Dave's Blog

april 30th, 2010

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• Hey there everyone,
  
  Just coming off another wild and crazy week of producing Motorcycle Experience. Hope you like this weekends program!
  
  The weather in Southern Ontario has once again warmed up and I got to do a little riding this week down in Prince Edward County. So that was a bonus too. But the reason I'm really pumped is because last weekend my wife and business partner, Stacey and I rode over to MotoSport Plus in Kingston, Ontario and watched our sixteen year old daughter take delivery of her very own, brand new, Honda CBR 125R. WOW! Daughter number one is just about to turn 16 and she pitched in to buy her very first set of wheels. Awesome! Both mom and dad are long time riders as you know, so passing along the torch to our daughter was an extremely proud moment for both of us. The kid is booked to take the Motorcycle Training Course at a local community college in a couple of weeks and if all goes to plan, she'll be able to ride along with her parental units, all summer long. Sweet! Hope to see ya out there,
  
  Keep your right hand cranked!
  
  Dave.

april 24th, 2010

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• Well it's a beautiful blue sky out there and the weather man's calling for warm weather this weekend, so it's gonna be a great riding weekend down here in Prince Edward County. Speaking of great rides, this past week I had an amazing riding experience. I was given the privilege/opportunity to ride a 1947 Vincent Black Shadow and man it was awesome. Thanks again to Bar Hodgson for making that happen! I was blown away. I was fulling expecting
  the vintage Vincent to be a rattling, shaking, oil dripping, 63 year old motorcycle. Instead I was introduced to a roaring, V-twin powered, torquey, smooth running, comfortable motorcycle. It was just a terrific experience. We had great weather, great roads and I was blown away by the experience.
• Speaking of being blown away, don't forget we've got a new contest starting up next weekend, so be sure to check out the Motorcycle Experience website for the launch of our Riders Club May 24 Contest. All you have to do is join the ME Riders Club and you're instantly entered to win. The grand prize is pretty cool. We're giving away a Joe Rocket Riding Jacket. The winner will
  be invited to visit the Joe Rocket website and choose a jacket of their choice. Sweet!
• Anyway, hope to see you out there on the roads this weekend,
• Keep your right hand cranked!
• Dave.

March 26th, 2010

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• Just back from shooting a feature yesterday in Napanee, Ontario with a very interesting guy named Don Hart, who runs a successful construction business. Turns out Don used to ride back in the day as a 16 year old. Back then he was raising hell and riding a two stroke Harley-Davidson 125 Rapido.
  
  Eventually as his construction company got busier and busier he had to drop out from motorcycling for a while and focus on his work and his family. But about ten years ago he got back into the sport in a kinda interesting way. He didn’t come back strictly as a rider but he also got back in as a collector. And I can tell you, he has one of the nicest private collections of vintage Harley-Davidsons and Indians I’ve come across in a while. He has eighteen bikes in all and he primarily focuses on Panheads and Knuckleheads and some beautiful examples of some of the last Indians models ever built. It’s a beautiful collection and seeing it just got me thinking about how there’s all sorts of ways to celebrate and enjoy the sport of motorcycling. You don’t necessarily just have to be a street rider. You can be a roadracer,  a restoration expert, a collector, an off roader or a supermoto rider. The list just goes on and on.
  
  So here was this really cool motorcyclist right in my own backyard who’s primary focus in terms of being involved in the sport is just plain good old fashioned collecting. And in just over ten short years he’s just done a fabulous job. Anyway, that feature on Don and his collection will be on the air next week and you’ll see for yourself. Not only does he have the coolest collection of Harleys and Indians but he’s also set himself up with one of the coolest garages on the planet. So you gotta see the show, you’ll be blown away when you feast your eyes what this one fella from a small town in Southern, Ontario has done with his take on our sport. It’s quite a thing!
  
  Keep your right hand cranked!
  
  Dave.

March 22nd, 2010

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• Hey there gang,


• Just back from a speedy quick trip down to Savannah, Georgia where the weather was just like it is here. Balmy! It’s a beautiful warm day here in Eastern Ontario and it was equally as beautiful down in Savannah last week. I was there attending the Honda Canada press launch and I had a chance to sample some fabulous new motorcycles from the folks at big red and at the same time, what was really cool, was having the opportunity to ride with some of my old friends from the motorcycle magazine journalist community. Now I’m not sure if you’re aware of this but the Canadian motorcycle magazine journo community is quite small. There’s really is just a core of about ten writers, and we all bump into each other from time to time on these press events. It’s a really tight knit group of guys .. a really fun bunch and it was terrific to see all my journalist buddies together again at this Honda launch. So there was some good times and some great riding along the way.


• So today with the warm weather, I found myself thinking about how great it is to be working here in Canada with this tight community of motorcycle journalists. I’m sure all the guys, Bondo, Booth, Fraser, Roberts, Molony .. you can bet the whole lot of em will be out riding this weekend. I think perhaps sometimes I take that aspect of our sport for granted. What a neat motorcycling community we have here. What a terrific sport motorcycling is. The brotherhood. I am so lucky that I get to work with motorcycles and the people who ride em on a daily basis.


• So that’s where my head is at today. Just thinking of how great it is to be a Canadian, working in a Canadian sport, in a Canadian industry. And just how awesome it is to work with such a nice bunch of guys. How Canadian eh? Thanks fellas for another great press launch!


• Talk to you next week.

March 11th, 2010

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  Well I just flew back from Savannah, Georgia, got in late last night and I’m fresh off a Honda Canada press launch over the last few days. Boy, am I excited. I did a pile of riding, the weather was perfect - sunny and 75 each day - and I finally got the cobwebs dusted off and the winter rust shaken away and it felt great to be out riding. I’m really looking forward to getting out here in Southern Ontario in the next couple of weeks. The weather has been just fabulous for this late winter / early spring and having spent a few days in Savannah I can’t wait to get out riding.


• As for the Honda Canada press launch, they introduced us to some amazing product that they have on board for 2010, most notably of course the VFR1200, that thing is just mind-boggling. Your gonna have to watch the show next week and get a full report on that. And of course Honda has introduced us to a couple of cool new cruiser lineups and we’ll have those on the show for you in a few weeks.


• Overall it was a great trip, some great product, and some really great riding.
• Keep your right hand cranked!

March 4th, 2010

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• Tomorrow we kick off our 21st season of Motorcycle Experience and I hope you really like the show. It's jam-packed with a wide variety of info and we're pretty proud of it. We're also really proud of the fact that this little show has been on the air for 21 years.. so we can't wait to hear what you think. Meanwhile, getting this new season put to bed has meant I've had to put a few things on hold. Today I'm thinking long and hard about the fact that for the first time in a long time I'm not down south in Daytona enjoying Bike Week. This weekend I know there'll be tens of thousands of people enjoying some warm Florida sun and cold American beer. I've got some pretty mixed feelings
  about not being down there with my motorcycling brethren.


• Ride On gang!


• On a more positive note, I will be leaving Sunday to fly down to Savannah, Georgia to hook up with our shooter Brownie and some of my journalist friends. We'll all be there to sample the brand new line up 2010 Hondas. So I'm really looking forward to sampling some of the new Hondas and reconnecting with some of my long time Motorcycle industry friends.That kinda brings home all the wonderful friends and fellow riders I've met over the years. So I guess, this weekend, being in Savannah with the journos while watching the show go to air... that's gonna
  really drive home what a awesome ride it's been over the past 21 years. Nice!


• Keep your right hand cranked!


• Dave.