Last weekend I was invitedby a local HD dealer to pitch the Ride Like A Pro program I teach out here in SoCal. I was told it would be part of a huge open house event that included classic cars and stunt rider. Since I still have some open slots for my July 28th, and 29th classes, I thought I would make a go of it and maybe get some class sign ups.

My lesson...... crowds ARE NOT interested in any kind of safe riding demo and lesson after seeing a stunt rider. This stunt rider was good, although I wonder what his insurance is. He did a lot of wheelies, stoppies, and broadslides on a Sportster. Then he rode his FXR "Burn Out Bike" where he smoked the rear tire on every move, and finally blew a hole in it. All I could think about was crowd safety, as he would roar up and down the small lot and do broad slides right up to the edge of the crowd. He would lock the throttle, spin the rear tire, set down the side stand, and stand on the seat.

Needless to say after that they called me up. I had them set up cones while I did my spiel, and folks looked at me with glazed eyes. I had a couple of hard core riders come up to me later, but not as many as I ususally do. The dealership promo guy apologized for the poor batting order, and placing me AFTER the stunt rider, and said he would have me back during lady rider night, or during a HOG meetingwhen safe riding techniques could be the sole topic, and I would not have to compete with a guy doing wheelies.

Another thing I was not aware of before the event was the make up of the crowd. The non performing attraction was a guy named "Mr. Cartoon", a tatoo artist who is popular with the Chicano community, and is known for his unique style of lettering and body art. So as you can guess, all the classic cars were low riders. This meant that the crowd was made up of less motorcycle riders, and more car cruisers.

Oh well, live and learn. I did have one person ask me what my fee was. Well seeing that I've never charged for this, (I usually do it to promote safety, and try and get folks interested in my class), I didn't know what to tell him. He said a resort and casino outside of San Diego was looking to put on a motorcycling event, and he was trying to line up performers. If I do go, I'll make sure NOT to go on after the stunt guy LOL!!!

BTW, if anyone is interested, the stunt rider used ChengShin for his rear tires. He goes through a new one in about 10 mins during his performance. He said he gets them at $40.00 a piece, and buys them on a pallet of ten. He changes the rear out between shows. He also fills the rear tire with confetti and sparkle stuff, so that when it blows and shreds open, it showers all over the crowd.

In two days I'll be speaking at the Simi Valley HOG meeting and will try to get those fine folks enrolled in my classes. I hope no one asks me to do wheelies, stoppies, and burn outs,....LOL!

 

So are you saying that the crowd wasn't interested in safety lessons?

 

Look for me at the Simi Hog meeting. I'm usually to the back right...looking from the front of the room....I'll be there some where.

 

I hate to say this, but to me it appeared that while most of the folks loved seeing the stunt rider, there were more interested in the possibility of seeing him have accident. They were also more interested in all the custom cars, and getting an autograph by Mr Cartoon. Nothing wrong with that I guess, like I said, just the wrong venue for me that's all.

 

Make a point to come on up and say hi. I look forward to meeting you finally.

Mark

 

Yeah, it does sound like the wrong venue.

Sounds like you run a sound course, time to make it a business and make some $$$

 

we put on a motorcycle rodeo at the New Orleans Naval Air Station back in the spring. Big success! with police demos bike show local vendors and reps from the MSF talking about safe riding. Find a military base and get in touch with the base safety officer and see if they could set something up. Motorcycles safety is a HUGE issue in the military.