Motorcycle Views Newsletter for 02/04/2018 By Walter F. Kern Motorcycle Views Newsletter Vol. 12, No. 2, February 4, 2018 Articles of Interest on Motorcycle Views: 1. Recent Additions to the Motorcycle Views Website:
2. 2018 Honda and 2018 Kawasaki Updates: The 2018 Honda lineup is still evolving with three 2018 models added last month (Shadow Aero, Ruckus, and Metropolitan). Also, the 2018 Kawasaki lineup has changed with one additional 2018 model (ZX 10RR) and elimination of two models (2016 Z1000 ABS and 2016 Z800 ABS). Take a look at the current 2018 Honda lineup and the current 2018 Kawasaki lineup. Read all about each model by clicking on the individual links. Take a look at all 2018 Motorcycle Models. 3. Motorcycle Rallies for 2018: Go to Motorcycle Rallies List and Skip the Basics Basics of Motorcycle Rallies (Biker Rallies)
This article gives basic information about motorcycle rallies. The second page of this article contains my list of the top motorcycle rallies. Click here to see that list now or wait and visit the list at the end of this article. Most riders start out by attending a motorcycle rally or biker rally for a day with an overnight stay that could include camping. Subsequent visits to motorcycle rallies are usually longer. Motorcycle rallies come in all sizes from a few hundred people to over 500,000. Motorcycle rallies usually charge a fee if you want to participate in the rally activities. Many riders don't bother to register -- they just show up and hang out. There are three really big motorcycle or biker rallies: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally® in Sturgis, SD; Daytona Bike Week in Daytona Beach, FL; and Laconia Motorcycle Week in Laconia, NH. These motorcycle rallies have a majority of Harley-Davidson riders and tend to be noisy and crowded. They attract in the hundreds of thousands, sometimes approaching one million. My first motorcycle rally was at the old Playboy Club in NJ and was sponsored by Rider Magazine. It had an attendance of about 2,000 and I was impressed having never seen so many motorcycles in one place. Just being at a motorcycle rally is quite an experience. You get to meet riders from all over the country and see bikes you've never seen before. There are plenty of stories to listen to as you meet riders. You'll find many two-up riders and plenty of spontaneous conversation. It's a place where people from all backgrounds can let their hair down and have fun with their motorcycles. Motorcycle rallies have become quite organized if you want to participate in the many planned activities. You'll need to consult the Web sites of the motorcycle rallies you're interested in and read them carefully to plan your trip. Most sites have detailed schedules, information on accommodations, restaurants, routes, activities, campgrounds, etc. Usually you can get on an email list to receive information as it becomes available or is updated. Also, check the sites for any forums or message boards. They allow participants to talk among themselves and get various questions answered. There will be additional information on this site including links to the actual Web sites of the major motorcycle rallies. There are literally thousands of rallies. The motorcycle rallies listed here are the ones most discussed. There is no way that all the large rallies can be listed here. I suggest you start out by attending a motorcycle rally close to you to see how it goes. After experiencing one rally, you can branch out to the bigger motorcycle rallies and maybe take in one that is some distance away. My first motorcycle rally was 100 miles away. My second rally was 2,500 miles away. My favorite rally, Americade, is 275 miles away. Members of several motorcycle forums have also formed their own rally called BuRP. The name was coined by forum members to include BRP for the Blue Ridge Parkway. The "u" has various meanings, one being "u and me." The rally, started in 2002, always includes rides on the BRP. The rallies after 2002 have been held in Maggie Valley, NC close to the BRP and Deal's Gap. BuRP 2018 will be the 17th annual BuRP rally. For details about this year's major motorcycle rallies, click here. 4. My Memoir, Normal Secrets:
My memoir, Normal Secrets, is a departure from my previous four motorcycle-themed books. It covers much of my life and reveals some secrets that almost no one knows about me. In fact, many secrets I didn't even know myself until recently. You'll also find out how fate changed my course in life many times as I struggled to find out who I was, what I wanted to do, who I would love, how I came to become both a motorcyclist and a moto-journalist, and how I came to become an author in my late seventies. It's a true story that begins in the Midwest and spans more than a hundred years. The book is available on Amazon in paperback, Kindle, Audible, and CD editions. Click the book cover to learn how to buy it on Amazon.com. 5. 50 MORE Wild Motorcycle Tales:
Click the cover to see the book on Amazon. Many readers have indicated that they wanted more motorcycle stories similar to those contained in my previous book, 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales. This new book gives 50 MORE Wild Motorcycle Tales for your reading enjoyment. Most of the stories were submitted to Motorcycle Views by visitors to the site. I wrote 19 of the stories. My late wife, Jane, wrote four stories that are published in the book posthumously. The other authors are motorcyclists from all walks of life. They tell their own personal stories of what happened to them as the rode their motorcycles. You'll find humor, risk-taking, adventure, 2-up excursions, world travelers, stupid tricks on bikes, lessons learned, and hazards while riding. I don't intend to write any additional books of motorcycle stories so these two books become a 2-volume series. You may want to consider buying both 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales and 50 MORE Wild Motorcycle Tales to have the 2-volume set together with a total of 100 Wild Tales. Remember, each of these two books has an Audible audiobook and CD edition. Many people enjoy listening to a book these days on a car or motorcycle trip. Why not take 100 tales along with you in this 2-volume set. 6. Audiobook Corner: I have been pleasantly surprised at the reception of my audiobooks. I did not realize that there is such a big market out there for audiobooks. Many listeners use the Whispersync for Voice feature on Amazon to link together the audiobook and the Kindle book so they can switch back and forth between the two. In fact, if you already have the Kindle edition, you can get the Audible edition at a reduced price. Currently, I have four audiobooks: 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales, 50 MORE Wild Motorcycle Tales, Normal Secrets, a memoir, and Motorcycle Kick-Starts. Click the following covers to see these audiobooks on Amazon. They make great inexpensive gifts. (They are also available on Audible and iTunes.) Normal Secrets and 50 MORE Wild Motorcycle Tales are also available in a CD version.
7. Five Motorcycle Terms: I am featuring five (5) of my Motorcycle Terms in each issue of the newsletter.
8. My Previous Motorcycle Books:
I hope you will take a look at my six books, available in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.com. My new book, Normal Secrets, is a memoir about secrets in my life. The other five books are motorcycle related. These books make great, inexpensive gifts. I have reduced the price of my six Kindle editions to $0.0 (FREE) IF you also first purchase the corresponding paperback edition. That way you can always have the book with you if you have a tablet or smartphone with you. None of the paperbacks has color pictures in them owing to the high price of producing a book with color. However, every Kindle edition has color pictures, so Normal Secrets, Getting Started Riding a Motorcycle, and Motorcycle Haiku Poetry Kindle books have full-color pictures (excepting original black-and-white pictures). These color pictures obviously don't show up in color on standard Kindle readers. They do show up on regular computers, the Amazon Fire tablets, and other color tablets. Please visit my author website to learn about all my books. 9. Here are some very popular articles on the Motorcycle Views Site. Take a look:
10. Newsletter Archive: I now have a Motorcycle Views Newsletter Archive to store all my newsletters. The archive gives the year, month, day, and subject for each newsletter. Each newsletter contains many links to the Motorcycle Views website. A link to the archive will also be included on the Home page of the site and on the page where users can join the newsletter list. Visit the Motorcycle Views Newsletter Archive 11. The Motorcycle Views Website is also on your Smartphone or Tablet: Are you relying more and more on your cellphone or tablet and less and less on your PC or MAC? Remember that all that great motorcycling information on Motorcycle Views is as near as your cellphone. It's also in a new format designed to fit your portable screen. Check us out anywhere you need motorcycle information. 12. Social Media: See me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube. 13. 2017-2018 Polar Bear Grand Tour Motorcycle Runs:
All the pictures and videos for these four runs can be found by clicking the following links:
Tilted Kilt - Jan. 7, 2018 The Polar Bears consist of 550 riders from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware, who ride each Sunday to a different prescribed destination where they sign-in and receive points. There is, usually, a restaurant at or near the destination. It gets cold, windy, and snowy on these rides. I've been a Polar Bear member for 26 years, and I built and continue to maintain their website. The picture to the right was taken at The Cabin, Freehold, NJ. 14. Help Grow Motorcycle Views: The Motorcycle Views Website is here for you. We encourage you to submit a story, picture, poem, salvage yard recommendation, user review of your own bike, tattoo, YouTube video you made of your bike, motorcycle tip, etc. These will be evaluated for inclusion into one of our major features. Send us a submission today and share part of your motorcycling experience with our many readers. Read how to make a submission.
For New Subscribers: Expect newsletters on the first Sunday of each month. Please understand that the Motorcycle Views Newsletter is NOT the Motorcycle Views website. The newsletter provides a few links to content on the Motorcycle Views website. Once you click a link in the newsletter, you'll be getting access to content on the Motorcycle Views site. If you'd like to view any of our past newsletters, just go to the newsletter archives page. Thanks for signing up for the Motorcycle Views Newsletter. Using this Newsletter, I'll keep you up-to-date with what's going on in the Motorcycle Views Blog, the Motorcycle Views Website, and the Motorcycle Views Forum. Not sure what a blog is? It's like a daily readout of what I'm thinking about, similar to a diary at times. Most often, I'm using mine right now to tell my visitors what has been added to the Motorcycle Views site. See me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube. The Motorcycle Views Website is also on your Smartphone or Tablet: Are you relying more and more on your cellphone or tablet and less and less on your PC or MAC? Remember that all that great motorcycling information on Motorcycle Views is as near as your cellphone. It's also in a new format designed to fit your portable screen. Check us out anywhere you need motorcycle information.
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© 2018 Walter F. Kern. All rights reserved.
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Motorcycle
rallies (biker rallies) are simply gatherings of riders and motorcycles at specified times and places usually with
attendant vendors, food, games, and other activities. Motorcycle rallies or biker rallies may last from a day to more than a week.
Some major motorcycle or biker rallies are built around organized professional motorcycle races.
Shown here is the author, waving, at the 1993 
