gasoline every day, according to the U.S. Government's Energy Information Administration. And with the average car getting about 20 miles-per-gallon (MPG), and the average motorcycle owner reporting 56 MPG (Allstate, 2008), that's nearly a 200 percent improvement!
...Linton A. “Lin” Kuchler, 94 of Mount Dora, Fla., died April 18, 2011. Kuchler served as the AMA’s executive secretary from 1958 to 1965 and then, after serving as a top executive for NASCAR for 13 years, he returned to head the AMA for a second time in 1978, retiring in 1981. During both of his terms, Kuchler helped steer the AMA out of financially troubled times and set the AMA on a path that led to growth and stability. Here’s a look back from the pages of the November, 1978 issue of American Motorcyclist magazine, courtesy of Google Books.