| Author | Message | ||
     Aydenxb9 |
I've been reading Brock Yates' book 'Cannonball' and have come to a conclusion; People like us are among the last baston of adventurists. And that's not a bad thing. I grew up immersed in the stories and lore of the adventuers of people like Brock, lived some of it in the atmosphere of the hot rod and barn-storming short track racing worlds of south-western Ohio. People as diverse as Dick Trickle, Don Gregory, Jim Cushman, or Gene Wyatt in the racing landscape of the area and time. Or the many adventures in clapped out muscle cars that most of us had before they became "classics". We lived for adventure, true adventure. Not what passes for it much of the time today. It wasn't very well structured, thought out, or monitored, just a hair-brained idea sorted out as we went along. Many nights spent drifting sideways through Winton Woods access roads in an old Dodge Charger, or blasting around I-275 to see how fast one could ring the city. Or, a bunch of us would load up and head for Union Terminal to play chicken with security in the rafters and back hallways of that grand old train station, the goal always being to see if we could make it to the rotundras huge front window and its associated catwalks to wave at people down below. Never out to disturb or harm anyone, just live a little faster than the accepted norm. Reading the tales of adventure that Yates' brain child created he also lamented that today, no such adventure can aspire. With all do respect to Mr. Yates, I say bunk. Being part (all be it peripheral and small) of this collection of personalities called the Badweb that this type of adventure still exists and should. I beleive to be truely free one must posess this mind-set for adventure. Your thinking this is nice and all-but what the hell is your point Dave? Point is this; We're, as members of this board, owners of this particular brand of machine, and members of the owner's association of that brand, embody the spirit of adventuers such as Erwin G. "Cannon Ball" Baker, Brock Yates, and the founder and namesake of the company that our bikes bare, Erik Buell. I say all of this because I'm seeing some question the validity of some of the structured adventures that BRAG puts on. From what I've been reading overall, it was another success, an adventure in the truest form. True, Shred and Torqer had the mis-fortune to take spills during this one, but they were living in adventure and both will come back (hopefully) to live in adventure again. To call into question whether or not that BRAG should continue to have these adventures is to imply that what Shred, Torqer, and the rest were doing was wrong, and it most certainly not! I wish both of them well and a speedy recovery so they may once again rejoin the fray. Adventure isn't without risk. We're it, us and those like us whether they ride our brand or not. Not the heards of me-too bikers or posuer biker boyz, but the people who look to their machines as a true extention of ones self and have a wild eye looking to horizon thinking what adventure lies ahead and how soon will I get to it. P.S. Sorry about the spelling. Spell check isn't working today and I just don't care to go through it manually. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
You know I have to agree with you totally. I filled out a prescreen questionaire yesterday for a job. "Do you participate in dangerous activities or sports?" was an odd question to throw in there. I know the reasoning behind it, but felt affronted. I ride daily, my bike is listed as my primary form of transportation on my insurance. I don't see daily commuting by motorcycle as dangerous yet the majority of people who don't ride and many that do as well view it as dangerous. I had to explain both my answer and the comment at the end of the questionaire today to the prescreen interviewer. She was suprised at my answer and that I took offence the the fact the question didn't ask if I participated in those sports in a safe manner, just if I did participate. See that question has 2 folds to it, one they want to know if your a risk taker, a go getter mentality, but they are also using the question to see if you would be likely to take risks in your job safety. Are you a likely candidate for a work injury. To me that isn't a fair wording and I told the lady so. I told her the question leaves too much unsaid. That it leaves open the door to prejudgeing me inaccurately. The way the question is worded it doesn't ask if I practice my dangerous sport in safety. Shred and Torquer rode with safety in mind, they had their gear and knew the risks. The outcome of the events didn't work out perfectly for both but yet in the overall, they did take the safety precautions, yet still lived the life of adventure. | ||
| Glitch |
Well said. | ||
| Bomber |
I once attended a presentation given by Kelly Johnson (head of the Lockheed Skunkworks -- a truely crazed bunch of folks, if there ever was one) -- when asked how he picked the folks to work with him (engineers, model makers, tool&die folks, purchasing agents all jammed together in a big hanger), he responded (and keep in mind this was in the early 70s), "I wandered around int eh parking lot and looked for pickup trucks and motorcyles -- that gave me most of the poeple I needed." adventure is where you find it, I'm thinkin, and I'm pleased to be in the midst of fellow adventurers | ||
| M1combat |
Damn, I've got a pickup truck, a muscle car AND a motorcycle... I guess I probably won't make past 35  . It'll be fun until then though . | ||
| Xb9er |
"structured adventure" is an oxymoron, isn't it? The BRAG Adventure in Boone was awesome. Some of the best roads I have ridden in the short time I have been riding. At least two sections we rode are on par with The Dragon (or better in some respects). This was my first BRAG Adventure and I enjoyed myself immensely. But I must say that the only "structured" parts of this "adventure" were the Tilley meet & greet, the fabulous meals, and the Go-Kart activity. We were handed the road maps and told "This is not a Group Ride" and "You are on your own." This is how it should be. I don't want rides to be structured with "ride captains" or officers, etc. I see where people are coming from when they say that maybe BRAG should not organize the adventures and just focus on the other services. I suppose if anyone wants to make a difference in the future of BRAG, they should go to the regional meetings that are coming up. Mike. | ||
| Tucsonxb9s |
Ah heck M1, I'll be 38 in a couple of weeks...owned a truck, muscle car, and now a bike. Heck, I even have a wife and two kids! Not that's an adventure! | ||
| Aydenxb9 |
It's not that you have those things, it's what they inspire you to DO with those things. The last muscle car I had, while my compadres were content to go to cruise-ins and polish the chrome and talk about how fast their cars might be, I was thrashing the snot out of mine trying to go as fast as I could. Or using it as the vessel that would take me on some wild eyed adventure. Same thing with the Buell, it's not that I own it, it's that it is the starting point for a whole new set of adventures. In the bike's case, it has changed my life. Through ownership of this bike, I've made new friends I treasure dearly, strengthened and repaired other friendships and relationships. It's taken me places I'd never would have experienced if not for owning it, experienced things I never would have thought I would do. It's even prodded me to make a career change. I'm now the P&A Manager for a Harley-Davidson dealership. Left a solid manufacturing job to do it. It's high adventure at it's best! | ||
| Mbsween |
Christ, I'm over 40, went to Running the ridge, survived the karting, 226A (3 times) 421S, 221 (that road was everywhere),50 near damascus (3 times, awesome chunk of pavement) . Not to mention 88 and a few others And I have a pickup and a 65 chevy impala SS. And I've been drinking in the Cannonball Pub (Brock Yates' bar) , described by Yates as "being in the place a traffic light would be if Wyoming (NY) had a traffic light". Oh yeah and I'm a US army infantry veteran. There's hope for you yet M1! My thing in college was trying to change the time on one of those huge clocks in Buffalo, NY. It was 4 stories up, you had to jump out of the 3rd story window , run 100' on a foot wide ledge. Climb up 30' of what I'd guess was 4/12 roof, run along the peak for another 50' or so and then climb 20' up the face of a tower. All while not getting noticed by security. I never made the last 20', but I sure as hell tried and yes it was a dumb thing to do. But I thought it was fun and that the risk was tolerable. The Brag adventures have minimal structure, I've been to 2 national and one regional. Everybody knows how to play for the most part. Thats the best part, you can join a group, ride solo, or just hang at the bar and take it all in. Again, you get to decide what risk is tolerable to you, can anyone ask for more? I think Peggy and Mary are doing a fine job and I know they'll continue to. They are just too successful to quit. Ask Jose or Glitch, or Darthane or XB9 or 1313 or Paulinoz ..... you get the idea At least I hope they never do, I'm having too much fun at these things. Matt | ||
| Rocketman |
In 1966 when Ferrari's 275GTB carried its engine upfront in the long established traditional manner, a tractor magnate stole the Geneva Show with his audacious mechanical layout, the mid-engined Lamborghini Miura.  Lamborghini had launched their first car, the 350GT, only three years earlier. Three years later and the Miura had no equal. The term 'supercar' was born for this car. Chief engineer Giampaolo Dallara, his assistant Paolo Stanzani, development driver Bob Wallace and stylist Marcello Gandini, were not yet either one of them 25 years old. Rocket | ||
| R1DynaSquid |
I dont understand why anyone would think We're the last of a breed? Im sure people in the 20's, 30's, 40's etc etc felt the same way. If any of you/us think this is it & it cant possibly get any better or more adventuresome, then I dont even know what to say. | ||
| Mikej |
You're only the last if you don't help prepare the next. Share the experience. | ||
| Xb9er |
What R1DynaSquid said. "We're it, us and those like us whether they ride our brand or not. Not the heards of me-too bikers or posuer biker boyz, but the people who look to their machines as a true extention of ones self and have a wild eye looking to horizon thinking what adventure lies ahead and how soon will I get to it." Don't make me laugh. Here was my BRAG adventure: I made an online reservation at a hotel, I paid for all my gas by credit card, I paid for meals by credit card, Roadside Assistance was a cell-phone call away if needed, I got a nice map of area roads, roads on these maps were all paved with only a minuscule amount of gravel over 300 miles total, etc. Then I get home and immediately get on BadWeb to see everyone else's pictures of the adventure and get updates on the casualties. That's adventure! We own sportbikes we all think are cool and we have a bit of fun when we tinker with them and ride them. Some of us may have been hooligans or delinquents with our hot rods or bikes in younger days, but that was part of being young. I don't think that makes us adventurers or the last of a breed. Mike. | ||
| Djkaplan |
Well said Xb9er, I certainly don't think we're the last of bastion of adventurists. I see kids doing stuff I would never have dreamed of in my youth. I was a wild-eyed kid who raced motorcycles and cars and walked (crawled) away from some pretty bad crashes, too. Just as soon as we fade away (or die), there'll be another generation to take our place. | ||
| Madduck |
You can choose to not be the last of anything. One of the responsibilities of adulthood is to share the real joys in life. At speedweek three of us worked most of a day getting my S2 back together so one of our crew members could get his racing license. He had the carb come loose at about 140mph, put it back in place with his throttle hand, held it in place with his knee and averaged 128mph thru the measured mile. that kind of story gets around and makes him one of "us". I try to rein in "safety nazis" wherever I find them. Kids will be kids, and they need to have some of the fun we had without all the crap that gets slung their way these days. We should help pick up pieces and reasemble thir lives but they need to make mistakes to really learn. Was a real pain in the ••• getting Brandon his license but I would do it again in an instant. His whole crowd of friends have a different perspective about speed. Some have even slowed down on the street. Shape the future, warp a child  | ||
| Midknyte |
I dunno, but this guy might well be the last of his breed  http://195.241.75.99/kladblog/image/200409/rolschaatsen.wmv | ||
| Tucsonxb9s |
 That's gonna leave a mark! | ||
| Glitch |
OK, I'm not the last of a dying breed. Can I at least be the end of an era? |
