I normally blog a lot more often but the launch of the new WRN at the beginning of June is keeping my busy with refining and tweaking things on the back end. The work is never done. I've got a lot of quickie news items for you so let's get started.

I'm A Motor Maid!

I finally took the plunge and joined the Motor Maids. This is a big deal because I'm not a joiner, I'm a journalist so my preference is to cover an event rather than be part of it. With that said, I've been courted by the Motor Maids over the last few years, and recently several of my close motorcycle industry friends joined. That, coupled with the fact that it is the oldest women's motorcycling group around, I decided I wanted to be part of an organization who's roots run deep in our sport. I'm heading to Cody, Wyoming, next week for my first Motor Maids convention. Looking forward to seeing my friends and meeting new ones, especially the senior members who've been riding since the early days. Can't wait to hear their stories. Look for photos and a story on WRN soon.

 

Looking back: April & May Events

Real quick... I must update you on a couple of fun events I attended in the spring. In April, I trailered my motorcycle down from Montana to April for Arizona Bike Week (still snow in Montana that time of year) forgoing the Laughlin River Run happening a week later. What a pleasant surprise AZ Bike Week was. Lots of great vendors, big name acts like George Thorogood and Dierks Bentley and awesome springtime Arizona weather. I will go back next year. This year seemed to be a resurgence in an event that floundered for the first 10 years with several different promoters and locations through Phoenix. New promoter, FX Promotions, has found a great new home at the site of the Westworld convention area parking lot using it as the central location for vendors, demo rides and concerts while area dealerships and bars hold their own events. Great job guys. The Web site, AZBikeWeek.com, has details on next year. And here are some photos from my time there.

Tampa's Women Riders Day
May was Women Riders Month all over the U.S., and Harley-Davidson of Brandon near Tampa, Florida, invited me to speak at its ladies event on May 8. I had a wonderful time at this most organized and well orchestrated event. Thanks to Silvana Golzman for putting on the whole thing and doing such an incredible job.

Here I am during one of two presentations I gave at Tampa Women Rider's Day.

It was great to see longtime WRN fan and freelance writer Debbie Speicher, who's my ears and eyes for things happening in that area.

Posing with the Born to Ride crew, dad Ron Galletti, mom Debbie, and Emily and Ronnie. Born to Ride is a TV show, magazine and Web site covering motorcycling in Florida. What a fabulous hard working family.

It was great to bump into Donna Palladino, one of the "Ride Like A Pro" expert riders, who rode in for the event from central Fla.

Jennifer Botterill, a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist as a member of Canada's Women's Hockey team, will present the keynote address at the closing ceremonies of the Motorcyclists Confederation of Canada's (MCC) International Women Riders Congress and Festival (IWCF) on Saturday, August 14th at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario. The IWCF will feature networking opportunities, organized tours, educational programs, maintenance workshops, safety programs, a charity trail ride, skills challenges, demo rides and entertainment. Registration is open to both men and women. For more info, read the news story we did on the event.

The line of pink accented riding gear and clothing that Harley introduced in January has generated $100,000 in proceeds donated to the Breast Cancer Network of Strength. The Harley-Davidson Pink Label Collection was inspired by women who have been affected by breast cancer and designed to provide them support during their difficult ride. The collection is comprised of 12 of the most popular women's MotorClothes silhouettes. To see a few items, read the story we did on it in the Apparel and Gear Reviews section. By the way, Karen Davidson has said that pink is the number one selling color among women buyers of Harley merchandise. Good to know!

I always love hearing when women are successful in getting their stock motorcycle to fit them just right using aftermarket parts. One of our longtime supporters of Women Riders Now is Helibars, maker of ergonomically friendly handlebars. Jennifer Pettengill, who does marketing for the company, is very enthusiastic about getting women fitted just right using Helibars. I want to share with you what she emailed me from her time at the Helibars booth at the Laconia Motorcycle Rally earlier this month. Here's what she wrote: "Laconia Harley-Davidson sold four new 2010 bikes as a direct result of our handlebars. Four people in our booth sat on our bikes [Harley's outfitted with our handlebars - my clarification], walked into Laconia Harley-Davidson and bought bikes. They immediately drove them to our booth and had bars installed. Now that's a testimonial if I ever heard one."

 

Yes indeed, Jennifer. And we're happy for you and Helibars. Ladies... and men, if you're not comfortable with your handlebars you owe it to yourself to check out Helibars. Here's our story on the bars.

Got an email from Kathy Tolleson, owner of Roar Motorcycles in Daytona Beach, Florida, explaining a rash of bad luck hitting her shop lately. From a vehicle and trailer being stolen to a robbery and sicknesses, Kathy and her team could use our prayers. Visit my story on Roar; you'll find a link to the shop's Web site that has details on what's been going on. We're sending good vibes your way Kathy.

 

Longtime readers of WRN know I'm a big fan of the Ducati Monster. It's amazing I don't own one yet. Two years ago I had the pleasure of unveiling the newest Monster, the 696, at Erico Motorsports in Denver when I was there giving a speech at a ladies night event. Now an upgrade to that motorcycle, the 796 is just out for model year 2011. Test rides started this week at participating dealerships around the country. Weighing just 378 pounds, the bike is light enough for a variety of size riders to handle. Price is a reasonable $9,995. Visit DucatiUSA.com.

To many, Lorenzo Lamas will always be the ultimate "renegade" biker so when news comes my way about Lorenzo I can't resist sharing it with you. You may recall the actor recently launched Lorenzo Cycles. Well, he's just teamed with Ariat on a line of motorcycle boots, helping the equestrian oriented brand break into the motorcycle market. Lorenzo is one of the nicest guys who always shown his support of motorcycle events over the years. I wish him the best with this new partnership. Visit Ariat. com for more information.

I'm a fan of David Uhl's artwork owning two of his pieces. I'm always excited to see his newest paintings when they're released. Here's the latest called The Liberator, the fifth addition this Vintage Pin Up series. I love the warm colors of the painting, and I really like the Harley WLA model used in WWII because of its army green and brown leather color combination. But I'm afraid looking at that woman will only make me think about how I don't have that good of a body and could never look like that. It's a female thing. I have no problem looking at beautiful women and admiring their bodies, but this one is just too "larger than life" for me. And I suppose that's what artwork is all about -- suspending reality or living vicariously through it. Good work David, really. Turn this bimbette into a sexy biker chick who rides and clothe her in an army green riding outfit and some hot riding boots and I'll buy it.