Semper Ride day at the base. Time off work to do motorbike stuff!

Good morning friends! One cool thing about being a military motorcycle rider is the support and free training that is available. In an earlier post, I talked about taking the Lee Parks Total Control Advanced Rider's Course and all of the skills I practiced during that very cool training session. I am always on the lookout for a military related motorcycle event. At a minimum it gives me time during my work day to mess about with motorcycles. At others times it can be a real pleasure in many ways. This was one of those times. Take a read to see what I was able to experience.

Most of the pictures in this post are of the cool things I saw while attending this event called "Semper Ride Day". It featured a poker run on the base, a free style MX show, some promotional booths including a Harley Davidson booth and a panel of motorcycle experts speaking about things like training, the right gear choice and other related topics. I wanted to do the poker run, but couldn't manage to clear my whole work day to ride around the base. I was able to get out for a little over an hour to see what else the event had to offer. The Marine Corps spends a little extra on motorcycle safety as compared to the Navy. Being a Navy guy attached to a Marine base, I get to participate in all of the cool things the Marines have available.

This cool little Harley Sportster Hooligan Flat Track machine was at the Harley truck along with a few of the 2019 Harley bike selection. I gravitate to flat track bikes pretty naturally and this one was painted in livery of a place I want to visit some day. See See Motor Coffee is a coffee shop, bike shop, hangout spot in Portland, Oregon. They have a pretty active social media and look to be all about having fun on two wheels in all different ways. This bike was a very clean 1200 Sportster that looked ready to hit Perris or Costa Mesa for Hooligan night. If I had extra space in the shop and extra cash in the bank, I would get a cheap Sportster and make it into my Hooligan bike. They look and sound great on our local SoCal short tracks!

I was really interested in attending the panel discussion. On the panel were Jason Pridmore, host announcer of the MotoAmerica series and former pro-racer, Josh Hayes, recently retired MotoAmerica Factory Yamaha Superbike rider, and Danny Walker, former racer and current owner of American Supercamp, a traveling training class that uses flat track techniques to teach improved motorcycle handling skills very similar to my experience at Eric Bostrom's flat track class. Danny Walker brings his class to some USMC bases and I just missed the last one he had here. I was able to talk with Josh Hayes for about 15 minutes after the panel discussion. It was really cool to talk to a pro racer about his racing. We had a few things in common and it was a nice chat.

While I was talking to Josh, I was able to catch some of the Freestyle MX show. Those guys have some cajones to do that kind of riding. You won't catch me doing anything like that anytime soon. The last few pictures are of the recently released Harley FXDR. The FXDR is touted to be Harley's "performance" bike meant to handle curved roads and more sporty riding. I like the look of the bike, but not its price tag. It looks like a power cruiser like an old school VMax or even Harley's own V-Rod. The rear tire is a huge 240 series tire and it had standard sportbike front tire. It did have dual disc brakes in the front. I am eager to give one a try at the next demo truck day, but I am not looking forward to the forward controls and low handle bar ergonomics.

This was a nice event meant to get military riders the best information available and I am all for that. I love being a part of the motorcycle community and am always on the lookout for ways to get more information. Getting time off work to talk with pro racers and drool over motorbikes is always good. I have many more posts in order coming soon. Life has been throwing me curves and not the kind that I can ride, but I think I am caught up for the most part on my non-motorbike commitments. Get out and ride, but remember to stay safe friends!

Blue