RickkciR

So, you've got an Indian Motorcycle or interested in the brand or just familiar with us ... and you want to join the Best? 1.  Fill out this application! https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Ac00f411d-5536-42bb-9f9c-c95a891e0a44 !!!   Save it to your computer .. cloud .. somewhere! 2.  Email it to membership@ironindian.com 3.  When they get your packet and if you're approved, we'll get back to you and send you to a link like this and you'll pay to join! It's that simple! Once you're in, you'll be able to access the store and purchase a Back Patch, clothing .. you name it.

I've had people tell me that for years...   "Be Safe!"  "Ride Safe!"   "Be Careful!"  I gotta tell you, it never sat well with me.  I'd think damned... 'grow a pair' ... 'really?' .. you name it.  I've been riding for 35 years now.  Over that time frame, I've had 4 incidents, 2 of which I went 'down' on, and 1 of those... had an injury.   Still, I felt invincible.   Still do, to some degree.  But, we're not.  Yet I never like to hear those words.  I felt .. and to some degree still do, that riding a motorcycle is worth the risk and if you ride correctly not much more dangerous than many other things in life, short of riding in newer Dually loaded up with air bags. Thirty four years ago, I hit sand while living in Nebraska and found myself doing 3 flips into a four lane road , hearing tires screeching.   Mangled the handle bars on my first bike, and screwed up my  shoulder with an injury that...

Vest needs a few patches on it.....   Sun is out, and I haven't ridden all week.  Quick text and I'm throwing on my jeans and boots, and pulling out a ride.   Closest one to the door is the Big Dog Ridgeback.  I don't have any need for saddlebags, so the BDM it is.   Set the choke, turn the key and the S&S 117 roars to life.  Damned I love that motor. Few minutes later I'm pulling up at Jimbos' , he jumps on his Chieftain and we're off headed to The Motorcycle Outpost in Westminster.  The best part about heading there is if you take the right 2 laners, you get to play a little and we do.   Few minutes later we're topping off fuel in Caddo and headed North.   Once we get past the HS , you can open them up a little bit.  We're quickly in the 'country' and rolling on narrow 2 lanes north of 70 on the speedos.   A lot of tight turns come up quickly with '30' on the yellow warning signs and I'm pushing...

Over the last year, I've blogged about Indian Motorcycles' history ; the Good, Bad  and the Ugly.  With the PI purchase of the brand back in the Spring of '11 while it was still alive with the Kings Mountain models, things have accelerated for the better with the introduction of the new models back in August of 2013. The problem we have now is the .... uneducated. Maybe that's the wrong term.  We have a new influx of riders that have no grasp.. maybe no care .. of the history of the brand.   In the same sentence they will rant and rave "since 1901!" and call their bike a Polaris Motorcycle.  I don't get it.  I don't want to get it.  In fact .. I want to distance myself from them.  Does it all matter?  Well.. it does to me.  Does to many others.  And worst of all .. it feeds the naysayers.  The folks that hate 'anything'  built after 1953 that has the Indian nameplate on it. Case in point.  Yesterday some cl...

Half a decade ago I found myself in the midst of a drama fest.   I had a dipshit on one side saying one thing and a group on the other side saying another.  Much of what I heard seemed 'unbelievable' and my personality allowed me to .. stick around...... listen to it all.  Most of what I heard from both sides didn't match up, so I would park the info mentally and move on.  When questioned by either party(s), I'd simply state I was neutral.  None of it applied to me.  Didn't' affect me. So I pressed on, and found myself eventually deeper in the mess than I ever wanted to be.   At the time, I should have 'cut and run!'.  But, I didn't.  As luck would have it I came away from it all with some friendships over time from others in the periphery of it all, that to some extent got caught up in the same BS drama. So, there was an upside. Still ... at the time.. I should have bailed early. I had my own personal reasons not to.  Still ...

IBA . Iron Butt Association.  Got word yesterday, I'm good to go. "Dear Rick: You are receiving this e-mail because of your application for a ride certification. This note is to let you know that your ride has been approved and although your ride documents may take a few more weeks to arrive, your membership has been approved and entered into the Iron Butt Association's member database. Welcome to the Iron Butt Association! You are IBA Member number # xxxx "   Saddlesore 1000 1,000 miles in less than 24 hours    Sumbitch.  That was only 12 days!  I'd heard from others it might take weeks .. even months.. but.. it'll happen.  Well, assuming your paperwork is up to snuff of course.  That's the whole point. To get the ride validated!  Anyone can say they did it, most don't have validation.. proof.  Well, apparently 73,000 others do because my number is up there.  It's more than tripled in size the last 12 y...