The Buell 20th is fast approaching and I am getting psyched. There is talk of 100 bikes parading up to the factory. That would be cool. I think back to the first "Homecoming" when we had 15 bikes, that included a couple of factory bikes, show up. We were very excited about that, 100 bikes were beyond our wildest dreams.

I can only imagine how pumped up Erik will be by this show of support. Be prepared for tears.

Dave

Well davegess.com is back to work! Mom is doing fine and I am catching up on stuff. I finished the March update only about 2 weeks behind schedule but it does look good.

Lots of new pictures, be sure to check out the "ghost RW750" it is pretty cool IMHO. Even added two pictures that you can buy. (The RW "ghost" and one of Gene Church on the RR1000). This is a grand experiment to see if there is any interest in purchasing any of these images. The price is pretty steep but than getting quality printing done is not cheap. If I can sell enough to cover the basic costs I will add more sale items.

Dave
Next update should be about 3-4 weeks from now. I have some nice RS material as well as some shots from the first owner's group meeting at Road America.

The daily blog is gonna be on hold, as if you hadn't noticed, for about another week or so. My mom has taken ill. She is gonna be fine but my daily to do list has reached Dickensian length so something has to go. This site gets the short straw.

I have almost completed site updates and am just finishing the testing process to insure everything works so as soon as my stress levels come back down into the stratosphere I will be post the updates and send out the press releases. If all goes well it will be next weekend.

See you then.

I’m goin’ battle tracking!! Talked to the wife last night about getting a couple of Saturdays off to run some of the S.E. Wisconsin Battle Trax events. As was expected I got a hearty “Sure, have fun maybe we’ll all go watch.” One of the many reasons I love my wife, she really does like bikes and racing.

I have run a couple of these and they are great fun. I am hugely slow but I don’t really care if the 16 year olds on the ratty dirt bikes beat me, I just hope to go faster as the day progress and not break anything on the bike or me.

They do improve ones riding confidence if not your actual skill level. I don’t ride any faster on the street after running them but on the few occasions when I have gotten into a turn faster than my sphincter likes I have the confidence to just keep pushing the bike over farther and farther. I am confident that the bike can turn a lost harder than I want to so I have a safety margin.

I used be one of those folks who would, when encountering a turn that I had, shall we say underestimated, would tighten up (me not my line) and try to slow down. I have ridden wide a few times fortunately without collecting any fence posts or Ford bumpers. Since running Battle Trax I have the confidence to just lean it over harder.

Hope to see some of you folks out there. If you haven’t run one, come on out. You will have fun and learn stuff. And remember you won’t be the slowest person out there.

Dave

I had time at lunch today to look over the Lightning in great detail. When the weather breaks I plan to ride one. What a neat little bike. And I do mean little. I’m 5’8” and can swing my leg over it with ease. The 9R is tall because the tail section has that kicked up sportbike look. The 9S with its minimal bodywork feels much smaller than the R. Despite this it is noticeably roomier in it’s riding position. I wish they had come out with this bike first because I would have purchased it instead of my R.

Don’t get me wrong the R is very cool and I plan to keep it but this overweight middle-aged guy is have a tougher and tougher time riding in the hunched over sportbike pose. My wrists don’t much like it and I am waiting for the day I pull up to a stop and find that my legs won’t come off the pegs. My brain will do the unconscious drill, head up, brake, clutch, find neutral, put foot down, and I will keel over ‘cause my knee will simply tell my brain “You’ve kept me penned up in this ridiculous position and now you want me to move? Ain’t gonna happen big guy. No way.” I just hope there are no neighborhood teenagers about to witness it.

Until that day I intend to ride the dam thing.

Dave