Indian Motorcycle World Record Certificate
I've blogged on similar subjects before. Back in '16 I participated in a record run, but to be honest it 
wasn't that big of a deal to me. I thought it was over advertised, and came up short, way short. Advertised as a '500' it barely surpassed 1/2 that amount. At the same time, I didn't get on board with the 'parade' concept at first. I wanted to do an actual ride. I thought the parade part was ... a joke. So, I never even got the certificate. I wasn't proud of it. Then the following year, it was almost a repeat. I about fell out of my chair laughing when it was named '500+' and was destined to be a repeat. It was, barely having more bikes. I've covered elsewhere how some of those bikes shouldn't have been counted in the mix.
Since then, I've come to appreciate the parade concept. Though I still don't like it, you need to keep the folks tight, organized and the longer you travel, the more chances for something to go wrong. So, do your 4 miles, get it over with, celebrate, then go ride. I was in an HD record attempt last year where there over 2k bikes. I saw several things done 'wrong' that led to a gaggle and found myself scheming on 'how would I do it differently'. Soon after that, Gregory Polaris announced they were going to do one. I called Rob Gregory and spoke with him immediately, with some advice on what to do and not to do, he gave me assurances on how this was all going to play out. Right there and then I said "sign me up! I'm ALL IN" . I spent the next 10 months pushing it on social media to all, and internally with the Iron Indians.
Fast forward to 5 Oct 2019 and we have over 700 bikes roll in. Gotta tell you , it was an awesome feeling especially when you know over a hundred of the folks rolling in! The weather rocked that day, and excitement was in the air. But what I didn't expect was the judge to get anal on us. Back in '16, he was at the exit and entry point. In '18 same thing. At the HD event I saw huge distances between bikes but never heard it was a disqualification. Well, it was on this day. We ended up with a gap right out the gate, and were disqualified but we ran the whole parade not knowing it. By the time we got back, bikes were getting hot. Also, we were told we had 3 attempts. What? I'd never heard that before. Well, the good news is we succeeded on the second attempt. The bad news is , 10% of the folks bailed early because of the wear and tear on the bikes moving along that slow. But when you got the second one, you were pumped! Why? NO ONE wanted a third attempt!
Still, I didn't plan on getting a certificate. I down played it all mentally prior due to the '16/'17 fiasco's. But, I was and am proud of this event. So I broke down and gotta tell you , it looks good! That record should stand for a few years to come. It was not easy to achieve!
wasn't that big of a deal to me. I thought it was over advertised, and came up short, way short. Advertised as a '500' it barely surpassed 1/2 that amount. At the same time, I didn't get on board with the 'parade' concept at first. I wanted to do an actual ride. I thought the parade part was ... a joke. So, I never even got the certificate. I wasn't proud of it. Then the following year, it was almost a repeat. I about fell out of my chair laughing when it was named '500+' and was destined to be a repeat. It was, barely having more bikes. I've covered elsewhere how some of those bikes shouldn't have been counted in the mix.Since then, I've come to appreciate the parade concept. Though I still don't like it, you need to keep the folks tight, organized and the longer you travel, the more chances for something to go wrong. So, do your 4 miles, get it over with, celebrate, then go ride. I was in an HD record attempt last year where there over 2k bikes. I saw several things done 'wrong' that led to a gaggle and found myself scheming on 'how would I do it differently'. Soon after that, Gregory Polaris announced they were going to do one. I called Rob Gregory and spoke with him immediately, with some advice on what to do and not to do, he gave me assurances on how this was all going to play out. Right there and then I said "sign me up! I'm ALL IN" . I spent the next 10 months pushing it on social media to all, and internally with the Iron Indians.
Fast forward to 5 Oct 2019 and we have over 700 bikes roll in. Gotta tell you , it was an awesome feeling especially when you know over a hundred of the folks rolling in! The weather rocked that day, and excitement was in the air. But what I didn't expect was the judge to get anal on us. Back in '16, he was at the exit and entry point. In '18 same thing. At the HD event I saw huge distances between bikes but never heard it was a disqualification. Well, it was on this day. We ended up with a gap right out the gate, and were disqualified but we ran the whole parade not knowing it. By the time we got back, bikes were getting hot. Also, we were told we had 3 attempts. What? I'd never heard that before. Well, the good news is we succeeded on the second attempt. The bad news is , 10% of the folks bailed early because of the wear and tear on the bikes moving along that slow. But when you got the second one, you were pumped! Why? NO ONE wanted a third attempt!
Still, I didn't plan on getting a certificate. I down played it all mentally prior due to the '16/'17 fiasco's. But, I was and am proud of this event. So I broke down and gotta tell you , it looks good! That record should stand for a few years to come. It was not easy to achieve!
If I'm ever involved in a third one in the future, I will be more involved in the planning stages , or at least aware of the parade route. HD had another in '19 on the same day and had over 4300 bikes on hand for that record. The way they ran the bikes this year was borderline brilliant. God knows how many motors they ruined the year before! But for now, I'm fat dumb and happy with the 651 bikes that achieved this new record.
Note..... remember that '16 and '17 event I mentioned? There is supposedly a 2020 event. It's going to be a bigger flop than the fist two. I guess 500+ wasn't good enough. Now a 4 digit number is in the name. I'm betting the total will be less than the '17 event. ... js
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