On June 2nd Steven Soto, Ryan Hanna and Jim MacArthur line up with nearly 500 other entries in for the 2007 Baja 500, riding Soto Racing’s immaculate Pro Class 21x XR650R.
Steven pre-ran the course, which starts/finishes in Ensenada, Baja California, a few weeks back and reported an extra 1/4 mile thrown in along the coastline, along with the always welcome cacti in case you’re prone to daydreaming.
I’ve just posted my web account of what it’s like to be a freshly minted initiate to the SEMA aftermarket trade event. Words aren’t enough. Neither are pix – this show dwarfs anything I’d previously attended.
I’ve been asked a few times about what SEMA (and Globalshop, PRI, etc.) have to do with our powersports industry. My answer is – everything.
The Federal Trade Commission, in another spasm of stupidity rivaling the wardrobe malfunction punititive punishment crackdown on wayward nippledom, decided that all that great music streaming over the internet needed to be compensated.
So they came up with a lunatic royalty scheme that will effectively shut down the most original formats since the days of fm infancy come this July 15.
I think Clear Channel’s got ’em on the payroll. Whatever. If you’ve ever listened, and enjoyed, New Orleans WWOZ, Cal State’s K-Jazz or SKY.fm via your iTunes radio channel, then check out www.savenetradio.org for details. The countdown’s getting closer.
…we sell cigarettes. And they’re cool, and they’re available, and they’re addictive. The job is almost done for us.” BR, the head of the Academy of Tobacco Studies, goes to work on his media star, Nick Naylor, in this sharp, sassy sendup of pr flacks in 2006’s “Thank You for Smoking”.
Funny, clever, and dead-on accurate in it’s portrayal of anything for a buck, er, mortgage, this film, along with it’s bookend from 1993, “Barbarians at the Gate”, skewers Big Tobacco in a fast-paced mockumentary that introduces viewers to the MOD Squad: tobacco, alchohol and firearms, aka the Merchants of Death.
It’s all good, especially when you can be entertained and educated at the same time. Highly recommended for any company that finds itself – or wants to be – in front of the camera to make their case. This is how it’s done.
Yesterday’s news about the passing of industry columnist and icon John Wyckoff over the weekend means one less qualified curmugeon to poke and prod powersport’s decision makers.
Mr. Wyckoff’s message never shied from revealing the lack of emporer’s clothing, and wasn’t remiss in acknowledging enlightened management practices either.
Most importantly, though, his final message may be to serve as a stark reminder to men about the importance of prostate exams and early treatment. His family asks that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Prostate Cancer Support Association of New Mexico. You can find out more about the disease by checking the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s web site.
This cancer is treatable, but only if detected. Use the web, read the literature and discuss with your doctor or urologist. Get tested, get examined, get informed.
AdvertisingAge today reports the $1.2 B-as-in-billion sale of Primedia’s Enthusiast media devision to Florida-based investor group Source Interlink, which is in turn controlled by Yucaipa Cos., a supermarket-holding company owned by billionaire Ron Burkle.
The package includes over 70 magazines, more than 90 web sites, in excess of 400 branded products and 40-plus events.
For our purposes, it means venerable two-wheeled pubs from Motorcyclist to Street Chopper now have new owners.
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For retailers and, to a lesser extent, manufacturers, pricing’s taking on a whole new dimension. Old: cost to manufacture/cost of goods plus markup equals wholesale/retail. New: run it through the price optimization program while you sit back with a Starbucks triple mocha latte and a Krispy Kreme.
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In remarks before a captive audience, Microsoft founder Bill Gates predicted Tuesday that five years out, newspapers will have nearly faded from existence as digital devices — readers, phones, computers, big screen displays, etc. — overtake print as a delivery medium. That forecast was made May 8th, in front of the 8th annual Strategic Account Summit of Microsoft’s global advertising partners.
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Do you manufacture tech-related products? Do they involve paint, welds, metalurgy, clothing, synthetics, plastics, chrome, cnc, etc.?
While NASA the government agency might draw a laugh or two from time to time, nobody’s laughing when one of their majestic flying machines rockets into orbit. So here’s the deal: you’re a taxpayer, and they’ve got solutions. Boy, do they have solutions.
NASA’s loaded with engineering talent. And that talent’s available to the general public with surprisingly few strings attached. Only small business (less than 500 employees), no software or IT issues, a 40-hour research limit and your dilemma can’t be easily solved by the private sector.
Otherwise, SATOP — the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program — is ready and waiting to help you solve your otherwise insurmountable mind-benders.
It’s a 12-year-old program that renders aid to the commercial sector in the form of really good answers to a bewildering array of questions. You work by e-mail, fax and/or phone, after having your problem reviewed and then matched to a NASA volunteer for peer review.
Seems like a good deal to us — after all, this is the outfit that came up with Teflon and Velcro.
This is what we’ve been able to discern from the few tea leaves scattered about. Change – big change – seems to be waiting in the wings for The Motor Company as demographics, competition and environmental regs continue to shape HD’s destiny.
Might this be the year for the beginning of the end of the air-cooled twin? With two BT radiator – in-frame coolant? – displacement versions ready to go, probably.
Big Daddy, with 2450ccs of tub-thumping water-cooled torque, would seemingly raise the bar quite a bit. And if this be the year, one coupled with the dropping of six popular models – ST (3), DWG, FL and XL883 – it would open a huge chasm between the original and the clones from the marketing and technology perspectives.
These changes could also signal a larger focus on touring rather than cruising, and if so then another seeming nod to the aging of the profile.
That’s the view from the front porch rocker. We’re saving the goat entrails for a group slam.