by Buzz Kanter - Publisher/Editr-in-Chief
Just back from Daytona Bike Week, and I wanted to share some of the experiences with you right away. Due to tight production schedules, you’ll have to wait until next month for the full article. I always look forward to Daytona Bike Week as it is the first real ride of the new year for me and others who live the Snow Belt states.
As usual, I began the week at the Antique Motorcycle Club of America (AMCA) weekend event at Eustis — always fun, with lots of great vintage bikes, and a swap meet that could take days to go through properly. Then it was time to test ride new motorcycles for magazine reviews. I started the week with Harley’s amazing new XR1200 Sportster. Yes, it is now sold in the US. It’s my favorite current-year-model Harley, which says a lot. It’s fun in traffic and through the twisties at high speed.
I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time with this bike while attending the vintage races at the Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday. During the lunch break, a few of us were invited to make some laps around the track, and I did. On the second lap, I went a lot higher on the banks than many of the old handshifters and Slow Joe on his Panhead. I was starting to wring out the Sporty, thinking I was hot stuff passing the old Harleys and Indians, when Doug Polen, a former world champion racer, shot by on his new Ducati at what seemed like 150 mph. After I got my senses back, I opened up the throttle and got the XR1200 to over 100 mph without much effort or drama. If you’re into forward controls and apehangers, forget the XR1200, but if you like the sport part of a Sportster, check this one out.
I spent some time with Matt Olsen and got to ride his dad’s wonderful prewar Harley Knucklehead. Matt was at the Limpknickie Lot teaching the art of kickstarting and handshifting to anyone who wanted to learn. Congrats to Chris Callen of Cycle Source Magazine and his pals on a great event for the NextGen builders and riders.
Later in the week, I exchanged the XR1200 for the new V-Rod Muscle (no, Marissa Miller did not come with the bike), which is an impressive “point and shoot” machine. Lots of power, and better handling than I had expected. At the V-Rod gathering breakfast, Bill Davidson and I had the first dyno drag race of the day on fully race-prepped, air-shifter V-Rods. We had two practice runs, then Bill, who was as pumped as I was, red-lighted and let me beat him in front of a couple hundred cheering riders.
One more of the many highlights that week was the AMA Hall of Fame fundraiser breakfast. What a blast to spend the morning with lots of great folks listening to racers Jay Springsteen and Scott Parker, as well as factory tuner Bill Werner, swap stories and memories. I’m surprised that more people don’t take advantage of this amazing annual event where you can have breakfast with many fun and famous people from the motorcycle industry and sport.
Join Us In Rhinebeck
Once again, this year we’re planning on attending and reporting on what is growing into a world-class motorcycle event, the Rhinebeck Grand National Super Meet, in Rhinebeck, New York, on June 12-14. In addition to a lot of fun, this event might be the largest antique motorcycle show and swap meet in the country. The Northeast Coalition of Chapters of AMCA is planning on running its Timeline — better than any museum — with one motorcycle from every year starting with 1974 and running as far back as the organization can round up vintage motorcycles. For more information about this event, visit
www.RhinebeckNationalMeet.com.
AIM Online & Win A New Big Dog
If you have not yet visited our web site at
www.AIMag.com, I’d like to invite you to take a look. In the last year, our forum has grown into a worthwhile place, while the forum family includes some great people and AIM staffers, ready and willing to share real-world experiences and information. We have all the details and rules on how you can win a new Big Dog motorcycle, or any of the other great prizes we’re giving away later this year as part of our 20th anniversary sweepstakes. At AIMag.com you can check out the forums, photo galleries, free classified ads, calendar of events listings, and more. It’s also a place we can post the latest news about Harleys and the industry. I visit the site a few times a week and hope to see you there.
Ride safe, ride smart, have fun.
June 2009 - Daytona Fun In The Sun & More 
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